Unconditionally

Hello there! And welcome back! Today I'm coming to you all with an official review of a product that I've been name dropping on in a couple posts. Well it's been a few months and I feel that I can now, officially say that this is my absolute favorite conditioner! What conditioner might that be, you ask? Why none other than Aussie Moist of course!
I absolutely adore the way this conditioner feels in my hair and makes finger detangling abreeze! The product's claims written on the bottle are as follows: "moist conditioner, with splashes of natural Aloe, replenishes natural moisture for healthy locks worth gushing about". And if that isn't enough to have you bolting for the nearest drug store, the smell and price are both AMAZING! I can't fully explain the smell but it just smells light, fresh and creamy if that makes ANY sense to ANY one other than myself! LOL. A 13.5 FLOZ bottle costs about $3.99 from a drugstore such as CVS. Now of course, there are pros and cons to everything. Aussie moist does contain cones, which as we know are great for adding slip to the hair but cannot be removed with just another co-wash. However, adding baking soda to your favorite conditioner/sulfate free shampoo can get them right out! Aussie Moist get a Girl, YES from me! Even with it's flaws, I love it "Unconditionally".

Until next time loves, Happy Healthy Hair Growing!

Length Check (Updated)

As we know, I had to cut away my poor frazzled ends after a mishap with a blow dryer and a brush. *tear, tear* Well, that was about three weeks ago and here I am with an official length update. You all may remember that I said I didn't have to cut much off the front so that part is cool. It's funny, even though my hair is straightened out I still had to pull it because of how ridiculously tight I bump my hair under. (Sidenote: I'm thinking of going lighter with my hair color in about a month or so. What do you guys think? Drop a comment and let me know!)

Give It To Me Straight

Excited like a child with a new toy, I wanted to see how my usual styles looked with my new color. I tried my usual twists in the front with my curly fro in the back, my pony puff and of course my wash-style-and-go with a head band. The only thing left to wonder about was how my color would look on straightened hair. It's a known fact that hair tends to look darker when it's wet so yesterday I straightened my hair out using all of my wonderful heat protectants and this is what I got...

Also, because hair dye destroys the elasticity of hair strands, I am making sure to keep my hair moisturized now that it's straight. When I wear my curly styles, the daily H2O handles that part but now that it's straight, I have to be extra careful. I think I'm doing a pretty good job with it. I've see maybe 10-15 broken strands since I've dyed my hair. Could be better, but not bad at all.

Color Me Spontaneous

Spontaneous as hell! So yesterday after I finished blogging, I looked up natural hair salons in the downtown Newark area and came across Cynthia's Natural Hair Salon. I called her up, got a price and was SOLD! At first I just want highlights which ran me $35. Not bad right? Well, after getting back to my internship a few blocks over and fully examining my new streaks, I decided that I wanted the color all over. I gave Cynthia a call back and she agreed to do my whole head for just $30 more. Now, I don't do hair salons but I think $65 for a dye job is pretty reasonable.....I guess. Well anyway...here are the pictures. First of my hair before going into the shop, before and after the streaks, and then finally the finished product. Today was a really gloomy day so later on I'll have better pics to show you all the color. It's Strawberry Blonde...check me out, right? LOL

As far as the salon itself goes, I'd give it a 6/10 and that's lieniant! It wasn't the cleanest, flies everywhere and not easy to find at all. However, Cynthia is one of the nicest stylists I've ever had to deal with. She was very sweet and helpful, not to mention QUICK! I would definitely go back. But that's just me, I can't say that I would rush you all to go check it out while in the area though. I'm from Newark, we're kind of rough around the edges but I've been to much, much nicer places still. I guess customer service is this shop's saving grace!

Day T-H-R-E-E

Hey guys! Here with a quick shot of my hair three days after doing my wash-style-and-go with olive oil eco styler gel. In case you didn't read the post from yesterday, I've been keeping this style by simply tying it up at night with a satin scarf (though a satin bonnet would probably be better) and simply taking my hand under the faucet to gently press water into it in the mornings and finishing off with one fierce SHAKE! Check me out! Also, peep my favorite headphones. I was jammin out to Free by Bilal. Amazing song! Check that out too on youtube by clicking here! And in case you're really feeling the song, that particular upload includes a download link in the info box!

Fotki

Hey guys, just a little FYI, I do have a fotki account that I update with pictures and whatnot. It's a great place to visually follow my journey without having to search for pictures on the blog. Check it out by clicking here!

Updates

"but it's just the principal of it all!" -DJ

There is much to be discussed! Hello all, I'm back with a few updates as well as a product review. First off let me start by saying that my hair has been going through it. As you all may or may not know, I've been on a growth challenge until March 14, 2011 which would be the one year mark since my big chop that I did in March of this year. This was to include a specific regimen of deep conditioning, low heat and low manipulation styles but above all NO SCISSORS! Well let me tell you, all that went straight out the window! Last night was the first time in a good month that I was able to find the time and energy to do a baking soda treatment which as you all know used to be a part of my weekly regimen on my hair fridays. My hair wasn't terribly harmed by this but it's just the principal of it all! THEN! Oh, then...I allowed my cousin to use a brush to blow dry my hair. (what the hell was I thinking about?!) My ends were so broken off and became so fragile, that the only thing left to do was to cut them off. That's right guys, I had to cut my hair. Anywhere from 1"-2" GONE...on the floor, finito, adios, no more, hasta NEVER EVER AGAIN! I was SO distraught! Here's a few pics. The first if my hair on the floor. It doesn't look like much but it was about 2" off in some spots and no less and 1" anywhere except the front. The second is a shot of my lengthe very next day. *sigh*

See? It looks a bloody mess! However, I can honestly say that it was all a blessing in disguise. My hair did the same crazy mess is did back in march when I first cut it, so I learned that my hair does go into shock after being cut and does a horrible job of holding a curl. However, after a full week (which is about the same length of time it took in March) I can also say that my curls haven't looked this good in a while. Before I show you guys a picture of my hair as of this past Saturday, I want to first get into this product review.

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GODDESS CURLS: sucks.

Well, at least for me it did. As stated above, my hair was in shock when I first cut it which is also about the time I gave this sucka a shot. I had a few issue with this product though. One, I had to use entirely too much of it and the bottle is not that big. If this were something I used once or twice a week I'd be buying this about once or twice a month and at $9.99 a pop, I'm sorry I just can't. Not when the Olive Oil Eco Styler gel does a much better job and at a MUCH better price! Two, the texture of it was just way too sticky! I remember reading on naturallycurly.com that with hair types such as mine (3C/4A) heavy creams and puddings work best to style with. This just does not have the correct consistency. I would love to know how this works on maybe a strictly 3 typed hair (i.e. 3A, 3A/3B, 3B/3C) One great thing about this product however is that it contains NO sulfates, silicones, parabens, or mineral or petrolatum oils! Goddess Curls is just one product of an entire line that caters to curly hair. I would love to try their other products some day; but this particular product? On my hair? Oh girl, no!

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So as promised here's a shot of my hair from Saturday. This is actually a wash and go from the day before. Ya'll know how I feel about saying wash-and-go when it really aint one though! LOL. I co-washed, styled with my eco styler gel and THEN went! :) The second day i just ran my hands under warm water and gently pressed the water into my hair and gave it a good SHAKE! The first two are from Saturday and the last is from a couple hours ago.

I guess I owe you guys a new length check post as well just to get things back in order.. *sigh*

Summer Nights

Hello everyone! I want to apologize about my lack of updates in the past and also in advance for the future. However! I have not forgotten about my beloved blog! I am currently interning in my hometown Newark, NJ for the public school board for the next few weeks. Work is strenuous and my days are long; real long. But all of that is besides the point. I've come to share a hair tip that I think you all might find some use in for these hot summer nights!

Now, if you're anything like me you get your showering done at night and more than likely, your co-washing gets done at night as well. Well, since I see it completely unprofessional to roll into the office with a mane that drips watery conditioner all over my crisp button down, I figured out a way to keep my hair moist enough through my sleep so that I can do my p

uffs in the morning. (sidebar: i'm a little torn as to whether or not I should put in another twist set with my days being so hectic now-a-days. I'd be able to just get up and go but I really hate how dry my hair becomes without the frequent co-wash/rinses my daily puffs allow.) Anyway, I digress! So for the past week, I've been co-washing with my Aussie Moist conditioner and using either Hawaiian Silky 14-in-1 or Just For Me's Curl Smoother Creme as a moisturizer and pulling my soaking wet hair into two low pigtails. I sleep with a satin scarf tied around my head because honestly, I'm terrified to find out what would happen if I didn't! The results in the morning are perfect for doing a quick pony puff like the one I posted a picture of in a post a couple entries below. The hair hanging out of the pigtails are usually dried, but once I take them from the ponytail holders, everything underneath is just damp enough to wiggle my fingers through and distribute the remaining moisture to my ends. Below are a couple pics of my hair when I use the method described in this entry:

Growth Check

So since I just realized that I have a growth check coming up I'm just going to handle that now. I won't be in town for the next couple weeks to a month so but I didn't want to leave you guys completely hanging and for the simple fact that I've already done that for SO long I feel you all deserve a little something. Special shoutout to my best friend and loyal reader Tasha for cursing me out periodically about my lack of updates! I was also inspired by "Naturally Yours" who commented on my last post to add this post. Thank you for not giving up on me! So without any further au due, here you are! 3 months worth of growth!

Haitus

As you can probably tell, I've been on a hiatus from the blog. I know it's super unprofessional not saying anything at all about it prior to. I do apologize. Between random, frequent stressors, and random frequent "personal days" I just kind of fell off. However, I did want to come through with a quick pic of my hair! I did a pony-puff the other day on a wash and go after a quick co-wash and it came out really great! Check me out!

Also, today makes me 4 months post big chop! :)

Product Review: Sabino Moisture Block

So as I said in my previous post, I've recently tried out the breakthrough product Sabino Moisture Block. First I want to warn anyone looking to buy this product about the size. Sabino is not a product meant for heavy handed users. The full size bottle is only 3 fl oz. That's very, very small when looked at in comparison to most other hair product package sizes. However, there is a method to the madness. This small 3 fl oz bottle, if used properly is probably more than enough to last just as long if not longer as your other products that come in other, much larger packages. After taking my twist set out, I used megatek as a protein treatment for about an hour under a plastic cap as I lounged around the house. My hair hadn't really seen it's usual conditioning and moisturizing methods in close to two full weeks and it was beginning to show so the protein treatment really helped out. I the used my handy dandy LeKair Cholesterol conditioner that I'm always raving about to soften my hair up and then rinsed and moved on to the Sabino. I used a little too much and my hair came out sticky and very untouchable. Needless to say I was not happy. For the simple fact that I had promised to give a review I did not immediately sprint for a wash-and-go. Instead, I wore my hair wrapped for the rest of the night, took it down and retouched in the morning and wore it out the next day. It lasted through entire graduation without a hitch which was a definite plus because I HATE being in public and having complete strangers watch my hair expand. #notokay So after graduation, I went home and decided to try out the steam test and see how my hair stood up to the challenge. I must say, my hair stayed straighter than it would have without the product but as far as it being bone straight like the ladies on the video? Negative. It may have something to do with my hair type. The women on the video seemed to have anywhere from type 1 to 3B hair, which absolutely does not apply to me. All in all, I'm still up in the air about this product. I don't really want to continue to test it out because that means using excessive heat on my hair which I absolutely do not plan to do. I'll keep you guys posted though. I hope this helps someone! Until next time ladies, Happy Healthy Hair Growing!

Twist Update

It's been 12 days since I put my twists in and I must say this has been my most successful hairstyle that I've tried out since being fully natural. My twists still look great and with minimal effort! Of course I had to retwist my front once or twice but other than that, the only upkeep maintenance I had to do was wearing a scarf every night and I didn't even do that some nights. (I am not saying it's okay not to wear a scarf, I'm just sayin my twists held it down through all of that! lol) I know I said I was going to try out different styles with my twists but so far it's been the same ole front twist style every day. I think I'd need a bit more length to play around with various styles. All in all, I love this style and I can see it being a regular, especially throughout this summer! I was initially going to go 2-3 week depending on how it held up. While my twists still look great almost two week in, I'm going to take them out and straighten my hair tonight for my University's graduation tomorrow. No, I'm not graduating, but I AM AKApella for anyone who remembers and circle stepping, skee-weeing, and hair swangin' will be in FULL EFFECT tomorrow! I will be using Sabino Moisture Block to straighten and maintain my style so you know what that means! PRODUCT REVIEW on the way! The product claims to keep hair from reverting despite the weather conditions. If you've never heard or seen the claims of the product, here's an example below:

One Year

So last Thursday marked my FIRST YEAR POST RELAXER!!! I can honestly say that it went by rather quickly! I didn't do anything special to my hair on that date but last night I decided to put my hair in a micro twist set using just my hair. I did the set on dry hair using my whipped shea butter that I made a couple months back. Between each section, I also applied megatek to my scalp. In total, it took me about 8 hours with about 2-3 5 minutes breaks in between. My arms were killing me but once I finished the first half I had no choice but to do the second. My advice to anyone attempting to do a twist set like this is to allot at least 1 full day to the process. I started my hair at around 3:30 and didn't finish until almost midnight! If it weren't Sunday, I would have just slapped a bonnet on and finished in the morning! I don't know much about how to care for them, but I do know that they make for a great protective style and I plan to keep them for as long as I can! My minimum goal is at least 2 weeks if I can keep them up for that long. So far what I love most about them is the fact that I have so many styling options. Right now I have the front twisted up and the back is out. I played around with two french braids last night and it was lookin kinda cute, maybe I'll give that a go later on this week. Well, enough wrappin...here are some pictures! Enjoy!