Curly Ummi

Up Date On Oil Cleansing

2013-08-02T15:34:00.000-04:00

OK, so I told you all how I startedOIL CLEANSING. It is like the best thing that has happen to my face.

Fact: Oil dissolves oil. One of the most basic principals of chemistry is that “like dissolves like.” The best way to desolve a non-polar solvent like sebum/oil, is by using another non-polar solvent similar in composition: Other oils. By using the right oils, you can cleanse your pores of dirt and bacteria naturally, gently and effectively, while replacing the dirty oil with beneficial ones extracted from natural botanicals, vegetables and fruit that heal, protect and nourish your skin. When done properly and consistently, the OCM can clear the skin from issues like oily skin, dry skin, sensitive skin, blackheads, whiteheads and other problems caused by mild to moderate acne–while leaving your skin healthy, balanced and properly moisturized. (via acne.org)

So it has been months since I started this journey to a healthier me and healthier face. I see no going back now. I have 0 acne problems and I don’t have any dryness and I don’t even have to use lotion or butters on my face at all. I make sure that my lips are included in my cleansing so therefore I don’t have to use lip balm. There are so many wonderful things that our Lord put on this green earth to use and benefit from and it is just a matter of taking the time to investigate. Every single thing has a job to do and it is man that changes the order of these things. So before you run out to cure that eczema research and see what you may have already in the kitchen for that problem.

Ladies as always, love your hair and body and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!

2 Strand Twist On 4C Hair

2013-08-02T15:27:00.003-04:00

So I had the opportunity to do a treatment on 4C type hair which had so much shrinkage it was crazy. But I was able to do her whole head without using any combs or brushes. It was so easy to finger detangle her hair even with the knots and split ends she has.

I started off with the henna which was left on for about 4 hrs and since her hair is dark in color there was no need in thinking the red color was going to show up.

Once the henna was rinsed from her hair I applied a dominican deep conditioner to her hair for her to sleep in. Yes I had her hair in my hands for a whole weekend. Her hair was very easy to section off to make sure that every strand was touched. I then put that section into bantu knots and moved on to the next. The next morning when the deep conditioner was rinsed out with cool water I then applied a apple cider vinegar rinse for her last rinse.

Here you can see the shrinkageWhat I used to twist her hair with, Shea Moisture enhancing smoothie as her leave in and my she butter mixture to seal in the moisture. Her goal is to have healthy hair and long growth. Because I didn’t want to cut off her length she will be getting trims over a time period to rid her hair of all the split ends.

Here is the finish product

Never think for a min that just because your eyes see hair that is shrunken and kinky that it could never be soft. My fingers had no problem getting through her beautiful kinky hair. Although it may never be straight it will always be manageable in one way or the other. She will make waist length in no time at all.

Ladies as always, love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!

Eden's Heart

2013-08-02T15:26:00.001-04:00

I know everyone remember when Creme of Nature was the biggest thing on the market for having moisturizing shampoos. Like it was my favorite shampoo and when I thought my hair needed a little extra something who could do without IC Tea Tree shampoo. I tell you I didn't know nothing back then about what I was doing, I just knew that creme of nature would stop working and then I would move onto IC because I just thought you had to switch shampoos every now and then. lol Never knew it was build up on my hair and that is why I had to use a clarifying shampoo. Never knew that I was stripping my poor strands. I just thought the squeakier it sound the cleaner it was, how ignorant. You know what? even then I was a product junkie. Hey if you didn’t have a lot of products you didn’t know what you were doing.

Well I am here to tell you that now I know what a clarifying shampoo is for and what a moisturizing shampoo does. I have now found the best sulfate free moisturizing shampoo I’ve had in a very long time. Ha even when I was getting a caramel treatment I didn’t know what they were talking about when they said only use a sulfate free shampoo, and they would say buy the creme of nature with the green top. I had no idea what they were talking about but I did what I was told. Now that I have a little more education on natural hair the understanding of what is in our products is mostly clear.

So back to my product, man this shampoo is so creamy. No tangles which I just knew was going to happen but to my surprise it didn’t. I give this shampoo a good

I purchased this product from edensheart.com Please check out her products.

Love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!!!

Have You Ever Felt The Longer Your Hair Gets The Shorter It Gets???

2013-08-02T15:20:00.001-04:00

These days that is what it feels like to me. You measure every month to see what does the tape measure

say. It says your hair is growing, but really, is it? Tell me something, how come every time I go to measure the whole length it is the same number that is was 2 months ago? Can it be the dusting I did last month?

Well I am tired of this, I am tired of counting every inch to see if I am growing. Of course I am growing every month. I feel it down my back when I’m in the shower. Now if the ends are being taken care of how could it be that my numbers are not changing?

You know what? I am done with all this. I am only going to focus on if I am keeping my hair healthy and after that it is what it is. I am only going to buy 2 more months supply of NuHair something that you are not suppose to take on going anyway. That would be a total of 6 months of taking it, so I think that is good enough. They say give it at least 4 months to see some improvement by then. So after that no more growth oils and pills just my normal daily vitamin, that’s it.

Feeling a little free now. I know my hair is growing and I also know in time as long as I take care of it I will see the length. Although it may not get there as fast as I would like to see it, it will.

Love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!

Ms. Davis Journey Towards Healthy Hair

2013-08-02T15:18:00.000-04:00

Curly Ummi Guest Blogger R. Davis:

Since starting my hair journey, I have noticed a big change in my hair texture and length. Before I started this journey I noticed how my hair used to break off and how it was always dry and flaky, now its not dry or flaky and its not breaking off. Back in 2011-2012 I used to have weave in my hair, and every time I would take my hair out I would find a long line of dirt; when I took it out and when I washed it by myself I babied and I massaged my scalp, but when it came time to dry it, my mother would pull and drag the blow drier across my scalp, ripping my hair and damaging it further. Now, I don’t blow dry it and I don’t used shampoo that much, I haven’t use it in about a month but I have been co-washing. When I am at home at night I would either put some oil on my scalp or use some NJoy Essentials sulfur mixture. The reason for me starting on NJoy’s mixture is so we can test it on my hair to see if it will make a difference in growth.

Whenever I feel my hair its not as rough as it was before my healthy journey. You would be able to tell the difference between this year and last year because of the tender loving care I give to it now. I have been able to see my hair growth and since I have henna in my hair right now, I am hoping to be able to track my hair growth much easier since you can see the difference in the glow.

Thanks to Curly Ummi for allowing me to be a guest blogger I hope to be back again and again.

-R Davis.

Hair And Sewing With MS

2013-08-02T15:09:00.001-04:00

Most know that I am battling MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and it is battling me. In the beginning it put me in the bed for a while until I could learn my body all over again. As a matter of fact, blogging became my hobby because of my new illness. Days and days would go by of being able to do nothing but lay in the bed and not being able to sew I was like, what will I do now? Sewing was the only hobby that I still had and I was just about to tackle the whole quilt idea. My fingers were cramping and my feet were hurting. What was a girl to do with me never being the type that could just lay around the house doing nothing. Even though my fingers were cramping it still was much easier to type than to sew. My biggest topic at the time was my hair. I had learned so much about natural hair and hair products and what this all meant for my hair and growing it long, as long as I could get it.

One good thing for certain was when it comes to my hair and there is a MS flare up it is so much easier to hide those ends in a protective style which normally I hate to do. Protect, protect all the way to the bottom of my back. With wash n go’s this year is just not like last year with the perfect hair. It seemed like I had the perfect hair and there was nothing to complain about last summer. For some reason this summer, it is more a miss than a hit. Thinking maybe it might do to me adding NuHair (I talk about it in this post) to my regimen along with a multi vitamin. This has been such a real help. My hair looks like it is getting much thicker but only time will tell so I am happy with that and if it means giving up the wash n go’s for a little bit while my hair grows in I can live with that.

There will be some slow days ahead but good ones as well. This is my life for the rest of my life and all I can say is me and my hair is taking it one MS day at a time.

Ladies love your hair and it will love you back as well as your body.

As always, thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!!!!

Lazy Hair With 3 Grandsons

2013-08-02T15:05:00.001-04:00

Well no one is going to believe this one. I asked for my grands this summer because I could not stand being away from them. I never thought that it would be hard on me because I did this all the time, keep them all at once. The other big thing that didn’t dawn on me is, the one month of this summer is Ramadan where Muslims all over the world fast for 30 days. Meaning no food or drink from sunup to sundown. We also pray most of the night, so our days are very long with things to do. The only real good thing for me is I don’t have to cook much because they feed us at the masjid at night. My grandsons had to get use to a schedule of studying and praying for hrs at a time. They thought this was summer vacation, where they could play all day long lol. So 5,6 and 7 are learning another language and how to pray all this summer something they never had to do before but because of their age it is time to learn. They are really starting to love it. They ask many questions and without TV they have so much to talk about now. I teach them how to talk out what they are feeling instead of just getting angry and hitting and pushing the other one because they did something to them. Oh and they have reading time, so they have so much to tell their teacher and parents of what their summer was like.

Now on to my hair lol. With all the schedules of play dates and studying and praying and meals and reading and arabic and Quran… did I miss anything lol. I don’t have time to do my hair. Who would have thought. I always have time to do my hair. My hair is in 3 plaits pinned up in the back and stay that way everyday. No co wash and wash n gos. None of this. Can you believe this? I just touched my hair tonight and it was all over the place. I took it out and just re-plaited it because I was planning on co washing it tomorrow because on Saturdays and Sundays my oldest grandson’s father come and get them. He was suppose to be with his father for the summer and just visiting me lol well with the others here and the class I wanted him to attend I ended up keeping him too. When I do co wash I just put my hair back in the 3 plaits and the funny thing is, I don’t really think about it at all.

I have 5 more months for this waist length challenge and I never really thought I would make it but I at least thought I would be very close. I farted around for the last 2 yrs playing in my hair and wait until the last few months to get into protecting styles. I think the good thing out of all this is I don’t concentrate on my length anymore. I am not saying I don’t still pull it down but I am not wondering where is the length and how come it is not as long as so and so.

Ladies I am telling you love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!!!

My Texture Love

2013-08-02T15:03:00.001-04:00

You know how sometimes you have a love for your texture and sometimes you fall out of love with it? Well I find myself in this mold quite often. As soon I see someone with those nice chunky twist here comes, “aw man I wish my hair would look like that when I do twist.” I see someone with nice healthy thick hair. “man I wish my hair was that thick.” We never seem to be satisfied with what we have, which is why most times you see sisters in weave or wigs or the like. We always seem to be hating on our hair.

I really do love my texture and love the fact that when wash day comes it is a breeze. So I really would take my hair any day. Drying time is a snap without the cap. Just right and not too tight. Now I remember when I would put that Jerri Curl in my hair to loosen up the curls just to have it fall out in about 4 years. I would do it over and over again and just could not win. It took me 23 years and me basically going bald to say I think I am doing this all wrong.

I really hope I got it together by now, since my BC in 2008 I have not had to cut my hair again. So I think I maybe on to something. I have also learned to admire someone else’s tresses without putting mines down. Hip hip heray for me.

My beautiful Sisters, love your hair and it will love you back, you’ll see.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!!!

The Pefect Curls

2013-08-02T15:01:00.000-04:00

So I went back to the basics this past week. I went to read back on the Curly Girl Method and watch videos on how the styling product should be applied for best results. Somehow this information got lost along the way. Then after a while my curls just looked dead to me. Even though I do not follow word for word with this method, meaning I still use products with silicones in it. Like my Mixed Chicks products and really that is mostly it. But I still apply and clean with the products I have as the Curly Girl Method in tales.

My curls really were lost and for a while I thought they would never come back. Before I started researching I was trying everything I could think of. Really I don’t know why my hair was treating me like that. I love it all the time, I care for it and everything. Still nothing was bringing those sweet curls the way I knew them, back to life.
So moving on, the one thing I had stop doing was:

1. I stopped leaving in the conditioner I co-washed with.

2. I stopped putting the product in my hair while it was soaking wet and then squeezing all the excess out.

When I say that my curls popped back to life, I mean they were at attention. My eyes were wide as can be in disbelief. You mean to tell me that is all I had to do to get my perfect curls back? WOW!!

Even though the combination of conditioner and styling product is not specific, the technique is. I have never been a gel head and I was sceptic about the Mixed Chicks still working with the Curly Girl Method, but I was willing to give it a try.

Now on to what I did. First I co-washed as I normally do. Without drying my hair at all, meaning leave it dripping wet apply a little of the conditioner to your hair if you didn’t leave it in from co-washing. Oh, with your hair in a downward position. Start to squeeze your hair in a upward motion towards the scalp. You can use a tee shirt or microfiber towel for this as well. Then take your styling product which can be gel of your choice as long as it does not have alcohol in it, and rake that through your hair with your head still in the downward position. Squeeze towards the scalp with the shirt or towel. Now you would think that you wouldn’t want your curls all clump together, right? wrong. That is exactly what you want to happen. Now swing your head upright and put in those clips if need be and let your hair air dry or defuse it. Now one very important thing I must mention because I know some of you still do not know that when you use gel or a styling product that has hold it will leave a case over your head and as MS. Massey says, the case is to protect the hair from the elements in the air as it is drying. Once the hair is fully dry it will fill a little hard which is the casing. Turn your head downward again and grab your curls in your hands and push up towards your scalp to release the case.

What did that leave me with you say? THE PERFECT CURLS!!!!!

Ladies as always, love your hair and it will love you back.

As always, thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You Know I Was Piss LOL

2013-05-11T17:21:00.001-04:00

We all have a story to tell and each one is informative in itself. My story will be more of a rant. lol Kids... they can do you in, can't they? Well I started back in Feb. of last year taking care of one of my daughter's hair. I started with her and my mother. My daughter's hair was very unhealthy, you can see here. Ok I didn't have that one but here is one when she was getting better and when her curl pattern was about to come in. So after all this work to get her to look like this.

After all this growing she decides this is boring and she needs a change. So she goes and shave one side of her hair off. ok everyone is doing this right now so it is not too much of a shock.

She went the heck and shaved both sides of her hair off. I wanted to put her over my knee.

And she has a nerve to keep the sides even closer then this. Oh and get this, she is now complaining about how much it cost to get her hair cut,lol HELLO!! Like grow your hair back lol.

Ladies see, love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!

Update On Mixed Chicks

2013-05-11T17:19:00.001-04:00

I just had to do another update on Mixed Chicks. I have been trying to use other products to see how it would work on my hair just because I wanted to do the curly girl method. And I have to say that I have come across some nice products that work on my hair and I will still be using some of them.

You know how you have your favorite and it just works right for you no matter what? That is Mixed Chicks for me. I have been using this product since my TWA and that was 2009, because as you all know I BC in 12/2008. I am telling I fell in love with this product. I had been looking for years for something to do my curls the way the leave in does my curls. This would have saved me hair a long time ago when I was putting those Jerri Curls in my hair to elongate my curls lol.

As you all know I try my best to give you something to show what I am talking about and this is my mother with Mixed Chicks in her hair. Yes we do a family affair up in here!!

So I was rudely interrupted and just now getting back to finishing off. And the sad part about that is that I forgot where I was at lol. But so you can see that Mixed Chicks has done wonders for our hair and although we may try out new products this will always be my first love....

Ladies as I always say love your hair and it will love your back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!

Life Changes

2013-05-11T17:13:00.002-04:00

Hey all, I was feeling little down today because I was thinking back when my children were younger and what I thought I had to offer them. And this is really what I thought my life was going to have in store for me..... ok dream is over!!! But you know what happens? They start growing and branching out to other people who teach them things outside your household rules. Ding, then you end up with a teenager, yes a teenager the very thing we try our best to stay away from but when they are yours what can you do. Out of the five that I had I ended up in the end of it all having 2 very beautiful girls. Yeah!! hair to do.

OMG!!! do you know how excited I was about having some hair to do and clothes to play with, someone to go shopping with, all that girly stuff. It was getting bad in here, little ole me with all these boys, I even had a high pony tail in my second son's hair until he was 2 yrs old. LOL. I knew just what to do with my girls hair because my momma taught me well, right? I only had to put grease and water and put those very nice pony tails in their hair. As they got older I was already into the Jherri Curl but they had this new formula out which was called a Dry Curl which was not as wet as the old jheri curl and since my step mother and uncle were stylist and I had gone to school no one was touching my girl's hair.

When they turned 11 each of them got a dry curl applied to their hair and I would keep it up and make sure that it was not over processed and their hair was growing. Then the time came for them to take care of their own hair, yeah that was a big mistake. Just as they no longer liked my rules in my house they longer wanted curls either.

They wanted to go straight, yes can you believe it??? I told them "you will mess up your hair. I have given you the structure you need to have all the hair you want", but they didn't care and didn't want that. As humans we always want other than what we have. So I got to say good-bye to the hair I once knew for the time that I took care of my girls.

You know what is so very hard some times?? Listening, just listening.

Ladies I always say love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!!

My Natural Hair Is Trying

2013-05-11T17:12:00.002-04:00

So as my curly hair was growing out from 1/4" at the end of 2008 there was so much joy and excitement because of the inches that were gain in such a short period of time. I remember when I got 4" of hair, I was running around making a jack behind of myself lol. "Look how long my hair got" and it was growing so fast so I thought. Then we get to shoulder length, that is when it started to slow down. It seem

like it took for ever to get to arm pit This is what my 3b curls look like and I am loving them everyday. Now it is the product that dictate the shrinkage of my curls. My final goal is waist length and I am working on going through 3yrs and 7 months of growth and it seems so long for my length to not be where I think it should be. So getting back to the inches on my head. I now have 11" in the back and 12" on the top of my head and they say that I need to have about 20" to make waist length.

So here is my ideal length, a woman can dream right? lol No but I know it will happen in a matter of time just not in my timing. I think I will have to be going on my 5th year before I see this happen and I am ok with that. I have learned to stop going by what everyone else is doing. I am not them and if I never make it all the way I can at least say that my hair is very healthy, because forreal forreal that is all that really matters, right?

Ladies please love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!!!!

ALL MY FOLLOWERS

2012-10-17T23:53:00.001-04:00

Please that follow my blog can you please sign up and follow me at my new location. www.curlyummi.com

This is the reason why this location has not been updated in a while we are over at the new website.

Thanks

Curly Ummi

PLEASE GO TO WWW.CURLYUMMI.COM

2012-08-01T02:39:00.003-04:00

MY NEW SITE WWW.CURLYUMMI.COM

Hey all, I wanted to announce the very first give away. I want to celebrate the new domain name. www.curlyummi.com is official. So I have 2 bottles of Vitika Oil to give away. I want to be able to do more as time goes on. Vitika Oil was asked about yesterday and I thought it would be a nice oil to use as the first product. Every one likes this oil and it really works nice with most hair.

So this is how I would like you to enter, please first follow this blog and comment on this post telling me you want in and how the oil works on your hair at the end of the comment state you're a follower. Two winners will be chosen to receive the Vatika Oil and everyone is a winner and will receive something.

This will start August 1st til August 15th. I do hope you all understand that following means you have to click the Join the Site on the right hand side of the page.

Ladies love your hair and it will love your back.
As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!

UPDATE!!! Hair Growth My Way

2012-07-29T22:47:00.001-04:00

Ok in the first post that picture was from March 2012 and this picture is her hair growth today. We will be counting from 4" of hair on her head at this time.

So I will give you a refresher from the beginning of the year. This first picture is from February 2012.

This next picture is from March 2012

Then we have June 2012

I wanted to give you a background history because I don't think I did in the last post. Now we have the exact time line of when she started growing her hair out natural.

I will post her regimen in another post so you can see what works for her. This is the first time D has grown her hair out since she was a little girl. She was faithful to perms and weaves all her adult life.

So we need to show products and the way she is using them in her hair to retain her length. I know her short term goal is SL (shoulder length ) and we will work from there.

Ladies I wanted to show why I believe in loving your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!

Update On Hairveda Whipped Creme & Tresemme Naturals

2012-07-26T02:09:00.000-04:00

So I have been using Hairveda Whipped Creme for about 4 yrs now. It was used in all kinda ways, like for a moisturizer at night or as a leave in once I did a wash n go. So I guess you know I am going to say, this is a very nice product.

Something new that has been in my hair life for about 10 months now is Tresemme Naturals. It was replacing Mixed Chicks deep conditioner during the times that I wanted to be silicone, sulfate free. What happen you say? I fell in love. So just how Mixed Chicks is a staple in my hair care so is Tresemme Naturals. There is one more product that I have added as a back up but we will talk about that another time.

On to what I do, I will co wash with Tresemme and I will also apply it as a leave in after the cool rinse. I then apply Hairveda Whipped Creme for the styling product by using the smoothing method. Once it dries I end up with nice airy curls. It just feels so clean and lite.

Some times I will switch them around and use the Hairveda Whipped Creme as the leave in and use the Tresemme as the styling product by smoothing it in down through the ends making sure I lay on those ends to get that spring motion for a certain curl. I would seal with one of my oils or shea butter. Just take a little in the palm of your hand and rub them together and just touch the ends of your hair and that is it. Easy breezy beautiful hair.

Ladies love my tips and love your hair and it will love you back.
As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!!!

Yes Again Another Regimen

2012-07-21T15:20:00.000-04:00

1. starting from henna day because that starts my month off. I will clarify with a shampoo and right now I am using chi because that is what I have here along with others but I want to use that up. It is in the blue bottle and I am not in front of it right now but I know it says color protection or something like that. most clarifying shampoos are clear in nature. So before I clarify I will do a pre poo with olive oil and aloe vera juice and massage my castor oil mix in my scalp.

2. so after I clarify I will apply the henna and most likely leave it on over night. I am still using the Nupur henna it gives me the best results. I will then proceed to co wash the henna out of my hair in the shower with Tresemme naturals. I am still loving Tresemme naturals for my co washing and as a leave in.

3. once the henna is out I will deep condition my hair with Moroccan Oil intense hydration mask. I will leave it on for like an hour and rinse with cool water.

4. I will take a quarter size of Tresemme and apply it to my hair as a leave in. next will come the styling product and I am still using like 3 of them Hariveda whipped crème which can be purchased at hairveda.com 2nd one is Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie and that can be purchase at all drugstores and Target. My last and very favorite and the oldest in my regiment is Mixed Chicks line which you know can be purchase at mixedchicks.net. now I have found that with my hair type it is best to use the mixed chicks in the fall and winter to same my product. the humid weather still does sweat my hair out and makes it look a hot mess and I have not been using my air that much this year to save my orchids. but when I do use the mixed chicks line I will use all of it because it works best together. the leave in works best with their deep conditioner. as a kick I use alterna bamboo smooth frizz correction styling lotion. today I used the tresemme and the hairveda whipped crème. I find that when it dries it is very airy and if I sweat my hair still feels clean.

On regular days I will co wash with tresemme naturals and use what ever styling product I am using and let my hair air dry.

5. at night I will spray my hair a little with aloe vera juice and then apply my castor oil mixture which has jojoba oil, vitamin E oil, argan oil, rosemary, sage, ylang ylang and finally lavender oil. I try to apply this every night and massage it into my scalp. It is not heavy on my hair because I co wash everyday and if I don’t I will just wear it in a bun. I will also apply either hairveda whipped crème or my shea butter mixture which is done with olive oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E oil, aloe vera juice, few drops of lavender oil and mix with a hand mixer oh first I start off by placing the shea butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds or more to get it soft and then I mix everything together and mix and once it is fluffy I will place it back in it’s containers. So I will take a little of this and run it through the strands of my hair and put it up in a pineapple for the night and tie it up with a satin scarf.

Ladies love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!

Pulling Over The Tie Shirt LOL

2012-07-18T21:43:00.000-04:00

OK, so you know how you just washed your hair in the shower and you are trying to get out and dry off? Now it is time to put your clothes on or your under clothes, pajamas what ever has a tie shirt of some sort on. I have found that your wet hair just gets caught up in the neck of the shirt. It starts to roll and your poor ends are rolling right up in the shirt. Besides trying to hide your hair in the bun until you get dress, what can you do to save your ends???

OK, I guess I answered my own question right? I will have to clip my wet hair up once I get out of the shower so that my ends will not roll up in the shirt when I am getting dress. I am telling you it was becoming a pain in my butt. lol Think about breakage when that happens.

Can you all please be careful with your ends. They are the oldest and you have to show the oldest respect. I really think this is the big key to retaining length. Treating those ends with respect. So keep it up.....

Ladies always love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!

Hair Growth My Way

2012-07-15T01:21:00.001-04:00

Everyone wants to talk about growth and how to grow their hair long. We all want this, right? So let's talk a little about growing our hair and when I talk about our hair I am talking about curly hair which seems to some times be the hardest to grow. So they say, right?

My love for sharing with my sisters led me to helping those who truly wanted healthier hair and also wanted it to grow. This head of hair is very tightly curled and I have seen it thrive from the unhealthy state it was in down to the scalp irritations.

So this article will not be so long I will get right down to what I do to help my family and friends turned clients turn their unhealthy hair into healthy hair that is growing.

1. After we talk about what their goals are for their hair and go through the treatments I offer I go through their hair looking for breakage and if we are dealing with a unhealthy scalp.

2. Castor oil mixture is added to the scalp and massaged in, oh how they loved those then more oil like a olive oil or canola oil is added to the rest of the hair with some aloe vera juice for their pre poo, then covered with a plastic cap for about 15 mins. Their hair is then clarified and ready for the next step.

3. The next thing for each and everyone is the henna treatment. If they have grey hair and don't want to change the color I will go on to use a Cassia treatment that has Amla powder and other herbs. I am telling you and they will too if you had dandruff or those bumps that turn into a rash and even if you had them all your life the very first visit they are gone from that one treatment.

4. Everyone is told that their first visit is going to be a very long visit because the henna has to sit for at least 4 hrs. Henna is co washed out no matter what no shampoo ever just conditioner and that conditioner is?? Yes Tresemme Naturals. lol Then it is a deep condition covered with a plastic cap and they have their choice of heat or no heat but I use the heating cap not the dryer.

5. We then talk about what is needed to keep their hair moisturized and I start training their hair to except condition only washing. They go home with a application bottle of the castor oil mixture and a bottle of tresemme naturals. They are told to get a spray bottle to put their aloe vera juice with olive oil. They have their homework to do and when they return I want to see some progress and make sure that they are serious about growing their hair. I will not stick with anyone that is not serious because I like to work with someone that is going to be excited when they see the difference in their hair.

6. I teach them how to listen to their hair and to love their hair and the most important thing about our hair besides moisture is babying your ends that is why we do not use combs not brushes and we finger detangle. This will help to retain length for the next visit because we use a ruler to measure and we keep a journal.

So this is my way and there is progress and their hair is growing. Since I started off with this picture I will continue to show you her's so you can see her grow too. She has around 3 1/2 inches right now and I will keep you posted. She loves the wash n go so that is what you will see from her unless she change up lol.

Ladies love your hair and it will love you back.
As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!

Bentonite Clay

2012-07-05T02:48:00.000-04:00

The new product that is added to the stash. So we first used it on our face and I have to say that it has been a very long time since my face was treated to such pampering. After we let it sit for 20mins we rinse with warm water, we really were amazed of how soft and smooth our face felt. All the noticeable black heads and the tiny white oil that was clogging our pores were removed. It was unbelievable, because for some of my family that are younger, this was there very first time of having a deep cleaning done on their face. This was so great to see how their face glow.

I also tried this treatment in my hair. This method is used as a dry shampoo that will clean on the toxins out of your hair. This is what they call the detox. I really liked the treatment and it was very easy to wash out too.

I don't have any complains about this product so for now it stays.

Ladies as always love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!

Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie

2012-06-25T22:06:00.001-04:00

So every weekend is hair day for friends, family and some how it has become a little business for me. With that said we get to try different products between us. If one of us buy a new product to use they will bring it that weekend that they are getting their hair done to show it to everyone else. If it is something that I have not used I get to try it also and if I love it most times I get to keep it lol. Well only because they get to choose from my cabinet as well and if you have not seen my collection this is a must see.

So anyway what happen with the Shea Moisture you say??
I have to say that I was surprisingly delighted with this product and the only reason why I never purchased this product was because of the silk protein that is added into it. She brought over 3 curly Shea Moisture styling products and out of the 3 the enhancing smoothie had the least amount silk protein or should I say it was further down on the list.

I was already deep conditioning my hair when they arrived. I applied the smoothie to my hair and waited for it to dry and the best I can say is that it reminded me of Let's Jam Custard but I loved it. It is very thick and creamy and I don't have to use a lot on my hair because my hair is so thin so that jar would last me a very long time. Oh and another great thing about this product is that glycerin is not the second ingredient after water is shea butter, yaaa.

So to recap, I don't have any frizz which I hate and I have shine but not really greasy and I don't have a lot of shrinkage.
Hey just wanted to let you all know that it gives me great 2nd day curls. This is great news for those who are on the go and can not co wash every single day, right??

I know there are a lot of reviews on this product but not mines lol. Ladies as I always say love your hair and it will love you back.
As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!!

Cassia Treatment

2012-06-20T16:38:00.002-04:00

Since some of my family do not want color in their hair I have added Cassia to their regiment. First off I don't have to wait on the color release because there is none and I don't have to leave it on so long. I really love the conditioning property from this herb and the strengths also. All though the properties of this herb will not last as long as the Henna but by doing it on a schedule you will still constantly be getting the good of the herb.

You mix it with water just like the henna and let it sit for like 15 mins, not over night like I do with the henna for color release. It also only have to sit on the hair for 30-40 mins that is another great thing. Washing it out is very easy with just warm water, but I add the Tresemme Naturals so that the hair will feel even softer.

My next mixture will be the Cassia and Amla powder. Both are conditioners but now I will have the scalp covered as well because the one thing that the Henna mixture I use was helping with is any scalp problems my family members may have had. I am just really happy that there are so many options from the Ayurveda line. We are trying to switch over to all natural with products that we use for now on.

Ladies love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!!

Organic By Any Other Name Smells

2012-06-18T20:12:00.000-04:00

written by: Charles Marqulis

Organic By Any Other Name Smells

The organic industry is growing stronger every day, with ever greater consumer demand for organic food and other products. Unfortunately, some companies take advantage of the demand for organics by falsely marketing their products, making huge profits by hoodwinking consumers.

For example, you may be familiar with “Organix” brand personal care products. This line of more than 60 shampoos, conditioners, and other hair and body care products are sold widely at Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart and other major drug store chains and retailers. Yet despite the organic branding, most “Organix” products contain virtually no organic ingredients. Consumers who buy the products because they support organic personal care products that are better for their families and the environment are being scammed by a company that couldn’t care less about the integrity of the organic movement.

Don’t let Organix get away with it! If you have purchased Organix products and are concerned that these products are not actually made with organic ingredients, you can contact CEH (Charles@ceh.org) to learn more about a class action lawsuit that our attorneys are looking into.

Even more galling, Vogue International, the company that makes Organix products, acknowledges on its website that it is using organic marketing only to capitalize on the demand for products made with organic ingredients. Vogue says, “Seizing the opportunity of the public’s higher consciousness of organic ingredients, Vogue developed Organix® … a mass appeal brand designed for the consumer who is more aware of the integrity of ingredients.” Playing on the appeal of organics without taking any of the hard steps other companies take to produce actual organic products has worked out well for Vogue – since introducing Organix in 2006 they’ve made tens of millions of dollars from unsuspecting consumers.

Vogue says that its Organix products contain “organic active ingredients,” but none of their products display the name of a third-party organic certifier, and none of their products’ ingredient lists show even a single organic component. Without identifying any organic ingredients, consumers have no way to know if there is anything organic about the products. The ingredient lists on some Organix products do show potentially harmful chemical additives that should have no place in truly organic products, like methylchloroisothiazolinone, limonene, and DMDM hydantoin, substances that recent studies have linked to potential developmental harm, skin toxicity, and allergenicity.

With its fake organic products, the Organix brand undermines the entire organic movement, by confusing consumers and eroding confidence in the organic marketplace. Organix is also cheating responsible personal care companies who invest a great deal of time and money to produce products that meet the strict organic standards that consumers expect, and that the law demands.

Ladies love your hair and it will love you back.

As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!!

Re Post When to use Glycerin

2012-06-17T23:51:00.000-04:00

I thought this was something that you all would like to know so I re-posted this off hair forum I belong to.

A.E. wrote:

Good afternoon Joe!
I was wondering if you could answer my question about dew points and glycerin? It seems like every product that I use contains glycerin or vegetable glycerin and I’m not sure if I should be using them or not. The dew points here are currently around 80. Is that too high for glycerin? And if it is, is there a way to modify the products that I already have so I can keep using them?
Thanks so much for your help!

Great question! Let’s tackle this in three parts-I’ll discuss the definition of dew point, the definition of glycerin, and the effect of glycerine on the hair when it’s formulated in hair care products. Lastly, we will discuss what to do.

Dew Point

The Dew point is the temperature at which the water vapor in air begins to condense to a liquid. It is an absolute measure for how much water vapor is present in outside air. The greater the dew point temperature, the more water vapor available to condense into liquid water. Conversely, the lower dew point temperature corresponds to lower amounts of water vapor available to condense into liquid water. A good rule of thumb for dew point is as follows:

Humid Conditions 60F to +80F
Optimal Conditions 40 F to 60F
Dry/ Arid Conditions Less than 40F

Glycerin

Now, moving on to Glycerin-I’ll discuss the technical definition of glycerin, how it’s made and its function in hair care products.

Vegetable glycerin is a colorless, clear, viscous liquid (it has the consistency of molasses) that is extremely water-soluble. It is produced from the hydrolysis of coconut and palm based glycerol fats with water under high temperature and pressure. The product is then distilled to remove the excess water to produce glycerin at +99.3% purity. It is primarily used as a humectant in cosmetics and personal care products.

Now you’re probably asking, what is a humectant?

Humectants have two primary functions in hair products: It absorbs water from the air and slows down the rate at which water evaporates from your hair. In other words, in hair products, glycerin brings the hair shaft in contact with water and limits the water’s ability to evaporate. Thus, your hair has a greater chance of absorbing water and staying hydrated, which is the key to having healthy hair and minimizing breakage. Therefore, having a humectant in your hair products is advantageous but, as I hinted above, there are trade offs, especially for curly hair because it tends to be more porous and will need the extra moisture to stay hydrated. The key to getting optimum performance from glycerin based products is using them at the correct dew point temperature.

Now that you know the definition of dew points and glycerin, let’s discuss the effect they have on your hair- or more specifically, what is the correlation between and dew points and glycerin?

Glycerin Based Products in Low Dew Point Climates

Under dry, arid conditions, glycerin struggles to find enough water in the air to properly hydrate itself (remember glycerin needs water and will therefore, bind to it). Thus in arid conditions, the only benefit that glycerin will give your hair is that it will slow down the evaporation rate of water from your hair back into the environment. Simultaneously, glycerin will struggle to remove the small available amount of water from the arid air. However, once all the available free water is consumed from the air, the glycerin in your hair product, will then remove the available water from the product itself. Once that is gone, it will remove the water from the cortex of your hair because glycerin is a humectant and needs to stay hydrated. Needless to say, using products formulated with glycerin is counterproductive to achieving healthy hair when applied in arid conditions. It leads to overall dryness, coarseness, frizz, fly-aways and an increased probability for greater damage by causing split ends.

Glycerin Products in High Dew Point Climates

Under humid conditions, glycerin causes the hair to become over saturated with water and therefore, disrupts some of your hair’s structure/hydrogen bonding. I don’t want to get into the chemical structure of hair in this discussion, but I must digress so that you’ll get the complete picture. Again, when hydrogen bonding is disrupted, your hair losses some structure. Don’t be alarmed because every time you shower, shampoo or go into a high humidity climate, you are disrupting hydrogen bonding in your hair. When you wet your hair, you are breaking hydrogen bonding. Your hair looses structure and becomes elongated. During the drying process, water evaporates and the hydrogen bonds reform. Your hair’s natural structure is reformed and the hair elongation is reduced so it goes back to its natural state. This is called shrinkage. Also, during the elongation process, the hair becomes swollen and the cuticle raises, which causes tangling. Hint, this is why your hair gets tangled when you wash it.

Now, having explained the process of water/humidity with respects to the elongation and shrinkage of your hair, let’s take closer look at glycerin. The problem with using glycerin based products in high humidity is that it slows down the drying process and increases the chances of damaging your hair while it is elongated. When your hair is wet or elongated, it is weaker and more prone to breakage. Obviously, using glycerin based products in humid climates consistently keeps your hair in an elongated state. Therefore, it increases the probability of damaging it. It can also lose its curl pattern and become frizzy due to having swollen cuticles and tangling, as I mentioned above. Lastly depending on the concentration of glycerin in the product, your hair might begin to feel stickier.

So, what’s the optimal time to use glycerin products?

Only use products with high glycerin concentrations during optimal dew point temperatures (40F to 60F).
Use Glycerin free products for humid conditions. In particular, look for the polyquats to detangle and address frizzy hair (typically in the summer and dew point is above 60F)
Use leave-in or deep conditioners (standard oil/water emulsions) for low humidity conditions, which is typically in the winter and dew point is below 40F)

Please note that products formulated with low levels of glycerine, will not have these dramatic effects on the hair and to best “guestimate” glycerine levels, look for products that list glycerine on the back end of the ingredients list.

Do not over whelm yourself, take what you need to use and leave off that which would stress you out.

Ladies I don't think I can say this enough but love your hair and it will love you back.
As always thanks for reading, peace and love!!!