Hello, All.
I wanted to come to you with a few words about things that I am about to change. I do not believe that I will continue to use this blog in regards to my hair. I have been working on a new blog that will be a combination of hair, nails, work and school. Please follow my new blog at
NEW BLOG
Again, this blog page will no longer be active. I want to combine my blogs rather than try to work on more than one. So I am currently working on how to combine the blogs. If you reach this blog, it is going to look rather skimpy, but I am working hard to get this blog up and running. HOWEVER, I do have my initial post up, so please go check that out.
Once again, I believe that I will be letting this blog go. Please follow me at my new blog.
On to bigger and better,
Alexis
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
My hair is suffering
Split ends, dryness and breaking and I am babying my hair. What is it that I could be doing wrong? Who knows? I continue to work with my hair.
What am I doing now?
Well, I have been adding a hot oil treatment as my prepoo. I was hoping that this would help with the overall strength with my hair, but I have yet to discover what is going on. I have yet to find a protective style. I am still tending to my hair day after day. I was hoping to put a flexi rod set in, but the rain in lower Alabama has been rough for a few days, so I have been trying to work around the weather by utilizing my professional go-to hairstyle: the pincurl updo. Quick, sleek and out of the way, I have been working with this style all week. Today is my last work day of the week. Thankfully, I will actually have time to give my hair a good washing so that I can tend to my hair properly.
I am currently five weeks post. My goal is to stretch my relaxer until December and see what the Christmas holiday takes me. I am stretching in order to start over in my HHJ as a full texlaxed lady. We will definitely see though, The urge to bone straight relax my hair grows stronger within my soul everyday, lol. However, school and my job keeps me out of my hair. I continue to work on finding out what will save my length while I stretch. I plan on trimming my hair once a month to keep my ends blunt and to chip away the dead, overprocessed relaxed ends. The very thought of ridding my relaxed ends keep me encouraged to continue to run this race I call a HHJ.
Until next time,
Alexis
What am I doing now?
Well, I have been adding a hot oil treatment as my prepoo. I was hoping that this would help with the overall strength with my hair, but I have yet to discover what is going on. I have yet to find a protective style. I am still tending to my hair day after day. I was hoping to put a flexi rod set in, but the rain in lower Alabama has been rough for a few days, so I have been trying to work around the weather by utilizing my professional go-to hairstyle: the pincurl updo. Quick, sleek and out of the way, I have been working with this style all week. Today is my last work day of the week. Thankfully, I will actually have time to give my hair a good washing so that I can tend to my hair properly.
I am currently five weeks post. My goal is to stretch my relaxer until December and see what the Christmas holiday takes me. I am stretching in order to start over in my HHJ as a full texlaxed lady. We will definitely see though, The urge to bone straight relax my hair grows stronger within my soul everyday, lol. However, school and my job keeps me out of my hair. I continue to work on finding out what will save my length while I stretch. I plan on trimming my hair once a month to keep my ends blunt and to chip away the dead, overprocessed relaxed ends. The very thought of ridding my relaxed ends keep me encouraged to continue to run this race I call a HHJ.
Until next time,
Alexis
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Update Post, but no pix
Hello, ladies.
It has been a few weeks. School, work and my personal life had my full attention, and I apologize for that. I just wanted to come to you with this blog post about what's going on.
1. I am still still trying to stretch my relaxer. I wanted to announce that I am not relaxing my hair anymore until December. Do not talk about me if I do not make this goal, lol. Ok here is the logic:
I am currently transitioning to texlaxed. Some of my roots are texlaxed, but I have some NG too. However, I cannot determine what is texlaxed and what is NG. I know both are there but I cannot differentiate the two. SO, to avoid overlapping any previously texlaxed hair, I have decided to stretch my relaxer for close to nine months. I believe that 9 months will give me enough time to see the clear difference. Eventually, I want to be able to start snipping the relaxed hair away. I have even thought about stretching for an entire year, Big Chop as a natural and start over by texlaxing the natural hair and start complete as a full texlaxed head anywhere between December 2015 - March 2016. I have also considered texlaxing two more times this year and cutting relaxed hair off. I have also thought about gradually transitioning while trimming along the way. I am all over the place. I do not know where I am going to end up. In addition, I have thought about texlaxing in August and December of this year and cutting almost half of my relaxer hair off before the new year. Right now, the decision is so hard to make, so I have been considering all sides and I believe as I continue to grow in my transition that I feel like I will make the better choice for myself. Do I see myself going completely natural? I do see myself doing, but that is not a goal for me. My goal is to have a loosen curl pattern. However, I have not allowed my hair to grow out to where I could even lay eyes on a curl pattern. So that will be a first for me. I will actually see what my natural curl pattern looks like. I believe that I would go natural is my natural curl pattern is loose; however, I am unsure of the curl pattern and do not believe that it is quite loose. So we will see.
2. I am on a 60 day challenge. This 60 day challenge includes me squating 5 days a week, working on getting dental work done, take vitamins to get grow stronger nails and taking hair vitamins for 60 days. I started 4/1/15 and will end 5/30/15 and I will give an update on 5/31/15 in time for my birthday, 6/1! The goal is to have some type of life back there, to grow out my hair more and to have the remaining painful dental work done. Last year, I experienced some dental pain on my birthday. I was very uncomfortable for birthday, but I do not plan to repeat it this year. So, I will be working hard to have my teeth fixed before my birthday.
3. One day, I spoke with my mother about obtaining some braids and wearing them for a while. If you didn't know, I am counselor at a residential rehab facility. My mother and grandmother told me that they did not believe that braids had any place in a professional field. They were trying to discourage me from getting them. But I am more bent on getting them. My goal is to wear some type of braids for a month, give my hair a week to two week break and rock more braids. My goal is to stop having to comb and style my hair every morning and to protective style.
So hopefully, we will see some progress soon.
Until later,
Alexis
It has been a few weeks. School, work and my personal life had my full attention, and I apologize for that. I just wanted to come to you with this blog post about what's going on.
1. I am still still trying to stretch my relaxer. I wanted to announce that I am not relaxing my hair anymore until December. Do not talk about me if I do not make this goal, lol. Ok here is the logic:
I am currently transitioning to texlaxed. Some of my roots are texlaxed, but I have some NG too. However, I cannot determine what is texlaxed and what is NG. I know both are there but I cannot differentiate the two. SO, to avoid overlapping any previously texlaxed hair, I have decided to stretch my relaxer for close to nine months. I believe that 9 months will give me enough time to see the clear difference. Eventually, I want to be able to start snipping the relaxed hair away. I have even thought about stretching for an entire year, Big Chop as a natural and start over by texlaxing the natural hair and start complete as a full texlaxed head anywhere between December 2015 - March 2016. I have also considered texlaxing two more times this year and cutting relaxed hair off. I have also thought about gradually transitioning while trimming along the way. I am all over the place. I do not know where I am going to end up. In addition, I have thought about texlaxing in August and December of this year and cutting almost half of my relaxer hair off before the new year. Right now, the decision is so hard to make, so I have been considering all sides and I believe as I continue to grow in my transition that I feel like I will make the better choice for myself. Do I see myself going completely natural? I do see myself doing, but that is not a goal for me. My goal is to have a loosen curl pattern. However, I have not allowed my hair to grow out to where I could even lay eyes on a curl pattern. So that will be a first for me. I will actually see what my natural curl pattern looks like. I believe that I would go natural is my natural curl pattern is loose; however, I am unsure of the curl pattern and do not believe that it is quite loose. So we will see.
2. I am on a 60 day challenge. This 60 day challenge includes me squating 5 days a week, working on getting dental work done, take vitamins to get grow stronger nails and taking hair vitamins for 60 days. I started 4/1/15 and will end 5/30/15 and I will give an update on 5/31/15 in time for my birthday, 6/1! The goal is to have some type of life back there, to grow out my hair more and to have the remaining painful dental work done. Last year, I experienced some dental pain on my birthday. I was very uncomfortable for birthday, but I do not plan to repeat it this year. So, I will be working hard to have my teeth fixed before my birthday.
3. One day, I spoke with my mother about obtaining some braids and wearing them for a while. If you didn't know, I am counselor at a residential rehab facility. My mother and grandmother told me that they did not believe that braids had any place in a professional field. They were trying to discourage me from getting them. But I am more bent on getting them. My goal is to wear some type of braids for a month, give my hair a week to two week break and rock more braids. My goal is to stop having to comb and style my hair every morning and to protective style.
So hopefully, we will see some progress soon.
Until later,
Alexis
Saturday, March 14, 2015
First video has been posted
My intro video to my channel (counselingsweetie) has been posted. Please watch it and subscribe to my channel.
Thank you soooo much in advance,
Alexis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRvzgiEDXx8&feature=youtu.be
Thank you soooo much in advance,
Alexis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRvzgiEDXx8&feature=youtu.be
Thursday, March 12, 2015
I finally did it! My own YOUTUBE channel!
Hello, ladies.
I was so busy the last couple of weeks due to me trying to finish another class in graduate school. I finally got my test out of the way, and I made a B in the class. Another class down, six classes and an internship left to go. But enough of that, let me get down to the title of my blog.....
After many years of considering, I have finally decided to start my own YouTube channel. My channel is named counselingsweetie.
Here is a link to the page:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa-MaOw0wfswSG3thtkQ7BA/feed
It should take you there. If it doesn't please let me know so that I can fix it. I hope you will subscribe to my channel. As some of you may already know, I am a drug therapist. So, my channel will consist of me still going to school, my career, my journey to further myself in the field, my hair and other beauty videos.
My video will mostly consist of vlogging. I am soooo excited to finally have my channel made. I have yet to post any videos, but I am working my first one. My first one will describe everything that I am doing, like a small background. I promise to let you all know when videos are up and I will try my best to post them here on my blog so that you can see them.
I thank you in advance for supporting me in another milestone for me. I cannot wait to start making my videos and share my life.
Please subscribe if you can, I promise to get started ASAP! Also, this page will not be left abandoned, so please keep your eyes open for more and more blogs.
Alexis
I was so busy the last couple of weeks due to me trying to finish another class in graduate school. I finally got my test out of the way, and I made a B in the class. Another class down, six classes and an internship left to go. But enough of that, let me get down to the title of my blog.....
After many years of considering, I have finally decided to start my own YouTube channel. My channel is named counselingsweetie.
Here is a link to the page:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa-MaOw0wfswSG3thtkQ7BA/feed
It should take you there. If it doesn't please let me know so that I can fix it. I hope you will subscribe to my channel. As some of you may already know, I am a drug therapist. So, my channel will consist of me still going to school, my career, my journey to further myself in the field, my hair and other beauty videos.
My video will mostly consist of vlogging. I am soooo excited to finally have my channel made. I have yet to post any videos, but I am working my first one. My first one will describe everything that I am doing, like a small background. I promise to let you all know when videos are up and I will try my best to post them here on my blog so that you can see them.
I thank you in advance for supporting me in another milestone for me. I cannot wait to start making my videos and share my life.
Please subscribe if you can, I promise to get started ASAP! Also, this page will not be left abandoned, so please keep your eyes open for more and more blogs.
Alexis
Saturday, March 7, 2015
So, I was called Ungrateful today (HAIR STORY)
As you may have already known, I cut my hair about two weeks ago to full shoulder length. I saw that my ends were dead and that I really needed to let go of the ends to maintain a full head of healthy hair. I want to fully commit to my hair maintaining its health rather than length. To me, I am doing my hair a good deed. The conversation I had earlier today made me question everything I have been doing about my hair.
LONG HISTORY LESSON, I was bullied back in my school days. My hair never looked the best due to the fact that my mother never really knew how to style little girls hair. So I caught a lot of crap due to the fact that my hair was poor in presentation. My hair was fried, dried out and brittle. My hair was choppy and would not lay down. So I got bullied for the devastating mess that had nerves to call itself a head of hair. I would come home and cry and pray that my hair would grow out and look nice. I graduated high school in 2006 and started my HHJ in 2008. I have yet to look back.
TODAY, I was on the phone with my mother. She asked me what was my plan for the day. I told her that I was disappointed that I could not braid my hair because of the poor quality of braid hair I purchased. She proceeded to rip me a new one. She reminded me of my previous struggle of where I came from a bad stage of horrible hair. She reminded me that I would come home and cry and pray and complain about my hair. She told me that I was ungrateful for cutting my hair and always wanting to put weave in my hair when The Lord has blessed me with improved hair. She told me that I act like I have forgotten where I have came from, like I took my blessing for granted. So, the guilt rolled in.
I started to think that maybe I am ungrateful. I prayed for longer, better looking hair for years. I mean, LOOK AT MY STARTING PIC!!!! My hair was bad! AND it was worse than that. So, I felt like I really cut out all of the blessings from my hair. I started tugging on my SL hair, slightly ashamed of myself. I started flipping through my phone of Longer-Hair-Lexis. I started really missing the nicer, longer hair. It was official; I had began to regret my hair cut.
For a quick minute, my HHJ thinking went out of the window. After sulking from the tongue lashing, I started remembering my six inches that I cut. They were split, they were dry and beyond repair. My hair was uneven, and I evened it. My ends looked bad and I got rid of them. My roots are thick but my ends were stringy. I wanted to separate myself from them. I had to snap myself back; I am doing the right thing for my hair, I had to remind myself. I am not being selfish. From 2008 up until now, I am not and will not take on the title of a self-proclaimed hair guru. I do not know everything there is to know about hair. My blog is not a tip, look at me, follow my guidelines to healthy hair blog. I am a one day at a time blog; I make mistakes and I continue to learn from them. I make good decisions and bad decisions. But I am not going to skip around the bad parts to avoid making my blog look bad or less than a progressing one. That would not be an accurate account of my HHJ. To make this lesson cohesive with my trim, I would be lying to myself if I kept those bad ends. My hair was not flourishing with those bad ends and I should not keep them if I cannot benefit from them. With that being said, I proudly rock the inches that I have. I hate when hairstyles do not go my way, but there is no reason to hate the choices I make with my hair if it means that I am trying to do right by my hair.
I am so thankful for the cut. I know what it is like to possess a healthy head of hair now. I am currently rocking my hair at the greatest health that it has ever been. My goals right now is to maintain my healthy hair and grow it longer. In addition, I am trying to proceed to full texlaxed hair. I have to respect my mother, but there are some things that I may have to take a deaf ear to.
After all, no one is on my HHJ journey but me.
Until the next post,
Alexis
LONG HISTORY LESSON, I was bullied back in my school days. My hair never looked the best due to the fact that my mother never really knew how to style little girls hair. So I caught a lot of crap due to the fact that my hair was poor in presentation. My hair was fried, dried out and brittle. My hair was choppy and would not lay down. So I got bullied for the devastating mess that had nerves to call itself a head of hair. I would come home and cry and pray that my hair would grow out and look nice. I graduated high school in 2006 and started my HHJ in 2008. I have yet to look back.
TODAY, I was on the phone with my mother. She asked me what was my plan for the day. I told her that I was disappointed that I could not braid my hair because of the poor quality of braid hair I purchased. She proceeded to rip me a new one. She reminded me of my previous struggle of where I came from a bad stage of horrible hair. She reminded me that I would come home and cry and pray and complain about my hair. She told me that I was ungrateful for cutting my hair and always wanting to put weave in my hair when The Lord has blessed me with improved hair. She told me that I act like I have forgotten where I have came from, like I took my blessing for granted. So, the guilt rolled in.
I started to think that maybe I am ungrateful. I prayed for longer, better looking hair for years. I mean, LOOK AT MY STARTING PIC!!!! My hair was bad! AND it was worse than that. So, I felt like I really cut out all of the blessings from my hair. I started tugging on my SL hair, slightly ashamed of myself. I started flipping through my phone of Longer-Hair-Lexis. I started really missing the nicer, longer hair. It was official; I had began to regret my hair cut.
For a quick minute, my HHJ thinking went out of the window. After sulking from the tongue lashing, I started remembering my six inches that I cut. They were split, they were dry and beyond repair. My hair was uneven, and I evened it. My ends looked bad and I got rid of them. My roots are thick but my ends were stringy. I wanted to separate myself from them. I had to snap myself back; I am doing the right thing for my hair, I had to remind myself. I am not being selfish. From 2008 up until now, I am not and will not take on the title of a self-proclaimed hair guru. I do not know everything there is to know about hair. My blog is not a tip, look at me, follow my guidelines to healthy hair blog. I am a one day at a time blog; I make mistakes and I continue to learn from them. I make good decisions and bad decisions. But I am not going to skip around the bad parts to avoid making my blog look bad or less than a progressing one. That would not be an accurate account of my HHJ. To make this lesson cohesive with my trim, I would be lying to myself if I kept those bad ends. My hair was not flourishing with those bad ends and I should not keep them if I cannot benefit from them. With that being said, I proudly rock the inches that I have. I hate when hairstyles do not go my way, but there is no reason to hate the choices I make with my hair if it means that I am trying to do right by my hair.
I am so thankful for the cut. I know what it is like to possess a healthy head of hair now. I am currently rocking my hair at the greatest health that it has ever been. My goals right now is to maintain my healthy hair and grow it longer. In addition, I am trying to proceed to full texlaxed hair. I have to respect my mother, but there are some things that I may have to take a deaf ear to.
After all, no one is on my HHJ journey but me.
Until the next post,
Alexis
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
No need for a missing persons report
Hey ladies.
I have finals this week. I'll return to you in a few days. Please DNT lose patience. I haven't dumped the page again. Lol.
Wish me luck, y'all. (This term was tough!)
-Alexis
I have finals this week. I'll return to you in a few days. Please DNT lose patience. I haven't dumped the page again. Lol.
Wish me luck, y'all. (This term was tough!)
-Alexis
Monday, February 23, 2015
Pix of the cut!
Talk about a teaser!!!! The pic didn't post?! 
Well, here y'all go!!!!
I'm in love!!!!!
Sunday, February 22, 2015
How About a Teasing Post?!
So, I cut my hair. I am six inches shorter. I did not know that I had it in me.
The short version is that I looked at my hair in the mirror and realized something: I had over four inches of dead, walking dead ends. My ends looked bad. Another thing is that my hair is naturally shaded with browns and reds. These hues caused my hair to look even more unhealthy. So I grabbed my shears and cut a whopping 6 inches off. I'm at my shoulders again. My goal: take care of my new healthy ends, wear more cute curly styles, rely on roller sets, grow out this cut and get closer to my goal of being fully texlaxed by the end of 2016.
Pictures? Here's a one, and you will get others tomorrow!!! :-)
The short version is that I looked at my hair in the mirror and realized something: I had over four inches of dead, walking dead ends. My ends looked bad. Another thing is that my hair is naturally shaded with browns and reds. These hues caused my hair to look even more unhealthy. So I grabbed my shears and cut a whopping 6 inches off. I'm at my shoulders again. My goal: take care of my new healthy ends, wear more cute curly styles, rely on roller sets, grow out this cut and get closer to my goal of being fully texlaxed by the end of 2016.
Pictures? Here's a one, and you will get others tomorrow!!! :-)
Monday, February 16, 2015
Life Update + Hair Talk
In the beginning of 2014, I got into a relationship and was over the moon! This was a pic of our first date. I was so happy. My hair was pretty healthy here, APL.
This pic above this texr was in the summer of 2014. I didnt know it but my relationship was on its last leg and last month. I really loved how my hair looked. I was APL, but was suffering from a thin nape due to a rough sew in. I quit my job in May and decided to intern for my degree in June. July, my relationship was over. The stress caused me to lose my hair in clumps. Also in July, I finished my internship and applied amd got hired at the same place. So I started work in July. My hair was so damaged that I needed a serious cut.
In December, I graduated with my masters with full SL hair.
This pic above this texr was in the summer of 2014. I didnt know it but my relationship was on its last leg and last month. I really loved how my hair looked. I was APL, but was suffering from a thin nape due to a rough sew in. I quit my job in May and decided to intern for my degree in June. July, my relationship was over. The stress caused me to lose my hair in clumps. Also in July, I finished my internship and applied amd got hired at the same place. So I started work in July. My hair was so damaged that I needed a serious cut.
In December, I graduated with my masters with full SL hair.
Here I am, grazing APL with bangs.
My degree is counseling. I am a drug counselor. I counsel teenage boys who are addicted to drugs. I love my job. I am also super single. No man and no length really gained within the last year. I am super serious about my hair. This is my addiction. I would live to be BSL by christmas. I am using little heat, low manipulation styles and hopefullY SOME PROTECTIVE STYLES. I hardly keep them in. I have moved closer to my job. I am also near some salons. So hopefully I can get some versatility in the head region.
My struggle is that I want to look, adult and professional in regards to my hair. I do not plan relinquishing my duties as primary hair caretaker. But im getting tired. Lol.
In my transition to my new home, im lacking all of products in order to leave my mom with products. So I am using this opportunity to switch my regimen to a natural product regumen. As stated in the last post, im transitioning to texlaxed.
Continue to follow my journey.
Mwah!!!
Saturday, February 14, 2015
OMG, I am back.....AGAIN!
Hello, people!!!
I have been gone for sooooooo long. But I wanted to come to you with a short blog! I am back and I going to be here in full effect. I wanted to explain a few things.
I had a really bad breakup in 2013.
I was working hard in grad school up until December 2014.
I got into a relationship in 2014, which ended up in a bad breakup.
I graduated from grad school.
I got a new job.
I MOVED!!!!!
I have done all of this and I have remained the same length, if not shorter.
However, I am here to work on not only gaining length, but to make another announcement. I will no longer relax my hair. I am currently transitioning to TEXLAXED hair. So I will be covering that journey here. I am currently overall APL, scattered texlaxed. I am not even TWA texlaxed. My next touchup will probably be in May. But I will cover everything in later blogs. My goal is to get you two posts a week. I am hoping that I will never go this long away from blog again.
In this blog, I will also show my new loves: minimal makeup application and 3D nail art. Please stay tuned with me as I transition back into a blogger.
I have missed y'all.
Stay tuned!
I have been gone for sooooooo long. But I wanted to come to you with a short blog! I am back and I going to be here in full effect. I wanted to explain a few things.
I had a really bad breakup in 2013.
I was working hard in grad school up until December 2014.
I got into a relationship in 2014, which ended up in a bad breakup.
I graduated from grad school.
I got a new job.
I MOVED!!!!!
I have done all of this and I have remained the same length, if not shorter.
However, I am here to work on not only gaining length, but to make another announcement. I will no longer relax my hair. I am currently transitioning to TEXLAXED hair. So I will be covering that journey here. I am currently overall APL, scattered texlaxed. I am not even TWA texlaxed. My next touchup will probably be in May. But I will cover everything in later blogs. My goal is to get you two posts a week. I am hoping that I will never go this long away from blog again.
In this blog, I will also show my new loves: minimal makeup application and 3D nail art. Please stay tuned with me as I transition back into a blogger.
I have missed y'all.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
HAIR CUT
That's right. 
Four inches lighter. 
I did this myself, only help was with a mirror. I think I did pretty darn good. 
Fridays updo
Sundays updo
Mondays updo.
I woke up on the 21st and was itching for a haircut. After getting my sew in, I suffered significant breakage. I mean, my hair was choppy and uneven. It looked very unhealthy. I didn't want to even it because sections were so close to BSL. But I didn't care anymore. I wanted my ends blunt and that's what I did. I took time and washed, DCed my hair and added my leave in conditioners. Then I sectioned my hair into some sections and got to work. I cut it to a respectfully blunt full SL and I love the way it looks.
My Felicia-inspired before pic lol
Here is me with my hair shirt. My head is horribly crooked in this picture, but I am on line 5. I am hoping to be at line 7 for my next relaxer coming up on the very last week of July. With the help of some vitamins and castor and TLC on the ends, it's reachable.
I love my results. My entire head looks even and at the same length. I believe that I can really thrive from this point. My hair looks healthy and the fullness of my ends are mesmerizing to me. Lol. I do not want to back up to SL, but with my hair looking like this, I have no regrets.
Since my cut, I have been babying my ends already. No tight ponytails, no splitting my nape down the middle. About 80 percent of my hair is even and I am loving it. Some of my flexi rod sets did not turn out as cute as normal with the shorter cut, but it's updo week for me and you can't tell me that i am missing a few inches with the styles I have been rocking.
I will be rocking updos all of this week until Sunday!!!! It's my birthday on Sunday and I believe that I am going to cheat this one day and rock a roller set. I would love to see what some roller set curls would look like on this new blunt, hair-almost-even-and-the-same-length cut. If I DNT like it, I'll put it in an updo. It's supposed to rain all day on Sunday anyway. Lol.
Until the next post,
Alexis
Monday, May 12, 2014
Operation: Graduation Hair
Even though my pursuit of my masters degree is over, I will not actually march and receive my degree until December. So, until that day, why not show up to graduation with a head full of hair. So, I believe that I will be doing a few small challenges along the way plus my own challenge that will consist of SEVEN months of pure hair health related therapy.
So I decided to whip my hair into shape for my graduation. On December 13th, I am hoping for BSL hair or something close to it. The following is what I will be planning on doing:
-Protective Style at least 3 days
-Castor oil with every wash
-Oil scalp and ends with castor oil at least four days a week
-Leave in conditioners with every wash
-No blow dryers
-No trims
This should be givens during a HHJ, but this is hard for me. I made sure not to add anything that is more than what my hair is handling at the moment, because my hair is really thriving this year and it doesn't make any sense to fix anything that is not broken.
So, I will be taking it very slow and making sure to baby my hair every step of the way.
Until next time, and see you on December 13th (of course I will post before then),
Alexis
So I decided to whip my hair into shape for my graduation. On December 13th, I am hoping for BSL hair or something close to it. The following is what I will be planning on doing:
-Protective Style at least 3 days
-Castor oil with every wash
-Oil scalp and ends with castor oil at least four days a week
-Leave in conditioners with every wash
-No blow dryers
-No trims
This should be givens during a HHJ, but this is hard for me. I made sure not to add anything that is more than what my hair is handling at the moment, because my hair is really thriving this year and it doesn't make any sense to fix anything that is not broken.
So, I will be taking it very slow and making sure to baby my hair every step of the way.
Until next time, and see you on December 13th (of course I will post before then),
Alexis
Saturday, May 3, 2014
April Goals Review + May Goals
So, I'm late on posting my goals. But here is my issue: TMI but my birth control pills has me MISERABLE!!! I have only been on them 2 weeks and I have chronic headaches, stomach issues, breast pain and nausea. I look online at the reviews, and women have stated that their symptoms have mimicked pregnancy symptoms. o_O I immediately took myself off of them. Since then, my symptoms have slowly began to subside......thankfully.
I know, TMI, but on to the focus of the post.
April goals
-castor oil on ends and scalp every night - FAILED
Yea, I did awesome the first part of the month. I fell off after relaxing my hair on the 17th.
-JBCO in all April DCs - PASSED
Thankfully, I met this goal with ever wash in April. I'm so proud of myself. Lol.
Well, here we go with May!!! Goals will include:
-Hot oil treatments with every wash including castor oil
-castor oil on scalp every day
Until the next post,
Alexis
I know, TMI, but on to the focus of the post.
April goals
-castor oil on ends and scalp every night - FAILED
Yea, I did awesome the first part of the month. I fell off after relaxing my hair on the 17th.
-JBCO in all April DCs - PASSED
Thankfully, I met this goal with ever wash in April. I'm so proud of myself. Lol.
Well, here we go with May!!! Goals will include:
-Hot oil treatments with every wash including castor oil
-castor oil on scalp every day
Until the next post,
Alexis
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Emergency Relaxer Update (WARNING: Long Post)
Hello, ladies.
By the time you actually read this post, I will actually be a week post relaxer. You read correctly: I relaxed my hair on April 17th at 6 weeks post! I know 6 weeks is very soon to be relaxing hair on a HHJ, but I was losing my mind. I thought I was listening to my hair. SIGHS....here is the story:
I have been taking Hairfinity since the middle of January. My NG has been very thick, but not growing as fast as I thought it would on the vitamins. In the midst of all that, I ended up getting stressed out with my courses, work and family life. I was tossing and turning at night. My bonnet would come off every single night. I would see long hairs on my pillow every morning. I took two grad school classes in January, I was stressing HARD. My hair was coming out in the handfuls. I tried putting my hair in buns for days at a time so that I wouldn't have to deal with my hair. That didn't help. On wash days, I would lose mucho hair and I wasn't being rough at all. To put icing on the cake, I had to take my grad school comp the last day of February. The stakes got high for me for a while. AND my brother got into an accident.
In the end, my brother made a great recovery. I passed my two hard classes from January. I even made two 100s on my two finals. I started off practically failing one of these classes, and I ended up with an A and a B. I PASSED MY COMP! So, I am graduating this year from grad school. My work load at work started to ease up some. So, with this break come sudden destruction, lol. I decided to concentrate on my hair again fully.
The truth of the matter is, I have been getting really bored with my hair. I have been focusing on protection and limited manipulation that I have yet to enjoy my hair. I haven't been this length for so long, and all that is on my mind is hiding my hair. That mind frame has gotten old and I am casting it aside. I wanted to start anew with my hair. So this is what I have decided to do (and did).
I took time and eliminated the intense shedding and breakage I have had. I suffered tremendous breakage with that sew in I received in February. After I got that under control, I decided to relax my hair.
RELAXER PREP and APPLICATION:
-I prepped my hair with conditioner, a leave in, coconut oil and mixed oils. This was placed onto my length to prevent run off. My hair is fine naturally. I do not need any run off to cause any more breakage that I do not need.
-I based my scalp with castor oil. I also mixed up my relaxer and applied mixed oils in to slow down the process because of the amount of NG I had.
-I relaxed my hair with my Normal ORS relaxer with mixed oils. The entire application and smoothing process took 25 minutes.
-I rinsed the relaxer out and used my Elasta QP Stop Action Neutralizing Shampoo 6 times.
-After rinsing the shampoo out, I color rinsed my hair Radiant Black by Dark and Lovely.
-After leaving the color rinse on for 25 minutes, I rinsed it and applied my DC.
-My DC consisted of moisturizing conditioners and castor oil. I left it on for about 30 minutes and rinsed.
-After tshirt drying my hair, I applied my two leave ins: Crème of Nature Argan Oil Leave In and Elasta QP Spray Leave in. I spray the CON on my entire hair, from root to tip. I spray the Elasta on my edges and my ends. I put on a plastic cap and sat under a warm dryer for 10 minutes.
-After I got done, I just wrapped my hair and went to bed.
-The next day, I lost my bonnet in my sleep. So my wrap was a fail. But I walked around with my hair out and allowed it to air dry. Instead, I used my heat protectant and flat ironed my hair.
RELAXER AFTER THOUGHTS:
-I really liked the way I prepped my hair. I believe that it was a great prep. It succeeded with what I wanted it to do. I did not experience any breakage or weakening of my hair.
-My hair feels quite strong. I am really excited about that, especially being very soon after my relaxer.
-I have experienced some growth that I will share in a picture below. With growth means that I have retained!!! Yay!
So, Why Did I Relax So Soon Into This Stretch:
I wanted to give my hair a fresh start. I suffered some lost with my bonnet kept falling off. I suffered breakage with my sew in. I am bored with styles. I didn't have any idea what to do to my hair at a specific week post. So, I decided to break down a schedule of what style to do at certain weeks post:
Weekly Style Plan:
-Week 1 thru 2 - - - Saran Wrap Roller Set
-Week 3 thru 4 - - - Flexi Rod Set
-Week 5 thru 6 - - - Pincurl Updo
-Week 7 thru 8 - - - Braid out
-Week 9 thru 10 - - - Two Strand Twist with Satin Covered Sponge Rollers
-Week 11 thru 12 - - - Braids/weave/wigs/style (anything that I feel like doing this week)
-Week 13 thru 14 - - - Faux Ponytail (weave ponytail bun)
-Week 15 thru 16 - - - Natural Bun (using only my real hair for the bun)
I believe that I am going to incorporate this style regimen into my next stretch. I will be doing these styles for two full weeks. I have done a lot of research for this Style Plan. I believe that these are the best styles to incorporate with the amount of weeks I will be post relaxer. I believe that this style schedule will keep me from being bored with my hair, most importantly. I want to finally enjoy my hair.
Even though I will be manipulating my hair at least once a week, I have not introduced any heat passages in this stretch. I am trying to go through one entire stretch without using heat. I have never done so, and I would love to say that I have gone through at least one stretch with no heat. With every wash, I will introduce castor oil into all of my DCs this stretch. I will use leave ins with every wash with heat.
I will follow this schedule for my next stretch. I will review this schedule after my next relaxer. We will see if this schedule has helped my hair. This will determine if this is helpful or should cut this out and move onto a new method of helping my hair.
Not only am I trying to help my hair, but I am trying to enjoy my hair at the same time. I have APL hair, and I am tired of hiding it. I want to enjoy my hair. I have a new significant other in my life, lol. I want to feel pretty and look pretty and my hair makes me feel pretty. Thankfully, this new person is not a stickler against weave. He said he wouldn't mind if I wear my weave or braids or wigs. YES! That is nothing like I went through with my last boyfriend. Out with the old and in with the new. LOL! Anyways, enjoy the pictures from this relaxer update.
In addition, look out for the following reviews:
I will have a review about my sew in.
I will have a review about my leave ins with heat.
I will be updating you on my mother's hair.
April Favorites Post!
By the time you actually read this post, I will actually be a week post relaxer. You read correctly: I relaxed my hair on April 17th at 6 weeks post! I know 6 weeks is very soon to be relaxing hair on a HHJ, but I was losing my mind. I thought I was listening to my hair. SIGHS....here is the story:
I have been taking Hairfinity since the middle of January. My NG has been very thick, but not growing as fast as I thought it would on the vitamins. In the midst of all that, I ended up getting stressed out with my courses, work and family life. I was tossing and turning at night. My bonnet would come off every single night. I would see long hairs on my pillow every morning. I took two grad school classes in January, I was stressing HARD. My hair was coming out in the handfuls. I tried putting my hair in buns for days at a time so that I wouldn't have to deal with my hair. That didn't help. On wash days, I would lose mucho hair and I wasn't being rough at all. To put icing on the cake, I had to take my grad school comp the last day of February. The stakes got high for me for a while. AND my brother got into an accident.
In the end, my brother made a great recovery. I passed my two hard classes from January. I even made two 100s on my two finals. I started off practically failing one of these classes, and I ended up with an A and a B. I PASSED MY COMP! So, I am graduating this year from grad school. My work load at work started to ease up some. So, with this break come sudden destruction, lol. I decided to concentrate on my hair again fully.
The truth of the matter is, I have been getting really bored with my hair. I have been focusing on protection and limited manipulation that I have yet to enjoy my hair. I haven't been this length for so long, and all that is on my mind is hiding my hair. That mind frame has gotten old and I am casting it aside. I wanted to start anew with my hair. So this is what I have decided to do (and did).
I took time and eliminated the intense shedding and breakage I have had. I suffered tremendous breakage with that sew in I received in February. After I got that under control, I decided to relax my hair.
RELAXER PREP and APPLICATION:
-I prepped my hair with conditioner, a leave in, coconut oil and mixed oils. This was placed onto my length to prevent run off. My hair is fine naturally. I do not need any run off to cause any more breakage that I do not need.
-I based my scalp with castor oil. I also mixed up my relaxer and applied mixed oils in to slow down the process because of the amount of NG I had.
-I relaxed my hair with my Normal ORS relaxer with mixed oils. The entire application and smoothing process took 25 minutes.
-I rinsed the relaxer out and used my Elasta QP Stop Action Neutralizing Shampoo 6 times.
-After rinsing the shampoo out, I color rinsed my hair Radiant Black by Dark and Lovely.
-After leaving the color rinse on for 25 minutes, I rinsed it and applied my DC.
-My DC consisted of moisturizing conditioners and castor oil. I left it on for about 30 minutes and rinsed.
-After tshirt drying my hair, I applied my two leave ins: Crème of Nature Argan Oil Leave In and Elasta QP Spray Leave in. I spray the CON on my entire hair, from root to tip. I spray the Elasta on my edges and my ends. I put on a plastic cap and sat under a warm dryer for 10 minutes.
-After I got done, I just wrapped my hair and went to bed.
-The next day, I lost my bonnet in my sleep. So my wrap was a fail. But I walked around with my hair out and allowed it to air dry. Instead, I used my heat protectant and flat ironed my hair.
RELAXER AFTER THOUGHTS:
-I really liked the way I prepped my hair. I believe that it was a great prep. It succeeded with what I wanted it to do. I did not experience any breakage or weakening of my hair.
-My hair feels quite strong. I am really excited about that, especially being very soon after my relaxer.
-I have experienced some growth that I will share in a picture below. With growth means that I have retained!!! Yay!
So, Why Did I Relax So Soon Into This Stretch:
I wanted to give my hair a fresh start. I suffered some lost with my bonnet kept falling off. I suffered breakage with my sew in. I am bored with styles. I didn't have any idea what to do to my hair at a specific week post. So, I decided to break down a schedule of what style to do at certain weeks post:
Weekly Style Plan:
-Week 1 thru 2 - - - Saran Wrap Roller Set
-Week 3 thru 4 - - - Flexi Rod Set
-Week 5 thru 6 - - - Pincurl Updo
-Week 7 thru 8 - - - Braid out
-Week 9 thru 10 - - - Two Strand Twist with Satin Covered Sponge Rollers
-Week 11 thru 12 - - - Braids/weave/wigs/style (anything that I feel like doing this week)
-Week 13 thru 14 - - - Faux Ponytail (weave ponytail bun)
-Week 15 thru 16 - - - Natural Bun (using only my real hair for the bun)
I believe that I am going to incorporate this style regimen into my next stretch. I will be doing these styles for two full weeks. I have done a lot of research for this Style Plan. I believe that these are the best styles to incorporate with the amount of weeks I will be post relaxer. I believe that this style schedule will keep me from being bored with my hair, most importantly. I want to finally enjoy my hair.
Even though I will be manipulating my hair at least once a week, I have not introduced any heat passages in this stretch. I am trying to go through one entire stretch without using heat. I have never done so, and I would love to say that I have gone through at least one stretch with no heat. With every wash, I will introduce castor oil into all of my DCs this stretch. I will use leave ins with every wash with heat.
I will follow this schedule for my next stretch. I will review this schedule after my next relaxer. We will see if this schedule has helped my hair. This will determine if this is helpful or should cut this out and move onto a new method of helping my hair.
Not only am I trying to help my hair, but I am trying to enjoy my hair at the same time. I have APL hair, and I am tired of hiding it. I want to enjoy my hair. I have a new significant other in my life, lol. I want to feel pretty and look pretty and my hair makes me feel pretty. Thankfully, this new person is not a stickler against weave. He said he wouldn't mind if I wear my weave or braids or wigs. YES! That is nothing like I went through with my last boyfriend. Out with the old and in with the new. LOL! Anyways, enjoy the pictures from this relaxer update.
In addition, look out for the following reviews:
I will have a review about my sew in.
I will have a review about my leave ins with heat.
I will be updating you on my mother's hair.
April Favorites Post!
Friday, April 11, 2014
Fresh Face Friday
My pic looks a little weird, but here I am on another Friday with coverage on. All I am wearing is mascara and nude lipstick with balm. While I have been taking care of my skin and texture, I have noticed some small changes in my skin. I'm going to continue to work on my texture and skin tone. So be on the look out for even more improved skin next Friday!!!
Enjoy your weekend!
Alexis
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Hair Question .:All Comments are Welcomed:.
I love being on a HHJ. One of the hardest parts of my journey is hair retention. In addition, I have suffered with my failure to protective style. I can never commit to a protective style. It never last long. Sometimes, they do more harm than good.
So my question is:
Can a person have a successful HHJ without protective styling?
(When I say successful, I mean retain length and healthy hair???
Please help me with this, because I believe that I may abandon protective styling altogether.
Thanks,
Alexis
So my question is:
Can a person have a successful HHJ without protective styling?
(When I say successful, I mean retain length and healthy hair???
Please help me with this, because I believe that I may abandon protective styling altogether.
Thanks,
Alexis
Friday, April 4, 2014
Fresh Face Friday
TGIF and Thanks for tuning into my very Fresh Face Friday. I have actually been actively participating in my FFF challenge. If you haven't tuned into my earlier blog posts, but I have decided to commit my Fridays with little to no make-up so that I won't be heavily relied on it. So here are some photos in natural light to show my facial flaws:
Enjoy the weekend,
-Alexis
Thursday, April 3, 2014
MARCH FAVS (1st Fav Post)
DISCLAIMER: I was not contacted by any of the companies mentioned below. I was not asked to test these products. I was not asked to review these products. I purchased all of the products below myself, and I have listed these as my personal favorites for the month of March 2014.
Now that we got that disclaimer out of the way:
Hello! As promised, I am posting my March Favorites! Is it just me or was March super long????????? I am so ready to see the end of March. I am thankful for the month of April. It is going to warm up alittle. I am tired of this cold weather.
In the month of March, a stumbled upon a few good deals. I decided not to pass these things up. I tried out new products, and the ones that I absolutely LOVED, I decided to post about them. They will be broke up here in HAIR, NAILS, FACE CARE and MAKE-UP.
HAIR:
The first hair product that I absolutely LOVE is my Creme of Nature with Argan Oil Strength and Shine Leave-In Conditioner.
Image source: Google
This product promised strength and shine. It can be used on damp and dry hair. Unlike the other products I will write about, I have actually used one bottle of this product before. The way I was using it was shampooing my hair, condition wash then apply this leave-in spray then style. I was actually not going to purchase this product again, wanted to try a new spray leave-in. But I caught it on sale at a local BSS. When I saw it there on sale, something in my head told me to try it in a different way.
So now, whenever I shampoo my hair and DC, I spray my Creme and Nature Leave-In and put on a plastic cap and sit under the dryer with it for 10-15 minutes before I style or whatever. Let me tell you, girlfriend!!!!!! Since doing it like this, my hair is so soft!!! My hair is manageable. My hair feels like butter. My hair is shiny! My hair is strong! I believe that this Creme of Nature Leave-In has found a permanent place in my regimen!!!!! I will continue to buy this product. 5 stars!
My last hair for my March favs will be my GVP (Generic) to Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum.
Image source: Google
Where has the product been all my flatironned life?! This product promises to reduce drying time, smooths, shines and conditions. One positive about this product is that a very small amount goes a LOOOOONG way. One time, I poured a full dime size amount into my hand and was afraid that I was going to weigh down my hair. I literally use a drop, maybe two depending on how frizzy my hair is. This product has officially replaced my old heat protectant. I am only using my old heat protectant for roller sets for myself, and wraps for my mom. When I use this product on my wet hair, I am blow drying. It leaves my hair so shiny. When I am using this product on dry hair, I am flatironning. It leaves my hair flowing in the wind. It is amazing. This product is not going anywhere!!!!!! 5 stars!
FACE CARE:
The first facial care product I used was the Bio-Oil.
Image source: Google
I have not used this product before. It is this light weight oil that promises to improve scars, stretch marks, uneven skin tone, aging skin dehydrated skin. I started using this product about two months ago. The product recommends that one apply the product twice daily for improvements visible in 3 months. The product was working wonderfully for the first couple of months. However, the product has began to slack in its progress. Another con about this product is that every though it is a light weight oil, this product leaves my face extremely shiny and greasy looking. I have a whole bottle of this product and I am not ready to toss it just yet. So, I am going to continue to use it, but I had to improvise.....
I was in desperate need of a great oil-free moisturizer. So I decided to purchase Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturizer.
Image source: Google
This was my first time purchasing this product. When I was shopping for a moisturizer, I read enough bottles to final settle on this particular one. It promises to moisturize dry skin, treat and help prevent pimples. I LOVE this moisturizer. It last all day. It is a wonderful moisturizer. It is light weight. It goes on wonderfully. It doesn't leave my skin super greasy looking, which is a great plus. So, I decided when applying my moisturizer that I would mix a drop on my Bio-Oil with my moisturizer. I am super happy with what is going on. I am using up a product; it is not sitting on my dresser or in my stash collecting dust; I am getting the light weight results like I want. It is a win-win here.
The final product purchased in March was my Ambi Skin Care Even and Clear Foaming Cleanser.
Image source: Google
I have used this product before and did not see any results with it before. It promises to help clear and prevent breakouts. In addition it is supposed to help improve visibly tone and texture. I have been only using this product for about 1 1//2 weeks. This product has helped my skin tone tremendously in this little amount of time. My acne scars are fading and fading fast. My skin is brightening and shining (without the greasy products). My face is soft, and I am happy I decided to give this product another try. So, I will be giving you a post later about the update on my Bio-Oil and my Ambi. I am trying to achieve clearer skin.
MAKEUP:
For a while, I have been using the Maybelline New York the Colossal Volume Express, Cat Eyes.
Image source: Google
But for the month of March, I have been really on my mascara. I LOVE this mascara. It gives me the volume that I desperately seek. My eyes look so dramatic. In addition to the mascara itself, I really love the mascara brush. The curve in the brush helps me get all of my upper and lower lashes. It makes applying mascara so easy for me. I purchased the Turbo Volume, but it has nothing on this Colosssal Volume. Big Time Favorite! This mascara is not going anywhere. I have seen where women have bought this brand of mascara but the brush is straight, not curved. I will continue to keep my curved brush. There is no way I can go back to the straight brush after I have been spoiled by the curved brush. 5 stars!!!
e.l.f. Tinted Moisturizer in the shade SAND
Image source: Google
I am NOT a fan of liquid foundation. It makes me look porcelain-like, super hard and super stiff. I look quite unnatural with it. Well, after watching a few YouTube videos, I saw where on some women's "down days", instead of using foundation, they will put on some tinted moisturizer. So, I told myself that I would look into some for myself, just to try it out. I decided to try the e.l.f. brand and move on up to other brands to see which one I prefer. Let me tell you: I am not looking any further!!! I purchased my first tube of this tinted moisturizer in the shade SAND from my local Walmart. I put it on and I received one of the most natural looking coverage I have ever laid eyes on. I mean, it was popping, but in a good way. My skin looked natural but covered. It was amazing. It was like I was performing magic. So, I applied it again and again and again for weeks and weeks. Nothing changed; it was still this most remarkable coverage. So, I caught a great sale on e.l.f. and now I have 9 containers of my new make-up staple. Sometimes, my face can look a little abnormally shiny with the moisturizer, so I will take facial powder of my choice and do a light once over. In my eyes, this product is where its at. Did I mentioned that it goes perfectly with my skin tone? I just matched my hand skin tone with the color strip outside of the container! BEST. DECISION. EVER.
5 stars!
Wet and Wild Lipstick, color Just Peachy
Image source: Google
I am not a big lipstick person either. But since I have been wearing the tinted moisturizer, I wanted to wear more color on my lips rather than the glossy lip I have rocked so religiously into the grave. I was picking some reds, pinks, purples and oranges. BUT I was on the hunt for the perfect nude-like color. In the midst of a junk food run at my local Dollar General, I passed by a lipstick stand for 1 dollar. I found this Wet and Wild, Just Peachy color and I was sold! When I first put it on, I fell in love. I will normally base my lip with a moisturizing balm and apply a small coat of my lipstick on. It is natural looking with being overbearing at all. I wear this color practically everyday. It is awesome!
NAILS:
Image source: Google
I was growing my nails out, but I have trimmed them low to start over on their growth because I am treating them so that they can grow in more stronger. Before I trimmed my nails, I purchased 3 polishes that I was absolutely crazy about. The first one is Essie Eternal Optimist. I saw a MUA on youtube using this color and I had to have it. I looked to good on her fingernails. Once I bought the polish and tried it out for myself, I didn't believe that I did the polish justice. But I didn't lose hope just yet. I tried it on my toes and I FELL IN LOVE!!!!!!! I cannot believe how beautiful (yes, I am talking about my feet) my feet looked! I believe that color paired with a careful DIY pedicure helped me achieve some awesome looking feet lol.
Image source: Google
The next polish I purchased was the ORLY Pink Nude. I know that this color is paired with french manicures, but I love the nudes of the french manicure polishes. SO, I purchased it for a full nail experience. In the end, I believe that this color was decent on both my fingers and toes, but I believe that a better base coat will really help bring out the true potential in this color. So, I will be posting an additional post about this polish on a later date.
My final product of March is my OPI Pinking of You fingernail polish.
Image source: Google
I cannot tell you how much I love this color. How did I come across this color??? Well, I was getting a manicure, and a lady was getting this very same color on her nails and toes. I asked the manicurist what was the name of the color and she told me. So, I ordered it offline not seconds after she told me. It is a very beautiful color. For the sake of this post, I got my pedicure with this very same color. I believe that it goes very well with my skin tone, FINGERS AND TOES. It is one of my favorite pinks!!!!!!!
Well, there you have it! This has been my first monthly favorites blog. I hope you have enjoyed it. I am already on the hunt for my April's post. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
-Alexis
Now that we got that disclaimer out of the way:
Hello! As promised, I am posting my March Favorites! Is it just me or was March super long????????? I am so ready to see the end of March. I am thankful for the month of April. It is going to warm up alittle. I am tired of this cold weather.
In the month of March, a stumbled upon a few good deals. I decided not to pass these things up. I tried out new products, and the ones that I absolutely LOVED, I decided to post about them. They will be broke up here in HAIR, NAILS, FACE CARE and MAKE-UP.
HAIR:
The first hair product that I absolutely LOVE is my Creme of Nature with Argan Oil Strength and Shine Leave-In Conditioner.
Image source: Google
This product promised strength and shine. It can be used on damp and dry hair. Unlike the other products I will write about, I have actually used one bottle of this product before. The way I was using it was shampooing my hair, condition wash then apply this leave-in spray then style. I was actually not going to purchase this product again, wanted to try a new spray leave-in. But I caught it on sale at a local BSS. When I saw it there on sale, something in my head told me to try it in a different way.
So now, whenever I shampoo my hair and DC, I spray my Creme and Nature Leave-In and put on a plastic cap and sit under the dryer with it for 10-15 minutes before I style or whatever. Let me tell you, girlfriend!!!!!! Since doing it like this, my hair is so soft!!! My hair is manageable. My hair feels like butter. My hair is shiny! My hair is strong! I believe that this Creme of Nature Leave-In has found a permanent place in my regimen!!!!! I will continue to buy this product. 5 stars!
My last hair for my March favs will be my GVP (Generic) to Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum.
Image source: Google
Where has the product been all my flatironned life?! This product promises to reduce drying time, smooths, shines and conditions. One positive about this product is that a very small amount goes a LOOOOONG way. One time, I poured a full dime size amount into my hand and was afraid that I was going to weigh down my hair. I literally use a drop, maybe two depending on how frizzy my hair is. This product has officially replaced my old heat protectant. I am only using my old heat protectant for roller sets for myself, and wraps for my mom. When I use this product on my wet hair, I am blow drying. It leaves my hair so shiny. When I am using this product on dry hair, I am flatironning. It leaves my hair flowing in the wind. It is amazing. This product is not going anywhere!!!!!! 5 stars!
FACE CARE:
The first facial care product I used was the Bio-Oil.
Image source: Google
I have not used this product before. It is this light weight oil that promises to improve scars, stretch marks, uneven skin tone, aging skin dehydrated skin. I started using this product about two months ago. The product recommends that one apply the product twice daily for improvements visible in 3 months. The product was working wonderfully for the first couple of months. However, the product has began to slack in its progress. Another con about this product is that every though it is a light weight oil, this product leaves my face extremely shiny and greasy looking. I have a whole bottle of this product and I am not ready to toss it just yet. So, I am going to continue to use it, but I had to improvise.....
I was in desperate need of a great oil-free moisturizer. So I decided to purchase Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturizer.
Image source: Google
This was my first time purchasing this product. When I was shopping for a moisturizer, I read enough bottles to final settle on this particular one. It promises to moisturize dry skin, treat and help prevent pimples. I LOVE this moisturizer. It last all day. It is a wonderful moisturizer. It is light weight. It goes on wonderfully. It doesn't leave my skin super greasy looking, which is a great plus. So, I decided when applying my moisturizer that I would mix a drop on my Bio-Oil with my moisturizer. I am super happy with what is going on. I am using up a product; it is not sitting on my dresser or in my stash collecting dust; I am getting the light weight results like I want. It is a win-win here.
Image source: Google
I have used this product before and did not see any results with it before. It promises to help clear and prevent breakouts. In addition it is supposed to help improve visibly tone and texture. I have been only using this product for about 1 1//2 weeks. This product has helped my skin tone tremendously in this little amount of time. My acne scars are fading and fading fast. My skin is brightening and shining (without the greasy products). My face is soft, and I am happy I decided to give this product another try. So, I will be giving you a post later about the update on my Bio-Oil and my Ambi. I am trying to achieve clearer skin.
MAKEUP:
For a while, I have been using the Maybelline New York the Colossal Volume Express, Cat Eyes.
Image source: Google
But for the month of March, I have been really on my mascara. I LOVE this mascara. It gives me the volume that I desperately seek. My eyes look so dramatic. In addition to the mascara itself, I really love the mascara brush. The curve in the brush helps me get all of my upper and lower lashes. It makes applying mascara so easy for me. I purchased the Turbo Volume, but it has nothing on this Colosssal Volume. Big Time Favorite! This mascara is not going anywhere. I have seen where women have bought this brand of mascara but the brush is straight, not curved. I will continue to keep my curved brush. There is no way I can go back to the straight brush after I have been spoiled by the curved brush. 5 stars!!!
e.l.f. Tinted Moisturizer in the shade SAND
Image source: Google
I am NOT a fan of liquid foundation. It makes me look porcelain-like, super hard and super stiff. I look quite unnatural with it. Well, after watching a few YouTube videos, I saw where on some women's "down days", instead of using foundation, they will put on some tinted moisturizer. So, I told myself that I would look into some for myself, just to try it out. I decided to try the e.l.f. brand and move on up to other brands to see which one I prefer. Let me tell you: I am not looking any further!!! I purchased my first tube of this tinted moisturizer in the shade SAND from my local Walmart. I put it on and I received one of the most natural looking coverage I have ever laid eyes on. I mean, it was popping, but in a good way. My skin looked natural but covered. It was amazing. It was like I was performing magic. So, I applied it again and again and again for weeks and weeks. Nothing changed; it was still this most remarkable coverage. So, I caught a great sale on e.l.f. and now I have 9 containers of my new make-up staple. Sometimes, my face can look a little abnormally shiny with the moisturizer, so I will take facial powder of my choice and do a light once over. In my eyes, this product is where its at. Did I mentioned that it goes perfectly with my skin tone? I just matched my hand skin tone with the color strip outside of the container! BEST. DECISION. EVER.
5 stars!
Wet and Wild Lipstick, color Just Peachy
Image source: Google
I am not a big lipstick person either. But since I have been wearing the tinted moisturizer, I wanted to wear more color on my lips rather than the glossy lip I have rocked so religiously into the grave. I was picking some reds, pinks, purples and oranges. BUT I was on the hunt for the perfect nude-like color. In the midst of a junk food run at my local Dollar General, I passed by a lipstick stand for 1 dollar. I found this Wet and Wild, Just Peachy color and I was sold! When I first put it on, I fell in love. I will normally base my lip with a moisturizing balm and apply a small coat of my lipstick on. It is natural looking with being overbearing at all. I wear this color practically everyday. It is awesome!
NAILS:
Image source: Google
I was growing my nails out, but I have trimmed them low to start over on their growth because I am treating them so that they can grow in more stronger. Before I trimmed my nails, I purchased 3 polishes that I was absolutely crazy about. The first one is Essie Eternal Optimist. I saw a MUA on youtube using this color and I had to have it. I looked to good on her fingernails. Once I bought the polish and tried it out for myself, I didn't believe that I did the polish justice. But I didn't lose hope just yet. I tried it on my toes and I FELL IN LOVE!!!!!!! I cannot believe how beautiful (yes, I am talking about my feet) my feet looked! I believe that color paired with a careful DIY pedicure helped me achieve some awesome looking feet lol.
Image source: Google
The next polish I purchased was the ORLY Pink Nude. I know that this color is paired with french manicures, but I love the nudes of the french manicure polishes. SO, I purchased it for a full nail experience. In the end, I believe that this color was decent on both my fingers and toes, but I believe that a better base coat will really help bring out the true potential in this color. So, I will be posting an additional post about this polish on a later date.
My final product of March is my OPI Pinking of You fingernail polish.
Image source: Google
I cannot tell you how much I love this color. How did I come across this color??? Well, I was getting a manicure, and a lady was getting this very same color on her nails and toes. I asked the manicurist what was the name of the color and she told me. So, I ordered it offline not seconds after she told me. It is a very beautiful color. For the sake of this post, I got my pedicure with this very same color. I believe that it goes very well with my skin tone, FINGERS AND TOES. It is one of my favorite pinks!!!!!!!
Well, there you have it! This has been my first monthly favorites blog. I hope you have enjoyed it. I am already on the hunt for my April's post. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
-Alexis
Monday, March 31, 2014
March Goals Recap + April Goals and some NEWS
So it's the last day of March and I wanted to lay out my March goals.
Goal 1: the LOC method - I only did it when I remembered it.....so, FAIL
Goal 2: apply castor oil everyday - I didn't even remember this goal until today. Smh. FAIL
Well, March is over, and I am ready for April and some new goals. Hopefully, I can remember these goals:
Goal 1: Castor oil on ends every night
Goal 2: JBCO in all DCs in April
Simply enough, right lol. Only the month of April will tell.
IN OTHER NEWS!!!!!!!!
I will be adding MONTHLY FAVS to my blog, so please be on the lookout for it. It will include anything from makeup to hair.
Also. I will be adding something call Fresh Face Friday to my blog. It's where I wear no coverage on my face to see how my face is clearing up (in addition to giving myself a break with any makeup that I use in the week).
I will also do a few hair tutorials, Hair of the Day, Face of the Day and Hair Accessory of the Day.
So, please be on the lookout for all of those, I will be starting with the Monthy Favs TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Alexis
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About Me
- Alexis The Counselor
- Counselor by day,student by night. I am a substance abuse therapist who is working hard to continue to rise in this field. I am fanatically in love with beautiful things. Follow me as I work hard during the day and play harder after work.
