So another month under my belt.... *8 months to be exact lol**

Last Wednesday Sept 28 2011 I hit 8 months transition into natural hair! Honestly Im actually happy and heres why...... :


1) regulated a good hair routine that actually works well for me
2) not stressing over my hair, and hair styles
3) taking my sweet time to detangle properly
4) moisture, moisture, moisture lol
5) and just leaving my hair alone!!!!

All of these tips have helped me to get to where Iam in my hair journey. Im not doing anything special than what most have seen and done themselves. The best thing is just leaving it alone, messing with all the time trying to make is look cute each and everyday is what really causes the problems. I found out around month 3 that im not a twist out kind of girl. Actually my hair cant take kind of "out" style" because it causes stress due to twisting and braiding all the time and trying to "fro" it out the next morning. its just to much....for my hair at least. so rocking buns (of all kinds) and two strand twist sets have been doing the job. Im still using castor oil and I love it!!! Been using it since April 2011 and I love the results just hate the itchy scalp lol. Watch out for a review of jbco vs regular castor to why I prefer regular better. But I have alot of great things that ill be doing for my blog very soon, Ill also be selling natural hair products that Ive made and some hair candy as well :) I have lots of reviews of products and other tips that ill be posting very soon. To all my other new transitioners my biggest tip is dont stress and just have fun.....and always research!

                                

30 Weeks post Relaxer & "Lets get Nakkid" makeup palette

hey everyone....

sorry for not posting as much, i been very focused with getting ready for graduation which is in fact 2 weeks away. so im very excited about that, i already got my diploma very happy about getting my degree.

but about my hair i just been bunning nothing to spacial...very impressed with my growth and the thickness i have gotten over the past few months. im in the castor oil challenge on hairlista so i been applying the oil twice a week and doing scalp massages. i also been doing tea rinses and doing more protein treatments to calm down my shedding. and it is working out great! i did a protein treatment on damp hair before i did my co wash this past wednesday and i swear my hair felt so nice. my comb glided thru my hair with little to no issues. very little hair in my comb! i used the aphogee 2min protein treatment and applied it in 4 sections and allowed it to sit for almost 2 hrs. i plan to do the tea rinses weekly on shampoo days until i get my shedding where i want it, then ill do this treatment monthly.

i been going back and forth on getting a half wig for graduation OR straighten my hair and wear a pin curled styled. i dont feel like flat ironing it but getting a wig to well with graduation is hard simply because i have to wear the cap and i dont want to get "playing" it because my wig is to thick or what have you lol.

my fiancee brought me the urban decay naked eyeshadow palette wednesday night after i hinted about it lol. im very excited about it, i love the colors so far its seems like something ill use all the time. so expect makeup looks with the palette soon.

Sulfate-free soap: Castile soap (Vlog on how I use on my skin)

for the past few months now Ive been using castile soap to shampoo my hair and clean my face. And I must say I LOVE IT! There are no harsh chemicals in this products, its affordable, and they smell good and get the job done. Ive tried all kinds of shampoos and all they do is dry out my hair making it hard for me to detangle afterwards, making it a big knotty mess. But I dont get that when I use this product, I use it straight out the bottle and or diluted and I added some grapeseed oil to the diluted mix for added softness. There are lots of brands out there and most are pretty good about keeping the product chemical free and all natural.  I wont go back to use regular shampoo on my hair again, finally a soap that works with my transitioning hair and is gentle to both textures. 

As for my skin I love it!!!! I use it twice a day and finish with shea butter or another skin butter to smooth out my skin. for the winter ill do the oil cleansing method. 

My weekly regimen

I wanted to post my new regimen and show what I have been doing to my hair lately. Still I dont do much because I dont want to fight with my two textures and the less I do every week the better. This has been working for me for a while now and I love it. 

(BIG THANKS to Kiki and Amy for the comments on my last post :-)
                                    

                                         MY WEEKLY REGIMEN: 

• deep condition on slightly damp/dry hair (oil treatment of the oils of my choice - cowash days OR elasta qp soy oyl treatment - wash days) leave on for a hr
• wash hair once a week with peppermint castile soap/cowash once a week 
• after shampoo cowash with cheapie conditioner 
• only if needed do a 5-15 min protein treatment with aphogee 2 min treatment
• air dry under towel for 5-10mins then apply leave ins (aphogee green tea spray, moisturizer, seal & oil scalp with castor oil/grapeseed oil mix OR bee mine serum, 
• detangle hair in 6 sections with a pik comb and allow hair to air dry a little before i style it for my protective style.
• every other day apply moisturizer  and little castor oil mix to moisturize & seal until my next wash/cowash day.
• protective styles are : buns, bantu knots, half up/half down, wigs, & drawstrings (the less i do the better. )

                                 Things to follow during long transition 2011:

*detangle once a week on wash days with product using pik comb

*finger comb on co wash days or "refresher" days with product

*refresh hair inbetween cowashes when ever need be using spray bottle mix (water, oils, and cheapie conditioner) 

*denman is used for quick smoothing only

*scalp is oiled on all wash,cowash, & refresher days

*finger comb while in the shower (a must)

*air dry...or if plan to blow dry air dry for 20-30mins then proceed to blow out hair

*use tshirt to get most of the water from hair. 

Dear shea Butter,

Out of all my current products Im using I always go back to using shea butter. I started using this amazing butter last year when I got a lb of it. During this time I had no real clue how to use it and what it was for, the only thing I knew was how great of a butter it was. The main reason why I got the shea butter was for my hair, and during that when I had it I was relaxed and my hair didn't take to it very well. After doing a lot of research on this one product and I have learned to love it. Im already on my 3rd shea mix and I use it every day. My face loves this stuff its the only thing I can put on my skin after washing it.  (I will post a skin vlog in a few days) Since transitioning Ive been looking for a good hair oil -moisturizer that will be good for my hair. I went back to using good 'ol shea butter and I love it. I use it every other day when hair is straight everyday when its not. My hair absorbs it very well so I haven't had any issues with it. This is just an all around great product, for dry skin, dry hair, and to help subside acne scars. A little goes a long way and it doesn't mold so it lasts a good while. I have used it as a pre poo, and as a heat protector before flat ironing, and I use it on my lips and on other scars. Its great and I will continue to use it as long as this product is on the market.

Flat ironing with shea butter


How to make whipped shea butter

Be Your own Motivation!!!

When I started my hair journey I was lost and very confused. And I hated it because I wanted a change but I didn't know where to start. Looking at tons of other successful women who progressed thru their hj's I felt motivated to do the same. But of course nothing is never easy. So transitioning for the second time around I  really wanted to inform myself on everything to products, to combs, to detangling. I would say this time around it feels stress free just because I took the time out to educate my self on something I wanted. Im a week away from being 6 months into my transition and honestly couldn't be any happier. I use everything I learn and have gone thru as my own motivation. I push myself , the hair on my head is the best form of motivation I can give myself. Having my natural hair means a lot to me and for this fact I will not listen to anyone else but myself regarding my own hair care journey. This is MY HAIR so therefore I can do what I please, not going to allow any negative people steer me in the wrong directions. And by right anyone who is on a hj shouldn't allow someone elses opinion change how they feel about their hair and what they are doing. I feel if you are happy with what your doing and you are getting great results does it matter if anyone else doesn't approve of them?? I don't think so. So do what makes you happy and keep your self motivated. This will bring all the progress and success in your hj.

xoxo - Nicki

Transition to au natural - 23 weeks post update

So Ive decided to update my transitional journey to natural seeing how important it is to me, and its all I think about it lol.
So Im 5 months and 3 weeks post relaxer (technically official date will be tomorrow but whats one day?) Lately ive been on this search for finding a good product that will give me the slip and softness I need. And Im not down with spending a lot of dough on all of these  products -- so I felt caught in the hardest spot ever. It has come to a point where my regular cheapie co wash conditioners just wasn't cutting it. When it was time to detangle I hated it simply because it hurt and I felt like I was doing more harm than good to my hair. So after doing a lot of research I wanted to the smooth & silky conditioner by tresemme and ohmigeee! I love this, this product was exactly what I needed in my life at this time lol. Surprising my mom had the large bottle of the product and she really wanst using it so she gave it to me and instantly the two of us became friends lol. I also updated my deep conditioner since I just recently ran out of my silicon mix bambu treatment. I decided to try the elasta qp soy oyl deep conditioner treatment just off a whim and very happy I did. "This - right - here - is - my - swagg!" like seriously I love this stuff and it made finger combing so easy. and no shed hairs in my  hand, amazing stuff. I will be doing a product vlog review on this to show just how much I love this product.
But as far as styling Ive been keeping it very simple -- and by it being so hot where I live simple is the best way to go. But I love rocking my buns, and textured ponies, and messy braid outs. But over all I let my hair do what it gotta do pretty much. I personally don't find it necessary to fuss over my hair when I know its not needed, Im just enjoying the ups and downs of this transition and learning from it week by week.

Xoxo -Nicki Lajoy