Pictures of the Day

These are the result of my usual, Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, Olive Oil Eco Styler, and a little Garnier Fructis Sleek n Shine conditioner as a leave in for the smell. :) I liked my results.

How I Detangle My Hair

All in all, this took me a little under twenty minutes to do. I think it goes a little bit faster in the shower because my hair is soaking wet, and I can take advantage of the water stream to help me detangle. But I don't think twenty minutes is bad. That just shows that I'm taking my time and preserving my hair. I hope you like it! :)

If you have any additional tips or suggestions, let me know in the comments.

Dealing With Natural Hair Haters

In three days I will be seven months natural. I'm really happy with the progress that my hair has made so far. It's been growing consistently, I haven't had any major setbacks, and I've received a lot of complements from people I know telling me that my natural hair fits me much better than my relaxed hair ever did. I happen to agree with this sentiment. Lol

In my opinion, the Black community has come really far in regards to how natural hair is viewed. It used to be completely taboo to wear your hair in its natural state unless you had "good" hair (which I don't believe exists). Now though, you can rock your hair in all of it's natural glory and not really have to worry about the opinion of the majority. They either don't care, or genuinely like it.

However, there are still people in our community that hold us back as a whole when it comes to accepting our hair as it grows from our heads. Some people have been so conditioned to believe in "good" and "bad" hair, that Blacks naturally have "bad" hair, and that relaxers are necessary to look presentable, that they will show actual anger toward women who choose not to process their hair to change its appearance. 

A few days ago I was on facebook and a friend of mine reposted a link to my YouTube video on determining whether you're being too rough when detangling your hair. Someone (who shall remain nameless) commented on the link to my video and said some very rude and derogatory comments about my hair including calling me "nappy headed" and a "tumbleweed." When I responded the person in question proceeded to contradict herself and look stupid. I just laughed at her and kept it moving.

But I have to admit, it definitely struck a cord with me how someone could be so vicious and cruel to someone they don't even know and try to clean it up by saying it's "just my opinion." Why does our community have to be so quick to judge and put others down because they choose not to follow along with the majority's standard of beauty? Why do people have to constantly resort to saying things like, "Get a perm you nappy headed hoe," when they have no other come back? What is so wrong with accepting my hair as it naturally grows? Is there really anything that makes anyone else's hair better or worse than mine? Isn't it all hair?

The thing I want everyone who is going natural to take away from this is to understand that you will encounter hate from people. Both expected and unexpected. But that should never make you feel like you aren't good enough, or you made a mistake when you decided to go natural. The day all of this went down, I had an absolutely wonderful hair day, and I really think it was because my hair wanted to prove a point. Lol The grass is always greener until you get to the other side. Trust me, someone somewhere wishes they had hair like yours, even if you can't fathom a single reason why they would. Everyone's hair is beautiful in its own unique way. God gave you the hair he did because he wanted you to have it. Love it. 

So brush off anything a hater has to say. Just understand that they've been conditioned to be as ignorant as they are. You are enlightened and above it all. Lol, I'm just kidding but seriously. Just be proud of what you have. I put a link to the convo that took place below so you all can draw your own conclusions. As always, leave any thoughts you have in the comments. Later loves. :-*



   

The World's Largest Gummy Worm... O_o

Just found this video on YouTube... I HAD to share it with you guys. Lol

My Channel/Blog Move Announcement

The Troy Davis Execution

I just wanted to share this clip that I found on YouTube, from my favorite online news show. I'm sure you all have heard about this case and if not, here's a brief overview. I wish I could say I'm surprised by this decision but I'm not at all. Troy Davis was Black, so... You can draw your own conclusions. 

I Think It's Time to Switch it Up

I was browsing YouTube a little while ago and I happened upon a video called "Natural Hair Texture" on OurLovelyLourdes's channel. It made me question whether wash n go's are really as easy as they seem. Tiffany, the vlogger, showed her hair on camera after she washed her hair wish shampoo, conditioned, detangled, rinsed, and air dried with no product in her hair. Her hair was all poof until you got to the ends, where they became pretty little curl units.

In the early stages of my hair journey all I did was "out" styles. Normally it was a bantu knot - out. I loved the way my curls looked! They always turned out so pretty and soft. The picture posted was taken March 30, 2011, making me one month and two days post BC. During this time I was mostly using natural products and occasionally some conditioner. My hairstyles would normally last for about three days but could often be stretched to about five. Shea butter was a regular in my routine because it always made my hair soft.

But even though I loved this routine there was something wrong with it. In the past I've been really lazy when it comes to hair care. That was partially due to ignorance, but due to bad practices of my own as well. So when I first started setting my hair in Bantu knots and twist outs, it was the first time since around sophomore year in high school that I was really dedicated to taking care of my hair. And I didn't like all the time it took to do my hair this way. It made my arms hurt and I was just beginning my hair journey,so I hadn't fully switched my mindset from relaxed to natural hair. Wash n go's seemed so fast and easy and I thought of them as the natural hair style that shows your "real" texture and I wanted to see what that was like. I guess I kind of felt like I was being dishonest about what my "real" texture was.

But I have paid close attention to my hair up to this point and I've learned a lot along the way. In my post talking about my hair curly hair theory I said why I think hair's curl pattern changes as it ages. I tried to explain my thoughts as clearly as possible but I still wished I could have had a visual showing exactly what I was talking about. When I saw her hair I immediately thought it was a perfect example of my theory so I had to repost it. I think this video illustrates the fact that our "real" texture looks nothing like the way it does from wash n go's. Tiffany hit the nail on the head when she said it was all an illusion that we play with hair products to make it look the way we want.

So since we manipulate our hair into looking a way it wouldn't otherwise no matter how we style it, I'm thinking that I want to revisit Bantu Knot Outs. I'd be really excited to see what my hair looks like in that style with an additional five months of growth. I think I can be a little more patient when it comes to my hair and this will give me a style that will probably last longer than a wash n go. Not to mention I won't have to deal with all the single strand knots I've been finding in my hair lately. Ugh!

What do you think about all this? Share your thoughts below. :)

How I Did My Hair Today

So this isn't exactly how I did my hair today, more so how I did it yesterday, lol. I meant to put this post up yesterday but some ugly internet drama had me wanting to stay away from the keyboard for a while, so I'll just share it now.

I wore (and am still wearing) my hair in a fro hawk done on Wash n Go hair. I did my hair in the shower, first detangling with my paddle brush while my hair was loaded with Yes To Cucumbers conditioner and Giovanni 50:50 balance conditioner. I didn't section or anything because I was in a rush to finish my hair, but I should have gone ahead and detangled in sections. :(

But anywho, after my hair was detangled, I just let the conditioners sit in it for a few minutes while I completed the rest of my shower routine. Once I was finished with that, I split my hair in half, one section on top, one on the bottom, and rinsed out most but not all of the conditioner. Then I added a nice fingertip full of Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie to my hair via smoothing and raking, then followed with Olive Oil Eco Styler gel. I then split the top section in two and followed the same process on each of those sections.

To finish off, I put some extra virgin olive oil in my palms and spread it throughout my hair to seal in all the moisture and soften up the gel's hold. I put my head back under the shower stream for just a second to give it one last rinsing of water, then shook my hair out vigorously, while covering my face with my hands. This allowed all of the curls to separate and clump into their own preferred units. The last thing I did before stepping out of the shower was to scrunch my hands all throughout my hair to get rid of the excess water and product.

After that, all I did was pin back the sides, put the front up into a little quiff, and diffuse for a few minutes before stepping out of the house. I had a GREAT hair day, despite people on the internet trying to bring me down and convince me I was a "tumbleweed head, nappy headed hoe" who needs to get a perm. Excuse my french but f**k the haters! My hair is fabulous, and I'm beautiful so if you don't think so, you can go somewhere else. Bye loves! :-*

Preview For OJ's New Mixtape, Coming Soon

Direct Upload: Hair Thoughts

How To: Tell If You're Being Too Rough When You Detangle

Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Moisturizing Conditioner

So, a really good friend of mine was in Marshall's a couple weeks ago and she saw a huge bottle of Giovanni conditioner, which I've been wanting to try for months, so she picked it up for me. Of course, because it was purchased from Marshall's she got it for a great discount which made getting the bottle even better. The first thing I did when she gave it to me was unscrew the cap to see what it smelled like. This stuff honestly reminds me of lotion. It smells like maybe Jerkins or something. I can't put my finger on it, but lotion was the first thing that came to mind when I smelled it.

She paid $10 when the original price was $26!!

So far, after using the conditioner a few times, I like it. But I wouldn't say I'm in love with it. You guys know that I regularly use regular conditioner as a leave in to style my hair. This particular conditioner might work as a really moisturizing leave-in, but for my particular hair it pretty much fails as a styler. It leaves my hair feeling sort of funny and my curls don't clump together nicely with this product. But as a rinse out, co-wash, and detangler, this conditioner is really nice. I can feel how moisturizing it is for my hair as soon as I apply and it and it leaves my hair feeling really nice once it has been rinsed.

I don't necessarily think I'll purchase this product in the future because there are much cheaper and more readily available conditioners that I can buy that also excel at co-washing, rinsing out, and detangling. Plus I tend to like the smell of those more. The lotion-y smell of this product just really didn't do it for me. But I'm not bashing it at all. I do honestly like it, so if you want to try it please do so and let me know what you think. Later, loves. :-*

Which Blog Design Am I Going With??

The poll for which blog design to go with is officially closed, so no more votes can be cast. In total I got 11 votes, 4 for the current design, 6 for the new design, and 1 vote that either of them would work. I really appreciate everyone who cast their votes to let me know what they thought of the blog design, but 11 is hardly a big enough number to determine if the majority of people who view my blog would prefer a different look or not. So, since I didn't get as many votes as I had hoped for before the poll was closed, I'm going to be sticking with the current design until/unless I feel like it needs to be changed some time in the future.

Again, thanks to everyone who cast their votes and I hope you keep coming back to check the blog out. :) Later, loves. :-*

YouTube Wants Me to Make Money With Them : )

So, last night I got an email from YouTube inviting me to enable monetization on my YouTube videos which means, if approved, YouTube will place relevant ads next to and possibly in my videos. I literally screamed and I couldn't stop smiling for like an hour! I know this doesn't make me a YouTube Partner, but it's still really exciting that I got invited to monetize!!

I know a lot of you might be confused, or even annoyed at this turn of events because no one likes ads getting in the way of enjoying content but it's really not a bad thing. For in video ads, you can just click on the little "X" in the corner and close them out as soon as they pop up. You can't make the side bar ads disappear, but you don't have to pay any attention to them either. Instead of looking at them as a bother that you could do without, just look at it as a way for people who regularly upload video content to make a little extra money for their efforts. And if you actually are interested in what the ads are promoting; like hair products, beauty school, money making opportunities, makeup, clothes, accessories, discounts, etc; just click on them. You help the YouTuber out whose video it's on, and you get to see exactly what is being promoted.

If you click on the ads, it won't spam you or do anything to your computer or anything like that. A new window or tab will open with the content that the ad displayed and you can do whatever you want from there. I hope you guys will support me and not be mad at seeing ads on my vids. :) I'm really excited so I just felt like I had to share!!

Goody Is Sending Me a FREE Brush!!

So you guys know in yesterday's post I said I finally had my hair get caught on one of the little balls on the tips on the bristles on my paddle brush and I sent an email to Goody telling them about it. Today they got back to me and said:

Thank you for contacting Goody Products and taking the time to make us aware of the issue you had with one of our products. We are always aiming to improve your experience with our brand. We apologize for this inconvenience. We are very concerned when any of our products cause an objection; therefore we have sent your comments to our engineering and quality control departments for review.

We will be sending some replacement product out to you, which we hope you will find more satisfactory. Please visit our website atwww.goody.com to pick out which item you would like to try. Email me the product description and/or item number and we will get it out to you right away.

We value you as our customer and look forward to continuing to meet your needs. Goody has been making high quality hair care products for 100 years. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you, and hope you continue to enjoy your Goody products.

I'm so excited. The only down side is that they don't have any brushes without the little balls as far as I could see on the website, but that's ok. I'll still take a FREE brush! I'm thinking of having them send me one made from all wood to see how my hair likes that, because I know a lot of naturals use wooden combs to detangle with and really love it.

Check out Good's website and let me know if you guys have any suggestions as far as which brush to request. Later, loves. :-*

It's Never Happened Until Now

So, I was detangling my hair in the shower yesterday and something happened to me that has never happened before. I was using my paddle brush while my hair was loaded with conditioner and a single strand of hair got wrapped around one of the little balls on the tops of the bristles and I thought it was going to break. A sense of panic did come up in the pit of my stomach but I didn't let myself give in to it. I just worked my fingers around the hair and gently massaged it while holding the brush close enough to my head that there was no tension on the strand that was caught and within about twenty seconds I had the hair free without breaking it off.

Today I went to Goody.com and submitted a suggestion based on product quality:

I love the paddle brushes your brand makes, especially the cushioned variety. I think they have a wonderful abount of give that makes detangling my hair much easier than it might be otherwise. However I do have one suggestion that I think could be beneficial to your company. I have very curly hair and sometimes when using your paddle brushes, my curls get wrapped around the little balls on the tops of the bristles and can actually snap off from being caught on them. If you came out with a paddle brush collection that featured bristles without those little balls on the tips, just smooth rounded bristles, that could be beneficial to so many curlies out there. I've heard other people with hair as curly as mine talk about their hair getting caught on the bristles of what is otherwise a great brush. I hope you consider my suggestion, as I think it could make a great brand ever better.

If any of you have experienced this, I say go ahead and submit a suggestion as well. The more people they hear from, the more likely they will be to actually implement the suggestions submitted to them. I like the denman brushes but I like how cheap and easily accessible paddle brushes are. If I'm on a trip somewhere and I lose my denamn, I may not be able to replace it that easily. Whereas, if a regular paddle brush is what I normally use, I can go into any Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc. and get what I need for my hair.

Just thought I would share that with you. :) Leave your thoughts in the comments.

I Hate the Smell of Burnt Hair

Hey loves. I just felt like letting off a little rant today. So, my mother was getting ready to go somewhere and she flat ironed her hair, like she does almost every day. I was in my room so I didn't even realize she was getting ready to leave until she came to my door and said so. A few minutes later she said she couldn't find her keys, so I got up to help her look.

As soon as I stepped into the hallway, all I could smell was burnt hair and hot flat iron plates. It was repugnant! Now that I have so much more hair knowledge, it really gets under my skin when I see people mistreating their hair. And now I see how crazy some of the things we do (in my case did) to our hair are.

I was talking to my friend OJ (seen here) about this very topic not too long ago and when I told him how I used to treat my hair he was appalled. When I straightened my hair, I would almost always use the highest heat possible and my hair would be so hot that I couldn't touch it for a few minutes after making a pass. Some of you might think that's normal and nothing to get worked up about, but when you really stop to think about it, it's kind of crazy. Our hair is apart of our bodies just as much as our feet are and we regularly subject our hair strands to 400+ degree temperatures, melting the cuticle layers (which are supposed to protect our hair), and boiling the water on the inside of the strands, potentially causing little blisters on the strands which can be points of breakage, all for the sake of beauty. We wouldn't use that kind of heat on any other parts of our bodies, so why does our hair get such harsh treatment? And then the smell afterward is just something else entirely. I just really really dislike it.

*Takes a deep breath and slowly exhales.* Ok, now I feel a little bit better. I just had to let off that rant before moving on with the rest of my day. Let me know what you think about it in the comments. :)

Final Results of Goddess Curls Gel Experiment

Ok guys. You can probably tell from the pictures that my hair looked nothing like it did when it was wet once it actually finished drying. I was so disappointed! When my hair was still wet my curls were nice and clumped, my hair felt moisturized, and it just looked good. But once it dried, it didn't even look or feel like I had any gel in my hair at all.

All of my hair was insanely soft, but there was a slight difference between the two sides. The Curl Enhancing Smoothie side wasn't quite as soft as the Curls Creme Brulee side. Both sides felt like they were very moisturized, but I didn't like the way my hair looked because there was barely any definition. I feel like my hair should have some kind of hold and definition if I'm using a gel to style it, no matter what gel it is. If I want no hold at all, I'll just use conditioner. And even then, my curls won't separate and make it look like I decided to wear a half-assed afro. 

Honestly, I think the Goddess Curls Gel didn't work for me in the beginning because it's just not a good gel. I have tried it enough times that I feel like I can make this assertion with confidence. The only good thing about it is that it is formulated with organic ingredients, but I don't think that matters if those organic ingredients can't come together to do the job they were designed to do. I do not recommend this gel, and I'll probably be swapping it on NaturallyCurly.com.

If any of you try it and have a different experience, let me know in the comments. Later, loves. :)

Hair Experiment: Curls Goddess Curls

Here's the video of me testing out the Goddess Curls Gel. Pictures of my hair after it dried and my final thoughts will be up tomorrow. Night, loves. :-*

Old Habits Die Hard

So, I was just looking at some of my old videos and I realized something that I never noticed before. The color scheme on my YouTube channel perfectly matches the color scheme on the blog. I didn't plan to do that at all, I guess I just really like purple and pink. Lol

The only real difference between the two schemes is the blog's main colors are white, purple, and pink; while the main colors on my channel are black, purple, and pink. I just thought that was really funny and decided to make a post about it. :)

4 Days Left

Hey loves. Just wanted to say don't forget to cast your vote for the look of the blog. I really want to get at least 25 votes before I make my decision. If I don't get that many before the poll voting is closed, I'll either extend the voting time, or just go with the look I like the best. Now that the font is changed, I think the comparison is much more fair. The poll is to the right and the link to the second design is below, so have at it! :)

Second Blog Design

I Want To Try Goddess Curls Gel Again...

I haven't done a hair experiment in a while and I decided I want to try this gel again. It never really gave me good results before but I need to use up all of these products somehow. I'm thinking today I'll layer it over either some conditioner or possibly my Curl Enhancing Smoothie. I almost want to try it over the Creme Brulee' but that never really worked well in the past...

Hmmm, I think I just might smell a hair experiment coming on... Maybe I should test out the gel with two different products to see how it works... Yup. That's what I'll do! Stay tuned for pics (or possibly a video.) ;)

Hair Tip Via Momo's Moment

Hey guys. I just wanted to share this tip I saw on one of the blogs I follow about why drinking water is so important for your hair. Check it out and let me and MoMo, the original poster, know what you think. :)

Momo's Moment: Why Is Drinking Water So Important For Your Hair?

Graceland: Perception is Key

Graceland: Perception is Key: Weve all heard the saying glass half full half empty. Its about perception. Your perception of things in life greatly affect how you go abou...

What I Use To Grow My Hair

I Changed the Font, But I Still Need Your Votes

Ok, so I was looking back and forth between the two blog options and it occurred to me that besides the font differences, the overall look and feel of the two were vastly different. So what I decided to do was go ahead and change the font on the main blog since that was the only thing I really had an issue with and let the votes be to determine which overall look you guys prefer. I think it's been pretty obvious up to this point which font you guys like best. Now that both are easier to read, I think the comparison is a little more fair. Keep those votes coming!!

Second Blog Option

7 Days To Cast Your Vote!!

Hey everyone. I've been thinking about changing the look of the blog for some time now because, while I do like it, I don't think the main font is the easiest to read and I want to make visiting the blog the best experience it can possibly be. I came up with a new template for it but couldn't decide if I really wanted to implement the changes or not.

So I'm asking for help from you all to determine which look works better for my visitors. I made a completely functional test blog for you all to look at and compare the viewing experience of this blog to. You've probably noticed the poll in the side bar to the right, so you know what I'm about to say. After you've looked back and forth between the two blogs, just vote for which one you would like to see from now on. Obviously, the original is the template/look on this blog right now, and the new option is the template/look on the Test Blog. (<<Click there to see it!!)

The poll will be open until September 12th, so you have plenty of time to decide. Just let me know what you think so I know what to do because I'm seriously stuck guys!

Thanks!! ^___^

How I Diffuse My Hair

I was first exposed to diffusing natural hair by Taren916 on YouTube. This is a safer way to dry your hair than to put the heat from the blow dryer directly to your head. Try to get a blow dryer with controls for both speed and heat so you can set both to low. The lower the heat and speed, the less damage is inflicted on your cuticle layer, and the better your hair is preserved.

As always, I hope this helps. Later loves! :-*

Daily Giveaway Update

Ok, so I know earlier I said the grand prize to Naturally Curly's daily giveaway contest was a $1,000 gift card to buy hair care products with and that there was a typo on the main page saying the grand prize was $2,000. I said this because both the entry page and the confirmation email said the grand prize was $1,000 so that's what I assumed to be correct. But then I logged on to the site just a few minutes ago and the grand prize is actually a $2,000 gift card to Beyond The Rack, a website that sells designer brand apparel and accessories at huge discounts.

Now that that's cleared up, go enter! I just did my second entry for the month, which is for the Monoi Collection Invincible Set by Carol's Daughter. I've never tried Carol's Daughter products, but they have a good reputation and I'd definitely try them for free!! Good luck loves. :-*

Second Half Of My Six Month Anniversary Vlog

I hope you like it and I hope you learned something! Happy hair growing! :)

Daily Giveaway's For The Month of September

One of my favorite sites, NaturallyCurly.com is doing a giveaway a day for the entire month. At the end of the month there will be a grand prize worth $1,000 at the end of the month. I believe each of your entries counts as an entry for the grand prize. If you love hair products, or just want a chance to win some free stuff, I say hop on it.

I noticed that the banner advertising the giveaways says the grand prize is $2,000 but that's incorrect. It must have just been a typo, so don't be upset if you enter and see the grand prize changed to $1,000. That's still more money than I've ever spent on my hair!!