Henna Experimentation Part 2

Hey Lovelies!

So, above is my part two vid. It's already been a month since I dyed my hair using Henna! In all honestly, I don't think it was worth all the hype. The color change was barely noticeable and while I was scared to dye my hair, I did intend for the change to be noticeable. The redness is pretty in the sunlight and all, but that's about as much as it does in terms of color difference. I plan to dye my hair a fun color for the spring, hopefully in March, using an actual boxed dye. (I'll definitely let you know how that goes lol.)

As for the conditioning....

Its nothing to go crazy about. There was a lot of residue which was very annoying. I don't know if that's because the brand of Henna I used was not powdered out well, or if it was because I'm bad at rinsing out my hair, but either way, there was too much residue for my liking. The MOST annoying part has been the SMELL. Days after, whether I was co-washing, shampooing, or styling, I could still smell it.... Finally, my hair was no softer than it would be if I had just used a regular conditioner. All in all, Henna doesn't seem to be a big deal. Experimenting was fun though.

Would I suggest Henna?

Yes, if you want a slight change in color you should try it. Henna has a different impact on everyone's hair, it mostly depends on the porosity of your hair follicle. However, if you just want to condition, I would say to go with your routine deep conditioner or just shea butter & olive oil.

And that's that!

I hope this gave you a little insight on my Henna experience :)

BEFORE HENNA-ing:

AFTER HENNA-ing:

Much love to you!!!!

Marsha Ambrosius!

Henna Experimentation Part 1

Hey Everyone!

This is a video from my youtube channel about Indian Henna as a natural Hair Dye.

I wanted to try some new color on my hair, but I was scared to do a box dye. (However, I will rack up some courage and do it in the spring!) I decided to look for something natural, and Henna was the first thing that came up in my search.

For information on what Henna is and dying naturally curly hair click here >> http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/kinky-hair-type-4a/coloring-type-4-hair

If you decided not to click, its a grounded up plant from India and parts of Africa, that when combined with liquid can be used as either body art or as a hair conditioner/natural highlighter. For more info watch my video/click the link!

In my part 2 video/blog post I will talk in detail about my results and how my hair looked/felt in the days after I dyed it!


Stay tuned!

Be Big & Beautiful

Solange Knowles!

Dealing with Hair Drama

Hey Everyone!

So today I just wanted to talk about the hair drama I've been having. I went natural in December 2010, and I haven't had dandruff since.... and now its back. Its crazy. I don't know what started it really. I experimented with hair weaving last month. I had kinky twists in for about a week, and thats when I notices the dandruff. So I guess I'd say thats what it was. I'm trying to find a solution, and for now I'm going to try improving my moisturizing regimen. I wash my hair (at night)

Then...

1. I put 2 pumps of "Mixed Silk Leave-In Conditioning Creme" from roots to ends

2. I put 2 pumps of "Herbal Essences Leave-In Protector" (for split ends)

3. I did two-strand twists using "Shea Moisture Curling Souffle"

In the morning
4. I conditioned my scalp with Olive Oil and Castor Oil

I'm hoping this method works. If my dandruff decides not to leave I'm going to buy tea-tree oil (suggested for dandruff) to see how that works.

The other issue I'm having is with knots. KNOTS KNOTS KNOTS!!! I hate it. Everyday. All the time. The worst is when I've just detangled my wet hair, then it starts to shrink on itself and knot up.

My solution to this one is going to be protective styling. My go-to style is two-strand twists. With this style, my hair is entirely combed out, and plaited in some way. I find that I play with my hair less when its twisted, so this helps too.

Third and last problem. Uneven growth. the front center portion of my hair grows sooo much faster than the rest. It makes my afro look awkward. My solution to this is basically the same - more olive oils and more protective styling. I'm also trying to drink more water.

If you're having the same problems, comment with any solutions you have, or tell me if my regimen works for you!

Hope this helps :)

Be big and beautiful!
xoxo

Bob Marley's hair is classic!

One Year (and some) of Happy Nappiness!

Hey Lovelies!

I've been trying to do a better job of document my hair growth and styles, and I just wanted to share some pictures from late 2011 with you.... By the way Happy New Year!!! My goal for this year is to really get some good blogs done (in a timely manner). I'm really hoping to have a HUGE Afro by December 10 2012 (My Natural Anniversary) so part of my good hair care regimen will be documenting what I'm doing. Ok so here are my pics!

So at the moment I consider myself to be a 4A- after washing and conditioning, my curls are very spirally, and are a little smaller than the width of a pencil

OCTOBER

Don't mind the ridic face I was making.. I was being a fool lol... no particular style here 

I loooved how these curls came out so I had to take a pic. This was a Wash-and-Go

NOVEMBER

Big Twist - Twist Out (I'll explain at some point)

Twist-out part 2

My Twisties! I kept these in for like a week and a half.

I tried kinky twists for about 2 weeks. They came out nicely!

After I took out my kinky twists I had a pretty decent  fro.
I'm lookin kinda rough tho... I think I was tired

JANUARY

I did some more twists for the beginning of the year.
They came out pretty wild but I don't really care lol.

Yep! So thats about how my hair has been lookin' for the past couple months. I've been having some protective styling issues, and I'll share them in another post.

TTYL!

Be Big & Beautiful :)

The Wonders of Sea Salt Scrub

Hello Lovelies!!!

I hope all is well. I know its been a while, but I'm going to try to be a bit more regular with posting. In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that I would discuss beauty issues other than hair every once in a while. So today, I thought I would talk about sea salt. Sea salt is very, very healthy for the skin. It contains sizable amounts of magnesium, calcium and potassium among other minerals. I just started using it, and its probably the best exfoliant I've ever used.

Right now, I'm using "Crystal Line Dead Sea Sea Salt." I got a 16.9 fl ounce jar from Marshall's for $4.50. (Sidebar: I looove Marshalls, especially the skin/make up section, because you can find some really great stuff for a cheap price) "Crystal Line" is a mix of Shea butter and Sea Salt. The Directions for use are as follows:

• Wet skin and apply generous amount
• Massage for 1-2 minutes in circular motions (sometimes I do longer)
• Rinse with warm water

Its pretty simple, and the results are great. Your skin will feel super smooth. I would suggest using sea salt scrub at night. I say this because after I used it my skin was extra shiny - probably because of the shea butter. If you used it at night your skin will still feel extra smooth and soft in the morning. Of course, sea salt scrub can be used on the entire body, but I used mine just for my face. Right now, I want to stick to using it once a week. 

Other things to remember for healthy, glowing skin:

• Drink water
• Eat fruits and vegetables
• Find a good moisturizer (I'm a cocoa butter fan lol)

If you decide to try sea salt scrub, I hope you find it as beneficial as I did!

Much Love to You!

Isn't Gabrielle Union's skin wonderful?! (I know she's probably wearing makeup... but still, lol.)

Relaxed or Natural?

Hello Lovelies!

I know its been a while, but I had to settle into the swing of things, starting off a new semester, etc. Now I'm back, and hopefully I'll be able to post somewhat regularly. Today I wanted to add my 2 cents to the debate that has been going on for a while now - Relaxed or Natural? Which is better?

I wanted to start out by saying that my blog is mainly to provide haircare tips. Hopefully when you all, my readers, take good care of your mind, body and soul, you will feel and look beautiful. With that being said, I think the most important thing is that you all feel that you are attractive and special. Think about this, if relaxers were no longer available, how much of a crisis would that be for you? Would you no longer think you are attractive, would it be the end of the world? If the answer is yes, then there are a couple more things to think about. Why would it be such a trauma if there were no more relaxers? What is so wrong with the way that you were naturally made?  I'm not at all saying everyone should go natural, but what I am saying is that you should be appreciative of your beauty, with or without relaxers. The same applies to those of you who wear make up, those of you who would like to get an enhancement surgery or sort of beauty enhancement. Can you survive without it?

Most of the hang-ups people have about natural hair or anything else that has to do with a beauty routine comes from society. A lot of you have probably heard these:

• Guys like girls with long hair; they don't go for girls with shorter hair
• Natural hair looks nappy, unkept or unprofessional 
• You'll look like a slave with hair like that (yes people say this)
• Natural hair is for those radical girls
• No famous people rock natural hair, so why should I?

Don't let these statements, or anything else that people say about natural or relaxed hair stop you from doing what you want to do with your hair. Some people simply like relaxing their hair, and some like it better natural. That's cool, as long as you're being persuaded by your own beliefs and desires. I've been saying it and I'll say it again - whatever you choose to do is great as long as you love yourself with or without the enhancements. 

I'm going to do a list of pros for natural hair, then a list of pros for relaxed hair, so that you can decide what you'd like to do with your hair.

Natural Hair Pros:

1. It is not effected by the strong chemicals in relaxer, so it tends to break less easily
2. You don't have to worry about water, whether from rain or swimming (although you MUST condition your hair after swimming!)
3. Less heat damage, no flat-ironing or blow drying necessary
4. There are tons of cute styles, from the twist out to the afro-puff
5. Hair grows faster because it breaks less
6. Natural hair products (in my opinion) smell better and tend to have more natural, and healthy products
7. No more paying for the hair dresser!

Relaxed Hair Pros

1. Growth is more noticeable, because relaxer stretches natural curls
2. Tends to be easier to comb than natural hair if the correct products are used
3. There are many possible hair styles
4. There are more hair dressers who know how to work with relaxed hair
5. When managed well, hair can be very long and flowing 
6. Other than the long days at the hair dresser, relaxed hair can be a little less time consuming than natural hair (depending on your regimen)

If you read My Natural Hair/Transition Story, you will get to understand why I switched from natural to relaxed hair.

I hope this helps!

Be Big and beautiful!

xoxo

Angela Bassett! So beautiful, and a great actress

Defining Your Natural Curls

hello lovelies!

Up until very recently, I was frustrated, because although my hair is naturally curly, oftentimes my curls are disguised by all my frizz. I watched Nikkimae2003's youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Nikkimae2003 and discovered that cold water really helps to define curls! Here's how it works:

If you're doing a co-wash (thats cleansing/conditioning hair without shampoo)

1. Wet/rinse the hair with warm to very warm water. This helps to open the pores in your scalp. Some of you may have heard that using steam (which comes from warm water) is very good for cleansing the pores in your face, well, your scalp works the same way. Open pores are ready to absorb the conditioner that you'll be putting into your hair.
2. Apply some conditioner and let it soak in for as long as you want. I usually let the conditioner sit for about 5-10 minutes. You can also detangle during this time. I personally detangle after I condition, that way I'll have enough time to detangle my hair section by section.
3. Rinse out your conditioner with cold water. Cold water seals in the moisture provided by the conditioner, which really helps to define curls. I just started cold water rinses and I love the effect on my hair. Each curl is springy and shiny, and the frizz is basically gone!

If you're shampooing your hair

• Still use warm water, because the shampoo will be able to do its job even better when your pores are open. Warm water, especially in combination with shampoo, is excellent at removing grease and other residue. After shampooing, follow the steps outlined above.

My hair after a cold water rinse!

I just wanted to add that Nikkimae2003's youtube channel is great. She's pleasant, encouraging, and her tutorials are super helpful.

Be Big & Beautiful!

xoxo

Tia & Tamera Mowry! They've been my role models since childhood :)