I'M IN LOVE! My fellow naturalista Shanese of Natural Curls, Kinks, and Waves on Facebook is always ranting and raving about crochet braids. After seeing her beautiful results, I was dying to try the style. With a free weekend (which NEVER happens) I decided to give my hair some tender loving care. My ends have been acting a fool lately the last few weeks, so I started by going to the salon for a professional trim. The trim resulted in cutting off about 1 inch all around........Healthy hair over long hair anyday! 

To prepare for a nice break from styling, I used African shea butter and Qhemet Biologic Amla and Olive heavy cream to moisturize my tresses, and a scalp massage using JBCO. I'm not a expert on weave, so I wanted hair that felt natural to me. I decided to use FreeTress brand Deep Twist ($5.99). The hair was 22 inches long and I cut the pack in half. I started with 2 packs, but had to go to the store for another. Take a look at the pics below to see my process - Just click each pic to see a larger image. It took me approximately 8 hours to complete my entire head. Next time I'll be sure to do less cornrows (7 instead of 14), not to braid so tightly (made it harder to get the crochet hook through), focus on separating the hair out so it's evenly spaced on my head, and only use 2 bags of hair with the ultimate goal of completing in 4 hours or less!  

What do you think? 

Scouring through the millions of YouTube videos today, I ran across a video about Hairfinity Hair Vitamins. After watching the first video, I noticed there were tons of videos of people sharing their results after using the product. This is my first time hearing about the vitamins. I've used Biotin pills before but never heard of Hairfinity. I decided to visit Hairfinity's website for more information and this is what they said: 
Hairfinity hair vitamins are formulated with a special blend of nutrients to promote healthier hair growth from the INSIDE OUT. How Do The Vitamins Work? Hairfinity Hair Vitamins contain the basic nutrients for overall health. A healthy body is the ideal environment for healthy hair to thrive. This means that a good metabolism, and immune system are also key factors for growing healthy hair fast. They also contain specific nutrients that are essential for faster hair growth.

For example, our B-Vitamin complex nourishes and supports a healthy scalp and hair growth.

Biotin helps produce keratin, increases hair elasticity, and protects the hair from becoming dry.  It also helps thicken the hair to give the appearance of fullness.

Antioxidant supplements such as Vitamin C are believed to stimulate hair growth by enhancing the immune function and improving scalp health at a cellular level.  

Vitamin D helps prevent hair shedding which is critical to a voluminous fuller head of hair. 

Silica (Horsetail Extract) helps to maintain collagen and hair elasticity to help keep hair lustrous.

The sulfur provided by MSM is required for healthy collagen and keratin, which are essential to healthy hair growth.

What about Protein / Amino Acids? Our Hair Vitamins do not contain amino acids as some other Hair Vitamins. This is because the use of an amino acid supplement is not necessary for growing longer hair. Amino Acids are the building blocks of protein. They are found in foods of animal origin, such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products. Most Americans  eat more than enough protein to supply these amino acids. Any excess protein will be excreted in urine. This excess protein also causes excess nitrogen to be excreted in the urine which has been linked to reduced kidney function in old age as well as osteoporosis (due to excretion of calcium). Only STRICT vegetarians should be concerned about their protein intake. 

After reading about the vitamins, I was surprised to also discover that Hairfinity offers FREE customized hair care regimens without any purchase. I'm INTERESTED! This is definitely on my list of products to try in 2013.

For more information on Hairfinity check out their website or Facebook page.

Have you ever tried the Hairfinity hair vitamins? What are your thoughts? Results?

Foxxy

Hey Curlfriends! I just wanted to share my valentine's day look.......Yeah I'm a little late but I'm new to this blogging thing. Give ya girl Foxxy a break.....PLEASE!  I'm rocking my mini twist so I decided to use 4 bobby pins to pin up the middle section. Using 2 pins on both sides. Then I added a red flower headband from Forever 21 for that pop of color. Voila I'm ready for a Foxxy Valentine's day!

The JBCO Challenge is going great so far. This is my first time using Jamaican Black Castor Oil and I'm really liking it! I like the heavy consistency of the oil, it feels like it's really penetrating my strands and it's easy to apply. I'm applying to my scalp every other day and to my ends nightly.

Part of the challenge is 2 weeks of protective styling each month. This month I decided to do mini twist. I fell back in love with the convenience and versatile styling options of the mini twists. Do you see that shrinkage? BANANAS!!! I don't mind shrinkage; whatever my hair needs to stay healthy that's fine with me!

Are you participating in the Foxxy's JBCO Challenge? If so be sure to share your progress!

Hey Curlfriends! Last weekend I picked up some African Shea Butter to try on my hair. I used it for a little while as I transitioned to natural but stopped using it. I still can't remember why I stopped using it, but It's BACK IN THE MIX! My hair felt so moisturized and the shine it gave was awesome! I decided to create a simple style to change my hair up for a few days. So I flat twisted the front and back sections of my hair, I braided the sides and two strand twisted the middle - I pinned the braids and two strand twist together.

What do you think?

Which one do you like the best?

Via Naturallycurly.com - I would've ever thought coconut oil has so many uses!

Read the entire article HERE

I need your help.........Share your hair story!
 
A new segment "Hair Story Thursday's" is all about telling your natural hair journey. Spill the beans to be a help to someone that also LOVES their Natural Hair. Please include 4-5 pictures with your story (Big Chop, your fav hairstyle, looks during transition). Don't forget to include your contact information (website, instagram, twitter, facebook) to direct traffic your way. It's all about helping each other :) We're not in this journey alone and telling your story is sure to help someone.......Inquiring minds want to know LOL!


Here are the questions to answer:
1. When did you make the decision to go natural? Did you transition or big chop?
2. Why did you go natural?
3. Do you regret your decision?
4. What do you love most about being natural?
5. What are your favorite products right now?
6. What is your daily/nightly regimen?
7. Any advice to those considering taking the plunge?
  
Please email your info to [email protected] with the subject line "Hair Story". I will post stories in the order they are received. Thanks in advance for your submission! 

Excited to hear about "YOU", 
Foxxy 

If you ask me what my "go-to" hair style is, without hestiation I'll have to say the Flat twist and curl. My hair was acting a FOOL last week, so over the weekend I gave it some tender loving care. I started with UR Curly Soya shampoo, followed by a apple cider vinegar clarifying rinse that helped to bring LIFE back to my curls! I shampooed again to get rid of the vinegar smell then applied UR Curly quinoa conditioner. I took the pampering a step further and deep conditioned with a mixture of Miss Jessie's Super Sweetback Treatment and nuNAAT Brazilian Keratin Naat Cream for a moisture and protein treatment to my curls. I finished the pampering with Jamaican Black Castor Oil applied to my scalp for a 5 minute massage and to my ends.

Once all the pampering was complete, I proceeded to flat twist my hair clockwise in a bowl shape (part in the middle of my head). I rolled each twist on peach colored perm rods to assist my ends. I sat under the dryer for about 20 mins and let me hair air dry overnight. In the morning as I began to take my hair down (Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme on my hands) I noticed that it was still damp in some spots. In the picture above you will notice how some spots have a more defined twist pattern than others.

BOOM!!!!!!!! Another fantastic flat twist and curl. Somedays are more defined than others but I love the texture and pattern that the flat twist give!

Major Definition Finder,
Foxxy

Hey Curlfriends! Over the weekend I ran out of one of my staple products, so it was a MUST that I make a trip to my nearest Whole Foods store to restock. Low and behold when I got there the brand Giovanni was on sale!!!!! Of course I wanted to get one of each item being that they were are $3 off.........BUT I held it together.  

I decided to pick up two items (pictured): My staple leave in : Direct Leave-In Weight Moisture Conditioner and added a new product to my arensal : Wicked Texture - The definition of pomade. I love Whole Foods because they have the actual product for you to try before you buy. Their return policy is SICK as well - If you don't like it, return for your money back!

I used the pomade this morning and I'm beyond satisfied! It left my edges laid down with an awesome shine. It does have a greasy feel, but it's not to much where you feel the need to wash hair right after using. I love pomades because they are great when you need that polished look without the use of a brush. Here are a few other products that I will be picking before the sale ends 2/26/13: