The cutest headbands

I made more headbands today, not to toot my own horn, but they turned out way cute! The girls love when I make things for them and I love making things for them. God knew what he was doing when he gave me girls :)
Check out the pics...

So Much To Say So Little Time

1. I have officially started couponing, I wish I would have started this a long time ago, now it is really necessary.  I take my lunch to work faithfully everyday, school cafeteria ain't always great, my big girl takes her lunch everyday except taco day cause she does not like the food at all.  Now that my baby girl is going to kindergarten (finally) she will taking her lunch and she likes to eat so I need to make sure she gets enough to make it through the day.  Not to mention my hubby who needs food...I could go on and on about food but you get the point.
So yesterday I got my coupons and hit the street trying out my new found love.  I started at 10:00 am getting my couponing on, first was CVS for my BOGO  box of cereal and Old El Paso Tortilla Stuffers that was for dinner tonight and quite good.  They were on sale for $1.99 and I had a $1 off coupons so I grabbed a few of those. My Baby Girl enjoyed two tortillas.

Next was Walgreens and then Dollar General with the coupons cause they both had some awesome deals too. Okay so now it is 11:30am and I am headed back home to get my list together and the rest of my coupons and print some more and then head off to Kroger's...to make a long story short I spent most of my day shopping for the home finally finishing by 4:30. It wouldn't have taken so long it I would not have been searching the web for more coupons, next time I will make sure to have all this ready before hand, I am learning, regardless I did really well yesterday. If the people on TLC can do it I know I can.
Truthfully, we spend $130 every one and a half to two weeks and that is only on food, if I include household necessities that price would be more so as you can see I need to do something and fast.  Surely as time goes by I will get better and better, wish me luck.

2. I finally had the chance to wash hair, I know I just washed Saturday but last night I noticed my hair was feeling a little uuugghhh.  So guess what I dd? I whipped out the As I Am  Coconut Cowash and got to work.  I washed my hair in the twists that were already in and just retwisted afterwards using the Kimmay leave in (sorry ya'll, that stuff is just great in my hair and leaves it super soft).

On to the Cowash:  I love the cowash and the smell of it.  The texture was like any normal conditioner but the smell was amazing, not flowery but more fruity, delicious.  After rinsing my hair was so soft and still so very moisturized I was very surprised, I have to say I liked it better than my Tresemme Naturals which is the only conditioner I have been using for a while, I was really sad that the sample was all gone :(. My hair responded well to this product, definitely something that I would will be buying in the near futere, like when school starts back and I get a paycheck...
If I had 5 thumbs I would give that many thumbs up for this first time use.
Has anybody else had amazing results with this product?

Hair Yesterday/ Expo Coverage

Hey all, two quick things.
1. I am so excited to say that I will be covering the  Tennessee Natural Hair and Wellness Expo coming to Memphis on next month. I am soooo excited about this event, surely this will get some products rolling in and through here. So make sure you stay tuned...can't wait to see who and what will be there and all the Beautiful Natural who will be attending.
2. Just a quick pic of my hair after the small cut on Sunday, I love this so much better.

Late Night Hair(Trim)

Trim? Cut? You tell me...
I have been getting a little bored with my hair lately and have been wanting a hair cut of some sort.  While working in my hair last night I was feeling the frustration, lol, and had a party to go to last night. But I did not succumb to it, I put my hair in about ten plaits added a knitted cap and a flower and kept going.
On to my point.
I have mentioned before that the back patch of my hair is a 3 something and can literally hang with the best of them, the rest of my hair is 4B all the way(if your in to that). It is irritating to me cause when I do a style that section just stretches and makes its presence known, often I just wish that part was 4B like the rest. So today I had hubby cut that back section off, I have done this before and of course it just grew back as you can see in the pic below.

  

This is my hair good and wet Monday,

 the rest is shrunken up

and that back section is hanging around...

 

This is the small amount cut...

                                                       Before                              After

Can you see the difference? I like this shape better :)

This is the back view, I think this makes 

my hair look alot fuller.  We'll see what it 

looks like in the morning, if I need

to cut more I will.

By the way, the style today was a braid out using products that I make for myself, unfortunately Memphis' famous humidity got to it but that's ok, I was loving the fluffiness. I pre pooed with Vatika oil then shampooed with my African Black soap peppermint shampoo I make for me and my family.  For the braids I used my homemade moisturizing shea butter pomade and my homemade whipped mango butter, oh and a little bit of flaxseed gel. I loved this out style even more after the cut...Tonight I rebraided with Shea Moisture Smoothie and the mango butter.

I haven't used the As I Am yet cause like I said before that package came after all this was done, I don't plan on washing my hair soon since there is no need and I will be out of town this weekend, I hope to have some kind of review after the ffourth I really can't wait to try the Cowash condtioner.

More Free hair samples

Guess  what I got in the mail??
My As I Am sample have arrived, that was way quick too cause I just sent in my order on either Wednesday or  Thursday, I forget.
The sad thing is I already washed my hair this morning and twisted for the week so I won't be trying any cleansers but I will be getting my fingers into one of the moisturizers.

My Sisters New Do

A few days ago I told you guys about my sister who I cut/combed her locs out (my wrist is bandaged due to all that stress), so she calls me the other day and tells me she is going to get a brazillian blow out cause she just can't deal with her hair.
Well yes she did it, she came by Thursday with a style she I haven't seen her in for a while, but I think it was a nice change for her. We were so tickled pink...especially when I told her I can smell her hair ;)- . Would she do it agai? Don't know, guess we will see.

New Product Alert

Ok, so maybe a new product alert for me anyways...
While searching a few forums today I ran across a new product, Queen Helene Royal Curl line, natural of course.
Well now, I have never seen this in the stores before, and I use Queen Helene products, especially the deep conditioner.  Apparently it is an all natural line, no sulfates, no petrolatum, no alcohol, and no parabens.

Other products include: Royal Curl Stay Clean Shampoo
                                    Royal Curl Moisture Rich Conditioner
                                    Royal Curl Curl Shaping Creme
                                    Royal Curl Smoothing Oil
According to the website there are some pretty good things, ingredients, inside, I couldn't find an ingredients list.  There are a lot of reviews out there for it though and they have all been farely good.
Since I am trying to ween myself from being a product junkie I won't be out riding all over town wasting gas looking for this. If I run across it we'll see what happens....Let me know if you have given this a try or at least heard of this.

Hair of the day

Here is today's hair, a three day old wash and go using KCCC. I really like this stuff, surely helping me to keep it simple this summer.
Still moisturizing at night, sadly I am out of KeraCare Butter Cream sample that I have fallen in love with, I hate to buy another product but I don't know any other moisturizer that does like it, I put three ponys in my hair and go to sleep. This morning I did a different refreshing routine, I took a section at a time and rewet with warm water, then I took some flaxseed gel I made and a little olive oil and rubbed through the section, I did this for each.
What was the reason for this?
I don't know, the flaxseed gel is very wet and mixed with the olive oil, I was sure it wouldn't get frizzy. I guess we'll see after it dries completely.

As I Am Hair Samples

Surely we have all heard of As I Am hair products by now, if not where have you been hiding.  Just Kidding!! But if you don't know then check out the site and products HERE and get some free samples, all you have to do is pay shipping which is $3.25.  Better hurry though, apparently this ends on Friday.

Avocado Treatment Video

Hair Business

I have been doing hair for the past 6 days, starting with my sisters hair on Wednesday and Friday taking down her locs finally finishing on Saturday.  After calculating it all up it took about 15 hours total to comb all the locs out, not bad, we cut half the locs and then got started.  Here hair is very thick and unfortunately she does not want to deal with it so in two weeks she is getting a texturizer.  Sad Face, I know.  But you have to understand my sister: she is very tenderheaded, she works nights and sleeps all day, not to mention is expecting her third child, and she hates doing too much to her hair with a passion. I tried to talk her out of it but her mind is made up, I'm not mad at her though, what ever is going to make her happy.

One last loc waiting to come undone

She is free...

Unfortunately we were so excited that it was all over we did not take an after shampoo and style shot, but trust me it was so dang cute on her. Oh and we shampooed with Shea Moisture Moisture Rentention, she likes it so she bought her some too.

Ok, so Thursday, I braided two little girls hair, not my girls, I have regular "clients" whose hair I braid, I don't like dealing with grown folks.

Sunday I washed and retwisted my husbands hair cause it was looking a hot mess.  To shampoo I used my African black soap shampoo that I make with peppermint, talk about refreshing, I then twisted with Jamaican Mango and Lime Wax Creme, the Tahliah Wahjid was not giving a good hold. He was looking fantastic!

It's definitely growing...

So what did I do today, I braided one more "clients" hair and then got to working in mine.

First I took a dip in the pool, I love swimming.  Today I calrified using VO5 Tea Therapy Clarifying shampoo, that stuff is no joke even after being diluted with water it left my hair clllleeeaaannn, but after conditioning with my Tresemme and doing a deep conditioning treatment my hair was fine. I haven't clarified in a while and I could definitely tell it was time.  Style of choice was a wash and go using Kinky Curly Custard, sorry ya'll I really like that stuff, I put it in my hair and was out the door.  This summer equals simple and this for me is simple....One thing I did different was I worked with bigger sections instead of small ones then I twisted after applying the custard and let the twists sit in for a while and untwisted, this definitely made my results much better, where there's a will there's a way...

Hair and Then Some

Happy Wednesday night...
4 things. Ready? Here they go!
1. New summer product switch- Shea Moisture Shea Butter Moisture Retention shampoo and conditioner are back on my shower shelf, it's hot and my hair is drying something awful. Thank goodness for Shea Moisture! 
2.I love purple, I love shoes, and I love thrift stores. $5, I just had to buy them. (photo 2)
3. I follow a blog called The Mother Huddle and she has a tutorial on turning plain flip flops into super cute ones. So I made some for me and the girls. (photos 1&4)
4. My sis is taking her locs out that she has had for the past 2 years. They are long and there are alot. She has been wanting them out for a couple of months now because they are irritating her, now that she is expecting it has gotten worse. She called me yesterday and asked if I would help, I told her as long as she does not get mad at me afterwards. It took three hours for us to cut and comb out the front part, we had to stop because she works nights and she had to get some sleep. I will make sure to post more pics. (photos 3&5)
*I am posting from my phone and I know the pics will be in any order so just go with it, lol. Funny movie by the way!

Kinky Curly Custard Day 4

Todays wash and go turned into a twist out. It wad kind of rough looking this morning so I spritzed medium sections with water and twisted using a little oil mixture, the kinky curly was still there so I did not have to add anything for hold. Tomorrow I will wash and retry.

Kinky Curly Day 3

This is day 3 of Kinky Curly Custard wash and go. Last night I scrunched in the KeraCare Butter Cream before bed so it could soak in, this was my first time using the cream it was nice and thick and did exactly what I needed. Again this morning I just spritzed with warm water, shook my hair and went on my way.
The "Custard" does not add any curls only gives what you already have some definition and hold, the key with it is that it adds weight to lengthens the curls. My hair has tiny coils all over and that is exactly what you see in my hair.
I love it, here are day 3 pics.

Avocado and KeraCare Revies

So my last post was on the Avocado Deep Treatment and KeraCare, here are my reviews...
Avocado treatment:  I think I liked it but I will surely give it another go round before I say this is a definite addition to my regimen.  I did leave my hair shiny and smooth but not silky soft as far as protein goes I think it had just the right amount.  It was better than the Placenta protein treatment I did a while back, I vowed never to try that again.

On to the KeraCare: My favorite product so far is the shampoo.  I loved it, hair was clean, scalp was clean, not mention my hair did not feel stripped and I could run my fingers through my hair while the shampoo was still in.  I seriously called my husband in so he could witness it.
Afterwards I used the Leave In- this was a total fail, it was way too thin for my hair.  My hair may be fine but it loves thick leave ins, I did not feel the leave in coated my hair enough, it even left my ends frizzy and poof (I wish I had taken a pic of that). I think I will stick with the Kinky Curly Leave In, my hair loves.
Okay, so on to the Twist and Define Cream: sigh...I thought I was going to have this amazing twist out the next day... sigh again.  My hair dried completely over night but when I took it out in the morning it was a definite no go.  There was no soft hold, my hair was dry with no shine to it at all, I tried rubbing the Hair Milk through it but that just made it frizzy.  I have to admit I was disappointed.  BUT, I am not giving up on the cream, the next time I use it I will be trying it with the Kinky Curly and I will give my results on that. Needless to say I washed my hair.
The Hair Milk: worked marvelous in my daughters hair, OMG, I haven't come across a milk for her hair in like never.  Wonderful for her thick hair.

So after all that, I rewashed my and guess what I did. I applied Kinky Curly Curly Custard and did a wash and go, my first time using this product.  I was pleasantly surprised!

 Here is hair wet with product...I was

afraid I applied too much but as

 it dried it was fine.

Here is hair totally dried by bedtime.

 Next day hair refreshed just using water 

after being smooshed through the night.

No fear though, curls are still poppin

and soft. Tonight I will be rubbing

a moisturizer before bedtime.

See you tomorrow for third day hair.

Avocado Hair Treatment

I love avocados and guacamole is a definite go to with some chips but surely I never thought to put it in my hair, but as I type this I am sitting with avocado hair treatment under a shower cap, now, who knew.
Apparently, avocados are geat for hair growth, strengthens hari and adds shine...one serving of avocado mask for me please.  Avocados (oil) are full of Vitamin E which is important for healthy hair growth and reducing shedding hair, the oil is next on my shopping list. 
Let's not forget about the protein in avocados too, I'm not a protein fan especially after reading some scary failed attemps at protein treatments.  So why not give this one a try, it's not a chemical so surely no harm can be done.

Here is what I did:
2 Avocados
Olive Oil, I started with 2tbsp then added more as needed
jojoba oil, about 2tbsp
water
and blended in my mini food processor.
for storage I put it in my plastic containers, make sure you put the seed in there with the mixture to keep it from turning brown.  Freeze any extra.

My thoughts:  I didn't not have that hallelujah moment with this, but it was a nice treatment.  It was the same effect I get after doing a deep treatment after shampooing and sitting under the dryer, I definitely liked skipping that part.  My hair was shiney though.  Would I do it again, yep, just because...maybe in another 2 weeks to see if the effects are consistent.

Afterwards I used my KeraCare samples to finish washing and styling my hair, be back with that review soon.

Good hair day

I love being natural!! I loved my natural hair before but I love it even more now that it has some length anf I can do more even if it is just pulled back, cause I remember when I couldn't...
Hair of the day: chunky twist out pulled half way back with an EZ Comb.

Protective Style for My Little One

One week of protective style down, 7 more weeks to go.  It is summer vacation and the protecting is on  for the rest of the summer for my Big Girl.  This past week she just wore her hair in 6 cornrows to the back, I gave her a little side part just for a little extra cuteness - sorry no picture.

So today I redid her hair for another week, I did not wash since it was cleaned on last weekend and I did not use lots of products so we were good to go.  Here is her style, cute and simple

Two twists going down the sides with twists on the ends...

 and cornrows up to a ponytail also twisted on the ends

and pinned into a bun...

this style should give me another week if it stays 

pinned up.

Have a great weekend!!!

Homemade Cake /Cookie Pedestal- How To

Yesterday I posted pics of some items, here is what I made with them.

I love hair, but my second love is crafting, although I don't have time to do lots of it during the school year I love the summer cause I can get my craft on. So this week I decided to make a cake or cookie pedestal or whatever you want to put on it, could even be just decoration.

Here are the items used: plate-$1.50, glass candle holder-$2.99, scrapbook paper-$.59 (optional), foam paintbrush and Modge Podge, I used Epoxy mix glue but I am sure E6000 will work well, both you can get from a craft store.

 

Before I got started I made sure to clean the plate and candle holder and dry really good.  You can decorate your plate any way you want to, if you don't want to use paper just buy a pretty and inexpensive plate from a thrift store. **If you are not using paper skip the Modge Podge steps.

1. I cut a circle shape out the size of the center

of the plate and applied a thin layer of  Modge Podge to glue the paper to the plate. You 

can decorate your plate however you want.

 it didn't get super centered but it will do

I then added a just a few words on the outer edge of the plate

for a little more decoration.

2. After letting the paper dry for a couple of hours

  apply a few thin layers of Modge Podge to the top, make sure to follow

the directions on the back of the bottle.

3.  Let the plate dry fully over night, the top will not be tacky at all.

Next, find the center of the plate and trace it to make sure you 

put the glue in the right spot, apply the glue to both the plate and top

of the candle holder.  Please make sure to follow the directions on 

which ever glue you use. The glue will ooze, but just wipe around with a damp towel.

4.  Here is the important part, place some heavy objects on top to add weight

and pressure so that you get a good and firm hold. After 12-24 hours like this

your stand will be ready for use.

here I just placed a box, my heavy pizza stone and big 

Websters dictionary.

Finished project and super easy!