It’s been a long time since I left you… I know I know, I’m the absolute worst I get it. I’m a female so I know sorry isnt good enough, but alas I will beg for forgiveness anyway. Life has been coming at me from every direction and I couldnt deal for a few weeks, but i’m back! I haven’t been doing too much, but I did just get a recent iHerb.com order with plenty of goodies to review (code SAB871). Also, you all are probably already up on it, but Target has really stepped their game up. I have decided now that i’m back in the place to be i’ll be commenting on all budget friendly things that I like; from head to toe! Complete the Look if you will, i’m too excited. I’m going to gather my thoughts and back to you, but before I depart…. 20% off your entire order at Ulta [in store and online!!!!]. Hopefully that at least helped make it up to you… oh and College day is Sept. 1.
I think I might have seen it all. There I was walking the many rows of Beauty 4 U, a massive BSS in MD, beaming at all the products trying to resist the urge to get one of those supermarket shopping carts and just go crazy when I saw it. A pack of three rollers with the clips attached, and oh yeah the hair too! I was like arghh, with my head cocked to the side like scooby doo. I moved on and picked up a few regular items, but I had a chuckle and kept on going. Of course when I got home I had to look it up. Its a Sensationnel Premium Now product, its from their Pre-Set Collection. First impression was that it was the craziest ever, but I have seen a style or two surfing the internet that turned out cute. Who knew! Just thought I’d share, has anyone heard of or used this hair?
The other day I found out about this Reggae Wine Festival and I wanted to switch it up a bit; I decided to rock a Fro Hawk. Its not like its a new style or anything, but for some reason I never took the plunge. I am okay walking on the wild side a bit, but if i’m going to spend alot of time on a style I generally want one that I don’t have to get rid of before work on Monday. Ive seen plenty of cute fro-hawks with the sides braided or flat-twisted, and while cute unless i’m on vacation I just have to pass cause corporate america is just not ready. Well the other day I saw this girl who just bobby-pinned her sides up after getting tired of her twist-out and I was sold. I went searching through my favorite site outside of this one, youtube of course, and I found a great tutorial by CoilsKinksCurls for you guys to see what i’m talking about. She did basically what the girl I saw did and if you’re anything like me you want a visual so check out the video I posted above. If you want to see how she twisted her hair and how she separated her twists, click here for the prep of the style. For my relaxed pjs, I would suggest a rod or straw set as your base or even some bantu-knots would turn out cute. Oh BTW the wine festival was GREAT, if you are in the DMV or Baltimore make it your business to go next year, the wine was flowing, the food vendors were good, and there was eye candy in any color you wanted. Did I mention she makes me want to end my no buy challenge and hop on that afroveda sale….
Well guys, I have gotten on board with the Country Life vitamin and i’m happy about it. Its time released, which is a plus, and it takes a few vitamins out of my daily regimen which is always good. I found them for a good price at my beloved iHerb.com for $9.15 (90). Of course the site is my old faithful, but if you haven’t shopped there before use code SAB871 for $5 off. They’ve even lowered their free shipping to $40 now, but there’s still the $4 flat-fee so I don’t always wait till I have alot of stuff to buy before I make my move. The Maxi-Hair Maximized tablets have gotten good reviews on the hair boards and they have the Biotin, other B-vitamins to help prevent breakouts, and MSM all in the same place as well as other goodies. I’m not going to lie, they are kinda big, but its just two versus the five I was taking to achieve the same levels so that’s progress in my book. My growth with the Viviscal is starting to taper off so I think i’ll just finish this set and give them a break so that I can maybe restart later and get that initial boost. Anywhoo, I havent been taking them long enough to give a thorough review of hair growth as of yet, but I believe my nails are really liking them; my nails are long and strong so I have just been getting a regular mani the last two times. Hmm, that kind of makes them even cheaper when you factor that in, does anyone else take them? Let me know!
As promised, i’m back with my update on my other sample that I got from Aveda. I’m talking about the Aveda Damage Remedy Intensive Restructuring Treatment, yeah all of that. Now I won’t lie, this stuff is on the pricey side, but it made it happen. If you recall, I was less than thrilled about the Dry Remedy, but this stuff restored my faith in Aveda. Of course it had that earthy Aveda scent, again i’m not crazy about it, but it doesn’t stay forever. Nice creamy consistency that I slathered on pretty generously, put on my plastic cap, and hopped under the dryer for about 30 minutes. Wash out time was here and I was a bit nervous… but it was for no reason because my hair felt really great afterwards. My curls were poppin’ yall. My hair felt strong, but not hard; I went ahead and put a deep conditioner on for awhile and did some cleaning around the house just to be on the safe side; my hair is iffy with protein so I don’t mess around. I put some Kinky Curly Knot Today in and slicked this stuff in a bun because I needed to do some errands and got too lazy to switch up the do later. I could tell already when it dried my hair was softer, but the real story is usually what the ends have to tell me so when I let the bun loose I am happy to report the dry brittle mess I had previously was gone. I havent tried the regular conditioner so I can’t comment on that, but now I admit i’m a bit curious. I wonder why the Aveda lady didnt recommend this one to me, I mean my hair is not really damaged per se, but this seems like a great preventative measure especially for someone who tends to get moisture happy every now and then. Long story short, I like it, don’t really need it as its like my Joico K-pak Reconstructor, but I want some anyway… sue me. Only thing is that price tag ($26 for 4.2oz) that makes me STOP, think about it! I love me some Martin, lol. HTH
I got my hands on some Aveda samples a couple of weeks ago and I was super excited to try them. Aveda products are pretty pricey in my opinion so the chance to try them and satisfy my pj urge before taking the plunge is great. There are alot of people who swear by them and then there are others who aren’t impressed. So far, i’m on the not impressed side. I went to an Aveda salon about a month ago to get my do done and the lady recommended the Dry Remedy line for me. I wanted to try it, but that price tag ($24 for 6.7 oz and $42 for 16 oz) had me questioning a few things. My hair turned out great by the way, but I dont even think she used the line in my hair. Imagine my surprise when I got an email offering up free samples for the Dry Remedy and the Damage Remedy treatment. My hair had been especially dry the past week for no reason so it was an excellent time to test out this natural wonder. First things first, it has a nice consistency, not real creamy but definately not runny. It has that Aveda scent, if you are not familiar its screams i’m a natural product with its woody and citrusy undertones…. makes me feel all bohemian and such. I’m not a huge fan, but it doesnt linger. I instantly felt my hair was softened after slathering it all over, and I left it on with a shower cap for a little over an hour. I detangled before rinsing and I have to admit that it did help in that department. Sad part is, once I rinsed the wonderfullness I thought I had was gone. My hair certainly felt conditioned, but it wasn’t exactly my Dry Remedy; I won’t be purchasing the full bottle. I think this would be a pretty good cowash conditioner but since it doesn’t have that good cowash price i’ll have to pass. I usually like to try a product a few times before making my review, but since I just had the sample this will have to do. I actually think my relaxed hair would have loved it, so if you’re relaxed I would try to see if an Aveda store in your area offers some samples. I’m kind of bummed about it to be honest, but i’m super glad I didnt waste my money. They way my hair has been acting, with moisture just leaking out for no reason, I think its time for a little protein in my life anyway, so stay tuned for my Damage Remedy Intensive Treatment review.
I know ive been kind of MIA, but I got my hands on PUSH, a book by Sapphire that has been turned into a movie. All my free time has been spent glued to this book. The movie is called Precious and I believe its due out this fall; its an Oprah and Tyler Perry production and now that i’ve read the book, I can’t wait. Simply put, go get it… its just that good. The movie has won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and it features the likes of Monique, Mariah Carey, and Paula Patton. I’ve heard Monique talk about it in the past and I had heard she did a good job. This is no comedy, this is pure drama, but I wasnt prepared for the plot. Take a look at the trailer I posted. Its deep yall, now that i’ve read the book I’ve got to put my stamp of approval on it and tell everybody I can. This girl is 16, illiterate, broke, and pregnant by her father, for the SECOND time. She meets a teacher that teaches her life should and can be different. It truly takes a village to raise a child.
I had to give my press the boot yesterday, it was fun but I missed wetting my hair for two weeks. I did really like it, and just putting on the flexi-rods at night to revive the bounce factor was nice, so I think i’ll probably be getting it flat-ironed every now and then. I stopped using direct heat on my hair for like four months, but since I no longer abuse my hair I don’t think i’ll be waiting so long in between straight styles. The number one reason that I decided to go natural was for more versatility in styling. I had been getting so hung up with growing my hair that I forgot to have fun with it and enjoy it for what it is now. All my kinks and curls came back without a problem when the water hit it so i’m happy and my hair feels good. I did the bomb pre-poo with shea butter, a little Oyin Whipped Pudding, and some coconut oil. My coconut oil is all melted now so I really slathered it on and plopped a plastic baggy on my head for a few hours while I browsed youtube. I was wondering just the what the heck to do with this stuff now that I wet it and what do you know, somebody’s curly fro video came up on my recommended videos list. This was my little style last summer! Just in case you have never heard of it, the Curly Fro is coined by Dr. Akbari who also has a youtube channel. I washed my hair with my Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle conditioner/ Peppermint Castille Soap mix and conditioned with some Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship. Highly recommended budget goodies I may add. I separated my hair in eight sections, added some Kinky Curly Knot Today and Sabino Moisture Block, and went to work twisting and tucking each section. I like doing this on wet or damp hair for more definition; Dr. Akbari does it on dry hair in her tutorial but I dont want a huge fro look, i’m a smooth definition kinda girl. It was really quick, but the drying time is killer since I did it on freshly washed hair, so if you have to leave the house that day I would suggest the damp or dry hair route. I gave up and sat under the dryer for 45 minutes basically negating the whole quick and easy factor of the style. It’s all good though, it came out nice. I posted a youtube video that I think does a good job of presenting the look and the smooth definition that I like; she also lists the original videos from Dr. Akbari so you can get the background. If you’re in a style rut, I would definatley try this one out, let me know how it goes!
