What's in my Oil Bottle plus 1

As most of you know today was the Protective Style Challenge kick off, super exciting! Over 70 women are participating and corresponding via email which is great. I decided since I will be wearing my hair braided for the majority of the challenge I needed to go invest in a new and bigger applicator bottle to oil my scalp while the cornrows are in. What better place to go than Sally's BSS? I didn't know it'd be so hard to pick out a $2 plastic bottle but it was. LOL, I couldn't decide, there were so many options!

**The spray bottle has lavender and calendula flower hair tea in it. GREAT for spritzing and refreshing strands**

Any who, I finally made a decision and a went with the large 8 oz bottle with the red little snap thingy to keep the contents from spilling. I also picked up Olive Oil's Smooth-n-Pudding. *Tisk Tisk* on me, I shouldn't have bought this product but you can blame my friend Ava for luring me in. It was only $6.99 if that makes my pure PJ purchase any better. It doesn't, I know. BUT I was super excited to use the product when I got home and filling my applicator bottle with some yummy oils, was the highlight of my evening. 

What's in my Mix

2 oz of EVOO - Rich in biotin, niacin, vitamins A and E 

1 oz of apricot oil-Rich in essential fatty acids

1/2 oz argan oil- High in omega 3 and 9, unsaturated fatty acids

1 oz of castor oil- Cleans and rids scalp of impurities

2 oz of sweet almond oil- has the ability to soften the skin on the scalp and reduce 

inflammation

**All items can be purchased on Ebay or at your local WholeFoods**

After filling my bottle I applied the oil to my scalp and gave myself a little massage to stimulate blood flow. Once all of that was said and done I twisted my bang area with the new Olive Oil product. I really wanted to put my mini twists back in but I didn't have time.

I was surprised at how much I liked this product on the first try. The packaging says it's a "gel" but I get more of a creamy custard feel. The consistency is great and the scent was pleasant, it also provided decent slip while combing which is a huge plus! 

I am anxious to see what my twist out will look like tomorrow. I flat twisted the right side up and over because I want my style to lay to the left. Hopefully it comes out well, stay tuned for pictures!

xoxo,

Alex

Twisted UpDo

The weave is OUT ladies and I am so proud to say that I kept it in for over 2 months! That's sooooooooooo epic for me, LOL. Taking the weave install down was a pain and it reminded me why I am not a big "weave wearer" but my hair did grow A LOT!  The shed hair was ridiculous but I made sure I detangled in sections with LOTS of conditioner before washing. That is KEY to avoid tangling, knotting and breakage during the detangling process. Overall, my kinky curly weave experience was super fun and I will be buying more hair in a couple of months. I want the 18" hair next time so I can wear buns and ponytails a little easier. The 12" hair shrinks a lot, FYI! For now I will continue to wear protective styles to achieve my APL hair goal. My hair is CBL (collar bone length) for the most part when stretched. My bang area, however is MUCH shorter because when I was wearing it pressed I had my bangs cut in a side swoop--waiting for them to catch up to the rest of my hair. Growing out a cut is a pain sometimes...

Any who the above style I did on my own *gasp* yes, I achieved my first updo all by myself! The video on how I twisted the bang area is under the jump. ENJOY!

xoxo,

Alex

Wash Day: Thursday

After much "I need to wash my hair" procrastination I finally decided to give my hair the works. I pre-poo'd with My Honey Child's "Olive You" DC and I must say that product is a winner! It's packed with ingredients like Olive butter, Soya milk and Honey, yum! "Olive You" is also water based so it gave my hair MAJOR slip while detangling with the Tangle Teezer.

 I left the product in for about 10 minutes before jumping in the shower and rinsing. My hair was super soft even the hair I have left out of the install felt incredible! I ended up washing with Original Moxie's "Get Clean" no foam shampoo and that definitely got the job done, my hair was filthy. I smoothed the shampoo from root to tip and detangled with a wide tooth shower comb. I also made sure to pay special attention to my very dirty scalp. I find that detangling with shampoo in my hair, when using a no foam shampoo, helps distribute the product a little better. Once I was done shampoo'ing I DC'd with Organix Renewing Moroccan Argan Oil Treatment. OMG, this stuff made my hair so easy to comb through and soft! Not to mention it smells great and the pleasant scent has seemed to lingered in my hair. I really like this stuff, a great CVS find. 

Freshly washed hair no product.

**Click jump for styling info and pics**

Once my hair was all clean, detangled and ready to be styled I decided to go with the infamous twist out! Can never go wrong with that. I also didn't feel like doing anything else with my hair so throwing 8 twists in it was easy! I used Original Moxie's Everyday Leave-In Detanling conditioner, CD's Black Vanilla spray and Salerm 21 to twist. 

I started by sectioning off my hair in 4 parts and putting 2 big twists in each section; then I spritzed each section with the Black Vanilla Spray (I need a new bottle, love this stuff) and brushed with the Denman to smooth the hair strands. I then applied the 2 cream based products and twisted. It took about 15 minutes to do my whole head.

Unfortunately when I woke up this morning my hair was still wet. So my T.O. was not a defined as I wanted it to be and it was also KINDA frizzy. I will probably have to retwist with a heavy cream tonight (on dry hair) to achieve the definition that I want.

Today's Hair: Twisted Out

(image found via google)

I finally decided to wash this hair over the weekend, it was dirty, frizzy and dry. I dread washing my hair but it's a must as we all know. I washed with Shea Moisture's shampoo and de-tangled with the matching conditioner. All in all it took me about 30 minutes to wash/rinse/detangle--which isn't too bad. Once I was finished that ordeal, I sectioned my hair is 4 parts and applied Curl Junkie's Smoothing Lotion from root to tip.This stuff is amazing, I plan to review it soon. I used my denman to brush through and remove any tangles that I missed while de-tangling in the shower, it also really helped smooth the hair in preparation for my twists. To get some hold and good definition, I twisted  my hair in about 12 large twists with Miss. Jessie's Baby Buttercreme (I will forever love this stuff, even though the ingredients are less than perfect).


This morning when I took down the twists, I was very pleased with my results! My hair was soft, bouncy and defined. Of course I snapped pictures for you to see. Click the jump to see.

(shrinkage can't be avoided, even with a weave... LOL)

**Earrings are courtesy of "Piece by Karmin" follow her on Twitter to inquire about them, @KarminKass**

Protective Style'n

(image from http://www.allaboutmyhair.com)

As you all know I have been wearing my hair in PS's for weeks now. My braids did not last a month and I was slightly disappointed by that. I was hoping to get at least 4 weeks out of them but that failed. My hair got extremely frizzy and it started to look very raggedy in my opinion. Anyways, I decided it was time to go ahead and get WEAVED UP! I have been searching for the perfect hair for months now. Eryn over at Hair2ToeBeauty referred me to All About my Hair online and I found, literally, the PERFECT hair. It's called Kinky Curly wefted hair and it's amazing! Pricey BUT amazing. I believe in paying for quality and I am very happy with my purchase. 4 oz of this hair is $95 (for the shortest length). Most people need 8 oz of hair for a full weave like I got. I ended up getting 12 inch hair and paying *brace your self* $206.00 for it. Now, before y'all fall out, this hair can last me up to a year if I treat it right (which I will). I can re-use it over and over again and that is a PLUS. I have had the weave in since Friday and so far I haven't experienced any mattings or sheeding. I actually sealed the weft with "Aleene's No Fray" glue that I got at Michaels. My friend told me that sealing the weft was a good idea to prevent any access shedding that may occur while the weave is in. I am so satisfied with this hair, I actually co-washed it the other night and put 7 big twists in it. I am rocking a 2 day old T.O. and it looks GREAT!

I know y'all want to see pictures, so click the jump to see what all the fuss is about!

Today's Hair: Styled Braids

Happy Sunday folks! As you all know I am on a PS challenge until I reach my 2 year mark in September. I am on month 2 of having my hair and ends protected, retaining length has become EXTREMELY important to me. Since I now know what my hair likes and dislikes it's easy to maintain my styles and product choices now. Last week I got my hair braided in extensions, the reason being because I want the style to at least last 5 weeks versus the 2 weeks when I have my own hair braided. To be completely honest with you all I am really trying to nurse my hair back to health, I am sure many of you remember when I got that color in my hair... YEA WELL, that was a bad idea on my part. Color is not my friend and I came to that reality this time around. My hair needs extra TLC and conditioning daily, I am trying my best to keep my styles low maintenance so it can flourish and be around APL this time next year. That color was no good for my hair and I highly recommend that new naturals stay away from color until you think your hair can really handle it.

The braided style I have in now was done by the same lady who braids my hair regularly, she did a great job as always. For the past week I have been wearing my the braids up in a bun but today I decided to try something different. I made one big French braid going back and I spruced it up with a flower, I liked the outcome. I definitely plan on making a YT tutorial on how to achieve the look sometime this week. Click the jump for a picture. :-)

Twisted Bangs

As you all know, I have my hair braided up into a PS. I usually leave my bang area out but last night I wanted to do something different. I used my Safi Hair Heaven Leave-In and PopCurls products to twist and a mist I mixed up to maintain moisture. Once my bangs were all twisted I pinned and tucked them every which way to make a cute pompadour. Here are some texture shots from my late night styling session:

My hair heave leave in is IDEAL for thick and kinky hair types like mine. I love how it coats my strands and soaks into my hair when it's dry. My twists feel very moist and hydrated. The PopCurls I like to use for a little hold and to coil the ends of my twists. Ideally using PopCurls with Curl Clouds is best but I decided to try it with the Hair Heaven and it worked pretty good. Didn't give me as much slip as I would've liked but it got the job done. 

I plan on wearing my hair like this for the remainder of the week.

How are you wearing yours?

Today's Hair: Protective Style Updo

Ok, so for the past month, with the exception of 2 days last week, my hair has been braided up into a PS. Life has been so much easier not having to deal with my hair everyday and I can definitely see a change in my ends since I have been protecting them. I hoping to reach APL by the end of the year, I think that goal is more realistic than trying to achieve than by my 2 year anniversary, mainly because my hair is cut into so many layers. I am in the process of growing them out and the PS's have been helping with that process. Before I got my hair braided this time around I DC'd with Henna and my Desert Organics Coconut Conditioner (I love this stuff). My hair needed it, badly. I wore my hair in a T.O. the next day and my braider picked it out and styled if from there. I had her use my water, bhringaraj oil and vatika oil, along with my Bee Mine Curly Hold Butter (that I also love) before braiding just to add some moisture. It worked great and I am very satisfied with the results, she always does a great job on my hair.

See the pics under the jump.

Random: Big Hair and Tattoos

Yesterday night I was bored and y'all know what I do when I have some boredom on my hands--I take pictures! LOL. I took a few photos on my hair and I was shocked to see how big my puff has gotten. I have been wear PS's for the past month--big difference in my ends. I plan on getting my hair re-braided next week.

Below are a few snapshots of me, my hair and my tattoos... :)

Butterfly Kisses

If you didn't know that I am a butterfly lover, you know now! I decided to spruce up my PT with an adornment of butterflies. I hardly wear this accessory because it's very fragile but I gave it a go today. What do ya think?

I twisted the bangs and pinned it into a pompedor.

Happy Friday!

What's in your hair today?

Today's HAIR: 2/22/11

I know a lot of you are going to be proud to see this post; I got another protective style, YAY! I really haven't been in the mood to do anything with my hair lately so I decided to get it cornrowed up. The whole process took about and hour, which is not bad at all. I took a few pics to show you how it turned out, I like it. If you are interested in knowing who my braider is let me know and I will email you her info. This style cost me $50.
I twisted the bangs for a T.O. and I used Sweet Ohm Hair Pudding, which I LOVE and some Oyin Greg Juice.

I'm Kinky

Look who is BACK! Yay, I missed my big "gives me personality" hair. I decided to wash yesterday because my hair was filthy and my scalp was gross. I needed a good hair cleaning. It feels to have my hair back and it looks like my hair grew a tad bit, which is always a great thing. Before I gave myself a good thorough wash I soaked my hair with water and tried the new Eco Styler "Argan Oil" Gel. I was so anxious to give it a go, LOL, I just wanted to test it out. I love it, a lot. Way better than my Olive Oil Eco Style, it's thicker and smoother. I will be doing a review soon. Any who, once I was done playing with my new gel I washed my hair really good and conditioned with Aphogee's 2 minute reconstructor. I needed a good protein treatment, ESPECIALLY because I have some heat damage...*sigh.*  I twisted my hair for a T.O. and pinned it back. Here are some pics:

I put 2 medium sized flat twists on both sides of my head and I put individual twists in the in middle. No reason really, I just wanted to try it. This morning I ended up stretching my roots with a pick and fluffing my hair into a puff ball. I swear there is NO ESCAPING the puff! 

The Heat Damage: Let me explain, when you use heat on your hair there is ALWAYS a possibility that you will get heat damage. I was lucky the first 2 times that I got my hair flat ironed but this time around I was not so lucky. The damage is only in one spot on the left side of my head. My hair is much finer around the perimeter of my head and edges so I am not surprised that my curls are now very loose waves. I do not plan on cutting my hair in the damaged spot either, it's not that bad. Click the jump for a pic. 

See the little Michael Jackson "S curls?" LOL, not funny but there's nothing I can do about it.

It's just hair. 

xoxo,

Alex