Yes!  My hair type!  I love videos that feature people with tightly coiled hair, so I definitely needed to put this on my site.

This video serves as a great instruction for how to twist, and untwist, hair.   The video features Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme & Curly Buttercreme.  To be honest, I was happy at 1:56 of the video where the hair model reveals her twisted hair from underneath the dryer hood.  I personally don't know how people do it... spend hours twisting hair only to untwist it.  Hmp... but both styles looked great on the hair model, wouldn't you say?

So, has anyone taken the plunge and tried Miss Jessie's products yet?   How has it worked for you?  I'm a PJ (product junkie) at heart and plan to do some serious shelf stocking very soon... so, what's the one Miss Jessie's product that I should try?

Health expert Devra Davis, author of "The Secret History Of The War On Cancer," states that "9 out of 10 women were born with healthy genes" which is an astonishing statistic because this means that only 1 out of 10 women were born with cancer... which means the other 9 may be exposed to man made elements that caused cancer.  She also highlights the fact that African American women are more likely to die from breast cancer than Caucasian women and the fact that it is largely due to our hair products we use that contain placenta.

Listen to "Devra Davis: Chemicals, Cancer and You" or download it to your computer.

If you are newly natural, the first thing you should be doing is going through your product cabinet and tossing out products that have any man made chemicals that should not be going on your head.  However, some chemical-sounding ingredient names may not be harmful but actually may be a natural ingredient.  I used to assume that any ingredient that you can't pronounce is a chemical that should not be used in products, but that was wrong thinking.  These days, products list the "technical name" for even natural ingredients.  One of the few ingredients I avoid right off the bat are:

• Mineral oil
• Petrolatum
• Petroleum

You should absolutely avoid any hair product with these listed anywhere in the ingredients list.  I've stood by this for the past decade.  The reason why these ingredients are used in products is because they are CHEAP and therefore companies who feel we aren't worth the better ingredients (if you so choose to take it this way) or who don't want to spend anymore than they have to on a product, will use these ingredients in our hair care products.

Some other ingredients to avoid: Isopropyl Alcohol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Methyl, Propyl, Butyl, and Ethyl Paraben, Imidazolidinyl, DMDM Hydantoin, DEA, MEA, TEA, Fragrances, and Colors.

So this cancels out 70% or more of black hair products on the market today.  Fortunately, there are many other alternatives one can find for hair care.  You just have to be more open to trying unconventional ways of either obtaining your haircare products, or making/mixing them yourself.

Having natural hair is one thing, but using natural hair products is yet another ball game.  Search for natural hair products and take your own health in your own hands.  Make an attempt to follow a healthier lifestyle, and encourage those closest to you to do so as well.  I definitely believe breast cancer research is still necessary and vital.  Please consider sponsoring me by making a tax deductible donation for the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women's Cancers by June 11, 2010!

Many naturals make so many mistakes when it comes  to treating post weave hair (lol, I don't know why I have to term it as that, but I felt like it)... basically, caring for the natural hair after it's been in a weave.  You have to remember that covering your hair for over a month has robbed the hair of the proper moisture that it needs, its elasticity is stretched which stresses the hair strands, and not to mention free access to the oxygen that your scalp so desperately needs to stay healthy.  Of course we all do the right things to our hair while its under the weave... right??  Okay then!  So really all we're concerned about is making sure the natural hair gets its much needed moisture once the weave is out.

I decided to put together a series of pictures showing just that.  I hope these help :-)

btw, did I say I'm lovin' my natural??  Tee hee :-)

Today I attempted the flat twists once again.  Luckily for me, when I don't get something right that makes me want to go back and re-do it until I get it... and I think I got it ;)   Man, I was sooo happy because I felt like I knew what I was doing... after only 2 tries!  Maybe it helps that I've been doing individual twists for some years now, so the only thing really that I was lacking was the rhythm of it all.  But anyhoo, what I did was wash my hair with Creme of Nature, condition with Suave Coconut Conditioner, rub in my Sta-Sof-Fro Leave-In Cream, and add some Kemi oil to the hair. I didn't use much product. I got the technique which I posted above, but I needed to get down the proper movement, like "what piece goes where and how."  I'm so excited that I've adopted a new hairstyle :)  It took me under 2 hours to do these twists.  I'm planning on doing a twist-out tomorrow for chu'ch.

Today, I also ordered a grip of Carol's Daughter hair products online: Hair Butter, Mimoso, a hair oil, and Hair Milk. I should be receiving them mid next week!

Wow is all I can really say right now.  This doesn't even look like my hair.  I'm taking pics so you all can see this craziness.  Last night I combed out the last of my flat twist-out, conditioned the hair and scalp with cream and oil, braided it back, and went to sleep.  I woke up to a sticky mess and didn't know what to do with the hair. There's no time to wash it, and I don't have the energy for that.  So what I decided to do was get out my Eco Styler strong holding clear gel, which I've refused to use due to its ingredients I didn't seem to pay attention to when buying, and I decided to slick glops of it through my hair.   Whoa, I had never used so much gel in my life.  I also rubbed in my Leave-In first, and sprayed my water/Glycerin/Rosewater mix as I went.   But amazingly, it did a great job of slicking my hair with shine and making visible, shiny waves!!! I'm so excited, I can't wait to leave the house to show it off.  Haaay! Now, I have to cross my fingers and hope this stuff won't crack or flake on me throughout the day!  Just in case, I'm taking my water mix with me ;)

I wanted to do another twist-out for Thanksgiving, so on this day I washed my hair.. um.. with conditioner--yeah, I thought I'd give it another try.  Actually, I've been doing this on and off for the past 2 wks; it's just really convenient.  *boldly* Although I still prefer my shampoo ;)  Anyway, I did 2-layer flat twists in an attempt to lesson the frizzy ends I get when I flat twist-out my hair.  I also twisted tighter (the hair pieces between my fingers, I don't mean pulling hair out of my scalp) to help stretch the hair. Instead of combing the ends (of the pieces of hair I'm flat-twisting), I simply used my fingers to pull and stretch out the hair at the end. I think combing it makes it come out frizzy.  My flat-twists are coming out more beautiful with every new try.  With these, I added my Carol's Daugher products: Hair Butter (moisture), Hair Milk (ends), Mimoso (shine, pleasant smell), and Amen Oil (hair sheen, scalp).  I spritzed Setting Lotion over it.   I wore my satin scarf over it and let it dry overnight.
Prep Time: 2 hrs.

Yep, I was wondering if I could actually pull off wearing my hair out after washing it, with no pulling and no combing. I wanted to see if my curls were really still there, or if I had really stretched them out with excessive pulling of the hair.  Hmm... Well, I actually tried it.   I washed my hair this morning; I rubbed in a good amount of my ORS/Lustrasilk deep conditioning mixture ('cause I hadn't done a deep conditioning treatment in a long while), showered, and rinsed it out with cold water.  Afterwards, I rubbed in my CD Hair Milk, 'cause it's light and doesn't require rubbing vigorously at the hair and I didn't want to take out the natural formed ringlets of curls. I wanted to push the front back, so I pulled out one of my Goody hair bands and pushed my hair back an inch.   While trying to match my big hair to my face and attempting to make it all rhyme with each other, I pushed the band back a little bit more, maybe 3" from the hairline. I brushed the pushed-back hair with my boar brush, rubbed some Mimoso Hair Honey on it and tied a scarf for half an hour.  I took off the scarf and had waves of sheen at the front while my hair was still drying. I also spritzed what was left of my ORS Natural Shine onto my hair. I must have looked at myself in the mirror 30 times because I had never worn something like this b/4.   I wanted it to look "right". Well, the next best thing for me was to put on my make up so that in case the style wasn't for me, I still would have a pretty fact to look at, lol.  Well, I seemed to have gotten complements on my hair regardless. I guess this style's a keeper ;)

Now, what do I call this style? It's not really a fro because its not picked out.... I washed my hair and left it... Hmm... how about the Wash 'N Go... Ni-ce.... catchy!
Prep Time: 15 min.

I'm still doing this no-poo thang.  I'm actually almost done with my first VO5 Strawberries and can't wait to start on my Tangerines!   I also bought another conditioner that I saw at Costco that was shaped like a wine bottle and smelled minty--so I just had to grab it.  Also, Bath & Body Works had this $1 Conditioner (the size of your palm) that listed all these natural ingredients. I thought it was cute and got that to try.

I took my sis to the salon to get her braids in. Her hair has been breaking off from her bad relaxer. The braider, who saw her a year ago, even noticed that it hasn't grown. Unfortunately I can't see her everyday but try the best to help her out and teach her when I do see her. I hope to keep her hair in braids by learning how to braid myself, 'cause I can't keep dishin' out the big bucks every 3-4 weeks! I'm probably gonna buy that braiding video from Robin the Hair Lady (@growafrohairlong.com). I'm skeptical about getting it elsewhere, afraid that their featured styles may date back to the '80's or something(some of those videos are so dang old) and I can't have my sis looking like Rick James.

As for my diet, I started incorporating home-made salads into my meals. I try and make different creative meals using salads. Last week, my favorite was a mix of iceberg ready-made salad mixed with spinach leaves, cut mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and chopped broccoli & carrots mix. I'd add an avocado to the salad and that was my meal. This week I baked some frozen battered fish, diced into cubes, and stored for the week to dress my salad with for my lunches (like they do at fastfood restaurants, except with chicken). I also sprinkle corn and add my dressing. I'm still taking my Flax Seed oil almost every day, so I'll drizzle that over the salad as well (practically tasteless & undetectable). This week I've been snacking on dried fruits and nuts, and drink a Boost High Protein shake in the morning (it was expensive for a 6-pack, so I'm trying to stretch it out. The shake is really tasty. I'm drinking it mainly because it's what's recommended by so many women for growing healthy hair (protein shakes in general).

Anywhoo, I plan on expanding this site as soon as I can. There's so much I want to write about, so much I wanna do! *snap* But reality says "back to my studies"!