Contributing Article | How To Teach Your Daughter To Care For Her Own Hair

Image Credit: Tricia's Naturals
If I have a daughter in the future, this would most likely be us
...sharing our hair journey together!


This article came from 2 places from my heart:

1. I have 3 sisters who struggle with their hair sometimes, because they never learned how to care for their own hair. properly.
2. If I have a little girl in the future, I would definitely pass down "hair care tips," so she wouldn't have to go through what I went through - trial and error (mostly error).

Contributing Article | 5 Ways To Sneak Deep Conditioning Into Your Busy Schedule

Product Review: Indian Hemp Masque

Listen, after you read this post you will be fresh out of excuses as to why you cannot deep condition your hair. Deep conditioning is vital for some of us who might be experiencing a little breakage, dry hair, over processed hair, colored hair or normal hair that needs a bit of vitality.

With that said deep conditioning your hair can be pretty time consuming, especially when you have lots of things to do during the weekdays and weekends.

For me I had to come up with something to not skip that important step in my hair care regimen. I tried a few methods to get deep conditioning treatments in, some of which I will share with you here.

My Hair Diary | Quarantine (Day 60) And Thinking Of My Art Teacher Hair Styles

Have you been keeping up with your hair diary?! I know I have!

Journal It! App

From July 2011 - December 2019 I have kept my hair diary on an iPad app called: "My Wonderful Days," in which I could add pictures, videos, and of course my writing entries. All yearly hair diaries have been updated to my Google Books!

Since January 2020, I keep my hair diary on my Google Chromebook called: "Journal It! App" I can organize my hair diary by: Journeys, Activities, Tags, Categories, People, and Places. I can also add: habit tracker, mood tracker with detailed emotions, and notes/lists/to-dos to each of the entries. The best part is the PDF export, which I can continue to add my yearly hair diaries to my Google Books!

I will share my entry that I posted on May 12, 2020:

Hair Tips | How To Moisturize And Seal Hair Effectively

Hair Tips | How To Moisturize And Seal Hair Effectively

 

The way I care for my hair has gotten better over the years!

At the beginning of my hair journey, I did not know how to moisturize my hair let alone know how to even have and keep healthy hair. 

But then that's when I learned lots of helpful information on how to have and retain healthy hair from Curly Nikki, Black Girl Long Hair, Black Hair Information, and Naturally Curly. I also saw how this was done on YouTube and took my hair's health in my own hands.

My hair needed moisture!

Contributing Article | 10 Natural Hair Hacks That Will Make Your Life Simple

10 Natural Hair Hacks That Will Make Your Life Simple 

I'm sure we have all jumped on the natural hair band wagons throughout the years. The benefits and advantages for natural hair growth just seemed too awesome not to do. But there are way to many to keep up with:

Healthy Hair Ingredient | Fenugreek - The Indian Herb To Repair Damaged Hair

Image Credit: Everyday Health
Healthy Hair Ingredient | Fenugreek - The Indian Herb To Repair Damaged Hair

Fenugreek is the best kept secret for healthy Indian hair! This spice is used in Indian food, but this is also great for the health of hair as well! 

Let's Get To It:

Learning My Natural Hair | What Is Your Hair Archetype?

Learning My Natural Hair | What Is Your Hair Archetype? 

You should pick up this book!

The 5 Hair Archetypes: Your Guide To Growing Long Hair, written by Sharifa Barnett, is a different approach in growing and maintaining your own natural hair. Barnett gives her own stories about trying to grow her hair, then realizes that there are many kinds of people who are on different hair journeys.

Barnett explains the 5 archetypes and compares them with hair regimens, pros and cons, and find to out how we can use our specific archetypes to grow our hair in a healthy way.

Here are the 5 archetypes she concluded on: Minimalist, Extensionist, Gadget Gal, Kitchenista, and Shopaholic:

Learning My Natural Hair | Moisture And Protein Balance, Part 2: All About Moisture

Learning My Natural Hair | Moisture
And Protein Balance, Part 2: All About Moisture

What does "Moisture/Protein Balanced" hair mean?

Moisture and protein balance refers to the harmony of strength and retained moisture in the hair. If one is off with the other, this causes the hair to be brittle and break off or make the hair limp and tough to work with.

Learning My Natural Hair | Protein and Moisture Balance, Part 1: All About Protein

Learning My Natural Hair | Protein and
Moisture Balance, Part 1: All About Protein

What does "Moisture/Protein Balanced" hair mean?

Moisture and protein balance refers to the harmony of strength and retained moisture in the hair. If one is off with the other, this causes the hair to be brittle and break off or make the hair limp and tough to work with.

Hair Tips | REPOST: 10 Tips to Longer, Healthier Natural Hair



My Hair Diary | Comparing 2012, 2013, 2014, And 2015  

Growing your hair to a desired length should not be rocket science!!!

I see so many ladies saying "I wish my hair would grow!" "Why can't I have your hair?" "What do I need to do to have long hair?!" And the ones with long hair getting the questions are giving the answers over and over and over. 

Growing your hair that you want depends on how you treat your hair. The question you should be asking yourself is, "Do you love your hair?"

To really show your hair all the love it needs to grow longer, healthier natural hair, try these tips:

Contributing Article | 5 Tips To Get Volume For Fine And Low Density Hair

5 Tips To Get Volume For Fine And Low Density Hair

Truth moment: I do get jealous of those with thick, voluminous hair while my fine and wispy hair lays flat against my scalp. 

Enough about me, check out the tests for fine hair and low density hair to see if you will like to benefit from these tips.
Learning My Natural Hair | What Is My Hair Density? 
Learning My Natural Hair | What Is My Hair Porosity? 

Welcome to the fine and low dense hair club!

Learning My Natural Hair | What Is My Hair Porosity?





Image Credit: Pocahontas Hair Secrets
Learning My Natural Hair | What Is My Hair Porosity?



Porosity
The ability for your hair strands to retain moisture.

Quarterly Natural Hair Advancement | Comparing December 2019 And March 2020

Quarterly Natural Hair Advancement |
Comparing December 2019 And March 2020

*THIS IS A LONG ENTRY*

I decided to let you experience one of the things I do in my Hair Diary! This is called the "Quarterly Natural Hair Advancement (QNHA)." This entry reflects on the last 3 months comparing with the previous QNHA while giving a summary in one whole journal entry. 

There are a lot of comparisons with lengths, regimens, goals, habits, and hair styles. I also include pictures to show that I have either improved or that I need to improve in a specific area. I started this back in June 2013 and I do the QNHA at the end of the months: March, June, September, and December. Yes, I am very intricate with my Hair Diary...but this helps me perfect my current regimen, helps me with future styling options, reminds me of my hair goals, and just fun to do!!!

Healthy Hair Ingredient | DIY Products For Healthy Hair!

Flaxseed Gel

According to Sharifa Barnett, The 5 Hair Archetypes: Your Guide to Growing Long Hair, a kitchenista creates and modifies her own hair products. She uses herbs, oils, and food ingredients in her mixes. The benefits of being a kitchenista will reduce the amount of chemicals and commercial goods used and the ingredients are organic and/or natural.

I have had many ups and downs by being a kitchenista, but I thoroughly enjoy it.

If you are a kitchenista or thinking about becoming a kitchenista, this is what I suggest for less traffic at your home and to simplify your hair care needs:

Learning My Natural Hair | What Is My Hair Density?



Learning My Natural Hair | What Is My Hair Density?

Density
How closely the individuals strands are relatively to each other. 

It is much easier to check density by looking at your scalp:

My Hair Diary | Quarantine (Day 30) Has Been Good To My Natural Hair

Have you been keeping up with your hair diary?! I know I have!

Journal It! App

From July 2011 - December 2019 I have kept my hair diary on an iPad app called: "My Wonderful Days," in which I could add pictures, videos, and of course my writing entries. All yearly hair diaries have been updated to my Google Books!

Since January 2020, I keep my hair diary on my Google Chromebook called: "Journal It! App" I can organize my hair diary by: Journeys, Activities, Tags, Categories, People, and Places. I can also add: habit tracker, mood tracker with detailed emotions, and notes/lists/to-dos to each of the entries. The best part is the PDF export, which I can continue to add my yearly hair diaries to my Google Books!

I will share my entry that I posted on April 12, 2020:

Learning My Natural Hair | What Is My Hair Texture?

Learning My Natural Hair | What Is My Hair Texture?

Image Credit: Excel Math Blog

Now that we have learned that hair type/pattern is the amount of wave or curl a hair strand has without any manipulation, but what about hair texture? Yes, there is a difference...let's learn more about our hair!

Hair Tips | 6 Household Items To Use As Hair Tools

"It's a dinglehopper!" - The Little Mermaid

There are many commercial and store-bought items you can buy for your hair care. There are all kinds of hair products you can DIY, but! What about using items around your house to double as a hair tool. Check out the ones you could try below:

Learning My Natural Hair | What Is My Hair Type?

Image Credit: Sporty Afros

Hair Type

Refers to the amount of wave or curl in hair

Hair typing is the amount of curl or bend your hair has. It is possible to have only one or numerous types.

Here are two different kinds of Hair Typing Systems to help determine what hair type you have to better understand your hair:

Healthy Hair Challenge | January to March 2020: Protective Styles & Ayurveda

Healthy Hair Challenge | January to March 2020: Protective Styles & Ayurveda

I absolutely love hair challenges!

Hair challenges keep me on track to succeeding my goals, while learn more about my hair in order to keep her healthy. I've finally reached the end of my healthy hair challenge. 

Here are the results!

Product Review: Camille Rose Aloe Whipped Butter Gel

I absolutely love roller sets and flexi rod styles, but I'm starting to do more dry sets than wet sets. So this will change my products from gels and mousses, to more creams. So I saw a few reviews on this product and thought I give it a try!

Product Name:

Camille Rose Aloe Whipped Butter Gel

Learning My Natural Hair | How Do I Learn My Natural Hair?

Learning My Natural Hair | How Do I Learn My Natural Hair?

Learning and knowing your hair is a big part of being on a healthy hair journey. There are many ways you can learn what kind of hair you have. 

Below are the tests to find out your hair type, texture, density, porosity, moisture and protein balance, breaking and shedding, elasticity, length, and archetype. Check out it out for yourself:

Product Review: Camille Rose Naturals Algae Renew Deep Conditioner

For 2020, my goal is to use all Camille Rose Naturals products (with ayurveda and Staple Products)! I have used this product before, back in 2014. However, I thought I pick this back up since I loved it then. I'm sure I will love it now! Here is another Camille Rose product I have picked up!

Product Name:

Camille Rose Naturals Algae Renew Deep Conditioner Product Review (Algae Renew)*

Hair Tips | How Often Should You Trim Your Natural Hair?

Trimming Natural Hair

MYTH: Frequent trimming will help your hair to grow!

No, no sweetheart. That's a JACKED UP myth...

TRUTH: Hair grows from your roots and not your ends.

Trimming your ends will make your style appear neater, not promote hair growth. Whoever told you that was surely jealous of your hair, in hopes that you would trim it frequently. Fool me once...you know the rest...

Contributing Article | 7 Ways You Should Care For Your Nape Hair

Contributing Article | 7 Ways You Should Care For Your Nape Hair

“The kitchen,”

“bee-da-bees,”

“black eyed peas,”

“neck freckles,”


...which we all know is the hair that is closest to the neck. Really, we never think about nape area…or at least I don’t.

I am usually so focused on helping my edges to grow into a thicker and healthier hairline that I don’t show any love to my nape area. I know I’m not the only one who has neglected my kitchen more times than I should.

As your hair continues to flourish with healthy hair practices, you might notice that your nape hair is not the same length as the rest or your hair.

As a matter of fact, your nape hair might be short, uneven, and experiencing breakage. This is common with many of us since it is a very sensitive area of the scalp and the easiest area to get tangled.

Contributing Article | 6 Ways To Retain Length On Fine, Natural Hair

Fine Natural Hair Compared To A Piece Of Thread

My natural hair is not the same as your natural hair, quite frankly not all naturalistas have thick, voluminous hair! Some of us have fine, less dense hair that causes us to look for helpful information to keep our hair moisturized, supple, and retaining length.

Fine hair is referred to a skinnier (thinner) thickness or width of the individual hair strand. To determine if you have fine hair just take one of your shed hairs and measure it against a regular sewing thread for thickness.

If your hair strand is wider than the piece of thread, your hair strand is thick. If your hair strand is thinner than the piece of thread, your hair strand is fine.

Product Review: Camille Rose Fresh Curl Avocado Smoothie

For 2020, my goal is to use all Camille Rose Naturals products (with ayurveda and Staple Products) ! I do have a few products to use up, but I have picked up!

Product Name:

Camille Rose Fresh Curl Revitalizing Hair Avocado & Castor Oil Smoothie*

Contributing Article | 4 Tips On How To Create A Simple Regimen

My HairCrush 

When you are new to hair care or are trying to figure out your own hair you may not be so sure how to build your natural hair care regimen. Or perhaps you’ve been caring for your hair for some time now and have come to the conclusion that it’s time for a change in how you care for your hair.

Whatever the case may be building a regimen doesn’t have to be challenging, all it needs are the basics tips: learning your hair, choosing appropriate products, and deciding on styling which will create your hair care regimen.

My Hair Diary | Ayurveda & Healthy Hair Ingredients

Have you been keeping up with your hair diary?! I know I have!

Journal It! App

From July 2011 - December 2019 I have kept my hair diary on an iPad app called: "My Wonderful Days," in which I could add pictures, videos, and of course my writing entries. All yearly hair diaries have been updated to my Google Books!

Since January 2020, I keep my hair diary on my Google Chromebook called: "Journal It! App" I can organize my hair diary by: Journeys, Activities, Tags, Categories, People, and Places. I can also add: habit tracker, mood tracker with detailed emotions, and notes/lists/to-dos to each of the entries. The best part is the PDF export, which I can continue to add my yearly hair diaries to my Google Books!

I will share my entry that I posted on January 17, 2020:

Product Review: Shea Moisture Moringa & Avocado Power Greens Reconstructor

I absolutely love using Camille Rose Naturals Algae Renew Deep Conditioner, but I thought I pick up another deep conditioner to try.

Product Name:

Shea Moisture Moringa & Avocado Power Greens Reconstructor**

Contributing Article | Losing Confidence In Your Natural Hair?

Failed Perm Rod Set 

Confession 1: Sometimes I want to shave all my hair off.

Confession 2: My hair goes in protective styles often, because i hate wearing my hair down.

Confession 3: I do lose confidence in my natural hair sometimes...

Going back to relaxers is out of the question for many naturals. I mean, please! The creamy crack is a thing of the past, there’s no need to second guess that decision. Weeeeell that’s just until your hair decides to be very uncooperative and you have tried everything 3 times to get it to behave...

I mean, what can you do?

Contributing Article | 4 Tips You Can Use To Help You Get Comfortable With Awkward Length Hair

4 Tips You Can Use To Help You Get Comfortable With Awkward Length Hair

Many naturalistas know about this and have gone through this stage with much apprehension. The awkward length is the point where your hair is not long enough to put in a bun, but not exactly a TWA for those cute styles you used to do a few weeks after your big chop.

Your hair is too short to be shoulder-length, but too long to be ear-length. Your hair has finally grown from being a TWA, but your go-to styles are just not working anymore. Oh yes, the awkward length is…dare I say a dreadful stage?

Product Review: Camille Rose Naturals Nibs and Honey Ultimate Growth Serum

For 2020, my goal is to use all Camille Rose Naturals products! I do have a few products to use up, but this is the product I wanted to started with first. 

Product Name:

Camille Rose Naturals Nibs and Honey Ultimate Growth Serum*

Learning My Natural Hair | Do You Know Your Natural Hair? Take A Hair Quiz

Learning My Natural Hair | Do You Know Your Natural Hair?

I love hair tests, quizzes, and challenges! 

I can't help that I love to learn more about my natural hair. I think it's fun and informative, just to see where you are at in your hair journey.

Here are a more articles and quizzes to learn more about your natural hair:

New Staple Alert 2020! Camille Rose Naturals Hair Products

New Staple Alert 2020!
Camille Rose Naturals Hair Products

I finally purchased products from the Camille Rose Naturals!

Getting the Camille Rose Naturals products is the most exciting purchase I have ever made for my hair, since using Mane Choice and Mielle Organics as my natural hair staple line for the year 2020!

I picked up Camille Rose Naturals Algae Renew Deep Conditioner because I ran out of Mane Choice Heavenly Halo Herbal Hair Tonic and Soy Milk Deep Hydration Mask and wanted to try something different. I have used this before years ago and loved how my hair was absolutely moisturized. So I decided to purchase a huge bundle of Camille Rose Naturals!

Here are my Camille Rose Natural hair products, as well as other staple products:

Hair Tips | Bands And Twists To Stretch Natural Hair

Screen Shots Credit | The Chic Natural: 
Wash Day Routine (Start To Finish)

I always do my hair in a stretched state. However, doing the African Threading method can take forever, depending on the style I'm going for. So I saw the Wash Day Routine of The Chic Natural and saw that her stretching routine is brilliant!

Let's Get To It!

My Wash Day | Deep Conditioning Natural Hair Is A Must

Product Review: Indian Hemp Masque

What can I say about deep conditioning? Well, here are the benefits:

Deep conditioning is definitely a natural girl's friend. It is important to keep your hair moisturized and very supple if you want to have healthy hair.

Deep conditioner is made of a thicker conditioner that actually penetrates the hair strands. Regular conditioners are okay, but the deep conditioners do a serious treatment on the hair to have lasting moisturized results.

Hair Tips | 4 Detangling Tips For Fine Natural Hair

Hair Tips | 4 Detangling Tips For Fine Natural Hair

Detangling is using a hair care tool or your fingers to remove tangles and shed hairs that cause matting, knots, and ultimately breakage. When you learn to detangle your natural hair correctly, you can ensure that you will not cause breakage to your hair strands.

Let's discuss tips to help with detangling natural hair:

Hair Tips | The Difference Between Pre Poo Treatments and Hot Oil Treatments

Hair Tips | The Difference Between 
Pre Poo Treatments and Hot Oil Treatments

Pre poo treatments and hot oil treatments are the first step to a successful Wash Day. Even though they are both the first steps (before shampoo/cleansing), they are not the same. Let's discuss this:

My Wash Day | Pre Poo Treatments For Natural Hair

Add caption

I DO PRE-POO TREATMENTS WEEKLY!

Pre-poo treatments are great for natural hair to help keep the hair soft, promote shine, and to keep the hair detangled with ease. These treatments are also great for those who use shampoos (especially with sulfate) so your hair won't be too stripped.

Here are the benefits and the ingredients/recipes of pre-poo treatments:

My Wash Day | Full Washing Regimen For Fine, Natural Hair

My Wash Day | Full Washing Regimen For Fine, Natural Hair

I actually look forward to my Wash Day!

I like to keep my Wash Days pretty simple: 

1). Pre Poo Treatment - 30 minutes to overnight

2). Cleanse/Co Wash - 5 minutes

3). Protein Treatment - 10 minutes

4). Deep Conditioning - 30 minutes

5). Oil Rinse - 5 minutes

6). Air Dry In 2 Strand Twists - 30 minutes

Natural Hair Goals | My 5 Goals Of 2020 For My Natural Hair Journey

My Hair Diary | My 2020 Goals For My Natural Hair Journey

NEW YEAR! NEW GOALS!! NEW JOURNEY!!!

Since bringing My Hair Diary | My Top 3 Natural Hair Mistakes In 2019 out for me to learn from, I have decided what my 5 goals are for 2020: