Product Swap? -ALL GONE!

As you can see I have some excess products. I'd love to do a product swap. In all honesty, I'd love to swap for some Giovanni, KCC, or Carols Daughter but totally open to any and all offers. I realize these are sample size so please understand that. I'm willing to package it accordingly so it's fair on both parts. No, you aren't going to get all my products. I'm looking to divide into two or possibly three swaps. I HIGHLY reccommend all these products. The reason I'm not keeping them is because I'm on a challenge right now. Once I am done with my current products, I will be purchasing these. Thus, I want to share.

My Collection Includes
(4) Mixed Chicks Trio Packs (Shampoo/DC/Leave-in)
(8) Taliah Waajid's Black Earth- Lock It Up Gel
(6) Taliah Waajid's Black Earth- Detangler

I also have a huge tub of EcoStyler Olive Oil Gel, if you've been wanting to try it, I have smaller empty containers I'd be more than willing to put some in for you to try as well.

Please contact me via the contact page if you're interested.I will pay for shipping on my end, you pay for shipping on your end.

FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE!!!

Product Review- WonderCurl Get Slick Hair Smoothie

I love the #naturalhair ladies of twitter. It was thru twitter that I learned about WonderCurls Get Slick Hair Smoothie. The ladies behind WC were having a giveaway of a sample packet so I filed out my info a about a week later I got my sample packet.

How I used it I had two strand twisted my hair on Sunday and did a twist out that Monday. I just retwisted it each night and rock the twist out the following day. Saturday I decided to try the smoothie. It claims to calm the frizz and also give sheen and softness. After I undid the twists and picked it out to a big size, I applied the smoothie around the edges of my hair, all the way around as I would my gel usually. I brushed my hair back along the same area and put on my double headband...Voila!


It left no residue, it wasn't sticky, it didn't have a bad smell. The biggest thing was that it wasn't heavy. Most creams tend to weigh the hair down but the GSHS was super light and really did give it a good sheen. I did tie a scarf around my hair for about 20minutes because I have some VERY small pieces of hair near my ear that never catch for the life of me.

I really like it and would definitely suggest it and plan to invest in it. I also want to try the Jelly, as I've heard it works great too.

Overall Grade? B. It contains Phenoxyethanol, which is a preservative used in cosmetics. I know a few years ago a product that contained this was warned to possibly cause some serious side affects. It has since been cleaned up a bit and it was only in that specific product was there any issues but I wanted to inform you all.

Transition Process

I began my journey to natural hair in 2008. I was in school in VA at the time and had just been awarded an internship in Orlando, FL and was immediately scared. My relaxed hair was already breaking off and I wasn't sure how to manage it in a state full of humidity and heat like Florida. I had just gotten it cut.


Don't let the pic fool you though, the back had broken off so bad that I had no choice but to constantly keep it short. So I arrive in FL in May '08 and immediately my hair began to throw a fit. I had been reading about transitioning for awhile so I decided to start it then. I used only two products during my transition process.



Silk Elements Olive Conditioner was my co-wash and my leave-in. At that time I had no idea what the texture of my natural hair would turn out to be but to help cope with the obvious straight ends, I'd use the Silk Element Curl Defining Mousse.

That was my everyday routine from May 2008-September 2008 until I began doing protective styles to help with the process.

I did one sew-in and did not like it but I had already paid for it so I kept it in for about a month. After that, I did two sets of kinky twists and before I knew it, it was a year later and so I did the big chop. I think I had an easier process just because for me, there was no other option. I never had a tempting moment to perm my hair again and to this day I can still honestly say that. I have no intentions to ever put that trash in my hair again.

Well here it is, two years since I started my transition and one year since my BC and my hair has grown crazy lol. I have more hair as a naptural than I ever did with relaxers.

Advice?For those who are scared to do the BC, that's fine. Transition for as long as you want but realize at some point you will have to trim those last few relaxed ends off or otherwise you are going to create split ends. Also you don't have to run out and buy all these organic, natural, (sometimes) expensive products. Use what you already have because those same products most likely will continue to work for you. Lastly, enjoy this time. I'm so glad I did. I hear other ladies who had such horror stories about their transition and didn't get to really see their hair tranform so beaitufully.

Product Review- Mixed Chicks

I wanted to give a product review of the Mixed Chicks line, specifically the shampoo, deep conditioner, and leave-in conditioner.

As I stated in a previous blog post, I only shampoo my hair a few times a year because I don't use a lot of heavy products so I rarely have buildup but it just so happened that I had been wearing twist for almost a week and after wearing my twist out for a couple days I wanted to go back to my wash-n-go puff, so I took this as a perfect time to use these three.

Mixed Chicks-Shampoo I usually wash my hair loose but I've notice that my hair has gotten thicker over the last few weeks so I decided to wash it in sections. I finger parted my hair into four even sections and secured each one. (While in the shower) I wet my hair and went one by one through the four sections shampooing and detangling them with my fingers. I usually hate shampoos because they are very drying and tend to make my hair feel rough and wiry (is that a word? lol) but I can honestly say that the MC shampoo didn't have that same affect as much. It did cause my hair to feel a little dry but very small in comparison to others I've used.
Grade? B

Mixed Chicks- Deep Conditioner After washing the shampoo out of each section and then rebanding the section, I applied the deep conditioner to each section. At this time I used my wide tooth comb on each part to evenly distribute the conditioner. My hair is a mix of majority 3c with a few pieces of 4a and wow, my curls and coils popped immediately. The pattern was so defined it was ridiculous. I put on a shower cap and sat under my bonnet dryer for about 30mins on low. I'm not one for heat (directly or indirectly) but the one time I do use it is for deep conditioning treatments.
Grade? A

Mixed Chicks- LeaveIn The issue I usually have with leave-ins are that they are either too runny/watery based or too creamy and thick. The MC leave-in was the perfect medium. It wasn't too runny or too thick but just right. It had great movement and a pleasant smell. It left my hair so soft. I put some two strand twists in and let it dry over night and it left it with a great look.
Grade? A


Overall Grade? A-

always give thanks

I always like to give thanks where thanks is due. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I recently hosted a natural hair meetup and thanks to some companies I was able to put together a very nice goody bag.

- www.qhemetbiologics.com

- www.mixedchicks.net

- www.naturalhair.org (Taliah Waajid's Black Earth products)

- www.naturalnorastudio.com

- www.outback.com

All these companies donated free product samples, discount codes, or services so I'd like to give them a free plug :-)

Co-Wash? No-Poo?

At the naptural meetup I went to this past weekend we got on the topic of co-washing/no-pooing. For those who may not know that just means Using conditioner as your soul washing agent. I don't use shampoos but only 3x a year. Shampoo strips my hair, dries it out, and leaves it very hard and rough. So I use only conditioner and wanted to share my routine:

Wet my hair as usual (usually during a shower)

Apply a good heaping amount of conditioner (I've noticed that more natural conditioners are creamier and a little goes a long way)

Detangle using a wide-tooth comb

Rinse out about 80% of the conditioner

You'll see I only washed out some of the conditioner. I like to leave a little in and then add a leave-in or moisturizer to it. If I do this routine during the day then I just wash-and-go by pulling off a puff or throwing on a headband. If I do this routine at night then after adding the leave-in or moisturizer I part my hair into fours and band each section, wrap my hair up, and call it a night.

As I was telling the ladies at the meet, I haven't really incorporated many EO's (essential oils) into my routine but I definitely plan to. I use EVOO from time to time but coconut, amla, and grapeseed oils are great for sealing in moisture but also adding softness and a lovely scent.

Support For Us

I started my natural journey in 2008. I had gotten relaxers all my life and in 2007 I started seeing severe breakage. I kept my hair moisturized, ends trimmed, deep conditioned every two week, only colored maybe once every other year. I was doing everything that I thought was right but there was an area in the back of my head that refused to grow. I had to keep my hair cut in a short pixie style to try and blend it in.

Finally I got to a point where I was tired of spending so much money on hair that was breaking off and not growing so I did some researching, found nappturality.com and began transitioning June 2008 (my last relaxer had been in April of 2008). Fast forward to May 2009 and I did my BC, well more like a snip since I only had about 1/2" of relaxed ends left.

I celebrated my one year anniversary of natural hair in May 2010 and if it wasn't for the ladies and gents of nappturality.com I don't think I would have made it. They've been supportive from afar. Well today I coordinated and hosted a lunch meet and greet for the local naptural from the Columbia, SC area and we had so much fun. We product swaps and gave out product samples.

It's so great to have support!

Yay Me!!

So I had been debating for months on doing a blog. I'm so style challenged it's not even funny but I feel confident in natural hair care, products, and I can definitely point you to some great blogs, youtubers, and fotki albums for styles.

Also being full figured finding cute, fashionable clothes can be a little tough but you look in the right places and you'll have a banging outfit together in no time. So give me a few days to get my first couple blog posts together.

I'm very excited and look forward to meeting other bloggers and readers!