I've Been Neglecting My Blog

Sorry guys. I have just been super busy the past few days and I just couldn't find the time to update things here. But I was able to add three new videos to my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/qtboutique Rather than explain each, I'll just let you watch them and see what you think. If you like them or have any suggestions for me, I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave your comments down below!


Later Loves! :-*

Natural Hair From a Male's POV

Hey guys! Here's the newest video. This one is the first of a two part tag, focusing on how men perceive natural hair. If you watch it, you're tagged! So grab a friend, if you're not a guy and ask him these questions and post it as a video response on youtube! I'd love to see what some others guys' answers are. Here are the questions:

1. Are any females in your family natural?

2. How many of your friends/associates are natural?

3. What were you taught about relaxers/perms growing up?

4. Do you think one hair type is more or less attractive than the rest and why?

5. If you have any, do you plan to relax your daughters’ hair? Why or why not?

6. Have you ever dated a natural woman? How many?

7. What is your opinion of the term nappy? Do you think it should be considered a hair type?

8. Would you approach a woman with natural hair?

9. Do women with natural hair give off different vibes from women with relaxed hair?

10. Do you find natural hair appealing, why or why not?

Later, loves. :-*

L.o.U.d N.o.I.s.E

So, my friend has been bashing me for a shout out, so here it is. Everyone, if you could be so kind, please check out my friend OJ's youtube channel, loudpresley. That's it. Thanks! :-*

My First YouTube Video!!!

Hey everyone! I added my very first YouTube video today!!! This is just me introducing myself and letting everyone know what my channel will be focusing on. I didn't really say everything I wanted to say in the video, but I suppose that's what this blog is for! :)

I was seriously not feeling my hair today because I did something different to it, just for the sake of doing something different and I did not have favorable results. My hair wasn't anywhere near as soft as it normally is with my regular routine and I could just tell by the feel and sound of it that there wasn't enough moisture there. I should have rinsed all of the products out and started over, but I knew I wasn't going to leave the house today and I figured one day with drier than normal hair wouldn't ruin me.

I normally follow the conditioner only method, also known as the Tightly Curly Method as pushed by Teri LaFlesh in her book Curly Like Me (which I absolutely love and recommend).  But today I decided to try using two products that I bought at the very beginning of my hair journey and only used a few times because I didn't like how they worked with my hair. They are Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, and Kinky-Curly Curling Custard.

   

I decided after a few times of using CES that it didn't work well in my hair due to the high coconut oil content, because my hair doesn't seem to like coconut oil very much. It just leaves it dry and brittle instead of soft and moisturized. And the KCCC just sat in a drawer full of other hair products that I barely touch because I didn't really see anything too special about it and it left my hair hard and kind of crunchy when used alone. Though I did once have pretty nice results when I used KCCC and Tresemme Naturals conditioner together.

So, boredom with my normal routine struck and I convinced myself that maybe I just needed to revisit these two products and see if perhaps I was using them the wrong way, or possibly using the wrong portions. And I had heard of numerous people combining these two products and having wonderful results, so I just wanted to be counted among them I guess. 

Well, you know what they say: Don't try to fix what isn't broken. I wouldn't say I had the worst hair day EVER, but it wasn't a good one. I'll stick to COM/TCM in the future. Instead of trying different hair products,  maybe I'll just try out different silicone-free conditioners. But that's a whole other post so, till next time! :-*

How I Did My Wash n Go Today

So today I did my hair in a kind of experimental way. I normally just used my water and conditioner mix to do my hair but for the past couple days I've noticed that my hair is only soft for the first half of the day. By the time I'm almost ready for bed my hair feels dry and almost crunchy. It doesn't become totally crunch but its close.

So what I decided is the conditioner alone wasn't doing enough to keep my hair hydrated for more than a day. As my hair gets longer and I'm finally able to stretch my wash n go's, I don't want to still be forced to redo them on a daily basis. So I decided to start sealing my hair before adding the conditioner to see how my hair likes that.

I normally seal with extra virgin olive oil but I've found that that can be a bit too heavy and its hard to control how much I'm using when I'm just pouring the product straight from the bottle. But I really do love that EVOO is one of the only oils known to actually penetrate the hair shaft and moisturize from the inside out. So I wanted to keep using it, but in a way that would offer more control and add to the softness of my hair.

Welcome, shea butter! I made a mix of equal parts shea butter, aloe vera gel, coconut oil, and olive oil, with a few drops of tea tree oil added to act as a preservative. The consistency is hard to describe. It's kind of like a creamy and slightly gritty solid. But its very easy to scoop.

I added this mix to my hair as soon as I got out of the shower while my hair was still dripping wet. I divided my hair into three sections, one on the bottom/back and two on the top. About a finger tip full was enough for each section. Then I sprayed each section liberally with my normal mix of GFTN and raked the product through. Using paper towels, I squeezed out most of the excess water and product, then diffused my hair on low speed and low heat for about five minutes.

That was about two hours ago and so far my hair is nice and soft. Hopefully I can keep my hair as healthy as it is now. It's all just a bunch of trial and error. Wish me luck. :)