EOS Shaving Cream

This is not a hair product clearly but one of my best friends put me on this so I had to share with you guys. As ladies with curly thick hair we are more prone to get razor bums and burns. There are ways to avoid this like getting waxed or not saving at all but lets face it, waxing hurts like hell and not everybody is for hairy areas.Well my roommate told me about this shaving regimen that she found online to help with fighting razor bumps. It includes shaving with EOS shaving cream then applying aloe vera gel to the shaved area after you get out the shower.

So here is my review on the shaving cream:
I purchased the pomegranate raspberry scented one, let me start of by saying it smells amazing! It is a thick cream vs a standard gel which is better for shaving if you suffer from razor bumps. EOS states that it will provide you with 24 hours of moisture and that you can shave either wet or dry and that "it’s enriched with skin protectants to help prevent nicks and razor bumps". One of its ingredients is shea butter and you guys know how much I love that stuff. The cream gives you a very good shave and leaves your skin super smooth. I bought it at Walgreen's for about $3.50 and I will probably never buy a different shaving cream again. Another plus is that it comes in a plastic container with a pump so it won't leave a rusty ring in the shower.

This product plus the aloe vera gel applied to the skin post shower is great on preventing razor bumps. I found my aloe vera gel in the sun screen section (I purchased the Walgreen's brand) and as you know or didn't know the aloe plant is great for soothing and treating burns.

I hope this helps you guys as much as it helped me!

Questions for me

With my growing blog I wanted to feature myself as a Happy Nappy because who wouldn't want to be featured on a blog write? But my boyfriend told me that I was being big headed and instead suggested that I have you guys ask me questions and I answer them, so here we are!

Question: How do you go about trimming split ends? If you have a salon in Gso, who do you trust?
Answer: Personally my hair grows faster when I keep it trimmed so I try to trim my ends every 2 to 3 months. Sometimes I trim my ends myself if I can't stand them and I do that my flat ironing my hair and as I flat iron each piece I trim about 1/2 an inch off. If I go to a salon I go to Leon's on Tate St. (Jordan cuts my hair) or the one in Friendly shopping center (Tiffany cuts my hair). The one on Tate was $20 last time I went and the one in Friendly was $30.

Question: What is your favorite style?
Answer: My favorite hairstyle is my big curly fro which I achieve with a messy braid out.

Question: Do you know of any foods/food items that promote healthy hair growth?
Answer: Over the summer I made smoothies every day and my hair and skin where the best they had ever been. In them I had; kale, spinach, broccoli, peaches, pineapple, yogurt, almond milk, and flax seeds. Anything with protein is also a plus because one of the components of hair is protein. I also went online and found some foods that are great for hair which are; salmon, walnuts, oysters, sweet potatoes, eggs, spinach, lentils, blueberries, and poultry.

Question: How do you handle bad hair days? 
Answer: I throw my hair up in I high puff. If my hair is looking really dry I run my hair under some water really quick and throw some conditioner in my hair before I put it up in a puff.

Question: What is your curl pattern/hair type?
Answer: My hair is a mixture of 3C and 4A with 3B in the very back. I hate to type or catergorize hair though because you can get lost in trying to figure out your curl pattern when you really just need to focus on finding out what works best with your hair.

Question: What's the best way to manage your curls and work out everyday?
Answer: When working out you need to keep your hair out of your face so it won't bother you or come in contact with sweat. I personally put my hair up in a loose puff. If your hair isn't long enough to do that you can do a protective style like french braids or two flat twists while you work out. After you work out take your hair down and let it dry. I personally couldn't keep a protective style in after working out because I sweat buckets. You can put a sweat band, head band, or silk scarf around your edges to keep you edges from puffing up if you want. I kept my normal wash routine of washing once a week unless my hair just felt really dirty then I would do a quick conditioner rinse and braid my hair up for the night so I could have my fullness again for the next day.

Question: How do you take care of your hair:
Answer: I wash my hair every week using shampoo every two weeks. I use Jason Tea Tree oil shampoo and Say yes to the carrot conditioner (both items are found in the natural ingredient section of hair care products, sometimes by the skin car not the African American natural section). I detangle in the shower as I apply conditioner with a wide tooth comb. After I wash I let my hair air dry for as long as I can then I apply moisturizer as I am putting my hair in braids (my hair holds moisture better if I apply it to dry/damp hair rather than wet hair). I put about 7 or 8 braids in my hair I DO NOT COMB MY HAIR WHEN I'M DOING THE BRAIDS it manipulates my curl pattern. I take the braids out in the morning and separate each strand so my hair gets bigger and doesn't look braided. I hate a defined look. I braid my hair up about every two nights and pineapple in between I might detangle once in between washes if my hair is looking a little cray cray. I also spritz m hair with my spray bottle mixture to add moisture and to make my hair bigger.

Tranistioning

With the popularity of my blog growing (thanks guys!) I have been getting a lot of questions about transitioning so I decided to do a piece on it for you guys.

So you decided to cancel that last retouch appointment or you have thrown away that jar of motions that you have in your cabinet. First let me say congratulations! Second I must ask you are you sure and ready for the changes that are going to take place?
I'm not one to bash anyone who gets relaxers so if you get them and are happy with them then you do you boo! I just came to the realization that they weren't for me and I had my reasons for that. My reasons were because I got tired of paying tons of money to get relaxers done, I had a bad relaxer experience where I lost some of my hair, and I liked my natural curl pattern.

So first ask yourself this question: 1.Why are you going natural?
Please, please, please make sure you are doing this for you and not because all of your friends are doing it or because you saw someone who is natural and you want hair like theirs because you will be highly disappointed.

Now if you answer that question and you are ready then lets get to transitioning!
The first time I attempted to go natural was a mess I was growing out a short hair style so when my hair got curly it was really short and I just wasn't comfortable with it so I slapped a mild perm in it. YouTube videos weren't as popular they are now and products definitely weren't in abundance as they are now.
The second time around......
This attempt was way better. I transitioned for about 8 to 9 months. I flat ironed my hair most of the time because I had no idea how to deal with two textures.I did bantu knot outs a few times. YOUR TEXTURE WILL CHANGE A FEW TIMES. The more permed ends you have the more weight there is pulling down on your curls and kinks so they might seem looser than what they realty are at first.
I got a inch trimmed off my hair every 6 to 8 weeks until one day I had about an inch or two of permed ends left and i grabbed the scissors and cut the ends off myself. About a month later I straightened my hair and went to the salon so they could even my hair out.

Now I wish that I transitioned differently instead of straightening my hair. My advice that I would give to any future natural is to use the resources that are out there.YouTube needs to become your best friend. Bantu knots, braid and twist outs, twist and curl are all styles you should try.
Here are some of my personal favorite tutorials:

Try many products!  As long as you stay away from products that contain harsh sulfates, mineral oil and petroleum you will be fine. You have to find what works good for your hair.Keeping your hair moisturized is a key thing to healthy hair so its ok to be a product junky. Here are some of my favorite products:

Whenever you moisturize you have to seal or lock in the moisture with an oil. Simply just apply the oil of your choice to your hair after you moisturize and there you go! Here are some of my fav oils. You can find some of them in the grocery store on the cooking oil isle.

Well that's all I can think of now if you have any questions just ask either on here, instagram, or by email at breanamelvin@gmail.com. Happy transitioning!

Childrens book review: Princess Truly and the Hungry Bunny Problem

Since I'm featuring kids this week I am doing something a little different for product views instead of a hair product I am doing a book spotlight.

The book Princess Truly and The Hungry Bunny Problem by Kelly Greenawalt

Amazon describes the book as:
Princess Truly and The Hungry Bunny Problem is a picture book for children, especially girls, ages 4-8. It's an enchanting tale about a clever, problem-solving princess with magical curly hair featuring the delightful illustrations of Amariah Rauscher.

This is a recent book that many mothers in the natural community love! The pictures are so cute and many young curly and kinky beauties can connect with the main character because she has hair like they do!

You can order this book on Amazon for about $10


You can find more great books for your princesses at the wonderful website chocolatehairvanillacare.com
Here is the direct link for their book list: 
http://www.chocolatehairvanillacare.com/2012/09/20-natural-hair-books-just-for-children.html

ORS Olive oil smooth-n-hold pudding

I recently had a job interview and I wanted to do something different with my hair so I could look fancy and I was also bored. I had just received interview feedback from Alyssa and I say where she talked about her perfect Bantu knot out on stretched hair and I tried it. The style came out perfect and that was because of the product that I used to help hold the style, ORS olive smooth n hold pudding. I used this product specifically because she used it on her hair in the video.
I got the product from Walmart and it was under $6 so I was really excited about the price! I used this product on dry super stretched hair so I only used a little bit on each section of hair that I did so my hair wouldn't curl back up (the product is rather wet) I just lightly dabbed three fingers in the product and that's it. A little bit goes a very long way.  This product provided me with a great soft hold and it also smells great too! With you using such a small amount it will last you for a good while so you really get your bang for your buck.

The photo on the left I used Cantu foaming wrap lotion for hold on a flexy rod set on blow dried hair. The photo on the right I used the pudding to provide hold with my bantu knot out.

The pudding gives your hair great hold the whole day and your hair is still soft. My hair did not get bigger and bigger as the day went buy like it did with the foam lotion.

What's in your spray bottle?

                            
If you have been natural for a while than you know all about the spray bottle. It is a staple in many naturals lives and it is key in adding moisture to your hair. Spray bottles usually contain two key thing which are water and your choice of oil (you have to have oil to seal in the moisture). Now you can add other things to it as well, Ive added aloe vera juice in mine once and that was pretty nice. So wanna know whats in my spray bottle now????



I have water, Aveno leave in conditioner, and Jamaican black castor oil.
I use my spray bottle to add needed moisture when my hair feels dry, to add volume to a twist out or braid out, and to refresh my hair after a nap when I'm lazy and don't put on a bonnet.

So whats in your spray bottle? What are some things you have tried that have worked great or not worked at all?

Lustrasilk Deep Penetrating Conditioner product review

 

**I have to start this product review off with an apology to Lustrasilk. I completely underestimated their brand. They are awesome.

 

 

I was in a terrible situation, I ran out of all my products favorite products at the same time and it was no where near pay day. My hair needed a wash badly and I was all out of my Say Yes To the Carrot conditioner. So I went to my product crate (a crate with every hair product I have in it). A couple of months ago I went to a natural hair expo and I got some great freebies and this was one of the freebies I received. I got a full jar of this and their shampoo. It was one of my last things to try and here were my reasons for me being silly and hesitant:

1. It was a full free jar. Although I was glad to get a full jar of a product then a sample pack of conditioner that will never be enough for my hair I was worried that they were giving away full bottles because it wasn't a great product.
2. It doesn't look like a typical natural hair product. The label wasn't colorful it didn't say all over it that it was free of sulfates and mineral oil and their was no character of a natural lady with big curly hair.
3. When I first saw the product in Walgreens (my natural product heaven) I thought it was for jerry curls. I could have sworn my granny had something called Lustra silk in her hair cabinet when I was a child.

So I broke down and used it and guess what? I loved it! It is very thick so it gives you a great slip for detangling. My hair will soak up conditioners and sometimes not feel soft and moisturizer, well that was not the case here. Even after the rinse out and air drying process (when I have the time I let my hair air dry before I put anything on it) my hair still felt wonderfully soft. The only thing I didn't like about this product is the size of the container. It's rather small and if I'm detangling I use a lot of conditioner so I used about half the jar on the first wash. Other than that it is a awesome product!

Did you pass the same judgment about Lustrasilk?

Have you tried this product?