I Am Presenting!

OOTD: Nubian-like

All that hair up there! 

This lovely and quick style was done on pre-streached hair. All I did was take big sections of the hair and pinned it in the middle. I then took a scarf and wrapped it around my head and WAH-LAH! Magic!

Earrings: Flea Market $1.50

Necklace: Forever 21: $5

Vest: Taken from Bestfriend

Button: Hottopic $3

Braclets: Beauty Supply 2 for $3

Shirt: Hanes Pack (lol)

Skirt: H&M $5

Baltimore Natural Hair Care Expo 2012

                This year's hair care expo was amazing! There was so much to do and see that it was almost overwhelming. There were classes, hair products, food, jewelry and more. I was very pleased with the location and some of the prices this year. The people at the show were friendly and welcoming it felt like we were all one bug nappy family and I loved every bit of it! The wear-able art (jewelry, clothing, hair pieces) were all beautiful and very well made. I loved everything I was exposed to. I did not know that I would be recognized by quite a few of the vendors at the show due to my blog and youtube channel!!!  

When you first walked into the show you were given information as well as free giveaways. The amount of knowledge here was amazing! 

Pictures From The Show

My Purchases  

Cost: $6 

I have always heard great things about this gel and now I can try it for myself. 

Cost $10

I got this crazy cool patch from Lady Bizness! The creator of the patch Ms. S. Benson did a great job! This patch is very unique and I am going to sew it onto a denim vest. 

www.sbenson.com 

www.ladybizness.com 

 

Cost: $10 (at show)

This stuff is my favorite and I purchase it every time I go to the show. The lovely ladies at the show always gets me to try a new scent and I got Spiced Vanilla! 

www.crienatural.com 

Cost: Single Bracelet $7 

         Set (OnSale) $15 

These beautiful items were created by the owner of Life Designs. Each bead is hand painted and strung in these unique pieces. I love it. The colors are killer and the creativity is phenomenal. 

Cost: $10

 

I purchased this product last year and when I saw the new packaging and presentation by Padrica Norfleet, the owner, I was surprised and very excited. She recreated the product and told me to give it a try. I cannot wait and a review will be coming soon! 

Cost: $12.50

These are stud earrings by Jewel Africa Designs. I love the uniqueness of the earrings and they are light weight. 

Cost: $10 each pair

These earrings are beautiful. They were sold at the hair show and the good thing about these earrings is that they are light weight! The brown cloth pair are slightly a bit heavier but not that much. <3

Cost: $10

Loc Socks! I purchased this lock sock from Loc Socks. They had a large selection but I just loved the colors in this with the paisley pattern. 

A word From Malaika Cooper

For more info:

http://www.baltimorenaturalhaircareexpo.com/home.html

Vacation in Atlanta

Be Back Soon!!!

My bestie Ang!

Chicks and cars.

My bestie and I!

What seemed like the only guys in ATL with some style so we had to take a pic with them.

I want these...

I drove this baby! 

Natural 4b-4c Hair

You are probably wondering what MY shampoos and conditioners do to my hair. Here is a complete photo exhibit of my hair in its different natural states. In the beginning I am going to show your my hair and then I am going to get down to my ends. 


My Hair

This picture is my hair while I was shampooing it. As you see it is not in twists and you can really see how much my hair shrinks up. Yes, this is after 2 years of hair growth. If you look you can also see how I have several different hair types. My tighter hair which is on the top and center of my head is shorter then the hair in the back of my hair. The hair in the back is a loser curl pattern then the top and that is why it hangs more freely then the hair at the top. 

This is my hair after being shampoo-ed and rinsed. This is before conditioner or any products whatsoever. My hair in its natural state. You can see how tightly my hair curls up and how unruly it is. This picture proves how I do not wear my hair in afros because it will curl up into itself causing tangles and knots. You can also see how I have a very tight coily, kinky hair type as well. 

This is a picture of the loser curl pattern I have in the back. I have two different hair types. They both are very tight and coily but one is loser then the other. This type hangs a bit more. 

SHRINKAGE!!!

The first picture is of my hair after I dried it with no product. You can really see how natural hair shrinks up. Even thought you may not think so, this is a good thing. When my hair is healthy it curls up. Lose, limp or hair that won't curl up is weak or damaged. This lets me know that my hair is not damaged. You will see how my ends are the same. of they don't curl up, we have a problem. 


My Ends

This is images of my hair after it has been washed with no product. This is why it is good to pick a nice shampoo that is ph balanced. The shampoo cleans all of the dirt out of my hair while restoring it to its natural curl pattern. It is not longer dull and stretched out or weighed down by products and dirt. 

These pictures are of my hair and what conditioning does for my ends. The first picture is my ends after I towel dry my hair.  The second picture is my ends with conditioner in it. You can see how the conditioner is giving my ends what it lost from the shampoo. It is filling in the gaps where nutrients are missing and my hair is curling up. Its curling up because the conditioner is closing my cuticles. I can tell when a conditioner is great and ph balanced for my hair because it will cause my ends to to this. The last picture is a closer look at the pieces of hair side by side. 

These show how the conditioner closes my cuticles and moisturized my hair. My ends and hair are uniform and well conditioned. 

Make sure you have good shampoos and conditioners. In the next post I will tell you what ph to use for your shampoo and conditioners. :)

Natural Hair Quick Tip

Layer! Layer! Layer!

If your ends become unruly in twisted styles, or they seem a bit frayed, then this tip could help.

1.  Wet your ends with water. 
2. Put a pomade or shea butter on them.
3. Rod your ends or flexi rod them. 

What this does is resets your neds back to a twisted state so they are not lose and unruly. it also put moisture back into them and keeps them together so they can work with one another and not against one another. Try to keep yoru ends as tight together as possible to make sure they are protected. 

Product Review: Andalou Naturals

Andalou Naturals: Moisture Rich Conditioner 

Sweet Orange & Argan

Cost: $10 
Smell: Great :)
Texture: Creamy & Thick
Rating: 9/10


      I ran out of conditioner... as normal... And of course I needed to get more. Where do I buy most of my hair products from if I MUST buy them... WHOLE FOODS! :) As I walked down hair the isle in Whole Foods to pick up a conditioner that I previously used and loved, I saw this conditioner. I have never seen this brand before so I picked it up and read it. I tend to do that with all of my products and so should you, wink wink. Anyway I found this. Andalou Naturals Moisture Rich conditioner. What attracted me to this conditioner is the fact that it says that it benefits dry, curly, textured hair.  I read the back of the bottle and saw that it was ALOE VERA JUICE BASED... WHAT??? I also saw that it had lots of organic ingredients. Plus this smelled lovely. So I decided to then give it a try. 

       


     As I was putting it on it felt great. It has great slip to assist with detangling. It also smells crazy good. I could feel my hair smoothing down as I used it. When I was finish applying that I put castor oil and emu oil in my hair and I kept it in for about 3 hours. Yea... I keep my conditioners in as long as I want. After I rinsed my conditioner out, my hair felt amazing. It actually didn't feel like my hair at all. It was very soft, my ends curled up and my hair even had an amazing shine. I only used about 1/5 of the bottle too. So I can use this about 4 or 5 times and at $10 that is not so bad. I think this is a great conditioner for course or dry haired naturals as well. Check it out if you like because I loved it! 

Thanks for reading! :)

How I Achieve Not Cutting My Ends pt2

Natural Hair Realities 

      In order to take care of your hair to the fullest there are some things that you need to know. But before I tell you any of these things I need you to have an open mind. We tend to believe things that were passed down to us and quite frankly alot of the old hair tips are myths and not true. Until you can accept the fact that what we have been learning about hair is flawed, then you will not grown and progress. Period! Now with an open mind that is ready to learn for change here it is:

1. WASH YOUR HAIR FREQUENTLY- As children of color we were taught that washing our hair was bad. We do not want to be caught in pools, rain, the beach, NOTHING! The reality is that your hair needs to be washed more frequently. Why? Your hair grows out of pores. When your face is dirty what happens? The pore is blocked and you get a gross pimple. That is the same concept with hair. You have to keep the scalp clean and your hair washed. A clean scalp will not have blocked pores so the hair can grown and not have resistance. Also keeping your hair clean will remove the protecting moisturizers from our hair so water and needed nutrients can be absorbed. 

2. OIL, RAW SHEA BUTTER, COCO BUTTER ARE NOT MOISTURIZERS- Don't scream. You have probably been watching youtube videos and reading blogs similar to this and some people act like oils and butters are very moisturizing when they actually are not. Oil and RAW Shea Butter are PROTECTING hair products. Oil can not penetrate the hair. The only oil that can penetrate the hair strand is coconut oil because the molecules are like that of sebum the natural oil our scalp produces. If you do not believe me try this out. 

Dip one piece of paper in oil and one piece of paper in water. Now rip the pieces of paper in half. You will notice that the paper dipped in oil rips very crisply as if it was not wet. The paper in water however is mushy because the molecules of water are small enough to penetrate the paper. The oil molecules are not and this is why the paper rips so nicely, because it was protected. 

With this concept in mind think about your hair. If you have been using oil and raw shea butter and wondering why your hair is not "moisturized" it is because your are protecting your hair while it is in its non-moisturized state. Moisturize with pure water or water based products first and then put on the shea butter and oils. This excludes whipped shea butters because those tend to have extra ingredients in them that can penetrate the hair however even a whipped shea butter should still be used to seal in moisture. 


3. TREAT YOUR ENDS DIFFERENTLY- Your ends are the oldest thing on your head. Think about your ends like an old person. You are gentle with old people, nice and caring. So do the same for your ends. When you are braiding or twisting your hair use a different thicker pomade for your ends or use a little extra on the ends. 


How I Treat My Ends: 

• After applying a deep conditioner a put castor oil on the ends and then I put on a conditioning cap and I sit under the dryer to deep condition. 
• When twisting my hair I use Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade because it is thicker and it is also a protecting hair dress. 
• I never let my ends rest on my shoulders or scarves. I don't want to dry them out or cause them to knot. 

These are just a few things that I do but you have to treat your ends better if you want to maintain them correctly. 

4. YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOUR HAIR- I am not saying braids one week, twists the next and corn rolls the next. There are a vast amount of ways to protect your ends. You can wear turbans, wraps, twists, braids, braid outs, twist outs, and even protecting hair products. If you don't want weathering of your ends and hair your have to protect it. If you are someone that wears your hair out everyday then that is not the way to maintain your ends. Wind, sun, acid rain, there are so many things that damage your hair. I am not saying lock your hair away but try different styles where you tuck your ends in. Also try styles that will keep your hair stretched that way it is not curling up into itself. Doing your hair everyday is great but protect the ends. 

5. LET YOUR HAIR DO WHAT IT DOES- This is true to a certain extent. Unless you are free loc-ing your hair, you should not just let it do what it does. Hair is very unruly. It has to be tamed to a certain extent. It has to be washed and de-tangled. Tangled hair knots around other hairs and causes damage. You never want your hairs to fight one another. 

These are just a few things that you should consider when trying to grow your hair to maximum lengths. Do research and get used to the new way of thinking about your hair. 


The Video: 

Accessories & Protective Style: The Turban

Bin Laden Ain't The Only One! #lol 

Hair Style

A Pashmina 4for$20 

*** Note: Underneath my hair is moisturized and protected. i also wear a cap between my hair and the fabric of the scarf to protect my hair and so I will not lose precious moisture!***

Accessories 

Earrings: Long Feather- $10 Natural Hair Expo 

Stud- Forever 21- $3 (6 pair pack)

Glasses: Bonzo.Com $10

Scarf: Walmart $10

Vest: Avenue $6

Lipstick: Mary Kay Black Raspberry 9074

And the theme of this really is good accessories! They take any hair style or outfit to the next level! Plus nowadays, ANYTHING GOES! Be unique but most importantly, 

BE YOU! 

Curly Two Strand Twists

Check It Out! 

How To Achieve This Look

Items Used: 

   - Spray Bottle

   - Shea Butter Whip

   - Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade

   - Small Flexi Rods

*** Note: This hair style was done on wet washed hair.*** 

Steps: 

   - I parted my hair in medium sized twists. 

   - Before twisting each twist I de-tangled it and put the shea whip then the pomade on the hair. 

   - I made sure my hair stayed wet as I twisted my head. 

   - After the twist were done I rolled my wet hair. 

   - I slept with the rods in overnight and in the morning I had this awesome style!

The Video! 

How I Achieve Not Cutting My Ends pt1

Naive?
   A few years back I was very ignorant when it came to taking care of my hair. I was a product junkie that brought anything hot and I barley read over the labels. I brought things without really thinking. Now I have 100s of dollars worth of... quite frankly useless products for my hair. I was getting so fed up with my hair I was slowly losing its good health. My ends were dry and raggedy. It was horrible. I started watching youtube videos and then I had my natural hair... BING! I am the type of person that wants to always grow and learn more. ;) 


Educating Myself...
    I soon started doing my own research. I mostly used Youtube and books. One day I came across this Kimmaytube Youtube channel. She was talking about the actual science of hair and because of that (and I am a biology major #teambio) that intrigued me. I also discovered books that were recommended by other youtubers. Cathy Howse's Ultra black Hair Growth 2 and Chicoro's Grow It were the first two books I read and may I just say wow. 


Figuring It Out... 
    Ok so I figured out the science behind natural hair. I figured out that it is a ph issue as well as a product issue. I started to learn what MY hair wanted and NOT what the media, other people, or my ignorance suggested. 


What Does All That Have to Do With Ends You Ask? 
   Well simple... these books taught me about hair health and taught me to pay attention to my hair routine and products. It all taught me how to grow and keep healthy hair.  ULTIMATELY however this is MY way of doing my hair and keeping MY hair healthy. You can do your own research and figure out what your hair wants and needs. But I am here to help! :)  


The Last Time I Clipped My Ends... 
    In a blog post on December 21, 2010 I posted about clipping my ends. You can view this post here: 

Horrible Ends & My Last Cut Ever

If I could go back in time I would have still had to clip those ends. They were so horrible. My hair was so tangled you could pull one side of it and feel it on the other!!! Funny now, sad then. I also did not know what products worked for me so I was having a battle to figure out what to do. Within a month I learned how I dont have to clip my ends at all! 

I Do Not Clip My Ends pt 1

Plus Size Fall/Winter Outfit

Yes, those are jeggings... AND?!

Shirt: Torrid $19-$40 (depends on when you get/got it)

Bottoms: Rainbow Jeggings $10-$15 (depends on where you get them, any hood store will do, lol) 

Shoes: Torrid $40

Necklace: My Mommy $Priceless (well that and I dont know the price but any chunky chocker necklace is great)

Braclet: Looped Necklace Forever 21 $5

Earrings: Asian Mall Stand $1

Glasses: Bonzo.com $10