Tuesday, February 26, 2013

A few of my favorite things

Aside from my KMF gel, Castor oil and plastic ponytail holders, there are a few other items that are always at short reach lately.
Hair! 

"Honey I'm Strong" conditioner by HE.
This conditioner has even more slip than the other Herbal Essence conditioners I've liked in the past. I've tried not to make HE my go-to however, because of the ingredients and strong smells.  Yet this one has a much lighter smell and the slip is unmatched.  It also seems to coat my hair, or have an actual protein/enriching effect within a few minutes.  It has the coating effect that KMF mistreated has, but with the slip I so desperately need.  Winning formula for me, and the cost and on-the-ground availability puts it close at hand.

Nubian Heritage Honey Black Seed Heat Protect leave-in cream
Though I don't press my hair or use direct heat that often, I picked this up a few months ago and was perturbed by the STRONG fragrance.  However it works wonderfully as a regular leave in and the smell quickly grew on me.  So much so that I also use the Honey and Blackseed lotion all over!  I now use this leave in instead of the Shea Moisture smoothie.  It costs about the same and a little goes a long way.  It provides great slip and long lasting moisture.  And now, for me, a smell that I love.

Nubian Heritage heat protect Keritan wrap mousse
I used this for my last two roller sets before pressing my hair.  It works so much better than Gel!  it's much lighter so my hair dries faster and it helps me layer in heat protectant before the flat iron hits my hair.  I get no flakes, just shiny light hair when I take the rollers out. Granted, I don't quite have the kind of hair that roller sets straight, so I still have some frizz and bumpy/loopy parts (can't wrap it) BUT it gets it close enough that one pass with the flat iron as I take each curler out is enough to smooth it out, but not loose the entire curl set by the rollers. It smells like nothing, and comes out as an easy to control and apply foam. I'm smitten.

Makeup!

Revlon Just bitten in Charm
I am a huge fan of stains because of my braces.  Lipstick can transfer onto my brackets at any time and is hard to remove without a trip to the bathroom. So I prefer stains. Over the past year I've tried them all and I have a few favorites, but most of them don't fare well in my purse and can't be applied without a mirror and precision.  These, on the other-hand, are a huge crayon lol.  Pretty foolproof.
Yet I still am not confident applying the darker colors without a mirror to make sure it's even.  This color, "Charm", is super light - lighter than my natural lip color.  BUT it actually stays put for hours, unlike the other stains which often don't come in light colors - and when they do they wear off quickly. I also wear "Precious" often, which is a little cooler. I can put these on like a lip balm and I can't go wrong with it.


Mode Nail colors and polishes
The difference is night and day when I use a Mode basecoat or topcoat vs any other, even with any other polish.  Mode polish does not stink and it does not chip.  It wears off, like it rubs off, but it doesn't chip and peel like most other polish.  Its cheap at $4 a pop and they have lots of colors. I keep seeing beautiful colors at the drug store and inevitably pick one up but unless I'm using a mode base and top coat I never get my money out of it.  Which makes me wonder if I should just stick to mode colors, period.  I have a mode (winter-not-doing-my-feet) nude on my toes and its growing out! Not chipping or peeling off.

Mode Mineral powder foundation and Kabuki brush
They have my color! I'm a yellow gal and they have a yellow powder! I've actually been using this powder for over a year and JUST ran out.  I ordered more and got the recommended Kabuki brush.  OMG.  I love it. love. it.  I previously used a MAC brush that I paid waaay too much for, as I am not really into makeup and brushes and such to begin with. I don't have any idea which it is- the salesgirl "sold" it to me.  It's cool.  But it is not this big soft, fluffy beautiful brush.

I'll stop there for today but I may keep doing these posts periodically. I have more makeup and even some bath products and home products that I can share if you all are interested!

Monday, February 25, 2013

Pressed hair for my birthday

I just washed my hair yesterday after wearing it pressed for 10 days.  All my curls are back, but I must say, it was a good looking and long wearing style.  I was, for the first time, a little sad to see it go.  I know- odd. But it was hanging in there really well, low maintenance (except for the the whole all forms of WATER is the devil thing).  I roller set and pressed it like last time and used the same beeswax pomade I made last time. I had reservations at first about pressing it again after just having done so in December, but with the heat set to 330 and the roller set preceding it I have a pretty safe, quick and easy system to get it right. And I was bored lol.

With the roller set I really don't even have to curl it again.  There was one day I sat around the house for like 6 hrs with curlers in, and another time for maybe 2 hours.  That was mostly for the longest part of my hair as I wanted it to corkscrew instead of bend.  I wrapped it every single night, reversing directions a few times.

But here are the pictures as the days passed by.  It's certainly growing! I only trimmed off about 1/4 inch in places. 



And I'm back!  I let it sit baggied overnight slathered in coconut oil and then conditioned, rinsed, shampooed and conditioned again. In it is KMF gel, castor oil, and Nubian Heritage heat protect leave in.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Alicia and her mini-me- One Year after the BC!

Here is an update from Alicia who you last saw here, cutting 6 years of hair off.
Here she is, one year later!
I did it!  I have reached my 1 year nappiversary   
Even though this is my second big chop it was like learning how to walk all over again.  I am more informed via Youtube and inquiries with darling Nauralista this go around but I sill needed to find what works for me.  And I am still fine tuning.

For the 1st 3 months of my big chop I elected to try the curly girl method with what I believed to be unsuccessful results.  I co-washed 1 - 2 times a week with Suave Naturals and Tresemme Naturals and rocked only wash n go's.  By the end of the 3rd month my hair felt uber dry and didn't seem to be retaining length.  For moisture I rotated b/t Kemi Oyl's Shea butter pomade, Jane Carter Daily moisturizer, and whatever else was in my cabinet.  After not seeing and feeling what I knew my hair had done with my 1st big chop I quit the curly girl.  
For the next 6 months I washed my hair once a week with Zuresh full body cleanser.  I absolutely love this stuff.  It foams up great and leaves my hair feeling clean and smelling great.  Lucky for me I found some time to peruse Youtube and stumbled across KimmayTube's channel.  I was more than impressed with her technique, formal presentation and design of her channel, and logical and practical content of her information.  It just made sense, and to top it off we had the same hair type so I instantly became a fan.  
Protective styling was the band wagon I jumped on for the next part of my hair journey.  My regimen became washing and deep conditioning once a week with Zuresh and Tresemme Naturals, then applying KimmayTube's homemade leave in conditioner and doing small double strand twists.  I would do a twist out on the 2nd day and repeated this every week.  That KimmayTube leave in conditioner is the truth.  My hair was very soft, shiny, and felt my healthier than the curly girl method.  I finally began to see some growth.  Thank God lol.


My current routine still includes Zuresh, Tresemme, and Kimmay's leave but now I do a pre-poo with olive oil and switch up the conditioner to Garnier Fructis Fortifying Conditioner with Shea butter, Olive oil, & Argan oil (or aloe I can't remember) and now and again and do flat twist after the wash instead of double strand twists cuz momma is pressed for time!  I have also added Black castor oil to my routine, just on my edges to help stimulate growth there again. 

All and all I'm very pleased with my hair growth and feel.  I expected a little more growth than this but I have discovered that your body (and hair) goes through changes after you have a baby that may not be in the most desired direction. 

Speaking of baby.  Not only have I tasked myself with maneuvering my own hair journey but my infant daughter as well.  The change in her hair over the course of a year has been nothing short of drastic.  She went from the soft cute curly baby hair to fro and kink like her momma by the time she turned 7 months.

I am glad I taught myself how to braid from the 1st big chop - once her hair texture changed I went right into protective styling for her.  Use a simple Suave shampoo for her wash  and Talid Waalid kinky wavy kids detangler for moisture.  It's a struggle just to wash her hair so I do NOT condition her hair.  Go straight in styling and detangle each section as I part her hair for her conrows.  Since Kimmay's leave in has been good to my hair I have now switched from Talid Waalid's detangler to Kimmay's leave in for my daughter as well.

 Her hair growth is AMAZING.   At 3 months, she began to bald in the back of her head due to always lying and sleeping on her back.   It had me so nervous.  A routine of washing once a week and protective cornrow styling has proved to be the best option for her at her age and getting maximum growth.

How cute is the baby!!??  Any additional advice for Alicia?

Monday, February 18, 2013

Last year VS This year


I just realized that last year at exactly this time I pressed my hair so I have comparison picts!

On the left is 2012 and the right is 2013.



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