Pinapple Pros and Cons

The pineapple method is a nighttime practice used to maintain curly/coily hair. In a nutshell it's basically the act of gathering your hair into a very high ponytail on the top of your head and securing with a scrunchie (your hair is in the shape of a pineapple as the term suggests).    Pineappling is a great way to achieve second-day hair. It helps to preserve your curls while you sleep.

I suppose like almost anything, the pineapple has its pros and cons.  These are they (in my opinion):

Pros:

• Helps to prevent overnight curl wreckage/smooshing
• Quick and easy
• Helps to keep wash in go for multiple days
• Yields good results if I want an updo or backdo the next day (Alot of times I will leave in the pineapple and wear it like that the next day.  I just shake and fluff, and keep it moving)

Con:

• Not always full proof if I want to wear my hair down. Sometimes creates this rather awkward shape the next morning (sides and back stretched, crown normal).

My personal preference is to pineapple at night, when I am going to wear my hair up or back the following day.  Since it stretches some of my curls, I don't always do it if I know I want to wear my hair down. I really don't have the energy in the mornings to fight to reshape my hair.

What are your thoughts on pineappling?

My Two Cents - Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue

During a shopping trip to Target a few months ago, my curlyfriend Cindy and I spotted a pretty fabulous Miss Jessie's sale. We were shocked to see that Miss Jessie products were 40% off.  Now that's a deal!

It had been years since I jumped off the Miss Jessie's bandwagon.  When I first started wearing my hair natural I used the Curly Pudding pretty regularly.  I really liked it, as it provided a really nice hold for my hair.  I stopped using for a few reasons; I wanted to find a cheaper alternative, I felt that my hair was dry, it gave me that hard hair effect, and I wanted to use more all-natural ingredients. 

That was probably about 4 years ago.  Since then Miss Jessie's has changed the formula for both the Curly Pudding, and Curly Meringue to exclude silicones and parabens, so with the urging of my curlfriend Cindy I decided to give the Curly Meringue a try and purchased the 8oz jar.  I was very unsure of what the results would be.  My hair care practices are very different then what they were 4 years ago (i.e. I've learned how to retain moisture), but I still feared that Miss Jessie's would result in dry hair.

Here are my two cents...

Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue
I apply this styler as I would any other.  It's my very last product in my wash day routine (leave-in conditioner, then Shea butter, then Curly Meringue).  I've used it both as a wash n go styler, and large twists.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Coils
Pros:

• Silicone-free
• Paraben-free
• Can be purchased just about any place that sells hair products
• Smells wonderful
• Great hold, yet hair soft to the touch (very important to me)!!!!!
• Hair maintained moisture (huge plus)!!!!!
• Can get 6/7 day hair

Cons:  

• Pricey when it's not on sale
• I have to be pretty heavy-handed when applying
• Cream is visible in hair until hair fully dries
• Takes forever to air dry (which is actually the norm for me, not really the fault of the product.. I just have so much hair)

I was extremely happy with the results.  So much so that I then bought 3 (yes I said 3) of the 16oz jars while they were still 40% off!!!  Might as well make use of sale price while I can :-)

How about you?  Any experiences with Miss Jessie's products? 

To Color or Not to Color... That is the Question

 

Every once in awhile I get the itch for change.  This time my itch involves the question of color.  Specifically, should I or should I not change my hair color? 

I'm no stranger to color.  Years ago I was a redhead.  (Well it was a cross between light brown and red.)  The photo below is from my redhead days.  I went back to my dark brown/black hair about 4 years ago for a few reasons:

1. All the coloring left my hair very dry, and I couldn't deal anymore. 
2. I went the more all-natural organic route, and swore off all chemicals.
3. I was tired of the upkeep, and maintenance.  It all became soooo time consuming and I just didn't want to deal anymore.

Fast-forward 4 years to now....  I've been happy with my natural hair color, but sometimes I feel like I want to do something a little different.  My cousin has these fierce highlights that I'm really digging.  But I don't know if I want to go through the hassle.  Then there is always the semi-permanent rinse option, which is good because it's commitment free.  And if I want to go the all-natural chemical-free route there is always henna or indigo.

What's a curl to do?  To color or not to color?  Any thoughts?

Water - Drink Your Way to Healthy Hair

H20… We all know it’s good for our bodies.  This should come as no surprise.  Water is important for our overall health.  It hydrates every cell in our bodies, which in turn also effects our hair.

I must admit, I am not getting my recommended 60+ ounces each day.  I do pretty well, but I’m not all the way there yet.  I am usually somewhere within the 32-40 ounces range.  This is not including when I work out.  I don’t count my working out water intake, because all I’m doing is trying to replenish whatever I’m sweating.  To me that doesn’t count towards general daily water intake. 

Let's talk water and hair for a minute....  Do your tresses always appear dry despite all your attempts at moisturizing?  It might be because you are not drinking enough water.  When you don’t intake enough water, your body becomes dehydrated.  This will impact your hair too curlfriends!

I’m going to start a 6 week challenge, which will encourage me to boost my water intake from my normal 32-40 ounces to 60-70 ounces per day (excluding working out of course).  Not just for my hair health, but overall health.  I invite you to join me on this challenge so we can all reap the benefits together!

The target is to drink ½ your body weight in ounces each day. For example, if you are 128lbs you should be drinking 64 ounces per day.  In general 64 ounces is a really good target, regardless of weight (in my extremely unprofessional opinion).  My suggestion for achieving 64 ounces:

16 ounces before breakfast
16 ounces before/with lunch
16 ounces before/with snack
8 ounces before/with dinner
8 ounces when taking daily vitamins

Let’s challenge ourselves to complete this daily.  Our bodies and hair will thank us for it!  Happy Drinking!

High Pom Pom Ponytail

My hairstyle for today is what I call the Pom Pom Ponytail.  This is more commonly called a high pony tail, or puff. I like to say pom pom, because it reminds be of my cheerleader days back in highschool.  This hairstyle is great for an old wash and go, that's starting to lack whip appeal! 

This is how I achieve my High Pom Pom Ponytail:

Items You'll Need

• water bottle (optional)
• moisturizer/gel (optional)
• hair tie
• hair/bobby pins (optional)

1.  Spritz hair with water, so that hair is pliable. (optional depending on the mood my hair is in)
2. Add moisturizer and/or gel. (optional depending on the mood my hair is in)
3. Bend forward, and flip hair over head. Smooth it from the neck down.  You can either use your hands, or a brush.
4. Gather hair into a ponytail. While bending, bring all hair into a ponytail that sits high on the crown of the head. 
5.  Secure the ponytail with hair tie.  I like to use a either a headband or scrunchie. 
6.  Loosen the front and side perimeters (optional). Push the ponytail upwards, making a loosening around the edges (as not to have so tight and ease the tension). 
7. Fluff the pom pom.

All done!

 

My Two Cents - Carol's Daughter TUI Hair Smoothie & TUI Leave-In Conditioner

While perusing at my neighborhood ULTA I came across the Carol's Daughter section and had to stop.  I have heard so many great things about Carol's Daughter hair products over the years, but I had yet to try them for myself.  So I saw this as the perfect time to give them a try.  I  mean if it's good enough for Jada Pinkett-Smith, it's worth a shot right! 

My hair was in need of a good deep conditioning session, so after much reading of labels I decided on the TUI (Moisturizing) line. I purchased the TUI Hair Smoothie Deep Conditioner, in addition to the TUI Leave-In Conditioner.

Here are my two cents...

TUI Hair Smoothie
I applied this deep conditioner after my regular shampoo session. After thoroughly coating all my strands with the smoothie I covered with a plastic bag, and sat with my heating cap for 30-35 minutes. 

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Coils
Pros:

• Natural ingredients
• Smells wonderful

Cons:  

• Soooo not moisturizing for my hair 
• Hair felt almost hard-like after washing out
• A little does not go a long way. I used about 7 of the 8 oz in one application.
• Totally overpriced considering the results

TUI Leave-In Conditioner
I used like I would any other leave-in conditioner (post wash, and conditioner on wet hair). 

As a Leave-In
Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Coils
Pros:

• Natural ingredients
• Great fruity scent
• Does not weigh down hair

Cons:  

•  Not a fan of the texture - I prefer leave-ins that really coat my hair
• Non-moisturizing
• Horrible for my detangling

I must say that I was terribly disappointed with these two products.  In the words of "In Living Color's" Blaine and Antoine, "Hated It"!!!  In no way, shape, or form did it live up to the claim of "Moisturizing" for me.  Perhaps there are other Carol's Daughter product lines that will work better for me.  But as far as the TUI line goes, it's a wrap.  I do not plan to repurchase. 

How about you?  Any experiences with Carol's Daughter products? 

Weathering the Winter

I often hear complaints about the winter weather and what it does to our hair.  Actually I've been one of those complaining in winters past.  But I must say, that this winter I have noticed quite a difference in my hair.  I am not having dry hair issues like I have experienced in times past.  Of course now that I've said that I hope I don't jinx myself. 

It was just the other day actually when I really noticed.  I've been traveling quite a bit since December...and to be honest I haven't paid much attention to my hair.  I've been trying to do as little as possible as far as maintenance.  I haven't pampered and babied it like I normally would (especially during the cold weather).  Over the last 6 weeks, I think I've deep conditioned only once! In addition, I haven't done my normal pre-oil treatments either.  So how the heck is my  hair not dry!

Right now my hair seems to be thriving even with the bare minimum that I've been doing.  Could it be that all the months of TLC and oil treatments were in vain.  I wouldn't go that far.  I do believe that healthy hair habits are beneficial and helpful.  I just realize now that it's not the end of the world if you don't cross your t's and dot your i's every single wash session. I suppose it's similar to eating healthy all year, and then forgoing the healthy food for the Holiday meals.  Having some mac and cheese, candied yams, and sweet potato pie is not going to suddenly cause me to have high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Anyway, I'll definitely be giving myself a nice deep treatment this wash day.  Don't want to take things for granted and then end up with a pile of hay sitting on top of my head :-)  Better to be safe than sorry.  Later curlfriends!