Whomp, Whomp: Having an ugly day?

Check out my little sister’s blog…..she’s amazing 🙂

That F Word

Maybe you’re having this feeling today, or you’ve had it for weeks, months, or since the year started for whatever the reason. Whatever the case may be, keep reading for some afternoon encouragement and advice on how to relieve yourself of this wretched feeling!

Tip #1:Dress yourself up with a smile! =) Duh! You can’t keep it cute with a frown on your face. How is that helping your situation? Your mood internally will reflect externally.

Tip #2: Work it out! And by that I mean ex-cer-cise. Really, how long has it been since you last did this? If I can be transparent with you, at one point in my life I was an emotional eater; I felt and looked terrible. I was carrying bad habits from an old chapter into a new chapter of my life. One day after downing a Whopper combo from BK, I was just fed up of the toll…

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All Is Not Perfect in “Natural Hair” Paradise

 

Courtesy of Yahoo!

 

I said I was going to keep it real….but, let me start by saying I love my hair ❤ <3.  It’s healthy and thick. It doesn’t have to be washed everyday, or styled everyday for that matter. There should be nothing for me to complain about, right?? Well y’all, there is a downside to having natural  hair….

 

Doing my hair is not my favorite pass-times to begin with, which is why I opt to do a lot of protective/ low manipulation styles.  Besides being good for hair anyway, protective/ low manipulation styles (like braid extensions, twists, and flexi-rod curls) last me at least a week. I can tolerate doing my hair once a week :-). It  takes me at least three hours to complete a style, which isn’t a problem most of the time. It becomes a problem when time is not my friend and I need a very quick style.

Unfortunately, with my hair length, there aren’t any quick styles that can be done…well, that I know of. And that’s frustrating. On those days where it seems like time is running away from me, I would do anything to be able to throw my hair up in a bun and call it a day!  I WOULD CRY TEARS OF JOY! But, I’m not there yet. Today, my hair is at that awkward stage where it has some length (yay!), but it’s not quite long enough to do quick styles.

In due time, my hair will be there: healthy, thick, AND long enough to throw up in a bun and run! I cannot wait for the day! But then again, whose to say that the work will lighten up?? It may be more work to maintain longer hair; I won’t know until I got there. Until I reach that point, I have to continue to embrace where I am now and work with what I got!

 

Am I the only one with natural hair frustrations??

Let me know what are your frustrations!

Until then, stay tuned!

-Tia ❤

My Overdue 1 Year Length Check!!!

My first “hair anniversary” was months ago…back on April 8th to be exact. It came so fast! In this year, I cut my hair a whopping four times, found a lot of great products, and been playing with some new styles. Let’s travel down memory lane and see how far I’ve come…

 

April/May 2013: I cut my hair three times within a month. First time was on April 8th to get rid of my relaxed hair, but I didn’t do the best job. The second time, my family hair stylist cut more of my relaxed hair off, but I still felt scab hair. The final time it was cut, I had nothing but TWA of healthy natural hair!

May 2013

 

 

Then, in October/November, I started seeing some noticeable growth.

 

Progress!

 

Unfortunately, I screwed up in January. Instead of trimming my ends as I intended to,  I accidentally chopped inches off my hair while trying to do a more “convenient” trimming technique. It was hard to look in the mirror and stop tears from welling up in my eyes. I was so mad at my-self! Due to one mistake, I practically was back at square one, with my hair being around my eyebrows again. It was frustrating, but I gave my-self a pep talk and knew if I continued to take care of my hair, my length will return and then some. Which brings us to today!

 

Voila!

My hair is getting longer, but more importantly it’s stronger and healthier.

My hair today 🙂

So, what’s next for me? In the next weeks, I’m going to attempt to place jumbo braids in my hair (wish me luck!). Later on, I may try a new color?? More importantly, my goal is to just continue growing a head full of healthy hair.

Until then, stay tuned y’all!

Tia ❤

My Next Summer-time Hair-Do….Jumbo Box Braids!!!

I don’t know why, but literally every summer I have an itch to do a drastic change to my hair…I talk about getting a new color, adding extensions, SOMETHING! Last summer as y’all know, I did Havana twists and LOVED THEM. They  were absolutely beautiful and pretty easy to install (after some practice anyway lol). Initially, the Havana twists were going to be my “summer-do” this year too, but then I thought, “why not try a different braid extension style.”

 

Senegalese twists crossed my mind, but then reality reminded me that those would take days to do my-self. And I’m going to be honest, I don’t have the patience to spend DAYS in my hair; that makes me frustrated/antsy just thinking about it!! My next idea were jumbo box braids. I haven’t had braid in a very long time…I’m talking about since maybe ’06-’07!! So, braids it is!!

I can rock these, right??

 

Before I attempt to do the braids, I’ll be watching how-to videos and practicing for awhile and prepping my hair for them, i.e doing a protein treatment to make sure my hair will be strong and clarifying my scalp. I already found some great “how-to” YouTube videos that are posted below by KaliKashmere and SecretsDesSoeurs (thank you ladies!). I can’t wait to do them!!

 

DIY Box Braids by KaliKashmere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk8aaa4b0Lk

Box Braid Tutorial by SecretsDesSoeurs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEuclIX_Q_s

 

 

Stay Tuned,

Tia ❤ ❤

 

Being Natural Doesn’t Have To Cost An Arm and A Leg

Courtesy of Yahoo!

 

 

I’m sure this has happened to everyone at least once: You walk into a store and see a hair product that looks pretty legit. You read the ingredients and see that it has all the good stuff…jojoba oil, prime rose oil, Shea butter, the works! Then you look at the price and you be like:

I think a lot of us can admit that when we first started on our hair journeys, we felt that the high dollar products were the golden ticket to long, healthy hair! Well ladies and gentlemen, I have news for you…you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on hair products to keep it looking fabulous. It’s easy to forget that your hair need very basic things:

• Moisture through water and/or water-based products
• An oil ( like grape-seed, castor oil, or olive oil) and/or butter (like Shea, coconut, and mango) to lock that moisture in
• A cleansing product like a shampoo or a co-wash
• A clarifying product like a clarifying shampoo or a clay (like Bentonite)
• Protein and moisturizing conditioners

 

As long as all of these areas are covered in some way shape or form, your hair will grow perfectly. Here are my favorite products that have been tried and true. Best of all, each of these products are under $20. You can’t beat that:

 

#1 Shea Moisture Hibiscus and Coconut Curl and Style Milk

Price: $11

Used For: De-tangling, Moisturizing, and Styling

Oh, I am obsessed with this stuff.  I almost refuse to do my hair without it. Besides the smell being amazing, it provides my hair with a beautiful shine and keeps it moisturized. Because it full of water and oils, the curl milk makes it easier to de-tangle my hair. Shea Moisture’s Hibiscus and Coconut Curl Milk is a must have in my book!

 

#2 Shea Moisture Hibiscus and Coconut Co-Wash Conditioning Cleanser

Price: $12

Used For: Cleaning my hair and de-tangling

Every time I use this co-wash, I am amazed with the results. Is my hair soft? Yes! Is my hair shiny? Yes! Is my hair  moisturized? Oh yes! And you don’t need use much to get the job done. My hair is at mid-length now and I can get four washes out of the bottle, which is great.

 

#3 Camille Rose Naturals SOYlicious Curl Enhancing Conditioner

Price: $14

Used for: Deep Conditioning; adding A LOT of moisture to my hair

You know you’ve found “the one” when nothing can compare. This is it for me! I have tried a lot of conditioners, but I have yet to find anything that  literally makes my hair soft as butter like SOYlicious. It also makes a great daily refresher spray. Just place a few globs of conditioner, water, and oils in a spray bottle, shake it up until the conditioner is dissolved and BAM! Your hair will never feel dry again!

 

#4 Oyin Hand-made Burnt Sugar Pomade

Price: $14

Used for: Locking in that moisture!

 The Burnt Sugar Pomade is one of those “luxury products” that I don’t technically need, but O.M.G it works so well, I can’t help but splurge. It gives my hair not only a shine, but a glow!

 

#5 Shea Moisture African Black Soap Purification Masque

Price: $13

Used for: Clarifying my scalp and conditioning my hair

Lately, I have been dealing with an incredibly itchy, dry  scalp that drove me crazy. I didn’t know why my scalp was acting up so bad, but it needed to be fixed immediately. After I used this masque once, my scalp was cleaned so well, I could feel my scalp take a deep breath in. It was amazing. Anytime my scalp feels like it’s suffocating, I know what to reach for :-).

 

#6 Alikay Naturals Shea Yogurt Hair Moisturizer

 

Price: $16

Used for: Locking in the moisture.

This is another “luxury product”, but like the Burnt Sugar Pomade, I can’t help but to splurge on it. It literally melts my hair apart upon contact, which makes de-tangling my hair less miserable. For an eight ounce jar, $16 is a bit pricey at face-value. The reason why I think it’s worth the money is that it lasts a long time. I can use the Shea Yogurt all throughout my hair and not make a dent in the jar. I just scoop a small amount with my fingertip, rub that between my palms, and I have enough to cover a nice section of hair! For that, I can live with the price.

 

My search still  continues….as I find more amazing products that don’t cost an arm and a leg, it will be added to the list!

Until then, stay tuned,

Tia ❤

My Hair Regimen….Updated!

 

 

Courtesy of Yahoo!

 

For the last couple of months, I have been trying out this new hair care regimen…it’s been working wonders for me,  so I wanted to share it with everyone. My regimen changed because my old one didn’t seem like it was the  best for me; I liked it, but  it was still a little time consuming. I used to wash my hair every week, but I began to wonder if  it really needed to be washed that often. The only way to find was to try a new regimen and see how it works. This regimen has been keeping my hair  clean and helps maintain its moisture/protein balance. I’m still experimenting with a few new products, so I can’t tell you exactly what I’m using at the moment, but I can share the process aspect of the regimen.

Week 1: This week is all about moisture, moisture, moisture. First, I apply my ol’ faithful: coconut oil pre-poo treatment with peppermint oil for at least 30 minutes. Then, I thoroughly wash my hair with warm water and Shea Moisture’s Coconut and Hibiscus Co-wash and de-tangle my hair. Next, a moisturizing conditioner is applied along with heat for 30 minutes. I allow the conditioner to cool for about fifteen minutes, before rinsing the conditioner out with cool water.

Week 2: This is the week that I just condition my hair. First, I’ll pre-poo my hair with coconut oil for about 20-30 minutes. Then, the coconut oil is rinsed out and I de-tangle my hair before applying a moisturizing conditioner. I apply heat to my conditioner for 30 minutes, let it cool for another 15 minutes, and then I rinse my hair out with cool water. Voila!

Week 3: This week is all about clarifying my scalp and conditioning my hair with a protein conditioner. First, I start by applying my Greek yogurt onto my hair and letting it stay there for about 40-45 minutes. Then, I rinse my hair out with warm water, de-tangle my hair, and use my clarifying shampoo to clean my scalp. Lastly, I apply a moisturizing conditioner and let it sit for you guessed it…30 minutes under heat before rinsing my hair out with cool water.

Week 4: I repeat what was done during week two.

 

Ever day or every other day, I spray my hair with my leave-in conditioner made with water, oils, and a few squeezes of my moisturizing conditioner until it’s time for me to wash my hair again. As far as styling goes, I still do protective styling like perm-rod curls, chunky twists, or Havana twists as much as I can; anything to keep me from styling my hair everyday or every other day. At night, my hair is covered by a satin scarf and I sleep on a satin pillowcase for good measures.

And there we have it :-). I am loving this new regimen!

Have you changed your regimen recently?? Tell me what you do. In the meantime, stay tuned!

-Tia ❤

I’M BAAAAAAAACK!

Hey y’all!

It’s been too long since y’all heard from me ( about four months to be exact). I never mean to stay away from my blog for too long, but my school schedule gets hectic sometimes. Nevertheless, I have loads and loads of stuff to update y’all on. I’ve fell in love with some new products, done a new hair-do, and switched up my regimen a bit. So, needless to sauy there will be a lot of activity on my blog.

 

Stay Tuned,

Tia ❤

Healthy Hair Comes From The Inside Out….

Courtesy of Yahoo!

Is it too late to say Happy New Year?? Oh well I’m going to say it anyway……HAPPY NEW YEAR Y’ALL! I hope everyone had an amazing holiday with friends and family.

Let’s get down to business….it’s new year and a new year brings resolutions.

What’s my resolution?? For me, this year is going to be all about growing healthy hair….from the inside out. As important as it is to help your hair grow from the outside, it is equally important to grow beautiful hair from the inside too. A healthy body = beautiful hair. So, how do we grow beautiful hair from the inside?

First, we need a balanced diet. Vitamins and other nutrients help your hair in different ways. For example:

Vitamin A (found in carrots, peaches, and eggs) help the hair better produce sebum or the scalp’s natural oil.

Biotin (found in rice and eggs) helps prevent hair loss.

Vitamin E (found in nuts, seeds, and leafy greens) helps with the scalp’s circulation.

And of course we can’t forget about water! Drinking water helps to keep the scalp and hair moisturized.

In addition to eating right, exercise is necessary too. Exercise helps with blood circulation. Great blood circulation helps pumps nutrients to the hair.

Aside from growing beautiful hair, I want to exercise and eat better for other reasons. I want more energy, to be more fit, and just feel better from the inside out.

With that being said, I got my healthier food, my exercise clothes, and my Zumba DVDs. I’m ready to grow healthy hair from the inside out. Stay tuned to see my progress and for healthy recipes (yum!).

What’s your New Year’s resolution?

 

Sources:

http://www.worldofhair.com/geo/vitamins.htm

The Science of Black Hair

Creating the Perfect Regimen…FOR YOU!!

Courtesy of Yahoo

My darling little sister, Asiah has been going natural for some time now. Since I’m already natural, she comes to me for advice and tips on taking care of her hair. One of the questions she asked me awhile ago was how do you create a regimen. That’s a great question. I searched high and low for the answer to that very question when I was transitioning. It’s easy to find what ladies are doing with their hair on the internet. No one (that I know of anyway) really explains the process of creating a regimen. So, I am going to try to break it down for y’all!

First of all, a regimen is a routine that you follow to keep your hair looking beautiful. It is important to note that there is no single regimen that can work for everybody. What may work for me may not work for you and vice versa, which leads me to my first tip:

 #1 Don’t “copy and paste” someone’s regimen.

I know how it is. You’re scrolling on Curly Nikki and see a picture of a woman with beautiful, long, thick, perfect hair that lures you in. You think I MUST KNOW HER SECRET, so you click on the post to read what she does with her hair. It’s tempting follow every step of her regimen and use every product she uses to grow your hair, too. Don’t do it! Granted, there’s nothing wrong with trying some tricks and products that other naturals swear by. That’s why we blog and make YouTube videos, to share our ideas that will hopefully be helpful to someone. Again, even though we swear by tips and products for ourselves, there’s no guarantee that it’ll work for you. This leads me to yet another tip, well two:

#2 Figure out what kind of hair you’re working with.

#3 Don’t be afraid to try new techniques and products with your hair until you find what works best for you.

These two tips go hand in hand to me. Everyone’s hair is different, which is why it’s important to figure the characteristics of your hair and what your hair likes and dislikes. When you know these things, it’s a little easier to find products and techniques that will work for you. Let’s take my head of hair for example. My hair is thick! It also can become dry and not so cute if I don’t moisturize it almost daily. I have learned through experimenting with different products that my hair favors products with thicker oils. I also know my hair reacts well with yogurt, bentonite clay, and honey, but it’s doesn’t seem to be too crazy about apple cider vinegar rinses. Lastly, I know my hair likes to be left alone, which is why I don’t style it daily. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still figuring things about my hair. The important thing is as I continue to experiment, I learn more about my  hair and what does/doesn’t work for me. Every trial and error has brought me closer to a better regimen and it will do the same for you.

In the midst of decoding your hair, it’s important to figure out how to mesh your hair’s needs and your lifestyle together. My next tip is:

#4 Don’t let your hair regimen run your life! 

You have to have a regimen that is maintainable, so you can stay consistent. If you have time in your schedule (and a whole lot of patience) to wash your three times a week and that works best for you, go for it! Your regimen can be as complex or simple as you want it to be. Personally, with my schedule, I only have time to wash my hair every other week and style it once a week. My hair gets placed into twists every week. I leave them alone until the twists don’t look as fresh or it’s time to wash my hair again. Between my washes, I keep my hair moisturized and tied up when I can. That works for my hair and my schedule. Once you find products and techniques that works for you, follow this last tip:

#5 Stick with it!

I’m a big believer in if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If the regimen you are following and the products you are using work for you, why change it every month??? Stick with it and watch your hair grow! Granted,  you may wanna switch it up and try something new every once and awhile. That’s understandable, variety is the spice of life. As long as it’s all in the name of creating the best regimen for you, who can fault you for that ?!

I hope these tips are helpfully :-).

*If I missed anything, please don’t hesitate to comment below!

❤ Tia

My Search is Over…My Top 3 Conditioners

Every natural girl is on a mission to find her holy grail of products that will make her hair look fabulous and grow! She experiments with every new product in hopes that it’ll work….I was that girl. I bought my share of products, specifically conditioners. I liked the conditioners, but wasn’t in love with the results. It was a constant cycle….I would buy a conditioner, use it for a month or two, and then buy a different one. That has all changed since I’ve came across these conditioners. Not only do these conditioners make my hair feel soft, shiny, detangled, and manageable, but they are relatively inexpensive!

#1

Courtesy of Yahoo!

 Camille Rose Naturals SOYlicious  Curl Enhancing Conditioner

Ingredients: Distilled Water, Btms, Soy Butter, Olive Butter, Avocado Butter, Olive Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Jojoba Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, Green Tea, Panthenol, Glycerin, Silk Amino Acid, Honey, Horsetail, Biotin, Optiphen, Natural Fragrance, and LOVE!

Retail Price: $14 (from Curlmart.com)

I am heads-over-hills in love with SOYlicious! For my college girl budget, $14 for a conditioner is a little expensive, but it’s so worth it. No conditioner has ever made my hair feel so soft. Looking at the ingredients, it’s no wonder that my hair is so beautiful. Jojoba oil, evening primrose oil, avocado butter….all crazy-good moisturizing ingredients! I don’t need to add a thing to it. Whether I put it directly  in my hair or shake it up in my leave-conditioner spray, my hair feels beautiful and moisturized every time. I’m going to be using this one forever!

#2

Courtesy Yahoo!

Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Moisturizing Conditioner

Ingredients: Aqua, Cetyl alcohol, alcohol denat. (38b, lavender), Shea butter, Wheat germ oil, Honeysuckle extract, Aloe leaf juice, Glycerin, Jojoba seed oil, Rosa mosqueta seed oil, Grapefruit extract, tocopheryl acetate, Fennel fruit extract, Hops extract, Balm mint leaf extract, Chamomile recutita extract, Gycine root extract, Beta-carotene, Witch hazel water, Angelica extract, Chrysanthemum sinense flower extract, Magnolia blondi flower extract, Ascorbic acid.

Retail Price: $10.99 (my local organic store)

A lot of natural ladies have been raving about this conditioner for a long time and I see why! Aubrey’s Honeysuckle Conditioner is an all-natural, organic conditioner that quenches the thirst of dry hair and gives shine. This conditioner is a GOD-send to me. I’ve been using this conditioner since the very beginning of my hair journey. Almost a year later, it has never let me down!

#3

Courtesy of Yahoo!

Greek Yogurt Conditioner

Ingredients: 1 cup Greek yogurt, lavender oil, 2 table spoons of apple cider vinegar, a tablespoon of grape-seed oil

Who doesn’t love a good home-made conditioner?! They’re fun and easy to mix up. Best of all….it’s cheap and you can mix it up with whatever! It’s a win-win-win.  Putting Greek yogurt in your hair may seem unorthodox and strange, but it is the perfect protein conditioner! Since the yogurt has  A LOT of protein in it, it defines my curls and makes my hair stronger. Stronger hair= less breakage= length retention :-). Gotta love that.

So, there we are ladies and gentlemen…my favorite conditioners! I’m not saying that these will work for everyone because everyone’s hair is different. These work for me. I do encourage you to give these conditioners a try and hope they’ll work for you as well as they work for me.

Let me know what your favorite conditioners are that you think everyone should try!

-Tia ❤