Reminder

Don't forget ladies! You can share your story and be featured on my blog by submitting a "Trader Girls" form (found below) to my email DonnaJenay@aol.com!








_________________________________________






Name:
Hair Status: (Transitioning/Natural)
Tips/Tricks/Testimony:
Hair Pictures: (4 max)

Check out past Trader Girls by clicking tag under "quick search" to your left!

Trader Girls

Don't forget ladies! You can share your story and be featured on my blog by submitting a "Trader Girls" form (found below) to my email DonnaJenay@aol.com!








_________________________________________






Name:
Hair Status: (Transitioning/Natural)
Tips/Tricks/Testimony:
Hair Pictures: (4 max)

Check out past Trader Girls by clicking tag under "quick search" to your left!

Trader Girls

This Trader Girls edition is special to me because I am particularly proud of this young lady. We went to high school together. I have memories of us singing the latest tunes together in P.E. when we were probably supposed to be doing something else and now you can catch her on iTunes with her single "Yea, Yea"!

Sarrah Ade

Age: 22

Location: Bowie, MD

Hair Status: 5 months natural

Testimonial: My name is Sarrah and I am a fully natural sista! I transitioned for about 3 months until my BC (BIG CHOP). I was suppose to transition for a year and then get my BC but decided to make it a little sooner. I had been getting relaxers for as long as i can remember but to specific...since about ages 5-6 (I know..what a shame lol). I had been through hell and back with my hair. I recently decided to go natural on January 29th 2010 and my BC date was April 12th 2010. I hope my Journey and ultimate success inspires another girl to realize that she can love and embrace her natural God given hair.

^_^

Trader Girls

Hey there! Just a friendly reminder that YOU can be a part of my blog by simply sharing your hair testimonial via Trader Girls! Trader Girls is just a "segment" of the blog where YOU, the reader are granted the opportunity to put yourself and your lovely locs in the spotlight! Kind of like show and tell! Tell us what you do to keep that mane magnificent, those locs luscious and that hair happy! We wanna know! Got a tutorial? Type it up and send it in! Maybe you just have a funny story to share..whatever it is, don't hesitate to email it in! Just think to yourself "would this be a great add to Donna's blog? Girl, YES!"

Email the following to: DONNAJENAY@AOL.COM

Name:

Age:

Location:

Hair Status: (transitioning, natural, locs, etc.)

Story/Tutorial/Testimonial:

Pictures: (3 max)

Trader Girls

Tasha Jay

Hair Status: Transitioning since July 17, 2009

Tips & Tricks: ummm lets see that’s kinda a hard one. I don’t really have a lot of tips, but certain products have definitely made my transition smoother than it could have been.

1. Silicon Mix conditioner and leave-in conditioner has saved my life. it is a light protein so it helps strengthen my hair especially at the line of demarcation. It also has helped with detangling. It adds mega SLIP!
2. Minimal heat has definitely made my transition easier as well. I rarely add head to my hair right now because I cant stand dealing with the two textures
3. Co-Washing! When I first tried co-washing I definitely couldn’t get with it, but as I kept trying it, I felt that my hair retained more moisture and made my hair more manageable
4. Pony-tails and buns! I’m a student and I refuse to straighten my hair all the time so the pony tails and buns have been my chosen protective style.
5. Treat your hair like its fine silk during the transition process. Its very hard not to get frustrated with your hair and you want to basically yank it out. But even though I am transitioning, I’m also in it for retention. Until I BC I will be holding on to whatever hair I have!
6. Watch Youtube and visit hair blogs and forums for tips on how to retain hair and product reviews, but remember what works for everyone may or may not work for you. Don’t jump on every bandwagon you hear about. And of course Research new products before you buy them. That will save you money!
7. Don’t be discouraged. The first time I transitioned I went 9 months strong, and then I got discouraged and peer pressured into slappin some Kreamy Krack in my head. As a result, my hair broke off drastically. That was the final straw and now Im in this for the long hall. Don’t let people tell you that going natural Is a waste of time. DO YOU BOO! Its your hair, do as you please with it.

Staples: Hydratherma Naturals Growth Lotion and Gro

wth Oil. IC protein gel (the clear one), Silicon Mix, Just for me Hair Milk detangler, Chi silk infusion, Herbal Essence Hello Hydration, Wide tooth comb and paddle brush, My Handy Dandy Scarf! (the term wrap it up aint just for me. Tie

your hair up at night to prevent breakage)

Goal Length: FULLY NATURAL BSL

BC Date: July 17^th, 2011 (might change that who knows.

Trader Girls

Merry Christmas Guys!!! This Christmas, I have a very special Trader Girls to give you all! Leslie` Nikole is back with a pictorial for you all about henna! Thank you SO MUCH Leslie`! I hope you all enjoy!

HENNA IN TEN STEPS!

1. Put down newspaper like you have a dog that isn't potty trained. Henna stains are just that serious.

2. Sift through your henna into a bowl that you aren't going to be using anymore for anything special.

3. While your sifting, put five green tea teabags in a pot of 4 cups of water to boil. Let this boil up for about ten minutes, then take it off the heat to let it cool down a bit and pour out a cup and a half of water. ( I made a mistake with mine, I used 2 and some cups and it was too watery. I ended up putting flour into the mix; I sifted it so it worked out. Damm this stuff is BLACK! It kind of looks purple-y. )

4. Then, pour in your oil of choice. I heated up a bottle of (click here) Vatika (150ml) oil and poured it in. It's made up of coconut oil, lemon oil, rosemary oil and some other stuff. It was recommended to me by a Bengali girl in my class.

5. Stir up the mixture with a plastic fork and while wearing disposable plastic gloves. Then, let it sit with nothing covering it for 15-20 minutes. While you're letting it sit, do a quick clean up of wherever you mixed your henna and then move on to your bathroom or wherever you're going to put the henna on your head and put down more newspaper on the floor, cut open a plastic bag and put it in the bath tub or over the sink. Make sure you leave a hole for draining.

6. Make sections in your hair ( I did about 12 ) and start applying! You can do this however you want, with or without gloves. If your mixture is really wet, moist or runny; try not to move your head around to much. No one likes a henna splatter. Make sure your edges and ends are well coated and then "wrap" your hair with the help of the henna.7. After your done applying, wash off your hands/take off your gloves and get rid of the newspaper and garbage bag, you shouldn't have much more clean up than that to do, but if you do, get it done. 8. Get a plastic bag without a design on it ( if it has one, flip it inside out so that the ink won't touch your hair ) and cover your hair and make sure your hair line is well covered. After that, cover it with a towel. Wipe around your ears, forehead and neck so that the stain doesn't set in.

9. If you're going to sleep with your henna, you could try cutting a wife beater in two, making a cut at the arm loops (where the back and front connect, that little seam there) and down the sides. Use one or both pieces to wrap around your neck so that if the henna runs, it won't get on your pillows.

10. When you're done, put plastic wrap over your henna and pop it in the freezer until you want to use it again! >>

FIN!

Trader Girls

Nani Doll

Hair Status: Freshly Locked!

Tips & Tricks: Be neat. -One of the worst things I hear about natural hair is that "its just so lazy" or "it looks so messy" If you wanna work than work dont use natural hair as an out of taking care of your self. -Be comfortable in your own skin. One of the best things about having natual hair is that we flaunt who and what we are. We were all delt a hand, all we can do is work it.

Trader Girls

Before I do this edition of "Trader Girls", I would like to publicly thank Ms. Leslie for sharing her knowledge with myself and my readers. I learned something with every point this diva made! Thank you soooo much from the bottom of my heart for your contributions! It means a lot to me that you wanted to partake in my journey and my blog!

-Donna

leslie`nikole

NATURAL SINCE: natural all my life and I don't plan on changing it.

TIPS & TRICKS: in my short life span, i've learned many things.

1. natural black hair is not white hair. most of your time your hair doesn't flip and water might not always smoothen out your hair, might make it fuzz up more.

2. if you're like me, living in montreal, canada; your winters are EXTREMELY COLD. love your hats and hate having frozen ears but don't wanna break your hair because the hats are wool or cotton? find out about the fabric shops in your area, maybe even in china town and see if you can get a yard of silk cloth and glue. those two should cost you about 20 dollars. when you get home, cut out the cloth and glue the pieces on the inside and the rims of your hats to keep your hairline and your style. it's WAY cheaper than buying a whole bunch of hats.

3. you know those pantyhose you have, the ones with the gigantic hole in them? TAKE THEM OUT OF THE GARBAGE NOW AND WASH THEM. you can use these. cut off the toe and stretch the material over your brushes after you give em an extremely good cleaning. this will help you brush dust out of your hair. the dust will not collect in the brushes and the strands of hair will be EXTREMELY easier to get out. when you want to clean your brush, simply pull off the cut pantyhose and wash it.

4. braid/twist/Bantus knot your hair before you go to bed and slather on some moisturizer. not too much, just enough to seriously moisten the hair. then put a little oil in your hands and run it over the braids/twists/Bantu knots and tie your hair down with your scarf. then, cover that one with a cotton bandanna, usually about 50 cents. this will keep the silk scarf from slipping around and will keep some of the heat that leaves your body through your head, giving you a mild hot oil/moisturizing treatment while you sleep. when you wake up, maybe towel your hair if you find it too greasy, but usually it'll look okay. great for people who don't have a lotta moisture.

5. dreads. now, i grew up with reggae music, dub, Rastafarians ( my dad used to be one ) and incense. you don't need any of the things i listed to have dreads. and all though people associate dreads with rastas, doesn't mean you are one. the term dreadlocks is a rasta one though.
Rastafarians basis for dreading their hair is because they believe that scissors/razors/combs are Babylonian inventions and they want nothing to do with Babylon. it's just that serious. the reason why they dread their hair is because Samson, who's hair was never cut supposedly only had seven locs of hair, which they believe can't mean seven strands. dread locking symbolizes patience and a nazarite law of not cutting hair, so basically, dread locking means "dread to cut your locs ( of hair )" to Rastafarians.

6. just because you're natural, doesn't mean that boys won't talk to you. actually, boys will stop talking to you. young men/men who have their minds in the right direction will. so natual hair just might be the answer to stop getting so much of mcthug mcphony's attention. and with natural hair, comes the idea that you have an enlightened outlook on life. so put down that zane book when you're on the train and try malcom x's bio or something about african american history.

if i think of anything else, it'll probably be on: http://yngblkqwncnfsd.wordpress.com/ check it, it's my blog

If you would like to b a trader girl just email me at donnajenay@aol.com and we'll take it from there!

Trader Girls

Mara AKA "Daring Diiva"

NATURAL SINCE: May 2008 - June 2009 (i gave in... ugh)


TIPS & TRICKS: When it comes to natural hair, the "Wet, fresh out of the shower" look NEVER fails... unless its winter, then of course you'll get sick. Don't be afraid of your curls, whether their loose wavy curls or tight afrocentric curls, embrace them & RAWK THE HELL OUT OF THEM!! ***MY FAV*** Going natural can be one of the most difficult things a woman could ever decide to do, it's really hard to learn new tricks and trades when it comes to a natural look. When and if you try something new, and aren't quite sure of how others will perceive it, put your best face on n ROCK it like you're starting to set a new trend. When I say put your best face forward I mean EXACTLY that... Eyebrows must be arched, and the make up MUST be on point! A flawless face can be the finishing touch to any natural masterpiece... Need help? look me up on facebook!!! www.facebook.com/useyocommonsense

If you want to become a trader girl for Girl, yes ! all you have to do is email me at donnajenay@aol.com and we'll talk from there!!!!!