Eye of the Day

9:17a

I have been dabbling in the makeup that I purchased awhile ago and my technique has improved greatly since my first trial run with the eyeshadow.

After watching tons of youtube videos (like these and these), I've finally produced something that I'm not ashamed to walk out of the bathroom wearing.

Purple and Gold (or maybe it's pink and gold -- I love pink and gold, I love pink and gold <-- that's an inside joke...I hope she gets it :)

The picture, taken with a blackberry, doesn't show the full colors, but it was a soft, but really pretty look. I finished it up with black eyeliner and mascara.

REVIEW: Suave Professionals Almond and Shea Butter Conditioner

9:06a

Product Description: Salon proven to moisturize your hair as well as Aveda® Dry Remedy® shampoo and conditioner. Infused with 100% natural almond and shea butter, which are known for their rich emollients. The shampoo and conditioner system replenishes lost moisture, leaving your hair well-nourished and beautiful.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil (Sweet Almond), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) (Shea Butter), Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil (Jojoba), Aloe (Aloe Barbadensis) Leaf Juice (Aloe Vera), Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Oil (Lemongrass), Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Oil (Rosemary), Chamomilla Recutita Flower/Leaf Extract (Matricaria), Lavandula Angustifolia Flower Extract (Lavender), Dimethiconol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Fragrance, Dipropylene Glycol, Potassium Chloride, Lactic Acid, Disodium EDTA, TEA Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate, PEG 150 Distearate, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

My Finds: This conditioner has great slip. It's great for detangling. I first tried it on my daughter whose hair is crazy curly and tangles like a beast. After slathering this on her hair and letting it soak in for awhile, detangling her hair was super easy.

The smell of this conditioner is truly reminiscent of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. So much so that I was in the shower sniffing both bottles because they smelled so much alike. I love the smell of HEHH so I was thrilled.

The consistency was great. Not too watery and a great thickness that allows it to really get in the hair and do it's thing.

At less than $2 this product is pretty amazing. It will be a great cowash conditioner for the summer and great for my girls. I will most certainly purchase this conditioner again.

Wash and Flat Iron

8:51a

Sunday Wash day - Washed with V05 clarifying shampoo, did an in shower deep condition with my cholesterol mix. Attempted a twist out which was a major fail.

Monday REwash day - Since the twist out was a severe fail, I decided to wash and start over. I wiped the slate clean by deep conditioning (really a cowash with deep conditioner because I left it on for less than 10 minutes) using my cholesterol mix: Hollywood Olive Cholesterol Deep Conditioning Creme, ORS and olive oil. That was a really great mixture that I will be using again.

I let my hair air dry with my moisturizer on (Elasta QP H-Two leave in, Lacio Lacio and coconut oil to seal). Once my hair was fully dry, I used the Smooth 'N Shine Polishing Silk Style Iron Styler and because I'm paranoid, I also sprayed on the Tressemme Heat Protectant as an extra precaution. I let those soak into my hair (a tip I learned recently) and I flat ironed with really low heat. I was scared.

My hair came out really moisturized and straight.

Side view of hair.

 I did a middle part but after seeing this photo and how large my forehead looks, I quicky gave myself a part and side bangs!

Hair Today: Twist out Bun

4:56p

I'm loving the twist outs. They are super easy and it doesn't require any heat because I twist on partially air dried hair. I forgot to use a cream based leave-in for more twist definition (I only used EQP H2 Leave in). I love the texture and the immediate interest and volume it adds to my hair. I haven't perfected my method by any means and my ends don't come out the best, which is why I wear it pinned up most of the time. Which I don't really see as a problem because it is a protective style.

Hair pulled back into a low pony and secured into a bun

Top view of the bun

Hair Today: Flat twist out worn...out

4:53p

This was day 6 of my flat twist out. This was the first time that I actually wore it out.

Twists weren't as well defined at this point. I still liked wearing my hair out.

Hair Today: My Southern Tease

4:48p

This was Day 5 for my flat twist out. It was getting a little loose because I wasn't retwisting everynight. This day I decided to wear it pulled back into a southern tease bun (my own version)

side view

back view

Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner with Peppermint and Eucalyptus

11:06a

Product Description: We've worked with an upscale boutique to bring you this salon-quality conditioner that will rejuvenate your hair with its refreshing tingle. A blend of certified organic botanicals including peppermint and tea tree work together to moisturize and clarify your hair while alleviating dry scalp. Our product contains no laurel/laureth sulfates found in most shampoos and is suitable for all hair types.

Ingredients: Purified Water, Tea Tree Oil, Peppermint Oil, Eucalyptus Oil, Rosemary Oil, Nettle Oil, Thyme Oil, Birch Leaf Oil, Chamomile, Clary, Lavender, Coltsfoot Leaf, Yarrow Oil, Mallow,Horsetail Oil, Soybean Oil, Cetyl Alchohol, Vitamin E, Trace Minerals, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate, Grapefruit Seed

These ingredients make my mouth water! This conditioner is organic and has only a trace amount of protein in it.

My finds: I LOVE LOVE LOVE this conditioner. It smells wonderful and the peppermint in it tingles nicely. I mixed it with EVOO and microwaved it for a few seconds to heat it up. Once applied to my hair, it really did it's job. My hair came out so moisturized that I didn't even need to follow up with anything. I actually used this product like a deep conditioner. I used this in the midst of my stretch when my new growth was literally throwing punches at me. It melted the tangles right away and the amazing slip made detangling almost enjoyable! Almost.

This set me back a whole $3 and change and was so worth it. If you have access to a Trader Joe's, I would HIGHLY recommend this conditioner. It's fabulous.

Hair Today: Flat Twist Day 3

4:19p

Top shot - looks a little lumpy here

pinned up in the back

I spent the night watching The Princess and the Frog with my two princesses so I was too tired to retwist my hair last night. I divided it in half and pin curled the ends and covered with a scarf. For styling this morning, I finger combed and added some LTR to my edges and finished my whole head off with coconut oil. I pinned it up in the back and was on my way. I do plan on retwisting tonight.

Texlax Photos - March 13, 2010

10:39a

Right after texlax with moisturizer in (Elasta QP H2) and coconut oil

side shot

the hair in the back is fully texlaxed. loooove the curls

a shot mostly of my fully relaxed ends

Picture: Hair Today

10:57a

Pinned up flat twist out

side view

close up of flat twist texture

view of the back

For some reason I'm loving the center part. I've never been able to wear one, but with my hair like this it looks pretty good. I think I'll keep redoing the flat twists every night this week. It's pretty fast and simple. And the more I do it, the better and tighter my twists get which equals a better twist out!

REVIEW: Smooth 'N Shine Polishing Silk Style Iron Styler - Heat Protect

9:24a

I was perusing the aisles at my local Target and I came across this product. I was pretty intrigued since I had been flatironing alot (big NO-NO...and I paid for it dearly).

It claims: Smooth 'N Shine Polishing Silk Style Iron Styler is a heat activated styler that protects hair from dehydration and damage.


Leaves hair smooth and shiny!

My finds: I like this product. The consistency is neither runny nor thick, and it covers hair easily with out having to use too much. I found that it did leave my hair both silky and shiny (and my girls hair - I used it to blow out their hair). I have become pretty paranoid (though one cannot tell!) about heat and I doubled up on the heat protectant, opting to use another heat protectant over this one.

It cost about $3 and was worth it. I make sure to use this when blow drying and flat ironing along with another heat protectant.

Ingredients: AQUA (WATER), GLYCERIN, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, BEHENTRIMONIUM METHOSULFATE, SILK AMINO ACIDS, PANTHENOL, HYDROXYPROPYL BIS-HYDROXYETHYLDIMONIUM CHLORIDE, POLYQUARTERNIUM-11, AMINOPROPYL DIMETHICONE, AMODIMETHICONE, HYDROLYZED WHEAT PROTEIN, LACTIC ACID, HYDROXIPROPYLCELLULOSE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, OCTOXYNOL-40, ISOLAURETH-6, METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE, MRTHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE, LINALOOL, HEXYLCINNAMAL, CITRONELLOL, BUTYLPHENYL METHYLPROPIONAL, CI 17200 (RED 33).

Not sure what all that means or if there was anything I should stay away from in it, but I noticed the silk amino acids and wheat protein first when I read the ingredients. Those two ingredients made me purchase it.

Overall, this product was a good buy. I will continue to use.

Texlax Update - March 13, 2010

9:12a

After 11 weeks and 3 days I texlaxed. My original goal was 14 weeks but I realized that my stretch was more harmful than helpful with my health and length goals. I was experiencing a ton of shedding and a lot of breakage with the two textures.

The process went very smoothly and I love my texture. I attempted to see what a WNG would look like on my hair so I let it air dry for a bit, schrunching up my relaxed ends as it dried. It wasn't the greatest. My relaxed ends really weigh down my curls. I do plan to trim away the ends soon.

I realized that I was damaging my hair with the frequent flat irons I was doing and decided no more. No more flat ironing. I air dried my hair to about 80% and then flat twisted. I have been moisturizing, sealing and retwisting every night. So far so good.

I plan on attempting another 14 week stretch which will make it June 19, 2010. I'm hoping that with the spring quickly approaching, I'll be able to wash more, which I have noticed helps me stretch longer because of the frequent conditioning of the new growth.

The Wonderful World of Makeup - E.L.F. Haul

8:17a

I have discovered makeup. I am 26 years old and I have JUST NOW discovered makeup. And even better I have discovered e.l.f. which has amazingly low priced cosmetics. Perfect for a beginner like me.

I've been glued to youtube, watching fabulous ladies do makeup. So when I came home from work last night and saw this package waiting for me I was sooooo excited.

isn't the e.l.f. packaging so cute?!

this was inside the package - love the drawstring bag (it's the little things)

4 eyeshadows and a bronzing brush

2 eyeshadows, bronzer, eyebrow stencils, lipgloss

lipliner, lip gloss, eyeshadow brush, eyelid primer

Now to be honest, I have no idea to do with this stuff. I played around with the eyeshadow and ended up looking like this:

tammy faye baker

Needless to say, I need to watch some more youtube tutorials on how to properly apply makeup without looking like a clown. If there was a tutorial with that title, that would be perfect for me.

Wash Day Hair

9:30a

I learned an important lesson on this wash day.

Now that my hair is about 75% texlaxed, I cannot do a quick wash and expect for things to go smoothly. My hair insists that I take my time and do it right. Detangling is the thing that's taking me the longest. I rushed through it and ended up breaking some hair and causing myself a lot of pain in the process.

I also learned that I need to listen to my hair. I originally wanted to do a 14 week stretch like I did the last time. Currently I am 10 weeks post and my hair is telling me it's time to texlax. 10 weeks is fine. I will listen and texlax this weekend.

Back to wash day.

I washed with V05 Clarifying shampoo and then added my mixture of Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner with Peppermint and Eucalyptus, olive oil, and a few extra dashes of peppermint oil. An amazing mix.

I heated that in the microwave and applied to my hair in sections. I left it on for about 45 minutes.

I washed and my hair felt really soft and silky, though my roots were not really agreeing with what I was trying to do. I decided that since my hair was so difficult to detangle I would try to detangle in the shower under running water. I added HEHH and Aussie Deeeeep to my new growth and let it sit for a few minutes and then detangled under the water. It was pretty successful.

The hard part came after I was done washing and detangled. With my hair pretty much detangled, I sectioned it off and added my moisturizer, leave in and sealer. I then blowdried, which was where the frustration came in. I wanted my hair to be straight in order to do the bantu knots with out flat ironing. The blow drying with the paddle brush was where I saw breakage. I will definitely have to be more careful with that from now on.

I did 6 bantu knots (opting to use olive oil soaked hair ties to secure them) and here's how my hair turned out:

side view

back view

I loved how the curls came out, but when I got home, I noticed fairy knots and split ends. Most likely from my rough handling of my hair so I decided to straighten my hair so I could do a search and destroy.

search and destroy ponytail (ended up too tired to seach and destroy so I will do that tonight)

I think I learned that my hair is the one calling the shots. And I just need to listen instead of trying to be the boss. For my health of my hair at least.

This weekend: texlax, seach and destroy, deep condition and no over manipulation.

On Being Texlaxed

9:16a

In May of 2009, I decided that I was tired of flat, limp, bone straight relaxed hair. I did some research and decided that I wanted to texlax my hair. I don't remember the exact date of my relaxer before my first texlax, but my first texlax was on July 18, 2009. I didn't see much difference that time as only my roots were texlaxed.

Over the next 6 months I did a two 10 week stretches and a 14 week stretch. I am in the midst of a 14 week stretch now (my next texlax will be March 31, 2010). This has been my hardest strech so far. My roots aren't the issue, but the detangling has become a major job. When I was bone straight, I didn't have to detangle at all. This is all new to me.

The thing that makes me the most happy is that my hair is much thicker and alot healthier as my strands aren't relaxed within an inch of their life. I have to change my thinking though. I'm used to being able to wash, detangle, and dry all in an hour. I haven't been leaving enough time for myself to do all those things and be gentle with my hair. As a result I have experienced some damage from me just being careless and in a rush. Lesson learned.

My hair does better when I just leave it alone, but having found boards like LHFC, I haven't been content to leave my hair alone. I've tried all types of things that didn't benefit me and may have even set me back. I've gone from long to short to even shorter. Lesson learned again.

Being texlaxed takes more work being that I am dealing with a texture that is curlier than the hair that I was used to having for 25 years. I realized that the moisture/protein balance is crucial for texlaxed hair and that coconut oil is a life saver! Another great lesson learned.

Last night was wash night and I loved seeing my texture. It excites me to see that my hair is growing and is so much healthier than where I started from. It may not be easy but it really is worth it.

Close up picture of my texlaxed hair

Another shot of my texture - my ends are still relaxed bone straight

A happy surprise. I found a several spiral curls at the back of my head where I have virtually no more relaxed ends

Another shot of the curls!