NATURAL HAIR SEW IN!!!!!

Hello!!! Great news! My friend Chaniece let me put a natural hair sew in in her hair! Yay me! And her I guess lol! Anyway, I've recently convinced Chaniece to go natural and she's loving her hair growth but she was getting very apprehensive about how her hair would look once it's fully natural, so I said "let's do a sew in and see if you like it"!!! So I shampooed, deep, conditioned and did a protein treatment prior to braiding it. I oiled her scalp, rubbed a heat protectant on her hair and blow dried her hair, just to make braiding it a little easier because her hair is very tightly coiled. After blow drying, I braided her whole head in a beehive for a full sew in.  Her hair is EXTREMELY THICK and needed NO braid hair added in. I sewed the tracks in going around in the beehive pattern because she wanted a side bang, I then did a closure at the top. After all the tracks were in, I wet her hair to curl it (the hair was a wet and wavy and came straight), scrunched mousse on the hair in sections and BAAM! Luscious "natural" hair lol!

Pinned Back

Loose, wild and free!

PInned back (side view)

Front view, side bang

Style of the Week: Twist Out

Hey Yall! My style of this week is a twist out! This is THE hardest style of my natural hair life simply because my hair does not stay raveled upon itself (sad face lol). I've attempted this style numerous times and every time I take the twist apart, I hate it and put it in a high bun, but I've found the light and now I may make this style my staple! Even though I hardly ever put heat on my hair, in order to achieve my twist out I have to sit under the dryer for about 15 minutes to set the twists. This style is done best on clean hair because it can last me for about 3 days, a plus for me!

1. After freshly washing my hair a DC-ing it, I separate my hair into 2 sections, a left and a right.
2. I apply Giovanni Direct Leave-In to my soaking wet hair and split each section into 3 sections.
3. With each of these mini sections, I form my twists. I simply grab a small piece of hair (my twists work better in a smaller size because the curl pattern is more defined), apply a bit of Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, a bit of coconut oil to seal in the moisture and twist with 2 sections.
4. When I get to the end of the twist, I seal with shea butter. Usually this would hold a person's hair together but not mine, o the next few steps may not apply to you!
5. Being that the back half of my hair is way curlier than the front, which is almost bone straight, I choose to flat twist the front of my hair in extremely small sections, bantu knot the ends of each twists and rubber band them (bad, I know) to mimic the curl pattern of the twist in the back.
6. After all my twists are complete I sit under a hooded dryer for 15 mintues.
7. After my 15 minutes are up I simply tie my hair up with a silk bonnet and sleep. I usually do ALL my styles on my hair right before I go to bed, it's kind of relaxing :)
8. The next morning I rub and bit of coconut oil on each twist, unravel and fluff. BAAM! Gorgeous twist out!

Right Side

Top View

Back View

Style of the Week: Bantu Knot Out!

Hey ya'll! My style of this week is the bantu knot out! I absolutely LOVE the style and it produces beautiful results. The pros are the versatility, the ending result is almost always consistently beautiful once you learn the correct technique and the style lasts for a few days (on me, the max for any style is 3 days). The one and only con is the sacrifice of sleep you make lol, it's soooooo hard to sleep with the knots in your hair but it's worth it!

1. So first I prep my hair by spritzing with my water/leave-in/aloe vera/glycerin mix. This style is best done on stretched and/or old hair. I use this style as a way to stretch the time between shampoos. Since my hair already has product in it, the spray mix is all i need to set my style,
2. I then begin a knot by grabbing a random section of hair (I start in the back, idk why) and twisting the hair around itself until it collapses into a knot. You can do a two strand twist then knot but I find that the single strand works best for me.
3. Continue to do this on all sections of your hair, twist each not to stand straight out from your head. A taller knot makes a more defined curled while a flatter one makes each not a little more "messy", if you like that look. Smaller pieces of hair also makes a more defined curl while large pieces of hair make a more wavy curl pattern.
4. My hair never stays raveled upon itself like some people's does so I secure mine with a rubber band, natural hair TABOO lol but bobby pins don't work either :/
5. I usually let my hair stay in knots for about 2 days....making sure not to go ANYWHERE! I really don't like wearing the knots out in public lol.
6. When it come times to take out the knots, make sure they are completely dry or you'll be sorry, I put a light oil, like coconut oil, on my hands and unravel the knots and fluff!
7. Voila! Beautiful bantu knot out!
8. For maintenance I usually sleep on a satin pillowcase and I really don't ever re-twist unless absolutely needed.

After I complete all the knots.

After I take the knots out and fluff! Day 1 Hair is always gorgeous!

Day 3, after a little coaxing.

Day 5. By day 5 my curls are limp and lifeless so I often spritz with water and pin in the loose curls to create a faux min fro! I embellish with random accessories :)

My Weekly "Regimen"

Hello all! I have a new regimen that I've recent started in order to rebuild my scalp strength after my allergic reaction to the Terresentials Mud Wash. I've used Shea Moisture before but I used their African Black Soap Deep Cleansing shampoo for my dandruff. Now that my dandruff problem is fixed, I've began to use their Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention shampoo for my dryness and let me tell you, my hair is soft even before I apply the conditioner! I usually co-wash one or twice a week and use the shampoo whenever I feel like my hair have heavy buildup. I then apply their Organic Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner, I apply in the shower on soaking wet hair, comb through and pin up while I actually shower lol. I like to get my hair and body done at the same time! After I'm clean, I flip my hair over and rinse the conditioner out with cool water (I actually rinse my body with cool water too). Once I'm out the shower, I apply my Giovanni Direct Leave-In, shea butter or coconut oil to seal in the moisture and place about 6-8 twists in my hair and let air dry. I like to do my styles on damp hair so once my hair is as damp as I want it, I apply a fingertip sized amount of Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie to each section and twist or braid, do whatever style I'm doing. On my hair, it doesn't take a lot of the smoothie, if I apply to much my hair will never dry and it'll feel waxy, so be weary of how much you use. In combination, these products keep my hair soft, moisturized and manageable!

Giovanni Direct Leave- In: Hype or Truth?

HI! *waves excitedly*

New Review!

Ok so I'm a self-proclaimed Twitter-holic! I go to Twitter for everything, so asking my natural-haired sistas for advice is only normal! I stay up late at night tweeting and researching and stalking various natural hair blogs and sites. One night, fed up with my hair not retaining length and constantly being dry, I proposed a question, "My #NaturalHair sistas, how can I keep my horribly dry hair moisturized? Any product suggestions #TeamNatural?" I was flooded with replies but Giovanni Direct Leave-In was the top contender. So the next morning, literally the next morning lol, I went to my local Target and purchased a bottle, It was around $8, cheaper than any other leave-in I've ever bought. I immediately washed my hair and applied the leave- in.....IT WAS WONDERFUL! My hair was soft and moisturized and detangled easily, I was in heaven! I use it after every shampoo, when I wash and go, doodle or whenever my hair feels dry. I've been using Giovanni for about a month and I absolutely would recommend it to anyone who suffers from dry hair! (Thanks @CurlRehab!!!)

Back Again! A Terressentials review

Hello you guys! I've been pretty busy working and doing school work and I haven't had time to post and I apologize for that, but I'm back!

So as you all probably know, I started using Terressentials Mud Wash after wonderful reviews and a recommendation from my absolute FAV vlogger Whitney, aka Naptural85 on YouTube. I LOVED this mud wash from the first use! I detoxed for about 4 days and used the mud wash every week and a half as I would a regular shampoo. I applied the mud wash exactly how Naptural85 and Terressentials said and it worked beautifully! By using this, I didn't have to use any conditioners! My hair always retained moisture and was soft as soon and I rinsed out the wash, but then I discovered I was allergic to one of the ingredients *insert sad face here*. I really wish I could have continued using Terresentials, I could actually see myself becoming reliant on my natural oils and all natural products! After about 6 weeks, my scalp started to become more and more tender and red and started to scab up. I thought this was just a side effect from switching from one shampoo to a mud wash so I continued using it thinking the itching would go away. I finally realized that it was indeed the mud wash. Not speaking ill of Terresentials, I HIGHLY recommend their products (I used the Lavender scent) and really really wish I could continue using them. I may give them another try actually but use the fragrance free kind. I will def let you all know!

Mixed Chicks Product Review

Hello all!!!
I'm back to do a product review on Mixed Chicks! Now I've made posts on products that I make that I LOVE to use and usually work better than the products I buy, they're also cheaper! I was asked to do a review on Mixed Chicks because when I first began my journey to natural-ness, I LIVED off of Mixed Chicks! I absolutely LOVED their products because they defined my curls as I was impatient to wait as see how my hair would curl. I used their Gentle Clarifying Shampoo, De-tangling Deep Conditioner and their Leave-in conditioner, the leave-in being my favorite.Their products left my hair full of moisture and my curls loved it! The shampoo wasn't anything special to me but the deep conditioner left my hair silky soft and the leave-in moisturized my hair everyday. When I first began my natural journey, I thought I had to use everything in any given product line (as I now know to use whatever works the best). I also did the same thing with Kinky Curly's line. To this day I would buy Mixed Chicks' leave-in and deep conditioner if I was in a bind and didn't have any ingredients to make my own products. The only thing that turned me off about their products were the prices; the shampoo (10oz) was $11.99, the deep conditioner  (8oz) was $10.99 and the leave-in (10oz) was $16.99. The prices began to be a little much because the budget of a college student is near to non-existent lol! Luckily there was a beauty supply store near my (Angie's Beauty Supply in Austell, GA) that sold Mixed Chicks' whole line and I didn't have to pay for shipping, the also offered a kit that came with the shampoo, deep conditioner, leave-in and gloss and shine hair silk ($11.99 for 1.7 oz) for $50, free of the shipping charges. Hope that helped! :)

Hot Oil Treatment

As you all probably know, I suffer from extremely dry scalp, so a hot oil treatment is right up my alley!

Ingredients:
(3 tbsps of the following oils)
Safflower Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Castor Oil
Jojoba Oil
Vitamin E Oil

Directions:
1. Combine oils in a small glass bowl.
2. Heat oils in microwave until warm enough to where you can stand the heat on your head.
3. Apply oils, in sections, to dirty hair. This is a pre-poo treatment!
4. Cover your hair with a plastic cap and wrap with a warm towel.
5. Apply oils to penetrate your hair for 30 mins to and hour.
6. Rinse and shampoo and regular.
7. Enjoy your moisturized hair!

NOTE: I usually apply this treatment every 2-3 weeks. If you notice your hair starting to get oily, ease up on the treatments. Just use the oils as needed.

Bentonite Clay!!!

Hello Loves!
Recently I've been hearing a lot about bentonite clay and it's amazing effects on hair and skin, I researched (via Youtube and various blog sites) about the product and finally went to Whole Foods and purchased Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay. I FELL IN LOVE!!!

So my hair is heat damaged and the curls fall however they feel that day so after hearing about how POPPING my curls would be, I purchased the clay along with some apple cider vinegar and pure aloe vera gel.

First I began with about 1/2 cup of the clay. The clay is very powdery so beware of the dust that flies in the air, don't inhale! Now I have Shoulder length hair but it's VERY thick so I need to use a little more clay to coat my hair, adjust the amount to whatever is right for you. So in a bowl (do not use metal utensils!!!) I add the clay and mix in enough apple cider to make a thick paste. Once your clay has reached the right consistency (like a facial clay, just a little thinner), add in about 1-2 tbsp of aloe vera.

To prep my hair I spritz it with water until damp. I apply the clay on dirty hair, as if I'm doing a regular shampoo. In sections, I apply the clay, thoroughly coating the hair. Once your hair is completely coated, cover with a shower cap and let it sit for 20-30 mins, just DON'T LET THE CLAY DRY!!! If the clay dries, it will be extremely hard to remove from your hair.

Rinse your hair with warm water and co-wash to make sure all the clay is removed. I made the mistake of not co-washing and I ended up with clumps of clay on my scalp. After co-washing, DEEP CONDITION!!! This clay treatment is like a mini detox for your hair and scalp and you need to add moisture back to your hair.

Enjoy your popping curls!!!