Freetress Equal Whole Lace Wig "Sapphire "

Long time, no see.  I know.  I've been busy with life and what not.  I should actually be studying right now but I'm here writing a wig review for you beautiful people.  So, I wanted to give my hair a break from all the styling I've been doing.  I haven't protective styles since my faux locs back in July.  I decided to get a wig so I could still get to my hair for weekly washes and moisturizing.  It's just way easier to do with a wig rather than a sew-in. 

After perusing the interwebs and looking at reviews  I decided on the Freetress Equal whole lace wig "Sapphire". I ordered the unit from www. HairWigHarlem.com. She (Sapphire that is)  is a whole lace wig meaning the entire cap is  a breathable lace like material, and still has the traditional lace frontal material in the front to blend with the hair line. She has baby hair around the perimeter (it doesn't look super natural but it doesn't look super fake either).  It's good enough to fool the untrained eye. When I received Sapphire and took her out of the box she was super soft and bouncy. The hair had a medium luster. It wasn't too much shine, but I still added baby powder to dull it a tad bit more.  I also cut and thinned her out some.  It's a very, VERY full wig and was just too much for my little self to pull off so I had to cut her down to size in a sense.  I also flat ironed her to get some of the deep waves out because it looked really weird.

The hair is synthetic made of Futura hair which can stand up to 400 degrees.....supposedly.  I only used 300-340 and some times styling a piece worked and others it didn't.  When I used 340 it all went limp and lifeless and wouldn't really take a curl after that. So,  I would recommend staying closer to 300 degrees.  I'm not used to synthetic hair I usually get remy or virgin hair. This wig cost me a little over $60 (it was on sale)  and has lasted me about a month.  I didn't expect much and I didn't get much.  It was a nice wig while it lasted, but now the ends are beginning to get tangled and matted. I am  wearing her in a low bun now until the Virgin Brazilian Curly hair I ordered from www.Hairaddictsonline.com comes in.  I'll be back with an initial review for that as soon as I can.
Final thoughts Sapphire... She is a great looking wig straight out if the box.  She needs a bit of styling to make her look natural, but not too much.  She didn't last as long as I hope, but it was a great run while it lasted.  If push came to shove, I would purchase her again.

The ends got super matted and gross

EDIT: After I made this post I ended up making this wig last about 2 months longer. How you ask? I CUT IT. First in to a bomb ass bob and once that started to get mated I made her into a bomb ass pixie cut wig. The wig always had body so no styling after the cuts were required 

After cut #1 into a bob

Cut #2 made her a pixie 

How I left my acne behind

circa 2012 when my face was exploding 

Just like millions of adults before me and millions to follow, I suffered from acne for quite a while. Surprisingly  enough I didn't have bad skin as a teen, but for some reason once I hit 21 my face flipped out on me. I don't know if it was hormones or what, but it was awful. It took a serious toll on my confidence. I tried literally every over the counter face wash you could get,and nothing worked. I even tried vitamins for hair skin and nails, but the biotin only made my acne worse. I searched the interwebs for all kinds of DIY remedies, only to come up empty handed. I had given up and just figured I would grow out of it.  Until one day my friend, who had suffered from acne for as long as I could remember, made a post on social media about her skin care routine. To my surprise her  sercret was organic honey!

Bentonite clay mask in action

Organic honey was the secret to her beautiful skin. At first I couldn't understand how putting a sugar on your face could possibly make your skin better. But, I figured that I had tried so many other products it couldn't possibly hurt to try a little honey. At least if it didn't work, I could just out it in my tea or something, right? So I gave it a shot, and HONEY! Let me tell you!! My skin has never been better!!! I have been using raw organic honey to clean my face every day for about 2 years now, and I will never go back to regular facial cleansers. Honey has antibacterial properties that gently cleanse the pores. It also doesn’t contain any of the harsh chemicals found in facial cleansers. Every morning and night I wash my face with honey. After cleansing my face I use witch hazel as a toner (my friend uses green tea) and follow up with avacado oil to lock in the moisture. In addition to washing my face daily with organic honey, every week or two I do a face mask with bentonite clay. That stuff is the TRUTH! After a 20 minute mask my face looks so smooth and bright it’s amazing.  So, my love bugs, ditch over the counter facial cleansers and give the natural approach a try.

Just lipstick and eyeliner. No need
for concealer!!

Wine chronicles No. 1

As I sit here drinking my glass of wine I realize that I’m at a crossroad in my life. I notice that I have been here, at the very same spot, time and time again. In my life, I have tried to do things the “right” or “safe” way if you will. I went to school, made good grades, went to college etc…. Only to end up like many others before me, working in a field completely unrelated to my degree. I’ve always been in the world of sales despite my futile attempts to break out. Every now and then the stars align, and this feeling comes over me. My gut tells me that I need a change and an idea pops in my head. The idea of owning my own business. While I enjoy the steady income of working for someone else, I know that I am missing out on the autonomy I long for. I want the ability to do as I please and answer to no one.  Now is the time for me to risk it all and become the BOSS I know I can be. 2017, I’m coming for you!

Faux Locs

Hello hello hello!!! So, over the past few months I realized my hair hasn't been growing like it used to. It may have just reached the max length it will grow. If that's the case, that's fine. I'm APL (Arm Pit Length) so no real big. But, if it can grow more then great. My hypothesis though, is that I have been too rough on my hair and stressing out the last few months causing excess breakage. So, what I've decided to do is really get into protective styling. This time around instead of sew-ins and wigs I opted to go a more fun route and try faux locs!! Honey chile-boo let me tell ya this is no hair style to do by yourself if you want it done quick. I did it by myself for the most part and had a few hours of help from a friend of mine. Honestly, it took around 20 hours to complete. I broke the work up over five days. Granted it wouldn't have taken nearly as long had I done them as big as I had seen people do them on YouTube, but I wanted the to look thin and natural. I succeeded, but my hands were feeling it for another week.  Also, what no one tells you is this mess is heavy. It is really two hairstyles in one (box braids which are then wrapped in marley hair). All in all I used about two packs of braiding hair and eight packs of Marley hair. I used two different kinds of Marely hair because I went to different beauty supply stores to get them. You cant tell the difference though they both look the same. I used the method from Mariaantoinettetv's YouTube channel only I did burn the hair at the ends because it began to unraveled at the ends and I couldn't commit to redoing this ish all over again. I have had these twists in about 3 weeks no and they look good still, a lot of people believe they are my real hair.  I do love them I just think I should have waited until the weather cooled down. This Georgia heat is relentless. I will probably keep them in another two weeks. Hopefully this is the break my hair needs, but its killing me not to touch my fro.. It will be worth it, I hope. Here is a couple of styles I've worn while I've had them in.

Shea Moisture Color System Review

So I've been growing my hair out a lot since the last time I colored it. I realized I don't like my natural hair color. So I thought about it and I decided to go back to being a red head. My favorite color system has been the Shea Moisture line. I tried the soft black color back in January. It looked great but my hair felt icky. like there was just this coating that would never wash off. The Bright Auburn however is great. This time it took so much better than the first time I tried it. I started with dry and somewhat dirty ( my hair had been in mini twists for a week) . I split my hair into four sections and applied the color all over from root to tip. I then sat with the color on my hair for 45 minutes under a hooded dryer. The system requires you to wash your hair with the moisture retention shampoo then condition with the provided conditioner. I let the conditioner sit for another 30 minutes, rinsed then styled. Annnnddddd Voila!!

I like it. Its brighter than before I think its because I used the dryer this time. My hair feels soft like usual, not dried out and brittle. My curl pattern remained the same also. So all in all I am still pleased with this color system and will probably use it the next time I color my hair. If only I could get the blonde color would show up in my hair without me having to bleach my hair first. Then we would be in business.

Camille Rose Almond Jai Butter Review

So its been a while since I did a product review so today I will be reviewing Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Butter. Ill start off by saying this stuff is great! I had been seeing the line in Target for a few months, but I didn't buy it for a while, one reason being the price ( its $17). I didn't want to spend that much on a styling butter that I may or may not like. A few months later I decided to do mini twists as a protective style and I realized I didn't have a moisturizer to twist with. I remembered seeing the Almond Jai Butter in Target and started watching reviews. Everyone seemed to have positive things to say so I figured " what the hay, I'll splurge a bit". So i blew my hair out and the twisting began. So my first impression of the butter? It was really thick but still light. The smell was a little sweet but very subtle. The container is pretty big and it is packed to the brim with product. which I appreciate.. Also, a little goes a very long way with this. I did mini twits around my whole head and you cant even tell that I  used any when you look in the jar. When I was done my twists were super soft and very shiny. I loved it. Now its about a week later and my twists are still super soft and they still have a sheen to them without any more product being reapplied. All in all this product gets 5 stars from me. After seeing how well this product works I'm fine with spending the money on it. I like it more than my old staple Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie so I'm willing to spend a few more dollars.        

All good things come to an end

This entry isn't about hair or food, its about getting over a break up and finding yourself again. Me and my boyfriend recently split after a two and a half year long relationship. I know you're probably saying two and a half years ain't nothing to bat an eye at, but its significant to me. It's hard getting over a break up, especially when things ended at your own hand. The blame and self loathing are a lot to get over but I am making due. I've had time to think about things. The first day I didn't want to get out of bed or eat, but over the last few weeks I have learned a few things that help out a lot when getting over a break up.

1. Stop blaming yourself
  Sure things may have been different had you done this or that differently. You cant live in the "shoulda coulda woulda", because things are the way they are and you can't change them. Accept the situation for what it is. You may get back together one day but you have to get over things first.

2. Don't live on the hope that you are going to get back together
Like I said this could very well happen in the future. The both of you have to make sure you are ready, and not just staying with whats familiar vs what is really best for you. If you keep basing your life round this person who is no longer there you might miss out on opportunities that could put you in a better situation.You may always love you ex but don't let that stop you from finding love again. Your "Prince Charming" could be right in front of you and you will miss it because you are still looking behind you.

3. Surround yourself with great friends and family
This by far has been the most beneficial. Don't sit at home by yourself and dwell on things all day. The sadness will consume you. By surrounding yourself with awesome people that make you laugh, you wont have a chance to be sad. By doing things with them you won't have time to think about what you had, only what you have. You begin to realize that life isn't over and there are people that will always love you, and that's a great feeling.

4. Find a passion
If you are like me then you put your heart and soul into your relationship and you lost site of the things you once loved. Now that you have the time go revisit these things. I am getting back into a healthy lifestyle and reading. I am also getting into new things like Yoga. Finding something you love will make you feel better over all as a person.

5. Learn to be content by yourself.
The one thing we all get hooked on in a relationship is the companionship. Having someone to wake up to, go to sleep with, and talk to all day whenever you want, its great. Getting over not having this is hard and honestly I have no fix for this. Over time you have to get used to not having someone there all the time. You can only hang out with friends and do little activities for so long. You are going to be alone sometimes with no one to talk to and nothing to do. Don't slip into sadness though just think about all of the good things in your life and keep the positive vibes going. Limit the idle time and find something good  to focus on.

Everyone has there way of finding happiness after a break up these are just a few things worth trying. They have worked for me and a few others I know in the same situation. Overall just give things time, they will get better. You wont be sad forever. Now put on your favorite dress, make yourself pretty and go hit the town. You might just meet someone new.

Color Coded Curls

A pop of color for the spring, I said. A little red and blonde will be good, I said. Well I guess orange is good its in the middle. Earlier this year I decided that it would be a cool idea to dye my hair. I did it myself because I just don't trust other people with my oh so delicate curls. After some research I decided to use dark and lovely red hot rhythm and the golden blonde. My hair only took the red and my hair came out an orangey color. Not bad for my first try though, although it wasn't what I expected, I liked it. Then sadly about two months later it began to fade.So I decided I would try this red thing again. I think I might be obsessed with the color red, but I decided to give the shea moisture line a try. Once I got over the initial shock of the price (double the price of any other brand) I decided on bright auburn I also tried to throw in a couple of blonde pieces, I got the dark n lovely go intense blonde color. The blonde still did not take, I am going to try that one more time and see what happens. The auburn took pretty well previously colored parts of my hair and even the virgin parts of my hair there was a color different. it wasn't super bright but subtle. I will probably redo it in a couple of weeks just because I want it brighter and bolder . Gotta turn heads when I walk by you know.

Whole Foods?

No not the store. I love Whole Foods the store. I am talking about whole intact foods. For example, an orange vs. orange juice.  The entire fruit or vegetable skin and seeds included all contain vitamins and nutrients that are good for the body. By breaking cutting the skin off or trying to simply extract the juice we are missing out on those extra goodies held in the skin and the seeds. Remember when you were young and had a baked potato, the adults would tell you to eat the skin because it was good for you? Well they weren’t just trying to make you clean your plate, the skin actually contains half of the fiber and lots of nutrients. By cutting it off you are missing out on the benefits. Whole foods are better for you because they have not been processed. Processing foods removes most of the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs. To replace the lost nutrients businesses must “enrich” and “fortify” the foods after they have been processed. Although these things sound fancy and good for you they aren’t as good as the natural vitamins the food started with. The process adds back the lost vitamins but the debate wages on about whether these added vitamins and nutrients are just as beneficial as the natural ones. I would rather have the natural vitamins just because I don’t always trust man made imitations. You can decide what you like however. In addition to fortifying and enriching processed foods are generally heavy in added salts. Being at risk for hypertension, I try to cut down on my salt intake. Canned food often has a lot of salt added to preserve the food. Look at a can of canned vegetables and see how much salt is in it, even in the low sodium versions. If we get fresh fruits and vegetables or even frozen ones we are cutting out the added salt factor. If you must get canned versions of fruits get those in 100% juice instead of heavy syrup that way you cut out the extra sugar. Also instead of falling into the trap of “enriched/fortified with blah blah blah ….” just go for natural or whole i.e. whole grain rice and fresh bread. No bleaching process no salt added, simple. It’s always better to go for home made things but I understand we don’t all have the time to make homemade sauces and breads so it is easier to just buy them. But, try to take a few hours a week and just make a dish or two from scratch and see how much better it tastes. You might want to do it more often. If not, at least read the labels and ingredients thoroughly, your body will thank you. If you don’t know what some of the ingredients are, just take a few minutes to google it. We all have smart phones now so it’s easy. 

Curly Cancellation

So, I cancelled my curlkit. It was a great subscription while it lasted, but I just can not deal with the late shipments and lost packages that I never receive. I have told them to  change my address several times but some how it ends up going to my old address. And this latest one, the july box, is no where to be found. They get there money on time why cant I get my package on time at the right address. Well anyways, just got sick and tired of being sick and tired. There are all kinds of boxes popping up now but now that I am settling into a regimen I don't really need to experiment with all of these products. My product stockpile is dwindling and I am recovering from my product junkism. So all in all its all good, I save money, space, and the monthly headache. I will try new products from time to time though, gotta add a little spice to my life.  

Cowashing challenge

So, I decided to do a personal challenge. The challenge was to only cowash for a month straight. I used the Coconut Cowash by As I Am that I received in my CurlKit in January. It is available at the local beauty supply stores though. I read articles and watched videos of all these different people that had their own opinions about cowashing, Some of them believed in only cowashing and never shampooing while others believed that shampoo was necessary . I was one  that faithfully believed that shampooing weekly was the best way to remove build up for me . I only used natural products, nothing with cones or parabens or mineral oil, so I really didn't have build up in the first place. I just wanted to see what the hype was about with cowashing. I figured since I got this full size jar of the Coconut Cowash so I may as well try it, its not like I was losing out on money by giving it a shot. Since it was a big jar  I figured I could get at least a months worth of use out of it, I may actually get about two months out of it because I only wash my hair once a week. So far I have been cowashing my hair for about a month. My verdict is that cowashing is nothing special. My hair gets clean enough I suppose, but my scalp doesn't feel as clean as it should and it itches. Not after a few days but right after I wash my hair it itches and I am not a  fan of this. My head never itched when I used my Aubrey Organics GPB shampoo. There is no big difference in my hair that I can tell after a month and that should be a long enough time to see a difference. Although I don't see a difference in my hair I will finish out the jar just because I don't want to waste half of it. Cowashing is nice but after this jar is done I will be going back to my shampoo.

Trimming: oooooo aint' it the devil!!

The word "trim" can give any natural the shivers. The word is looked at so negatively because we work so hard to combat shrinkage and retain length, trimming makes it seems like a futile effort right? Wrong. Trimming is good for your hair but you don't have to trim once every 6 weeks. I feel like this is excessive, just trim your hair  as needed or 2-3 times a year is fine. If your ends don't feel rough and dry or brittle all the time then there is no need to cut them. But, on the other hand, once your ends are  damaged your best bet is to cut them off and let the healthy hair grow and replace it. It is important to get rid of those damaged ends because in the long run those ends can impede hair growth. The split at the end can travel up the hair shaft. The further up the split goes, the more hair you have to cut off when you are trimming. In order to trim less frequently you have to take care of your ends to keep them in good condition. If your hair is constantly dry at the ends you may want to try a different moisturizing method,  or sealing with heavier oils or butters. In extreme cases you may want to try the baggy or greenhouse methods. If you choose to do the greenhouse method I recommend doing it in the warmer months because your hair will be wet when you wake up, and no one wants to talk around while its cold with wet hair. Trims are necessary for healthy hair growth, it may be hard to part with those ends, but trust me when your hair grows back longer and stronger you wont even miss that little bit of hair you cut. Make sure you use hair sheers though, regular household scissors can leave the ends of your hair jagged and split, doing more harm than good in the long run. Hair sheers are sharper and do not disrupt the cuticle leaving the ends nice and smooth.

I got my CurlKit :)

So after a long long LONG wait, my February CurlKit finally arrived. This post is actually about a week and a half late. I was a little busy but any who, my kit came and oh gosh it was indeed worth the wait

As you can see its chopped full of curly hair goodies. Of course since it is February it is the Love Your Curls edition. This months kit contained:

•  A terry turban, great for covering up those shower caps when deep conditioning if company surprises you on wash day. 
• Cantu hair lotion: my hair doesn't usually agree with cantu products so I gave this to my roommate, she enjoys it. 
• Pooka Mint n' Roses Spa Soak: this stuff smells really minty. Just pour it into your bath or foot bath and let the relaxation begin. 
• Mixed Chicks travel pack: It contained a shampoo sample, deep conditioner sample as well as a a leave in conditioner. My hair is entirely to kinky for me to even attempt to try to use this so once again I gave this to my room mate because she has a much looser texture. 
•  B's Organic Jamaican Shea Butter Oil: This oil is nice, but a little goea a very long way. It isnt heavy like castor oil but it lasts on your hair for a few days like castor oil instead of just being absorbed quickly like lighter oils such as olive oil and jojoba oil.  
• Oyin Handmade's Burnt Sugar Pomade: a curly's  favorite. I was quite excited to see this again, as seen in my Oyin Handmade snack pack review I enjoyed this pomade. It smells delightful . 
• Giovanni Smooth As Silk Conditioner: This is not the leave in but almost as good. This is the rinse out conditioner. I love Giovanni products and was so incredibly excited to see this trial size. 

 Sooooo much stuff in this box for just $20. I am pleased with my box even though it took forever to get here but hopefully the March box will be on time.

Confessions of a product Junkie

Hey Curl Hey!!

So you know that moment when your realize you have way too many products and you're just like " ugh I have a problem" You just admitted that you are a product junkie. Admittence is the first step to recovery right? Not really. I realized, admitted and accepted it a long time ago, but that helped nothing. In fact it may have made things worse . I bought every new product I saw a YouTube guru use and tried every homemade recipe I could find. My closet was just full or natural hair stuff. When you first go natural it's hard not to become a product junkie because you are in search of the products that work great for your hair. In order to prevent having a closet full of products I tried to commit to using up all of my products before I bought new ones. That didn't work. I mean what is the point in doing that if the products dont work for you. Your hair just ends up looking like poop until you used up all the products. I refused to throw all of the extra products away, so I decided to start giving all of my extra products away. Thankfully my roommate is also natural and gladly accepts the products I don't want. Being able to get rid of my extra products only made my product junkie-ism worse. I now had a way to get rid of my products and I always have room for new ones. With all of those products and home recipes to try out there what is a curly girl to do? It's an expensive habit, and since I'm just a poor college student I either needed a miracle or some incredible self control to prevent using up all of my money on products. One day on one wonderful afternoon while perusing natural hair forums I found something called Curlkit and another similar company called curl box. It was like the clouds opened and angels began to sing. Each box comes with 5-8 samples or products from different natural hair care lines for only $20 a month ( it's a monthly subscription) . Many of them not even in stores. I quickly subscribed to both. Curlbox was more of a hassle to get on to due to their limited time to subscribe on one day of the month. Curlkit was a breeze to sign up for though. Eventually after a few months of being dissatisfied with curlbox (both the products and the owner) I unsubscribed though . I am still with Curlkit though and I love it! It gets better and better every month! It's great because I get to feed my inner product junkie and I don't have to break the bank. The things in the box are worth more than $20 so it's really a great deal. So my advice to any frugal product junkie is just subscribe to a box. There all kinds of them out there whether you want natural hair products or makeup just Google it! You might be surprised at what all you could subscribe to.

Product Review: Oyin Handmade Snack Pack

Heeeyyyyy!!

I've been M.I.A for a bit but I'm back!! This time I'm back with my first product review from a line that I've been looking at for a while. When I heard of Oyin handmade it was always about the burnt sugar pomade, and finally I decided to peruse the website one night. I lines that offer sample sizes, that way you don't have to commit to the size and price of full size products. What I found is that they offer snack packs ( isn't that a cute name ) for hair and body. Of course I got the one for hair which consisted of : 2 oz. honey hemp conditioner, 2 oz. hair dew leave in conditioner, 2 oz Greg juice, Shine and Define coaxing serum, and of course a 1 oz burnt sugar pomade. All of this for just $22. The shipping was a little slow but I'm sure it was just because I ordered on black friday and they had a high volume of orders to fulfill so no biggy there. It came well packaged in a cute little travel bag. It also came with little pieces of candy and bubbles.It was a fun surprise. but enough chit chat lets get to the product reviews.

      First up, the Honey Hemp conditioner:

This conditioner smelled amazing!! It has a creamy consistency but it isn't thick at all. After I shampooed my hair I reached for this, it took a good bit to feel like it was coating my hair. I don't have much hair so I don't really expect to use a whole lot of product. I used over half of the bottle with this one condition step. I know its only a 2 oz bottle but still I had to use more than I expected. I rinsed it out and looked at my hair in the mirror, my curls were popping, BUT as soon as i touched them with my drying shirt ( I dry my hair with a shirt instead of a towel ) my curls turned to pure frizz.  With other products my curls will stay intact.My hair didn't feel soft of really moisturized or anything. I added the rest of the left over conditioner to my deep conditioner mixture ( recipe coming soon to a computer screen  near you) as a base.  Now after my deep conditioning treatment my hair is usually on and poppin'! This time was no different my curls came out to play and this time they did not frizz up when i touched them. My hair still didn't feel super moisturized or super soft like usual. This conditioner is O.K. Its nothing that I would purchase in a full size though.

 Next , the Hair Dew leave in conditioner:

Just like the conditioner this leave in smells pretty yummy. I used this as a leave in and as a refresher a few days later when I styled my hair again. This was an O.K. leave in , but when I used it as a refresher, my hair would never stay stretched. I don't know what it was but its like my hair would just shrink right back up. I know it wasn't the moisture in the air attacking my hair because its winter, and I only go to work and back home, not a lot of time anywhere else or out in the elements and my hair will normally stay stretched all day. The definition of my curls when my hair shrank back up was pretty nice though so i will give it that. Over all it is O.K. It works as a leave in and a styler but I would not buy this again.

      

Now on to the Greg Juice:

I love this stuff! It smells pretty nice, I heard everyone rave over the juices berries, but that wasnt in the snack pack the greg juice is the same thing just with a different scent. This stuff makes my hair feel soft and moisturized and leaves a light scent. Its really  nice just a quick spritz and my hair is good to go. I dont usually use spritzers but if needed, I would buy this again.

      

Followed by the Shine and Define Coaxing Serum:
Bam Bam Bam!! This stuff right here is bomb. It smells great a really nice fruity scent. With serum being in the name you would thing it would be liquid like but its not actually. It is a cream and it is just oh so lovely. As soon as you open the jar you just want to eat it up it smells so good! This is a great styler, its a soft hold styler. Just spread a little on a section from root to tip and style as desired, the hair is moisturized and has a nice luster too it, not like a sheen like you would see with an oil but a nice moisturized look.I used it for twist outs and they looked pretty bomb. I would definitely buy this again.

     

 Last but certainly not least, that good ol' Burnt Sugar Pomade:
Just like everything else in this line it smells delightful. It comes in a jar and its solid but once you rub your finger over it a bit it melts and becomes a nice oil. It works as a humectant as well so I only used this once because it is the winter time and humectants aren't the best for you while its cold. But the time I did use it I liked it. I used it as a sealer and it left a nice sheen to my hair. It contains things like candelilla wax and hempseed oil. I don't use it often but I would buy this again if I were to run out.

All in all the Oyin Handmade products are good. Some products are better than others in my opinion but that's just me. Try them out for yourself and even let me know how you liked them.

Its All About Protection

So the fall months are here and its important to protect your curls from the harsh cold air. I have tried my hand at sew-ins and braids in the past but my go to style protective style for this season are wigs. I think wigs get a bad rap because people don't take the time to find natural looking ones that look just as good as sew-ins or quick weaves. The don't have to be expensive human or remy hair wigs they can be inexpensive regular synthetic lace fronts and still look fab (and as a college student I'm all about inexpensive). Wigs have all the style and versatility of any other protective styling without the commitment to a certain hair style for weeks or months. You can just braid up your hair for a few days or however long you like, and when you don't feel like wearing the wig just take it off, undo your braids and rock that fro.  Not to mention when you go to bed at night you can take the wig off, you cant take a sew-in off to go to bed. Since your hair is already braided up from being under a wig you can just spray your hair with a little water, rub on some oil to seal it,  put a satin bonnet on and hop in bed. No mess, no fuss. Now I'm not down playing other protective styles i just think wigs are a bit easier for me because I like to wash my hair weekly and switch up hair styles often. But do what works best for you. As long as those ends are protected, and you remember to always moisturize and seal, you're doing it right. Just because you have a protective style does not mean that you can neglect your hair. If that's the case the protective style would probably do more harm than good.  Here are a few of my protective styles over the past year.

This was my first sew in EVER!! I used 2  of the 12"packs of the the Cuticle Remy XQ. I got this hair off of ebay.  

This was my second sew in. I used the Virgin Indian  wavy hair from http://www.hairaddictonline.com/ .
I used 12" on top and 12-16 for the rest of my head. 

                                                 

Meet Drew! This is a curly lace front made by BESHE. I loved this wig. She is really big so if you aren't ready for some BIG hair then you are not ready for Drew. The longer you have her the bigger and more natural looking she gets . You can find Drew at http://www.hairwigharlem.com/beshe-synthetic-lace-front-wig-lw-drew.html

sell hello to my fro! This is a wig I made myself using kinky comber wefted hair. I just glued the tracks onto a    dome cap and called it a day. The company offers pre-made wigs but at the time of my order they were out of the wigs so I  just get the wefted hair and made a unit myself, I think it turned out well. 

Meet Estelle! Isn't she lovely. I wanted a change form curly hair so I could fight the urge to straighten my natural kinks. She looks amazing but be warned she does tangle and shed quite a bit. 

Journey to the Center of the Curl

Hair anatomy:
         You would think with all the products, vitamins, and all around hype about hair that the structure of the hair would be more complicated than what it actually is. Lets start from the inside out beginning with the Medulla. This structure is only present in large thick hair. The Medulla doesn't serve much of purpose. The next layer us the cortex. This layer is one of the more important ones. This is what contains the pigment, and gives the hair strand its color. It also hold the moisture and is responsible for the strength and elasticity of the hair. It is important to keep the hair moisturized in order to keep the cortex in good health. Try products that are water based and contain things like hydrolyzed proteins to provide moisture and strength to the hair strands. The outer most layer of the strand is the Cuticle. Much like the cuticle of the nail its main purpose is protection. The cuticle protects the delicate protein structures within the cortex. The cuticle is is not one long smooth covering although it may feel that way when you run your fingers along the length of your hair . The cuticle is actually  more like shingles. one layer upon another. These layers can lift up when doing different things such as washing, or styling the hair. If the cuticle is not laid down it can result in loss of moisture, causing the hair to become dry and brittle.  It is important to use styling products have a slightly acidic pH ( between 4.0-7.0) that is close to the pH of hair to lay down the cuticle. There are products that are pH balanced, but if you are looking for a more natural approach try adding aloe vera juice/gel to your products to bring down the pH. It is also important to seal in the moisture. You can so this by so once you have added your pH balanced products make sure to add an oil. I personally am a fan of coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil. There are tons of other options out there for every one though you just have to find the oil that works best for you. Along with moisturizing and sealing it is also important to manipulate the hair as little as possible. This will protect the cuticle from wear and tare and also allowing you to retain more length in the long run. Try protective styling or if that isn't for you try low manipulation hair styles, like a bun or puff. Just keep you hands out of your hair as much as possible to prevent split ends and breakage. I know its hard, but its possible