Wash Day | 'Tis the wash day before the touch up

Happy New Year's Eve (eve) day!

Hope you all are enjoying the last few days of 2014, and excited for what 2015 will hope.

My last wash day was protein protein protein.

You know how simple my wash days are getting

1. Dry DC using ORS Replenishing Conditioner for 15 mins

2. Shampoo hair with Creme of Argan Shampoo

3. Detangled and applied Elasta QP heat protectant and Elasta QP Leave in Conditioner

I blow dried my hair and then straightened it.

Straightening took a long while and at 21 weeks post, I have a lot of growth. My results are below, can wait to touch up my new growth.

I have been seriously considering corrective relaxing my under processed hair, I mean do you see the bone straight ends in the picture!

After blow drying my hair, it shrinks ti neck length

Straightened hair, with born straight ends

Happy Hair Journey's Ladies and an even more blessed New Year! :o)

Beauty | Protecting your Nails

When I remove my nail polish my nails hurt, and they can hurt for a day at least. The pain subdues after placing another nail polish coat.

I never thought anything of it, but after doing some reading I have realised what my problem and solution is: 

A good protein rich Base Coat!

We all know how important protein is for our hair, imagine my nails are also crying out for protein.

I always use a top nail polish coat, but never use a Base Coat 

Benefits of a Base Coat

1. Promote nail health (strength and growth)

2. Provides smooth base for nail polish base

3.Avoids chipped nails

4. Protects you nails from being coated in bright colours

So one new products on my Xmas sales wish-list is the Essie Protein Base Coat , Cuticle conditioner and an organic nail polish remover.

In the maintain here is my (un- base coated) Xmas nail colour Rimmel in colour 'It's a Scorcher' RRP 3,69 GBP

From left: Top Coat - Clear, Colour 'It's a Scrocher'

It's a Scrocher

What nail treatments do you swear by?

Happy Holidays Ladies

Wash Day | 20 Weeks Post - Last Wash of the Year

Merry Xmas ladies, another lovely Wednesday, join the weekly link up with SoS and JGA and a whole lot of other lovely ladies sharing our wash day experience.

This week my hair has been a hot mess, I ditched the wig and have been wearing my own curls. Twist outs, BKO. It's so good having the hair back out! 

My wash day went like this:

1. Dry DC using ORS Replenshing Conditioner for 15 mins.

2 Shampoo using a non sulphate shampoo, my choice this week was ORS Hairepair Shampoo

3. As I  rinsing out the DC, I then t-shirt dry my hair then I sprayed Aussie Miracle leave in Conditioner, detangled my hair and wore it in its shrinkage state. 

The next time I tried a twist out but it just looked super puffy without structure, you know when you can see people's eyes going straight to your hair and you get those questions like 'Have you already closed for work?' 

Anyway I now have my hair in 2 flat twists, no one has asked me where am going since! 

Merry Xmas and Happy Hair Journeys!

Wash Day| 18 Weeks post

Hello ladies, another lovely Wednesday, join the weekly link up with SoS and JGA and a whole lot of other lovely ladies sharing our wash day experience.

This week I ditched the wig and have been wearing my own curls. Twist outs, BKO. It's so good having the hair back out! 

My wash day went like this:

1. Jump in shower with braided hair from my wigging during last week

2 Shampoo using a non sulphate shampoo, my choice this week was ORS Hairepair Shampoo

3. DC while still in shower for 10 mins with ORS Hairepair Conditioner.

4. As I  rinsing out the DC, I then t-shirt dry my hair then I sprayed Aussie Miracle leave in Conditioner, detangled my hair and sectioned my hair in six, then using Aunt Jackies Curl La La.... I two strand twisted my hair.

The picture below is with BKO

I was feeling all cute, but it didn't last long, the wind is no friend of mine, she...no...he huffed and puffed and blow my hair out of shape 

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o) 

Beauty | Nails glorious nails

With the year coming to an end, am working at a client where we have been given the whole of December as dress down!! Oh...this got me so excited, in the spirit of breaking normal work wear I have been trying out my new exciting nail colour

This was RRP £3.69 from Boots, it's the Rimmel Rita Ora line in colour 'Pillow talk' 

I finish all my nail colour polish with a clear top coat, and this let's my nail colour last all week. 

Love this colour, it's vibrant and has so much character! 

Would you ever try a colour this bright? 

Have you ever tried any Rimmel nail polish?

Fitness Friday | My current fitness programme

I have recently joined a gym near my home, so I have absolutely no reason not to get my exercise done.

When I joined I was given a personal trainer session, and during my time with the trainer, I really wanted to find out how to have an efficient gym sessions, i.e. 30-45 minutes max, that produced great results

So this is what I currently do.

Spin Bike

I start with a 5 min warm up on the spin bike.

First 1min (60 seconds) – I make sure my RPM is above 60, and not much higher than 60

Second 1 min (60 seconds) – I pick up the pace and make sure my RPM is above 120

Third 1min (60 seconds) – I make sure my RPM is above 60, and not much higher than 60

Fourth 1 min (60 seconds) – I pick up the pace and make sure my RPM is above 120

Final 1min (60 seconds) – I make sure my RPM is above 60 and not much higher than 60 – cool down.

------------------------------------Warm up done 5 mins later---------------------------------------------------

Sit ups

The one thing I wanted to tone up was my belly, I know it takes more to get a 6 pack than sit up, but it sure is a good start

1. 3 reps of 15 on the inflatable ball

----------------------------------------------Sit ups done---------------------------------------------------------------

Weights

My personal trainer recommended to me that everyone should really be done weights, to get your bones strong. He said to make my work out super-efficient I should use 3 weight machines that exercise

1. Chest – I push the bar away from myself
2. Back – I pull the weights towards myself
3. Legs – The machine I use makes me do squats, but I am sat down as I push the weights

I did not think much of it when he told me and just went on my way, but after doing some reading, I found out I am exercise the 3 largest muscles in my body and by doing weights I am burning from the 3 biggest muscle therefore getting more out my work outs! I can clearly see my body is toning up great.

As my main aim was to tone up I use the weight that feel heavy enough for me to manage, i.e. I cannot carry the next weight up. I do 6 slow reps of 3, I can feel my muscles working.

And there you have it my workout in 30 mins and the best results I have ever got from using the gym.

Ok, I forgot omitted, as I am seriously trying to get a flat tummy guys, I also added 6 reps of 3 on the abs weight machine!

---------------------------------------------------30 mins work out done--------------------------------------------------

When I don’t feel like doing weights and I just want to relax and let my mind drift off I run for 30 mins on the treadmill.

What do you guys do in the gym?

Happy Fitness Friday!

‘Do not give the Devil an opportunity to work’ – Ephesians 4:27

Wash Day | 17 Weeks Posts – Where has the time gone?!

Hello ladies, another lovely Wednesday, am psyched to be on the weekly link up with SoS and JGA and a whole lot of other lovely ladies sharing our wash day experience. This wash day link up is filled with so much positivity!

My wash days have been relatively similar and very simple. On a weekly basis they look more and more like this:

1. Jump in shower with braided hair from my wigging during the week

2 Shampoo using a non sulphate shampoo, my choice this week was creme of nature Argan oil moisture and shine Shampoo

3. DC while still in shower for 10 mins with Aunt Jackies Moisturising Conditioner.

With the conditioner still in my hair, I detangle it, with a wide tooth comb.

4. As I  rinsing out the DC, I glide my comb in the direction of the water to further detangle my hair.

'Oh no', I hear you say 'manipulating your hair when it's at it's weakest (soaking wet)' 

I kid you not this has helped me get to 18 weeks post, but time will tell! 

I then t-shirt dry my hair then M&S and braid hair for next week wig session.

Who is this!!!

And there you have it, a full wash day in under 1 hour!

But let me add a picture of my hair just to keep you assured (and myself :D), that I still have hair under this wig.

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o) 

'That breath that you just took....that's a gift' - Rob Bell

Wash Day | 13 Weeks Post...and counting

My wash days have been getting shorter and shorter, this week went something like this

1. Shampooed my hair with Creme of Nature Shampoo twice

2. DC with Auntie Jackies Conditioner

3. Rinsed and t-shirt dried my hair

4. Left it to air dry, there finished it off with a cool blow drier

5. Moisturised with a mix of shea butter and Elasta QP.

I have been wigging for the last 3 weeks so I prepared by hair underneath for the week ahead.

During my detangling process I did have a few too many SSK, I tried being patient and detangle as thoroughly as I could. Team SSK really sent me a message to make sure I moisturise my new growth better going forward or else :x .... noted team SSK!

I made the parting where my closure parting would sit

Another week in the wig

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :)

Join SOS and JGA every wednesday to share your wash day experience.

During my Hiatus

During my hiatus I have been playing around with my new wig.

I recently got 12” extensions made into a wig and was not really happy with the results here , this error cost me almost £100 ($160). A friend of mine was travelling to Ghana and offered to get my wig redone for me at the fraction of the price £25 ($40). I had nothing to lose. When the wig came back, oh I was very happy, it’s the best wig I have owned (only have 1 other wig which is synthetic)

So I have been protective styling with my wig for the last 3 weeks and now I am 12 weeks post.

I do obviously have my concerns regarding wig wearing. The wig I have does not have combs but has a headband on the inside that secures it in place, first concern will this affect the hairline towards my side and nape where it rests on.

Then my second concern is: will I get lazy on my hair journey because my hair is now under my wig constantly (3 weeks now)

My first concern….I will sadly have to wait and see, the head band is not too tight and it seats on my wig cap so am hoping there will be minimal damage on that part.

My second concern…well…I really just have to keep a solid time table on my wash days and M&S (I have been very lazy on M&S recently)

So far so good, I was very self-conscious when I first worn my wig to work….this is the first time I have even worn a wig to work, and oh my I get enough questions about my texlaxed hair, everyone was double taking when I came in with bouncy curls or just loose hair (I protective style 100% when am at work, so my hair is always tied up)

My plan for the rest of the year is to protective-style, and try to stretch my relaxer to 22 weeks (10 weeks to go) and touch up just before my 2^nd hair-anniversary and a few weeks shy of my wedding date (the hopes for BSL hair for my big day are still alive)

Here are a few pictures of my wig. 

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

Wash Day | 8 Weeks Post

My wash days are getting more and more simple.


This week I DC on dry hair, this is how it went

1) Mixed Aunt Jackie's Conditioner with coconut oil and a Rosemary infused oil mix my soon to be sister in law got me, looks very interesting. DCed for 2 hours.


2) Shampooed my hair with a natural soap bar I got a few months ago, Nettle and Marshmallow root shampoo bar...still not sure about this one.


3) Rinsed hair and t-shirt dried it for 30 mins


4) Made a moisturiser with

i) Coconut oil
ii) Shea butter
iii) almond oil
iv) Elast QP leave in conditioner


This has been keeping my hair super moisturised lately and really loving it.


I left my hair to air dry for the rest of the day, with 8 twists, I on Sunday I tried to wear a twist out, but hot mess! so pinned it up into a faux TWA hehe, don't kill a girl for trying!

How was your wash day?


Join the wash day linkup every Wednesday!

Protective Styles | The tuck in bun

A few weeks ago I dried my hair using the tension method,  and put my hair in a huge tuck in bun, which I absolutely loved.

Method

1. Stretched hair
2. Used an old stocking to define the size of my bun, very similar to my approach on the 'Huge Messy Bun'
3. Then I made sections and started tucking in my hair toward the centre of the bun and secured it with a bobby pin.

The Results are below:

What protective styles have you been wearing lately?

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies!

Wash Day | 7 Weeks Post

This week’s washday was pretty standard.

    (1) Pre poo with coconut oil for 15 minutes

   (2) Shampoo hair with ORS HaiRepair Shampoo

   (3) DC with ORS Replenishing Conditioner for 30 mins

   (4) Rinsed and t-shirt dried hair

I have fallen in love with ORS HaiRepair Conditioner, so I went out to get more, when my wash day came, little to my horror, I had picked the shampoo and not the conditioner :x :x :x, when did I discover this, after I made a ‘conditioner’ mix

with my oils… oh this world! I was happy I didn’t discover this after it had been on my hair for 30 mins, but I needed to blame someone, it’s clearly not my fault for picking the wrong bottle, ORS should not have made them soooooo similar…yes let’s blame ORS :D (peace has been restored) ok back to the wash day

This week I was feeling the straight hair look, so I added some leave in conditioner and heat protectant and dried by hair on cool

Afterwards, I straightened my hair at 200 degrees and decided it was a great day for a length check.

Am happy with the overall health of my hair, though the spend of growth, ok let's not get there. Also on a side noted new found love no.2 is shea butter, why haven't you ladies forced me to use it.....

Also have been away for a while, had my mother visiting so we were busy doing the tourist stuff

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies!

Join the wednesday wash day experience, with Saving our Strands and Just Grow already.

Life's little twists

Hi Ladies

I have been weekly protective styling lately, and have been obsessed with Marly Hair and 2 strand flat twists

Here are some of the styles I rocked with my Marly Hair, and to think I got all these styles from one pack of hair!!

What protective styles have you been rocking?



Happy Hair Journeys Ladies!

Wash Day | 2 Weeks post

Hi lovely ladies!

My wash days have become ver similar and quite standard lately, they go a little like this

1. Pre -poo with coconut oil, which I am sooooo lovely for 30 mins

2. Shampoo with ORS HaiRepair Shampoo, to start off with I was not too keen on this poo, but am I liking it more and more

3. T-shirt dry my hair for 10 mins

4. DC with Aunt Jackies Conditioner for 30 mins with the heat cap

5. Rinse and t-shirt dry for 30 mins

6. Add leave in - my trusted Aussie Miracle hair insurance and detangle, and leave to air try.

This week I air dried in flat twists so had the cutest twist out. I am so in love with my weekend affair with my curls!

My hair has become so easy to manage lately and my regimen is very simplified.

How was your wash day?

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

Join the wash day experience every Wednesday!