The Tale of Going Natural

Social 46

2012-01-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

So I told you in my last entry, that I had a bit of excitingnews for you. I have been chosen as one of 46 people to represent Indianapolisand social media during the Super Bowl. It is a program called Social46. Youcan find most of us on twitter under #social46.

At first I was genuinely excited and nervous. As I get olderI get shyer. By the time I am 40, more than likely I’ll be in a corner shaking.I was nervous because, even though I have talked to some of the people in theprogram on twitter, I’ve never actually met any of them. I get there and takemy seat. I get kind of uneasy because I’ve just noticed something. Let me getthe picture of the group so you can see:

Yeah.. Not really diverse is it?

Let me back up a little bit. Here are some quotes that canbetter tell you what the Social 46 is and what it is trying to accomplish:

The Social 46 is a group of 46 top influencers in Social Mediaselected by the Super Bowl Host Committee to promote Indianapolis and the SuperBowl through Social Media. Our group includes local celebrities social medialeaders, bloggers members of the media, and other community leaders.

Our goalis to galvanize the Indy community and drive them toward social media as a wayof keeping everyone involved with the Super Bowl connected. Those of us inSocial 46 are serving as ambassadors to welcome people to Indianapolis and toshare what Indy has to offer. We tweet with the hashtag #social46. Our hope isto make this the most talked about Super Bowl experience in history.

During our meeting, it was brought up that this is themost urban Super Bowl ever. I took a quick unofficial poll on my personalFacebook page because no one really responded on the Tale of GoingNatural. The comments and thoughts Igot about it varied greatly:

My friends are nutcases, in case you couldn’t figure thatout on your own accord.

Anyway, their thoughts on my page got me to thinking aboutmyself, what I believe, what I think urban is.

Urban to me is a large diverse group of people located in anarea.

I could get into details about the area they are located in,and the types of things that are around, but this is my bare bones definitionof urban. There is hardly anything in this group that to me representsdiversity, nor shows all of the neat ethnic backgrounds that we have here inIndianapolis.

I am initially from a small town here in Indiana. When I wasa little girl, there were a total of three other black kids in my entireschool. It was stressed over and over to me by my mother, my grandparents, andpretty much everyone else in my family, that I needed to doubly mind my p’s andq’s, because I am setting an example for everyone. I used to get angry. Whydoes it always have to be me? Why am I the one who always has to set an examplefor everyone else? As got older I realized the answer. Because you are the onlyone Leslie. You are the only reference on culture and race in that particularschool. People generalize. That is just how a lot (not all) of people operate.Being the only person means that people are going to take your actions andgeneralize them for a whole group of people.

Now, from the picture, it looks as if I am the onlyminority. I’m not. I counted 3 other people, which still adds up to 8.6% (mymath may be wrong though I do not think so) of the 46 people.

With a percentage that small, some things may get overlookedabout the Super Bowl and Indianapolis. Things that, maybe if you weren’t aminority, you wouldn’t know where to go (weave, ethnic groceries, ethnic haircare). So that will be my contribution to the social46. My goal is to bring asmuch diversity as one person can. I’ll be using my blog to accomplish thisgoal. I will also be reporting on the different events around the city. Staytuned for what is probably going to be an interesting ride.

The Trouble with Tights.

2012-01-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

Can we step away from natural hair from for a moment?

I want to talk to you about tights.

I love tights. I do. They have come out with such cute styles and colors lately.

These are from Avenue. I DIE!

However, I have a severe problem with tights. The sizing.

You see, I am short and round. My weight is such that I guess clothing companies feel as if I should be a specific height. I am not that height. I will never be that height.

As a result one of two things happens when I wear tights.

1. The tights are so long that I have to tuck them under my bra and hope for the best.

2. I attempt to go down a size and can’t get them over the tree trunks I call thighs.

I can’t win.

I work in IT and I crawl around sometimes, but a lot of time is spent at my desk. I would love to wear skirts and dresses in the cold weather, but I just can’t find tights that suit and fit me. *sigh*

What are your favorite tights? Where did you get them?

PS: Stick with me! Next week I have some exciting news!

Naturally Me? Sometimes I don't want to be...

2012-01-12T11:10:00.001-08:00

I tend to avoid things that aren’t naturally me. I do thisfor a couple of reasons. The first one being that things that aren’t natural toyou, take work. For example; math does not come natural to me. It is somethingI continuously struggle with on a daily. I have like 3 math courses in mycurriculum. It’s rough. I am to the point now that I am proficient in algebra.Then they threw geometry at me. I knew in high school that geometry wasn’t forme. Proofs are a joke. Why am I proving that a circle is round? You have eyes!You see that circle is round!

*ahem*

Like I said, these things take time and effort to work with.Time that I don’t really have and effort that I don’t want to give. I have afull time job, I go to school part time. I am sleepy. It just seems like therearen’t enough hours in the day. I don’t have time to do things that arecompletely out of the ordinary.

Except…

I kind of want a weave.

Now, this is not a good thing for me. I was weaved up for mywedding. It was beautiful. However, after a week, it was a big matted ball inthe back of my head. I can’t take care of it. I don’t know how to.

Weave makes me nervous. I have never been good with keepingthem. They irritate my husband as well. He loves my “fluffy hairs” and wheneverI get something that disguises them, or mixes in with them, he throws a tinyfit.

I guess my question(s) to you are:

Do you wear weaves? How do you wash them? How do yours notend up in a big matted ball in the back of your head at the end of the week? Howoften do you go back to your stylist and get a touch up?

I can’t say that even if I am satisfied with the answers tomy questions, I will go out and get one. They are expensive, hard for me tomaintain, and just.. ugh. But I miss straight hair sometimes, and I like theidea of playing with it.

Best choices for us.

2012-01-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

I am exhausted. If anyone ever told me that the holidayswere an actual vacation, I think I would punch them.

Roughly a month ago I got a haircut. It was actually more ofa trim. My hair grows quicker in the back than anywhere else, giving me amullet type look. Not good.

It got me to thinking. When I was younger if you came at myhair with a pair of scissors, be it a trim or an actual cut, to correct brokenoff hair, I would be in tears. My hair took forever to grow, and all I everwanted was long hair. When it was relaxed, it seemed as if I could neverachieve that dream. The longest my hair ever really got was to my earlobe.

With my natural hair, no matter how bad I treat it, itgrows. When I say I treat it bad, I mean I don’t tie it up every night like Iam supposed to, I go longer than I should without a serious detangle, and Ihave hand-in-hair syndrome.

Ultimately I believe that natural hair was the best choicefor myself. What about you?

Can you tell I am sick? I feel like crap. On my way to work.

What is the best choice you have made for yourself?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-24T16:04:00.001-08:00

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy Christmas!

Oh, that turkey did a number on me.

2011-11-25T06:38:00.001-08:00

Greetings and Salutations!

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of happiness and drama free.


While I did not exercise after my meal. I did not stuff myself.

I think the turkey did something to me, because last night I had the craziest of dreams. Most of it isn't relevant, but I had a dream my old beautician Margie was chasing me down the street with a cup full of relaxer. She told me "I wanted it." and "Think of how long my hair would be." I ended up doing it in my dream, but I was impressed with the results. I was also sad, thinking of how I was going to have to cut all my hair off and start over. What does it all mean!?

The Thanksgiving holiday is my husband's holiday, which means that we spend it at his parent's house. It went smoothly this year. The next holiday that I spend with my family is Christmas Day. Where I will get one or more of the following comments:

What are you going to do with your hair?
You just going to leave your hair like that?
What about dread-locs? You should get them!
Get a perm!

Meh. Just.. Meh.

What Not to do with your hair!!!

2011-11-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

LOL I saw this and had to laugh.. Don't listen to her!!!

Just a little funny

2011-11-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

This was back before I went natural... Pardon language on this.. I was angry.

Bun-ba-bunnn-bunnn.....

2011-11-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! Long time no talk!

I miss you so much, but I am working hard. When I get done with school (which is either in May or August, hopefully; cross your fingers) I will have more time, but until then, it is what it is.

How are you guys doing on your natural hair journey? I am doing great. After I discovered a routine for myself, things seem to be good. You haven't seen pics for a while have you? Let me show you...

Me at my new job.. Got to have the obligatory bathroom shot.

Before I got my current job, I worked a temp job for a couple of weeks at my university. I had to park a considerable distance away and take a shuttle to my building. This is me waiting on my shuttle.

Not one of my favorite shots. But, you know...

I know, it's a lot of makeup. But I still felt cute. I was irritated because I was so concerned with getting that shot, that I forgot to put on earrings!

A really bad pic of me and the hubs. Awww.

So as you can see, my hair has been growing nicely. The next thing that I want to try is a bun. However, I have no clue where to start. So my questions to you are:

Do you ever put a bun in your hair? How did you learn? Do you recommend anyone's technique from YouTube?

I have yet to see anyone on YouTube with my hair length or kinkiness/curliness. Any thoughts and ideas you guys have are appreciated!

End of the world.. what do you take?

2011-10-24T15:05:00.001-07:00

I love the show The Walking Dead. I love the whole zombie genre. Sad as it may be, my husband and I have a disaster/ zombie plan in place for it all.

So here is my scenario/question for you: You have a plan in place, and the day finally comes:The Zombie Apocalypse! Because you were prepared, you are either safely tucked away in a remote area with your supplies, or well on your way there.

Do you have hair products with you? If so what do you have!?

Thoughts on Self-Esteem

2011-10-14T03:47:00.001-07:00

You pass by a mirror, stop and look. Start playing with your hair. Pull it back from your head, move it side to side. All of a sudden you hear a small voice. “You should never pull back your hair,” the voice whispers “your forehead is way to big for that.” You look in the mirror and realize whomever, or whatever that voice was is correct. Your forehead is huge. You sigh and leave your hair as is.

Oddly enough, this happened to me last night. I know who that voice was too. A long time ago, I was visiting my dad and my grandparents, and my grandpa introduced me to this woman. I believe my hair was incredibly short at the time; I had cut off almost all of my hair, and kept it gelled. Think Missy Elliot without the finger waves. The woman took one look at me and said “OOOH WEE! YOU GOT THAT FAMILY FOREHEAD DON’T YOU!?” I looked at the woman aghast. No one ever told me I had a huge forehead. I didn’t know! I demanded answers from my mom. “Well, it is kind of big, but nothing like that woman stated.” At that point the damage was done. Pretty much from then on out, I had some type of bang. It would mostly be side swept, but other times it would hang right in the front, hiding my ‘family forehead’.

When I was young (middle school) I was picked on a lot. We didn’t have health insurance, and so when I had an issue, unless it was life threatening, I would have to tough it out. I would get a hacking, barking, bronchitis cough every year. One year I coughed so hard I wet myself. Yeah, that went over really well. Being picked on really affected my self-esteem. I always second-guessed what I was doing, what I was wearing, how I lived. Being poor didn’t help that situation either. It took a long time for me to kick off those shackles. I am self confident and self assured. I don’t make apologies for who I am and what I say (unless it is a total foot in mouth moment and I could have said something with more tact.). But sometimes little niggling doubts make their way to the surface, just like last night.

In my new office setting, my differences stand out. With brown skin and curly kinky hair, I stand out amid the crowd of straight hair, blond/brunettes, and pale skin. I find myself reverting to the ways of middle school, hiding myself, not making eye contact, just, timid.

That is NOT me.

While not completely brash. I am bold, daring, and a little in your face. I stand up for myself and talk loud enough so that my voice is heard. I need to make that change. I need to be sure and more confident in myself. Going into information technology, I knew it would be like this. Either my race or my sex would make me a minority. I need to get over it. I refuse to revert back to that little girl.

Remember me?

I am the girl

with the dark skin

whose shoes are thin

I am the girl

with the rotted teeth

I am the girl

with the wounded eye

and the melted ear

I am the girl

holding their babies

cooking their meals

sweeping their yards

washing their clothes

Dark and rotting

and wounded, wounded

I would give

to the human race

only hope

I am the woman

with the blessed

Dark skin

I am the woman

with teeth repaired

I am the woman

with the healing eye

the ear that hears

I am the woman: Dark,

repaired, healed

Listening to you.

I would give

to the human race

only hope.

I am the woman

offering two flowers

whose roots

are twin

Justice and Hope

Hope and Justice

Let us begin.

*Poem by Alice Walker. Though I believe it is a poem about having children, I feel like most of the sentiment fits this entry.

What is going on?!

2011-10-10T08:45:00.001-07:00

What a wild, crazy, insane past couple of weeks this has been people. I had a temp job, got hired at a permanent job (as permanent as employment can be nowadays), and school is running me ragged. I am so tired people. So very, very tired.

The great news is that I am learning tons. I am applying skills that I have learned in my studies. I miss being able to blog more, but I really like having all the little extras that my income affords us.

In hair news, my braids lasted two weeks I think. They were still holding up great, but I wasn’t. I was an itchy wreck. Plus, I forgot my rat-tailed comb one day while at my new job, and was sneaking off to the bathroom to scratch my hair in private. If you know me, this is kind of a big deal. I hate bathrooms. I hate going to the bathroom (as a side note of TMI, I am chronically constipated and I do nothing about it because I’d rather not poo) and I hate listening to people go to the bathroom. It gives me the willies. I am sitting in there scratching my head, when a lady comes in beside me and starts… I don’t even want to get into it. Needless to say, that was the final straw, and the braids had to come out.

Even after only two weeks of no manipulation of my hair, I saw remarkable improvement on how it felt and how it handled. This has made me switch up my regimen just a little bit. The way I figure, the less manipulation I have, the better my hair looks and feels.

My New Regimen

1. Saturday/Sunday: Co-wash hair, blot dry, detangle, and apply leave-in. Seal with Belle Butters shea butter mixture. 2 strand twist hair. 2. Monday-Friday: Untwist in the morning, fluff, and go. In the evening re-twist, adding more Belle Butters if needed. 3. Once a Month: Shampoo scalp

I really think this will work for me. What about you? What works for you?

Me at work in the bathroom. Not the toilet part though, just the sinks.

Finally!

2011-09-22T11:20:00.001-07:00

Well, I got my hair braided! I actually got it done on Saturday, however life (work, schoolwork) has not allowed me to blog about it until today. It was an awesome experience.

Sharael (the hair braider my beautician recommended) was super nice. She had to blow my hair out just a little so that my braids wouldn’t be fuzzy. Guys.. with my hair stretched, I am past the shoulder length area! That is the longest my hair has ever been. I don’t normally notice it because I usually have a lot of shrinkage. I kind of want to get my hair pressed now, to see how long it truly is.

Sharael was super gentle with my head, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Her and her friend were hysterical as well. I laughed so hard at that appointment, my stomach hurt. Hot nuts.. that is all I am going to say.

Anyway, I know you guys have been waiting, so here are the pics! The hairstyle was sort of inspired by Miss E on Facebook. She had twists in her head though, I just had braids. Though, Sharael told me that I could do cute protective two strand twists. I might go to her for those, because uh.. you guys know how I do on the two strand twists LOL.

I was going for cute and professional. When I get a chance I will take some closer up shots!

Protective Styles R Us

2011-09-14T05:02:00.000-07:00

I have had it up to here with my hair.

Angry panda is ANGRY!!!!!

It doesn’t want to act right. It has been feeing bad and acting worse. I. HAVE. HAD. IT!!!!!

Don’t worry though, and don’t freak out. I am not getting a relaxer. Even though it is acting bat shit cray cray, I can deal with it and figure it out better than I did when I had a relaxer. With a relaxer, I would just walk around looking like ‘whodunnit and why’

No, no relaxer for me. Instead, I am scheduling an appointment soon to get my hair braided.

I was leary about getting my hair braided. I didn’t want to go to the African hairshop, and have them try to give me a permanent facelift with their tight braiding. I have also heard that they say nasty things to girls with natural hair.

I consulted with Cherilyn, my beautician (I don’t go to her often, but I consider her my beautician, because if I do go, she is the one I would go to) and she has a co-worker that braids and has natural hair. I figure she is the best (and safest) bet for me and my hair.

I still have yet to make an appointment, because between work and school I value what little free time I have. But you best believe it is going to be soon. SOON I SAY!!!! *SHAKES FIST OF ANGER*

I seriously think they are trying to kill me.

2011-09-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

I just got finished with a gob of homework. I am still not finished. Meh.

Sad Dawson is sad.

So I started a new job this week. I wanted to start off on the right foot, so I two strand twisted my hair on Monday (Labor Day), so I would be rarin’ to go on Tuesday. Yeah, my hair did the same exact thing it did last week.

I was looking at my ends, and they don’t look all that great either. Some of the strands of hair are thick, until you get to the end, and then they are thinner. Not really sure that is normal. Let me show you what I mean.

Can you tell I didn’t turn down a full ride to art school?

So yes, not really certain what is going on with my hair. I think I am getting to the point where I seriously need a trim. Now to figure out how in the world to make time for said trim when I now work 40 hours a week and have 15 credit hours worth of classes.

Have you had any issues like this before? Have you seen hair like this before?

Hair Don’t

2011-09-01T09:13:00.001-07:00

If you are following me on Facebook (and if you haven’t why aren’t you!? I am a nutcase!), you’ll know that yesterday my hair and I were having a battle of wills. The day prior to this issue, I had co-washed and detangled my hair. They I haphazardly two strand twisted my hair, and wore my hat to class (where I had a rage filled encounter with a boy I am calling ‘Spazzy Steve’. That is a story for another day though) so I wouldn’t have to deal with my hair the next day. I wasn’t planning anything, but it was nice to get the chore out of the way.

When I pulled into the school parking lot, I received a phone call about a job interview. I agreed to meet them the next day in the later morning. I was smugly patting myself on the back yet again for getting my hair under wraps.

Yesterday morning, I woke up sort of early, and got ready for my interview. I untwisted my hair…and was instantly terrified.

The terror felt like this.. and hey! I have a gap too!

I have a story to describe what my hair looked and felt like. From 2nd grade to 4th grade, I had a Jheri Curl. Look over to the right side tool bar. You see that picture that leads to my Amazon store? Yeah, that is my requisite Olan Mills photo from the 4th grade.

Anyway, It was time for a touch-up and my mom kept me out of school for part of the day to go get my hair done. I was looking crazy. The curls were gone and my hair was just all over the place. The lady that was to do my hair (in the salon) had apparently got drunk the night before, and forgot about the little girl she had waiting. So my mom took me home, put some activator on my head, and tried to make the best of a bad situation.

When I got to school, I was putting my coat in my cubby area when my oldest friend (she’s still around to this day) came out to get a drink, did a double take at me, pointed a finger, fell down laughing, and gasped out “You look like you stuck your finger in a light socket!” Thanks Jen… I won’t mention how as a freshmen, when your mom did other people’s hair, you would steal the left over weave and try to put it in your hair (oops!).

That is pretty much what I was dealing with yesterday. I had an hour before my interview (the place was like 15 minutes away, if that) and MY HAIR WOULD NOT LET ME BE GREAT!

I eventually put it in a puff, and it was okay for the most part, but it still looked a little odd.

When I got home from the interview, I took my hair out of the puff, took the dogs out, and settled into my ~~hovel~~ office to start on homework. But my hair was bothering me. I touched it, and I was shedding a lot and it was dry.

Back in 2010, on my regular Facebook, I apparently had a status up that said my hair looked like Fredrick Douglass’. I woke up this morning to a repeat of that.

Somebody please tell me why Frederick Douglass looks like an old Billy Dee Williams to me!?

Another user on the Facebook page was saying that she was having issues with dryness and shedding as well. It is just really weird because I have been using the same products with no issues at all, and this just happened.

Has this ever happened to you? What did you end up doing?

As for me, I am off to research some sort of deep conditioner, but my hair still feels dry as all get out. I want something I can slap on my hair, but the conditioning cap on and just let it sit for a couple of hours while I wrestle with systems analysis and design as well as Trig.

Hair Care Organization.

2011-08-30T03:36:00.000-07:00

I know that there are some people out there, who THRIVE on organization. The container store is the epitome of excitement for them and they can’t watch hoarders. Kudos to them. I wish I had that kind of love for it.

For me, organization is a chore. A hard one at that. A friend once pointed out to me “You like to have everything you own in view.” I’ve come to realize this is true. But when you have to work at being organized, this is totally not a good thing. Stuff just ends up in piles.

Same with my hair supplies. I would love for it to be out on my bathroom counter, but there isn’t enough room. To top it all off, I rarely do my hair at the bathroom counter. I am usually in front of my computer or plunked down in front of the television watching ~~Toddlers and Tiara~~s something informative.

Clips, headbands, flowers, butters, gels, etc, it is a lot to keep track of. How do you do it? Me? I throw everything into a medium sized tote that has a lid. It makes sense to me because it is big enough to hold all of my stuff, but small enough that I can drag it where I need it. If I was going for super organized, I would band my clips together, get a smaller container for my flowers and headbands to place within the container, but…I’m not that organized. I take something out and I throw something in. It works for me!

So what do you do to keep organized?

Product Review- Honey and Oats Shampoo Bar

2011-08-17T11:41:00.001-07:00

Good afternoon! After yesterday’s mini-rant, I am coming at you today with a product review.

Today’s review comes from the Etsy store Bobeam- Natural Products by Laquita. This is what she says about her shop:

Bobeam's specialty is shampoo bars made with all natural ingredients and they can be used on all hair types, including locs. The shampoo bars contain no SLS or SLES, detergents, surfactants, or sulfates. They are all-natural, 100% vegetable soap, non-comedogenic, hypo-allergenic and biodegradable. Feel free to check my ingredients on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/
Bobeam from the Ghanaian language Twi means 'the way it was created' and it characterizes all of the shop items - they are all handmade.

The product I am reviewing is the Honey and Oats Shampoo Bar

Taken from her Etsy store

This is what her shop says about this bar:

Pamper your hair with honey and oatmeal :o) This 4oz shampoo bar is made with oatmeal and honey, and will leave your hair super soft!
It's packed with honey and smells good enough to eat!
Oatmeal - There are several DIY oatmeal hair shampoo/rinses for your hair - here’s a way to use oatmeal without the mess or trial of rinsing it out of your hair.
There are traces of tiny grains of oatmeal in the bar which gently exfoliates your scalp and rinses away clean.
Honey adds shine and is a humectant, which means it holds moisture. It is a natural antiseptic full of antioxidants. It also provides softness and shine.
It is packed with vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium, sulphur, iron, zinc and vitamins B1, B2, B3, which aid in hair growth.
*Shampoo bars can be used as body soaps as well*
*Shampoo bars are unscented unless specified*

Packaging: This bar came in plain cardboard colored packaging. It was also wrapped in saran wrap, which I greatly appreciated.

First impression: No scent (On her site it tells you that unless it is stated, everything is unscented), which, I am not sure how I feel about this. I love pretty smells, but I understand the draw for people that are allergic to such things. I really like how this bar looks. It is layered with a solid layer, then an opaque layer.

First use: When I use solid shampoos (only kind I pretty much use now), I break off a piece and using a downward motion, I rub the shampoo on my hair. I would say this bar has a medium lather. I also used it instead of my normal body wash.

First use thoughts: My hair felt clean, and didn’t feel stripped. It cleared my hair of any buildup I had (and I had a lot; thanks a lot Cantu Shea Butter! *coughs*), and my hair felt good afterwards. It doesn’t really add any additional moisture to my hair, but retains what I have. My body felt good as well. My body (as well as my hair) dries out really easily, and this didn’t strip any moisture and make me feel as if I have scleroderma like some washes do.

Continued use thoughts: I like this shampoo, I like it so much, I threw out the bottle of stuff that I purchased a while ago (Skala I think it’s called). This works much better for me. Sometimes when I am rinsing my hair, shampoo gets in my mouth. With the Skala when it got in my mouth, it was this nasty chemical taste. Horrid. I don’t get that with this shampoo bar. Yay!

One thing I would want to see with this bar is maybe some sort of scent. That is just me though, I know there are people out there that would appreciate the fact that this has no scent to it.

Other than that, this is a good product. It lasts a long time, a little bit goes a long way, and it is good for both your body and hair.

A semi-fight on the Twitter

2011-08-16T13:17:00.001-07:00

Note: I didn’t intend on having an entry today. I was going to wait until Wednesday. There is going to be one on Wednesday as well

This entry could also be entitled “I’m too old for this shit.”

I don’t use the actual Twitter application. I use a program called Hoot Suite. It allows me to have different streams that I don’t have to switch back and forth to view. The top ones that I show are my general stream, the hash tags for natural hair and the hash tags for Indianapolis.

I was reading yesterday when this little gem came through:

SHOUTOUT to all the Hoes claiming #TeamNatural because they can't AFFORD the REMY, ACRYLIC, LASHES, AND A HAIR STYLIST.

At first I just blinked. I was confused. I responded to the girl (not woman, GIRL) asking her why would anyone want all of that crap on? That is a ton of artifice. Even if you weren’t natural, that is a lot of stuff. If you met someone with that stuff on, and then took it off they wouldn’t recognize you.

Her response:

I'm guessing your a broke bitch

Um, no, I was just trying to figure out what the heck is going on in your head. I didn’t say much after that, just told her, no, I was not broke, nor a bitch,and I was trying to get into her head and understand the need for all of that.

Her response:

lmao why would u think I would consider explaining anything to u

Then she proceeded to poked fun at my AVI. She went on to say that maybe I should wear all of that.

Honestly? The child is 22 years old. Her twitter background is of her boobs and face with blond hair cascading down (she’s black) her back. It makes no difference what she thinks and what she does. But the fact of the matter that I got caught up in this nonsense, what does that say about me? And did I really get caught up in it? I wanted an honest and logical answer to where her thought processes were on this. Guess I am the stupid one for thinking that this bitch (and yes, she is a bitch) had home training or common sense (when she said she had to get back to work, I may have said she probably worked in the world’s oldest profession. She never said anything back, so she might not understand what I was inferring.)

From now on when I ask a question to someone on Twitter, I am going to look at their profile. If they have boobs all over the place, I’m just going to disregard. I’m too old for all this nonsense.

I made it myself

Where have you been!?

2011-08-15T11:14:00.001-07:00

Hey guys!

So if you haven’t noticed, I’ve been gone for about a week. No entries, nothing. I’ve been posting periodically on Facebook and on Twitter but that is about it. Explanation? Well, my summer semester ended. It was the one before we go back to school for fall semester. I have about two weeks (only one at the time of writing this) before I jump back into school. Not to mention I have been kicking up the internship/job looking into high gear.

I decided to take a little break and use what little time I have to chill, and just.. be. Ever since the spring semester life has been so frantic for me. There are always deadlines and assignments due. Not to mention the housework and job hunting.

I am back though, and I am here. I have a review planned for this week as well. Here is to a new semester and a new lease on life!

Cheers!

Question of the day: What have you been up to? Are you super busy and overwhelmed?

Hair styling attempt

2011-08-03T10:30:00.001-07:00

Anyone that truly knows me in real life, knows that I should generally leave hair styling to the professionals. If it ain’t simple, it ain’t me. I am very creative, but when it comes to my hair sometimes, I. JUST. CAN’T. WIN.

But damn it all if I was going to let this stop me! No! I was going to give it a go!

I started by watching this video:

She is amazing with hair.

I figured “Hey! I know how to flat twist! I know how to two strand twist. Simple pimple right!?”

Um. No.

First off, my hair is not as long nor as thick as hers. So while her style was all thick and gorgeous, mine was thin.. and you could see parts of my scalp, making me look like I had bald spots. No bueno. The second thing I had issues with were these:

Yeah.. the bobby pins. They were awful. Whose hair is that thing going to hold!? They all came like that. Loose and just, not good. In my defense, I did not know this when I purchased them. Scunci just had two bundles of bobby pins in the package. They had a rubber band around each bundle, so you couldn’t tell that these things were simply useless pieces of metal .

*sigh*

But I persevered. These are the results:

Yeah.. not the greatest.

Things that I have learned from this:

I’m going to have to learn how to adjust hair styles to my hair. The flat twists on the side needed to be bigger and there needs to be a smaller amount of them.
I NEED BETTER BOBBY PINS
I need to figure out how to get my hair sleeker.
I need to figure out how to part better (I was parting the best that I could, and then my hand cramped up and I was like, forget this.)
More than likely, it could have been better if my hair was stretched beforehand. So maybe I will band it next time, because I will be trying this again!

You live, you learn.

Tell me about your hair mishaps! Have you tried a hair style you saw somewhere and just completely missed the mark?

Of Wigs and Cancer.

2011-08-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

I’ve never been a huge wig wearer. I’ve had a total of two. One was one my mom never wore that I loved. and the other was a birthday present.

Me and Meagan in Florida… Blurry, but you get the idea.

Birthday present wig.

I know there are some naturals out there who are entirely anti-wig. And that is fine for them. I am not anti-wig, nor will I ever be, because of the story I am about to tell you.

A few years ago, I worked at a doctors office. The job wasn’t the greatest, but it paid me, and allowed me to do a little IT work. The best part of the job was my co-workers.

There was an older lady that worked there by the name of Mary Lou. I love Mary Lou. She is everything I hope I can be when I get older. One day I came in, and noticed Mary Lou’s hair. It was shorter, and hand blond highlights in it. I told her it was a cute style. She smiled a little, told me thanks, and went on her way.

Apparently a lot of people complimented her on her style. It upset her, and a couple of people found her crying.

That is when I found out that Mary Lou had cancer. She was getting chemo treatments, and was losing her hair, so she decided to wear a wig. I am not entirely certain, but I am guessing she was just feeling a little down about her hair.

“Cheer up Mary Lou!” I said confidently “Plenty of people wear wigs all the time. Yours looks great. Heck, even I wear a wig every once in a while.” She seemed surprised at this notion, and pretty soon it got dropped.

The next morning as I was getting ready for work, I pulled my birthday wig off of its stand, and styled it before plopping it on my head. I walked in to work, proudly, head held high, and marched straight into the office Mary Lou shared with two other women.

The other two ladies (who are also my friends) clapped and hooted. But Mary Lou.. she got teary eyed. She gave me a big hug and whispered “Thank you.”

I will never forget that as long as I live.

Mary Lou passed away a year and a half ago. I had a rough time last week. I was just thinking about her and missing her ribald sense of humor very much. In one of the books of the Anne of Green Gables series, Ruby GIllis dies. After the funeral Davy says “Ruby was a great girl to laugh. Do you think she is laughing in heaven?” Anne assures him that she is. I hope Mary Lou is up in heaven giggling at my every day antics.

No matter the reason, wearing a wig is alright by me. Just make sure you hold your head up and smile, and be proud of who you are and what you do.

Omega Man

2011-07-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of this movie? It is basically the original ‘I am Legend’. You see, the movie was originally a book. The more current movie, while based off the book, is only based off the bones of the book. Omega Man is closer to the book.

I am not here to talk about remakes and the like. We are sitting here watching this movie, and it is set in the mid to late 70’s, which means all the black people have afros. They are shaped much differently than we have them now. I don’t even know how to explain them. They are more of a triangular shape, while the afros of today are rounded. Let me see if I can find a picture.

This is actually from the movie. You can’t really tell it here, but it looks like her hair isn’t even curly. Maybe it is because has has a blowout.

Times change, but styles are usually just recycled. There are often little changes, but for the most part things, are recycled. The shape of her afro is interesting to me. Ours today are more rounded. Even the guys in the movie are almost triangular.

What about the Afros you have seen? Do you think they look different now than they did in the past?

PS: She turns into a crazy bitch at the end. Sad.

Summer Switch up.

2011-07-27T09:58:00.001-07:00

With the heat being as unbearable as it has been all summer, I quickly found out that my normal routine was not working. I used to be able to wash-n-go freely. Not really the case right now. Plus, the shea butter mixture from Belle Butters that I use on my hair was becoming to heavy. Right now my routine is as follows (if I don’t have any products that I am trying out):

Co-wash with whatever conditioner I am on (Wash hair once every two weeks)

Detangle while still damp

Moisturize with a combo of Ori Organics leave in condition and Kiah Alexandria leave in conditioner.

Two strand twist

Leave two strand twisted until I have some place to go.

Do you have to do anything different to your hair when the seasons change? Also, How are you beating the heat?

Protective styling in this heat.

2011-07-21T07:55:00.001-07:00

This has been a crazy week. I take a medication that, if not taken early enough, will keep me up all night. I took it within the normal range on Tuesday, but I was still up until 7:30am Wednesday. I slept for three hours, and went about the rest of my day. Around 7pm Wednesday night, I started getting incredibly drowsy. Unfortunately, that was not a great time to get drowsy because we had to go to the grocery store. When I say HAD TO. I mean had to. We didn’t even have milk. The past two weeks we had gone out to eat. It feels good to have groceries in the house again.

While at the store, I saw something a little… inappropriate, and I feel the need to say something about it. I understand that a lot of skinny girls (not skinny just skinny as in Paris Hilton, but skinny as in average) are wearing rompers this summer.

I don’t really like them. They look cute on people, but they just aren’t my cup of tea. Not to mention that I am shaped like a barrel (or a duck) and it just wouldn’t look right.

Anyway, Jeff and I are shopping and I see a couple ahead of us with their little girl in the cart. The mom is wearing a romper similar to what I posted, but it is made of a different material. What I notice the most is that her left butt cheek is hanging out. Not a hint of it, THE WHOLE THING. Then to make matters worst, she drops something and lets it all hang out! Really lady? Really? Way to set an example for your baby girl. Meh.

Anyway, she was probably eyeballing me like I was crazy as well. It was 98 degrees out yesterday. The heat index made it feel like it was 108 degrees. I was clad in jeans, a black shirt, AND A KNITTED BLACK BEANIE/BERET.

I know, it sounds insane. It is hot as hell outside, what am I doing in a knit cap? Currently my hair is protective styled in two strand twists. As I have stated in the past, my hair is never lovingly parted into two strand twists, I co-wash, detangle, and moisturize my hair. I then two strand twist it all haphazardly, then seal in the moisture.

Not the prettiest picture of myself, but you get the gist.

Unless I have somewhere I have to be (mainly job interviews), those twists do not come out of my hair until it is time to co-wash again. I don’t want them to get ‘loc’d’ up, so I take them down again to co-wash. As a result, when I go out some place that doesn’t really matter, I have a hat on. I won this beret in the winter from Revealing Beaute and it has been a godsend. However, I think I need more options.

I need to learn how to do up-dos. I attempted one before an interview, and it failed horribly. One major thing I have to take into account is that they are time intensive. I have to make sure I have the time to sit there and part and flat twist and everything.

Another option, is more hats. Did you know I know how to crochet? Yep, that and I can do basic knitting. Well, I can do the knit stitch when it comes to knitting. Because the purl stitch is just a backwards knit stitch, it messes with me. My thoughts are to purchase some lightweight yarn and make a couple of caps of my own. I know there are a few hat patterns in the stitch and bitch book I own. I am also a member of Ravelry, you can get a ton of patterns from there for free. I also have a binder of printed out patterns. I just need to get back into it. I also need to purchase lightweight yarn. I have a ton of yarn, but it is all blanket, afghan, baby blanket stuff.

What about you? How do you protective style? What kind of hats do you wear in this oppressive heat?

Earring Haul

2011-07-18T10:11:00.001-07:00

I was bored sometime last week, and looking for some earrings, so naturally I went to Sarenzo’s Beads. I have been eyeballing her thread earrings for a while now, and finally picked up a pair.

Isn’t that cute?

I also got these large wooden ones. Jeff says they look like wagon wheels. He is very anti big earrings. But that will never stop me.

When I opened my package There was an additional set of earrings in there. She has a deal where you buy a certain amount you get one free. I am not 100% sure I reached that amount, or if she was just being extra sweet (because she is a total sweetheart), but these were in there and I love them very much! There were actually the first ones out of the three that I wore.

Love them!

Excitement abounds!

2011-07-13T10:11:00.001-07:00

This week so far has been a good week for me. I have had a job interview, and have a few more on the horizon. Yesterday’s job interview we met at a restaurant, it was totally casual, and I didn’t worry about much of anything (hair included). Tomorrow’s interview is more professional, so I am thinking about my hair.

Recently I learned that I CAN flat twist. I was excited by this knowledge. I am seriously considering doing an updo for my interview tomorrow. In order to do that, I would have to start on my hair tonight. However, I have class tonight, and won’t get out until 9pm. After I get home, it will be around 9:30-9:45. So I am going to get started after this entry.

All I am going to do is wash, deep condition, and detangle my hair for right now. I will part it and twist it into a few large twists. I’ll wear a hat to class and just go to sleep like that. I will be sure to take lots of pictures of the outcome of my hair. Right now, I need to go hop in the shower and get ready and everything, because I do need to go to the library before class, and it is in the opposite direction of my school. There is actually a library that is sort of on the way, but whenever I request books, I have them sent to the library closest to me, which is in the opposite direction of school.

When you have an interview, do you do anything special with your hair?

I remember reading at one point that Brokey Mcpoverty straightened her hair for interviews, and if she got the job, she would walk in au natural.

Hair Typing = Confusing.

2011-07-11T10:20:00.001-07:00

So here is what I know about hair typing. The number system was created by Andre Walker. He is the guy that does Oprah’s hair. I also know that Andre Walker is a bit of a douchebag and thinks that Curly/Kinky hair should be altered somehow. Insert eye roll here.

I know my hair is in the 4 category. This is when things start to get tricky for me. Most of my hair is what you would consider a 4A pattern. It has the s coil shape, they all sort of clump together, and when well moisturized, you can see the pattern fairly well.

The back of my head… is an entirely different story

I am not sure if you can see it well enough, but my hair back there? Yeah, there is not really a curl pattern. It currently looks as if there is one, but that is because I have had my hair in two strand twists recently. If left to its devices, it is a frizzy/poofy mess. It is not usually a problem, because I normally have a headband in my hair. However, if my hair hasn’t been recently two strand twisted or it isn’t in a headband. I look like I sort of have a mullet.

I read about the 4b pattern. It says that it has a Z pattern and a cotton-like feel. Well, it feels soft and cottony as long as it has been moisturized, but there is absolutely no pattern to it. I don’t get caught up in hair typing simply because of this, but I have no clue what in the world to think.

Do you have hair on your head that baffles you?

Happy Friday!

2011-07-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

My hair idol Chary Jay is back with a hilarious video. The girl has amazing style and hair, but she cannot sing! LOL.
I need to get going. I am taking a small break from school work and screaming at the TV. Toddlers and Tiaras is on.

Have a great weekend!

Want to get started making your own earrings?

2011-07-06T06:57:00.001-07:00

I am not a craft blog, but I am a crafty girl. I see the businesses like Sarenzo’s beads and wish I had 1/4th of their talent. I dream of someday having the time (and patience!) to make my own earrings.

One of the websites I subscribe to is Pick Your Plum. Each day they have a special deal on crafting supplies. When I got today’s email I squealed in delight (and terrifying my poor dog)

You can get two pairs of these wooden discs and nickel free earring hooks for $3.50. I scooped up three orders, which is 6 pairs for 12 bucks (with shipping)! Check them out if you are interested in making your own stuff. They have a limited supply of their products each day, So you have to hurry before they are sold out. That is why I am trying to type this as fast as my hands can go!

Fros on the 4th/Checking in

2011-07-05T13:54:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. In case you did not know, it was also afro day. We didn’t do anything fancy at all. I packed up a picnic dinner and the plan was to go to White River State Park to watch the fireworks. Well, we got down to White River, and parking was blocked off, So we drove a little further, and went to the zoo. The zoo was a good place to see the fireworks, as long as you were in the right spot. We were seated behind the glasshouse, so we only saw half of them. Plus, it took us longer to get out of the zoo than it did to actually see the fireworks! Next year we need a better plan.

Mmm, ice cream!

As far as my hair goes, it is not feeling all crunchy and dry like it was before the henna treatment. I am seriously slacking though. I need to do a conditioning treatment and detangle my mop. What about you? Have you been slacking with the hair care? Lately, if I have anywhere to go I just spray on my Free Your Mane Reviving spray and fluff a bit and go. I will bite the bullet here soon and detangle and whatnot. I’ve been slacking in all areas since last week for some reason. I need to get back to everything.

Hope you guys have a great rest of the week!

Henna- My experience

2011-06-30T08:33:00.001-07:00

Editors Note: I really tried to finish this yesterday. I was doing the editing of this blog while I was in class. But there was some interesting topics being presented, so I abandoned finishing this up until today. Enjoy!

So I finally got around to doing a henna treatment. I apologize in advance for the spotty filming

Yeah

What I Would Do Differently:

1. We have two bathrooms in our house. The main/guest bathroom is tiled. Our master bathroom is set up weird. The sink is outside the bathroom, and doesn’t have a door or anything. The toilet and the shower are within the bedroom, but are separate from the sink. The area where the toilet and shower is has a door, and is tiled. The area where the sink is does not have a door and is carpeted. I laid down an old sheet, and did my henna treatment in there. I think next time I will just use the main/guest bathroom.

2. While I did do some searching on ingredients and products and stuff, I think I will be more thorough in my reading up on products

3. I will actually go out and purchase plain old green tea. I don’t know if it made a difference that I used honey lemon and pomegranate green tea.

My Final Thoughts:

Henna did not make a huge difference for me. Yeah, my hair was softer afterwards, but not any other softer as if I would have done a deep condition. My curl pattern is the same, and there is no change really to anything. The persistent drying that I was dealing with has seemed to clear up a little, but that might have been the same if I would have just done a deep conditioning. I have no color change. Though last night, I had a dream that my curls looked like MsDena610 from YouTube with blondish tips. Ask me about my dreams sometime, I dream crazy!

Anyway, I will probably try this again, taking into consideration the things that I want to do different. If I don’t notice anything spectacular the second time around (Because I do have half a bag of henna left), I probably won’t do it again.

Do you have any treatments that you have been wanting to try? What has been stopping you?

The next thing I want to try is Rassul Clay.

Of Dry hair and henna

2011-06-27T10:54:00.001-07:00

So I finally did a henna treatment. I did it yesterday. I took pictures and everything, So sometime this week there will be a slideshow/video of my adventures on that.

Is anyone else really lethargic when they come back from vacation, or is this just me? I thought you were supposed to be energized and rejuvenated! Ready to tackle whatever. All I want to do is sleep.

While I was on vacation, I did discover that I can flat twist! It takes me a while though because my hair is so thick and I have difficulty parting it. Any advice?

After the train, and everything else, my hair was a hot mess. It was dry, and shaped kind of like a cone. I am really hoping the henna treatment helped. I twisted my hair afterwards, but the twists do feel nice.

This is incredibly short, but I will leave you with the best pic from my trip. Me meeting one of the guys from the big gay ice cream truck!

Flat Feet and Chub Rub

2011-06-22T17:50:00.001-07:00

I want to talk to you guys today about something other than hair. For those of you that are new to this blog, I live in Indianapolis. We don’t have a really good method of public transportation, so more than likely, you have a car. Yes, we have a bus system, but as an example, they don’t stop anywhere near me. I live within city limits. I don’t think it runs 24 hours a day. It’s not great.

I am currently on vacation in a city that does have great public transportation. You do a lot of walking as well. Because I usually drive everywhere at home, there are certain things I do not think about. Yes, I have heard of chub rub before; I have never experienced it. I wear dresses and skirts all summer long, and have never had an issue with it. Yesterday for the first time in my life I experienced it. DEAR. MOTHER. OF. GOD. by the time we got back to our hotel, I was walking like a bowlegged penguin. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A BOWLEGGED PENGUIN!? It isn’t pretty. We got to our room and I ran to the bed, laid on the bed, lifted up my pretty dress and HOWLED. The hubs looked and gasped “You are so swollen on your thighs!” We looked at each other and said at the same time “Chub Rub” The swelling has since gone down, and I actually wore shorts today, so I am pretty much back to 100%. However, I think I will be wearing shorts the rest of my trip.

Another thing I want to talk about is shoes. I wear a size 10 shoe. I have an incredibly wide foot. I don’t know the exact width, as my foot has not been measured since I was a kid. My feet are also flat. So you have a plus size girl with a flat and wide foot. I cannot find a comfortable and stylish walking shoe. It’s not fair. I shouldn’t have to sacrifice style or comfort for a walking shoe. Don’t believe me? Go to Zappos.com. look for sandals, in a size 10, with a width bigger than just W. A lot of that stuff looks like something my grandmas would wear. Plus there is no telling if they are comfortable. When I get a chance, I am going on a severe hunt for a comfortable, stylish walking shoe, that comes in wide widths. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, do not hesitate to leave a comment or even email me. I shouldn’t have to wear sneakers with my cute dresses just because I am big foot. It is amusing. Big and tall guys do not have as many choices as us girls do when it comes to clothes. A lot of times they have to buy at the “Lane Bryant” of clothing stores, which means they are spending an arm and a leg. However, they can get all different styles of shoes in different widths. Plus size women have more and more choices. They grow with every single day. However, I can’t find the same shoes that are cute, and comfy to walk in to save my life. Everything scrapes the side of my foot (by my big toe) or they just hurt.

Do you have problems with shoes? What is your favorite brand of shoe to combat this? What about chub rub? How do you combat it?

Hair on a trip.

2011-06-20T19:52:00.001-07:00

Most people when they travel take one of two modes of transportation; car or plane. While gas prices are steadily going down (at least in my part of the world), they are still pretty high, making an extended car trip possibly as expensive as a plane ticket.

Our solution? The train. You win some and you lose some with the train. The last time we were on, I had a massive headache due to the fact that there were really stinky hippies. Our train last time also was like 5 hours late due to the fact that there was a mudslide in the Pacific Northwest. AKA: Nowhere near where we were, and nowhere near where we were going. Every little thing just went wrong that trip.

We are currently on a train. It is actually going rather well this time, and this leaves me optimistic. We’ve had no issues, except for a rather annoying squeaky voiced child that “loves everyone!”

The last time I was on a train, it was winter time, and my hair was in two strand twists stuffed under a scarf, stuffed under a knitted cap. The knitted cap is no longer an option in the mid west summer (the idea of it in this heat makes me gag a bit). Also, in the interest of not looking like the crazy ass ghetto black lady, I do not have a scarf on my hair. The result? I still look like the crazy ass ghetto black lady.. My hair is just out and looking a wee bit wild. I wanted to learn how to French braid my hair before this excursion, and that just didn’t happen. On long trips how do you protect your hair without looking crazy as hell? There are enough crazies on this trip (Mullet anyone?) I don’t need to add to the atmosphere.

Vidal ain’t got nothing on him.

2011-06-15T10:04:00.001-07:00

Around September of last year I attempted my first (and last) braidout. My husband helped to braid my hair, and after showing him one time how to braid, he proceeded to braid better than I could. I should have known it wasn’t a fluke.

Saturday I decided that I needed to go to the bowels of hell (aka Wal-Mart) get get some headbands. I tend to lose mine. He was hungry so we decided to eat while we were out.

My hair was twisted up, and I needed to untwist it. He wasn’t doing anything but watching a bad 1980’s movie, so I enlisted his help. “This will go much faster and get us out of the house sooner if you help.” He asked me what to do. I told him to just untwist them. “Do I untwist them all the way?” I was kind of confused by his question, but told him yes. He sat there and quietly and gently untwisted the back of my hair while I did the front. I got finished before him and just sat there and waited. “I’m finished.” I went to the mirror to go check. Dear God in heaven. He untwisted each twist, and spread the hair evenly over my head so that my afro was freaking adorable!

My husband is a 28 (almost 29) white male who never touched a head of hair on an African American woman before me. I just look at him sometimes, amazed at what he does. He just tells me “I’m just good with my hands.” I keep telling him that if he ever gets sick of being a network engineer, he should go to school to be a beautician. He just rolls his eyes at me and goes back to his movie while I get dressed.

I love this man.

My hair after he got finished with it!

From the bottom of my heart.

2011-06-13T03:27:00.000-07:00

I wanted to thank each and every one of you that took my survey last month. You gave me a lot of great insight that I will be able to use to make this blog greater, as well as craft it into an independent study project. I am one of the smaller natural hair blogs on the web, but I am growing with all of your help. I appreciate every single one of you that stops by to read. I am truly humbled by the response that I received.

*group hug!*

Please don’t mess with me in the morning.

2011-06-10T09:25:00.001-07:00

It takes me a while to rally in the mornings, I’ll admit it. This morning was no exception. I should back up a bit though. Last night, and pretty much all day yesterday, I had pain in my left eyelid. I had a feeling a stye was coming through. I immediately canceled that thought, because I haven’t had a style since I was a freshmen in high school. Yeah…

I woke up this morning (at 7:50, about an hour earlier than I normally do) with more pain when I blinked. My husband was telling me goodbye when I asked him to look at my eye.

“Yeah, you got a stye coming it, and it is pretty swollen.”

Great.

Since I was up, I figured I would hop in the shower and get ready for my day, which I did. But I am still pretty groggy. I throw on a maxi dress and run to the drug store. I had a script I needed to pick up.

It’s early, I’m not quite all there. I know I look slightly crazy. I shuffle into the pharmacy when behind me I hear:

“Hey ‘lil mama, what it do?”

I am no one’s mother, little or otherwise, and I turn around to look at the guy. If it is possible to look crazier than I look right now he does it. Cut off shorts, dirty shirt, raggedy braids in his hair. I give him the evil (stye) eye, and move on. As I am walking I notice a mirror and noticed that my dress is sort of tucked under my strapless bra. So, I am looking crazy as hell, have a stye, and it is early as hell, and you are trying to holler at me!? DO YOU NOT HAVE ANY STANDARDS!?

Oh well, at least my hair looks decent.

Glasses are on because I don’t want you to see my stye. Plus, I do have on clothes, It is a strapless maxi dress from Old Navy last season.

So, not the greatest idea for myself. At all..

2011-06-08T10:57:00.001-07:00

Well, I tried geling my two strand twists. They stayed twisted for two days. I didn’t have anything to do the past couple of days. Tonight I am going to try sushi for the first time with my friend Heather. I just undid my twists… If anything, they are wilder than when I just twist them.

Not cute at all. For those that are curious, my shirt says “Mixed martial arts and crafts” and has three ninjas painting, knitting, and writing.

So the craziness that is my hair is going into a puff for tonight. Eesh

Product Review- Kyah Alexandria Shampoo & Shower Bar.

2011-06-07T07:57:00.001-07:00

One of my natural hair idols is Chary Jay. She has a channel on YouTube that I subscribe to. She did a product review on several things on Kyah Alexandria’s line, but this bar stuck out the most to me. She said something along the lines of “it made my hair feel like it had lotion in it.” I am always looking for a product (shampoo especially) to put moisture back into my hair, so I scooped this up along with a leave in conditioner (to be reviewed at a later date).

The packaging.

What the packaging says: Kyah Alexandria Shampoo & Shower Bar- Coconut Paradise with Shea butter for all hair types. Full size All Natural.

Ingredients: Glycerin, Di (deionized) water, Coconut Oil, Sorbitol, Sodium Palmitate, Sodium Stearate, Soybean Oil, Almond Oil, Safflower Oil, Jojoba Oil, Aloe Vera Gel, Shea Butter, Coconut Milk, Vitamin E, Olive Oil, Honey, Tea Tree Oil, Fragrance.

When I watched the initial review of this product, Chary Jay was able to break the bar with her hands. When I received mine in the mail, there was a note in there, stating that because it is getting hotter out, they have added an additional ingredient (jojoba oil I think) to make it more solid, so that it does not melt in the mail. So I had to use scissors to cut a piece off.

It' wasn’t difficult at all.

The Smell: I really enjoyed the smell of this product. You get the coconut smell, which isn’t overpowering at all, and then you get a sweet floral undertone. I held out the chunk I had cut off for my husband to sniff and to get his opinion on it. His response? “It smells sort of like a coconut candy.” The smell was really pleasing

Initial Tryout: I scrubbed my hair with the product, it doesn’t create a massive lather, and that is okay for me. I washed my hair and rinsed it out and paused for a moment before dumping conditioner on my hair. I felt my hair. It felt incredibly moisturized. It does feel like there is some sort of lotion on your hair. it is amazing. I love it.

Further Testing: With further testing I realized that it is easier to slice the bar using the scissors with a knife like motion instead of sawing. Also, while my hair luxuriates in the feel of this shampoo, the shampoo combined with conditioner, combined with the rest of my product line up equates product buildup rather quickly. I can use it about 2 or three times before I need to reach for a clarifying shampoo.

Bottom Line: I really liked how this shampoo made my hair feel. It was soft and manageable. I can’t wait to see how the rest of this product line feels!

Where you can purchase: http://mynaturalcare.com/index.html

Goals, it is good to have them.

2011-06-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

This was an uneventful weekend for me. There was a reason for that. My second class started today, and I wanted as much relaxing time as I could possibly have. My twistout lasted a decent amount of time. Saturday the hubs and I went out for steak. I put it in a pouf and stuck a flower on it.

It looked really cute. Lately though I have been noticing that I am getting more and more headaches when I put my hair up. I use ouchless hair bands. They are big enough that I can double them up and create the pouf. My husband seems to think that my contacts are probably playing a part as well. I hope that isn't the case. How do you make a pouf with your hair? Does it cause you to have a headache?

My hair is looking kind of busted right now, but that is okay. After I do the dishes, I am getting dressed and headed to the gym. The plan is to do the machines for a while, and maybe some light weight lifiting. Then I plan on going swimming .When I come home, I am going to twist up my hair (adding gel for more definition) and work on homework. I really don't plan on un-twisting it until it is time to go somewhere.

What does your week look like this week? Anything fancy going on?

Accepting yourself completely

2011-06-03T09:34:00.001-07:00

We made it to Friday! Yay!

If you are on Facebook, you would have seen that I posted a couple of photos of my hair.

This being one of them. It is my webcam on my computer, that is why it is kind of craptacular. Anyway, I was headed to the Glee concert last night and trying to do something with my hair. Normally (as in EVERY DAY) I put in a headband and a flower. Sometimes I make a poof, but still have the flower as well. In this photo I have on the flower, but no headband.

As I was figuring out my hair last night, I realized that I always feel kind of stupid without my headband and flower. I feel like everyone is looking at me. This caused me to wonder: am I being ashamed of my hair?

I didn’t want that.

I slowly took the flower out my hair, and fluffed up my twists. I looked really good. One thing I might do in the future is add gel to my twists when they are twisted up. Some of the instantly spread out. and it looked uber cute with them twisted up like that.

See? Totally cute. Except I have that Johnson forehead, that should be a fivehead. *snort*

Oh, and Glee was so much fun! I am really really loud and screamed my head off.. as a result, I got a barf bag from a cheerio. LOL. At one point it got really quiet in the place and I screamed out “I LOVE YOU PUCK!” He could so hear it.

To the two girls that I met in like while I was getting popcorn and you were getting Beer. YOU ARE AMAZING! I hope you live in Indianapolis and we can meet up sometime and drink and drool over Puck! LOL.

Clearing things up.

2011-05-31T08:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you had a great Memorial Day. I had a decent time, but as I get older, I start thinking more and more about troops. Do you realize we are coming up on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11? I was 19 when all of this went down. I remember staring at the news, wondering how this would change things. I bawled when the news came on yesterday. They were talking of soldiers going to their friend’s funerals. It was sad. Then I read the news and had a o.O moment. You know how the Westboro Baptist Church are a bunch of douche canoes? Well, the KKK came out to counter protest them. Then Westboro got all righteous on the KKK saying that God doesn’t hate people that are different colors.. only the gay ones. Is it too much to hope that they blow each other up?

My hair this week has been weird. Lately it has felt like the product that I apply has been sitting on top of it, rather than absorbing in. The result is my hair feeling dry, but when I touch my hair my hands are all greasy. Ew.

So last night, when I got into the shower, I sprayed my hair down with apple cider vinegar. The apple cider vinegar then got in my eye, which I had to howl for my husband to come take the bottle, because I couldn’t see where to put it. As he walked away I heard him mumble “so many food products in her hair.” LOL. After that debacle, I shampooed and conditioned my hair as normal.

When I got out of the shower, I dried my hair slightly and applied my Belle Butters (which I am running incredibly low on *Sniffle*). I twisted my hair in huge chunky twists and wrapped with a scarf. Since I have just gotten up, I haven’t taken my twists down, but I will keep you apprised of this development.

This weekend, Yelp.com held an event in my area. The Indy 500 was going on (did you guys know that because I live in Indianapolis, they don’t televise the race? Grumblings were had from my husband and his family. I could care less.) so Yelp did The Yelp 500. It was really neat. There was all sorts of different foods to try from different companies. There were supposed to be camels, but not a one in sight! There was music, that wasn’t really my cup of tea, and a very angry and vulgar clown. He was just screaming out “TITS!!” and all sorts of other nonsense. There was a woman with a beautiful natural hair style. She was a photographer for the even though, and I didn’t want to get in her way. There was an old school photo booth as well. Jeff and I got our pictures taken! You can kind of tell I wasn’t really ready.

The rest of them came out okay for the most part though LOL.

Well, I have some chores to do, some puppies that want to go out, and I have a date.. WITH THE GYM!

Lethargy does not become me.

2011-05-27T03:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you that do not know, I have sleep apnea. I don’t breathe very well when I sleep. I stop breathing in my sleep. My brain kick starts my breathing back though. Before I was diagnosed, my sleep was terrible. When I had my tests done the doctor looked at the results in amazement and asked if I drove. “No,” I replied “I don’t have my licence yet.” “Thank God.” he said. Apparently at the rate I stopped breathing 8 hours of sleep a night equated to 15 minutes of quality sleep for me. Everyone was in shock. They all thought I was lazy because I would sleep for 16 hours a day, get up, go to the bathroom, get something to eat, and go back to sleep for another 12 hours. I couldn’t really do anything. I got sick constantly, I gained a TON of weight. I was just not in a good place.

After I was diagnosed, I got fitted for a breathing machine. A man came to my mothers house (this was 10 years ago) who looked like Niles Crane from the show Fraizer.

He was..interesting. He was also one of the first guys to ever make me feel pretty. “You have such big gorgeous brown eyes, you should get contacts!” If I was lighter I would have turned beet red. My mom was looking at him with murder in her eyes.

Eventually I got fitted for this machine. It took some getting used to. However, the first nights sleep I had was the best sleep I’d had in a long long time. So much so, that the next day I stayed up for 24 hours. I was alert and fully competent. It was amazing.

As I write this, I am feeling those sluggish undertones that I used to feel pre-machine. I am exhausted, unfocused, and generally blah. My equipment (mask, tube, filter, and water cannister) needs to be switched out. The company (who I will not name on this blog) who used to be my medical supply people SUCK. They don’t bill correctly, I can’t get a straight answer from them, and I get a complete runaround. I am trying to switch to a new medical supplier, but I need the documentation that the old company has. I have called them 3 times. 3 times they have told me they will send the information to my physician. No bueno. Finally I have gone around them. I contacted the hospital I had my last sleep study done at, and supposedly they have sent the information to my physician (All my information is in Kokomo, and they will not send your information to you without a medical records request and I am not making a trip to Kokomo for just one reason. Total waste of gas). So now I am trying to get a hold of my Doctor. Madness.

One of my more recent goals in my natural hair journey is to do a front cornrow. Kind of a side swept cornrow across the front of my head. I can braid, but not very well. I learned on a barbie doll. I came across this tutorial though: http://cornrows.co.uk/howto/howtobraidcornrowsx.html

I thought it would work. I am kind of odd. If I can visualize myself doing something, I can usually do it. using this tutorial, I can visualize myself cornrowing. So yesterday I co-washed and detangled my hair, parted it, and proceeded to try…

and try…

I was frustrated, and incredibly sleepy. I gave up and ended up sleeping most of my day away. It was horrid. I am normally an incredibly patient person, but the lethargy, lack of energy, and sheer exhaustion have made me this crabby annoyed short tempered person. I need to get this fixed, and soon.

Job interview Style

2011-05-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

This is how I look when I go to interview:

Dress: Lane Bryant

I feel confident in this dress. Totally love it. I have a suit I can wear as well, but I am a dress girl. This day, my curls were popping something FIERCE.

I went swimming on Tuesday. I ended up with a pounding headache and had to leave a half an hour early. Question: Does anyone else feel awkward at the Y? I am fine when I get in the pool, mainly because I can't see anything around me (no glasses or contacts), but in the changing room, it is just.. awkward. I need a lock so i can feel confident about putting my stuff away.

As I was leaving, I saw a younger guy with locs. I explained my blog to him, and gave him my card. Hopefully he stops in :-) He had some of the nicest locs I have ever seen.

Still working with the new conditioner. It has plenty of slip, I do like that. More to come later.

It is getting to the end of the month. If you have not filled out my survey, I am begging you to do so! :-) To those of you that have filled it out. I am grateful and appreciative. Thank you from the bottom of my pea picking heart.

It can be found Here

It's that time again.

2011-05-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Of all the exercises in the world, I prefer to swim. When I was younger, I thought this was God's idea of a joke. Black girl, relaxed hair, unable to care for it, and her favorite thing in the world to do is swim. As a family, we were not at the pool often. In all honesty, I can't swim well at all. I am not 100% sure my mother knows how to swim, and my brother is terrified of the swimming pool.

However in high school you have to take two semesters of swimming. So I looked quite crazy for two semesters. With not knowing how to care for my hair anyway and adding swimming on top of all of that, I already knew it was going to be a disaster. My hair broke off and just looked awful.

After I went natural, I got a membership to the YMCA here in Indianapolis and started swimming. It was a whole different experience for me hair wise, because I actually knew how to take care of my hair. Here is what I do, to prevent a whole lot of chlorine damage from the pool:

I ALWAYS rinse myself before going in the pool. I thoroughly soak my hair. I make sure my hair is completely saturated so that it can't really absorb any of the chlorinated water.
When I am done swimming, I rinse really well again.
I usually go home immediately after I am done. When I get there, I wash my hair. Not Co-wash, I actually use shampoo.
I condition and detangle as normal
I protective style.

5 simple steps, two of which are in my normal routine.

So my question to you is this:

What do you do to minimize damage when you go swimming?

Do you avoid the pool altogether? Do you have a routine set in stone? Let me know!!

Indianapolis Bloggers

2011-05-20T21:07:00.001-07:00

So most of you know, I am from Indianapolis. I am orginally from a small town called Kokomo, but you need to RUN (not walk) away from that town. It is a pit, a cesspool, and I hate it.

*Ahem* Being in Indianapolis and being a blogger has one slight perk. I get to be a member of Indianapolis bloggers! They are a group all about promoting Indianapolis blogs. YAY!

Here is a link to check them out: http://indianapolisblogs.blogspot.com/

What hurts the most

2011-05-20T21:01:00.001-07:00

From the time I was in the 5th grade, up until the end of high school, I was a social pariah. I was awkward, weird, and just plain odd. In two short years I went from a smiling bright happy girl, to a miserable angry person. I stayed that miserable angry person for many many years. My choices in clothes, in music, and in pretty much everything reflected what was popular. Well, as much as it could. We were poor.

Around the end of high school, like my last semester, it was as if someone cleared a film from my vision. I realized that I would no longer see these people every day. I cared nothing about them, and they cared nothing about me. That was the God’s honest truth, with the exception of a few people. I was done. I was free. I could be whoever and whatever I wanted to be.

Turns out being me isn’t anything fancy. I am a girly girl. I am smart, crafty, and nerdy. I am stylish. I have a wicked temper and a kind heart. If I am livid at you, I just won’t talk to you anymore. You have been deemed no longer worth my time.

All in all I think I turned out pretty good. I am confident and self aware. Sometimes though, it takes one comment to take me back down to where I was when I was younger. Usually it is from a ‘loved one trying to help.’

So I am sitting here, sad, pissed off, and hurt, by someone who is supposed to love me most. I’m sure I will be over it in a day or so, but for now, I am just going to sulk and be emo.

Awkward Hair Growth.

2011-05-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

My hair grows weird.

I am sure everyone says this; that their hair does not grow evenly. I am one of those people. For some reason, the hair at the base of my head, near my neck grows the fastest. It is also the hair that doesn't really have much of a curl pattern. It is incredibly loose. It is also the hair that is shoulder length. The rest of my hair grows fairly evenly, It is all equal to each other, with the exception of that back part. Take a look at your hair. How does your hair grow?

I purchased some new conditioner this week. I was out of 'Hello Hydration' and it hasn't been working all that great for me for the past couple of months anyway. This time around I purchased Tresemme moisture rich for dry or damaged hair. I don't want to give my opinion on it just yet; I have only used it once. I will be back with a review on that later.

I also picked up some goodies from kyah Alexandria. CharyJay (from 160 Days 2 lose 2) did a review of a couple of her products and something she said about the shampoo/shower bar stuck out in my mind. She said after shampooing her hair with the bar, her hair felt like there was lotion on it, it was that moisturizing. That got me hook, line and sinker. I purchased the Coconut Paradise shampoo and shower bar and Hydra Moist Leave-In Conditioner. I have not tried them yet. I don't like trying a bunch of new products all together. It seems like you don't get an accurate read on the products if you do that. Once I decide if I like how the Tresemme makes my hair feel, then I will check out the kyah Alexandrea.

What is your favorite shampoos and conditioners? How did you come across them?

Product Review- Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning cream

2011-05-16T13:53:00.001-07:00

After a brief hiatus (in which at one point my husband had to come home for lunch from work because I was crying so hard he couldn’t understand what I was saying, because I was SURE I got a D in my math class, and I couldn’t take that class anymore, and it turns out I got a C and cam move on.) I am back with a product review for you.

I bought the Cantu Shea Butter from the weird hair place around the corner from my house. It is ran by a family. I once went in there asking if they had the crackle polishes. The woman told me no, and asked me why I would want that, as it is ugly and unkempt! I just kind of goggled at her and left. Their nail polish looks old and scary for the most part, so I guess it is a good thing they didn’t have it.

Anyway, I heard of Cantu ever since I had gone natural. I always wanted to try it, but I never really saw it when I was out and about. It wasn’t something that I sought out either. However, when I was buying flower hair accessories in the local hair shop, I saw the leave in conditioning repair cream for $4.99 and decided to pick it up.

The front of the product says the following:

stops and mends hair breakage

leaves hair soft, shiny, and manageable

formulated for severely damaged, dry, or coarse hair

Here is the first issue I have with the product; The grammar on the front of the product. There are no capital letters in the previous statements, no periods, however, we have commas. Just looking at the statements drive me batty. Meh.

The product gives you three sets of directions based on what you wanted to do with it. You could use it for daily styling, a leave in treatment, or for frizz free hair. I used it as a daily treatment for the better part of a month

As you can see, I used about half of the jar. The first thing you notice when you open up the Cantu leave in conditioner is the smell. Oh man! It smells like fruit punch. I had Jeff do a sniff test, and he enjoyed the smell too. It is a water based leave in conditioner, so it is kind of runny. I liked the fact that it seemed to revive my hair. It made it moist so that I could style it however I chose. A lot of times in the morning, I would put this on my hair and add a little of my Belle Butters and go. When I did two strand twists at night, I would slather this on, and add Belle Butters on top of it, twist my hair and cover it. In the morning it would still be slightly damp and pliable, so I would put it in a poof and go.

After a little bit, I noticed a slight problem. You see, when I do a twist out, just using Belle Butters, My twist outs can last about a week. They get bigger and bigger, and they are fully moisturized. With the Cantu stuff, It would get bigger, but my hair was incredibly dry after two days. The ends of my hair would look crispy and frizzy. It was not cute. When my hair would get like that, nothing could revive it. I would have to co-wash and start over again.

So yes, I don’t think Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream is right for me. It took styles that normally last up to 5-7 days, and made them last only 2-3. It made my hair feel dried out and crispy. I wouldn’t recommend this product.

Have you tried anything by Cantu? What were your results?

It feels like summer! Whip your hair back and forth!

2011-05-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

I love summer. Indiana has decided to skip spring (except with all the rain), and go directly into the heat of summer. I hate winter, I hate cold weather, and I hate my allergies. I had one very minor allergy attack this year, and have been pretty much okay since. Last year, everything was COATED in pollen, and I couldn't really go outside until it rained. Even then, I had to have allergy pills ingested.

With the summer comes summer hair. Most of the winter, my hair stays underneath a silk scarf, and underneath a hat in two strand twists. It's too cold for me to just let my hair out. Now with summer here, I can two strand twist at night, undo it in the morning, put my hair in a puff, or just let it be in it's afro. I do have to continously moisturize my hair, however, with using the Belle Butters shea butter, I can usually get away with moisturizing every two days. With my hair in twists like that, I can also co-wash about once a week. Unless of course I have been swimming, or sweating hard. Then you know, it's more often with the washing.

It's a marvelous time! So, my question to you is, how is your summer routine different from your winter routine?

In other news, I was over on the Curly Nikki forums. Seems like they are trying to put together a natural hair meetup here in Indiana! How exciting is that!? Would you guys come? I would love to meet you (Janelle, I am looking at you girl!)! They want it to be big like the ones in Atlanta, and honestly, Indianapolis has the potential for that. I kind of wish I would have found out about it earlier, as I could have taken an active role in getting local vendors to display jewelry and stuff at it. I am really good about researching and sales (though, I don't want to be in sales; too much pressure.) and I think I could have gotten some great things accomplished. Oh well, I will just be okay with going and having a great time!

I'm out! I have a mess of clothes to fold and some twists to retwist. I am not going anywhere today but my back yard, so the hair will remain in twists.

Have a great day, and if you haven't taken my survey, please do!

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDVoSlVaUU1GWFhTVDd5d2dKQWlONmc6MQ#gid=0

It's OVER!!!!

2011-05-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

*Runs manically through the house*

THE SEMESTER IS OVER!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

Until summer School.

*starts crying again*

May the 4th be with you.

2011-05-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

I've got nuthin today guys. I am tired, I had a final I think I bombed because I made an idiot mistake, and I am anxious because I have two more finals to take. I hope you guys are having a better week than I am.

The one in which a person with special needs screamed at me.

2011-05-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

The semester is wrapping up here, and even though I do have classes for the summer semester, it will hopefully be nowhere near as hectic as my life is now. 5 classes? Never again I say. NEVER. AGAIN.

My title is an interesting one, I know. Let me explain. In March I did a haul entry, showing you some things I purchased. Here is the entry. I finally got a chance to wear the earrings from Sarenzo's beads. They are huge. I think they are adorable. They set off my fro nicely when it is stretched. My husband thinks otherwise. He was teasing me for wearing them. We went to the grocery store, because we have nothing in the house to eat. The grocery store that is nearest to us, his mom works at. We stopped in her department to talk to her for a minute. All of a sudden a noise had me jumping out of my skin.

"OOOOHH MAYYYY GUUUUDDDDD!!!!!"

I whirl around to see a lady about my height staring at me in wonderment. I am generally not self conscious, but people make me anxious so I took a step back.

"THOSE ARE THE BIGGEST EARRINGS IN THE HISTORY OF ALL TIMES!!!!"
I glance over at Jeff, he's trying really hard not to smile, and so is his mom.
"SOOO BIG!! OHHHH MAYYY GUUUUDDDD!!!"

I glance back at her and say thank you. Jeff's mom introduces me as her daughter in law. The lady stops and stammers. She is so embarassed. She apologizes and I feel bad for making her feel bad. You can tell she has some sort of issue. She slinks off, and Jeff goes "You see what you did with your earrings? You made another person feel bad!" He then busts up laughing.

I just kind of.. scamper off. This is my life people.

If you haven't yet, please fill out this survey for me! It tells me what you want to see from me as far as this blog goes!

Help a natural girl out!

2011-05-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

From this website

So most of you know that I am in school for computer information technology at IUPUI. What you don't know is that on top of that, I am getting a certificate in technical communication. I won't bore you with the details, but basically it means that I will be well equipped to handle technical writing and understanding communications in the business world.

I opted for the fall semester to enroll in an independent study class. I want to turn my blog into a business venture. I want to learn how to write a business plan, and create my own website from scratch. I've taken web design classes and this is a way to implement both what I learned in my CIT courses and what I am learning in my technical writing courses.

This is where I turn to you my lovelies. I want to know what you want to see on a blog. I want to know what you enjoy about my blog and any ideas you may have. It will be a little bit before you see things fully implimented. I have to make a syllabus (as it is considered a class), research, and finally develop the things. I created an easy peasy survey for you to fill out here.

Today is May 1st. I want to leave the survey active for about a month, so I can get a good supply of opinions. Your opinion counts! Please fill it out. Thank you :-)

Leslie

Fabulosity at its finest!

2011-04-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Before I start this entry, I was using the phrase "Teeming with fabulosity" Before Kimora Lee Simmons. I love her show, I just thought I would throw that out there.

This past Sunday was Easter. I didn't have any major plans. It was going to be, my programming homework (shoutout to visual basic 2008!), some math homework and an organizational communication paper. My husband requested that I go with him to his family's Easter Sunday dinner. I told him I would if I finished my programming assignment. Surprisingly, it went smoothly this week. It took maybe an hour and a half (usually I go at it for like 4-5 hours) so I had plenty of time to go with him.

I decided since I rarely leave the house (I haven't had a face to face interview in so long.. I NEEDS A JOB!!), and when I do leave the house I am going grocery shopping, or somewhere that just jeans are required, that I would dress up. It was going back to that whole making myself happy. I love to dress up, even if I am the only one who does so.

I also decided to do something different to my hair. For all of you that follow me on Facebook, you'll know that for the past few days I have had my hair in two strand twists. When my hair is in two strand twists and I have to go somewhere, usually I take them out and put my hair into a poof. I then wear it free for a couple of days because I get a HUGE 'fro. Instead of the poof, I untwisted my hair and kind of parted it to the side, so I would have side bangs. My twists are crazy. They will be bent at odd angles and just stick straight up on my head. I took a handful of duckbill clips, and clipped like 5 of those bad boys to my bangs, weighing them down. I then clipped more of them wherever I had crazy twists flailing about. I then went about my business, applying my makeup and getting dressed. When it was close to the time to leave, I removed the clips. I was still a little flyaway in the back, but it was cute. I then put a headband on (just a stretchy one that I normally use) behind my bangs. My bangs were threatening to creep up, so I searched high and low for a bobby pin. I can't believe I don't own any bobby pins! I eventually found one, it had a jewel on the end of it, and so it looked a little odd with my flower there as well. Everything turned out really cute though!

PICTURES!!!

These are really blurry and I apologize. Camera phone for all of them except one. This is the back of my head.

My twistout

Front View

Attempting again to get a decent shot of the back.

Before I left the house.

So yeah, I really liked this look and can't wait to do it again. I also can't wait to try other things! I hope you guys are having a great week!

Me Time!

2011-04-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

Ever since the birthday that wasn't I have been taking time out to do things for me. I usually make excuses though. I am at the end of the semester, and with five classes on my plate (one at a different school), I have to keep up. I hadn't done much to my hair in a while though, and so.. it was time. A couple of nights ago I pre-pooed my hair with coconut oil and walked around with that god awful processing cap on my head. You guys have no idea how much I hate that thing.

I worse it until it was time for bed. I then went to shower and co-washed my hair and detangled with the wide toothed shower comb. I got out the shower and combed through it again using a double toothed comb and moisturized my hair using Belle Butters matcha green tea butter. I threw my hair into 5 thick twists, put my bonnet on and hit the hay. The next morning, I did some homework, and watched "The Secret Life of the American Teenager. A little off subject, but do you watch this? Maybe I am getting old, but none of the guys are handsome. Ricky has a pompadour, and Ben is gawky. Jack is okay but he is a manwhore, and the one that Grace is seeing is wonky eyed. I am however in love with Adrian's eyebrows. They are shapely and well defined, and I am jealous.

Mine are shapely, but don't stand out with my skin tone and I am just jealous.

While Secret Life was on, I retwisted my hair into smaller twists. It is not the prettiest look, and when it is like this I just stuff it under a satin scarf and put a hat on, but my hair is taken care of, protected, and loved.

How do you treat yourself?

KimmayTube Leave in Conditioner

2011-04-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

I am thinking I really want to make this. For those of you that have no clue what I am talking about, here. It won't let me embed. Have any of you tried this? If so, did you like it? If not, what didn't you like?

Things that I wonder about

1. How do people come up with those creative styles?
2. For the people that deep condition overnight, how in the hell do they sleep with the processing cap on their heads? The "crinkle crinkle" sound would drive me batty. Plus, when I have one of those on during the day normally they drive me nuts, they always have.
3. Who has time to condition and do their hair every day?
4. My husband said whenever I put my giant twists in and have the large one in the middle, I look like a unicorn. Is it weird that the fact that I look like a mythological being puts a smile on my face?
5. How do you not get zits using coconut oil? I use it, it melts and gets all over my face, and even after a thorough scrubbing, I will get at least one zit.

Natural Hair, Naturally Healthy?

2011-04-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

When I first started going natural, it didn't seem to me like a lifestyle change. Yeah, no more relaxers, but that was pretty much about it for me. However, it has kind of turned into a new world of opportunities. I learned how to fix my hair, on my own. I can't really do anything fancy to it, but I can go out and be proud of what I did to it. When I was relaxed, that just wasn't happening. It would be wrapped and stay wrapped until I was ready to go somewhere. Three quick comb-throughs later and VOILA! Ready to go. Now? I am learning how to do two strand flat twists, I know how to do twist outs and braid outs and style them. I actually know how to care for my hair!

Some people take this journey and take it a step further. They revamp their whole life. They take care to what they put in their body. They start to ask hard and serious questions about things in their life. Their whole outlook on food, hair, body, self turns to a whole "natural" mindset.

Some people go what I like to call "Bat Shit Cray Cray" They eschew ANYTHING that isn't natural and attempt to shame people into doing the same. They carry a holier than thou attitude towards life, and put holier than thou church people to shame. They hiss at people who flat iron their hair and "dare" (insert sarcasm) to call themselves natural. The people make me want to blink and eat a Big Mac in front of them. They are the natural world's version of a hipster.

Natural Hipster Kitty

No matter who you are, why you went natural, and how you have taken on this definition, we all share one thing. We saw something we didn't like, and we made a change. In making this change, a lot of times, you make discoveries about yourself. This is what natural hair has taught me.

As I get older, I realize more and more, that I live a fairly unhealthy lifestyle. I love junk food. LOVE IT. A few years ago I had a slight addiction to McDonald's. The addiction is pretty much gone, however I do go their once in a while. I just like loads of unhealthy things. I don't smoke, but I do have the occasional cocktail. Very occasional. Like maybe once a year. Not much of a drinker.

I want to have kids eventually, and I want to teach them to love, care, and respect every aspect of their life. How can I do that when I am not doing the same? I am working on it though. I am planing veggies that I intend on using in recipes, I am losing weight, and my gym membership to the YMCA reinstates in May.

Maybe it is just a step at a time for some of us. For me the first step was natural hair. Maybe this is my second, tentative step.
With all of that seriousness out the way, here is your music recommendation for today. I had a meeting at school yesterday to discuss an independent study class that I want to do. After I left, I grabbed some lunch and while driving home this song came on. Loving it!

I saw her on Glee at one point, and I didn't really know who she was. I still really don't. I think she got her start on YouTube. Here is a vid with the lyrics of the song!

You guys have a great day. I have some news coming up and a poll for you to take in regards to the news!

Awards For Me!!!

2011-04-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

So I was awarded two blogging awards by the lovely and talented Janelle of FreeYourHeart. I was awarded the Stylish Blogger Award and Kreativ Blogger Award!

Here are the rules:

the stylish blogger rules:
+ thank and link back to the person that awarded you this award
+ share 7 things about yourself
+ award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
+ contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

the kreativ blogger rules:
+ Say 10 facts about yourself.
+ Tag 10 bloggers
+ Tell them about the award

I will give you some facts about myself

I just turned 29
I've always been a little odd, a little out there. I've never really fit in anywhere.
I am okay with the fact listed above
I love animals. I am not allowed to visit animal shelters or pet stores by myself, otherwise I am coming home with something.
My favorite movie is the other sister
I do occasionally have hair envy, I try to tamp it down though.
I should be finished with school by May of next year.
I love electronic devices, gadgets, doo-dads, etc
I have been married 2 years.
I can't stand cold weather, at ALL.

Now lets award some bloggers, shall we?

Thanks again Janelle!

Accessorizing My Natural Hair haul, kinda

2011-04-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

You made it through the week! Woo! I promise I won't put up the annoying Rebecca Black song... Instead...

If Rebecca Black is a disease, this is surely the Cure. *Snort* You see what I did there?

Anywhoozle, there hasn't been much going on in my natural hair world, and although I took a bizarre foray into the relaxed world, that was just a temporary thing.

I did however, purchase (and was gifted) some spring time accessories. Lets take a look-see.

I am forever looking for a bright pink lipstick. Because I am so dark, something that looks bright pink in the tube, just makes me look like I have glossy lips. I want to say I had given up hope of ever finding anything, but that is a lie, I am always looking. I was flipping through my Youtube makeup subscriptions, when I came across MrsRoss.

I've watched her Youtube videos for about two years now, but I tend to skip over a lot of them. She rambles sometimes, and there are long pauses as she searches for whatever product she is talking about. However in one of the stills I noticed she had on a bright pink lipstick! She is only a shade or two lighter than me, so I decided to check it out.

Yes, you read that correctly, it is a 35 minute video. If you are just interested in the lipstick information, skip to about the 30 minute mark, I think. The stuff that she shows throughout the video is interesting though, so I would recommend watching it.
The lipstick she has on (which she was using as a duplicate for a Mac Cosmetics color) is from Milani Cosmetics. It is a drug store brand, However, you can order it off of their website as well. I happened to go to CVS the other day and I saw it there. While it was a dollar cheaper on the website, You also have to pay shipping and handling by using the website. I'm not all about that, unless I can use Ebates (which, on their website, I can't). I did buy it online this time because ~~I was so exciited to find a pink lipstick possibility that I couldn't wait~~ I didn't know they sold it in drug stores. I should have by the video, but yeah. Anyway, I ended up getting the Milani lipstick in Rose Hip and in Royale. The Royale is one of their limited editions, so it is in the closet section of their website. Here are swatches, taken from the Milani Website:

Rose Hip

I know it looks more red than pink, but on my skin tone it comes out a pink

Royale

This is a little lighter pink than the Rose Hip, but it has enough pigmentation that it shows up nicely on my lips!

I was so excited about these purchases, I had to share them with you!

Finally, It was a special week this week at the Tale of Going Natural. I was so excited because one of my close friends, Kim came to visit Indiana from Vegas! I have spoken about Kim on here once I think. She came bearing gifts as well. Her sister-in-law Emily, has an Etsy shop and creates all sorts of fun things. She asked her sister to create something for me!

Sorry my face isn't showing, I look a hot mess.

Isn't it cute! I don't own a red one either! Thank you Kim! Thank you Emily!

That is pretty much all for now. I hope you guys have a safe and happy weekend!

I am a damn mess.

2011-04-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

LOL... so, there is this website (Taaz.com) where you can input your picture and try different makeup and celeb styles. There are no natural hair people on there...and there are barley any black people.. so I made do with what I had. Here is the result. Try not to fall out your damn seat like I did.

This is the Beyonce *snort*

Zoe Saldana

Keri Hilson

I forget who this is

And this

Here I think I look like a combo of Star Jones and Snooki *dead*

If you try it out, let me know, I want to see your creations LMFAO

Bummer of a weekend

2011-04-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

For those that do not know, this weekend was my birthday. I am a generally excitable person, but you wouldn't have been able to tell by this weekend.

I have grown up always believing that birthdays were your special day. Everyone around you should put forth an effort to make you feel special. Well, I am not speaking to my mom or brother, so that was out, A lot of my friends, don't really live close and have their own lives and kids to take care of, so that left my husband.

We agreed that both of our birthday present money will be combined (his birthday is in June) and we will purchase a new bedroom set sometime soon. So I wasn't really expecting a present. But a card, or a cake? Is that too much trouble to ask?

We did go out to dinner. I've been swamped with schoolwork, and while I wanted to try to do flat twists in my hair the night before, I just didn't have the time. That day I just showered, fluffed out my afro, and clipped a flower to my headband as usual. I didn't even have time to put makeup on because we were running late for our reservation.

Fogo De Chao is the business people! If you haven't tried it, and you aren't vegan, please go! If you are vegan, it is more than likely your own personal hell, so I advise you stay away. It is pricey, so it is a special type thing. Jeff and I didn't even have a bottle of wine, and our bill was $100.

I just feel, empty inside. I didn't get a card, and though plenty of people wished me happy birthday on Facebook , I just feel like that is a quick generic thing that you don't have to put any thought into.

I decided to pamper myself yesterday since no one else was going to do it. I went and got a manicure and pedicure (first time in a LOOOONG time), and I got my eyebrows arched. I keep my nails really short because I work with a computer constantly, but they are frequently jagged and uneven, so this was nice. My poor toes though.. they were scary. I gave the woman a really good tip after she got done working with them. I haven't been to get my eyebrows arched in a while. I normally get them threaded when I do get them done because it is inexpensive. However, it is really painful for me, especially when they get to the end of the eyebrow for some reason. I feel like I am going to throw up from the pain. After they get done and show me, the hairless area is red and swollen. It goes down after a while, but I am always just dreading getting them done. Waxing is usually 10 dollars more than what I pay to get them threaded. However, the place that did them yesterday charges just the same as a threading, and they use wax. I will be going back to them perminately. The woman that did them was so cute, she was tiny and pregnant and is due in like 2 weeks.

After I got that done, I took a good look in the mirror at home. I realized that I have been depending on people to make me happy for so long, I forgot how to make myself happy. No more of that. I have decided to do what I need to do to make myself happy as long as it doesn't hurt anyone in the process.

Before I go, I wanted to share a song again with you guys. I am thinking of doing song of the week. It will force me to look at new music and maybe find some things I normally wouldn't listen to. The song of this week is "Valerie" By Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. I originally heard the song on Glee, and wanted to hear the orginal. I do enjoy the original more.

You can see the video for it here:

Yeah, I have no clue about the rap at the beginning. Kind of random, but whatever.

Big Chop Story Time!

2011-04-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

My friend Shannon, who I have mentioned in an entry previously here, has been transitioning for some time now.
Well, on Saturday I got a text (I got it much later than she sent it, as I am forever leaving my phone elsewhere) telling me she had finally big chopped! I was so excited for her. She shared some pics via the phone with me:

After hair wash

Before cutting

Both her and I were excited for the cut. She had been struggling with the texture of her hair (her hair is wavy, not curly) and quite a few of us (her friends) thought that maybe the relaxed hair was weighing down the natural hair. So imagine my surprise, when the next image is after the stylist got finished:

LOL

I was baffled.. and confused... and runamuck! LOL. I will let Shannon take it from here and tell her story.

Ok, this is what happened.

I woke up yesterday and I was like man, I'm going to go cut these ends off my hair now. So, I got dressed with my sister and was like I'll go w/ her to the Dominican shop. I then decided against it, because I was really wanting to go to an all natural shop. I figured they wouldn't know how to properly handle what I needed them to do to my hair.

I got back on here and messaged another person who's natural and has been for like two years now and told her about me going to the Dominican shop and she told me she had actually got her b/c done at a Dominican shop, so I was like cool. I'll give it a whirl. I went in and showed them my hair. I told them that I just wanted: a wash and a cut. I told them to just even my hair out and then I'll just go like that. I didn't want them to blow dry or anything. Not that I'm against blow drying. I blow dry my hair whenever I wash it.

So, they were like alright, and told me to sit down for my wash. I got my wash and waited some more. I finally got to the stylist who was going to cut my hair. I told her the same thing, to just cut it even. I wanted all of the straight ends off. She said alright, but I have to blow dry it. I was kind of skeptical because I had just spoken to my friend who specifically said they cut her hair wet when she went natural. But for me I was transitioning for a whole year, she had just went and did her b/c right away. I had a lot of hair at the time so I told her to go ahead and blow dry it.

Her blow dry was really a blow out. Which I REALLY didn't want. I was kind of upset actually. A big chop is supposed to be when you get your little afro. You're not walk out w/ a head full of straight hair lol. So, in that sense, I feel that my big chop was not traditional. I am not even sure if all of my relaxed ends are completely gone because my hair was straight when she cut it.

I did like my cut a lot. And my hair looks really healthy, but I did not like that I had a blow out during what I was looking to be as my big chop.

Poor Shannon. Was your big chop unusual? What would you do in her situation?

A flashback to high school. I am a stronger person now.

2011-04-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

I was an incredibly awkward teenager. I was (am) short, I was (am) fat, and I was (am) bookish. I played the clarinet, I read all the time, and you couldn't keep me from a computer. People tended to make fun of me as a result. A lot of the black girls in school made it their personal mission to make my life hell. I was miserable my freshman, sophmore, and junior year. By my senior year I had realized something. I was going places, and they would be stuck doing the same thing that they were always doing. This is pretty much true. Quite a few of them have not done a thing with their life. They are doing the same things they were doing while we were in high school, while I have moved on, stronger, wiser, and more confident in me. Sometimes though, niggling insecurities make their way back.

My husband and I had date night last night. We went and saw the Adjustment Bureau, and then went to eat at Scotty's Brewhouse. We were seated behind a group of black women with long straight hair down their backs. If you are on my Facebook page, you would know that I had two strand twisted my hair. I untwisted it, put in a headband and clipped in a flower. I felt cute.

I heard the ladies giggling and snickering behind me, but I didn't pay much attention. As we got up to leave I turned around to say something to the waitress, and they were looking at me. The three whose back was facing me while we were eating had craned their necks to see me. They were just gawking at me.. and possibly my hair, Not entirely sure. I flashed back to that moment back in high school where they were cruel and mocking me. I came back to the present, and I smiled and they turned back around immediately. I just walked out.

Indianapolis is not a huge mecca of culture. It's very conservative and it makes me sad. To be different, gets you looks.

The difference between the past and now? I don't care. You can snicker, and laugh and giggle, and talk about me behind my back. It shows how childish and immature you are. To show you can't accept differences in people, shows how cruel, small minded, and harsh you can be. You have taken someone's beauty standard, accepted it as law, and mock anything that is different. You are nothing to me. You were never anything to me. So why should I care? I don't care. I've grown up... and I love me.

Why natural hair works for me.

2011-03-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

Now that I am natural, it seems obvious to me that I should have gone natural YEARS ago. Relaxed hair never worked for me. My mom would take me to a hair shop every two weeks to get my hair done. Occasionally, the lady at the time (not my beloved Margie) would put French twists and the like, in my hair. Why would you put a French twist in an 11 year old tomboy's hair? That thing would last like 2 days, if that!

When I got older and sought out my own beautician, things became a bit better. Margie was great. She knew I was inept at hair care. She would give me a simple wrap. If I had some place to be for an extended period of time (like when I went to Europe) and she wouldn't see me she would braid my hair. See?

*Snort* Love this picture. Taken in London.

She was good to me. She was really nice and not condescending at all. I was (am) a book nerd with a word vomit problem, and she saw it as endearing.

But I moved.

I moved an hour away to be with my honey bunny. This wasn't gonna work. So I began my quest for a new beautician.

My mother's friends who live in Indianapolis gave me some leads. There was the one woman on the East side of town, who looked at me like i was psychotic because I brought in a scrapbook that had a picture of me of how I like my hair.

She used a curling iron. Margie never used a curling iron. She was awkward and standoffish, and it was one of those shops where a man comes in with a plastic garbage bag selling fake Gucci and bootleg dvd's. Uh, no.

Then there was the guy. The guy that told me my hair was a hot mess, cut off all my hair (AFTER I TOLD THIS MAN I COULD BARELY DEAL WITH MY EAR LENGTH HAIR, LET ALONE SHORT HAIR SHAVED IN THE BACK!!!), and when I asked him how I was supposed to deal with this nonsense, he told me to call him and make an appointment. This cost me $150 dollars for a relaxer and cut by the way. I just blinked.

A woman at work told me about her cousin. I decided to try one more time. If this did not work, I was going to shave my head, wear big hoop earrings, and mumble.

Cherilyn was (is) NICE. She is sweet, smart, and knowledgeable about her craft. I didn't feel uncomfortable, no one tried to sell me a bootleg dvd, and I just was happy.

Cherilyn was the catalyst for me going natural, and I hope she knows how thankful I truly am to her.

I am no longer scared to play in my own hair. I can actually do stuff with my own hair (when I am not lethargic), I am learning, and have learned, loads about my hair.

I will always be grateful to both Cherilyn and Margie. Both really sweet, down to earth people that helped me with what I needed hair-wise, when I needed it.

I have to do better!

2011-03-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

Because I am unemployed, and I don't leave the house ~~EVER~~ very often, my hair care gets tossed by the wayside. I'll go a week without detangling (which is death with my hair texture), I'll try to make sure there is moisture in my hair. But even that falls by the wayside as seen in these photos I took last night.

slothiness at its finest.

Don't know if you can tell from the photo, but my hair is a HOT MESS. It's dry, it's just ugh. When I do have to go out to go to the library or get ~~cupcakes to feed my addiction~~ groceries, luckily the weather in Indiana is freaking crazy. It got up to almost 70 at one point last week. Today though, it is supposed to snow. We won't talk about that though. It will make my eye twitch and start to water. Anyway, it is cold enough so that I can wear a hat. So I stuff said hot mess under a hat and go.

NO MORE I SAY!!!

After taking these pictures last night, I decided to get proactive (the action, not the skin system) again. Before I went to bed, I slathered on coconut oil as a pre-poo. That is a start.

While I am talking about pre-poo, I have a question for you that deep condition overnight. Do you wear the plastic baggie caps overnight!? I can't do it. the "crinkle crinkle" sound drives me batty. As well as the feel of it. I tried to do it last week. I put on that awful cap and put my satin cap over it. Just walking around with it on makes me shudder in revulsion. Look at this face!!

Plastic caps = this

If you are like me, and can't stand it, what do you do to deep condition your hair. I would love a hutiful hair steamer, but that is like a Christmas present or something. I can't just drop money like that. I'm unemployed. We are on a budget .

The house is a disaster and the dogs (two chihuahuas) are getting into fights, so I must dash now. But before I go, I wanted to show you some music that I have been digging on lately. It is a group called Ahmir, and they remake songs. I found them on Youtube initally, and quite frankly, you have to be damn good for me to purchase your music. They are damn good. Check em out.

Here is a little taste of them:

This features Traphik AKA Timothy Delaghetto.

Other Natural Hairs

2011-03-28T15:53:00.001-07:00

What are some of your favorite natural hair blogs? What are some of your favorite blogs period?

School, Accessories, and Hair Length.

2011-03-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

First off, a non-hair note: I had to go to school yesterday. I know that is an odd statement, seeing as how I am IN school, but 99% of my classes this semester are currently online. Let me back up a second. This semester I am at two schools. The majority of my classes are at IUPUI. All of these classes are online. I got lucky this semester with that. I hate physically going to class. Let us also not forget that I am a computer information technology major, which means I generally get stuck in classes that include only guys. Last semester I had a class of all girls, but it was an English course I needed for the technical communication certificate that want to get.

However, Math 153 and I have been having issue at IUPUI. I discovered that Ivy Tech has a comparable class. Plus it transfers over to IUPUI. So I am taking it there. I went to Ivy Tech for my associates degree, so I knew what to expect. It has been a bumpy ride over there. The administration is kind of horrible. But I just need this class and one more math class (which I plan to take online) and I am done there. FOREVER!!!

Anyway, I had to go up to IUPUI yesterday for a couple of reasons.

There is a job fair next week, and I want to go. However, I have only been to one job fair in my life. Said job fair was not hiring for IT positions. Boo. Plus, I didn't really know how to act or what to do at a job fair. This clarified a lot for me. Shout out to Laura Bernal in the Academic and Career development area of IUPUI for hosting that. Needed it!
I had an appointment with my academic advisor to get my classes set up for summer and fall semester. Shout out to Danny King who worked my schedule like a champ! He kind of looks like Bobby Flay...except Bobby Flay's eyes are like a washed out denim blue. Danny King's are bright blue. I digress

Anyway, come to find out, I GRADUATE MAY OF 2012!!! I am almost there people! Then we shall party like it is 1999. Or, if you were in my 9th grade French class, we shall party like it is mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf!!!!! I may go back for my masters one day. But for now, my bachelors IS IT!!!

So, my friend Melissa, has an Etsy shop located here. She is a crocheter (like me), but unlike me, she has put her talents to use. Recently she has learned how to make hair accessories, Like this cute crochet flower

She will add either an alligator clip or a barrette for you, making this the perfect hair accessory. Gotta love it! While she only has the one flower in her shop, she is making more, and if you message her, she can customize flowers for you. She also can make a rose, which shows you how much I know about flowers, as I thought this was a rose. She also does crocheted hair kerchiefs, and scrunchies, which I think would be really good to pineapple your hair with.Melissa can also crochet the flowers onto a headband! So stop by, say hi, and let her know I sent you!

Each day I am noticing more and more how much longer my hair is getting. It has been a long time coming. In November of last year when my hair got chopped it was SHORT.

My beautician put my hair in these cute little coils, She was trying so hard to make sure I didn't cry I think. I didn't do short hair. At all. Usually anytime anyone came near me to cut my hair, I cried.

Now, I am here:

Sorry they are of poor quality, they are off my phone.

I can't wait to see where my hair goes from here!

Hair Haul/Really?

2011-03-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show you all of the nifty things I got from the hair store around the corner yesterday. But before I could do that, I ran into this on facebook. Enjoy...

Do you know how hard I would laugh and stare at someone who was carrying this around?! Where would a man put it while he is out and about!?

Anyway. Onto my hair/accessory haul.

This has been an incredibly rough week for me. I have had a death in the family and a serious falling out with family members. I decided to treat myself a little bit. Since this shop is in the same plaza as my grocery store, it wasn't an extra trip.

These two sets of earrings did not actually come from the store. They came from Sarenzo's Beads. I have been ogling them for a while. The photo does not do them justice. They are huge! I love them and I can't wait to wear them. She also has a neat program. You buy 5 items (and you do not have to purchase them all at once) and you can get a 6th item free. I'm working on that LOL.

I'm a big believer in the fact that you can never have enough hoop earrings. I believe they set off my fro perfectly. While they are large, they are nowhere near as large as the Sarenzo earrings. Let me get a pic so you can see the difference.

This is the largest of the hoop earrings.

Fabulous yes?

The hair shop by me has really inexpensive flower accessories. I could do without the brown wavy things flailing about, but if it looks weird while it is on me, I can always clip them. You can see the price in the upper right hand corner. I usually clip these to a headband, not directly to my hair. I will show you why in a second.

I thought this was cute in theory. Now that I look at it more and more, it reminds me of the 80's. I will try and and see if I like it, if not, it was two bucks. I can always find another use for it.

These flowers always crack me up simply because whoever creates them wants to give you OPTIONS for wearing them. See?

In case you can't see to well, the back of the flower comes equipped with a hair tie, a pin (for clothing and whatnot), and an alligator clip.

Opening the alligator clip.

Finally, because I am a bit of a product junkie, I picked up:

Cantu Shea Butter Leave in Conditioning repair cream. I won't be using this for a little bit, as I am in the middle of a coconut oil challenge, and I want to leave my regimen as stable as I can for now to see if I progress in hair growth. Have you ever used this product? Tell me what you think.

That is about all for today, I hope you guys have a great weekend!

Hey Camilla! What do you think about my new items girl?

You deserve 'em mommy! Can I have a treat?

Death.

2011-03-16T09:19:00.001-07:00

There has been a death in my family. I will return to write in a couple of weeks.

First day of the challenge.

2011-03-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

Last night I did not pre-poo. I just didn't have time. I have been kind of running ragged making sure the house is in decent condition for my dad. It is, with the exception of my desk. My desk looks like a bomb blew up on it. That won't be helped until after the semester is over.

Today though I pre-poo'd/ deep conditioned my hair using coconut oil, and put one of those plastic baggie hair things over my head. I have hated those things since I was a kid. They irritate me badly. But I kept it on for a couple hours as I did homework, answered e-mails and did laundry. I forgot my husband told me that the people were coming over to clean the gutters and I actually answered the door in that thing. Poor guy.

I showed and conditioned as I usually do, and took a little bit of time to detangle my hair.

Now? My hair feels really soft. It felt softer than it normally does after I get out of the shower. Maybe there is something to this after all.

Flat twists and coconut oil.

2011-03-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

Since my gel problem has been solved, I needed to find a hair style that I wanted to try. I keep flashing back to my relaxed hair days and my unruly attempts as styling my own hair. I can't wield a curling iron if my life depending on it. I always got this really weird dent in the end of my hair. I never really had any creativity as far as styling my relaxed hair.

Because of this, I am leery of trying anything over the top or over dramatic with my hair to start out with. I think my first order of business is going to be doing flat twists in the front of my head. I will take pics and show you how everything goes. If I end up doing it well, I will make a youtube video of it.That is kind of where I learned the technique, but all the videos I went to were really low quality. I have decent camera equipment here, so maybe I can do a better one.

In other hair related news, I have decided to join the Coconut Oil Challenge over at Hairlista's Inc. I am incredibly late to the party (it started in November of last year) But it can't hurt. The rules are simple(taken from the site):

-Deep condition or prepoo with EVCO at least 2x a wk. You can do this however it works for you, you can condition w/ heat or w/out before you wash, you can do a hot oil treatment and keep it in overnight, you can also use the plastic cap and steam effect overnight with this if you'd like.

-Moisturize with your moisturizer of choice and seal with EVCO nightly or however often your hair desires it.

-After washing hair use EVCO as a leave in** Caution- use just enough to lightly cover hair, becareful not to use too much, maybe a dime size amount**

I can do that, easy peasy.I already use coconut oil as a prepoo. I think I am going to go ahead and start tonight. If you end up joining the challenge, please let me know! We can be friends on Hairlista. I don't know much about the site, I am slowly exploring it.

You guys have a great evening!

Feeling accomplished this morning.

2011-03-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hey guys.

I hope your weekend was stellar. Mine started out with the intent to pamper myself, but I just didn't get the time. If you follow me on twitter (@mrsckugs) I had pre-pooed my natural hair with coconut oil, and I was going to deep condition, detangle and attempt to style my hair. None of that came to pass really. I was just too busy. I had school work, my dad is coming for a visit, so I had to get the craft room presentable so that he had some where to stay.

In hair news, something kind of exciting is happening in Indianapolis! They are having a natural hair workshop! Here is the link for the information: http://indianapolisnaturalhair.eventbrite.com/
One thing I am not keen on is the price. I will probably go, but 35 dollars seems a bit steep. That is probably just me though. Any of you that have attended these workshops before, please let me know if it is all in my mind. A twitter friend of mine and I were talking about attending together. And we once again grumbled together about the price.

Something that both my husband and I noticed the other day. When I got out the shower, with my dripping wet hair, he gaffawed and told me I am the proud owner of a mullet. Not cool dude.

You can't really see it well, but you get the point.

The longer my hair gets, the more mullited (yeah i made that up) it looks. But it only looks like that after I have gotten out of the shower. Once it has been styled, you can't really tell, but it bothers me just a tiny bit.

In other news, I finally have Gel! I met a friend at Justice to get my ~~crack~~ Girl Scout Cookies and right next door is a Sally's beauty supply. They were having a sale on Eco Styler Gel. So I got the one with Olive oil in it. Now I need to find a cute hair style that I want to do.. and possibly some time in which to do that hair style.

This was the fun part of my day. Now I must go and work on Math, as I have a test tonight, and it is making me want to bang my head against a wall. A WALL PEOPLE!!! I hope you are having a great day and a great hair day!

Too cute for school!

2011-03-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

The YMCA Indianapolis was holding a contest on Facebook. Winner received tickets to the Indianapolis home show. I won. I get excited about simple things like that, so I made my husband take a pic of me. It turned out pretty good and my hair was adorable!

My boobs look super pointy. Instead of my normal Lane Bryan Cacique bra, I was trying out a Just My Size Bra. It's comfy, but pointy boobs are a no no.

We had fun, saw a lot of things we couldn't afford. I would like to say something I have noticed. When I was in Wisconsin, we had a couple hours of layover in Chicago. Every other person I would see had natural hair. It was amazing! I loved it!

Here in Indianapolis, not so much. That makes me sad.

Love your hair, love yourself!

In other news, I have outgrown my favorite spring/summertime dress. I love this dress. I got it on ebay. I looked at the tag and contacted who I think are the creators of this dress, in the hopes that I can get like 5 of them. I will keep them in the back of my closet, and have to deem which events I consider dress-worthy. Kind of like Elaine on Seinfield when her sponges weren't going to be made anymore.

Love this dress. LOVE IT!!

I need some Gel!

2011-03-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

I want to attempt some cute styles, and I realized something.. I do not own any gel! What gel do you use for your hair? where do you purchase it?

Haven't been writing much- Negative Imagery in fictional books.

2011-02-24T08:10:00.000-08:00

I am a busy bee let me tell you. School is kicking my tail end. Next semester remind me not to take 5 classes. Want to see what I have been working on? This is part of my database homework:

Yeah boyyyeeee! Database city! You don't have to understand it. Just as long as my teacher does (that in my incoherent babblings) we will be okay.

I wanted to talk to you guys today about something that kind of seriously bothered me. Negative imagery of natural hair in books.

Now, I know there are a lot of books out there that show us and tell us how to embrace our hair. Case and point:

And this is fine and dandy, this is great! But what about, every day books? Books you just happen to pick up and read for fun.

Lately I've been on a Vampire/Zombie kick. Don't judge me. I enjoy the books. There is a series currently out called "House of Night" I started reading them a couple of years ago. They are by a mom and daughter writing duo named PC and Kristin Cast. Here is a photo:

Picture from Here

I happened to pick up the first book in the series yesterday for a re-read. It is called Marked. When I read this before, I wasn't on my natural hair journey, so I wasn't as sensitive to the imagery. Here are some passages:

I was just getting ready to ask for more of an explanation when a girl rushed up and, with a big huff, slid herself and her tray into the booth beside Stevie Rae. She was the color of cappuccino (the kind you get from real coffee shops and not the nasty, too-sweet stuff you get from Quick Trip) and all curvy with pouty lips and high cheekbones that made her look like an African princess. She also had some seriously good hair. It was thick and fell in dark, glossy waves around her shoulders.

For the record, I would like to say that the main character in this book is a Caucasian, female, age 16. I have never heard a Caucasian female use the term "good hair." It is sort of a derogatory term that African Americans have seemed to coin. Hmmm.. Let's check out another passage shall we?

Two girls were standing behind her, dressed in much the same way. One was black, with impossibly long hair (must be a really good weave).

So in the first couple chapters of the book, you learn that all vampires have long hair. It's one of the things that they do; their hair just grows impossibly long. Why does hers, have to be a weave?
I could go on and on about this, there is a passage in the book about someone having hair that looks like "It never has the nerve to nap up."

It makes me tired, and it makes me sad. What about you? What could be done to combat this imagery?

Winners!!!

2011-02-16T18:13:00.000-08:00

Hurrah for winners! The first one listed wins the hair accessory from Sarenzo's Beads, The other two win Satin Pillowcases. You ready!?

Can you read that? I am so sorry it is so tiny. # 3 said:

OMG, the Niome earrings are to die for!!! Which ones would be your favorite?
Tina

February 7, 2011 3:20 PM

Tina, my favorite thing on her site is... well, it is a tossup. Between the Natural Quest Earrings and the Lola earrings. I WANT THEM BOTH!! ARUGH!!!!

Congrats Tina on winning the hair accessory!

#2 said:

I love those Green feather earrings!

February 7, 2011 7:25 AM

#1 says

Wow! Lots of pretty things, but those Kadira Earrings are just doin' it for me!

February 4, 2011 7:14 PM

Congrats to everyone that entered. If you guys will send me your postal information to leslie2103@gmail.com, I will go ahead and get that stuff sent out this week!

Contest Update

2011-02-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! I have not forgotten about the contest! I just got back from a business trip. Busy busy busy! I will be drawing entries later tonight and posting winners tomorrow!!

Pretty Natural Hair Artwork.

2011-02-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

By Pepi Gonzales

Too cute!

I am out and about!

2011-02-11T11:27:00.000-08:00

Hello From Wisconsin!

It can't be heat damage.... could it?

2011-02-07T06:08:00.000-08:00

Don't forget I have a contest going on!

My hair at the base back of my head is really REALLY weird. It's straight. No curl at all. Not even a little bit. Furthermore, it is a kinky straight. When i say that, i mean that it doesn't hang limply. It kind of looks like it wants to curl, but it won't.

It is not a huge deal, because you rarely see it, but I have heard of women having "heat trained" hair. Which is just, heat damage in my opinion. So I am wondering if this is the case. I have not used a blow dryer, curling iron, etc, in well over a year. Any thoughts you may have on this, I would love to hear.

Stuck in the ice

2011-02-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

For those of you that do not know, I live in Indiana. We had a bit *cough* of a winter ice storm. It has left me, my husband, and even my dogs completely lethargic.

I poked her with a stick after taking this shot. She grunted and rolled over

I have had the same twists in my hair for a while now, and while watching Battlestar Galactica, I took them down. The plan was to hop in the shower, co-wash my hair, moisturize and retwist my hair. I got it untwisted...then old man lethargy set in.

I haven't done a thing to my hair in two days. It is driving me nuts, but i cant seem to, get up and go. Today is the first normal day I have had. The hubs is gone, the dogs are fighting, and I am in front of the computer ~~working on programming homework~~ writing this entry. I will get the hair done. I WILL FIGHT OLD MAN LETHARGY WITH A STICK, A TANGLE TEEZER, AND MY LIFE!!!

In addition to the contest that I have going on, Naturally Curly is having a 14 day Curl Love giveaway. Check it out!

Contest here! Yay!

2011-02-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

Finally! Are you excited?

The top prize winner wins the headband/hair accessory that I showcased in this video from Sarenzo's Beads!

Cute!

Two additional winners will recieve a satin pillow case.

The Rules:

Very simple really. Head over to Sarenzo's Beads and look around. Tell me in a comment below what you would love to own from her collection.

That's it!
One entry per person.

Winner will be announced 2/12/2011.
The first person I draw wins the accessory, the next two win the pillow cases!

Good luck!

They are getting better.

2011-01-31T07:37:00.000-08:00

My two strand twists are getting better. They are getting to the point where I would wear them outside without a hat. They looked better last night when I was doing them while watching Battlestar Galactica ( We are on season 2.5.. don't tell me ANYTHING). I have slept on them since then, and for some reason, I always get a couple of wonky twists after sleeping.

Awwww...

You see the one to the left? The one that is doing the little Schemer half curl (if you have never watched Thomas the Tank Engine with George Carlin, you may not get that)? Those drive me crazy!

This is just me pulling down on them to show you how long they are.

My hair is getting longer people! Not as fast as I might like, but it is getting longer. The back of my hair is shoulder length. The entire time I was relaxed, my hair was NEVER shoulder length. I couldn't take care of relaxed hair. I wouldn't go get relaxers when it was time. My hair would ALWAYS break off. My hair, on a good month/year would hit earlobe length.

I really really want enough hair to do a bun. Who knows, maybe if I stretch out my hair, I might have enough hair to do a bun. I don't know. I will have to check out some youtube vids on it. Do you guys have any bun tutorial reccommendations?

Stay tuned this week, I will be having a giveaway for a beautiful hair time from Sarenzo's Beads, and a couple of other goodies!

A rough couple of weeks.

2011-01-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

Hey guys.

The past two weeks have been absolute HELL. Filled with school work and more school work. I am weary, the house is a wreck and my writing has slacked. I apologize.

Because of the weather and snow outside, I have pretty much been wearing my hair in two strand twists under a beret. It is really cute. I really like how it looks. I pop in either some dangly earrings or some hoop earrings and VOILA! Instant style.

I was watching some older videos and ran across this long forgotten Musiq Soulchild video:

I just want to say, I LOVE the main girl's hair style. Does anyone know what that is called? *jealous*

In more annoying news, just today I posted this on both my Facebook page, and The Tale of Going Natural Facebook page:

The comment that I put to it was this: "Let's start this weekend off right, shall we?"
Shortly after I posted it to my personal Facebook page. I get a comment from a girl I went to high school with:

I am not my hair? Really? Jeez. My favorite part is when Akon states '...the sex only come when I cut it all off.' Obviously, these artists have nothing more important to say. This is sad, and it really goes to show how superficial, ego-centric, and avoidant popular culture is. :(

I just looked at the comment. How can someone be so blind, or stupid? I responded with:

In black culture, we are often told that unless our hair is straighened, you have nappy, knotty slave hair. We tend to be a culture obsessed with our hair. The African American hair industry is a booming business. What she is stating in this video is that we do need to worry less about our hair, and more about the person within. It's not a sad ego-centric video. It's attempting to bring a positive message to an issue a lot of black women (and men) deal with.

I don't know if it is Facebook messing up, or if she deleted the comment, but sometimes you can see her comment now, sometimes you can't. A lot of her posts are pretty much retarded, and I am seriously considering deleting her from my list. It isn't like we talk. We didn't even really talk in high school. She was weird then too.

She just responded again, but I am not even going to waste my time on it. *bangs head on the table*

A lot of time has been spent on twitter when I am on the computer researching or writing or programming. Can I just say that I love the natural hair hashtag (#naturalhair). It is a great group of people with different videos, ideas, advice, and questions. Sometimes it does get a little militant on there with the natural hair v. relaxed hair, but for the most part, they are pretty cool.

I still have not henna glossed my hair. I am really too busy right now and I am not entirely sure what type of conditioner I can use to mix it up. The instructions say to use a no protein conditioner. Well....other than the back of the bottle saying protein, I have no clue what other words are considered protein. If anyone has any ideas on that, please, do not hesitate to let me know.

In between times that I take my hair out of the twists, co-wash and then re-twist them, they get dry. Another girl on twitter was having this same issue and didn't know what to do. My solution is inexpensive and easy. put olive oil and warm water (who wants cold water?) in a spray bottle and shake. Mist it lightly over your head. I don't have any measurements, I am sorry, but generally speaking I do equal parts of each. When I am in the shower, I bring the spray bottle in there with me, and let the hot water run all over it, heating the cold water up (I put enough for more than one application in a spray bottle so it will cool down after a few minutes or so). Two things I can't stand: Water running down the back of my neck (which is weird because I love to swim) and cold water running down the back of my neck. Warm water is the lesser of the two evils.

Okay, so that is enough babbling for right now. My goals today are to clean the house and get back to programming, database design, and math (my arch enemy).

Oh! One more thing. Book Recommendation of the day:

Have a great weekend guys!

Some things to do.

2011-01-21T06:25:00.000-08:00

So.. School has started back like I said. IT IS KICKING ME IN THE HIND QUARTERS.
I am tired all the time, I have no focus, and I just ran out of clean underwear.
Damnit.

So, while I am working on some things, I have a website for your to check out!

YAY websites!

While i am studying, I am usually on the twitter. Occasionally you can find my witty comments on the #naturalhair hashtag on twitter. While I was there, this woman was advertising her amazing website.

http://www.lolasgreenhair.com/

Are you a product junkie that has partially used bottles of product lying around knowing you arent going to use it?
You can use this site to trade or sell it.
I thought this was pretty cool.
Check it out!

She is also a pretty funny blogger. Read about her and her husband "folding the laundry" here

Just did not have the time

2011-01-12T12:51:00.000-08:00

While I said I did not have the time to write a blog, honestly, with all the time it took to process this video on youtube, I could have probably written a blog. Any way, here it is, in all of its glory. Please comment, rate, or review or all of the above!

The first day back.

2011-01-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

Today is my first day back to school from winter vacation. I miss winter vacation already. Is that sad?

I want to thank everyone that commented on my last entry . It has been rough going over here. I know that i desparately need to protective style my hair. After I get done with this entry, I am going to go ahead and bust out the two strand twists. I am so sick of my hair feeling this way. This weekend I plan on doing a henna gloss that Tasha from Belle Butters uses. You can see her youtube video of it here. I actually have some time today before class (I have one class in the evening from 6-8:50; the rest of my classes are online), so I may actually lovingly part my hair and be precise with the twists. Have any of you ever added hair to your two strand twists? I thought about doing that. I thought that might be cute. If you have any tips, ideas, or thoughts on it, let me know.

In other hair news, I have been using a tangle teezer. I have seen a lot of the vlogs on youtube talking about it, and decided to get my hands on one. I will be doing a review about it this week.

I hope everyone is staying warm and keeping some love on your hair!

It just isn't feeling right.

2011-01-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

My hair that is. For the past couple of days, it has looked stringy, felt itchy, and just.. it hasn't been in a good place.

I wondered if I had a lot of buildup by chance. I hadn't shampoo'd my hair in a long while. I usually just co-wash.

Last night I washed using Skala shampoo, and conditioned using my normal Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. I left the conditioner on there whilst I showered up. I rinsed my hair, dried it (just enough so that it wasn't dripping everywhere), detangled using my new Tangle Teezer (that will be another entry for another day), and applied my usual Belle Butters Matcha Green Tea whipped shea butter. I woke up this morning and my hair feels and looks better, but it is not up to it's normal feel. I think it might be the winter taking it's toll on my head. I might try a hot oil treatment this weekend. I also still have that box of henna in my bathroom. I have been kind of scared to do the henna treatment because I am a messy person and I do not want to get henna all over my bathroom.

I'll update you on monday! Have a great weekend.

Cap v Pillowcase v Scarf...what say you?

2011-01-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

Relaxed or Natural, one thing we all have in common is protecting our hair while we are sleeping.

From the time I was little, I always had a scarf. As I have gotten older, I prefer a cap. It stays on better in my sleep.

One thing that is not a real option for me, is a satin pillowcase. I understand the logic behind it. However, I have sleep apnea. I have a breathing machine. In order to wear the machine I have two straps that go around the back of my head. It just seems prudent to me to have a layer of protection in between the straps and my hair. I have used a satin pillow case in the past before I was diagnosed, and it worked just fine for me.

My question to you.. what do you prefer? Do you have some other thing that I did not mention? How did you choose what you wear?

Happy New Years Everyone!

2011-01-03T06:23:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a better holiday season than I did. Christmas ended up being okay, as I did not get sick until a day or two after Christmas. I was a hot mess. Eventually that cleared up, and I thought I was okay. Not so much. Right now I am still battling a wicked cold and the weirdest sore throat I have ever had in my life. During the day it is very mild. I keep having to clear my throat, no big right? Well around 5 pm, my right tonsil starts to swell, and it is incredibly painful. i have to pop two ibuprofin and suck on a couple of popsicles. Nuts!

You know how you get sick, and then shortly after taking a shower, you feel as if you can take on the world? That was me yesterday.

Isn't my turbie twist fabulous!? While sick, I found this etsy website by a woman called swarthy daisy. She was taking her business offline, so everything was 25% off. I got a ton of natural hair items, clips, combs, that wonderful turbie twist, and a t-shirt! Let me show you a pic

Darling isn it? I won't look like that on me, as I am *cough* a chubbikin.

She is no longer in business online, but here is a link to her blog.

In other news, I am sure most of you by now have seen this video:

The girl who made it is totally ADORABLE. I just want to pinch her cheeks! She isn't a one trick pony either. She has a page on Facebook called Shrink, Grow, and Learn where she talks about natural hair and showcases her other videos. Check her out!

In another twist, yesterday was Natural Hair day on twitter. I found this on CharyJay's (Shrink Grow and Learn) Facebook page. I thought it was interesting. The girl had a point.

Alright, I have to get dressed, get the dogs out, and get my desk cleaned up. I have one more week before school starts. and I want my desk cleared up so I have some place to actually work. LOL. Oh! So, my natural hair anniversary was some time in November. I had been working on a video, but I needed to set up my camera to capture the last part. I couldn't get the angle right with my little camera. I finally am going to have a working webcam with a mic here soon, so I will be able to finish that up (two months late).

Sick as a dog

2010-12-28T13:08:00.001-08:00

I am typing this from my phone. Not feeling too well lovlies, I have the flu. I will resume blogging as soon as I am moble again.

Miss Jessie's Sale

2010-12-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

I am not a huge fan of Miss Jessie's products, but this is a natural hair blog, and I would be woefully ignorant if I didn't let you guys know that Miss Jessie's is having a buy one get one free sale on her site.

Check it out here

Winterizing your Routine

2010-12-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

So, how about the weather eh? I. Hate. Snow. Being from Indiana, this is a slight problem, as it snows quite a bit. For example, this was the view outside our garage Sunday afternoon:

This is my reaction to the view outside my garage:

Not happy to say the very least.

In the winter you winterize your house and you winterize your car. You also need to make sure you winterize your hair routine.

When I say winterize, i mean take a few minutes and a few extra steps to avoid unnecessary damage to your hair.

Wear a satin or silk scarf under your winter hat.

Acrylic and wool are two fabrics that can pull and break off hair. By putting a satin scarf on your head mitigates or entirely gets rid of that risk.

2. Moisturize Moisturize Moisturize!

Basically put, winter suck the life and moisture out of your hair. If you are used to wearing lighter leave-in conditioners and thin oils, you may want to bust out the big guns and invest in some shea butter. I personally like Belle Butters, as she has nifty smelling scents (like pumpkin pie! mmm) and the shea butter is whipped and easily spread on the hair. I also like Pooka Pure and Simple. I did a review on them this week and you can read that here.

3. Protective Styles

In this climate, wash-n-gos are not the best option for me. My hair takes forever to dry and going out with it wet just isn't smart. Wet hair can freeze, and it can break off. Protective styles to the rescue! I co-wash my hair at night and twist it. I then proceed to wear the twists. I have a few things to say about this though. I am unemployed *sigh*. So when I go out, I go out to run errands and do things like that. This means my winter hat can stay on my head the entire time I am out. My twists are haphazard and unattractive. Don't believe me?

I would like to reiterate that I do not have a bald spot at all. I have lots of hair. It is just the way the twists ended up that make me look like that

gangstas paradise bitches!

Yeah, so no, I don't wear these where anyone can see them. But they protect my hair so I wear them. One day I will have the patience to sit there, and carefully part my hair and lovingly place twist in. Today ain't that day. But I know under my satin scarf and my hat, my hair is well protected.

That is all the tips I have for right now. What do you do to protect your hair?

Product Review: Pooka Pure and Simple Shea and Olive Hair Butter

2010-12-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

Editors note: While this review is all of my own and my beliefs about the product, Pooka was nice enough to send me a sample of their product.

So, when my sample of Pooka Pure and Simple came in the mail, the mailman actually delivered it to my door. Our mailman is kind of lazy and will cram any package he can into the mailbox, so he doesn't have to get out of his truck, so this was a surprise.

Turns out, it wasn't because he was being nice. We have three cars. Two are kept in the garage. One is on the outside of the garage. We live in a cul de sac, and don't have the room to park that other car out on the side or anything. So that it is easy for Jeff to get out of the driveway, we park the other car at the tail end of the driveway. The bumper juts out into the cul de sac just a touch. Well, it sort of interfered with the mailman getting by and he wanted to know why it was parked like that. I explained it to him and just looked at me like i was stupid. Lazy Mailman.

Anyway, he handed me my package, and the first thing I noticed was the package had a scent. The package itself smelled.. wonderful. It was floral and uplifting and I just wanted to sit there and sniff my package. I opened it up and there were fake flower petals in it, which were delivering the scent. The actual box sat on the ledge near the door for a couple of weeks, so the air was scented. I loved it! I found that the Pooka Girls had sent me this:

Before I talk about the product, lets talk a little about Pooka Pure and Simple. Pooka was an interesting name, and I was tickled pink to find out it was a family nick name!

(From the website)

The name Pooka actually came from my mom.
She always calls her children her “Pookalitas”
(We still haven’t figured out why or what it meant but it was definitely a term of endearment!)

When thinking of a name for the company, that was the first thing that came to mind. Pookalitas was a little too long for the labels, so we just shortened it a bit and came up with....POOKA!

The story of the Pookalitas itself is interesting. It sort of comes from the old adage "necessity is the mother of invention."

With Dawn Fitch, founder and creator– POOKA became a lifelong pursuit when she became mysteriously ill. After numerous visits to doctors and specialists and no sound diagnosis she began to explore alternative therapies, it was here her interest in aromatherapy and its healing and relaxing attributes was born.

She began reading the ingredients of EVERYTHING and became painfully aware of just how much of what we consume is saturated with unhealthy, unnatural ingredients. In an effort to combat illness and stress and the realization that so much of what goes into the body is not good for you, she changed her entire health regime.

Combining her love for aromatherapy and the need to take better care of herself inside and out she began creating her own bath and body products. Just for fun, she took a few of her hand made products to sell at a local festival and sold out! The response was tremendous. That’s when the realization hit that she had an incredible business idea and Pooka was born!

She knew she couldn’t achieve her Pooka dream alone so she enlisted the help of those closest and dearest to her. Together she and her girlfriends formed Pooka Pure & Simple and today the 4 Pookalitas manage every aspect of Pooka from sales and marketing to finance.

With all this in mind I started testing the product. The first thing I always check for is the smell. I LOVE the smell of this. It kind of smells woodsy. Kind of like a pine tree to me. My husband however, did not like it. He can kick rocks though, I enjoyed it.

One of the main problems I have with Shea Butter products is the spreadability (I know, it is not a word, deal with it! lol). It seems as if you are sitting there for hours trying to melt the product in your hands unless it is whipped. Pooka's product is spreadable right out of the jar. I wonder if it because of the additional oils added.

It goes on easy and is well absorbed into my hair. My hair feels thoroughly moisturized with it in. This is a product that I do have to apply daily, but I am okay with that. It is thick enough to be used in twists, twistouts, and any other styles that require major moisture. I would recommend Pooka Shea and Olive butter as a great heavy duty moisturizer.

The ingredients are (listed most to least): Shea butter, olive oil, rosemary oil, and lavender oil.

This product can also be used as a moisturizer for your body. I did try it as a moisturizer, but my husband complained about the scent again. So I had to cease and desist on the body moisturizing.

Helping out a friend.

2010-12-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. This, is my friend Shannon

(I had to put a pic on here with her drinking pepsi! LOL)

Shannon is a transitioning natural. She usually wears sew-ins or braids. She has straightened her hair twice in 9 months. The other day she got bold and decided to attempt a twistout. Something didn't go according to plan.

In Shannon's own words:

"My hair was damp, I used water and a conditioner mix with the TCB Naturals hair and scalp conditioner."

This was the result of the twistout:

How she ended up wearing it:

And this is how her hair turned out looking by the time she made it to work:

Yeah, wow.

Shannon and I both took a good look at her hair (well, as good of a look as I can take from pics..she lives in NY, I am in Indiana) and her curl pattern when she is natural is slight. She is more wavy than anything. So, I am asking you my Naturalistas, to help a sista out! What can Shannon do to produce a better twistout? This is the TCB Product she used. I know nothing about this. Do you think it is the way she twisted? Is it the products? Do twistouts not work well on wavy hair? Let us know!

I'm a bum, feel free to flog me.

2010-12-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

Susan Boyle has more class than me..

I've left you guys hanging, and I am sorry. This is a really insane time of year right now. I just finished off an 11 page paper for school. It is a beauty. It is my personal ethics action plan. I have a test tonight and then I am done with the semester! YAY! 3 more semesters (approx) to go!

I'll be back next week with a review of products from Pooka Pure and Simple , a friend's hair crisis (I hope you guys can help, because I have no clue.), and just random goodies from me! I hope the holiday season is treating you well, love all your family! At least the family you love anyway.

Manly Grooming!

2010-11-29T17:18:00.000-08:00

Take it from me is having a contest for a man groomer! The perfect stocking stuffer! YAY! Check it out

Bad Day, Cute Kid

2010-11-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

You have had one of those days. Oh yeah, You don't feel good, your hair is shrinking, and you are just tired. Your back hurts, your head hurts, and you have errands to run. You feel fat, you look fat, and just ugh.

That was my day on Sunday. The bright spot? A bit of cuteness that I call my niece

The Tale of Going Natural

Social 46

The Trouble with Tights.

Naturally Me? Sometimes I don't want to be...

Best choices for us.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Oh, that turkey did a number on me.

What Not to do with your hair!!!

Just a little funny

Bun-ba-bunnn-bunnn.....

End of the world.. what do you take?

Thoughts on Self-Esteem

What is going on?!

Finally!

Protective Styles R Us

I seriously think they are trying to kill me.

Hair Don’t

Hair Care Organization.

Product Review- Honey and Oats Shampoo Bar

A semi-fight on the Twitter

Where have you been!?

Hair styling attempt

Of Wigs and Cancer.

Omega Man

Summer Switch up.

Protective styling in this heat.

Earring Haul

Excitement abounds!

Hair Typing = Confusing.

Happy Friday!

Want to get started making your own earrings?

Fros on the 4th/Checking in

Henna- My experience

Of Dry hair and henna

Flat Feet and Chub Rub

Hair on a trip.

Vidal ain’t got nothing on him.

From the bottom of my heart.

Please don’t mess with me in the morning.

So, not the greatest idea for myself. At all..

Product Review- Kyah Alexandria Shampoo & Shower Bar.

Goals, it is good to have them.

Accepting yourself completely

Clearing things up.

Lethargy does not become me.

Job interview Style

It's that time again.

Indianapolis Bloggers

What hurts the most

Awkward Hair Growth.

Product Review- Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning cream

It feels like summer! Whip your hair back and forth!

It's OVER!!!!

May the 4th be with you.

The one in which a person with special needs screamed at me.

Help a natural girl out!

Fabulosity at its finest!

Me Time!

KimmayTube Leave in Conditioner

Natural Hair, Naturally Healthy?

Awards For Me!!!

Accessorizing My Natural Hair *haul, kinda*

I am a damn mess.

Bummer of a weekend

Big Chop Story Time!

A flashback to high school. I am a stronger person now.

Why natural hair works for me.

I have to do better!

Other Natural Hairs

School, Accessories, and Hair Length.

Hair Haul/Really?

Death.

First day of the challenge.

Flat twists and coconut oil.

Feeling accomplished this morning.

Too cute for school!

I need some Gel!

Haven't been writing much- Negative Imagery in fictional books.

Winners!!!

Contest Update

Accessorizing My Natural Hair haul, kinda