Taking care of your hair while you sleep

Hello Ladies....

So I followed in the footsteps of Miss Tekeyia and decided to make my own hair oils. I had brought back some shay butter from Ghana but it was raw so it was kind of hard to put into my hair. So I got some olive oil, castor oil, some essential oils (they were on sale at Whole foods) I got some Lemon and Sweet Orange and then melted everything in a pot (over very low heat!) and put the shay butter in last. At first all the shay butter melted and it looked like just oil. But after leaving it out for a day it hardened up a little bit. So now I just take some and rub it in my palms (it melts really quickly) and I apply it to my scalp and then my hair. (It's more important to get the oils and the treatment to the root of your hair cause that's where your hair absorbs the oils and nutrients so that it can grow healthy and strong).

So even if you don't have shay butter around you can still make hair oils (look at the blog Tekeyia wrote (Hair Oils) for more about that. Once you have your oils you can start your nightly hair treatment. It is important to wrap your hair and moisturize it every night. If nothing else moisturize because this keeps your hair from becoming dry and brittle (which reduces the likelihood of falling out or breaking) and just keeps your hair well fed. You wouldn't drink water (or liquids) once a week would you? Now just like your body your hair needs to stay moisturized. But if your hair is already oily you might want to moisturize less often and just wrap your hair. Also the wrapping up of your hair is VERY important because it keeps your hair from being abused as you sleep. It is not only to maintain your hair style but to protect your hair. This will also allow your hair to absorb the oils and really get a chance to retain the oils you put in it. You will notice a change in the way your hair feels and this can be noted after a few weeks of putting up your hair. This works for both natural hair and for pressed hair. Even if you keep your hair in a natural style it is important to wrap it. You will have less breakage and less tendency for your hair to get really tangled up. This will also make life easier when you wake up in the morning to get ready. Less time spend de-tangling or recovering your hair from a nights sleep and more time styling and getting breakfast before class. Lol. But seriously yall get a good scarf and start puttin up your hair at night.

And after a few weeks tell me what you notice about your hair. Happy Hair time! lol.

These are the essential oils used. This is what was produced at the end (two containers of this stuff)
This is what it looks like. Its really soft. Take a small amount and rub it in the palm of my hands and....

apply to scalp.

also check out this video it talks about taking care of your hair in the evenings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw2r_jT6jnY

Enjoy Ladies!

March 2008 to March 2010

I was just checking the blog to see if anyone had posted any tips or tricks when I realized that it has been 2 years since my last perm.  I just wanted to show everyone what a difference 2 year makes.  Whether your natural, relaxed, straightened, braided, etc. it's really important to realize that no one can tell you what to do with your hair.  As long as you're proud of it, keep doing what you think is best and that's all that matters.

 March 2008 - Last relaxer

 March 2009 - 6 months natural

 March 2010 - 19 months natural (1 yr-7mos)

 March 2008 - Last relaxer

 March 2010 - 19 months natural (1 yr-7mos)

<3 TeKeyia

Flat Twists and a Trim

Hey ladies, I just wanted to post up some picture of my flat twists (that I posted about previously).  I did them again and this time I took pictures.

But to day I got my hair straightened and trimmed.  I probably cut off about  an inch (i wanted her to cut more but my god mom REFUSED lol).  The lesson I learned :  MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE!!! So I ordered Shea-Yogurt Hair Moisturizer from SHOP.BLACKONYXWORLD.COM and I'll post a review once I use it. Black Onyx has a youtube channel and she makes custom made jewelry, so definitely check her out.

[FLAT TWIST OUT]

[my straight hair]

Have a great rest of your spring break ladies

<3 TeKeyia

Warning for Relaxed Hair

If you didn't know then heed my warning; NEVER BRAID YOUR HAIR WHILE WET & LET IT DRY. So I had my mom do two cornrows on my hair that was about 80% wet following this girl's example of how she does a french braid out. Well let me tell you I have never seen my hair so dried out! I learned my lesson and will try to do this style again on drier hair. Here's some pics. Now unfortunately, the pics don't show how much horror it was to touch my hair and for it to break so easily. Luckily when I had my wash day, my dc saved my hair yay! The video is posted under hair how-to videos on the right. Hope everyone is enjoying Spring Break!

Hair Oils

I don't have any finals and I'm wide awake so I'd rather do this LOL

Here is a list of essential oils that you can had to your hair product list.  You don't need to use them all and essential oils are VERY STRONG so you only need 4-6 drops depending on the container.  I personally use only peppermint and rosemary (for now anyway, essential oils can be expensive.  I bought the two I have two years ago and I store them in a caboodle, in the back of my cabinet in the bathroom). And besides the hair related reasons for some of these you can use them just because they smell great (except for the ones that lighten your hair, be careful with those). Second you need a good carrier oil to mix your essential oil with. Carrier oils can be used with essential oils or on their own to treat the hair but NEVER put essential oils directly on your scalp.

Carrier Oils

• Jojoba Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Grapeseed Oil
• Almond Oil
• Castor Oil
• Olive Oil

Essential Oils

• Basil: Promotes growth
• Chamomile: Gives golden highlights
• Clary sage: Dandruff treatment
• Lavender: Scalp treatment for itchiness, dandruff, and even lice
• Lemon: Gives golden highlights; treatment for dry scalp, dandruff, lice, and underactive sebaceous glands (meaning dry hair/scalp)
• Myrrh: Treatment for dry scalp, dandruff, lice, and underactive sebaceous glands (meaning dry hair/scalp)
• Patchouli: Dandruff treatment
• Peppermint: Promotes hair growth
• Rose: Soothes scalp
• Rosemary: Dandruff treatment; promotes hair growth
• Tea tree: Treatment for dry scalp, dandruff, lice, and underactive sebaceous glands (meaning dry hair/scalp)
• Ylang-ylang: Dandruff treatment

A new obsession....

I was on youtube the other day and I can across a video on "How to be Afro-Centric".  Yes, the video was crazy but I got some good tips from it.  So Friday I went to Sally's to pick up some Eco styler gel ($2.99)-so far I like it.
I also got one of these applicator bottles ($2.49) -->
I put my mix of Jojoba, Vitamin E, Peppermint, and Rosemary oil in it and I oiled my scalp (SUPER BOMB MIX BY THE WAY)

Any way I tried the flat twists.  I'm leaving them in until Thursday but I don't think they're going to come out like the lady's in the video that Cathy posted (thanks again Cathy, that was a really good tutorial).  But it was my first time so we'll see.

Anyway my new obsession is head wraps!!! I went to JoAnn's and got 8 yds of fabric (3 yds of black and 3 yds of red stretch cotton, 2 yds of the sheer fabric)  for $30 - $4/yrd for stretch cotton, $10/yd for sheer, scarf like material.  For those of you who don't know about fabric, I got a really good deal.  Here are the three videos I watched and then I used a mixture of all the technics to figure out how to get a bomb "Erykah Badu" wrap

Here is my first try from last night.  And yes that is an old ABC t-shirt that I turned into a tube dress (Watch part one of the crazy Afro-centric video if you wanna know how I did it)

VIDEOS

• Afro-Centric pt.1: Turn a shirt into a tube-top
• Afro-Centric pt.2: HEAD WRAP (style 1)
• Afro-Centric pt.3: Jewelry <--this is CRUCIAL, watch only for fun lol
• Head Wrap style 2
• Head wrap style 3

So I looked at all three videos (head wrap style 1, 2, 3) and then I picked pieces from them all and ended p with a pretty decent wrap.  I'll be rocking them spring quarter, so be on the look out

pictures and video

Okay so I thought that pictures were on the last post...sorry

Also this lady is funny so thought I would include her. She talks about bantu knots and maintaining them. :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9ZOuMrr7WY

Bantu Knots....

Hey Beautiful Ladies

So I decided to try the bantu knots out on my hair. So after washing my hair this weekend I started to do the twists. I sectioned my hair off then moisturized with motions and oil (this really great oil stuff I got called Africa's Best Ultimate Herbal Oil. It has all the essential oils your hair could possibly need) as well as the moose I used for last weeks flat twists. After twisting and letting sit overnight I tried to take them down the next day. Since I had done my hair while it was still wet, and I had gotten started late at night it was still wet. So I just kept them in the twists but I pulled them all back in a poni tail (I hope this is making sense). Then that night I twisted them back up and went to sleep in them. The next day (today) I took them all out and tried to finger comb through parts of it. The end result is as seen below. They are still kind of in tight little coils but I like them like that. The moose I used is helping to keep them in place. Now tonight I will mosturize my scalp and parts of my hair and loosly twist them back up so they hold their shap. I will hold the loose bantu knots in place with some bobby pins. So Hope this helps ladies! And happy knotting. :-)


video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_2xiNke8Ck&feature=related

Flat Twists and Products used....

So I am sure many of you have seen me this week and you saw my hair. I had done the flat twist idea that Cathy had posted (thanks by the way). I used Motions Hair Lotion and Soft and Beautiful Botanicals sculpting foam while I twisted. I twisted my hair right after I washed it and let it air dry overnight. The next morning I took it down and it looked good. The only thing is that some of the parts that were not well moisturized didn't come out as defined. They were more frizzy and didn't hold the style as well. Also every night I had to re-twist them before I went to but since my hair had already been parted it wasn't too difficult. It probably took 10 minutes to re-twist and take down every night and every morning. I tried to sleep in my hair witout re-twisting one night and it was harder to style it so I had to put it up in a pony tail. But please experiement with this hair style and let me know what you discover. Happy twisting.

Kinky Curly Review

Kinky Curly Knot Today

Price:$12

This is an amazing conditioner/leave-in.My hair is left soft,silky,and moisturized.

This is a keeper!

I will have to get the bigger size,but the 8 oz will not last long.

It's a bit pricey,but its well worth it!

Kinky Curly Curling Custard

Price:$17

This natural gel is my holy grail!

I love that it defines every single curl.

My hair is more voluminous and sassy.

I love it.

Now im in the search for something that will help me have better 2nd day hair.

heeellllooo ladies!! :-)

Hello beautiful black women!!! I am finally mobile on this blog I know it took awhile, but nonetheless I made it. So right now my hair is braided up in these individual braids and I have a lot of new growth. I will be taking them out soon hopefully and I would like to adopt the twist method tekeyia had posted a video on...I never knew that sister locs had soooo much twisting involved but thats ok cus I want to try this out...Ok ladies, hopefully I will be able to take these braids down soon, I miss my hair... :-(