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Saturday, November 23, 2013

Nails of the Week!!

Hi Guys!!

Here is a video that shows my nails of the week and my first attempt at nail art.  I thought it came out pretty good.  Watch and then tell me what you think!


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

My Nails

I'm really excited to write this post.  I have already shared on G+ that I've decided to start taking care of my nails.  I want to grow my NATURAL nails.  Years ago I used to have the acrylic tips and silk wraps and the gel manicures and the whole nine yards.  I was working and wearing my nails back in the day.  While those things are fine, at this point in my life I just want to learn to take care of and grow my natural nails so the  pictures you will see are of my natural nails.  I don't use any gel manicure or gel polish products on them,  just regular nail products.  I do use strengtheners and such because I have thin nails that get really, really soft when they get wet.

The first pics that I will share show about 2 weeks worth of care and the growth that occurred.  My nails were really short to begin with because I did not take care of my nails...I gave them no thought whatsoever.  I don't have any "before" pictures b/c, like I said, I gave them no thought so taking pictures of them wasn't even on the radar.

Here are the first pics from 2 weeks ago.  I had started taking care of my nails about 2 weeks prior to these pics so these pics show 2 weeks of growth.












One of the first things I did to begin taking care of my nails is to make my own cuticle oil.  I moisturize my cuticles and nails(especially when bare) several times a day. I started this routine/regimen from the beginning before using any kind of nail treatment or polish.  I put my cuticle oil in an old cleaned out Avon cuticle gel bottle.  This picture is about 3 weeks worth of growth. 





I let my nails stay bare for about 2-3 days in between my manicures and moisturize with just my cuticle oil multiple times a day to allow my nails to absorb the oil to strengthen the nail and to balance that strength with flexibility.   The oil makes nails flexible so they don't become brittle and break when bumped into things during the course of everyday life.





This manicure lasted for 5 days. This is the longest I've gone with a manicure with minimal chipping and polish cracking.  I think I finally have a good combination of topcoats...yes I use 2 different (kinds) of topcoats.







Okay, this ends my first pictoral of 4 weeks of nail care and growth.  My plan is to share exactly what I do, what I use and the information that I have garnered on the subject of nailcare in future posts.

Won't you join me on this, yet another 'natural' journey?

Monday, November 4, 2013

Protective Style Challenge Month 2: Rock Your Regimen week 1

Hi beautiful Naturalistas!!

Here is a 2 part video I did that talks about what my regimen has been for Debs Protective Style Challenge.  I decided to take this week by week just in case what I do changes from week to week.  Enjoy the videos and don't forget to rate, comment and/or subscribe!

I don't like for my videos to be too long so if they are over 10 minutes or so I separate them...

Here is part 1:




Here is part 2:

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Protective Style Challenge Month 1 Update


Hello everyone!!  I am overdue for a blog post.  Although I've been kind of absent from my blog I have been active on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube and you can follow me on those sites and see additional pictures and status updates as well.  I love "meeting" other naturals on their videos and fb pages, IG pictures and blogs and that has taken much of my time but I want to continue to document my journey here on my blog. 
As you know from my last blog post I am participating in a protective style challenge in the low manipulation category.  My goal is to style my hair in low manipulation styles and head wraps.  I'm also using castor oil on my scalp for my Castor Oil Challenge and wearing a plastic cap overnight for my GHE Challenge.
I felt this first month in this challenge went pretty well for me.  The first 2 weeks of this challenge I styled my curls using the Tightly Curly Method and my hair lasted for 14 days with the combination of all 3 challenges. The second 2 week stretch started off like this. 










I did a wash and go, using my regular smoothing of the conditioner in sections.  I did not do TC method on this second 2 week stretch.  
My process:
  • I water rinsed (LIQUID)
  • Used a homemade protein dc using Tresemme Naturals/mayonnaise/avocado oil
  • After rinsing I applied homemade oil concoction(OIL) 
  • I applied and sealed with homemade intense shea butter condish as my leave-in(CREAM)  
  • This ended up being the LOC method.







As the weeks progressed and by the end of 2 weeks, my hair was feeling a little rough and not at all soft and moisturized like it did the first 2 weeks.  When I took out my bands I saw a few broken hairs on my bathroom sink and I had to contain my internal hysteria!  LOL!!  I knew that I couldn't continue to allow my hair to go 2 weeks at a time so I've decided to either go back to doing my hair once a week and dc'ing every week or I will have to remoisturized during the week if I go longer than my normal 5-7 days.

Another thing I noticed is that when my hair was covered and wrapped up under my wraps and nighttime bonnets it became easy to just wrap my hair and go.  I believe I became lazy in my haircare and I should have re-moisturized my hair when I felt it begin to get dry and rough.  I don't usually re-moisturize my wash and gos during the week.  I can go 5-7 days and my hair is fine.  Yes, by day 7 it is needing a fresh cleanse/water and it gets it when I follow a "weekly" regimen.  It became so "easy" to just wrap it up and go and I was determined to go 2 weeks.  Well, I learned my lesson that day for sure!

Another difference in the second 2 week and the first 2 weeks was the fact that with the TC method each curl and each strand is saturated and moisture is sealed with my oil/butter/conditioner; not so with just applying conditioner using my regular method(just smoothing and light raking conditioner through hair).  My hair seems to hold moisture much better with the TC method.  But I don't think I'm going to be doing TC method every week b/c it is such a time intensive process.
All in all I think this first month went well.  I am enjoying this process and journey and look forward to month 2.  Month 2 is where we Rock our Regimen.  Month 2 is the month I will highlight our regimen in how we maintain and keep our hair moisturized during this challenge.  Stay tuned...!!!!
 



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