Hair Date Anyone!!! Do you date your Hair??

So as I am sitting here talking to my husband about my writers block that I seem to have. If you don't know already or it has been a long time I will tell you about my hair date.. Sometimes it is an all day affair. All products I use are from CC's Naturals. You can  receive 15% off your purchase using the code "naturallycamille".

There are times I get a little frustrated.. You see the thing is my hair isn't short anymore. And you forget how long it is once you get through the grueling process of dealing with it patiently.  Well the problem is I am not as patient when it comes to my hair as I need to be or should be. I have posted a blog about my hair routine a while ago and it has changed since then. Not by much but it has. But we are here to talk about hair dates. What I mean by that is taking time out of the day to love on your hair. Washing, conditioning, Deep Conditioning, all of that good stuff..

Well my hair date was today. It was supposed to be last week but what had happened was Steve and I went to New Orleans for the Essence Festival so my hair was partially neglected. I say partially mainly because Steve did do his weekly  detangling session on my hair. (If that didn't happen my hair would have been tragic) So a week later and now my hair loves me again..

So Jezebel started out in a puff that was 6 days old. I didn't want to wash her because I love her at that stage because she just gets bigger and bigger.  But it had to be done. Steve Co-Washed and Detangled my hair and it came out liking me again.. 

 

 ..

Now that was last week. She hasn't had her weekly DC as she is accustomed to, and I could tell she was throwing her usual toddler tantrum this morning. So I had to break out the big guns. I used the Smore's DC Pods first. Now I added a few extra things into the mix because like I said it has been a few weeks since my last Deep Conditioning date. A pic of them are below. I melted them down with a tea made with slippery Elm, Marshmallow Root, Sage, Basil, Burdock Root, and Fenugreek. I also  added Wheat Germ Oil, Molasses, Amino Acid, and Aloe Vera Gel to the mix. So this was an awesome treat to add to my hair. And to be honest it smelled like cookies. I guess because it had Cacoa Powder in them. And I let it sit for 30 mins to penetrate my hair.

After that I washed her with the Pina Colada Soap from CC's Naturals.  All of the Body bars that doesn't contain bits of herbs in them, we use on our hair as well as our bodies. I then conditioned my hair. My hair has been dyed red for a while now. I didn't use anything to lift, well because I am a little scared. But the color can be seen in the natural light as a tint. Or you can really tell on my grey strands which is a lot. Now we move on to the rest of the process. I told you it was a long one..

TIP** Remember when you are rinsing out conditioner or shampoo, if you want you hair to hang in the front you want to rinse the hair while it is hanging to the front not with your head tilted back.

Now we move to the process of styling the hair::

NOTE** I do not style my hair when it is damp.. My hair is always soaked and still dripping.

I do use the LOC method. I have tried a few other method but this method has worked very well for me. If you don't know what the LOC method is I will explain it now.

 (L)= Liquid - Tea Rinse- Leave In Conditioner or a high water content product (This is where the moisture comes into play )
(O)= Oil or Butter (You will use this to lock in the moisture. The oil or butter will coat the hair strand so that none of the moisture will escape the strands)
(C)= Cream/Creme - Butter based- more Oil and Butter than Water/Liquid product (You will use this to seal in the moisture.

Ok now that we got that understood here is what I used on my hair and what I will use for the Month.

Today I styled my hair using #s 1,2 and 3. I will be using #1 everyday. There will be days I won't use all of them. 

I have been back to natural for 3 yrs now.  My last relaxer was June of 2011 and I big Chopped in Oct of 2011. 

Well there you have it my hair date!!!! How is your hair date? How long does it take you? Mine took me 2 hrs from start to finish. And it was wonderful. Take the time to know your hair, have patients with your hair, and Don't rush it to grow. Nothing will make it grow faster, or healthier than treating it right. 

Chart your hair growth with pictures. Make a Hair Journal. Know your hairs likes, dislikes and loves. It makes it so much easier for your next Hair Date!!!

Until Next Time!!!

How well do you know your Butters?

Hey today's post is all about Butters...

What do you know about your butter? 

There are so many different butters out there on the market.  

You have:

African Shea Butter (white and yellow) - Gana, West Africa

Mango butter - India

Cocoa Butter - Ivory Coast, West Africa

Cupuacu Butter - Brazil

Kokum Butter - India

Lanoline Butter - United Kingdom

Pumpkins Seed Butter - North America

Shorea Butter - Ivory Coast, West Africa

Tucuma Butter - Brazil

Murumuru Butter - Brazil 

Lets talk Butter Blends since we now know of all of the natural butters that I listed above. Butter blends are a blends mostly made of Extracts, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, other oils and Butters You may ask "What is Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil made of well since Vegetables doesn't contain anything that will produce an oil?" It is Soybean oil as well as Palm Oil.  

Here is a list of Butter Blends I have came across:

Acai Butter Blend 

Almond Butter Blend

Avocado Butter Blend

Aloe Butter Blend

Argan Butter Blend

Brazil Nut Butter Blend

Chamomile Butter Blend

Coffee Butter Blend

Cranberry Butter Blend 

Green Tea Butter Blend

Horsetail Butter Blend

There are so many more. Do you know whats in your Butter or Butter Blends?

Until Next Time... 

So your Natural and want to Dye your Hair

First let me say, I don't take to change to well. But I have been itching to dye my hair. I have been natural for over 2 yrs and have cut my hair 2 times since going back to natural. I have mulled over the cutting as well. My journey hasn't been about length it has always been about health with that being said I have researched the different dyes for my hair. Then it went to what color I wanted to walk around with. You may hear people say its just hair and they are right but I have a thing where even though it is just hair it is attached to me. So it is apart of me. Each hair style and each time I put my hands to my hair my energy is released to it.

Now with the dye I will answer the questions that I have asked myself and if you have other be sure to ask.

1) People will say once you dye your hair you are no longer natural is that true?  Depends on who you ask. Me: your natural as long as your not putting a chemical that relaxes the curl/hair.

2) Will dyeing my hair damage it in anyway? As long as you keep your hair moisturized it will not. So deep conditioning your hair is a must. Also be sure to do a protein treatment to keep the strength of your hair.

3) Can you dye your hair after applying henna to your hair 4 weeks ago? Yes. Again keep your hair moisturized. Use the LOC or the LCO method. 

4) How often can you dye your hair? The box says 4-6 weeks. But I would say hold off 8 weeks before you reapply.  You do not want to over process your hair. Yes dyeing you hair is processing it as well.

5) How many different types of dyes are there?  There are 3 different types of dyes. There is Semi, Permanent. and temporary.. 

1. Semi/Demi Permanent and Rinse dyes just coats the hair strand with color and will fade each time you wash your hair. 
2. Temporary Dyes will wash out after one wash. 
3. Permanent Dye requires the hair cuticle to be lifted and alters the proteins that gives us our natural hair color. In other words it will permanently color your hair it will not wash out but it will grow out eventually. 

Now let's talk about how your hair should feel while having it dyed. 
It is the same as it should feel while it isn't. If it feels super dry it needs moisture. If it feels like it is brittle and you can hear it when you put your hands in it.. You will need to do a deep condition with some sort of protein or a protein treatment asap. Always remember Natural hair is fragile. If you are just learning your hair and how to treat it on a daily/weekly basis. PLEASE hold of on doing anything that will chemically alter it.

Remember Natural hair takes work. We may get frustrated with it, with all the detangling, finger detangling, shingling, twisting, braiding, bantu knots, twist/braid knot outs,  keeping up the moisture levels, washing, co-washing, conditioning, leave in conditioner, creams, oils, butters, and the list goes on and on.. Looking at it and the terms it may seem like it is a lot. But remember to have patients, because at the end of the day that's what you will need for it to grow and be healthy..