Back To My PJ-i-ness...

...or is it PJism?

Anywho...

Last Saturday, Imade the critical mistake of going the the beauty supply store with my friend. Let me start off by saying that this store is huge (it's Ensley Beauty Supply for all you B'ham natives) so there are products everywhere! It was so hard to contain myself! I have been itching to try new products all summer and now that my hair is out...I'M GOING FULL STEAM BABY! (lol...I'm such a nerd).

One of the new products I picked up is a leave in conditioner by Mizani. Let me preface this by saying that I am a fan of Mizani products. I have come to find that for my hair, they provide the right amount of moisture. I have always wanted Mizani to come up with a leave in and now they have!



I believe I paid around $12 (this includes tax) for it and so far so good. It is really moisturizing. I'm not sure if it could replace my beloved Jane Carter Solution but it is definitely running a close second. Also, since I do have my staple products in place, I just think it's nice to have substitutions for them (just in case some evil corporation decides to change the formulations or discontinue products. This leave in may be a substitute. I just need a few more uses to be really sure.

I also tried a new moisturizing DC. I tried Mizani Moisturefuse and I'm torn.


I paid $7 for the 8oz bottle. But that isn't what I'm torn about. In terms of slip, this conditioner is amazing. My hair was feeling oh so silky smooth with this DC. However, it smells AWFUL! I just couldn't take the smell. It smelled kinda....medicinal to me. I'm not sure if that warrants me purchasing an entire tube of this stuff. SMH

I almost bought some shea butter as well (gotta prep for the cold winter months) but I had to restrain myself. Maybe I'll get it on my next visit to the BSS.!

Aussie Moist Conditioner: It's A'ight

For the past couple of months, I have had a liter of Aussie Moist Conditioner in my cabinet. I don't even remember why I bought it in the first place but there it was...taking up space in my cabinet. I do know that I paid $6+tax for it though. Hmmmm. Anyway, I've finally decided to use it and figure out if it is worth keeping (and possibly replacing my beloved HE Hello Hydration). So far I have used Aussie Moist Conditioner as a pre-poo and a co-wash.

As a pre-poo: It's pretty decent as a pre-poo (when used with heat). I just applied it to my hair without adding any extras (e.g.-coconut oil)and sat under a heat cap for 30min. It kept the sulfate shampoo I was using from stripping my hair. My hair felt moisturized but not over moisturized- which was awesome.

As a co-wash: I'm not too impressed with this conditioner as a co-wash. Don't get my wrong, my hair felt moisturized but it didn't feel moisturized enough. It just seemed like the conditioner fell short on that one. When I use HE Hello Hydration my hair feels OMG moisturized. I didn't get that feeling from this one.

The Verdict: Getting a liter for conditioner for $6 seems like a good deal.Aussie Moist is an awesome pre-poo on its own. However, as a co-wash, this conditioner falls short of being moisturizing enough for my hair. I will definitely use up the rest of this conditioner but I wouldn't purchase it again.

The Never Ending Quest.....

...to smooth down my edges.


SMH! My edges are some stubborn little so n' so's. I've been wearing phony ponies lately because quite frankly I'm too lazy to do much else (I know, sad). However, I've been finding that it has been difficult to keep my edges down. They always seem to want to pop up and say "HEY THERE!" I don't like that.

Now I know that for some people, their edges won't stay down. I get that. I really do. Is it possible that I am one of those people? Perhaps. However, I'm not going down without a fight. Last night I found the trick to keeping my edges down. After I co-washed my hair, I sprayed some Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1 on my hair. I then gathered my hair into a high pony tail and applied some EcoStyler gel to my edges. I then tied my hair down with a satin scarf. Perfection! My hair doesn't look like who did it and why anymore!

So if you're having problems keeping your edges down, you may want to try these products:

-Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1 (or Carefree Curl or whatever you use)
-EcoStyler Gel

...apply to damp hair (I don't do this on sopping wet hair) and voila! You have a nice slicked down style!

What Every Bunning Diva Should Have: Goody Spin Pins

Happy Hump Day everyone!

So as you guys know I have been bunning lately. What you guys don't know is that I was about to give up on it. Yep. I was. It was just so frustrating trying to make the bun....all those bobby pins...dang bun not staying put....UGH! It was just too much. But..something told me that I should try those Goody Spin Pins that I have seen on those commercials. One pin that can do the work of 20 bobby pins!? I definitely had to check them out.

Last night, I swung by my local Wal-mart to pick them up. The come 2 in a pack and come in 2 colors: blonde and brunette. I have to admit, I was kinda skeptical about these pins at first. I stood in the aisle staring these little corkscrew pins down. They look like the kind of pins that can get tangled in your hair and cause all kinds of disaster. Well let me take that back. They look like they would get tangled in my thick mass of hair. Nevertheless, I purchased them anyway. The PJ (product junkie) in me wouldn't let me NOT try them.

I promise you, these pins have been one of the best purchases of the my hair journey. I gathered my hair into a bun, stuck these pins into it (one at the top and one at the bottom), and BAM! Instant chic for less than $6! I haven't tried them on wet hair yet (for wet bunning) but we will see how that goes.

If you haven't gotten these pins already get them today! They will make bunning that much easier for you!

Happy Birthday to.....ME!!!

Hey everyone!

Well today is my birthday! I have finally joined the 25 and up club lol! Since my birthday falls on a weekend, I have a weekend full of shenanigans planned. However, since this blog is about hair, I have to post what I did to my hair.

I went to The Hair Cuttery and got a blowout. I know you're thinking "The Hair Cuttery though?" Let me explain. I am back home in northern VA and to my knowledge,there aren't Dominican salons there. And if there are, it's like finding a needle in a haystack. I didn't feel like driving out to DC or Maryland to go to a Dominican salon. You can forget that. I didn't even feel like driving to Bubbles salon-which is my standby when I do go home. Anyway, I had washed and DCed my hair at home and went to the Hair Cuttery to get my hair blow dried. The thing about these hair cutting places (like Supercuts, MasterCuts, etc.)that I don't like is that everything is priced individually. I was quoted a price for blowdrying and a price for flat ironing ($12). I passed on the flat ironing and figured that I could do it myself at home. However, I do like the professional atmosphere. I waited for about 2 minutes before I was in the chair. I like that. They don't waste any time.

HOWEVER......

I learned something today....apparently my hair is considered "long hair" and I had to pay the "long hair" price for a blow dry. $36! Are you serious!? However, the stylist did a really good job of blow drying my hair. I was impressed. Everything was nice and straight. My hair is as thick as all get out but it looks really pretty. My mom was shocked. She said " I didn't think your hair was that long. It's always curled or pinned up!" That made me smile. Here's a quick pic of my hair:



Oh and I also picked up the Redken Smooth Down heat protectant....just to try it. So far, I like it but I want to give it a few more go's before I make a definite decision on it.

Anyway, that is it. Just wanted to drop in with my hair plans.

Relaxer Day!!!

Today was relaxer day and I learned a few things today:

1) I will never, ever ,ever ,ever ,ever ,ever stretch that long again! I was 24 weeks and 1 day post and oh em gee. It was ridiculous. I self relax and let me tell you that getting through all that new growth was definitely a task. Yeah...I think in the future, stretching for 17 weeks may be the upper limit of stretching. SMH

2) It took me 4 hours to do my hair from start to finish. 4 HOURS!! What the heck!?! I see that I have a lot of hair and the longer it gets, the longer it takes to actually do it. For a moment, I was wishing for the days where it took an hour, hour and a half to do my hair. That short cut spoiled me. I didn't think doing my hair would that 4 hours worth of effort.

3) It's flippin' hot in Alabama. It's been 90+ degrees but the heat index makes it feel like it's in the 100s. So yes, my hair is out of braids and all that but I surely will not wear it out everyday. I'm gonna have to bun until September because straightening my hair everyday is not an option.

Aside from all of that.......

It felt so good to get back into my routine! I relaxed using the Silk Elements Mild Lye Relaxer ( I use Mild because it doesn't make my hair bone straight), neutralized, DCed with ORS Replenishing Conditioner (because I was too lazy to drive out to Whole Foods to get my Aubrey Organics DCs), dried, and flat ironed. As far as progress, my hair pretty much looks how it did in June....maybe just an itty bit longer. Even though I don't have a pic, my sides are growing steadily too which is great!

Well I know you guys want to see how my hair looks so, here you go!






See...I told you that there wasn't much difference from June (but it's only been 4 weeks. I wasn't expecting insane growth anyway lol)

Can You Retain Your Length Without Protective Styling?

This is something I have been toying with for awhile.

When I first cut my hair, I said "Man, when my hair gets to shoulder length I'm gonna wear it out all the time! Surely you can grow your hair without wearing a bun all the time." Well....as you guys saw, the minute I was grazing SL my hair has been hidden. I rarely straighten it and I surely do not wear it out.

But....

Now I am bored with the protective styling. I want to wear it out just a little bit (maybe 2 or 3 days out of the week) but I don't want to suffer a setback. I suppose that in order to do this, I would have to make sure that my ends are really really moisturized but it's scary. However, next relaxer I'm gonna try wearing my hair out 3 days out of the week and up the rest of the time and see how that turns out. Wish me luck.

Speaking of relaxers, I am relaxing my hair this weekend. When I took my cornrows out, I was met with a bunch of hair to get through. OMG it was insane! Even with the best of the best deep conditioning, my hair was just rebelling. The last time that my hair did this was at the start of my journey. My hair was so damaged back then, I didn't put a relaxer in my hair for 8 months and I kept my hair braided up then too. Anyway, I will probably do a real length check (ends trimmed and all) too. I can't wait!