Look for Less: Boxing Kitten Oxfords

*image from fashionbombdaily.com*


Remember these babies, the beautiful tribal print oxfords from Boxing Kitten. I'm sure you loved them, but thought twice about the purchase when you seen that they were only a measly $126 .. ya right. Perhaps they were sold out before you could get your hands on them because only 50 were made in each color. Either way turn your frowns upside down, because you can get a similar look from Forever 21 from only a fraction of the price, only $22.80 - get yours before they're sold out.

FOREVER 21

NATIVE OXFORDS

NATIVE OXFORDS

NATIVE OXFORDS

Easy Summertime/ Everyday Makeup

More Looks...

If you're not into wearing liquid foundation in the summer then this look is for you, and the best part is you can obtain it in under 5minutes. Here's what you'll need:

1. Mac Mineralized Skin Finish Natural (my shade is Deep Dark)
2. Mac Fix+ Spray or some other skin prepping mist, IE Evian Spritz, or plain water
3. Mascara & Eyebrow pencil
4. Your favorite blush (Try Nars Orgasm)
5. Lipgloss or Lipstick (I used Mac Boy Bait or Mac Right Image)

After cleansing, moisturizing and priming your face spray Fix+ Spray all over your face. The MSF blends better and gives more coverage when applied to wet skin. Then apply your Mineralized Skin Finish Natural all over your face and down your neck using either a kabuki brush or a dense powder brush. Next apply your favorite blush to the apples of your cheeks using any blush brush (MAC 116) or even the same powder brush. Next fill in your brows. Finally apply your mascara and lipgloss and head out the door. Easy as 1-2-3.
Note: If your going out at night just add a little black liner to your upper lash line and waterline.

Braid Spray: How to Stretch It

As many of you already know, my current protective style is box braids. The product i'm using to keep my hair moisturized is Africa's Best Braid & Sheen Spray with Conditioner. At my local beauty supply store this spray costs five dollars. Now I know five dollars isn't a lot, but i've had my braids in less than a week and i've already used half of the bottle. That's not a lot if you consider that daily moisturizing is necessary, and also that I plan on keeping these in for about two months, I don't plan on spending too much money running out and buying braid spray every week. So here's what I came up with :

Ingredients
Braid Spray of your choice
Aphogee Pro-Vitamin Leave in conditioner
Grapeseed oil or oil of your choice (olive, jojoba, etc)
Water
100% Glycerin
A drop of Shea moisture restorative conditioner (if you want)


Pour about a quater to a third of your braid spray into a spray bottle, add about one-third cup of water, a good amount of your oil, a touch of glycerin and a touch of your leave in. SMRC is optional. After everything is added give it a good shake, section your hair and spray away. This mix felt so good on my scalp, I love it.

If you don't have glycerin or any of the other ingredients that's fine, the main product you'll need other than braid spray are your oil and water and you should be good to go.

There you have it, keep your hair moisturized on a budget. Happy Hair Journey

Skin Care Regimen

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Many of us are lacking skin care regimens. I've searched high and low for the best products to give me beautiful clear skin and I think i've finally found the best combination.

Step One : Cleanse
A good cleanser will for one, cleanse your skin, but it will also give your pores a chance to breathe ridding your skin from any dirt. For my cleanser I use Ambi Black Soap.

Step Two: Exfoliate
This helps get rid of any old skin cells that can leave your face looking dry. These can be used daily or once or twice a week as needed.
Try Aveeno Clear Complexion Cream Cleanser

Step Three: Tone
Toners close your pores and remove any final traces of dirt your cleanser did'nt pick up. Try Thayers Alcohol-Free Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner

Step Four: Moisturize
For beautiful ageless skin use a moisturizer daily. Be sure to use one with SPF for the day time. At night use a nice thick one without. At night I use Shea Butter and in the day time I use Hope in a Jar

skin care regimen by adoretayyy on Polyvore.com

Summer Protective Style: Braids

During the hot summer months, the most beneficial thing to do for your hair is to utilize protective styles. For my protective style I chose micro-braids or box-braids. I've had them in for two days now, and I plan on keeping them in until the beginning of August, so about eight weeks. For some braids end up causing more harm than good but if you keep up with your regimen your hair will thank you.

Here's my regimen:

Note: contray to popular belief, you can wash your braids. If you're too afraid try Dry Shampoo

Daily
Moisturize with Braid Spray - Africa's Best Braid Sheen Spray
Oil Scalp with oil mix: castor, grapeseed and peppermint (every other day)

Weekly
Clean Scalp with Tresemme Fresh Start dry shampoo

Once a Month
Wash & Condition hair by diluting shampoo in water and pouring or applying to hair with an applicator bottle.

Healthy hair loves a clean scalp, so be sure to keep your scalp clean. Hope this helps !

Three Month Progress

I began my hair journey on March 24, 2011. Since then I have learned so much about my hair, not everything but I have gotten to know my hair way more than I ever have. Prior to beginning my hair journey I had just taken out a sew-in. It was a straight style with a little hair left out on top. Due to frequent flat ironing you can see that I barely had any hair left on the top of my head. It really looks bad. Thankfully my hair has filled in since then. I am not quite shoulder length yet, but I have made great progress nonetheless, in my opinion. So there's my 3 month update, next three month comparison will be in September! Wish me luck!

Ms. Nappy Hair

(source)


As a new transitioner I became curious of what my hair texture was like pre-relaxer. So I asked my mom, "what was my hair like before you relaxed it?" Her response "nappy." She said it with such simplicity, like what other answer should I have expected. I replied "nappy?" and her final response is "you know, kinky." I decided to just leave it at that, the best way to find out my texture is to just wait and see. *sigh* I'm so excited about going natural, finally something for myself. I know for sure that i'm going to be one of the boo-hooers when I do my actual big chop. Its okay though, i'm prepared, as prepared as I can be. I'm not in love with the straight hair look. When I did my last stretch to 12 weeks I was so excited about my new growth, there was so much! So i'm ready, whatever my hair texture is i'm sure I will love it. I have no choice its MINE!

My Favorite Youtube Natural Gal

Everyone meet Carmen (sheacocoaluv). She is by far my favorite youtuber. Carmen as well as her sisters are all natural divas. She's gorgeous as well as her hair. She is working it. I love her progress, she makes transitioning to natural look easy. Whenever I get frustrated with my transitioning hair I just visit her channel for a little inspiration. I can't wait to transition and rock my sexy TWA. I am too excited. If you haven't visited her channel please do, if you're not natural yet i'm sure she'll inspire you!

Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo

I'm so excited to do this review. I am absolutely in love with this shampoo. It is Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo, yes it is a mouthful. It claims to "hydrate, smooth, and repair strands leaving hair soft and manageable."  This is nothing but the truth. I have never, and I mean never used a shampoo that has made my hair feel so soft and moisturized like this one has. Its thick, creamy, luscious and smells good. I did read that because it's a moisturizing shampoo you should definitely use a clarifying shampoo atleast once a month if you're going to use it often to get rid of build up. Other than that, I am seriously amazed. I don't think i'll ever buy any other shampoo unless its from the Shea Moisture line. Yes, it's that serious! 

Ingredients: 

Contains de-ionized water, Decyl Glucoside (sugar beets), African Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea butter) (denotes certified organic ingredients), aloe vera leaf juice, Argan Oil, Panthenol (pro-vitamin B-5, rosemary extract, sea kelp extract, vitamin E, Lonicera Caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower and Lonicera Japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) flower extract.

Pick up your SMMRS at Target or Walgreens for $9.99

10 weeks post

This is my new growth when I was 10 weeks post in May, as you can see from the picture. That new growth was SERIOUS. I actually relaxed my hair two weeks later at 12 weeks post with Organic Roots Stimulator No-Lye relaxer. It came out good my hair was actually soft. Shortly after I had an epiphany and decided I wanted natural hair. Too bad I didn't come to this decision two weeks earlier, I could have been that much farther along in transition. Sigh, oh well back to the drawing board.

Joining the Blogger World

I decided to create this blog to document my new Healthy Hair Journey. I started my hair journey on almost 3 months ago on March 26, 2011. When I first started I had just taken out a sew in which left my hair dry, weak, and all around damaged. Lucky enough I was able to find Megan, (UloveMegz) on youtube, who then lead me to the K-I-S-S website. For those two things I am extremely greatful. 

Megan and the K-I-S-S website combined have showed that together by spreading our knowledge we can get rid of the myth that "black hair does not and cannot grow." KISS has members that are both relaxed, and natural so don't be discouraged if you are one or the other. 

So three months into my hair journey i've now decided to transition from relaxed to natural. I'm tired of relaxing my hair and i've begun to fall in love with my new growth. I'm ready to get to know my own texture and leave the creamy crack behind me.

Join me as I begin my new journey to relaxed hair, and your journey to healthy hair!