EXAM WEEK = HELL WEEK!

I tried my graduation hairstyle again and I liked it, but I decided that I don't want to do it again! It took way too much effort to get my hair to roll the way I wanted it to. Today I have my hair in twists so that I can do a twist out for graduation. I think I will flatten the top of my hair a little bit so that my cap will fit over my head! To show how busy I've been, here's a picture of me in Starbucks attempting to study! ha!

Closer Look At My Graduation Hairstyle

Long Update!

Sorry everyone for waiting a whole month to do another post! I am preparing to graduate next month and I've been pretty busy trying to work on job applications and finish school on a great note! Sometimes I also go through a spell where I don't feel like making videos or blog posts anymore :( I am back and I plan to keep up with my blog more often. I also plan to start making more videos too! I've been in a search of the perfect style for graduation, because my hair has to fit underneath my cap! I'll talk about this in another post!


Update time!

I have completely changed my regimen and I am in love with the combination of products I have been using! I am currently using....

Chagrin Valley Soap bars - these bars help me with my itchy scalp and they also keep my hair soft! I don't think I will ever use anything else!

My Pretty Hair is Parched Conditioner by Renpure Organics - This conditioner makes my hair super soft and has a lot of slip as well!

Lekair Hair Cholesterol Plus - this is the pink conditioner and it's great! I only use this about once a month because it is so heavy. My hair doesn't necessarily need a heavy conditioner all the time. It is also a good light protein treatment. Sometimes I mix EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in the conditioner to make the comb glide through my hair.

Tresemme Naturals Silicone Free Conditioner - This is a great conditioner that I purchased 1 1/2 months ago. I love love love this stuff! I use it to condition my hair sometimes, but I use it mostly as a leave in conditioner. It is very moisturizing and has become my staple moisturizer. I also put two pumps of the conditioner into my spray bottle with water and use it when I need to moisturize my hair in between washes.

Shea Butter - I have been using shea butter so much lately! I love this stuff! I apply shea butter to my hair right after I have moisturized my hair with the Tresemme conditioner. I then add some Hot Six Oil (I love the smell lol) on top of the shea butter. My hair loves this combination!

Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding - I use this stuff when I want to do a defined style. It also prevents my hair from shrinking as much as it normally would without the pudding.

These products have really worked well in my hair and I'm proud for finally having a complete regimen! Shoot, it took about 10 months! lol

I also tried a different hairstyle.





Sorry my pictures aren't very detailed, but I will make a video today or tomorrow so that I can show my hair up close and describe my style.

How to Know When To Trim!

I am only giving my honest opinion in this post and I am no expert! :)



Ha! Look at that sock in my picture! I need to do betta! lol

It has been 9 months since I BC'd (big chopped) and I hadn't gotten a trim since then. For the whole 9 months of being natural, I've always wondered how will I know when it's time for a hair trim. Last week I found the courage to trim my own natural hair! I did it because my ends were uneven and it became difficult to twist the ends of my hair. I used the same technique that Youtube users Sheacocoaluv and RusticBeauty use.

My self-trimming technique:

1. Section your hair for styling.
2. Take a smaller section and place it in between your index and middle fingers so that it will give you a place to trim your hair.
3. Continue with moisturizing your hair
4. Twist or style hair as planned!

I loved this technique and my ends felt so much better when I was done. I don't have a steady hand so I was very proud of myself for being able to master this technique. I still don't know how often I will trim my hair, but right now I think that I should trim when my ends start to look uneven or a little rough.

So what's next? I think I will do a dry twist out on my hair. I just bought a wonderful leave-in (Neutrogena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave-In Cream) and I bought a heat protectant from Aveda. I'm excited to try these products for my 1st dry twist out! :)

I Can Flat Twist Now!

I just wanted to show y'all how I'm wearing my hair this week. I love this frohawk style a lot and I absolutely adore flat twists!

Qhemet Biologics Review

Here is my experience with the Burdock Root Butter Cream and the Amla and Olive Heavy Cream. See if they worked or didn't work! :)

Quick Hair Update!

I am so happy to say that I am no longer having issues with an itchy scalp. *SCREAM* :)


What helped me??? I stopped oiling my scalp! My scalp feels cleaner and my hair feels cleaner too. If you are having issues with an itchy scalp, please stop greasing/oiling your scalp. It does nothing but make your dandruff/dermatitis worse! When I think about it, other races and ethnicities don't grease their scalp, so why is it that we are the only ones that do it?


I will also be making product review videos soon for Chagrin Valley Soap bars and Qhemet Biologics Burdock Root Butter Cream and the Amla and Olive Heavy Cream. Stay tuned! :)

Does oiling the scalp really ease an itchy scalp?

My answer to this is HECK NO! :)

I have always had suffered from an itchy scalp and dandruff even as a relaxed girl, but the "itchies" got worse and worse the longer my natural hair grew. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my natural hair a lot, but this scalp issue must be solved ASAP! I have been oiling my scalp with Hot Six Oil and Doo Grow Megathick Growth Oil. The more my scalp itched, the more oil I put on my scalp. About a week and a half ago, my scalp was itching so bad that it prevented me from going to sleep! That's the worst feeling in the world! It's also embarrassing if you're constantly scratching your scalp in the middle of a conversation. After this ordeal, I decided I had had enough! I immediately hopped in the shower and washed and conditioned my hair then proceeded to do an ACV (apple cider vinegar) rinse. Instead of just dumping the ACV on my head, I used a spray bottle to apply it directly to my scalp and that gave my scalp a tingling, clean feeling. I have officially decided not to oil my scalp ever again!

In my opinion, oiling the scalp is just another one of those black hair myths. We've grown up with our mother's rubbing grease on our scalp and scratching the dandruff out with a comb. Why not just wash your hair to get the dandruff out? If you think about it, other races don't oil their scalps and their hair grows just fine. On hair care forums, I've had people tell me to use coconut oil, olive oil and aloe vera gel on my scalp, but that type of stuff just doesn't work. In fact, these oils and gels make my dandruff worse.

Here's an article from thenaturalhaven.blogspot.com that discusses if oiling the scalp is really necessary.

http://thenaturalhaven.blogspot.com/2010/08/oiling-scalp-is-it-necessary.html

I Guess I'm One of Those Naturals Video and Pics! :)

7 months natural! yay!

My twist outs are looking better than ever! I just used MJ Baby Buttercreme and spritzed water on my hair every morning. Here's a picture of my hair today. I can't believe tomorrow is wash day already lol.

A Few Random Thoughts

Right now I am sitting down watching a marathon of the old horror tv show "Monsters" and I am deep conditioning (with no heat) my hair with Lekair Hair Cholesterol Plus along with some olive oil. I started to realize how much I hate it when my hair is super defined. Last week I did a twist out using MJ Curly Pudding and Baby Buttercreme. My hair looked great, but it wasn't my style. My hair was in these tiny cute little curls, but it didn't give me big hair. I like my hair to be somewhat wild looking and a little frizzy too.


Here is what my hair looked like last week.

Mini Twists:



Mini Twist out:



Today I am going to twist my hair just using MJ Baby Buttercreme, because it gives me the look I desire. I am also going to do bigger twists, because I'm not into having a lot of curl definition anymore.

I can't wait to look like this again!

It's my 6 month hair anniversary!

Ugh I have the itchy scalp blues!

OMG my scalp has been itching so bad this week! In fact it still itched after I scrubbed my scalp really well with No Poo and just noticed dandruff in my hair today. I have been researching about different at home remedies to get rid of my scalp problems. I have decided to put Extra Virgin Olive Oil on my scalp for about 20 minutes then use No Poo, then use Apple Cider Vinegar diluted with water, and then proceed to condition my hair. I am really excited and I hope that this works for me! I will let you all know how this goes!

5 month hair anniversary video!

Here's my video of my 5 month update! Enjoy! :)

Sorry for being so absent!

I will be back soon with new pictures and posts! Until then... :)

Happy 4 months Nappy!

I'm so excited about my 4 month hair anniversary! I absolutely adore my natural hair and its wonderful versatility! I am enjoying all the different ways I can wear my hair now. I can wash and go or I can have slammin' twist outs! Lately I have been doing more twist outs and I don't wash my hair as often now that I twisting my hair. I only wash my hair once a week now and I think my hair likes not being manipulated a lot as well. Yay 4 months!

I just started banding my hair! :)

Wednesday night I twisted my hair for a twist out and it looked great the first day and so so the second day. The third day I woke up and my hair looked terrible and very fuzzy at the root. I finally realized why my hair looked like this. It's because i only used MJ Baby Buttercreme to twist my hair. Usually I use that and MJ Curly Pudding for a good hold. I didn't want to wash my hair again, so I separated the curls and fluffed my hair out. My hair looked super cute, so I decided to try banding overnight to keep this look and so far, it's worked! I'm glad I have other options for my hair!


This is me with my banded hair.


This is my hair after I took the bands out! I love this technique now!

Why don't black women cut their hair?

I made a video venting about black hair. Check it out if you like!

Activator Gel=Fail!

I had a PJ (Product Junkie) moment y'all! I went to Walgreens just to go to the pharmacy and of course I ended up end the beauty section lol. I decided to buy Long Aid Activator Gel simply because it was only $5 and came in this 32 oz jar. I've also heard some very good things about it, so I said what the heck! Why not try it?! After I washed and deep conditioned, I added Hot Six Oil and Kinky Curly Knot Today in my hair and then applied the activator gel. I swear as soon as I started applying the gel, my hair started to look static and it made some of my hairs stand up. I looked FUZZY! That was not good at all. I went to sleep hoping that my hair may look okay in the morning, but no, it was just that terrible. In fact, my hair looked worse this morning than last night. I tried to spritz my hair with water and my hair still felt sticky and looked static so I just decided to start all over again with a good shampoo. I then used my staple product, Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding! This is the only styling product that has worked on my hair the way I want it to. I love this stuff! In conclusion, I just think that gels are not for me! I've tried Kinky Curly Curling Custard too and it looked fine, but I prefer creamy products. My hair absolutely loves creamy products! I wanted to post a picture, but my hair really looked terrible, it's too embarrassing lol.

I absolutely love the Denman! Yay!

See how my curls pop! :)

I Bought a Denman Brush!!!

I ordered a Denman brush off of amazon.com the other day and I am super excited for it to get here! I have heard a lot of good things about this brush and I hear it defines your curl pattern and gets rid of shed hairs. I can't wait to try it out and see how it works.

Shingling vs Shrinkage

Everybody knows I am a huge fan of the Miss Jessie's products. I have been doing my wash and go's with the Curly Pudding then shingling my hair. If you don't know what that is, shingling is combing the product through your hair, whether it's with your fingers or an actual comb. I started to get nervous a few weeks ago, because my hair was getting too big with the shingling technique. I was actually overwhelmed so my sister suggested another technique. She told me I should just leave my hair alone after I use the styling creme and see how it looks. I absolutely loved my results! Last night I used MJ Stretch Silkening Creme for my wash and go and I liked that too. Both Curly Pudding and Stretch Silkening Creme are very similar. At the top there are two pictures for comparison of shingling and shrinkage. The first was taken today and I have more shrinkage going on. Shrinkage is actually my friend now lol and I am no longer afraid of it. The second picture shows how my hair turned out with the shingling method. Right now I think I'm going to stop shingling my hair until it actually gets longer and hangs more.

Just dropping in!

Hey y'all, I'm just dropping in because I made a new vlog for YouTube about my twist out and mini frohawk. I thought it was cute so I wanted to show everybody. I swear my hair grows really fast, because I did a twist out a month ago and I have way more hair this month than last month. I was able to do big twists too. Here's the link to my video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdNBWLXmWVg

My Biggest Pet Peeve!!

This may offend some folks, but I just can't keep it in anymore. I am a new vlogger on YouTube and I have befriended some women on this site with TWAs as well (my youtube name is princesasosweet). One thing I'm noticing is that a lot of women are trying to create a bunch of hairstyles with a TWA. I just don't get it! Why can't you just let your hair be? Leave it alone until you get more length. That's all I really had to say today, it's almost Spring Break for me. I am going to Montego Bay, Jamaica and I will take some pictures so I can post them. I am so excited to go swimming with my natural hair! All these years, I've been taught to avoid the pool, rain, hell water in general, but I get to fully experience being on vacation this time. Hooray! :) See y'all in a week!

Why is this man smiling at me like that?

I went to the gym today and was looking pretty rough after sweating so much. I went to get something to eat right after I left the gym and this man making my food kept staring me. He was smiling at me a lot and flirting and trying to know more about me. I felt pretty darn good at this moment. I am still in shock that any guy would be interested in me after being so gross after the gym. It also made me feel good that my natural hair was cute to him too. I love it! :) In the first picture, my hair was wet, so don't pay attention to the white stuff. I still use the same hair products. I love me some Miss Jessie's! My hair always looks and feels great!

I Got A Fro Y'all! :)

Here's my hair when I washed it yesterday. This weekend will be my 2 month anniversary after my Big Chop and I am so excited! My hair has grown so much and this is the thickest it has ever been. I am confident now with my fro and I love it! I wouldn't change anything about my hair EVER!!

Yay! It's finally my 1st month napptural anniversary!! :)

So I made it! Yay! I can finally say it's been one month since I BC'd. I have seen a lot of growth so far and my hair is thicker now. I am absolutely in love with my hair. I can't wait to see my hair in a few months to see the progress. I had an ugly day this week because I didn't feel pretty with my TWA. I felt very boyish and plain looking. I then started thinking maybe I should wear some bigger earrings or put on some makeup, but I snapped out of that mentality. Before I went natural, I wore little make up and wore small stud earrings and I refuse to change that about myself. I am still rocking my cute stud pearls and diamonds because those things make me Ashley Nicole. I know that I am beautiful on the inside and out and I have to remember that. I want to continue to be a confident sista with a TWA and I want to inspire other sistas too. Here's my YouTube video that shows my hair journey.

http://www.youtube.com/user/princesasosweet#p/a/u/0/FjdKL8j65Sk

Sorry I've been so busy!

Twist out results

I have been doing a little bit of blogging on hairlista.com lately. That site is so addicting sometimes, but I strongly recommend it for any women that love to discuss their hair, ask questions and give advice as well. So far, I've been doing a lot of wash and go's with my TWA, but Saturday I decided to twist my hair. I was pretty nervous about doing a twist out, because my hair is so short, but it actually looked really good. I thought I could keep it for a few days, but my scalp itched so much! It even itched in my sleep, so today I washed my hair and just did the usual wash and go. I used Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme to twist my hair, but I think I need to use some oil on my scalp before I twist my hair. Maybe my scalp itched because it was dry. I don't know though. This past week, I started school again after studying abroad in Spain and I was so surprised by the reactions to my hair. Everyone liked my hair! What a pleasant surprise! :) In fact, some girls asked me why I decided to go natural. Some told me that they wish they could rock a TWA like me. It felt really good! That was one thing I was worried about, was being accepted again with my little afro. Now I know I have nothing to worry about.

Also, I have a YouTube account now! I only have one video on there now, but stay tuned for more videos. :)
http://www.youtube.com/user/princesasosweet

I BC'd 3 times!

I cut my hair once while I was studying in Spain. I still had a ton of straight ends though, but I just couldn't deal with the straight hair anymore. I also got a professional hair cut when I got back to Charlotte, NC, but I didn't like the style so I went to the salon again two days later. It looks like 3 times a charm! :)