What a Difference a Year Makes

If you have been following my blog or my YouTube channel - Nurekad then you know I am awful at twist outs!!!! Or so I thought before last weekend.  Ever since my Big Chop in August of 2011 I have been wearing my hair in WnG styles because every time I try a Twist out I end up with a frizzy fuzzy mess. Now to be fair I have only tried twists about 5 times in the last year because they end up looking so bad.  I'm not exactly sure what made me want to try again last weekend, other than I hate feeling like I can't do something and it was a 3 day weekend from work.  So late Friday night, actually very late it was about midnight I co-washed my hair and started into my twisting journey yet again.  I'll be honest I did not have high hopes that my hair would look good.  I was just hoping it would not look bad. I used the same steps I had used in the past. I applied leave in then styler and twisted.  This time I used CoCo Curls as my styler.  After I was done twisting I was shocked at how much my hair has grown in the last year.  My twists actually looked good enough to wear out without hiding them under a hair or hair accessory. Now that is progress. I wore the twists for 2 full days and then on Monday (Labor Day) the true test came.  Would I be able to wear a twist out or would my hair be a frizzy fuzzy mess????  I oiled my hands with Ampro Vitamin E oil and started untwisting. I did NOT separate the twists into smaller sections as  suspected this was what had caused my frizziness before. When all was said and done I was shocked at how good my hair actually looked and at how long my hair has gotten.  Although I will no doubt still wear WnG styles most often it is great to see how much progress my hair has made over the past year.  Now I have another style I can add to my bag of tricks.

Front view of my twists

Twist Out Results Yayyyyy!!!!

CoCO Curls

Below are previous twists and twist outs attempted over the past year

It's Giveaway Time!!!!!

Watch "#28- Giveaway!! 1 year Natural GIVEAWAY!!!" on YouTube To celebrate my 1 year anniversary of my Big Chop I am doing a huge giveaway. Please watch the video link above to get more information. Good Luck!!!!!

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Natural Hair Style: Coils and Coil Out

1st day with Coils 

Coils done by Regina @ Natural Alternatives Salon

1949 Bardstown Rd 

Louisville, KY 40205

502-473-8882

About a week ago I went into Natural Alternative Salon to see my girl Regina (GG) to get my hair washed and styled.  I wanted to try something new so we decided that coils would be a great change from my usual wash and go style. Now I am no stranger to Natural Alternatives salon. I have visited this upscale natural salon many times. As a matter of fact this is where almost a year ago GG did my big chop.  I absolutely love Natural Alternative Salon.  All four stylists ( Regina, Dakota, Shaha and T'ana) are all very professional and know their craft very well.  Then there is the always happy and welcoming owner Jimmy.  This is the only salon I have ever been to that offers you not only high-end waters such as Voss but also Mimosas and other wine and champagne based beverages.  All of the equipment and products are top of the line and cutting edge. You simply can not go wrong in choosing this salon no matter which stylist you select.  But let's get back to my coils... Regina washed and conditioned my hair as I lounged in the luxury recliner style leather seat with a shampoo bowl that adjusts to fit each client. After that GG began doing my coils.  I was in and out in about 2 hours.  I wore my coils for 5 days and then went back to let GG do my coil-out. Below is a picture of my second day coil-out.  All in all my salon experience was wonderful as always and as far as coils, it was a nice break from the WnG. If you would like to see a video of my coils or my coil out find me on YouTube under Nurekad

2nd day coil out

July CurlBox Reveal

Ok it's that time again. I hot my July CurlBox and here is what was in it.

July CurlBox
- Motions Naturally You Shampoo- full size
- Motions Naturally You Conditioner- Full Size
- Shea Radiance Nourishing Hair Repair Cream- Deluxe Sample
- Luster's Pink Oil Light Moisturizer- sample pack

July Curlkit reveal

It's that time again y'all. I got my Curlkit, I got my Curlkit. I absolutely love when my Curlkit comes, it really is like getting a special gift in the mail. Plus it brings lots of hair and sometimes body products for me to try I just love it. If you are interested in signing up it is only $20 per month, just go to www.Curlkit.com ok so let's get into what I got...

What was in my Curlkit
- UR Curly Soya Shampoo- full size
- Feng Shui Organics- liquid diamonds moisturizing surface shine- deluxe sample
- November Naturals- coconut lime verbena Shea whip- deluxe sample
- COCO Curls- coco curl moisturizing cream- deluxe sample
- Hydrothermal Naturals- amino plus protein deep conditioner- deluxe sample
- DPL- curl revitalizer- deluxe sample
- Ampro- olive oil gel- 2 deluxe samples!!!!!!!
- Nice & Curly- Smooth it straight- 2 samples

If u would like to see me open my Curlkit live and talk about the kit check out my YouTube video @ nurekad on YouTube

My First Attempt at a Roller Set

Watch "#12- Roller Set on Natural Hair" on YouTube Hey friends, so I tried a Roller Set for the first time. The results were ok, not awful, not great just ok. If you click on the YouTube link above you will see the video of me taking the rollers out and beginning to style. I will post pictures below of the finished style. I can say that frizz was an issue as I knew it would be. I will say the rollers with less hair turned out better than the ones with lots of hair. So we will call it a lesson learned and try again another time. I will be back to WnG tomorrow ;D.

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Lessons From Vacation Hair

Hey everyone!! So I am officially home from Disney World. I had a great time and I learned alot about my hair while on Vacation. So if you have not heard I started making videos on YouTube so many of the lessons I learned are on video. You can check out my videos under my YouTube account- Nurekad. Anyway back to the lessons, first swimming is hard on natural hair and so is swimmers shampoo. My hair was left feeling very dry. So I suggest taking a great deep conditioner with you to take care of the dryness. I also had a great time trying new products on my hair and my daughters hair. Out of all the products we tried I think the real surprise was the Curl Care line from Dr. Miracle. We did not like the smell but the results were great!!! You can check out all of my reviews on YouTube. I also just posted a length Check video because today is my official 11 month anniversary. Yayyyy

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Vacation Wash and Go with Aloe Vera Gel

Watch "Wash and Go using 100% Slow Vera Gel" on YouTube

So I am currently on Vacation in Walt Disney World, woooo hoooo party time. I am doing lots of swimming and with a tropical storm brewing getting soaked in the rain. I wanted to take this opportunity to try new products on my hair and do some experimenting. Enter the Aloe Vera Gel. I bought this gel about a year ago and just never used it. If you watch the video you will see me apply the gel from beginning to end and in the process you will also get to see how I do all my wash and gos. So watch and enjoy. The pic I posted here is the finished product about 6 hours later. Oh please comment and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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Minnie's Rocking Mohawk

Last night my daughter Minnie was feeling a little down so I decided to give her a funky hair style to make her feel a lil better. For this hair style all I did was part off a section for bangs and then I parted her hair straight down the middle. I 2 strand twisted the bangs forward, then I flat twisted the sides toward each other to the center. Today I untwisted the single twists for the bangs and the loose ends of the two strand twists and bam.... Funky mohawk style fit for a tween. This totally worked to make her feel better.

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Curls Cashmere Review Video!!!!

Watch "Curls Cashmere Jelly Product Review" on YouTube

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Braid out FAIL!!!!!!

So you all know I love to do WnG styles bc they almost always come out looking great. I am perplexed by the fact that unlike other naturals twist outs look awful on my hair. I always end up with a frizzy fuzzy mess. My friend Haley has been trying to get to not give up on twist outs. So I decided to try a braid out on my hair. Yeah you see the picture... Again I have a frizzy fuzzy mess. I don't know why these styles don't work on my hair but I have accepted that they don't and I am waving my white flag of surrender. I am going to be sticking to my trusty dusty WnG styles.

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June Curlkit Reveal

June Curlkit theme Creme of the Crop

What was in my Curlkit
- Twisted Sister De Frizz Conditioner ( full size)
- Ampro Pro Styl Vitamin E Oil ( full size)
- Ampro Pro Styl Honey Beez styling bees wax ( fill size)
- Hair Rules Hydrating Finishing Cream (2 packets)
- Nice & Curly Winding Down Control Gel ( packet)
- Jamaican Mango and Lime Locking Gel (2 packets)
- Miss Jessie's Curly Butter Creme(packet)
- Miss Jessie's curly pudding (packet)
- Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue (packet)

As you can see the Curlkit is full of all kinds of goodies this month. I'm really excited to try my new goodies. Stay tuned for product reviews. Oh yeah I'm trying some new products today so I'll do some product review posts later in the week. If you would be interested in signing up for Curlkit log on to www.Curlkit.com it is $20 per month but if you use coupon code VIC you can get 10% off your first shipment and you can cancel your subscription at anytime.

CurlBox June Reveal

Items in my CurlBox
- BB Tropical Roots Twist Cream (full size)
- Dr. Miracle Curl Care Frizz Control Serum (4oz full size I think)
- Nutress Hair wrap guard foam wrap lotion (1.7oz deluxe sample)
- Bug Off mosquito repellent bracelet (full size)
- ORS Herbal Cleanse dry shampoo packet
- Sofnfree Milk, Protein & Olive Oil Really deep conditioning treatment packet.
- Free Your Mane hydrating shampoo packet
- Free Your Mane Conditioner packet
- Free Your Mane Restorative Hair Oil packet
- Coupon Codes

As you can see I got my June CurlBox in the mail today. Yayyyy. It always feels like my birthday or Christmas when I get my Curlbox in the mail. I just love being surprised and seeing what I got. I can't wait to play with all my new products. Be on the lookout for product reviews!! If you would like to get your own Curlbox subscription go to WWW.curlbox.com subscriptions are $20 per month.

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My Shade Of Brown June Reveal

Items in the June Pillow Box- Amazing Botanicals black soap shampoo- Nourishea mango conditioner- Komplexx Blends lipstick in nude- Pooka Pure and Simple hair butter- Mini Compact with a flower designHmmm where do I begin. Two of the four items are the same as last month. The lipstick is just a cut off chunk of lipstick in a tiny tub. Umm what am I supposed to do with that? I will say I love the compact. It is very cute and I know I will use it. All in all I have been a subscriber to www.myshadeofbrown.com for two months and while it is only $10 per month I don't think I am going to continue my subscription. Stay tuned for to see what I get in my other 4 subscription services this month.

Second Day Hair W/ KBB Hold It Gel

KK'S second Day hair

Last night we both slept with silk bonnets. This morning we both had very hard stiff hair but our curls looked amazing. So in the shower we both got our hair wet by quickly putting our heads under the stream of water and then shaking the curls. Once out of the shower I just applied my Darcy's Botanicals Plum Kernel Nectar and off we went to Sams. LOL After our hair dried its still pretty crunchy but not as much as yesterday. I know I can get at least 2-3 more days out of this style. So after two days I can say I do like the gel, I just need to find a way for it not to be as hard and stiff.

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KBB Hold It Gel

Gel is very thick and stiff

On my hair

On KK's hair


Today I went back to my beloved WnG style. I decided this would be a great time to try my Karen's Body Beautiful Hold It Gel that I purchased at the WNHS in Altanta back on April. As you can see from the picture the gel is very thick. It reminds me of Let's Jam gel. I got the Coco Lime fragrance so the smell is Yummy. I also decided to try this product on both my hair and KK'S hair. We started with freshly washed hair then added KC Knot Today as our leave in, followed by a couple of sprays of Darcy's Botanicals Plum Kernel Nectar. Lastly we raked the KBB Hold It Gel through our hair. The gel does not have much slip but it was not hard to apply. Right after I was finished applying the gel I was very pleased with the curl definition. Then my hair started dripping. Yes dripping on my face, shoulders and back. I have only had this happen with one other product and that's the Shea Moisture Curl Souffle. But again the curl definition was great so I just used a towel and kept it moving. I went to lunch about 40 minutes from where I live. So I drove with my windows down allowing my 80mph speed to dry me and my daughters hair. Once we arrived at our location I checked the mirror and my hair looked amazing, of course i touched my hair and was shocked to feel a helmet. My hair has more crunch than a bag of kettle chips. I also had flaky white stuff on my neck, face and back. I used a wet cloth to clean that up and I was good to go. My hair is still very hard and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that yet. I will post pics tomorrow of our second day hair. I still like the gel because my hair does look good, but I think I will try it with a heavier leave in next time.

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And The Twists Come Down

I really tried to keep my twists in, I promise. My intention was to keep them in for a week and then wear a twist out for a few days. I lasted a day and a half. I just think I'm not a twist girl. I love love love wearing my hair in a WnG. And i guess if it ain't broke don't fix it. So this was the third or fourth time i have tried twists on my hair. As I said in my other post I dont think I look good with my hair twisted and they kept itching. Then when i took them out I was left with a frizzy fuzzy mess. See pics below. I prefer the curly spirals I get from a WnG. So expect to see many more posts of me reviewing products for WnG's. Tomorrow I'm going to try the new Karen's Body Beautiful gel. I will post pics in my post tomorrow. And you may see me in twists one more time my friend Haley thinks she can change my mind about twists. We shall see.

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KK's Updo

KK, age 9, with an updo on a week old twistout

Side View

Side view with the flower

Back View

A view from the top

You guys have met my youngest daughter KK in other posts so no introductions are needed.  The pictures above are of a quick and easy updo  we created using three hair accessories. A banana clip (I purchased them in a 3 pack from Sally's for $1.99), a Goody brand rounded hair clip and a flower. This style is also a good way to get more wear out of a twist out. KK wore her twists done with Komaza Care Califia Moisturizing Cream for 2 weeks.  Then I took her twists down (twist out) and she wore her hair free with just a headband for a week.  Because I really don't want to do her hair until this weekend I decided to create a cute updo for her to get more days out of her twist out. First I sectioned off the area in the front to create the hump or Pompadour, then I used a little Curls brand milkshake (a light moisturizer) to brush up the sides and back all into one hand, then I put the banana clip horizontally around the hair that I brushed into my hand.   I fluffed the hair so you could not see the clip and turned my attention to the section in the front.  To create the hump I just brushed the hair straight up and twisted the hair and then pulled it down and secured it with the Goddys hair clip.  For a final feminine touch we added a flower to the side of the hump and that was it.  From start to finish the style took 3-4 minutes to complete.  This one of my favorite styles because you can dress it up and it looks like a complicated style and it only takes a few minutes to complete.  KK absolutely loves this style.  Look for more styles coming soon, as in tomorrow. lol I am taking my own twists down tomorrow and I will post pics of how I style them. 

WnG Girl Tries 2 Strand Twists

You can tell by the look on my face I'm not really feeling the twists

I sectioned my hair into 6 sections and started twisting from the back

Side view of pinned back twists

Showing the shrinkage 

The summer has come and with it my opportunity to try new hair styles.  As promised I am bringing it all to you as it happens.  I decided my first adventure beyond my regular and now perfected wash and go (WnG) style would be the ever popular 2 strand twist.  Now in the 10 months since my big chop I have tried this style 2 other times.  Both times I was disappointed.  The first time was back in November and my hair just seemed too short and when I took the twists out my hair was very frizzy. I did not like it at all. Fast forward to February and I tried them again with much of the same frizz. Now that my hair is much longer I wanted to try again.  I started by co-washing my hair then adding Curls Cream Brulee as my leave-in conditioner, CoCo Curls as my styler and I sealed my ends with Pura Body Naturals Cupuacu Butter. I will say the process with alot faster than the other times I tried. It took me and hour and a half from beginning to end.  When I finally finished I can say it was strange to see myself in the mirror and see my hair in twists because I am so used to my WnG big fluffy curls.  I don't hate the way it looks but it is very different than what I am used to.  My hair feels really good, it is soft and the twists feel very smooth. It is fun to pull on them and see the length of my hair.  I have no idea how it will look in a twist out. I hope it will not be the frizzy mess that I had when I tried the twists before. We will see. I really don't have alot going on this week so I think I will leave the twists in for about 4 days and then I will try a twist out style. I will post pics and info on how I style my hair.  And be on the look out for lots of other hair adventures while I am off on vacation from work. 

When Good Products Go Bad

As you know I am currently doing a no buy challenge (check out Naturally Nu's No Buy Challenge page on Facebook), which means I can not buy any new hair products until the Black Friday sales the day after Thanksgiving.  Last night I received confirmation that this is the best thing I could be doing right now. My daughter, Minnie, was going through my products trying to decide what to use on her hair to style it for today. She brought a jar of Darcy's Botanicals Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme to me and said ,"Mommy I think this has gone bad."  I took a whiff of it and sure enough the smell had changed completely.  When I purchased this product over a year ago it smelled like vanilla cake, now it smells like bad Elmer's glue.  The sad part is the jar is almost completely full and I really liked it!!!! Ughhh Ok I do want to be clear this is NOT a fault with Darcy's Botanicals Products. The products made by this company are amazing and I do use their products each and everyday. I could not live with out my Darcy's Botanicals Plum Kernel Nectar, I literally use it every single day. One thing that is easy to forget is the products I used when I was relaxed lasted for years because they were full of artificial ingredients, additives and preservatives. When you use products with all natural ingredients it's like buying fresh produce at the grocery store it will only last so long. Some natural hair companies post expiration dates on their products others tell you that it will last a certain number of months after the seal is broken.With all that being said the problem in this case is me.  That's right I have to look at the Natural in the Mirror. I have so many products that I open something and then I try something else and then something else and meanwhile because I only use all natural products that are free of the additives and preservatives they can start to go south.  So in addition to a "No Buy" I am making a new rule: If I open something and I like it I have to use it all before I open a new product in that same category no matter how bad I want try another product. SMH I still can not believe I let this happen because I really did like the product. As a matter of fact I have never tried a single Darcy's Botanicals product that I did not love. So let this be a lesson to you if you like it use it and don't open too many at the same time. Lesson learned now time to use up some products. Oh and I almost forgot.. School is out Yiippee. (I'm a High School Assistant Principal) so I will be doing alot more experimenting with my hair and products so be on the lookout for reviews and even some new hair styles.