Curly Puff Updo Tutorial

Did my first tutorial on YouTube today and I'm feeling accomplished. Darn shame, I've had this channel for quite some time and you know I had to play around with how I looked and sounded. My voice seems so different.

Anyway, If you're short on time or just happened to be in one of those lazy moods, curly puff updos are the way to go. I don't like fussing with my hair in the morning when I have to get my daughter off to school. Last week I had my perm rods and flexirods in, but that's another story. I'll do a tutorial on that too because the hair turned out totally fab!

To Manipulate or Not

To manipulate, that is the question.  

On this natural hair journey of mine I'm discovering so many new things. For example, last week I maintained up-dos the entire week with the exception of taking my hair down and putting it in a ponytail during workouts. I don't like getting my ends wet during my workouts. In the evening I did the pineapple thingy with my hair. Violet doesn't like it when I leave her alone. LOL   Because I didn't twist my hair in the evenings I experienced mild shedding and didn't retain a whole lot of moisture. I did apply the LOC method to my hair and still experienced the shedding. 

So I learned my lesson. For me, it's impossible for me to not re-twist my hair in the evenings and I didn't like the condition of my hair last week. It looked great in an up do, but I just noticed the difference in the texture and how my ends reacted.  

Last night I re-twisted my hair and today it's retained moisture, bouncy, and full. I need to take my hair down at least a few days out of the week, but when the strong winds kick up I'll be doing a whole lot of bunning and an occasional updo. 

Protein Shakes, Excerise, and Healthy Hair

Since I workout six days a week, I like drinking protein drinks before and after my program. I'm happy to say I'm in my second round, second month of the Insanity workout. (I'll do a post on this soon.)

Not only is it imperative to have an excellent exercise regimen in place for endurance and strength training, it is essential to help with circulation. Exercise lowers cholesterol, subdues arthritis and combats old age. I'm 42 years old and I'm in the best shape of my life. Insanity will give you definition for sure while blasting away unwanted pounds.

In my family we have a history of high blood pressure, hip, back, and knee problems. During my periods of inactivity, I noticed slight aches and pains. Sometimes in the morning, it was a major production just getting out of bed. When I'm active, I don't feel a thing, with the exception of my knee acting up every now and again. Quitting my workouts is not an option.

I've been a yo-yo exerciser all my life and this year my goal is to continue working out on a regular basis. Now this past week was a little hard, I skipped two days of my workout, so I'm starting week two over again. I guess working out late in the evening took a slight toll on my body. Sometimes switching routines up helps tremendously.

Okay, I'm getting off track here. The purpose of this post is about protein shakes and natural hair. I first started using protein shakes back in 2005 when my hair was relaxed and I noticed a great amount of length retention and thickness in my hair. Unfortunately I slacked up using the shakes back then (as I did with exercising) I believe in conjunction with a healthy diet, fitness regimen, and maintaining the moisture balance in hair, protein mixes can promote the growth of hair.

I've used various shakes over the years. Just a few months ago I stocked up on peanut butter and chocolate Syntha 6 that I ordered from BodyBuilding.com. This was my first time trying this shake and I fell in love with the taste. It also wards off cravings, so if you're a snacker, protein shakes are ideal for you. Syntha 6 can be ordered from bodybuilding.com or the Vitamin Shoppe if you want access to it right away.

I ordered the Gold Whey mix below about a month ago. It has a delicious taste to it as well, but not like Syntha 6. Oh yeah, and the Quest protein bars are awesome too! They're great if you have to roll out the house. Remember folks, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and skipping your meals isn't an option! You need to fuel your body to get through the day!

One scoop of Gold Why has about 120 calories in it, and this is more than enough if your worried about caloric intake and are inactive. My Syntha 6 had about 200 calories per scoop, but that's okay because sometimes you have to up your calorie intake if you're committing to an intense program like Insanity or P90X.

Ladies, please know you're not going to bulk up if you take protein shakes. Protein aids in repairing muscle fibers and you'll find you're not as sore after a workout. If you don't have a protein shake, a simple glass of chocolate milk does the trick too. I know, it sounds crazy but it does work, I've done it before.

Violet is Blooming

Honestly I can't believe I didn't take the time to learn about my hair up until now.  We're totally co-existing in a peaceful manner.

While I absolutely loved my wigs, I can't believe I stifled Violet beneath them since April 2012. It's been a few weeks after my twists extensions have been taken out and let's just say I think I've adjusted well.

Violet has been in a bun all week and I just took her down to moisturize her with KeraCare...Boy I love that stuff!!  I've been using this as a moisturizer because to be honest I must remind myself that oils aren't to be used as moisturizers!!  See what I mean? Same goes for hair grease. I can't believe it because that's all we used back in the day was grease and water. Go figure.  Well peeps, until next time.

Beauty Supply Store Trip

Well, I needed some more bobby pins because honestly, my old ones are all shot to hell. I was greeted by a Korean woman and an African American lady with chin length permed hair. I asked where the bobby pins were and they told me aisle four.

Okay, now first of all I'm not a paranoid person. I've embraced my natural hair but I could have sworn for cheese n crackers they started talking about me as soon as turned my back. I heard them whispering and giggling and I thought to myself, maybe they're just picking up on the convo they had before I entered, who knows. But then again, you know when someone's talking about you, hell I've had enough experience on that to last many lifetimes.

I returned to the counter with three packs of bobby pins and just smiled. I noticed the African American lady checking me out. I like to wear crystals and stones so, I have a pretty unique look. I had my hair in twists with the bangs out, which I must say were totally rocking and well defined.

It doesn't matter to me about the whispering and all, that's okay, it's all good. I'd just like to know how many of you natural haired divas get the side eye when you walk into a Beauty Supply Store? Do you feel as though you're being judged by fellow women of color rocking perms?  Just curious.

Until next time, Ciao.

Low Manipulation

I've taken the plunge and wore twists pinned up today. Honestly, I'm over styling my hair every day. I work out six days a week at night and in the evening, I must twist my hair to make it look like something in the morning. This is where I wish my hair were longer because I long to pull it back into a nice fat bun. I've achieved great length since 2011 but need to put forth the effort to gain more length. That's the name of the game, having healthy, moisturized hair while adding some length.

Quite often I wonder if I've become obsessive with my man and achieving length more length. When I stretch it out, it is arm pit length.  I recall only achieving this length once when I was relaxed. I colored my hair and it broke off above the shoulders. 

Did I mention I used to have a jheri curl back in the 80's in junior high?? Um, yeah. I'll scan and post some pics at a later date. The moisture made my hair grow so much. Mom cut out the relaxer and I had very, very short hair, but when it grew, it was so thick and luxurious! 

Monday I considered getting locs in my hair because I thought it was unmanageable after twisting and putting flexi rods in the evening before. I think for me, a simple low manipulation regimen is best because I totally refuse to give up on my Insanity workouts just for the sake of hair.

Two Weeks after Nubian Twists

And my scalp has been continuously dry. I've never experienced dry scalp before in my life, however, during past winters I've had problems with itchy skin. It seems like the older I get, the more I suffer from dry skin.

Olive and Jojoba oils have been my best friends and honestly, I should have started this regimen a while back. I'm happy with this natural hair care journey and plan to post pictures in other posts. It will be two years in December since my last perm and I'm now just documenting my natural hair care journey so I have a lot of catching up to do.

Violet (my fro) and I seem to be coexisting very peacefully, especially since I haven't been smothering her with wigs and extensions.