Vlog: Night Time Routine

Just posted a new video on my you tube channel explaining how I moisturize and re-braid my hair each night when I wear it out. Go check it out!! Ill be posting my morning routine (take down process) soon!!! My you tube channel is SimplyRay1! Subscribe!!! :) :)

Greek yogurt = the BEST DC!!!

That's right is you haven't tried it you are definitely missing out!!! Greek yogurt is the best ingredient to add to your deep conditioner..My hair always feels butter soft after using this in my DC. Greek yogurt serves as a protein treatment as well as a moisturizing DC!! So its like 2-n-1..its not expensive at all (which is greater for my broke college student budget), only cost $1-2 dollars. I usually get the plain flavor, and let it get to room temperature before applying to my hair, because I hate putting cold things on my hair lol...Now I know your probably thinking "but I don't want my hair smelling like yogurt though!!!" lol. Don't worry it wont smell like that at all..just make sure to rinse well, and the smell disappears..here is what I mix with the Greek yogurt

 Greek Yogurt DC recipe!!
-Greek yogurt
- Aubrey Organics (my staple conditioner)
-EVOO
-Castor oil

That's it!!! its sooo simple, but gives the best results!! My hair is soft, conditioned, moisturized, and ready for the week after this treatment. I let it sit for about 2 hours! Rinse it out and then style as usually..

Im pretty sure this is what keeps my hair strong and healthy as well!!

:)

Protective Style where art thou!!!!

Soooo the semester has begun and I'm already sick of doing my hair...these late night up re-braiding my hair is not going to work on top of these 8:30 classes and load of work!! I will be going to a protective style ASAP!!! I'm not sure if I want Senegalese, yarn twist, or box braids (leaning more to yarn twist, since its cheap and I can install them myself, and wont feel guilty when I take them out early). Hopefully I can get my hair braided within 2 weeks, until then I will mostly be wearing turbans/head wraps and my half wig. Every so often I might let my hair out for fun!!! My goal during my 3rd year natural is to do more protective styling anyways..might as well start early

My "ugh i hate doing my hair, but I need to" face lol 

I've been featured!!!!!!

ok so just to let yall know!!! lol This past summer I've been featured on both curlynikki and blackgirlwithlonghair blog!!! I loooooove these two blogs (check them both about everyday) so I was super excited to see my story on them!! Thanks for all comments and compliments!! It makes me more eager to upload more vids and blog post!! Buuuuuuuut Im now back at school, starting another busy semester smh..but I will try to continue to post blog post, and videos so stay on the look out!!

again thanks for all the love and support!!

Vlog: Natural Hair vs. Summer Heat!!!

Quick vlog about my battle with this summer heat!!! I'm so glad summer is slowly coming to an end!! I cant take this!!! lol

Im in LOVE!!!!!

This was my second time washing with the Terressentials lavender mud wash this week, (I only use it twice a month), and I'm officially in LOVE!!! This stuff is amazing!! My hair felt butter soft, clean, and I notice my hair held moisture and product longer. I use to re-braid with product every night, but now I use product every other night! Also I notice when my hair shrinks from humidity, instead of it looking like a frizzy hot mess!! it looks more like a wash n go! My curly ringlets began to show w/o any frizz!! I'm in love with this stuff!! I still have half a bottle (a little goes a long way), so pretty much an 8oz bottle can last me 4 washes (not too bad). I will be definitely be buying more, and adding this to my regimen

Here are some pics of my hair this week!! 

  

This is how it look shrunken!! No FRIZZ!! and it resembled a wash n go!! 

How to keep natural hair moisturized!!

One of the biggest problems most naturals face is moisture!! Many naturals complain that their hair is dry and brittle, and feels more like a Brillo pad than fluffy cotton. Moisturizing natural hair can be tricky at first, but its simply a 2 step process. 

Believe it or not, WATER is the best moisturizer for your hair!! Water is a natural moisturizer that keeps our hair hydrated and soft, BUT you must LOCK the water in your hair with some type of SEALANT. A sealant is usually an oil or butter, such as Shea butter, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), and Castor oil. Sealants are used to seal the water in your hair, which keeps its soft and moisturized. You can also use a cream base sealant, mixed with oils and butters to lock moisture in as well. My favorite cream based sealant is Qhemets Alma and Olive heavy cream!! 

Now if water doesn't seem like enough for your hair (especially if your strands are thick like mines) you can also use a water base moisturizer or a leave in conditioner. The first ingredient on a water based moisturizer is usually water. Some naturals use this instead of plain water because it has other ingredients mix with the water to add a little more moisture. My favorite water base moisturizer/leave in conditioner are: Oyin Greg Juice, Oyin Shine and Define, Jane Carter Leave in Spray. 

So that's it!! Water, a water base moisturizer, and a sealant is all you need to keep that fro soft. Now the tough part is finding a sealant or moisturizer best suited for your hair. For example, my hair HATES coconut oil! It does nothing for me, and leaves me with dry crunchy hair. But my hair adores EVOO and Shea butter as a sealant!! Many natural say sealant such as Shea butter and Castor oil are too heavy for their hair, and rather lighter oils such as coconut oil and jojoba oil. So it may take some experimenting, but find what works best for your hair!!

This may seem like a lot to remember so here is an easy acronym that can help you remember how to moisturize your strands L.O.C.

L: Liquid 

O: Oil 

C:Cream (moisturizer) 

FIRST/LIQUID: spray water or use a water base moisturizer

SECOND/OIL: Apply an oil to seal the moisture in

THIRD/CREAM: Apply an oil based cream moisturizer. 

LaJay is HERE!!!!

LaJay ARRIVED!!! I came home from work and found her sitting on the table waiting on me!! I ran to the bathroom and through her on with no problem. If you read my recent post, you would know that I was bought LaJay as a protective style! LaJay is from the Vanessa Collection, and I bought color 1 (I dye my hair black every 3 months so 1 matches perfectly). A half wig, is a wig that is meant to go on half of your hair, leaving a piece of your hair in the front to blend with the wig. LaJay matches PERFECTLY!! I did a lot of research on LaJay on blogs and YouTube, and a lot of ladies were saying "It was a lot of hair". They did not lie at all!!! LaJay is the definition of Big Hair Don't Care, and I looooove me some BIG hair (hence the blog title!) So I was feeling her. BUT I wanted something that looked more natural, and was close to my hair length. So I decided to cut and shape her a little.

 (LaJay before the cut)

(I was feeling it!!)

So I mostly cut the bottom of the wig to my hair length, and left the top and middle alone to keep the volume!! After a few snip snip she was perfect! I'm so happy I bought this half wig! I will definitely be throwing her on to go to class, and late nights out with the girls (I hate coming back home and having to deal with my hair :(!!!) This wig will be saving me a lot of time, and most importantly protected my ends!!

 (After the cut! My hair blended in the front!)

 (My real hair length! I tried my best to cut her this length!)

 (She blends so well with my hair :)

 (This is just half of what I cut off!)

SN: give me another year and I plan on getting to LaJay length before the cut boo boo!! lol

Check out my review on my youtube channel as well!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeE_r5-A55E&feature=plcp

My Regimen!!

I get ask this question A LOT!!! what is your regime??? and its kind of a hard question to answer on the top of my head lol so this post is dedicated to my regimen!!

My Natural Hair regimen

1. I deep condition my hair once a week and use shampoo twice a month
2. On shampoo days I detangle my hair first on dry hair..I simply spritz a section of my hair with water, apply a cheap conditioner (Aussie moist or vo5), and EVOO and detangle with my fingers. After the section is detangled I then twist the section and move on until my whole head is done, and Im left with about 10-12 twist.
3. After I detangle I proceed with shampooing. The shampoo I use is actually a cleansing mud (terressentials) I apply the mud to my scalp and massage it in, I then apply a tiny bit more throughout my hair and then re-twist the section. when my hair is finished I'm left with about 10-12 twist. Then its time to rinse again!! 
4. Now Im left with nice clean hair!! its time to deep condition with my DC mix. I section my hair again and then apply my deep conditioner in sections, twisting each section after. Again I'm left with 10-12 twist with deep conditioner in them. I then place a plastic bag on my hair and let the DC sit for about 2hrs.
5. After I rinse my DC out, while under the water I will do a oil rinse with Castor oil.An oil rinse is when u apply oil to your hair while it is soaking wet, let it sit for about 2-3 mins then RINSE with warm water
6. So now the washing step is over with, its time to style..I use curl formers to stretch my hair. I wear my hair stretch 95% of the time.Before I apply the curl formers I make sure to moisturize and seal my hair. I apply about 20-30 curl formers, sit under the dryer for 30 mins (or sometimes let them air dry but I hate sleeping with those things lol), take them out and then braid my hair in 8 big chunky braids. DONE!!
7. I wear a chunky braid outs throughout the week, and re-braid my hair each night in 8 braids (4 on each side) at night

When I don't use shampoo (remember I only use the cleansing mud twice per month) I simply just detangle my hair WITH my deep conditioner mix (it gives me plenty of slip to detangle), let the deep conditioner sit for 2hrs, and then style with curl formers and chunky braids like usually...I love wash days when I don't have to shampoo! its so much shorter lol 

Products

Shampoo: Terressentials Lavender hair wash 

Conditioner: Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose/ Vo5/ Aussie Moist

Deep Conditioner mix: Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose/Castor oil/EVOO/ coconut milk or yogurt

Moisturizer: Qhemets Alma Olive Heavy Cream 

Oils: Castor oil, Extra virgin olive oil 

Ill be doing a youtube vid of this process soon!! 

2 years natural!!!!! Woot Woot!!!

YAAAAAAYYY!!! 2morrow I will be 2 years natural!!! *Does happy dance*

These two years has gone by FAST it seems like yesterday I was rocking my TWA!!...On my 1 year BC anniversary I told myself during my second year I would try more styles, annnnd I somewhat accomplished this goal..I now know how to tie turbans annnnnnnd.....yea that's about it lol. I did not keep up with that goal at all!! like I said before I suck at styling smh. So during my third year my goal is to now practice more protective styling and try more styles on my hair!

So far I'm doing good! I just installed mini twist in my hair this past weekend AND a few days ago I purchased LaJay!! yep I bought myself a half wig!!! its similar to my texture so I will be able to leave my hair out in the front to blend it better..but LaJay will be a great protective style when I start school in a few weeks. Just put my wig on and head to class, and let my hair stay protected in the mean time. Below is a pic of LaJay on a model..I order it in black and as soon as it comes in I will be doing a post and vid about it!!!

ok so back to me being 2 years natural!! I BC on Aug 3rd 2010 and haven't looked back since!! I've learned a lot about my hair during these 2 years like...

1. Finger detangling is my BFF!!!
2. Deep conditioning my hair weekly is a BIG part of my regime
3. Braid outs are my go-to style
4. My hair absolutely adores heavy products
5. Wash n go's are a NO NO for me
6. Protective styles help me retain length (even tho I hate doing them lol)
7. Drinking more water has improved the condition of my hair
8.  finding products that work with my hair, and sticking with them has helped a lot from wasting tons of money on hair products
9. and finally the natural hair community has been a great support system!! Ive learned a lot from blogs, YouTube, and other naturals!! 

I'm still happy to be nappy and ready to see how long and BIG my hair can be by my 3 years post BC!! ;)