my story

sorry ladies, i dont have a big dramatic story of why i decided to go natural. honestly i have always wanted to be natural. i didnt know at the time that it was called "going natural", i didnt even understand what i was doing to my hair each time it was relaxed. i was young, maybe eleven, when i decided that i wanted the big beautiful curls like the Ethiopian girls. they seemed to be the only ones i saw with hair that wasnt straight and lifeless. i didnt know why i couldnt achieve that look, i only knew that family and hair stylist kept telling me "you dont have that kind of hair" and "if you stop getting a relaxer your hair will fall out". not shed, not break off, but actually fall out????? well i didnt want to walk around "bald headed" because i stopped getting a relaxer so i put the thought to the back of my mind. what eleven year old wants to have chewed up hair? not me, not when my hair was already long and thick. it just wasnt the big, beautiful, bushy and sometimes frizzy curls that i dreamed of.
many many years later(about 3 years ago) a few of my friends started chopping their hair off to grow locks. i remember saying over and over again that one day i would go natural too. but i didnt want locks, i wanted an afro. so at the time i was working a job where all i did all day long was sit at a computer. i started researching how to care for African American hair and i came across many sites and forums. one of them being LFCF. i instantly fell in love with the information that was given. so about six months later i paid my fee and became a member(im Chebaby over there). anyway, at the time i was still relaxed, still felt like i was my hair. if my hair was out of place i was a hot ass mess. i had bleached my hair all shades of brown and blondes only to color over it with bright reds and almost purples lol.
i was in high school and the first half of college and you couldnt tell me my bright red hair wasnt the ish. i was fly.....that is until i took a picture and realized my hair was so thin that you could see through my curls and straight to my scalp. i was so heart broken. but i had already found long hair care forum so i used that site to help me get my relaxed hair up to par. i learned so much from products that i shouldnt use, all natural butters and oils that would help moisturize, thicken and benefit my hair. and then i started transitioning.

i didnt have to transition mentally though. it was all about the hair for me. i didnt have to learn that i was beautiful without long relaxed hair. didnt have to open my eyes and really see. i was already mentally natural. that was already who i was. i was just waiting for the outside of my appearance to show who i was on the inside. when people said i was crazy for wanting to walk around with "nappy" hair it didnt make me feel like this journey wasnt for me. didnt make me change my mind even for a little bit. it only made me sad that people couldnt except me wanting to be me. that made me sad but i pushed through it. i just continued to do research on what was good for my hair and what wasnt.
that didnt keep me from getting heat damage though. with the great products that i learned about on that wonderful forum i found the CHI flat iron. woooooowwwwww. i thought that was the best thing in the world for my hair. that was until i actually did the big chop. and then i saw all the real damage, even though i had been relaxer free for eleven months that flat iron fried the front of my hair. my bang area was completely straight, no bends, no curls, not even a zig zag in sight.



stay tuned for the rest of my big chop story.

since when...

did love come in the form of a shampoo?
well let me answer that for you.
this past weekend i went to my local bss to purchase another tub of shea butter. i took my SO along with me and made him purchase a tub for himself as well, i even had him in the kitchen mixing lmao. anyway above the shea butter shelf was the black soap shelf. they had the liquid and the bar kind. it was cheap too so i grabbed it. but then as i walked the store i went to the shelf that contains the Essential Balms and Natural Oasis products. they are all natural products that can be purchased and DC and MD. i think everywhere else you have to purchase on line. anyway i saw that they had black soap as well, it was more exspencive at $9.99 but i like the ingredient list which contained water, shea butter, and natural oils.
that night i went home and washed my hair with it. OMG i was in dream land. amazing. that stuff had my hair clean and soft all at the same time. i was deeply in love.
i didnt want to give a review because i wanted to use it again before doing so. that was on Sunday.
well i have been using my shea butter and coconut oil mix as if my life depended on it. my hair really loves that stuff. but yesterday my hair became very oily, i mean every time i thought about touching my hair my hand became oily lol. but i made up my mind that i would not shampoo again until this up coming sunday when i did my deep conditioning treatment. well this morning i just decided to shampoo again. im not sure why since when i woke up the oily feeling was gone. all the goodness had sunk into my hair. but i decided to shampoo again using the black so and then do a quick conditioning using kbb deep conditioner. OMG my hair is really in love. like real love at first sight.

also i've noticed that this shampoo makes my hair feel thick, i dont know if i mentioned it here before but my hair is fine and not as thick as it used to be. but when i use this black soap my hair feels so much thicker. love. and you onlu need a little bit. this stuff is so watery that when you squirt it in your hand you will think about adding tons more but it lathers sooooo well you just dont need more. love lol. i then conditioned and detaingled the best i could in what little time i had. it is now 2 hours later and my hair feels amazing. with this black soap shampoo i can use it twice a week without any problems. man i love this stuff.

and when you get a chance check out http://www.naturaloasishairproducts.com/

banana no no

i have taken this mixing thing too far. fo' real. this banana crap is on hold for me until i get the proper mixer. i mashed up less than a half of banana as best i could with my fork. but when i added honey it looked like oatmeal. i was like oh nooooo!!!! i put it in my hair anyway.

i added a little coconut oil thinking that would help the chunks slide out when i was done.
when i rinsed it out 2 hours later my hair did not feel soft at all. in fact it felt a little hard and stiff. so i co washed with vo5 mixed with coconut oil and honey. i wont say i hated the honey and banana mix but i didnt like it like i thought i would. i will use it again but not until i get a mixer.

it didnt take me long to get the chunks out but it took long enough. in fact my mom took a chunk out today lmao. so this is on hold. another reason i dont want to use it anytime in the next couple of weeks is because i need to let them riped. i need to let them turn a beautiful(hahah) nasty brown because its best to use that way, from what i hear, and also because its easier to mix up that way.


but for right now i have to say that i do not like it.

im so happy

i have recieve two compliments on my hair today. both came from women at my job.
today i didnt do anything different to my hair, just a simple wash and go with the front slicked back. i decided to use my kbb hair butter to slick it back instead of hairveda's whipped gelly. it worked out really well.
also im happy because i fell in love all over again with oyin burnt sugar pomade. i mean i am really in love with it. it slicks the front of my hair down without a problem and keeps it soft and shiny all day.
im also happy because my hair feels amazing after the much needed protein treatment i did Sunday with my beloved Joico Deep Penetraiting Reconstructor. i know i said i was gonna try and stick with all natural products but until i find a natural alternative, joico it is. my hair feels the way i wanted it to feel, strong and soft. i was begining to get mushy hair because i was co washing daily so now thats out.

just wanted you all to know the things that made me happy today.

shea butter and coconut dreams

i made a mess last night. between melting shea butter, mixing coconut oil and dealing with that bentonite crap i had a time on my hands last night. but i made magic.

i sat my tub of shea butter in another tub of hot water. that melted it completely and i was not exspecting that. i came back five minutes later thinking it would just be soft but it was almost all oil. so i had to devide it into two 8oz plastic tubs. i then scooped about 7-10 (yes ten) spoon fulls of coconut oil into each jar. then i sat each jar in the refrigerator, taking it out every 30 minutes for and hour and a half to stir it with my litttle plastic spoon lol(i really need to invest in a food processor). it turned out really well. i did not leave it in the 'fridge all night long. this morning it was so soft and creamy and i was in love before i even tried it on my hair.
so i took my shower and instead of co washing i just rinsed my hair. i never realized how much conditioner smooths the hair but it really does. when i got out the shower my hair was so big and curly and poofy. i love that. i added just a dime size of kbb hair milk and then the shea and coconut oil mix. my hair was instantly soft but i knew the real test was to see how it dried. i didnt even use my usual hairveda whipped gelly to slick my hair back. i didnt need it because the shea butter and coconut oil handled it. that was around 1:30pm. my hair is still soft and shiny. i dont think i put enough though because i still have to moisturize before i go to bed tonight. i will be exsperimenting to see how much i need to last me how long. i really am loving this mix though.
so that just goes to show you, i dont care what anyone says, not all shea is the same. just because it may say unrefined doesnt mean its going to act the same as the next unrefined shea butter. im positive they have the same benefits, its just that they wont make your hair feel the same. this yellow african shea butter is the best IMO and i will continue to purchase it.

not fo me

this bentonite thing is not for me. so i told yall that i was gonna do a face mask last night. well i did and to keep from saying i hated it i will say its not for me. first of all its hard to work with as in its messy. but when i put it on my face it felt fine. like a regular mask. i liked the way it tightened my skin. but i hated the way all around the bottom of my chin itched sooooo bad.
then when i washed it off with a warm towel, there was nothing. no spark, no magic, no "i cant believe it took me so long to try this". nothing but the side eye and stank face. i guess it cleaned my face. i dont know but it didnt wow me at all.
i will try it on my hair in the future but no time soon because its so messy and im dissapointed.

update on bentonite clay

so apperantly bentonite clay is very clarifying. its good to get all the gunk out of your hair and thats exactly why its a great facial mask as well. tonight i will make a small amount of a bentonite mix using water, although you can use acv. i will apply it to my face and let it sit for 10 minutes ar until its dry. then i will follow up with my coconut oil.


also tonight im going to make my shea butter mix. i was gonna wait until this weekend to make it since i wasnt planning on using it until i do my twists, but im going to make it tonight. all it will be is the african shea butter and EVCO. lots of EVCO. as i've stated before, i dont own any type of mixer so i will be doing it by hand. i will melt the shea butter in the microwave for no more than 30 seconds and then add as much coconut oil as i see fit. i will use this mix on my hair tomorrow when i do my wash and go so that i can get a since of how it makes my hair feel. when i used my first mix on my twist(that i took out that very next day) my hair was very soft but that was because i used a lot on each section of hair. also that first mix had other oils like avocado and cocasta(which is a very thick oil consisting of other oils and whatnot. it contains castor oil so its very rich). i didnt like the first mix very much because it made my hair look dull and ashy. i hope this new mix makes my hair very shiny concidering the diference in the shea butter color. for some reason i think the african shea butter will give me amazing shine.

holla at ya tomorrow with my results of both the shea butter mix and the bentonite clay.