Product Junkiesm

Happy New Year! Yes the title contains a made up word. Wanna fight about it?! Lol The picture was of my hair product...collection/stash. I posted this on Instagram and some people were impressed by the organization of it (I'm a bit obsessive about things being organized), some people wanted to be my friend so they could try the products (moochers! Lol), many people wanted to know if I use all of the products (I have but I mostly stick to my staple products) but most people thought I had a problem...and I guess I kinda do. 

I am a product junkie and not stage 1 or 2, but a full-fledged junkie. I love shopping, finding deals and trying new products. It's rare to find samples of products (though not impossible if you look online), so I've found that it's just easier for me to buy them. Then if I find a couple of products that work for me, I just buy the entire line which is why you see so many Oyin Hamade and Shea Moisture products. I've given away a lot of products especially when I made the transition to products with all natural ingredients (except for a select few items like the Aphogee protein and keratin products). 

I also go through phases which my collection reflects. For a short period of time, I was a mixtress inspired by many a YouTube video, blog, or forum. I would make my own products and some came out great, others were disasters. Through this phase, I collected many butters, oils, powders, and other natural ingredients like ACV, EVOO, aloe Vera juice/gel, and the list goes on. Then I got tired of that, so I just started buying products instead of making them.

My collection tells a story similar to that of many other newly natural ladies (I'm not that new to being natural, but the point still remains), that it is a process to find what products work for your hair and lifestyle. And throughout your journey, what may have worked before, may not work as well or you may find something better. TI think I've found what works for me now after 5 years (I'll make another post about products and my regimen), but I know it'll change again, because I'll see some new product that I want to try or the products that work now may not work the same because they change the formula or my hair gets accustomed to it.  

So one of my resolutions for 2014 is to not buy ANY hair products. Zip. Zero, because I have plenty and it will force me to use what I have instead of buying more stuff. I did however make my yearly Oyin Black Friday purchase because of the discount to get a lot of my staples...and bought some (lots) is Shea moisture products on sale so I don't run out! Hey don't judge me, just the thought of running out of sometjing gives me palpitations lol. This is going to be my toughest challenge yet!

Natural Hair Boredom

You'll understand the pictures once you read the post. My feelings coincide more with the picture on the left though...

I don't know when it started or if it's just temporary, but I am bored, BORED out of my mind with my hair. I know natural hair is more versatile than relaxed hair, but I typically always do the same styles, first it was twist-outs, now braid-outs and I'm tired of them. I should also add that I'm pretty lazy as well, so I have not been keeping up with my hair regimen as I should. I even have spreadsheets with when to wash, oil, protein treat, etc to my hair on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis (Lady C has seen them). I also put these things on my calendar, so I get reminders of what to do when, but alas I just ignore them and do what I want when I feel like it (whatever whatever I do what I want!- Cartman of South Park).

The last time I was this bored with my hair was around the time all of black Hollywood was shaving off one (or both) sides of their hair and I wanted to do that. I decided on a Mohawk because at least that would be more even and I've seen naturals successfully pull it off. I didn't cut my hair (that's crazy talk!), but I had my sister cornrow the sides of my hair up and I did some twists on the middle part of my hair, untwisted it in the morning and pinned it up and voila a faux-hawk was born. I liked it...at first, but looking back at the pictures (which will NOT be posted EVER lol), I now see it was not the business AT ALL. I'm glad, I didn't go berserk and actually cut my hair (my sides grow slower as it is)! But I now have a permanent (well kinda) memory of that hairstyle that cannot just be forgotten...

During my last hair-boredom-phase, I was bombarded at work RIGHT after coming back from lunch for our i.d. photos. I looked at my coworker with the camera like she was crazy talking about a picture with NO warning or nothing. I almost left her there looking crazy until my supervisor assured me it was no joke and we HAD to take the picture. We hadn't had damn i.d.'s in the two years I worked there before and NOW they just HAD to take them? *Sideeye* I was pissed, and I got even more pissed when I got the i.d. with the picture on it. I wanted to cut the photographer and the other heifer who was there who didn't tell me my hair was straight jacked. Every time I see that picture (which will STAY hidden behind my work access card), I just smh because in addition to that style not being the business in general on me, it was windy outside that day (yes I remember, don't judge me!), so it looked WORSE than it normally looked, because some pieces were out of place. To give you a mental picture, I looked like a black version of Krusty the clown's sidekick with the damn bone, Mel, or Sideshow Bob's brother, Cecil (yes! this IS a Simpsons reference too GET OVER IT!).

So that's my last experience when I was bored with my hair and acted on it. I know there are ways to jazz your hair up with hair flowers, clips and color, but I want something more drastic! But I'm scared because of my last foray into something different (smdh...I just can't...). Le sigh, I guess I just need to get some braids or kinky twists until this phase passes, so I won't have another hair regret.

Has anyone else had a similar hair regret or story? Sharing is caring :)

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.