Hair Appreciation

"I'M SO EXCITED...AND I JUST CAN'T HIDE IT!  I'M ABOUT TO LOOSE CONTROL & I THINK I LIKE IT!"

I am LOVING MY HAIR right now...at the moment, I have conquered the devilish dryness that has plagued Precious for SOOOO long! I have come to appreciate the beauty behind my naptural 4a/b strands. Thank God for OYIN! I recently purchased the regular size of the BSP and the Shine & Define. This will be the first time I have purchased or will use the Shine & Define and I will definately post a review. Oyin hasn't disappointed me thus far, so I'm sure I will love it too. I did a flat twist/twist-out using juices & berries to refreshen & moisturize, then used Qhemet Biologics AHOC then Oyin Whipped Pudding for styling. When I did the twist-out, I used my ayuverdic oil infusion mixed with a couple sprays of the Shea Moisture Elixir (about the ONLY product I have kept from the few that I purchased to try!). Here are pics:

I have to say that I also tried the Bentonite Clay Mask and I LOVE IT!!!!  I love how it made my hair feel afterwards...check out my video on youtube and mini review:

OMG...Oyin!!!

Do you believe in love at first sight?  Well, I do!  From the moment I began using Oyin's Juices & Berries (and later Frank Juice), I was in love.  I think I can FINALLY say that I have found my FIRST staple company/product(s) because now I have ventured out to some of their other products...HAIR DEW & BSP (burnt sugar pomade).  OMG y'all..."I'm so in love...I found IT finally!!!!"  It really makes me wanna say O O O O O O O MY GOD!!! (I don't even like that song!!!)

I first tried the hair dew on wet/damp hair and it didn't work so hot, but on dry hair that stuff is the TRUTH!!  I love it love it love it...did I say LOVE IT??!!  Sorry, I'm just REALLY excited I finally found something that works on dry hair.  I mean it's hard enough for me to keep the water spritz in my hair long enough.  So, this is truly an accomplishment and movement past a milestone for me :)

I use the BSP to seal ends and it works great.  I see why so many people rave about this stuff.  So, my next plan is to purchase the regular size because I have been using the sample size I purchased when I reup'd on my juices & berries/frank juice and when I purchased the hair dew for the first time.  I still need to find something that will work well in combination with these two products to keep me well moisturized all day long...maybe that's where the juices & berries/frank juice will come in handy.  I normally just use those as my initial moisturizer, but I forgot they suggested to use it as a mid-day spritz...LIGHT BULB MOMENT ;-)

If you have any suggestions of things I can try to retain moisture throughout the day, please let me know...thanks in advance.

As always...DEUCES (PEACE) & LOVE!!!

Moisture from Shea Moisture...

Sssoooo...I decided to take advantage of the BOGO at Walgreens last week (end of Mar - beg of Apr) on the Shea Moisture products because I had been hearing so many fellow naturals raving about how good it is and how much they love this one and that one.  The only ones I was able to purchase from my Walgreens here in town were the Moisture Retention Shampoo & the Deep Treatment Masque.  I also wanted to try the leave in and the elixir, but I had to order them from Amazon (paid triple the price!!) b/c my Walgreens didn't have them.  Anywho, I need your opinion(s)...

Now, I know you can't jump to a judgement too quickly b/c you have to give your hair enough time to react to a change in product(s).  On the first go round, I think I like the shampoo, but was NOT too happy w/ the masque.  I used the shampoo while I still had my nubian twists in so that I could really get to my scalp for a good cleansing.  I like the smell and how it felt on my head, but I can't really say how my hair strands felt since they were covered by the twists.  I proceeded to condition, remove my nubian twists and detangle, as usual, w/ Garnier Triple Nutrition.  My hair still felt pretty good while wet, but once dry (sections began to dry as I continued removing twists around my head)...my hair was DRY!!  I think I may have to give up the Garnier...it feels good while wet, but my hair gets crunchy once dry (that's another story for another day!).  I tried to rinse most of the Garnier out since my hair felt so crunchy, then I followed up w/ a DC using Beauticurls Curl Enhancing Moisturizer Treatment (15-20 mins under heated cap) and rinse out.  Once I white t-shirt blotted semi-dry, I spritzed w/ my ayuverdic-distilled H2O infusion and Oyin Frank Juice for a refreshment and to remoisturize and sealed w/ my ayuverdic oil infusion...so, once again, my hair felt pretty good, but I would QUICKLY be disappointed all over again!

Anyway, on to the next one...the masque!  Did I mention that I WAS NOT HAPPY with it???  I planned on using it as my leave-in/styler b/c you can use it as either a DC or styler.  I don't know if it was the technique or what, but I tried using CN's (Curly Nikki) advice about waiting to put moisturizers, leave-ins, or stylers on damp or semi-damp hair (versus dripping wet - which is what I used to do) to better benefit from the product or allow the product to really work on your hair instead of on all the water in your head...if this process is a tell-tale sign about this product, then it is NOT a good one!  My hair felt like HAY...NOT GOOD!!!  I was like OH, HECK NAW...let me get this crap outta my hair!!!  I didn't want to go through the whole process of co-wash, DC, moisturize ALL OVER AGAIN!  So, I just refreshed my hair w/ distilled H2O and sealed w/ the Oyin BSP (burnt sugar pomade); then, used KCCC to do single strand twists.

Through ALL of that, will I give it another try?  OF COURSE!  I can't just give up on it from one try, but I will try it on soaking wet hair next time to see if there's a difference.  So, what's your take on any of the Shea Moisture products?

PLEASE Protect PRECIOUS!!

I finally came up with a name for my kinky curls...PRECIOUS.  It fits almost perfectly...on second thought PERFECTLY!!  She's a true diva in that everything must be pampered just so!  No cuttin' corners or she will get pissed and shrivel up & get sour (dry out) on you :(  So, the utmost TLC must be given to her for her to act right...hence, the name Precious.

What is the secret behind that TLC that she so painstakingly calls for day in and day out???...MOISTURE, MOISTURE, MOISTURE!!  Once I figure out how to maintain the moisture that my Precious so desires, I think we both will be on a road to success and happiness.  So, I come to you fellow natural haircare bloggers to get some advice and ideas on how to maintain this moisture and keep my Precious diva'd up...LOL.

I would like to know what protective styles have worked for you in your journey that has helped you maintain moisture, promote growth, and is low maintenance.  If you have tutorials or videos, please share.  I love to try new things and would be interested in whatever you have to offer :-)

flat twists from the back

twists from the side (in combo w/ flat twists above)

Continued blessings on your "rollercoaster" of a journey!