The All Stars

Next week on August 2 I will be celebrating 1 year of being 100% natural.  As I look back over the last year I can tell you I have learned so much about my hair and about myself.  Like so many others what started out as a journey toward longer healthy hair has turned into a journey of self discovery. I have gained so much more self confidence and pride in who and what I am. I have learned to truly love my hair even on the bad hair days. I could never say that about my relaxed hair. And beyond that gone are the beliefs that I need to look like another race to be beautiful or attractive.  Along this journey I have met some of the most amazing women.  I think that is what has made this journey even more fulfilling are the random conversations I have had with people on blogs, YouTube, at natural hair events or even in the grocery store. It is like when other naturals come into contact with each other that we have a special sisterly bond immediately.  That never happened when I was relaxed. No one came up to me asking what product I used or how I got my hair to do a certain thing. But that happens almost daily as a natural. So after a year I am in reflection mode as you can see.  I wanted to do a post listing my favorite products, companies and websites for ordering. (this is a question I get alllll the time ;D)  enjoy

My Favorite Natural Hair Products (things that are always on my shelf)

The Kinky Curly Line will probably always be my favorite line. As a WnG girl nothing but nothing can do what Kinky Curly does for my hair and that is give me banging hair for 7 days!!!! I just did two videos on my YouTube channel (NurekaD) about the Kinky Curly line check it out.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this hair/body oil. I never use it on my body but I do use it on my hair EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!  I know I talk about the Darcy's Botanical Plum Kernel Nectar all the time but I am telling you I love it. I use this between my leave-in and gel when I do WnGs and each day their after to refresh my WnG. It is great and smells amazing. They do have other oils on the Darcy's web site but this is my favorite.

Curls Coconut Sublime Conditioner is my favorite go to conditioner. It smells great, has great slip and is a great value. Really what more could you ask for. This was actually one of the first natural hair products I tried when I was transitioning.  I purchase it at www.curls.biz and it is only $30 for 32oz!!!! Plus if you spend over $50 you get free shipping, so I always order 2. I love this stuff and I am never without a bottle of it. 

BASK YAM Nectar is allllll that. I did a full review on a post a couple of months ago. This is by far the best deep conditioner I have ever used hands down. My hair was super soft and stayed de-tangled for days. How is that even possible?  My fingers were gliding through my hair. My only regret is I did not buy more when I was at the Natural Hair Show. Trust me when my no buy is over I will be stocking up on this stuff.

Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade.  I freaking love this stuff. For starters it smells like hot caramel popcorn in the mall, like exactly like that.  Secondly it liquefies in your hands and is more like an oil. My hair loves it so much.  Whenever I pull my hair back in a puff I use this to slick back my hair and it does a great job and does not interfere with any of my stylers including Kinky Curly. This is another product you will always find on my shelf. 

My Favorite Natural Hair Companies

Kinky Curly -

Really do I even need to say why.

Curls-

They have a comprehensive line of natural hair products.  I have loved every single product I have used from this company. I love that they have a salon line ans a retail line so everyone is able to get their products. Great great customer service also.

Darcy's Botanicals-

Everything just smells so dang good from this company.  I love the Plum Kernel Nectar of course and the Pumpkin seed conditioner is off the chain!!!! I love most of the products I have tried from Darcy's.

Oyin Handmade-

Great customer service and super awesome products.  their website is super cute and I have loved everything I have tried. I keep Oyin products in my rotation.

BASK-

I have just within the last few months started to use BASK products but everything I try makes me want to do a huge order with them to buy more. Great ingredients and they sell out all the time so that should tell you something. 

My Favorite Websites to order from

Other than ordering directly from the company I have found the following to be great sites for their deals, customer service and for getting your order to you quickly.

www.iherb.com

this is the best place to buy Kinky Curly because of the price, free shipping and no sales tax, plus if you spend over $80 you get 5% off!!! And you get your order super fast.

www.aveyou.com

They have sales all the time, great deals on shipping and they have a wide range of products

www.curlmart.com

SALES ALLLLLL the time great deals on shipping and free samples with every purchase

www.sagenaturalceuticals.com 

Absolutely awesome customer service. They are very quick to get your order to you and they have a huge variety of products.

www.nounouboutique.com

Very personal customer service and super fast delivery with samples. 

April CurlKit

My April CurlKit 

 $20 Monthly Subscription Service 

available at www.curlkit.com

What was in My April CurlKit

-  Pookka Pure and Simple mango body butter

- Pooka Pure and Simple Hair butter

- Jane Carter Nourish and Shine

- Jane Carter Nutrient Replenishing Conditioner

- Jane Carter Revitalizing Leave-in Conditioner

- Jane Carter "Love Your Hair" pin

- Sofn' free Nothing But Cleansing Conditioner

- Sofn' Free Nothing but Curly Pudding

- Optimum Care Deep Conditioner

- Wide tooth Comb infused with Olive Oil

You guys know I love me some products.  I also love to try new products and getting surprises delivered to my door is one of my favorite things.  So when I heard about CurlKit I was very interested to say the least.  I also already get Birchbox, a monthly beauty subscription box ($10 per month www.birchbox.com) So I was familiar with how the subscription would work.  April was my first CurlKit delivery and it is full of things for me to try, it came in a silver box and it was all wrapped in pink tissue paper. Inside were hair items from well known companies like Jane Carter Solutions and Optimum. There were also items from companies I had not heard of like Pooka Pure and Simple.  These items were delivered just a few days before my Spring Break trip to Hawaii so I was very excited because I could take the sample sizes with me on vacation and try them all.  And that is exactly what I did.  I had tried the Jane Carter Solutions Conditioner before but not her other products.  I fell in love with both the leave-in conditioner and the nourish and shine. So much so in fact that when I went to the World Natural Hair Show in Atlanta this past weekend I made sure to buy them in the full sizes. I tried the Sofn' free Nothing But products in my daughter, KK's hair and it worked great.  So when I saw them at the World Natural Hair Show I purchased those items in full size as well. I really enjoy the whole "try before you buy" idea of the various subscription boxes.  I'll be the first to admit that being a product junkie has caused me to buy many products that I ended up not liking and either giving away at a product swap or just to friends.  With CurlKit and other services like it you can try the sample sizes of products and see if you like them before you invest in the full size.  The fees for these services are pretty good as well.  For example CurlKit is only $20 and many times there are also full sized products included in the kit so the value is usually much higher than the price you actually pay.  I was so happy with both my Birchbox subscription and my CurlKit subscription I have since added 3 new subscription services for May (see below for my new subscriptions) . As soon as I get them I will post pictures and reviews.  I am so excited to see all the goodies I get.  

So for May I will be getting 5 subscription boxes!!!

1.  Birchbox - beauty subscription $10per month  www.birchbox.com

2. CurlKit- natural hair subscription $20 per month www.curlkit.com

3.Curlbox- natural hair subscription $20 per month www.curlbox.com

4. My Shade of  Brown- beauty subscription for women of color $10 per month www.myshadeofbrown.com

5. The Look Bag- beauty subscription $10 per month www.thelookstore.com

8 Month Natural Hair Update

My favorite Hairstyle lately

I call it the Corbin Blue (High School Musical)

On April 2, 2012 I officially hit 8 months post Big Chop and 14 months relaxer free. I am so excited because I can finally see a big difference in the length of my hair. I have come a lonnnng way since my big chop on August 2, 2011. I know alot of people say this but I feel like I have learned so much along the way. I have learned a ridiculous amount of information about hair in general and the many mistakes I used to make with my hair. The biggest thing is reading labels and knowing what to look for in ingredients.  When it comes to your hair you have to read labels in the same way you do when you are trying to eat healthy. I was surprised to know how many "good" and expensive products contain junk. And just because a products calls itself "natural" does not mean it really is. People do your hair a favor and do you HOMEWORK. I will admit I am a product snob. If it has parabens, sulfates, silicone, mineral oil or petroleum in in I'm not gonna use it. Another thing I have learned is to see myself differently.  My hair used to drive me crazy when I was relaxed. It took so much maintenance to keep it looking good that I planned my life around the needs of my hair. For example if I was gonna work out I had to schedule at least an hour and half after my workout just to wash and style my hair. And that was after EVERY workout.  Now after a workout my hair still looks good! I love it, I feel so carefree.  I will be honest with you I did have a hard time getting used to really short hair.  My hair had been well below my shoulders for years so to go to about 3 inches or hair was rough. But as I began to matser the wash and go (WnG) my confidence and love of my hair soon returned.  I can honestly tell you I LOVE MY CURLS, LOVE THEM. I get stopped constantly by people asking how I do my hair, or asking what products I use and giving me compliments on my hair.  And the crazy thing is most of them could have the same look if they just stopped using the creamy crack.  

Though my journey continues and I am sure I will have many more lessons in natural hair I wanted to share with you what I am currently doing to style and maintain my curls.  A few posts back I told you all about my first love, Kinky Curly Products. Nothing has changed as a matter of fact I think we renewed our vows to each other. I did stray and try lots of new products and my hair slapped me for being stupid.  So I went running back. So here is what I have learned over the last two months. My hair loves Kinky Curly! So I have promised my hair it will not be tortured by other stylers anymore.( see my review of Kinky Curly products to see how I apply)  I will continue to try different shampoos, conditioners and deep conditioners. I will also try other finishers but I will continue to use Kinky Curly Products as my styler.  With the other stylers I have used my hair feels awful and the curls are just mediocre and I can only get 1 maybe 2 day hair.  However with Kinky Curly My hair is banging every single time.  And forget about 2 day hair I get up to 6-7 day hair!! Yes yall I only have to apply Kinky Curly once a week!!!! So it may cost a little more than some products but heck fire I only use it once a week so it lasts forever. All I do to my hair on most days is get it wet in the shower by quickly putting my hair under the stream of water  and then I shake it vigorously. When I get out of the shower I rub Darcy's Plum Nectar on my ends and I'm done!! If I am pulling my hair back I will add Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade on my slicked down hair and that's it. I do that everyday until its time to reapply. And my curls stay frizz free, hydrated and defined. 

Below are some WnG styles from the past couple of  weeks

4 day Hair puff with bangs

3 day hair Corbin Blue style 

6 Day hair Puff

1st day Hair one side pinned up with KK

Curls Goddess Glaze WnG

So you all know that I love Curls Brand shampoo and conditioner. So I wanted to review some of the styling products for you as well. As much as I love trying new products and giving you all the information my hair said " ummm I don't think so". Not because it does not like these products but because I have experimented with so many different products in the last few weeks. Enter my youngest daughter KK. I usually keep her hair in two strand twists because they last 2 weeks in her hair and she really likes how they look. She does ask me to do WnG's sometimes and since it's been really warm I decided I could let her wear her hair "out" and give you guys a review too. Winning!!! ;D Previous to this I had tried WnG's using KCCC and they looked great on her. So this time I went total Curls Brand on her. Curls has two different lines. Their salon line is available with many online retailers and on their website www.curls.biz. They also have a retail line that has less expensive ingredients and can be purchased at select Target stores and all Sally's Beauty Supply stores.(Sally's is offering $1 off all Curls products for the month of March.) Most of the retail products range from $7-$10. The salon products range from $10-$20

How I did her hair
First I washed her hair with the Curls retail formula of the Curl Cream Cleanser. Next I conditioned her hair with the Curls salon formula Coconut Sublime Conditioner. Next I sprayed her hair with Curls retail formula of Lavish Curls Moisturizer. Lastly I used my fingers to rake quarter sized amounts of Curls salon formula of the Goddess Glaze. Her hair came out really defined and soft. I could not believe how soft her hair was. I kept playing in her hair because it felt so good. Below you will find pics of how the gel looked in my hand, this was the amount I raked through the sections. I sectioned her hair into 4 sections by the way. I actually forgot to take pictures of her hair until the third day!!!! So the pictures below are after three days. Each day she just spayed a little of the Lavish Curls on her hair and shook it a little and was on her way. I really liked the way her hair came out and that she was able to get multiple days out of the style and she is a wild sleeper too. She does wear a 100% silk scarf at night but it comes off most nights. So overall these products get an A+ for a great WnG.