Wiggity Why Wednesday?!

Hello all, we are back for another installment of WHY WEDNESDAY!!! DID YOU MISS US? WE MISSED YOU! ARE YOU EXCITED?! I AM! CAN YOU TELL?! OK I'm gonna calm down, and kick this party off right! So relax and share, hell even over-share, we don't care... if you don't care! Ok I promise I'm gonna calm down, so here we go....

Why are my coworkers so awesome (well some of them)?

Why have they corrupted me?

Why will I forever say that’s what s/he said after something that’s mildly (or very) inappropriate?

Why has inappropriateness become a inside joke ritual between us?

Why am I still laughing that Von “ate the dirt?”

Why could I not help her after this as I was too busy laughing?

Why did I find out that my laugh sounds like I’m crying?

Why am I so paranoid about falling since everyone else keeps falling?

Why have I lost the ability to show different facial expressions when telling jokes, so that I ALWAYS have to say I’m joking?

Why am I straight tripping and stayed at work late yesterday as I’m all discombobulated?

Why did I just get here late this morning to make up for it?

Why was I also confused as to why I still have a credit card balance until I realized I haven’t received my reimbursement from my job?

Why has it been like two weeks?

Why do I feel like I’m losing it?

Why did I have my veggie burger with bacon yesterday (Don’t judge me!)?

Why was Amy’s Ice Cream giving out free ice cream yesterday and the line was ridiculous, but I had to go back to work?

Why Wednesday?!

Why am I still awake?

Why did I oversleep last night with my alarm going off for an HOUR and a HALF with my song/the alarm (All of the Lights) playing loudly after waking up enough to push snooze?

Why did it just serve as the background music in my dream?

Why did it work on so many levels and made my dream that much more awesome?

Why was there a bad ass car chase with motorcycles and other badassery?

Why was there action and violence as well as a little comedy and drama?

Why was I running from the cops (in my dream of course, don’t wanna have them think I’m resisting smh)?

Why do I wish I could remember my entire dream because it would make an AWESOME movie?

Why do I already have the theme music (songs from Kanye’s new album)?

Why was I almost late to work because of it, but upset that I couldn’t finish my dream?

Why does this mean that I need to change my alarm from that song?

Why did I start doing my why’s yesterday, so I wouldn’t forget anything?

Why will I be back later once other people post some whys?

Why do I need to be sleep, but I took a 3 hour nap and had some soda, so I'm up now?

REVIEW: Split Ender

Ok just a quick disclaimer, unlike my previous reviews, I have only used this product once, so I will probably do another review once I've used the product a few more times, to see if I REALLY like or dislike it. Also I have the pink one ONLY because they were out of the blue one which made me sad.

First off, I'm a little disappointed that the product runs on FOUR AA batteries!! REALLY?! It's a hair product NOT a toy! I would prefer that it have an internal rechargeable battery that you can charge, use, and recharge (as we see in cameras and some phones nowadays). Simple right? OR it could plug into an outlet like most other hair devices. But there are some perks to the lack of a plug or rechargeable battery, it makes the product great for travel (Look I'm TRYING to be more optimistic by finding the upside to things, so let's ignore reasons as to why someone would be in such dire need to take this product for TRAVEL when it is recommended for use every 4 to 6 weeks).

Also I'm a little disappointed that the product has to be used on straight hair, because I am trying to use little to no heat, but this particular product necessitates that my hair be straight. So I will only use this when I straighten my hair which will be no more than 4 times a year. Also the directions recommend use on product-free hair, but that is not negotiable seeing that I have to straighten my hair just to use the product, so I used product, but tried to not be so heavy-handed with it.

OK one last thing...THIS. THING. IS. LOUD.

But does it work?

It appears to. After applying TRESSemme Heat Protectant, I then used the Tangle Teezer (see review here) on each section as I was blow drying my hair. I followed up by applying Ion Heat protectant and going over each section with the Maxiglide (see review here). Finally, I went over each section 4 times with the Split-Ender, taking care to make sure the directional switch was pointing the right way.

After doing roughly half of my hair I saw lots of little pieces of hair in the chamber, and my hair appeared softer and looked awesome, but I don't know if I can attribute that to only the Split-Ender (I don't mean to beep my own horn, but BEEP BEEP...or it could have been the protein treatment, Maxiglide, my deep condition treatment...or just that I'm awesome lol).

Clean up with the Split-Ender was a little troublesome, because the little brush they provided did not get into all the nooks and crannies the way I would have liked (I still saw hair!). I wanted to rinse it off, but I didn't want to chance damaging the product, so it's still there. It's not BAD and most people wouldn't mind, but it bothers me.

Pictures of my hair are the same as for the Maxiglide, since I used the Split-Ender after using the Maxiglide, so I won't post the pictures again. I will do another in-depth review as I did with the Maxiglid and Tangle Teezer once I have used the product a few more times, and I will also post pictures as I go along like I did for the henna experience (see post here).

*Note: I was not paid in any way to give this review, though I would not be opposed to compensation ;) If you wanna pay me, who am I to refuse money for liking and writing about a product I like. Get at me! lol*

Why Wednesday?!

Why is Macy’s selling stirrups (that fad went away, why is it back)?

Why does mean that the dreaded fanny packs may be making a comeback as well?

Why do I wanna hurt whoever thought that was a good idea?

Why did I spend over an hour in the grocery store because they keep moving things around and I couldn't find what I was looking for?

Why did I have trouble finding the lemon juice at the grocery store, only to find it on the JUICE isle?

Why do they have the little bottles by the produce and the big bottles in a different place?

Why was this lady hacking and said I could sit by her?

Why did I decline, because I was not trying to get WHATEVER it is she had?

Why do we get to wear jeans all next week for the rodeo?

Why are we celebrating the rodeo?

Why am I instead gonna celebrate it as my half-birthday week…or spring break?

Why did one of my coworkers suggest we dress up in animal costumes, so we can be a petting zoo?

Why can’t I find a GOOD reason to keep cable as I don’t watch t.v. and it is a waste of money?

Why will I be back later with more whys?

My First Henna

I’ve heard a lot of talk about henna over the years while scouring the Internet for information about natural hair (and getting ammunition for my product junkieism). Well, I finally took the plunge. I bought the henna from a website that seems to be recommended by everyone on the Internet, and I THOUGHT it was a good place to buy my mixtress supplies, which was fine until this last time. I won’t mention any names, but if you have looked on any natural hair vlog, blog, forum or website, I’m sure you heard of them. I guess customer service is secondary nowadays...but I digress. Back to the point of this entry, my first henna. I took lots of pictures this time which made the process that much longer...YOU’RE WELCOME!!! I kid, I kid, but seriously it was quite a task to do my hair, take pictures and not damage my camera. Hope you enjoy :)

I did my henna treatment per instructions by Curlynikki and Naturally Curly’s Evelyn’s video here (also featured on CurlyNikki). I did a combination of the 2 methods (mostly using CN’s method and adding a few things I saw in Evelyn’s video).

I used the following ingredients:
-100 grams of Jamila henna Summer 2010 crop
-3 green tea bags
-1 ½ cups of almost boiling water
-2 tablespoons of honey
-Oyin’s Honey Hemp Conditioner (I don’t have the exact measurement, I just squeezed some in)
-Shampoo
-Conditioner
-A shirt, you don't mind getting dirty
-A pair of disposable gloves


I poured the package of henna into a plastic bowl. Then I placed the tea bags and the water into a pourable measuring cup to steep for 5 minutes. I then slowly poured the tea into the henna, stirring as I went along to get a cake batter consistency. Next, I added the honey and conditioner, put the top on the bowl to sit while I washed and conditioned my hair. I washed my hair with a mix of Dr. Bronner’s baby mild liquid soap and Oyin’s Honeywash and conditioned with a cheapy conditioner (Suave Naturals Tropical coconut). I was so caught up in taking pictures of the hair that I didn’t photograph the steps prior, I’m getting better though as you will see below.

These first two pictures are after I shampooed and conditioned my hair. I have my hair in four sections each section plaited. The section, I'm about to apply the mixture to has been taken down.

I applied the henna to each section starting at the back forward. The pictures below are of my hair after the henna mixture has been applied to the back half of my head (craptacular angles are due to me having the wet henna gloves on).

The next pictures are of my hair completely covered with the henna. I used the entire mixture, so next time I'll be using a box and a half of the Jamila henna because my hair didn't look nearly as covered as I saw other people's.



Next I pulled all my hair to the top of my head (sorry no pictures of this, the sides kept falling as I tried to pick up the camera and needless to say, it's a GOOD thing I even finished taking pictures because it was pissing me off! Grr). Then I put on a plastic cap and a headband (don't I look like a black ninja or some ish lol)



I left the henna on my hair for 6 hours (I was thinking 4, but then I got lazy, but not lazy enough to leave it on longer as I didn't want my that much color if any to my hair)

Here are some pictures of my hair after taking off my ninja gear, before I wash the henna out

Next I filled the tub with water almost to the top and dunked my head a few times.
My Tub Before: And After:

It looked so gross, but the vast majority of the henna was in the tub, not in my hair, so I wasn't too bothered.

So now here's what my hair looked like after it was dunked in the tub but before I condition washed (co-washed) the remaining henna out of my hair. You can still see traces of henna, but it's not nearly as bad as it was before.


So I then jumped in the shower and co-washed my hair in sections twice and then applied my deep conditioning treatment (DC) which consisted of jojoba, hemp oil, coconut oil, Oyin's whipped pudding, and vitamin e oil, put on another ninja hat with cottonballs all around to keep the mess from dripping on my face and went to bed (no pictures of this either, it looked similar to the look above but with cotton balls underneath the cap on the part closest to my face). You get the idea.

I woke up and washed the deep conditioning treatment out and applied Oyin Honey Hemp Conditioner (HH) to each section. I then did a quick rinse with the plaits still in my head and then I was ready to style.


So the jury is still out as to whether or not I like henna. My hair did seem a little drier and the DC seemed to help, but it's still too soon to tell. I DO know it altered my texture at the top of my head which had these cute loose curls, and now it's just looks a frizzy mess. But my hair has different textures throughout, so wash-n-go's have always been a no-go unless I plan on looking like Boo-Boo the fool!

I braided up my hair for a braid out which will be another post later this week with more pictures.

Review: Maxiglide

*I found this picture by searching via google, because I did not see a picture of the particular package that I have*

Hello again, I have another review about a product that I've seen on infomercials for years and obsessed about for a while until I finally treated myself and shelled out almost $150 for a package similar to the one above except I also got the Velcro-like rollers. the product I am referring to is the Maxiglide (doesn't it sound like a feminine product lol). You can find out more about the product by going to the website here.

I've used the Maxiglide a total of 3 times in the last 7 months as I'm trying to minimize the frequency and amount of heat I put on my hair. My most recent attempt was the best thus far due to trial and error on the 2 previous tries.

For my first attempt, I let my hair air-dry with little stretching and used the maxi-glide on setting 6 or 7 and a heat protectant because I was terrified of heat damage. Well the result was a hot poofy mess. It was more stretched out, but I did not have the results I desired (the relaxed look) that I saw from other naturals, so I mostly just wore a bun until I washed it. (Sorry no picture :( )

My second attempt was better, I used a setting of 7-8 after some blow-drying with cool air and it looked kinda good. Thick and kinda puffy, then I took a steaming how shower (that is some hard work and I was tired)...I know! My BAD! SMH So again a puffy frizzy mess; my little shower cap did nothing! So again I wore a bun until I washed my hair again.

This first picture is comparing the side I've used the Maxiglide on to the side that I just blowdryed.

The final product of my hair on my second attempt. Excuse the crappiness of the pictures, as I used my old camera phone :(

My latest attempt came out great. AWESOME! I used the TRESemme Heat Protectant while blow-drying and simultaneously stretching the hair by combing throught the hair with the Tangle Teezer (see my review here). I then used ION Heat Protectant before using the Maxiglide (setting 8) on small sections of my hair then finished each section with the Split-Ender (review to come shortly). This process took a WHILE (READ: HOURS!!), but the results were AMAZING! I made sure not to make the same mistakes as before, so no steaming hot shower immediately after. I rocked my hair in a number of styles including down (not too much though), in a cheerleader pony tail or bun, depending on the weather and my mood.

*Two views of my most recent Maxiglide attempt. My hair looked flatter and had more of a "relaxed look," after wrapping it every night as compared to the prior attempt. I kept it up for 2 weeks, and just washed it out.*

So I do like the Maxiglide (it works), but in order to get that relaxed look, I have to use a pretty high setting (8 out of 10!) and blow dry before using the Maxiglide which is A LOT of heat. Thank goodness, I only straighten my hair to do length checks and trim damaged ends (as far as I know, the split ender can only be used on straight hair, correct me if I'm wrong!).This may not be the case for all hair types, but for more tightly coiled naturals this amount of heat might be necessary. I'm still working to perfect my straightening method making small alterations like lower the setting from 8 to 7, to see how things turn out next time.

Regarding heat damage, I have not experienced it, but it still kinda freaks me out, so I apply heat I use (probably overuse) heat protectant, do a deep condition and protein treatment before applying heat, and this last time I deep conditioned, used porosity control shampoo and conditioner AND Aphogee Keratin Reconstructer when I washed my hair.

*Note: I was not paid in any way to give this review, though I would not be opposed to compensation ;) If you wanna pay me, who am I to refuse money for liking and writing about a product I like. Get at me! lol*

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Blackberry…Miracle

*Yet another google image to show my feelings*

Ok, so by the title of this entry, you should be able to conclude that I got my “Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/New Years/MLK Day/Ground Hog's Day/Valentine's Day/President's Day/Black History Month/St. Patrick's Day/Easter miracle.” If you haven’t already, please excuse yourself and read the original post here to get the full story. I'll wait.... Great you're back, are we on the same page now? Good.

So after following the advice of many people who endured similar tragedies with their smartphones on various websites, I sped home on my lunch break to put my blackberry in a bowl of rice (plain white rice) after blow drying my phone and damn near burning my hand, but it was THAT serious. I grabbed my backup phone, put my SIM and memory card in it and went back to work.

Now there were mixed reviews on the success of the rice method, for some people it didn’t work at all, for others their phone was partially functional, but had issues with certain keys being inoperable, screen damage, or certain features wouldn’t work anymore, and others phones worked just like new.

My phone fell into the last group THANKFULLY! That evening, I transferred the phone from a bowl of rice into a sealed sandwich bag full of rice (after doing more research at work) and left it in there for TWO days!! Two WHOLE days! For two days I was not to touch the phone to test it out to see if the rice was working it’s magic, because to do so could short circuit the phone and battery (or something like that...I forget, but I know it was serious). Two days of using my previous phone which worked fine, except it kept freezing because of the low memory that I used to the max. Two days of torture! So finally, the day before I was to fly to Baltimore, I took a deep breath and put the battery in the phone...and the red indicator light flashed. Good sign! And I saw the progress bar appear and as much as I wanted to be excited, I had to make sure that the phone powered up completely and was FULLY functional.

I tried out every key, plugged in headphones, made a call using the headset and speakerphone, texted people, turned on wifi, turned on Bluetooth and used my bluetooth headset to make a call and listen to music, 3G was working properly (or as well as it could for T-Mobile in this area smh), music player worked, and the battery was able to be charged. It looked like I was one of the lucky people whose phone survived the impossible (minus the water damage indicators on the phone and battery showing up as red) due to the magic of the rice... and I guess the Otterbox cover (I guess it deserves SOME credit)! I was so excited, but still skeptical, so I also took my backup phone to Baltimore just in case the miracle effects were temporary, so if the phone crapped out, I wouldn't be SOL. That was over a week ago. Me and my berry are doing fine now, but I still am wary of any signs to indicate damage.


So the moral of the story is...FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS GO TO THE BATHROOM WITH PHONES (can’t say the same for enemies though...just saying). If you see them about to commit this act, grab them by the shoulders and shake them furiously to warn them of the consequences and if they are stubborn (read: stupid) and disregard your warning and they drop the phone in the toilet, after you say “I told you so,” be a good friend and mention the rice trick (though they should have listened to you anyway...). :D

Miss V signing off