Black Friday: Bee Mine Organics

Hello Saints! Bee Mine organic products are the staple brand for me and my family's hair care. I have been using there products since I began my healthy hair care journey in 2011. I had learned about Bee Mine through the Hairlicious blog by Sunshyne. She is a relaxed hair and beauty blogger with the most beautiful relaxed hair I have ever seen. She has been my encouragement through my own hair care journey.

This year I have been ordering the special edition CurlBox Natural by CurlBox. This pass May Natural Box featured all Bee Mine products so needless to say I was FLOORED seeing my staple brand in my box!  There were 5 FULL sized products.  They were Deja's Hair Milk, Luscious Moisturizer, Curly Butter, Juicy Daily Spritz and Daily Conditioner. This special edition box does NOT require a subscription but just like the subscription box, they do sell out fast.  If you would like to learn more about CurlBox please click here.

CurlBox Natural

Hello there Saints! CurlBox. For $20 (plus $5 shipping) a month you would recieve a pakage with samples and/or full sized products for hair care to try. I learned about monthly hair care subscriptions through various blogs and social media on the web. I am not a full blown product junkie. Lets just say I'm a "watered down" product junkie (Teehee). So, I like to try various hair products here and there. And if you are like me, who is fruggle when it come to spending funds, you are always on the lookout for getting the most bang for your bucks.

Long Term Protective Style: Crochet Braid Extensions

Hello there Saints! I'm still out here. I have been hibernating (aka pouting) since I heat damaged my hair in December 2013. After ending my transition to natural in August 2013, four months later I heat damaged my hair majorly! How did you do that CBCLady? I had the bright idea to flat iron my hair in order self trim.  I actually flat ironed twice in the same week. The second flat iron with my GVP flat iron from Sally Beauty was the straw that broke the camel's back. The flat iron itself is awesome however I did not keep my temperature down and the end result...HEAT DAMAGE.

Yes, Saints, I am now currently transitioning out of the heat damage.  I was on the line to just buzz all my hair off when I realized I had damaged my hair. After counseling with my husband and the Lord (of course), I decided to transition out of the heat damage. How are you transitioning out of your heat damage, CBCLady?  Keep reading to find out... ;o)

VO5 Conditioner & Eco Styler Gel

Hello Saints and Happy New Year! Process of elimination continues.... So, for awhile I had been wearing my hair in flat twist outs and recently wash n' goes. When I put my leave-in and/or curly pudding in my hair then apply my Eco Styler Gel I would end up with little white clumps in my hair. My hair looked ashy and white for some reason. I did not have it before but now I did. So, I had to recap. I washed my little girls hair (she's 7yrs old) last week. Shampoo'd, oil rinsed, AVC rinsed and then conditioned her hair with VO5 Moisture Milk Conditioner. When I began to twist her hair I applied her leave-in, curly butter and sealed with my whipped shea butter. As soon as I put the Eco gel on, her hair clumped with little white balls. I remembered whenever I used VO5 conditioner and gel in her hair, it did not mix well at all. 

COWashing

Hello Saints! I have been on my natural hair journey for 3 months and have been COWashing (conditioner only washing) my hair 1-2x weekly in place of shampooing weekly. Cowashing is a great alternative to daily or weekly shampooing to help increase moisture and condition the hair in between washes. 

Operation: Length Retention

Sensationnel Up-Do

Hello Saints! Now that I am confident in caring for my transitioning hair, I have now began focusing on ways to retain my length. I had mentioned before in a previous post about Operation: Length Retention, so in this post I will share with you what I plan on doing through out my transition to help retain length and commitments I am making to see it happen.

What is Operation: Length Retention?

It is methods, styles and products I am using and/or doing to help minimize breakage in order to retain length. Our hair is always growing however if we are not protecting our strands from breaking, we will not see the growth that is happening. I do not believe there is anything that can make the hair grow, however I do believe there are products and supplements that can help strength our hair and keep our scalp healthy for growth.

Transitioning to Natural: 10 Months Post

Hello Saints! Another month down which now puts me at 10 months post! That is absolutely amazing to me. It truly is. I may sound as if this transitioning to natural is an easy thing but it surely is not! Transitioning hair takes alot of commitment and dedication. The hair is battling with two totally different textures and somehow I have to figure out how to give both textures the care and needs that are required. Now at 10 months post, my natural texture is truly overruling what is left of my relaxed ends. I have trimmed my ends some but I'm going to go to a salon and get a professional trim soon. It will more than likely be after the kids go back to school which is this month. 

The BEST Flat Twist Out EVER!

Hello Saints! Last month I ordered for the first time the Ouidad $5 sample pack which included two gels, a leave-in, shampoo and conditioner. I got an additional free sample of my choice plus free shipping with this offer. At the time of this special, Ouidad was also offering a 5 day Deal of the Day. Each day they had a special package offer or free products with a purchase. On day 4 of the special, with ANY purchase you would receive their Moisture Lock Leave-In Conditioner 6oz and Sun Shield Sun & Sport Leave-In Spray 8.5oz for FREE. Those two products together is $37. Talk about savings!! So needless I took advantage on this day and ordered my daughter and I the $5 sample pack and received an additional sample and the 2 full size leave-ins for free and free shipping too! I could not pass this deal up! :o)

Transitioning to Natural: 8 Months Post

Hello Saints! Today is my 8th month in my journey to natural.  My hair's current length is shoulder length and all is well. I'm still on my regular standard hair care regimen with trying various products here and there.

Daily

Every day I moisturize with S-Curl No Drip and seal with 100% sweet almond oil.  Before bed I will pull my hair back into a loose bun or do flat 2-strand twists then cover with my satin scarf or bonnet. 

Extra Virgin Coconut How To's

Hello Saints! How I love me some pure extra virgin coconut oil. I started using it when I started my hair care journey in 2011. It is such a versatile oil. It is one of the ingredients I use in my oil mix I use for my face and body. I have used coconut oil as an overnite treatment before my wash day. It can be used for cooking but I have yet to cook with it though. Whatever way I use it, I always purchase extra virgin coconut oil. There's several brands to choose from but my personal choice has been Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. 

Protecting the Fruit of My Labor

Hello Saints! I am still faithfully on my transition to natural hair. All is going well. I am getting better at coming up with styles to help blend the two textures and minimize manipulation to prevent breakage. Finding different styles for my transitioning hair is probably the most difficult part of my transition. On days that I do not know what to do with my hair I put on a half wig or drawstring ponytail. 

This photo is my latest transitioning style. This is a flat two-strand twist  style I have been wearing this week. It is quick and very easy for me to do. I have not always known how to do flat two-strand twists until recently.  When you ask the Lord for help, He will always respond according to His will and plan. :o)

Shampoo Day Essentials

Hello Saints!  In order for me to have a sucessful shampoo day, these are my must have items:

1. Comb for detangling
2. Salon mixing bowl
3. Teaspoon
4. Application brush
5. Plastic cap
6. T-shirt

Okay, now I will share why these are my essentials for my shampoo day. 

BEE MINE All the Time

Hello Saints! I pray all is well with everyone. The holidays are over but the the hair journey must go one! LOL

So, for a while I was looking for a moisturizing deep conditioner. I wanted it to be protein free since I like use Aphogee Two Minute for my weekly protein treatment and I follow up with a moistruizing deep conditioning. I had tried various sample packs from Sally Beauty and others from department stores like Walmart. I had some great results but I was not too impresed with some of the ingredients. Sometimes my hair would be moisturized after the rinse but once completely dry it was dull and bone dry as if I had not deep condition.

Deep Conditioning Treatment

Hello Saints! Well, it is Friday! Today I am going to do my deep condtioning treatment. I have faithfully been doing deep conditioing treatments once a week. Even when I do not feel like it, I get it done. There are somethings that I do not want to slack in and one of them is being diligent about my hair care. :o)

Last week I ran out of my Beautiful Textures Deep Moisture deep conditioner so I needed to restock. This was a great opportunity to try something different. This time I picked up Elasta QP DRP-11 deep conditioner. I had used it before a few years ago when I was relaxing my hair. They have changed the ingredients since so I am giving it another try on my now texlaxed hair.

Texlaxed

Hello Saints! After a 7 month stretch I texlaxed my hair Friday October 5th. It was the 2nd time this year doing a texlax. I was quite suprised that I was able to stretch as long as I did. I use to faithfully get a touch up every 8 weeks when I would completely relax my hair. Me, go without a chemical service for 7 months? WHAT??!! That was the past and now I am looking forward to the future.

First Henna Treatment

Hello Saints! Sunday night I had applied my very first ayurvedic hair treatment called 'Henna'. This treatment is one of many ayurvedic conditioning treatments that helps strengthen and improve overall health of the hair from roots to ends. Henna also helps premature greying and promotes growth of the hair. It is an all natural way to permenantly color treat the hair including the grey ones without chemicals. That is one of the other reasons I had applied the henna treatment outside of conditioning. I made my mix Saturday evening since it takes 12-24 hours for the dye to release. I applied the henna to my dry pre-oil conditioned hair Sunday evening prior to go going to bed and left it in overnite to let it do its conditioning and color creation. I used 3.5oz of Jamila henna, 1.5 cups of brewed green tea which I had added honey and lemon then mixed in some various oils. I rinsed it out Monday morning with water and conditioner only. No shampoo. There after I did do a moisturizing deep conditioning treatment with heat which is a must since henna can be drying to the hair.

Day 14: 21 Day Hair Fast

Hello Saints! I pray all is well with everyone this day. I meant to make a post to wish all the mother's a happy Mother's Day but I was too busy taking advantage of this one of kind holiday just for us mothers.

Well, it has been 14 consecutive days since I have not used shampoo, hot tools and styling products. I have to say that I actually do not miss them. It did cross my mind to use gel to lay down my baby hair in the front then I remembered I am on a hair fast. That was about it and I was not bothered by it in the least. I'm going strong though! I have done the GHE (green house effect) every day faithfully. I did a dusting of my ends on Tuesday of last week. My ends are a true mess. I fried them prior to starting my hair fast because I neglected to check the temperature on my flat iron. It is all good though because I have decided to cut my hair.

21 Day Hair Fast

Yes Saints for 21 days I will be on a hair fast. I know you may be thinking 'What's a hair fast?'. For the next few weeks I vow not to use any hair appliances (ie blow drier, flat iron, ect.) or styling products (ie gel, foam wrap, ect.). I will not even use the cool setting on the blow drier during the 21 days. Just complete air dry. The only thing that will be going on my hair is 100% all natural products, butters and oils. I will keep my hair in the green house effect *(GHE) also for the majority of the days and through the nights. I will let my hair air out throughout the day so it will not get a sour smell from the GHE. On days that I excercise I will rinse my hair with water only or with my all natural conditioner. When I have to go some place I will wear either my half wig or drawstring ponytail. No shampoo will be needed during this hair fast since I will not have any concerns of product build up. I will end my hair fast a day or so after I'm planning to relax my hair.

Sulfate, Protein & Silicone-Free Products- UPDATES 2014

****New Updates! July 2014****

Hello Saints! Here is a list of shampoos, conditioners and styling products that has ingredients free of sulfate, protein and/or silicone. I have not tried all of the listed products so please read the ingreidents to be sure they are free of sulfate, protein and/or silicone. Also, reasearch for reviews to any product that you are interested in purchasing. If there are any products that has a form of sulfate, silicone and/or protein please let me know and I will make the changes. If there is any product that needs to be added to the list please let know and I will update accordlingly. If you have any questiongs, please, by all means, let me know. Be blessed! :o)

Simple Cure for Protein Overload

I recently was a victim of having too much protein in my hair. How did I know? The most visible symptom of protein overload is dry brittle hair, hair that will not hold moisture including water and needless to say breakage (I hate relating that word to my hair!). I did not think it would have been from protein until I realized everything I use regularly had some form of protein in it. Whether it is light or medium, over time it will build up with frequent use. I now pay extremly close attention to the ingredients in my hair products. I found online an easy cure for protein overloaded hair. Here are the steps: