Geeky Girl's Guide to Life

Winterizing your Routine

Published December 15, 2010 | By K Leslie

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

Published December 14, 2010 | By K Leslie

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!)

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.

Published December 14, 2010 | By K Leslie

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.

Published December 9, 2010 | By K Leslie

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.

Manly Grooming!

Published November 30, 2010 | By K Leslie

Take it from me is having a contest for a man groomer! The perfect stocking stuffer! YAY! Check it out

Bad Day, Cute Kid

Published November 29, 2010 | By K Leslie

You have had one of those days. Oh yeah, You don't feel good, your hair is shrinking, and you are just tired. Your back hurts, your head hurts, and you have errands to run. You feel fat, you look fat, and just ugh.

That was my day on Sunday. The bright spot? A bit of cuteness that I call my niece

Be Yourself, Be Beautiful

Published November 26, 2010 | By K Leslie

First off, I hope everyone had a joyous and happy Thanksgiving. My was wonderful.

Yesterday caught me looking adorable. My hair was poofed, I had on a cute top, skinny jeans and my Uggs. I felt great and I knew I looked good. Yesterday's holiday was spent at the in-laws, so I just talked to my family on the phone. When talking to my mom I told her how adorable I looked, and she just laughed and told me I was silly.

You see this a lot with people. They don't compliment themselves, they wait for someone to validate their adorableness. Thing is, I don't need that. I know when I am cute. I also know when I look a hot mess (like, uh, right now lol). I don't need anyone to tell me how cute I look. Yes, it is nice that you have noticed that I look good, and thank you for the compliment. But I don't dress nice just to please you. I dress nice because I feel good dressing up.

So, all of you out there, who are looking flyy, being yourself, being smexy, and just feeling great. Tell yourself you are adorable. Make sure you mean it. Love you. Love being you!

Wet and wavy curls EVERYWHERE!

Published November 22, 2010 | By K Leslie

One of the major things I am enjoying about natural hair is this; when I get out of the shower dripping wet, and look in the mirror, I see my natural curl pattern. My clumps of curls are kind of in a line. They aren't individual curls like some people. They are clumps. I love them.

Plans for the evening

Published November 19, 2010 | By K Leslie

I am feeling drained. Seriously drained. I do not know what it is. But tonight is going to be about relaxing.

I plan on getting a shower and detangling my hair really good.
I plan on parting my hair evenly and twisting it.
I plan on relaxing either by the fire place or in my craft room making plans for a Christmas party.

I cannot wait for this semester to end.

Nothing to write about today

Published November 16, 2010 | By K Leslie

Today is such a blah day. It is straight gloomy out. When I took the dogs out I could see my breath in the air. Not cool. The dogs two yards down are stuck outside and it is getting ready to rain and that just tugs at my heart strings. I have no clue what to do about it.

My hair is growing like a weed! I love it. It feels like, as far as my looks are concerned, I am coming into my own. I found a hair solution for me that I like and can actually take care of my hair without having to shell out hundreds of dollars a year for relaxers, deep conditioning treatments, etc.

My husband LOVE running his fingers through my hair, and helping me to detangle as well. How did I get so lucky?

I have ham and bean soup cooking in the crockpot and I am thinking of starting a fire in the fireplace, watch a movie and work on my niece's Christmas present. I also could start making cards again.

Hope everyone is staying warm!!