Today I had a OMG Hair Moment...

Okay...soooooo this morning my hair was feeling dry to the touch. I mean, I had just washed and deep conditioned it on Friday night. And I had used my Qhemet products...although I didn't use my regular combo but still:/ So I was a bit annoyed this morning. Although I still had a good hair day today as well...b/c I got a compliment. But still I wasn't happy with my hair. So while I was in Walmart doing my weekly routine shopping, I picked up 2 new conditioners that I had heard about before. Something within me said, Okay Sharina...what da heck just get them. So I did...Garnier Fructis Fortifying Creme Conditioner-Triple Nutrition & Aussie 3 minute miracle. I had a feeling I would like Garnier Fructis conditioner b/c 1) I'm a conditioner freak and 2) I could tell it was very creamy just by testing it in Walmart.  Also, the ingredients weren't bad at all...not all natural but not bad. What shocked me is that I actually bought this Aussie deep conditioner which has the #1 no no ingredient according to my Curly Girl rule book and that ingredient is Dimethicone. Yes, I said it. This is the worst out of all possible silicone because it is not water soluble and I can only completely get it out of my hair by washing my hair with a sulfate shampoo. So as I was reading the ingredients on the back of the bottle in the store, I also thought about how I was aggravated with my hair and I also thought about the review I had saw about it on YouTube. So again, I said what the heck. I put it in my buggy and kept it moving. Okay, let me now just get to the point of this...Garnier Fructis conditioner was really really nice. And I will continue to use it. It has Olive, Avocado and Shea oil in it so I had a feeling I would like it. But the kicker and the main reason why I'm writing this blog is because of Aussie 3 minute miracle. I only left it in my hair for 3 minutes, then rinsed with warm water and then rinsed with cold water just like it said to do on the bottle and OMG!!!! My hair was sooooooo manageable after I rinsed this deep conditioner out! I felt like I could have a great curly fro day without adding any additional product to my hair other than just spritzing it with my spray bottle mix...That is huge. Even when my hair was sectioned off waiting for me to twist it and it was starting to dry, it was still manageable without having to add additional product and again I say...That is Huge! So my final point of this blog is...DO YOU...Do what makes your hair happy! I don't care if it does have a bad ingredient in it that others say to not go near it. If it makes your hair react in a OMG way, then DO YOU. This makes me also want to try out Aussie Moist conditioner. Needless to say, Aussie 3 Minute Miracle has now been added to my Regimen and it only costed $2.84 from Walmart. I don't know if it was using Garnier Fructis 1st and rinsing that out and then adding Aussie 3 Minute Miracle...but what ever it was, I will continue to do it! My hair is happy now which also makes me Happy:)

SN: I twisted my wet hair with the usual Qhemet products-Moringa Tree Conditioning Ghee as my Leave in. Amla&Olive Heavy Cream, Honey Balm, Aethiopika Twist Butter combo. And just a tab bit of Kinky Curly Curling Custard on top for shine and hold. And now my hair is happily in a twisted bun:)

~CurlyTai

My Summer Favorites...

These products listed below have been in Heavy Rotation during this Summer and will continue to be throughout the entire Summer/Fall.

Shampoo-Curls Clarifying Shampoo, Komaza Moja Shampoo

Cowash Conditioner: Curl Junkie Daily Fix

Oils: Extra Virgin Olive oil, Extra Virgin Coconut oil, Castor Oil, Jojoba oil

Detangling Conditioner: Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship, Knotty Girl Drama Queen Conditioner

Conditioner: Curl Junkie Beauticurls Argan & Olive Oil, Curl Junkie Curl Rehab-strawberry scent

Pre-Poo Conditioner: Aubrey Honeysuckle Rose

Deep Conditioners: JessiCurl Weekly Deep Treatment, Karens Body Beautiful Luscious Hair Mask (both are the bomb but JessiCurl is thicker so it's my Fave:)

Gels to slick my Hair back in a bun: Komaza Coconut Hair Pudding

Leave in conditioner: Curl Junkie Hibiscus & Banana Honey Butter, JessiCurl Weekly Deep Treatment

Hair Rinse: Komaza Care Herbal Tea Rinse

Daily Spray Bottle Mix: with water, aloe vera gel, glycerin, conditioner, and oil of choice.

****And last but not least...Qhemet Biologics! This product line is the key to my styling this summer. Qhemet is the business when your hair really needs lots of moisture! I use the Amla & Olive Heavy Cream, Cocoa Tree Detangling Ghee, Aethiopika Hydrate & Twist butter, Tea Tree & Grapeseed Pomade, and Olive & Honey Hydrating Balm. Love Love Love this product line...can't say enough about it:)

CurlyTai~

My Weekly Hair Care Regimen

Hey Lovelys! Many of you have been wondering about my Natural Hair Care Regimen, so here it is. I wash my hair weekly with a nonsulfate shampoo. But before I wash my hair, I finger detangle my DRY hair with Extra Virgin Olive oil and Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner. I love love love this stuff. It makes your hair feel soooo soft. Anyways, I take the olive oil and conditioner and put it all over my hair from root to tip making sure I focus on my ends as well. I put a plastic cap on my hair and let it sit for about 30mins. SN: If any one of you follow me on twitter, this process is called Pre-poo'n. I say that a lot on Twitter when I talk about washing my hair. Next I start the detangling process with my Fingers in sections and once Im finished with a section, I 2strand twist it. I also use my wide tooth comb to help out if need be. This process takes about 1.5hrs, 2hrs total with the pre-poo sitting on my hair for 30mins. I know this seems like a lot, but I have a lot of hair. Next I hop in the shower and wet my hair completely. I add more olive oil and I add conditioner. You can use whatever conditioner of your choice. But choose one with pretty good slip. I now do more detangling with my hands in a downward motion and also use my Tangle Teezer brush to detangle in sections. Next, I shampoo my scalp with a sulfate free shampoo in sections. I don't add shampoo to the ends of my hair. I just really focus on my scalp in a circular motion with the palms of my fingers and let the suds flow down to my hair strands. After that I add more conditioner and put my hair back in the clip and move to the next section. Once done with all sections I rinse and add my deep conditioner of choice. I let the deep conditioner sit in my hair with my hair therapy heat cap for about 30mins. Then rinse. I sometimes do a Tea rinse with apple cider vinegar to help seal my cuticles. Rinse that with cold water.  Then I add my leave in conditioner of choice, seal with moisture with an oil of choice, and add my styler of choice. My style of choice now a days in medium size 2strand twists and once I twist them, I placed them in a bun to protect the ends of my hair for the week. This entire process takes 4.5 hrs total once a week and it's totally worth it. My hair has grown so much.  Every night I moisturize my hair with my water/condish/oil/glycerin mix. I also add olive oil to my ends. By mid week, I undo the twists and just put my loose hair in a bun. I might cowash with conditioner only if I feel that my hair needs it once during the week and place it back in a wet bun until the next wash day.  I keep it simple. My hair is now almost bra strap length. My ultimate hair goal is waist length. My goal is to reach Waist Length by the end of 2012.  My hair nights are Friday nights:)
So there it is....My weekly Regimen. Nothing Glamorous....but I hope this helps someone out there!

<3CurlyTai~

My Favorite Products for the month of May are....

Hey Lovelys! Many of you always ask me about what products I use and I've tried many products throughout my Natural Hair Journey thus far...because natural hair is cyclical. What worked for my hair when I had a TWA does not necessarily works the same or as good as it did now that my hair is a lot longer. And sometimes, you need to switch it up in order to get a wow reaction from your natural hair. So sometimes, I rotate and try out products again or I try new products. So, every month I've decided I'm going to let you guys know what products I currently not only just like but LOVE! And because I love them, you will notice month to month some of these products stick within my Regimen...

Shampoos: Curls Clarifying Shampoo and Oyin Handmade Honey Wash(side note with Oyin wash: I can wash my face, hair and body with this and I do:))
Rinse out Conditioner: Curl Junkie Curl Rehab & Curl Junkie Beauticurls Argan & Olive Oil Daily Hair Conditioner
Detangling Conditioner: KnottyGirl's DramaQueen Marshmellow Moisturizing Conditioner
LeaveIn Conditioners: SheaMoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, Curl Junkie Hibiscus & Banana Leave-in, and OyinHandmade Hair Dew
Hair Gel: KoilsByNature Peppermint Gel
Pomade: OyinHandmade Shine&Define
Hair Butter: KoilsByNature HairButter (citrus scent)

So, here you go...My Favorites for the Month of May, <3CurlyTai~

I love 2strand twisting...

Okay, so yesterday I 2strand twisted my hair with mini-twists. Every time I start mini twisting my hair and I'm within my 1st 2hours of twisting, I say to myself..."wtf was I thinking? This takes forever!" lol...it took my 6 hours to twist my hair and I had to take breaks and stop because I was entertaining my son and his friend that stayed at our house over the weekend and also my son had a baseball game on Saturday afternoon. So, saturday was a hat day to say the least lol...I finally finished twisting my hair around 10:30pm at night. I love 2strand twisting my hair because they last a few weeks and it helps me stay out of my hair so I can retain length. My hair goal for 2011 is bra strap length and I'm almost there! Incorporating protective styling into your hair regimen, in my opinion, helps you get to your hair goal quicker. Also incorporating the correct tools into your regimen so you are not tearing your hair out is important too. Healthy hair growth with proper tools is another post that I will do later. Anyways, when I 2strand twist my hair, I divide my hair into 4 big sections. I part my hair with my fingers down the middle and do 2 sections in the back and 2 in the front. I always start twisting with the back left section and then once finished I move to the right back section. Then I move to the right front section and twist towards the middle but not finish it completely. I then move to the left front section and twist. I save the middle top of my hair last. (This may sound confusing, so I will eventually do a video about it:)

When I twist, I only use my fingers to part my hair. I always use a gel and a butter to twist. I use KoilsByNature hair and body butter(I love the citrus scent the most thus far!) and Taaliah Wajid lock it up gel. Before I started using Taaliah Wajid, I used Kinky Curly Curling Custard which worked well too. But Taalih gel is much less expensive and it works about the same if not better:) I plan to wear these twists in my hair as long as they will last. Probably about 4 weeks! It's important to maintain your twists properly in order to keep them looking fresh. I will blog about that next time...until then, Much Love! <3 CurlyTai

Let me introduce my self....

Heyyyyyy Lovelys! I'm finally starting to blog my Natural Hair Journey. I've been saying that I was going to do this forever in the day and now it is really time for me to step up to the plate. This blog will be about whatever that comes to my mind about Natural Hair and Fashion! I get a lot of questions regarding my hair and what products I use, so I'm finally going to let you guys in on how I take care of my hair and new products that I try out! Also, I will do outfit of the day whenever I'm finally extra extra fly:) So feel free to ask questions on my blog! <3 CurlyTai~