One of the primary resources I relied on two years ago after my heat damage finaglement, is a site that most curly/kinky/coily haired gals have heard about, talked & gossiped about to their other naturally curled friends. I began as a lurker, matured into an avid poster on their much too addicting Curl Talk Forum,  then quietly began making most of my PJ product purchases via the all too convenient CurlMart site. Naturallycurly.com was and continues to be one of the top reliable sources for curly haired information because it ultimately comes straight from the source…namely US!

And to prove it, NaturallyCurly is rolling out their annual Best of the Best survey, asking the curly/kinky haired family their picks for go-to products. My picks have certainly changed and evolved over this past year, so I’m eager to see a few new products shine, as well as tried & true ones stake their claim! If you’re a PJ much like myself…this is fun, no? Get into it by clicking here.

Thanks to the wonderfully brilliant hair & science guru JC, of The Natural Haven, yesterday I was able to show off just a few accessories in my hair collection!  It’s a fun and *new series up and running, and I was tons happy to be able to go home at the end of a long day of work, dig through my stash of fun clips-n- bows and be able to show & tell!

Certified PJ? Yes. Accessory hoarder? Another affirmative. And it’s good to know I’m not the only one. JC’s collection is inspiring for anyone with or without natural hair and as she also pointed out, it’s another great way to give your hair a break from over manipulation, or in every other case…just to alleviate you from sheer boredom in terms of styling.

Variety is often times key when wearing natural hair, whether it’s trying out a new conditioner or finally perfecting the bantu-knot (which I haven’t yet!), so today here’s to spicing things up with an accessory giveaway! This beauty of a clip is firmly planted in my rotating collection, but I do have another up for grabs!

I’m in the home-stretch of finals, so to enter simply leave a comment down below telling me your favorite hair product,  accessory, hair tool…anything that keeps your natural do looking extra fly! I’ll close comments off Sunday night &  announce a winner Monday morning using my fav l’il site. And if you have a fab accessory collection you’d love to show & tell, head over to The Natural Haven to share some inspiration;-)!

*giveaway open to U.S. residents only

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of being asked to contribute a bit of my voice to a nifty and chic new online mag HWSD.com., a one stop guide for women of color to hone in on all things Health, Wealth & Style, and I’m doubly excited to finally share with you guys! HWSD.com has been my home for the past few months, and my hope is that you’ll show some link love & make it yours as well.

Natural Maven is my other stomping ground, so bookmark, share, enjoy – let me know what you think! While there, definitely peruse the how-to sections on natural hair, updated style sections & my personal fav, the real lives series where nothing is off limits.

…RIP

I briefly mentioned the natural hair documentary by Ajayi a few weeks ago, and thankfully because the world works in most awesome of ways, a screening of A Journey To Understanding will be held here in New York next month.

Date: Thursday May 13th from 8pm-11pm

Location: 140 Jackson St. Apt 4D Williamsburg off the L train Graham stop

Presenters: O.M. Ajayi also featuring the work of Essence Rodriguez

Please join us for good times: live dj, food, hair models, conversation and more!!

Lots to celebrate and hopefully some dancing;)

For more info click here.

I’ve been in the homestretch of one too many projects over the past few weeks – neglecting the family, a few friends, the dishes and consequently my hair. Due to lack of time management, I’d prolonged  a regular one-week twist-in, to a full two-week twist…thing, guaranteeing my scalp a helluva time with friends itchy & scratchie. NO MORE! I am simply not the girl who can do it, my scalp protesteth too much, and my hair just adds it’s two cents  because it can.

Sunday morning, the hair was noticeably dry and unhappy forcing me to bring in some new reinforcement. Somehow…like one too many anxious natural haired femmes, I quietly sauntered into my nearest Tarjay to check out the latest display of amazing goodies offered now by the Curls, Miss Jessie’s and Jane Carter collections. Sitting closer to the bottom shelves was also the newly expanded line of Shea Moisture goodies!! Excited…yes! First thing that caught my eye was the Deep Treatment Masque made w/ Organic Raw Shea Butter, Sea Kelp, Argan Oil and a tons more lovin stuff.

Promptly purchased a 12 oz jar ($10) then hightailed it home to sniff and glare at seeming potential. My hair hadn’t seen a deep treatment in over two weeks, so Sunday morning had me up early pre-pooing with a bit of Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose condish mixed with warm water. After 10 minutes shampooed (this week in sections…!) with Desert Essence’s Organic Shampoo. Applied the poo directly to scalp, rinsed than cleansed the hair with Curls’ Creamy Curl Cleanser. With hair still twisted in about 6 sections, I raked the Curl Cleanser through my hair in a downward motion as opposed to circular, making sure the hair wasn’t a tangled matted mess after all that hard work.

DC’d with Shea Moisture’s Deep Treatment Masque, then left on for an obscene amount of time due to some side project paper writing for finals week. When finally rinsed out, hair was sweeeetly singin in my ear. Good Stuff (*Full review to come)!

I mentioned on Twitter last week that in all my years of being natural, a dry twist-out was one of the few styles I’d yet to try. So I made provisions. Applied a leave-in conditioner, Curl Junkie’s Curl Assurance, a creamy & thick leave-in to set my hair up for a bit of heat. After applying, twisted the hair into big chunky twists, 8 bundles in total, then blow dried on a warm setting using a diffuser. Once hair was dried, unraveled each twist, then proceeded to style with Afroveda’s Shea Amla Butter Creme. Best part of this process was the actual going to bed without worrying about waking up in the a.m. with overly damp hair…that’s a SCORE in my book!

This morning I untwisted, fluffed a bit, then added a bit of KBB hair cream for a dose of shine and yummy lavender vanilla scent! All in all I like the results, definitely a different look from how the twists would normally dry when fully wet. Not sure how to prolong a dry-twist out, but will make it work somehow, someway because a few other final papers and power points do await!

Next week it’s a slow return to two-strand twists…just cuz. I’d love to keep them in for another month or so, perhaps alternating for a bit between twist-outs and protective styling. My hair seems healthier and much happier since I don’t play with it each night, tying it up before going to bed. With two-strand twists, it’s just get up & go – a necessary plus when life’s filled with school, work and all other inevitables.

*Hope everyone’s doing well, and thanks for the compliments, e-mails & love re: le blog;-)!