Happy New Years!

I wish you and yours the best, see you in the '09!

Naturally Loved: Part Three

I love to see Black Love, especially between a man and woman that embrace natural hair styles. It's so organic and free of gimmicks. Many of my 'natural hair' friends are in stable loving relationships and my single friends meet great men all the time. I didn't know what to expect when I decided to go natural but I am pleasantly surprised at the gorgeous men that love women who wear their hair natural! My experience with black men is that many of them enjoy having a woman with natural hair since he is able to see her true beauty and trust me men look at things like that, LOL!
If you are apprehensive about going natural just know its all in how you wear your hair. Choose styles that complement you, not every natural hair style is for everyone. Be free and enjoy yourself and people will be attracted to that. Most important of all LOVE YOURSELF. Again I love to see Black Love!

Happy Growing,

L

Natalie

'Tis The Season for Gold, Black and Silver

During the holiday season is a great time to accessorize to give your 'do a little something extra or to make it your own. These are some great accessories that will keep your stash fresh!LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
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These are a few of my favourite hair things

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1. Felix Ray feather and sequin headband
2. Ficcare Waterfall Pony Holders
3. Goody Three-Strand Rope Headwrap
4. Goody Enameled Flower Ponytailer
5. Goody Clips
6. Goody Glass Bean Jean Wires

Wishing You and Yours The Best in '09

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Combs and Brushes For Us

It's so important to have the tools to maintain our hair. A few things that are consistently needed for combing our hair is wide teeth to avoid breakage and knotting and a the comb that is seamless also helps to prevent our hair from snagging on the comb. Resin and wood combs are great to achieve these two criterias. Brushes that have firm bristles with a cushion are great. A favourite is Denman since it always gets the job done with minimum trauma to the hair. I compiled some great combs and brushes that take hair care to another level.

Solano Wood CombLLLLLLLLLKaKaKiKi KombBrushLLLLLLLLLLThe Body Shop Detangling Comb

Ghair 100% Organic Resin LLLLLLL Ghair 100% Organic ResinLLLLLLLThe Little Original Sprout

Detangler CombLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLTangle Free Detangler Comb LLLLLLTextured Hair Comb

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Here are some sites that have great comb and brushes for Us:

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Tek - They have a great collection of wooden combs and brushes.

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Ghair - Resin combs are AMAZING, I love the Tangle Free Detangler Comb. Their products can be purchased at Honey Fig.

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Americombs - These hand crafted combs are like collector items, check them out.

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KaKaKiKi Komb Brush - Was specifically design for African-American hair.

Au Naturelle Update

Over the past few weeks I have really embraced a minimalist approach to hair care although I'm still working on my routine and learning what my hair likes and dislikes, wow, it really is a journey. As 2009 approaches I'll be going into my third year natural with natural and organic products for the most part and some products that I still love for those sometimes occasions, I can't help myself. Over the weekend I bought Artisana Raw Organic Coconut Butter for my ends, this sounds delicious more so than the coconut oil. I will be writing a review on it over the next few months. Right now during the winter months my Kariderm Organic Shea Butter is really doing a great job.

My hair is really growing, I know I said I'll be posting pics so please be patient. Last week I put my hair up in a puff and it was puffing real nicely. A nice sized puff might I add. I'm lovin' my natural hair, what took me so long?

Defining Your Eyebrows with Tweezerman

The holiday season means family, friends, good food, parties, being thankful and reflection. It is also the time to polish ourselves for the many social events planned. Grooming our eyebrows is a great way to frame and define our features and to polish up our look. I prefer to tweeze my eyebrows. Tweezerman really gets the job done and I swear by them for catching every hair and delivery well defined eyebrows. For the holiday season Tweezerman has just introduced special holiday edition tweezers to help us get in the festive mood.
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Here are some Do's and Dont's from Tweezerman

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*Do tweeze in the direction of hair growth.
*Do open your pores with a hot washcloth to make tweezing easier.
*Do use a make-up concealer to draw your desired brow shape, then tweeze the hairs that fall below the line.
*Don't use creams or moisturizers that can cause the tweezer to slip.
*Don't tweeze nose hairs or hairs growing out of moles.

When finished, using a soothing cream and than a brow gel to set are great investments.

Model Moment: Oluchi

If you don't know who this is than let me introduce you to Oluchi. If you are still not familiar she is a Nigerian born model, who has worked in the industry for over a decade. Most times when she is photographed her hair is styled straight, so I was pleased to see her rocking a 'fro. She has worked with industry elites including i-D, Italian Vogue, Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Allure and has done numerous campaigns with Banana Republic, Victoria Secret, Gianfranco Ferré, Gap, Express and Ann Taylor. Visit her official site here.

Product Review: Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Cream

I have talked about this product quite a few times but have never reviewed it before. This product is amazing and for the most part when someone uses it they agree. It is very concentrated and thick in consistency. This product can be used as a pre-treatment, moisturizer, scalp butter, body butter, and night treatment. I use this product primarily as a moisturizer and if my hair needs a little extra moisture I add some at night as a night treatment and wake up with well moisturized hair! I love this product, It's the real deal and works amazing on most kynky, coily, and curly hair textures. During the summer it is too heavy for my fine strands so I've discovered the Burdock Root Butter Cream also from QB, this is a great line of products.

Performance: Sooo consistent, I've been using this product for over 2 years! Definitely a staple 2/2

Pricing: 8 Oz for $16.00 US, a little pricey but worth it every time. 2/2

Ingredients: Castor (Ricinus Communis) Oil, Olive (Olea Europa) Oil, Distilled Water, Organic Amla (Phyllanthus Emblica), Organic Aloe (Aloe Ferox) Africana, Organic Brahmi (Bacopa Monniera), MSM (Methosulfonylmethane), Vegetable Glycerin, Vegetable Emulsifier,Vitamin E, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

* A light citrus scent that is not over powering 1/1

Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Cream 5/5

Product Review: Burt's Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Hair Treatment

A product that is multi-purpose gets me excited and this one is! It is a great pre-shampoo treatment, conditioning agent, styling product, and detangler all in one. When I first used this product I applied it section by section and combed for even distribution and I noticed my hair detangled sooo easily. My hair was also well conditioned and shiny, this is a great product.

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Performance: Great results 2/2

Pricing: 4.34 Oz for 10.00 CAD (a little pricey but worth it since I use it only when detangling and once a month as a pre treatment) 2/2

Ingredients: Supposedly 99.33 % natural: glycerin, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, avena sativa (oat) kernel protein, persea gratissima (avocado) oil, prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, lanolin, tocopherol, urtica dioica (nettle) leaf powder, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) powder, chlorophyll, fragrance

* The lanolin and chlorophyll do give me pause .5/1

Burt's Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Hair Treatment 4.5/5

Product Review: Nature's Gate Herbal Daily Conditioning Conditioner

I was surprised when I first used this conditioner for my co-wash. It has a thin consistency compared to most of the conditioners I use so I wasn't expecting anything spectacular but still was willing to give it a try. First it has a herbal-perfume scent that may be too much for someone that is scent sensitive and I did notice that because of its thin consistency it was messy, I guess I have to find a technique to keep my bathroom clean when I use it.

Okay, so I rinsed my hair for about a minute to saturate it and loosen product from my hair shaft. Than section by section I applied the conditioner until all my hair was coated, I repeated and voila! I had defined coils and curls, my hair was not silky but moist, it had alot of volume and was easy to manage, I think I found a winner.

Performance: Great, I've used it a few times and my hair is loving it more and more! 2/2

Price: 18 Oz for $8.00 to $9.00 CAD 2/2

Ingredients: water, quaternium-87, cetearyl alcohol, polysorbate 60, chamomillia recutita (matricaria) extract, urtica dioica (nettle) extract, prunus serotina (wild cherry) bark extract, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) extract, symphytum officinale (comfrey) extractoin, arctium lappa (burdock) root extract, yucca schidigera (yucca) extract, nymphaea odorata (white pond lily) root extract, nelumbo nucifera (lotus) flower extract, quercus alba (oak) bark extract, butylene glycol, methylparaben, diazolidinyl urea, fragrance, caramel.

* Great ingredients, I'm willing to give full marks. 1/1

Nature's Gate Herbal Daily Conditioning Conditioner 5/5

Just A Question...

I just have to get something off my chest. It has been running around in my mind and I don't know if any of you have experienced it. Okay, so when I went natural I had a few comments from uninformed people like "wow, so you are natural... what are you going to do with it?"; "why don't you just relax it?"; "Is it growing?" and so on. I got some looks when I said I use apple cider vinegar to rinse my hair, I use conditioner to wash my hair and ofcourse when I said "honey, olive oil and avocados are great for hair."
What's so funny about all these episodes is all these comments came from black women trying to understand my decision and my new hair care regime. Have any of you experienced this?