Back to My Old Ways-Roller-Set

Last weekend, I spent A LOT of time under the sun. I felt as if I could hear my hair splitting and begging for water. So all week I have been using the Green House Effect (baggy method). I did it with Hello Hydration  and Paul Mitchell the Detangler. I did not buy the Paul Mitchell, it was the brand the hotel provided. I was overly excited to see it. But I was told "I'm late" and hotels have always been using Paul Mitchell...okay sure fine but I'm still excited.

This wash I told my sister I'd do a roller set...I don't know why. It's been about 5 months since I've done a roller set. So I was not thrilled, but that attitude will only leave me frustrated. That wouldn't be good on my hair, so I really had to mentally prep myself and keep going.

Same routine as last week EXCEPT I pre-pooed with The Detangler and I did not clear rinse. I used ORS Moisturizering Hair Lotion and Paul Michel Supper Skinny Serum. I believe this is where I went wrong. My hair doesn't feel like there's much in it, but it looks that way. Supper Skinny Serum is not my favorite but I wanted something smoothing. 

This session took longer because I didn't roller-set freshly wet hair. I tee shirt dried and it went down hill from there. BUT it was a learning experience. Next time I will allow my hair to air-dry after I fully detangle. 

Honestly, I think it took almost two hours to roll my whole head. THAT IS UNHEARD OF. I know I have to keep at it so I can be back at level I once was on. Sigh, I can't wait to air dry next week.  

Roller-setting hairball is not bad at all.

Not the results I wanted. Must practice. Damn I really cut
my hair...

I started flat-ironing the roots but quickly
got bored. 

Vacation is slowly approaching! A cruise to the Bahamas and a week in West Gate Florida. I didn't want to make a big thing about my hair and my extended vacation but it has been a hot topic. Inevitably my hair routine will change. Lots of co-washing and no-heat styles ALL DAY EVERYDAY. I will bring my flat iron, please don't judge me lol. I'm giving myself a heat pass (or two). We'll talk about it!

Peace&Love

Too Many Smoothies

          This week, I made three different smoothies. Two were great and one was okay.  Peanut butter and banana. I've had my eye on the peanut butter in the pantry. Peanut butter flavored smoothies have a special spot in my heart. So I took the time and Googled a recipe. I didn't use ice or milk. I took a banana, frozen light vanilla yogurt, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and some honey. Blended it together...voila! ...kind of, there was too much peanut butter in it.

That smoothie was way too rich for me. The flavor
was too much. Must experiment with it more.

       The next day I went I picked up a small container of pre-cut cantaloupe. The picture on the left is cantaloupe, banana and yogurt. Blah. It was pretty boring. And the banana over powered the poor cantaloupe.                                                                                    The smoothie on the bottom left was probably my favorite. Two ingredients. Cantaloupe and light vanilla yogurt. Just a simply easy summer smoothie. If you love cantaloupe, then this smoothie may be worth a try. 

Water Reminder

Don't forget to drink your water today. Good for your hair, skin, and well-being! 

Go on, have a cup now.

This is how I remind myself to get my water on.

Peace&Love

Wash Day- Busy Weekend

     So yesterday I put my swimsuit on, applied diluted Herbal Essence Hello Hydration to my french braided hair and proceeded to the pool. 

IT WAS CLOSED. 

     I was so bummed. Yesterday was the day I'd learn to float, I felt it. Now I'm bummed thinking about it. 

       Anyways, this weekend I'm attending a little party/gathering and I'm going to Illinois to watch The Spartan Obstacle Race.

        I pondered what I'd do to my hair. I decided on a braid-out just because I'll be spending a lot of time outside. I wanted this session to be easy because I started late. I changed up my routine a little.

1. Green tea rinse FIRST
2. Shampoo with Giovanni Smooth as Silk
3. KeraPro conditioner and Jazzing Clear Rinse 30 minutes under my hooded dryer (I was very heavy handed with KeraPro)
4. Rinse
5. Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Spray
6. T-shirt dry
7. Blog
8. Detangle with ORS Moisturizing Hair Lotion and my Shea Butter mix
9. French braid, scarf and bed

   

   Left: Tee Shirt dry for 30 minutes
   Right: What I got after detangling. Is that even a hair ball?
   There was another "ball" this size in the bathroom.

 Shrinkage the next morning! Pinned my ends up before bed.

Whenever I get my hands on ORS Moisturizing Hair Lotion,  I can't stop using it. My hair has always taken to it well. My texlaxed hair likes it too.

So I noticed my hair was on the brink of protein overload, but I never fret because it's a pretty easy fix me. Actually, I purposely over use protein, is that weird? It works for me. So I slathered KeraPro all over my tresses. After I rinse it out, it felt...what is the word? Soft I guess, like a fluffy pillow.

So I like the Green Tea Rinse first. I will incorporate another one before my deep condish.

Not FULLY dry but it'll have to do!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Peace&Love

Smoothie of the Week

• 5 strawberries cut in half
• 6 oz of light vanilla yogurt (semi-frozen)
•  A few ice cubes
• Teaspoon of honey (who am I kidding, I didn't measure the honey)
• A few drops of lemon juice 

This week I didn't buy much fruit. So I stuck it out with just strawberries and one kiwi. The kiwi is gone and I feared the strawberries by themselves wouldn't be adequate. 

When life gives you lemons...lemon juice? I love lemonade, strawberry lemonade especially. So I quickly pulled out some lemon juice.

Blending fruit is sooooo addicting. 

I picked up a pack of colorful straws!

Needless to say, this mixture was a hit. Smoothie of the week! I still haven't went down the healthy smoothie lane. However, I do eat my fair share of veggies daily! 

Let me know how you liked this mix!

Peace&love

Meditation Challenge :(

Well it's been over 28 days since I started my meditation challenge.

Week 1 went like this 
June 16
Day 1- I chanted a mantra, two mantra because I could't pick one. Life's a little too complicated for only one mantra. I also listened to the first 3 tracks on the Meditation CD.
At bed time I did a lying down meditation.

Day 2- I watched the flame of a candle. No CD. I put my timer on for 6 minutes and tried to focus my busy mind on the flame

Day 3- "Replacing Negative Patterns With Positive Energy" this is track number nine. I loved it. I definitely recommend it. What did I love about it?

The Burmese position is good for beginners.

Day 4- I listened to track 10 "Grounding Meditation" It was cool. I tried really hard to keep my mind from racing but it was one of those days. Today I practiced different sitting poses. For now I will stick to the Burmese position.

So far I'm enjoying spending 5 or 6 minutes listening to my breathing.
Day 5- :( missed a day

Day 6- I tried to focus on my breath after being a little annoyed. It was hard. So I tried fire meditation in the backyard. I simply focused on the flames.

Day 7- My meditation was interrupted but I got a good 3 minutes in. I feel myself slacking but I can't be too hard on myself (something I'm working on).

At the end of week 2 I noticed I was slipping. However, I did complete my first 10 minute meditation. Very easy. But I missed 3 days that week. Meditating the first hour of waking up is what I like the best. It's just too many things happening during the day. When I wake up my mind is freer.

Week 3 I may have meditated twice. Shame on me. Once I don't do it after I get out of bed, chances of doing it again are slim.

Week 4...

I wasn't thinking about
meditation here.

      So I really wish I completed the challenge. A lot of things happened last week and there was a schedule change at home. I found some sense of calmness. I don't know if it was the little mediation I did or just a change in my attitude. In the future, I will try and incorporate meditation in my life. Meditation For Dummies is a great book for beginners. I'm happy to add it to my library.

     I wonder what my next challenge will be. It'll probably have something to do with working out.

Tougher than Nigerian Hair-Relaxer Time!

Overall, this was a nice long session. I did experience tangles when I neutralized my hair, I have no idea why. 

• Based scalp with vaseline
• Coated relaxed strands with Chi Silk Infusion
• Texlax using half&half method
• Aphogee 2 minute 
• Neutralized (chelating shampoo very important for no-lye, came in the ORS no-lye box)
• Deep conditioned with KeraPRO and ORS Replenishing 
• Aphogee Green Tea & Keratin spray before T-shirt drying 
• Detangled with ORS Moisturizing Hair Lotion
• Chi 44 Iron Guard to help flat iron

I believe I used all these items for my touch-up, too many products for one session. ORS no-lye relaxer. I had my smoothie on deck!

Detangled. Didn't take too long. But the relaxer didn't process my whole head, so some parts were harder than others.

Top: This is pretty much the pattern on my whole head.
Done air drying after my touch-up

The next day I flat ironed on a low setting. I used my Stylehouse Professional Styling
 Tool.  I regret this trim...a lot. I actually don't think I needed a trim. I was just so happy
 at the fact I texlaxed my hair. I had help trimming for the first time in seven months.
After that my scissor was taken from me, literally snatched from my hand as I tried to
 correct the trim. I can not find them :( 

Pic at the left: Problem area, is it the buns ruining my ends?
Top right: Nape from the front after trim.
Bottom right: New way to set my hair for bed, I got this idea from Freshlenghts hair blog.
I really enjoy this blog.
 

Side Note: I feel like I have been stretching for
almost a year. My texlaxed hair is very similar 
to my new growth. Even when I would get my 
texlax done at the salon, just a bunch of confused 
areas on my head that won't take to the relaxer. 
My hair does feel flatter, so I must have done
something right. 

This session I learned a lot about texlaxing 
my hair. I actually look forward to the next 
session

Yes I am Nigerian (Well my family is)

Andrea, Jeni, KPL and Age in ATL all helped me gain the courage to self-lax. And of course a whole bunch of other hair blogs helped too. The hair community as a whole is pretty excellent. 

Peace&love

Hooked on Homemade Smoothies

I used to spend mucho money on smoothie establishments. After a while, the smoothies began to slack and I no longer craved them. Summer is here in full effect and who doesn't love an icy drink to cool off.

My sister sent me this pic from
 superskinnyme. The website looks
great, must explore more.

For the past three weeks I've been blending my own smoothies. I'm pretty much obsessed, not dedicated per-say but definitely obsessed. Sometimes I blend too many things and it turns out gross.

 I like to keep it simple. Fruit and yogurt or fruit and ice or fruit, ice and yogurt. I use ice when I run out of yogurt. Iusually stick with store brand vanilla yogurt. I do try to watch my sugar intake, so occasionally I buy light yogurt. 

My two favorite smoothies to blend are:

 •strawberry-pineapple-banana-yogurt

 •banana-pineapple-yogurt-honey

I like my smoothies thick so I usually nix the liquid. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of hot water when my fruits are really frozen. Orange juice is a tasty addition as well. My blender is a beast! Having a beastly blender helps a lot.
I have been thinking about adding spinach to my smoothies...I love spinach, I love greens but I don't want it to taint my fruity smoothies!

My mouth is watering for a smoothie right now.

Another Wash Day

    After swimming (I still can't swim) I went home and continued my wash day. I already pre-pooed with my Herbal Essence Fight-the-Fall.

   I used Ultra Swim shampoo to get the chlorine out of my hair. At the beginning of the month, I clarify my hair. I love clarifying  but I recently learned that it shouldn't be done all the time. I just love that extra clean feeling. But it is drying to my sclap.

    So protein was the main focus this wash. Why? Well I believe I will texlax next week (cross your fingers). So I mixed three conditioners that have protein in them for my deep conditioner. ORS Replenishing Conditioner is in my travel bottle on the bottom left corner of my photo collage. My mix was about 80% of that. I added the Joico K-PAK because I want to finish it; Giovanni's Smooth as Silk conditioner because I love it.

Last piece to twist. Loving all the texture!

    Deep conditioned for almost an hour. Maybe it was in my head but I felt a little protein stiffness from my hair. No problem, I hit it with my Aphogee balancing moisturizer. After protein treatments I always use this (top right of photo collage).

    I didn't do a hard protein treatment because I didn't want to do the extra step. Lazy? I don't care! Anyways, I dried my hair in a 100% cotton tee for a half hour. I applied my Shea butter mix with Giovanni Direct Leave-in (protein) and sealed with Organix Milk Serum. I twisted my hair in bigger twists, not too pretty, but I'm sure the results will be worth it.

Oh and please follow me on Bloglovin'!
Happy 4th of July
Peace&love

The Past 7 Days

      The past 7 days I co-washed, drank water, barely meditated, got a mani/pedi and I went swimming (HAHA). 

Yea, it's cool to look at

   A hot topic that is prevalent in many hair/health blogs is water. Over the weekend, I found myself reading http://relaxedhairhealth.blogspot.com/. The blogger, Nadege has so many informational posts on hair, skin and body. She pointed out water apps and I quickly downloaded one.

   I am not a water drinker, and it's pretty much the only beverage in the house. No juice or soda. Which I find great but there are days where I won't drink anything. I just HATE water. 

   For years, doctors, friends and family have insisted I start drinking more water. I do try, sometimes I get inspired and I go days drinking glasses and glasses of water. 

   So I got inspired and picked up a 1 liter water bottle (it's a start). I try and drink a liter a day.

I haven't co-washed since May 18th (says my hair diary), but it was much needed this past week. I co-washed with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration  did a tea rinse and apple cider vinegar rinse. I don't know why I did the ACV rinse, perhaps I wanted more shine. I detangled with the help of my fingers, Giovanni Direct Leave-in and grape seed oil. Just an easy peasy session. 

Today I went swimming! Laugh Out Loud, I can't swim! My swimming cap ripped when I tried to cover my big head and hair :( No biggie, it didn't stop me. My hair was wet and conditioned from my pre-poo early. I gathered it up in a bun with a bobby pin and an Ouchless scrunchie.

   Back in the day I never did anything special to my hair when it came to sea water or pool water. I can't remember if I ever had a problem. This time around I figured it wouldn't hurt to take precautions. Plus I heard some horror stories about chlorine on the hair.

    My mani/pedi was a gift. I guess for being awesome. I am in love with my Gel French. Last year I sworn off Gel, when my ex-manicurist removed the gel with a drill used for acrylic nails. 

     I actually sworn off getting my nails done because I'm on that budget and it's crazy expensive in the Midwest. I used to get it done for 20 bucks on Long Island. Here, it's $35. SMH.

Happy 4th of July
Peace&love