킴씨머리 (Kimshi Meoli) Product Review: The Healing Place (THP) Daily Greens

안녕하세요!

Today is another product review, bellas. I'm super excited about this one, and I couldn't wait to write this review! More info about the company is after the initial review.

Description of your hair: (1) medium density (2) fine and medium texture (3) normal/low porosity (4) Daughters OS + cottony/silky.

Name of Product in Review: Daily Greens, 4 oz for $10

Product Description (from the jar): “Antioxidant rich green tea, soothing avocado, and nourishing grape seed that come together in creamy goodness to give your skin its daily dose of greens.” 

Product Ingredients (from the label): Avocado Butter, Grape Seed Oil, Green Tea Extract, Vitamin E, Matcha Powder, Fragrance (phalate free), Loads of Love.

Fragrance: Very green tea-esque. I enjoy smelling it even at random times during the day because the aroma is so relaxing and therapeutic. If you don't like the smell of tea, though, you might not like this fragrance.

Texture: A thick, fluffy butter. It has enough weight to keep a light case of the fuzzies/frizzies at bay, is light enough not to weigh down finer strands, and emulsifies quickly (about 5 seconds in my experience).

Ease of Application (1-5 with 5 being the easiest): 5 - It's very easy to apply. It practically glides onto my hair, even on top of other products. It's also easy to apply to skin, too.

Your Experience: When Nubian, the founder of THP, first opened her store, I kept hearing great things about the Daily Greens butter from the other CN ladies. I ordered the travel size (2 oz) of it, and tried a bit of it on my skin when it arrived. It made my dry patch of eczema feel like buttah! I then used it at my next wash session, utilising it after my liquid and cream leave ins and under my flax gel. I was amazed at how readily it emulsified, and how well it sealed in moisture in my hair. My hair stayed moisturised all week long; I didn't have to reapply any products at all! Every time I've used it, it has delivered the same stellar results. I love it! 
SN: $10 may seem a bit steep to some for "only" 4 oz of butter, but remember the ingredients in the product, and that a little goes a long way. I'm on my 4th week of the 2 oz travel size jar, and it might've lasted me until next weekend if I wasn't so heavy handed with it. So, for me, two 4 oz tubs = 16 weeks/4 months of use. That's only $5/month, which is a great deal for such high quality ingredients.

Would you recommend to a curlfriend: Yes, yes, yes, and yes again. This is a great all natural butter that a wide range of curlies would likely appreciate. 

How many curls overall (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the kitties titties!): Definitely a 5! I can't think of anything negative to say about it.

The cute little jar in the bottom right side picture is it! It has made it into my staple category. I just reordered 2 more full size jars

Just showcasing the different products this has been combined with. I like it combined particularly with the SM Curl Enhancing Smoothie, methinks. The hold and moisture are unbelievable!

Sitting 'neath the Nuance is the miracle in a jar. DG worked well with this conditioner, too.

SN: The Healing Place (THP) was started recently by Nubian Flunder, one of the knowledgeable ladies on CN. She is a pleasure to do business with; her turnaround time and shipping are fast, and she will graciously answer any questions you have about her products. Just FYI, I wasn't paid to do this review, but I enjoy supporting other curlies in their entrepreneurial endeavors, so I decided to show my support by reviewing one of her products and helping to get her company's name more "out there." I'm sure that she'd appreciate it if you checked out her Etsy page, too!

안녕!

What new products have you tried lately? Any new favorites? Have you ever tried anything from THP?

Hullo again! Segunda parte :-D

What my poor little curls and coils have become :-(

안녕하세여, my fellow curlies!

In my last post (19 March), I gave y'all the deets about school, spirituality and this blubbery body of mine that had been going on since I vanished from the intrawebs. Like any good naturalista, I'm sure that you're wondering what was going on with my hair at that time (above is a photo of the chaos that ensued o_O). Instead of writing the next great American novel by describing things in painstaking detail, I'll just go through each step of my regimen and let you know what went on during these two months, and some recent product favorites (or not-so-favorites lol).

We begin with the all important deep conditioner (DC):

This seems to be the aspect of my regimen with which I have the least amount of trouble. I can pretty much take any conditioner, add oils and honey/molasses (or assorted produce), leave it on overnight, and have great results in the AM. I tried and really enjoyed the Shea Moisture Yucca & Baobab Volumizing Conditioner as a DC; the fragrance was a little too strong for my liking (especially after leaving it on overnight), but it had pretty good slip, and I think that it really helped with fortifying my fine strands without giving it that dry, "proteiny" feel that I get from using protein treatments. I got about 4.5 uses out of it, which is pretty good for a 12 oz product (in my mind, anyway). I'd repurchase this as long as I was doing some finger detangling before washing, not as an overnight DC - but only because of how strong the fragrance is to me. Currently, I'm using the Eden Bodyworks Jojoba Monoi All Natural Deep Conditioner, which I also like so far. It's nice and thick, but easier to spread if I apply it to wet hair. I can also do a bit of finger detangling with this in my hair (pre-wash), and I love how it plumps up and elongates my curls overnight. The aroma of this DC can be weird if you aren't used to the smell of Melaleuca (tea tree) oil. My mom used to use a Melaleuca oil mix for our cuts and scrapes, so the aroma was familiar to me; it just seemed a bit odd to have it in my hair. But I've gotten more used to it over the couple of weeks that I've been using it. It is a tad strong, though, so I doubt that I'll be repurchasing it after I use it up.

Now, onto cleansing/shampooing:

Ugh. This is now probably one of my least favorite parts of my wash days. Remember how I had that nice little cleansing cowash mix? Well, I ran out of AVJ, and I couldn't find that VO5 Tea Therapy condish at any other store (I bought it in Essex, but I have never seen it in any drugstores or grocery stores in MoCo! o_O). So I decided to just try regular cowashing - which was a huge mistake. My scalp is very sensitive to buildup, and no matter how well I rinsed with warm water, my scalp would feel gunky and dirty within a few days. I tried going back to my beloved Yes to Cucumbers poo, but the same thing began to happen - that gross, dirty feeling after a few days. To my horror, scalp zits started popping up in random spots, and they hurt like the dickens. Recently, I did a 2.5:1 blend of vinegar:conditioner with Suave Tropical Coconut, and even as much vinegar was in there, it still didn't cleanse my scalp to my satisfaction. I even bought the As I Am Coconut Cowash, with the same result (on top of having all that tangerine extract [citrus in any form isn't especially great for my body - inside or out]). I have had just about enough of this sulphate-free shampoo and cowashing crap, to be honest. My hair likes it, but my scalp is suffering. I took a look at what I've been using to cleanse, and I realised that I need a plain, ol' fashioned shampoo that doesn't have any botanical extracts or infusions (which are all potential irritants for me), plant oils, or any other frills. If it's a sulphate free poo, I'd like it to be simple - 4 or 5 gentle cleansers (I like disodium laureth sulfosuccinate, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium methyl cocoyl taurate and cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine), polyquaternium-7 or -10 (for a bit of conditioning), and vitamins B and E (panthenol and tocopherol acetate, respectively). No irritants, extracts, infusions, nothing. But, it seems like the only shampoos like that are sulphate poos. So I'll be breaking CG protocol and going back to my Paula's Choice shampoo, simply because it's the least irritating. One of the CN ladies also told me about KeraCare's sulphate-free shampoo, which looks as if it has similar ingredients to Paula's Choice. I'll have to look more into it, but for now, sulphates here I come! I'm ready for my scalp to actually be CLEANED (not cleansed) this weekend :-D

Conditioning/Detangling:

It's not so much the conditioning part of this that has me frustrated, but the detangling that's driving me positively bonkers. I'm still using and loving the TRESemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture condish, but I switched back over to finger detangling during my intrawebs sabbatical. Ehh...huge mistake. My curls and coils need the many nylon bristles of a Denman to remove nearly every shed hair from between them. Plus, it was just taking way too long to detangle my hair! I do not want to spend an hour in the shower trying to remove shed hairs with my fingers - that is NOT the business. So, I said to heck with Massey and bought a Beautique styling brush (Sally's Denman D4 knockoff) the other day from Sally's (I only bought it because my Denman D3 had mysteriously disappeared -__-). I tested it on a section of my hair last night, and hunty-chile, lemme tell you that my little curls were singing with joy when I ran that brush through! The additional 2 rows somehow seemed to make combing easier, and the definition was killer. Umm, yeah. Definitely never doing full out finger detangling again. Also, I think I'd to look for a few more combing/moisturizing conditioners. TRESemme Naturals is my boo thang, don't get me wrong, but I want to branch out a bit more in this area. I'm looking into the Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk condish, ShiKai Natural Everyday condish, and a few of the Nature's Gate conditioners.

Styling:

This seems to have gone from good to bad to worse. I was loving that Xcess gel from my Dollar Tree; it was super easy to spread and had good hold. But then I heard about the HE Set Me Up gel, and I went crazy. It's a hard hold gel (which I like), but now I get all of this buildup, and whenever I shake my head, countless little white flakes fly onto my shoulders and surrounding items. It's really disgusting. I got so frustrated that I made a batch of flaxseed gel and might try that instead of HE. I still like the Taliah Waajid PMB; once I got the hang of spritzing it on my hair, it felt great and slippery. I also tried the Shea Moisture Hold & Shine Moisture Mist as a liquid leave in, which is good. It's not as creamy and moisturizing as the PMB, but it has silk protein high on the ingredients list (3rd after water, I believe), so I like to concentrate it on my ends. My creamy leave ins have been good, too. The SM Curl & Style Milk is still my tried and true absolute most favorite creamy leave in. I gave the Nuance Argan Oil Glossing conditioner a go, and wow! It worked just like I imagined it would - slippery, uber-moisturizing (with lots of infused oils), and it gave me great shine, too. The fragrance was a little out there, but overall, I liked it.

Overall, the big thing that I seem to have garnered from the past 2 months is the old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I changed so many aspects of my routine solely based on the fact that somebody else did it. But c'est la vie - sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

I'm definitely going to give the CG method a rest for a few months, get back to the basics that I know and just simplify my regimen. I'll continue to report back at least monthly for updates on how my hair's faring with this change.

안녕!

What aspects of your hair regimen have been working well for you? Is there anything that you're rethinking/re-evaluating?

Product Review: Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Fortifying Conditioner + POTW

I did a video on the magic YT (there's a story behind that name, btdubs :-P ) about this product, but I've decided that YouTube land isn't for me. I like being a subbie only :-) So, I'm redoing the video just for the blog :-D

Here are the ingredients, as promised:

Aqua/Water/Eau, Cetearyl Alcohol, Distearoylethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate, Octyldodecanol, Zea Mays Starch/Corn Starch, Parfum/Fragrance, Pyrus Malus Extract/Apple Fruit Extract, Camelina Sativa Oil/Camelina Sativa Seed Oil, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil/Apricot Kernel Oil, Glycine Soja Oil/Soybean Oil, Tocopherol [Vitamin E], Caprylyl Glycol, Benzoic Acid, Niacinamide, Pyridoxine HCI, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Citric Acid, Saccharum Officinarum Extract/Sugar Cane Extract/Extrait de Canne a Sucre, Citrus Medica Limonium Peel Extract/Lemon Extract, Camellia Sinensis Extract/Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Malpighia Punicifolia/Acerola Fruit Extract.

Not too shabby ingredients-wise, methinks. Update: I tried this condish as a detangler today in the shower on my back sections. It worked well, but I needed a LOT to do it. I'll try it on a looser section next week.
On the bright side, this product does rinse very clean and leaves almost no residue. It actually rinses more clean than VO5, so a new staple cowash has been born :-D


Ooh! Since I only do my hair on a weekly basis and I don't really moisturize in between wash days, I've decided to add a Products of the Week (POTW) feature every weekend so that y'all can see what I'm using. Here's this week's video :-)

I ended up using all three conditioners to detangle my hair. I had my hair divided into 12 twists, so I used TRESemme Naturals on my first four twists, Garnier on the next four, and Yes to Cucumbers on the last set of four. It worked out pretty well, I believe. Since I didn't use TN for my entire head, I still have a tiny bit left...quite an aggravating amount that's staring back at me at this moment lol. Quick note: Remember how I mentioned the fragrance that the Garnier Pure Clean condish has? Well, it wasn't nearly as strong when I was in the shower detangling. It smelled mostly like an apple-ish type fragrance; I could hardly smell the fragrance. I'm thinking that the concentration of fragrance might be less in this formula than in the other types of Garnier conditioners. Whatever the case may be, I'm really liking this! It's already mixed up in an empty Nature's Gate conditioner bottle with aloe vera juice and vinegar, ready for my next cowash :-D

I also gave the Taliah Waajid PMB another shot, and I'm glad that I did. One curly on CN mentioned that she used it on damp hair. So I plopped for about 30 minutes, and then spritzed each twist 6 times with the PMB. My hair was barely damp, and it worked much better this go! It still doesn't have that slip that I want that the Oyin Juices & Berries has, but it's better than it was the last time.

That's about it for today, chicas!

When is your wash day, curlies? Do you like quickie regimens, or do you like to give your hair a slower, more delectable treat? What were your POTW?

Time, Time, Tickety Time...+ Got Carrots? + Finals Rehash

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm addicted to what my friends and I call "the magic YouTube (YT)." I'm subscribed to more than 50 channels, and I watch almost all of the updates - they vary from world events to the latest Twist 'n' Curl tutorial to homeschool curriculum reviews.

I haven't always had such varied interests on the magic YT. At first, I only came to this wonderland of media for footage of one of my favorite comedians (Tim Hawkins) and the occasional music video. Then, my sister introduced me to the brilliant minds behind BlimeyCow. Once I joined the CN forums, I was turned on to Naptural85, KimmayTube, SimplYounique, iknowlee, FusionofCultures, UsNaturalGirls, nappturality, Spiraled Halo, Waterlily716, Summyr1988, CurlyWavyDiane, BeautifulBrwnBabyDol, Katie Douglass, teaundra, MelsharyA, bishonenrancher, HairCrush, HomeSpaGoddess, MahoganyCurls, MahoganyKnots, peepla7, QuickEasyHairStyles, CuteGirlsHairStyles, TRESemme and more. I checked out Naptural85's second channel, DearNaptural85, and thus my vlogging obsession began, and I was soon subbed to BritPopPrincess, BritPopLife, gflowers02, brittser03, TheNiveNulls, BrittsBreakdown, Jamie Pmelb...

Then I remembered that YT had fitness gurus, as well! WellnessRocksGym, LiveStrongWoman, StudioEast, Blogilates and StudioPilates. I got into Kpop (#don'tjudgeme) and became a subbie of 2NE1, Tae Yang, Se7en, etc. Informal Korean lessons (TenchiJK2), political incorrectness (iamOTHER), homeschool curriculum (HomeSchlMomof3), being a Christian (Tenchijk), life overseas (AbatarTeacher), life advice (DhatAznJ), current events (AlJazeeraEnglish), and countless other channels fill up my subscription tab.

Outside of these genres stands one of my favorite groups of YTers: the life-ers. They do vlogs, album covers, do recipes, computer graphics, introduce you to their SOs and/or friends, create their own music, short films, poetry or art, do parodies, give advice, and do lots of tags. I'm just getting to know this niche among the millions of YTers, but I enjoy them just the same...and oftentimes even moreso because of the variety that they bring to the proverbial table. 

Of this group, StillNotDavid is probably my favorite. More often that not, his videos leave me on the floor gasping for air. I love his sense of humor. His latest update, though (from more than a week ago) was really thought-provoking. It's a short film that he wrote and directed, and I think it's worth watching. Peep the vid (and head over to YT to sub to his channel if you like this :-D )!

What think you?

In other news, I mentioned yesterday that I like to put regular conditioners and masques in my carrot DC. I know some of you were probably like "What the what? Carrots?" Yes, my dear curly friend, carrots. Occasionally, ideas for mixes just pop into my head, and I can't seem to restrain myself from trying them. A few weeks ago, I got the bright idea to try making a DC with carrots. I usually use avocados, but I thought that pureeing carrots would give the same results. So, I Googled it, and came across this recipe on BlackHairPlanet.com:

Ingredients:

•3 carrots

•1 overripe banana

•Honey

•Mayonnaise

•Peppermint

•Water

•Blender

•Container with lid

•Towel

Step

1)Steam or boil 3 washed and chopped carrots in 1 cup of water until tender. Fifteen minutes may be long enough to soften the carrots. If you have the green carrot leaves, we will use them in this recipe as well. You do not have to cook this part of the carrot for the hair conditioner.

Step

2 )

Pour the carrot and water into a blender, and blend until almost smooth. Add fresh or dried peppermint to the blender and blend.

Step

3 )

Add the banana and blend until smooth and creamy. The banana and carrot composition will give the hair conditioner a lot of body.

Step

4 )

Next, add 1 teaspoon of honey and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise to the blender. Blend all ingredients together, making a smooth and creamy hair conditioner.

Step

5)Spoon the mixture into a jar with a lid, and store in the refrigerator until your next shampoo.

Step

6)Add a generous amount after shampooing, making sure to massage the hair conditioner in well. Wrap with a towel and leave in for 15 minutes to 2 hours. Rinse and towel dry.

Now, y'all know me...I tweak everything pretty much. My scalp detests peppermint, so I left that out. And we didn't have real mayonnaise at the time, so I just used conditioner in place of the mayo. I also substituted molasses for honey since we were out of that, as well. I followed all of the other directions pretty much to a "T." It went on smoothly, as you can see:

Post rinsing...my hair felt uber soft, but oh, all the pieces of carrots in my twists!

And, my results after detangling. I do have to mention that removing pieces of carrot seems much easier than removing avocado chunks. My Denman just seems to pick up carrots much more easily.Now, I did have carrot pieces in my twists, but it wasn't too noticeable, methinks.

Ooh! I had some other random pictures and a video from studying for finals at Vicente's house. They're hecka (it sounds weird, I know) late, but better late than never, right? :-)

This was fuel for the weekend...I drank 4 cups of this magical coffee! Andrei taught me how to make cafe "the Southern way." It was frothy y muy delicioso :-D

The ingredients used. He added 1 heaping spoonful of instant coffee, and 2 spoonfuls (minimum 2, maximum 5, optimum 3.5) of sugar to mine. In the background is a pan of penne that Vicente cooked and Stephen's legs lol.

This video was one that I took during one of our study breaks on the second day. In it, you'll see (and hear) Julia, Vicente, Noelle, Andrei, Stephen, Matt, Lola, and moi. The obnoxious laughter close to the mic and female Kermit voice are also mine -______-

#Realtalk: My Relationship with God (Updated)

Wow. Where do I begin? Last year (2012), I was all gung ho about reading my Bible, praying, going to church, etc. and I wanted to deepen my relationship with God. Things went well until my Nana's health started to fail. The more ill she became, the further I felt from God. After she passed away, I read one last Psalm, and I have hardly opened my Bible since (except for Sundays during church and Thursdays at Bible study). I seem to have lost all motivation to read it. I haven't sincerely prayed in months. I don't feel like going to church most Sundays. Things that used to bother me (cursing, amongst other things) no longer prick my conscience. God feels like a fairy tale that I used to believe in, and to be quite honest, there are some days where I just want to give up and not believe at all. I turned to hair and technology to be my gods instead. For months, I have been addicted to watching YouTube videos until the wee hours of the morning, staying on CurlyNikki and feeling the urge to post and read nearly every thread, and wanting to fit in everywhere that I could possibly go on the Internet. But then I realized something: I'm miserable. My overly-anxious, melancholy personality has magnified a hundredfold and I feel like I can no longer function properly. I have become lazy, lethargic, angry, irritable, bitter, and inconsolably sad. I keep flip flopping in my decisions, unsure of what to take during the spring semester, worrying about my major...all decisions that I normally have less issues with.

Like I've said before, I go inside myself when troubled times come instead of reaching out. I did that with my professors in the fall semester and my grades suffered severely as a result. And to be quite honest, when I was a younger, 15 year old "super Christian," I never imagined that I would do it in my spiritual walk. Oh, all the pride I had (and still have!). I wish that I'd gone to the Lord instead of material things with my hurt and pain. I don't want the storm of my Nana passing to be the thing that did me in as a follower of Christ; the rabbit trail that kept me from finishing the race like my grandmother did. I can't dwell on my rocky spiritual past, but I can definitely do something about the future.

I'm struggling so much with the sin (yes, sin) of unbelief right now. I know that it's not going to be easy to uproot, but I know that with God's strength,I can be cleansed of my unbelief, have my hurts healed, and find compassion, joy and hope once again. It won't all be rainbows and sunshine, and I know that there will be days where I feel like yelling at God and giving up, but I cannot quit. It honestly feels like my heart is hanging in the balance, and I will not let Satan take over my life.

That being said, I'm committing to spending the next 120 days (from today [1 January] to 2 May 2013) in the word for at least 30 minutes per day (excluding prayer). I'm calling it Operation: Back on Track (OBOT). It will be in addition to church services, life groups, Bible study, and any other Bible-related event/activity in which I participate. For direction in this area, I'll be using books/devotionals from Precept Ministries International; from their 40 Minute Bible Studies series. Each focuses on different aspects of godliness and spirituality, and is designed to be completed in 6 weeks. The ones I plan to complete are:

How Do You Walk the Walk You Talk?
How to Make Choices You Won't Regret
What Does the Bible Say About Sex?
Turning Your Heart Toward God

If I finish those earlier than planned, I can also finish a Beth Moore study in which I left the last chapter undone: Breaking Free.

I hope and pray that each one of them will be helpful in my spiritual growth journey.
In addition to getting back into the Word, my prayer life must be reassessed. I have a wonderful book that I was going through last year called A Young Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George that I will likely restart. The author emphasizes improving one's prayer life by actually putting down the book and praying, which is encouraging. I can devote 15 minutes per day to prayer and getting back into the habit of doing it, etc.

Total, that's 45 minutes per day that I'll be spending with God. My goal is to be able to do it in the mornings, but anytime will work. My only problem when I plan things out like this is that I get too excited, think that I can do everything, get a big head about it, and then fall flat on my face within a few days. So I already have my first prayer request: humility! :-P And diligence, consistency...whatever you want to call it. I have a terrible habit of putting off for tomorrow what I could've/should've/would've done today. It will be the death of me, mentally.

I didn't mean to write so much, but my heart feels lighter right now. This was definitely something that I needed to get off my chest. I'll report weekly on my progress, what I've learned, my thoughts, where I think God is leading me next, my setbacks, frustrations, victories, good news, bad news - everything.

(I know that not everybody who reads this is a Christian or believes in God, but my faith is part of my life, and therefore, part of my blog. If you are offended by it in any way, please feel free to skip over these posts in the future, when you see them :-) )

Ciao, bellas!

Randomness: On Teaching Music + Country

I don't think that I ever divulged this in my earlier posts, but I am an avid music lover, play piano (since I was 9), and I teach piano as well. I taught my first student when I was 12, and have continued ever since. I love the Faber series for teaching beginning students, but I'm always on the prowl for other methods (with differing pedagogic approaches) to incorporate into lessons with all of my students. The following is a re-post from my CN blog when I was contemplating such things and just musing about music materials in general:

All I want for Christmas is money. I have so much to buy! I need textbooks for next semester, I'd like some new clothes/shoes and hair accessories, and I need to buy new books for my students! I'm adding 3-4 more bambinos to my roster next semester, which means more revenue for me, but also more responsibility in how well I prepare my lessons and selecting quality materials to use.

The Faber Piano Adventures series is my favorite, but it's also one of the pricier lines and it has lots of supplements. They recently updated the first 3-4 levels in the series to a newer edition that is an even better version of the first, so now there's teacher's guides (I've never used one to teach piano before; but I think it'd help me get new ideas and techniques), CDs, at least 6 repertoire books, sightreading, flash cards, assignment books, etc. It's slightly overwhelming to say the least.

Recently, I've experimented with different methods of music theory, as well. I tried Level A of the Alfred Basic Piano Library with one of my students, and it's not going well with the music alphabet. So I brought in good ol' trusty Faber to remedy the situation. She's doing fine now, so she just might be getting the second half of Faber next semester. One successful deviation from Faber has been the Hal Leonard series. I started one of my more vivacious students with it, and it teaches in a manner very similar to Faber. I especially like the multi-sensory way that it goes over the music alphabet (utilising a goodly number of learning modalities). She's on Level A, and graciously, it comes with a handy checklist in the front pages, and a CD in the back for listening. A great all-in-one method for beginning students.

One of my most challenging aspects has been deciding which series to use with which students. The success of a particular method of teaching can depend a lot on the student's personality. More math-y students do well with Alfred. Faber is great for anybody, and is strong on theory, sightreading, scales, chords (inversions, progressions...) and whatnot. Hal Leonard is likewise. Bastien is a stuck-in-the-70s version of Alfred. The pictures are distasteful and clownish looking. Ugh.

For every student, I've basically narrowed down what I do to select . I typically give 30 minute lessons, give 5-10 minutes depending on different variables. Within that time frame, it's not possible to use the lesson, theory, performance, and technique books. The attention span and distractability (yes I made that up  ) of 6 year olds just doesn't permit it. So, at minimum, I buy the lesson, theory and performance books for every student. The flashcards I hold off on until they learn some basic terminology (dynamics, note values, music alphabet, grand staff, etc.), and those are easily split apart since they're color coded. I may or may not do technique, depending on the student. The kiddos I have this semester all have very small hands, so I'll be adding in some technique next semester. Besides all that, I ask each child which type of repertoire book s/he wants. One boy wanted the rock 'n roll book because he said that he likes rocks lol. Little kids...

Ooh! I forgot to mention that Alfred actually also updated its entire series to become the Alfred Premier series. I'd like to invest in the complete kit and look it over, but that'd put me out $35 :-/ Maybe they have sample books...

So, there's a peek into my non-hair related life. I think I'll do more posts about music, actually. I love it, and teaching is becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life. Y'all don't mind, right? :-) I love sharing music with others.

I have another bit of non hair-related anecdotes. I shared this with one of my good friends (and fellow DMV curlies), Raven, from the CN forums. It brings me so much joy now:

Remember how I embarrassed myself with that cute camera guy last week (another story for another day)? Well, something similar happened yesterday when Matt (one of my friends from Scholars; we live 10 minutes away from each other and Julia [another D-mas resident], so we carpool a lot) was driving me home on Thursday. He likes country music and I'm not opposed to it, so we listened to it on the way back to the sticks of Damascus. As he turned onto this dark, winding road, there was a bit of a lull in our conversation, and suddenly (Seymour - Little Shop of Horrors, anybody? :-D ), a man's voice came from the speakers and began to melodically pine for the girl that he was sitting next to. Neither of us said anything, but in my head I was like o_O Then, right after that song, another one came on about a man driving some girl home, and how his eyes were on the road but his mind was on her body. Matt and I both have long arms, and we both happened to have had our elbows on the arm rest in the center. I froze, unsure as to whether it would be more awkward to keep my arm against his or quickly bring it back to my side. Hardly had I time to contemplate this decision, when yet another ditty played, sung by some whiny woman wanting her boyfriend back. The level of awkwardness (in my mind, at least) went from a 10 to a 99.999 (on a scale of 1-5). We did start talking by the third song, but I could still hear the lyrics o_O


SN: So many funny things happen with Matt that I've decided to give him a special spot in my blog: Schwarzenberg Tales! I'll likely have installments every week :-D

And there you have it...a glance into my mundane life. More musings to come if y'all don't mind! :-D

Stash Haul #2: Cleansers + MC Essentials Kit Giveaway!!

Buon pomeriggio, bellas!

I'll start off with the best stuff first :-D MahoganyCurls, one of my favorite CG YouTubers, is having an Essentials Kit giveaway! It's sponsored by MahoganyChic, a fashion and beauty blogger. Entering is super easy, and there will be 3 winners! The contents of the Kit include:

1. As I Am Coconut Cowash
2. TRESemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner
3. Eco Styler Gel
4. Paul Mitchell The Conditioner

What more can I say? It's free products being offered! And, this is an international giveaway, so curlies in other countries could also win the package. What are y'all waiting for? Head over to YT land and tell Jess that you want that Kit!

Alrighty, now on to my stash haul! Yesterday, I went into deets about my DCs, which is the first step in my regimen. Today is the all-important cleanser! Before I go into detail about my stash and what I use, let me give a bit of background:

Cleansing has been one of the most difficult things for me to get a handle on. I'll think that I have a good cleansing method, only to find out a bit later that it's not working as well as it could, and my hair is suffering for it. I have tried shampooing, cowashing, ACV rinses, just water and fingers, bentonite clay washes, Terressentials mud wash...on and on and on. None were sufficient. I liked the way that shampoo cleansed my scalp, but many times it stripped my hair unless I piled on the DCs beforehand. Cowashing on its own left too much buildup on my scalp, making it itchy and flake frequently. And it didn't get the product off of my hair. ACV rinses were good, but I like my cleansers to be thicker. The water and friction mess...*crickets*

Bentonite clay worked well for a while, and I was singing its praises - until it started to get stuck at my roots and wouldn't rinse out. I was horrified and disgusted. Ugh. Terressentials (I ordered the Fragrance Free wash) was great for my hair and cleansed everything, but the skin on my neck, face and shoulders were irritated beyond belief. I think it might have been the nettle *le sigh* I wanted so badly to like it, too. But a no-go it was.


I was desperate for a solution! I felt beyond the realm of help; everybody else seemed to do well with all of the aforementioned cleansing options. But, one day, while browsing Naya's blog on CN, she noted that she was going to try making her own shampoo with aloe vera gel. I forgot about it, until I dreaded my next washed day and her comment popped into my head. I decided to mix my own concoction for a cleansing conditioner with this recipe:

2 tbsp conditioner (something thin and watery like VO5)
2 tbsp aloe vera juice

I mixed them together in a nifty little travel sized bottle I had in my room, shook it up, and then decided that I wanted it to be a bit more clarifying. So I took about a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and added it to the bottle. Since AVJ has to be kept cold, I stuck my little mix in the fridge overnight while I DCed. In the morning, I let my hair cool down, rinsed my DC, and then applied this mix to my scalp to see if it would work. Oh. My. Gosh. Never have I ever had such a thorough, moisturising cleanse! I think the AVJ is a big part of why my scalp was so clean. But, the conditioner also kept my hair moisturised. Not a trace of product, dirt, or gunk, but my curls were moisturised and not stripped of their natural oils. Finally, a cleanser that worked for MY hair! I'm beginning to experiment with adding shampoos instead of ACV, adding both, and whatnot.

This cleanser has been the one thing that I do not (and will not) change in my regimen! The conditioner I use may on occasion, but this has been a cleansing revelation for my curly hair. I love having the best of both worlds! I keep my hair in twists for this step (as I do with most of my regimen). I squeeze the mix onto my scalp and around the base of my twists, and use the pads of my fingers to really scrub my scalp to help get rid of product buildup, dirt, etc. I focus especially in the crown area of my scalp, because it's a more sensitive area, and seems to get dirty rather quickly. If I have any of it left over after my scalp is taken care of, I can run it over the length of my twists. I rinse thoroughly (about 5-6 minutes) with warm water, but I don't unravel any twists while rinsing. I do lift up each individual twist, and make sure that I run the water through the base of each one, scrubbing all the while.

That being said, I really only like to use one conditioner for this for some reason. It's the VO5 Tea Therapy Calming Chamomile Tea Nourishing Conditioner. There's nothing super special about it, but I just don't want to use any other conditioner for this mix lol. The only problem is that this type happens to be one of the least common VO5 conditioners I see sold. *le sigh* So, two other conditioners that could potentially work well with this are shown above: Spa Haus Salon Conditioner (dollar store buy) and VO5 Repair & Protect Strengthening Conditioner. I don't want to use conditioners with dyes in them for this step, because of how much it's being scrubbed into my scalp, and I have sensitive skin.

So, that's my cleansing sob story, stash, and deets...and photos - finally!

What do you use to cleanse your scalp and hair, curlies? Have you ever had a cleansing fiasco?

Semester's End + Swap Haul + New Regimen

Ciao, bellas!

This semester has been craaaazy beyond belief. Finals week is quickly approaching (*gulps*), and I have so many things to read and study beforehand. I'm trying to get all As this semester, so I really need to slam into the books as hard as I can. Ooh, kind of random: The best thing about this semester has been the Bible study that some other believers started on the Germantown campus. It's really nice to go there and fellowship and talk about God's Word and pray with other Christians after a long day of being surrounded by insanity and profanity. It's so refreshing for my spirit, and I always leave feeling energised.

I don't know if I ever told y'all, but on the CN forums, I purchased some products from another curly, Breezie24, on the swap boards. Here's what I purchased from her:

Carol's Daughter Healthy Hair Butter
Carol's Daugher Tui Moisturising Leave-In Conditioner
Oyin Handmade Juices & Berries
Darcy's Botanicals Vanilla Delight Leave-In Conditioner
Curls Curl Creme Brulee
Taliah Wajid The Great Detangler

All for $43, which is pretty good, considering the lines I purchased. First off, Breezie was great to work with; everything came taped down, in great condition, and quickly. It was a pleasure ordering from her, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat :-) Second, why the heck didn't anybody tell me how NASTY that CD butter smelled?! I almost vomited when I sniffed it! My sister, who usually likes fragrances that I don't like, wrinkled her nose at it. And my brother, who is just crazy, said that it smelled like our baby cousin's diapers o_O I haven't used it and don't plan to. I just need to figure out something to do with it other than throw it out. Ugh. More on the other products in my stash post :D

I've figured something out about myself: I cannot, for the life of me, stick to one set regimen for months at a time. My techniques (styling, detangling and whatnot), yes, but products? Forget about it! I'll use something for 3 weeks, and then I move on to something else because I get bored. I like the idea of having one regimen with one way of doing things, but I can never actually do it. There are so many ways to do things, different ways to use the same product, and ways to mix things up (literally) that I never get around to sticking to anything. I'm not ashamed of it, but it's just something interesting that I've noticed about myself. At any rate, I washed my hair today. Here's what I did:

1. DCed hair last night in 4 sections (Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut + Nubian Heritage EVOO & Moringa Repair & Extend Treatment Masque + honey + EVOO + EVCO + GSO + VO5 Pomegranate & Grapeseed Extract Strengthening Conditioner).

2. Cleansed scalp with my creamy chamomile conditioning cleanser (I added about 3/4-1 tbsp of my sulphate poo; it increased the cleansing power x 10, but it was still conditioning, and it didn't foam up like shampoo).

3. Conditioned hair with TRESemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner (the old formula; it smells like nail polish remover, and I HATE it! I need to stop by Weis and get the new formula kind).

4. Detangled one section with Darcy's Botanicals Vanilla Delight Leave-In Conditioner; tried adding gel, rinsed, and added Pantene Curly Moisture Renewal Conditioner instead; sealed with GSO.

5. Finished rest of hair with Pantene Curly, sealed with GSO, and put hair into 8 big twists, and pulled them back into a little bun.

So, contrary to my palm test, the DB doesn't mix well with my HG gel :-( I was so disappointed. It balled the conditioner up in my hair, so I quickly used the remaining portions of my cleanser to wash it out. And, let me say, that the Pantene Curly was another FAIL. I haven't been doing CG for very long, and still, my hair is just rejecting any and all silicones. I'm so sad *sniffles* I didn't feel like doing my hair during the week, so into 8 chunky twists it went, and I was able to snatch them all up into a little bun thing. No maintenance during the week, at least! This will probably be my finals style, too lol.


OAN: Forgive the image-less state of my blog. My phone is acting a fool and won't send the pics; my camera is void of both batteries and a memory card. Foo. I shall provide images, shortly, though, my fellow curlies! I know how boring this must be without images...

Vintage Posts from the CN Forums - Part 2

14-08-2012
Hair Regimen Update
I had to go to counseling today, and my mom didn't tell me what time I had to be there until 15 minutes beforehand, so I had to wrap a scarf around my head to hide the DC. I still haven't rinsed. I've had it in since last night, and usually this isn't a problem when I use Aussie as my moisture DT. I can leave Aussie in even longer, and I'm good. But today, I got this insane itch in several spots on my head. I know it's not my grapeseed oil, because I put that on my scalp all the time. So I think it's the TRESemme. The areas where the conditioner got the gloopiest and got to my scalp are the ones that are itching (and burning slightly) now. I think this means that I have to switch conditioners...AGAIN!! Ugh. I try not to get conditioner on my scalp, but it happens. Aussie doesn't make my scalp itch like this, but I think that's because it has little fragrance, and the AVJ is soothing. TRESemme has a few more additives for fragrance (hexyl cinnamal, linalool, amyl cinnamal, etc.), so maybe that's what irritated my skin. I'm going to wait it out and try another DC with it though. I don't want to have to just waste 3 more full bottles of perfectly good conditioner.



15-08-2012
Hair Regimen Update:
I forgot how much I love doing ACV rinses! I made it stronger, using a 2:1 ratio instead of the recommended 3:1. I poured the rinse into two 3 oz bottles with caps. After rinsing out a good portion of my DC, I squirted the ACV rinse all through my scalp and scrubbed my roots and scalp well. I also undid a few twists, poured the rinse directly on to the hair, and retwisted (those were the shiniest twists, btw). I undid every twist, rinsed it thoroughly, lightly removed a few shed hairs, and retwisted again. I made sure that this rinse was with cool water. When I got out of the shower, there was no product in my hair and - WOW! I was amazed! The frizz that I usually have after washing was nowhere to be seen, and I had shine galore from the ACV (and rinsing with cool water). And my scalp still feels clean! I usually have some gunk and build up on my scalp after a DC, but the ACV got rid of most of it, as well as the itching.

After getting dressed for bed, I went through each twist, slathered it in coconut oil, finger detangled, and retwisted. Again, major shine! Today, I'm going to the county fair with my friends, so I'm going to flat twist my hair later this morning.

All in all, I'm pleased with how my DC went. I'm warming up to TRESemme not being a leave in now, and it actually detangles better than Aussie. I also need to stock up again on coconut oil - I'm almost out!

Hair
So I ended up not flat twisting my hair today. I woke up late, and since I'd baggied my hair last night, it was still damp/wet when I woke up this morning. So I just left my twists in, though I took several of the chunkier ones and divided them in half. My hair still looks shiny, and considering that I have nothing except for coconut oil in it, the frizz is minimal. I was easily able to lightly finger detangle my twists, and the curl definition was impressive, too. All in all, a great hair day!  I'm thinking of just leaving coconut oil in my hair for my next TO...hmmm.

Vintage Posts from the CN Forums - Part 1

Ciao bellas! As promised, here are some of the posts from my mini blog on the CN forums:

13-08-2012
I haven't washed my hair in nearly 2 weeks (gross, I know). My scalp was itching like crazy, there were brown and white flakes popping up in my twists at random times, and my situation was D.R.Y. So, I made today wash day! 

I put my hair into 11 twists before I went to bed last night, so pre-pooing was easy this morning. I undid each twist, poured some oil onto it, worked it through with my fingers (and lightly finger detangled), and twisted up again. I let it sit while I was here on CN for almost 2 hours. Then I hit the shower. I let the water run over my hair for a minute or two, and then shampooed my scalp with TRESemme Climate Control shampoo (OAN: I wish I could use more shampoo than just a few quarter sized dollops!! I made the mistake of buying the 32 oz size of TRESemme shampoo, and it will likely last me until next year, easily. *sighs*) and rinsed well. I then undid each twist, applied generous amounts of VO5 conditioner (Strawberries & Cream and Pomegrante & Grapeseed extract) and retwisted. I let the conditioner stay in while I soaped up and cleaned the rest of my body, and then I rinsed it out. It wasn't a super thorough rinsing, so I didn't undo each twist and let the water run through, etc. But most of the conditioner is out.

I'm about to do my DC of Aussie Sydney Smooth and grapeseed oil, which I will cover with a plastic bag and leave in until tomorrow. I plan to rinse out most of it, and then follow up with a 2:1 ACV rinse to help clarify any other parts of my scalp that I might've missed with the shampoo. Afterwards, I will coat each section in coconut oil, flat twist, and let my hair stretch out and dry to be ready for mini twist installation (I want to do a practice set before putting in the real ones; just to make sure I know what I'm doing).


Update: My DC has changed for the year! I have to use gel on my mini twists to help them stay together, but I was having problems with white stuff coming up everywhere with my Fantasia IC gel and TRESemme. Somebody posted in another thread to put a little gel and conditioner in the palm of your hand to see if they'll mix well. So I tested all of my conditioners, and the ones that pass are:

Aussie Sydney Smooth
Aussie Moist
Fresh Elements Captivatin' Color
TRESemme Vitamin B12 & Gelatin Anti-Breakage

The rest of the TRESemme conditioners were a total no-go with the gel. They balled up, made the gel turn into gunk, etc. I was glad to find that out in my hand before turning my hair into a gunky white mess! So TRESemme Moisture Rich,Flawless Curls, Climate Control and Smoth & Silky will be my weekly DCs instead of Aussie. I tested my Pantene Anti-Breakage too, and that was one was...eh. So that'll also be on my DC list. The only problem is that most of the conditioners that mixed well with the Fantasia gel, I only have half empty containers of! TRESemme is the only full one. So I'll have to buy more Aussie and Fresh Elements when I run out.

I slathered lots of TRESemme Smooth & Silky on a few twists with some grapeseed oil to see how it'd turn out. It feels weird not using TRESemme as a leave in, but it makes a pretty darn good DC. I can easily finger detangle with it in my hair, which is a plus!



I finally finished off my bottle of TRESemme Smooth & Silky! I was getting so tired of using it. Now, I'm back to an old favorite for DCs: TRESemme Vitamin E Moisture Rich! I haven't used this since I was transitioning, so it's like visiting an old friend. It was gloriously moisturising on my last few twists!

Regimen update: I'm considering alternating between protein and moisture DTs every week while my mini twists are in (and even when they're not). VO5 conditioners are loaded with hydrolysed collagen, hydrolysed keratin, silk proteins, silk amino acids, gelatin, hydrolysed silk proteins - pretty much anything for strengthening or protein treatments. I like VO5 and the conditioners are dirt cheap, so why not use what I have? Those, combined with coconut oil, should be a "beasty" protein DT that my many fine strands will appreciate. Today was obviously a moisture DC, so my next wash session will be protein galore!

There's been another hair success in my household: my sister! She's a stubborn, hair lazy natural with super thick, fine-stranded raven colored waves that cascade down her shoulders. Her weekly routine is very simple: shampoo with TRESemme Moisture Rich shampoo, condition with Suave Naturals, detangle (and leave in) with Pantene NatureFusion Moisture Balance or Aussie Moist conditioner and John Freida Frizz-Ease Extra Strength Formula serum. She puts her hair into 10-12 braids, or simply buns it, and she's done for the week. Usually, by the next day, her hair looks dry and is frizzy. This week though, I convinced her to spritz her hair with water, add 2-3 quarter sized dollops of conditioner to her entire head, and then seal with Fantasia IC Olive Moisturising Shine Serum. The results were amazing! Her hair looks so much shinier, and is holding moisture better. Her frizzies are nearly gone, too. Looks like my sister will be taking my container of Fantasia...

FINALLY - An Update!

Ay! I have been so terrible about posting on here. I started doing a blog on CurlyNikki, but I think that I'll move my blog back here again. I'd like to have something separate from my other online stuff. And I feel like I can be a bit more in my element here. On CN, I felt like I was writing just to get other people to read it (not many did because I guess I just don't have that magic blogger touch *shrugs*). Here, I can blog to just blog. So here will I stay! :-)

Well, SO much has happened since I last wrote! I'm in my first full-time semester of college, my hair has grown, I had my 13 month nappyversary (more about that later), I've gained weight (*sobs*), I'm starting a YT channel and I've gone silicone free until the spring or summer! So let's start from the beginning:

 College

The last I wrote, I was trying to make a decision on which college to attend. UMBC gave me a mid-tier scholarship ($10,000 per year) for their humanities program, plus I won another $5,000 per year from my dad's job. But, that still left a great deal to pay, and my parents would've had to take out loans. I have a 100% no-loan policy, so I chose to stay home for 2 more years and be in the honors program in my CC (I've been taking classes there since the 11th grade). 15 credits per semester are paid for, so I just pay for books and whatnot. I wasn't sure how I'd like it, but I love it! The classes are very demanding, but it's enjoyable. I was afraid of not knowing anybody, but I have 24 friends that I grow closer to every time I see them. We hang out outside of classes, have parties, picnics, etc.  I think I actually might have a social life now lmbo. Oooh! I'm a bit of a nerd, so I want to tell you which classes I'm in this semester:

World Literature II Honors

World History II Honors

World Music Honors

Introduction to Philosophy Honors

Intermediate Spanish II Honors

General Psychology

Dance Aerobics

First Year Seminar

...a total of 15 credits. The four classes at the top are actually an interdisciplinary set of courses, so those are actually just 6 credits for the semester...I'll explain later lol. I'm already signed up for next semester, and then I'll be taking:

World Literature II Honors

World History II Honors

World Music Honors

Introduction to Philosophy Honors

Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology Honors

Principles of Biology I

Elementary Korean I

...16 credits next semester. I'm pumped! I especially can't wait to start Korean. I'm a fan of Kpop, and I just got into Korean dramas (I'm currently going through The Iron Empress on Hulu). Plus, I was thinking of teaching ESL/ESOL there someday, so I thought it was worth a try. I'm so nervous! I've never had to take a 101 language class before. But I've ordered some Korean audio things from the library (Pimsleur materials), and I found a YT channel that has videos to help with pronunciation, and a website to help with the written segment. Random fact: Korean is considered an Altaic language, and not Asiatic, like Mandarin (Chinese). I always wondered why Korean didn't have that same metallic sound as Chinese lol.

Hair

Yes, it has grown! I'm now a bit past collar bone length (CBL) stretched. I'm so happy! Keeping my hair in twists a lot has helped with length retention, methinks. I've had to trim a few ends because they looked straight, but it ended up being nothing.

13 Month Nappyversary

This one is going to be hard to explain. Bear with me. Earlier this year, in May to be exact, my grandmother (Nana) was hospitalised at Holy Cross. We found out what she had known for months but not mentioned: she had ovarian cancer. She was in there for a month, her life in the balance. After 4 long weeks, she was allowed to go to the Rehabilitation Center, but she fell into poor health yet again (this time at the hands of the doctors), and was readmitted to the hospital. She was never able to come back home. It was so difficult for me during that time. School was finishing up, I was dealing with graduation, and because of classes, I couldn't visit her very often. She passed away on 10 June 2012. I was devastated. It was one of the most difficult summers of my life. But this year, on my nappyversary date (3 September), I realised something - my Nana's birthday is 3 October. I BCed exactly 1 month before her birthday! So, in remembrance of her, I celebrate every 13 months that I've been natural instead of every 12.

Weight

Needless to say, my ambitions for losing weight were lost. I started out well, but due to the circumstances over the summer, I just got further and further away from healthy eating. I'm now at my heaviest - 230 pounds :-( But I won't give up! I'm going to Asheville in the summer, and I will NOT be buying a plus sized swim suit, nor will I be embarrassed to show my legs! I'm reading Dr. Fuhrman's book called Eat to Live, and it looks doable. So I'll be trying that starting in January methinks.

YouTube

Yes, you read it correctly, chicas! I'm going to be starting my very own YT channel! I want it to be good quality, though, so I need to purchase a camcorder, learn how to use an editing program, etc. And I want it to either be in Spanish or English with Spanish subtitles. It won't be ready until the summer, probably, though. I want to focus entirely on school and exercise next semester.

Silicone Free?! O_O

Yuppers...I've crossed over to the other side! Lmbo. After my silicone serum obsession of the summer, I was eager to see how my cones would do during the autumn. And somehow...they sucked. Like badly. Like, my hair looked like the Sahara desert bad. I wanted to cry. Soo, thanks to some encouragement from the wonderful ladies on CurlyNikki, I've been exploring some silicone free options. And, to my surprise, my hair is loving it! I'm floored. I didn't know that no 'cones could be so wonderful! So, now my plan is to use 'cone-free products in the autumn and winter and early spring (September-April), and then use regular silicone products in the spring and summer (May-August). Here's my current regimen:

• Prepoo/DC overnight with VO5 Silky Experiences Shea Cashmere Conditioner cocktailed with honey, EVOO, EVCO, and GSO (I'm going to start using the honey and oils with 2 overripe pureed avocados instead, because I want to find another conditioner for DCs that doesn't have isopropyl alcohol in it and is a bit thicker).
• Cleanse scalp with Paula's Choice All Over Hair & Body Shampoo.
• Condition hair and scalp with Spa Haus Salon Conditioner (I actually found this at the dollar store lol. I really like it; a review will be coming soon! :-) ).
• Detangle with TRESemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner.
• Twist hair with Shea Moisture Curl & Style Milk or Curly Q's Red Velvet Moisturising Curl Cream; seal with my EVOO/GSO mix.

I've been doing this for about 2 weeks now, and my hair looks great! I'll be keeping this up until May hits! :-D

That's about all for this update, bellas! I'll be posting almost everything that I posted on my CN blog on here over the next few days. 

Ciao!

Life and Hair Update...

Well, chicas, it's been more than a month since I wrote my last post. Life has been crazy busy since then, and it's getting even more hectic with graduation coming up! Ugh. Anywho, I thought I'd give you a brief life update since I haven't been posting regularly.

1. I was accepted into 6 of the 8 colleges I applied for! A 75% acceptance rate is pretty good methinks, especially with SAT scores as low as mine. God was so faithful during this process! I was fretting about money and how school was going to be paid for, but I was chosen to be a member of a scholars program at my community college, so my first two years of tuition will be totally paid for! I couldn't believe it! And there's a really high chance that after I transfer, I'll be able to get a good scholarship for the last two years of my undergrad degree. Praise God!

2. My weight loss plan was a major fail. I've been so stressed, and I didn't stick to my plan, so I've been gaining a ton of weight this semester. I'm now at 230 pounds :-( *sighs* I'd like to start eliminating sugar, meat and dairy in April so that maybe 15-20 pounds could be dropped by the time my high school's banquet is near.

3. Spiritual growth seems to have been stunted this year too. I've not been reading my Bible as much as I used to, even though I've been praying a lot more (the crazy people at my job are part of that reason).

Sooo, my 2012 resolutions seem to have been a no-go, but I'm determined to start again! I won't quit only a few months in. The year is still new! :-D

Also, I've got a ton of hair updates for you too. In the time that I was absent from the blog, I reevaluated my regimen, and found a few things that weren't working for me. Shampooing for one. It was drying out my scalp and hair, so I decided to try co-washing (using a conditioner like a shampoo). It was okay for a couple of weeks, but after a while, my scalp was full of build up, and my hair looked dull. I asked for help on the CN forums, and somebody suggested that I try apple cider vinegar. So at my next wash session, I mixed 3.5 tablespoons of ACV with 1.5 cups of water. I poured it onto my hair, rubbed it into my scalp, etc. And then I rinsed for several minutes (to make sure that funky smell was totally out). My hair felt so clean and moisturized! I'm hooked and never going back to a regular shampoo! The ACV has helped with shedding, reduced or totally eliminated my scalp's irritation, and helped with curl definition. Unbelievable. I can't believe I hadn't tried this before! I'd highly recommend it to any curly who's willing to try this.

Anywho, I have to go for now, but I'll be back soon to finish my hair update!

Hasta luego, chicas!