Washday | Preparing My Hair For Travel!

This week I'm traveling back home to take care of wedding planning details! I'm super excited to see my family and do all of the fun wedding stuff that soon to be brides get to do! I already know my trip home will be jam packed with appointments and spending quality time with my family. As a part of getting ready for my trip I decided to prepare my hair. Here's what I did:

• Rinsed my hair thoroughly for about 2 minutes with luke warm water
  
• Clarified my hair with the Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo
• Rinsed and shampooed with the Keracare Humecto Hydrating Detangling Shampoo
• Followed up with a protein treatment using the ORS Hair Mayonaise (I sat under my Gold N Hot conditioning cap for about 15 minutes)
• Rinsed and deep conditioned with the Keracare Humecto Conditioner while I worked out. Check out my turban that I used to camouflage my shower cap! 
• Did a final rinse with cool water
• T-shirt dried my hair for about 20 minutes
• Applied my leave ins using the LCO method (L-Chi Keratin Mist, C-Kimmaytube Leave In, O-Macademia Healing Oil)
• Blow dried my hair (about 70 % dry) using the cool setting

Results: Thick, soft, fluffy, moisturized hair! And this was before moisturizing and sealing! It looks like the few extra steps I took in this wash day was just what my hair needed! 

Style: This weekend I rocked my go to style, a super curly caruso roller set. While away on travel I'm planning to rock this half up twisted bun. I will jazz it up with flowers, a cute head band, or a cute hat. The humidity this time of year in Louisiana is no joke so I will be bunning the entire time I'm home! 

How was your wash day? Have you checked out our wash day link up yet? Join us!

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Washday | Same Ol Same Ol

Unfortunately this week I don't have any pictures of voluminous curls to show you because I did not wear my hair down one day. The in laws were in town so I spent the week spending time with them and this past weekend was spent running errands and being completely lazy. It was awesome! Needless to say between all of that I wasn't left with my enthusiasm for styling my hair so I just rocked a bun jazzed up with a bang and kept it moving! Here's how my super late washday went:

• Rinsed my hair with warm water for a few minutes and proceeded to shampoo with my Keracare Hydrating Detangling Sulfate Free Shampoo.
• Rinsed and shampooed a second time to ensure that I had no product buildup left.
• Used my turbie twist for about 25 minutes to soak up most of the excess water.
• Deep conditioned with my Keracare Humecto conditioner on the length of my hair and Giovanni GPB conditioner on my ends (I found a sample packet that I'd never used!) for about 25 minutes.
• Rinsed and applied a small amount of the generic version of the Matrix Biolage detangling conditioner.
• T-shirt dried my hair for about 30 minutes.
• Detangled with my Mane N Tail and applied my leave ins using the LCO method (Chi Keratin Mist, Kimmaytube Leave In Mix, GVP Smoothing Serum).
• Blow dried my hair on cool until my hair was about 80% dry.
• Moisturized and sealed using my beloved Giovanni direct leave in and coconut oil and applied JBCO to my scalp.

Style: A bun jazzed up with a bang (I promise to take pictures next time!).

Thoughts: I think I'm going to go back to detangling my hair prior to shampooing. I've only switched up my detangling routine recently because I'm only 2 weeks post relaxer, however because I don't really 'comb' my hair during the week I don't want to create a detangling nightmare as I get further along in my stretch! Also, as of lately I've been on a kick of using protein conditioners on my ends to minimize breakage and ensure strength. This week I will be doing a full protein treatment though just to be safe! Lastly, I've seriously been loving my hair since I got my bangs back and trimmed away those thin ends that appeared. Because my hair is layered I feel like that extra trim has given my hair a chance to catch up and I swear my hair feels thicker!

How was your washday?

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Being Me Blog Tag!

To those that tagged me forgive me for the late response. Apparently this little gem got lost in the world of blog post drafts! For those who don't know I absolutely love tags and am always excited to read them and participate! I was tagged by the lovely Yvonne of Diaries Of Another Relaxed Chic and Candice of Healthy Hair Diary!

1. Are you named after someone?

Yes, my mom is a huge reader and named me after the character in a book, although most people think she named me after a Soap Opera star in an old soap opera called 'Dynasty'.  

2. When was the last time you cried?

Yesterday when I dropped my mom off at the airport. I hate when she has to leave :( 

3. Do you have any children?

No yet, but I love the little darlings :)

4. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself?

Definitely! I would like to think am a great friend to have! :D

5. Do you have a guilty pleasure?

Watching beauty hauls and makeup tutorials on Youtube

6. Do you like handwriting?

Nope, my handwriting is not cute at all :/ 

7. What’s your favorite cereal?

I dont' eat it often, but I love Captain Crunch N Berries

8. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Probably their hair. I love hair of all different styles and textures as long as it's healthy!

9. What’s the color of your eyes?

Dark Brown

10. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings. I hate scary movies.

11. Favorite TV Show?

Law & Order SVU, House Hunters, The Fosters, Longmire,,, basically a nice mixture of detective based shows, home & garden, sprinkled with a bit of reality tv.

12. Summer or Winter?

Summer. I HATE being cold.

13. Hugs or Kisses?

Both if you are a close friend or loved one.

14. Do you have any special talent?

I don't think so...

15. Where you born?

I'm a Louisiana girl!

16. What are your hobbies?

Cooking, blogging, watching Youtube videos, and watching football 

17. Do you have any pets?

Yes I have a wonderful 6 lb Chiweenie named Mango. She's such a sweetheart!

18. Favorite movie?

I don't know if I have a favorite, but my favorites as of late are Rio (yes it's a cartoon) and The Other Women

19. What color is your car?

Silver

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Working in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics field), which I am!

Now I tag 5 bloggers! :D

All of my lovely readers who want to do this tag!

 
 
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Washday | Inspired by 42

It's time for another wash day post. These are seriously my favorite posts to read and write! I  switched things up a bit this wash day and also went back to some of the basics that have worked for me in the past. Just because I'm loving my cut doesn't mean I'm trying to make a habit of it! Here's what I did:

• Cleansed with KeraCare Hydrating Detangling Sulfate Free Shampoo
• T-shirt dried my hair for about 20 minutes
• Applied Keracare Humecto to the length of my hair and ORS Hair Mayonnaise to my ends. 
• DC'd for about 35 minutes
• Rinsed and applied a quarter sized amount of the generic Matrix Biolage Detangling Conditioner
• T-shirt dried my hair for about 30 minutes.
• Applied leave ins using the LCO method (Chi Keratin Mist, Kimmaytube Leave In Mix, GVP Smoothing Serum).
• Blow dried my hair in sections using cool air only
• Moisturized and sealed using my beloved Giovanni Direct Leave In and Coconut Oil.

Style: My Fiance is a huge baseball fan, which means that everytime HBO shows the Jackie Robinson movie 42 we watch it! I love the movie so I don't mind, however while watching it this time I was fascinated with Rachel Robinson's (Jackie's wife played by Nicole Beharie) hair in the movie. I loved her 60's inspired curls! While I rocked a bun on Saturday due to time constraints I decided to recreate her style on Sunday for church. I seriously loved my results!

How was your washday? If you haven't yet, check out our Washday Experience Linkup!

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Washday/Relaxer Update...Ending With A Bang!

So I feel like I've really been slacking on my washday posts and in reality I've been slacking on my hair too. As some of you already know I recently got engaged and have jumped head first into wedding planning and house hunting! It was a bit intense at first and my hair took a backseat. Needless to say my hair literally felt like straw no matter what I did, no matter how much moisturizer I used it felt awful. Partly because I was neglecting my hair and partly because I was trying to make a product work for me even though I knew it wouldn't. Needless to say that resulted in a minor set back that ended in a small cut *GASP* I know...y'all are probably thinking I had heart palpitations and broke out into a cold sweat. The other part to this story is that I've been bored out of my mind with my hair. I was tired of buns and my overall feeling about my hair was just blah. I was itching to make a change. I bravely walked into the salon and explained my dilemma to my beloved stylist (she cut me some slack due to wedding planning). It turns out that my hair wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Shrinkage told me a very dark and twisted tale. Thank God for shrinkage! I ended up only getting 1/2 inch cut from my ends, which I was totally happy with because it also gives my layers a chance to catch up! In addition I decided that I missed my bangs and needed something to jazz up my bun life so I got side swept bangs cut! Overall I was super pleased with my hair cut and basically I just cut off what I grew this relaxer stretch! How about a hand clap for the happy ending to this story! Now that I've told y'all what went down here's how my wash day went:

• My stylist based my scalp and the perimeter of my hair as she always does. 
• She sectioned my hair into four sections and began applying my relaxer (Mizani Sensitive Scalp Formula). Application and processing time took about 16-20 minutes. 
• She rinsed thoroughly and applied my protein treatment for about 20 minutes. 
• She then shampooed and sat me under the dryer for about 15 minutes. 
• Next she removed the remaining moisture with a blow dryer and showed me what needed to be cut using the white paper method (the easiest way to spot thin ends!). 
• She trimmed my ends and cut my bang :)
• Because I'm in a I don't care what length it is as long as it's healthy mood I decided to get spiral curls! 

Oh I almost forgot to mention that I got to show my length retention pictures to one of my stylist' clients. She couldn't believe how far my hair has come in less than 2 years! 

Overall I really had an awesome experience as usual. While I did have a minor setback I'm back on track and back in the right mindset to keep my hair on track. Stay tuned for a product review about that product that attributed to my straw like hair dilemma! How was your wash day? 

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Creamy Crack? Who Said I Was Addicted?!

I rarely pay attention to the natural vs relaxed debate because honestly I find it to be silly and pointless. I love relaxed hiar, I love texlaxed hair, I love natural hair...but above all else I love HEALTHY hair! I seriously debated on if I even wanted to do this post, but no matter how much I tried to let it go the thought just kept nagging at my brain so here I am. This post was actually inspired by an instagram posting by one of my beloved college classmates. I was happily scrollng through instagram and ran across her picture (she's natural and her hair is fabulous!). She'd just gotten her hair straightened and a fierce cut! I read her caption and that's when I saw the words 'Say no to creamy crack'. Now I've heard the phrase before and never really gave it much thought, but for someone reason on this day I really started thinking about the term and what that really means. Eventually I came to the conclusion that while I enjoy my relaxed hair I am in no way addicted. I truly believe that each person has to do what's best for their hair as well as themselves and their lifestyle. For me at this point I choose to remain relax. Does it mean that I'll never go natural...nope, but I could very well remain relaxed for quite a while. I think that the term creamy crack is used because some people associate relaxers with dry, damaged, brittle hair that won't grow. Well ladies I'm hear to tell you that I have seen so many wonderful ladies both in real life as well as in the blogging and YouTube world that are living testimonies that healthy relaxed hair does exist! So I guess I've said all of this to say a hair choice is just that...a choice...not an addiction...not some horrible habit that you must break, but a choice that works for you. After all, healthy hair is the best hair! Happy hair growing :) Until next time!


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Wash Day With A Little Pinspiration

I'm finally back! It's truly been a crazy week so please forgive my absence. I'm getting a relaxer this weekend, however I did a protein treatment last weekend so I didn't worry about doing one this week. I also plan to do a protein treatment at 1 week post relaxer. I kept my wash day extremely simple. Here's what I did.

1. Deep conditioned on dry hair with Kenra Moisturizing conditioner mixed with grapeseed oil for about 1.5 hours (I fell asleep!)
2. Rinsed and applied hair one to my scalp to gently cleanse.
3. Did a final rinse
4. Wrapped my hair in a turbie twist for about 30 minutes.
5. Lightly detangled with Mane N Tail detangler and then applied leave ins using the LOC method (Chi Keratin Mist, GVP Smoothing Serum, and Kimmaytube Leave In Mix)
6. Sat under dryer for about 30 minutes

Style: I've wanted to try this headband hair style for a while. Pinterest was my inspiration and quite frankly I need a break from bunning! I love this hair style!

How was your recent washday?

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