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26 November 2010

i am on a product NO-BUY! for six months!

yep, that's right. i'm putting myself on a hair product no-buy for the next six months!


but... why?!


due to the combined efforts of the amazing generosity of the lovely ladies of lhcf and black friday, i now have more than enough hair creams and conditioners than izzy can handle! amongst handfuls of adorable sample sizes and free full sizes, i plan to spend the next six months shopping my stash.


i have everything i need: shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, moisturizer, oil, etc. and i really shouldn't be buying more products when i have a backlog of others that i need to review (some have been sitting around for months). so i'll be working on that. i'll also be updating my inventory post with my entire stash.


here are my rules for myself:

  1. no new product purchases. this includes sample sizes (this is how i end up with so many)!
  2. only allowing repurchases of staple products and products i adore.
  3. work on at least one review a week (maybe not post, but at least begin working on one).
how about you ladies? any of you getting a little out of hand with your buying? did you participate in BF? what did you buy?!


edit: just coming back to add a brief list of the things i am not allowed to buy (in addition to hair products), because if i have a more concrete list, i won't be tempted to buy!


no more: body wash, soap, lotion (unless it's a smell good!), eyeliner, lipgloss, skin care products.
i will allow: blushes and nail polish.

19 November 2010

so... i might take that back.

i hate moisturizing on dry hair.


hate it, despise it, detest it, curse it, etc. etc.


how do people do it? maybe there are some naturals out there with magical afros that never get mushed, or flattened, or compacted while they sleep. maybe they can wake, shake (or fluff), and just go. *sigh* i can't imagine how blissful that must be. did they not get the frizz? the dryness and crackling? guess not.


as for me (and dear izzy). izzy is definitely my hair - she sleeps hard just like me. my springy spirals are effectively and tenaciously pressed against my scalp after a night of either deliciously deep sleep or tossing and turning. should i so much as look at izzy in the morning the wrong way, she'll frizz up. i try to tenderly, gently poke the tips of my fingers into the thickets of my curly roots in some kind of feeble attempt to get my coils to spring to life. 


if i can't do it with my fingers, what can a moisturizer do? psh. out comes the trusty spray bottle, and with it, the drippies for at least ten-fifteen minutes. damp ears and a moist scalp are not the business in fall, with winter creeping around the corner. even more so when you're running late for class. but that seems to be the only way to get izzy into some semblance of cooperation. what else could i do? the drippies were driving me up the wall!


the one day, it hit me. smacked me in the face as i was rubbing one eye, lazily inspecting my afro with the other. what did i care? no honestly, what did i care if izzy looked like she was cooperating? she was daring, just like me! obviously, if "moisturizing"my hair just made me how aware of how dry it was, then i must not have been doing it right, or not using the right products.


if it was the products, i'd been hearing people going on about water-based moisturizers, but i never really cared? what did i care? my hair was always fine before. but with this new color, obviously "fine" wasn't gonna cut it now. luckily, i'd been shopping around for water-based moisturizers and settled on the leave-in from jasmine's.


i grabbed the moisturizer (jasmine's shea butter cream rinse leave-in) and slathered it over my head... no cracklies? no tangles? i can move my hair? afro perfectly shaped?


BINGO!


why had i refused to try this for so long?! this was maybe two or three weeks ago and me and my hair have been doing fine! i felt like a huge dope - why did i wait so long?! i still can't believe it! drippies are down by 90% percent! styling time is five minutes max!


it just goes to show that i have become stagnant with experimenting with  my hair and a little exploration is essential - learn your hair and what works. try new things, you may like them!


i will say however, i have noticed that i use a lot more product on dry hair versus wet hair. if i had to wager a guess, it'd be because it's much easier to spread the product through damp hair. i am still looking to try more water-based moisturizers!


what are some things new that you've tried with your hair? what moisturizer do you like? chime in. :) i love suggestions. i hope everyone is growing and learning along with their hair!

14 November 2010

time for inventory...

earlier this year when i cut my hair, i managed to whittle down my product stash by quite a bit. i was quite happy buying samples as i wanted, and using them up within the week before moving on to the next thing. i never felt as though i needed a number of products. my short-hair mentality was: little hair, little products.


a month or so ago, i decided to let my hair grow out and as you can see from my pictures, i've been doing just that. however, my buying habits still had a short-hair mentality. over the past few weeks, i've ordered a number of samples and products and now, i have more than i care to possess. now that i'm only washing once a week (my deep conditioning on sundays), my product stash hasn't had many losses to balance the incoming goodies. 

so i'm doing a little spring (fall?) cleaning of my stash so i can keep better track of the items i already have. hopefully, i won't be tempted to order anymore (except black friday, that is...)


[conditioners]
christine gant babassu cream deep conditioner (sample)
jasmine's avocado & silk deep conditioner (sample)
mozeke moisturizing hair masque
jessicurl weekly deep conditioning treatment
hairveda moist conditioner 24/7
oyin handmade honey+hemp conditioner
jasmine's babassu buttercream organic conditioner
ori organics golden jojoba hydrating conditioner
ori organics curl restorative masque: deep conditioner
bear fruit hair olive drench conditioner
bear fruit hair mango macadamia mask

[oils]
hairveda cococasta shikakai oil
hairveda avosoya oil
hairveda vatika frosting
mozeke alma herbal infusion
oyin handmade burnt sugar pomade

[moisturizers, etc]
christine gant sweet milk leave-in
jasmine's shea butter cream rinse leave-in
qhemet biologics alma olive heavy cream
qhemet biologics honey hydrating balm
darcy's botanicals shea butter curl moisturizing cream
oyin handmade hair dew
kinky curly knot today leave-in
ori organics replenishing hair milk (sample)
ori organics moisture balancing buttercream (sample)


[stylers]
nbd cosmetics moisture miracle
darcy's botanicals curling cream gel
donna marie miracurl curling jelly
donna marie dream curling creme
kinky curly curling custard
ori organics curl styling buttercream (sample)



aaand... some samples from bee mine.



i know this doesn't seem like a lot, but my desk is getting crowded with all kinds of conditioners and creams and i would like that space back, lol. to me, this seems like quite a lot since i don't use as many products as often now that i wash less. i also have the full sizes of a few of these products, but even sample sizes can take a while to whittle down.

reviews might be coming a little slower too, since i like to really work with a product before i review it. since i'm not washing my hair as often, i won't be using my products as often, so... slower reviews. but i do plan to have at least two up each week. there are lots of products that i have tried that i haven't yet written about.

03 November 2010

KAPLOWWWW!!!!!

guuuuuuuuurl(s). my hair look guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhd tuhdeee. let. me. tell. YOU!!! so like, i woked up righ? and i aint eeven have no scarf or nuffin! i just hopped up out the bed, and my swag was already on!!! it would have been a problem if it was the interior light, you know like in a car? cuz then my battry woulda been died. but nah, it was my swag!!! and swag don drain for me gurlies. so like, i just tooked a looked in the mirror, and wassup? was lookin right. wholetime joant was all curhly and purrfect righ? and the joants was spiriling and poofin and bouncin. like KAPLOW!!! #thatisall