This Girl Gives Awesome Tutorials

I found this awesome channel (via LHCF) on Youtube: SalonCabelo. It gives such awesome styling and hair care tips from a stylist! I felt that I had to share this with you guys!

Who's Down For a Challenge?

So...I am in week 8 of a 13/14 week stretch and quite frankly my hair is getting on my nerves.

I guess it decided to do some rampant growing and didn't pass the memo onto me. Thus, straightening it with heat is just not a desirable option right now. So what do I do now? I'm laying off the heat for the next 5 to 6 weeks. This weekend I did a flexirod set and put my hair into a puff. That should last about a week. Next week I'm going to attempt I twistout (since I have enough hair to grab). Hmm...maybe I should post pics on that.....anyway, I'm challenging myself to lay off direct heat so why don't you guys give it a shot?? It doesn't have to be for as long as I'm doing it but the point is to give your hair a break from all of the heat.

So....who's down?

Don't Mess With A Good Thing...

Hey everyone! So I know it has been awhile since I last wrote something but things have been crazy lately! This is just an update on what I've been doing to my hair lately.

1) I really need to be consistent with the porosity control.

For the past 3 weeks or so, I've been skipping on the PC. I hadn't been deep conditioning with heat so I figured that my hair would be ok. WRONG! So wrong! My hair felt so crappy. It felt dry and would barely hold a curl. At first I thought I needed to clarify since I use products that have cones in them. I figured it might be a product build up issue. Well, I did that and no change. I washed my hair today and used porosity control--my hair went back to normal. My hair felt all moisturized and is holding curl for days! Lesson learned: don't mess with a good thing!

2) Finding an all natural shampoo is more difficult than I thought it would be.

As you know, I'm trying to incorporate more all natural products into my regimen. However, the search for a good all natural shampoo is proving to be somewhat difficult. I tried the Giovanni shampoos but wasn't all too impressed with them. Currently, I'm trying Kinky Curly Come Clean shampoo. At first I wasn't all too impressed with it. My hair felt like it was stripped as I was washing it out. However, once I was finished washing it out, it felt moisturized and it was very easy to run a comb through it. I want to give this shampoo a couple of more tries before I post a review on it.

Well that is really it for this past week. I think I might post some pics of my hair....I'm 7 weeks post now and the body has returned to my hair (which I'm happy about). I'm still considering self texlaxing my hair but I definitely have to do some more research about that.

Feeling Like a "Natural" Woman (Product Review)

Well I finally tried 2 new natural products and thought I'd review them so you guys can know what I thought about it!

Aubrey Organics GPB (Glycogen Protein Balancing) Conditioner

Price: $10.29+tax (at Whole Foods)

Consistency/ Smell: Very thick and greenish in tint!! A little bit of this stuff definitely goes a long way! It smelled like something minty...at least that's what I thought.

In Action: I applied the conditioner to my hair right after I had washed it. I deep conditioned with it for about an hour. When I rinsed it out, my hair felt so soft but yet it felt like it was strong. This feeling remained even after my hair was dry!

Final Thoughts: I was skeptical about any other conditioner replacing my ORS Replenishing Conditioner. However, this conditioner has made my hair feel so good, so soft, and so strong. I never had that feeling before! I think this conditioner is my mild protein conditioner staple!

The Verdict: Loves it! If you haven't tried it, go pick some up today!

Giovanni Smooth as Silk Shampoo

Price: $7.97+tax (at Wal-Mart)

Consistency/Smell: The shampoo itself is white and not runny at all. The shampoo has a citrus-y smell to it which was absolutely delightful (but I like citrus smell).

In Action: This shampoo got my scalp pretty clean. However, even though it left most of my hair mositurized, some areas didn't feel moisturized enough. I found that this feeling goes away if you follow up the shampoo with a moisturizing deep conditioner.

Final Thoughts: I have been itching to try this shampoo since my hair absolutely adored the Smooth as Silk conditioner. It's a decent sulfate-free shampoo but I'm not sure I would make it my staple. I think there may be better shampoos out there. Another thing to keep in mind about this shampoo is that it is a protein shampoo. I think that if you use this shampoo enough, you may encounter setback city if you don't follow it up with a moisturizing deep conditioner.

The Verdict: It's a'ight. I wouldn't make it a staple.

Looks like I'm still on the hunt for the perfect sulfate free shampoo that can replace my Elasta QP Creme Conditioning shampoo.....

Working It Out....

Hey everyone!!

I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!

Anyway, recently I decided to start working out more after watching "Half Ton Dad" on TLC this weekend. So now my evenings will be spent at the gym. For that reason, there will be a couple of entries about working out and how to maintain your hair when you are working out. I know for a lot of women (myself included), the potential to mess up the hair deters them from working out. Please do not let a hairstyle keep you from taking care of yourself. Yes it sucks to have to take time out to do your hair but ultimately you will benefit from it (:steps off soapbox:). Anyway, be on the lookout for that!

Making the Switch

For some reason, I've been evaluating the products that I use in my hair. I know that all the products I use work great for my hair but I feel like there may be something better. I have quite a feel natural products in my regimen: Giovanni Direct Leave In, Jane Carter Solution Wrap and Roll, Jane Carter Solution Revitializing Leave In*, and Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner. Let me tell you, when I use these products my hair feels AMAZING! Well that got me to thinking....maybe I should use more natural products in my regimen. Now, I know that my regimen can be completely natural because I relax. I get that. I just see that my hair responds better to natural products. So now, I have to find a new mild protein conditioner and a new sulfate free shampoo. I will be trying Aubrey Organics GPB and one of the shampoos by Giovanni (not sure which one yet). Of course I will keep you all posted on how that goes so....stay tuned!

You Do Hair?

Um....well....I guess....?

I was asked that question this weekend. One of my friends was talking about going to get her hair done and I casually mentioned that I had to wash, deep condition, and style my hair for our outing on Saturday. Her eyes got really big and she asked "You do hair?" Problem is, I didn't know how to answer that. I mean I do my hair but that is based out of necessity. I don't have the time or the money to go to the salon weekly to get my hair done. Besides, stylists don't handle my hair with the same level of care that I do. Anyway, so here I am, trying to figure out how to answer this question. Shoot, I'm still trying to figure it out. I don't want to give anybody any kind of false hope y'know? My skill is limited and I have some things to perfect ( like rollersetting once my hair gets long enough). I don't know, I just wanted to share this story with you guys!

Party Party Party.....

So I have been going out a lot lately. Like any other female, when I go out I like to look good. However, I don't like wearing the same look consistently....especially when it comes to hair. This past weekend I tried out my fro-hawk/bootleg mohowak and it was met with a pretty positive response. Personally, I love this style because it makes for a nice up-do (so to speak) even though I have short hair. The only drawback is that it tends to take a while. Typically, it takes about an hour and a half to rod my hair and then another hour and a half to 2 hours to dry it. I pretty much blocked out my entire Saturday to get this 'do. Since I don't really get how videos are uploaded to Youtube, I'll just give a step by step on how I make it happen.

I use:

* Flexirods ( I use the yellow and red ones)

* End Papers

* Kinky Curly Spiral Spritz

* Bobby Pins

What I do:

* Wash and deep condition hair

* Spray hair with KC Spiral Spritz

* Roll hair with flexirods ( Note: before rolling, I place an end paper on my ends)

* Allow hair to dry (air dry or under hooded dryer)

* Once dry, I separate the curls and create the fro-hawk

Below, I have posted a Youtube vid of how to flex-rod hair and how to make a fro-hawk:

Flexi-Rod

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3l2lPDLTec

Or you can check this out: