Two new products on my counter

L’Oreal’s Re-Nutrition has made me quite pleased over the past two weeks. I thought the little container wouldn’t be able to hold up to daily use with my curly thirsty hair, but I haven’t even gone through half the jar yet. A little goes a long way, and it detangles oh so well. I use either a wide tooth comb and a Denman. Not much tangling.

It’s been getting cold and my hair was turning from soft sheep wool to steel wool. Until I asked someone randomly at Starbucks what she used in her hair, because her curls looked amazing and so cushy. She told me about Taliah Waajid, a product I thought I would have to special order from the US, something I am trying my hardest not to do anymore (…says the ex-product-junkie). But low and behold, it was in my local beauty supply store for $8. YAY! I am so happy I found it. LOVE the way it makes my hair soft all day, even when I use gel on top.

There you have it! Enjoy, and let me know if you’ve tried these and what you think.

Hi…

Hi. I’m back. It’s been a while and I’ve been all over the place. Had to take some time to sort out some things, try some things, undo some things. Just like all other things in life, I guess.

I was still online, for those of you who didn’t follow me. For those of you who did and still stuck with me, thank you.

I am no longer an all-natural-everything product junkie. I am now willing to try store bought products and remix them to my delight. I big chopped my hair last year and was very happy with it. I spent some time straightening it, just for the hell of it.

That’s when I learned to let go a bit. I was beginning to feel like I had to be just about my hair, which I was not. It was taking up a lot of my time blogging about it instead of just enjoying my hair and sharing it.

I had spent all of my youth going back and forth between natural and relaxed, not for any other reason than boredom. Having it straight reminded me of why I liked it curly, so I went back.

I was sick for a while and my brother passed away so it wasn’t a fantastic year. But, I took up photography – self portraits mostly, vacationed more, met some awesome people, did a ton of offline things, and am feeling much better about who I am and where I’m going.

I’m glad to have this blog back up. I’m glad that I can feel better after so many many months of not. I will share the hair care things I love when I can. For photography, life, and non-hair things, you can follow me on my other blog.

And because this is a hair blog, I’ll leave you with a hair product I’ve been using and like quite a bit: L’Oreal’s Re-Nutrition Deep Moisture Mask. I’ll do a full post on it soon.

Braid Out: No product, just a little water.

Photo: Rob D., Creative: Kelly P.

Fluffing it Out!!

I’ve started to wear my hair out a little more. Been so use to tying it back and not experiencing the freedom of just letting it flow. So I’m doing that – I’m letting it go and fluffing it out. It’s fun, especially for the summer.

I am the queen of jackets, by the way. If my house was on fire and I had to save something from my closet, that would be it. And that concrete wall behind me? It’s just an exceptional piece of award-winning office design. No lie, my building won awards. I guess concrete was in style that year…

NaturallyCurly.com’s Best of the Best Curly Hair Products

If you’ve been looking some products to try, check out the 2010 NaturallyCurly.com Best of the Best Winners. NaturallyCurly.com’s readers voted that more product choices and availability was the most important thing to happen in the curly world this year.

Some of the products in the list are ones that I’ve tried myself and love. Others…not so much. But feel free to check it out for yourself and share with others what you think.

Ciao!

Homemade Conditioner

Update: PLEASE put it in the fridge if you’re going to make a big patch. I didn’t use preservatives and forgot to put mine in the fridge and lost it all. Will do again, sans soy protein, when I find a natural preservative that’s hair friendly.

I tried to make my own conditioner. Tried because I thought I had it under control.

Then it started to get a little thick! I was trying to thicken with soy protein powder but then I dumped the whole thing in without checking the consistency…

I added a little more aloe juice, almond oil, and coconut oil to make it more consistent and less clumpy. I thought I had ruined it.

The results? It was good! I tried using it as a conditioning shampoo and it cleansed my hair quite well and was the best detangler I’ve ever tried. It worked so well that when I went to put a little coconut oil in my hair for styling, it ended up being too much. My hair was already fine the way it was.

I stuck the bulk of it in plastic containers for storage.

Ingredients:

Almond oil
Coconut oil
Aloe Juice (but you can use aloe vera gel too)
Coconut milk
Honey
Soy protein powder
Glycerin

Here’s my hair a couple days after.

And check out the shirt I got at WordCamp Chicago! Loves it! But it’s not like I believe it or anything…

Trying Something New: Semi-Bangs

The front of my hair was getting long and I started to notice that I was always pulling it back. Sooooooo, I did a little snip snip to shape it up!

Waddya think?

And another angle.

In these pics, I had twisted my hair with eco styler gel and a touch of coconut oil. The gel is surprisingly good. I still don’t like gels, but it did the job with minimal flaking AND I could wear it in a twist out for several days without any repercussions. YAY!

My Natural Hair on DailyBooth

Didn’t I just say a few posts ago that I would be posting more frequently? Well obviously I overestimated my blog ethic.

Anyway, I’ve joined DailyBooth…so you can see my many hair styles whenever you want. http://www.dailybooth.com/kandeezie.

I’ve been taking regular pictures at work of the many hairstyles I have but didn’t really want to be hounding this blog with daily pics. Now I’ve found the place to put them. I won’t be posting the old ones on DailyBooth, so instead I’m posting a few of the styles I’ve been wearing to work here.

Enjoy!

Summer Natural Hair Inspiration: Esperanza Spalding

I’ve written about Esperanza before, but it was more about her music. This time round, I’m focusing on her hair. She rocks the full texture of her hair, which I really like. I need to get a wrap like the one she’s using in one of the pictures below. I came by a few on Etsy with beautiful patterns and textures, but of course, I forgot to bookmark it, so I’ll have to search for them again. Most importantly, I would love to know what products she uses, if anything.

Big hair is great for the summer, especially on the weekends when I plan on being out and about with my kids who, by the way, think my hair is super special.

Here are some pictures of her that I love.

Tight Braid-Out

I haven’t posted in a while…as per the usual but NOW there’s a WordPress Blackberry app that I can use and it makes things 20x easier. Yay!!

Anyways, seeing as I have this app now, it’ll be much easier to post pics. This style is a braid when wet and I only let it air dry overnight so it was a little damp when I took it out around noon the following day. It made the waves tighter which is really good for a spring/summer look. I plan on wearing it really big this summer.

I have a new hair washing method. I switch it so much it’s hard to keep up. Anyhoodles, what I do before I wash is coat my hair with coconut oil and let it soak in like a deep treatment. I concentrate on the ends so that way any damage can be nurtured. Then I wash my hair with Dove baby wash – which seems to be gentler than the SLS-free shampoo I was using before. To detangle, I put aloe vera gel all over the sections of my hair I’m brushing while still in shower, then brush while rinsing. I just “discovered” I could put the aloe in a spray bottle for easy application. Yes, I’m slow. Right after I rinse each section, I braid. This keeps my hair detangled and since it’s super wet, there’s little to no tugging and snagging on the brush.

Okay people, enjoy!