It's Been a Long Time

The end of the year is so crazy.  I've been trying to take pictures to post, but haven't found the time to actually publish them.  Today is my first day of vacation and so here is a look at what I've been up to:

End of October :

I went to New York and tried the work of Shannan at Pat's Extreme Hair Design.  I was pleased with my after...

...until I started to see the gel flaking by day two.  I will not be returning.  The service was good, but I'm over the raggedy shop look.  They need to do better.

Then in November I tried some some curls in my dry hair using Motions Foaming Wrap Lotion that I bought for $1 or $2 dollars.  After a few days, they fell and I had to get creative

I tried some curls again without the lotion, but didn't really care for the end product:

In the beginning of December I decided to try a braidout:

Almost done...

Yesterday, I finally broke out the cinnamon bar shampoo I mentioned a few months ago.  Love, Jasmine's site is down it seems, but the Facebook page is active.  There was no scent to this bar, but it may all be gone since it's been a year since my first post about it - 12 is a few.  I ended up doing three shampoos, but I put it coconut oil a few days before and Jamaican Black Castor Oil that morning in hopes of retaining some moisture.  It seemed to work.

December 2012

December 2011

 What a difference a year makes?  And it's exactly a year based on the original review post, but who knows how long it took for me to actually publish it.

I followed the wash with a quick shealoe I made with 3 tbs shea butter, 2 tbs coconut butter, 2 tbs aloe vera gel, and a few each drops of lavender and rosemary essential oils.  It wasn't really quick to make, but it was short notice.   I didn't even wait for it to great creamy.  I did my hair while it was runny and finished whipping it when I was done.  I had a plane to catch.

Now we are up to date.  How have you been?

Deep Cleansing

For the past few weeks, well maybe it's just been two, my scalp has not been happy.  It's been flaking up and quite unpleasant.  Last week, I did an ACV rinse, without much relief.  This week I decided to add a baking soda cleanse to the ACV rinse.

I made an ACV and water mixture (50/50) poured over my scalp.  Then I saw with a shower cap on for about two  hours. Next, I filled kitchen sink with warm water.  Poured baking soda in my hands and rubbed it into my scalp like shampoo.  I then used the water in the sink to rinse out my hair:

First baking soda rinse

Then I let that water out and rinsed it out some more:

Second post baking soda rinse

Third post baking soda rinse

Next using my homemade shampoo base I did two lathers.  Or maybe it was three.  Here's what came out:

First rinse - you can really see the dirt when I take the flash off.

Second rinse

Third rinse

Then I retwisted with coconut oil.  Yay for clean hair.

Bondi Band Review

So it took less than a few days for my Bondi Bands to arrive.  They looked good and the quality is great.  I got a compliment on the one I wore to my BellySculpt class so I told a classmate I would bring one in for her to try.  She was please that didn't look tight.  Also, since it's so wide, there are no lines left on my forehead.

Blue for the gym.

Black for dancing.

I also got a red/maroon, grey, and purple.

So far, I'm quite pleased with my purchase.  I need to try them out at hot yoga because that will be the real test.  Unfortunately I didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

Salon Review: Natural Vybz

Website: http://www.naturalvybzhairstudio.com/ You can also find them on Facebook

About: A group of friends who got together to do hair.  You can get the official information on their website.

Why I went: There was a LivingSocial deal I couldn't pass up - $37 for loc maintenance and light style.

Making the Appointment: I did it over the phone, but you can also book online.

My Experience With the Venue: The studio is a house that was converted.   No big surprises.  Adequate street parking.  I'm not a big fan of B'more, but my car and I both survived the neighborhood. They keep to door locked so they need to let you in and out.

My Experience With the Stylist: Jennie, the owner, greeted me and had me fill out what was essentially an intake form.  It asked how often wash my hair, how much water I drink, what products I use and various other items.  Then she sat with me and asked a few more questions. Like most other people, she said that washing my hair weekly was too much and probably the cause of my dry scalp - but it itches!!  She told me they used - I can't remember the name, but I know it when I see it.  The initials are T.W.  She also told me to be mindful of getting information from YouTube since it's not always accurate.  I don't think she believed me when I said I don't look at YouTube that often.  Who has the time for a 12 minute video?

The Process: After the intake process, Jennie shampooed my hair - she usually does three rounds, but only did two since I washed my hair less than a week prior.  She styled it asking if it was too tight at various intervals, and letting it out when I said yes.  The final product:

Time to Pay: All I had to do was tip.  She was able to look up my voucher since my phone was taking its time.

Overall Take: The other stylist were friendly and funny.   It was like hanging out with new found friends.  The service was professional.

Would I go back? Yes

Would I request the same stylist? No, not because I didn't like Jennie, but I felt that I would be comfortable with whoever I ended up with.

Would I recommend them to others? Yep.  P.S. Jennie said another deal would be coming out in October, so be on the lookout.

Bondi Band Purchase

Preliminary Reasons why Bondi Bands are awesome:

1. Economical - $8.00 per headband until you're customizing.

2. Shipping is the same regardless of how many purchased: $3.95 first class or $8.95 priority.

3. They have discount codes that are 3 years old and still work.  Checkout Retail Me Not.  I got 5 for $25.  I was originally only going to buy 2 (so I could stay under $20 in total), but I have trouble passing up a sale.  And yes I know that if I'm spending money I'm not actually saving money...Leave me alone.

I'll post pictures of the ones I got when they arrive.

I Workout

I never really thought about how my hair smells after my workouts until watching this video about keeping locs fresh by Chescalocs. 

If you don't follow her yet, you should.  I'm going to try out her tips and let you know what happens.  With 2-8 workouts a week I hope to have a response soon.  Step one - buy this headband.

Just a Pic - August 14, 2012

It's after my bed time, but it was time to post another picture.

What a Difference A Year Makes

The time lapse between the two pictures are actually a year and 2 weeks, but hey no need to be picky.

July 14, 2012

June 26, 2011

Dreads at the Olympics II

Although a Yardie, I had to post Dominique Blake for rocking her dreads in the women's 4x400m relay.

Dreads at the Olympics

I haven't forgotten about the blog, but the pictures that I took for my unpublished posts were eaten by my old phone.  Anyway....

There is a track and fielder going to the Olympics for Team USA with dreads!

Isn't he cute!  I can't find his name anywhere right now, but I saw him qualify to go.  If I find anymore Olympic locstars, I'll let you know.

Update: His name is Jason Richardson.  He got the silver medal in the men's 110m hurdles.

He loves my hair

I just had to let you guys know that my superficial boss just said he "loves" my hair.  What, what!  I'll post a picture later.

Flat Knots

After My Henna Experiment, I decided to do some flat knots based on Trini6root's video cute style for short locks.

With the pins in it.

My poor bald spot

After 3 days, I decided it was time to take the knots out.

As you can tell, I started taking pictures after I started taking the knots out.

My Henna Experiment

 I mixed together:
1 box of Jamila henna
1 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
a 20 second pour of olive oil (approximately 2 tbsp)
1 cap full of apple cider vinegar

I made way too much and ended throwing half of it out.

I put on gloves and applied the henna to each loc and then up on my shower cap.

Before application

After application

I ended up using two - I guess my hair is getting too big.  I let the henna sit on my hair for 1.75 hours while I watched Netflix.

I washed the henna out in the shower.

Look what it did to my nails. Guess I should have kept the gloves on.

I rinsed and rinsed, but my hair still stained my robe.  I'll be washing my hair again this week even though I styled it to make sure I get it all out.

I can't say that my hair was any dryer feeling than usual.  My husband liked the color my hair was with the henna on it, but we'll see if any color actually shows up when I'm in the sun.

Henna Worries

I've been wanting to color my hair with henna for the longest and I thought I did a good amount of research before I purchased to product.  After my purchase, I found this video. In it, Quotidianlight discusses why she doesn't use henna.  She goes on about how henna affected the texture her hair - it didn't loosen her curl like some websites mention.  Instead it left some of her hair permanently  brittle.  Whoa, I did not sign up for that.

She goes on to list other reasons why she doesn't use it consistently to color her hair, but does say that it may be used occasionally as a protein treatment.  Great, I may actually be able to use this box.

Protein strengthens hair.  Too much protein will make hair dry and brittle feeling.  Crap, how do I know if I have enough protein?  I tried to find out online, but I didn't feel like I came away with a great understanding.  The sites I found were referring to loose naturals.  They talked about stand tests and the stretch of your hair. The goal is to see how elastic your hair is - when does it snap?  Right away or after a while.  Um, my hair is locked - how am I going to test it now?

I haven't found a resolution to that question.  For now, I think I will do a henna treatment.  I found a recipe that incorporates coconut milk and left the users hair soft, a rarity based on all the other information I've found.  I don't plan on keeping the concoction on for too long, so hopefully things will turn out well.  We'll see what Lauren thinks.

Oh, here are some of the sites I reviewed to find out about protein:
Protein: Does Your Hair Need It by Nu20 Beauty
Protein Sensitivity in Natural Hair by Derby City Naturals
Hair Breakage 101: Protein and Moisture from The Science of Black Hair website

Being Stuck in Traffic Can Be Beneficial to Your Hair

So as I got tired of waiting for the lights to change, I started playing with my hair:

It started out all down, but I decided to basket weave the side.  I even had time time take the pictures.