Natural Hair Survival

You're stranded on a deserted island. What three natural hair products would you need for survival?

I'm Not A Fan of the Color Green But...

I love Green Smoothies! I have been playing around with different ingredients and I've found one that is amazingly delicious (in my opinion).

1)Two Big Leaves of Kale

2) 1/2 Cup of Naked Green Machine 

3) 1 Cup of Naked Coconut Water

4) 2 teaspoons of Flax Seeds

5) 1 Banana (missing in the picture)

6) 5 Strawberries (also missing in the picture)

7) 1 teaspoon of Vega Protein Powder 

I throw them all into the blender and mix it at a low speed, then increase it to a high speed. I mix the ingredients up for about five whole minutes to make sure that it is as well blended as possible. Eventually I will invest in a better blender...but my Oster Blender works for now :-)

Update: This upcoming Monday begins Week Four of Insanity for me. I am trying to stay strong! I am five pounds down and I have lost four inches off my waist so far. I feel more energized and my strength/endurance seems to be increasing daily. 

Hoping that I can keep up with this program even with school beginning soon...keep your heads held high to my fellow teachers. Only 300+ more days left until our next Summer Vacation. Only...yeah right ;-)

One Month Update

A month ago I decided that I would make some adjustments to my daily/weekly hair routines that would hopefully lead to healthier and stronger hair.

I listed these adjustments in this post : In My Bag

• More Deep Conditioning!
• More Protective Styling!
• Bare Minimum Amounts of Heat!
• annnnnnnd
• 'Baggying' my ends at least 5x a week!

Since then...

1. I have Deep Conditioned twice using Aubrey Organics GPB Glycogen Protein Balancing Conditioner and Aubrey Organics HoneySuckle Rose.(I should actually be Deep Conditioning weekly...)
2. I tried a new protective style for one week: Twists. I will be using these again very soon.
3. I haven't used any heat at all.
4. And as for baggying my ends...sigh. I really need to stick to that. Fell off a couple of weeks ago. BUT I have been sealing my ends nightly!!

One thing that I have learned during this time is to listen to my hair and what it needs. My hair has different textures. The top of my hair is wavy and the back has more of a coily curly thing going on. And the sides are a distinct mixture of the two. I have found that the back of my hair doesn't seem to retain length as well as the top and sides. The ends of my hair in the back quickly become dry and raggedy (dare I say). I have been making sure to heavily (in terms of comparison) seal this part of my hair. And I have noticed some growth, though I haven't done an official length check. And I have also noticed that it looks and feels better than before. So on that note ladies, definitely listen to what your hair is telling you and adjust accordingly!

Have any of you learned anything about your hair that has helped with your hair health and growth? Share below!!!

Jane Carter's Nourish and Shine Review

Haven't been doing much with my hair lately. Really really trying to stick to my protective styles. I've been rocking two weeks of buns. Trying to remix the buns a little on the weekend with a pompadour or hair accessories.

All this protective styling, deep conditioning, moisturizing, sealing, baggying, etc. better pay off!

Oh...onto the review!

Jane Carter's Nourish and Shine Review:

Now I know that I mentioned this product in my previous post. I want to mention that I am not using the product as a moisturizer, as I previously stated. In doing my research, I realized that "butters" (such as Nourish & Shine which includes Mango Butter and Shea Butter) are generally not use as moisturizers. Moisturizers are generally products that are water-based. There are some people that prefer to use Butters as a moisturizer, but I find that my hair moisturizes better with water based products.

Currently, I am using the product as a sealer. I am using QP Mango Butter as my moisturizer and using the nourish and shine as my sealer. I love using these products together because they may my hair feel extremely soft. After not washing my hair for a week and wearing it in buns, I kept delaying washing my hair because I LOVED how soft my hair felt.

Product Grade: A (would've gotten an A+ if it wasn't for the smell...bleh!)

Below is a picture of my hair in a braidout done two weeks ago using the Nourish and Shine....

Later Chicas!

In My Bag

Referring to my ends of course! I have been feeling like my growth has become stagnant....feels like I have been stuck at the same length for far too long. The reality is that retention helps with hair growth and I believe retention is my problem.  I have decided to become more determined than ever on my hair journey. I'm stepping up my 'hair game' a notch.

This includes:

More Deep Conditioning!
More Protective Styling!
Bare Minimum Amounts of Heat!
annnnnnnd
'Baggying' my ends at least 5x a week!

I am currently using Jane Carter's Nourish and Shine (review coming soon!) and African Pride's Hair Scalp and Skin Oil on my ends. I'm not going to do any length checks until the end of the summer. Hopefully these interventions will help!

Bunning (and insecurities)

Hi, my name is Elle and I hate bunning.

Well I love and drool over other people's buns. But I hate my own buns. Why?

Because I want an obnoxious bun that will block people's views at the movie theatre,
Because my hair doesn't get as sleek as I want it to on the edges,

Because I hate how it accentuates my round face and big forehead...

But this month I've decided to push all my insecurities to the side and bun for at least 14 days during the month. I am already on day 6 (I started on February 1). I felt that my hair needed a little vacation from the rollersetting. No worries, I will be back to rollersetting as soon as I have completed my personal challenge. But for now I'm bunning!

I find that adjusting my buns has helped to ease my insecurities a bit:

I opt for the loose high bun rather than the tight high bun...
I am trying to wear earrings that are eye catching like hoops and ones with colors
I am also trying different styles with the front, like a pompadour or front swoop...something to give the front some *personality* and take the focus away from the shape of my face.

Here are some recent pictures...

Natural Hair and Green Smoothies

Natural Hair this week: The Braid Out vs. The Rollerset 

Health Kick!

For the new year, I am trying to (hint: trying to) change my diet. I am exchanging fried and breaded chicken for grilled chicken. White rice for whole grain rice. Regular Pasta for Multi Grain Pasta. And also trying to drink 36 oz. of water per day. I know this is half of the required amount. But I've come a long way. 0 oz. of water was the norm for me...

Another regular addition to my diet is vegetables. Previously, I would occasionally eat vegetables maybe two or three times a week. I'm bumping it up now. And when I can't steam them or boil them, I'm throwing them in my smoothie!

Currently I am using the Yoplait triple berry smoothie packs and blending in 10-15 leaves of fresh spinach. Yum!

Fresh Start To The New Year: Roller Setting Challenge!!

I'm so excited, I have signed up for my first "challenge" as a blogger. (I usually sign up for challenges on longhaircareforum.com.) It's so funny that I stumbled across this one. I have recently become interested in roller setting again and was trying to google the 2012 roller setting challenge on lhcf in hopes of getting some tips and tricks. I stumbled across Longing 4 Length's blog and discovered that she (EbonyCPrincess) was starting a 6 month long challenge. I emailed her and here I am today.

I have already tried two rollersets in the past week. The first set was done on orange and purple flexirods. I wasn't particularly satisfied with the set. It was a bit frizzy in the back and didn't hardly have any *swang*. This is when I began to do some research online and discovered the error in my first set.

1. My hair was not drenched during the process. I learned that the hair has to be very wet when it goes on the rollers.

2. I don't think my hair likes LottaBody setting lotion. I diluted the mess out of this stuff and it still gave me a blah set.

3. I was not rolling correctly on the roots.

4. I took down the rollers before they were completely dry. Big no-no.

Here are some pictures of that set:

Ahhhh! Oh nooo!! Fuzzy hair!

After dusting myself off and trying again with my new techniques, tips, tricks, and magic...here is my current rollerset:

Don't mind the junk in the background...lol

This is my best rollerset to date.

The products I used:
Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in
Kinky Curly Spiral Spritz
Coconut Oil
Water

The only problem I have with this set (I know...I know, I'm such a perfectionist) is that I used orange and red flexi rods and the coils came out a bit too tight for me. They are gradually loosening up but next time I will definitely stick with the purple rollers in the back and orange rollers in the front!