Praise God!

I am going through some things in my life, non-hair related of course. Things that make hair seem like a tiny ant on the surface of this huge world. It makes hair seem like something that should not even be taking up my time, energy and mental space. I’m not saying that I am going to close my blog and focus on these “more important things” but I am saying that we need to make sure our priorities are in order and our hair should definitely not be at the top of the list. It can be on the list, just not at the top.

Anyway this post is to say “God is good!” I don’t understand what he is doing in my life, I don’t particularly like some of the situations I have found myself in right now, but I am trusting that He will lead me to where I need to be. I trust that He knows what is best for me and my children. I praise Him because He has blessed me so, and even during this time of frustration and confusion I will continue to praise Him because He is worthy!

Talk to you all again soon,

Ebonee

Wish List Update

One of my first few blogs posts was about my current Hair Wishlist. Since then, I have purchased both products on my wishlist.

Although I bought a blow dryer, I decided to go with a different brand than the one I was originally interested in. After doing a little research, I decided to go with a FHI Heat Nano Salon Pro 2000, and I am glad I did. It works wonderfully. The only thing I dislike about the dryer is that the buttons are on the handle so when holding and using the dryer I will sometimes accidently hit one of the buttons and change my heat setting or speed. This doesn’t happen often and it doesn’t bother me too much, I still like the dryer much better than my old one.

Here are the product features:
· Adjustable Heat: Separate Heat, Speed & Cool Shot
· Ceramic Heater with Far Infrared Ionic Heat
· Tourmaline, Titanium Oxide & Silver Infused Adds Ions, Shine; Removes Chemicals and Bacteria
· Concentrator & Diffuser attachments
· 2000 Watts. Extra Long Motor Life (1200 Hours of Use) and Low EMFs Safe for You & Environment

The other item I had on my wishlist was a curling wand and I purchased one a few months back from Wal-Mart. The brand I purchased was Remington and the size was 1 inch but ofcourse it tappers down towards the end of the wand. The wand is okay, I just did not like the curls the wand gave. They were too structured and kind of tight. It was possibly my technique or the size of the barrel that caused this but I assumed with a bigger barrel my hair would not wrap around it well enough to get a proper curl. I probably won’t be using this wand much because I prefer the voluminous, full, bouncy curls that I achieve with a regular curling iron.

Here are the product features:
· Patent pending ceramic pearl technology for the smoothest salon finish ever
· 1 inch to half inch tapered barrel to create variety of curls
· 410f salon high heat
· Automatic shutoff
· Includes heat protective glove for easy styling

The new item on my wish list are these hair vitamins. I read a lot of good reviews about these vitamins on the internet and I am excited to try them out. The ingredients list is really awesome and has so many good vitamins and minerals in it that your hair needs. I know some people who take a multi-vitamin, a b-complex vitamin, biotin, MSM, and other pills which ends up being too many pills to remember everyday but this pill has most of that stuff already in it.

The instructions say take two pills a day; for me, that is very doable. I have to wait until I finish this big bottle of One-a-Day Women’s vitamins before ordering these because I don’t want to waste the vitamins I already have. I am not going to take a multi-vitamin with the Maxi Hair vitamins because the Maxi Hair has most of the ingredients that are in a multivitamin anyway. The only thing I did not see on the label is iron so I may have to take a separate iron supplement, not really sure if I am going to do that or not.  So this is the only item on my wishlist for now.

Beauty Break - Beautiful Spring Nail Polishes

I decided to take a quick break from all this hair talk and post a beauty related post. I was in Target this evening and I saw these wonderful nail polishes calling my name in beautiful spring colors (the last one is really not a spring color but I loved it so I bought it anyway). Even though it's January, businesses are starting to put out their spring merchandise.

These polishes were on sale for $4.99 each which I thought was a decent price because some polishes can run you between six to eight bucks. They are the L'oreal Colour Riche polishes. The picture below is showing the polishes true to color. What you see is what you get, lol.

Colors from left to right:

1) eiffel for you

2) spice things up

3) penthouse pink

4) club prive

5) greycian goddess

6) stroke of midnight

Aren't they gorgeous?

"BEE MINE" Products....I'm Yours Faithfully!

These products are LOVE in a bottle for me. I have tried many moisturizers, some of which are listed below along with my rating for them:

My Rating Scale from Best to Worst = Can’t Live Without, Loved, Just Okay, Hated

Loved

Neutrogena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave-in

Giovanni Smooth as Silk Leave-In

Just Okay
Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship Leave-in 

Elasta QP Mango Butter

Luster’s S-Curl Texturizer Styling Spray

Hated

Soft Sheen Carson Wave Nouveau

ORS Olive Oil Conditioning Cream (in bottle, not jar)
Bronner Brothers Oil Moisturizer Hair Lotion  

Profectiv Mega-Growth Daily Anti-Breakage Hair Moisturizer

 

As you see, some of the products that I rated “just okay” or “hated,” many hair enthusiast rave about and love. I contribute this to the fact that everyone’s hair is different and people’s hair will respond differently to different products. I also noticed that as a daily moisturizer, I prefer not to use products that have protein or that are mainly oil based. The ones that contain protein tend to make my hair feel stiff, the oil based ones make my hair feel coated and not moisturized. So the search continued for the perfect moisturizer and I think I have found it (well several).

These are three moisturizers from the BEE MINE line that I adore, in order from most favorite to least although they all are exceptional products: Deja’s Hair Milk, Daily Conditioner, Luscious Balanced Moisturizer. For all of these items, I bought the sample size first to try them out, and then I went back and repurchased larger sizes. This is going to sound funny but this is the truth: These are the most moisturizing moisturizers I have ever tried. They are a bit pricey compared other products but they are well worth the price. These products would fall under the “can’t live without” category because I have seen the moisture level, suppleness and overall condition of my hair drastically improve since using these products. More detailed information about the products is listed below.

Deja’s Hair Milk

• Bought 16oz bottle for $27 on website, 8oz bottle is $15

• No protein ingredients

• Incredibly moisturizing

• Can be used as a leave-in or daily moisturizer

• Both Coconut Cream and Island Mango scent smell wonderful (although some have stated that the scents are quite strong, I love the smell)

• Does not weigh hair down

• Absorbs into hair very nicely

• Not oily

The website gives this product description: This hair milk has many benefits for the health and condition of your hair. It's lightweight but very moisturizing. The oils and butters will nourish and naturally moisturize every strand of your tresses without leaving your hair greasy.  Grapeseed oil has many benefits and is a natural heat protectant that protects your hair against damages from styling aids with average heat.  The grapefruit essential oil strengthens and keeps your hair healthy while the peppermint essential oil helps to stimulate growth.  Good for all hair types, braids and weaves too.  We aim to help your hair be the healthiest it can be. Use Deja's Hair Milk to: defrizz, moisturize on damp hair, as a second day refresher, detangler or leave in.

Bee Lovely Moisturizing Daily Conditioner

• Bought an 8oz bottle for $12.97 on website)

• All the bullet points for Deja’s hair milk would apply to this product too, except it only comes in Coconut Cream scent

The website gives this product description: Dramatically improve the moisture balance of your hair with the natural and organic nutrients in our new Daily Conditioner "Bee Lovely." With the soft & creamy consistency of Cupuacu Butter, offers exceptional daily moisture for the hair also provides some protection against UV-A and UV-B rays.  Enjoy hair that feels soft and smooth all day after just a single use without weighing it down. With daily use, even dry, brittle and damaged hair can see noticeable improvement in softness, smoothness and manageability.

Luscious Balanced Cream Moisturizer

• Bought 8oz jar for $18.97 on website

• Contains protein

• Incredibly moisturizing

• Same scents as Deja’s Hair Milk listed above

• A little heavier than other two products listed above but still light enough for daily use (I don't use it daily b/c of the protein)
• Not oily

The website gives this product description: Our moisturizer is enriched with pro-vitamins, natural proteins and healing butters that heal seal and nourish your hair and scalp.  Beautiful hair requires a complete balance of moisture and protein to prevent breakage.  This light cream moisturizer helps to prevent split ends and strengthen hair from root to tip.

BEE MINE WEBSITE

Happy Hair Growing! J

My Stretch is Still Going Strong

So the weekend flew by and I did not get a chance to do the postings that I wanted to (sorry) but I am going to update you all on a few things right now. So as I mentioned in my last post, I decided to go back to the phony pony since I am far into my stretch and I wanted to reduce the breakage that may come from daily manipulation and styling. I put the phony pony in Saturday after I washed and conditioned my hair. I moisturized and sealed my hair using a lot more product than I normally do because I wanted to ensure that my hair stayed moisturized while inside the false ponytail.

Since I am going out of town this weekend, I will wash my hair tonight (Thursday), moisturize and seal and put the ponytail back on. I don’t know how long I will be stretching but my goal is to reach 16 weeks. I hope I can make it. That would be my first time ever stretching 16 weeks. If I decide to wear the ponytail again throughout next week, then the following week I will give my hair a break and go back to using the sponge rollers.

Pictures of my New Growth on Last Wash Day

 

Happy Hair Growing!

12 Weeks Post Relaxer

Finally taking the time to update my blog. Today I am 12 weeks post relaxer. My hair routine consists of relaxing every 12 weeks at a minimum but ofcourse I will try to stretch as long as I can as long as it is not causing damage to my hair. My stretch is going extremely well. I have been washing once a week, air drying, moisturizing and sealing, and then putting my hair in 8 sponge rollers.  This is also how I maintain my hair during the week; I moisturize and seal and then put my hair in the 8 sponge rollers. I tie my hair up and then sleep. In the morning I take my rollers out and I have beautiful, highly moisturized, soft curls. I then proceed to smooth my hair back into a ponytail (with my hands only) and kinda comb out the curls with my fingers as I am doing that. Once in the ponytail, I will take some aloe vera gel, and my boar bristle brush and groom my edges. I will either wear the ponytail for the day or I will put my hair in a bun. 

When I moisturize, seal, and roll my hair I only use my hands. When I undo my hair and put it in a ponytail in the morning, I only use my hands. I personally think that this has been very helpful on this stretch at preventing breakage, especially at the line of demarcation where my new growth and relaxed hair meet. In the back of my head, my hair has the tightest curl pattern so if I try to comb this area when I have 12 weeks worth of new growth, it is almost guaranteed I will get some breakage.  Although the using my hand to “comb my hair” technique is working great, I think I will need to go back to the phony pony either next week or the week after to decrease the amount of manipulation my hair is experiencing due to daily styling. All and all though, I am very pleased with the condition of my hair.

I do think that I need a trim though. You are probably thinking, “Ebonee, you have been trimming off all your progress these last few months!” Yes, that is true. Right before my last relaxer I cut off a significant amount of hair due to damage from the haircolor I did a while back. Even though that made my hair look and feel a whole lot better, I think it will take one or two more trims to really get my hair to the point it needs to be to be truly healthy. Once again, no more haircoloring for me, ever!!! This has been a major setback in growing out my hair, but health always comes before length so my priority is getting my hair healthy first.

I may be able to get some pictures up on the old blog here soon….maybe this weekend. Oh, and my current list of products and regimen is coming soon. I’m shooting for this weekend as well for that.

Hope everyone reading this is well!!!

Revamping So Much!

Reading The Science of Black Hair has opened my eyes to alot of things about my hair that I previously had no idea about. This book has caused me to revamp my routine, my products, and my plans of how to acheive my hair goals. I will go into detail later.

 In the meantime, my stretch is going lovely! I believe I am going to be 10 weeks post in a couple of days and I feel as if I can stretch for quite a few more weeks. I am still suffering from the damage I caused when I colored my hair but 2012 will be my year for repairing and getting this head of hair back in tip top condition.


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!


Talk to you again soon, Ebonee