Baby Girl Curlies Tucked Away.....

Hey Guys, so this post might seem a little bit left field coming from me since I do not have any kids but just hear me out... =)

I have a co-worker who has biracial children they are gorgeous a boy and a girl. We were in the office talking about hr kids she was showing me pictures etc. And she mentioned how happy her daughter was to have her hair back in braids and she showed me the pics and then she proceeded to show me pics of hr daugters hair in its natural state. She had gorgeous sandy brown kinky curly coily thick hair! it was so pretty. She be gan to tell me how much when at home her daughter loved her hair, loved wearing twist, loved wearing finger coils but when she got to school she literally hid her hair. Other children made fun of her, told her that her hair was ugly, told her that she herself was ugly. she walked around school with the hood of her jacket covering her hair, or she tried to hide her hair with her arms. She said it was because all of the other girls even the girls of color had long straight hair.

Just hearing the stories made me feel so bad for her, I understand how hard it is being made fun of or teased about something you have no control over. God made you just as he intended you to be and ppl should accept you as you are. And while thats a fairy tale the reality is that this happens to alot of children and its sad that parents are not teaching there children to embrace everyone and especially parents of color! it does not shock me that children are so cruel especially now adays it seems to be accepted and expected of young children to behave in such a ugly way :(

I just instantly felt for her daughter not because she is my coworkers child but because to have her joy taken away but others harsh and cruel words isnt right and hopefully she will grow up and see nomater what ppl say her hair and herself are gorgeous! and there are grown women who WISH they had her hair.

I hope her mother doesnt ever give in to letting her get a relaxer and helps her to explore the diversity and uniqueness of her hair.

Where you been girl!?

Hey guys!

i know Ive been M.I.A but I have semi good reason! Ive been protectivte styling and I didnt want to bore you guys with my "install" updates because its pretty much routine unless i do a specific style which I didnt. But none the less I am going to pic up the blogging and hopefully you guys will enjoy the new post I have coming!

xoxox
Noni

Single Strand Knots, Fairy Knots... Why and How

Something that I have come to notice since I have been natural is Single Strand Knots,( not to say that relaxed heads do not have them) But I have noticed them alot more since I have been natural and as my hair grows longer. I assume it comes with the territory?

Alot of people seem to think that a regular schedule of straightening natural hair will keep the single strand knots at bay, but that can also lead to ir-reversable heat damage, A change that I am not willing to take. I have also done some minor research and Ive come to my own conclusion on how to keep single strand knots at bay. All be it you have to be diligent.

1) invest in a good detangling
2) invest in good trimming shears
3) find a OIL you are fond of

Why?

I say to invest in a good detangling comb because this is going to be your bestfriend. My fave are Jibere shower comb and the Ouidad double detangling comb.

I say invest in good trimming shears because there will be single strand knots that you nomatter how patient you are, you will not be able to undo them and you should ever pull or break a single strand knot beause you will create a split end. You should always trim right above the single strand knot.

I say find a oil of your preference because everyone has a different smell preference or what works best for them, I prefer coconut oil, jojoba or olive oil.

How to (prevention)

Catching and stopping them before they happen starts with your wash routine, curly heads should never shampoo upside down and should never tousell their hair in a wet state it will create tangles and matting.

Curly heads should:

section their hair off in 2-4 sections
shampoo hair section by section
Rinse (concentrate on ends) with oil for 5-20 minutes (smoothing hair as you go)
condition section by section smooth conditioner through hair in a downward motion)
detangle hair in shower while dripping wet with conditioner in section by section and braid up hair.
deep condition hair for 20-30 minutes with heat.
Rinse out deep conditioner and apply a leave in.

When ever you rinse out conditioner you should always use cold water (as cold as you can stand it)


After you have done this routine and you have rinsed out the conditioner make sure to seal your ends and edges (we can get single strand knots there too) with your oil of choice, I use coconut oil!

Now if you have done this and you still find single strand knots the next step is to take your trimming shears and trim right above the single strand knot.

I hope this post has helped!

Chic Updo (check out my girl Ambrosia!)

Check out my girl Ambrosia form Crochet Love showing you how to achieve a chic updo on natural hair!

Skin Envy (flawless)

Spotted this picture over on the Moptopmaven.blogspot and fell inlove as a photographer is verry pleasing to my eye and as a everyday girl it makes me a tad envious at how flawless she looks! lol but i know this was some photoshop but noen the less her skin is gorgeous! and so is she!

Dear Summer...

Dear Summer,

Im going to miss you my hair is going to miss the wonderful days of wash and go's, airdrying and and just plain carefree hair. While the weather hasnt truly decided if it wants to be summer or fall, I have begun my fall routine because when its cold it is COLD and I know the up n down in temperture can still reek havoc on my hair and I dont want to take any chances.

So when the fall and winter months come Im all about retaining moisture and maintaining a healthy protein balance so that my hair doest become limp. So my fall/winter regimen goes something like this.

1. Shampoo (as needed I work out alot) bi weekly I use Kinky curly Come Clean
2. Clarify with bentonite clay or Neutrogena or Suave clarifying shampoo once a month.
3. Deep Condition with EVERY WASH with HEAT (i use a concotion on conditioners)
4. Flat twist, twist outs, braids outs, wigs, full weaves are usually my style options (stlyings aids vary)
5. Moisturize with Vitapoint or Miss jessies baby buttercreme
6. Seal my hair with coocnut out
   

Shea Moisture...thumbs up?

Okay I know to some I am probably late with this review (especially in the natural hair world.) But Back in March? or was it May? (I forget lol) But I purchased products from the Miss Jessies Line aswell as the Shea Moisture line... from Shea Moisture I purchased the <span style="font-style:italic;">"Organic Coconut & Hisbiscus Conditioning Curl & Style Milk</span>" for thick curly hair. Im all for natural hair products and Im especially all about cheaper natural hair products! and I was a little scared to purchase because I had heard no reviews of their products and I was used to seeing the white 8 oz bottles in the BSS that I don't think I ever picked up. Well I am sooo glad that I picked this up! It smells GREAT! my hair loves it! I practically carry it round in my purse!

I love to tell people about this product, especially when Im in my local target on a re-up mission for conditioner and a fellow curly head will ask me about this product! Ladies its great to fresh curls, to style you freshly washed curls and makes detangling so easy! If you haven't tried it please do!

Skin Care Skin Care how do you do

Specs:

"What it is:
A quintet that offers all you need to stop breakouts in their tracks - at home or on the go.

What it is formulated to do:
Sized for travel, this comprehensive collection of blemish-blasters is equipped with target-specific products, which work synergistically to heal acne and decrease oil production.

This set contains:
- 2.0 oz Clarifying Cleanser
- 1.0 oz Clarifying Toner
- 1.0 oz Exfoliating Acne Treatment Gel
- 0.25 oz Acne Spot Treatment
- 1.0 oz Skin Perfecting Lotion

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
- Parabens
- Sulfates
- Synthetic Fragrances
- Synthetic Dyes
- Petrochemicals
- Phthalates
- GMOs

What else you need to know:
In independent clinical studies, over 90% of participants experienced a reduction in blemishes in just four weeks, when using this regimen daily."

Okay so this is my review on the system. I read the reviews, I watched all of the youtube videos and after trying, clean & clear, neutrogena, and Proactive I finally decided to try the Murad system, and I have no regrets!. This product does everything that it claims, I saw results in as little as two weeks! I have been using the system for a little over two months and my skins just gets better with each use, my body acne has cleared completely (even my scarring!) And the acne on my face is almost non-existent! (cant help the hormonal break outs (hmph) But my acne scarring on my face (which was really bad) has gotten soo much better my blemishes have pracitcally faded, my skin feels so smooth! okay enought gushing about my skin back to the product!

The Clarifying cleanser has a mild scent and doesnt over lather when you p ut it on, it tingles a little bit (in a good way!) cleans better than any other facial wash ive used (even with a face full of makeup. After I wash and sometimes before I wash my face I use the Clarifying Toner and I love this stuff! my face feels so fresh and airy after I use it and I can actually feel my pores tightening! (this is my favorite out of them all!) After I use the toner I follow up with the Exfoliating Acne Treatment Gel I think this is the most important step in the system especially with the breakouts and blemishes, you can feel it working instantly, there is a mild itching but it only last a few moments. After 10 seconds I apply Skin Perfecting Lotion ( i think this is why my skins feels soooooooo smooth lol) it calms down the itching immediately and it smells good too! Now sometimes that is my last step but if I have any immediate pimples I apply the very last step the Acne Spot Treatment on the break out areas and i do that through out the day if needed, sometimes if I apply it at bedtime its gone by the time I wake up in the morning!

now the kit runs about $40 at sephora, but if you go up to full sizes, the bottles range from $23-$50 (that sucks! lol) but overall I LOVE this stuff! I give it a a 4 out of 5 stars because of the price but if it was a tad bit less exepensive I would give it a 5 out of 5!

p.s a balanced diet, lots of water and a workout regimen will also help to clear your skin! and ladies no sleeping in your makeup!

Signature Coif

So my all time favorite style is a flat twist out. I wear this all the time with out fail.

I wear a flat twist out pretty much on a dailty basis, its easy to acheve and its easy to maintain!
I usually start on clean hair or co washed hair.  You can use a shampoo or a condish of your choice my holy grail is Kinky-Curly Come Clean and Knot today.

How You Can Recreate this look:

Tools and Products You Will need

1. Denman Brush or Jibere Shower comb
2. Kinky Curly Shampoo (or your choice)
3. Kinky Curly Knot Today conditioner (or your choice)
4. Leave in conditioner of your choice (I used Knot today)
5. Coconut oil

What you do:

1. Wash and condition hair in shower
2. detangle with conditioner in
3. rinse and apply leave in conditioner
4. part hair in to two sections and pin up the side you are not working with.
5. part the section you are working with into two sections and begin to flat twist (i do two per side because it gives me more body and less tangles)
6. repeat on second half of section then finish the other side of your head.
7. apply coocnut oil on ends & roll ends with small roller (optional)
8. Tie up hair with a silk/satin scarf or sleep on silk pillow case
9. let air dry or sit under dryer unravel and finger comb

Hello World! Letme Introduce Myself

So..this is it my official blog! I finally have settled on a name and hopefully I can blog comfortably without feeling like some thing is missing! So its Septemeber 29 and I thought coming into a new month (which is also my birthday month October) would be a great way to start a new chapter in my life! Hopefully I can keep it up! I love blogs I just lack the follow through with my own! lol

Okay so why I wanted to start blogging, well in my everyday life I get constant questions about my skin regiman, my fashion finds and most of all my hair routine tips and tricks so I thought this would be a great place put my writing skills to use aswell as to keep it and have some fun! I am also a photographer so youll find some of those post here as well!

I hope to do some grand interviews, share some winderful stories, have some fun and also be informative! so please feel free to follow me friend me, save me lol I really hope everyone finds this blog enjoyable and informative!

-Noko