Events and Hair

The organizer

I went to my first natural hair event a couple of weeks ago held in my hometown of Fort Lauderdale, FL.  It was a great time with martinis, appetizers, entertainment, giveaways and best of all gorgeous naturalistas.
This was an impromptu event for me.  I got ready in about 10 minutes, hair and all.  Not bad, huh?  Of course since this wasn't planned, I hadn't brought a camera so these are my phone pics.  I hope you enjoy!

Just a few of the naturalistas enjoying martinis and chatting

My appletini

my mom and a friend

Another of the organizers.  My mom was crushing on her beautiful hair color

In other news, my boyfriend has officially graduated from grad school.  Below are photos of my hair for his graduation and the awards banquet we attended.

funky half-updo for graduation

Classy updo for the awards banquet

Work Hair

From time to time, I have and will continue to post pictures of work hairstyles that I come up with that look professional in the workplace and are also low manipulation/low maintenance and attractive.  The reason I do this is to disprove the myth that natural hair cannot be professional.  Yes, it's a challenge in the shorter stages because there really isn't much  to work with.  There is a very limited array of styles you can do with a TWA for instance in regards to up-dos and the like but I made it through that stage unscathed as well.  For those of you with hair long enough to do an updo, this is s style I kind of threw together last minute that I will definitely be trying to recreate in the future.  
This updo is done on a four day twist-out, (actually parts of the front are still twisted).  These pictures are taken from my second day rocking this updo.  I just tied it down the night before and it was still intact the next morning!
I basically left some of the front out to sweep to the side and pin.  The back half of what's left I loosely twisted upward and secured.  Then the top half I twisted downward to meet the bottom half and secured that too.  I tucked loose ends and smoothed the edges and voila!

 As you can see it's secured with bear claw aka butterfly clips. You can use hairpins too but I find hairpins are no match for my hair because it's so thick.  I have an easier time with these clips and it's more likely to stay put.  Also, using a lot of hairpins can break my hair if I'm not extremely cautious.

This is the view from the top.  I found this hairstyle very low maintenance.  As you can see it's very loose.  No pulling at your edges or giving you tension headaches.  And I got loads of compliments on it.  Try it out!

Hooked on the Juice

I finally did it!  I gave in to the juicing craze.  I finally purchased a juicer...a  really really good one and I never thought it would be this easy.  Not only that, I thought juicing vegetables (and fruits but mostly veggies) with no sugar added would be disgusting.  I imagined I would want to vomit at the taste but I was wrong about that too.  I'd read about it on a few blogs but it was my intern at my job who finally sucked me in.  She does it daily and swears by it.  She brought me a some juice she made of all these vegetables I thought would taste disgusting and it was actually good.  And with all the health benefits... I couldn't think of a good reason NOT to do it.

I have battled anemia my whole life and have been on and off symptomatic.  That is low energy, mild dizziness and overall lethargy.  I say mild because when you've lived like this for almost your whole life, it becomes you baseline.  You don't even realize that you're not supposed to feel that way.  You have nothing to compare it to.  So anyway, I've literally only made two juices so far, so I can't say for now what miracles it has worked for me.  Truth is, I'm hoping my skin will clear up, my hair will be shiny and strong, I'll feel more energetic, etc.  But even if none of this happens I know good things are happening on the inside.  Fruits and vegetables help to stave off chronic conditions such as heart disease, many cancers, kidney dysfunction and so much more.

Downside:  well fruits and veggies can be costly depending on where you buy them.  I went to the local Farmer's Market and it's a bit cheaper than the supermarket or Whole Foods so it's not that bad but it is going to cost me extra money on a regular basis plus the one-time cost of a juicer.  But in my opinion, the cost is worth the benefits.

Another possible downside is I feel like my digestive system has been trying to adjust.  The changes (which I'll spare you details) may just be coincidental, but I feel like it is not used to what I'm introducing it to right now and it's like, "huh?".  That's an individual thing, however, because my boyfriend, who had been drinking the exact same stuff I have, has not had any digestive issues and I've been known to have a very sensitive digestive system.

Anyway, I will keep you guys posted but so far I'm still very excited about it!

PS: There are many websites where you can find tips for juicing such as different "recipes".  I'll post some on here very soon in a follow-up post and let you guys know if my digestive system adjusts and any differences I feel as far as energy level, my hair/skin, etc.

Bentonite Clay for Clarifiying and Moisturizing

My hair recently has been very very dry.  Dryness is something many naturals struggle with.  The reason is because we have so many curls and kinks along our hair shaft, it is difficult for oil secreted by our sebaceous glands in our skin to make its way down the shaft along all those curls and kinks.  For that reason, we must moisturize our hair regularly ourselves.  I'm usually good with this but the other day I made the mistake of shampooing the hell out of my hair.  I'd gone a little bit longer than usual without washing it (ask my boyfriend who made it a point to call my hair stinky) and I so I went a little overboard with trying to get rid of all the build up.  I basically used loads of my DuDu Osum shampoo and my hair came out squeaky clean.  A little too squeaky because over a week later I could not for the life of me restore moisture to my hair.  I needed a serious emergency intervention, i.e. bentonite clay.  I bought a jar of bentonite clay the day I did my Big Chop over two years ago at the recommendation of my sister and I still have it.  That should tell you how much I've used it.  About a year ago, I discovered how effective it was at moisturizing my hair from a blog I'd read.   I was amazed that something could clarify AND moisturize your hair at the same time.  You'd think I would have continued to use it again and again but as I simplified my regimen for the sake of time that was one of the things that went out the window since it can be a bit messy and time consuming by adding  an extra step.  Well I returned to it this time as the moisture was so depleted from my hair, I had to sacrifice some time.  I recommend this to anyone who struggles with moisture (i.e. everyone with tight curls or kinky  hair).  I repeat, bentonite clay is the ish!
I can go on about this for days but I'll leave it at that.  So here's is what I did.

My three ingredients

The clay mixture

Yeah I know it's all over my face... I told you it was messy.  But the good news is it's good for your skin too!

I detangled and co-washed with Hello Hydration and partially towel dried my hair by gently patting and soaking up some of the water.  I applied bentonite clay mixed to a mask-like consistency with apple cider vinegar (good for adding shine and clarifying hair) and olive oil.  I let it dry about 50% and rinsed it out.  It's important to make sure you rinse it thoroughly! 
The result: hair that is moisturized from the inside out.  It feels like your hair just soaked in all this moisture unlike with any other product many of which leave a greasy or silky feeling on the outside but you can tell your hair didnt' absorb any of it.  You have to see for yourself.  You know it has soaked in all this moisture because your curls suddenly become defined all on their own even after getting rid of the excess moisture.  Your hair won't feel weighed down as with heavy conditioners but light and clean.  It's pretty incredible.

This is my towel dried, squeaky clean and super moisturized hair right after rinsing (before any conditioning)