Youtube!

I am happy to announce that I will be making YouTube videos. This is my second try at this so hopefully it works out this time. On my channelu I will not only be discussing my natural hair journey, but I will also go in to fashion, movies, music, and my everyday life.  If your interested feel free to check out my videos

Disclaimer: The first video looks weird because I am still getting used to the video editing software.

 I have already filmed video 2 it just needs to be edited. I'm also thinking about filming video 3 today. So stay tuned.

Peace Love & Blessings

The Crown Update

I have so much that I would like to talk about. I barely know where to begin. Since this blog was originally began on the topic of hair I figure I should start there.

so let us begin. As I said in my last post I am officially 2 years natural. I in no way regret mydecision to go natural. It was and still is a liberating experience. Now I have had my ups amd downs. Mainly right now I am kind of overwhelmed by those pesky knots on my strands. I do also get frustrated with my hair bit thats something that comes with the territory of having hair on your head period. As far as a regimen I don't have one. I always try to make a schedule but it doesnt work out. Now I think I am probably washing my hair every two weeks. Lately I've been doing mini twist. I usually wear those for a week then wear them untwisted for another week. Depending on my scalp I might wash my hair like a day or two before I untwist my hair. That is basically it. I used to just do a regular twist out but I always ended up wearing a headband. so I decided to do the mini twist as a way to give my edges a break from the headbands. I admit I wear the headbands sometimes when I work out though.

So since I am 3 years into my healthy hair journey, and 2 years into my natural journey the pj phase is long gone. Not to say thay I don't want to try new things. Trust and believe I do bit I used to have to buy every item exactly when I wanted it. Now as long as I have some conditioner, moisturizer, and oil then I'm good. I actually gave away a ton of my hair products before I moved. I eventually want to get into mpre natural products but for now I focus on what is accessible to me. So here are the products I have been using the most:

L-R African Pride Olive Miracle Moisturizer Lotion, Suave Tropical Coconut Conditioner, Now Sweet Almond Oil, and Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil

As I've said before these products are what I have been using consistently. They are not staples in any way.  Granted I can find an accessible place to find sweet almond oil that will become a staple. I might make the olive oil too for mixing purposes. I do love the AP Moisture Lotion and if my switch to more natural products doesnt work out I will consider making this a staple. Next are products I have used every now and then:

L-R ORS Olive Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion, ORS Replenishing Conditioner, Wild Growth Hair Oil, Cantu Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream, Mixed Silk by Silk Elements Nourishing Deep Conditioner, Let's Jam Shining & Conditioning Gel, Aphogee Pro-Vitamin Leave In Conditioner, Sammy Get Curls Curl Activating Lotion, Aphogee Deep Moisture Shampoo

I'm not too crazy about the ORS hair lotion. I usually use it mixed up with something. I only got it because it was accessible and cheap. The ORS conditioner was my go to deep conditioner for a long time. Now that I'm fully natural I don't use it as much. My hair needs more moisture but protein once in a while helps. As far as the wild Growth Oil I try to use it with my mini twist but forget. Most of the time I use it in a conditioner mix. I got the cantu because it was accessible and to temporary take place of my African Pride moisturizer. I've used it in the past so I got it again. I love the consistency but for some reason when I used it before putting in mini twist my hair didn't like it as much. I think because my hair was semi dry. I noticed it works better when it is applied to my hair when its wet. I decided to try the Mixed Silk deep conditioner since I don't like to use my ORS one as much. I actually like this conditioner for the most part. The first time I used it, it did leave my hair soft Despite that I probably will try something else one it runs out. For the most part I use the Let's Jam for most of my twist outs. It keeps my hair conditioned for a good little while. Also it makes taking my twist out a breeze.I did experiment and used the Sammy activating lotion on one of my mini twist. By day two I had to unravel my twist because they were far too frizzy. However the twist out was actually amazing. Now for the aphogee products. I only got the shampoo to replace my ORS clarifying shampoo. I wanted to get something a little more moisturizing. Its a good shampoo but I rarely use shampoo other then to clarify so it sort of defeats the purpose of me buying it. The pro-vitmain leave in is good. I mix it with olive oil and spray my hair once I finish washing my hair.

I didn't want this post to be this long. I planned to post some pictures of my hair, but I will save that for another time!

Peace, Love, & Blessings~

I've Decided To Enjoy My Life!

So this post is kind of on the coat tale of the oh so fabulous Sunshine! Now I have been raised in the church since I was a little wee one. Even though now at the tender age of 23 I admit I don't go to church like I should. However my years of church has embedded in me that God has my life planned out and is in complete control of it. On top of that he does allow me the free will to make my own decision and uses those decisions I make as a direction to accomplish his will for my life. That being said I actually have to make decisions and be proactive in my life. God doesn't want me just sitting in the house being miserable talking about how my life isn"t going anywhere. God cant place someone in my path to bless me if I spend all my time behind closed doors.

So I'm taking a tip from Sunshine and enjoying my life. That was the whole point of me reading the Artist's Way. Which by the way I have completely abandoned but do plan to eventually start reading again. It's so crazy though how time passes by so fast ad I seem to be so busy but end up accomplishing absolutely nothing. It seems like I spend all my time doing things I like and not things that I love. So I'm going to slowly start incorporating some of the Artist's Way principles back in my life. The funny thing about that is the hardest thing about the Artist's Way way was the artist date. I could do everything but that it was insane how diffucult it was for me to take myself on date it's so crazy.

Anyway today I decided or rather my mother decided to treat me to a spinach and artichoke souffle from Panera. OMG! This was my first souffle ever and I am so in love!

I have so much more to post, but I promised myself to devote some time to my songs I've been writing. So I will definitely be posting again very soon! I have so much to say I can barely hold it in. Anyway as always peace, love, and blessings!!!

Quick Hair Update

So I haven't been devoting as much time to my hair in my last few post as I should be. Not that this is going to be a significant post either. I Had attempted to do a length check last week before I washed my hair. The pictures didn't turn out like I wanted so I eventually gave up. I can say my hair is to my collarbone. So that is exciting. This year alone has passed so fast that I will be 2years natural in no time.

I had been wearing a sew in for about a month so I could leave my hair alone. It was getting to the point that I was getting scissor happy with my hair. I has grown quite a bit. Unfortunately my patience is thin after the sew in so instead of letting my hair condition over night I tried to detangle right away and ended up trimming a portion of my crown off. Now that my hair has gotten longer I can no longer wash and go like I used too. I can still wash and go technically but due to the length of my hair I need to find a new technique.

These last two weeks I have been doing two strand twist. Which was my go to style before my sew in. I used to fluff my hair when I took the twist out, now I just let the twist be. I haven"t really adjusted my regimen since my hair got longer so that is something I need to do asap. I've just been winging it, but I don't think my hair cares for that too much. That's what I need to do this week, work on my regimen and try to find some new styles to try.

My original plan was after I took the sew in out to get my hair pressed. Now I think I should wait for the new year. Plus I "plan" to get my hair colored a reddish tone whenever I builed up the courage to do it.

Anyway that is it for now so Peace, Love, & Blessings as always!

My life is insanity..but nothing has changed.

I always say I'm going to write more every time I make a post. I'm not even going to lie anymore. i want to post more, but I don"t know what the future holds for me.

Anyway lets get into it. I seriously was going to post an update 2 weeks ago but my Blackberry was not having it. I just had this random though the other day after looking on my facebook. My old bestie was talking about how she was going to sacrifice her dream to so she could better provide for her children. Which is totally understandable. I was just wondering though is it better to sacrifice your dream for a financially stable life that makes you miserable. On the other hand wouldn't a parent want their children to pursue their dreams no matter what as opposed to giving them up. I truly believe if you follow your dreams the money will come to you as opposed to you chasing money. Just wondering.

On the other hand let me get back to my life. So for a year I have been saving up money so I could move to California. I've also been looking for jobs and applying like crazy. Unfortunately I have yet to find anything. I have been quite discouraged about that. I have been trying so hard and nothing is happened. Then I start to think maybe I should stay here, but everything here is pushing me a way. I decided to stop looking for work about 2 months ago and take a break to figure out what I really need to do. Between work and family driving me crazy all I really want to do is leave as soon as possible. I see so many people who have given up on their dreams here and I don't want to be like that. Just existing not truly living and enjoying life. I hope to be an inspiration to people in my family to wake up and live life. Whether you believe in reincarnation or not this will be the only time in this specific life that we have to get it right. So I am trying my best to keep my self afloat because I can't waste my life regretting that I didn't live my life the way I want to.

Anyway that is it for now. As always peace, love, and blessings!

Obsessed!

Okay I didn't write in the time frame I said i would, but I'm trying. I've been trying to keep myself occupied and just seemed to have failed at time management. I mean don't get me wrong I get to work on time. I get there so early i usually make coffee and have time to fix myself a bowl of oatmeal. Which oatmeal leads me to the title of this post. I've been compiling just a few things I've become obsessed with lately.

1. Coffee Ice Cream

I first had this in 6'th grade at my best friend's house at the time. It was so good. I didn't particularly care for coffee at the time either. Now I love coffee. I don't allow myself to drink it much because it can be habit forming. So this is how I get my fix on off days. Even though I did eat this twice last week before bed and had no problem sleeping. I think they may use decaffinated coffee. Plus if you like Frappe's this is a way cheaper alternative. You get like 10 times the serving and it basically tastes the same to me.

2. Doritos Flamas

I had been seeing these at the store but never picked up a bag to try until about 2 weeks ago from Walgreens. The lime was really the only reason I got them. I'm not really crazy about hot chips. They are good but they don't make me jump for joy. So yeah these bad boys are hot. They are so good though I couldn't just eat one. First the heat gets you and at the end you taste the hint of lime. They are soooo good!!!

3. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
By: Stieg Larsson

I know this book is extremely popular right now. I hate to say that I fell into the hype and hopped on the bandwagon. I originally started reading this book about 3 or 4 months ago. I originally purchased the digital copy for my reader, but since no electronics are allowed on the floor at my job I had to get a physical book as well. So I read a few chapters and finally gave up. It's a really good book but totally different from what I usually read. Then I went to the movies to see X-Men First class and I saw the movie trailer. For some reason it got me pumped up to read the book again. So everyday I try to squeeze in a few pages. It's worth all the hype you just have to keep reading!

4. The Little Things(They Are Actually Huge If You Pay Attention)

Life will pass you by if you don't pay attention. I don't remember where I got that from but it is so true. Life is full of beautiful things. Some times we just have to stop and marvel at all the amazing things God has put on this earth. It is so easy to get caught up in things that are superficial. I've been trying my best to thank God for all he has created by actually acknowledging it. These are just a few pictures that my camera phone did no justice in capturing their beauty. Lately the sky here has been so beautiful. Just a few days ago there was a beautiful red moon in the sky. I just had to marvel at it's beauty. My phone felt it was the perfect time to shut off and refused to take a picture though.

So that is what I'm obsessed with now. Pretty soon I will be obsessed with the new season of True Blood that starts in a few hours. So let me get some reading in before it gets to late! As always peace, love, and blessings!!!

I am back! For real this time!

There is no point excusing my absence. I have had much on my mind and though it is better to express those things I held them inside.Now I'm in a better mind space and ready to let it all out. I have been trying to focus on my songwriting but life has gotten in the way and I haven't been able to allow myself the time to dedicate to writing. I'm always trying to make myself a better person. So during this time that I've been away I have been trying to work on myself spiritually. So I will explain what I've been doing since I obviously haven't been writing.

As it says it's a course in not only discovering your creativity but also helps recovering your creativity. I originally heard about the "morning pages" on a video I saw on YouTube. So after hearing about the pages I started doing them. Then the next week I decided to get the book to see what other ideas were in it to help my creativity. This book is amazing. This is a 12 week course and I stopped at week 9, because I just had so many thing going on. Even though I have temporarily taken a break from the course I still do my morning pages and I intend on starting the course again eventually. The author Julia Cameron also has 2 more books that go along with this course as well. I will definitely be getting those when I finish the book. For more books I've been reading you can check out my profile for Good Reads in the the links on the right side of the blog.---->

So next is what I've been doing with my hair since that was the original purpose of the blog. I haven't done anything special to be honest. At first I did a wash and go everyday. Now I am way to lazy to wash my hair everyday. My hair has grown a lot despite my profile picture I have cut my hair twice. I'm going to hold off on doing that for now. I have crazy shrinkage so my hair shrinks up and looks 20x shorter then it actually is. All I've been doing lately are twist outs. I was supposed to twist my hair today, I don't feel like it so i may actually do a wash and go tomorrow. Hopefully I get to leave work early tomorrow and twist it then. The thing I love about twists outs are I only have to do my hair once a week. That way when I get up in the morning all I have to do is maybe wet my hair and shake it and go. I have tried the oh so famous Kinky Curly.

I've tried everything except the Gloss Pomade. I like the products. The only problems I have is for my hair it is time consuming. Not only that the products are expensive and not widely available. Not only do I have to pay an arm and a leg for the products I have to drive all the way on the opposite side of town. As far as the custard it smell soooooo good like candy and cake. I experimented once and used the shampoo and the conditioner, but instead of using the curling custard I used this:
So instead of paying $16 on a 8oz jar of curling custard you can get 32oz of this for under $5. Another good thing about Kinky Curly is that they are cruelty free and organic. So of course organic products and foods are more expensive. There is so much irony in the fact that you have to pay more for organic(products without chemicals) as compared to products that are not organic(products that have chemicals and pesticides). I may no buy anymore of the curling custard but I love the conditioner. I can do without the shampoo but I will most likely buy it again.

I think it's best to end this post here. I have soo much more to say but I need to save some for later post (like a haul from the NYX Anniversary sale last month)! As always peace love and blessings~