Satin Lining

In the winter, I always wrap or pin up my hair, put my silk or satin scarf on, and put a hat over it. I have seen a big difference in the amount of moisture I retain by doing this. I've been doing this way before I started my healthy hair journey. I hate being a cold, so a hat is a must, but I also realize that most of my hats are wool or cotton, which wreaks havoc on my hair.

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a yard of satin fabric because I like satin scarves at night better than silk scarves. After I cut out a square for my night scarf, I still had plenty of fabric left over, so last night I sewed a satin lining into one of my hats. I wore it today, and I loved it. My head was just as warm, and I didn't have to worry about combing my hair out when I got to work. I also won't have to worry about wrapping and putting a scarf on before I leave to go home. I want to do some other hats, but I wear a lot of my man's hats and I don't think he wants a satin lining in his hat! I do have a couple of my own hats, so I'm going to buy more satin to match the colors of my hats. I'm also thinking about lining my baby's hats. His hair is so cute and curly before we leave the house in the morning, but when we get to daycare and I take his hat off, he looks like Don King!

Vacation Hair

I just came back from a fabulous vacation in the Caribbean. For the first time during vacation, I loved my hair every minute of the time I was there. I had gotten a relaxer a week before my trip. I didn't wash my hair before I went, so it was pretty straight the first 2 days. After that, I washed, air dried, and did a bantu knot out. I was a little worried that my hair wouldn't look full since it was so recently relaxed, but I was wrong. I loved how wavy and full it looked. Sometimes it looked a little wild, especially on the beach when the wind was blowing, but I loved it like that too! My girlfriends asked me what I did to it. When I told them, one of them said, "that wouldn't work on me because I don't have good hair like you." WHAT?! In all of my 30-something years, no one has ever said that I have good hair, lol. Even my man kept telling me how much he liked my hair and that I should wear it like that more often. He loves my longer hair!

This is making me think about air drying more often to get a thicker look.

Product Review: Clairol Beautiful Collection Advanced Gray Solution

I've been using the regular Beautiful Collection semi-permanent colors off and on for years. I've seen the gray solution for the past year, but for some reason, I've been hesitant to try it. My stylist told me that it works pretty well, even if I just want to use it in the front, where most of my gray hairs are. I was in the beauty supply store yesterday, so I decided to try it. I bought the Light Golden Chestnut color. When I colored my hair a few weeks ago, I used Toasted Chestnut by Jazzing, so I wanted to use something similar.


Product Description
Cover more gray, longer with Beautiful Collection Advance Gray Solution. Clairol Beautiful Collection Advanced Gray Solution Semi-permanent Color gives relaxed hair intense gray coverage, while adding back moisture and shine. The gentle, semi-permanent haircolor leaves hair feeling silky soft and looking beautiful.Professional Features:-All tones are excellent for refreshing color treated hair -Gentle no ammonia formula allows use immediately after relaxers -Formulated to cover more gray -Covers more gray for up to twice as long -Penetrating, saturating color that leaves hair feeling moisturized and full of shine -No peroxide. Advanced Gray Solution shades cover up to 50% gray.

Advanced Gray Solution’s breakthrough SynAIRgy technology contains an oxidative dye that uses oxygen in the air as a color developer to form a large dye molecule, eliminating the need to use a product with hydrogen peroxide for longer-lasting coverage.

Directions
Apply directly from bottle generously and thoroughly to shampooed and towel-dried hair. Can be used immediately following a relaxer. Be sure hair is thoroughly rinsed and shampooed per relaxer directions before applying any Beautiful Collection shade. All Advanced Gray Solution shades are intermixable for custom colors. Intermixing with Beautiful Collection Moisturizing Color is not recommended. No developer is used with Beautiful Collection shades. Process up to 25 minutes at room temperature. Use of heat is not recommended. Rinse well, do not shampoo.

Ingredients
Water, Oleic Acid , Toluene-2 , Ascorbic Acid, Undeceth-3, Cetearyl Alcohol, 5-Diamine Sulfate, 2-Methylresorcinol, Alcohol Denat., Glycol Distearate, Fragrance, 2-Amino-6-Chloro-4-Nitrophenol, Ethanolamine, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Resorcinol, Disodium Edta, Hydroxyethyl-2-Nitro-P-Touidine, Basic Blue 99, HC Red No. 3, M-Aminophenol

My Experience
I'm glad I read the directions, because they said not to use heat and not to shampoo it out- both things I do when I apply a semi-permanent color. I noticed that this product is a lot thicker than the regular Beautiful Collections colors, or any other color I've used. I thought this was a good sign, because maybe there is more conditioner in it. I applied it to my whole head, not because I had a lot of gray to cover, but because I wanted to see how much it would moisturize and condition my hair. I put a plastic cap over my hair and let it sit for 25-30 minutes. I rinsed it out, and deep conditioned with Aubrey Organics White Camellia conditioner. I then used diluted Infusium leave-in conditioner and roller set my hair. When my hair was dry, it was shiny and bouncy. My grays in the front were covered, and looked pretty dark, considering I used a light color.

I liked this product, but I'm not sure if I'll use it again. Today, my scalp is a itchy, which makes me think that there is something in it I'm allergic to, because my scalp never itches. I'll also have to see how long the color lasts. If it doesn't last long, I might as well use the other colors I've been using.

12/16/10 Update: Okay, I couldn't take the itching (and a little burning) yesterday, so I washed my hair last night. I also didn't want to cause any damage to my scalp. I'm not sure what ingredient I'm allergic to, but I will not be using this product again. Even after I used a clarifying shampoo and conditioner, my nape still itches/burns a little!

December 2010 Relaxer

I got a relaxer after 9 weeks. I could have gone longer, but I have an important event coming up, and I didn't want to have to deal with my new growth for that. I got a little trim because my ends seemed a little scraggly to me.

I'm officially claiming armpit length! It took a little longer that I expected, but I'm glad I can close out 2010 having reached my length hair goal. Now, I'm working on my thickness goal even more. Whatever additional length I achieve is great, but I'm really focusing on thickness and moisture. If I can improve upon those, I plan on getting a full trim after my next relaxer in 12 weeks.

Product Review: Africa's Best Kid's Organics Extra Virgin Olive Oil Plus Shea Butter Detangling Moisturizing Hair Lotion

I wrote in a post a few weeks ago how my dry my hair was and how I would try some different products. My girl has been telling me about the Africa's Best Kid's Organics Extra Virgin Olive Oil Plus Shea Butter Detangling Moisturizing Hair Lotion for a while. She uses it on her 6 year old's hair, and although her little girl's hair is not relaxed, she believes we have similar hair textures. I finally decided to buy it. I bought it from Walgreens for $3.99.

Product Description
Allows for easy, tangle free combing while restoring a healthy moisture balance. Formulated with shea butter for extra shine and softening. Deep penetrating and helps to prevent breakage. Gentle enough for daily use and is an excellent therapy for all hair types.

•Contains no petrolatum or mineral oil
•Enriched with extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Work lotion into hair, applying from roots to ends. Gently comb through with a wide tooth comb. Do not force comb through. Apply more as needed, to tangled areas and gently comb through. Style as desired.

Ingredients
Aqua (Water) , Propylene Glycol , PEG-150 Distearate , Cetyl Alcohol , Glycerin , Polyquaternium-37 , Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate , Dicaprate , PPG-1 Trideceth-6 , Glycine Soja Oil (Soybean) , DMDM Hydantoin , Cyclopentasiloxane , Cyclohexasiloxane , Phenyl Trimethicone , Lanolin Oil , Glyceryl Stearate , PEG-100 Stearate , Acrylamidopropyltrimonium Chloride , Acrylamide Copolymer , Methylparaben , Propylparaben , Stearalkonium Chloride , Fragrance , Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil , Olea Europaea Fruit Oil (Olive) , Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter (Cocoa) , Carota Sativa Seed Oil (Carrot) , Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit (Shea Butter) , CI 19140 (Yellow 5) , CI 16035 (Red 40) , CI 42090 (Blue 1) , Hydrolyzed Glycine Soja Protein (Soybean) , Mustela (Mink Oil) , Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil (Jojoba) , Tocopherol , Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil (Tea Tree) , Ovum (Egg Powder) , Lactis Proteinum (Milk Protein) , Mel (Honey) , Silk Amino Acids , Cholesterol , Zea Mays Oil (Corn) , BHT , BHA , Cocos Nucifera Oil (Coconut) , Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil (Safflower) , Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract (Rosemary) , Urtica Dioica Extract (Nettle) , Equisetum Hiernale Extract (Horsetail)

My Experience
When I first opened the bottle, I noticed how watery this moisturizer was. I panicked, because my hair was straight, and I thought it would make it wet and frizzy. After I applied a little moisturizer to each section of my hair, I sealed with coconut oil. When I combed my hair, the comb glided through my hair. It was like my hair was instantly moisturized! I wrapped my hair and when I woke up, I couldn't believe how great my hair looked and felt!

I've been using this product for about 2 weeks, and I can't remember the last time my hair felt this good. I love how it softens my edges and new growth. This moisturizer is really light, so my hair just absorbs it in while still staying light and bouncy. It's not sticky or greasy and it leaves some shine- my hair really shines after sealing with oil! I am currently 7 weeks post relaxer and I think my hair looks like I'm about 3 weeks. My ends feel great too. I really feel like I have a new head of hair!

This is definitely a staple for me. The odd thing about this moisturizer is that it doesn't work well for my one-year old's hair. His texture is much different than mine, but his hair seems to get just as dry. When I put some on his hair, it did nothing.

Pincurl Week

This week I decided to pin curl my hair every night. This isn't that new, but I tried a different method of pin curling every night.

I washed and conditioned my hair on Sunday. Sunday night, I did 7 pin curls (2 on each side, and 3 in the back). This is how my hair came out on Monday:

My hair looks really short here, but I loved it because my hair didn't touch my shoulders. It was rainy and windy on Monday, so I kept the pincurls in with my scarf on, put a hat on my head, and took the pincurls out when I got to work. I feel like this is a protective style because my ends weren't exposed and didn't rub against my shirt.

Monday night, I did 3 pin curls- on on each side and one in the back. Here is how I looked on Tuesday:
The curls were looser, so my hair looks longer, but it's still curly. I got a lot of compliments this day. It was still rainy and windy, so before I left the house, I put my hair in a bun at my nape and put a hat (with a satin lining) on.

Tuesday night, I did only 2 pin curls- one on each side. This is how I looked on Wednesday:
I liked this, because it looked wavy. The only thing I didn't like was that the back of my hair looked a little thin since it had been up to the sides.

Wednesday night I just did one tight bun in the back. Here is how I looked on Thursday:I think this was my favorite look because my hair looked so full and thick. Too bad it was my day off and I didn't have anywhere to go, lol!

Thursday night, I fell asleep on the couch, woke up around one and barely had enough energy to change my clothes, so I just moisturized and put my hair in a loose bun on top of my head. Here is how my hair came out on Friday:

This almost looks like I wrapped it. My hair is a little dirty and weighed down with moisturizer and oil, so even if I did more than a bun the night before, I believe I would have had similar results.

The only products I used was Kids' Organics Shea Butter Hair Lotion (which I'll review soon) and cocounut oil. I liked my hair every day this week, which is the best thing. My hair stayed moisturized and curled, even in bad weather conditions. It's nice to have such versatility without using any heat.

Buns I Want to Try

I'm not sure I have enough hair, but I love these buns! I'm going to try to wear my hair up during the week and down on the weekends (as long as I'm not wearing wool) until the warm weather returns next year.