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....

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.