90 day challenge

I know Ive been MIA for the week, but I had to handle some personal issues that arose over last weekend, which resulted in me not really touching my hair all week. So sad I know.
Update: Im starting my 100 day twist challenge today!!
last night I clarified my scalp and hair with Giovanni 50/50, this time only putting it on my scalp. Oh wait no first thing I did was do an oil treatment with a mixture that I made up, then I clarified. (Sorry if I seem a little rushed, Im at work and Im trying to make this post quick :-)) Then i put some Giovanni LID, Jamacian Black Castor Oil, and then my Shea Mango Butter mixture. I did these in that same order. Oh wait I forgot that I did an Organic Root Stimulator replenish pak treatment. I put that in after I detangled with VO5. Ok this is the order in which I did it:
Oil treatment-Homemade
Clarify- Giovanni 50/50
Detangle- VO5
Protein treatment- ORS Replenish Pak
Moisturize- Giovani DLI
Seal- Jamaican Blk Castor OIl, homemade Shea Mango Butter mixture.

I did an overnight treatment with the ORS and my hair was in big twist the entire time. I woke up and rinsed that out and sealed the ends. Once the hair was mostly air dried I pinned up the twist because I had to work this morning. Once I get home Im going to start the twist.

Change of plan...

Like I told you guys before in April I was going to do 90 day twists....I think Im going to start next month..well actually in a weeks time. Im moving it up because this week Ive barely touched my head and I wanted to wash it yesterday but that never happened and its still out from the last time I did it. I need a break from it always being out and my hairs grows better when its braided up.

I plan on doing the twist myself, because its a lot cheaper and ...well..yea its cheaper and I need my little pennies now more than ever lol, Im going to plan to put the twist in on Tues March 3, my day off. It will probably take me most of the day especially with the baby. Im going to wash my hair with Giovanni 50/50 clarifying shampoo Monday night and do an overnight deep conditioner with ORS hair mayo with an egg mixed in, and I plan on repeating that every month. Im not sure if I want to redo the twist every month or just let them stay in the entire 90 days..Ill keep you updated on my decision.

Im having big expectations for my hair this summer. Ive been doing A LOT of research on henna and cassia obotava and its effects on hair and Im convinced that thats where I want to go next, Ill do another post on that. I believe that the best way for me to achieve my expectations is to do this 90 twists.

I heart technology

On Weds of this week and upgraded my phone to the IPhone from the AT&T Tilt. BIG IMPROVEMENT!! I havent fallen for my phone like this in awhile. Now I see what the big hoopla was about. This phone ROCKS!! Not only is it sleek and slim but the graphics and apps are the best.

The only con that Ive run into so far is that I cant send pic messages like other phones and thats a big downside because Im used to getting crazy picture messages from friends and co-workers and sending pictures of my son also and now I cant do that. The only way that Ive seen that it could be done is through email and the whole point of picture messages is that you get the message right away. 1 strike for IPhone.

The biggest pro and it maybe because Im in nursing, but just a few minutes ago I was browsing through the apps and discovered a section for medical applications. Guess what applications I found?? Epocrates, Skyscape, Tabers Medical Dictionary and tons of other. Those of you in the nursing or medical field period know how resourceful this programs are and best of all you can download them to your phone for FREEE!!!!(Well almost for the aforementioned you already have to have a subscription but still some aspects are completely free.) Im besides myself with joy because it was recommended that we buy Palm Pilots with some of these programs on it and mine was in my car when it got stolen. Nonetheless the police found the car but obviously the Palm Pilot wasnt there. So now I can have these resources right at my fingertips and now I dont have to shell out another $300. I cant wait to go home and tell my mother, who's a nurse, about this. I know she'll appreciate the discovery. Next semester is going to be great, MedSurg Im ready for you now..sike lol

Shea Mango Butter mixture

Finally....IM going to share my Shea Mango Butter hair moisturizer that I made. I wanted to try it out and its definitely worth sharing. It has made my hair super soft and really moisturized.

Supplies:

Unrefined Shea Butter

Manngo Butter

Monoi Tiare de Tahiti

Vegetable Glycerin

Honey

Coconut Oil

Hand mixer

I mixed the shea butter until it was creamy

then I added the mango and blended the 2

then I added the rest of the ingredients and blended until the mixture just about doubled in size and it was smooth

I washed, sanitized and reused some old hair products containers and poured the mixture into them to store. The first is a baby food container lol

I didnt measure out anything and I honestly didnt mean to make this much I forgot that when you whip it, it doubles. I try to use this everyday right after I spritz my hair and and before I go to bed and I have noticed that it leaves my hair so soft and moisturize.

The only thing that I will do differently is melt the Shea and Mango butter becuase there were little chunks of it in the mix, also Im going to experiment use EVOO and Jojoba Oil. As you can see all of the ingredients have moisture retaining properties.

M.I.A

Im back after a long weekend. So the last time I did my hair was last Fri night. What I did was co-wash w/ HEHH, detangle w/ my Jilbere shower comb and sealed my ends with Giovanni LID, Whipped Shea and Mango Butter mixture and Curl Junkie Coffee Coco Curl Creme. I was reading Chicoro's Fotki and decided to try her sealing method. Basically after washing your hair, to seal your hair, you want to start with a water based moisturizer, then an oil based one and finally an emulisified base. Thats the combination that I used above. I did 2 strand twist all over my head and set the ends on perm rods. In the morning I pulled apart the 2 strand twist and pinned back the front. I didnt really take good pictures this time..Sorry lol










My hair was a little crunchy I probably put too much Curl Junkie, but it was cute for the day. To maintain the style, each morning I spary my homemade 50/50 glycerin, aloe vera moisturizer all over and then melt some whipped Shea Mango butter mixture in my hands and rub that in to my hair to seal , fluff out the hair and keep it moving. Sunday I packed up the baby and we went on a little roadtrip that led us to Columbia, MD. We actually went to my cousin's son 1st birthday party. We had fun, but man there was A LOT of children lol. Guess that what I have to look forward to....but actually I am. Its crazy who you meet and what you can learn from them. At the birthday party there was this woman with the thickest hair ever, and it was gorgeous, I wish my hair was like that. We bagan talking about our hair and what we do and I started telling her about my Shea Mango butter mixture and her response was something to the effect of "wow, Im gonna use you as my hair inspiration" and that really made my day. Can you imagine, little 'ole me inspiring someone else with techniques and tips to better the health of their hair?!?! Im still learning but life is all about paying it forward. Its no good for you to learn something if you cant take that information and help the next person out.

What to do...90 day hair Challenge?

Ok so its Friday night and Im still at work. When I go home I have to do something to my head..but Im not quite sure what to do. Im thinking of doing 2 strand twist and taking that out in the morning for church. I cant wait for my hair to get longer so that I can rock the 2 strand twist on its own or pin it up and wear it like that. Right now its still too short to pin up in a nice enough style.

Im really thinking of doing a 90 day challenge where I keep my hair in, lets say kinky twist, so I dont hav to really touch my hair because Im thinking the less I manipulate my hair the better. I would redo the twists every month and do a clarifying wash to the hair. During each month that my hair is twisted up I would do a weekly co-wash and moisturize daily. I said that I would give myself 3 months to see if I can develop a routine so that would bring me to the end of March. I think I am going to do that starting April 1, Im going to wash and clarify my hair then do kinky twist, myself and redo them every month. Then Ill check my hair progress from there.

For tonight however Im still not sure what I want to do, but I will be co-washing, moisturizing then sealing.

I Love Money 2

As usual I did get my Monday fix of reality tv shows. This week Im going to highlight VH1's " I Love Money2" which airs 9pm Mondays on VH1. This show is the second season, its a bunch of different reality show stars from the various shows, ie "Flavor of Love", "I Love NY" "Rock of Love" etc. I just want to talk about Leilene, from "Flavor of Love" cant remember which season. She's the Asian woman who was a stripper and she got really upset when someone called her out about it. She claims she strips to support her children and that shes a good mother to them. In Monday's episode it was just incredible how she wants to be so accepted by her cast masts that she allows herself to be walked over by everyone.

Long story short, Leilene, Buckwild and Onyx were up for elimination and Buckwild and Shapphyri ,both cast masts from "Flavor of Love", convinced her that it would be better for her to quit the show so that they could vote in another player to be eliminated. Leilene ends up flirting and liking the opponent who has the task to chose who goes home and he starts to convince her to quit the show also. Leilene is so clueless and delusional and its just sad, her own "friends" were trying to get her to leave just to save their own behinds and the guy she seems to be "falling for" is playing her just the same. Mind you in the same episode, she admitted that she had a big crush on Buddha....poor lady. I feel really bad for her children, how are they suppose to look up to her when she cant even get herself together. I hope they have a good support system raising them because she obviously aint cutting it. Check out the clip...

VH1 TV Shows Music Videos Celebrity Photos News & Gossip

Plain 'Ole Tired

Sorry guys, Ive been tired and not really feeling like spending time on the computer...but Im back. So the last post I did I had perm rod set my hair and that was last Fri and Ive actually been wearing my hair in the same style all week. I dont know but I prefer older curls, especially when the hair starts to puff out, verses newer ones. Since I started my hair journey, this has been the longest Ive gone without doing anything to my head. Actually I needed a break, its a very tedious process and with work and my son I just needed to step back from the routine for a quick minute but now Im back.

I havent washed or styled my hair since last Fri, but I have been moisturizing it with my whipped Shea and Mango butter concoction I conjured up last Sat night and spritzing my hair with a 50/50 mixture of Aloe Vera Gelly and Vegetable Glycerin and a few drops of Rosemary and Peppermint EO. What I can say is that Shea and Mango Butter mixture is the BOMB!! My hair isnt dry and dull and its so soft. I noticed the difference Sun morning when I went to fluff my hair for work. It was hydrated and extremely soft and I was taken aback by it actually. I have always known my hair to be very coarse and similar to Brillo pads, in texture, but it actually felt like Cotton....can you believe it?!?! What I did the night before I just sealed my ends with the Shea Mango Butter and rubbed some in my entire head, sprayed my hair with the Aloe/Glycerin mixture and donned my satin bonnet and by the time I woke up, I had fluffy Cotton hair lol

Im not really sure what I want to do with my hair this week, Im working on Valentine's Day night so its not like Im going out. My boyfriend really like the curls and liked when I separated them even better so I might do that again but separate the curls the next day instead of waiting a couple days.

Curl Junkie Coffee-Coco Curl Creme

Last night I did the same perm rod set that I did on Tuesday and it came out 10 times better than the first attempt. The Shea butter didnt come but my package from Curl Mart did and in it was myCurl Junkie Coffee-Coco Curl Creme. Im not very fond of the smell but it did produce a very nice curl to my hair and the smell was gone after the hair dried. As I was about to roll the hair I added some of the Curl Creme then rolled the hair on the grey perm rods. There was a white residue on some curls in the back that my sister noticed, but it couldve been because I used too much. I tend to use a lot of stuff but Im working on that. Im going to post some pics of my hair tonight. This just might be added to my staple of products as a curl defining creme

the first 2 pics are without the Curl Creme. Theres definitely a difference

Shea and Mango Butter

Finally my package came...and inside was a pound of Unrefined Shea Butter, 1/2 pound of Mango Butter and 2oz of Monoi De Tahiti oil, all of which I ordered from Crap Apple Soap. I cant wait to make a homemade Shea, Mango butter mixture. Ive heard and read many great reviews and comments about Shea Butter on hair especially. Thats something that Ive been working on, ways to keep my hair moisturized. I plan on making my mixture tomorrow afternoon when I come home from work.

Hair today...Gone tomorrow

When I became fully natural I decided that I would keep my hair braided up because thats when it grew the most. I would get box braids, full head weaves and didnt really wear my hair out, only in between. So on this one occasion I went to another salon under a good recommendation, whenever my beautician does a full head weave it looks a little bulky to me so I wanted to try somewhere new.....first mistake- Stick with what you know. So the girl who I was recommend to go asked another stylist to braid my hair up for her and she starts to braid up my hair in a beehive and Im telling her not to braid so tightly and she listens and it was that bad. As the girl is starting to sew the weave in I feel my head getting very warm and my head starts to hurt but we keep going....second mistake- I shouldve stopped her right there and took the entire thing out since she was in the process, but I didnt. I wasnt sure if it was the whole process compounded with me being hungry. It got so bad at one point that I had to step outside to get some air, but like I said I wasnt sure if it was the hair being done and being hungry, because I do get very bad hunger headaches. I finally went back inside and ordered some food, I ate and felt a little better. Needless to say my hair came out so flyyyy, so I was happy. I change my hairstyles frequently and about a month later I was ready to take the weave out. So my boyfriend and I did so, I go in the shower to wash my hair and as Im washing my hair, CHUNKS of hair start to come out in my hand, so Im trying not to panic and pass out. Im crying as I wash my hair and more hair comes out. So I get out of the shower, by this time I cant even breathe or talk to relay the message to my boyfriend. I sit on the floor and turn around to show him my head, and hes silent, for what seemed to be a hour, and all you can hear is me crying. I ask him if it was that bad and he slowly says..."yea babe, it is". There was a golf ball sized patch of hair missing, like as if someone shaved my head with a blade. I cried for hours and started to hyperventilate and I really thought I was going to pass out. I went back to the salon and showed her what happened and she had the nerve to ask me if I had cut the hair out. Now if I had cut the hair then there would still be some hair left in the scalp, but there was NOTHING!! Just a patch of shiny, clear scalp with no piece of hair insight. I was too through and didnt want her touching my hair ever in my life. I thought about suing her behind but that wasnt going to bring my hair back and talking real bad about her and the salon. For awhile there was nothing I could really do but try to use the hair around it to try to cover the spot. Over time it seemed like the spot grew bigger to about the diameter of a tennis ball. Thank God it eventually grew back and its not as noticeable as before. Ive learned my lesson and Im never letting anyone new touch my hair..not even to wash it.

Curl Junkie Coffee-Coco Curl Creme


I ordered this product last sat and it just arrived in the mail today!! Im excited to use it especially since I desperately needed something to help with the curls when I set my hair on perm rods. Im going to try the style again using the Curl Junkie Creme and hopefully Ill get great results.

Here is the promise:
Enriched with Authentic Monoi Coconut oil, Coffee Bean & Shea butters, and a host of exotic oils, create super moisturized, defined curls and coils with this rich curl crème! Combines the moisturizing properties of a leave-in conditioner with the hold of a light styling gel. Adds weight and provides light to medium hold for curls.

I dont like the smell of it, I dont know if its the coffee or the coco but Im not feeling it..Im tempted to return it but I want to see if it holds up to its promise and expectations, as Ive only heard nothing but great reviews for this product. Tomorrow night Im going to attempt the same hair style that Ive been wearing for the past couple of days, a roller set on perm rods, here is a post pic 2 days. The curls really didnt form all over so its a puffy, curly...something lol what I can say is that my hair is very soft, which hasnt happened in awhile, but the ends are a little crunchy which Im attributing to the S-curl Gel that I used.

Reality Junkie

Im a reality tv addict. I love it!! I cant help myself but to be draw to the foolishness. From "Flavor of Love", "I Love NY", "Real Chance of Love" and even "Rock of Love", the people at VH1 really know how to tickle my fancy. Their monday line up has always been the highlight of the new work week. Now with Ray J's new show "For the Love of Ray J" VH1 has taken it to a whole 'nother level!! These women are too much especially the booty poppin, Im in love with a stripper chick.

VH1 TV Shows Music Videos Celebrity Photos News & Gossip

I would love to be on one of these reality shows but I have morals and values and wouldnt subject myself to be devalued, but I dont mind living vicariously for a hour, through these shows. I guess thats why Im so addicted lol. Ever since I was younger I have always wanted to be on MTV'S "Road Rules" but thats a flop now and Ive even considered "Real World" but Im a mother now and I would disgrace my son like that. Each week Im going to be posting updates and my thoughts regarding whats happening...so stay tuned

Cinderella.....Giovanni 50/50......Aphogee

Tuesdays are my only day off so I usually spend it catching up on household chores, cooking and cleaning, so yesterday was no different. Unfortunately I didnt get to start dealing with my hair until about 11pm and soon after I started my son woke up needless to say I didnt finish everything till about 2 and didnt go to sleep till after 3am. Anyways my hair didnt come out the way I wanted it to but I know where I went wrong and will correct it the next go round. 1st- my shea and mango butter didnt come in the mail yet and I wouldve preferred to use that instead of S-Curl Gel. 2nd- I was rushing and didnt really smooth out the hair before rolling it which left some curls frizzy and 3rd- some curls werent dry all the way but it was after 6 30am and I was running late for work. I pretty much stuck with the routine I outlined before here is what I did:


- all day pre-poo with castor/coconut oil mixture and HE Hello Hydration Cond
- clarify with Giovanni 50/50
- Aphogee 2 Min Keratin treatment
- Co-wash and detangle with HE Hello Hydration Cond
- Giovanni DLI then Castor/coconut oil mixture to seal ends
- I set my hair on perm rods
I did forget to do a final rinse with the ACV.

When I took my vow I did some research by looking at other peoples blogs and websites dedicated to natural hair care and I stumbled across a video demonstrating the proper way to detangle knots and that was a God send. Usually I would try to untangle it, to no avail then I get so frustrated that I would end up ripping my hair but this video has helped me keep a lot of my hair, Im going to try to find the video because those simple steps are an invaluable lesson to retain your hair. I finger detangled my hair first and took out any knots before using my Jilbere comb and when I did go to comb the hair, it was like a warm knife cutting butter and a lot less hair broke and shed. This is all the hair that was lost during my 20 minute detangling session. Since I started moisturizing and taking care of my hair the amount of hair that is lost has significantly decreased and I can see that the hair lost is coming from the root because of the white bulb on the ends. Theres still some broken ends but things are looking better than before.



Aphogee 2 Min Treatment
The first time I used Aphogee 2 min treatment my curls got super duper define and my hair shrunk to half its normal size when wet and I wish I wouldve taken a picture to show you guys what I meant. I used this product again and my hair did shrink but not as bad as the first time.



the first picture is my hair after using Giovanni 50/50 and the next is after the Aphogee treatment, can you see the tightness of the curls? I wasnt sure if that was suppose to happen but I like the product because it strengthened my hair



Giovanni 50/50 Hydrating/Clarifying Shampoo
This shampoo was the bomb. Usually when I use shampoos it leaves my hair matted and just dry until I used a conditioner which restores some type of manageability. As Ive learned that "stripped" feeling the shampoo leaves is because of the sulfates used in most shampoo. This shampoo however left my hair feeling soft and moist, however I cant give it complete credit because I did do just about a 24 hr pre-poo, but the combo of both was great. I used too much because I usually have to use A LOT of shampoo because my hair just drinks it up. This however my hair LOVED and is deemed the first staple in my hair routine. It lather very well for a non sulfate organic shampoo. If your looking for a great clarifying shampoo try this one.

After all was said and done here is the end result, some parts were more curled than others. The next time along with using Shea and Mango butter instead of S-Curl Gel, Im going to only use the grey rods because it is smaller and those curls on the grey rollers came out perfect and I will sit under a hooded dryer to make sure my hair does dry.



as you can see the curls around the front came out better then the middle

Giovanni 50/50 Balanced Hydrating/Clarifying Shampoo

Last night I made a stop at my local supermarket and was walking down the hair supplies aisle and I saw a section with a bunch of Giovanni Products and was immediately excited, but that didn't last long when I saw that the prices were jacked up from Whole Foods. The nearest Whole Foods is a short journey but nonetheless a journey and it was much more convenient to purchase it there. Ive been looking for a good product to clarify my hair with. I'm going to start with every month to gauge the difference then Ill take it from there. This Giovanni 50/50 Balanced Hydrating/ Clarifying Shampoo is all organic and the ingredients looks ok to me, no cones, parabens or mineral oil.





This is what it reads:
When hair is dry, it needs a drink. Give it the hydration it needs, and wants, with a balance of ingredients that infuse moisture while locking in color. 50/50 Balanced Shampoo balances the art of clean with supreme protection. Gentle enough for every day, superior shine is on the way. Smile. This is happy hour... for your hair.




Ingredients: Aqua (purified water), Rosemary (Rosemarinus Officinalis) Oil, Nettle (Urtica Dioica) oil, Thyme (Thymus Vulgaris) Oil, Birch Leaf (butela alba) oil, Chamomile (anthemis nobilis flower) oil, Clary (salvia sclarea), Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia), Coltsfoot leaf (tussilago fargara), Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium) oil, Mallow (Malya Sylvestris), Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) oil, Soybean Protein (Glycine Soja), C12 - 14 olefin Sulfonate (coconut derived), Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Tocopherol (Vit. E), Trace Minerals, Citric Acid (corn), Sodium Hydroxymethlyglucinate, Sodium Chloride Sea Salt, Grapefruit Seed (citrus derived)




I will be using it tomorrow so Ill let you know how it goes

Happy February!!!

I cant believe its already February, before we know it we're going to be half way through the year. This weekend was a rather busy one, not really but when your sleep-deprived it seems that way. Finally my son slept through the night and hopefully we can get him back on track with sleeping at night.

I haven't done much with my hair because Ive been so tired. Ive been wearing it in the same afro from sat morning. Last night while talking to my mom about our hair I decided to see if I would be able to put some curls in it. So I grabbed a piece of hair, put some s-curl activator on the piece and set it on a perm rod and in a couple hours it did curl, so now my objective for tomorrow is to set my entire head...what a mission Im setting myself up for.

This is what I plan to do:
- Pre-poo tonight with a Coconut/Castor Oil mixture I made and do a 5 min scalp massage
-Wash hair tomorrow with Giovanni 50/50 clarifying shampoo
- Aphogee 2 minute keratin treatment
- detangle/DC w/ HE Hello Hydration w/ 30 mins of heat under hooded dryer
-ACV rinse to seal cuticle
- Giovanni DLI and Coconut/ Castor Oil as a sealant
-Set hair on perm rods w/ S-curl activator gel

I really wish my Shea and Mango Butter would be delivered tomorrow so I could use that instead of the S-curl Gel, but I highly doubt it. If any of you know something else I could use to define and set the curls better, feel free to let me know

So Ill keep you posted on the results!!!