From Sassy to Classy

a bit of randomness: double buns

2011-06-23T19:00:00.000-04:00

i tried out a variety of styles last week for my natural anniversary, some kinda hot and some.....well, at least it was different, right? i normally pull my bangs back with a bobby pin or wear a high bun to prevent them from sticking out (fyu: the bangs i cut in january are past my nose and headed for my chin!), but last week i took to wearing them in a large two-strand twist or pushed to the side. how funny that a small change like that could cause a bit of a stir at work, since the lab is the LAST place people usually experiment with different hair and makeup looks!

on wednesday, i decided to go a little old-school and rock some fun pigtails. at the last minute, i folded them into buns and headed out the door. i definitely got some strange looks, but i also got lots of compliments. definitely a look i'll repeat in the future!

three years solid!: my june length check

2011-06-19T15:20:00.002-04:00

as some of you may know, i recently celebrated my third natural anniversary on june 13th. (yay!!) i was hesitant to do a length check since straightening with all the humidity this time of year would be pretty pointless, but curiosity got the best of me last week when i was prepping my hair for a wash and go. i had noticed in the days following that ponytail picture i posted recently that my hair was, in fact, past my shoulders when secured in a DRY low pony. this made me wonder....i mean, this didn't happen when i was BSL...could it be that i had gotten to MBL by my goal date??

turns out.....i was right! i do believe that this is the first time in all three years that i have reached a goal on time....what a great feeling though. even though i did this to get rid of the curiosity that was plaguing me, i didn't accomplish THAT goal. funny thing is, it made me want to straighten it all out even more. welp, the countdown to cooler weather begins....

it would be awesome if i could make it to waist length before the year is out. i usually set goals for the latter half of the year around my birthday in october, but i'm gonna need some wiggle room on this one. i am pretty sure i will need a 1-2" trim...not to mention that will give me time to find my almost nonexistent waist *smile*.

thanks for looking, guys!

sephora haul + diorshow maximizer lash plumping serum pre-view

2011-06-10T20:10:00.006-04:00

i've been trying to get to my local sephora for a few weeks now, but i'm usually so exhausted after work that i don't feel like driving out of the way to walk around the mall. last weekend i ran out of mufe hd foundation and my hand was kind of forced, so on monday i dragged my boyfriend out to southpoint so i could play in makeup.

i've been dying to pick up a lash primer since my friend mina made a blog post last month on long, dramatic, way-out-there-but-still-natural-looking lashes. it featured a youtube tutorial by the fab @shannontboodram of those girls are wild, and the pics alone were enough to convince me that this was something i needed in my life. after scooping up the mufe foundation (#153 for me), i made a beeline to the smashbox lash primer. although i already knew i wanted it, i tried it on just for kicks (making sure to test it out with BE flawless definition, since that's my go-to mascara these days) before heading directly to the register. right before i made it to the line, i was distracted by a group of women getting these outrageously glam false lashes applied...then BOOM -- i was sidetracked by a salesgirl named nicolette. i generally try to avoid the sales associates because they are incredibly adept at separating me from my money and selling me something i really don't need (that, or maybe i'm just gullible), but nicolette, a pretty brunette michelle trachtenberg look-alike, made enough small talk to make me WANT to try her recommendation. after asking me why i chose that specific primer, she began talking up a discovery she made a few months ago. the next thing i knew, i had swapped out the smashbox lash primer for diorshow maximizer, a primer that is more of a serum and lash enhancer....and also $12 more.

back when i started this blog, i was a diorshow mascara freak, and although the formulas are pretty great (especially iconic), the pretty packaging is probably what kept me loyal to the brand for about three years. i switched about a year ago when i stopped being such a mascara brand whore (haha) and discovered bare escentuals flawless definition, a formula that gives me a little volume and lots of length without being too flashy or dramatic. in conjunction with the diorshow maximizer, though, i have these incredibly fluttery, thick, long lashes with just enough curl to them that i can skip the eyelash curler. seriously....they would probably brush up against the lenses of my glasses if they weren't curled! according to dior, this primer also "promotes long-term lash growth, strength, and vitality," something i didn't even know a primer could do. if what they claim is true, it'll be way more than the packaging that keeps me repurchasing this.

full review on the maximizer, complete with before and after pictures, coming soon!

north carolina natural haircare expo 2011 -- who's going?

2011-06-06T20:00:00.003-04:00

i got wind of an upcoming natural hair expo here in the triangle this coming weekend via my new twitter account....and i couldn't be more excited!

the event, which will be held on the 11th and 12th in raleigh, will have "various LIVE entertainment, artistic flare from surrounding salons, jewelry makers, lecturers who specialize in holistic health, mind, body, and spirit." the class schedule is also posted, and i gotta say the one about starting your own hair care business looks GREAT! hopefully i'll be able to get off work in time for that particular class....but if not, i'm sure i'll find something equally interesting.

interested? you can get more info, including the schedule of events and participating vendors, here.

followup to "the score: giovanni smooth as silk shampoo"

2011-06-06T10:13:00.006-04:00

i don't like to shampoo my hair.

i tried the giovanni SAS shampoo about a day or two after i blogged about it. i love everything about it, the smell, the texture, the feel....but what i don't love is how it made my hair feel, and of course, that's the most important thing here. *big collective sigh*

my method of shampooing is to apply the product to my fingertips, then distribute it on my roots, since a) the purpose of shampooing is to clean your scalp and b) it's the best and quickest way for ME to tell how it's going to affect my hair. for those shampoos that work well with my hair, like aubrey organics gbp and kinky curly come clean, the suds will simply distribute down to my ends and my hair will feel clean, but not stripped or extremely dry. for those that we (me and my hair *smile*) can't get along with, like ALL shampoos with sulfates, organix shampoos, and unfortunately giovanni SAS, my fingers get trapped in my roots and i have to use half a bottle of conditioner to add the moisture back in. it's shampoos like these where i have a serious problem on my hands if i don't DC after washing.

before i relegate it to the body wash stockpile (or give it away), i think i'll try mixing in some conditioner as i shampoo my hair. i've heard this can cut down on the drying effect. anyone know of any other tips and tricks that can cut down on this tangling effect?

something's a little different...

2011-06-06T09:50:00.003-04:00

if you've been around these parts for a while now, you may have noticed the new twitter feed over in the side bar. last week, i created a twitter account for my up-and-coming site....and it went live yesterday! in one day i hit 100 followers, and i couldn't be more excited. thanks so much for the support, and of course i'll keep you guys posted on the site's progress!

in the meantime, follow @NaturalHairMojo HERE!

the ever-growing ponytail + sealing

2011-06-06T09:20:00.006-04:00

i have some super exciting news that i can't WAIT to share.....but i also have an awesome pic of my ponytail that i too last night after cowashing!

sigh.....if it only looked like this post-shrinkage...maybe one day. =)

i cowashed with tj nourish spa, used a t-shirt to soak up most of the water, added more tj nourish spa back into my damp hair, sealed with sweet almond oil and let it hang! sealing is something i struggle to be consistent with, as my long-time followers know....but i've been better with it for the past few weeks after a conversation with elle (@curlyheadedpj on twitter). we were discussing humidity, leave-ins and sealing and how the NC weather affects all of these things when i decided that maayyybbeee i'd better give it a try to keep in the moisture on these hot, hot days. since then, i've found that a quarter-sized amount of sweet almond oil is enough for my ends.

as i've also stated before, i think there's a noticeable difference between my hair when it's sealed vs. when it's not sealed...for instance, the pic from last night's blog entry shows my hair in an unsealed state (is that a word?...lol). it's fluffier, less defined and seems to feel dry faster without it. softer? yes...but i'd trade the teeny bit of softness i lose for the other benefits any day!

sunday randomness

2011-06-05T19:25:00.002-04:00

found this on my boyfriend's camera. not the greatest picture, but i think my hair (just a simple WNG) looks pretty great. ;)

the score: giovanni smooth as silk shampoo

2011-06-01T18:33:00.005-04:00

i could have never predicted yesterday when i wrote that post on giovanni SAS that i would run across the deal i found today at my local whole foods! i made a pit stop after work to pick up some macaroni elbows and a bag of apples (random....lol) and i saw a small display of giovanni styling products near one of the registers. instead of looking through the various gels, pomades and creams as was the intention of the rack, i made a beeline for the health and beauty section, realizing that a sale on styling products probably meant a sale on the shampoos and conditioners, too. boy, was i right....everything from the tea tree line to the 50:50 products and my beloved SAS are on sale this week for $5.59 a bottle. what's more is many bottles have a $1 off manufacturer's coupon attached to them, making them only $4.59, a great buy since they are usually $7-8. while it is still more economical to get the liter bottle, i documented my troubles with that already, not to mention the smaller size lets me pick the ones i want to try WHEN i want to try them. today's pick was the SAS shampoo. although i haven't tried it yet, it sounds promising...

*on the scale from clarifying to moisturizing, the bottle claims that this product is the most moisturizing of their line.
*it contains no sulfates, an additive that I KNOW dries out my hair and skin.
*this shampoo is certified vegan and organic....so it's good for me and the environment.
*it contains vegetable protein, which the label claims "cleanses gently," "alleviates frizz," and even "increases shine."

well, we'll see if it's all that is claims to be. if not, my search for that elusive perfect shampoo will continue!

the ups and downs of trader joe's nourish spa conditioner

2011-05-31T18:55:00.007-04:00

about a year ago, i made the (unconscious) decision to switch to all- or mostly natural hair care products. not that i have anything against my beloved VO5, herbal essences or ion products, but as part of an overhaul of my diet and general lifestyle, it just made sense to convert my hair products, too. it wasn't as hard on my wallet as i thought: i find giovanni products on sale at my local whole foods pretty often, i caught a killer sale on aubrey organics, so i'm good on DC for a while, and there is always marshall's and tjmaxx when i need a liter of giovanni smooth as silk or 50:50 (a product i haven't tried.....YET). as for some of the more "trendy" lines, kinky-curly is more expensive than i am used to, but one bottle of come clean shampoo lasts me a few months, and since i don't care too much for the curling custard and knot today, i don't have to break the bank on the whole line. jane carter, shea moisture, qhemet biologics and oyin handmade are next on my list. however, the frugalista in me loves the fact that there is a cheapie line i can turn to: trader joe's nourish spa.

while i haven't tried the shampoo (y'all know how finicky my hair is with that stuff), i believe i actually talked about tj nourish spa conditioner quite some time ago....like 2 or 3 years ago. back in the day, i couldn't decide if i liked it or not, since it seemed a little too thick for a cowash conditioner, but not quite nourishing enough to use as a DC. well....though i haven't really talked about it, the conditioner has actually been a part of my regimen for a few months now.

i have heard for a loooong time that it is comparable to giovanni smooth as silk, but since i never used that specific giovanni product, it didn't matter to me. that all changed around december of last year when i found the entire giovanni line on sale for $5 at whole foods and picked up the smooth as silk conditioner instead of the direct leave-in. as some of you may know, i'm from the "i'll try anything once" school of thought, so it wasn't a huge decision to grab the SAS instead of GDLI, especially since i was trying to decide if i liked the new version of GDLI as much as the other. long story short? it was great as a DC, but ROCKED as a cowash conditioner AND a leave-in!

now i'm not gonna lie, i'm used to getting a lot more conditioner for $5 (i believe their products come in 8oz bottles) but my hair was responding so great that i said 'forget it' and kept purchasing. i was in heaven when i came across the liter pump bottle at tjmaxx for $12.99, but being that i could only find the SAS in virginia, that joy didn't last too long. while i continued to run into the two local stores every week hoping to find a stray bottle, i decided to give tj nourish spa another go. i guess it was because i fell in love with SAS, but this time my hair responded IMMEDIATELY to nourish spa -- it stays soft, moisturized and tangle-free, and i can go longer without cowashing, too. i call it my "triple threat" since i can use it as a DC, cowash and leave-in. besides, it's got the other things on my "dream hair product" list: no offensive smell, readily available, pretty good ingredients, and fantastic portability. since i (re)discovered tj nourish spa, i've gifted it to my mom, sister and recommended it to a few coworkers as well. i mean, who doesn't need a multipurpose, all natural, CHEAP conditioner/moisturizer/styling product?

not bad for $3, huh?

ingredients: purified water, organic rosemary oil, organic valencia orange citrus, organic mango, organic lemongrass, organic ginko biloba, organic echinacea, organic willow bark, organic sea kelp, organic chamomile flower, organic textured soy protein, organic lavender, organic grapefruit citrus, tocopherol (Vit E), acetamide MEA, cetyl alcohol, citric acid, methylparaben, propylparaben, botanical fragrance

read the amazon reviews here!

lion's mane

2011-05-03T07:02:00.012-04:00

after rocking a WNG for a few weeks, i decided to blow out my hair. although the idea itself was pretty spur of the moment, the process was still fairly exhiliarating -- i got to buy new hair toys! of course i would need a blow dryer for this, so i used the opportunity as an excuse to purchase a babyliss pro dryer and joico k-pak smoothing balm from tjmaxx. i also got a chance to try out one of my new aubrey organics deep conditioners -- in one word, the gpb is FANTASTIC!

i worked in small sections with my denman *memo -- get a comb attachment for this blow dryer* and knew i was getting somewhere when my SO did a double take and exclaimed "wow, your hair is LONG!" -grin-

i actually wore it like this for a few days, even daring to take my lion's mane to work with me in all its glory. the thing i LOVED? it made a pretty full bun, something me and my fine hair don't get to experience that much. however, for most of its 3 week lifespan, my hair stayed in a french braid or two.

all in all, i felt as if everything went fine, considering my technique leaves something to be desired. now that the warm months are quickly approaching, i am reconsidering holding off on my next REAL length check until september or so. i just think of what i went through last summer after i foolishly straightened my hair in june and....well, shudder. LOL

springtime in the gardens

2011-05-03T06:29:00.000-04:00

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.
~Ruth Stout

Sarah P. Duke Gardens, April 2011

spring wishlist update: MUFE blush + moisturizer comparison

2011-03-21T09:39:00.003-04:00

as stated a few posts back, lately i've been drooling over this beautiful coral-y blush by MUFE called "quickie." it was getting to the point where i was obsessing over it, so i finally went out to purchase it and am so in love! as per my usual routine, while in the mall one day i made a beeline to sephora, and while there i asked a MUA to apply the blush to my cheeks just so i could make sure it was as lovely in person as i thought it would be. i then got a sample to take home and try myself -- God forbid i purchase it, get all excited, then be unable to duplicate the fab look done in the store! thankfully for me, the cream formula was easier to apply than i thought it would be. blush is one of my favorite makeup items, but all the ones i owned up until this point were of the powder variety, and truthfully i was a little intimidated by the shockingly bright cream in the pump bottle that i saw on display at sephora. armed with my essence of beauty blush brush, i went for it....and actually got it right! after wearing it to work one day, i knew i needed it, so when my SO picked me up and suggested a trip to the mall, i was all for it.

not only did i snag the blush, but since i am in the market for a good moisturizer that i can wear under my makeup, i also got samples of the DDF ultra-lite moisturizing dew, as well as the sephora instant moisturizer. i have become a true OCM (oil cleansing method) junkie and love, love, love moisturizing with EVOO, castor, grapeseed or sweet almond oil, but they are not very foundation-friendly. from my initial testing, the DDF seems really great, and i can tell why it is one of their consistent best sellers: it is non-greasy, wears very light (almost like you're wearing nothing at all) and has no smell to it. while the sephora moisturizer is very lush and equally moisturizes both the oily and dry parts of my face, it is almost a bit too heavy for my tastes and has a strange smell that i can't quite put my finger on. both are available in approximately 1.7 oz containers, but DDF is in a pump bottle and sephora's moisturizer is in a jar. while the instant moisturizer is the least expensive option at $20 vs the $38 for DDF, i think i will spring for the moisturizing dew. with spring here and summer a yawn away, i will need a lighter option for the days when my face feels like it is melting off. plus, there's always eBay! *wink*

this month's beauty insider picks were average at best, but i was able to trade in 100 points for a small bottle of philosophy purity. at one time i was a philosophy junkie and would have been dying to get my hands on this, but now i simply plan on using it on the days where i am performing a chemical peel. speaking of which, today is the day for another lactic acid peel. i have become lightweight addicted to the smooth feeling of my skin after a 40% LA peel, and it makes me super excited for my TCA peel in a few weeks. my great spring skin is revealing itself, and i cannot wait.

ManeandChic's First Day of Spring Cleaning Challenge

2011-03-21T09:30:00.001-04:00

maneandchic: First Day of Spring 2011! Spring Cleaning Challenge...:

one of my fave blogs since i first went natural in 2008 has been maneandchic, southerntease from LHCF's blog. it used to only be about hair, but she has a sick sense of style that she has since incorporated into the blog as well as some decorating tips and lifestyle mantras. i was delighted to wake up to a blog feed email where her spring cleaning challenge was detailed, and i absolutely think it's a great idea! i'm a messy person by nature (LOL) but that doesn't mean i haven't been trying to fix that, especially since moving in with my SO and having to consolidate everything into one 700-sq-ft one bedroom apartment. my mom's house still serves as storage for all the not-so-important articles of clothing, dorm room leftovers and furniture that doesn't match or won't fit, but it is a real eye opener to have to cram all those clothes, shoes, books, makeup and hair items, and things of that nature into a few small bags to bring back and forth! anyway, my personality is exactly why i fell in love with this idea -- i could really use the extra space, but the fact that it also encompasses "messy" ideas and people is another plus. don't we all need to get rid of a little baggage?

some of the basic rules:
*keep a list of what you purge, aiming for a minimum of 50 items
*you have 91 days (from yesterday until the start of summer) to accomplish the challenge
*write thoughts on a piece of paper and destroy it; replace bad thoughts with good ones via a journal or decorated notecard
*groups of things ONLY count as one item -- no getting rid of 25 pieces of baggy or too-tight clothing and saying you're half done!
*keep track of all the positivity that comes out of completing the challenge. i surmise the SO will be so happy to see my clothing stack reduced, not to mention my mood boost, at the very minimum.

about a month ago, my SO's mom sent us prayer journals decorated with cloth from japan that she purchased while staying there a few years back. she is of the ba'hai faith, and inside is a small prayer card that i glance at when i am having a tough time. i told him i wanted to save the journal for something special, and i think this is it. i cannot wait to see the positive manifestations that arise from this challenge. i will also try to share some of them with you guys as i go. anyone else up for the challenge?

end-of-winter opposite-of-blues

2011-03-04T19:15:00.006-05:00

i must admit that more than my hair has been feeling the brunt of my lethargy lately, and *gasp* before last week i hadn't applied makeup, put in my contacts or painted my nails in about a month or two. thankfully, an article i read in feb 2011's shape magazine was all i needed to snap me out of it. this feature called "winter brights", which featured makeup so electric and happiness-inducing that i immediately wanted to bask in the glory that is sephora, had me looking up dupes for all the fab ideas listed: coral blush, hot pink lipstick, neon green liner, and bright sunny yellow nail polish. since my pockets won't allow that fantasy trip to sephora just yet, i chose to instead accompany the SO to walgreens and peruse the racks there. luckily for me, they happened to have one of the hot pink lipsticks from the article, milani color perfect in "rose hip." i promptly snatched it up, in addition to two cute maybelline color sensational lipsticks i had been eyeing for a while: red revival and coral crush. this pop of springtime radiance in my fist, i exited the store with a skip in my step. since i purchased these colors, i've worn the rose hip a total of 3 times and the coral crush twice. i'm still waiting for the right time to break out the sultry red lips....a date night, maybe? my general modus operandi is to do a simple black or brown eyeliner and just a hint of blush with the bright lips, a tip that has always served me well. wardrobe-wise, i'm also keeping it neutral: cool grey, black and tan pieces that let my makeup do all the talking.

the best side effect has been the overall impact on the rest of my beauty routine -- putting more time into my makeup has gotten me back into painting my nails as well, and as of now i am sporting china glaze's "for audrey," a nice sky blue shade, with sally hansen xtreme wear "blue me away," a shockingly bright turquoise, on my ring fingers. it makes me sad that i'll have to tone down the nails when i begin work on tuesday, but hey, that's what off days are for! in addition to getting back into my nail polish collection, i've also restarted my chemical peel schedule, since all that lovely makeup looks even more fab on flawless skin. i re-upped on a larger bottle of the 40% lactic acid peel from MUAC, as well as the 30% glycolic acid peel. i have done the LA peel twice, and i had forgotten how baby-butt smooth my face feels after one of these bad boys. i'll do these in prep for a TCA peel that i will do 2-3 weeks from now to tackle some of the hyperpigmentation i accumulated over the winter. although i am normally of the combination-skinned variety, for some reason my entire face was dry as the sahara for a good portion of the winter, and for me dry skin = breakouts galore. between the hydroquinone and the peels, i'm hoping to be in clear skin territory in time for memorial day.

i've started creating a wish list of products that i want to add into the springtime rotation. i hope to start checking things off my list within the next two weeks. although there's no real order to the items, i will admit i have been drooling over the blush ever since i first saw it, so that will probably be first on the list!

*l'oreal voluminous carbon black mascara...my diorshow iconic bit the dust, so why not try some drugstore mascaras?
*china glaze crackle glaze line....not sure when they come out, but i've wanted OPI's black shatter for a while now. a whole line of crackle polishes? count me in!
*MUFE HD blush in #6, quickie.....a great coral shade also inspired by the "winter brights" feature.
*bright yellow nail polish....haven't chosen an exact shade yet, but just thinking about the color excites me so!
*a lighter shade of MUFE HD foundation for my springtime skin....153 is oh-so-perfect for my summer tan, but right now it's just a bit dark.
*DDF ultra-lite oil free moisturizing dew....heard such good things about this moisturizer, and since i need a good one, why not try it out?
*gucci guilty....building my perfume arsenal one luxurious scent at a time.
*MUAC green tea cleanser....i really loved their bar, and now that it has been converted into a liquid cleanser chock full of antioxidants i am dying to try it!

stroke of genius

2011-03-04T18:44:00.005-05:00

the other day, i was going through a particularly lazy phase with my hair. even though i love twistouts for this exact reason (all they require is about 15 minutes of prep before bed and 2-3 minutes to unravel the twists in the AM), i couldn't even muster up the energy to twist my hair and thus decided a high bun would be the best course of action. i moisturized with my current obsession, giovanni smooth as silk conditioner, then turned my head upside down to gather it in a high bun. after tucking in the ends, i went about my day.

that night, when i took down the bun to moisturize my hair and get ready for bed, all these ideas i was having about the fun and elaborate styles i wanted to play with went right out the window in favor of again being lazy and hitting the pillow early. i decided to just add two flat twists on my mostly dry hair to the mix and pin up the ends. (i like this look well enough, more so when i do cornrows instead of flat twists, but like i said....i was lazy!) i added a scarf and went to bed half-disappointed for not doing more but 100% exhausted.

the next morning, i began to unravel the flat twists and think of what i was going to do with my hair, which was too stretched for a normal twistout. out of nowhere, i had the bright idea to simply stop unraveling halfway and leave the top twisted. as much as i love my bangs when my hair is straight, i DID get them cut knowing that they might look awkward when my hair is curly. most of the time this situation is remedied with a funky clip of some sort or a bobby pin, but this can get weird when anything less than an extremely high bun is involved. turns out leaving the top twisted was a stroke of genius -- the fullness of the stretched out hair in the back and the twists on top made for a style as fun as my mood that day. i initially went for a twistout puff, but decided on a bun (hey, the desire to protect my ends is innate now) and slicked back the sides with water and noodle head curling creme. finally, i swiped on a coat of lipstick and, satisfied with my look, i put a smile on my face to enjoy my day.

i have a love/hate relationship with the fact that my best style ideas arise from thin air....and in hindsight, usually can't be duplicated to produce better pictures. ha!

coming soon: march length check

2011-03-04T15:56:00.007-05:00

I haven't been nearly as diligent at posting as I had hoped I would be this year, but the good news is I HAVE been diligent at taking great care of my hair. Just like I vowed, I've gotten into a nice twistout/twist-n-curl groove, and on my off days I simply rock a high twistout bun or wet bun. This has kept my hair nicely protected, adequately moisturized, and (hopefully) successfully retaining.

Most twistouts go something like this:
*cowash/leave-in with giovanni smooth as silk conditioner
*add noodle head curling creme or KC curling custard to help the style stay
*five flat twists for a normal twistout or 6-8 large two-strand twists for a twist and curl
*smooth lower half of twist with denman and set on perm rod
*take down twists in the morning and fluff
*optional: add EVOO or coconut oil to ends

I have decided that for my length check, I will straighten my hair at home instead of going to get a Dominican blowout. That is, I *would like* to get my hair silky straight at home and keep this $25 in my pocket, although it is reassuring to know they will always be there if I can't get it. I have a solid plan this time:

*DC overnight for 2-3 nights before straightening
*ACV rinse to smooth cuticles/remove buildup
*Lacio Lacio leave-in and Chi Silk Infusion ONLY prior to blowdrying
*comb attachment, high heat and SMALL sections (this is key) with my cheapie Wal-Mart dryer
*no products before flat ironing
*comb chase method using my Solia, set on 370 degrees
*optional silk wrap if things are looking wonky

I plan to start the DCing tonight, and once I get back to Virginia on Monday I will attempt to straighten my hair. Here's hoping I don't need that crucial of a trim and I've surpassed BSL, at least in part....

you win some, you lose some.

2011-02-04T04:54:00.002-05:00

i recently stopped to assess the resolutions i made a mere 4 weeks ago concerning my hair. the good news? while i can't exactly pinpoint the one thing that did it, i will say that my hair has been behaving pretty well, and i have a renewed affinity for twistouts and the twist-n-curl. the bad news? of course i didn't stick to all my resolutions. the better news? i am still learning about my hair, still trying new products, and most importantly, STILL enjoying this natural hair journey.

.:getting the perfect twistout
now this one, i can actually admit, was pretty easy to keep. i jumped in head first with the twistouts, alternating between five flat twists, 4-5 twists on either side of my head with a white or pink perm rod on the lower half, and flat twists with perm rods on the bottom. i also switched up my products, starting out with just a little giovanni smooth as silk conditioner as leave-in, then using some kinky curly knot today i got as a (generous) free sample from whole foods as my leave-in, then adding noodle head for hold, then using some kinky curly curling custard i ALSO got as a (generous) free sample from whole foods on a different set of twists. i did wet twistouts vs dry twistouts, twistout buns vs twistout updos, pineappling vs retwisting at night.....phew! basically, all that experimenting taught me that less product is still more for my hair (read: a holding product is kinda unnecessary for my twistouts), third-day hair is still pretty elusive, and KCKT is some good stuff. i'm currently rocking a three-day-old twistout from the five flat twists that looked GREAT on day one, okay on day two, and never should have really made it to today, but i was lazy. i'm toying with the idea of spraying it down and wet bunning tomorrow, but i won't really know until i hit the shower.

.:weekly DCs
in a word -- FAIL. i really was motivated to do this one since i know how much my hair loves a good DC, but between the cowashing and multi-day hair attempts and the lack of a dome dryer in durham, it just didn't happen. i got in maybe two DCs over the last month, with the last one being this past monday when i did get to my beloved standup dryer at my mom's house in virginia. if only i had two, maybe i'd be set, but i won't bet on it. cowashing is simply more convenient at this point in time. *shrug*

.:straightening after 2-3 days of DCs
ehh, not really applicable since i haven't straightened my hair. i will give myself a slap on the wrist, though, since i was toying with the idea of straightening my hair for the super bowl party (go steelers!) and i am probably only going to have time for one DC between now and then. but who knows -- pigs may fly and i may get it done. don't hold your breath though, guys.

.:perfect blowout at home
although i haven't attempted this on my head, i'm still pretty darn excited about it. there's nothing like having a guinea pig, and i've been practicing that "flat iron wrist flick" on my mom, who has been wearing her hair straight for about 6 weeks now. so far my lacio lacio and that blow dryer nozzle have really been helping straighten out her 4a curls, and the solia is doing a fine job of getting that fresh out the salon look she wants. i'm just hoping my hair looks as great when i get the guts....i mean, the time to do my own hair.

i'm down to one month till my next length check, and four months before i'm three years natural. hopefully i'll have more good news to share, more discoveries, and maybe even more inspiration to share throughout 2011.

happy 2011!

2011-01-08T19:55:00.003-05:00

a (late) happy new hair year to everyone! i entered this year with fabulous hair, courtesy of a dominican blowout and some new bangs. i rang in the new year by celebrating the longest hair i have ever had, and i couldn't be happier! i liken it to running a marathon: although i am not a runner, i imagine this must be the feeling you get once you hit the home stretch. this is MY home stretch: my ultimate goals are in sight, i'm comfortable with where i am now, and i'm just so happy.

with that said, i still have a few hair resolutions for this year. i foresee today as being the last day of my blowout, which i have maintained for about 2.5 weeks with avocado oil, a silk scarf, and the occasional touch of mango butter on my ends and edges. after this 'do is done, i'll be returning to twistouts for the rest of the month. my first resolution is to get that perfect twistout (or twist 'n curl) every time i set my hair. while i discovered quite some time ago that five flat twists are pretty much the key to gorgeous twists and awesome hang for me, i haven't quite figured out what products to add to give my twistouts great shine and long-lasting hold. taking a few tips from LHCF and CurlyNikki, i think i will start adding a holding product to my wet hair, like noodle head or maybe some diluted setting lotion. for shine, i'll try chi silk infusion, olive oil, or paul mitchell super skinny serum. thinking about the combinations i will have to go through to nail this thing is a little daunting, but luckily, playing in my hair is a hobby that NEVER gets old!

i have also noticed that while cowashing was even bigger for me than usual in 2010, i want the winter of 2011 to be about deep conditioning. last winter i did really well by utilizing styles that lasted 3-4 days, and i would LOVE to be the girl whose curls go even longer than that. if i want four-day hair, i know that this means i will have to go back to DCing with heat as often as possible. starting tonight, i will make an attempt to DC at least once a week for the remainder of the winter, if not every time i retwist my hair. hopefully, getting that infused moisture will help me rule my hair instead of it ruling me!

thinking ahead, i still don't know whether i will go through february with straight or curly hair. i am kind of upset with myself for not sticking to my original plan to have straight hair the whole winter, but i realize now that besides the fact that i love my curly hair too much to straighten it for 3-4 months straight, my hair doesn't like it either! one of the telltale signs that my hair is losing moisture and getting tired of being straight is an increased amount of shedding or breakage, and knowing this is what is leading me to wash and DC tonight. to make sure i can keep a blowout as long as possible, my next resolution is to only straighten after 2-3 overnight DCs or 2-3 days of DCing with heat. perhaps doing this could get me a 3 or 4 week blowout next month, but only time will tell if this is something i want to pursue. oh yeah, do you notice a common theme here? MOISTURE is what helped me retain as much length as possible, and it will be what gets me to my goal length!

last week i bought a comb for my round blow dryer, and using it on my mom's hair made me realize that with this tool i may be able to tackle straightening my own hair. while i have nothing against salons, another resolution of mine is to perfect the blowout at home. whether it's through rollersetting my own hair, something i haven't done since i was SL or so, or going at it with a blowdryer and flat iron, being able to get that salon swang at home would not only be more cost-effective, but it means that i could go from straight to curly literally whenever i want. without having to worry about "getting my money's worth," i could straighten my hair, wash it the next day, and straighten it again the next week. in reality, i probably wouldn't straighten any more than i already do, but just knowing that i could would be a great feeling. i've already put it off my whole natural journey, but learning how to get "fresh from the salon" hair is a MUST before i reach my final length goal!

the summer of 2010 was probably the biggest learning experience for me and my hair. from that disastrous trim to the sew-in to my three inches in three months, i had some crazy ups and downs. of course i would love to stay away from any further setbacks, so my resolution for 2011 is to wet bun at least one full month in the summer. i am truly a wet bun convert, and if i lived in a warmer climate, i would probably do it year round. i always knew the benefits of rocking a bun, but it wasn't till i made that commitment to try it out and turned 30 days into a new habit that i truly got it. my ends were in fantastic shape, i retained more of that summer growth spurt than i could have ever imagined, and i had a quick and easy everyday style that required only a minute tops to style and set. what more could a girl want?

i made some great progress last year, but a lot of it was because i learned after "getting burned." i hate dwelling on the past, but if i had only learned to do my own trims before that SHS run-in, i could already be MBL. this year, i'm taking things into my own hands and avoiding any possible setbacks. i'd love to hear some resolutions from my readers. where do you see your hair on december 31, 2011, and what steps are you going to take to get it? 12 months may seem like a long time, but it will be here before you know it!

inching along: a random unstretched length check

2010-11-20T03:20:00.003-05:00

i was on LHCF about a week or so ago when a member who recently BC'd (she reminds me so much of myself -- 3c/4a with fine strands, BC'd after 12 months) made a thread asking how long your hair is when weighed down with DC. i took it upon myself to take a picture of my hair, since i was already in the process of DCing, and found that my hair is the same length whether saturated with a heavy DC (in this case, matrix biolage conditioning balm) or freshly cowashed. i also found that when wet, my hair is comfortably SL, quite a change from 2009's unstretched wet length. (of course, it still shrinks up to NL, if i let it go without being manipulated.) enjoy this random pic, friends.
NOTE: shortly after taking this picture, the critic in me noticed that the curls on the left side looked less than stellar. attributing it to my last bout with heat and my lack of protein restoration since then, i did an overnight DC with my HG protein conditioner, ion effective care treatment. i love this DC, which i reviewed earlier this year here, and recently repurchased a smaller bottle during an impromptu sally's run. i am happy to report the curls are now back to their normal springy curly selves.

back on the ball.....or the mat

2010-11-10T19:31:00.002-05:00

last summer, i began working out consistently in order to lose a bit of a belly i was self-conscious about. i went from what i thought was a great 123 lbs at 5'5" to over 135 lbs less than 6 months later. on a frame my size, i felt like it was really noticeable, and i blogged about a bit of my frustrations and what i was doing to get over it. when i was in that horrible car accident last december, i lost all that weight and then some -- you get what you ask for, as the saying goes. in literally a week, i went from 135 to 115 and arose (well, as best as i could) stick thin and feeling self-conscious again. i was wheelchair-bound for about 6 weeks, then on crutches for about a month before i could walk again, but i spent at least part of my time in rehab trying to firm up my newly slim body and regain weight in the right places as opposed to flab where i didn't want it. i was just getting to a point where i felt as if i could keep up what i was learning when the rehab stopped....a good thing, considering it stopping was contingent upon me being able to walk again. although i was back to my old self for the most part, i never fully regained the ability to run, and even though i always detested running, the fact that i physically wasn't able to do it made me want it so bad. when i met my current SO, an avid soccer player and workout lover, he told me he would love to help me get back in shape, but he's such a sweetheart that i quickly learned the level at which my whining would make him give in. thus, i only find myself walking with him or doing any kind of workout maybe once every two weeks, at best. now that i am again gaining weight, something i struggled a bit with post-accident (again, you get what you ask for) it is again building up in my mid-section. making the whole struggle harder is the non-running thing, plus a bad knee and horrible back pain that i still have from breaking my tailbone and hip in the accident.

despite me not getting out there, i have always had this "thing" in the back of my head where i knew what i wanted to do, even if i couldn't get the ball rolling. once i heard pilates was not only an exercise craze but also used as PT for those with lower back injuries, i jumped at the chance to take a few classes and see if it could help me. on top of that, the jillian michaels 30 day shred DVD that i still possess from last summer worked then, and it is something that i can do at home. i figured that between the two of those, maybe erratic access to an elliptical, and some walking shoes, i could at least get a little back in shape. i became aware of groupon a few months ago, and i love the deals they offer -- cheap ways to explore your city, discover a new restaurant, and of course tons of quirky date ideas. one day back in august, they actually had a groupon for pilates classes -- 5 classes at a local studio here in durham for $15. i jumped at the chance to take 5 classes for the price of one, and though i knew their schedule would fill up, i bought the deal anyway. i largely forgot about it until two weeks ago, when i installed a groupon app on my ipod and suddenly recalled shelling out the money for the deal. i was lucky enough to call and get a spot in the beginner's class that very night, and so began my love affair with pilates. as a decidedly lazy person who believes anything low-impact HAS to be a better way to get in shape, i adored the instructor and found the poses challenging yet easy to get used to. i immediately came home and wanted to do it again, but hoped that the exerciseTV workouts included with my SO's extremely expensive HD cable package could suffice until my next in-studio session. i looked up a few, and found the instructors on there a bit hyper, but still able to guide me through pretty much the exact same workout i had just done down the street. i filed this away in my brain and continued to create a plan of attack.....even though it played out much better in my head than in my life.

things progressed pretty much unchanged until yesterday, when my SO asked me to meet him outside without telling me why. we began with a short walk to duke's campus, which turned into sort of a sightseeing tour for me. before i knew it, we had been walking for quite some time and it added up to over 2 miles of walking. as unexpected as it was, i felt proud of myself -- not only had i been able to walk further than i have (at least, on purpose) since before my accident, but i was able to ignore the growing pain in my ankle and keep on truckin'. the one thing that used to get me down about walking when i first started was the throbbing that would start, almost as a warning sign, when i stood longer than 5 minutes, and feeling that same pain yesterday was almost a badge of honor to prove to myself how far i have come. i expect that the more i walk the less i will feel it, and eventually i will be able to run around the campus walls without that pain bothering me.

today, i got off to a late start and for some reason started thinking about pilates again. i then realized that it was because the class is on wednesdays at 7, and this was at about 5pm. i wanted to bash my head against the wall once i realized that even if i did want to go, i couldn't, since my SO was out with the car. all of a sudden, the little voice in the back of my head got on me -- why can't you just work out here? all the excuses began to formulate, and i entertained them for about 5 seconds before i decided to suck it up and do the total body pilates workout. after it was over, i felt sufficiently stretched, but not finished working out. i couldn't believe what i was doing, but i then did the jillian michaels 30 day shred workout to get in a good sweat. it was harder than i remember, maybe because it's been almost a year since i last did it, but when it was over i felt all the familiar emotions rushing back: the burn in my abs, my legs feeling like they were about to give out, and an ache in my shoulders giving way to this overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

that's two days of workouts down -- let's see if i can keep this up for a while.

This darn shedding!

2010-11-06T02:31:00.002-04:00

I have fallen off of my projected straightening schedule ALREADY....but for good reason. The blowout that I got last month took me well through the end of October, just like I expected. It wasn't difficult at all -- my regimen was super simple, being that most days I wore my hair in some sort of bun (high bun, donut bun, braided bun), updo (usually with a claw clip or good hair day pin), or braidout and I only moisturized maybe 2 times a week to avoid buildup from too much coconut or avocado oil. The hard part actually came from what should have been a simple step in my regimen: washing my hair. I rarely combed my hair all the way through from root to tip when it was straight, opting to finger comb or brush only the edges when needed. Therefore, I completely forgot about the crazy seasonal shedding I get in the fall.

The day that I washed my hair, I stepped in the shower with a large comb, a few clips, and my shampoo, but came out with a few huge hair balls! Of course I panicked, but luckily I have been taking great care to track not only my growth, but also my shedding and breakage amounts -- not to the point where i am doing obsessive things like counting strands and examining every piece of hair for that little white bulb (okay, maybe just every OTHER strand, lol), but I do know what is normal versus abnormal for me. I first noticed in the fall of 2008 as a new natural that something wasn't quite right with my hair....I remember not combing a WNG for about a week and being horrified to discover on wash day that my hair was matted. I did learn quickly that once-a-week detangling was not going to be an option if I was wearing WNGs, but I also learned that the amount of hair I shedded that week was what caused the matting. Even after starting to PS, I was still getting these huge hairballs, and all the troubleshooting in the world didn't fix it. I calmly waited it out, and noticed around December that things were back to normal. The same thing happened last fall, despite the fact that I was PSing a lot more, and no matter how many garlic treatments I did or pills I popped, it didn't stop until it was ready to. This year being the third year, I have now realized that it's just a seasonal thing that I can't really do anything about. I did do a few protein treatments to a) restore my hair from the heat use and b) ward against any possible breakage there could have been, but even with all that Megatek, I am still pulling back tons of shed hairs every time I touch my hair.

The only plan of attack I have is to keep doing what I have been doing: wearing my hair in protective styles and keeping up with a strict moisture regimen. I cornrowed the sides of my hair last Sunday to make a semi-frohawk and wore my loose hair in a variation of sponge roller curls, french braids, braidouts and braidout buns this week, making sure to wet, moisturize and finger comb my hair each night before resetting. Tomorrow I will take down the cornrows, prepoo with coconut oil, shampoo my hair, DC with matrix biolage conditioning balm and add the kimmaytube leave-in with a few sprays of aphogee green tea + keratin. Not quite sure how I will style it yet, but I am kinda liking the combo of cornrows and french braids, so that may win out. I will try straightening again in December, since I hope the shedding will have stopped by then.

claiming it!

2010-10-06T03:44:00.002-04:00

instead of getting my blowout in september like i was supposed to, i decided to hold off until this month so that the humidity could die down. after a week of rain and straight COLD weather, i decided to go tuesday to get my hair straightened. it was an experience, as it's been quite some time since iris didn't do my hair, but it turned out alright.

once i got home, i dusted my ends. i will do this again next month, and until my ends are blunt and full like i like 'em. hopefully i will be able to reach full BSL (and maybe even partial MBL) by the end of 2010. i am still trying to decide whether this will be the start of my fall/winter straight hair regimen, or if i will spend a few more weeks with my fro before parting with such favorites as daily cowashing, wet bunning, and slathering on kimmaytube's leave-in.

anyway, enough talk. here are some pics!
P.S. it has now been THREE YEARS since i discovered dominican salons and made the conscious decision to transition. what a crazy three years it has been. going natural is one of the best decisions i ever made....and i only regret not doing it sooner!

stuck in a rut

2010-09-13T02:18:00.002-04:00

i really hate this time of year -- not necessarily that it comes every september, but at some point every year i can count on being stuck in a hair rut. right after i decided to keep wet bunning, i got bored with my hair and made a spontaneous decision to half-straighten my hair. it's been stuck this way for the past week...i can't bring myself to wash it, DC it, braid it up, do a twist & curl....i've just been bunning for the most part. i'm kinda hoping that as a result of writing this, i will get some sort of motivation. in my head, prepooing with EVCO and my new sweet almond oil sounds great, and an ACV rinse sounds divine, but when it comes to going into the bathroom to get started, i freeze up. ah well, hopefully it will pass. i am happy with my hair, so i know i will get that urge eventually.

guess i'll youtube surf and fotki stalk till i get some ideas....

back at BSL

2010-08-31T21:14:00.004-04:00

i was a little hesitant to make this post at first, being that i wanted to wait until i do an official length check next month, but now that i have come to terms with the fact that life is crazy and things just happen sometimes, i can finally be excited. you guys may remember how upset i was after that cutting setback in june -- i can still clearly remember how MAD and SAD i was when i unwrapped my hair and saw it fall to a few inches shorter than it had been when i first walked into that salon. on here, i chronicled all the changes i was making to my regimen after the setback, and for the most part i have stuck to them. using the new leave-in has been wonderful, and i really love how moisturized my hair has been feeling since i started using it. it has been super easy to wet bun everyday, which is good, considering i was really afraid i would get tired of doing it after a while. i had originally planned to wet bun through september 1st, but now that i am at august 31st and still going strong, i am thinking about extending it to october 1st and just waiting to get my hair straightened for my birthday on october 13th.

in any event, what i am really excited about sharing is the fact that I AM BACK AT BSL! that's right, i don't know how in the hell i grew and retained three inches of hair since june 5th, but i did....and i am shocked beyond all belief. i did an impromptu length check the other day, and i was in such disbelief that i had my sister grab the camera so i could have proof -- if not for the blog and my friends, then for myself! i have had growth spurts in the past, such as the one i had the spring of 2009, but i have never experienced anything like this. of course i am trying to pinpoint what exactly did it, but i don't think i will ever work it out. all i know is i had a sew-in for a month, i cowashed and wore WNGs for about two weeks after that, and for the past 6 weeks, i have been wet bunning. even if i figure out the retention part of it (my ends have been constantly wet almost the whole summer), that does not explain what caused the crazy growth. something i've been eating? true, i've been eating healthier since i moved to durham, but is cutting out red meat what did this? something i've been doing to stay fit? nope, no exercise. the prayer? perhaps. whatever it was, i can only say two things: one, i am grateful, and two....i hope it keeps up!!!

twist & curl redux

2010-08-30T02:19:00.003-04:00

saturday night, i got bored with my hair again. i've been doing really well with the wet bun challenge (yes, STILL -- can you believe it?), but i wanted to try something with the perm rods again. in the middle of cowashing, i decided to roll with a twist and curl. not only do i love the look of them, but the idea of 2nd and maybe even 3rd day hair really excited me. hey, give me a break....as a daily cowasher, that's not really something i get the liberty of doing! i then realized that curlynikki, one of my fave bloggers, uses this as a staple style, so i wanted to get some pointers from her blog before taking the plunge. after i got out of the shower, i wrapped my hair in my t-shirt and perused curlynikki until i found an entry on her TNC routine. although she does 11 twists, i decided to do less since my strands are fine. all i added to my hair was giovanni direct and my oil mix to seal. i did as she does and flat twisted the roots before smoothing the ends with my denman and setting them on white perm rods, ending up with 8 twists total. the next morning, i simply removed my satin bonnet and carefully unraveled my twists. i'm really happy with the results, and now that i am on day two, my hair still looks great. taking another tip from CN. i pineappled, or gathered my hair in a loose high ponytail, overnight to preserve the results. the only thing i need to read more on is moisturizing between cowashing -- i fear that a water-based moisturizer will ruin the whole thing, so maybe i will just use EVCO. this style is definitely something i will rock into the fall and winter. right now, i am thinking it will be a great go-to style on that last week of the month when i presume my straightened hair will be throwing in the towel, or just something to do if i get sick of non-textured hairstyles. until then, i'm having fun with these ringlets! if you like this style, see more photos in my fotki.

braid and curl success

2010-08-20T02:06:00.004-04:00

i decided to try something new on wednesday night and switch it up from the wet bun i have been rocking so much lately. i went to ocean city (MD) on tuesday with my old roomies from college, and while i had fun, i forgot to take shampoo to get all that salt water out of my hair. i always read in magazines about salt water giving you "beachy, tousled waves", but that must be a type 1 or 2 hair thing...my hair felt like STRAW! anyway, when i got home, i decided to shampoo and condition my hair. i washed with suave clarifying before doing a quick oil rinse and cowashing with HE hydralicious. when i got out of the shower, i let my hair drip dry while i got dressed, then headed to the mirror to sit and think. i'm still going wild over chisellecouture's youtube videos, and was thinking about what style i wanted to do before southerntease's braid and curl popped into my head. i usually don't like braidouts on me -- having fine hair seems to make them look limp, IMO -- but i went for it anyway. i moisturized my hair with the kimmaytube leave-in....this time it actually came out thick instead of watery, so i use less of it, it seems. i made six plaits, then stopped braiding about 3/4 of the way down. i then smoothed my ends with my modified denman and added a white perm rod to the end of each. i covered my head with a satin scarf and off to bed i went.

this morning, when i took the rollers off, i was giddy when i saw the perfect coils at the end of my braids. i was even more ecstatic when i carefully undid the braids and saw the resulting style. i pinned up one side of it, one of my favorite things to do, and put on a brightly colored shirt to represent my mood. i definitely think this style is a keeper!

my (sort of) new denman brush

2010-08-13T16:44:00.003-04:00

i have recently become enamored with fotki-stalking again, a practice i adopted back when i first joined LHCF. the other day, i was going through some fellow type 3/4 fotkis when i discovered morenita, a beautiful curly who talks about her modified denman brush. i had heard of this before, but hadn't really been concerned with trying it, since i was sure it involved warping my beloved brush in some way that would render it useless if i didn't like the modification. i purchased a new brush last month, but left it home in virginia, so this past weekend i packed it to bring back to north carolina. i decided that since i had two brushes, why not research how to make one into this "newer" version? i followed the link posted in her fotki to a youtube tutorial and was SHOCKED at how simple it was to make the switch! after watching the video, i ran to the bathroom to grab my brush and try this out. i didn't get to use the "new" brush until the next morning, when i cowashed for my daily wet bun. i did a double take when i noticed how easily the brush slid through my hair, and needless to say i am sold! i never thought i could make a near-perfect hair tool better, but apparently it can be done -- and so easily, too! give it a try and let me know what you think.

click here to watch the tutorial.

oil rinsing is the.....!

2010-08-12T22:23:00.003-04:00

i decided to try something new to my hair tonight, since i have been cowashing and wet bunning consistently for a while now. i had already decided to DC my hair tonight, and somewhere between writing out my regimen for tonight and applying it, i decided to make a small tweak. i ran across a thread the other day on oil rinses, and i decided that since i have SO MUCH OIL, i would go for it. well let me put it like this: i started doing it because i wanted to use up my stash, but i will keep doing it because it makes my hair feel fantastic! here's what i did:

*DC under plastic cap with matrix biolage conditioning balm for about an hour, no heat
*rinsed with warm water
*applied oil mixture (for this go-round, i used EVOO, castor oil, and my new nutiva EVCO)
*covered hair and left on for about 15 minutes
*hopped in the shower, rinsed with HOT water
*cowashed with HE HH, detangling with fingers and shower comb
*final rinse with cold water
*t-shirt dried for a few minutes, then added kimmaytube leave-in
*set hair on satin-covered sponge rollers

i simply thought that doing an oil rinse would make my hair shiny, or maybe even define my curls. in all truthfulness, i had no idea what to expect....i was just experimenting in an attempt to use up product. what i quickly discovered is that oil rinsing made my hair so easy to detangle -- while my hair never really gets super tangled, i always have to be gentle since SSKs + fine strands leads to breakage. not only did the comb glide through my hair, but even finger combing was effortless -- my fingers ran through my hair so smoothly i almost couldn't believe it! coupled with the fact that the nutiva smells positively delicious and my hair is super shiny, i definitely think we have a keeper with this one. i only wish i had discovered it sooner!

as for the impromptu rollerset, i am not really expecting much -- i just wanted to stretch out my hair. it would be nice if i woke up and was able to fluff out a curly fro, so we will see. as long as my hair is feeling this good tomorrow, i really don't care! *grin*

beauty fix: my top ten skincare products

2010-08-12T01:46:00.006-04:00

i know i promised to come back a little sooner with my top 10 skincare products, but i've been kinda busy lately. the move to NC and the subsequent job search have had me a little stressed lately, but i have faith that things will fall into place. my skin has taken a beating, but i'm finally at a place in my life where i have a set regimen and i can troubleshoot skin problems, sort of like what i do when i'm having a bad hair day. some of these are relatively new to my regimen, but a few i have been using for a year plus now. they are ALL repurchases in my book. unfortunately, for every product i have tried and liked, there are three more that didn't work for me. needless to say, i've experimented a LOT! i've broken them down into three categories: cleanse, treat, and moisturize. this way, i can use different combinations of products depending on what i need....or how i'm feeling.

cleanse
1. desert essence thoroughly clean face wash ($8, amazon.com/the vitamin shoppe)

i first purchased this cleanser back in 2008, when i discovered the skin care boards on LHCF. it came highly recommended by user Divine Inspiration, and since i ate up pretty much everything she said at the time, i ran out and bought it. i stuck with it not only because it's 100% vegan and i am making an attempt to roll with a mostly natural/organic regimen, but because it WORKS for me. it dries up my blemishes without drying out my face, and it feels really invigorating. i used to use it on its own, but now i use it with my clarisonic and i still love it. what's more is you can get the 32 oz bottle for roughly the same price, if you buy online.

2. extra virgin olive oil (various prices, supermarkets)

the thing i love about this oil is its versatility. i've spoken about my hair's love affair with EVOO, and i was ecstatic when i learned about its benefits for the skin, too. i read a few threads on the oil cleansing method and was hooked -- i mean, getting rid of nearly every skin problem there is with something you can find in your kitchen (or in my case, the hair cabinet)? my main thing was just like most people's, getting over the fact that i assumed oil-free was the best way to go when dealing with oily skin, but i was wrong. since oil absorbs oil, it only makes sense that cleansing with oil would be so good for your skin. EVOO makes such a great base for OCM, and can readily be mixed with grapeseed oil, castor oil, sweet almond oil, or whatever you wish. in addition to being a great cleanser, it is a superb makeup remover -- so good that i no longer buy commercial makeup removers. i tried almost everything to take off my stubborn eye makeup, but nothing does it like EVOO. i always keep a bottle in my bathroom.

3. clarisonic ($149-225, sephora)

i can truly say that this is the one tool that has taken my skincare to the next level. although i have not seen some of the almost miraculous results some users claim to see, i do love and frequently use my clarisonic plus. i purchased it on ebay since they had the best price on the plus, but honestly i could have done without all the extras, such as the included cleansers and the body brush. i am glad i got the three different face brushes though, because without them, i never would have known which i needed (the gentle blue brush). while it did not fade my hyperpigmentation or completely rid my face of blackheads/whiteheads, i see a major difference in my face when i go without using it for a few days. it can be used with so many different cleansers, and it really holds a charge. i routinely go for weeks on end without setting it on the charging dock, and it always works perfectly. i love the different timers on it, as well as the different speed settings. i hope i'm never without my clarisonic!

treat
4. stridex daily care alcohol-free acne pads ($3, CVS/walgreens)

i picked up this tip from the lovely ladies at makeupalley. they are semi-gurus on skincare on the board there, and someone once put it so plainly that if you want an effective acne-fighting medication, it shouldn't be a wash, but something that stays on your skin. i like to use products that multitask, and since i like my moisturizer to not only be that, but also a sunscreen (or a fade cream if using it at night), i decided to add this third product to my regimen. i have been through two boxes now, and i really like them. they provide me with a steady dose of salicylic acid, a beta-hydroxy acid that works great as an anti-acne medication. (why do you think it's in so many products? it WORKS.) my skin is consistently clear, except for a few stubborn hormonal pimples that get through during that time of the month. even better is the price point on these pads....they are only $3 a box, and if you look inside the flap before you get to the register, you will find a $1 off coupon that drops the price even more.

5. aztec secret indian healing clay ($7, the vitamin shoppe)

this is another great multitasking product. i purchased it back in 2008 for use on my face, and hated it for the longest time -- it may have been because i was using retin-a micro at the time, so my skin was already super sensitive. i recently revisited it, mixing it with organic ACV this time instead of water, and i liked it a lot more. it really deep cleans, getting out what my other cleansers can't: blackheads and whatever gunk happens to be clogging my pores at the time. i love the tightening feeling it produces when drying, and try to use it at least once a month, although ideally i would use it once a week. what i mean by multitasking is that you can use it as a hair paste to clarify and make your curls pop; i did a blog entry on this back a few months ago. this one pound jar has lasted me forever.

6. makeup artists' choice 40% lactic acid peels ($17.75-48.75, makeupartistschoice.com)

i purchased this at the end of 2009, hoping to find something to fade my acne scars. instead, i found a product that brightens and smooths my skin, making it look almost flawless. (now only if i could get rid of the marks, i'd have dream skin!) i used to rotate it weekly with glycolic acid peels, but they are also good alone. during weeks where i do strictly lactic peels, i do them about once every three days. they are really simple to do, and the savings are phenomenal when compared to how much they would cost at a spa or derm's office. i am currently out, but will repurchase this week -- enter code august2010 for 20% off your purchase! (ends 8/16/10)

moisturize
7. grapeseed oil ($5, grocery stores) + lily of the desert aloe vera gelly ($8, the vitamin shoppe)

another great find from Divine Inspiration. i started using this once i heard that grapeseed oil contains vitamin e, and aloe vera is wonderful for healing purposes. as a recovering skin picker, i put this on to soothe my blemishes and scars, and it really does help to make them less noticeable (although unfortunately the marks never completely disappeared). i do not currently use this, but when i did use it, i loved it. i may return to it in the future.

8. eucerin everyday protection moisturizer with spf 30 ($10, walgreens and CVS)

i began using this when i was on retin-a, as i needed a soothing moisturizer with a built-in sunscreen. this moisturizer definitely handled that -- no matter how raw my skin was, it never irritated it, and the sunscreen kept my hyperpigmentation from getting darker. what's best is that this bottle lasted months! i continued to use it after i got off RAM, and as a matter of fact the only reason i stopped is because i am now using a fade cream with a built-in sunscreen. i would definitely return to this moisturizer in the future.
9. cold-pressed castor oil ($5 and up, whole foods and health stores)

i originally bought a bottle of regular drugstore castor oil for my hair, but at the time found it too heavy and greasy. (since then, i have started using it differently, and now i love it!) i also added this to my OCM mix, and found success with it like that. however, recently i have been using it as a moisturizer right after washing my face before bed. i now use the cold-pressed hexane free version from whole foods. it helps to absorb oil, and thus leaves my skin less oily. castor oil's benefits as an anti-acne treatment and as a scar treatment are also widely discussed (see here), and for that reason it has become a staple in my skincare regimen. i will soon switch to JBCO for my hair, and i may try that on my skin as well. if not, i will continue to purchase and use cold-pressed, hexane free castor oil.
10. nadinola extra strength fade cream ($5, drugstores and wal-mart)

i was highly skeptical for the longest time of using fade creams, despite the fact that my mom raved about what wonders they did for her skin when she was younger. i have heard a lot about hydroquinone and how dangerous it can be, but that was foolishly before doing my own research. from what i have determined, it is perfectly fine in small doses, and i do not plan on using it for more than three months anyway. from what i have seen in the three weeks that i have been using it, this fade cream is fading my hyperpigmentation faster than anything else i have tried. of course i took "before" pictures, and even my unofficial "after" photos show a marked difference in my skin. what's even more remarkable is that for the first two weeks i was using a jar that i have had sitting in a drawer for at least two years, so it wasn't even full strength. now that i am using a brand new jar, i am continuing to see results. i am hopeful that by my birthday, my marks will have largely disappeared. moral of the story? listen to mom next time!

beauty fix: my top ten products

2010-07-29T21:14:00.004-04:00

one of my new favorite blogs is tamerri zamaih's "astro fashionista", and i was inspired by a post she did a while back to list my favorite beauty products. i've done lists like this in the past, but i've changed lots of things i now have in heavy rotation since then, and i think i have finally gotten to a good spot not only in my makeup application, but also in my skincare regimen in general. this is the makeup list....i will probably do a skincare list later this week.

1. make up for ever HD foundation - 153/golden honey ($40, sephora)

i became intrigued by this foundation quite a while ago; in fact, i think i remember trying it out in early 2009, before i graduated and left charlottesville. at the time, i couldn't find a match, but i recently returned to sephora and tried again, this time finding a perfect match. prior to finding this, the ONLY makeup company that could match my undertones was MAC, and even with that i would have issues with the makeup feeling cakey, looking unnatural in pictures, or breaking me out really bad. this foundation does NONE of the above....it provides great wear, feels light on my skin, and doesn't cause breakouts (for me, at least). it's a little more expensive than either MAC studio fix fluid or mineralize satinfinish, but it is worth it to me. the satinfinish always required two pumps, so i went through it rather quickly, and the SFF was heavy, almost like stage makeup. i can mix this with my eucerin moisturizer with spf 30 to make a tinted moisturizer, or i can just dab it on lightly, stipple it into my skin, and blend it effortlessly. i do want to try MUFE's mat velvet, as i have heard good things about its oil-controlling capabilities, but for now this is definitely my HG foundation.

2. make up for ever HD microfinish powder ($30, sephora)

this is the cherry on my proverbial sundae -- the HD foundation works well without this, but when applied on top of it, my skin GLOWS. of course i was thinking, like a lot of you, that putting a white powder on top of my foundation would make me look ashy. it most definitely doesn't....as i have heard it put frequently, it serves as a "soft focus" to minimize any flaws and even imperfections. i even use it on my bare face from time to time. i actually got this in a kit with some other HD products, as i didn't think i would need the larger one. i was right....since it requires so little for an entire face, this thing will last forever. side note: the other two products were the MUFE HD elixir and the MUFE HD primer. they are alright, but not "must haves" in my book.
3. MAC matte lipstick in honeylove ($14, MAC stores and counters)

i discovered this a few months ago, when i went into MAC to buy a new foundation. (she sold me mineralize satinfinish in NC42, which i returned for MUFE HD a few weeks later.) i asked for a nude lip recommendation, and the makeup artist gave me this to try. i immediately fell in love, and wear it quite often, considering the only other lippie i have and have actually kept up with is 2N. as a pinky nude color, i usually pair it with a bold eye.
4. MAC cremesheen glass in boy bait ($18, MAC stores and counters)

this is another item i picked up during my MAC haul. it goes great with the honeylove when i need more shine, but it also rocks on its own. it's described as a "light neutral beige with pearl", which i think is just code for NUDE. anyway, i use it as that...something to give my lips a gloss without all the glitter of other lipglosses i own.

5. MAC beauty powder blush in eversun (discontinued)

i have been using this blush for a while now, and even though it was re-released last summer as part of the style warrior collection, i had it before that...way back in 2008. in any event, i absolutely love this color...it's a pinky brown that just makes my skintone really POP when i apply it. i love it so much that without it, i feel completely monotone and pale. i don't know what i will do when i run out of it.

6. MAC MSF natural/shimmer in medium dark ($26, MAC stores and counters)

although i have changed foundations over the years, this is one thing that stays the same. i love the way this makes my makeup less shiny, and i also love wearing it alone on days where i don't feel like being bothered by liquid makeup. much like the HD powder, it blurs my imperfections, so over a bare face i have a more even complexion.

7. dior diorshow iconic mascara ($27, sephora)

a few years ago, diorshow blackout became my favorite mascara. the tube is ultra luxe, and the applicator gave me the biggest, blackest lashes i had ever seen. i was super excited when they came out with iconic, but i didn't rush out to buy it since i was convinced i had my HG mascara. as time went on, i began to notice that it gave me a severe case of raccoon eyes, and as much as i loved the false eyelash look i had going on, i had to let it go. i tried a few more brands, like fresh firebird (which gave me big doe eyes), but tried the iconic on a recommendation from a sephora MUA when i said i wanted definition and length all in one. this mascara "lifts, curls and separates" according to the package, and it definitely delivers on that. i still get the blackest lashes, but it doesn't flake and removes easily with my olive oil-based makeup remover. some may swear by drugstore brands like great lash and lashblast, but this will forever be one of my top, if not THE top, mascaras.

8. MAC 187 ($42, MAC stores and counters)

great makeup is nothing without great application skills, and this brush makes applying my makeup so effortless. there are many dupes of this brush out there, and i feel as if that lets me know the original must be really great. i was first interested in this brush because i was told it's great at multitasking, and it is definitely one of my most-used brushes. i use it to stipple on my liquid foundation, use it again to blend, use it again for blush, then AGAIN for my MSF and powders....you get the idea. in fact, i love it so much i am considering getting another. tip: to save a few bucks, try scoring it from the CCO instead of the full-priced MAC counters.

9. essence of beauty makeup brushes (assorted prices, CVS)

while i have a pretty sizeable makeup brush collection, my MAC 187 is the only truly expensive one i own. i invested in a few EoB brushes a few years ago now, and they have held up really well over time. as a matter of fact, they actually shed less than the 187 and my loew-cornell brushes. they are easy to clean, i can beat the crap out of them since i don't have to worry about the cost of replacement (they are often BOGO 50% off), and they are durable. my favorites are the concealer brush, the dual-ended blush and powder brush, and the contouring eyeshadow brushes. the eyeshadow brushes are perfect for both packing on color and "cutting the crease" when i am using multiple shades. i am actually thinking about getting another powder brush, and if i don't get the ELF one (simply because it's only $1), it will be this one.

10. MAC Fix+ ($18, MAC stores and counters)

i have owned the same bottle of fix+ for about two years now, and i don't think i will have to get another until sometime in 2011. this is the ultimate in multipurpose tools, although at first glance it just looks like a fancy bottle of water. this stuff is great for wetting my brush before applying MSF on a bare face -- this helps it look more natural and blend into my skin better. i also use it to set my makeup, especially on really humid days. it can be used on a bare face before applying anything, as well. i have found that it is especially helpful on an eyeshadow brush, especially when i am applying not-so-pigmented shadows. fix+ has allowed me to purchase really inexpensive shadows and get better color payoff out of them: i simply pack the eyeshadow onto the brush, spray it, and apply to my lid. i really think this is one of the most underrated beauty tools out there.

========================

i am now in the midst of compiling my list of top ten skincare products. most of them are relatively new to my regimen, but i am seeing the best skin i have had in a very long time, so needless to say they are keepers. the list will be up soon!

attitude adjustment

2010-07-26T15:09:00.002-04:00

for some reason, i got a burst of re-motivation in my HHJ this past week. after i took down the sew-in i had wanted so badly, i took a few days and rocked strictly WNGs. my super-supportive boyfriend had missed my hair so much when it was hidden....as a matter of fact, he was the one who (slowly and carefully, of course) took my tracks out! all i have been doing since then is cowashing with HE HH, detangling every few days, and maybe using a bit of aloe vera gel when i pull my hair back to keep my edges tame. even with this pretty simple regimen, i was wondering what else i could do to promote growth and be more low-manipulation.

here enters the castor oil: my same super supportive boyfriend just happened to mention an article he read about the benefits of castor oil on your hair and skin. he mentioned a bottle of cold pressed castor oil that he had purchased from whole foods a while back, and of course i was more than happy to rave about how i use it in my oil mixture to remove my makeup. when i returned to NC, we both started using castor oil on our faces before bed at night. i then decided that i would take the same EVOO/castor/coconut oil mix and use it on my ends to seal, which i have never really done consistently since beginning my natural journey. although my hair seems to grow well now, i presumed that maybe sealing in *that* much more moisture could help me retain even better.

in addition to sealing my ends, i came across kimmaytube's now famous leave-in conditioner video and decided to adapt it for my own use. i was intrigued by the idea of pH balance affecting moisture levels in the hair, and i figured if nothing else it would allow me to stretch my leave-ins by adding additional products to it. the only problem with cowashing and simply leaving in my HE HH is that by bedtime, my hair is not only dry from having airdried, but is also dry from all the moisture having left my strands. i figured that closing the cuticle, as kim says the acidic nature of her leave-in aids in doing, would help "trap" the moisture much like sealing or an ACV rinse. i went to whole foods to search for the whole leaf AV juice and kinky-curly knot today, but they were out of the KCKT. i then remembered i have some giovanni direct still on hand from 2008, and used that in its place. later, i was pleasantly surprised to discover that GD itself has a low pH. i have only been using it two days, but i really like how my hair feels at the end of the day. as a matter of fact, i was stunned this morning when i woke up (my hair conveniently twisted into two flat twists) and my hair was still soft and cool to the touch, what i have heard described as a marker of well-moisturized hair. i will use this for a while and track the changes in my hair -- but i already think i have a keeper here.

on top of sealing and this new leave-in, i have also incorporated (drumroll) WET BUNNING into my regimen. of course i know how to make a bun, and i love the stories i hear about consistent wet bunners who have crazy retention rates, but i can never stick with it long enough to see ANY kind of results, much less miraculous ones. i have challenged myself to a mini-bunning challenge, and my goal is to wear a bun everyday until september 1st. i may not necessarily cowash everyday either -- i'm thinking my hair will stay in this bun for at least 3 days, and to remoisturize i will simply remove the hair tie, spray water on my hair, add leave-in and re-bun.

hopefully, a month straight of incorporating these three changes will cause me to adjust the way i think about my hair in the summer. my goal is to have moisturized hair at all times, and thus promote an optimal environment for growth and retention. as a byproduct, i hope that keeping my ends saturated and hidden will keep the split ends at bay, and by the time i do my next length check in september, i will have ends nearly as healthy as (or just as healthy as) they were following my june trim. only 5 weeks to go!

weave update

2010-07-26T14:53:00.002-04:00

after all that hoping and praying, i seriously underestimated the fact that 1) when i wear a protective style, i usually have to STRUGGLE to make myself keep it in even 6 weeks and 2) i haven't worn a weave since 2007. i feel like you already know what's coming next: i definitely took out those tracks! to be specific, i removed my sew-in after 4 weeks. the verdict is still out on the hair itself.....i mean, although i cowashed and detangled daily (more than i do to even my OWN hair), it was so matted and tangled at the end of those four weeks that even if i had wanted to go three months, i couldn't have. maybe if i do this again, i will bump up to AAMH.

although i didn't reach my goal of keeping it in for 3 months, it did help me get over that trimming setback from june, and for that i am happy. i am not sure how much growth i got, but the fact that i stayed consistent with my megatek and cowashing lets me know i probably got at least the 0.5" expected to grow within a month. my growth rate seems pretty much normal, and even if the megatek helped me get ANYTHING extra it will put me back on track to be BSL by new years. i'm not doing any official length checks until september, and now that my hair is loose i am trying to keep myself from doing any unofficial ones as well. luckily, i have a game plan that i will detail a little later.

back into hiding

2010-06-18T20:15:00.003-04:00

after that whole setback thing, i was ready to just put my hair back up. it was kind of depressing thinking about what happened, and it was really hot outside anyway. i took a trip to north carolina to visit a friend, and while there, i went curly again. my friend told me a number of times how much he loved my curly hair, and that made me feel so great. (sidebar: his mom makes this really great blend of oils and butters for your hair and skin that he introduced me to....this stuff is GOLDEN!) when i got back, i decided to go ahead and get my bobraz installed. i sealed it and called around to find a weaveologist, and i quickly found someone talented (and budget friendly) to help me out. without going into too much detail, i'll just mention that she was unprofessional....but she did a great job on my hair, and that's the important thing. i got it put in on june 15, two days after my natural anniversary, and i plan on keeping it until sept 15 or so. to recap, it's only one pack, i did not split the wefts, and it is sealed with dritz fray check to minimize shedding.

here is the hair after i sealed it, but before i washed it:she used a zigzag braiding pattern, and i left out my perimeter:
i washed and dried it before she installed it, and since it had very little product in it, this stuff got HUGE!

after wetting it and adding cantu, it looked a little better:
overall, i'm happy with the finished product. i could have left out more perimeter, but it is manageable.it is long though...almost to my waist when wet, and BSLish when dry. i am toying with cutting it, since it is a LOT of hair, but i haven't yet. i am also thinking about coloring it since my leaveout is still hanging onto that demi-permanent, but i am hoping that will fade to its natural color and match the bobraz by july. it may happen sooner, since i cowash every day just about, but we shall see.

setup for a comeback....right?

2010-06-18T20:02:00.004-04:00

So basically....all my hard work over the past 6 months, all the hiding my hair, all of that ANTICIPATION went down the drain in a matter of minutes. At the time I was really upset, but the less I look at my length, the more content I am.

The first week of June, I went and got a Dominican blowout so I could have straight hair for my two-year natural anniversary, and it was beautiful. Every time I did my hair the previous week, I stretched it out just to make sure I was BSL, and I was -- wet and dry. I was so excited to take my progress pictures once it was all blown out. At the salon, once my hair was straight, I felt how long it was on my back and smiled. (As you guys may know, I have serious hair anorexia, and I was excited for it to FINALLY feel "long".) Then I made the ultimate mistake -- I got a trim. Apparently it didn't matter that I always take great care in getting the same girl to do my hair, because she is the one who did this to me. I asked for a trim, and she showed me what she was going to cut, as she ALWAYS does -- but she had to have moved her hand up higher once she got to the back where I couldn't see. They say hindsight is 20/20, and now I realize I got too comfortable with her and didn't watch what she was doing after that first cut OR look on the floor when she was done. I just got her to wrap it (since it was so humid, plus it was late and I wasn't going anywhere but home) and got up. I gave her a huge tip, on top of that. I just wanted it to stay straight for a bridal shower I was going to the next day, so I didn't unwrap it and discover what was going on until the next day. I felt so stupid (and bald), and all I wanted to do was wear it in a bun. As bad as I wanted to go back and curse her out, I couldn't. Number one, the damage is done, and number two, she barely speaks English. Number three, she'd deny it anyway. *sigh*

Anyway, my hair is back to the length it was at the end of last year -- not even close to BSL anymore. Just full APL, where I've been stuck for so long now. Here is where I was in March, almost BSB -- versus where I am now:

I'm going to have to abandon chasing MBL in 2010 and hope on a wish and a prayer I make BSL before December. I'm just at a loss between thinking about how she pulled the wool over my eyes and what I want to do in the future. All these shouldawouldacouldas -- I shoulda bought my own trimming shears, I couldn't because I know I would have been a perfectionist and cut too much of my OWN hair off, and what was the point since I had a seemingly "perfect" stylist? One thing's clear -- I'm never letting anyone trim my hair ever again.

Since then, I've washed my hair to curly again (let's be real, it was too hot in VA for straight hair anyway) and bought my own trimming shears. I take comfort in the fact that I won't need a trim now for a while, since I did kinda need one before. I'm trying to tell myself that my hair looks better, and the point IS health over length, but it sucks to be that close to a goal then lose it all. I'm just hoping that when this sew-in comes down, I've gotten at least close to where I was.

under wraps

2010-05-17T23:59:00.002-04:00

i signed up for a membership on BHM waaaaayyyy back in june 2008, but for some reason it kept telling me that my membership had not been approved yet. FINALLY it's working, and i've been posting like a madman in the weaves/extensions section that i've been stalking for so long. like i said, i was toying with the idea of getting a kinky curly install for the summer months, so i can WNG as much as i want without wreaking havoc on my ends. i have been doing a lot of mystery shopping with EPMS this month, and i have a check for $320 coming in at the beginning of june!! i'm going to take this money to get some hair that will last and last, and that way, if all goes well, i can repeat this process next summer. being the product junkie that i am, i have an extensive list of other styles i want to try, and my "hairpics" folder on my laptop is brimming with pictures of cute styles i want to duplicate with some virgin remy hair -- wags NC, indian curly, IH.net wavy, kinky straight, maybe even virgin straight -- so i foresee a winter under a weave as well.

i was SO intent on getting some bohyme brazilian for this summer install, and all was going well until the other day, when i ran across a kinky curly thread on BHM and fell in love all over again with AAMH kinky curly. ediese had it back in 2009, and i love the way it looks -- i am just not sure about it since i heard some things about it shedding and shrinking up a lot. see, the thing about bobraz is they are really generous with the lengths, while AAMH seems to be the opposite, from what i have heard. then there was a thread on some vendor who turned out to be a BHM member, and all this unnecessary drama came out of it (so glad i'm a newbie and didn't care)....which basically led to me looking for a CV (Chinese vendor) to get my hair. The plus about CVs seems to be that they can duplicate any kind of hair you want, and it's way cheaper -- i'm taking about $100-ish for 8oz of KC as opposed to AAMH, which charges that amount for 4oz of hair. i did find a site that has bobraz on sale for less than $60, and i am notoriously bad with decisions. i may just get that since it's what i've been lusting after for so long....i seriously don't know why this is so hard!! in any event, i need it soon, since i am taking these twists out in about 2 or 3 weeks and getting a blowout for my two-year. that means by june 24th i need to make a final decision on not only the hair i get, but also who i'm going to get to put it in. i found a few ladies on craigslist who are very inexpensive, but i need more photos of their work and a consultation before i decide for sure who i'm going to give my hard-earned money to. it's going to be interesting to get used to having tracks in my head again, especially since i was so hair-ignorant the last time i had a sew-in. here's to great growth!

megatek....the sequel

2010-05-17T23:48:00.002-04:00

i reinstalled my senegalese twists on the 3rd of this month....long story short with the sew-in, the hair tangled so badly and it was so damn HEAVY that i snatched it out after two days! well, i guess that's not technically right....i installed 4oz on a sunday, put in the rest of it (3 more oz) that thursday, and took it out the next sunday. i'm in a comfort zone with my senegalese twists, and although they aren't the best looking set i've had, they only took 6 hours and don't feel like my neck is breaking. i just bun them and moisturize maybe once a week.

so i have a hair growing buddy on LHCF, nakialovesshoes. we realized maybe about a month or two ago that our goals are similar (BSL by june, MBL by october) and so we are going it together...well, as together as two people can over the internet. we check in with one another, encourage each other, and share advice. the other day, she approached me with this great idea to have another HYH challenge. you guys may know that i'm doing a personal one right now, and it runs from january 1st of this year to june 13th, my two-year BC anniversary. i was really looking forward to not having to hide my hair anymore, since i really want to ENJOY my BSL, but then i thought about two things: one, i was kinda gonna hide it this summer anyway, since i'm planning on getting a sew-in so i can WNG with no problems, and two, it will help me speed my way to MBL, since it will be MUCH more fun to flaunt that length. this one will run from june 24 - sept 24, and if i complete it, that will make almost 8 or 9 months this year that my hair will have been out of sight, out of mind. it doesn't feel like it, which is the good thing. the other part of the challenge is using a growth aid, which will naturally be megatek. i feel kind of bad since i was so excited about it back in 2008 and it's been sitting in my closet for two years now, but i think it is still okay to use. tonight i got my sister to apply it to my scalp, and to try to avoid that scary shedding that i got with it last time, i will just be using it twice a week, on the days that i moisturize. i have no measurements to track my growth, but i did tighten a few braids and hopefully i can gauge my growth using those. i don't do too much experimentation with my hair these days, but i sure do hope i get the growth i got back in 2008 from an equine product....

back to black (-ish)

2010-04-18T17:09:00.005-04:00

the tracks that i bought for my sew-in ended up being wayyy too dark for my head. i always get a #4 since no one can match my hair color (or skin color, but that's another post) and this time i decided to just dye my hair dark brown so that my leaveout matches. well it came out great....except the color is a *bit* dark. hopefully it will just lighten with a few washes.

in any event, my crazy cousin has been MIA for the past few days, so i didn't get to install my sew-in on tuesday like i had hoped. my mom told me she will try to cornrow my hair today, so hopefully all goes well. the other day i cowashed my hair for a date and decided to rock a puff. i don't know whether it was the garnier, the noodle head, or the hair color....but my ends did this weird clumpy thing that i really liked. instead of being a whole bunch of frizzy-ish curls, they came together in a few well defined coils. i need to find out what caused this, because i like it!

as of now, i am deep conditioning with a new product i picked up -- a fortifying deep conditioner by garnier. it was very creamy, which kind of made up for the fact that the tube is so small. instead of getting one use out of it, i may be able to get two whole uses....joy! (can you sense the sarcasm?) next i'll rinse out and probably go ahead and pull out my perimeter in order to make it a bit easier for my mom....because i know the whole concept of doing that will just confuse her. she acts so hair illiterate that i can't help but laugh and shake my head. ah well, this way i can make sure it looks the way i want it. wish me luck!

my next protective style

2010-03-28T19:02:00.002-04:00

i was sitting up late the other night for no reason, and had an epiphany: i think i'm ready to tackle weaves again. i spent forever agonizing over whether i was gonna go for curly or straight, then i remembered the massive bohyme brazilian thread on BHM. i had always wanted to try that hair, and now that it's getting warm and i'm in the cowash challenge, i figured this hair will let me cowash and experiment with curly styles to my heart's content. i will be able to bun, twistout, braidout, wet bun, and everything else i wanna do, making sure my hair underneath gets the most moisture but without sacrificing retention.

i found the hair on leebeauty.com for the best price, and i have heard from people on BHM that it's actually authentic bohyme for those prices. they have the 12" for 71.99 and the 14" for 79.99, so i think i will go with the 14". i went to a local bss to look at the colors since they say bohyme runs a little lighter than other brands, and i didn't want to buy the wrong color online and be screwed. i *think* i'll get the 2....it's pretty light, and the 4 may be too light.

the only thing i have to decide now is whether i will get my cousin to braid me up like she did before i installed my crochet braids and sew it in myself, or if i will pay someone to do it. i don't really trust other people with my hair, but i figure it won't be bad, as long as i don't let her braid too tight. i have a bit of time to decide, since i won't be doing anything until i get my tax return. for now, it's back to reading that huge thread -- only 140 pages till i'm done!

who woulda thought?

2010-03-28T18:40:00.005-04:00

so i bought this container of indian healing clay for my face a while back, when i was on retin-a micro, because i had heard good things about its deep cleaning abilities. long story short, i like my queen helene mint julep mask much better -- i still get that deep cleaning feeling without my face feeling raw. i found a thread on lhcf where a girl had used her bentonite clay on her hair, and of course i was interested -- clean hair without shampoo AND curl definition is right up my alley! i decided to give it a whirl today, since i was ready to wash my hair after almost 3 weeks of wearing it straight. here's what i did:

*prepooed overnight with coconut/olive/castor oil*bentonite clay treatment (added warm water to clay till it was a little thicker than pudding; left in for 20 min)
*cowashed with HE hello hydration
*added a bit of VO5 strawberries and creme, then the last of my MJ baby buttercreme and some curly pudding mixed with aloe vera gel

i must admit, at first i was kind of scared when i was under the showerhead (with my new filter) and my hair felt really dry....then i rinsed it all out and got rid of that residue. things immediately got better right before i added my HH; my hair felt really clean but wasn't tangled like it is when i shampoo it. i then added my conditioner, put my hair in one big twist, and let it sit for about 5 min while i showered. i couldn't stop smiling once i removed the t-shirt from my hair and saw all those curls that i've been hiding for so long!! my hair is sitting right on my shoulders, which means i am finally almost SL unstretched. APL unstretched is gonna be a beast if i ever get there, that's for sure!

here's how i wore my hair today. tonight i will put it in two french braids, and tomorrow i will spray it with conditioner and water in the AM and bun.

me vs the avocado

2010-03-11T01:26:00.004-05:00

the other day, i bought an avocado and decided to try to make a natural hair mask with it using a recipe i found on LHCF. the recipe called for one avocado, a bit of honey, and some water, but i decided to add some melted shea butter and a little coconut and olive oil to it as well. long story short, i think i'll stick to avocado butter and oil -- i wasn't able to get it down to a guacamole-like consistency and ended up with chunks of avocado stuck in my hair. let's not even get started on the smell -- i smelled avocado for about 12 hours after i rinsed!! speaking of which, after i rinsed, i added some oils (coconut, olive and castor) to my hair as a pre-poo before hitting the dominican salon that afternoon. the guy at the shampoo bowl had a pretty funny reaction; he just kept talking about all the oil in my hair and ended up shampooing it about three times trying to get it all out. i was a little peeved (although it may just have been him in general) but didn't let it bother me. it WAS kind of funny when he pleaded with me "no mucho oy-jul", trying to say i had too much oil in my hair. all i did was smirk and say ok -- i'll definitely keep pre-pooing, because Lord knows all that oil in my hair is what kept it from going down the sink with all those sulfates he put in it!

march 9th blowout

2010-03-11T01:26:00.001-05:00

i removed my crochet braids this past tuesday and rewarded myself for keeping my hair under wraps so long by getting a dominican blowout. it went great (minus the guy wandering around the shop who ended up washing my hair and soaking me when he dropped the hose), and i got to ask my girl her opinion about the lacio lacio that my friend gave me. she used baba de caracol on my hair, and when i asked her where i could get that, she told me lacio was good, so i was alright with what i already have. she didn't ask if i wanted a trim, which i found unusual, and i didn't check my ends till i got home....so now i have a serious dilemma. my sister measured for me, and while i am kinda scraping BSB (almost, anyway....definitely a half an inch or less) i have an inch till i am full BSL -- basically, the top of the yellow shirt is what i will consider BSL and the bottom of my bra, since i wear them low, will be my MBL. i can definitely get an inch before my 2 year curly kinkyversary in june, but i need to take off about an inch to fix the "situation" i have going on with my ends. i'm now stuck figuring out whether i'll trim, since i won't be wearing my hair straight again for at least 3 months but want to avoid it getting any worse. more than likely, what i'll end up doing is either going back to get that trim or buying some shears and learning how to search and destroy. i'm happy with my growth since this is officially theeeee longest my hair has ever been, but i am severely hair anorexic -- i never understood that till it happened to me. i'm pretty sure that what it is is my hair growing so slowly as opposed to the drastic change in length that comes with a wig or sew-in, so i don't notice that my hair is longer until i do something like get it straightened and suddenly feel it on my back, or see a picture. even with the pictures, i feel kinda jaded by the length, until i see someone with shorter hair and think "wow, her hair is really long" and realize my hair's longer. i also believe it has something to do with the fact that it's not uberthick like my sister's, so i feel like i have to have ridiculously long -- as in WL or longer -- hair in order to overcome the thickness thing. ah well, at least for once i feel like WL is in my reach, something i NEVER thought possible before two years ago. i'm so excited to see what this summer will bring!

i've decided...

2010-03-04T12:52:00.002-05:00

i was up this morning doing some thinking about my hair...for no reason, really, but i was. i'm currently reading through the MBL 2010 thread on LHCF (a challenge that i officially joined this morning) and i realized something: i am probably about a year away from realizing a hair goal that i never, EVER thought possible. heck, i'm already the proud owner of a beautiful head of strands longer and healthier than they have ever been in my life. this made me realize that while i am still aiming for certain goals (BSL by june 13, MBL by my birthday on october 13, WL by 6/13/2011), i should enjoy every second of this journey. translation: i will NOT be forcing myself to do something that i don't want to do for the sake of reaching a goal that frankly, i have the rest of my life to get to. that is one thing i never understood about people who bun consistently or something like that and get sick of it, but keep going just to reach some silly length goal: i want to always be HAPPY with my hair! my hair has been hidden for almost three straight months, and i have no idea where i am in terms of reaching my BSL goal. i don't think i have ever gone this long without knowing how my hair looks, and i simply can't take the suspense anymore...i want to do a length check.

thus, when these crochet braids come out (i am 2.5 weeks in, so i will take them out on tuesday, march 9, making them exactly 3 weeks old) i will be getting a dominican blowout and making a length check tee so i can do some update photos. that will put me at the halfway point of my 6 month HYH challenge. i won't consider this failing my challenge...hell, it's a personal challenge...and after i wash out that blowout, i will go right back to hiding my hair until i hit two years natural. this will let me enjoy my hair for just enough time to get sick of it again, and also satisfy my need to see where i am with my progress. i mean, there are plenty of times i have wanted to straighten my hair and was either too broke to do it or too afraid of a setback, but now i not only am making money from a passion of mine, but i also have a favorite hairstylist who herself is the owner of a lush mane of hair. i'm so excited...all this talk about not being happy though....i am itching to take these braids out so i can cowash, but THAT i won't do. yet, anyway!

my sister's trip to the salon

2010-03-01T22:54:00.008-05:00

my sister took out her kinky twists on february 25th. they lasted about 6 weeks, which is typical for her. she had about an inch of new growth when they came out...this is what they looked like the day i installed them.
she actually asked me if she could wear her hair out for a few days before getting it braided back up, and i was SHOCKED! this is coming from my sister, who is deathly allergic to heat on her hair, as you may recall. in fact, her hair has only been straightened ONCE since she's been natural, and that was right around new years before this last set of kinky twists was installed. i guess she liked it so much (or got so many compliments, haha) that she wanted it done again. however, i didn't really feel like straightening her hair since i'm not so good at getting my own straight, and hers is wayyyy thicker than mine...so i told her as a reward for doing so well in school last semester, i would pay for her to go to the dominican salon and get a blowout. of course she shuddered when she heard this, having heard my mother and i talk about that hot blow dryer, but i reminded her that that was all before i discovered "my new girl" (i really, REALLY have to learn her name) and i reassured her she would leave with her hair swinging and her scalp intact. on thursday the 25th, i took her after school (with deep conditioner already in her hair) for what would promise to be an interesting afternoon.

after driving all the way to the larger salon 30 minutes from here, i was told that my favorite girl was actually at the salon 10 minutes from my house. all i could do was laugh, since that's pretty much how i expected my luck to play out. we hopped back in the car and got there just in time -- there were only 2 customers, and it was AFTER my sister sat down that everyone rushed into the salon after work. there were only two people working there, a light skinned larger girl with WL straightish hair, and my girl, who has BSL jet black hair with red highlights. the light skinned girl took one look at my sister's hair and added $20 to the price of a standard blowout. i wasn't shocked for some reason (maybe because mine is $10 more, supposedly because i am natural), so i just shook my head and agreed to it. she started talking to the other girl, whom i have noticed doesn't speak much english, and led my sister to the shampoo bowl. she picked up a small toothed comb while i watched in horror -- and then my girl came over with a large shower-sized bone comb and pushed the other girl out of the way. see, this is why she is my favorite!! she washed my sister's hair, gently detangling it, then sat her in the chair to get prepped for the dryer. the light skinned girl reached for the magnetic rollers, and i perked up to see how this was going to go, since i couldn't imagine rollers getting my sister's hair anything near straight. i was right, though -- my girl came over and again pushed the other stylist out of the way, and instead put my sister's hair in about 20 bantu knots before sitting her under the dryer. pleased, i made small talk with my mom, who had arrived by then to get her own blowout. the flat iron job i had done earlier in the week turned out less than stellar, to say the least, and she just couldn't let my sister get her hair done without seeing it with her own eyes! while my sister was under the dryer, both stylists started talking about my hair before asking me if it was a weave. i told them no, and parted my hair to show them the cornrows under my crochet braids. i heard them both say "ahhh", then felt two pairs of hands in my head! all i could do was laugh while they checked out my handiwork, almost in disbelief that i had done it myself. the light skinned one then asked if i do hair, and i simply said yes. =) she asked my advice on getting two strand twists, and we talked a bit about the type of hair in my head before my mom and sister's time was up under the dryer.

while my sister was under the dryer, in came a woman and her daughter to get blowouts of their own. i would estimate that the girl was maybe 12 or so, and i couldn't keep my eyes off of her...not because i couldn't believe she was so young and looked so used to getting her hair done, but because she had the most BEAUTIFUL hair! her WL/TL hair (my estimation anyway) was pulled up into a ponytail that hung to her waist, and it was in a bouncy braidout. it was right then and there that i decided that i wanted a ponytail just like that one. i have always pretty much thought of hair that length as stereotypically boring and just plain TOO MUCH, but it looked really great on her and not boring at all. i mean, just thinking of the beautiful spiral curls that would have resulted from her rollerset almost had me drooling! i tried hard not to stare, but i couldn't resist taking a picture. i wish i could have been there to see the outcome!

after getting up, my sister was led to the chair...and my mom and i both watched intently as my girl pulled out the blow dryer. we were right in the sense that my sister made THEE most hilarious faces at first, but she seemed to hold it together as my mom and i took bets as to whether she would ever return. after getting her hair blown out, it was flat ironed for extra sleekness. i was so glad i had brought my huge bottle of chi silk infusion, since this was more heat than she had probably ever had on her hair, natural or relaxed! they then gave her a small trim (my girl's other specialty) and wrapped it. she left grinning like a cheshire cat, letting me know that even though it was a bit painful at first, she thought her hair looked great. i feel like although she will still be conscious of what she is letting happen to her hair, she's no longer afraid of heat...occasionally, anyway.

SCORE!

2010-02-27T12:19:00.002-05:00

in the past week or so, i posted an ad on craigslist to start braiding hair as a side hustle. i haven't necessarily given up on mystery shopping, but this is something i can do to get paid THAT DAY, which is a drawback of my other side hustle. i charge between $75 and $100 (although it's so time consuming, i may just move to $100 soon) for kinky twists, senegalese twists, box braids, crochet braids, and yarn braids, and $35-50 for two strand twists, straw sets and the like. it's going pretty well, as i have had 3 clients who have wanted kinky twists or senegalese twists, and hopefully i will have more business next week.

anyway, my client yesterday wanted senegalese twists, and all she told me was that she is natural. i ask her if she has any favorite moisturizers (sort of an over-the-phone consultation before she got here), and she tells me no, but she doesn't use grease in her hair. as soon as she said this, a bell went off in my head....she must know about nikos! i kind of hinted at it once she got here, but she just kept mentioning youtube. eventually i came out and asked her if she was a member of lhcf...and she told me no, but some of her youtube browsing takes her there. the whole time i was twisting her hair, we talked moisturizers, sealing, hair goals (i even showed her pics of my natural hair, curly and straight, since i am in crochet braids and she couldn't see my hair) and more. it turns out she is a pj just like me, but her thing is buying essential oils and butters online. i almost started drooling when we got on the topic of skin care/fitness and she told me about the huge block of black soap she had purchased and all of her uses for it...she learned on youtube how to make it into liquid soap, adding glycerin, honey and all my other favorite DC additives to it. you guys may know by now about my struggles with sulfate shampoos and how they dry out and tangle my hair to the MAX, so when she mentioned she uses this as shampoo, i had to stop and look at her! then she offered to bring me some so i could try it, and i wanted to kiss this child!!

we ran out of hair last night, so she came back this morning to get the twists at her crown finished. not only did she bring me black soap, but she also brought me small containers of mango and avocado butter! y'all know how i am about playing in my hair, so i am realllly fighting to keep these crochet braids in...i just wanna wash my hair and...i don't even know, i just wanna seal it with one of these butters! LMAO...i feel like a fiend who got a fix...but i will let you guys know (of course) when i use them.

my latest project...

2010-02-22T10:46:00.003-05:00

now that i've got the hang of crochet braids, i am trying to learn about tree braids. this may be one that i have to get someone else to do for me initially, but i am intrigued. i never really knew what they were, save this one thread on LHCF one time, but even then i didn't read through it to see what the buzz was. the thing i like about crochet braids is the fact that they mimic a really intricate, complex style but take so little time -- for example, normal micros take what, 10-12 hours, but you can get crocheted micros in about 3-4 hours. it's sort of the same deal with tree braids, from what i read...they resemble micros or a sew-in but take 3-5 hours max. what's more is you can use either straight or wavy hair to get the desired look...so if i DO go this route, i'd probably get wet and wavy since i'm definitely a girl who likes versatility. now all that's left is researching them some more -- any time i find a style i am interested in, i read till my eyes are about to fall out, then rest up and watch youtube videos showing different ways people do them. i just started this process last night, so i am not too far in it all, but within the next few weeks i hope to be certain as to whether this is doable or not. if nothing else, i can at least try it on my guinea pig of a sister -- she pretty much is open to anything, so we will see.

hair inspirations

2010-02-22T10:24:00.008-05:00

i SO want a full weave with bangs like this...or when i'm MBL i'll get em

now that i am coming closer to my goals (and my hair is safely tucked away so i can't do anything drastic to it), i spend lots of time daydreaming about what i want my hair to look like when it's all grown up. here are a few pictures i have saved to my hard drive over the past few months...everything from cuts to weaves i want to new hair colors. enjoy!

i think the ends of these box braids are LOVELY...pic courtesy of LHCF

i love this ponytail!

her color (and length unstretched) are both dreeeaaaammmmy!

i'd KILL for hair this length...then again, i'll just give myself 2 years, lol

love it or hate it: ion effective care treatment

2010-02-22T09:56:00.004-05:00

well, the full name of this thing is a mouthful: ion effective care treatment intensive therapy protein fortifier and moisturizer...but this treatment (which i find a light enough protein for MY protein-happy hair to use whenever i DC) is quickly making its way onto my holy grail list. i purchased it back in january when i had those coupons to use from my december babyliss thermal ionic rollabout dryer purchase, and shelved it for about a week until it was time for me to install my box braids. the day i used it, it gave me all the signs of a good deep conditioner: it was available in a large bottle, it smelled good (as in not offensive), it was thick enough to stay on my overturned hand, and it made my hair feel heavy (and thus moisturized) after sitting with it under the dryer. as an added bonus, it not only counts in my book as a light protein, but it also moisturizes, since my hair looooves panthenol! i could tell that it was a keeper once the little bit of breakage that i was still suffering after going through that matting incident in the hospital came to a halt after my DC session with this bottle -- my hair definitely felt stronger, and there was less of it in the comb. in addition, this was WITHOUT adding anything to it, and you know i love to add honey and oils to my DCs! as an additional test, i used it on my sister's hair undoctored before installing her kinky twists. the difference in her hair was also distinct: way less hair in the comb after i rinsed and began detangling, as well as a heavier, but not coated feeling to her strands. i will definitely be using this on her hair between braid installs. i am SO glad i got the liter bottle, and it's a steal at $11.99 (with my sally card) for a bottle that large! i am becoming more and more impressed with sally's products as time goes on...now all i have to do is try that hairone cleanser and i may have found everything i need for wash day at sally's, styling tools included!

next on the list...

2010-02-22T09:14:00.005-05:00

after my box braids came out around the first of the month, i played around with twistouts for about a week and a half since i decided i will allow myself up to 2 weeks between braids/twists to play in my hair (and use up the billions of products in my stash). during that time, i tried HE hydralicious, which i purchased while in box braids (what? it was on sale!) and hadn't gotten a chance to use. i liked it, but need to use it again to get a definitive evaluation. while in my braids, i was perusing LHCF when i came across BlackMasterPiece's thread about crochet braids and fell.in.love with this style! i knew i had to have it, but was unsure of when i would be able to install it...then there was that whole confidence thing about actually being able to do it. anyway, i walked into one of my local BSS's on february 15th to check out their kanekalon when i asked the sales lady, on a whim, if they carried freetress water wave bulk hair. unfortunately, she told me they stopped carrying it, so i went back to the regular braiding hair to pick up three packs of $1.99 braiding hair for senegalese twists. just as some $7.99 wavy braiding hair caught my eye, my mom entered and came over to where i was. coincidentally, she picked up a random pack of hair and asked me "why don't you get this?" lo and behold, she was holding a pack of blonde $9.99 freetress water wave...AFTER the lady told me they didn't have it! my jaw DROPPED, and i asked her where she got it, hoping that maybe they had a solid brown or something in that family. she shrugged and said it was laying on top of the rack, and i frantically searched to see if there were any other wayward packs while she asked at the front if they had more. she got the same answer (plus a shocked look) from the sales lady...and then a man came out from behind the counter and came over to where i was standing to look for more. he ended up finding TWO MORE packs, which was perfect since i was going to buy three packs of whatever i was getting anyway. i was concerned again with the color, since he had two blonde-ish packs and one that was T33, a black-and-red sort of combo. he then not only reassured me that they would blend nicely, but said the magic words: "i'll sell to you for a good price"! i looked at the $7.99 pack in my hand, asked him what price, and he offered to sell me them for $6.99 a pack. i looked at my mom for her opinion on the colors, and she told me they should be fine, although she then admitted she knows nothing about "fake hair", her term for everything from half wigs to kanekalon. i know i should have asked for $6 just to ensure i wouldn't feel bad if the colors looked crazy on me, but i wasn't thinking at this point and i simply said yes. that is the story of how i got my crochet braid hair...the rest is history.

well, not really...i guess there is more to the story. i shampooed my hair, DC'd with my new favorite, ion effective care intensive therapy treatment -- which really deserves its own post, blow dried my hair mostly straight so she wouldn't rip through it, and got my cousin to do my cornrows the next day since i didn't feel like it (and hers are tighter than mine). she didn't quite listen to my request for 16 straight back cornrows once she heard i was doing crochet braids and instead did 10 curved ones. there was also a glitch with my hook...my sister heard "crochet hook" and that's exactly what she gave me, claiming she couldn't find her latch hook. since the hair wouldn't stay on, i pulled a BMP (my term for doing what the thread author did) and used a bobby pin to install the hair. i was a bit concerned when the knots weren't tight since none of the youtube videos i watched (and trust me, i watched a TON) mentioned this, but i went forward...and eventually, it didn't seem to matter: the hair stayed in and ended up looking great. also, the fact that she did curved braids seemed to work out better, since i don't have that "driveway", as one youtuber called it, running down the middle of my head where the hair is parted and falls on its own. i split ALL my braiding hair into 3 sections instead of just the hair on the sides, gelling each piece like BMP did, but with matrix biolage gelee (glycerin free, as recommended), and ended up saving myself a whole pack-and-some-change...i only used a pack and a half in the end, so i have enough left over to do this style again with these colors! what's even better is the guy at the BSS was right, and these colors look great together. i felt so relieved when i realized it, and noticed he wasn't just trying to make a sale. i will admit i added too much in the beginning on one side, but it wasn't anything a pair of scissors couldn't fix. hopefully maintenance will be as easy as people have said and it will last me closer to the 6 week end of the spectrum...i have LOTS of gel at my disposal, as well as lots of braid spray and conditioner (i do think i will attempt cowashing around week 4). i also got the idea last night to pull a Nichi (it's a shame how i refer to styles/techniques by the LHCF user i got the idea from, lol) and cut the hair shorter once it starts to lose steam.

now that the hair is in, i have gotten quite a few compliments...one from my cousin who put the cornrows in (her words: "that didn't turn out half bad", which is as close to a compliment as she can give, lol), another from my ex's mother (who asked me a million questions before deciding that she wants me to do her hair like this for the summer) and even one from my anti-fake-hair mother, who was so impressed that when i told her i was ordering more hair this weekend (hairsisters had an amaaaaazing weekend dash sale, where all their freetress bulk hair was $4.60 a pack), she asked me to pick up two packs for HER so she can wear her hair like this! this style is definitely a keeper...glad i am building my style arsenal and looking flyy while doing it!

back to it + a new challenge

2010-01-29T22:34:00.009-05:00

so now that it's been a while, it would be nice if i posted pics of my hair as of late, huh?

i found some pictures of pin curls that i tried on my last Dominican blowout...I must say that they came out extremely nice (and i don't have to sleep on rollers anymore...yay!) i also posted pictures of my box braids on fotki...and even got around to washing them the other day! here is my wash day regimen in braids/twists...since i've never been able to keep them in long enough to HAVE a wash day:

apply DC (ion effective care treatment diluted in a spray bottle) to length of braids; cover with shower cap and go about my business for 2-3 hours. next time i will do 45 minutes under my lovely rollabout dryer.
squirt a bit of ORS olive oil shampoo into bottom of an empty cantu shea butter leave-in container and fill the rest with water; pour over braids
massage scalp and rinse
squeeze out excess water and wrap braids in a t-shirt
apply african royale braid spray to length of braids and aloe vera gel to edges
tie braids down with a scarf to tame the fuzzies while they airdry (again, next time i will use my rollabout dryer)

and without further a-do (haha), here is my 'do:

so my newest challenge is a personal hide-your-hair challenge...hopefully this will do a few things: one, keep me from using heat...and two, keep me away from those scissors! i have nothing against trimming, but i did it wayyyy too much last year between the two trims i gave myself at the beginning of the year (i coulda been APL before the spring) and the two i got at the end of the year (i coulda been BSL by winter). i figure if my ends are tucked away, i can't see them, which means i won't want to cut them! i've got these box braids on lock, and i also have a grip on senegalese twists, kinky twists, and i'm working on a few other styles. hopefully the months fly by, and i will be celebrating my 2nd year of being natural with BSL hair! wish me luck!

happy new year!

2010-01-07T15:26:00.004-05:00

hey guys, it's been a while...but that means i have lots of updates! on december 5th i was in a serious car accident, and i was hospitalized for most of december...needless to say, my hair was the least of my worries. my hair became matted while i was in the hospital, and i didn't even realize it between being drugged up and not looking in a mirror for about 2 weeks...i went in with a 2 week old dominican blowout and ended up with a shrunken, matted fro. i was able to convince my parents (who pretty much took up residence in my room) to detangle and two-strand twist my hair, but even with that i am pretty sure i lost some length. at least i have my health...i am now at home recovering (and so is my hair, in box braids installed by my cousin). i did find some pictures of my hair from the end of november when i experimented with pin curls on my camera. they came out pretty decent, if you ask me!

sorry guys, but i will have to post pics later...i just got really sleepy all of a sudden. consider this a teaser post!

inching along

2009-11-23T19:42:00.004-05:00

it may not seem like it, but my hair is still inching along towards my goal. this is a picture i took tonight...even with that trim, i can see that the u-shape has grown out some more. i know that i need trims, so i will try to stick to every 3-4 months. with that said, NO MORE CUTTING TILL MARCH!

my skin is inching along, too...i did my 2nd glycolic peel tonight. so far, i have 5 peels completed: i did the three lactics about 3 or 4 days apart, then waited a week for the first glycolic, then gave it another 4 days before doing the one i did tonight. i'm not doing another one until next monday, when i will rotate back to the lactic peel. i am glad that i read regular witch hazel can be used as a pH prep, because everyone was right: i am going through the prep solution much faster than the peel itself. i have also started pouring a tiny amount into a bowl and using a concealer brush to ensure more even application. i wonder if MUA is having a black friday sale, because i definitely want to buy a sample of the TCA peel. i may go on and get the 12.5%, but if i don't there is always the option to get the "lunchtime" 8% peel. i probably won't get anything until half of the bottles i have are gone, and i am far from that, so that gives me time to think -- you know how i am.

can't shake this feeling...

2009-11-22T23:29:00.003-05:00

after winging it for about a month, i went back to the dominicans today and got another blowout. i went to the salon down the street looking for my favorite girl, and when i heard she was at the other one in the next city over, i high-tailed it out of the WITH THE QUICKNESS! long story short, it came out great and i met another really good stylist who herself has really nice, thick, long (ok, it's about APL) hair...not only did she not skimp on the time under the dryer with the DC in my hair, but she sprayed heat protectant on my hair without me asking -- truly a dream come true after going to those horrible women i used to let touch my hair.

since my homegirl was busy coloring some girl's hair when i came from under the dryer, the new chick blew out my hair, and i was not disappointed. when she was done, i asked for bangs -- she decided that a layered side bang would look better, and then i realized she wasn't really all that excited to cut my hair from under my chin to above my eyes. i decided to go with the flow since i'm not opposed to a side bang, and i watched as she angled those scissors and went in. the trouble came in when i closed my eyes and heard a snip IN THE BACK when i asked for bangs! all these horror stories of scissor happy stylists immediately came to mind, and i whipped around and stared at the floor, looking desperately for all the hair i just knew she had chopped off. clearly she saw the panicked/crazed look on my face, because she began reassuring me in broken english that she didn't cut all my hair off. i got up from the chair with some really cute layers in the front about 3 minutes later, but i spent much of the next two hours trying to reassure myself it was ok. however, being that i just got a trim in september, my brain was convinced she cut off all my progress since my last blowout. i even looked at the hair again when i stood up, and it was definitely a dusting, not to mention my mom was watching her the whole time she trimmed my hair and would have let me know if she aimed those scissors too high. eight hours later, i am still uneasy about the whole thing, although i realize she was trying to do me a favor: i paid for a trim so it would have been crazy to only get two snips in the front, plus i've had two blowouts (and thus a lot of heat on my head) since my last trim. i think i can still see some progress since the last set of pictures i took, but i won't be sure until tomorrow when i gather the energy to take some more pictures. smh, i am a hot mess...paranoid over trims now.

back to the subject at hand, i plan on keeping my hair straight for the next three weeks or so, then wearing it curly for a week before deciding where to go from there. i am still keeping the weave option open and added a box braids option in there sometime last week, so i honestly have no idea what i will do come the week before christmas. hopefully the solution will strike me soon.

finally!

2009-11-15T03:48:00.003-05:00

i've been addicted to twistouts for a while now, but unfortunately they are still hit or miss. i determined at the end of last winter that 5-6 flat twists seemed to work best for me instead of a head full of smaller two-strand twists, but i decided to tweak that theory earlier this month when i was homebound with swine flu. i really had nothing but time on my hands, so i used it to play in my hair. i mean really, what else am i supposed to do with 10 days of free time quarantined in my bedroom...

although i love the simplicity of two-strand twists, mine always tend to look anorexic. i had the brilliant idea to simply make less of them so they would be chunkier, and it worked pretty well for me. after following my normal WNG routine one night, i grabbed a few large duckbill clips and parted my hair into about 7 or 8 sections and just started twisting. i was pretty happy with the thickness, and they got me through 5 days of my quarantine. one day when i got sick of laying in bed, i unraveled them and actually had a pretty decent twistout.

now that i'm better (and getting out of the house), i made a run to wal-mart's electronics department and OF COURSE made an obligatory hair products purchase. i bought a container of cantu shea butter leave-in, which as a newbie to LHCF waybackwhen was the WORST (uhh, probably because i tried it as a DC, which is far from its intended purpose), as well as one of the big $5 bottles of HE hello hydration. excited over my new leave-in scores...hey, i'm easy to please...i ran upstairs when i got home and used the hello hydration as a moisturizer on my dry hair to reset my twists for another twistout. unlike what i've been doing for the past two weeks, this time i went back to my trusty flat twists and got the best twistout this morning. it was everything i wanted: stretched, moisturized, and swangy! now that i am on this washing once a week kick, i'll use tomorrow as my opportunity to set it for the week and wear it till the wheels fall off.

tis the season...

2009-11-03T02:02:00.003-05:00

i kind of thought it was a fluke, but now i know for certain...i shed like a small animal in the fall. thinking back to around this time last year, i tried this low-mani thing out, and not only was it an utter fail, but i experienced so much shedding that i thought my hair was falling out. however, at that particular point in time, i didn't know whether to attribute it to my lack of detangling or the change in the seasons. now that my regimen has been pretty solid for the past few weeks, not to mention the fact that i've placed 2 protein sessions with joico k-pak DPR in there, i definitely know it has something to do with the time of year and not my washing/styling habits. i am thinking about going back on those garlic supplements, since they really did seem to work, and i have already started wearing styles that require less washing and thus less of those massive hairballs in the shower. i'm currently rocking a twist n curl a la curlynikki...i may post pics as the week goes along to share how it came out. in any case, i hope it stops soon. my next paycheck (and subsequently, my order with hairsisters to get these tracks) can't come fast enough.

want it, need it, gotta have it: fall/winter edition

2009-10-25T20:53:00.002-04:00

now that i'm putting away the flip flops and shorts in lieu of pea coats and leather boots, it's time for me to revamp some of my current products/habits until winter weather returns. here is a list of things i really need (ok, some are wants) to get me through the colder days.

PRODUCTS

ditching the coconut oil for avocado oil
castor oil to seal and weigh down my ends
jane carter nourish and shine for straight hair weeks
qhemet biologics burdock root butter cream...something to COAT those strands
cantu shea butter leave-in for daily moisturizing
lustrasilk cholesterol (an old favorite) for defined curls/waves and DCing
hairone cleanser to clean the gunk off my hair without the tangling effect of sulfates
more hair accessories...clips, headbands, silk scarves, bra strap headbands, ouchless bands
gel: ecostyler clear, aloe vera, fantasia IC are among my choices

TOOLS

FHI Runway (definitely a WANT, since my solia works fine)
a new denman...mine is ready to cross over to the promised land
more large magnetic rollers, perhaps of the ceramic variety
caruso steam rollers
bigger flexirods (i currently only have the grey ones)
salons r us dryer to dry my hair faster
bone combs...snagging those strands is not attractive
shower filter
hot air brush to cut down on styling time

METHODS

more deep conditioning...more than likely i will continue using aussie moist or GVP CB
less cowashing, more styles that last 3+ days: buns, twistouts, frohawks, chunky twists
MORE STRETCHED HAIR! my ends do not get along with one another...
stretching hair with the denman and a blow dryer
a solid weave regimen for when the time comes
self-installed cornrows and flat twists i won't be ashamed to wear in public!

SUPPLEMENTS

fish oil
GNC vitapaks? these look really interesting...

back to curly...

2009-10-25T20:28:00.003-04:00

after wearing my hair straight for the last 4 weeks, i went back to curly yesterday. i will stick it out for a week or 2 (knowing me, probably more) before getting weaved up for the rest of the year. i actually found a really great thread by Nichi on LHCF documenting the weave she has had installed since late august and hopes to have until the first of the year. i found a lot of similarities between what she is doing and what i hope to do: she's natural 4a, is using sensationnel goddess remi (which is actually on sale right now at hairsisters for $35.99, BOGO FREE as well) and started out with it in longer layers, then had it cut to a very stylish bob after a few months. this is something like what i plan on doing...wearing it, going to a curly install (more than likely BoBraz) for a few months, then switching back to the bob. don't get me wrong, i LOVE LOVE LOVE wearing my natural hair out, but i am stuck in an APL rut now and it would be lovely to make it past that hump in time for the summer of 2010.

here is my current wash day regimen, which i will probably follow every 2 weeks or so until my install.

prepoo with EVOO, VO5 tea tree therapy conditioner - 4 hours to overnight
shampoo: motions lavish conditioning
porosity: roux pc
protein: joico k-pak deep penetrating reconstructor - 15 mins (1x/month)
moisture: joico k-pak intense hydrator - 45 mins
leave-in: PM the conditioner

i did buy the joico products, a 16 oz jar of matrix biolage conditioning balm, and a 16 oz bottle of PM the conditioner at the JCPenney sale, but i returned them in lieu of the GVP versions. since there is no GVP intense hydrator, i will substitute it with the GVP CB.

styles i plan on utilizing:

WNG (current, but gotta get away from this)
braidouts
twistouts
frohawk with the middle worn as a twistout
blown out fro
flexirod sets

moment of inspiration

2009-10-04T20:51:00.003-04:00

i ran across this picture on the sephora website a couple of weeks ago, and fell in love (and not just because it's jordan richardson):

i had to try it out, of course, so here is what i came up with. i probably should have extended the color heavenward a little more, but it looked fabulous IMO:

(like my flexirods?)

all i used were some wet n wild shadows i had, and of course my HiP cream liner and diorshow iconic mascara. i am really torn about buying this mascara again since i am really happy with it but have also heard that lash blast is a great (and cheaper) alternative to it. to be honest, part of it probably stems from the fact that i am a label whore in training, but what can ya do...

here is one more picture of me fooling around, and trying my hardest to get another week out of this blowout. if i had stayed in the house this weekend, my roots would be just fine...

before and after: twistout and dominican blowout

2009-09-28T01:26:00.002-04:00

so i may have mentioned that my staple style has been twistouts...but i have never posted a picture, mainly because my camera batteries were dead and my webcam photos left something to be desired. however, i recently got some new batteries from a friend (YAY!) and was able to get my camera whoring on.

PROCESS:

cowash with aussie moist
add leave-in (probably more aussie moist) and seal with EVCO
5 flat twists on damp hair; unravel in the AM
retwist at night

i repeat every 2-3 days...not because it's messed up, but because i want the water on my scalp.

on the 25th, my paycheck was burning a hole in my pocket so i decided to go get a dominican blowout. the last time i had one was about a year ago, and although i was afraid the same thing would happen with an incompetent stylist and a sudden thunderstorm on the way out (it did, in fact, rain that day...again), i went for it.

i went to my former salon instead of the newer location in my hometown, hoping that would make a difference since more stylists are usually at the first location. turns out i was right -- i don't usually see the same girls on repeat visits since they shuffle them like a deck of cards, but i saw a girl at the front desk that i was pretty familiar with and took it as a good sign. not afraid of opening my mouth anymore, i looked at her and said "do you have anyone here that is good with natural hair? the girl at (the other location) messed me up the last time i went there." she chuckled a bit and motioned for me to sit, then pointed out a tall slender girl with beautiful black and fire-engine red highlighted (it's hard for me to say that without it seeming like an oxymoron, but it looked great!!!) BSL hair. i was dismayed when i realized she didn't speak much english...as a matter of fact, she sounded like the russian chick from ray-j's show...but i decided to give her a shot.

bottom line? i'm so glad i did. she began by leaving me under the dryer with DC in my hair for 30+ minutes...this was TREMENDOUS when i thought about how the last girl made me get up after 8 minutes. she happily obliged when i passed her the nexxus heat protexx i brought with me, and added some CHI silk infusion of her own to my hair prior to blowdrying it. she rolled my hair UNDER to get it straighter, and even passed the most important test -- the TRIM test. clearly i was ecstatic that it was she who trimmed my hair and not the other stylist...the one with broken off, bleached NL hair who had the nerve to make her clients wait while she got some tracks installed and rollerset. i mean, i do now feel as if it is a cardinal rule to get your hair trimmed by those with hair equally as long as (or longer than) your own, so i felt confident that she would do a great job, and she did. i was initially nervous when she cut before i was able to finish saying "i would like to see where you are going to cut before you do it", but she saw the expression on my face and said "it's ok" -- while holding out the damaged ends in her palm for me to see! by this point, i was in awe and said nothing else to her except for "please wrap my hair for me, it's raining cats and dogs out there!"

the real test to me was once i got home and unwrapped my hair. i knew it was great before i even removed the wrap pins -- i haven't been able to feel my scalp AT LEAST since the summer of 2007...and the softness was incredible! even now, three days later, my hair is so flowy and soft i can't believe it. of course the real test will be when i wash my hair, making sure there is no heat damage, but if there is none i think i will have to return to making DBs a regular part of my regimen. the one thing that seems to be hindering my length goals is this issue of raggedy ends, and the culprit still seems to be wearing my hair curly, even when i do attempt to stretch out my ends. -sigh- it's days (experiences?) like this that make me want to texturize, or at least BKT, my hair. for now i am fighting that urge, but maybe i need to go ahead and decide on what type of hair i would like for an install BEFORE this blowout runs its course.

as usual, there are more photos in my fotki.

kinky curly or straight?

2009-09-18T17:28:00.002-04:00

now that i am once again gainfully employed, i have disposable income to spend on the REALLY important things in life, like clothes, MAC and my hair. however, it doesn't make me any less indecisive. with the winter coming up, i want nothing more than to put my hair away for a few months, and i was thinking a weave would be the way to go. i even found the perfect hair, courtesy of BHM and LHCF...this AAMH kinky curly hair is absolutely gorgeous and only costs about $20 more than that stupid "remy" BSS hair i bought for my last weave in 2007. i am sure i would have no problem finding someone on craigslist who would be willing to install it for no more than $75, and it would last me at least through the coldest months (or until i get to BSL). of course, that would keep me from fulfilling my burning desire to cut bangs for at least about 6 more months. that is, if i wear my hair straight for a month or so to get that itch out of the way before i sew it up.

now watch...now that i have spelled all this out, i won't do ANYTHING this winter. murphy's law, ya know.

hair updates/length checks are less than a month away!

got to give it up

2009-09-04T01:07:00.003-04:00

you see how long the straight hair thing lasted. i washed my hair sunday and after that killer workout today (i move on to 30 day shred level 2 TOMORROW), my hair smelled like pure FUNK when i took down my french braids! my reassessment led me to DC and install 5 flat twists for a twistout that i will try to keep until sunday. that is, if partying doesn't screw that up too.

i am in a rut with my hair right now where for some reason i keep thinking negatively about it. i really hope it is PMS or something, but i just keep thinking it's really thin, really short, really dry, and all that. of course the people around me have nothing bad to say, but my pessimistic ass can't figure out if that's because they are length-obsessed or because it's really just ALL in my head. i can't really say i'm at a point where i want to cut it, but i sure wish i could stop thinking about how BAD my hair looks. maybe i just need to put it away again.

longer and stronger

2009-08-30T19:51:00.002-04:00

i have been slacking on the protein treatments lately, mainly because i forget a lot, but also because my emergencee and aphogee 2 min are in storage after our house fire and i refuse to buy more when i already have some. today i was on twitter and a friend of mine said she was doing a mayo/egg/EVOO treatment...and i had a serious "duh" moment! even though i just DC'd on friday, i knew i had to do one, so i mixed it up (it looked strangely conditioner-like) and slathered it on for about 30 mins. i knew it worked well when i rinsed it out and my curls felt kind of hard, so i smiled and counteracted the hardness with a gvp cb/raw honey mask with heat (provided by the 30 day shred). my hair is now happily sitting on some flexirods after being flat ironed. i will keep it like this for the next 2 weeks or so...that is, unless my exercise regimen has different plans.

still on it

2009-08-29T13:01:00.002-04:00

shockingly, i am still following the BFC. i don't really record my food intake anymore, but i mentally track my sugar and carbs and it still helps. i'm hovering right around 128-129, and when i get on the 30 day shred like i am supposed to, hopefully i will tone up the way i want. i need to go do it now...feel a sense of accomplishment...but there are a lot of things i have to do today that i am putting off.

end of the road

2009-08-29T12:59:00.003-04:00

i took my twists out the other night and detangled/washed yesterday. i had these twists a total of 2.5 weeks before i took them out...as pitiful as that sounds, it's pretty much a record for me. i always feel like they are so loose and scraggly looking that i HAVE to take them out. i think i'll give my hair a break for a week or two before i put in some box braids (hopefully those will last longer). right now my hair is blow dried and sitting pretty in a bun, but i may go swimming later and things may change.

my senegalese twists

2009-08-25T16:55:00.007-04:00

as of today, i have had my senegalese twists two weeks. that is somewhat of a record for me, as around this time i get the itch to take them out. however, this weekend i redid a few of them (made them smaller) and that cured the itch...at least for the next week or two.

pros:

extremely inexpensive hairstyle (i used 1.5 packs of 100% kanekalon braiding hair, $1.99 per pack)
lasts as long as you want
only took 4 hours to install (i part my hair into 4 sections, then grabbed and twisted the back two sections...took a break...and finished the rest)
easy on my edges
easy to keep your real hair (and scalp) moisturized

cons:

can start looking fuzzy pretty quickly
didn't make them long enough (i cut the hair in half, so they are only 1-2" longer than my real hair; next time i may not do that)
heavy when wet (i cowashed them last week and had to wear them up till they were mostly dry)

i think i will redo my hair in 2 weeks...i will use the same hair, but change my twists into braids since they seem to fuzz less.

saving grace

2009-08-15T15:50:00.002-04:00

now that my skin is on track (again), all i have to worry about are the dark marks. i usually use foundation for that, but i really hate getting all sweaty and having to worry about streaks in my foundation (or whatever other paranoid ideas i may get), so on most days i skip the foundation and simply wear MAC mineralize skinfinish in medium dark. i didn't quite get what the hype was on makeupalley and LHCF before i purchased it, but i kept hearing that it makes you look airbrushed. i figured it wouldn't do that much for me, but boyyy was i wrong. i can put this on with my 187 and have enough coverage to not feel bare-faced, but not so much that people can tell i have anything on. also, unlike my beloved satinfinish foundation, i can sleep in this (i still don't recommend that!) and not wake up with blemishes. i definitely have to keep this on hand at all times!

(pic from naturallysophia).

BFC day 4

2009-08-13T23:30:00.002-04:00

i am determined not to post how much i have lost until monday -- however, i feel sooo much better. my belly is not gone (of course), but i am wayyyy less bloated and definitely don't look pregnant anymore! i did well today with the food portion (except for that whopper jr, but even that was only 6/2), but i did EXCELLENT with the exercise -- 2 reps of V sit-ups and a mile and a half around the track (i probably ran about 1/3 of it, which is more than what i used to do, or think i could do). my mind is clearer, my body is trimmer...it just can't get any better. this may just be one of the best fitness decisions i have ever made.

BFC day 3

2009-08-12T15:05:00.003-04:00

for some reason i woke up in a bad mood this morning...bills, finding a job and taking the MCAT is weighing heavy on my mind, so i tweeted a few friends and raised my spirits then went downstairs to make breakfast. i am a big breakfast person (when i am not in a rush) so the fact that all of my favorite breakfast foods are BFC approved makes it really great. i made a pseudo-sandwich with scrambled eggs, a slice of cheddar and a slice of turkey (all 0/0) on my honey wheat bread. all of a sudden, i got a really bad sweet tooth, i guess because i couldn't have jelly on my sammich. i got the brilliant idea to cut an apple in half and share it with my mom; that cured my sweet tooth and also cut the sugar in the apple from 13g to 6g. i am still at 10g and haven't eaten lunch or dinner yet, but reading through the original BFC thread on LHCF gave me more ideas for 0 sugar meals. this shrimp stir fry i plan on making seems promising, and with one of the chicken wraps (1g) i should be more than able to get through the night.

another note about the zipfizz -- the orange soda flavor kinda sucks. however, it is very good at giving me that energy boost that i need halfway through the day. i will give it another shot since i have 2 more in the box, but i prefer the pink lemonade one. for $1.50, i won't complain. i might go back to CVS to get the rest of the pink lemonade ones before someone lurking on LHCF beats me to them.

the main challenge will probably be the weekend for me -- that is, if i don't go to nags head with my roomies this weekend. my friend always makes dinner for me and my girlfriends, and he provides the pregame drinks too, and i can't regulate what is in his food. lucky for me, shots are 0/0, so at least i can control that!

hidden benefits of BFC

2009-08-12T00:37:00.002-04:00

You know how some people just seem to always be hungry? I will come out and say it: I am Mojo and I am a snacker. I am notorious for sitting in front of the TV and all of a sudden being "hungry", not because I really am but because I eat in front of the TV so much that if I snack I turn it on and vice versa. I have stopped myself a few times to say "hey, you're not hungry" but I will still grab something.

Granted, I am only 2 days into BFC, but the urges I had to snack yesterday DISAPPEARED today. I am pretty sure keeping track of everything that went into my mouth had something to do with it -- when I reached for the cheese nips I had to first look at the label to see how much sugar was in it, and reading all these labels has made me super aware of what exactly I am reaching for. In addition, I ate a lot more protein today, and I think whoever said that protein fills you up was right. The only time I can't think about snacking is when I am noticeably full, and after the big protein-filled breakfast I had this morning and the large wrap I had with a whole chicken breast cut up in it, eating something else was the LAST thing I wanted to do. I think between reading the labels and writing down everything I eat, I may have found a viable solution to the mindless eating. So there it is -- BFC is helping me stop snacking.

I did extremely well today -- 13/6/34, 7 cups of water, 2 green teas, and a zipfizz...not to mention the run/walk (i ran a bit longer today). i feel this amazing sense of accomplishment. i also want to weigh myself, but that i will not do until this weekend. at least i will TRY not to.

good things come in threes...

2009-08-11T17:40:00.002-04:00

1) the zipfizz i intended to get was originally $6. i thought $3 was fantastic so i picked up 2 boxes (3 orange soda flavored tubes, 3 pink lemonade). i got to the register and it was $1.50 per box!! i should have gone back for more.
2) i got a scale...and weighed myself...i am 130.8 lbs. lighter than the chick at the doctor's office told me (on their scale i was 135), but i still want to get back to 123, what i was a few months ago, or ideally 118.
3) i'm about to start my twists!! yay!!

BFC day 2

2009-08-11T15:02:00.002-04:00

it pains me to say this, but yesterday absolutely SUCKED. i mean, it was going alright after i stopped panicking over what i was going to have for breakfast and realized eggs, cheese and bacon all count as 0/0. i made a great omelette, had it on toast (the no jelly thing is tough) and had 2 glasses of water. i felt really good about myself...until i went out with my mom. she took my brother, sister and i to sonic for happy hour slushes, and i went into meltdown mode. when i looked up the nutrition facts on my phone and saw that NONE of the slushes were under 70g of sugar, i screamed! i got one anyway, not wanting to suffer since a) everyone else was getting one and b) she does not believe in turning on the AC in the car and it was 96 degrees. i felt SOOO bad, but decided to make lemonade out of those lemons. if it hadn't been for the slush, i did pretty well, with an S/C of 26/7 and 34g fiber. i don't even think the 26 was so bad since 13 of it was an apple i just had to have.

i also managed to get in a workout -- walked/ran to the park near my house and did a half lap around the track before coming back. it's not your ordinary track -- that thing is HUGE. matter of fact, i just looked it up and it's 2 miles around. i think today i will walk over and try to run as much of it as i can.

day 2 is going well...i have to go buy some zipfizz (which i found 50% off at cvs), frozen veggies, and more chicken breasts. i scored big yesterday at wal-mart when i got these carb balance wraps -- 1/2 and 21g fiber! if i have one of those with chicken and cheese (both 0/0) for the next 6 days, lunch will be a breeze.

wet bun

2009-08-11T14:59:00.004-04:00

i was supposed to put my braids in sunday...then monday...and MAYBE tonight, but it was so hot today i had to take a shower after i washed my car, and i really didn't want to let an opportunity to cowash pass me up. my hair was hanging so beautifully after i plopped it, but i weighed the pros and cons of a WNG and decided to wet bun. my buns are finally to an acceptable length and i'm so happy!!

the belly fat cure

2009-08-10T12:25:00.002-04:00

yesterday, i hit a wall with my weight. i found out about 2 weeks ago that i have gained about 13 lbs over the course of a few months MAX, and i was devastated. not having a perfect beach body was one thing, but now that i know i am gaining weight like that i knew i had to do something. i am trying to get the motivation to go over to the park and walk/run a few laps, but for some reason i cannot get off my butt. i went to the health and fitness forum on LHCF yesterday to come up with a plan of attack, and i saw this thing called the belly fat cure challenge. i am not one for dieting, especially fad diets, but the more i read the more intrigued i became. not only that, but it is SIMPLE...in addition, you know there is always a group of people on LHCF willing to try anything, and there is a group of women taking the BFC challenge that are actually losing weight. i told myself the challenge is only a week long, which is perfect for my short attention span, and i read up on it (the site is www.jorgecruise.com if you want to check it out for yourself). the guidelines seem pretty simple:

15/6 rule: only 15g sugar and 6 servings of carbs per day
foods with less than 5g carbs are "freebies"
30g fiber to rid anything else (ahem) that may be keeping you bloated
8 glasses of water (duh)

i was game this morning, but then i remembered this may not be so easy, being that i can't do my own grocery shopping in my own apartment anymore. i scoured the kitchen for about 15 minutes, sadly putting away many of the foods i usually turn to in the morning. even fruit was hard: i reached for a nectarine before looking it up online and seeing that it would put me almost at my sugar limit for the whole day! all of a sudden, i had a moment of clarity and decided to look up the ingredients for my latest favorite, omelettes. cheese is a freebie...and apparently so is an egg...and bacon as well...so i was ecstatic! i made one and put it on a slice of honey wheat bread (4g sugar, 1 carb, 3g fiber) and went on my merry way. i'm already planning for lunch, and it looks like it will be a sandwich and salad of some sort, as long as i can find something sugar-free to put on it.

to top it off, i am trying to make it to the track this evening once the heat advisory goes away so i can at least walk a few laps. if i make it 7 days it will be a miracle.

two-strand twists redux

2009-08-06T15:37:00.006-04:00

just as i enjoy pulling recipes from websites, message boards and cookbooks, i do the same with hairstyles. i saw this one about a month ago and fell in love:

the first one with the auburn twists BLEW ME AWAY, although i knew i would never be able to recreate something like that on myself. instead, i did the next best thing and did them on my sister. the only drawback to having only one view is that i had to interpret the back for myself, but i still think it came out great.

quit faking the funk

2009-08-06T15:09:00.004-04:00

about 2 weeks ago now, i took the box braids out of my sister's hair and decided to forego the extensions for a while. frankly, i did it out of sheer laziness -- i didn't feel like buying, then washing, then detangling and sectioning all that kanekalon at the time -- but i also did it to see how long her two-strand twists hang without the aid of BSS hair. she got quite a few compliments, mostly from my mom (who then coerced me into twisting her hair) but also from my brother, who was absolutely sure that wasn't all her hair. i just hope he doesn't expect me to start twisting his hair too!

prep: wash, DC with aussie moist, detangle with shower comb.

halfway done...

and here is the finished product.

tread softly...

2009-07-12T22:49:00.002-04:00

i need to be really careful with this scrub/mask combo, because it sure is addictive. here it is sunday night and i am doing it again. another reason i am addicted? i put the lemon juice and sugar in my hands to apply it, and my hands are so soft! i'm also addicted to what this honey is doing to my skin, because i definitely woke up saturday morning and put a honey mask on while i walked around and made breakfast. i promise i won't do this again until thursday night!

i have been doing a little research on chemical peels over the past few days as well. many of the people i heard from did lactic acid peels, but it seems as if to get the results i want (no more acne scars) i need to look into glycolic acid peels or even TCA peels. i'll definitely read up some more and ask tons and tons of questions before buying anything. i'd be mortified if i messed up my face trying to get rid of some scars.

good enough to eat!

2009-07-10T12:10:00.002-04:00

i posted earlier about the info i got from the post by pokahontas on LHCF...so last night i had a facial night. i have done the lemon/sugar scrub once before, but something was different about my routine last night, and whatever it was gave me the softest skin. i am literally struggling not to touch my face because it is SO SOFT. this combo is a keeper for sure.

washed with desert essence + clarisonic, as always
ACV toner
lemon sugar scrub, exfoliated and left on ~5 min
greek yogurt + raw honey mask, ~15 min
moisturize with AV gelly and grapeseed oil

i have two hormonal blemishes that i have been successful in leaving alone, but they are taking too long to shrink for my liking. i tried another tip i picked up, covering them in raw honey and a bandaid and leaving this on overnight. well, guess what...they are in fact a lot smaller. i am thinking 3 days of this could make them disappear, which is GREAT for the cystic one on my chin.

i am selling/swapping this philosophy microdelivery peel -- it's really good, but i don't see myself using it anymore now that i have this regimen.

andddd another one!

2009-07-06T23:16:00.003-04:00

it always feels like i am being mega conceited when i admit things like this, and i am trying to tell myself that after all the trials and tribulations i have been through with my hair, i deserve it...but i went home for the weekend, and it felt SO GOOD to get weave checked by my best friend and her family. i wore it half-up and half down, and all the hands that ran through my hair were a bit creepy but still reassuring that i am doing something right. my bff was really the one that made the difference though -- she told me that my hair hasn't been this long since she met me 5 years ago, even though i know my hair has NEVER been this long. she has said a few things about "good hair" in the past that have rubbed me the wrong way, but i was ecstatic to tell her about the new staples in my hair care arsenal, namely aussie moist. in addition, i have always admired her aunt's long, healthy-looking hair, and when she came up to me and touched my hair, it was shocking. i mean...it kind of felt like being a singer and having your idol compliment you on your vocals. bottom line? it feels good to get some sort of indication that all the stuff i am going through is actually worth it.

just like honey

2009-07-01T21:48:00.002-04:00

true product junkies know that there is an art to determining if your hair likes a product or not: hardness, sheen, and bounce are just a few of the factors that can let you know if something is a stable or just plain garbage. i have come to be very picky with my DCs, since adding or subtracting a single product from my moisture mix can have drastic consequences on how my hair feels...and if i'm gonna sit under the dryer all that time, i want it to be for a good reason!

in the past i have gotten good results with a combo of light protein (aphogee 2 min), oil (grapeseed) and a good moisturizing DC (gvp conditioning balm) before straightening my hair. i bought a bottle of raw honey from the grocery store the other day, as opposed to regular honey, and decided to put in a squirt of that too, since it normally takes me for-ev-er to get through a bottle of honey. well...i don't know what it is about raw honey that my hair loves, but as soon as i stepped in the shower to rinse it out and put my hands in my hair, i almost fainted! my hair felt soooo soft, which is always a great sign to me that my DC mix has done its job. i absolutely dread touching my hair when it is wet and noticing that it still feels bone dry, no matter how much water i run through it. my hair felt so great that i didn't even have to cowash after i rinsed it -- i just ACV rinsed, plopped and applied my leave-ins. needless to say, i found a new staple DC mix.

i'm currently sitting under the dryer, where i will probably be for quite some time being that i ran my denman under the sink to smooth out my hair before i rollerset it (my spray bottle is being a little wonky, so i had to improvise). another thing...i ran out of rollers this time and had to throw in some grey and turquoise ones. it's nice to see that the grey ones finally fit since i used to envy girls who could use the big grey ones, but i still get paranoid that they are too big and will fall out. i guess i should up my goal to being able to use them all over...and then raise it to being able to use the big black soda can looking ones. one day soon, right?

lazy me

2009-07-01T17:46:00.003-04:00

the last time i straightened my hair (about a week and a half ago), i rushed through it, blowdrying before i flat ironed. i must admit i hated how my hair came out; it was straight, but didn't seem moisturized at all, especially since it was only the week before that when i had a great rollerset and flat iron combo. i've been lazy since then though, and haven't really touched my hair except to put some coconut oil on it every other day. i got caught in a rainstorm today and although my hair didn't really get wet, i decided that i might as well blow it out of proportion and take care of my hair tonight.

i'm following the plan from april 13th:

DC with aphogee 2 min, grapeseed oil, GVP conditioning balm, and raw honey (added this step)
ACV rinse
cowash with aussie moist
add giovanni direct and gvp leave-ins
rollerset...probably not flat iron since i don't have my solia (afraid of the andis)

i'm also gonna do this lemon and sugar scrub, which i got from a post by pokahontas on LHCF. it looks good.

post #101

2009-06-29T01:10:00.004-04:00

i think i'll begin with a disclaimer, cause i know someone is gonna run up on me (or presume this is what they are doing) and say "it's really not all that". i never claimed it to be; if you read my blog you know this is about my PERSONAL achievements, and not me trying to stunt.

my hair has been straight for the past 2 weeks, and i am just now getting used to it. it feels pretty good to get weave checked by people who are CLOSE to you; first it was my mom, which was really shocking ("you're not wearing one of those wigs again, are you? let me see" -proceeds to scratch all up in my scalp looking for a net or tracks-); then tasha, who asked if it was all my hair; then crystal, who 5 minutes later did the same thing while i was brushing my hair into a bun; followed by my cousin, who just stood in the bathroom doorway for a good 5 minutes while my sister helped me flat iron it; then finally today, by a friend of mine when he came to visit me. mind you, this is the same guy who told me repeatedly back in february-ish that he loves my hair straight. (i will ignore the fact that he said it repeatedly, as if it were an attempt to tell me "you should always wear it like that".) i mean, i know i have become more of a hair anorexic over the past year, but...i feel as if they are jumping the gun. in any event, it is letting me know that what i am doing is working -- and simultaneously makes me want to go DC my hair. i have to figure out how to shake this paranoia that i picked up; going from cowashing every other day to suddenly washing it once a week makes me feel like it is going to dry up and break off, no matter how much coconut oil i am putting on it. i know that this straight hair won't last much longer between a) the humidity and b) my paranoia, so i'd better hurry up and go get this good ol' kanekalon so i can hide it for the rest of the summer.

next countdown: december 13th. let's see how close to BSL i can get by then. remember, shoot for the moon and land among the stars.

thursday hair

2009-06-18T23:00:00.003-04:00

i was really happy with the bounciness (is that a word? i'm the grammar nut and i'm asking) of my hair today...i set it on satin covered sponge rollers the other night and despite wrapping it last night the curls just won't go away! i bunned for half of the work day, but i wanted to feel like a diva so i let it down and tousled it. the headband just completed it for me. i foresee a skirt and kitten heels tomorrow.

obligatory 1 YEAR POST BC update

2009-06-16T23:17:00.004-04:00

clearly i am not going to be able to do this like i had imagined, but pretty much everything about my hair goes differently than expected/hoped -- why should my "nappiversary" be any different?? my actual 1 year was this past saturday, but because a) i have a life that involves very clingy bffs and b) my old camera was broken a few months ago, and i haven't gotten a new one yet, i don't have the shots i want! i will get a length check pic in sometime this week; i rollerset my hair tonight in preparation, but i can't get my camera to the timer mode without being able to look at the screen, which is cracked! the good news is i'm almost back to apl, the even better news is i am getting sick of my hair so i'm about to braid it up, so barring any setbacks i will be full APL at the end of my 2 month HYH challenge.

i can't leave you without posting pics of SOME sort, so i took a few...well, the ones i could do without being able to use the screen for guidance. the curly pics are interesting, because my hair is definitely bigger when i look at the pics, but it's growing OUTWARD moreso than DOWNWARD. that was kinda expected, though.

the lowdown

2009-05-31T17:10:00.002-04:00

graduation has come and gone, and my goal of being BSL for graduation was far from being met. thank goodness i came to my senses a few months ago and edited it to be APL, because that i was. i think my hair looked great on graduation day, and that is all i ever wanted. while straightening my hair that morning, my sister walks in the bathroom and goes "whoa -- you have some long hair!" it was rainy and nasty outside, so i had to end up putting it up, but my pictures came out great. speaking of pictures, i wore my hair curly for my cap and gown pictures, and they're pretty spectacular too. i will scan them and put them up sometime in the next weke (hopefully).

that day had me feeling pretty bad about my ends though, so instead of waiting till june 13th to get a trim, i made it may 18th. i went to hair cuttery, and even after stressing i wanted a DUSTING, the dumb girl gave me a blunt cut. the good news is my ends look better; the bad news is i am no longer APL. still looking through rose tinted glasses, when i am APL again (july-ish?) it will be blunt, FULL APL, which is exciting to know.

after a few months out of the senegalese twists, i want them back! i said i would reinstall them post-graduation, and now that the time is upon me i am thinking the weekend of the 13th will be perfect to put them back in -- after i take my 1 year nappy-versary pics, of course. i really can't believe it's been a year since that night i got so frustrated with my hair that i just chopped it all off -- but what a year it has been. i get all teary eyed thinking about it. (not really, but it is astonishing.) less than 2 weeks remain! in the meantime, i am DCing with gvp cb, kenra mc, grapeseed oil and aphogee 2 min. i've been slacking on my 4x weekly WNGs, so i will be extra diligent in the next two weeks so that i don't lose any progress unnecessarily.

bikram yoga

2009-05-05T22:40:00.003-04:00

i started bikram yoga yesterday in an attempt not only to feel better about myself, but also as a last-ditch attempt to get in some kind of shape before beach week. it's supposed to be good for the body, immune system, skin, everything. it was the hardest thing i have ever done, but i felt SO GOOD after it was all over. the words "cold lavender-scented towel" mean anything to you?

before i went, i put GVP conditioning balm in my hair and covered it with a shower cap and scarf. i ripped it off an hour into the session, but i guess it was good while it lasted.

10 months post BC: length check (my sister)

2009-05-05T22:35:00.004-04:00

after all the negativity this child has had to endure over the past few years, she is (we are) finally at a place where all the naysayers can be proved wrong. through braids and twists, she has gone from NL to APL in 10 months. this, from the child whose "hair will always be too nappy to grow". the one who was called crazy when she refused to get another relaxer. the one who told people two, three times her age that she didn't want that stupid flat iron or hot comb in her hair. yeah, her.

14 years old with APL hair. watch out, world.

weave check #2...

2009-05-05T22:24:00.003-04:00

...and this time i wasn't wearing a weave! hahaaaaa

on saturday, i went to a que party with one of my best friends. we are both natural, but she is more 3c than anything else, while i am clearly 3c/4a. i had a WNG that had been blown dry by the wind coming through my car window, so it was nice but still all over the place in a funky kind of way. we got to the front of the line, and one of the ques came up to me.

que: when you get inside...can i play with your hair?
me: you wanna what?! why?
que: cause it's so...playful. -touches hair-

at this point i kind of flinched because he was touching me, but when he went straight for my scalp i realized what was going on. when he started smiling and twirling my curls, i knew i was being weave checked. well, glad i could make his night, i guess. the last time this happened was the summer of 2007, and i was definitely wearing a full sew-in. that guy's in the NBA now, so i figure i blew my chance of being a trophy wife that night.

i crack myself up.

this rollerset thing...

2009-04-23T00:05:00.003-04:00

i ponytail rollerset my hair the other day...not in an attempt to get it straight, but just straightER. well...the set itself went ok, but i couldn't sit my impatient self still long enough for it to dry completely, so the ones in the back curled up as soon as i took the rollers off. i left it alone for a few days then washed it out today with HE LTR. back to wet bunning until i can figure out what i want to do next. i really want some twists, either regular two-strand or senegalese, but a) my two strand twists look anorexic and b) i don't feel like marathon twisting this weekend. i got finals next week, for pete's sake. i hate being a libra sometimes; i swear i am the most indecisive person in the world.

p.s. true PJ's see that kenra mc and suave clarifying shampoo on the rack in the background.

back to basics

2009-04-20T22:13:00.002-04:00

i found a $1 off 4 bottles of VO5 coupon on LHCF today, so i went to CVS and picked up 2 bottles of VO5 strawberries and creme and 2 bottles of VO5 vanilla mint tea conditioner. i remember when i thought VO5 was the end-all-be-all for cowashing; it sure did get me through the summer of 2008 though. ahh, memories.

i will be 2 years post relaxer, 1 year post BC in june. i think until then i will keep it as simple as possible: weekly wash and DC, not to mention cowashing til i drop.

"that thing is HORRIBLE!"

2009-04-18T22:37:00.002-04:00

my mom did a pop-up visit today...kinda weird, but hey. while she was here, we were talking hair (i'm dragging her through my hair care journey) and she was SO happy to get the chi silk infusion that i pilfered from the house back. i'm so glad she recognizes the need for a heat protectant! she had called me last week and told me she was flat ironing her hair, which boggled my mind because i had the solia with me. turns out she used the cheap old andis that we have from way back when. i was so incredibly stupendously happy when she told me "i threw that thing out, it is HORRIBLE!" it just thrills me that she and my sister are picking up on my hair practices. i can't wait to get back home and take progress pics for my sister; her growth and retention has been amazing.

what's your affirmation?

2009-04-14T18:06:00.002-04:00

I have often seen women on LHCF with affirmations in their signature, and recently I discovered that just reaffirming the things you are doing is worth it. Specifically related to hair care, if you are trying to grow long healthy hair, TELL YOURSELF! Stuff like "this isn't gonna work" or "I don't know why I am trying this, my hair never gets past SL" won't do anything but aggravate you. Here's what I do:

regularly look at my old fotki pics
look at the progress made by some of my hair idols, such as BrockStar and GoingNatural
look for inspirational threads and hair tips from those who are where I want to be
tell myself this stuff IS working!

My top affirmation has been this: if hair grows about 1/2" a month, that means every 2 weeks I am gaining at least a quarter inch of growth. All I have to do is worry about retaining it, and the amount of sheer moisture that I provide to my hair means this isn't an issue. There are plenty of better-worded affirmations, that's just what works for me. If you are just starting out, thinking about transitioning, or rebounding from a setback, try this and see where you stand a month from now. All we can do is take it a day at a time!

Here are some inspirational threads that I like to look at. HHG!
WANTED: Progress Pics: After the BC...
BSL and Waist Length Naturals...links here!
Old pictures of your "Damaged Hair" (for motivation)

10 months post BC: length check

2009-04-12T18:12:00.006-04:00

so the DC went great...afterwards i did an ACV rinse and cowashed with aussie moist, then rollerset the bottom half of my head (giovanni direct + GVP leave-in and water in my spray bottle) before i got tired. i twisted the top half and put rollers on the end, then sat under the dryer. before flat ironing i added a drop of chi silk infusion and coconut oil. it took me so long but it was worth it...cause i am APL! yay! i am hoping that by my next length check on june 13th i am full APL. if i am, i will get that professional trim i so badly need!

hair update

2009-04-12T13:07:00.003-04:00

i've been going through some things with my hair for the past few weeks, some good and some bad. after realizing that WNGs were murderous on my ends, i had to restructure the way i go about doing things. since i really didn't feel like dealing with it over spring break, i put in senegalese twists on the 4th of march. i ended up keeping them only until the 28th -- no water on my scalp was making me antsy, plus they got really fuzzy.

after i took them out i went back to my first love, WNGs. i decided that it would be better to wash them out after a max of 2 days, since detangling HAS to be what is slowing me down. i also picked up a few new hair products, and i'm not having a single regret about them! here is my new WNG regimen:

wet hair down and add HE Hello Hydration. i don't know what it is but this stuff gives the greatest curl definition...
rinse most of it out and squeeze out the extra water. some days i switch it up and rinse all of it out.
dry with my handy dandy t-shirt for about 5 minutes, then remove it...if i rinsed it all out, i add GVP leave-in
seal (yes, me SEALING) with jojoba oil.
add lily of the desert AV gelly to keep it fabulous and funky. good to go!

other goodies that i throw in the mix are HE LTR (since i fell in love with the leave-in last summer) as well as aussie moist (for cowashes and DCs), and grapeseed oil. i'm still looking for that quintessential shampoo; the organix has become a body wash and the chi infra shampoo that i bought dried my hair out too. i almost forgot that crappy one night stand i had with ecostyler gel; it may be more cost efficient than the aloe vera gelly, but it certainly doesn't give me the shine, softness, and definition that this double duty gel provides. and you know it's good when you can use it on your face too!

another revelation that i made is my hair likes protein...or at least i think it does. i did a DC with megatek about 2 weeks ago, of course followed with a moisturizing DC, and my hair thanked me for it! i went home and stole both the aphogee 2 min and the nexxus emergencee, so now i have enough strengtheners to last me the rest of the semester.

right now i am sitting under the dryer with aphogee 2 min, grapeseed oil, and GVP conditioning balm in my hair. i'll let this sit for about 40 mins, then it's wash day! i'm definitely gonna try a ponytail rollerset, and since the other one didn't go so hot i hope i can get the hang of it! i will post pics if it comes out right, my camera broke on me (well, someone broke it) so i will try to take a few via webcam.

HiP haul

2009-02-21T16:26:00.002-05:00

lately i've found it pretty pointless (well, time consuming) to post about my makeup hauls...i mean, for me it's just run in the store...grab conditioner...grab a gloss, or some e/s...it's really informal. don't get me wrong, it's just as exciting to get something new as it was when i first started really wearing makeup a few months back, but it's just ordinary to me now.

anyhoo, i've been coupon clipping and waiting for the infamous BOGO HiP sale to return to CVS...and it came this week! it's weird, i just happened to go there yesterday cause something told me HiP was on sale. boy was i right, and i am in looooove already with these glosses that i got.

the rundown:
HiP Shine Struck Liquid Lipcolor - arresting (pictured above) and euphoric
HiP Color Presso ligloss - swanky
HiP kohl eyeliner - gold kohl
shadow duos in dynamic and platinum
HiP Color Rich Cream Crayon - perfectionist and intricate

i needed something to act like a MAC shadestick, and then i wanted some really bold glossy lipcolors...mission accomplished. next goal is to depot the HiP shadows...no rush on that though.

good news, bad news

2009-02-14T20:22:00.002-05:00

good news: i made it to 22.5 minutes (90%) on the elliptical today...oh yeah, i'm a beast.

bad news: i am NOT retaining length like i should be. my ends are a hot mess, and i JUST trimmed them like a month ago. i'm going into braids ASAP, and until i get up the energy to braid my hair i'm stretching my hair. that means twistouts, rollersets, straighter hair. i bet relaxed girls don't have this problem...

gray rollers

2009-02-13T18:01:00.001-05:00

I CAN FIT THE GRAY ROLLERS!

i just did a sloppy rollerset that i don't expect to last past tonight...pics soon.

<3

exercise update

2009-02-13T17:59:00.001-05:00

wednesday: 17 mins on elliptical (why is this thing so much harder than the treadmill?)
thursday: 10 mins arc runner (gave up), 10 mins stationary bike
friday: 18 mins elliptical, 50 sit-ups

i got my fruits and veggies in EARLY today...apple for breakfast, spinach and cucumber salad for lunch. that's 3 so i may throw in another for fun.

good news/bad news

2009-02-10T21:45:00.001-05:00

the megatek is inconsistent. good job, me, but i've been having fun with puffs again. sue me.

the exercise fell off completely last week...between the new job and all, i just didn't feel like i had time. i did buy an exercise ball (it came with a resistance band + a yoga mat) to motivate me to workout in my apartment...and to improve my posture. my back hurts so maybe it's working.

workout for this week:
20 mins cardio (switch to 25 on thursday)
5 mins stairclimber
10 mins on exercise ball

so far, so good...

2009-01-30T00:23:00.002-05:00

like i said i would, i have been getting those 20 minutes on the treadmill in -- yesterday i threw some lunges in after the run, and today i actually made it through the whole 20 without stopping! even my roomie complimented me on my stick-to-it-ness! not only that, but i got in my 3 fruits and veggies and met my water goal...oh, i've been megassaging too! mannnn this is just turning out to be a great week me-wise.

sunday starts a new week...i am pushing myself to finish out the week on a high note, then i will up the treadmill time and add some stairclimbing/lunges in there as well.

full of it

2009-01-28T02:17:00.003-05:00

i KNOW that every time i jump on a fitness wagon i fall off, and it's been causing me some distress lately. i'm doing pretty well with the workouts so far...i made it all 20 mins today on the treadmill, and i felt really good about it when all was said and done...but i think i need to up it to EVERY day instead of every other day. i have to be able to find 20 minutes somewhere in there to go hop on the treadmill. only a month till SB09!

goals for this week:

get those 20 mins in wed, thurs and fri...sat/sun are a tossup, got plans
back up to 64 oz of water a day...my skin is yelling at me for dropping this one
3 fruits/veggies a day
eat breakfast!

i will look into adding the weight training next week or the week after that.