Cooking Spray For Hair

Everyone knows you can use cooking spray to remove gum, silly putty, and other stickys from our hair and clothing. But lately people have been asking me...

Can you use cooking spray for your hair?

Well there are some great ingredients in cooking spray. Some sprays have olive, coconut, avocado, palm, soybean and other oils. These are all great things in itself, but there are also other things in the spray that I question.

1. Some sprays have grain alcohol in them. ALCOHOL! Everyone knows that alcohol is very drying and can damage hair. But to be sure I decided to so some research on grain alcohol. I found out that there is natural and FATTY alcohols! They are very hard to find but they do exist. Natural Grain Alcohol is a non drying alcohol and it helps retain moisture.
2. Another thing to think about on the ingredients list is the "propellant" they use. Some cans say that they use grain alcohol. Others say propellant. Well a propellant can be N-Butane, iso-butane, nitrogen, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. These things so not harm the hair because they are found in a vast amount of hair product sprays. But be careful, your hair will be flammable just like with hair spray.

NaturalG's Says: You can use cooking spray for your hair, BUT read the ingredients and make sure it has natural alcohol in it and not oils or chemicals that can harm your hair. And wow!!! Non Drying Alcohols!?

Sites On Alcohols: Click Here

Click Here

Braid Q & A

People always ask me these lovely questions:

• How long did it take for you to get your hair done?

13 hours.

• Can you still wash your hair?

Yes you can. Some people condition it as well. I don't suggest conditioning them.

I feel that the slickness of the conditioner would cause the braids to slide off of your hair.

• How often do you moisturize your hair?

I moisturize it once a week. I do not want to cause build up. It will make your braids dirty and smell.

• Does it pull out your edges?

If you don't take care of your hair, or if the braids are to small it can.

• Where did you get them done?

Blessing Braiding, Harford Rd., Baltimore, MD 21214

• How long can you keep them in?

Again, everything depends on how you take care of your hair. Some people stretch braids out for 3-4 months!!! I only keep mines for 8-10weeks. You can get the edges redone to keep them looking fresh.

• How do u keep the ends straight?

You can keep your braids shiny and the ends straight by heating water up where it is almost a boil, then dipping your hair into the water.

• How much did it cost?

$200

• How do you style it?

I put my hair on the top of my head so it won't pull out my edges. You can also braid your hair and dip it in hot water to crinkle it. You can do all other styles.

• Do they fall out?

YES!!! Don't be surprised!

• How long are they?

They go down to the middle of my back.

• Are they heavy?

YES!!! Kanekalon is heavy!

Taylor Ron'ette by Sean

This local Baltimore small business owner has a skill and a talent... FOR FASHION. He hand makes beautiful hair pieces and bow ties. I recently purchased a hair piece from him myself. Below is a small sample of his works.

NOTE: Bowties can be made into hair pieces!

More to come soon!

Because you like what you see, contact him:

Facebook: Taylor Ron'ette

Email: SeanPoly@gmail.com

Web: Coming Soon!!!

G Says: Support Local Talent <3

Reflections

This summer went by so fast!!! McNair, Work, College Tour, Conference, Ocean City... Life. And even through it all I wish I did more. I wish...

My brother Rob wasn't so mad.

I played more with my little Julia.

I told Alex that he was more then my buddy, he was my brother and I love him.

I sat at the end of my mothers bed every night and talked like we used to.

We went to Carabas together again.

We had real one on ones.

We didn't argue.

That WE were the family unit that we used to be.

You never know when things will change. You never know when you will go. I thank God that through it all, anger or not, I still was in my families' presence. There is nothing like Motherly or Family love.

MGRAJ

Another Funky-Up Do

Another up-do hair style. My mom corn-rolled my hair up in the back and I did three bantu-ish knots at the top. I was playing around with my hair and came up with this. Lol. Enjoy!!!

Braid Up-Do

My up do hair style to keep the braids out of my face and up where it is not pulling on the braids or my edges. This hair style is inspired by a friend of mine aka Loso Santiago. That's why I call this style, The Loso.

Braid Upkeep

In order to keep your hair healthy and moisturized while in braids, there are several things you can do.

1. Put oil or shea butter on your scalp. I do this once a week because I do not want build up.
2. Spray a leave-in on it. Stores sell a wide variety of braid leave in sprays as well as anti-itch sprays.
3. DO NOT SCRATCH!!! When you scratch your scalp you are damaging it. Plus you will cause hair to break at the root. Pat your head, rub, but DO NOT SCRATCH!!!
4. For the first week to two weeks, DO NOT PULL YOUR HAIR BACK IN ANY STYLE!!! Your edges are very sensitive. You will pull them out because the weight of the ponytail will put tension on your hair causing them to be pulled out! ***If you want your hair pulled out of your face, lightly put a ponytail holder around the middle of your hair making a lose pony tail***
5. You can wash your braids if you have scalp build up. Do it gently.
6. If you are going to style your braids, chose a style with less tension or pulling on the braids.

A New Member to the Weightloss Journey!!!

Name: EJ

Age: 23

Weight: 254.4

Height: 5'6

Target Weight Loss Goal: 60 lbs in 4 Months brings me down to 190.

Location: Greensboro, NC

Email: erookjr@gmail.com

I've tried everything to lose weight. I've tried your ordinary diet pills, diet and exercise, cutting back, low-carb diets, cereal diets, and Body Shaping Garments. These things don't work, or require too much work... seriously. Exercising works, but so difficult to fit into a busy schedule unless I'm at working taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or parking far as possible away from the building.

I was introduced to the Zi Xu Tang about 2 months ago from a friend who said that she lost weight eating what she wanted..? Sounded similar to something like Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. Of course, I didn't believe her. I decided to research this detox program online and more importantly, YouTube. Hey, they tell it all on YouTube, right? I knew that watching YouTube videos reviews would either win me over or allowed me to be stressed about finding another method for losing these pounds.

Well, Monday, July 19th 2010 I received my bottle of detox pills. Was kind of nervous taking them because I simply don't have time using the bathroom every second-of-the-minute or every hour-of-the-day man and blah blah blah. I didn't want to suffer with any mistakes...If you know what I mean. LOL Oh man, you know having that urge at the wrong place during the wrong time can be.... A NIGHTMARE! LOL

Well, my duty is to try out this method of losing weight after hearing the great reviews and I will resort back to G. Monet to give her my results. Coming soon, will be my weight lost YouTube Channel!

Wish me Luck Folks and I Wish the Same to You as WelL!

EJ

I will be updating you with his progress in later posts! Excitement!!!

***Visit My Weight Loss Page where you will find more info

about the pills and my progress.

Hair Myths from Yahoo

So I'm chillin' like a villain and I am checking my inbox on Yahoo, when I go to main page I see this article, "Don't Be Fooled By These Hair Care Myths". The hair care myths (bulleted),their view (italicized), my view (under myth):

• Frequent hair trims makes hair grow faster. (it grows at the same rate... period)

Ok, I can dig it. Hair does grow at about a 1/2 an inch a month. But, I believe that trimming your ends will cause your split ends to not break off thus causing your hair to get shorter.

• Stress can make your hair fall out. (50-120 hair strands fall out everyday anyway)

This is one myth that I still agree with. They believe that your a few hairs fall out during major events (surgery, death, divorce, etc). I believe that it all depends on the person. Each person make take each event in their life differently, thus a wide range of reasons for a few to come out.

• Switching shampoos can make hair look healthier. (your hair doesn't know you switched)

I agree with this one. But some shampoos just makes your hair feel so much better.

• You pluck out one gray hair and three will come up. (no)

I agree but it just seems that way.

• You can't make flat, fine hair full of body. (you can)

Duh.

• Rinsing with ice cold water after shampoo will make your hair shiner. (no)

I never heard that rinsing with cold water after shampooing was good, but I did read that cold rinsing after conditioning is god because it closes up your follicles, making making your hair retain moisture... Ey, thats what I heard.

• Coloring your hair causes major damage. (todays products are too gentle to cause damage)

Now I have heard women, beauticians, and just people say how dye, gentle or not damages your hair. I have felt the textures of hair dyed and un-dyed on the same person and each section of hair feels different. The dyed hair feels weaker. Some dyes mess up the pH in hair. Dye has to be powerful enough to lift the hair follicles and get into the hair shaft to dye the hair. To do this chemicals are needed. Some dyes use ammonia. I still agree with this "myth".

• You should brush your hair 100 strokes everyday. (you will damage your follicles)

Brushing your hair will damage your hair follicles, especially us 4 hair types.

• You can mend split ends with the right hair products. (no, just cut them)

No you cannot fix split ends, I agree with the article when it says, "You can only make them look good. CUT THEM!!!

• To get really clean hair you must lather, rinse and repeat. (one good time works fine)

I learned something new. Well I love the squeaky clean feeling. And if I have not shampoo washed my hair in 2 weeks, believe I will lather, rinse and repeat!

Braids!

The braids came out beautifully!!!

With greatness there is always some buts.... MY EDGES!!! AHHH!!! The pain, the agony for hair protection and beauty! This can be a potential problem. I have to take care of my hair and make sure I don't pull it while it is in this delicate stage. That is how your edges are pulled out. These braids are not as small as Micros, so i am good anyway. When I get new braids my mama likes to say, "Girl I can see what you thinkin'!"

Protective Hair Style Day!

Today I am getting braids. The style of braids I am getting I have had many times before growing up. Some people call them long braids, others call them goddess braids. I just call them braids. This hair style costs $200 dollars and it takes up to 12 hours to be done. The price does seem a little high but these braids are done with quality from a professional that I have been going to since I was 11.

Positives of Braids:

• Can last for 2-3 months
• Protects your hair better than other protective styles (in my opinion)
• Can be styled
• Very Pretty (lol im such a girl)

Negatives of Braids:

• Takes a long time to do
• Hurts
• If not done properly, can pull out hair
• Braids too small can pull out hair

As much as people love Micros or Invisibles, Those small braids can pull your hair out especially your edges. Only a few strands are put into the braids and the weight of the hair can pull out your hair. There is a hair to braid hair ratio and your edges are very delicate. So when getting your braids choose carefully. Some times the hair can make your scalp itch, but this is rare.

Yes! You can get braids cheaper. I heard that in New York braids are $60 because there are braid shops every where n competition. I know there is cousins or home girls that can do braids cheaper as wel. But me personally I like going to professionals.

A New Natural!!!

Meet Tiearra

In her words: Been getting my hair relaxed since I was 4. Never really knew anything other than getting relaxers. I decided it was time for a change and I did not hesitate at all. I have always had low confidence through out life and still do. One would think that going natural would not do anything for my confidence, but it has. It is actually boosting my confidence and I feel a lot better about myself. I have always been so hung up in what people think of me and living by other people's standards, and I believe that is what my relaxed hair represented. So I cut it all off and I am not really worried what other people think because at the end of the day, I have to love me before anyone can love me. I don't completely LOVE me yet, but this is a step towards that goal. I simply love this feeling.

She is a good friend of mines from school that decided to go natural. Stay tuned to see her featured in this blog and my YouTube videos (click here).

What You Will Not Do

As you know may know I had mini twisted my hair. Every morning to refresh my hair I would spray them with water, rub a little bit of conditioner on them, and seal in the moisture with shea butter. I believe this is where the problems began.

• When your hair dries after your wet it, it shrinks up. I believe my hair shrunk up around itself.
• I did not clip my ends after i twisted my hair. I know I needed my ends clipped!
• I got in a pool. The worst thing I could ever do! Chlorine dries out your hair. So then when it dried I had tangled dry fragile hair!!!

So what did I do? In this order I:

1. De-tangled (dry, while taking out my locs, lol)
2. Washed
3. Conditioned
4. De-tangled (while tre'summe naturals was in)
5. Washed (yes I shampooed the conditioner out)
6. Deep Conditioned (my avocado and egg recipe)
7. Washed
8. Conditioned
9. De-tangled (while aubrey organics was in)
10. Rinse

Was all this necessary? YES!!! I did not want locs! My hair had locked up. My hair is still pretty dry and needs a little love. On a brighter :) note, I was gentle and I only lost a little bit of hair and at least i know how to lock my hair now. LOL

Watch the Video: Click Here

Happy to Be Nappy!

So while out with a friend of mines, she said that once she went natural she has felt overall better about herself. Before she would wake up and get dressed and be upset with what she would wear, causing her to change her clothes for hours. Now she gets dressed (in the same clothes) and she loves the way she looks. She actually leaves the house happy everyday.

I did not go through these feelings before I went natural. I am a little off about the length, but i am being patient.

How do u feel about your hair?

Screw That! I Am Happy

I am very happy I am natural. For a second I felt a little down about my hair growth but the natural journey is all about growing and developing. That is what I am doing. So of course I am going to take the loss with cutting my hair but I am so proud of me.

Note: Someone suggested Biotin and a Multivitamin... Maybe I will try those... :/

I <3 Being Natural!

*MUAH*