BANANA & YOGURT IN MY HAIR!!

Hi there guys, today I will share with you my experience into mixing my very own deep conditioner! I decided to try a homemade protein treatment. Here is the list of ingredients for my mix; 

1. A banana
2. Plain greek yogurt
3. Honey
4. Coconut oil
5. Grapeseed oil
6. Alovera plant
7. Coconut milk or water
8. Lavender essential oil just because I like the smell of lavender and I want to mask the smell of yogurt. 

The following are the benefits of the main ingredients in my mixture. They all sound great right? Well, as we say if its good for your body it is great for your hair as well. :)

YOGURT

Yogurt  contains lactic acid which will smooth and hydrate your strands.  Yougurt is a great base for  your conditioner, and is also a gentle cleanser. Yogurt promotes hair growth, and makes it easy to comb hair and get rid of knots.

BANANA

Bananas can help prevent and heal any  damages that are caused to the hair by exposure to the dirt, pollution and other environmental toxins. It helps in protecting the hair from further damage. The vitamin B helps in the prevention of split ends. The type of hair that is suitable for this treatment are dry hair, dyed hair and for hair after perm. It also serves as an excellent treatment for addressing the problem of dandruff and is helpful in retaining moisture on your scalp. is rich in potassium, natural oils, carbohydrates and vitamins that helps in softening the hair and protects the hair's natural elasticity preventing split ends and breakage. Bananas when used for hair has a number of benefits such as it creates manageability, shine, growth and controls dandruff. rules for dry, itchy, flaky hair.   It keeps hair hydrated and healthy.   With regular use, a banana hair mask can increase the moisture content of your hair, smooth frizz, and soothe your itchy scalp.

HONEY

Honey contains vitamins, minerals, is antibacterial, acts as a humectant (attracts moisture), and has incredible healing properties. Due to the many characteristics of honey, hair is actually nourished and enriched.   It is food for hair and adds shine.

ALOE VERA

Aloe vera acts as a natural conditioning agent that restores the hair’s sheen, luster, and shine. It not only makes the hair soft, but it also enhances strength and suppleness. It naturally combats frizz but does not have the greasy buildup that many hair care products leave behind.Aloe vera can be used as a safe and natural treatment to prevent hair loss. 

                         Here is the video showing you how I made the mixture 

Now the application process was hmmm interesting. I think I needed to 

not add the water in order to make the conditioner thicker. OMG the moment I applied this to my hair it began to rebel! I could feel my cuticles lifting and my first thought was WTH am I doing? My hair matted up like nobody's business well here is a picture of a section

Now, it took everything within my soul not to STOP immediately, jump in the shower and wash this mess out of my hair! However, thought about it and knew that all the ingredients in my mixture were considered good for the hair so why would I be scared.  As I carefully worked the conditioner through the sections smoothing it in I could literally feel when my cuticles relaxed and started to lay back down. At this point my hair started to feel slippery and I was able to finger detangle with ease! Here are some photos of my hair once I worked the concoction into the sections.

As you can see the concoction had my curls popping! The mixture was uber easy to rinse out and I immediately felt the benefits of an intense protein treatment, My HAIR FELT STRONG.  All in all I enjoyed using and making this conditioner, I am also convinced that my hair is protein sensitive. However, I know that ever so often I MUST do a protein treatment. I think I will be using this mixture as my "shot of protein" every 2-3 months.  Have any of you tried this mask? If so please do share your experiences.  As always thanks for reading and remember to TWIRL A CURL today...

AN ADVENTURE INTO COLOR

Me, Elisa & Eshae'

Eshae' & Elisa

O.K. so if you follow my blog you know that I have been trying to resist the urge to get color! For various reasons while I admire the different hues of color I see in many naturals I respect the damage that color can cause and the work it must take to ensure that damage due to color does not become part of my natural journey.  However, my two teenage daughters 14 and 19 have the resilience of youth and are fearless on many things including experimenting with color :)









On this particular Saturday the girls seemed like they had a dream about color and at the break of dawn they decided to wake me up with the unnerving idea that I should take them to the hair dresser today and allow them to get color.  For Elisa that was no big deal her little patch had grown nicely and healthy and the color was barely holding on to the ends so it was time for her to go back and redo her color. However, for Eshae' this request made me nervous especially since she wanted to change the color of her entire head of hair and vision of straw like hair texture and breakage occurring at a drop of a hat had me scrrrrrrrred!!!!

Nevertheless, I decided long ago that it was their individual journey and the only peas I had in them Q's was making sure they had the knowledge and tools to ensure that they themselves kept their hair healthy and thriving so off to the hair dresser we went.  Eshae' decided that we should all dress alike on this adventure thus the jumpers we all wore....( my girls sometimes forget that I am a little long in the tooth and expect me to dress like them....well we do share similar taste in clothes lol lol).  I was savvy enough to tape the experience so take a look at the process

So, all in all the experience was wonderful thanks to our stylist Uni from Celsa's House of Beauty.  She was extremely great at taking her time and helping the girls pick what hues they wanted as well as explaining to them the process and  what she would have to do to get them to their desired  style.  Most of all I loved that Uni was confident enough to do the color and then watch me take over the girls co-washing and styling experience.  Uni watched as I made the girls kinks, coils and curls pop with just some conditioner and our safe gel and she was happy to say wow "I learned something today".  The girls were happy with the end results and as a parent I could tell you that having two happy teenage girls in your house is paramount to any parents sanity! Thus, I was happy for the moment, since the thoughts of how I would keep Eshae's hair moisturized still plagued my sub-contious.  If you are wondering why I am not as worried about Elisa's color it is because 1. She had this patch done previously 8 months ago when she first went natural and has proven that she can maintain it and 2. she is a college student so she lives in the dorms this year not in my house(YES!!!!! lol).

Elisa's hair after color on the left it is freshly co-washed on the right styled with CJ Repair me protein conditioner and Kiss my face upper management gel

Eshae's hair before color and after color. Her hair was styled with the same products as Elisa in the previous picture.

I am happy to say that it has been a month since the girls adventure into color and I can report that surpisingly Eshae's hair is even more moisturized than before we did the color....HUH islandgurl your previous statement must be a typo....you might be thinking... but nope I can clearly state that ShayShay's hair is more moisturized now than ever.  Why? Because she is much more diligent about moisturizing and deep conditioning her hair since we introduced color to her tresses.  The deal I made with the girls is that if they suffer damage we will BC, no need to hang on to raggedy unhealthy hair and 2. the color can only be done once a year for them this means every summer.

Eshae's Routine for dealing with color and keeping her hair healthy includes;

• Washing hair weekly with a no-poo (we like DevaCurl and Curl Junkie)
• Moisturizing deep conditioner once a week under steamer
• Spritzing hair every night with water/aloe vera juice and glycerin mixture
• Sealing in that moisture with a butter (we are loving TastiKiss Ayurvedic Butter)
• And lastly we put some Jamaican black castor oil to finish it off.
• Put the hair into large twists or braids and tie it down with a silk scarf for the night.

This process has been working well for us thus far in keeping the colored hair soft, healthy, and moisturized. I am happy to report that its been one month and the appearance of straw like hair and dry hair that breaks at the touch has been successfully abated by this household.....As always thanks for reading and remember to "TWIRL A CURL" today and everyday....

WHAT IS CURLKIT? MY THOUGHTS AND A QUICK REVIEW

When I first went natural I had so many things to deal with such as:

1. What am I going to do with an afro?
2. Will I still be attractive?
3. Will my friends treat me and see me differently?
4. How will I make my hair presentable for the workplace?

However, my biggest concern was WHAT DO I PUT IN MY HAIR?  Yes, I was overwhelmed by all the information that was out there and the surmountable amount of products that claimed to be the "must have" product to give me curls or make my kinks soft and manageable and lets not forget keep my hair shiny. So, off I went creating a budget within my budget designed specifically to purchase products that would help me manage my hair.  Needless to say that this was an expensive budget and that as a single mother of 3 it was quite difficult for me to allocate $10, $15, $20 dollars out of my already stretched budget just to buy a deep conditioner or styling cream that without having any clue if it would work on my hair much less on both me and my daughters hair.  Especially since, when I was permed I  practically purchased nothing for my hair due to the fact that I never did anything to my hair more than pulling it into a ponytail, for washes, conditioning, styling I went to my hair dresser.

Now, fast forward two years and the invention and innovation of CURLKIT! CurlKit is a monthly subscription service that supplies you with 5-7 samples of products geared towards natural hair. Yes, it is samples of products that are specifically designed to deal with our kinks, curls, and coils.  Here is what "team  CurlKit" has to say about their service;

CurlKit sends out a selection of 5-7 samples that their team of online experts, researches and even tries themselves. In each CurlKit you'll receive everything from pomades and conditioners to natural hair tools, from well-known brands as well as emerging gems.

CurlKit subscriptions are sold on a first come, first served basis. Join now while supplies last. Subscriptions are released regularly.

CurlKit subscriptions are available with a 100% no questions asked guarantee and you can cancel at anytime!

CurlKit is a complete solution for women with natural hair.

CurlKit’s mission is to help newly naturals and lifelong naturals sort through the clutter, to find new brands and rediscover old favorites

Of course, even though I have been natural for two years and 6 months there was no way I was going to pass up getting in on this deal.  Thus, four months ago I joined CurlKit  and I have not regretted it one bit. Here are several pictures:

My Very First Curlkit

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My CurlKit for the month of June

I spy you spy we all spy 3 full size products in the Junes Curlkit. Yes, this would be what I call "A BONUS"! 

                                               Now, why would you call it a bonus islandgurl ? 

Because the service that I signed up for and pay only $20.00 per month for (well plus shipping lol), is one of samples not full size products. The whole idea behind me signing up for this service was to be able to try new products or products that I have on my list to purchase before making them dust catchers on my shelves or wasting my money on a product(s) that just do not work for me or my girls hair.  CurlKit has been so kind as to include full size product(s) in the boxes occasionally and that has made me and my girls jump for JOY.  I mean every time I get a shipped notification , I start to feel giddy and excited just like a kid on Christmas, stalking the post office with anticipation that my kit has arrived and wanting to see what I got this month.

Now,  CurlKit has not limited their service to just the monthly subscription they have also incorporated a blog,  a Store where you can purchase some of the full size products they have sent you samples of and a FB FanPage where you can follow them and enter their variety of contests to win full size products, oh and lets not forget that you can also follow them on twitter and join them on Tuesday's for their weekly "curltalk" which has proven to be a great source of pure fun for me and my family.  

All in all I waited 4 months to write this post because I wanted to make sure that I could honestly speak about the service as well as, give CurlKit an opportunity to establish itself and iron out any kinks they might have experienced with such a new service.  I must say that it took me long enough because from the onset I have been pleased with my subscription and the customer service that the curlkit team has provided me and my fellow naturals here in the United States Virgin Islands. 

 I know that they are working on opening their service to international markets so my fellow naturals in islands like St. Kitts, Tortola and Jamaica can also take advantage of their service at an affordable price so be a little patient "island naturals".  I must also say that this awareness that curlkit has shown to our needs here in the islands may be a partly because I swear I can be a "buggaboo" oh as we say here on island "a pest" and I constantly send them emails about making the shipping affordable for naturals on other Caribbean Islands (well you didn't think I was going to give them all the credit did you haaaaa). You guys know me I am always fighting for us to be recognized and treated equally lol lol

Now here are the links to my un-boxing videos of my curlkits....If you only want to watch one I suggest you click on June's because I think the intro to it was funny and Eshae' and I had a great time filming this one.....I am presently anxiously waiting for July's Kit. I

March Curlkit #1

April CurlKit #2

May CurlKit #3

June CurlKit #4

If you are interested in purchasing the Kit just click here, remember the service is $20.00 + shipping and you can cancel your subscription anytime.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post so until next time remember to "Twirl A Curl" today and everyday.  

islandgurl3601 singing off  "ride out soljah".....(in my island twang)

LETS TALK COLOR

O.K. so last week on my radio show  Lets Talk Hair (Click on the link to listen to the show) we discussed the topic of Hair Color.  The question was posted by the co-host: Why is it that as soon as we go natural the majority of us go directly to color?  My point of view is that most of us do the BC and instantly want to

1. Stand out by adding color
2. Brighten our complexions by framing our face with color
3. Experiment at the BC stage which can be viewed as the easiest stage to deal with on our natural journey
4. Add color to simply not look as boyish or childish as we ma perceive ourselves with such short hair.

Now, I must say that coloring my hair has never been a point of contention for me.  I enjoy the dark color of my hair and when I decided to go natural I never though about coloring my hair once I had gotten rid of the perm.  However, as my hair grew and my grays became more visible I was curious to find a way to cover my grays and maybe create some highlighting effect on my tresses.  Thus, my love with Henna developed.  I have been an avid Henna user for over one year and I love the way it gives my grays a beautiful red-copper tone.  I don't have many grays so in order to see this I have to part or style my hair a certain way.  I also love the conditioning and strengthening properties of my Henna treatments.  I add dry Hibiscus flowers to my Henna to deepen the color and hues of red the Henna naturally provides.  After one year of using Henna my hair when in natural sunlight has this deep burgundy/black color, however, lately I been fighting with the idea that I would like a section of my hair to be died a brighter red than I can achieve with only using Henna.  My fear of the unknown, the side effects of using a chemical color for that one section of my hair has caused me many a worry some trips to the beauty supply shop.  Do I purchase the color or do I just forget about the entire thing?  The color that I am so excited about is the Matrix 7RR and it is a beautiful hue of Red as shown below

I have decided that I don't want to well, at least I am not ready to jump into the chemical color arena just yet.  I am not prepared to risk damaging my hair.  However, through research I have found that they are several things that I should do when and if  I decide to bite this coloring bug:

1. The process of coloring takes place in the inner part of hour hair strand, better known as the Cortex. This it changes the physical and chemical makeup of our hair.  This could result in a texture change that may be permanent or just last a few weeks or days.  To attempt to correct this problem it is important to make sure and incorporate protein treatments into our regimen. It might also help if the styling products that we use while dealing with color treated hair contain protein
2. Before diving into any chemical color we should consult a natural hair stylist and if at all possible have the stylist do the coloring process.  
3. If you don't have "time" to spend with your hair now forge the color.  Because laziness and color treated hair do not go well together.  Once your hair has been color treated it is imperative for its health that you never skip a deep conditioning treatment and that you try to stay away from sulfate shampoos or shampoos all together which can be drying to the hair.  The chemically colored tresses need the tender loving care of moisture, moisture, moisture, thus co-washing will be ideal for this hair.
4. Make up your mind that in the best case scenario you should only color your hair once a year and just deal with the darker roots.  Over processing the hair with chemical color by doing it every 6 weeks or every 2 months can most certainly affect the health of your hair.

So now do you, see why this is such a big decision for me? While retaining length or attaining a certain length with my hair is not important to me, the health of my hair is by far the most important factor within my hair journey.   So what can I do? I still want the color. I still want to be a little more edgy as my journey continues.. Well recently I have come across a natural way to lighten my tresses, and it is all natural!  Like anything natural it will not be an overnight change but with time and patience I hope to achieve some success.  I will be using honey to lighten my hair.  Yes it seems that when you mix honey with water the honey releases peroxide which when applied to the hair can cause it to be lightened.  To read more on this go to innovative way to lighten our natural hair with honey . Now, I have no clue if this will work but I will begin testing and documenting my progress this weekend.  My plans are to apply the honey/water mixture to my bangs, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for 6 weeks and see if my hair color changes.  My goal is to once I get my bangs a lighter color to continue with my regular Henna treatments thus creating the contrast that I so desire.




Have any of you tried this process? If so please leave comments on how it worked or not under this entry.  I would also love to hair from you naturals that have always used chemical coloring and what did you do to make sure your hair stayed healthy.  As always I can't wait to hear from you guys on this topic.


Blessings  and thanks for reading :)

Defining Your Kinks, Coils and Curls!!!!

Hi There Curlies!!!

What are the first goals you set for yourself when you first went natural?  Well, for me it was

1. Getting enough hair growth to achieve a fabulous afro puff
2. Praying that my hair would have a curl pattern and that I could master the art of defining those curls

Sooo after 2 years of being natural I must report that I have in deed achieved both of my goals! Now let me report that achieving these goals was not an easy task.  I did countless research on YT and websites like   Naturally Curly dot com, and of course hair boards.  To say that the amount of techniques and information out there was overwhelming is simply an  understatement! However, I continued with my research and took it all one day at the time.  I suffered many fails like

1. Curls that were to heavy due to drowning of product
2. Curls that were to tight 
3. Fuzzy hair
4. Crunchy hair
5. FRIZZ
6. Dry hair

But finally, today I can say that basically I have mastered my Wash n Go and that my puffs are the bomb.com, well they must be when people come up to me and ask me what hair piece do I have in my hair LMAO.  So Naturally Curly.com has blessed me with featuring one of my was n Go's tutorials in their article and I thought it only fitting to share it with you guys. So click on the link and enjoy the article along with a tutorial on how to achieve a great Wash N Go   Coily Beginner’s Guide: Shake and Go Hair  Blessings to all! And thanks for reading please share my blog with your other friends and don't forget to leave any questions or comments below. :)

SHEA MOISTURE PURIFICATION MASQUE

She moisture has won my heart once again! I have had the the Purification Mask since the last Walgreens Bogo sale yes curilies not the one they just had but the one before that. Any who it was just sitting in my bathroom shelf looking pretty all lined up with some other products as part of my stash.

Then the other day after wearing my hair in a Wash N Go via the curly girl method I decided I wanted to use it as a pre-poo before I redid my twist.  As I took the time to read the ingredients I was perplexed as to whether it would be a good idea for me to sleep in the mask due to the fact that it had clay in it.  Any who laziness got the best of me and I decided I would sleep in it over night because I just could't was my hair that night I was to tired for all that work.  Well, well, well, I devided my hair into sections and then I moistened my hair with my water spritz and applied this funny looking masque to my hair.  WOWSA!!!! As I applied the product to my tresses it was like my hair immediately turned to butter, did I say butter I meant to say BUTTA!!

Now, bare in mind that I had been wearing a Wash n Go for the last 4 days and I was well aware of the tangles and thickness of curls that had settled on my head so I was prepared to do some work on single strand knots, kinks, and thirsty curls.  But let me tell you that all of the previously mentioned issues simply melted away as this product was applied and absorbed by my tresses.  My hair was singing  ALELUYAH and the chorus was responding AMEN.  This stuff is the business.com and then some.  I was able to detangle each section without a problem and I detangled with my fingers.  I felt the stress melt out of my hair with every stroke of my hands that were saturated with this magical potion.  

Listen guys I don't flake and I don't fake but my curls, kinks and coils loved this stuff.

Lets take a look at the ingredients;

Deionized Water , Cocos Nucifera Oil (Coconut) , Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Mangfera Indica Seed Butter (Mango) , Persea Gratissima Oil (Avocado) , African Black Soap Extract , Sea Salt , Cetyl Esters , Kaolin Clay , Grapeseed Oil , Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil (Jojoba) , Behentrimonium Chloride (Conditioner) , Salicylic Acid , Salix Alba Bark Extract (Willow) , Melia Azadirachta Seed Oil (Neem) , Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil (Tea Tree) , Sorbitol Esters , Aloe Vera Leaf Juice , Tocopherol (Vitamin E) , Rosemary Extract , Salvia Officinalis Extract (Sage) , Plantain Extract , Lonicera Caprifolium Flower and Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract (Honeysuckle and Japanese Honeysuckle)

This products does not contain:

 sulfates, parabens, phthalates, paraffin, gluten, propylene glycol, mineral oil,
synthetic fragrance, PABA, synthetic color, DEA, animal ingredients or sulfates
Cruelty free, no animal testing

Well , O..K.. as per the ingredients list it seems that this product is suppose to be off the chain! So after it turned my hair to butter, and I mean not butter that had been sitting in the freezer but butter that had been left out at room temperature and had soften to a silky, smooth consistency I tried it on my daughters hair.  Now this child has great hair but her hair is in the 4's category and to say that she doesn't always treat it nicely is an understatement.  So I got my daughter in the chair and was afraid of what I was going to have to deal with after one week of her gelling her hair back into a puff and sleeping on it without moisturizing.  I pulled up my sleeves and as I applied the first dollop of the masque to her section what did I see but curls and coils coming out of the woodworks! What.....this must be some trick my eyes are playing on me I thought, but know I continued her application process and her hair turned to BUTTTTTAAAA before my very eyes!  THIS MASQUE IS MOST DEFINITELY ON MY HOLY GRAIL (HG) LIST, excuse my shouting but I shall never be without this product.  

Cost: $9.99 

Purchase @:  Walmart and select Target Stores

My only con with this product is that I cannot walk into any store in my location and purchase it, other than that I am in love with the Shea Moisture Purification Masque.  I encourage you to try it I can almost swear that you to will love it.  My favorite use for this product is as a pre-poo on me and my daughters hair.

GET TO KOW YOUR HAIR CHALLENGE

Hello there curlies, naturals, transitioners, and hair enthusiast!

Its a get to know your hair challenge!  Yes I am inviting all of you to join me and other hair enthusiast on a challenge that will begin on April 1, 2012 and last until June 23, 2012.  This challenge is being sponsored by Curls of Joy and co-sponsored by Napturalite Radio. This is bound to be a great way to challenge yourself and get to know how to manage and deal with your tresses better.  


The great thing about this challenge is that you set your very own goals! Yes you can decide what is it that you would like to know about your hair. It could be that your goal is length retention, better product use, manageability of your tresses, styling, or retaining moisture.  You can set the pace and learn how to achieve your goals with the support of others, as well as popular youtubers and hair enthusiast like myself (islandgurl3601), Mohogany Curls, Dawn, and Iknowlee.  Whatever, your goals are we will all be there with you.   


And here are the rules:

1. Subscribe to Curls of Joy’s Blog: http://curlsofjoy.blogspot.com/
2. You must sign up on or before March 25, 2011.
3. Under the blog post, on their page leave your name and email address.
4. Also, answer the following questions:                                Why did you decide to become natural?                                 How long have you been natural?
5. At Week Four, Eighth, and Twelve they will be posting blog check-ins where you let them know how your hair journey is going. Active participants will also be entered to win prizes.    

Just hit the link listed at the beginning of this post  for Curls of Joy and sign up for the challenge.  You will have the opportunity to start a hair journal, load pictures, track your progress, share your frustrations and triumphs.  During the challenge their will be great giveaways and contests.  It is so much easier to achieve and stick to goals when you have a group of people to support you.  Sooo don't be shy come on in and join me on this challenge.  I am still trying to decide what goals I want to accomplish on the challenge, they are so many things flowing around in my head in respect to what I need to learn about my hair.