Expression: Hair and the Workplace

Hey flowers! Considering that I will be starting my new job relatively soon, I’m looking for this post to be more of an open forum for you guys, ladies gentlemen alike. I’m curious as to what you guys have experienced in response to your hair choices in the corporate and non-corporate workforce.  If you’d like to send in submissions of your experiences to be featured here, send them to  curlsofeden10@gmail.com You can also submit fashion items of your choice,hairstyles, and products! Leave all your comments and questions below!

Validity and Purpose of Our Hair Platforms

Now I’ve always been one to speak openly on my opinions and perspectives, but always in the right time and place. I recently read a Instagram post that said, paraphrasing of course, natural hair blogs are unnecessary and we should sit down and worry about our own hair and not someone else’s. The post also discussed that “natural hair blogs” were simply trying to promote the image and techniques to get  natural hair of the loose curl pattern and texture and degrade those of us, including me, that have courser, kinkier textures.  She also included aspects of color-ism which included grouping women of lighter complexions with loose curl patterns to those with darker complexions and kinkier textures.  Now this person was not a hair blogger, health blogger, vlogger or any of the sort, but spoke so openly grouping all of us that do blog about natural hair or hair in general.

Mix&Match Deep-Condition Regimen

Now I’m sure when people see this they’ll be looking extremely confused as to the name choice, but I assure you it makes sense. Within the picture below you will see four products that I used recently in my deep-conditioning regimen. Unfortunately, the Palmer’s Shea Formula duo  didn’t continue to give me the results I had hoped in the shampoo. As I mentioned in the review on the YouTube page, The bottle explicitly states that it does not contain any parabens or sulfates, but it does lather. After several uses and following this past use, I came to realization that the shampoo was in fact striping my hair of its essential oils. I will be looking for another duo or an all in one shampoo and conditioner. The Shea Moisture shampoo and conditioner from one of the lines is sure to soon appear for a review on the blog (stay tuned). I incorporated the Lavender Mint Treatment Oil by Wen, which my mother who actually had been using herself, and instead of my favorite African Pride Olive Miracle Leave-In Conditioner, I used Shea Moisture’s Strengthen Growth & Restore Leave-In Conditioner. Outside of the shampoo and conditioner I will be using these products regularly in the future and will give you guys updates on how they perform.

7 Herbal and Indian Remedies for Hair Loss and Growth

 Thanks to NaturalLivingIdeas.com, they have provided us with seven Indian herbs that can be used to combat hair loss and that can also be used in variety of different ways. These herbs are 1) Aloe Vera, 2)Amla, 3)Basil, 4)Bhringraj, 5)Burdock Root, 6)Calendula, 7)Fenugreek. Aloe Vera, as well know, is a very common plant or herb used for healing. What we didn’t know was that it can be also used for cleansing especially on the scalp allowing the hair to grow more effectively. NLI tells us that Aloe Vera contains enzymes tot dissolve dead skin and remove it from the scalp to unclog hair follicles. The salicylic acid in Aloe Vera acts as a moisturizer and mirrors the keratin components already present in our skin and nails. Amla, is an Indian Gooseberry that increases collagen production. The gooseberry contains anti-oxidants and vitamin C which both are needed for clean efficient hair growth. Collagen builds up the follicles in order to produce strong hair strands reducing breakage.

Palmer’s Shea Formula Shampoo&Conditioner

I honestly would give this product an 8.5 for first time use. As told in the video lol, the shampoo said there were “No Sulfates” but lathered. Although it lathered I didn’t really experience a stripped feeling in my hair but more tests need to be run 🙂 the conditioner seemed great but nothing spectacular. The smell was true to both the Palmer’s line of products and the shea butter. Below there is a link to a video where I reviewed the duo. Hope this helps. Comments? You know where to go, leave them below!

http://youtu.be/txbErj3FYDU

Return from the Hair Vaca!

So as most of you have seen, I was had been wearing box braids. The braids gave me a new look and allowed me to  “take a vacation from my hair”. I loved my long braids lol for once in at least four years I had hair to flip and not continuously manipulate. On this past Sunday morning, the execution began. I cut and snipped at the braids and carefully might I add, removed the hair. The dandruff was out of this world do you hear me, but I washed deep conditioned for 4-6 six hours. I used the Tresemme luxurious moisture duo and the conditioner performed flawlessly as always. Above or below are the pictures I snapped from the process. After deep conditioning I used African Pride Leave-In conditioner and twisted my hair with Hot-Six oil and Raw Shea Butter. A picture of my bantu knot-out will be posted for you guys tomorrow. The growth that occurred was amazing, and I’ll be bringing you guys on this journey to my end goal! Have any questions or comments, you already know leave them below!



Texture Representation

Now I am not usually one for rants and raves but there is one particular issue has been a thorn in my side for some time. It is not a topic that hasn’t been touched, but it needs to have more light shed on its importance. As I scroll through the channels of my TV on a daily basis and see hair commercials advertising products and a company trying sympathize with those of that have been told to “tame your curls all your life.” I find it extremely interesting how the women being advertised were those that had looser curl patterns. For a long time now, the natural hair community is represented in what I would call a “biased light”. It seems natural hair is only the ringlets and ‘C’ curls but not those thick and luxurious kinks and coils a lot of us in the natural community possess. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against those with looser textures but I believe in equal representation. Although we have come a long way such as creating products for natural hair and products geared to toward the breakage and lack of moisture but it seems there is still a division in the natural hair community that could be said to simulate the colorism in the black community. The divide just seems to be on a smaller scale. The coarser kinkier textures can be harder to manage and not as smooth to grace the magazine covers and photo gallery stacks. Some could say my point of view is biased seeing as though I have what is considered 4c texture hair, but I believe this topic is one that is constantly slid under the rug and not presented to be forefront because it it easier for marketing stats to portray and profit from.

Three Strand Twists: Efficient or Just Complicated

I can honestly say I take a simple but efficient  approach when it comes to my setting styles. I love the definition I receive when my twists have set and fully dried and the moisture has been decadently eaten by my hair. Dramatic right? I decided to try the three-strand twist method. I seemingly couldn’t get the third to intertwine with the other two strands. I mastered one twist but then could not replicate the process for the next. Nonetheless, considering my hair naturally lacks curl definition, I need the best and most out of any product I use. African Pride enriching butter cream was the product I used to attempt the style. After a couple failed attempts for the three strand twists I realized trying to emulate every new technique or using every new product on the rise. The techniques I’ve used so far have worked for me and those are things that I plan to stick with in the future. If there any products you’ve chosen to use simply because of the hype or popularity that did or didn’t work for you comment below and share! Let me know what you guys think.

For those of you that are interested in trying the Three-Strand Technique, here’s a link for a tutorial by Chronicurls enjoy!:

Smart Color!

As a former advocate of colored natural hair (I still am but I digress) I can admit I was not smart about the dye or process I used to color my hair. I am learning just as all of you. After falling in love with this vibrant color I chased it for almost year afterwards. The constant coloring made my hair dry, brittle, and papery. I’m not discounting the quality of the color but after one or two applications my hair no longer took to the dye. The color affecting the outcome of my styles and my hair’s ability to produce curl definition. So I wanted to know what dye brands do you use to color your hair and how do you go about applying the dye so it is not damaging. Coloring the hair is still a chemical process and time showed me what careless coloring can do to your hair. My hair became very papery, brittle, hard, and held little to no moisture. So Comment them below! The best teacher is always experience.
(The dye in the picture was the one I formally used; Source: drugstore.com)

Sunday Reflection

Bringing positive energy around you is beneficial to your soul. As I sat an thought about all the things I have to do for the upcoming week I began to think about the the things that generally make me happy. The artistic side of my personality I enjoy tapping into. As we all know, a portion of your brain is designated to the artistic tendencies, whatever they may be, that we have. As always, I’ll bring around to hair, many times we choose not to that cut or pluck the fro this way or that way or do that color because of an external opinion or fear. Fear is what keeps you from thriving or pursuing those long thought out aspirations. I reflected on the week and realized doing the things that generally make you happy enrich your quality of life. I challenge all my followers to make a list of ten small things that make you happy and make your best effort to do five of those things. If you’d like to share five things that genuinely make you happy, put them below and let’s start the conversation!