..is it?

I indulged my desire to cut my hair. I started with a minimal chop in November 2010 and by March 2011 over the course of several more trims, I am down to about 3 inches of hair stretched, showing about 1.5 to 2 inches when air-dried. I love it, it dries quickly, and it doesn’t get in the way of my bicycle helmet. While I AM loving my hair in its current state of length, I’m already thinking about what I’m going to do with it as it grows out. *sigh* We are never truly satisfied are we? Or maybe I just enjoy change and don’t have the ability to just leave my hair alone. In any case, I am going to see what I learn this time around as I mentally prepare to go through my awkward lengths yet again. It’s just hair.. it’s just another year of life.. it’s just another phase of learning.

What will I do differently this time around? Focus more on deep conditioning (once a week seems like it would be good), trim regularly (my hair seems to like them), and worry a whole lot less about attaining a certain length in a certain amount of time, and be more forgiving of my seeming lack of styling ablility.. looking back on some of my pictures over the last few years I guess things weren’t as bad as I thought they were.

Grapeseed oil is light and is easily absorbed into the hair. It helps coat the hair to moisturize and reduce breakage, from dry brittle hair.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/177894-benefits-of-grapeseed-oil-for-hair/#ixzz1HGOFmaBC

I recently purchased some grape seed oil and remembered that many people have used this in their hair as well as for cooking. (Funny how so much that you have in the kitchen also works wonders for your hair.) I have never used grape seed oil before now so I didn’t know what to expect, nor did I know much about the oil itself. Upon searching the net, it seems that grape seed oil is used in a lot of skin and hair care products. After a quick google search it seems grape seed oil has a reputation for growing hair although that is questionable to me, since I have no idea whether that claim is true or not. I haven’t used it long enough to be able to tell one way or the other. What I can tell you is that this oil has a wonderfully silky feel to it. I’ve used it on my wash-n-goes and it keeps my hair moisturized throughout the day (which is rare for any product in my thirsty curls).

My spidey curl senses tell me this is one I may be able to keep in rotation.   I would like to try it for deep conditioning soon.

Pros:
Lighter than olive oil, a little thicker than apricot seed oil.
high in good fats

Cons:
None yet.

Read more about grape seed oil:
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/grape-seed-extract-conditioner-extraordinaire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape_seed_oil

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient/706924/VITIS_VINIFERA_%28GRAPE%29_SEED_OIL/

All photos by Amy Hill of Amy Hill Photography

Thank you so much for capturing my most special of days and for always being my friend..

With Love Always

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here’s wishing everyone a happy, fun, and safe St. Paddy’s Day! I think I have every single piece of green clothing that I own on today.

I just couldn’t take it anymore.. So on February 24, 2011, I saw the scissors gleaming in the light, practically begging me to wield them. So I did what the scissors told me and I’m back to my medium sized (but still limp) fro — thin fine hair.. whatcha gonna do.  I did the trim myself because I couldn’t wait to make an appointment.  A few folks have complimented my cut and were surprised I did it myself, but there again is the beauty of having curls.. if you make a little mistake most likely it will be hidden among the other curls.

Here I styled my hair with Africa’s Best oil and ORS Elasticitea Leave-in conditioner.  Simple wash-n-go as always.

Organic Root Stimulator Elastic-i-tea leave in conditioner

I always come back to this product. It’s the lightest leave-in that has slip AND hold without drying my hair out eitheR. It’s as close to A “no fail” product as I have ever used. I do not get crunchiness either as I would with a regular gel.

My biggest peeve about the product is that they call it “organic” which it really is not. It does have some herbal extracts in it (nettle I think) and some tea extract, but they are way down the ingredient list. But I think I can live with that regardless of the somewhat misleading name of this leave-in because of how it interacts with my hair. We (we = me & my hair) always come out happy with the results so I always come out of the BSS with this in my basket.

pros:
has tons of slip
smells light
has hold that lasts

cons:
wish it were a bigger size (I would buy this by the gallon!)
should be in a spray bottle
it’s hardly “organic”

Amla powder

What’s not to love about ayurveda?

pros: strengthens hair
darkens color, covers grays
gives softness to hair
rinses slowly over time (i.e. not permanent)

cons:
messy
can stain counters/fabrics

Creme of Nature Shampoo (the old formula)

I still have an ancient bottle of this stuff.. it’s the only bottle I have and it’s gotta be over three years old by now! Wait, let me think… hrm, well I brought it with me from NY when I moved to Florida, so wow.. it’s even older than I thought! That being said, I know there are major caveats against using old (and possibly) rancid beauty products, but this shampoo just will not die. It works as well as if I had bought it yesterday, so I say if it it ain’t broke I’m not going to fix it. To the makers of this shampoo I would say, you should have considered that thought as well when you changed the formula because it was really great the way it was.

pros:
moisturizing
not too foamy
provides a LOT of slip for detangling

cons:
can’t think of any

I guess I am keeping it relatively simple overall.  I think I also have a new favorite hair oil but I haven’t used it long enough to say that it’s a true favorite.  I’ve had mixed results with different oils, sometimes my hair likes them or hates them, or changes its mind about them.   So I’ll be on the search for that, and enjoying the journey.

So is anyone else having as much good luck with this combo of products as I am?

“I’s married now.. I said I’s married now!” (as of 2/12/2011)

So I didn’t have my hair natural, but I did have a lovely pin curl set done by the always fabulous Melonnie of Audralynxx.com (my one and only hair dresser). Also my girl Jenifer came through with a simple but beautiful satin dupioni wedding dress, totally custom designed and made by her own two hands. Not only that she made all the floral arrangements as well. I loved my dress so much. My now husband looked very handsome in his suit imported from Venezuela, and I nearly cried walking down the aisle when I saw him, as did he when he saw me. We had a beautiful wedding day with so much love, friends, and family around us. We couldn’t be happier or more blessed!

More pix to come!

I’ve been shampooing once a week with GVP Tea Tree Oil shampoo, which is Sally’s generic version of the Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Oil shampoo. I would normally only shampoo once a month or so, but I’ve been needing some serious clarifying help. I don’t have any particular pre-wash routine. I thoroughly wet my hair, apply shampoo to my scalp with my fingertips, scrub, and rinse. I follow up with conditioner and rinse again. On shampoo day my curls seem extra bouncy, probably because all the product that has been sitting on my hair that week gets stripped away.

Hey everyone.. I’ve been MIA due to wedding planning in the last few weeks. This event is coming together and evolving as the days go by and I just wanted to show you all some of my wedding inspirations. It looks like it will be very 20s looking which was completely by accident. I didn’t have a “theme” in mind, but that’s how it’s turning out.

I’ve been lucky enough to be able to get a custom made dress done by my friend. The pictures you see here are of items that are similar to what I will be wearing, but since I don’t have the finished dress yet you guys will just have to wait til after the wedding to see it. I am sure it will be beautiful.. white silk dupioni, pearl white shoes, yeah.. I likey.

Hair and makeup will be done by my girl Melonnie.. I’m not going to be “natural” ya’ll. I will be in curling iron pincurls but it will be worth it. I will still have curls, just ones formed by heat and hairspray. Our reception will be at a lovely waterfront restaurant midday.. I hope it’s a good weather day, but even if it isn’t we’ll be safe inside from any inclement or excessively hot weather.