My new hair toy!

Look what I bought today! Yes..the Ion 1875W Conditioning Hard Bonnet dryer. It's wash day and I was very excited to do a ponytail roller set. Shall I be honest in saying I am really not all that talented in doing my on hair. So I didn't take pictures because, I didn't expect it to go that well.

And....I don't know if it has or not yet. I finished it, but I also wrapped it and I will see the results in the morning.At first sight of taking out the rollers...ehhh... not so hot. We'll see in the morning!

Relaxer day countdown and other hair issues....

I have already admitted that I am way too deep in over my head with this stretch. I am 20 weeks Post Relaxer! I'm sure it could have worked out great. However there were times when I wasn't caring for my hair at all. I see a lot of shedding, a little breakage, and some ends that seriously need to be whacked off! Well I'm happy to say I am self-relaxing Thursday evening. I'm kind of ancy about it, because I can count on one hand how many times I have relaxed my own hair, but it's time I put my hair care into my own hands (somewhat).

So I know my hair needs protein more than anything right now, especially pre-relaxer. So Monday night I pre-poo'ed with EVCO, and shampoo'ed with Aphogee Shampoo for Damaged Hair. Then I brought in some new found friends...

Motions Critical Protection & Repair Protein Reconstructor AND Vitale Olive Oil Leave-In conditioner with Pro-Vitamin B5
I applied my moisturizing leave-in (HE LTR) and air dried overnight! I feel such a big difference in my hair! It's softer, more manageable, and shedding is minimal. I am still a little shaky about the relaxer Thursday..even though I am excited. Any self- relaxing vixens wanna give me some advice?



So while on our Thanksgiving Eve date me and the E.B had many fun, light conversations, but one convo that has always come up in our one and a half year relationship is my hair. Well not so much my hair, but as you see above my UNDYING LOVE for wigs! He Hates it! Loathes it actually! With a feverish fiery passion. Weaves, wigs, extensions, and all! Basically if it didn't grow out of your head it's deemed pointless in his book and my train of thought is kinda reversed. We went in circles about this for 45 minutes...and then I caved in.

Friday morning I will go to the local beauty school and have my hair blow dried, flat ironed and under the watchful eye of their instructor.....trimmed! I'm doing this for a few reasons: a) to do a real growth check b) I'm scared to trim my own ends c) to try to get accustomed to my own hair again and d) so he will quit wig griping! Why put my hair in the hands of beauty school students you ask??? I'd prefer not to pay $40+ dollars for something that is pretty simple and fool-proof for those in that profession when I can get it done for a kick ass $15! Can't wait to show you all results. I expect it to not be too long due to bad maintenance on my part. I assume I will still be NL. I healthier NL, but NL nonetheless. Happy hair growing ladies!

for lack of a better title...a HAIRY situation

Ok, it's not an issue of laziness, more so an issue of FEAR! I am not one to self-relax my hair. I generally have a friend that does that for me. That friend is gone now so.....I have to do it myself! I have been putting it off for a while now. To the point where this might be the hardest thing I've ever done! Not to mention I have ridiculous breakage right now and need a trim something AWFUL!!! I know you're thinking...then go to the salon and have them do it! Ummm NO!!! I would get laughed out of there! So I'm thinking...next week I will relax my hair and go to the salon and get it trimmed and styled. After that I will NOT ever in the history of ever stretch past 10 weeks! I mean I'm 28 I have to do my own dang hair at some point in my life *jeez*

CoMinG SoOn!

(ignore the caps issue I was just being....zany!) There are soooo many things I have discovered or Re-discovered online this past week. I am excited about all the new purchases I will be making soon....which leads to......that's right! REVIEWS!!!! Those up and comers are:
HAIR:
Avocado Oil
Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea Restructurizer
ORS No-Lye Olive Oil Relaxer
Healthy Fare
Pumpkin Oats (they look so yummy)
Vita-Tops (preferably the Mint Chocolate Chip ones)
Make-up
L'Oreal HIP Chrome Eyeliners (especially in Blue Spark)
Mac's Shale e/s
Essie nail polishes
Sigma Brushes
MAC's LE Comet Blue Dazzleglass (I will go through hell and high water to get this)
MAC's Bell Bottom Blue (discontinued), Blue Brown, Platinum, Milk (from HK collection) pigments
....and the perfect pink lipstick for my NW50 shade cuz this princess is in LOVE with pink!
Clothing
oh WOW!!! have I been clueless to all the great places a plus size barbie/princess like myself could get hot finds! Wet Seal(online), Faith21 (online-with 3x's coming soon!), Torrid(of course a staple), DebShops (a staple as well, cute clothes, but ehhh quality), Old Navy.com and my new overseas fave.....Dorothy Perkins!!! OMG why am I just knowing about Dorothy Perkins??!! That website is like....heaven!

Can't wait to start w/ these! Until then....stay beautiful ladies!

Hair 10/30/09 Wash day!

I'm pretty flipping proud to say I am 14 weeks post relaxer

I've been doing pretty good with maintenance these last 4 weeks. I must admit I was being really crappy about it before that, but I'm back on track. My regimen is ever rotating, but currently I am using these products:
Shampoo
*Aphogee Shampoo for Damaged Hair (loves it)
*Mane N' Tail Moisturizing Shampoo
Conditioner
*My super conditioner (EVOO, EVCO, one egg, 1 TB mayo, and Silk Elements Mega Cholesterol Treatment)
Leave-Ins
*HE LTR
*AtOne Leave In
*Original Infusium 23
Moisturizer
*Wave Nouveau Moisturizing Finishing Lotion
Sealants
*EVCO
*Castor Oil
*African Royale Hot Six Oil

I haven't had my ends clipped in a very VERY long time and I did them Tuesday, but I don't think I cut enough...the idea of cutting my hair scares me severely! Especially since I don't seem to be getting any closer to my goal of SL. So...on today's wash day I'm happy to say I had very little shedding in the detangling process

I'm pretty happy to say it's getting very strong

but alas still not the growth I was looking for

and...

Still a measley NL, but a far stronger NL so I'll take that and roll with it! HHG!

Hair-y decisions and other beauty happiness

Okay so I complained about how I don't like dealing with my hair and how I was ready to braid it and tuck it away. Like all women I woke up this morning and changed my mind..LOL! I had to go to a funeral today and I woke up pretty late so there was no time for braids, wigs or weaves. I had to deal with what was growing right on top so I curled it (yeah I know, no more heat) did my make-up and headed for the door. My boyfriend commented on how nice I looked :) (which is something he must have meant because he says it SO rarely). So as I was driving I was wondering what was keeping me from just wearing my own hair. And you know what I couldn't come up with anything LOL. So after I cashed my paycheck I went to my fave health food store and bought some coconut oil. I loved how it felt when I applied it to my hair (dry) before I roller set it for the night. I can't wait to incorporate it into my DC regimen. I would like to try some bantu knot twist outs and a few other styles, but we'll see. I have never had a desire to do my hair ever in life. Even though I have always had a desire to have nice hair hmmm...go figure. I just have very thick coarse hair. I have never in my life had a hair dresser simply do my hair without commenting on how thick and coarse it is (whether the comment be positive or negative) I'm going to give putting it in my own hands for a while a whirl.

Lookie here I found the cutest nail color at Sally's today....China Glaze's Tempest. It's a gorgeous shimmery purple-y blue. Sorry I can't find a pic online and my batteries in the camera are dead. Well I'm done blabbing tonight. *muah*

Food, hair, Beauty finds and other mumbo jumbo

FOOD



First yesterday was AMAZING!!!!! I planned out my meals meticulously!

B: frosted strawberry shredded wheat and soy milk

S:Luna Morning Vanilla almond Bar and apple slices

S2: (I worked a 10 hour management shift and it was busy too busy for a real meal) string cheese and apple slices

L: 1 chicken wing, 1/2 c. red beans and rice, and 1/2 c. okra

D: Qdoba naked chicken burrito no rice, sub lettuce and a brownie yum!!!!


and I was done for the day or so I believed until a late night phone call to my BF had us running out at 11 pm to some random club in Milwaukee with his friends! alcohol consumption *sigh* ruined my ever so thought out plan not to mention the rueben I ate at 4 am when we moved over to the next location...the casino! *sigh* I think those calories kinda roll over to today's since it was past midnight so I don't have a lot of options today good thing it's 2pm and I'm just getting up. I think I'll stick to H20 all that alcohol made me dehydrated.

MAKEUP


last night I was feeling rather hmmmm...unattractive, and BROKE! I was thinking about my make-up purchases and how I gotta curb my spending and still put forth effort to look hot. That clinique I have is a tinted moisturizer. My friends say I don't need foundation at all, but I just like the coverage. There's a girl I work with who has never paid more than 12 dollars for any makeup she's purchased and she was the most adorable well put together manager in our crew. She told me she uses Dream matte mousse foundation. I decided to look it up and check it out. Of course around 9 pm I was at walgreens making the purchase so far I like it I used it for bar night last night. We'll see how it looks at work today if it's not hot...RETURN! I also bought Maybelliene shiny-licious in Raizn' Razzle, and a wet n' wild lip liner.


HAIR

This is just a picture of some of the items in my new hair care regimen. Not pictured is my infusium 23 and olive oil mix I spray in my cornrows. I do that in the morning and at night, or whenever I feel moisture is needed. I keep my hair braided so I can't see major difference yet, but I can say I don't get anymore shedding at the nape and ends. The back used to feel horribly brittle and broken. Anytime I touched it I'd have hair in my hands. That's only after week 1! I am 17 weeks post relaxer (wow) and I get one sometime this coming week. Boy oh boy I can't wait to see what it looks like. Hope I'm not disappointed.

well that's all my ramble today toodles!

The Check IN......

DIET
Today I went to "the pig" looking for my fave Ezekiel 4:9 bread *sigh* to no avail they got rid of it!!! I knew there was a reason I didn't shop there that often! So I was a lazy daisy today. I got up at about 11:30 am so after I left the grocery store and Sally's I had breakfast. (Yes I had breakfast at 12:30!

So Far:
1 slice of Butternut whole Grain 100% whole wheat bread (toasted of course!)
1 TB of Smucker's sugar-free strawberry preserves
1 egg poached hard (runniness is yucky)
2 strips of Jennie-O extra lean turkey bacon
So far so good, but the day has just begun there is still work looming @ 5. While in line the man in front of me picked up my kryptonite (reese's peanut butter cups) I almost got the shakes stopping myself from buying one, but I made it whew!
HAIR
So I just bought the products to begin my hair care regimen. Due to my workout schedule I will be sticking to the braids and wigs at least until June. However I will make a point to more frequently wash and condition the crowning glory that is tucked away underneath. I decided that what I will start with is a pre-poo on Sunday nights, a shampoo and condition monday and I will braid it then. I will apply a leave-in conditioner daily. We'll see what transpires from there.

MAKEUP
after my mini CCO haul on Tuesday I think I'll just get one product next week oh and I'm really thinking about getting the Monistat Chafing Gel as a primer I hear it works well for oily skin like mine but GOSH I'm really having a problem with the idea of MONISTAT ON MY FACE!!!! So I'm still holding out for the 260 to get my MAC foundation in the mean time I went around to all the counters and asked for foundation samples (I know that's kinda cheating) I liked Clinique's so much after wearing it tuesday I bought it, but now I'm falling in love with Lancome's Teint Idole Ultra in Suede 5 might have to get that too GOSH I will never get my security deposit if I keep shopping. I have to keep telling myself the move comes first! Oh and I plan on potting my UDPP sometime this week I'll show/tell you how that works out

EXERCISE
I swear I haven't been anywhere near the gym since tuesday :( I know I know I've just been plain lazy. I'll definitely will be there in the morning (gosh I just really hate the new January crowds).

P.S. I've been wanting to post more pics but somethings wrong with a) my new memory card or b) my drive either way the BF is outta town and he's the house techie so maybe I'll be adding some pics on Tuesday laterz!