WIG UNIT PURCHASED

Great! I'm at this point where I have my purchased unit and I'm loving it. I went to try on various wigs...I made approx 3 visits before I selected a choice. Most of the wigs I tried on are not shown below. The wig selected was VERY COSTLY according to me, but I spent my coins anyway - approx $230. The wig was also cut for me, so I didn't need to deal with cutting the wig at home.

Here is the first option I tried and loved. It's very similar to the way I style my hair when it is pressed and when my hair was much longer, although my hair was 2B (Black in color and not this 2B with highlights you see going on here) It also was 25% of the cost of the one I actually purchased, but boo said he hated it when he saw my picture. Ah well.

 Here is just another lace-front option I tried because it looked really natural, but it highlighted my over-sized forehead. Was NOT a fan of that at all! However, I would recommend this wig if you have a normal hair line. It was approx $100.

So i settled on the really curly weave because it is also virgin hair and 100% human hair and I do want my unit to last me years to come. I keep the box and the net it came in. I wore it before I washed it purposefully to work the kinks out of the hair and the unit. I washed it recently and I may have worn it once since. I'm still working on making the part I created realistic, but it was to be worn the way the previous lace front wig is shown.

I have more to share, but this post is getting long. Will keep you updated for sure though. MuAh & CiAo. Follow me on IG: lofanaturalista and Facebook: Livlyhood Naturalista

Winter is HERE!

Now that the weather has taken a turn for the cold, I had to do something fast to protect my hair. I've tried crochet braids before, but I had no idea, at the time, the undertaking it would be. I'm not even certain if I posted the results of it, but I will add a pic if I can find one:

I am currently rocking crochet braids with Marley hair. Here are the important facts:

1. Purchase hair that is manageable, soft and can blend as your own hair. I had leftover hair from another pack and then I purchased more hair (approx 2pks. of hair worked well for my size head and the thickness I wanted - if you want more thickness, use more hair)

2. If your hair has a color, be sure to either purchase hair with that color or make the hair crocheted in thick enough to cover those colored pieces

3. Braid Hair with some marley hair (to protect hair strands from knots and pulls while crocheting)

4. Crochet hair in and style!

My hair was styled with curling rods and then dipped in hot water to retain curl. I rocked my crocheted curls for Thanksgiving and work and then decided to comb the hair out (very easy to do!)

Tip: Be sure to hold near the root of the hair to avoid pulling on your own hair in the braid - comb out in sections similarly to how you would comb out your very own natural hair

Once my hair was combed out, I styled it in two Grecian braids. Simple styles are awesome especially when it's a protected style. My home girl...and her hubs  (Teamwork makes the dreamwork!) did my hair. Wash day is coming soon though, so I will have to remove crochet hair so I can wash...what's next? who knows, but stay tuned for me. XOXO MuAh & CiAo!

Shedding Natural Hair

So we think that because our hair is natural, we  avoid having shed hair, but is that always the case? I'm finding not. I co-washed my hair last night and I was not alarmed by the big ball of hair you see pictured below.

Why, you ask?

Well, I had worn my hair in this updo for approximately 2-3 weeks.

This pic was taken the day before I took it out. It was time to take it out, trust me; so I did, but with my hair being in that style for so long surely there would be hair loss from shedding. But even as I twisted it before bedtime (approx 8-10 twists), I had even more shedding (not a whole lot, but still full strands of hair) and I only used the finger de-tangling method.

The strands were full strands - so there weren't pieces breaking off in my hand, but strands of hair from the root. I am not certain if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I was instantly reminded of some myths I have heard about hair shedding.

Now it is time for me to do more research to determine if any of these myths are facts. Share your myths to help my search and I'll be sure to post my findings in a future post.

MuAh & CiAo! Follow me +Lofanaturalista on Google Plus and @lofanaturalista on IG

Shedding Natural Hair

So we think that because our hair is natural, we  avoid having shed hair, but is that always the case? I'm finding not. I co-washed my hair last night and I was not alarmed by the big ball of hair you see pictured below.

Why, you ask?

Well, I had worn my hair in this updo for approximately 2-3 weeks.

This pic was taken the day before I took it out. It was time to take it out, trust me; so I did, but with my hair being in that style for so long surely there would be hair loss from shedding. But even as I twisted it before bedtime (approx 8-10 twists), I had even more shedding (not a whole lot, but still full strands of hair) and I only used the finger de-tangling method.

The strands were full strands - so there weren't pieces breaking off in my hand, but strands of hair from the root. I am not certain if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I was instantly reminded of some myths I have heard about hair shedding.

Now it is time for me to do more research to determine if any of these myths are facts. Share your myths to help my search and I'll be sure to post my findings in a future post.

MuAh & CiAo! Follow me +Lofanaturalista on Google Plus and @lofanaturalista on IG

Shedding Natural Hair

So we think that because our hair is natural, we  avoid having shed hair, but is that always the case? I'm finding not. I co-washed my hair last night and I was not alarmed by the big ball of hair you see pictured below.

Why, you ask?

Well, I had worn my hair in this updo for approximately 2-3 weeks.

This pic was taken the day before I took it out. It was time to take it out, trust me; so I did, but with my hair being in that style for so long surely there would be hair loss from shedding. But even as I twisted it before bedtime (approx 8-10 twists), I had even more shedding (not a whole lot, but still full strands of hair) and I only used the finger de-tangling method.

The strands were full strands - so there weren't pieces breaking off in my hand, but strands of hair from the root. I am not certain if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I was instantly reminded of some myths I have heard about hair shedding.

Now it is time for me to do more research to determine if any of these myths are facts. Share your myths to help my search and I'll be sure to post my findings in a future post.

MuAh & CiAo! Follow me +Lofanaturalista on Google Plus and @lofanaturalista on IG

Shedding Natural Hair

 
So we think that because our hair is natural, we  avoid having shed hair, but is that always the case? I'm finding not. I co-washed my hair last night and I was not alarmed by the big ball of hair you see pictured below.

Why, you ask?

Well, I had worn my hair in this updo for approximately 2-3 weeks.

This pic was taken the day before I took it out. It was time to take it out, trust me; so I did, but with my hair being in that style for so long surely there would be hair loss from shedding. But even as I twisted it before bedtime (approx 8-10 twists), I had even more shedding (not a whole lot, but still full strands of hair) and I only used the finger de-tangling method.

The strands were full strands - so there weren't pieces breaking off in my hand, but strands of hair from the root. I am not certain if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I was instantly reminded of some myths I have heard about hair shedding.

Now it is time for me to do more research to determine if any of these myths are facts. Share your myths to help my search and I'll be sure to post my findings in a future post.

MuAh & CiAo! Follow me +Lofanaturalista on Google Plus and @lofanaturalista on IG

Blue Roze Beauty Product Review

I created this look with the use of Blue Roze Beauty Products and the results were nice!

 These samples were a total of $10.00 (great price!) and then S&H, so less than $20 in all. They can be purcahsed at www.bluerozebeauty.com

 

From the attached pic, you can tell that I was able to slick my edges down and the curls lasted for about 5 days without recurling them. All i did was wear my bonnet at night and in the am, I fluffed the curls and wet a brush and slicked the edges down again.

 

Read on for more details

From Bra-Strap Length (when straightened) to Mohawk - Find out why!

 Hey all, everyone has been asking, so why'd you cut your hair? Others are upset I did. (wait until my mom sees it, lol n smh) But honestly, I cut my hair for me and I love it!

For the Record Friday - Washing Marley Twists

Yes, I washed my Marley twists.

For the record Friday has started a little early...since i'm still awake...not quite sure what's going on with my sleep pattern, but apparently, you CAN wash your hair while it's in Marley twist. I decided to do it because 1. I didn't have time to take out all the twist, wash my hair and then retwist it. I have been swamped! But I washed it, conditioned it and did the LOC method on the Marley hair, but did LCO method on my hair and have been retwisting my do in sections. I have about 1/3 of hair left to twist. I will add pics later of the final do and will post pics of the products used. See the video in my previous post about glycerin to see how I created a quick and easy DIYmixture with vegetable glycerin as the liquid in the LOC method. Muah & CiAo! #fortherecordFriday #TGIF *singing* "Safely through another week." Friday night jam at worship.

Pics will be added to my IG @lofanaturalista of final results after washing and then I will update on this post next week.Here's the being effortless!

Hair Essentials - Natural Hair Care Regimen

Good morning! I'm in a really great mood today, even though I was unable to workout this morning because I went to bed pretty late, BUT that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to talk about my natural hair care regimen. This is exciting because I have made past posts about natural hair updos, braided styles and protective styling, but I have not done a reflection post on what has been working. So here goes:


1. The onion wash (used only twice) & rosemary inclusion in every other wash has proven to be beneficial in hair growth (my hair does not feel stagnated at the same length) FINALLY!

2. I have found that I am a Wen girl! The Wen conditioning cleanser works well in helping my hair feel moisturized and lush. THE BIG BUT is the cost of the product and having to find a replacement for it when I'm finished with my second kit :-( very sad news, but I am up for the challenge and I'm glad you will be with me as I explore finding a cost efficient product for cleansing my mane

3. Trims, cuts, etc. I found that every 6-8 wks I trim my hair UNLESS (and this is important) my ends seem healthy. I put an alarm in my phone that reminded me that it was time to trim my hair about a week or two ago, but my hair was fine and didn't need to be trimmed overall.

Hint: I DO cut split ends and fairy knots as I see them, I DO NOT WAIT until trim/cut day

4. Twists has proven to be a very successful way to keep my hair moisturized and even though I may have HIH moments by myself or others, this protective style has been proven helpful in avoiding fairy knots. So winning!

5. I do deep condition my hair every other wash. There were a couple times where I went 2 wks before washing my hair, but I still kept up with the every other deep conditioning treatment during the wash. WHAT DID I USE TO DEEP CONDITION? The Wen re-plenish moisturizing conditioner...this product will also need to be replaced by a cost efficient product. So stay tune for that as well.

6. My winter regimen and summer regimen were pretty identical. I did oil my hair more in the winter I found and needed less JCO in the summer. I also used coconut oil in my roots and over the months this has proven to be helpful in keeping my hair shiny, but I still am staying away from using it as a sealant. JCO works for me, so no need to switch it up. I use Coconut Oil as I would grease (Current grease I use is Nature's Best and can be found at Yes! Organic Market)

7. I found an AMAZING moisturizer for my 3c-4b natural hair. Leave my hair texture alone! My hair has different personalities. But be that as it may, the Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie is a dream come true! I have used the Curly Cream too, but that leaves a more sticky like residue and doesn't work as well in maintaining the moisture in my hair. Shea Moisture can be found in Target, FYI. They have soooo many products, but as I am not really a product junkie, I haven't tried everything, nor do I intend to, lol. I just use what works. I only change products if it's to expensive to maintain or if it doesn't work or stops working. Keep it simple, you know.

8. Mr. Hicks for slicking them edges and not hardening my hair comes in as a winner for edge control! I love this product. After applying, just put a scarf to hold hair in place and all fuzzies will be laid to rest. Amen! lol

So, here I am with at least an inch of RETAINED growth, because even though my hair grows ever so slightly, it's RETAINING the growth that has become an issue. I think I have passed the point to where my hair usually tapers off and I'm enjoying being beyond that point. Time to continue cracking that ceiling and aim for the heavens. Do you have any other "must have' products? Tell me what works well in your hair (store bought product, preferably) that is cost efficient and has a lot of BANG for it's BUCK. I'd love to hear about it.I really enjoy my natural and I hope you do too!

Our Natural is Beautiful! MuAh & CiAo! Follow me at @livlyhood on twitter and IG.
 

Hair Essentials - Natural Hairstyles for Girls Part 2

This week is a short post. Last week I made a post about natural hairstyles for girls and today's post is like Part 2. My other sister did my other niece's natural hair in a braided style appropriate for a child and I thought it was good to share it. Keep in mind when braiding that the best products to use are the best products that work in your hair! The products I find useful in mine for braiding is Nature's Best (green in color; sold at Yes Organic Market) and Jane Carter Solution's Nourish & Shine product. I love her products! Our Natural is Beautiful. Let's take care of it!

Here are the pics for this post:

 

Hair Essentials - Natural Hair Updo

Good Afternoon Y'all, this is a super late post. The day got away from me, but anyhoo. So I've been doing my twist outs for the past few weeks and wearing twist outs on Saturday or a twisted out style of some sort and then washing on Sunday morning after kickball practice. However, I wanted to skip a wash this week and see if my hair could deal. I figured my hair needed a rest, especially since its not dirty and I haven't been using too much product because of my new regimen. I decided to wear it in a natural hair updo for a couple days, try something new (I guess) and then I will return to my twist on Tuesday. Here's the pictorial below with brief instructions on how to create this final look. :-) Enjoy!

FINAL LOOK

Gather things needed: comb, bristle brush, moisturizer of your choice, edge control or gel to slick edges, castor oil to seal hair after moisturizing, pins to pin hair

Section hair out at shown. Place a high ponytail in the back, twist hair and pin it forward to the other section of hair

Separate section in the front into as many sections as you'd like and twist the half of the shaft t the end of the shaft. I used three sections, obviously.

Pin the hair under each section of hair. The one on the top I pinned under itself, the other two I pinned towards the middle of my forehead

That created a cute puffy style on the top

LOL, sorry for the side eye! Hope you enjoy the pics! :-)

I have some exciting news to post soon, so look forward to that and more styles to come.

Our Natural is Beautiful Campaign 2013. MuAh & CiAo!

Hair Essentials - Natural Braided Updo (Professional Natural Hair)

Morning, Morning, Morning! I am so excited to make this post today featuring my girl, Rachel Boo. she is rocking a recently done braided hairstyle. I took pics of the sides and front, but forgot the back. The back is just braided up toward the donut. It is really simple and a great style to workout out with. Just tie your head and go! The braided top knot is becoming a fad in natural hair styling I see, but it has definitely been done for years. I'm waiting for Marley braids to get stale, so I can put them in in the Fall, tee hee. At any rate, here are the pics I took right after I redid my girls' braids. I think these pics are super cute. :-)

See my IG @Livlyhood for recent natural hairstyles. :-)

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Our Natural is Beautiful 2013. MuAh & CiAo!

Hair Essentials - Another Pressing Moment

It's that time again to trim my hair, espeecially after the recent harm I caused to my hair over the thanksgiving weekend, I owe it to my hair to blow it out, press it with a hot comb, yes a hot comb and secure the ends and go about my business tomorrow. I plan to flat iron it with my coriliss on Friday evening..I also need to trim the ends. So, I was going to go to hair cuttery to get it trimmed again, but I don't want to spend money. and I'm used to trimming my hair, just being lazy...realist natural hair woes, and yet i love my hair. so i'm going to trim it after I iron it out though, not after the blow dry....possibly even trim it after the flat ironing is finished. Just so it cld be a bit more even. My hair naturally grows in layers, so it's not as though it needs to be even all the way around. I'll take pics and post tomorrow. :-) MuAh & CiAo for now.

Hair Essentials - Hair To Dye For 2

So, I do plan on posting pics of my do, but I'm waiting to present the full style idea I wanted to do prior to posting the pics. Sometimes, some do's are prepped before it can be presented as a full style. Sort of like twist-outs, where the twists is the prepped do and unravelling the twists are the style. When the full style is done, I will show pics of both the prepped and full style idea. You can wear styles in prepped looks for awhile in order to lengthen the time of having one do vs having to do your hair over and over and over again every day or every few days.

What I wanted to discuss today is the dye. I wanted to dye my hair because after my last dye grew out, I realized how black my hair was, which I thought was pretty cute. But I wanted a change, so I figured, let's dye it again. However, many dyes are full of chemicals that not only changes the color of the hair, but can affect the texture of my hair as well. I wanted to use Henna, but I also wanted to see what else was out there.

So in speaking with Sheryce Watson of Generations Hair Design, I found that they had a way to dye my hair without the use of ammonia. It would take longer for the color to take, but at least I won't have to use Ammonia. This dye is called Organic http://www.organiccolorsystems.com/why-you-dont-want-ammonia-hair-color/

The article includes the various reasons for using ammonia-free dyes, but I wanted to trust a stylist with this. Granted, I have dyed my hair on my own several times without any effects, but since I am trying to use less/no chemicals in the treatment of my skin and hair, I figured this Organic Color System is for me. I like my color, I may want to go a bit more red on the top, but overall, I'm satisfied with the results. My style is also a great protective style and I cannot wait to share pics. Until then, this is just some good information to mull over if you ever feel the need to change the color of your hair and still be natural and guilt-free.

Live on Purpose! MuAh & CiAo!

Hair Essentials - Why do I get knots in my hair?!

Here's the deal. I get these tiny knots in my hair, usually at the end of the hair shaft. They are also known as fairy knots because they are single strand knots that seem to get tied up by little fairies who apparently have nothing else better to do than to tie your single strands into knots. As we know, fairies don't exist.

Often times these knots are found when your hair is air-dryed. I know air drying is said to be good and then said to be bad, it can be difficult to determine what's best for your hair. Preferably, I have found that  drying hair under a hooded dryer is the best, followed by using a blow dryer that's not in close proximity of the hair shaft where cool shots are used to give relief to the hair (of course using a  heat protectant as well)....hmmm, this is too much for this post. I’ll have to make another post about drying hair.

Back to these fairy knots. I used to get these knots a lot due to air drying and allowing my hair to get matted and not covering it with a silk scarf, etc. I also found that knots can be due to lack of protein in the hair. See my post of protein conditioning treatment to increase protein in hair and also adding more protein to your diet is beneficial as well. Now, i get less of these knots, but when I get them it's due to HIH (hand in hair) issues more than anything else. When my hair is in twists, myself and other people can't help but to play in them. Soooo, because my hair is very curly (I have type 3c & 4a hair) my curls are very circular and if it's played with, it can get tangled. Granted knots are not only on hair that is damaged, it can occur on healthy hair, so don't believe for a moment that because you have these knots that you have a full head of unhealthy hair. NOT TRUE.

The only way to get rid of these knots is to cut above the knot with sharp hair shears. Sucks because you lose length you work on, but find and destroy with knots just as you would with searching and destroying split ends. That way you won't lose length all over your hair. And if you don't usually wear your hair pressed, all your hair would still look even when worn in twists/twist outs, etc. the joy of natural hair. :-)

Well, I'll leave you to searching and destroying. I'll attempt to not have as much HIH, but *shrug* who am I kidding, it's comforting to play in my twists...perhaps I should pin them up. SIGH, I’ll do that tomorrow I
guess.

Keep your length and Live on Purpose! MuAh & CiAo!

Hair Essentials -Braid-Out

I tried my hand at doing a braid out. My boo was not overly impressed. In fact, he told me he doesn't like the braid out, and he likes the twist out. :-/ WOMP, but that's okay. I still postedpics of how to do it. I imagine if it wasn't such a damp day, the braid outs would look much better. I will try it again at some point, but def not when the boo's around. Not trying to get my feelings hurt.

What I did was box braided my hair (huge uneven boxes) after moisturizing and sealing with oil all the way to the tips of the hair strand. Then I used my curling rods and curled each braid. The braids were not done in any set order, except that the braids I did in the front I curled them towards the top of my head in order to have the hair be in my face rather than going in the direction towards the nape of my neck after braiding it out.

The first time I did it, I thought it looked good. Here are pics of the day 2 of doing the braid out:

I don't think it looks awful. I could have probably done a better job of preparing the braided style and being more careful with the moisturizing process of it. But I do like the thicker texture of the braid out. Not too shabby. I will try again. I hope your braid out looks good on you too.

Body Essentials – Yogurt Can Do That?!

Who would have thought yogurt can be used for hair, skin and your overall body functions? Not me, ask me to eat some yogurt, I’ll tell you, “No thank you, I’d rather not eat spoiled milk.” but cheese is actually worse than yogurt. But that’s for another blog post.

Benefits of Yogurt

• WOMEN – if you have a yeast infection, you can coat your tampon in yogurt and put in the freezer for 1 hr, then insert tampon for 1 hr and remove. Do this process for twice a day until the infection is gone. Yogurt will kill the bacteria that leads to yeast infections in the first place./I read about douching with yogurt as well or just using castile soap with some tea tree oil. I mentioned this in a previous post.
• Use PlainYogurt as a face mask by simply spreading the yogurt on your face at the end of a hard day’s work for 20 minutes. The yogurt will work at breaking down the bad bacteria formed on skin throughout the day and will leave you with clean skin after rinsing it off. (If you have allergies, check the ingredients of your yogurt and be careful not to use if you are allergic to any ingredients listed – Better to be safe than sorry)
• Yogurt can also work on your stomach when feeling nauseous and it can also help you when you have gas.
• Yogurt can also boost your immune system is 2 servings per day is taken.
• Use Yogurt to help in making a protein conditioning treatment for your hair.

Ingredients & Steps to making Protein conditioning treatment

Egg Whites, Plain Yogurt

Mix ingredients in bowl. Put mixture all over hair. Put towel in warm water and place warm towel over head for 20-60minutes. Rinse out with luke-warm water. (Hot water dries hair out) Shampoo, rinse and dry as usual.

Who would have thought? Yogurt also helps to curve your appetite, so I guess I’ll be eating more Yogurt, though I don’t care for it, simply because of all the added benefits. I’ll take mine in a nice smoothie to go. Want a few healthy yogurt smoothie ideas? Click the following link:

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_smoothie_recipes

MMMmm, yummy! These recipes makes me want to Live on Purpose, MuAh & CiAo!

Hair Essentials - Natural Hair Care

I washed my hair last night finally, BUT I decided I was going to do a treatment for my scalp and then one to condition my hair. All was going well until I decided to add Avocado to my mixture for my conditioning treatment. It was one of the only things that i did differently. I decided to use the Castille Soap to wash my hair instead of using the AphoGee wash since I learned from the last time that the AphoGee left my hair feeling like steel rubbing against each other. My hair still felt nicely conditioned after I did the cowash with my Az I Am cowash cleanser. THEN, I put my hoemmade conditioner concoction in with added Avocado. My hair wasn't completely awful but it felt a bit brittle...so I tried to condition it to remedy that, but it didn't help, so i figured, okay, well after I blow dry it and add moisturizer and oil it would bounce back to life. It left my hair feeling, Oh So Wack. Not terrible, but not as awesome as it felt when I did the conditioning treatment the first time and not as bad as it is after I only use the AphoGee.

So, my plan to handle this is to rewash my hair using The Jane Carter Solutions. I will keep you updated as I go. The products I will be using are the  moisture nourishing shampoo and the nutrient replenishing conditioner. Let's see how it feels after that....update to come, so go NO WHERE!

Random aside: my skin felt AWESOME though. So there was a plus side to this. Matter of fact, I didn't even lotion my skin this am. Ha, I didn't even think about that, but that avocado thing is obviously better for my skin than my hair.

Well, I'll update you soon! MuAh & CiAo for now. :-)

Update 1: So, I went to wet my hair and it seemed as though my hair just needed som moisture! ha, the the conditioner didn't have immediate effects, plus, i dried it with my blow dryer, so that cld have added to it. The wash clearly must not have been that bad if sinmply putting some water on my hair and using the comb to come thru worked well. Now to put in bit twists and cover with my beanie! So excited. Here's my FRO:

When I finished I thought to myself, oh this is Gorg! So prior to wetting my hair I put it in two random braids on top to protect my hair and had the back out because i hadn't braided it yet. So when I did the FRO, someone saw me and said, don't think I didn't see you with those braids before! lol. Odd how I feel uncomfortable rocking my natural fro just the way it is. It actually looks pretty decent too for not doing anything to it but putting a little water on it. Anyhoo, let me secure these ends because I wanna rock a textured fro of some sort tomorrow.



Hair Essentials - Two-Strand Twists

So, I still haven't done anything to my hair because my hair is still in my twists. I have styled them a little differently. That is I flat twisted it into 3 flat twist from the nape of my neck towards the middle top of on my head. I have the remainder of the twists down creating a half-up/half-down kind of look. For added versatility, I can untwist the twists in the front and create a funky look, or leave it as it is. I have been leaving it twisted since it's still hot drying weather.

This evening and tomorrow morning, I will continue with my hair care. I'm noticing less and less split ends and knots, so this is good. I'm hoping these twists can last me until the end of this week. I really want to wash my hair though, but I'm hanging in there. I'm trying to not tamper with my hair too much these past couple days. This is currently Day 13. The pic is from Day 11.

Yes, i had just dragged myself outta bed. Don't judge my face. Focus on the hair, lol. Anyway, that's all for now. MuAh & CiAo! Live on purpose people!