Coconut oil is my BFF.  It has so many different uses.  If you follow Natural Hair Rules, you know I mix coconut & olive oil for my hair and scalp.  I also whip up a wonderful Coconut Oil Body Butter. Because I love the stuff so much I wanted to share 5 ways I discovered it helps to prevent damage in natural hair.

Check out the rest of the article HERE at www.naturalhairrules.com

Natural hair care should be easy. There are tons of hair products out there, but as a Naturalista you don't have to feel like you have to spend a million dollars to get your hair to behave. I love the expensive name brands, but my hair tends to react better to the inexpensive products. Here are my go-to products.........Give them a try!

1. Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo
2. VO5 Moisture Milk Moisturizing Conditioner
3. African Pride Olive Miracle Growth Oil
4. Eco Custard
5. Giovanni Direct Leave In
6. Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream
7. Eco Styler Gel with Moroccan Argan Oil
8. African Shea Butter
9. U R Curly Soya Shampoo
10. BB Tropical Roots Twist Cream

I've set a new record for myself..........5TH DAY HAIR! I haven't retwisted my hair since thursday night and it's still rockin!  2 strand twists are doing wonders for my hair these days. I twisted freshly washed hair using BB Tropical Roots twist cream.

What have you tried that your hair now loves?

Hey Curlfriends! Somehow I forgot to update you all on August 3rd when I removed my last set of Havana Twist.......Sorry "My Bad". After taking my hair down I just couldn't ignore the damage my hair was suffering. I'm still trying to determine the culprit but the damaged/split ends HAD TO GO! So I washed& deep conditioned my hair. Using my hair scissors I proceeded to cut all the raggedy, split, straight ends of my hair. I think I cut 1-1.5 inches around. It was all worth getting my hair back to it's luxurious days of great curls.

Pictured below are my curls today. Freshly washed and styled from a flat twist out. Since I trimmed my ends my hair has been thriving. I no longer have to use rollers at the end of my twist - my hair just curls up! My ultimate hair goal is to have healthy hair, but with healthy hair comes length. That's my dilemma - Length Retention. I need my length to stick around. My two year hair anniversary was in June and over these two years I've had growth, but I've also had to cut my hair more than I wanted to. 

So CHEERS to more great hair days! I decided to keep my regimen SIMPLE adding back one of my
go-to leave-ins during my transition: Cantu Shea Butter leave in. My hair is loving it! I've also added Eco Styler Custard to my regimen as my twist cream and I think I've found that ISH! My hair is loving this custard as a twist cream. My flat twist outs have been coming out like magic - so moisturized and defined. I've also decided to lay off the heavy use of combs and brushes. I'm doing more finger detangling :)

Wish me luck & continous days of great hair,
Foxxy

Hilarious right? This was me on friday...........Beautiful twist out thursday but didn't feel like re-twisting that night. Friday morning I woke up to a HOT mess that created the worst looking bun EVER LOL!

Check out the "The 40 Funniest Hair and Beauty Memes" for more laughs on Essence.com

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! 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: 

Have you ever heard of Jamaican Black Castor Oil?  Jamaican Black Castor Oil is generally used as a hot oil treatment or used to combat dry damaged hair, hair growth issues, thinning hair and dry/split ends. Black Castor Oil is a powerful all-purpose healing oil that came to Jamaica from West Africa where it was used in ancient times for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. Tropic Isle Living's all natural Jamaican Black Castor Oil is light to dark brown due to the tedious age old traditional process still used to make this brand.  For detailed information on the wonderful healing attributes of this product visit http://www.tropicisleliving.com/. I purchased my bottle from Sage Naturalceutical Atlanta store. 

I've noticed that my hair is not as thick as it use to be. My ends appear stringy, dry, with splitting ends. I think my hair has been damaged by using a denman brush to detangle or perm rods to curl the ends of my twist. Whatever it is I want to fix it! I love my curls and it's important that I treat them well.......With tender loving care!

Starting February 1st, I'm embarking on a hair challenge using Jamaican Black Castor Oil. This challenge will last for 3 months. During the challenge,  I will add the oil to my scalp every two days and to my ends daily. I will also wear protective styles for 2 full weeks each month. I'm hoping to see the results I desire: healthy ends and added length.

Join in the challenge with me :)
Foxxy