Twist Regimen

"look beautiful, longer"-DJ

Being as though it takes me upwards of 8 hours to do a twist set on my hair, I like to keep it in for at least three (3) weeks. During those three weeks, I also like to look decent. This requires me to take care of my hair as to prevent frizz and unraveling (although I'm not sure if that's even possible on natural hair). Here are some tips and tricks if you are also trying to get the most out of your twist set:

1. Moisturize: since washing and co-washing aren't an option during the time that you will have your twists in, moisturizing will be key in keeping your hair healthy. Honestly, water is the only real moisturizer but I find that adding any product with slip will keep your hair from frizzing, breaking and also adds a soft texture with shine. I use Silicon Mix by Avanti once a week but bear in mind, any products with silicones must be washed out with either shampoo or a baking soda rinse. This is just a quick fix for the time being. I follow the mix with pure grapeseed oil to seal.

2. Stretching: due to unforseen circumstances, your hair may begin to shrink over the course of time. Maybe you forgot to wear a shower cap, it was really humid one day or your hair just naturally shrinks over time. To combat this issue, I braid my hair in medium sized invividual braids all over to "stretch" the hair. I usually end up with about 10-15 braids. I think the longer your hair is the less you'll need. I just try to make the small enough to stay in. A huge braid will unravel itself instantly! So anyway, I usually keep the braids in overnight and take them out in the morning. Not only does my hair appear longer but also a little crimped from the braids.

3. Tieing: this one's a given. In order to maintain your hair you mus tie it up at night with wither a silk or satin scarf. Bonnets are a lot easier, however, if you're anything like me, you apprieciate how the scarf lays down your edges every night.

Hopefully these tips and tricks help you all to preserve your twists and keeps you looking beautiful, longer! Hope it helped! Until next time, Happy Healthy Hair Growing!

P.S., here's a quick shot of what the Silicon Mix I was talking about looks like. You can find it at any beauty supply store for about seven bucks.

Product Review: Sabino Moisture Block (Take Two)

As promised, I did not give up on the breakthrough product Sabino Moisture Block who's inventors claim to have made a product that makes your hair virtually waterproof! Last Tuesday, as you all know, I straightened my hair just to see how it would look with my new color. The following day I decided to give Sabino another try. Just as a recap, the last time I used this product, I used it on wet hair just before blowdrying which in comparison to this go 'round was a complete disaster! My hair felt heavy, sticky and untouchable; not good! So I had given it quite a bit of thought about what may have gone wrong in my execution and I decided to try something a little different.

Getting my hair straight has never, ever been an issue on my natural hair. It's always been keeping it straight that posed such an issue. So this time, instead of using sabino to get my hair straight, I used it to keep my hair straight! After a day of being straight, I parted my hair in the same small sections that I parted them in to initially get my hair straightened and smoothed very, very....very small amounts of the Sabino onto each section before using my flat iron to press the product into my strands as described on the video posted below. My hair didn't feel heavy or sticky. It was just like using a heat protectant serum! I wasn't too eager to jump straight into the steam test like the women on the video and instead, opted to just let nature take it's course (if she saw fit). Well, I can honestly say that I am officially a believer and would recommend this product to any and every woman who hates having her hair puff up in public or just in general! It's been FIVE days since I used Sabino Moisture Block and my hair hasn't even considered reverting! I've been out and about, in the humidity and even done some household cleaning, and nothing! The most accurate way to describe the way my hair feels is that feeling when you know your roots are starting to grow in from your last relaxer and maybe you need a slight touch up. But that is to be expected since my roots were the only part that I wasn't able to thoroughly use the product on. This product is AMAZING! I found it online for a reasonable price and I urge you all to click this link and buy this product immediately! No, seriously...I'm not kidding, click the link! Now! Go!

And as always, Happy Healthy Hair Growing!

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!

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*

Hawaiian Silky

A few posts ago I told you all that I had bought a couple new products. One of which being Hawaiian Silky Miracle Worker 14-in-1. I must say that I REALLY love this product. It claims to moisturize hair, strengthen, define curls, soften, add shine, soothe dry scalp, reduce breakage for healthy braids, repair chemical damage, increase body and act as a thermal protectant. I got it at Sally's for $4.79 for a 16 Fl Oz bottle which isn't a bad price at all! The only reason this product even caught my eye is because of the previous reviews I had seen on youtube from youtuber DPrincess28 and she was NOT exaggerating. The product adds great slip and dries invisible. Although it comes in a spray bottle, it's about the consistency of a scented hand lotion from maybe Bath & Body Works.

Now I'm sure a lot of you can relate when I see it is EASY to become a product junkie when you're looking for that one product that just does EVERYTHING that you want but none seem to be able to stand up to the challenge. Well, I won't say that I've found my EVERYTHING in this product but it comes VERY close! My biggest issue used to be that I couldn't find a product that I could leave in my hair to define my curls and at the same time also leave them soft, touchable, and not STICKY! Hawaiian Silky has been all that to me and honestly, depending on the look I'm going for, it's all I need. However, it doesn't weight my hair down enough and my hair isn't long enough to weight itself down for the look that I've been doing lately so I go ahead and use my Olive Oil Eco Styler gel on top of it!

As far as the negatives, this product does have Mineral Oil listed as it's 4th ingredient which we all know isn't something that we want in our hair. I've been making sure I use a mild shampoo weekly to prevent product build up. Also, I use a sulfate shampoo about once a month to really cleanse my hair from any cones and other product build up. Since the weather outside has been pretty warm, frequent washes aren't an issue but once winter rolls back around, we'll see if/how I adjust my regimen to fit this product in. Other than that though, I am all smiles!

If you haven't been able to tell so far, Hawaiian Silky get a GIRL, YES! from me! I would highly recommend giving it a shot and at $4.79 a pop, what do you really have to lose?! Hope this helps someone! Here's a picture to help your in your search!

Oh No She Didn't!

Oh yes I did girl, and I got the pictures! LOL I know ya'll like....what? Well, let me explain! This week is my university's annual homecoming week. We have events every week night that lead into our homecoming day parade and of course, the football game! As an executive board member of the National Council of Negro Women, I am going to be a part of the parade along with Miss NCNW. Our theme this year is retro. Basically we want to emphasize the longevity that NCNW has enjoyed through the years and pay homage to the ladies who came before us in our organization. I chose the 1960's as my decade to honor. Last night I stood in the mirror for hours trying to figure out the best way to manipulate my bantu knot TWA into a style that best matched the 60's. Sadly, my curlies failed me. I decided to do a co-wash (with NuGro), a deep treatment with LeKair Cholesterol plus and put a little heat to my hair. Of course, I used heat protectant (hydratherma naturals hearbal gloss heat protectant) I think that's the only product from that line that I don't have a problem with..but that's another story all together. Anyway, I digress...after making sure each section of my hair was completely protected from the heat I blowfried it with my yellowbird blowdryer (which I love to death) and used my chi ceramic flat iron to straighten my hair. Before using the chi I made sure to apply another coat of the heat protectant. My hair came out BEAUTIFUL! Bouncy, shiny and FULL of body! I am in love. I almost missed my straight hair after seeing the end result. Not enough to relax again though! Honestly, my roots get a lot straighter with my 2 1/2 inches of newgrowth than it did with the perm! This right here is pure confirmation that relaxers no longer have a place in my life and definitely not in my hair! Sidebar: Good Hair comes to theaters today! I may or may not be going to see it tomorrow! I'm excited. If and when I go I'll be sure to blog my reviews! Below are a few pictures of the products and tools that I used and of course a couple shots of my hair :) As always ladies, click to enlarge & until next time Happy Healthy Hair Growing!

Good News, Bad News

"My newgrowth curls are so camera shy!"-DJ

Hey hey hey! Week 21 has arrived and I am SO excited!!! Unfortunately, as the post title says, I have a little bad news. My camera's memory card USB adapter is broken! Until I get a new one I will not be able to post any digital pictures of my hair's progress. Honestly, the camera doesn't really show the progress too well anyway. I can feel my curlies coming in soooo nicely but when I take the pictures it's like "uhm, where's the curl dude?" lol. HOWEVER, the post title also says I have a little GOOD NEWS to share!!!!! (LOL don't get too excited it aint alla that!) The good news is I have a camera on my blackberry and although the quality will be just a notch above horrific, I can at least post something! So anyway, on with the moral of this story. I was playin around with some products last night after my co-wash and decided to see if SoftSheen.Carson's LET'S JAM! (picture below) would do anything special to my damp hair. Like I said, I can see and feel my little curls just lovely, but they never realllllyyy.....stay! So on the sides of my hair just above my ear, I applied a little LET'S JAM onto my damp/wet hair strands. The result was INCREDIBLE! I could see a definite curl pattern in my new growth and I was in love! To all my transitioners, LET'S JAM get's a Girl, yes! from me for exposing that little camera shy new growth! Here are a couple pictures. The first one is a picture of the LET'S JAM that I bought on campus at a rip off price of nearly $5.00! (yeh, I'm mad! lol) The second is a shot of the curl pattern that LET'S JAM helped to define and third shows my hair stretched. I think I'll suffer from sever shrinkage when I become fully natural! LOL...and that's JUST FINE! (click to enlarge)

Now, as you all know I keep things 100 here and I must say, I don't know if I would want to use LET'S JAM all over my head as a curl defining product. It does contain mineral oil, which as we know can be very drying to us naturals and permies alike! Also, the consistency doesn't really float my boat too much. It's very thick and sticky and I feel like if I were to use this all over as a curl defining product that it may weigh my hair down. On the up side though, by the end of the day I can't even tell I put any in. (actually I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing...) There are other, lighter products that claim to have the same result as I got in my little experiment (i.e. Kinky Curly Curling Custard, ECO Styler Gel, etc.) While I have not actually used either product personally, I have felt the texture of KCCC and would much rather have something of that consistency on my hair than I would LET'S JAM. But of course, most ladies (including myself) use LET'S JAM for their edges. As far as slickin these suckas back, I would rate LET'S JAM at a 7/10. It definitely gets them back but it fails miserably at the "extra hold" part. Just a few hours into the day, and my sides are already getting frizzy! That is so not cute! I'm not sure if it's just my hair that gives this product a hard time but this isn't something that I would give much praise to. Welp, I need to start getting ready for class dolls! Until next time, Happy Healthy Hair Growing!!!

Product Junkie

Here are some products that you may like to try out on your hair or give your tressetimony to. 

1. Herbal Essence's Hello Hydration

I've been using this product to co-wash, meaning to wash my hair with conditioner as opposed to shampoo, for about a week or two now and it works very well for my hair. I got a 23.7 OZ bottle for about $7-8 at my local Walmart, which quite frankly is a steal! This product provides much slip, or silky feeling, that allows for effortless detangling (on wet hair of course!). Unfortunately ladies, this product does contain silicones which is not easily removed with a simple co-wash regimen and can cause product build up. Silicones can be removed from the hair with a sulfate (damn near every) shampoo but sulfate tend to be very drying to the hair and is a no no for girls with curls, kinks, or coils. All in all though, my hair responds well and I will continue to use and buy this product. Remember, no two curls are the same. Your hair may or may not react in the same manner.

2. Aubrey Organics Glycogen Protein Balancing Shampoo

The first time I used this shampoo it was also the first time I'd ever tried a sulfate free shampoo. My first reaction was "WOW"!!! It felt so good and so moisturizing to my hair. The smell reminds me of oatmeal baths and old people, which sucks but hey, what can ya do? The product consists of mostly organic ingredients and as previously stated NO SULFATES!!! I shampoo'd my hair again last Sunday using the product and was a little less impressed. I don't know if it's because my hair had been getting the moisture is needs (and deserved) or what but it didn't seem to be the magic in a bottle that I remembered it to be. With this product, it takes a second go to lather properly but that seems to be the case with me in general. Anyone else having this issue? Anyway, I digress...while I'm slowly failing to see the point in shampoos at all (especially one that isn't clarifying my hair) I would recommend this to any curly girl who may still be on the fence about the co-wash method. Shampoo is all most of us have ever known and thus it's a little hard to break free from. No worries, Aubrey will wean you off the poo quite nicely!

3.  Aubrey Organics White Camellia Ultra-Smoothing Conditioner for Dry, Coarse, Unruly Hair

Well, it smells a lot better than it's counterpart! Still not a heavenly scent, but much more tolerable. It's consistency isn't all that thick but at the same time isn't runny. It's about that of a light yogurt which i consider to be acceptable. When applying this conditioner, you don't have to be too heavy handed which is WONDERFUL!!! This conditioner makes a great detangling aid (possibly better than HH). Another perk is, just like the rest of the Aubrey Organics line, it's ORGANIC! No questionable ingredients here folks! One youtuber said "if you can't eat it...it shouldn't be going in your hair". I don't know if I would take it THAT far, but natural products are always gonna be the healthier choice to make.

4. Raw (unrefined) Shea Butter

Shea butter is most definitely the BOMB.com! If you're like me and can't stand the smell of it you can always add a scented oil to make it work for you. However, I've noticed that once it's in my hair it takes on a totally different smell (a nice one). To make it easier to use, I pop mine in the microwave for about 15 seconds before applying to my hair. Shea butter adds plenty of moisture to my hair but after a couple days, a nice co wash is necessary. My hair starts to get this sticky feel to is that bothers me to no end. Shea butter can also be used on dry skin as a moisturizer.

Well, that's it for now folks! Hope I've helped. :)