Wednesday, March 25, 2009
I LOVE MY HAIR TODAY!!!
Man, I tell you... I am NEVER going back to regular products again!!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Co-washing for FINE Hair!!
DON'T SHAMPOO!!! CO-WASH INSTEAD
So, in my search for hair products, I stumbled across a friend's blog that mentioned she "co-washes" instead of shampooing. "Co-wash" is short for "Conditioner Wash," and it means exactly what it says. Wash your hair with CONDITIONER instead of SHAMPOO.
Again, this seems weird, but I found a site that gives many reasons why you would choose to co-wash over shampoo:
- You like to wet your hair daily but shampooing strips it (ME!)
- Shampooing makes your hair frizzy and dry (ME!)
- You don't use a lot of styling products and just need a light wash (ME!...sometimes)
- Your scalp is allergic to shampoo.
- You experience a lot of tangles when you shampoo and just don't have time for that every day (TOTALLY ME!)
The site goes on to say that co-washes keep your hair moisturized and super conditioned. Many naturally curly women do co-washes daily to help them maintain frizz free moisturized curls. Conditioner washes help your hair hold on to moisture because you are constantly opening the hair cuticle and putting vital moisture (water and conditioner) into your hair. The more often you conditioner wash, the better your results will be.
And there you have it folks....co-washing instead of shampooing. SO many benefits. I've been co-washing for a few months now and I can attest to the results :)
I like to use a lighter conditioner such as Elucence MBC to co-wash. It detangles wonderfully, but is not a thick and strong conditioner. It's also a natural product, so you know I'm into that :)
HAPPY CO-WASHING!!!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Zhara Hair Inspirations!!
First off, I'm excited because I feel as if she and I have similar hair types, so I'm hoping that with time, I can achieve the full, shiny, healthy, and beautiful look she has.
Here's some of the things I plan on doing:
1. I have realized that I NEED MORE OILS in my hair. Especially during this cold time of the year. I guess I thought I was ok with using "moisturizing" products like my Aubrey's MJ, but after looking at a pic of Zhara's hair, then looking at mine in the mirror, I know that I need to put more oils on my hair. She uses organic coconut oil, which I have, but rarely use. I also have some shea butter oil. I am going to start using both of these more regularly.
2. I will do an all over oil treatment to my hair at least once a week. Like cover my hair in coconut oil, put a shower cap on it, then a hot towel over that (since I have no 'sit-under' dryer), and then leave this on for like an hour.
3. I will wear twists or braids, perhaps put up into a bun, at least once a week. I'll probably do this after my oil treatment since I don't like to wear my hair out when it's too greasy. This will give my hair some time to marinate in the oils and not be exposed to the harsh air.
4. Zhara seems to use Aubrey's B5 gel a lot. JaNelle has this, and I may get it :)
5. Zhara also tries so many different hair techniques, using bobby pins to put her hair up in different styles. I am definitely gonna start doing this, so be on the lookout!!!
6. JaNelle mentioned she thinks I need to try and NOT make my hair so perfect all the time. I need to just let it be WILD and MESSY sometimes, and see how it turns out. I have a tendency to think my hair looks too "woofy" or messy, when in fact in may look cute! A perfect example of this is how my hair looks right now. I put it up in a ponytail for the gym, and did not wear my usual scarf while working out, so in my eyes, it looks like a mess. BUT, I went to the bank after the gym and the sista helping me complimented me on my hair!! See, and I thought it was a mess!
Post - Gym Pony
So, I plan on doing all of the things on the above list. JaNelle wanted me to add that she is planning on shampooing her hair less often, and doing more conditioner washes (co-wash) instead. There are lots of reasons to not shampoo your hair a lot, which is a perfect topic for another blog.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Cute Hair and Richeau's Product Reviews
Glycerin
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
100% Natural Products!!!! Aubrey, Karen, and Kinky
*FLASHBACK*
I've been wearing my hair naturally now for about 9 years. Rugby started to become more serious and it was just too hard to try and keep my hair straightened in between practice, working out, and games. So one day I just decided that I was going to wash my hair, and NOT blow dry it after (GASP!!). At first it was cute - sorta wavy and long. Then, the perm started to slowly grow out, and my ends started to rapidly deteriorate, and I ended up chopping off like 4 inches. This is when my search for products to aid my new natural-ness began.... but there was nothing out there! I used gel, mousse, lotion, grease, baby-oil gel, etc.... anything that I thought could hold my curl. Some things seemed to work, but in the end everything just made my curls crunchy, dry, and messy. It was so bad that I resorted to giving myself what I called "mini-perms" like once or twice a year:
mini-perm: If my curls started to get a little too "woofy," I would put a perm on them and literally just put it on, then quickly take it off. I thought it was loosening my curls, when it was really just damaging my hair all over again.
ME during mini-perm time....it LOOKS cute, but you can also see that I don't have much curl definition because the perms took that away, and eventually damaged my hair!
Once the mini-perms started to take their toll, I finally decided that I was not going to give myself any more perms. So, as you can imagine, this started a brand new process of perm grow-out. Not as bad as grow-out #1, but not too pretty either.
And here we are today. I haven't had a perm on my hair in about 3-4 years (so long ago I can't even remember), and my hair has never looked so good....except back before I had perms, but that's a topic for another blog....
It's only been a few months since I SERIOUSLY began a search for new products for my hair, which has led me to the topic of this blog - NATURAL PRODUCTS!!
*PRESENT DAY*
Here are some ingredients of the conditioner I USED to use on my hair:
Behentrimonium Chloride, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Octyldodecanol
Here are some ingredients of the natural conditioner I CURRENTLY use on my hair:
Organic Aloe Vera, Wheat Germ Oil, Balm Mint, Organic Sage Oil, Camomile, Mistletoe (ooooooh, maybe someone will wanna kiss me!!)
Moral to the story....you want to be able to PRONOUNCE the things you put into your hair!!! Though it's hard to find a 100% natural product out there, it's super easy to find some that are close to being 100% natural. And seriously, the natural products are better than the crap they sell in drug stores.
Some of my favorite organic products:
1. Aubrey Organics (Can also get at Whole Foods)
- I love their Hair Moisturizing Jelly, JaNelle has the B5 Design gel, I also love their Camellia Ultra-Smoothing Conditioner.
- Ummmm...JaNelle and I go crazy on this site, so my suggestion is to buy it all!! These products smell SOOOO Good. Go Crazy! Hahahahahahaha.
- I love the Curling Custard, but it's a bit strong so you only need a little! It will last ALL day, and with an overnight scarf will last 2-3 days :)
ME after I stopped getting perms. You can actually see that I have curly hair. This is not fully dry though, and I love my hair when it's fully dry :)
HAIR TYPES, HAIR DYE, AND NATURAL PRODUCTS
Monday, March 9, 2009
IN THE BEGINNING....
In the beginning, we were told that "good" hair meant your hair was LONG and STRAIGHT, and it was the norm to do anything you had to do to make your hair that way. That usually meant Chemicals, Heat, and More Heat. But that was years ago, and now we know better.
This blog will be a way for my best friend JaNelle and I to share our stories of Hair Discovery. You see, we have both decided that our NATURAL hair that was given to us, without chemicals and excessive amounts of heat, are just as "good" and beautiful as anything we thought of before. Our hair was screaming, "No More Heat! No More Perms! No More Dyes!!" ... and we finally decided to listen.
Mostly, we wanna share our new hair findings with each other without having to call and text each other a million times a day - but if anyone else is interested, then you are more than welcome to peek in on our breakthroughs :)
So, Welcome to Nywele.... and for a good laugh, the pic is of JaNelle and I doing that "long and straight" thing I mentioned in like the 7th grade.....enjoy!