I'm Straight!

Anyone who knows me knows that I hardly straighten my hair. But when I went home for Christmas, I had my sis blow dry and flat iron it because she needed to trim my ends. She used a heat protectant (I don't know which one this time but I'm starting to feel the brand isn't important. I've used 2 others prior and my hair was fine) to blowdry and then she flat ironed. Since my hair is not used to being straight - I've only worn it straight 3xs in 3 yrs - it started to revert back after the 2nd day. (Click the jump for more & pics...)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Holiday Season!! Spend it with people who love you and enjoy your time with friends and family. I'd like to thank everyone for the support of my blog and for what I do :) God bless!!!

KeetaRay <3

P.S. In the next week I'll be posting more and including beauty/skin care tips, so let me know what you want to learn about! I'll be posting blogs and vlogs :)

Newfound Inspiration...

It's amazing how God leads you to a person, who leads you to another, and so on. Somehow, I ended up on a young woman's blog and Twitter page and the words on both gave me the help and encouragement I needed at exactly the right time. Her name is Heather Lindsey, and she, along with her husband, Cornelius Lindsey, are great examples of what having a real relationship with God is all about. Don't just take my word for it, though. Check out their website here to get more information and to hear archived messages/sermons/teachings -- whether you're married or single -- about Christian dating and living for God. While you're at it, check out Heather Lindsey's personal blog here. :)

I'm making so many changes in my life and having positive examples means everything. I've never met them, but I thank Cornelius and Heather, for all that they do!

Back to Basics

After going back to an interview (natural hair website feature) I had done back in February 2009, I decided to go back to basics with my hair care routine. For the last 1-2 years I've been experimenting with all types of hair products - from conditioners to leave-ins to stylers... I'm such a product junkie when it comes to hair products, beauty products, makeup... Sigh. And my close friends don't help. Lol! ;-) Anyway - You can see the online interview here on Motown Girl's website. Her site is one of the FIRST sites I would go to when I was transitioning to natural and right after I did my BC (big chop).

Here is what I did to achieve this look below:

-Co-washed with Trader Joe's Nourish Conditioner, detangling in sections
-Applied Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-In to sections, then a dime-sized amount of raw, unrefined shea butter and organic extra-virgin coconut oil to the hair, then two-strand twisted.
-After my hair was all twisted up, I let it air dry overnight. (I had 10 twists total when done)
-This morning I unraveled the twists and separated with my fingers. For this style I just pulled a Goody "Stay Put" headband toward the back of my head for this low puff.
EASY PEESY!! Lol

**To maintain: I'll retwist tonight (dry, won't re-wet my hair). I probably won't use any products because my hair feels moisturized, but if I do it will be a SMALL amount of coconut oil on my ends.

I noticed the most growth and length retention when I kept my routine and products simple, so I'm back to the basics with my hair!

*Note: All the products listed in the post were purchased from: Trader Joe's, The Vitamin Shoppe, and Target (the latter for the KC Knot Today).

Natural Hair Documentary: Vid

Twist Out on Kid's Hair

Below is a pic of my little cousin. Her mom gave her a twistout and look how cute it turned out! I'll have to ask again what she used and update this post, but I had to post the pic for now :)

"Feeling Moody" :)

Wearing my new knit scarf from Feeling_Moody! Check out her site, she has some GREAT stuff. You can follow Feeling Moody on Twitter here.

Courtesy of ESSENCE magazine - a free cosmetic bag with SAMPLES from Target

Check out what I received yesterday in the mail! Too cute :)

New Protective Style: Twisted Puff/Bun

I have to give credit to my friend Alex of The Good Hair Blog for this protective style idea. She told me about this before when she did it the last time, but on me it came out terrible. Today, I had to call her and get the details. It looks more complicated than it is but there is definitely a technique to achieving it.

What I did was pull my hair up with a stretchy headband (I used Goody headbands here) as if I were doing a puff (this was done on a 3-4 day old twist out). With the hair that was left out, I started two-strand twisting them around the perimeter of the puff. Once all my hair was twisted (I did bigger twists so it didn't take long at all - about 10 min.) I used hair pins to secure them toward the middle of the puff/bun. This gave the "bun" look/effect. I then used another headband to double up and put in the front of my hair (I just always like to do that but totally unnecessary for you to get this look). I plan to leave it like this until the end of the week.

What is your favorite protective style?

Product Review: Safi Haircare's Pumpkin Puddin'

I had the pleasure of trying out a new hair butter from Safi Haircare over the weekend. It's a new seasonal product called Pumpkin Puddin'. Below is the product description and ingredients, which are also listed on Safi's Website.

This yummy Pumpkin Puddin' is right on time for the holidays! It's light, airy, fluffy and smells like Grandma's pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving day. It has the scent of delicious pumpkin and the perfect mix of spices with top notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin and rum. Mid notes of apples, muguet, peach and ginger, paired with nutty vanilla base.
The great thing about Pumpkin Puddin' is that it can be used on your hair and body. The dash of cinnamon that's in this product will keep your strands nice and strong.


Ingredients: Pumpkin Seed Butter, Shea Butter, Aloe Vera Gel, Castor Oil, Argan Oil, Coconut Oil,Tucuma Butter, Cupuacu Butter, Red Palm Oil, Water, Xantham Gum(Thickener), Emulsifying wax, Ground Cinnamon, Sodium Lactate