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?

 

Greenhouse effect

Greenhouse effect
Ok so everyone wants to have long hair (unless your rocking a shortcut) and we all know we need to be patient but that's a really hard thing to do. Well my friend text me the other day about something called the greenhouse effect challenge. I did some research and I was super excited to try it! Ok so leg me break down what I found:
The green house effect is a process that helps moisturize your hair and promote faster hair growth.
Now I've seen it done many ways but the two things that are consistent are a shower cap/plastic bag and putting it on at night or whenever you want to (you can use a headband to secure it) then put a bonnet or scarf over it.











 picture from http://ghlonghair.blogspot.com/2013/01/green-house-effect-challenge.html


While the cap is on heat and moisture will be created (just like the elementary school project you did with a seed in a closed container). When you take the cap off your hair will be damp or wet and should dry in about 15 minutes.

Now here is ways you can do it:





You can spritz with water, apply oil or apply nothing before you put the cap on.
          I moisturize and oil my hair and scalp every other day and I started this on a day when I don't moisturize so I put nothing on my hair. When I woke up my roots were damp and very soft and dried in a good amount of time. If I ever do it for only 30 minutes I will spritz with my water and oil mixture.

You can do this as much as every day to as little as twice a week.
      I chose to do it every other day. I read that some people who did it every day experienced "mushy" hair and actually had some hair loss so I would recommend at the most every other day.

I did this with my hair having a flat twist out on blown hair. I put about 7 chunky twists in my hair to help keep my flat twist style and shower capped it up! I secured my hair with a bonnet and scarf (I wanted to make sure it was secure). In the morning the first thing I did was take off everything and take down my twists. I did not separate each twist strand because my hair was damp. I went on with my morning routine and then I went back to my hair and separated. I was afraid my blown out look would be ruined bc of the wet moisture but it didn't! Here is how it looked.

The typical GHE challenge is 6 months so let's see how this goes!

Black Castor Oil

I so love this oil. It is one of my favorites. It makes my hair so soft and I put it on areas of my hair that are thin and I could definitely see it thickening up (I don't have any before and after pictures I wasn't brave enough to save them lol). This oil also is great at keeping dandruff away. It is very thick so it won't run all down your face like some oils and a little goes a long way. I apply this to my scalp by taking a medicine dropper (I got a pack of two from Walgreens for $2) and squeeze it across my scalp and gently rub it in. This product is also cost friendly. I bought this at Sally's for $6.99 (I saw the same product at my local Asian hair store and it was $11 smh). This is definitely a staple product for me!

Have you tried this product?