Giving Co Washing a Second Try…

Yes, I know.. Last time it was a HOT ass mess, but this time I’m using a different conditioner and I don’t plan on doing it exclusively. I will still be shampooing when I feel I need it. But with the cooler weather and dry heat all around, I figure a little extra moisture couldn’t hurt.

 

When did all this start? Well, I got lazy actually. LoL! I went the whole weekend and did SQUAT to my hair. Come Monday, my hair was dirty and needed redoing. So having like an hour to get ready, I decided to just rinse with some conditioner and slather up with gel as best I could. Well, I got several compliments!! And I had a pretty good and easy hair week. Most days I just spritzed and maybe added a little oil and went. I was shocked every time I got a compliment!!

 

So, after watching one of those irksome Wen commercials,  I’m trying it out again. This time instead of using a cone filled conditioner like Aussie, I’m using my Tresemme Naturals which to my best knowledge is cone free. Plus I don’t use as many products as I did in the beginning. I was kind of worried about the Ecostyler not getting completely washed away, but it seems to be working pretty well. And my hair feels way more moisturized, obviously, than it did with even the WONDERFULLY perfect L’Oreal EverCreme shampoo. I think winter is the perfect time to try this again. So hopefully this will end well.

 

And product reviews!! I have tried a few more products! Some I reviewed on YouTube, but not on here, so look for those in the near future. Among the products I’ve been using I finally tried Eco Styler and fell in LOVE with it!! I’m also on ,as mentioned above, Tresemme Naturals and L’Oreal EverCreme shampoo. Both have been working wonders for my hair. I’ve examined my hair texture and came up with some interesting discoveries. Well, one discovery and came to a very peaceful conclusion. So look for all those posts to come.

 

But for now, I am done. Thanks for Reading.

 

Jen

Surprise in My Mailbox!! (My DNA!!)

  Yep, I received some products in the mail today. My DNA is Universal products from Universal Beauty Products. I received The Monoi de Tahiti Moisture Rich Shampoo, the Shea Monoi de Tahiti Detangling conditioner, and the Honeybee Leave In conditioner. Three nice sized samples, 2 oz each.

 

OK. I haven’t used the products yet. I got them after I washed my hair and had it soaking with conditioner, so it will be at least next week before I try them. All I have for you now is that they are really thick and rich as far as I can feel and they smell pretty good. They kinda smell like Cream of Nature shampoo. (Thanks Elle for nailing that fragrance!) It’s not the BEST fragrance in the world, but far from the worst. I’m pretty sure it won’t linger in your hair… PRETTY sure.

I may (MAY!!!) spray a little of the leave in in my hair when I wash my conditioner out just to be doing something, but I really wanna try all the products together. I WISH they had included their Shea Monoi Honey Butter. I think that would have rounded the test off a little better, but beggers can’t be chosers.

Up front, I don’t like that the company is so secretive about ingredients. Several posters on NaturallyCurly.com have had similar issues with the company and I find that a bit off putting. I did get to see the ingredients on Elle’s YouTube review and noticed the leave in does contain Sodium Hydroxide. Some say it’s just a preservative, I say it’s Sodium Hydroxide.. It won’t stop me from trying the product, but it is what it is. These products all contain honey I believe as well. I have nothing against honey, but someone might. You never know. It’s not a sin, but it is just a little iffy when  a company makes it hard to get hold of an ingredients list. You wonder, what y’all hiding? I don’t know..

But ANYWAY, that will be a review for next week. Hopefully I can get that up over the weekend. NEXT weekend.. LoL! But for now, that’s all I can say for this product.

11:11

Jen

Seem’s My Baby Trying to Walk!

  Or rather she’s practicing HANGING.. LoL! I took my hair down from my plastic cap and bonnet today. Actually I conditioned all day yesterday and rinsed it out like 11:00 or so last night. Then I plopped, sealed, and put it up in the plastic cap soaking wet- well, not soaking wet, it was damp. Well, I just took the cap off so I could get some gel up in there, as you all know my gel is also a water based moisturizer. Maybe I should start calling it my “moisturizing gel”.. Or maybe just call it friggin’  Long Aid- Whatever! If I start using another gel, I’ll let yall know. But I have so say more than just “gel” because people think of styling gel. And I often say stuff like “I use it for moisture.” And there will be some smart ass going “Nah uh, gel has alcohol. And it dries your hair out not moisturize it. Blah, Blah.. I’m a hair expert..”  OK, that was unnecessarily snotty.. But you know it’s true..

 

ANYWAY, I applied my gel today about an hour ago. (Lazy.. Yes.) And after all the smoothing and shaking, my hair acted like it wanted to hang down. Now it’s not that long, and i”m sure it will shrink up pretty soon, but it did try to hang down and even made a little bang in the front, which is STILL hanging.. Not that it matters. I have work this week for at least 3 days. After that it will be the holiday break for like FOUR days. (Yes!) But I’d never try to do a hanging style at this point. I know that would just end in disaster and disappointment. (Ok, being totally dramatic.) So I’m still styling it up, but just for tonight I think I’ll let my little Rebel try her “legs” out and let her “walk” a little. Who knows?! Maybe this is the beginning of  great growth.

 

  Nothing really stand out-ish to post about.. Just letting yall know about this little fro trying to act up.

 

11:11

 

Jen

Tuesday- 9/20/11- Acceptance.

Tuesday- 9/20/11- Acceptance.

Ok. I got an “insult” yesterday from a coworker. A guy (of course) who is always teasing me about straightening my hair. (BOO on him!) Well, yesterday he was in the hall way with this girl, and made the comment “Ooh wee, you look like you got in a fight with a straightening comb!” (Which was dumb within itself because my hair isn’t STRAIGHTENED!) Now I could have just ignored it. Or gave him the usual “Go to hell!” Well. That is not the case. I said the first thing that came to mind. “And YOU look like you got in a fight with a jackass and he kicked you in the FACE!” All I heard was “Ooooh…” from the girl. That is SO not me to fight cruelty with cruelty. I’m not an insult person. But that just came out. And it was funny. :p But I should have more control than that. The guy’s not UGLY, but he IS a jackass.

Anyway. For some reason DH is OBSESSED with me picking my hair out!!! This is about the 10th time he’s suggested I pick my hair out. I think he wants to see my fro as a FRO. And, oh it is coming. I’d like for my hair to be a little longer before I do it though. Anyway, I had to explain WHY I don’t pick it out everyday. BREAKAGE! And I’m trying to grow it out. AND HE GOT IT!!! No argument. No snide insults. Just “Oh ok.” Ladies, my mouth was dragging the FLOOR with disbelief! Also, at the fact he WANTS me to pick my hair into a regular fro, when he hated my tapered “boy” cut. I’d think in his mind that would look like a boy too. I think it’s because he said he use to wear a fro, and his hair was so soft, it would just fall. It wouldn’t hold it’s shape. (He’s like a 3a/3b.) And so began the fro lust. Well, my hair will definitely hold it’s shape! Once it’s out there babe it ain’t goin’ NO WHERE! LoL! I’ll give him so lusted for fro one weekend.

And now the title topic. (Bout time right?) Acceptance. I always talk about accepting your hair. Recently about accepting and embracing your heritage. (If you’re fortunate enough to know exactly what that heritage IS!) All that you are. But that’s NOT all that you are.

Taren916 from YouTube has a series on her channel called “Reveal and Release.” The idea is to come to terms with bad things or just flaws in your life. And I think that is an excellent idea. When accepting thing like hair and ethnicity, you won’t completely transform your life unless you accept EVERYTHING about yourself. What you can’t accept, try to change. If you can’t delete it, it’s a part of who YOU are. Accept it. And move on. And it sounds easy, but when you start digging you may find out you hate certain people because they remind you of what you hate about yourself personified. I’ve discovered this many times. But most of the time I just keep that hatred inside. And hatred robs you of energy. And energy is LIFE. Hatred kills you slowly and does nothing to the person you’re hating. Think about that.

I will be hitting this topic often. Don’t worry this is still a hair blog. But this is PART of my natural journey too. So.. Yeah.

Later Babes.

Jen

Thursday 8/11/11- So You Hate Natural Hair.

Thursday 8/11/11- So You Hate Natural Hair.

Often in the natural hair community you’ll get an uproar about some (usually washed up) celebrity who hates natural hair, dark skinned women, or SOMETHING controversial. And YES it pisses me off! But I have to think. Who the HELL is this person and why should I give two shakes of a pigeon’s ASS what they like or don’t like?! I think the most recent was Method Man (who?) saying he hates natural hair. He doesn’t like “no peasy Afro.” Did it make me mad? A little. But I had to think. Method Man isn’t a role model for young girls, he’s not popular enough to be a role model for young men, and.. His hay day was like ’94. WHO CARES WHAT METHOD MAN LIKES?!!

Nikki Manaj made the natural “news” saying “them nappy head hoes need a perminator.” This made me kinda mad. Because young girls MAY look up to her. And if our natural hair is often called “nappy”. That makes our natural hair uncool.. And “bad”. So, not only will they never embrace who they are, they’ll tease any young girl who may wanna go natural. Teasing is very effective. Even as a semi confident adult, even NOW, if I hear snickering.. I INSTANTLY drop my head! Because I figure they MUST be laughing at ME!! I was teased mercilessly as a child and a teen. It hurts. It hurts a long time. Of course as an adult, I don’t keep my head down. I’ll even look around sometimes!! Damn if I’mma keep my head down! But it’s hard. So I can imagine how hard it is on a teen girl. I KNOW how hard it is. And to have a celebrity backing that ignorance just makes it TOO easy.

What can we do? Well, teach your daughters that our hair is beautiful and has so many textures. Our skin has many beautiful shades. That black is beautiful. No matter the shade. We’re all beautiful. Indian, Asian, European, not just African or African American- we’re all beautiful creations. BUT!! My main concern is US!! We are often viewed as LESS. I wanna work to change that. Uplift MY race. Until then, I don’t have time to uplift anybody else. LoL! That’s on them. Teach them that a man’s word is not the damn gospel!! Just because a man tells you “You need to perm that shit.” doesn’t mean you have to do it. Slide that asshole to the left, and you’ll see 5 more who don’t care what you do with it and at least 2 who are out right in LOVE with natural chicks. Suddenly that one idiot seems like a big ass waste of time doesn’t he? Easy? Not really. That one will likely be the one you zeroed in on. But it is WORTH it. You’ll be happier. And that’s always worth it.

Ciao.

Jen

Why do I keep trying this???

I keep trying to make this Smooth n Shine work for my hair and it’s always the same result. Great curls, on DAY ONE.. Then just a dry frizzy hot mess.. But I have tried it again. The stuff SMELLS awesome. I love it..  It’s like.. Berries maybe? I just smells really good I know that. It was cheap, and seemed it would work. With a hold of MAXIMUM you’d think it would hold your curls in place.. But the last several times I’ve used it, nothing! But I have to use it up.. I want to try Ecostyler next. Will it be better? Probably not.. My hair just doesn’t do much with gel. I use to try to slick my hair with gel, but it never really slicked down.

 

Now my curls are really poppin’ for the most part, RIGHT NOW.. I’m not sure if it will last, but I know I have to protect it and actually BAGGY though that defeats the purpose of using gel. Maybe… I don’t know.. I have to perfect my flaxseed gel recipe. And to add insult to injury.. I have a little BALD SPOT on the top of my head.. I mean.. You can’t see it. I do have a lot of hair and it’s really dense.. But it makes my bobbie pins slack in the front.. It looks great to others who love my natural hair, but sucks to me. CAUSE I KNOW I HAVE A BALD SPOT IN MY HEAD!! LoL! Wonder if Jamaican Castor oil would help me out. I’ve heard it helps people grow their edges back. I’m not sure what caused the spot. Maybe the weight of my super long locs. Or stress… Malnutrition? I don’t know. Maybe I need to start taking my vitamins again. I don’t know. My mom had some baldness when she did wash her hair. (Bad advice from stylists.) I’ve been cowashing.. Maybe that’s what’s happening.. Just in case, I’ve started shampooing again. I may need a different shampoo, as the one I’m using is DH’s and it’s kinda cheap and drying. Still it cleans and Rebel actually looks BETTER for it. Maybe I can’t cowash. Not exclusively. Maybe I NEED to shampoo once a week to keep my scalp healthy. Who knows.. The body is weird.

 

Anyway, I guess I’m done for a second. There will be more to come. I’m just running really late. DH will be home soon and I have started no food or anything.. No it’s not 1940, but hell I gotta eat too!! LoL! So until later..

 

Ciao.

 

Jen

7/7/11- will it be lucky?

7/7/11- will it be lucky?

Well it’s 7-7-11 and that’s a lot of lucky numbers!! LoL! I’m hoping mine will be (and all of yours WAS) lucky.

On the hair front, it’s almost wash day again and I think Rebel is ready for it. The fro isn’t looking BAD, but it’s taking longer to shape her up. When I woke up today it wasn’t sticky as it normally is, BUT it wasn’t “wet” either. I like it to “wet” when I pop that baggy off! LoL! So I guess I’ll add some Long Aid tonight. I just really feel like it needs to be wet. BUT, I don’t need to add it EVERY night. I guess. LoL!

Yesterday I touched on- well HARPED on my love for “our” hair. And I think I’ll ramble some more on that. (Maybe my blog should be called Ramblin’ Fro. LoL!) I was thinking about DH and his obsession with me “picking out” my fro. At first I was like, well he just doesn’t get this whole “natural hair movement”. But, he was around during the Afro years. The FIRST “natural hair movement”!! But then I got to thinking. Afros were always picked out to nearly a more straight level. No real “texture” to speak of. And the only “textured” fro he saw was on a guy he didn’t care for. Not looking good for Rebel. Well, in HIS eyes anyway. And that got me to thinking. Why is an Afro acceptable in his eyes, but not my “textured” fro. White people embraced the Afro for awhile. Those with “stiffer” textures even sported one on occasion. BUT no one wanted out right “kinky” or “nappy” hair. Hmmm.. Is our hair that “ugly” in our society- human society-? That undesirable? To me? Not even. I think ALL hair can be beautiful if it’s healthy and is YOURS! Now straight hair is kinda boring unless it’s really… REALLY thick. Relaxed hair outside of TV just looks SAD, I’m more into curls. BUT.. Not JUST silky satiny curls. I love ‘em from silky to wooly.. Hell to STEEL wooly!! LoL! And all my 4cbefgh- whatEVER are included!! I love natural hair.

What the HELL is his friggin’ dealy-o?!! LoL!

I’d love to go on, but it’s time to go IN!! LoL!

Later Goddesses…

Ciao.

Jen