Time for a Change

A hair color change :) I decided to color my hair back to brown, the blonde and honey colors were awesome, I really really loved them. You could start to see the dryness and damage though from the color, when your hair is light it shows frizziness wayyyy more I noticed. So in an effort to mask that I decided to go back to brown. This time I MEAN it....NO more hair color! 

I used a box color, Loreal Superior Preference in dark brown. My hair did feel a little dry and my ends were in desperate need of a trim so I got about half and inch to an inch cut. I hope that helps with the tangles. I also found an awesome place on amazon that sells 100 percent real silk pillowcases, not the hot sweaty satin "silk" ones at walmart. I am in LOVE with it! My hair has felt so much better. I dont really like sleeping in a scarf, I always forget to put it on and when I do it always comes off 5 min after I fall asleep. Cotton pillowcases absorb all the moisture in your hair while you sleep, so if your having dry hair issues, I'd look into a real silk pillowcase. Here are a few pictures of my hair color and cut :) 99 percent of the time I wear my hair curly but I like to have it cut when its flat ironed. 

New video of my current haircare routine!

New Hair Color!

So I decided today I wanted my hair colored and an hour later I was sitting in a chair getting it colored. Impulsive shouldve been my middle name. I have 16 tattoos that came about that exact same way.
I digress.
So I wasnt too worried about getting it done because my hair is really healthy at the moment. I dont use heat often at all. The only chemicals on my hair were the last two inches which was from april 2011 when I had a twa. The nice part was that the color that was on my ends was never touched! No color needed to be put on my ends except where I got highlights because she matched the color perfect. I was so happy with that. I like the color but its gonna take a little while for me to get used to it. Its a drastic change for me. The pictures I took do it no justice...its light! Ill be taking a lot more once its back to curly. She cut about an inch off and evened it out some. I still have about 4 inches to grow before I get where I want it to be. Part of me feels like it needs something. Some sort of color added to it for more dimension. I do like it though. I walked into the salon and everyone watched me lol my hair was BIG with no product. I love peoples faces when I first come in the salon and they tend to watch the entire time I get my hair done. As if some magnificent feat is being accomplished. The stylist watching keep saying to the stylist doing my hair " good job" or " your doing so good!" as if they are giving her mini pep talks. When I left the lady at the desk told me I had enough hair for 4 people haha. They have no clue how big my hair is when its longer than now! This is nothing! I was very happy with the girl who did my hair though. She was a champ. She did a good job and I have a feeling it was her first time doing my type of hair.She was super nice too. So here ya go! Lots of pics :) I had it done a few hours ago so i think it may tone done some in a few days. The flat ironed picture is right after I left the salon, the curled pictures are once I got home. I added some curls so I wont have much to do in the morning since itll be an early one.

with flash hence the shine.

Hair Updates

So since my blog is mainly about hair and beauty (it supposed to be anyways :p) I will do a hair update!

If your new to my blog, around a year and a half ago I cut off all my hair. It was about an inch long when it had been bra strap length. Ive cut it a lot since then, straight across the bottom to make it all one length eventually but Ive regretted doing that! Its growing out in a weird shape now. I dont advise doing that lol Ive cut my own ends all along the way as well. So needless to say I think its a bit uneven but I also love it some days. I am not using heat on my hair as much as I was before which was mainly about once a month. I dont have time to straighten it now. most days I just wear it in a bun or a high pony tail puff thing. These pictures are today and its a 3 day old wash n go. I used Tressame naturals moisturizing conditioner as my leave in, hairveda vatika frosting as my sealant, and I used kinky curly curling custard on top of that. That sutff usually gives me multiple day hair with a wash n go.

Curly Girl Tag

First thoughts on Curl Junkie Curl Rehab!

So my first thoughts are....I LOVE this stuff! I got my order today from aveyou.com I got the strawberry ice cream scent, and it reminds me of OHM sweet hair pudding from a long time ago, I havent bought that product in years so if they changed the scent sorry. I shampoo'd my hair with Giovanni Tea Tree, conditioned with Tressame Naturals only this time I rinsed it out. I normally leave in it. Once I got out I sectioned my hair into 8 sections but I ended up sectioned a couple more once I started putting in the product cause it was still too thick..
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Hair Growth Update Feb 2011 (BC)- November 2011

So I did my BC back in Febuary of this year this was the length:

I still had long pieces in the front that I cut off in March 2011:

It was colored towards the end of march early april:

Juneish July:

Then here is October-November 2011(the first two my hair has no product the last one it does:

I'm not sure if its growing slow or fast or normal. To me it seems suppppper slow. I cant wait to have long hair again.

Trying out a dif technique for Wash n Go's

So wash n gos have been my staple for the past 6 or 7 years. My hair is in a wash n go more than any other style. I usually just co wash (use a conditioner like a shampoo) daily in the shower, only rinse it partially out, towel dry my hair then add Giovanni Direct Leave In and Tressame Naturals and a sealant like hairveda vatika frosting or castor oil or shea butter mixed with coconut oil. I dont have any special way of putting it in I usually just slap it on there.

The few days I've been doing it differently, instead of using a towel, I've been using a cotton tee shirt to dry my which has made less frizz, then instead of just slapping the products on, I've been sectioning my hair and applying the products section by section. Four total sections. I am loving my hair lately! This is an awesome way of doing it! I was looking for a new way because my hair was feeling really dry. This technique is making sure all of my hair is getting conditioner. So its all moisturized. My hair is uber thick so this helps a lot! My curls are way more defined this way! Here is my hair yesterday after putting my products in:

Cassia and AMLA powders! Goin ayurvedic! (sort of)

So Im doing a hair treatment tonight. We'll see how it goes. I ordered some herbs from butters n bars website. I got 100 grams of Cassia, 200 grams of AMLA, and 100 grams of Brahmi powders. For this batch all I did was mix the Cassia and one box (100 grams) of AMLA. Mixed it with warm water, some evoo and castor oil. Let it sit for an hour while I washed my hair. Its all air dried now and theres no products it in, I'm gonna go ahead and start with the process of application! I'll report back. I need to get with the program and start taking some pics! :)
Later gators.

ps. I've tried henna in the past when my hair was natural before. HATED it. yes it was baq. yes it did everything its done for everyone elses hair who loved it. It loosened my curl pattern too much and I like to be able to put highlights in when I want and I couldnt because they came out red! Bleach on bleach on bleach and it was red red red. No blonde like I wanted. So im not going to do the henna now that its all cut out but I tried cassia before pre henna and it was good :) so now im gonna try out these other herbs as well

Hair Update! I Flat Ironed It!!! Its growing so much!

Ok so ignore the crazy thumbnail pic.....I flat ironed then trimmed all around and cut bangs :)

Vitamins, Coffee, and Rainbows!

I have been taking a few different vitamins for a little while now to help with faster hair growth, better skin, stronger nails and overall health! These things help with so much more than just hair nails and skin. I got mine from www.swansons.com

Braid N Curl!

This is my fave fave way to wear my hair lately its similar to the twist n curl only its braids which for me work better than twist

My All Time Favorite Products For Natural Hair!

Regardless of how many products and lines I try I always tend to come back to these products. They are definitely my holy grail. Sometimes I think why the heck do I buy so many hair products when these are so amazing already?! Each time I come back to them I think why did I ever stop using this and fall in love all over again. Best of all, majority of them are all natural :) I try to use mainly natural products in my hair (minus the color yea yea) So lets get started!

1. Unrefined shea butter! This stuff is amazing for your hair and skin. Sometimes I'll whip mine up and add an oil, usually I just leave it alone. I usually buy mine from http://www.afrikanrepublic.com/ theres plenty of other sites that sell it though. Just make sure its unrefined! It has a strong nutty scent to it which to me is soooo stinky! You get used to it though. If you really really dont like it, I've found  mixing it with www.hairveda.com 's vatika frosting it makes the shea smell soooo much better! Speaking of vatika frosting that brings me to number 2...

2. Coconut oil! I use spectrum which you can get at whole foods. I usually get the one that is over by the cooking oils. Not the one that is near the essential oils. Make sure your coconut oil is unrefined as well. Another suped up coconut oil I LOVE is hairveda's vatika frosting. It smells sooo good. I love putting coconut oil in my hair after I've put in my leave in conditioner.  Sometimes like I said for number 1 Ill mix this up with my shea butter and it makes an awesome mix. You can use coconut oil on your body as well but for some reason it doesnt work to well on my skin. whole foods and the vatika frosting is from http://www.hairveda.com/

3. Castor oil! Another sealant but castor oil is soooo amazing! I use this in my hair daily over my leave ins for my sealant. Even if I use one of the above items ill still add a little castor oil. Castor oil promotes hair growth. I use it on my eyebrows to make them thicker. If I over pluck or tweeze I start adding castor oil at night and my brows fill right back in. Sometimes I put some on a clean mascara wand and put it on my lashes also. I like to add a mix of castor oil and jojoba oil and put those two in a hair color applicator bottle and then do scalp rubs with the mix. Castor oil is sooo amazing!  (however if you drink it you'll be sooo sorry...) you can get this at whole foods or health food stores.

4. Tressame naturals conditioners! I used to use herbal essence for my cowashes but for the past couple years I've been a die hard fan of this one. Its always a go to for me. Im constantly stocked up, I usually leave it in my hair and not rinse it out. If I think I put tooo much in while in the shower then I may run my head under the water for a second or two but this one is fine for me to leave in. I have for a long long time now with no adverse affects. I also like using this when I do roller sets or braid outs or twist. This is at any drugstore or walmart etc.

5. Jessicurl weekly deep treatment! This stuff has never failed me. When I need a good deep conditioner this lovely products always treats my hair right! I would advise to get the unscented version though. Ive purchased both of the scents offered and HATED them. Idk what it is with them but I dont like the scents. I've even used this stuff as a leave in and my hair was soooo moisturized and fly! Its just too small of a container and I have too thick of hair to be doing that regularly lol. I usually get mine from curlmart.com use code nikki15 for 15 percent off :) They usually always have a coupon code for at least 15 percent and the shipping is fast.

6. Hairveda whipped clouds! I loooove loooove loooove this stuff for braid outs and twist outs. Its used best on dry hair. If you go to hairvedas site you wont see it, but those lovely ladies will prob still send it out to you like they did me :) All you have to do is email and ask. Id probably order more than one jar though since its not a product on the site anymore. This stuff smells soooo amazing. Actually theres not one product of hers that doesnt smell amazing. Its probably the only natural line that I love the scent of every single thing! This stuff is shealoe. Which is shea butter and aloe. Which is AMAZING! lol I didnt even realize how much I loved this stuff till it was too late I had already chopped off all my hair booo. Good thing I have 3 jars coming soon! http://www.hairveda.com/

7. Giovanni Direct Leave in! This stuff has always been a favorite of mine, when all else fails, I pull this out. I put it in my hair daily and my hair thanks me for it. It works amazing for me. I love that I can get it on the ground and dont have to pay shipping. I just wish it came in a bigger size because I fly through the bottles of this. You can get this at target

8. Giovanni Tea Tree shampoo! Now every hair stylist I know has told me not to use this shampoo but I love it. My hair loves it. I've used it for years and never once had an issue. My only issue came when I started using other stuff! lol Came back to this and my hair thanked me. I love love love this shampoo! Its sulfate free, and the tingle that it gives your scalp is amazing. I always come back to this one. You can get this at Target.


So there ya go! My all time FAVE FAVE FAAAVE products :) There are other things that I use, and some I may use regularly but these are the ones that I call my favorites. These are the ones that I use all year long and they work regardless of season. These are the ones that no matter how dry or rough my hair may be feeling once I use them my hair returns to its fly self.

My Hair Story

So I figured I'd do a post about my hair, and background. I am currently natural, no relaxer. I have been natural this time around since about Jan/Feb. I've always loved natural hair. I LOVE big hair. In my world the bigger the hair the better :)
When I was younger my hair was a big too much for my mom to handle it was sooo thick and curly, even getting a relaxer at a young age didnt help it just tamed it down a little bit.

  

Once I got to about 5/6th grade I went for a trim and had the lady cut my hair to my ears :) My mom almost killed me! From that point on my hair only got to about my shoulders at its longest it would start to break off at my shoulders so I'd cut it again. Through my teen years I'd color it from blonde to black and just about each shade in between (on accident) I remember once trying to color it blonde and it came out a big bird yellowish and partly orange! HOTMESS! Its a good thing I was homeschooled because I would of been the target of laughs in school.

In my teens I started wearing wash n gos only still with relaxed hair. girls around me with long flowing pretty hair and thought, “They don’t do all this mess to their hair and it grows! So maybe I need to chill out with all of that (constant flat irons, blow dryers, coloring, manipulation)”. My friends at the time didn’t flat iron or blow dry often, if at all.  One of them said she never even used a brush or comb in her hair. She just finger combed it when it had conditioner in it. That made a big impact on my techniques.

It’s ironic but the good traits I learned for my hair, didn’t even come from women with my type of hair. Those techniques were the start though.

I just trimmed my hair little by little till all the relaxed stuff was gone. Since I always wore it short it didnt take long. I didnt really wear wash n gos at that point though, I was constantly straightening my hair. The flat iron became my best friend. Id flat iron my hair sometimes 2 times a day to keep it bone straight and flying in the wind.

 On top of the constant flat irons I was coloring my hair a lot. I wanted it to look like victoria beckhams when she had her hair short and blonde. Thats actually the picture I took to the salon. The first time they were too scared to take me as light as I wanted, the kept looking at my hair then walking away and talking about it as if they were scared of my hair! I was like what in the world....hahaha

It wasnt the color I wanted, so I went to a dif salon for more...

It was so damaged. My hair was soooo damaged! I liked it that color but it was just too much, when it grew out my hair was literally two completely dif colors. I finally colored it back to black..

and added weave :) again super fake!! I took the weave out, added more highlights...

Then I got pregnant and my hair grew and grew and stayed away from color except for in the begining I colored it black and  left it alone, I wore wash n gos my whole pregnancy up until my 39th week. I straightened it for giving birth

I flat ironed it one more time for our wedding the next month..

I usually wore it in a wash n go though...

I loved my hair at this point in my life. This was about april 2010. In june 2010 trying to blow dry and flat iron for an event going on, it was taking FOREVER because my hair was so thick...I caved in and got a relaxer that night. I instantly regretted it. My hair felt so different. Even before with all the color it didnt feel like this, I knew I had made a mistake. It didnt really break off it just felt completely different. Heres my hair relaxed..

Even relaxed I tried to stay away from heat, I usually just wore braid outs..I really missed having natural hair so in Jan/Feb 2011 I chopped it all off :)

My hair seems to be growing at a decent rate, I lately have been playing around with roller sets and braid outs. I use majority all natural products from online shops. Oyin handmade, and Hairveda are two of my favorites. I take vitamins and drink tons of water, try to exercise regularly. Its been quite the hair journey thats for sure. Im determined now to take better care of my hair than I did in the past. Even when it was natural it wasnt all the way healthy because of heat and color. Now I try to stay away from heat. I've colored some (as youll see in the next two pics) but I'm done with that for now also. Well thats basically it :)