The first day back.
Today is my first day back to school from winter vacation. I miss winter vacation already. Is that sad?
I want to thank everyone that commented on my last entry . It has been rough going over here. I know that i desparately need to protective style my hair. After I get done with this entry, I am going to go ahead and bust out the two strand twists. I am so sick of my hair feeling this way. This weekend I plan on doing a henna gloss that Tasha from Belle Butters uses. You can see her youtube video of it here. I actually have some time today before class (I have one class in the evening from 6-8:50; the rest of my classes are online), so I may actually lovingly part my hair and be precise with the twists. Have any of you ever added hair to your two strand twists? I thought about doing that. I thought that might be cute. If you have any tips, ideas, or thoughts on it, let me know.
In other hair news, I have been using a tangle teezer. I have seen a lot of the vlogs on youtube talking about it, and decided to get my hands on one. I will be doing a review about it this week.
I hope everyone is staying warm and keeping some love on your hair!
It just isn’t feeling right.
My hair that is. For the past couple of days, it has looked stringy, felt itchy, and just.. it hasn't been in a good place.
I wondered if I had a lot of buildup by chance. I hadn't shampoo'd my hair in a long while. I usually just co-wash.
Last night I washed using Skala shampoo, and conditioned using my normal Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. I left the conditioner on there whilst I showered up. I rinsed my hair, dried it (just enough so that it wasn't dripping everywhere), detangled using my new Tangle Teezer (that will be another entry for another day), and applied my usual Belle Butters Matcha Green Tea whipped shea butter. I woke up this morning and my hair feels and looks better, but it is not up to it's normal feel. I think it might be the winter taking it's toll on my head. I might try a hot oil treatment this weekend. I also still have that box of henna in my bathroom. I have been kind of scared to do the henna treatment because I am a messy person and I do not want to get henna all over my bathroom.
I'll update you on monday! Have a great weekend.
Cap v Pillowcase v Scarf…what say you?
Relaxed or Natural, one thing we all have in common is protecting our hair while we are sleeping.
From the time I was little, I always had a scarf. As I have gotten older, I prefer a cap. It stays on better in my sleep.
One thing that is not a real option for me, is a satin pillowcase. I understand the logic behind it. However, I have sleep apnea. I have a breathing machine. In order to wear the machine I have two straps that go around the back of my head. It just seems prudent to me to have a layer of protection in between the straps and my hair. I have used a satin pillow case in the past before I was diagnosed, and it worked just fine for me.
My question to you.. what do you prefer? Do you have some other thing that I did not mention? How did you choose what you wear?
Happy New Years Everyone!
I hope everyone had a better holiday season than I did. Christmas ended up being okay, as I did not get sick until a day or two after Christmas. I was a hot mess. Eventually that cleared up, and I thought I was okay. Not so much. Right now I am still battling a wicked cold and the weirdest sore throat I have ever had in my life. During the day it is very mild. I keep having to clear my throat, no big right? Well around 5 pm, my right tonsil starts to swell, and it is incredibly painful. i have to pop two ibuprofin and suck on a couple of popsicles. Nuts!
You know how you get sick, and then shortly after taking a shower, you feel as if you can take on the world? That was me yesterday.
Isn't my turbie twist fabulous!? While sick, I found this etsy website by a woman called swarthy daisy. She was taking her business offline, so everything was 25% off. I got a ton of natural hair items, clips, combs, that wonderful turbie twist, and a t-shirt! Let me show you a pic
Darling isn it? I won't look like that on me, as I am *cough* a chubbikin.
She is no longer in business online, but here is a link to her blog.
In other news, I am sure most of you by now have seen this video:
The girl who made it is totally ADORABLE. I just want to pinch her cheeks! She isn't a one trick pony either. She has a page on Facebook called Shrink, Grow, and Learn where she talks about natural hair and showcases her other videos. Check her out!
In another twist, yesterday was Natural Hair day on twitter. I found this on CharyJay's (Shrink Grow and Learn) Facebook page. I thought it was interesting. The girl had a point.
Alright, I have to get dressed, get the dogs out, and get my desk cleaned up. I have one more week before school starts. and I want my desk cleared up so I have some place to actually work. LOL. Oh! So, my natural hair anniversary was some time in November. I had been working on a video, but I needed to set up my camera to capture the last part. I couldn't get the angle right with my little camera. I finally am going to have a working webcam with a mic here soon, so I will be able to finish that up (two months late).
Sick as a dog
I am typing this from my phone. Not feeling too well lovlies, I have the flu. I will resume blogging as soon as I am moble again.
Miss Jessie’s Sale
I am not a huge fan of Miss Jessie's products, but this is a natural hair blog, and I would be woefully ignorant if I didn't let you guys know that Miss Jessie's is having a buy one get one free sale on her site.
Check it out here
Winterizing your Routine
So, how about the weather eh? I. Hate. Snow. Being from Indiana, this is a slight problem, as it snows quite a bit. For example, this was the view outside our garage Sunday afternoon:
This is my reaction to the view outside my garage:
Not happy to say the very least.
In the winter you winterize your house and you winterize your car. You also need to make sure you winterize your hair routine.
When I say winterize, i mean take a few minutes and a few extra steps to avoid unnecessary damage to your hair.
- Wear a satin or silk scarf under your winter hat.
Acrylic and wool are two fabrics that can pull and break off hair. By putting a satin scarf on your head mitigates or entirely gets rid of that risk.
2. Moisturize Moisturize Moisturize!
Basically put, winter suck the life and moisture out of your hair. If you are used to wearing lighter leave-in conditioners and thin oils, you may want to bust out the big guns and invest in some shea butter. I personally like Belle Butters, as she has nifty smelling scents (like pumpkin pie! mmm) and the shea butter is whipped and easily spread on the hair. I also like Pooka Pure and Simple. I did a review on them this week and you can read that here.
3. Protective Styles
In this climate, wash-n-gos are not the best option for me. My hair takes forever to dry and going out with it wet just isn't smart. Wet hair can freeze, and it can break off. Protective styles to the rescue! I co-wash my hair at night and twist it. I then proceed to wear the twists. I have a few things to say about this though. I am unemployed *sigh*. So when I go out, I go out to run errands and do things like that. This means my winter hat can stay on my head the entire time I am out. My twists are haphazard and unattractive. Don't believe me?
I would like to reiterate that I do not have a bald spot at all. I have lots of hair. It is just the way the twists ended up that make me look like that
gangstas paradise bitches!
Yeah, so no, I don't wear these where anyone can see them. But they protect my hair so I wear them. One day I will have the patience to sit there, and carefully part my hair and lovingly place twist in. Today ain't that day. But I know under my satin scarf and my hat, my hair is well protected.
That is all the tips I have for right now. What do you do to protect your hair?
Product Review: Pooka Pure and Simple Shea and Olive Hair Butter
Editors note: While this review is all of my own and my beliefs about the product, Pooka was nice enough to send me a sample of their product.
So, when my sample of Pooka Pure and Simple came in the mail, the mailman actually delivered it to my door. Our mailman is kind of lazy and will cram any package he can into the mailbox, so he doesn't have to get out of his truck, so this was a surprise.
Turns out, it wasn't because he was being nice. We have three cars. Two are kept in the garage. One is on the outside of the garage. We live in a cul de sac, and don't have the room to park that other car out on the side or anything. So that it is easy for Jeff to get out of the driveway, we park the other car at the tail end of the driveway. The bumper juts out into the cul de sac just a touch. Well, it sort of interfered with the mailman getting by and he wanted to know why it was parked like that. I explained it to him and just looked at me like i was stupid. Lazy Mailman.
Anyway, he handed me my package, and the first thing I noticed was the package had a scent. The package itself smelled.. wonderful. It was floral and uplifting and I just wanted to sit there and sniff my package. I opened it up and there were fake flower petals in it, which were delivering the scent. The actual box sat on the ledge near the door for a couple of weeks, so the air was scented. I loved it! I found that the Pooka Girls had sent me this:
Before I talk about the product, lets talk a little about Pooka Pure and Simple. Pooka was an interesting name, and I was tickled pink to find out it was a family nick name!
(From the website)
The name Pooka actually came from my mom.
She always calls her children her “Pookalitas”
(We still haven’t figured out why or what it meant but it was definitely a term of endearment!)
She always calls her children her “Pookalitas”
(We still haven’t figured out why or what it meant but it was definitely a term of endearment!)
When thinking of a name for the company, that was the first thing that came to mind. Pookalitas was a little too long for the labels, so we just shortened it a bit and came up with....POOKA!
The story of the Pookalitas itself is interesting. It sort of comes from the old adage "necessity is the mother of invention."
With Dawn Fitch, founder and creator– POOKA became a lifelong pursuit when she became mysteriously ill. After numerous visits to doctors and specialists and no sound diagnosis she began to explore alternative therapies, it was here her interest in aromatherapy and its healing and relaxing attributes was born.
She began reading the ingredients of EVERYTHING and became painfully aware of just how much of what we consume is saturated with unhealthy, unnatural ingredients. In an effort to combat illness and stress and the realization that so much of what goes into the body is not good for you, she changed her entire health regime.
Combining her love for aromatherapy and the need to take better care of herself inside and out she began creating her own bath and body products. Just for fun, she took a few of her hand made products to sell at a local festival and sold out! The response was tremendous. That’s when the realization hit that she had an incredible business idea and Pooka was born!
She knew she couldn’t achieve her Pooka dream alone so she enlisted the help of those closest and dearest to her. Together she and her girlfriends formed Pooka Pure & Simple and today the 4 Pookalitas manage every aspect of Pooka from sales and marketing to finance.
With all this in mind I started testing the product. The first thing I always check for is the smell. I LOVE the smell of this. It kind of smells woodsy. Kind of like a pine tree to me. My husband however, did not like it. He can kick rocks though, I enjoyed it.
One of the main problems I have with Shea Butter products is the spreadability (I know, it is not a word, deal with it! lol). It seems as if you are sitting there for hours trying to melt the product in your hands unless it is whipped. Pooka's product is spreadable right out of the jar. I wonder if it because of the additional oils added.
It goes on easy and is well absorbed into my hair. My hair feels thoroughly moisturized with it in. This is a product that I do have to apply daily, but I am okay with that. It is thick enough to be used in twists, twistouts, and any other styles that require major moisture. I would recommend Pooka Shea and Olive butter as a great heavy duty moisturizer.
The ingredients are (listed most to least): Shea butter, olive oil, rosemary oil, and lavender oil.
This product can also be used as a moisturizer for your body. I did try it as a moisturizer, but my husband complained about the scent again. So I had to cease and desist on the body moisturizing.
Helping out a friend.
Hi everyone. This, is my friend Shannon
(I had to put a pic on here with her drinking pepsi! LOL)
Shannon is a transitioning natural. She usually wears sew-ins or braids. She has straightened her hair twice in 9 months. The other day she got bold and decided to attempt a twistout. Something didn't go according to plan.
In Shannon's own words:
"My hair was damp, I used water and a conditioner mix with the TCB Naturals hair and scalp conditioner."
This was the result of the twistout:
How she ended up wearing it:
And this is how her hair turned out looking by the time she made it to work:
Yeah, wow.
Shannon and I both took a good look at her hair (well, as good of a look as I can take from pics..she lives in NY, I am in Indiana) and her curl pattern when she is natural is slight. She is more wavy than anything. So, I am asking you my Naturalistas, to help a sista out! What can Shannon do to produce a better twistout? This is the TCB Product she used. I know nothing about this. Do you think it is the way she twisted? Is it the products? Do twistouts not work well on wavy hair? Let us know!
I’m a bum, feel free to flog me.
Susan Boyle has more class than me..
I've left you guys hanging, and I am sorry. This is a really insane time of year right now. I just finished off an 11 page paper for school. It is a beauty. It is my personal ethics action plan. I have a test tonight and then I am done with the semester! YAY! 3 more semesters (approx) to go!
I'll be back next week with a review of products from Pooka Pure and Simple , a friend's hair crisis (I hope you guys can help, because I have no clue.), and just random goodies from me! I hope the holiday season is treating you well, love all your family! At least the family you love anyway.
Espionage Cosmetics
