Big Chop Reactions!

So far, my experience as a natural has been pretty good. It started off a bit rocky though...lol. Check out the video below to see how my family, friends, and I have reacted to my big chop.

One Month Post Big Chop:My Current Regimen

I have been natural for exactly on month now! Wooo hoooo!!!! My hair has been doing amazing and has grown to shoulder length already in the back! The front is just chin length though. I haven't had any shedding or anything. Here is a video update on how I have been styling and caring for my hair. I forgot to add in the video that I simply detangle my hair in the shower with a wide tooth comb. Other than that, I do not comb my hair. I simply "finger comb" it in the shower daily instead while it's conditioning. Also, at night, I sleep with a satin bonnet on. So check out the video below for a detailed explanation of my current regimen. And of course, I have provided tonsss of pictures from today as well.

I Finally Big Chopped it ALLLLL Off!

Hey everyone! I finally big chopped all of my relaxed ends off. I did it on April 1st, 2011! Please enjoy the videos below! The first one is footage of me actually chopping off my hair. The second video is a slide show of my TWA (Teenie Weenie Afro)! Enjoy!



Raw footage of me doing the big chop:

-It is kind of long, but I wanted to show the entire thing without heavy editing. This was a major moment in my life, and I want to be able to share it in its entirety. Also, I talked throughout the entire experience, so it should be somewhat interesting to watch.









Pictures of my natural hair post big chop:

-This video is very short and to the point. It is basically a slide show of my 1st week as a natural. I did wash and goes and even attempted my first puff! Check it out!

Nude Lipstick for Brown and Dark Skin Tones...

There aren't many resources out there for "sistas" who are into wearing nude lipstick. Well, I just purchased two nude lipsticks about in January, and I have a review on them! The first is "In the Buff" 800 by L'Oreal. The 2nd is "Nude Attitude" by Revlon. I truly LOVE the L'Oreal one, and the Revlon is nice as well! Please check out my review for the full details!

How to Make Your Own Lipgloss

I know I have been M.I.A for a while, but I'm back with a fun tutorial. If you are anything like me, you probably have a hard time finding the perfect lipstick. I love heavily pigmented shades, and it is really hard to find one that meets my expectations. So, for the past few years, I have mostly made my own lipstick instead! I have purchased some store brands, but I loveeee my custom shades. This is a fun little project that can be made with most items you have just lying around the house. If you are looking to get rid of some of your eye shadows, blushes, or bronzers...then this is the perfect project for you. This can be something made as a gift, or just a small fun project for mothers and daughters. But if you just want to be fierce...check out my tutorial video! Have fun!

*The Youtube Tutorial*

*The pictures*

Shade # 1: Light pink...











Shade # 2: Medium Pink...













Shade # 3: Dark Blush Pink...

My Aphogee 2 Step Protein Experience...

Well...well...well! Okay, so I have been hearing about this protein vs. moisture thing for months now. For the most part, I thought my hair was equally balanced, but I am new to this so I wasn't completely sure. I've been using a lot of moisture rich products, so I thought...what the heck, maybe I should do a protein treatment. So a few months ago I tried Aphogee 2 minute protein treatment(which is a light treatment) and everything went fine! So a few days ago I got the "genius" idea to "kick it up a notch" and try an even harder protein treatment...the infamous Aphogee 2 Step protein treatment. This stuff has been known to make chemically treated and damaged hair bounce back to perfect health. It has also been known to make healthy hair fall out..yikes! Now, I don't have any damage. However, I DO have relaxed ends left on my head, so I thought a nice protein treatment would help keep my ends strong. Especially since I am a long term transitioner, and I need to keep those bad boys around until I am ready to cut them off. But anywho, so I tried the treatment a few days ago, and it led to a major "Oh hello no!" moment! This is how it went down...

It was a pretty simple procedure. I washed my hair as normal with Aussie moist 2 in 1 shampoo, and then applied the Aphogee 2 step to my wet hair. The treatment was very runny and I had to use 2 packs on my hair. OMG, it was soooooooo funky too! It smelled like pickled pig's feet mixed with dog poop, vomit, and spoiled milk. Yes...it was that bad! But I pushed on through it for the sake of beauty. Once I applied the product, I got under the hooded hair dryer for about 45 minutes to an hour. The treatment dried VERYYYYY hard. It was LITERALLY as hard as cement, and you could probably knock on it. My hair definitely felt like something other than hair...it was weird. In fact, it was so hard, that touching it could cause the strands to break in two.

I then rinsed the product out in the shower only to find that it left my hair feeling horrible! I certainly had an "Oh hell no!" moment right then and there lol! My hair felt very hard, but I thought that doing a moisture treatment would bring it back to normal. So I immediately did the Aphogee moisture treatment that came with the protein treatment. The moisture treatment did NOTHING for my hair. It still felt like crap! So I then tried a doing an extreme moisture treatment by Ion(which smelled like heaven btw). I left the Ion treatment on for a few hours, and only to rinse it out and discover that it also did nothing for my hair. My hair was still just as hard as it was immediately after the protein treatment. I then decided to use my staple product, Aussie 3 minute miracle deep conditioner. This product has never failed me, and it leaves my hair feeling like silk everyyyyy time. Well, that didn't work either! I decided to just detangle my hair the best I could and move on.

Detangling was HORRIBLE! My hair was so tangled and etc. It was never like this before! I can normally comb it with my fingers and be good to go in less than two minutes flat. This time it took like 5 minutes or more to comb through, and it still wasn't fully detangled. I also lost a lot of hair trying to comb through it. I was going to just wear my hair in a wet bun, but my curls were not themselves. They were hard, shriveled and dry looking lol. I then decided that the best way to style it was to just flat iron it. Whew!


So, I flat ironed it and it has been okay since. It feels a bit more "textured" than normal, but looks nice in this state. I will NEVER do another Aphogee 2 step treatment again. I guess my hair just doesn't need hard core protein like that. I will probably have to do several deep conditioning moisture treatments in the future to get my hair balanced again...sigh! I will keep you all posted on how this goes on my next wash day!

Chris Brown Goes Blonde!!

They say blondes have more fun. While I am not sure I agree with that phrase, singer Chris Brown seems to be taking the bleached look for a test run. The singer tweeted a photo of himself today rocking his new golden locks.


Since posting the tweet, people have started to compare his new look to Sisqo. You know, the "has been" who had that song called "Thong Song." Well, it is hard to tell what Chris looks like simply from this one picture, but I actually think I'm going to go against the grain and say I like this look. Of course I will need to see other pics of it before I make my final judgment, but based off this photo it doesn't look bad to me. We shall see what it looks like as more pictures float to the surface though. But for now, I grant this look...APPROVED. What do you guys think???
:)