Curly Girls Run the World!

or at least the internet and hair care!

I make one video on curly hair and my inbox has been exploding with followers everywhere! too bad i didn't make a career as a curly hair expert! Thanks guys for all the support. My YouTube channel however isn't a curly hair channel nor is this blog. For extensive, in-depth knowledge I recommend Long Hair Don't Care, Around the Way Curls, Hey Fran Hey, and La Coco Bella to name a few. It's always good to see what others are doing but most importantly it's key to listen to your hair. And what works for one may not work for you, so continue to experiment and listen to your curls.
As with every other curly I've gone through great lengths to find out what works for me and I'm still on the search. But yes I am a recent convert and love the Shea Moisture line although I'm opening to looking for another conditioner. I found the one I used doesn't have as much slip as I'd like. BUT I LOVE that Parnevu deep conditioner. So far, that's the only deep treatment I've used that leaves my hair feeling soft and moisturized and I've been using it for the last 3 years!
But to answer your questions...
1) When I go to bed I put my hair in either a pineapple ponytail much like this photo here but not so "wide":

 

OR 

if it's later in the week and my curls are all over the place i'll do a brush out and sleep with my hair in a high bun and wear it out all frizzy Diana Ross styles the following morning and thereafter. frizzy, unruly curls can work if you WERK-it-out! and yes, i do sleep with a satin pillow case as well.

OR

If I have the time and my hair is really hurting with split ends and dryness as it is now (i need to trim asap!) I'll twist my hair and sleep with a cap. 

i feel sorry for men married to curlies that take care...this cap is so not hot. marry someone who loves you cap and all :) thanks boo bear!

now if i do twist it overnight i use a leave-in conditioner, which of late has been Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothy. I have in the past used the line Olive Oil which was my swear by product that you can read all about here in this blog entry. this Shea stuff is perfect for "style". the next day you simply unravel and rock the twist out as is or separate the curls for a more natural look .

now when i plan to wash my hair, the night before i'll use Vatika. this is super oily and greasy! so beware. this isn't the type of oil i'd just put in my hair and go. it's purpose for me is to moisturize my hair before i strip it the next day with shampoo. the thing about most oils is it usually just sits on top of the hair shaft not moisturizing . i think the exception is Moroccan oil, however it's pricey! you really need something to soften the hair cuticle before you use an oil, which i didn't discuss in my video because i only do this other extra step if i have time and i try to keep my videos short, BUT i use  IC Leave-in Hair & Scalp treatment, and then the Vatika so the hair can absorb the nutrients of the great oils fused in with Vatika. 

empty! gotta get me more :)

"did you untwist your hair before diffusing?" NO!i did not twist my hair only to untwist it before drying...leave your hair alone...the first twist i did naturally unravelled when i was diffusing. the second, 2 strand twist will need to be "untwisted" once dry. this method will leave you with looser curls. i used large sections when twisting my hair simply because i want the process to be over and done with, but if you want that "perfect" curl then use smaller sections. the smaller the section the more defined the curls :)

this is what my hair looks like when i DON'T twist and simply put styling product and air dry...not very special and rather flat looking

my hair unravelled on a 2 strand twist out...DEFINITION FOR DAYS!!!

2) Products Used if you didn't catch me name dropping:

i live in NY and buy them on 125th and you can find the Shea Moisture line at Duane Reade and Target to name a few...for other countries i have no clue. you can call or email them to find out: http://www.sheamoisture.com/ or even buy online :)
i bought Parnevu here on 125th and i have no idea where else you can find it besides online. and Vatika i bought in Little India out in Queens, NY. again, i don't know where else to buy it so Google.

read the ingredients in your cosmetics and hair products and do your homework here: 

http://www.cosmeticscop.com/cosmetic-ingredient-dictionary/E.aspx

to read more about my hair journey, in the search bar enter "curly". it gets interesting :)

dry hair help!

i've been on this never ending journey to quench my curl's thirst for moisture. i feel i've been getting closer but i must admit i'm still back at square one. i LOVE the BB treatment but since it isn't 'natural' and it's expensive as heck i must solider on. i will say that my hair was soft and flowy, but the effects are temporary which is what i was going for. moving forward i still need a permanent solution for moisture rich hair!!! argh! the endless products tried. i'm gonna give the Moroccan Oil a shot and perhaps even a protein treatment that's all natural. here's a video i did with fellow curly Miss Andrea Lewis for ThoseGirlsAreWild.com


a couple products i do love that add moisture are:

especially this organic treatment! my only wish is that my hair felt this moisturized year-round but the effects again are only around 2 days

i love the smell of this Shea Moisture product. the good thing with this is i no longer require gel and it's a soft natural hold as opposed to crispy.

i still need to invest in a shower head filter, cause i'm thinking it's the water in my building....ok. that's enough hair rambling. wish us luck on our hair journey and if you have a MUST TRY hair solution please share.

new year, new curls

remember how i was complaining about my crusty curls here. still looking for better ways to hydrate my hair over the holidays i stumbled into the wonderful world of keratin treatments. two of my friends had it done and said it's a deep conditioner, which is what my hair desperately needed. i had briefly came across the term keratin treatment before but wrote it off however this time around i did further research and discovered both the positive and negative truths about keratin treatments. when i heard they can loosen curls i was intrigued. i love my hair. but i also crave change! my hair has been the same for the last 10 years and i so needed to mix it up. i refuse to dye or relax my hair which means retouching the roots. the idea that this treatment conditions and temporarily loosens curls was enough for me to "try it out". I found George Alan here in Harlem, NYC who HOOKED-IT-UP! 

i will say i was paranoid and kept flipping back and fourth whether i should do it or not especially after reading all the horror stories on naturallycurly.com here's what went through my mind:

CONS

- contains or emits formaldehyde which is linked to causing cancer

- even if it says "formaldehyde free" the product once heated emits formaldehyde vapors and is banned in Canada and Italy

- cost a whopping $200-$500

- must use sulfate free shampoos which can be costly

- is temporary and washes out over a 3-5month period

- loosens curls

- constant sexual harassment from significant other

PROS

- is a super hydrating and moisturizing treatment ideal for dry damaged hair

- quicker drying and styling times, from 2hrs to 30mins from 1hr to 15mins

- is temporary 3-5months and leaves no demarkation between new-growth (or so is claimed)

- loosens curls but doesn't straighten hair

- constant sexual harassment from significant other

what really confirmed me getting this done was curiosity and when the founder of naturallycurly.com Michelle got her brazilian blowout (bb) done to enhance her curls and posted her video of the process. first and foremost for me was hydration followed closely by a deep desire to change up my look with temporary effects...i had to at least give it a shot. i got the treatment done on dec 31st just in time for new year's eve and did my first wash jan 7th 

top left is how i usually rock my hair. i have corkscrew curls and require lots of product to keep it from frizzing. top right is my hair all picked out with my fingers. i normally can't keep my hands out of my hair! i have a bad habit of feeling the dents and dryness in each hair strand like me touching it will make it go away.  bottom left is how my hair looks after my first wash with the bb air dried with no product. i've gone from corkscrew curls to tight waves. me likely! and bottom right is the bb blown out straight! no flat iron or setting required. oh and i stopped playing with my hair :)

i didn't buy the bb products since they start jacking your budget up. $40 for the shampoo, $40 for the conditioner $40 for the mask that's $120 for all 3! heck no! i just dropped $200 plus tip! so i headed to the great outdoors of my apartment...the beauty stores on 125th and copped creamy curls cleanser for $10. although many products say sulfate free shampoo when i read the ingredients there it is the dreaded word sulfate. what the heck?! then i went online to read the ingredients in the bb shampoo and again the word sulfate appears. what's up with that? apparently it depends on the entire ingredient composition and how one effects the other which is another google search i no longer care to learn more about. i already used the creamy curls before and know first hand that the product does not lather and in fact is more like a conditioner. i actually didn't like this product on my corkscrew curls as i felt it didn't clean my thick hair. but now that my hair is like half the thickness it used to be i feel this does the trick. but i would simply suggest to avoid shampoo all together and just use conditioner. when i'm ready to straighten my hair i'll pickup organix brazilian keratin therapy for $8 i've read a lot of great things about this product. but for now i prefer the curls :) 

in summary all i can say is dayum! the world of curls is something else...hours of research and random facts learned. 

it might be too soon to tell but do i like the bb treatment? HECK YES! 

does it live up to the hype? oh yeah! would i do it again? perhaps :) but since i'm a sucker for do it yourself and i hard core observed my stylist do it AND now that my hair is tons more manageable i may just save my $200 and order the product online IF i decide to maintain this look.

hope you find this helpful all you curly heads you :)

curls, curls, curls, curls

every curly haired girls wants to know what i do's with my hair. well in the past 10 years i had the same hair care regimen: shampoo with whatever, condition with Herbal Essence, Tresemme, or whatever but usually those two, my must use leave in was Olive Oil Moisturizer, and my must use curl defining styler Eco Styler Gel and the occasional deep treatment with i can't remember but several products oh and of course dry with a diffuser or air dry...boom! that's all i did and it worked and my hair was healthy and long. THEN I moved to NY and something happened. my hair became brittle and dry, split ends everywhere, even holes in the middle of the hair shaft. WTF!!! i have no idea what started it...the water? the few dominican hair blow outs? the one time i did that silly vinegar/baking soda clarifying wash which was a huge no no, stress? maybe a combination of all of the above? in any event i need to change up my game cause what I did in the past isn't holding up these days. i've already chopped off about 3 inches which solved the split ends but my hair is still feeling dry and brittle. i tried a protein treatment called Aphogee which you can see and feel the results immediately but it didn't last much longer than a few days to a week. oh! i did find a really amazing deep treatment called Parnevu Organic Hair Mayonnaise which REALLY conditions my hair but it seems my biggest problem is when my hair is finished being washed and when i wear it out curly. the curls actually look great to everyone but me cause it feels horrible! i tried moisturizing with 100% shea butter and Vatika oil, which is an Indian product charged with coconut oil and a bunch of healthy stuff, it's kinda working but i was still missing something. i turned my attention to google and youtube and made some amazing discoveries. most recently i tried a homemade leave-in which i read about on naturallycurly.com. then saw a video on youtube on how to make it here. this so far seems to do the trick. my hair actually feels soft...FINALLY! it's only day 2 so i'll touch base in a few weeks but me likey :) all the info on how to make it are on those links. after i wash my hair i spritz that on in sections, do some twists, put on that funny cap, which my hubby finds so attractive, and go to bed. in the morning i'll do step 2 and use my Olive Oil Moisturizer (unless you know of a better product) and my Eco Styler Gel. I haven't had the need to do the last 2 steps but i think i'll need to to keep my curls looking juicy. but yes! if your hair is feeling dry and brittle i suggest this. hopefully it works for you. cost:$7.99 vegetable glycerine, $3.99 apricot oil (you can forego this if you have olive or coconut oil), $1.99 spray bottle, $2.99 night cap, all under $20 bucks and so worth it!

i love all this stuff right here. my hair doesn't seem to like Tresemme anymore but i'm gonna try adding oil to it. i read on naturallycurly.com that that helps. otherwise i'll have to experiment

a collage of my hair throughout the ages...

i'm headed out to meet with fellow curly hair Andrea Lewis from TGAW and introduce her to the wonderful world of hair care products here on 125th