Pamper Me Sunday

Instead of watching the Super Bowl (while eating delicious buffalo chicken dip) I spent my evening pampering myself. Working two jobs is tiring at times, so I decided to just relax after work today. I even made a healthy dinner, although I would have preferred an assortment of appetizers. 

My pampering session started off with a nice lush bath. I ended up using Lord of Misrule which is a spicy herbal blend of patchouli and black pepper oil. I was recommended it during the long Holiday hours I recently had in December. I must say, it did help to relax my aches a bit, and it turned the water my two favorite colors; pink and green!!! 

Afterwards, I decided to tackle my pores and did a Nose Pore Strip that I picked up from Forever 21. I've heard good things about Boscia Pore Purifying Black Strips but I decided to save some coins and go with a less expensive option. This product was pretty easy to use and after about 15 minutes I slowly pulled it off and saw that my pores were less noticeable and looked nice and clean. Don't sleep on Forever 21 beauty products!!! 

Since my part time job requires me to stand, I knew I had to take care of my feet. Last year I did a foot exfoliating mask which worked amazing by removing all of the dead skin from my feet and heels. Lord knows my heels were screaming for help lol. Can you believe that this foot mask also came from from Forever 21? I swear that section around the cash wrap gets me every time. This packaging was a bit different than the packaging I had last year, and so were the instructions. I hope the results end up being the same because my feet felt brand new!!! 

To finish up this pampering session, I tamed this mane of mine. I found a new moisturizer/styler that I think will become a staple of mine. I was actually shocked at how well it worked since my hair hates olive oil, but this here is a keeper!!! 

My pampering session ended up being a success. A night of relaxation, healthy dinner with a cute dessert, what more could a girl ask for...well there's always more lol. How did you all spend your Super Bowl Sunday? 

Hair We Go Again...

I haven’t posted about hair in quite some time, if ever. But recently my inbox has been full of questions regarding my natural hair, what are my regimen, and any recommendations. So I thought to myself, why not just blog about it. This is handbags, hair, and heels, right? Let me put this disclaimer out there… I do not know it all, I am not a hair care professional, this is simply what works for me.

                                                                     This is a straw set, looked like I was natural

My decision to go natural was simple. 6 years ago while in Jamaica I decided that I wasn’t going to get a perm again. I don’t know what person or reason prompted the decision, but I wanted to wear an afro. As you know from a previous post, the 70s has ALWAYS been my era of choice; the music, the fashion, and of course the hair. For me doing the ‘big chop’ (cutting the perm out) was not an option. I am known for wearing long, jet black, straight hair that swings with the beat of my hips (lmao, couldn’t resist that insert). So me going natural was a totally different story in regard to my family not agreeing with the choice. Yes, I did endure the negative, but at this point; most of my family, if not all are natural by either choice or force (from over processing). I grew my hair out with the assistance of my beautician and with a little trial and error. I mostly wore my hair straight in the begining and sometimes I rocked a straw set (totally time consuming). She would cut an inch off each time I was in the chair. One day I woke up and my hair was see thru lol, that was when we knew that all of the permed ends had to be cut. My beautician explained this as the line of demarcation, the permed hair was weighing down the natural hair (or vice versa, I can’t really remember). After the permed ends were cut; my hair had grown enough to have a bob. To be honest, I didn’t actually learn to do my own hair until I moved to Virginia in 2007. In Georgia, I had two stylists. One would straighten my hair and the other would do different types of natural styles. I came to Virginia with a quick weave, I.Am.Not.A.Weave.Girl. Weave just never works out the way I want it to. When I took it out I had no clue what to do. My hair was a ratchet mess!!! At that time there wasn’t a lot of information on natural hair, but the internet and YouTube became my new besties. I also joined meet up groups and met women who were able to assist me. Let me not forget to let you know that I’ve had my share of BAD salon experiences and documented those on my yelp page (except for one salon because it was owned by an AKA).

Fast forward to almost 7 years later, I think that I can breathe a sigh of relief and say I know my hair. I am a little sketchy on which products to use when wearing it straight, but I know the process of getting my hair straight, silky, and shiny. Long gone are the days that I sit in a chair aggravated and silent to the fact that someone is doing my hair incorrectly. I reserve the right to walk the hell out; with my hair attached to my scalp, money in my pocket, and my precious time to write a yelp post on the negative experience. Once again, this is what works for me, use it as you please, but you may not get the same results as I’ve had.

                                                                                   This is a 2 strand twist out

I know that a lot of people don’t like to categorize their hair type but I think that helps in regard to what products will work best for you. For me, my hair type is 3c around the edges and the middle is 4a. That just means that my edges have a softer looser curl pattern and if I straighten it’ll be easier for me to get heat damage there. As for the middle of my head, the hair is super strong and coily lol. I found out just last year that washing my hair in sections cuts down the styling time tremendously. I part in four separate but not equal sections; shampoo and condition, detangle and twist it. I repeat this until I’m done. I also rinse the conditioner out, detangle again and twist and clip it up. I definitely recommend a package of clips for this because if you have thick hair as I do, they will break on you. I don’t have a staple shampoo or conditioner per se; but I’ve used the Herbal Essence Hello Hydration (shampoo and conditioner) repeatedly. I really want to try the line with honey next. I hate to say this, but I don't wash my hair as often as one should lol, sometimes once or twice a month. If you follow me on Instagram (yes that’s a plug to follow me), I usually document my wash days and the products I’m using. I use a leave in conditioner by Kinky Curly-Knot Today (Target or Whole Foods), that helps me detangle my hair. If I don't use that, I use The Bodifier by Talijah Waajid (beauty supply store). The Bodifier is a great moisturizer and has a tiny amount of protein in it. Although, it is a mist; the consistency is a bit too thick to just spray on daily (it needs to be rubbed in). If my hair is extremely dry, after I washed it (before the Knot Today) I'll spray in my mixture of glycerin and water. I get the glycerin from the beauty supply, the brand is Africare. I don't know the exact measurements. Play around with it, too much and it’ll be too sticky; not enough and you won’t see the effect. Glycerin is a humectant that'll draw moisture from the air so that really helps. I’ve heard that some people can’t use glycerin, but it’s worth the try. I also use Juices and Berries from Oyin (this is my FAV product) as a refreshing mist; it smells GREAT and is also a humectant so it helps with moisturizing. I usually use this to refresh my twist out on day 3 or so. My styling aides are Shea butter (from the beauty supply store) and sometimes I'll use Whipped Pudding from Oyin (www.oyinhandmade.com). I use those to twist my hair with. You may have noticed that I don’t use products with Olive Oil; my hair absolutely HATES it. I don’t buy anything with that as an ingredient. After twisting, you can use a bit of coconut oil on the ends to seal in the moisture. I use Organic Root Stimulator Nature’s Shine, its a spray formula. This product will also solidify if the temperature is below 64 degrees. I have an old video on my YouTube channel in regard to the way that I twist. I actually just use the method that they use when they do Senegalese twist. My YouTube channel is Akakristin, I haven't updated it in a while but the video is titled, Twist while Twisting. In regard to gel, I do use gel to slick those edges down. My gel of choice is Fantasia Blue gel, this formula is for color treated hair but it’s what worked for me when I was a blonde and continues to work today. What I learned firsthand, is that natural hair/styles are going to be trial and error.

                                                                  In case of a bad hair day, Turban Power

Although those are my go to products, I’ve been trying to use the products sent to me from Curlbox since I get a box of goodies each month. By the way they are going to open membership on the 19th at 3 pm. Curlbox is a great way to try new products at only $20 a month. If you're interested you have to be online at 3 because they sell out super quick. As much as you don't want to be a 'product junkie' you may become one because you have to figure out what works for your hair. Currently I am at bra strap length and my goal is to reach waist strap length by October (we’ll see). I hope this post is helpful, I don’t do anything major to my hair, and this works for me. Feel free to ask questions and leave me tips on what works for you.

                                                                                          My hair currently

Natural Hair Meetup...DC Edition

Today I had an opportunity to attend a new natural hair meetup in DC. If you are in the DMV area or if you're visiting soon be sure to check out the Nu Growth meetup group. If you happened to miss out on this awesome event, no worries, there will be another event of this sort on the 13th. Of course you'll have to check out the group (and hopefully join) to get more info. Although, I've attended several meetups/events in the area, today solidified that I need business cards. I mean everyone was passing theirs around while I wrote mine on a napkin... I digress.

What I can tell you from the start is that there are several trendy ladies in this group. I LOVED the boy cut, she rocked it well.

 The organizer Jocelyn welcomed us to the event and she even printed out cute name tags with our pics on them. I later found out that she's a local hair stylist and I can't wait to try her out. You all know how my luck has been with hair stylist... I digress.  But I'm super happy that she's natural and understands the special care it takes to manage natural hair.

There were sooo many diverse women, I even met a soror (Skee-Wee).

There were even a few YouTubers in the building. I met mstiaradean, SoUtHeRnGrYl, and my girl tifflawrain was there as well/

Although there were faboulous ladies in the building, there were also a few guys that rocked their natural hair well with locks.

And of course, we definitely outnumbered the guys as always lol. Hopefully the group will start attracting more natural males as well.

I had to take a pic with her rocking this hoop. I'm not sure if you all noticed in my last post but... I recently got my nose pierced and I'm obsessed with wearing a hoop soon.

 One thing that I LOVE about the natural hair community is the way we build each other up. I swear I was having a bad hair day but these ladies complemented me and I instantly... I was boosted. I even did a mini live tutorial on how I twist. I hope to see you all at the next event. Who know's maybe I'll just host my own event soon *side eye*

Beware of the Deadly Cocktail

It’s rare that I talk about hair on this blog. However I chose the name to embody important characteristics of me. So on Handbags, Hair, and Heels this will be my first time writing about hair per se.

I was totally thinking about going to get my hair straightened last weekend (for my birthday). However, after coming across this article I had to rethink that thought. Because I am a reviewer by nature I went on to read ALL of the comments on the article.

Let’s just be clear, I would be totally livid if this were to happen to me. The article had me replaying my visits at the Dominican Salon (DS) over and over in my mind. I know in ATL I opt for leave in conditioner, it’s usually in the glass bottle and they have to break it. I know I recently stopped getting deep conditioners at the DS because:

*I Condition my own hair well
*I can’t justify paying an extra $5 for the service
*I’m very impatient and don’t want to add time to my service

After analyzing this topic I wondered if any of the women actually smelled the chemicals. I know for those of us hat have had perms you can recognize that smell a mile away. I wonder if the women were sooo much in shock that they just paid and left or did they GTFO. I can only imagine what my original response would have been but I can’t say so for certain because of all of the initial emotions.

I have stated to others that whenever I get the inclination that a hair stylist doesn’t want to do my hair (refer to my hair as too ‘thick’ or suggest that I get a texturizer of some sort) that is the last time that I’m in their chair. Reading this article is definitely making me consider taking my own products with me or going in with conditioner in my head.

I think the biggest barrier exist because there is usually a language barrier. I actually took my Kinky Curly with me the last time and the chic washed it out my hair. That was after I continued to say as well as motion that is should be left in.

Honestly, I’ve NEVER had any major issues (despite the fact that I was turned away before). In retrospect, I take everyone’s comments for what it is. There was one thing that bothered me with the comment section of the article. Some of the women were effected as well as affected but I felt like nobody wanted to put the salon on blast. I mean maybe people haven’t read the comments t update or didn’t want to post names out of respect for the Nikki. However, I highly believe in customer service as well as word-of-mouth business. I guess it touched me because a lot of the women stated that the ‘cocktail’ was done at salons across Md. And as you would have it I frequent a shop in Md. Let me just put this out there, if I came across a shop that practiced that fuckery you all would be the first to know.

I'm actually on a live natural hair chat with Essence at the moment and a guy stated something that stuck with me:

HairManKeith: If stylist don't want to deal with natural hair they have to stop lying to their clients in advance.

Enough said... I hope you too will be open and honest about your upcoming visits to DS and feel free to share in the comments.