Viola Davis was spotted rocking a natural hair coif at the 84th Annual Academy Awards last night and she looked amazing.
I will be writing a get the look later in the day on my fave makeup looks from the Oscars so be on the loo out..
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Showing posts with label natural hair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural hair. Show all posts
Beauty Diaries
Natural/Organic Hair and Skin Care--Go Green
23 April 2011
Being natural I am often asked which products I use in my hair. I try to stay away from store bought grease, creams and etc. I like using things that are chemical free and created in nature. So today I have decided to write a post on things that I use on my hair. You can also use these things on chemically processed hair and all ethnicities can use these products as well. Next week I plan to write a post on organic skin care products that I use or have used in a past with links so get ready! I am definitely trying to make the earth a better and healthier place. I hope you guys tag along with me or be inspired!
In the spring and summer months I love to oil my scalp with hydrogenated Coconut Oil. Yes the oil that you buy in the store to cook with. It is amazing! Especially for dry scalp. And if you have eczema or psoriasis, it is really good as a treatment. Coconut oil is good for our body and skin because it is similar to the natural oils our bodies produce. It does not clog and it is not greasy.
In the spring and summer months I love to oil my scalp with hydrogenated Coconut Oil. Yes the oil that you buy in the store to cook with. It is amazing! Especially for dry scalp. And if you have eczema or psoriasis, it is really good as a treatment. Coconut oil is good for our body and skin because it is similar to the natural oils our bodies produce. It does not clog and it is not greasy.
The scent of the coconut oil is very refreshing. I also like to combine essentials oils like french lavender with it to create my own scent (french lavender and coconut oil is the bees knees). AND I use it on my skin.. Non black women can use coconut oil as a treatment after they have either permed, dyed, or bleached their hair or have gone swimming in the ocean or a pool. You can put the coconut oil all over your hair and scalp and let it stay for up to an hour and then wash it out and you have yourself a natural and organic deep conditioner for your hair.
You can also use Cacao (chocolate), orange blossom or lime essential oils as well. All of which smells amazing mixed with Coconut oil.
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| Cacao Essential Oil |
In the winter months I like to use one or two things. Pure shea butter for my scalp and body or olive oil. Yes you heard it, virgin hydrogenated olive oil! Olive oil is not only great for cooking but it is amazing on the skin. It feels fantastic. The reason I use it in the winter verses the summer is because it is heavier and it takes a while to seep into your pores and skin.
Shea butter is another natural and organic treatment for skin and hair. You can also mix essential oils with it as well. The problem that I have with shea butter is it can produce a lot of build up over time if you are not careful, so I prefer to buy shea butter shampoos and conditioners instead for my hair and use the actual butter on my skin. Sheago is a great company that sells African shea products.
If you have dry itchy scalp like I do an amazing product to help soothe your scalp and/or skin is Black Soap. I love using Black Soap Shampoo when I can find it for my hair. It strips away all the impurities--like metals and chemicals-- that we get from the water we use and it soothes and conditions the scalp. I like to put peppermint essential oil into the shampoo for scent and it is also serves as another soothing agent for itchy scalp. Not to mention it smells AMAZING! And is great for relaxation purposes.. You can also buy this product in the UK here. I personally like to buy my products from small companies. They need our business.
Another company that produces organic AND vegan products for your hair and body is Lush. I love their products especially their solid shampoos. They are amazing. I will do a detailed analysis on them and a few other companies next week. I hope this was informative. Feel free to write me or comment and let me know what you have tried or have used and works for you. If you know of any other small companies or you own one let me know I would love to do a write up on you.
Until next blog, Buona Pasqua, Happy Easter, Happy Passover (Pesach Sameach) to every one! And Happy Weekend!
Being natural I am often asked which products I use in my hair. I try to stay away from store bought grease, creams and etc. I like using things that are chemical free and created in nature. So today I have decided to write a post on things that I use on my hair. You can also use these things on chemically processed hair and all ethnicities can use these products as well. Next week I plan to write a post on organic skin care products that I use or have used in a past with links so get ready! I am definitely trying to make the earth a better and healthier place. I hope you guys tag along with me or be inspired!
In the spring and summer months I love to oil my scalp with hydrogenated Coconut Oil. Yes the oil that you buy in the store to cook with. It is amazing! Especially for dry scalp. And if you have eczema or psoriasis, it is really good as a treatment. Coconut oil is good for our body and skin because it is similar to the natural oils our bodies produce. It does not clog and it is not greasy.
In the spring and summer months I love to oil my scalp with hydrogenated Coconut Oil. Yes the oil that you buy in the store to cook with. It is amazing! Especially for dry scalp. And if you have eczema or psoriasis, it is really good as a treatment. Coconut oil is good for our body and skin because it is similar to the natural oils our bodies produce. It does not clog and it is not greasy.
The scent of the coconut oil is very refreshing. I also like to combine essentials oils like french lavender with it to create my own scent (french lavender and coconut oil is the bees knees). AND I use it on my skin.. Non black women can use coconut oil as a treatment after they have either permed, dyed, or bleached their hair or have gone swimming in the ocean or a pool. You can put the coconut oil all over your hair and scalp and let it stay for up to an hour and then wash it out and you have yourself a natural and organic deep conditioner for your hair.
You can also use Cacao (chocolate), orange blossom or lime essential oils as well. All of which smells amazing mixed with Coconut oil.
|
| Cacao Essential Oil |
In the winter months I like to use one or two things. Pure shea butter for my scalp and body or olive oil. Yes you heard it, virgin hydrogenated olive oil! Olive oil is not only great for cooking but it is amazing on the skin. It feels fantastic. The reason I use it in the winter verses the summer is because it is heavier and it takes a while to seep into your pores and skin.
Shea butter is another natural and organic treatment for skin and hair. You can also mix essential oils with it as well. The problem that I have with shea butter is it can produce a lot of build up over time if you are not careful, so I prefer to buy shea butter shampoos and conditioners instead for my hair and use the actual butter on my skin. Sheago is a great company that sells African shea products.
If you have dry itchy scalp like I do an amazing product to help soothe your scalp and/or skin is Black Soap. I love using Black Soap Shampoo when I can find it for my hair. It strips away all the impurities--like metals and chemicals-- that we get from the water we use and it soothes and conditions the scalp. I like to put peppermint essential oil into the shampoo for scent and it is also serves as another soothing agent for itchy scalp. Not to mention it smells AMAZING! And is great for relaxation purposes.. You can also buy this product in the UK here. I personally like to buy my products from small companies. They need our business.
Another company that produces organic AND vegan products for your hair and body is Lush. I love their products especially their solid shampoos. They are amazing. I will do a detailed analysis on them and a few other companies next week. I hope this was informative. Feel free to write me or comment and let me know what you have tried or have used and works for you. If you know of any other small companies or you own one let me know I would love to do a write up on you.
Until next blog, Buona Pasqua, Happy Easter, Happy Passover (Pesach Sameach) to every one! And Happy Weekend!
Beauty Diaries
Why Natural Hair
25 March 2011
Last week I did a post on natural hair care. I am no authority but I have gone through many trial and error but, spoken to natural hair authorities and those who have been natural longer than I have about my hair.
I went natural seven years ago after returning from a trip to Jerusalem. I had just moved back to Texas from NYC and I was tired of the chemical burns, flaky allergy prone scalp and hair loss.
Growing up in Texas, no self respecting woman of color went natural. If you did it was assumed that you were a lesbian or militant. In fact when I went natural one of my managers at a store I was working at told me that maybe I should reconsider and relax my hair so that I can be more mainstream and non-threatening.
Yes, this was the mentality of people in Texas, home of creamy crack and lace fronts alla Beyoncé. It is not uncommon to not ever see a woman of color and even some white women's natural hair. It is usually covered by a wig, a weave and other crazy things. So bucking the system in 2004 was a big deal for me. But as the story goes, when one domino falls the rest follows. To this day, four of my friends and my mother--the lady who told me I needed to get my hair fixed--has gone completely natural. I am very proud of that. There is something freeing about being natural. I cannot explain but I have to say I have been more confident since the big chop.
I believe going natural is not necessarily a cultural thing, but a health thing. The chemicals we place on our hair seeps into our scalp and then into our blood stream, its deadly. I have recently decided to forego dying my hair with chemical processing tint. Instead, I will use henna or clay colors, they are natural. When I get the time I will do a write up on non-chemical hair dyes.
With my natural hair I have gone through many changes. I started with an afro, then spent three years growing locs and then last year in June I cut all my locs off before moving to Italy and now I have an afro again and I think I will be sticking with it this time around. Now I must stop being lazy and take care of it because I want it to look like Janelle Monae's huge fro.
If I can convert more women--not just women of color but all women; would love to see white women stop bleaching their hair blonde (of course this is the extremist in me, but I am not an advocate for this)--to go natural I will. But for now I will leave my natural hair crusade for later. Next week I will do a post on some amazing products that you can use to moisturize and condition your hair, but until then enjoy my hair-o-graphy.
I went natural seven years ago after returning from a trip to Jerusalem. I had just moved back to Texas from NYC and I was tired of the chemical burns, flaky allergy prone scalp and hair loss.
Growing up in Texas, no self respecting woman of color went natural. If you did it was assumed that you were a lesbian or militant. In fact when I went natural one of my managers at a store I was working at told me that maybe I should reconsider and relax my hair so that I can be more mainstream and non-threatening.
Yes, this was the mentality of people in Texas, home of creamy crack and lace fronts alla Beyoncé. It is not uncommon to not ever see a woman of color and even some white women's natural hair. It is usually covered by a wig, a weave and other crazy things. So bucking the system in 2004 was a big deal for me. But as the story goes, when one domino falls the rest follows. To this day, four of my friends and my mother--the lady who told me I needed to get my hair fixed--has gone completely natural. I am very proud of that. There is something freeing about being natural. I cannot explain but I have to say I have been more confident since the big chop.
I believe going natural is not necessarily a cultural thing, but a health thing. The chemicals we place on our hair seeps into our scalp and then into our blood stream, its deadly. I have recently decided to forego dying my hair with chemical processing tint. Instead, I will use henna or clay colors, they are natural. When I get the time I will do a write up on non-chemical hair dyes.
With my natural hair I have gone through many changes. I started with an afro, then spent three years growing locs and then last year in June I cut all my locs off before moving to Italy and now I have an afro again and I think I will be sticking with it this time around. Now I must stop being lazy and take care of it because I want it to look like Janelle Monae's huge fro.
If I can convert more women--not just women of color but all women; would love to see white women stop bleaching their hair blonde (of course this is the extremist in me, but I am not an advocate for this)--to go natural I will. But for now I will leave my natural hair crusade for later. Next week I will do a post on some amazing products that you can use to moisturize and condition your hair, but until then enjoy my hair-o-graphy.
 |
| 18 months of being natural, 2005 |
 |
| 2 years of being natural, Sept 2006 |
 |
| 8 months of loc growth, Feb 2008 |
 |
| 2 years of loc growth |
 |
| 2 years 5 months of loc growth, Nov 2009 |
 |
| the second big chop, June 2010 |
 |
| Dec. 2010, 6 months after the big chop |
 |
| My hair now, 9 months after the chop, March 2011 |
Happy Friday and Weekend
Last week I did a post on natural hair care. I am no authority but I have gone through many trial and error but, spoken to natural hair authorities and those who have been natural longer than I have about my hair.
I went natural seven years ago after returning from a trip to Jerusalem. I had just moved back to Texas from NYC and I was tired of the chemical burns, flaky allergy prone scalp and hair loss.
Growing up in Texas, no self respecting woman of color went natural. If you did it was assumed that you were a lesbian or militant. In fact when I went natural one of my managers at a store I was working at told me that maybe I should reconsider and relax my hair so that I can be more mainstream and non-threatening.
Yes, this was the mentality of people in Texas, home of creamy crack and lace fronts alla Beyoncé. It is not uncommon to not ever see a woman of color and even some white women's natural hair. It is usually covered by a wig, a weave and other crazy things. So bucking the system in 2004 was a big deal for me. But as the story goes, when one domino falls the rest follows. To this day, four of my friends and my mother--the lady who told me I needed to get my hair fixed--has gone completely natural. I am very proud of that. There is something freeing about being natural. I cannot explain but I have to say I have been more confident since the big chop.
I believe going natural is not necessarily a cultural thing, but a health thing. The chemicals we place on our hair seeps into our scalp and then into our blood stream, its deadly. I have recently decided to forego dying my hair with chemical processing tint. Instead, I will use henna or clay colors, they are natural. When I get the time I will do a write up on non-chemical hair dyes.
With my natural hair I have gone through many changes. I started with an afro, then spent three years growing locs and then last year in June I cut all my locs off before moving to Italy and now I have an afro again and I think I will be sticking with it this time around. Now I must stop being lazy and take care of it because I want it to look like Janelle Monae's huge fro.
If I can convert more women--not just women of color but all women; would love to see white women stop bleaching their hair blonde (of course this is the extremist in me, but I am not an advocate for this)--to go natural I will. But for now I will leave my natural hair crusade for later. Next week I will do a post on some amazing products that you can use to moisturize and condition your hair, but until then enjoy my hair-o-graphy.
I went natural seven years ago after returning from a trip to Jerusalem. I had just moved back to Texas from NYC and I was tired of the chemical burns, flaky allergy prone scalp and hair loss.
Growing up in Texas, no self respecting woman of color went natural. If you did it was assumed that you were a lesbian or militant. In fact when I went natural one of my managers at a store I was working at told me that maybe I should reconsider and relax my hair so that I can be more mainstream and non-threatening.
Yes, this was the mentality of people in Texas, home of creamy crack and lace fronts alla Beyoncé. It is not uncommon to not ever see a woman of color and even some white women's natural hair. It is usually covered by a wig, a weave and other crazy things. So bucking the system in 2004 was a big deal for me. But as the story goes, when one domino falls the rest follows. To this day, four of my friends and my mother--the lady who told me I needed to get my hair fixed--has gone completely natural. I am very proud of that. There is something freeing about being natural. I cannot explain but I have to say I have been more confident since the big chop.
I believe going natural is not necessarily a cultural thing, but a health thing. The chemicals we place on our hair seeps into our scalp and then into our blood stream, its deadly. I have recently decided to forego dying my hair with chemical processing tint. Instead, I will use henna or clay colors, they are natural. When I get the time I will do a write up on non-chemical hair dyes.
With my natural hair I have gone through many changes. I started with an afro, then spent three years growing locs and then last year in June I cut all my locs off before moving to Italy and now I have an afro again and I think I will be sticking with it this time around. Now I must stop being lazy and take care of it because I want it to look like Janelle Monae's huge fro.
If I can convert more women--not just women of color but all women; would love to see white women stop bleaching their hair blonde (of course this is the extremist in me, but I am not an advocate for this)--to go natural I will. But for now I will leave my natural hair crusade for later. Next week I will do a post on some amazing products that you can use to moisturize and condition your hair, but until then enjoy my hair-o-graphy.
|
| 18 months of being natural, 2005 |
|
| 2 years of being natural, Sept 2006 |
|
| 8 months of loc growth, Feb 2008 |
|
| 2 years of loc growth |
|
| 2 years 5 months of loc growth, Nov 2009 |
|
| the second big chop, June 2010 |
|
| Dec. 2010, 6 months after the big chop |
|
| My hair now, 9 months after the chop, March 2011 |
Happy Friday and Weekend
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