Trimming Your Hair, post #12

If you're anything like me, you like to get things done yourself and you don't trust anyone with scissors, anywhere near your hair. I've been personally cutting my own hair for 3 years now and have been doing completely fine. I do not cut my hair every 6 weeks like you're suppose to because I feel like there is no difference from, cutting your hair every 6 weeks or every 3 months. From my personal experience I feel like its better to cut your hair whenever it is really needed, not cutting your ends does NOT affect your hair growth.
Here is a video that helped me cut my own ends and made my hair look, healthier, smoother and even made it easier to twist and braid! (:

Coconut Oil: The Holy Grail. Post #11

Today I'm going to do a podcast on the many uses of coconut oil.


Download this episode (right click and save)

Aloe Vera Uses Post #10

Aloe Vera is a plant that is grown from the ground. It contains 99% water, but the other 1% has some extremely important minerals and nutrients. Aloe Vera can be used as sunscreen,  hair gel, it can help burns, indigestion, and also constipation. I personally love it because it can promote hair growth. I usually mix 1/4 Aloe Vera and 3/4 water in a spray bottle and spray it in my hair in the morning, to refresh a wash n go and to even start a wash n go. When using it as a gel for my hair, it has great hold. my hair is extremely curly and the shrinkage is a little crazy too. Here are some pictures from last year when I did a wash n go with Aloe Vera Gel.

This is the gel I used, I do want to try and make it myself, but I cannot find a store near me that sells it. I found this gel at Walmart. It is a pretty small bottle for a $4 price, especially trying to use it for your hair. I will definitely do an updated wash n go with this gel since my hair is a lot longer now!

African Healing Clay post #9

African Healing Clay is a 100% natural calcium bentonite clay. It's used as a face mask and a hair cleanser. To use it as a face mask, you mix equal parts of apple cider vinegar together to get a nice paste, (you can use water to, but it is not as effective) smooth it all over your face and let it harden. (It may tingle, but that means its working) Once its hard, you rinse if off with warm water! This stuff is soooo good for your skin literally, it cleans out your pores, and it also takes off any left over makeup. To use it for your hair, you do the same thing; mix with equal parts of apple cider vinegar work it through your hair, but DON'T let it harden. The reason behind this is, it will be harder to wash out and will also clog your drain (personal experience). Leave it on for about 5-7 minutes and rinse. This mask will leave your hair SO SOFT! I promise you, your hair is going to feel as soft as a pillow. It also acts as a shampoo. So ditch that shampoo bottle and use this clay instead! Don't forget to condition.

This clay is not only used as a hair/face mask, it can also be used as a body wrap, clay baths, foot soaks, chilled clay for knee pads and insect bites. This is all stated on the back of the bottle, I'll show a picture below. 

                                                                                

Can African American hair be bleached/colored?? Post #8

YES! African American hair can definitely be bleached/colored. I've seen so many women of color with beautiful colorful fro's, locs, buns, braids you name it. It all comes down on how well you take care of it. Bleaching is a process of stripping the dark color from your hair strand, so of course it is going to make your hair weaker, but if you maintain a good routine for taking care of it, it wont break off as bad. A lot of girls argue that bleaching only looks good when it is done by a professional, but in my opinion a lot of "professionals" don't really know how to work with natural hair. I've heard plenty of stories of a salon visit gone wrong. I'm not saying you shouldn't go to a salon, but if you have a preference, go for it! YouTube is actually a very good example of many different non licensed girls bleaching/coloring their own hair and it comes out beautiful. Here are a couple examples of girls with bleached curly, kinky hair.

So don't be scared to rock some color! explore, don't let anyone tell you what to do with your hair! Just make sure you take EXTRA care of it, deep condition, use hot oil treatments and use protective styling with it. Good luck!

Deep Conditioning is SO IMPORTANT! Post #7

Deep conditioning is EXTREMELY crucial for naturals. Here's why...
deep conditioning is used to repair color damaged, dry, brittle, broken off, and even frizzy hair, basically anything you can think of! Deep conditioners are sold at Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreen's, and many other places. Deep conditioning consists of adding the product to clean wet hair (sn: Adding product to dry hair causes you to use excessive amounts of the product if your hair is really thick, and adding it to dirty hair defeats the purpose of it conditioning your hair. It's not meant to clean your hair, its meant to repair it.), working it from the scalp, all the way to the ends, putting on a shower cap and sitting under a dryer for 10-15 minutes. If you don't have a dryer, you can always use a blow dryer to add heat.  After that, you rinse your hair out and style as usual! Super easy, just an extra step in the shower for healthier hair.
Here are few of my favorites.

$11.99

$8.99

$5.97

All of the above conditioners can be found at Walmart.

What are the benefits of deep conditioning?
Deep conditioning treatments help moisturize, strengthen, and lengthen your hair, and should be done at last once a week. I've noticed that doing this once a week helps with shedding and breakage because my ends are really prone to breaking off. 
These treatments also make your hair really soft! rocking wash n go's for a week straight can sometimes dry out your hair and cause it to have a rough feeling. In my opinion the ORS hair mayonnaise is better for softening your hair, the Shea moisture is better for actually repairing your hair and the Shea butter masque is better with retaining moisture. 

You can even make your own deep conditioner.Here are a couple of links to my personal favorites. These recipes are super inexpensive as well!

• Recipe #1 
• Recipe #2 
•  Recipe #3