OOOOOooooooo Baby Luv!!

I was soooooooo excited to do this post! I get overly excited about anything to do with natural hair, but I get ecstatic about little girl's natural hair!  I am a big advocate for anything that will cut the time in half I spend doing my daughter's hair.  I mean I have tried EVERYTHING to ease HER pain and mine.  I have tried detanglers, conditioners, shampoos, all in ones (the conditioning, detangling shampoo...yea) and everything in between.  NOTHING seems to quicken the process or meet my expectations for my princess's hair.  Every two weeks we battle with a shampoo, conditioning and detangling session that spans two days!!!!!! On the first day I will take out her hair style, shampoo her hair, condition her hair and then detangle her hair.  The next day I would proceed to style.  A daunting task I may say!!!

So while mixing stuff in my kitchen for my own naps....teeheehee....I began to think about the needs for my princess's hair.Okay 1) Princess's hair tangles badly! 2) her hair is so dry!  I decided to mix an avocado deep conditioner treatment for my little one's tangled tresses to combat some of the issues I have to deal with when doing her hair......the recipe is below:

• 1 RIPE avocado (please make sure it is ripe or you will be picking avocado out of your hair for HOURS!!) (power food for so many reasons...awesome detangler, softens hair and makes hair more manageable)
• 1 cup of coconut milk (great for moisture, managing hair and hair growth)
• 2tbsp of shea butter (great for moisture)
• 1/3 cup of honey (great humectant and conditioner.  Helps hair holds moisture)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (great for shine, improves hair strength and elasticity)

I put all the ingredients into a blender and mixed away! Make sure you blend it really well and that your avocado is soft and ripe.  If it is not you will get a chunky consistency instead of a creamy one.  After I mixed it I set it to the side until it was ready to be used.

When doing treatments I always start with clean hair (it's my personal preference) so before I start I always shampoo the hair.  I recently start using Shea moisture products and I love THEM!!!!!  You can get them at Target and Walgreens for the best prices!! One of the two are always having a sale! :)  After the argument of ....how many washes..... how long was it gonna take...did I HAVE to wash her hair TODAY....I shampooed her hair with Shea Moisture moisture retention shampoo.  During this time I also put the tools I will use on her hair in the sink to be cleaned as I'm cleaning her hair.  NEVER USE DIRTY TOOLS ON CLEAN HAIR!!!!



After one shampoo I blotted her hair with a towel to absorb the excess water.  Don't rub hard....remember our hair is delicate.  I then applied the mixture to her hair as I detangled with a W   I   D   E   tooth comb.  I use one similar to this one

I got it from the local beauty supply store for like 99cents.  After I applied the mixture to her hair I put a plastic cap on it and allowed it to sit for about an hour.  The only way I could convince her is to keep the cap on is to tell her that her hair will turn green....*shrug*. 

As I rinsed her hair out I noticed she had bits of avocado left in her hair.  (The above picture is from me applying  the mixture).  I tried to come the bits of avocado out but I was unsuccessful at getting it completely out.  I used Juicy leave in as her leave in conditioner (my daughter HATES multiple washes).  This is an awesome leave in I use on my own hair and it results in beautiful, moisturized twist outs and braid outs.  You can check it out here (http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/juicyleavein/3939964/8oz_Juicy_Leave_In_Conditioner_by_Naturalista_Cosmetics/Bath_Beauty/Hair/Treatment)  I then began the daunting task of detangling it.  To my surprise the comb slid through with ease and a minimal of tears! Her hair was so soft and manageable, shiny and just.....PURRRTY!  I then started to style it (she requested braids).  Her hair was so pretty I didn't want to braid it.  So I braided the back and twisted the front into pony tails.  When it tried I took a picture and was SHOCKED at the results!!!!!

OOOOOOoooooo Baby Luv!

Now please don't be afraid to use this on your hair.  I use the same recipe and add egg for added protein.  Don't use this recipe if you are allergic to any of the ingredients.  Have fun mixing!!!!

Luv Latrice 

Let's DO it again.....

After all of the ups and downs and downs of the summer (yea D O W N S....LOL!) I decided to do something about the two textures on my head.  I held on as long as I could in hopes that some how I was going to be able to deal with the war of the textures on my head..........

I managed to squeeze a few cute styles out of the textures but I truly didn't have the patience to allow the straight hair to grow completely out.  I mean I transitioned TWICE......I was just ready to give up!

Flat twist out

Once the flat twist out got old I got my girlfriend to braid the sides for a cute up-doish :-)

And of course....the old school two conrows to the back! My fav :0)

This quickly got boring and tiresome.  I couldn't KEEP cute lil conrows and at the time I couldn't do flat twists for cute twist outs. :-( Sooooooo......I went to the salon and begged my stylist to do my hair! When I walked out I was EXCITED!!!!!! I loved my new do and I was sure it was gonna be something I could live with!

The day of my THIRD big chop!!!!!!!!

One thing I have come to learn is it's not the end of the workd! Who says your natural hair record is tarnished because you BC'd twice or, *clears throat*, THREE times! All that matters is you are happy with your hair.....and I WAS! LOL!

LET'S DO IT AGAIN!



To Poo or not to Poo.......

Sooooo.............

A lot of people ask me what do I use on my hair, how often do I deep condition, do I shampoo or cowash, etc etc etc. I will attempt to answer some of those questions in this post. If I don't answer something ASK and I willlllll. :)
First I do not claim to be an expert. I am sharing my personal experience about my natural hair journey. Please be catious about using products that you are sensitive to and use wisdom when mixing and trying new things.

Now that that is out the way! Haahaahaahaaa! The first thing I kept in mind when constructing a hair care regime is the TYPE of hair I have and the TYPE I would like. My hair was tightly coiled, thick and dry. I needed a routine that would replace the moisture in my hair. Since my hair is thick I try to find thick formulas or products because thicker products coat my hair better. And since my coils are tight I like to use products or styles that elongate my curl pattern and decrease the amount of shrinkage.

Brown Sugar Scalp Scrub

Once a week I take an el cheapo conditioner and mix it in with brown sugar (about 1tbsp to 1 cup) and scrub my scalp. You may adjust the amount of sugar according to your exfoilation preferences. This scrub is great for exfoilating the scalp and encouraging blood flow to the scalp (which enocurages hair growth). The conditioner conditions as you gently massage the mixture into your scalp. Note I said gently you dont want to damage your tresses by rough handling. Despite peoples beliefs African Americans hair is very delicate. The tighter your curl pattern the more delicate your hair. My favorite el cheapo conditioner is Suave Rosemary and Mint.

Deep Conditioner (DC)

After I rinse the mixture out (thouroughly) I apply my oil & honey mixture. I normally do this on a Friday night, when I have no where to go and I'm cleaning up. I take 1 part honey (amounts differ according to hair length) and 2 parts Extra Virgin Olive Oil (a STAPLE in my house). I use these little travel bottles I get from WalMart for like 78 cents to mix the mixure. I warm the mixture to ensure that it mixes thouroughly and apply it to my hair. Be sure that if you try this you test the temperature on your wrist first. The honey gets hot pretty quick. After every strand is covered in this mixture I take a think plastic cap and cover my head. I wet a thin hand towel and microwave it to make it warm and wrap it around the plastic cap. I then take a thick shower cap and sleep in all this. LOL!!! Hey! It works for me.

The Morning After

In the morning I rinse with a mixture of warm water and baking soda. I fill an 8 oz bottle with warm water and add 1 tbsp of baking soda and squirt it on my hair after I have rinsed as much of the mixture out as I can. After I towel dry my hair I apply RAW shae butter (found at the beauty supply store) to do two strand twists to decrease shrinkage.

Like I said before this regime is what works for me. In between I may cowash (wash with coditioner-no shampoo) if my hair misbehaves (get extremely dry), if I have time. I also keep a bottle of water and EVOO handy in the summer time for those hot days where my hair wants to be mean!


DO YOUR HAIR DON'T LET IT DO YOU! YOU ARE THE BOSS OF YOUR HAIR!! LOL!!

LUV LATRICE

My DYE-saster....dun dun dun dunnnnn!!!!

With the seasons changing I wanted to do something different to my hair. Every lady goes through a plateau moment where they are bored with their hair. I wanted to color my tresses to a warm brown. Nothing to drastic but enough to bring some excitement to salt and pepper fro. I wore micros for about 2 months and decided to color immediately after. First I could not help but to take a pic of my fabulous fro being it grew sooooo muchin the braids:

Luv flower accessories, I make some myself :)

Woohoo!

Well the day after I went to my stylist to get my hair colored and blown out. This would be only my second blow out EVER! So I was stoked! To say the least. When I left her shop I looked and felt fabulous!!!

Two weeks later when I washed my hair what I was left with brought me to tears!!!!

I couldn't believe that my sexy fro was ruined because I was BORED!!!!!! After I dried my tears, and put on my big girl panties, I contacted my stylist who offered to perform free protein treatments in hopes that it would revert back. Well I just wanted to cut it off and start over!!! I have been natural since October 2009 (yes I relaxed after my first BC...bad bad girl!) and it took a long time to grow the length I wanted. I couldn't believe it. I took my stylist advice and had one protein treatment in the shop done. But as most of you natural gurlies know, all products aren't beneficial for our naps!

At home I washed my hair and settled on transitioning from straight hair to my textured tresses!! I googled protein treatments and found one that was the bomb.com!!!!! I found it off of newly natural blog (
http://newlynatural.com/blog/2008/09/my-natural-protein-treatment/ ) I used fat free yogurt because that was all I could find. I also added a few drops of essential oils (found at whole foods) to combat the mayo smell......(gag!!).

I applied the mixture to my hair in sections as I would if I was applying relaxer.

Applied to hair it may run and that's okay. Keep a towel handy :)




Cover with a plastic cap. I kept it on for an hour while I cleaned around the house. My hair behaves well with protein. If you are trying this for the first time I would try processing for 20 minutes so you can see what affect protein has on your hair.

After I rinsed the mixture out of my hair I applied a commercial deep conditioner and cap and left it on for about 2 hours. I tend to DC for long periods of time sometimes even over night if its my honey mixture (2/3 extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), 1/3 honey). After Protein treatment and DC my results were okay! All of my hair did not curl and my kinks did not reappear but I was left with some nice curls :)

My advice for any naturals who want to color is to use an all natural dye. Whole Foods have natural dyes that does not harm your hair (I tried them and they're really good). Do not shock your hair as I did with two drastic treatments at once. Because I performed two process on my hair at once I am unsure about which process ruined my curl pattern. And whatever your curl pattern is (non-existent, kinks, tight coils, loose curls) embrace it!!! Never thought I would miss my fresh off the boat kinks!!

HEALTHY HAIR IS GOOD HAIR!!

In the Beginning................

I started my natural journey like many of you. For years I battled with the perception that my hair wasn't beautiful unless it was "fried, dyed and laid to the side". I went to the salon every two weeks (Thursdays at 5...LOL!!) and got a relaxer every 8 weeks. I would panic if my straight her kinked up one bit. The decision to go natural came when I was going through a rough time in my marriage (my life is no fairy tale and I am VERY honest in MY blog :) ) and I decided to make me happy. I got micros on the date I was to get a relaxer and three months later I cut them out!!! LOL!!!

It was a major move for me because we as black women equates beauty with long, straight, "good" hair. Ha! And here I was with my nappy headed, bald self. Because I did not transition my hair was maybe 1/2 inch long. I wore comb twist and wash and gos until my hair was long enough for senegalese twists. This was my first BC and my hair grew pretty fast.

My advice to you is do what makes you happy!! There are many benefits to being natural (that we will discuss later) and there are many struggles with being natural (we will address later as well). It is one of the best decisions I have made and it helps you to discover your inner beauty!

YOUR HEAD IS NOT TO BIG TO GO NATURAL.....
YOUR HAIR TEXTURE IS BEAUTIFUL.....
YOU LOOK LIKE A GIRL NOT A BOY.......

YOUR HAIR WILL GROW!!!!!!!

The first BC (big chop) November 28, 2008

Luv Latrice