My natural hair routine- wash day

 

Don't you hate when you watch a YouTube hair tutorial and they say "oh, I'm gonna show you this simple wash routine," and then they proceed to use 6 or 7 products during the video? Well, I'm probably going to do the same thing. Sorry, but as much as I've tried to simplify my routine and life, I have to listen to my hair cause she can be down right savage if I don't treat her right.

So, this is my fail proof hair care routine for my wash days.

 

1. Pre-poo and detangle. 

I choose to put a protein/ cholesterol treatment or hair mask on my hair prior to shampooing for two reasons- one my hair usually needs it since I only wash it once every 1-2 weeks and two, once I'm out the shower there is no going back in to rinse anything out. Ain't nobody got time for that.

So I spray my hair down with water and aloe Vera juice and distribute my treatment, which right now is Queen Helene's, an oldie but a goody. As I distribute I gently detangle with my fingers and twist up about 10-12 sections in my head and let it sit for 20-30 minutes.

2. Shampoo and condition.

Yes, I shampoo. My hair wants no parts of a co-wash (using conditioner as a wash) situation. While my hair is still twisted up, I rinse the treatment out and shampoo my hair still in sections. Why do I do that? Because the main point of shampooing is to cleanse the scalp and its easier for me to get to my scalp when hair is still parted. Current shampoos in rotation are Shea Moisture and Cream of Nature, while I mini-deep condition with Beautiful Textures.


3. Styling.
After my hair has been washed and conditioned, I put my current leave-in staple- Shea Moisture Black Jamaican Castor Oil Leave-in and seal it in with more Jamaican Black Castor Oil with Amla, which is good for the scalp. My styling technique does change from week to week, depending on my mood. I like to do different things to my hair but, my go-to style is a flat twist and curl. Using either Elasta QP's Design Foam or my homemade flaxseed gel (recipe below), I flat twist my hair upwards in the front and down in the back and secure it with gray perm rods. I sleep in them overnight, or wear a scarf while running errands during the day, and take down and fluff when they are dry.

 Flax Seed Gel Recipe
1. 2 cups boiling water in saucepan. Add 1/4 cup whole flaxseeds. Boil until white film is floating on top of pan, approximately 5-8 minutes.
2. Strain into mason jar or other heat proof container. Let cool for about 2 minutes.
3. Add 4-5 capsules of Vitamin E and 5-6 drops of essential oil of choice. I use lavendar and lemon grass. Stir with wooden spoon or stick. Store in refrigerator, should last 3-4 weeks.

I hope my routine wasn't too overwhelming for any newbies that may be reading this, but the important thing to remember with natural hair is to just do what your hair likes. Sometimes you know right away when a product doesn't work and sometimes products that used to work loose it's power factor once your hair gets used to it. Do you have any staple products your think I should try?
































Wishing you Love, Peace and Soul Deep Beauty,
Rhonda

 

Skin and Hair Care Resolutions

We are in the 2nd week of a  new year and in true fashion I am taking this time to reflect and determine the things I want to do better in this upcoming year. I want to be better mind, body and soul and since I work daily on my soul and I focused on mind/life goals via my Passion Planner in my last post, I figure it's time to focus on body today.

I'm not saying my body is perfect, but I really don't focus on it like I used to. My curves are in all the right places and I physically feel good 80% of the time, but stress and bad habits have had my skin and hair suffering lately. With that being said, here are a few skin and hair care rules I plan to live by this year. 

I will wash my makeup off every night. Why is this so hard to do? Cause your girl be tired, but I will try my best.

I will drink water everyday. I don't think an explanation is necessary with this, it's just a healthy thing to do.

I will do more mole checks. Dark skin can get skin cancer too, so doing monthly checks on those new moles that keep popping up will pay off in the long run.

I will exfoliate twice a week. Nothing keeps that skin looking baby fresh like scrubbing that tough layer of rough skin off.

I will not become a product junkie. I repeat, I will not become a product junkie. Because of the way my bank account is set up, this shouldn't be a problem, but I still have to remind myself.

I will stress less. Easier said than done.

I will not pop my pimples. Again, easier said than done. Popping them makes them worse before they get better but it is so satisfying when you do. #struggles

I will always keep my eyebrows on fleek. Yaaasss!

I will continue knowing that what works for some may not work for me. And that's okay. All skin and hair was not created equal.

I will wash my hair more often. Once or twice every two weeks is my usual schedule. Anything past that and it's a mess to deal with.

Water will be my main moisturizer. Water is my friend.

I will wrap/ cover my hair nightly. Even if I do look like Aunt Jamima, I have to protect my hair at night. And for added protection, a satin pillowcase will help too.

I will learn the true meaning of protective styling. Braiding my hair up and not cleansing or moisturizing my scalp defeats the purpose.

I will stop being lazy. See above.

And most of all, I will love the skin I'm in and rock whatever texture grows out my head.

Those are my skin and hair care resolutions. What are yours?

Wishing you Love, Peace and Soul Deep Beauty,
Rhonda

Fabulous Friday-Thrifty Finds

Yes, I know it's Monday, but for the sake of trying to recover from this past holiday weekend, lets pretend it's Friday. Plus, I know I have missed the last couple of Fab Fridays, because I have been super busy. So lets get down to business.

My hair is in a twist and curl, which basically is a twist out with rods on the end.

Shirt- Thrifted from Value World for $2.80! Love a good deal.
Leggings- Lane Bryant
Sandals- Dots
Earrings- Charming Charlies
Bracelet- Tiffany & Co.

And, because I was totally feeling myself last week, here's another one. This was what I wore on date night.

Dress- Dressbarn
Shoes- Shoe Dazzle
Necklace- Can't remember where I got it from, but it was two of them linked together
Earrings- Lane Bryant
Bracelet- Tiffany & Co.
Also, I had just had my semi-permanent lashes done at Spa-a-Peel (It was a $150 service I was lucky enough to have received a gift card for.)

Until next time.
Wishing you Love, Peace and Soul Deep Beauty!

My Summer Reads

I love to read . Fiction, non-fiction, suspense thriller, you name it. One of my favorite pastimes is to go to the local book store because I am still a big fan of "real" books. Yes, I have an eReader, but ask me when was the last time I used it. I like the smell of a book when you first open it and I like to write little notes and highlight stuff. (I told y'all I was a nerd.)

But, because of my busy schedule I have not had the opportunity to enjoy a good book lately. And every time I say I'm going to dig my heels into a good novel, I find myself in the non-fiction/ self-help aisle at the book store. So here are my two picks for the summer that I can't wait to curl up to as I take my kids to the park, Jungle Java or just choose to mentally check out and let them run free/destroy my house and furniture.

1. Every Day a Friday by Joel Osteen
I love Pastor Osteen. Whenever I can't make it to my church on Sundays, I get up to watch his service via TV or Internet. He's part pastor, part motivational speaker and part comedian. The premise of this book is how to be and remain happy in your life. I had bought the audio version of this book last year but due to some technical difficulties, it's in cyber heaven somewhere. So I bought it again determined to find the true joy inside of me. I'm about a quarter of the way into the book and so far I am learning how to recognize how I let things around me determine my happiness. Because I am a goal orientated person, I am always thinking about the next step and saying, "if I only had ____, I would be okay," when in actuality I should be okay anyway. I'm a work in progress people.

2. Better Than Good Hair by Nikki Walton
I have been stalking currlynikki.com since 2009, when I started wearing my naturally textured hair full time. I've talked about her blog before and was so excited that she wrote a book as well that featured some of my fav hair gurus and fellows natural hair enthusiasts. I have only flipped through the pages of this one, but it is so going to be an enjoyable, educational and entertaining journey about natural hair care. I love the lay out, too. I might do a video review on this one.

So those are my summer reads so far. What are yours? Comment below.

Wishing you Love, Peace and Soul Deep Beauty!

Fabulous Friday!

Hi Loves,

So it's Friday, my favorite day of the week. And if you're lucky enough to have a job with no weekends or holidays, you have a 3-day weekend ahead of you. Even though Memorial Day is bitter sweet: (sweet for not having to work, bitter because it's a solemn day of remembrance for those who have passed on), my creative juices are flowing and I decided to start a Fabulous Friday segment that will take a look at either my favorite outfit of the week or best natural hair victory. If it was a good week, I might do both. If not, we'll pretend this conversation never happened.

So here's this weeks natural hair victory.

This is a 3 day old twist and curl and here's the details of my wash day and night time procedure.

Me and my hair: Puffy Twists

I had my hair in puffy twists for about 2 months and when I started to officially miss my fro, I took those bad boys out. But, I wanted to share my puffy twist experience with you. First, let me say that I absolutely friggin love those twists. They were easy to install (only took me 6 hours) and the styles that I could do were endless.

Here's the lowdown on installation:
Hair- 2 Packs of puffy naffy hair in 1b (I redid them in November and used a pack of 1b and a pack of 30). $10 per pack from local beauty supply store.

This pic is off the Internet. At time of post I had already thrown my package away.

 I washed and condition hair with Carol's Daughter Tui Healthy Hair Set.

I got this set off of HSN as a special kit.

Then I blow dried the hair using Hair Rules Blow Out Your Kinks

I bought mine from Ulta, but when I went to their site I couldn't find it.

I used Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie during the install and sprayed the scalp with jojoba oil afterwards.

Here are some of the styles I wore:





Puffy twists will definitely be in my life again because I be doing the most: "Boop boop" (in my NeNe voice).
Have you ever worn puffy twists? Did you love 'em like I did?

As always,
Wishing you Love, Peace and Soul Deep Beauty.

A Curly Girl Christmas

Now, you know I couldn't forget about my curly girls. It's crunch time and the perfect gift is out there somewhere. So, if you are looking for a gift for that natural girl on your list (yourself included), here are a few ideas to get you started. I had to limit each category to three because I could literally go on forever.

Hair Care:
Ouidad Expert Curl Kit
Sephora- $34



Carol's Daughter Olive Oil Infusion At Home Treatment
carolsdaughter.com- $25
I absolutely love this treatment. I have never been the type to "pre poo", but when I got this (as a gift by the way), I totally became a convert. My hair feels so good and less frizzy after using this.


Deva Curl Trial and Travel Kit
Ulta- $29.95
I haven't tried this yet, but it's definitely on my list. I've heard some good things about Deva Curl.


Hair Tools:
Tangle Teezer
Sally's- $12.99
This is my favorite detangling brush.

Curlformers Styling Kit
Sally's- $69.99
Curlformers are the perfect solution for those who want spiral curls without the heat damage. Learning the hook takes a little work, but once you get the hang of it, you'll have your hair set in no time.

Huetiful Hair Steamer
huetiful.myshopify.com- $109.95
I don't have this yet, but it is a facial steamer and facial steamer in one.


Hair Books:
Thank God I'm Natural by Chris-Tia Donaldson
B&N- $9.99 (ebook)
After reading this book I went from already being natural to wearing my naturally textured hair. It gave me that motivation I needed to accept my hair for what it was.



Better Than Good Hair by Nikki Walton
B&N- $10.98 (pre-order)



Good Hair by Lonnice Bonner
B&N- $9.95


Hair Accessories:
afriquelachic.com

I want these earrings, like yesterday.
There are so many cute finds on this site.

vcreations.biz

Her head wraps are on point. 

ettaflyy.com/shop.html

I have that Lil' Miss Sunkissed shirt for my daughter
and two of the Naturally Flyy shirts for myself.

Natural Hair Subscriptions:
Curlbox- sold out right now, but can be put on waiting list. $20/ Month

Curlkit- $20/ month


Sexy Locks Hair Box from Naturalicious.net
- 30 day natural hair care system $39.99/ a month
Can choose kinky/coily Edition or curly/ wavy edition

Short, sweet and to the point cause it's crunch time now. Holla!

Wishing you Love, peace and Soul Deep Beauty!

Shout out to Curly Nikki!

So, for anyone who has ever talked natural hair with me, they know my go-to site has been curlynikki.com. Ever since I've been wearing my natural texture I have checked in with the curlynikki community at least twice a week. (It used to be everyday, but I had to learn that moderation is key.) Her site is filled with info on styles, products and not only loving your hair from root to tip, but loving yourself as well. I was so happy to find out that she has a book coming out next year and because I am a firm believer in women lifting each other up, I'm gonna shout her book out because you can pre-order now.

Congratulations to my hair guru and friend (in my head), Nikki Walton.

Wishing you Love, Peace and Soul Deep Beauty

ps. here's the convo between me and my good friend :)

Me and my hair: Curlformers

For those of you who don't know, I am a natural hair enthusiast. I can, and have talked hair with just about anybody: the lady at the grocery store, patient at the hospital, anybody who even says "Oh, I like your hair. How did you get it like that?" They just don't know what they got themselves into. I love my friggin' hair and I am not ashamed to say it. With natural hair I have never had a bad hair day (not one that I'll admit to anyway.) Natural hair is supposed to be free and unconstrained- a little like me. It's healthy and versatile and I am constantly trying new ways to twist out, twist up, Bantu or updo my hair.

That being said, I decided to give my Curlformers another go and see how many days I could stretch the style.

So this is what I did.
I washed and conditioned with Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo and Organic African Black Soap Balancing Conditioner.
          


Deep Conditioned with Moroccanoil Deep Conditioning mask.


Used Hair Rules Nourishing Leave in.



I set Curlfomers using LottaBody and Aphogee Wrap Lotion.
   


And here are my results:

Day 1

Day 2

Days 3 & 4

Then, I decided to do something I only do a couple times a year- wear it straight.

Blow out baby!

You couldn't tell me nothing....

By the way I used grapeseed oil to blow dry and flat iron.

Until it rained four days later and my volume and curls left the building.

Days 10-12 I wore some variation of this:

So, through a lot of manipulation, I was able to "stretch" my Curlformers set to 12 days. I have decided that I will use Curlformers to dry my hair when I'm going to either braid it up or straighten it out so I can avoid additional heat. I will try them prior to a twist out one day, but I like my current regimen now and if it ain't broke I'm not trying to fix it.

That's all for now.

Wishing you Love, Peace and Soul Deep Beauty.