ACV And Daily Stretches

Morning, guys! I have been doing so well with drinking my ACV in the mornings. I am on day 15 as of today. I have been noticing some changes already and I'm stoked! I made a video the day before I began doing this.
I will soon make another video explaining more about it soon, but it's wonderful! Of course, you guys know, this stuff is disgusting. But putting a little of into a cup first thing in the morning with some honey really isn't so bad. It's kind of sour, with a sting to it. Like tart lemonade, in a way. It's drinkable. You want to use the most natural honey you could possibly get, though. The cheapest honeys out there are full of nothing but sugar and NOT real honey properties.

I have been incorporating this into my new health routine lately, while doing stretches daily before my exercise. Stretches are really important for blood flow, which is what I am having issues with. Circulation is a big issue for me, but I am fixing that right now. When I stretch, I stretch my entire body. DAILY. It really helps me feel so much better, and I've been having increased energy without drinking coffee! Yay for progress!

NEW business cards: 

Did I Get Heat Damage? O_O

Heya, peeps! I wanted to mention that I washed my straight hair out a few days ago. I couldn't take the itch! It was straight for a week like always, and then my scalp was on fire as it always is when I don't wash my hair every week. I missed my curls, anyway. This is why I can never do protective styles and keep them longer than two weeks, because my scalp starts to feel like needles after about 7 days. -___-
Now, I have wet my scalp and added some oil sometimes when my scalp itches, and then gave it a little massage to loosen up whatever is causing my scalp to itch in the first place. But unfortunately, it's only temporary. The relief is there for a little while, about a day and then it's back to Itch City. I don't have any tea tree oil, which I have heard is great for itch.
Soooo, on wash day, I sprayed my hair with aloe vera juice and water that I had in the fridge and watched my hair revert. I added EVOO along with that onto my hair and scalp as a pre-poo and then covered my hair with a plastic bag for two hours. Felt so good using something cold on my scalp! I made a video doing this process that I will edit and upload soon.
I washed my hair with a cheap sulfate shampoo and did an ACV rinse afterward. My hair felt amazing, and not an OUNCE of heat damage. Woo hoo!
Don't get me wrong; I'm going to miss my straight hair. I don't do it often, so when I do, it's wonderful. It looked amazing, too, as you can tell from the pic of me and my hubby lol! But it's all good. No heat damage. Three years natural, almost four. I know my hair now, and I am doing a great job with it. Yay!
Stay tuned to my YouTube channel. I have more videos coming up, including family vlogs! ;)
www.youtube.com/curlsofinnocence

Peace out till later, curly mamas!

~Epic Realist~

Too Tired for Hair & My TMI Tag!

Hola, curly mamas! Getting closer to the end of this pregnancy (35 weeks!) and I am super EXHAUSTED. It's been kind of a struggle to even do my hair, so I have been keeping it pinned up a lot. I deep conditioned it today because it really needed it from Saturday's wash with the Herbal Essences sulfate shampoo. I used that to get the Kinky Curly Curling Custard from the previous post completely out of my hair this time, because the first time I tried to get it out, I called myself doing a deep condition right on top of the KCCC, and that was an ultimate FAIL from hell. I should have known to wash it out last week first and then deep condition, but because everything hurts lately, I was trying to take shortcuts and ended up with nasty white flakes STILL in my hair despite using ACV to rinse it out.
Natural hair doesn't like it when you take shortcuts, I see. O_o
So after the ACV rinse last week which did nothing for getting rid of the grimy product on my hair, I rinsed my hair over and over again at the sink, combing out as much flakes as I could until my arms got tired. Then I just threw in a leave in and some oil and braided it up. I had to take care of that another day. Finally, the product is all out of my hair. Whew... I see why people complain about that product (KCCC)! It's awesome, but as far as washing, you'd better not even think about co-washing with a normal conditioner. You'd better find a shampoo that has sulfates upon sulfates or you'll end up looking like someone just dumped a bucket of dandruff on your head. -__-
Today, I skipped Syriah's wash day because I washed it last week. Too tired to wash weekly right now. I took down her flat twists and re-moisturized with AVJ and water, a leave in, put whipped shea butter on each section, and gave her some sleek box braids. I am curious as to how long they'll last, but considering that I know how to do her hair well so that braids will hold for a bit, she'll be fine. As long as I keep it wrapped up, these box braids should last her about 2-3 weeks. Maybe baby Jalani will show up by then. LOL!
Little Mari's hair doesn't last at all in anything right now, unless I keep her hair sectioned in rubber bands with braids. But even that doesn't look good after she's slept on it. I think I'll just stick to low maintenance ponytail puffs or something for her, because ain't nobody got time fo dat!
Jam's hair still gets spritzed with AVJ/water and oil whenever I remember (about 2-3 times a week), but I still wash his hair at least twice during his baths because his hair gets uber dry from me not working on keeping it moist enough. Plus, he likes to keep his fat head on the carpet when he plays and outside dirt also gets stuck in his curls. Boys...sigh. So I constantly put moisture on his hair. It's growing well and he doesn't cry as much anymore when I try to comb it.
See the kid's hair regimens here: http://curlsofinnocence.blogspot.com/p/syriahs-hair-regimen.html

I did finally get around to doing the TMI Tag that everyone else on YouTube is doing. It was kind of fun. I'm so happy that I got a new camera so that my vids and pics can be of much better quality. Blogger is acting up again with the video posting (GRRRRRR!), so here is the video link. Hope you guys enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39t3xbbWfUQ

Peace out till later, folks! 
                                           ~Epic Realist~

Personal blog link: http://epicrealist.blogspot.com/

WARNING: If you are easily offended by religious debates/statements, DO NOT even attempt to read this blog.

First ACV Rinse and LENGTH CHECK!

Heya, curlies! Today is Halloween, but I don't really celebrate that, so sorry; I don't have any Halloween hair ideas or anything. lol
I want to talk about my first ACV rinse that I did in my hair, and my length check!
Video is self explanatory... wish I could embed the YouTube one here but for some reason, that never works out for me in blogger... no clue why. Enjoy, though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc2lVD8IzvY

ACV is an abbreviation for apple cider vinegar, commonly used by naturals for cleansing the hair of everything in a natural way. ACV also balances the pH of your hair, which in turn makes your curls 'pop'. It closes your cuticles as well... I'm honestly not sure how good that is for your scalp, but that's one of the attributes. ACV is gaining popularity because of the extremely clean feeling it leaves your hair with.
Now don't get me wrong, the stuff stinks to high heavens. When I first heard of it, I was like, apple cider vinegar? I didn't think vinegar belonged in hair! But there are studies that say that vinegar itself is awesome for a total clean.
So I went to Walmart and found the cheapest bottle of ACV I could find. I don't remember the price (I bought it last month), but it was between 5-7 bucks in the salad dressing aisle. I just used it for the first time this Sunday, and it was amazing!
First, I washed my hair with a cheap (VO5) sulfate shampoo to get the last two weeks of gunk out of my hair. I did this over the kitchen sink because I didn't feel like hopping in the shower at the time. Then I mixed the ACV in a small dispenser bottle with less ACV than water, then shook it up. I hated the smell; it smelled like rotten apples that had been sitting in a dumpster for months! >_< Then little by little, I squirted the mixture onto my my whole head, scalp and all. I massaged it in for about five minutes, then rinsed it out. The smell was barely there anymore after rinsing, and my hair felt amazing!

The curls were seriously popping, and I was able to see every hair texture in my head! I have several hair textures. My new red color was popping, too. My scalp felt a little dry, but overall super CLEAN! I love the feeling that the ACV left me with.

Now of course, I wasn't going to leave my hair like this, so I applied my oil mixture to my hair (EVOO, peppermint oil, castor oil) rubbed that in, then applied my Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque. I love this stuff; it's so buttery and soft. I like to use it as a leave in. My hair stays incredibly soft when I do that. SO I just twisted and did bantu knots around my head, de-tangling each section while doing so.

Hardly NO hair came out in the detangling process. I was amazed! My hair shed way more than this last week when I washed. I don't know if it was the ACV that prevented the shedding or what, but it's now part of my monthly routine. Probably instead of using a sulfate shampoo monthly to cleanse my hair, I'll use the ACV instead. Hooray for more discoveries! ;)

Hope you guys enjoyed this post! What are your experiences with ACV? How does your hair like it? Tell meh here or on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curls-of-Innocence/256662627753918?ref=hl

Until next time, curly mamas! Peace!

~Epic Realist~