Post Dedicated to Titi Branch - Miss Jessie's Cofounder

This week I did the cayenne & oil treatment. I decided to heat the oil up by mixing the ingredients together on a saucer and then putting the mixture in the microwave for a few seconds. I applied the mixture to my scalp and then washed my hair with Argonne Shampoo. Directly after the wash, my hair was tangled and felt like straw…as though the shampoo had washed all the moisturizer and my hair’s natural moisturizer out of my hair. I then conditioned with Wen’s treatment conditioner and that brought some life back to my hair. I went ahead with my LCO Method:

1.       Sprayed my 50/50 mixture of vegetable glycerin & water

2.       Moisturized with my new usual moisturizer

3.       Then seal moisture with almond oil. (I believe that’s the oil I used this time)

I rocked it in a twist-out the next day, but there was still this “squeaky clean” feeling and my hair felt somewhat dry. I haven’t experienced this in awhile, so I was taken aback a little bit. I moisturized it again 2 days later (which was yesterday) and it felt better, but still not the same and then finally this morning, I repeated the LCO method before I left the house and finally today it felt like my regular moisturized hair. Perhaps, it’s the biting cold that made it feel dry or it could be the squeaky clean shampoo I used.

Generally the Wen’s cleansing conditioner works well for my hair. But every now and then, I like to wash my hair with a shampoo. Perhaps my hair is spoiled. IDK, but the Cleansing Conditioner cleans my scalp and hair perfectly, especially after a workout.

More importantly, I do know that Miss Jessie’s Curly Meringue is known for making great twist outs and for other manipulative styling. I’ve had many clients talk about how the greatness of Miss Jessie’s product line. In memory of Miss Jessie’s cofounder, Titi Branch, I just want to say that it’s because of you and your sister that we have many of the “black” hair products we do now. Your ideas kick-started black women wanting to achieve their best natural look and companies to develop hair products that caters better to our hair needs. For that, we thank you. You will always be remembered by the consumers of your products and by the hair bloggers that rave about your products. Condolences to the family once again. May your family find peace after this loss.

-          Life Of A Naturalista      -

Winter Hair Regimen (continued)

As promised, here are my results…my hair feels moisturized for the most part. HOWEVER, I did have some dry flakes I noticed which I realized was due to the amount of conditioner that I put in the first mixture that I put on my hair…Next time, I will hold on the conditioner and mix the aloe vera juice with oil instead with a half a dime size amount of conditioner. Otherwise, I’m happy with the results and the curls.

Natural Mohawk Look Pictorial

Creating the Natural Mohawk look is simple by following these steps:

Final Look!

Night Before:
1. Start with clean and moisturized hair
2. Part your mohawk in half from ear to ear, then create a two-strand twist in the back portion of mohawk tail after splitting
3. Part the top of your mohawk in two sections from the middle ear to ar part to the front of your head and two strand twist all three sections

4. Add curling rods on the ends of each two strand twist, except the two strand braid going to the nape of your neck. (Adding a curling rod here isn't necessary, but feel free to do it if you wish)

5. Cover head with bonnet

Next Day:
1. Untwist two strand braids all over and separate and pull hair across parts to eliminate the uniformed look.



Two-strand braid out

 

2. Use Wen Styling Lotion and Brush to create a smooth and glossy finish to the remainder of your TWA. All your hair need some love too!



 

3. Add two long hair pins to hold hair down on either side of mohawk inserting from the middle side of mohawk towards the front of the head on either side (this is optional)

 

Very simple and easy....of course the longer you leave the two strand braids in, the more definition you get. I try not to over-moisturize my hair because I don't want a wet and soggy look the next day. I'd rather just moisturize my hair as I usually do and then prep hair.

Moisturizing Steps (In case you don't recall) - LCO Method

1. Mist hair with 50/50 Vegetable Glycerin/Water, few drops of rosemary or lavender oil homemade spray

2. Apply Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie throughout hair (I use a quarter size amount through my entire mohawk)

3. Apply avocado, jojoba or almond oil (not all oils) to seal moisture in hair.

Works for me ALL THE TIME and when I use it in my clients hair as well. Cheers to be effortless! Share your hair regimen and other hair tips. I'd love to hear them. MuAh & CiAo!

Pressed MoHawk

Wore my hair pressed for a couple weeks...and people say I wouldn't be able to press it because it'll be short, blah, blah, blah. At any rate, I rocked my straightened fro. Every time I straight my hair, I try different methods to see what works the best for me. I used these tools to style my hair:

Moisturizing Oil Sealants for Hair

This information is constantly being shared on my post because hair breakage is a serious issue when it comes to hair care. Strength of hair is only determined by genetics and diet, but also maintenance of hair. Overheating hair with hair dryers and heat styling has damaged hair more times than not. Just one misuse of a heat styling tool can dramatically affect hair. Here are quick tips in regards to oils to assist with the maintenance of hair's moisture.

Basics Of Hair Care

Yes, I know, I know. I've been away for some time. BUT, life has been extraordinarily busy. Between baby showers, weddings, birthday parties, life has just gotten to be a bit much. Not to mention, I actually do work at work...I'm at work right now! So obviously this post won't be long.

 

I just wanted to remind everyone that this weather is sometimes perfect for a press and a wash and go! I love FALL! However, that doesn't mean you cheat on your haircare regimen. You must still do the following:

1. Deep condition if hair is brittle, dry and scalp is flaky. Use tea tree oil on scalp to reduce flaking

2. Towel dry gently. Blow Dry on low heat if necessary.

3. Spray Liquid in Hair - My fave is 50/50 Water & Vegetable Glycerin (NOW Foods Product)

4. Moisturize hair - I still love Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie

 

The Good, the Bad and the Glycerin (Part 2)

The Good, the Bad and the Glycerin (Part 2)

As promised, here is part two of Glycerin. I have been searching for negative attributes to having glycerin in your hair and skin products…I was unable to find any. BUT that is a good thing! Glycerin in products may be seen in the Ingredients list as:

glycerol or glycerine

How many of you remember Paula’s choice…the link with the ingredients search? How about glycerin scored as BEST! That’s an awesome score for a product. Read more...

Easy Natural Styling

Yesterday was supposed to be wash day but with recovering from this cold, which is more like a cough and getting home late, I opted to skip it and postpone until tonight or tomorrow. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do. So, this morning, I did not want to apply heat to my pressed hair nor was I feeling the whole ponytail idea...this led to a quick two-strand braid creating this easy natural style.

Black Friday Products! - Hair Essentials

Let me get to the point. BLACK FRIDAY AND CYBER MONDAY are awesome because you can get awesome, awesome deals. Take the spend $75 in Target, you get 20% off. You can get all your Jane Carter Solutions and Shea Moisture products. Now is the time to stock up! Especially if you do our hair and your daughter's hair, these products can become expensive. Spend smartly!

 

Carol's daughter is having a sale as well. Though I have only tried their heat protectant product, I have heard how amazing it is. Perhaps I should do a review of their hair care line. However, I will say this, the heat protectant product works well and smells yummy, BUT it is expensive as if many of the other products. Take advantage of their Black Friday sale.

 

http://www1.macys.com/shop/beauty-perfume-and-makeup/carols-daughter?id=48788&edge=hybrid&kws=carol%20daughter

 

Follow that link

If I find anything else, I will report it on this post ASAP. I imagine there will be sales all throughout the weekend, so keep your eyes peeled. If you see something, let me know too! I would love to take advantage of these sales. Until then....MuAh & CiAo!

Hair Essentials - Best Natural Hair Products

According to me, what works for my hair and what works for my client's hair and my friends, I have deemed the Jane Carter Solutions products to work awesomely, especially the product pictured here. The Shea Moisture line has some great finds. I have not tried all of their products, but their Curl Enhancing Smoothie is a great purchase AND it's cheaper than the moisturizer for JCS. Shea Moisture I got for around $12 while the JCS moisturizer was about $22.  Say what!? Cheaper product that works the same, I'm so there! I recommend both products for persons who have low-normal porosity hair. My hair type is 3b/3c/4a. Yes, I have combo type hair. Judge me not, at any rate, these products work well for the porosity level of my hair, which is what you should focus on when picking moisturizing products. Leave-in works for some, but it dries my hair out.

Here they are pictured.

Hair Essentials - Deep Conditioning Treatment

So last night I decided to do a deep conditioning treatment to continue with the repairing of my "frayed ends". I used cantu leave-in conditioner, honey, olive oil and i added the hair repair olive oil thing.... :-/ next time i won't use that hair repair thing. I don't know why I keep adding stuff to my already amazing deep conditioning recipe. It wasn't completely awful to use.

What I did was wet my hair first and spread the mixture from root to tip, massaginging it into my hair and scalp...then i put on a plastic cap and sat under my hooded dryer for about 20 minutes to let all that marinate in there. Yes, i said marinate. It felt....okay...not as good as it felt yesterday, but water is always the best moisturizer...so I rinsed the treatment out with warm water and used the rest of my awesome cowash by As I Am, added jojoba oil and rinsed with warm water again. i used a wide tooth comb to untangle my hair (wait, have i mentioned that untangling my hair has been the easiest thing I have had to do the past few months?) Consider it mentioned, if I hadn't. My hair felt very clean...but still not as moisturized on the ends of my hair as I would like it to be.

So, after I got out the shower, I searched and destroyed any fairy knots and split ends that I could find and moisturized with JC Solutions Moisturizer and Nature's Best grease. Right before I parted my hair in a big sections (which later became for big sections) I put Jamaican Castor Oil drectly on the ends of my hair, then worked from the root to tip and pulled sections of my hair out and twisted. My hair is a little longer now, so instead of using small twists, I went to medium-small twists. Here's a pic from my whack phone.

I didn't glam it up or anything, just put the twists in my hair and pulled it back by twisting the twists around each other and secured with a pin near the center of my head. Then, I repeated that for the other side. I attempted to take the pic of one side so you can see how it was pinned. My hair is dried now, but still is bouncy. I can tell when my hair is portraying traits of normal porosity when I can pull my twists and it bounces back to it's place. If you pull it and it sags and is dry, you have low porosity, if you pull it and it sag and lays limp and feels mushy, it's high porosity. Remember: Treat low porosity hair with moisturizing treatment and treat high porosity hair with protein treatments.