Flower Power!

Flowers are one of my favorite hair accessories! I have one in just about every color.  They are super cute, and super feminine, and can jazz up just about any hairdo....all while adding a splash of color! 

For a couple years flowers were my signature.  You could just about always catch me with a flower!  The other day I felt the urge to revisit my former signature accessory.  I decided to liven things up, and wore my pink and white flowers with some twists. To my surprise the flowers brought a smile to some normally frown prone faces. It reminded me why I used to love them so much..... They just have a way of brightening things up!

Fran - Locker Extraordinaire

Fran

I've been admiring my fellow University of Hartford gospel choir member and alum Fran and her lovely locs.   This song bird has some seriously beautiful hair to match her amazing voice.  I was interested to learn a little bit about her hair story.  I decided to interview her to learn about her loc journey.


How long have you been relaxer free?

I have been relaxer free for 10 years.

What inspired your decision to rock your natural hair?

I hadn't seen my hair in its natural state since I was nine years old.  I just wanted a change.

Did you slowly transition or do a drastic big chop?

I did a slow transition.

How did family and friends react to your decision to wear your hair natural?

Family was slow to get on board with my decision but my friends loved it.

What would you say are your biggest hair challenges?

I don't think that I have any big hair challenges but sometimes I loathe having to re-twist my locs after having washed them.

If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have 4 hair products/tools, what 4 would you choose?

Locking gel, olive oil, coconut oil, and a fine-toothed comb.

Do you have any hair inspirations?  If so who?

I am inspired by my aunt, Dawn, who has locs down to her knees!

Any words of wisdom or advice you’d like to pass on to others?

The only advice that I have would be that if you're going to go natural, embrace all of the changes with an open mind and patience.  We are all beautiful no matter how we style our hair. 

FestAfrica 2013

I had an awesome time at FestAfrica 2013 this past Saturday!  The festival included African music, dance, comedy, and a fashion show. It's the 11th annual official African Festival for the State of Maryland, and is sponsored by the Nigerian Youth Association of Maryland.

I went with my fellow naturalista and blogger Kristy Samone. Kristy is a fashion blogger and writer of http://kristysamone.com/. She was rocking a cute blowout, and a bowed headband accessory.  We had an amazing time just hanging out watching the performances and eating :-) And of course being the bloggers that we are, Kristy was particularly interested in the African inspired fashion, as I the hairstyles :-)

I saw many MANY naturalistas at FestAfrica.  There was such a variety of styles; curls, locs, braids, twists, twas, updos, afros, you name it.  I saw this really cute curly puff w/ bangs worn by Jalisa. She was such a doll and let me snap a photo.  Her style was multi-functional as it was super cute, and the updo really helps to beat the heat.

My Two Cents - Pure Shea Store Mango Hemp-Shea Shampoo Bar & Shea Leave-In Conditioner

 

I recently tried out Pure Shea Store's Mango-Hemp Shampoo Bar, along with the Shea Leave-In. Pure Shea Store products are completely natural and created without animal testing, parabens, GMOs or other harmful ingredients. I've been using the products for a couple months now. I wanted the effects of the products for more than one use.  Alot of times the first use is a fluke, be it good or bad. 

Here are my thoughts...

Mango Hemp-Shea Shampoo Bar
I use this like I would any shampoo.  I applied after my oil treatment.

 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Coils
Pros:

• Lathers really well 
• Cleans scalp and hair well without any harsh ingredients
• Last a long time - You don't need to use alot
• All natural ingredients
• Price is really reasonable

Cons:  

• Personally it does not provide enough moisture for me.  My hair was super dry. 
• Frizz was like WHOA
• I actually ended up giving this away

Shea Leave-In Conditioner
I used this 2 different ways....  1st as the marketed leave-in conditioner.  I used like I would any other leave-in conditioner (post wash, and conditioner on wet hair).  2nd use was as a pre-shampoo treatment, used with a heating cap (pre wash and conditioner).

As a Leave-In
Rating: 3 out of 5 Coils
Pros:

• All natural ingredients
• Nice smooth texture - Very easy to apply 
• Last a long time - A little goes a long way
• Great at locking in moisture

Con:  

•  I had to experiment some with the amount to use, because my hair is somewhat sensitive to oils post wash and conditioner.  Oils tend to leave my hair on the greasy side.  So it took some trial and error on my part.

As a Pre-Treatment
Rating: 4 out of 5 Coils
Pros:

• Smooth texture is very easy to apply
• Coats hair easily
• Great for my finger detangling
• Smells wonderful
• Hair was soft and moisturized as I rinsed out

Cons: Can't really think of one


Check out the entire line of Pure Shea Store products for yourself at the following website: Pure Shea Store or visit on their retail stores in MD, DC, MI, GA, NC, or VA. 

My Faithful and Favorite Products

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is….“What products do you use in your hair?”

Before I go any further, let me make my disclaimer :-)   These are products that "I" like.  Everyone’s hair is unique and these items may or may not agree with your mane.  Using these is not a guarantee for success.

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program....

Although I sometimes experiment with different products, there are those products that I am faithful to.  These are the ones that I can always count on to do me right.  My faithfuls tend to be “all-natural” products.  It’s just a personal preference of mine that the items I am repeatedly using are healthy and natural.  Yeah I know…I’m a bit of a health fanatic.

Here's my list....

Shampoos:

Kinky Curly’s Come Clean

Beautiful Curls' Shea Butter Curl Activating Shampoo
Terressentials Pure Earth Hair Wash
Giovanni’s Smooth as Silk Deep Moisture Shampoo

Trader Joe's Nourish Spa Balance Moisturizing Shampoo

Conditioner:

Trader Joe's Nourish Spa Balance Moisturizing Conditioner

Honorable Mention Conditioner:
Giovanni's Smooth as Silk Deeper Moisture Conditioner

Deep Conditioner:

Beautiful Curls' Shea Butter Deep Conditioning Treatment

Protein Deep Conditioner:

Aubrey's GPB Balancing Conditioner

Leave-in Conditioners:

Kinky Curly’s Knot Today
Beautiful Curls' Shea Butter Curl Activating Leave-in Conditioner

Honorable Mention Leave-in Conditioner:

Giovanni's Direct Leave-in Weightless Moisture Conditioner

Gels:

Kinky Curly Curling Custard
Eco Styler Krystal Styling Gel

Honorable Mention Gels:

Beautiful Curls' Curl Control Custard
Homemade Flax Seed Gel

Cream:

Donna Marie - Dream Curling Creme

Honorable Mention Cream:

Shea Moisture - Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie

Oils & Butters:

Unrefined Shea Butter

Coconut Oil

Nourish & Shine by Jane Carter ***Been using a few months now.  I think it may be favorite worthy.

Pomade:

Giovanni’s Wicked Texture

Wash & Go Web (ie. Tangles)

 

Hola mi amigos!  It's been a minute since I've posted anything.  Been super busy with the new job.  I finally have a moment to breathe and write a post!

 

A couple weeks ago my curlfriend Cam and I were venting about the annoying tangles when wearing wash & go styles repeatedly.  So of course, I decided to write a post about it :-)

 

Wash & Go - In the coily natural hair community this refers to a carefree style where you wash/condition, add gel or cream to style it and then leave it to air dry or use a diffuser.  In theory you should be able to wash your hair and just go about your business.

 

My relationship with the Wash & Go has evolved into a love/hate relationship.  It's been a staple style on and off for YEARS.  I absolutely loved it, but over the past year and 1/2 or so they have evolved and require more post styling maintenance than I would like. 

 

My gripe has absolutely nothing to do with the look of my wash and go.  I absolutely love the look!  And I get complements left and right when I wear them.  My gripe and frustration is concerning the tangles that come as a result of repeated wash and going.

 

The logical reason that I came up with is that the tangles are worse because my hair is longer.  Therefore there is alot more opportunity for the strands to tangle and intertwine between themselves.  On wash days my hair can be tangle city!  Although it looks great, it's such a pain dealing with the knots and tangles.

 

I love wearing wash and gos in the warmer months, so I'm going to have to find a way to combat these tangles.  I already do regular oil treatments, which do help alot with getting out tangles.  But how about avoiding tangles in the first place! 

 

The first thing that comes to mind is to perhaps stretch my hair before I wash it.  Like maybe do my hair in big plaits/twists at night before washing...the hope would be that twists/plaits would keep the hair from raveling around itself overnight.  It's worth a shot.... Hopefully it works!

 

How about you?  Any suggestions?  How do you prevent tangles?

 

Pre-Shampoo Treatment w/ Pure Shea Store's Leave-In

Hola Curlistas!

I woke up the other morning ready for my weekly pre-oil treatment.  Just one thing...I didn't have enough coconut oil!  What's a girl to do?!?!?!  I was on the lazy side and didn't feel like running to the store, so instead I looked around to see what I could use.  I came across Pure Shea Store's Leave-In Conditioner in my closet, and decided to press my luck.  The 2nd ingredient is coconut oil...so I figure it was worth a shot.  Wouldn't you know it, it actually worked very well as a pre shampoo treatment :-)  Here are my thoughts:  

Rating: 4 out of 5 Coils
Pros:

• Smooth texture is very easy to apply
• Coats hair easily
• Great for my finger detangling
• Smells wonderful
• Hair was soft and moisturized as I rinsed out

Cons: Can't really think of one

I have to say that I am really glad that I thought of the idea.  I assume its because of all the oils included in the products that I was able to use it as an oil treatment.  Yaay for multi-tasking products!