Monday, February 28

February 2011 Purchases

Hair Products

2- Mane & Tail Moisturizing/Texturizing Conditioner- $6.29 (BOGO @ Sally Beauty Supply)
I love this conditioner, it does contain some protein, but my hair loves protein. Right now, I am using this once a week in my pre-poo treatments. But once my co-wash conditioner runs up, I will be using this for cowashes too.

1-Mane & Tail Hair Strengthener Leave-in- $4.99 (Sally Beauty Supply)
This is my staple leave-in for after co-washes, so I had to re-stock.

3 packs- Karishima Henna - $6.00 total (purchased @ a local Indian Grocery Store)
This is a staple in my regimen. I use a few table spoons in my prepoo and I also do full henna treatments quarterly.

16 oz Vegetable Glycerin-$6.00 (http://www.iherb.com/)
I add some of this in my new-growth spray. Makes my new-growth very soft

. 05 oz  Peppermint Oil- $4.00 a little spilled during transit, so I got a refund.  (http://www.iherb.com/)
I add a few drops of this in my new-growth spray. Helps stimulate blow flow in the scalp which could/may lead to increase hair growth. I just like the tingle.

4 oz  Silk Amino Acids- $11.00 (http://www.lotioncrafter.com/)
 Silk amino acids are the proteins that bind the filaments in silk.  These acids are water-soluble and can be purchased as a liquid or powder.   Silk amino acids are used in a wide range of beauty products including hair conditioner
Silk amino acids are an excellent addition to hair care products because of its ability to penetrate the hair shaft, bind with the hair’s natural keratin, and strengthen from within.

source

I will be adding this to my relaxer to help strengthen my hair. I also added this to my new-growth mix, moisturizer and creamy-leave-in. As said before, my hair loves protein. Because our hair is made of protein and the relaxer strips our hair of much needed protein, this helps replenish that loss. I also have not experienced any protein overload using this.

Saturday, February 26

Vacation Hair

Going on a Vacation soon? Then keep on reading...

I was inspired to do this post  by MrsT @ Relaxed RedefinedShe had a question regarding the right time to put in braids(before or after a relaxer) for a trip she has coming up. Check out this post for the answer to that. But what stood out the most was this part of the question:

I have a question for you about getting braids. I'm going on vacation next month and as much as I don't want to, I know in order to have maintenance free, beach ready hair, I need to get braids. I don't want to because 1) I don't want to pay for them (don't have the skills to do them myself) and 2) I won't want to keep them in long after I get home.

Now, not every woman wants to get some braids like Stella..



So, I decided to look up some cheaper/easier alternatives to plain single braids for a trip. We all know that braids are the style of choice if we plan on hitting the water because they won't get messed up quickly and are very easy to maintain. But there are other styles to choose from.

Let me first start off with those that DON'T plan on swimming, jet skiing and so-forth:




For Quicker Styles, other then wearing braid-outs (straight hair may not work due to the humidity),
half wigs
 full/ lace front wigs
or even sew-ins can be done.  
If you choose sew-in's or half wigs, you can always put small braids in the front, similar to Beyonce in the below pic, using similar hair to the weave or half wig.



For those that plan on swimming/hitting the water:

 Cornrows braided up in a pony with a ponytail.
It could be a cute curly or wavy pony
and before hitting the water you would just but the pony in a braid to avoid damage.


Senegalese Twists, for those with longer hair.
These probably take a hour/hour &half less then regular single braids to do and can be maintained the same way as braids.  

Kinky Twists for those with short or medium length hair





Or you could just get some really cute corn-rows




Hope this helps anyone going on a trip.
Remember, if you have braids..before hitting the water, coat braids with some conditioner and after getting out, rinse hair with conditioner again. The after part is most important.

*I do not own rights to any of these images...all were found on Google Images





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Thursday, February 24

Ditched the Towel

What's that dingy, discolored looking shirt you see? That's just one of the shirts I use to dry my hair. It got ruined in the wash, so I picked another purpose for it, which is to dry my hair.
It may be a little small, but it gets the job done. It's super absorbent and leaves my hair drying nice and soft. I chose this kind of cotton shirt, because it's a lot softer than the typical larger ones I have.
Using a towel to dry hair can cause unnecessary frizziness, snagging or tangling of the hair. If using a towel, always use a Micro-Fiber Towel, preferably turban style.

Wednesday, February 23

Berry Butter- Shea Butter with a Twist

*click on image to visit website
I received some samples of Berry Butter- Shea Body Butters a little while back to review. I wanted to use them for a little while before giving my honest opinion.

About Berry Butter Products-  Berry Butter introduces a wonderfully fragrant twist to an already flawless moisturizer. Each of our products contains amounts of unrefined (white) Shea butter and is enhanced with intoxicating fragrances that last. Choose from floral and citrus-based fragrances for day--and warm, spicy, or woodsy fragrances for evening. Men and women of all ethnicities, easily find scents that compliment their unique body chemistry.
High quality and natural ingredients are used when hand-making the Berry Butter line of products. 100%, unrefined Shea butter is preferred so as not to sacrifice natural vitamins, especially vitamins A and E.

My Review- I received 5 different scents(Peppermint Foot Butter, Billie Holiday, Tango, Mediterranean Breeze and Brazilian Gold Butter), all with the same ingredients(only difference is the fragrance) except the Peppermint Foot Butter to review.  These "body butters" original purpose are to moisturize your body similar to using lotion, but they also work very well for your hair.

For Skin- I used the Tango, Mediterranean Breeze and Brazilian Gold Scents on my skin after showering and my body stayed moisturized all day long. Those scents smell so incredibly good, all very tropically(if that's even word) with a hint of strawberry/berry. These scents aren't overbearing, but they do linger for a while. Many co-workers asked what kind of body spray I used, when in all actuality it was just the butters.
I ended up giving the Billie Holiday Butter to my father because I felt it had more of a masculine scent. Although, it was very strong and and reminded me of potpourri. He used it for his feet and stated that it made them feel so smooth.

Women Spend $50,000 on Hair Over a Lifetime?


Sometimes I feel like I spend too much money on my hair. So, I was researching the average amount of money a woman spends on hair and stumbled on this article.

"According to a British survey conducted by Tresemme, the average woman spends a staggering $50,000 on her hair over her lifetime.
Each year, we spend an average of $160 on shampoos and conditioners, $120 for styling products and $520 for haircuts. And for those of us who color our locks, add in another $330 a year."

stylist.com


Now, I feel that Black women spend a lot more, especially those that are relaxed and non DIY's.
Even those that wear weaves, wigs and are into high end products, I feel spend more than that.

Take me for example:

I remember before my hair journey, when I was not in weaves or braids(which I always did myself)., I would visit a salon weekly.

Here are my figures:

Weekly- Wash/Deep Condition/Set- $35 including Tip
Yearly- $1,610.00
Bi-Monthly- Relaxer- $60-$70
Yearly- $420.00
Monthy- Extra Products purchased(back then I purchased only expensive products thinking they were better for my hair)- $30-$60
Yearly(using the average of $45)- $540

*Keep in mind my stylist was not that expensive

I started getting regular relaxers at the age of 19, so if I were to continue that cycle of going to the salon and buying products until I am 65, I would spend about $118,220  in a "lifetime". I would have trumped the average.

 Now that I do my own hair, and I really do not purchase expensive hair products, the most I would spend is $600/yr on my hair. So far, I calculated I spend about $40 a month on hair products. In my mind I thought that was a lot, but looking back..not bad at all. If I were to spend this amount since I was 19(when I really started relaxing my hair) I would be paying $27,600 until the age of 65.


Do You Think You will Spend $50,000 on hair over a lifetime..Or Do you think it would be Far More?

Sunday, February 20

Celebs Hair- #Wins and #Fail

#Win- Keri Hilson looking beautiful with a blonde and brown undertone, angled bob
         
 #Win-Rihanna toning down the red with a nice, wavy, face framing (wig or weave)

 #Win- Iman can never do wrong with her hair

#Win- Solange Knowles with a cute scarf and braided bun
                                      
 # Fail- Eva Marcelle sporting a New Platinum Cut

*Pics taken from necolebitchie.com and iamflashdance.blogspot.com

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Video: How I do A Bantu-Knot Out on Relaxed Hair



The volume on this for some reason is low, but this is more of a seeing not hearing kind of video.

Friday, February 18

Updated Regimen


1x week
  • Prepoo
  • Shampoo or do a Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse
  •  Deep Condition with Moisturizing DC/ with heat for at least 10 minutes
  • Add leave-ins
  • De-tangle
  • Airdry
1 x Week
  • Co-Wash
  • Leave-ins
  • Airdry

Daily & Nightly
  • Moisturize and Seal with oil
Quarterly (Every 3 Months)
  • Full Henna Treatment
Relax every 4 months or more
Protective Style 98.9% of the time

Dust Ends (3/4'')
every 8 weeks or when I see an increasing amount of split ends

Trim Hair (1 inch)
every 6 months


Products

Prepoo Mix:
3 table spoons of Karishma Henna
1 table spoon of Black Strap Molasses
a few drops of Castor Oil

Shampoo
Dr. Woods Black Soap with Shea Butter
or I would do an ACV rinse


Deep Conditioner
Aubrey Organics White Camelia Conditioner
few drops of oil

Conditioner for Co-washes
Mane n Tail Deep Moisturizing Conditioner

Leave-ins
Wash Day:
Aphogee Pro-Vitamin Leave in and Aphogee Keratin Green Tea Leave-in
then
Giovanni Direct Leave-in

Cowash Day
Mane n' Tail Enriched Moisture Enriched Hair Strengthener
then a mix of  
Giovanni Direct Leave-in
Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Relaxer
Organic Root Stimulator- Lye in Regular

formally Silk Elements Shea Butter- Mild Lye

Saturday, February 12

ConairPro Soft Bonnet Attachment

I purchased this ConairPro Soft Bonnet Attachment so I can deep condition with heat now.
This is one thing I never did through-out my hair journey. I would normally just deep condition on either wet or dry hair, put a plastic cap or one of those self/body heating(they are the gold or silver plastic caps) caps on for like 2-3 hours and call it a day.
I'm still not sure if it's more effective to use heat or not because after researching, views seem to be varied. But it's worth a try.






My Review:

This thing gets pretty darn hot. I turned the blow-dryer on the lowest heat setting and it still got really hot. I only keep it on for about 10 minutes and I believe that's effective enough for my deep conditioning treatment.
The bonnet is pretty large, I think I could actually use this to dry a roller set or a flexi-rod set. I may give that a try.
One thing that I like about this, is that I can sit on my couch, watch tv, and do whatever while deep conditioning my hair.
This also fits almost all blow-dryers.

How I use this :

After prepooing then washing my hair, I apply a moisturizing deep conditioner(mixed with oils) then put on a plastic cap.
Then I attach my blow-dryer to the end of the attachment, put the bonnet on my head, then turn the blow-dryer on low heat.
I keep the bonnet on for 10 minutes then depending on my schedule....I would either wash out the deep conditioner or just keep the plastic cap on and wash out whenever I feel like it.

Cost:

$8.99 at Sally Beauty Supply
*  I had a $10 off $20 purchase so, that's why I purchased this.

Friday, February 11

Look What Came in the Mail- My Split-Ender :-)


So, my birthday was on Tuesday (Feb 8th) and as a gift to myself, I decided to buy the Split-Ender. I also bought a Caruso Steam Roller Set, but that's another post.
Before purchasing this, I read so many reviews and watched basically all of the You-Tube videos on this and finally decided that it would be a good investment.

For those who are unfamiliar with this product:

It's a "machine" that basically trims off 1/8- 1/4 of an inch off your hair. As you all know, our hair varies in lengths and at times we are unable to trim the shorter pieces of our hair. This will help that issue and will also trim split ends in the process. It may not trim all split ends, but using this will act more as a preventative measure and keep the ends of your hair neat.

I paid $60 for the Maxi-Kit(Split-Ender, Comb, Clip and Silk Capsules) and got it from a reputable(I believe he works for the company) seller on Ebay named Victort619. It was shipped from California and it arrived 5 days after I placed the order. I live in New England by the way.

I will be using this every 8 weeks and every relaxer(every 4 months) I will use this, then shape up my hair with regular shears. Because I just trimmed my hair 3 weeks ago, I am going to hold off on using this until maybe 3 more weeks, then I will proceed with my every 8 week schedule.
I finally have a camera, so I will record my review :-) So far, the only downfall on this is that my hair has to be straight when using this and I never wear my hair straight! But oh well.

I did a post on this before, check it out.:
http://6footlonghair.blogspot.com/2010/08/thinking-of-buying.html

Tuesday, February 8

Super Easy DIY Earring Holder

The jewelry box/case I currently have doesn't have enough room to store all of my earrings. So I was looking for ways to "store"  some of my earrings and came across this video posted by "itsjudytime". This was so easy to do and only required a shoe box cover and some panty hose. It literally took me less then 5 minutes to do.

I just tie the legs of the "tights" in a bow in the back so I can hang it on a hook. If I don't feel like hanging it up then I would just lean the earring holder on my dresser.







Flexi-Rods

If you haven't noticed by now, I love curly hair.Even when I frequently wore weaves in the past, they were always curly . So, I decided to try out some Flexi-Rods for a looser curl. They didn't turn out that great, but this was my first try with flexi-rods. Next time, I'm sure it will be better.

Started off with freshly washed, damp, detangled hair (put in leave-ins and sealed with EVOO)



Put in about 8 flexi rods while hair was still damp using medium sections of my hair

 Kept in overnight

Took out in the AM and just played with it until I got my desired look




Thursday, February 3

3 weeks of Nails

I need to cut my nails, but I am afraid. They are so darn thick and strong, I'm afraid it will hurt. Crazy, right? Why oh why can't my hair be like that.




If anyone is interested in the colors/brands, let me know. I left the bottles at home and I do not know them off the top of my head.

Wednesday, February 2

Protective Styling Challenge

  Because this is my last year actively growing out my hair, I would like to retain as much length as possible. In order for me to do so, I need to protect my ends. Protective styles work well for me. I don't do tight ponytails/buns, I never use too many bobby pins(2 the most) and my ends stay moisturized all day long.

So, as a challenge to myself. I will be protective styling my hair until my next touch-up, May 21st. This won't be too hard for me because I rarely wear my hair out, but in order for me to stick to something hard-core, I need to document it.

My Rules Are:
  1. I must change the position of bun or clip every week- do not want to cause a lot of tension in the same spot
  2. Utilize Hair Sticks at least one week out of the month- I have so many, so it's time I use them more often, and these don't cause any breakage on my hair at all
  3. Be WAY MORE Creative- Meaning one week out of the month, I MUST do something I never have done before. And it MUST be cute. haha
  4. Allowed two passes a month to wear my hair down- too much of anything is never good. I need to let my hair breath at times. Plus, when I go out, I like my hair down. It's a personal preference
  5. Never sleep in the protective style I wore all day long- Either put my hair in 2 braids or loose bantu-knots
These are the protective styles I currently wear:








More under the hood