Sleeping Beauty

Before I head to bed I wanted to demonstrate what I do with my hair at night.  So for the sake of being a (decent) blogger, I'm putting up pictures of me looking a Hot Ass Mess.  Ugh this better not come back to bite me in the ass.  I mini-pineapple my hair.  In other words, I grab sections of hair, tie them up loosely in hair bands and then throw my scarf on.  Now it's not the sexiest look in the world (thank goodness I don't live with the bf) but it works.  I untie, moisturize, steam, fluff and go.  It keeps my hair from matting and shrinking up.

I'm gonna warn you.  What you're about to see is not pretty.  My hair is looking a little rough because 1. it's the end of the night 2. my braidout is about 7 days old and I need to push it out for another few days because I wanna wash right before I head to Charlotte this weekend for CIAA.

It starts out like:

 

After tying up each section it ends up looking like this:

Tomorrow I'll put up pics of how I end up styling my hair for work.  Something tells me it's gonna be pulled back and puff-like because I'm pushing it and I don't want to rebraid.

 

Product Review: Sof N Free Milk Protein & Olive Oil Daily Growth Lotion

Gotta admit I was very hesitant to use this.  Typically when I get new products I rush to try them ASAP but this I picked up and put down over and over again. Finally I decided, why not? If I hate it I can wash it out.  Let me just say that I've been looking for easily accessible products that I can rely on and this ladies is one of them.  I don't have to worry about ordering online or having to go to specific stores to find it.  I see it at BSS and drugstores all over my neighborhood which makes me like it even more.

I have to explain my initial hesitation to it.  One word: PROTEIN.  Early on I had tried a protein leave-in just to make sure I had the right  balance of moisture/protein because it's essential for healthy hair.  Too much of either isn't good and trust I was  all about the moisture.  That leave-in was an utter #FAIL.  My hair was hard, dull, and just mad at me.  Since then I stayed far away from anything that had protein written on the bottle.  I even doubted using henna because I heard too many horror stories about brittle straw-like hair.  I love experimenting with different things, I gradually introduced my hair to protein by doing the henna gloss (henna & conditioner.)  My hair has been responding well to henna so I decided to throw another protein product in the mix because henna is a time-consuming process and I wanted another alternative.

Best decision ever.  The brand name does not lie. SOFnFREE.  My hair feels amazing and it MOVES.  Wait let me say that again... it MOVES.  As successful as I thought I was with my hair, it didn't really blow in the wind or have any bounce to it.  But now, even when my hair is braided up, I shake my head and feel the braids hit me in the face.  I love every minute of it.  It's creamy but lightweight which is great because I don't need the buildup. Because I have so much hair on my head I thought I needed something super thick to ensure moisture and softness, not the case.  This does the job without weighing my hair down.  I've learned that I can use the thick stuff immediately after washing but if I use it any day after my hair looks white and ashy.  Even if your hair is relaxed, this would probably be a great moisturizer to use regularly without giving that "weighed down by product greasy, stringy" look

Using it is super simple, I run some through my hair before I hop in the shower, let the steam work with it for a little like the Steam & Style post shows then play around styling my hair after I get dressed, rub some KBB Butter Love afterwards then head out.  I've been using this for about 2 weeks now and since I'm so impressed I plan to incorporate the rest of their products and see whether or not "she" likes them.

I won this product in a giveaway and have no obligation to give a positive review of the product.  This is my honest opinion.

My Verdict: 5/5

 

Meet & Greet

This is gonna be a short one but on Friday night I made my way to Karen's Body Beautiful for a #naturalhair meet up that I found out about via Twitter.  I came towards the end so I don't have too many pictures but it was crowded with beautiful, friendly women with beautiful hair.  Everyone was so nice and welcoming especially Karen, how gorgoeus is that hair by the way?!  I was able to finally meet some of the ladies that I keep talk to on Twitter and Facebook while sharing some hair stories and secrets. I'm really looking forward to the next meet up.

There were some giveaways and I happened to win another jar of Butter Love, which I've reviewed in the past.  Now that I know just how to get the grit  to melt away, it's a God send.  In addition to my win, everyone walked away with sample of two of the many KBB products that are in the works: Super Duper and Hair Blossom, a natural hairspray!  I can't wait to try them out and give my opinions.  Be on the look out for them, because Karen's is gonna be doing big things in the coming year.

 

Steam & Style

 

Just wanted to share this video from one of my YouTube favorites, br0nzeqt on how she refreshes her hair.  I came across it and I do it almost daily now.  It almost helps me get over the day 1 hair issue.  I can't get great day 1 hair to save my life.  Sometimes I hate the tight definition from braiding my hair so this helps loosen it up a bit and give it some motion

Be careful though because too much steam turns my hair right back into a puff especially since I don't use any gel.  So I typically use a shower a cap and then remove it during the last 5-10 mins of my shower (shh I know, I take long showers)

PS If you have tips for great day 1 hair, leave a comment, I need all the tips I can get!

Milk from the Cereal Bowl

Out of boredom, I decided to throw together a few things in my kitchen and see how it turned out in my hair.

I grabbed a

can of coconut milk,

some honey,

grapeseed oil

and coconut oil.

I mixed about a tablespoon of the honey and oils with about a half a can of the coconut milk (you may need more or less depending on hair length) dumped it over my hair in the sink, covered with a 2 plastic caps and sat under my hooded dryer for about 20 mins.

Let me warn you guys that it's messy and drippy.  I may try it with coconut cream for some thickness but it really doesn't bother me that much.

I really liked it partially because it smelled like cereal (yum, thus the post title) and it didn't dry out my hair.  I rinsed it out and co-washed afterwards and my hair felt so good.  Not hard or crunchy as I expected because it is a protein and i had a bad experience with a protein leave-in.  This isn't something I would do every week but it seems like a nice substitute for henna.

Coming Into the Home Stretch

Can't believe I am 3/4 of the way through my first year since I chopped my relaxed hair off.  I'd say that it flew by but it didn't really, lol.  I have a plan to see if I can kick my hair growth into overdrive.

Here's the plan:

Provided I don't have a sulfur allergy, I am going to apply the Bee Mine Hair Growth Serum to my scalp every other day.

Henna every 3 weeks,

and shampoo with my Ayurvedic Shampoo Bar every 3 weeks.

Other than that my regimen will probably remain the same.  Wash weekly (unless I'm having an amazing run with my hair then I may stretch it) Deep condition on those wash days and moisturize/seal when I see fit.

I really don't know how well this is going to work.  It's more to test the rate of hair growth.  It has been said that hair grows at a rate of 0.5 inches per month.  So this is my 4 month challenge (Technically 3 months and one week because Feb 9th marks 9 months)

Stay Tuned.

My Goodies

I have been making my way through all the stuff in my drawers, thus no product reviews.  So for being able to resist my product junkie urges, I bought myself something.  Shh, I know.

This time, we're trying Bee Mine.  The products claim to be 100% organic and 100% natural which I'm not a stickler for.  The prices range from  so before I made a commitment, I decided to buy the sample sizes.  These are what I grabbed:

-Bee Mine Curly Butter

-Ayurvedic Herbal Shampoo Bar

-Deja's Hair Milk

-Bee Mine Hair Growth Serum in Mango

Also I won a Sof N Free Christmas giveaway from Afrobella, and although there was a hold up due to the company (I was supposed to receive the package before the holidays) I FINALLY got them:

This gift package consists of the:

- Daily Growth Lotion

-Strengthening Creme

-Really Deep Conditioning Treatment

-Leave In Treatment

-Three Layer Growth Oil

 

Expect a lot of product reviews because I have quite a few bottles to get through.