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.

My First Wash & Go EVER! KINKY CURLY CURLING CUSTARD Review

Heya, guys! Yes, you read the title right. I have actually never attempted a wash and go, not since I've been natural. I've just never actually needed to; I'm home most of the time, so I'm never in a situation where I have to fix my hair and run out the door or anything. My hair remains braided or twisted, or nowadays, in a bun or pineapple to preserve the twist out or braid out.
But since I had a chance to get KCCC (Kinky Curly Curling Custard) recently, I decided to finally try a wash and go. People have fallen in love with that product, and now I see why! It's actually all natural, I believe, or at least 99% natural. It's wonderful.
So on my wash day on Saturday, I co-washed my hair with the new As I Am Coconut Co-Wash I also got (yes, I actually co-washed, only because it's actually formulated for cleansing and not some random cheapie conditioner) from my CurlMart haul (previous post), conditioned with my Herbal Essences conditioner, and rinsed. Right after I towel blotted my hair and got dressed, I started sectioning my hair and applying the KCCC onto each section, after using a dab of coconut oil on my scalp and newly colored ends.
See new color review here!╰☆╮41- Textures and Tones Review: OMBRE Effect PART 2

Applying the KCCC

 
 
 

 


Now the only problem that I had with this was that I think I was supposed to re-wet my hair as I was doing it. Although I applied immediately after washing, I don't think my hair was wet enough. I say that because when my hair dried, it was super frizzy in the back and also very hard and crunchy on certain parts of my hair! It looked amazing as far as definition, but I could just tell that maybe I should have used my AVJ/water spritz on each section before applying the product.



                           After KCCC is Dry

 

 


It looks cute, though, except for the shrinkage, of course LOL! I pineappled my hair for the night and tied it with a satin scarf. I was curious to see how this wash and go would look on day 2.

Day 2

 


Well, it did look better! More volume, hangs better. My hair is still super hard in some areas, so hard and clumped together to where I cannot even pull the hairs apart (yikes), but I will probably spritz my ends again soon and pin it up before bed to loosen the hardness of it, then apply some oil and see if it still holds up. If not, oh well. That's the fun of experimenting, right?
At least I finally tried a wash and go, and I finally tried KCCC! Yay, me! Haha!
Let me know what you guys think and if you've ever tried this product. Was it a success or was it a half-failure like mine was? lol
Peace out till later, curlies! Stay curly!

~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.

New Facial Routine!

Hey, curlies! I have a new facial routine. Frankly, I haven't taken great care of my face in years because I've been so busy with my kids and hadn't had the money, but it's time for me to get on the ball. I don't get a lot of acne anyway, and I usually just wash my face in the shower with regular soap. But I know that's not good for my face. My diet has been off, too. My face has been occasionally breaking out lately with stress and improper cleaning, and my skin tone is all over the place and blotchy-looking.
I recently tried this new 'oil cleansing' method that everyone's been raving about. Not gonna lie; it did work. I liked the feeling of the 'steam effect'. But much like the hype over co-washing, the purpose of oil is not to cleanse. I don't feel comfortable cleansing my face with oil the same way I don't feel comfortable cleansing my scalp with conditioner. Everyone's trying to get away from soap because of sulfates when all you have to do is purchase something without it!
I haven't had any of the Dudu Osun black soap lately because I couldn't order it and I just now realized that I didn't have to anymore. They sell it right in my local beauty supply store! So when this Lever 2000 soap finally runs out, I can go back to my natural soaps.
I thought about trying a Shea Moisture bar soap as well, but that's when I can find it in a store. Tired of paying for shipping with everything. LOL!
Okay, back to facial biz.I got an Ambi facial bar soap, only because I've always loved Ambi. I used it a lot during my college days, and my face was always utterly flawless. My skin tone was in check and moisturized. Here's the soap I got. In Walmart, it was $1.87. Originally, I thought it was five bucks because of where the soap was placed, but nope. http://shopambi.com/detail/AMB+002232
So I've been using this soap for the last three days, day and night. It's awesome! I love the smell and the softness. It's a very light cleanser, and this huge bar should last me a couple of months. After washing, I use JBCO as a facial moisturizer. A lot of people have been using castor oil for other things besides their hair, like their face, their dry feet, and the muscle aches.
I will keep testing this and see if any problems arise. But as of now, it's perfect.
I'm out! Until next time, peeps!

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~Epic Realist~

Merry Christmas & a New Shampoo!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I have a new shampoo! Now before you get all excited, this isn't a giveaway or anything. One day, those will come when I can afford it. LOL! But I got this two days ago from Walmart and I am in love with it.
It's another Shea Moisture shampoo, but I like it better than the one I was previously using. I couldn't wait to try it, so on Sunday, which I have officially named as my wash day, I tried it. It was absolutely awesome!
Truthfully, this stuff didn't even feel like a shampoo. It was so silky, it felt like a conditioner, like I was co-washing my hair instead of actually 'sudsing' it up. As usual there are all natural ingredients in it, and no sulfates! I'm so in love with this shampoo.
Wish that I had the money to get the conditioner to try along with it, which was also $9.99. Some people have said that the conditioner doesn't do as good of a job as the shampoo does, but I want to see for myself one day.
So I washed my hair in two sections, towel blotted it, and applied my castor oil and grape seed oil mixture on my scalp and ends. Then I used some of my Tresemme conditioner (which is almost gone) in my hair as a leave in and de-tangled with my wide toothed comb. I don't usually do this, but it has been doing wonders for my hair's epic dryness lately. I did my usual 6-8 twists in and tied it up to in a scarf to air dry.
The next day, Christmas Eve, I spritzed it with water, finger de-tangled it, and applied my whipped shea butter. Replaced the fat twists with braids so I could get the roots pinned up and not knotted together like they always do after one day of wearing fat twists. The JBCO has been making my roots so much thicker, so when I do twists, after one day, not only is there a bunch of frizz near on the top of my head, but the roots sometimes get tangled within one another. Sometimes braiding is better, even though it takes longer. But it creates a lot of stretch!
As of now, we're not going anywhere for Christmas, but I'm still going to play around with my hair and Syriah's and create some 'holiday style' just for fun.  xD

Until next time...
Happy Holidays, curly mamas!

~Epic Realist~

Shower Hair

Hiya, guys! Hope everyone had fun on Thanksgiving yesterday. =)

I just wanted to make a random post about how my hair looks straight out of the shower. It was detangled in the shower with my Tresemme conditioner, and then rinsed out. My hair is still drastically falling out, but I think it may be getting better because of the castor oil. Not sure yet; still in testing phase.
I don't really have much of a set routine as of lately. The only thing that is for sure is that I wash my hair every week, and the shampoo that I use has not changed. I still use my Shea Moisture Curl and Shine shampoo. I haven't really gotten hip to co-washing, mostly because I'm not in love with the Tresemme conditioner and the fact that I don't have much time to co-wash in the middle of the week. I do spritz my hair with distilled water throughout the week, though, and add an oil such as coconut oil or castor oil on top of it.
My hair never feels too oily until the end of the week on wash day, when there is some product build up from other products.
I haven't flat ironed my hair in ages... almost a year, probably. I am dying to see my real length, but recently, when I was going to flat iron it, the darn thing shorted out on me when it was plugged in for five minutes. So it on longer came on at all. I had to throw it away. Cheap thing. I'd only had it for year. it was brand new and it was a gift from someone. It was a Revlon iron, so I thought it was of good quality, but apparently not! Now I have to wait until I can get a new one, a much better quality one.
Right after a shower on wash day, I dry my hair with an old T-shirt and apply castor oil directly to my scalp, and give myself a 5-6 minute scalp massage with my fingers. It feels great and the oil absorbs in well. It doesn't make my scalp itch like everyone else says it does. LOL! It's probably because they put the JBCO on dry hair instead of on wet hair.
Any oil is best used on wet hair, and JBCO doesn't work best at all on a dry scalp.
This is a new thing that I added to my routine, and I'm looking forward to seeing more hair growth.
After I do the massaging, I separate my hair into four or six huge sections and gently detangle with my wide toothed comb, then just twist or braid each section. Then I wrap it into a silk scarf before bed. The next morning, my hair feels soft, fluffy, and amazing, and ready to style into whatever style I want.
Well, that's my little hair wash routine for now. I'll be back with more hair tips/styles. Peace curly mamas!

~Epic Realist~

My First Hair Show... and New Curly Style!

I am super excited! Tomorrow, Saturday, October 6th & the 7th, 2012, there will be a natural hair show being hosted at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park. I am so grateful to live near this event, so I am going and I am taking my big girl Syriah Lynn. There are going to be so many hair products for sale and so much to do. It's going to be like heaven! http://www.naturalhairshow.org/
This is the first time I have ever been to a hair show, period, and the first time I've got a chance to really get out of the house in ages.

I have a new style that I made up on Syriah the other day. I used my shea butter on damp hair and flat twisted in two different directions. Looked really cute and lasted three days. It would have been longer, but I took them out because I wanted to style her hair in advance yesterday for the hair show. I did mine the same way... co-washed my hair with my new conditioner and twisted my hair with the Shea Moisture Smoothie and EcoStyler gel I used for my last twist-out in my video. Can't wait to see the results tomorrow!
I will probably make another blog post tomorrow after I attend this hair show and go broke buying a million hair products. I get to splurge. Woo hoo!
Until next time, curly mamas! Stay natural!

~Epic Realist~