My November Half Wig: FreeTress Samara Girl

Happy Saturday lovelies!


As you know, the end of the month is upon us and that means it's time for me to switch up my wigs! I got TONS of compliments about La Doral and she is one of those wigs that gets better as time goes on but alas, it is time for something new.

For November, I will be wearing FreeTress Samara Girl. I purchased this half wig in 1B this past summer at my local BSS.I paid around $22 for her although you can get her for less at websites such as blackhairspray.com. Like most FreeTress half wigs, this wig has a long comb in the front of the wig and two smaller combs in the back.

Since I will start wearing Samara Girl on Monday, I wanted to just play around for a bit and style her and just really figure out how she looks on me. Straight out of the package, Samara Girl is very curly, silky, and soft. I had to fluff her out a bit just to give her some volume and look a little more natural. Samara Girl is also very long! She's about BSL/MBL length (side note: why does BSL/MBL feel so long on a wig but when it's my actual hair it's just....meh).

I will be blending my own hair with this wig and will probably reserve the headband for days where I'm just feeling extremely lazy. On my wash days, I will section out my bangs and straighten them just to aide in better blending (I'm 14 weeks post and I have some new growth going on). I will then set them on large perm rods like the ones shown below:

I will not use any gel, holding spray, etc on my curls. The curls of the wig are pretty loose so I want my own hair to have a similar look to that. As always, I will continue with my wash routine and keep the majority of my hair in plaits underneath the wig.

What do you guys think? Is Samara Girl a yay or a nay or a eh (lol)?

My Return to the Hot Oil Treatment

I have to admit. I slacked off on my hair last week. I just didn't feel like washing it.

Unfortunately, my hair felt some kind of way about that, particularly my roots. They were dry and just BEGGING for some moisture in their life. So, I decided to do a hot oil treatment. I haven't done a hot oil treatment in a lonnnnnnnng time. I think the last time I did one, it was at the beginning of my healthy hair journey and was testing various techniques. Let me remind you that I started my HHJ back in '08 so..........yeah.


Anyway, for my hot oil treatment, I finished off my bottle of Africa's Best Ultimate Herbal Oil (I've had that bottle FOREVER. I don't even remember why I bought it. I promise I don't). This oil is mixture of oils and includes castor oil, sweet almond oil,jojoba oil, carrot oil, and safflower oil. I also used extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) which I had in my kitchen. I placed both oils in a bottle with an applicator tip ( makes for easy application....trust me on this one) and warmed it up. I take extra care to not heat my hot oil treatment to boiling. I want it to be warm...not scalding. I basically heat up some water and place my bottle in the water for about 5 min, then apply.


After applying to my hair, I put on a plastic cap and sat under a heat cap for about 20minutes. I had intended to sit for an hour but oil was running down my face and neck...I looked like an oil slick! Well, it turns out that 20min was all I needed! I rinsed my hair out and proceeded with my wash routine.


I have to say that my hair definitely needed that hot oil treatment. It made my hair (my roots especially) so soft. This may have to be something that I incorporate into my routine as I continue my stretch. This past Thursday I hit 13 weeks post and my hair is definitely a jungle right now. I'm not sure when I will relax my hair again because I have been wearing wigs and just hardcore protective styling. Right now I'm just all about getting my hair the moisture it needs.

First Impressions: Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream

Let me start out by saying, I have NEVER been so underwhelmed with a product in all my LIFE!!! I picked up this shampoo because I just wanted to try a new sulfate free shampoo...just because. Right now I'm lightweight upset that I shelled out the money for this product when I know I could have purchased something that I know works for the same price.

Let's get to the review, shall we?


Price: $9.99+tax for 8oz bottle (On the Curls website, the price is listed as $15)


Ingredients: Water, Sodium Cocyl Isethionate, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Steric Acid, Glycerin, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Polyquaternium-7, Fragrance, Silk Amino Acids, Panthenol, Certified Organic Daucus Carota Sativa (carrot) seed oil, Certified Organic Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Certified Organic Aesculus Hipocastanum (Horse Chestnut) extract, Certified Organic Salvia Officinalis (sage) leaf extract, , Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Potassium Sorbate, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Caramel.


Their Claims: (per their website) This creamy, sulfate free cleanser is gentle enough to use daily and moisturizing enough to use alone! Ideal cleanser for curly hair. Great for chemically altered and color treated hair. Perfect for active women on the go!

This rich and creamy sulfate free cleanser gently cleanses your curls, hydrates, and conditions the hair all in one step. Produces a mild, gentle lather, as it is sulfate (detergent) free. Infused with Carrot Seed oil, Horse Chestnut, Sage Leaf and Arnica Montana Flower Extract. Perfect cleanser for relaxed, chemically altered, and/or color treated hair.


This shampoo is different than other shampoos that I have tried in that it has a thick, creamy texture. It is more like a conditioner than it is a shampoo. I have to admit that I actually liked the thickness of it. It looked like it would be super duper moisturizing for my strands. Also, this shampoo also has a really strong, sweet smell. It is almost sickeningly sweet. I think it may be too much for those who are sensitive to scents.

I have to say that this shampoo has little to no lather. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect sulfate free shampoos to be super duper....lather-y but it's nice to have a little something. It felt like a was putting a leave in in my hair instead of shampoo. I really did not like that at all. I wound up going through half the daggone bottle before I felt like my hair was sufficiently clean. For that reason, this shampoo isn't a good value for the price. I think it is a complete waste to spend $10 on a shampoo and you only get a 2 good washes out of it. Aw nah...hell nah! I can spend my money on something else for all of that. However, it did rinse out very clean and didn't leave my hair stripped...which is always a plus.

Bottom Line: I will not repurchase. There are much better sulfate free shampoos out there and if I wanted to co-wash, I would use my beloved HE Hello Hydration. I also don't think it's a good value for the money you spend on it . $10 for 8oz and 2 washes is just funny math in my book.

How I Clean My Wigs

It just dawned on me that I may have readers out there who are new to the wig game and may be lost as to how you care for your wigs. So...in this short and snappy blog post, I'm going to outline what I do.


To clean my wigs, I use Fantasia IC Wig Cleaner and Conditioner.

Maybe it's just me but, for my synthetic wigs, I use products that are formulated just for synthetic wigs. That's just my thing that I'm particularly anal about. My goal is for my wigs to last awhile. I feel that if you can completely wear out a wig in a few weeks, you need to re-evaluate your life.

Anyway....I place about 3 oz of the cleanser ( the markings are designated on the bottle and you get 3 wig washes out of a bottle) into my sink and fill up the sink with tepid ( not too hot but not cold either) water. I then place the wig in the sink.

Once in the sink, I kinda swirl the wig around. I try to be as gentle as possible with the wig so that I don't tangle it. I do this for 2 or 3 min.

I then drain out the nasty, dirty water (trust me it's gross!) and rinse the wig with cool water to remove the cleanser. Once finished I hang up the wig (can be in the shower if no one will be immediately using it) and let it dry overnight. Once dry, I spray the wig with wig spray, place the net over the wig and put the wig back into the package.


That's it! Very easy to do. I typically wash my wigs when I'm changing them out. So, if I'm done continuously wearing a wig, I will wash it prior to me putting it back into the package. Hopes this helps some of you wig newbies out! :D

First Impressions: KeraCare Sulfate Free 1st Lather Shampoo

So my friend conned asked me to come to the BSS with her today after class and of course I obliged. I mean who am I not to join her on her trip to the BSS? While I was there, I picked up a shampoo that I had been dying to try: KeraCare Sulfate Free 1st Lather Shampoo. I had heard pretty good things about it but I wanted to give it a test drive. I wound up trying it out this evening since I wanted to be utterly lazy this weekend and didn't wash my hair.


Price: $11.99+ tax for 32oz bottle

Ingredients: Water, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Cocamide MEA, PEG-120, Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Polyquaternium-7, Fragrance , Citric Acid, Diozolidnyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Benzyl Salicylate, Hexyl Cinnomal, Linalool





Their Claims: KeraCare 1st Lather Shampoo Sulfate-Free deep cleans hair and is designed for use prior to a conditioning shampoo. • Produces a rich lather to cleanse hair without stripping the hair of natural oils. • Beautifully prepares hair for a second sudsing with a conditioning shampoo. • Contains no sodium stearate (soap), like most creme shampoos. • Concentrated formula. Cleans hair of oil, dirt and styling product build-ups. • Helps hair absorb conditioners during a second shampoo with KeraCare Hydrating Detangling Shampoo. • Does not promote dryness and leaves no dulling film. •


Let me first point out that this shampoo is a CLARIFYING SHAMPOO! I only recommend using it to remove nasty gunky buildup (like the -cone build up you may have following a good straightening session) and to use it before you lather up with your moisturizing shampoo. I have found that this shampoo is surprisingly gentle. In the past (waaaaaay back in the beginnings of my HHJ), I used the 1st Lather Shampoo w/ Sulfates.....and it stripped the ever loving life out of my hair. When I tell you that my hair was *squeaky* clean....smh. Anyway, this shampoo didn't leave my hair feeling that way. My hair wasn't squeaky clean but I knew I had did something to it.

Another thing I liked was that the pH of the shampoo is listed on the bottle (4.5) and that the product isn't heavily scented. Another thing I noticed is that the shampoo has a clear, thick, Jell-O like consistency. I just found it interesting because I haven't seen too many shampoos with this consistency. The shampoo also rinses very clean as well. Once i rinsed out the 1st Lather Shampoo, I followed up with my Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo. My hair felt soft and moisturized afterwards.

Also, if you look at the ingredient listing, disodium laureth sulfosuccinate sounds suspiciously like a sulfate. Disodium laureth sulfosuccinate is a surfectant like sodium laurel sulfate but is a larger molecule that cannot penetrate the skin (unlike sulfates) and is gentler overall. However, if it worries you, contact Avalon to find out what percentage is included in the formula. 10% of Disodium laureth sulfosuccinate can cause as much irritation as sodium laurel sulfate ( Contact Dermatitis)

Bottom Line: If I had to recommend a clarifying shampoo for someone, this would probably be it. It doesn't strip your hair like most clarifying shampoos do and it simply isn't as harsh. I think that you get a good amount of product for your money too. Definitely a keeper!

Kreativ Blogger Award

Thanks Texlaxed&Things for posting my blog! I figure I better get to answering these questions before I forget ( I tend to be scatterbrained like that lol)


RULES
Link back to the person who passed you the award
Complete the form below
Award 10 Blogs & drop them a line about it
Share 7 random things about yourself


Name your favorite song: Oh geez I have so many! I would have to say that it's a tie between 'Stay With Me' by Debarge and 'Enjoy Yourself' by The Jacksons

Name your favorite dessert: Red Velvet Cake.....Red Velvet cupcakes.....Red Velvet ice cream.....you get the idea

What pisses you off: Terrible spelling. I'm sorry it just irks me like no other.

When you're upset, you: shut down. I don't speak and I don't want to speak. Leave me alone until I cool off.

Your favorite pet: I had a turtle back in high school. His name was Edward.

Black or white: Black

Your biggest fear: Birds...especially pigeons. :shudders:

Best feature: My eyes

Everyday attitude: No worries!

What is perfection: The best that you are able to give

Guilty pleasure: The animal cookies with the pink and white frosting w/ rainbow sprinkles. I know I'm too old to like them but they make me happy :D

7 Random Facts About Myself

1) I'm an Air Force brat. I've lived in the Philippines, Montana, Washington, D.C., Italy, and Alaska. The D.C. area is home though.

2) Because I'm used to moving so often, I have an urge to move every 4 years. Like clockwork.

3) I'm a leftie.

4) I come from a family of basketball players. However, that urge to play basketball just skipped right over me. I understand the game but I don't enjoy playing it.

5) I have an incredible sweet tooth. I adore sweets! In fact, it takes a lot of restraint to keep me from eating sweets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

6) I jokingly call myself a mutant. I had 5 (instead of 4) wisdom teeth and I have a third nipple ( I know TMI but it looks like a mole). I probably have an extra kidney or something lol.

7) My first language wasn't English, it was Tagalog. Unfortunately, my mom put a stop to that ASAPedly.

10 Blogs I'm Awarding

Gosh it's so hard to choose. There are a lot of great blogs out there!

Napturally Inspired This is my LS's blog. She's natural and this blog is great for ladies who are natural or are thinking about transitioning!

Longing 4 Length We are both chasing the same goal right now (BSL). She has a really good blog AND....she's my soror! :)

My Healthy Hair Journey Love her blog! She is very detailed about what she is doing and how she goes about doing it!

Hair2Toe Beauty Great blog that covers hair, beauty, and everything in between!

What's Up With My Hair Yet another great blog!

....ok so I stopped a 5 since my brain decided to just blank out. I'll be back with the additional 5.....

Early October Rambling...

Happy Tuesday lovelies!

I know it has been awhile since I have last posted. Honestly, I haven't really had much to talk about. I'm not really trying any new products because i'm on a mission to use up the products I have and I'm not doing much to my hair since I've been wigging it up.

So what do I talk about!?

I figure that now is a good a time as any to post my hair goals for the month. I usually have hair goals every month but I don't post them because the seem so mundane. However, I think I'm going to start so that you guys can get an idea of how I view my hair journey as well as the things I struggle with.

All right, here we go:

1) Keep up with my personal Autumn wig challenge. This can be hard at times because it is so easy to get bored. I know that in the long run, this will be beneficial for my hair but sometimes I want to jazz it up a bit.

2) Be consistent with the Vitamin B complex pills. I don't like taking pills and they are such a pain to remember to take.


3) Find a way to decrease this massive shedding. I shed like a freaking dog. And I don't like it.


That's it. Really October is my month to fight against the boredom. What are your goals for the month. How are you progressing in meeting those goals?

October Half Wig: Vanessa 'La Doral'

It's October 1st y'all and you know what that means......


IT'S SWITCH UP HALF WIGS TIME!!!!! WOOOOOOOOO! (: throws confetti and hits celebratory dougie:)


Yes, today marks the first day that I'm not wearing Tammy. However, as you guys have noticed from the title, I did not purchase the wig that I wanted--Vanessa 'La Frisco" I really really wanted that wig but my local BSS only had it in 1B/30. I've never been a fan of extra colors in the wigs on me so I passed on that. Instead, I found another wig--Vanessa "La Doral." I paid $22.99 for the wig at my local BSS and purchased it in 2 (they were out of 1B---lawd that BSS was just failing me completely yesterday lol)

La Doral is another curly wig that reminds me of FreeTress Creta Girl but it has looser curls and is not Chaka Khan big (it's more like Tracee Ellis Ross big). This wig has 2 combs (one in the front and one in the back) as well as an adjustable strap. Another plus about this wig is that the 2 is not a super duper brown that you see with other wigs. It matches up nicely with my hair and I only saw a brownish tint when I was in the sun. I don't know if this characteristic is unique to all Vanessa Half Wigs but it's something to keep in mind as you go on your own wig search. Finally, for a synthetic wig, La Doral is very very soft. I absolutely love it. One thing you have to be careful about is that the more you mess with this wig, the bigger it gets. So, unless you want to look like Ms. Ross the Boss for a day, do your wig manipulations with a light hand.

I've decided that with this wig, I will not be blending my hair with it. It just seems like too much work (lazy, I know). Instead, I will be using a headband to hide the seam between the wig and my hair.

So far, I've gotten good comments about the wig. My friend mentioned to me this morning that you can't tell it's a wig (which is great) and I had another person ask me who did my hair. All in all, La Doral is a go. What do you think?

SN: Please excuse my makeup less, jank face. I just spent the better part of my day coaching my cheerleaders. Now that I have eaten and updated my blog, I'm about to take the most EPIC nap! :D