Wash Night!!!!!

been rocking my curls for a few weeks since I took out my mini twists and I think I have gotten past my dry spell, bout time for a Wash and Deep Condition and to give my tresses a break.

Lately due to excessive dryness due to changes in my body chemistry, when I shampoo I have been adding aloe vera juice to my Trader Joes Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo. I prepoo'd with a mix of coconut oil, olive oil and Trader Joes Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner. After my wash I used my new Smooth & Repair Nourishing Hair Masque (I add in coconut oil and honey) Deep Conditioned for about 15 minutes with Steam and Rinsed.

To my dismay I am all out of my favorite Conditioner (a trip to the Vitamin Shoppe is in order!) So I lightly applied my Trader Joes Nourish Spa Conditioner as a leave in then applied Jamaican Black Castor Oil to my edges and to seal my ends, detangled and decided on a protective Goddess Braid for the week. This is my first attempt at said style as I am not a great braider but I am pretty satisfied with the results and looking forward to the braidout that follows :)

TTFN Kurly Girls! Laters XO

PS I will be posting my official review of the new Shea Moisture Smooth & Repair Nourishing Hair Masque  soon, stay tuned :)

Corporate & Curly- an oxymoron?

This seems to be a recurring subject for me I spoke about it before as a response to a Vlog posted by
CurlyCrazyfulLeah on youtube about Natural Hair and the perception of Professionalism. I work in corporate America and have forever. I have been natural the whole time, always flat ironing/ straightening my hair, pulling it back into a bun or ponytail to keep it "professional" and conservative because I was afraid of how I would be perceived in Corporate America and that I would not be taken seriously.

In this last year as I have 'gone curly' I have begun to embrace my curls 24/7 including in Corporate America. I've found that its not Corporate America/ White America that has placed judgement on me for my hair. In fact its been quite the opposite. I receive compliments consistently on my hair the love my curls. What I fail to understand is why it is so difficult for the black community to embrace our natural hair, not saying that everyone should go natural. What I am saying is that I have been judged more by my own people than by any other people. My own father constantly asks when are you going to comb your hair? Do you think that looks professional?.... The remarks continue week after week. What I have learned to do is to just laugh to myself at the ignorance of some people, whip my hair and walk away! :)

I find that with work I am more conservative with styling my hair and experiment more on the weekend which I would do even if I were wearing my hair straight honestly. Attending Fro Fashionweek in Atlanta last week I saw such beautiful styles with twists and braids I was inspired to come home and do some protective styling of my own. I twisted my hair in two strand twists and have been rocking them all week, getting lots and lots of compliments along the way. So this week I am "totally twisted". I'll be posting my Totally Twisted Corporate Friendly Protective style at http://www.youtube.com/kurlygirl08

fro fashionweek bloggers panel review

So I arrived at Fro Fashion week shortly after breakfast and went straight to the Bloggers Panel. I got some video of the intros and will include in my recap on the vlog. But so far its really interesting.
Panelists shared info about their blogs how they got started what their blogs are about, how they got started...then they shared their hairstories and spoke about how and why they went natural and how their journey has been. Their stories range from one blogger who had been natural for 11 years to a blogger that had been natural for 1. Their stories were vey inspirational and motivational. The next topic
is the state of the black blogger and how black bloggers are received or rather not received, and went on to discuss suggestions on building a following to you blog. It was pretty consistent feedback
1. focus on creating solid content and don't focus on your numbers
2. involve yourself in social media as a form of marketing your blog
3. network with other bloggers

Other topics discussed included how to make your blog more esthetically pleasing; Blogging vs. Vlogging; and I asked about cross marketing when you run multiple blogs. BTW have you visited my other blog... http://makeupbykeikei.blogspot.com/ . This was an excellent discussion and very informative, culminating in a drawing for a giveaway from Shea Moisture and some samples from Komaza Care, which incase you didn't know is my personal favorite! exciting great things!!!!

After the panel there was mixing and mingling with some new curlfriends and even a discussion with Michelle Breyer co-founder of Naturallycurly.com about her journey.

Far from over, but so far Fro Fashionweek gets 2 thumbs up! Great event Tarin. Oh yea, I almost forgot. I met TashiraMone, one of my favorite hair vloggers and got to see her new Devacut! Ahmazing!!!!

Hair Growth Challenge - adopting my staples

So I am participating in a couple of different hair growth challenges. I am really excited to see how long my hair can/ will grow this year. I know its possible most of my family has always had long  hair I just really have to continue to be disciplined, fight temptation to pull out my flat iron and keep pushing.

• Still searching for the perfect shampoo. I have used and liked Deva no poo, mixed chicks and aubrey organics honeysuckle rose but not in love with any of them.
• Conditioner- Aubrey Organics honeysuckle rose ( I add organic honey and coconut oil), Deva one condition
• Deep Conditioner - Last week I tried Curly Junkie Curl Rehab as a deep conditioner and I was very pleased. I think this will be a staple product for me.
• Moisturizers- Coconut oil, whipped shea butter, coconut curl products by komaza care, curly meringue by miss jessies
• Styling Eco styler gel with olive oil, kizzy stay put pomade by carols daughter, deva anGel and set it free

I am takin biotin and prenatal vitamins daily and trying to remember to massage my scalp with essential oils nightly lets see. I will do a length check in a few weeks to see how much growth since my big mini chop