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

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. 

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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Product Review: Wonder Curl

Wonder Curl Get Set Hair Jelly

8oz - $15  16oz - $25

Wonder Curl Polishing Pomade

2oz - $5

All Wonder Curl Products can be purchased at http://www.wondercurl.com

I received these two samples of the Wonder Curl Get set Hair Jelly and the Wonder Curl Polishing Pomade in the mail to try. I have to tell you I was sooooooo super excited.  I had been stalking the Wonder Curl products for some time wanting to try them. I was a little hesitant to buy them because I did not know anyone that had used them.  So I jumped at the chance to try these products in my hair.  So this morning after I rinsed out my deep conditioner I applied my usual leave-in and then oil just on the tips of my hair to seal it.  Once I did that I scrunched the Wonder Curl Get Set Jelly in to my hair.  It has the consistency very similar to Kinky Curly.  The smell is a light floral scent reminiscent of a honeysuckle.  And while I don't really like floral scents it is very light and goes away pretty quickly.  The slip is pretty good and I had no trouble working the product through my hair.  I only had to use half of the 2oz container for my entire head so that is definitely a bonus because I have very thick hair. After I finished applying the product I did "the shake" to help my curls clump together. I have to tell you the Wonder Curl Get Set Jelly is pretty awesome.  I really like it, my curls were left super springy and defined, well moisturized and not hard and crispy.  So it gets an A in my book. (see pics below) 

On to the Wonder Curl Polishing Pomade. The Polishing Pomade has a sweet fruity smell that I love!!!! It has the consistency of a combination of a pudding ans a light hair grease. I used this product on both me and KK's hair today.  I smoothed on a small amount on the side of my hair and brushed it up into a clip and added a flower accent.  For KK's hair I misted her week old twist-out with water and then added the Polishing Pomade and brushed her hair up into two puffs.  I was amazed at how her hair smoothed down.  It looked like I had tied her hair down with a scarf.  I will definitely purchase this product.  It also had great slip so it made it very easy for the brush to get through her hair.  This product gets an A+++++. (see pics below)

My Curls are popping!!!!

KK's Puffs

So Sleek!!!!!!

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