Mission Is-it-possible

I have a confession to make: I am an over-packer.  Whenever I head out to Charlotte I tend to pack 2 outfits per day most of which I never end up using.  I always pack for different scenarios that I know I won't be in and it needs to stop.  Now that the airlines are starting to go crazy and charge for any and everything I decided it's time to stop trying to bring my closet with me.  Usually I have a small rolling suitcase and a small bag for a 4-7 day stay.  This time around I only want to bring the small overnight bag. Now if you're familiar with the VSPink bags, you know they're not the biggest.  In my bag are 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes (heels and flats.)  My goal: to see how many different (hopefully cute) outfits I can put together during my trip.   Of course I'm gonna share and post them all up here.    Hopefully you have as much fun checking this out as I do doing this.

Stay Tuned.

It's Almost Here

Just pre-ordered Lauren Conrad's Style which comes out October 5th.  As you know I'm crazy for LC (in a non-stalker, no need to get a restraining order way.)  and decided to share a look inside with you guys.  Excuse me for being such a teen well beyond her teen years, lol.  I like to call it "young at heart."

 

Fall Jacket Must-Haves

Casual Jackets by Express
Jackets by Aqua

 

 

My wish list of Fall jackets: the boyfriend blazer, the moto jacket, the lace jacket and the military jacket.

 

Now I need to get another boyfriend blazer in either gray or navy and a lace jacket, lol.

Tools for Travel

This time next week I'll be headed to Charlotte to meet up with the boyfriend.  I've been natural for almost 5 months and probably been to Charlotte 2 or 3 times within that time period but never with my hair out.  I was going to put kinky twists in before I went but he's persuaded me to wait.  Thing is, I'm freaking out since we're going to a wedding that weekend.  Plus the temperature is still in the high 80-90s out there which means drying sun and some humidity. Grrr. I don't use that many products but I never quite know what I'm gonna need or use.  And I don't really wanna transfer my whole hair arsenal into those travel bottles. The plus is that I have a jar of coconut oil, a denman brush and wide tooth comb down there but I dunno what else I should bring.  I'm thinking about hitting up a Target or BSS store when I get there but I know he's gonna look at me like I'm crazy.  My plan is to wash my hair on the day I fly out, twist it and throw on a beanie to get on the plane.  Maybe I'm thinking about it too much but I wanna make sure I have all bases covered because I refuse to have a bad hair day on the day of the wedding.

What are your key essenitals for travel?  Any tips or suggestions?

Butter Love

So I've picked up on something. My beloved shealoe mix is turning my hair an ashy, white-grey and I don't like it.  Now I don't know if it's the ratio of shea butter to aloe vera gel but I can't handle it anymore.  I keep thinking it's gonna disappear but when I untwist the next day, still there and the more I fight to get it out, the frizzier my hair becomes.

My solution... Find a new butter to seal with.  Now it's gonna be hard to part with the shealoe because it was so good to my hair (for the most part) but I'm on a search something that works as well, if not better.  I could go back to Safi HairCare's Avocado Shea Hair Butter but I'm exploring my options first.  I happened to be in Brooklyn the other day and stopped to pick up some Butter Love at Karen's Body Beautiful.  I've only used it twice so I'll make an official judgment call (aka product review) in the near future.

Oils, aside from castor oil, only cut it in the daytime for me when I don't want something so heavy to weigh my hair down.  My ideal would be finding a butter or oil that worked day and night.

If you have any suggestions for butter sealants, I'd love to hear them.

"Do Nothing Today... Let Your Imagination Run Away"

There's nothing like a good no-fuss lazy day.  One of those days where I had to be comfortable and didn't wanna be bothered with anything but I knew I had errands to run.  I used to think I had to do my hair every time I went out, but my hair's starting to get to a length where I can pull it back (sorta) and throw a hat on (I'm cheesing as I write that.)  Of course I'm sharing this pics, nothing special just me on a bummy day.

Product Review: Suave Rosemary Mint Conditioner

I did it. This past Saturday, I managed to put my HETT to the side so that I could try another conditioner.  I was having a good hair week too.  I didn't want it to end but it was starting to feel a little oily and build-up-y (please excuse that word i just made up but you get what I'm trying to say.)  After my "meh" experiences with the Suave Almond Shea Butter conditioner I felt like this was gonna be the same thing.

This time around, I did a hot oil treatment with a mix of olive, grapeseed and coconut oil.  I wrapped my hair up in a shower cap with a headband around it so that the oil would seep out, and a scarf over it.  I lounged around, watching a couple episodes of "The Game" on BET then headed to rinse this out.  Now the conditioner is not exactly the thickest, in fact it's a little runny which turned me off.  And the smell isn't a strong mint smell which made me kinda sad because I loved the menthol-y scent of Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle but oh well.

I proceeded to cowash my hair and then added an extra squirt of conditioner to each section just before detangling (out of fear.)  I took my wide tooth comb to my hair, cringing as it got closer and then... butter.  The comb slide right through.  Of course I thought it was a fluke so when I got to the roughest section of my hair and I DIDN"T hear a snap, crackle, pop, I smiled.  I like this conditioner.  It's a nice change of pace from HETT. I'll probably alternate between the two.

This conditioner is advertised as the "invigorating" product from the Suave Professionals line while the Almond Shea Butter is "moisturizing."  Now I grabbed the moisturizing one first because I thought that's what I needed the most.  But as I learn my hair and what it likes/dislikes, I realize I need to easy up on the moisturizing products.  HETT is a definitely a moisturizing conditioner and this is my balance.

If your hair doesn't like heavy conditioners because it gets weighted down easily, you should give this a try.  It's cheap ($2.50) so if it doesn't work you won't be mad that about shelling out a bunch of money.

My Verdict: 3.5/5

"You've Changed... For the Better"

 

I was kinda feeling myself today!

If you guys ever want me to list what I'm wearing, lemme know and I'll definitely start!

 

Next Day Henna pics

 

These are the pics I took after my henna treatment.  To be honest, I still can't tell a difference in texture which I'm okay with but of course I will try it again.  After i use the rest of my frozen mix I'll probably try using tea as I read on CurlyNuGrowth.

Henna Gloss Review

Last night I decided to spend my Saturday night in the house watching PSU football and finally henna glossing.  Here's the mixture that I used.  After the henna defrosted I poured some into a plastic bowl and threw the rest back in the freezer.  Now I hadn't added any oil yet so I added about 2 teaspoons of grapeseed oil and maybe a teaspoon of cinnamon.  Now I read that cinnamon adds to the red color and I know the color change will probably be minimal but what the heck, gonna try it anyway.  If it does work I'll add it at the very beginning next time I henna.  In most posts I've read henna is applied to freshly washed hair so I shampooed my hair with Curls Creamy cleanser and proceeded to apply the mix in small sections.  After my entire head was covered, I threw on some saran wrap, a plastic cap over it and a scarf.  Then it was time for some football.  Bad football.  Penn State was not the team I know and love.  I could have left it in overnight but I'm scared of how drying it could be so I decided 4 hours was enough.

Rinsing my hair was a huge pain.  Ugh I rinsed and I rinsed and I rinsed.  And my tub turn a lovely shade of mud brown.  I finished rinsing and conditioned with my favorite HETT and then proceeded to set my hair.  My hair was soft (thank goodness!) but I didn't notice any clumping of curls and coils like some ladies get.  While I got in front of the mirror I saw that I got no visible color change.  I can't find that pesky gray hair so I'm taking that as a good sign.  I decided to do some two strand twists because I noticed that banding is causing knots and tangles at the ends of my hair. If I do I'll probably band the twists instead of leaving them loose.  Today I used my Design Essential Leave-In which I haven't used in ages, Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque and Shealoe to seal.  I also took this opportunity to clip my ends because they look a mess- knots and dryness galore.  I only trim while my hair is twisted.  I find that it's much easier for me.

Now it's Sunday and I haven't left the house so my hair's still twisted.  I won't know how I feel about the process until tomorrow when I do my hair.  I will say this, my shedding was almost non-existent.  I'll attribute that to henna's strengthening properties.  I don't wanna give my verdict just yet, I'll probably wait til I try it again next month.  I like it but I don't know if it's worth going through all that trouble when I can just buy a protein leave-in that I don't have to fuss with.

Oh well.

Here are some pics of the henna in my hair and after it had been rinsed out.  Please excuse my ends because I didn't trim them until after my hair was twisted up and as you can see they were in need of it.

(Head full of henna)

(all rinsed out, Slight color deposit but nothing noticeable)

Fashionisto in the Making

(source)

I just had to share this pic of Kingston Rossdale during NY Fashion Week. He's too cute and dresses better than most of the guys I know except maybe my brother.

My New Addiction

I'm a traitor.

I've abandoned my go-to hairstyle for another.

Two strand twists have treated me well since I BC'ed but it was time to explore other options.  My new love... BANDING.  Banding is a method of stretching out you hair.  You take sections of hair and wrap hair elastics down the length of the hair which prevents shrinkage. You remove the bands and voila, instant length.  Super simple, right? I've noticed that I can see individuals coils a lot more with banding which is fun.    Now when using hair bands I don't wrap them around so tight that my hair can barely move because then it starts to straighten my hair.  Whenever I do finally decide to straighten my hair, I'll probably use this to stretch my hair and much as possible and then blow out/flat iron from there.  Although I know my hair is growing (I hit the 4 month mark already **insert dancing BBM icon here**) I would love to get as much length out of it as I can WITHOUT heat.  Now I don't get the definition that I would from two-strand twistouts but I love the look of it... just a fluffy fro and occasional coils. I do wonder what it would be like if I banded my twists? Hmm... that's next on my list.  If you've tried it before please let me know how it worked out for you.

Finally Henna-ing

So on Friday I was out for Fashion's Night Out here in the city.  And trust just walking around SoHo was a fashion show.  People were dressed to impress for sure.  And although I loved my outfit my hair was NOT behaving at all.  AT ALL!  Therefore my pics may not see the light of day (I did get to take one with my blog idol, Angel of Concrete Loop though.) Something about my hair just didn't feel right.  It's not that it didn't feel moisturized it just didn't act right, which got me thinking that maybe I've been moisturizing a little too much.  Now I don't know if that's the reason why but hey, gives me a reason to try my henna gloss that I've had in the freezer so why not?!  Plus I'm super lazy and don't feel like going out to watch the big Penn State/Alabama game at a bar so I'm gonna use game time to hang out and chill w/ my henna and a shower cap.  I'll follow up tomm.  Oh and...

LET'S GO STATE!!!

JoJo- In The Dark

I loved her when she first came out and now she's all grown up.

This is the first single from her newly released free mixtape "Can't Take That Away From Me"

From what I've heard I'm excited for her new music.

Bear With Me

I've kinda put this site on the backburner because I've had a lot going on lately.  I've been trying to focus on getting my personal life in order so blogging has suffered.  But since I last updated, I've tried a new conditioner which means product review.  Also I won a Creme of Nature argan oil shine pack so I'll be writing about that in the near future.  Once I get the hang of everything I'm trying to do, the posts will come flooding in, so please bear with me.

P.S. I've got a wedding coming up at the beginning of October and I'm on the hunt for the perfect hairstyle.  Any suggestions? Feel free to leave a comment :)