Are you a Product Junkie??

Hey Princesses,

As a recovering “Product Junkie” myself, I am more than qualified to address this topic. What is a “Product Junkie”, you ask? It is a person who sees a hair product commercial, or print ad, and just buys, buys buys. Any small peak of interest will inspire them to buy the product. This includes shampoos, conditioners, curl definers, heat protectors, glosses, oils, hair milk etc.

Next thing you know, your bathroom looks like a Sally’s Beauty Supply Outlet store! Every square inch has a hair product! Then your poor car is outside because, ‘who needs to put it in the garage, when you can store hair products there?’ Ok, that is extreme, but I am trying to help you BEFORE the hair products invade half of your home! Us Natural Princesses being on the TV show “Hoarders”, is not a good look!

New naturals are more prone to this “condition”. When you are new on this journey, you just want to try everything you see! You see how a product works for one individuals’ hair, and you just KNOW it will do the same for you. So you buy it! Now don’t get me wrong, exploring lots of new products in the beginning, is a fun thing. This exploration period helps you to find your staple products. Yet, if gone unchecked, this habit can become costly, time consuming, and lead to clutter. Now, I don’t have a 12 step process to this epidemic taking over the natural world, yet I have a few tips for you. These tips helped me to recover. Well, let me be real, I do relapse! The proof of that is in my hall closet, where full containers of endless products remain. But hey, even princesses aren’t perfect! Enjoy these tips…

Tip #1-Think Before you Buy!!
Ask yourself, “Do I really need another leave in conditioner?” And answer it honestly. If you already have 5 in your closet, you have a surplus as it is! Think about why you are really buying it. Is it a product you truly need at this time, or will it collect dust in your closet? Products are fun, but we have to try and be selective, and make more careful choices.

Tip #2-Calculate the Money you are Spending.
Ok, here are cold hard facts, you gotta face it. How much are you really spending on products? What COULD you be spending this money on? Eating out with your close girlfriends? Saving it for a trip? Buying your boo a present, or YOU a present? Just make sure you are keeping track of the money you spend. You will be surprised at how it adds up! Natural Hair care products can be costly at times. This leads me to my last and final tip…

Tip #3-Make Your Own Products!
If you are newly natural, you may be thinking that this can take too much time. Actually, with practice, you can quickly make some really great products for your hair. Do some research on the internet, read books, and just ask other Naturals. Products made of honey, essential oils, milk and other ingredients are fabulous. Just keep on experimenting, and don’t give up if your first batch of homemade product looks like slime! KEEP AT IT!!! Go to www.motowngirl.com and check out their hair recipes section, as a start.

Are You in a "Puff Rutt"??

Hey Princesses,

Did you do your big chop, or slow transition, and discover the beautiful "Puff"? A puff, for any transitioners, or interested relaxed women, is basically where you pull your hair back with a band, and just let it do what it do. Puffs are super easy, fun, and out of the way. They can be worn conservatively, or wild. Here is my favorite puff shot:

Here is the thing, puffing is so easy, that at times, we just go with this look, not exploring the other fabulous styles we can achieve. Contrary to popular belief, naturals have options!! Constantly wearing our hair up, tightly, can cause breakage on our edges. I am proof of this. My edges began to break off after puffing for too long! I noticed it when friends would "tag" me in pictures on Facebook, that I had NOT approved! :) And to my surprise, and horror, there was mad breakage on my edges, all zoomed in! Eww!! So, for this entry, I wanted to explore a basic style that can give you an alternative to the tight puff!

Braid Out

A braid out is when you braid your hair, (Wet or dry), and many hours later, unbraid it to get a really cute crinkly, or wavy affect. It is a really easy style to do, that can last for days. I like to do my braid outs on wet hair. I normally co-wash my hair, and apply an olive oil, Shea butter mixture to it. Next, I braid my hair into about 16 braids. (Bigger braids will give you more wavy hair, smaller, more crinkly). After that, I will either just let it dry overnight (With a satin scarf on), or sit under the dryer for about 20 minutes, to speed up the drying. In the morning, I VERY carefully unbraid the hair. I put some type of light oil on my hands first, in an attempt to not frazzle and frizzle my hair while unbraiding. (Ok, so I don't know if "Frizzle" is a word, but hey, we are natural princesses, we can make up words!). After unbraiding, I slightly separate the sections. This look can last for a good three days! Here is a pic of one of my braid outs!

Make sure to sleep with a satin bonnet, scarf, or something on your head to preserve this style for as long as you can. Each morning, you may want to put your favorite shine product on to give it some life for the day. If you try this look, comment here, and let us know how it worked!! Good luck!