Natural Chica Hoodie Giveway!!!

Hey,
Mae from Natural Chica is having a custom hoodie giveaway contest. She is running the contest until January 13 at 11:59 p.m. Check out the contest at www.naturalchica.com.

Creme of Nature Lemongrass and Rosemary Leave in Conditioner Review

So...the other day I was looking for a leave in conditioner for my hair when I was recommended to try the new Creme of Nature Lemongrass and Rosemary Leave in Conditioner by the clerk that was working at the local Sally's Beauty Supply Store in my area. When she recommended the product to me, the product appealed to me right away. The reason the product appealed to me right away was because I saw on the label that the product is for dehydrated hair. And I immediately thought, "that's my hair". "My hair is so thirsty," I thought. Plus, I noticed on the label that this leave-in conditioner has certified organic ingredients in it. 

Ingredients

So before I go into my opinion about the product, I will list the ingredients. To preface this, the product does have some cones in it.  

Ingredients: Ultra-Purified Water Aqua , Petrolatum , PEG-4 , Glyceryl Stearate , Sorbitol , Cetearyl Alcohol , Ceteareth-20 , Octyl Palmitate , Isodecyl Stearate , Cyclomethicone , Amodimethicone , Mentha Piperita Leaf Extract Peppermint, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Oil Rosemary , Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Oil Orange , Mentha Piperita Oil Peppermint , Citrus Aurantium Oil Lime , Mentha Viridis Leaf Oil Spearmint , Glycerin , Panthenol , Polybutene , PEG-75 Lanolin.

My review

It contains organic lemongrass to bring shine to the hair, which I really like about this product. Also it works as a wonderful detangler. The product is creamy. It feels lightweight when I apply it to my hair. After applying it to my hair, I immediately noticed that my hair was soft and I found that it moisturized my hair really well. 

Unrefined shea butter for hair

While using African Shea Butter the other day, I could not help but notice the feel of the shea butter and the way it absorbed in my hair. This particular shea butter is 100 percent and unrefined pure shea butter that was a little stiff. As I dug out some of the shea on to my finger tips, it had an almost creamy consistency. As I applied it to my hair, it coated my hair.

Let me go on to say that this shea butter is not only used for the hair, it has other uses as well. These uses include improving muscle relaxation and stiffness, sunscreen, treats spots on the skin and treats dry skin. So, there are a lot of uses for unrefined pure shea butter. Also, it contains a fatty acid and is yellowish in color.
While researching about shea butter, I learned that shea butter comes from a nut of a shea tree which initially was found in Africa. Hey didn't they say nuts and berries are good for your hair :).

Well initially with the shea butter my hair was soft but it was still dry. I heard that shea butter could be used for water proofing (don't know if that is true). But if it is that would explain when I kept applying water to my hair it seemed as if the shea butter was acting like a barrier against the water. So I applied some other oils to my hair so that my hair could be moisturized.

This was the first time I have used 100 percent natural unrefined shea butter on my hair. Do you use shea butter? How does it work on your hair?

Here is a natural who wears locs

Here is Keisha's story on going natural:


Why did you choose to go natural?
I chose to go natural because I was tired of chemicals and I have had just about every style there is.

How long have you been growing your locs?
The first time I had my locks, I had them for 5 years. This time I'm going on 3. Not cutting them again. 


Did you do accessorizing (earrings and makeup) to top off your natural look?
Sometimes, I do top off my look with make-up. I use Bare Minerals because it a natural product and look. 


What type of natural hair products do you use?
I use Taliah Waajid Black Earth Products or Mango Twist and Lime Products.

Meet a natural who transitioned from relaxed to natural hair for two months

Christina transitioned from relaxed to natural hair in early 2010. Here is her story:

WHY DID I CHOOSE TO GO NATURAL?
- Well the reason I chose to go natural is really a personal one. I don't want to offend anyone by saying this but I like to be real. I don't wear wigs or weaves because I felt as though I would be deceiving others. My younger sister went natural 3 or 4 years ago and this year in January I realized that I was "lying" to people. I was deceiving people by using relaxers in my hair. I thought to myself I need to be the God-given me. I wanted to be what God visioned me to be. So I decided to go natural. 

HOW LONG HAD YOU BEEN PERMING YOUR HAIR?
- I will be 27 in November and I had my first relaxer around the age of 13. Wow... that's like 14 years!

WHAT WERE YOUR INITIAL THOUGHTS WHEN YOU DID THE BIG CHOP?
- I was excited. I had researched info on the web and was motivated and ready to get rid of the relaxed aka damaged hair. When I picked up the scissors that night I got really nervous. After the big chop I thought I looked beautiful. The morning after I was a little nervous about leaving the house and then I thought to myself... 'Christina, you wear the hair, the hair doesn't wear you'. I ventured out the front door and enjoyed my confidence! (I had to cut of some of my relaxed ends that were remaining later that night)

DID YOU TRANSITION?
- I transitioned for 2 1/2 months and then I was too excited and couldn't wait to have healthy hair. Then I cut it off!


WAS IT INITIALLY HARD TO GO NATURAL?
- Yes and No. I was excited about the new journey i was about to take but nervous and I think I changed my mind quite often.

DID YOU DO ACCESSORIZING (EARRINGS AND MAKEUP) TO TOP OFF YOUR NATURAL LOOK?
- Yes. My weekly motivation while transitioning was to purchase earrings, headbands, neck scarves (it was wintertime), and even hair products after I finished a week without manipulating my hair with chemicals, or harmful products. I even took a trip to D.C. (where my sister lives) to purchase natural hair things with my sister.

HOW WAS THE TRANSITION PROCESS FOR YOU?
- It started out really easy until the new growth became noticeable. My sister coached and encouraged me. I gt two cousins, and 1 aunt to do it with me. Then I became frustrated and bored with the styling options I had to wear with my short hair so I would do a wash and go and wear colored berets on my head everyday to my classroom.

WHAT TYPE OF NATURAL HAIR PRODUCTS DO YOU USE?
- I like to use all natural hair products. I started out using expensive items like (Kinky Curly line, DeVa Curl line (my fav), Aveda and CURLS from curls.biz. I stopped spending so much money so now I use.... Extra Virgiin Olive Oil, ECO Styler Gel Krystal, Giovanni Deep Moisture Conditioner, Giovanni Direct Leave-In, every now and then Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave In Conditioner or Taliah Wajjid Mist Bodifyer Spray as a leave -in and I deep condition with mayo once a week and I use 100% all natural Henna as a deep conditioner once a month. On a daily basis I use EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), Eco Styler Gel Krystal, and Giovanni Direct Leave-In Conditioner.

Two strand twist pictures and my twist and braid styles

Check out these articles related to natural hair and view more pictures and videos below:

http://www.squidoo.com/going-natural-transitioning-from-relaxed-hair

http://www.squidoo.com/4c-hair-type-kinky-coarse

Natural hair holiday sales

Stock up on your natural hair products while the holiday season is underway.
Here are some places that you can get your hair products on sale during special holiday deals.
Don't you just love freebies and discounts? Well, if you do like I do, below are some deals for the holidays that you can check out:

Janelle Beauty
Janelle Beauty has a 56 days of Christmas giveaway with freebies
janellebeauty.com

Carol's Daughter
Free Hair Milk Shampoo and Conditioner with purchase of $50 or more.
Use promotion code Milk2
www.carolsdaughter.com

Bumble and Bumble
bumbleandbumble.com

Bee Mine Products
On November 26-One day sale
20 percent off your order when you make a purchase of $15 or more. Promotion code: BLKFRI26