Liebster Blogger Award

My fellow blogger Melanie of A Desired Beauty nominated me for my first award, the Liebster Blogger Award. I appreciate this soo much Melanie and I'm glad you thought of me :). From my understanding this award is a way to promote and get to know other bloggers with a small following.

Here are the rules:

• List 11 interesting facts about yourself.
• Answer the questions presented by the blogger who nominated me.
• Paste the award on your blog.
• Nominate other deserving novice bloggers who have 200 or less followers and let the nominees know about the award by commenting on their blogs or via email.
• Make up a set of 11 questions for your nominees to answer

11 "Interesting" facts about Me:

1. I'm an only child, but I've never felt like one because we've always had external family living with us.

2. I'm always freezing cold and I drag a blanket or fuzzy robe around the house with me.

3. I will be getting my Bachelor's degree this May!

4. I always prefer music to be playing over the television, I even shower with music on.

5. On the other hand, I'm also a movie head, and if I could I would go to the movies every weekend. 

6. I definitely gained the freshman ?? lol but I eventually lost it all thank God!!

7. I really love Talenti Gelato, especially the Mediterreanean Mint & Carmel Cookie Crunch. It's kind of scary how good this stuff is lol....

8. I love a lot of vintage items and the act of thrifting itself. I'm fortunate enough to have a pretty petite Mom who saved a lot of items from the 80s that I now wear.

9. I just turned 22 and I want to own my business within the next 10 years.

10. My best friends and I got matching tattoos this summer.

11. I started doing yoga this year, and you could say that I absolutely loooove it!

Melanie's Questions...
1} What do you do? career woman, full-time student, super stay-at-home mom?? Full-time student, part-time employee, & part-time internship.
{2} What's your favorite movie? Chicago. The one with Queen Latifa, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Renee Zellweger... I could watch that movie over and over and sing along with my best friend.
{3} Why did you start blogging? I want a way to track my progress and socialize on a more personal level. I love to stalk blogs to learn new things and I want to be able to share my story.
{4} What's the best vacation you have ever taken? My junior year of high school I went on a trip to Mexico with a few classmates and it was amazing! We flew into Mexico City and traveled down to Cancun as a road trip.
{5} My closet has excess when it comes jeans and shoes. What's your fashion obsession? Girl, the exact same thing lol! I am always dressed from the waist down and I can never find a shirt.
{6} Where do you see yourself in five years? I have no idea! I'm not even sure where I'll be in 1 year, I shock myself sometimes. In five years I should be making my way towards entrepreneurship.
{7} If you could meet one person, current or historical, who would it be and why? My maternal grandfather passed before I was born and everyone else in the family has fond memories with him. I would have loved to have met him and gotten to see first hand how awesome he was.
{8} Momma's girl, Daddy's girl, or Grandma's baby? Definitely Grandma's babygirl! I am the youngest of 12 grandkids so my grandparents spoiled me and I loved/love it.
{9} What motivates you? My family motivates me so much because they have sacrificed soo much for me to get what they did not have. They have so much and now I am ready to make them proud and pay it back.
{10} Do you spend more time reading blogs or watching YouTube? I can spend hours on YouTube but I do not necessarily visit YouTube daily. I visit blogs atleast once a day.
{11} Outside of blogging, how do you like to spend your free time? Yoga, music, exercising, and shopping lol.

My Nominees:

1. Taysnotebook

2. Amber

3. Andrea

4. Special K

5. KLP

Jas Sherese's Questions:

1. If you could eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?

2. What are your hair goals for the New Year?

3. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

4. Mac or PC ?

5. If you could move outside of the country, where would it be?

6. Favorite cartoon growing up?

7. Your favorite black actor/actress?

8. What are your hobbies? What do you like to do for fun?

9. What was the last restaurant you visited, and what did you order?

10. Are you a cat person or a dog person?

11. What inspires you to keep going?

Relaxer Update Dec. 2013

Relaxed trimmed and "bumped"

I got my hair relaxed on Thursday the 19th at about 10 weeks post. And once again I was pretty satisfied with the results. I am full neck length now after trimming off a bit to even up my ends. The last three relaxers I have been trimming like crazy so I think I am about to go awhile without a trim. My ends look great, my hair is full, bouncy, and shiny, and my edges are filling in nicely.

from top to bottom dec
oct, aug.

This past stretch I kept my hair braided and moisturized under a few different wigs that I have yet to post about. I've realized that my hair benefits from less manipulation to retain the most length. I've actually been seriously considering wigging all of 2014 with the exception of relaxers. I am aiming to be full APL a year from now so I need to retain all the hair that I can.

I did get a small burn in the nape of my neck that was pretty painful. My scalp hates relaxers! I swear every time I get close to the end of a stretch I start getting all itchy scalp and I just can't help but scratch. This next stretch I am going to do my best to not irritate my scalp prior to getting a relaxer.

My next stretch will consist of...

1. 12 weeks long- brings me to mid March
2. 95% protective styling
3. Babying and massaging my edges to fill them in more
4. Atleast 3 overnight deep conditions
5. Purchasing a seamless comb

Product Review- Giovanni

Now that my semester is almost over, (hallelujah) I plan to do some updating to this blog. It's been way too long since I posted but I have a few items that I've been trying out since I've been gone. With the weather changing, I have to start using different products and techniques to accommodate the cooler temperatures. That being said I'm going to be reviewing 4 products for you guys!!! (well 2 right now)

First up: Giovanni's Tea Tree Triple Threat Invigorating Shampoo
I picked this product up at my local health food store for $4.99! I could not pass up on that deal. It says it's for all hair types and contains botanical oils of cooling peppermint, conditioning rosemary and clarifying eucalyptus.
CLAIMS:

• Enriched with certified organic botanicals
• No animal by-products
• Cruelty free
• Increases scalp circulation for a refreshed, renewed feeling
• Removes all traces of dirt, oil and build-up
• Alleviates dry, flaking scalp with organic peppermint botanicals
• Contains no laurel/laureth sulfate

Shampoo should clean hair.  Really good shampoo should make you tingle from head to toe.  With Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo, invigorating ingredients wash in rejuvenating while washing away the previous day.  You're left with something rich, something clean.  Something incredibly stimulating.... for hair and mind.  Think about it.

My thoughts- I really liked the way this shampoo felt on my scalp. It was a nice cooling sensation that relived the dryness and itching I had. The shampoo is clear and the consistency is similar to Dial's antibacterial hand soap. The shampoo smells amazing, they did something right with the mixture of herbs. The shampoo does have a slight lather, which I like in any of my shampoos. Overall this was a really nice product, I could see myself switching this out with my Redkin clarifying shampoo.

Second product: Giovanni's Tea Tree Triple Threat Invigorating Conditioner
This product was also 5 bucks and I got it at the health food store.

Contains organic oils of conditioning rosemary, cooling peppermint, calming eucalyptus

• Increases scalp circulation for a refreshed, renewed feel
• Strengthens hair with a three-organic-oil-blend to stimulate, condition and calm
• Alleviates dry, flaking scalp with organic tea tree botanicals
• Encourages natural shine and resilience

You expect a conditioner to moisturize, smooth and detangle. You expect it to create a silky, sexy feel. You probably don't expect it to make you tingle all over. With Tea Tree Triple Treat Invigorating Conditioner, an incredible plethora of stimulating ingredients provide all of that plus a real treat for hair: excitement. Who knew that conditioning could be so top of mind?

My thoughts- For me this conditioner felt just okay. It is definitely not a deep conditioner by any means, but my hair still felt good. My scalp actually tingled more with this product over the shampoo, which I thought was kind of weird. The consistency was creamy and watery like baby lotion, which allowed it to sink into my hair easily. The smell was identical to the shampoo which I loved, but that's about all i loved. I left the product in my hair for about 20 minutes, and when I rinsed it out I definitely wasn't wowed. In the future, I could see myself using this for a really nice co-wash.

The verdict: I think both of these products are great for dry itchy scalps and the scent is amazing. I really enjoyed the shampoo for clarifying and soothing reasons, but the conditioner is not to die for. I expect most condioners to be miraculously smoothing and softening, but that was not the case. I will continue to use both products, and I'll definitely repurchase the shampoo. (especially if it's on sale lol)

Wash Day 3 week Flat Iron

              Well since my relaxer I have decided to go right back to my wig regimen. I am really loving wigging at this time in my life, but I still feel I should enjoy my hair at times. So this wash day, week 3, I decided to straighten my hair. (I know I'm not the only who feels guilty about straightening their hair!) This will probably be the only time I straighten my hair this stretch that will be over around Christmas. Nevertheless, it was a pretty harmless wash day lol.

1. I started with detangling my braids from the last cowash day. I am still using Mane n' Tail's detangler since the beginning days of my journey. I pre-pooed using Tresemme Natural's Nourishing Conditioner and sealed it with Grapeseed Oil.
2. I washed my hair with my Hair Cleansing Cream since I knew I was going to straightening my hair. I have to be very careful with the products I use when planning to straighten because my hair is fine, and limp hair is not okay!

From Air Dried to sections and then blow dried

3. My deep conditioner, Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream, is moisturizing and also contains silk protein to strengthen my hair. I went worked out for about 2 hours, then I put a clear rinse on top of the deep conditioner for the last 30 mins. I have given up on color rinses for a while since the reddish color did not show.
4. After rinsing out the deep conditioner, I let my Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Conditioner sit on my hair for a few minutes while I showered. I towel dried my hair for about 45 minutes before spraying my leave-ins (Aphogee Green Tea & Elasta QP)  and allowing my hair to air dry for another 30 minutes.

5. Once my hair was about 70-80% dry I separated it into 6 parts to prepare to blow dry. I used my Silk Elements heat protector and blow dried on medium warm.

Half way done/ Finished results

6. Once my hair was dry I sprayed Organix's flat iron spray on each section to flat iron. Honestly, I do not think the flat iron spray does anything special to my hair, but I did love the way it makes my hair smell :). I wasn't too worried since I used heat protector and my Paul Michell's Super Skinny Serum before blow drying. When actually flat ironing I only passed the iron through each section twice.

My end results were great! It was fully of body and movement, which are the two things I aim for.

Relaxer Update Oct. 2013

Left side.

           Even though I have not been posting my washdays, this last stretch was easy breezy. Granted, I did only stretch for 8 weeks!!! I probably will never relax again so soon, but I wanted to relax sooner, and gradually make my way to 16 weeks/ 3 relaxers a year. Anyways, I had my regular stylist relax/texlax my hair for me even though I was supposed to start self-relaxing :/. I have not worked up the courage to do so, and I want to make sure I know exactly what I am doing before I go down that road.

Here are the results: *Check the Relaxer Update tab to view from the back and see progress.

Right side.

I feel like I got a little length, but overall I am happy with my progress so far. The next relaxer will be 10 weeks away falling on Dec 21ish. I plan to use heat once next weekend for my Senior Year College Homecoming, and maybe again on Thanksgiving. Outside of those 2 occasions, I will be wearing heatless hairstyles, and prob a half will around week 6.

This last stretch I added a few things to my regimen, that I plan to talk about in a future post. Happy Monday!

Wash Day 2

    So last weekend (yeah I know I'm late) I had my second wash day for this stretch. I've decided to continue with my summer regimen and wash my hair every ten days or so with a few co-washes in between. I'm currently sitting with my pre-poo for next wash day post which will come some time soon. Anyways I ended up using direct heat again this time, but I am positive this was the last time until relaxer day in a few weeks.

Detangled BKO before Pre-poo

1. Detangled Bantu Knot Out with Mane & Tail detangler
2. Pre-poo hair for 30-40 minutes using V05 Strawberries and Cream Moisture Milk
3. Wash with Hair Cleansing Cream, follow with coffee rinse (instant). With instant coffee, I just nuke it in the
microwave for a few seconds and it's ready to go.
4. Deep conditioned using Silk Dreams for 30 minutes
5. Rinsed and towel dried
6. Mixed Black Cherry Jazzing rinse and Clean Jazzing Rinse and attempted to get a deep reddish color for fall. I left the rinse on for 40 minutes. Unfortunately it didn't show up, but I have been craving some color in my hair. My next wig must have color in it because I am not coloring my own hair as of now.
7. Rinsed and followed with Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Daily Conditioner (small amount). I think the last time I flat ironed my hair, it did not have as much body as I would have hoped. I am trying to be less heavy handed with products, especially while wearing hair straight.
8. T-shirt dried 15 minutes
9. Used Elasta QP Leave In and applied the Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum
10. After lightly detangling, I left it to air dry for another 15 minutes.
11. Blow dried on low with Brazilian heat protectant by Organix- which smells amazing!

12. Flat iron & Style :) (one pass + small sections)

I am happy with the amount of body and movement my hair had this time around, I must be doing something right!

Wash Day 1

freshly washed hair

Last week was my first wash day since my relaxer and I was eager to get back into the swing of things. My hair is so much stronger and resistant to breakage since getting cut. This makes my washday/ everyday maintenance that much easier.
1. Pre-pooed with V05 Moisture Milk and Olive Oil for ten minutes. In the colder months I will begin using Castor oil again, but I just cannot deal with it in this heat!
2. Washed with Organix Awapuhi Ginger Shampoo, which I still love very much. I am somehow down to only this and my clarify shampoo to alternate between.
3. Followed with a Coffee rinse that I applied while in the shower. I have opted to do instant coffee rinses because it is a lot easier to prepare than black tea. It seems to have the same effect and I've had very little shedding in the last 2 weeks.
4. For a deep conditioner, I used my favorite, KeraCare Humecto for 45 mins under a plastic cap. The humecto creme gave me great results as usual.

DC is on hair

5. Rinsed, and ended with Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Daily Conditioner
6. T-shirt dried for 10 minutes. Then applied leave-ins (Aphogee) and PMSSS.

In the middle of flatiron/curling hair

Finished results!

7. While hair was still wet, I wet wrapped my hair using KeraCare's Wrapping Lotion, using my head as one larger roller. This was still very difficult for me so my results were not the best. Also I didn't have the little paper strips to secure the wrap :/.
8. I sat under the dryer for 35 minutes while my hair dried.
9. Combed out the wrap and continued to dry my hair using my blow dryer on low heat.
10. Flat ironed on low temperature using Silk Element's Heat Protectant w/Olive Oil. 

Pretty happy with my results despite my straight hair lasting just 24 hours. I suffered reversion due to humidity, plus I was a bit heavy handed with products so it wasn't as flowy as I would have liked. Practice makes perfect...
After working out on Sunday, I turned the sweated out style into a braid out until my co-wash on Wednesday.