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Braid-out Success with Palmer’s Coconut Oil Replenishing Hair Milk

Posted on by Michelle

Normally when I do a braid-out I end up with frizzy ends. I always make sure to be very careful when taking the braids down but it just hasn’t been working out. Another thing that I wrestle with is getting my hair to air dry completely. I usually spritz my hair with my Aloe Vera juice spray mixture and apply shea butter or some other heavy moisture for hold. By morning my hair is always damp and we all know what happens if you don’t wait until your hair is completely dry…frizzy, puffy hair.

Now I’m learning to just start out with dry hair and apply moisturizer to set the style. This is sometimes my current go-to Palmer’s Coconut Oil Replenishing Hair Milk, or just plain leave-in conditioner. I like the Hair Milk because it also helps to reduce frizz and lists shea butter as one of the main ingredients. I then seal the moisture with one of my favorite oils.

For my most recent braid-out, I used small satin rollers on the ends. Only this time I wound the last 2 inches of hair around the roller (like a corkscrew) instead of rolling it up flat like I normally do. The end result was a fabulous, full style with waves and spiral curls.

Here are some pics

Most recent with curly ends

My Braid-out before with
straight, frizzy ends

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Posted on by Michelle

I’m making my list and checking it twice. We’re having a few family members over on Thanksgiving which means that I have a lot on my to-do list this week. I can’t forget about my hair though. In the past I have done curly styles for special occasions like roller sets and twist-outs. For this Thanksgiving I’m gonna go ahead and wear it straight. I’ve been participating in a couple of Growth Challenges with the ladies at K.I.S.S. and can finally take this opportunity to check my progress.

This month I also started doing deep conditioning treatments twice a week. This is another challenge that was started last year or the year before. Someone on K.I.S.S. decided to get it going again. Basically, I’m doing it for the extra moisture my hair needs during the winter months. This week though, since I’m going to use heat on my hair, I’m probably going to make sure and do something with protein. I have the Aphogee 2 Minute Reconstructor which works good but the ingredients include Mineral oil and silicones. While I’m out buying my turkey and veggies for Thursday, I may just pick up the GPB conditioner by Aubrey Organics. I have always liked their Honeysuckle Rose conditioner for when I need moisture so I’m pretty confident that this one will work for me as well. Either way, I always like to prepare my hair with a deep treatment so that I won’t end up damaging my curls when using heat. Hopefully I can find the time for all the cooking and cleaning and still get dinner done on time. Wish me luck!

Getting Ready for the Craft Show

Posted on by Michelle

Our Lavender in the Summer

My Husband is a Master Gardener and loves to grow herbs. Our garden produces a large bounty of fresh, culinary herbs each year. The last couple of years we have been harvesting the herbs and crafting with them. One of my Husband’s favorites is the lavender. After drying it, he adds it to sugar and blends the mixture together with vanilla beans to make a Lavender Vanilla Sugar. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds. The lavender we grow is so strong that when he sits down to separate it for storage, our whole house is heavy with the scent.

Strawberry Mint Vinegar

He also learned how to make flavored vinegars and combines flavors like strawberry with mint or bluberry and sage. All of the herbs are grown right here using organic methods. The fruit is selected during the height of their season which gives the best flavor. I found that the vinegar is always really good with meat when I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to marinate it. The sugar is really yummy in a warm cup of tea because the heat makes the lavender flavor bloom in your mouth…heavenly.

For the craft show I made up new labels for the vinegars and helped him get everything ready. I found some purple ribbon for the sugar jars which turned out really pretty. I even typed up little cards giving suggestions on how to use the sugar and vinegars. These items will be ready for sale in a few days in our Etsy Store, “Mimis Craft Pantry”. Here are some pictures of everything as I was getting it all ready.

Color Coded Labels-Designed by moi 🙂

Lavender Vanilla Sugar

Getting Everything Ready

Choosing a Ceramic Flat Iron

Posted on by Michelle

My FHI Ceramic Flat Iron

When my first flat iron quit working after only one year of use, I decided that I would definitely look into buying something of better quality the next go ’round. Little did I know that it would be 7 months before I would finally purchase a new one. Instead of running out and replacing it right away, I decided to take my time and do some research. One of the first things I did was start looking into styling options that didn’t require the use of heat. This started me on my Natural Hair journey which meant that the flat iron of my dreams would have to be able to straighten my natural hair texture, kinks and all.

I looked at Consumer Reports on the subject and found tons of info on the different types of flat irons. There are a lot of heat styling tools that are ceramic now but the real question is, how ceramic are they? It turns out that my previous joke of a flat iron was only ceramic coated which would explain the $40 USD price tag. The material started peeling and would catch my hair. This exposed the metal plates underneath and caused lots of breakage. However, professional tools that used full ceramic plates were priced way more than I could afford and were very fragile. One drop and crack goes the flat iron. I later read that the mid-range variety ($80-$150) used plates that have multiple layers of ceramic coating and sometimes even added tourmaline.

It is the tourmaline that helps the iron produce more negative ions. No, this is not chemistry class folks, we’re talkin’ hair here! Apparently the more negative ions the better the heat. Of course, using direct heat on the hair is never considered a good thing but I found out that there are different types of heat. This information explained how some flat irons give excellent results and also cause less damage while others burn the hair to a crisp.

Of all the brands out there I finally narrowed it down to the FHI Technique G2. I found the pink version on sale at Ulta for $79 but still see it at Target for ten dollars more. It definitely puts my old iron to shame but the sucker gets hot so I have to be extremely careful with it. I like that it has a beveled edge which makes it really easy to do flips and curls. If I could do it all over again I would hold out for the FHI Platform which has a dial so you can adjust the heat setting. Maybe one day…a girl can dream, right?

**Check out this article for more info on choosing a quality Flat Iron**

Eco Styler Wash n’ Go Trials

Posted on by Michelle

A few months ago I learned more about Aloe Vera and how it can help restore the natural pH balance of my hair. This had me wondering what would happen if I added Aloe Vera juice to one of my staple products Eco Styler gel.

I’ve been using this gel for my wash n’ go styles and whenever I need to slick down my edges. However, if I forget to apply enough moisturizing products underneath it, my hair ends up a little on the crunchy side. So, I figured why not add aloe vera and see if that makes a difference since it will help bring the pH of the gel down (hopefully). I don’t have pH tester strips yet so I can’t verify what pH I ended up with but the results were good. The product, as always, helped define my curls. Upon drying though; dry crunchy hair. What gives?!

I’ve been learning in the past few months that it’s not just the pH that is important but also the ingredients. This little experiment made me realize that it may be the glycerin in the product that always gives me the “Ramen Noodle effect” which is why I always need use oil and conditioner underneath. Also, living in a dry climate where there is no humidity present can also add to the drying (not moisturizing) effect of the glycerin. For now, I’m avoiding the Eco Styler or using it sparingly until I can figure out the combination that works for me.

Before applying the aloe/gel mix

My hair with Aloe/ Gel mixture
applied to one section