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!
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?
Huetiful hair steamer give away!
This contest is in no way affiliated with my blog. However, I know how bad I want a hair steamer, I figure you guys might want a chance at winning one too. If you go to http://www.behuetiful.com/ there is a survey for you to fill out to have a chance to win one of 5 steamers! I've already entered... have you?
Pre-pooing…Revisited
I haven't had the winner of the contest contact me yet. I will give her until the end of this week, and then I will choose someone else.
Want to get in the game? Go back a few entries and read about the contest!
Last week I left a brief post about “pre-pooing” or pre shampooing your hair. Before I went natural, I had never heard of such a phenomenon. I thought I would talk about it a little bit today.
Generally a pre-shampooing treatment is some sort of oil (like olive oil for example) used on the hair before shampooing or co-washing. It didn’t make sense to me at first because I thought “Why am I putting something in my hair that is immediately going to wash out?” Then I did a little research.
www.bvhairtalk.com put it best: It protects your hair from drying out during the shampooing process. If you think about it, what are you actually shampooing? You are shampooing your scalp, not your hair really. It’s protecting your hair from the harsh drying chemicals in shampoo. They also make the point that natural curly hair kind of works like a sponge.
Think about the sponge you get from the supermarket. Go home and try to clean stuff with it straight off the bat. It’s not going to work well is it? Why? Because, sponges have to be moistened; it is sort of the same with our hair. Conditioner will be absorbed more in the hair if you pre-poo.
Lately I have been pre-pooing using Moroccanoil’s Oil Treatment. I pre-poo my hair at night, and in the morning I take my shower and wash. Moroccanoil’s Treatment is thick, and a little bit does my whole head of hair. I wrap my hair up at night. I’ve been feeling a difference. My hair is softer and more manageable.
I do not pre-poo everyday. I don’t have time for it, sometimes I forget. But I do notice a difference when I do. So once again I ask you, do you pre-poo?
Reminicing…
It is the weekend, and since school is not in session quite yet, nor do I have any plans this weekend, I decided to bust out my scrapbooking supplies and do a few pages. I did one for the 4th of July and one for my dogs. I was flipping through some pictures and I decided to do one on my natural hair progress. I believe all these pics are on my computer sooo.... I got some pics to show you! YAY!
People that are really hardcore about their big chop and stuff like that, know the date of their big chop. I don't. All I remember was that it was in November.
Cherilyn (my stylist) was nice enough to style it in cute little coils
Shortly after that, in December the following picture was taken. I was still trying to figure all of this out.... This is how I normally wear my hair.
I'm a dork, I know.. LOL
Anyway, this last pic was taken on the 4th of July in NY.
Can you tell my growth? I can 🙂
Pre-Pooing?
(Took this with my DSLR)
Now for you girls who have no clue what the title is about, no worries. I am not here today to talk about any bodily functions.
Pre-pooing is short for Pre-Shampooing. I don't know much about it, and I plan on doing some research on it.
What I want to know is.. do you pre-poo?
Don't forget I have a contest going on.. I've had a couple people enter, but not many.. Win a free product from Moroccanoil!
Moroccanoil Series Post 2- Curl Control Cream
Author's Note: Moroccanoil was kind enough to supply me with samples.
When it came time for me to try the curl control cream by Moroccanoil I have to admit I was skeptical. My curls are not big wavy Taylor Swift curls. My curls are eensy weensy kinky curls. What could a curl control cream do for me?
Turns out, lots.
The description on the back states this: An advanced technology that offers intense conditioning and a curl memory factor that controls frizz for extended periods. Delivering exceptional movement to hair while enhancing natural curls and offering optimal hold.
Optimal hold to me reminds me of the Rave hair spray that my mom used to put on my hair *cringe* My hair wouldn't move for ANYTHING. Still I decided to persevere and see what this could do.
The directions tell you to put a generous amount in your hair after shampooing and conditioning. Then it tells you to diffuse or let dry naturally. I never use a blow dryer on my hair, so I went ahead and let it dry like normal.
First thing I noticed was that the cream does not have the Rave mega hold stiff and sticky consistency. My hair was still touchably soft. I had my husband do the touchably soft test. Then I noticed something else. After picking out my hair my curls had some semblance of definition. They looked like individual curls, not a grouping of kinky curls. I was impressed. My hair still felt moisturized throughout the day and not dried out like it had been for the past few weeks.
I've noticed a difference in my hair since using these products. I asked my husband for confirmation and even he says it seems like my hair is growing. I enjoyed the curl control cream. It is nice, but it is not a necessary part of my beauty regimen. I think I would use it more if I were going out on the town, but it is not needed for every day use.
Contest time
The lovely people at Moroccanoil have sent me an extra product to give away to my loyal readers. One person will be chosen at random to receive a brand new bottle of Moroccanoil oil treatment for all hair types. There are many ways to get many entries for the contest.
- Sign up to follow this blog (one entry)
- Follow me on twitter- mrsckugs (one entry)
- "like" my page on facebook- facebook.com/thetaleofgoingnatural (one entry)
- comment on every entry within this blog (three entries)
You have a chance to enter the contest 6 times! I will end the contest on the 16th. That gives you a week to get your entries in!
Hope to see some of the entries soon!
Dry as dry can be.
My hair is dry.
Let that sink in for a bit. I am not just talking about mildly dry. I think it feels like a dry forest. One match near my head and FLOOM! Forest fire.
I don't know why it keeps drying out like this. I am using a moisturising conditioner and shampoo. I used olive oil on my hair last night, hoping to seal in some type of moisture. Any ideas anyone?
Espionage Cosmetics
