Once upon a time I was addicted to expensive hair products. My bathroom looked as though it was straight out of a beauty salon. There was every type of conditioner, gel, mousse, shampoo, hair oil, you could possibly imagine. I also had a hair partner in crime. My friend Michele was about 2 yrs into transitioning to natural hair and we would trade products all the time. We would literally go shopping in each others bathrooms to test out each others products. I didn’t realize how much money I was spending on hair products until I started going though my receipts one day. That’s when I realized there had to be better and cheaper alternatives.

I was faithful to brands such as Aveda, Carols Daughter, Nexxus and a plethora of others until I got tired of spending beaucoup dollars. Now my hair arsenal is drastically cheaper and the results have even been better than any $25 bottle of Aveda conditioner I could have bought. The lesson I learned was that expensive doesn’t always = better.

So here’s a peep into my hair “arsenal” and routine.

Hot Oil Treatment 2xs a month:

• Add three tablespoons of olive and three tablespoons of canola oil to your microwave safe pan.
• Stir thoroughly Place the container in the microwave and heat until warm.
• Once the mixture emerges from the microwave, let it set for a few minutes. Place some of the oily mixture onto your hands (don’t pour directly onto your hair) and start applying it carefully to the hair starting at the ends and working up to the scalp.
• Once the mixture has been applied, wrap your hair in a warm towel and leave on for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, wash the mixture out of your hair and follow up with a mild shampoo

Shampoo & Conditioner:

I said farewell to expensive and overpriced products when I found the Organix line at my local GROCERY store. I am addicted to their Coconut Milk line and I find that it works well with my natural hair. If you can’t find the Organix line at your local grocery or Target, Amazon carries their complete line of hair products!

I only shampoo my hair once a week, but I do condition it on a daily basis with Organix Coconut Milk Leave-In Nourishing Milk.

Styling Products:

Two of my favorite styling products happen to be two of the cheapest I’ve come across in a long time. I am a faithful user of Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner and at only $16.00 a bottle, it is definitely worth it. One thing I love about the product is that a little goes a long way, so a bottle usually lasts me a couple of months.

Another inexpensive buy that I usually purchase in threes is Vigorol Curl Cream, and I only know of one website that sells it. This is perfect for controlling your curls and it doesn’t leave them stiff or dry and it also smells very good! At less than $4.00 a jar, it’s better than any other product that I’ve seen that would cost $20.00+ a jar!

Hair Growth:

I mentioned last week about a hair growth remedy that I use, and a few people must have thought I lost my mind. Yes, I use a generic version of MONISTAT on my scalp because it contains Miconazole Nitrate, which is proven to grow hair. Monistat isn’t the only product that has this ingredient, you can also use any type of anti-fungal cream that you can find at any drugstore.

If you’re still hesitant about putting Monistat on your scalp, there’s always Sulu Hair, which is a product that was made by well known horse grooming manufacturers Shapleys. They were so inundated with orders by women who wanted to use their horse grooming product, The Original M-T-G, on their hair, that they decided to make a product specifically for human hair. Last year I ventured out to use the horse product, but I couldn’t take the smell. Thankfully, Sulu Hair came along. Not only does it not have the horrible bacon-grease smell, but it actually works. After using it for about 3 weeks, I had 2 1/2 inches of new hair growth!

Vitamins:

Two words:  FOLIC ACID, invest in a bottle. It’s the best thing you can do for your hair and nails!

Scalp Moisturizer:

Four words:  Extra Virgin Olive Oil! I stay away from hair grease like it’s the plague! I’ve noticed that a q-tip and some olive oil works best for my hair. Hair grease seemed to drastically dry my scalp, and I haven’t used any type in years.

So there you have it. My hair regimen and arsenal of products!  I am  far from an expert when it comes to hair, but so far those have been the best products/routines that work for me, feel free to share any tips you may have. I always enjoy experimenting with new products, especially the ones that don’t leave my wallet crying!

If someone was to ask any one of my friends what would be the first thing anyone would notice about me, I guarantee you, they would all say my hair and then coming in at a close 2nd place, would be my height. The tall girl, with the big hair. Yup, that’s me.

Growing up my mother had 3 daughters with heads full of curly and what she called ‘unmanageable’ hair. Every week we endured the ritual of having our hair blown out and straightened. There weren’t too many options back then, besides a hot comb and blow dryer.

Rarely would she let us wear our hair natural and curly. If memory serves me correctly, when I was 11 she took me to the hair salon for my first relaxer. I remember crying in the chair when I saw that my curls were gone and I was left with stringy straight hair.

For the next several years, because my mother felt a relaxer was easier to deal with, I had to endure the brutal salon visits that I hated. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the length of my hair at the time, it was practically to my waist but I hated the whole process and the fact that I lost my curls. By the time high school graduation came around, I felt that not only was I free from being at home and under my mother’s watchful eye, I also felt that I was free to do whatever I wanted with my hair.

A few weeks into the summer of my freshman year at Rutgers University, my hair drew attention because of it’s length, and being that it had been years since I had an actual hair cut, besides a normal trim, it was pretty long. I remember the day I had my big chop off. It was about 98 degrees, hot and humid. I walked passed a barber shop and the idea hit me. I walked in and took a seat. The barbers looked at me as if I was lost. When I told them I wanted a hair cut, they pointed me in the direction of the beauty salon that was next door. I declined and told them I wanted my hair shaved off, not cut into a style.

“Have you lost your damn mind? Do you know women would die for your hair???”, is what one of the barbers asked. I could only look at him and laugh. I told him I was serious. Eventually after arguing with me for about 30 minutes, he told me to sit in his chair. I walked into his shop with about 22 inches of straight hair and left out with a short, tapered cut. Yes, it was pretty extreme, but it felt good.

I remember walking into the dining hall that evening and as I approached my usual table of friends, forks literally dropped out of their hands. There were a few “wtf’s”, especially from my boyfriend at the time and his football teammates, my girlfriends thought I lost my mind, needless to say, we practically sat in silence for the meal. It took a few days for people to get used to the hairless me, but it only took me a few seconds.

That first cut happened back in 1994, about 14 years ago. Over the next few years, I went back & forth with the short & long version of my naturally curly hair. Although I’ll never do anything as drastic as a complete cut off, I love my natural hair and I guess it’s become somewhat of my signature piece and always a topic of conversation. Tomorrow I’ll post some of my favorite hair products and hair care regimen!

*Aside*

As I finished writing this, a very very good friend of mine who is a STRONG advocate for a WEAVELESS society sent me this video.

I’ve lived in the MD/DC area for the past, hmmm…6 or so years now. I understand that certain styles are specific to certain regions of the country. I also understand, that certain styles are started because some people just don’t know any better and other people choose to copy.

When I first moved here, as I was driving down the street one day, I noticed a guy walking and it looked as if he had on 2 pairs of socks on each foot. The socks were almost up to his knees and he had these on with shorts! I figured, wow, I hadn’t seen ’scrunchy’ socks in years! When I was a pre-teen we used to wear them, and they were only worn by GIRLS. That was back in the early ’90s and here was this guy in ‘03 wearing the same style. I could only laugh and shake my head.

Here it is, July 2008. Almost 5 years later.

MEN, what’s with the SOCKS? I don’t care what you want to call them crew socks/scrunchy socks…whatever…The madness has to stop! If you’re going to walk out of the house with some plain ole ugly white socks on, they need to be ankle socks if you’re wearing shorts!

Your socks should not meet where your shorts end!

I repeat,

Your socks should not meet where your shorts end!

Now, I’m not a fashion expert, but that is not ‘what’s hot in the streets’.

This is what my friend Yashieka has to say about those awful socks during one of our IM chats:

Yashieka: I hate seeing that!!!
Yashieka: shorts and long socks
Yashieka: what? your calves cold?

Ankle socks.

Ankle socks.

Ankle socks

I’m not sure why so many men in the DC/MD area have not grasped on to this concept. I’m wondering if these same men who refuse to wear ankle socks are still in tightie whitie underwear?

I’m not sure if this is a regional crisis (yes, it’s a crisis), or if people have noticed this sock phenomenon else where. If so, please let me know!

What are some of the fashion styles in your region that you feel are definite fashion faux pas?

 P.S (Yashieka, on your Metro commute tonight, please take a photo of the madness, we know it’s not the old white men I’m referring to!)

Today I was happy to read that there are still men who love a woman with ‘meat’ on her bones. Over at Single Black Male, he writes about how he prefers a thicker woman, such as Tocarra. Ironically, if I was a guy, I’d prefer her too. I guess I would fall into the ‘thicker’ category as well. At 5′10+ and a curvaceous size 10, I’m no light weight, but I’m no heavy weight either.

Now, I can’t say that being this size hasn’t always had it’s advantages. One of the most prevalent disadvantages is my love for premium denim, i.e, jeans. For some reason a lot of them just aren’t made for women with ample ‘ass-ets’, if you know what I mean. I pray for the day when I can find a pair that will not only fit perfectly in the waist area, but also a pair that won’t gap out in the butt area. So far I’ve only been able to stick to two brands recently and those are Gap (which doesn’t count as premium) and Rock & Republic jeans.

Now, when you’re also tall, there’s the added issue of finding shoes! I think from the age of 12, I’ve always been a size 10/10 1/2 (sometimes an 11 if it’s a European made shoe). Finding fashionable shoes  just wasn’t an easy ‘feet’. Growing up I spent a lot of time in sneakers and preppy deck shoes or penny loafers, because that’s all my mother could find for me. Nowadays, it’s a little easier to find a pair of fashionable shoes, from brands like Nine West…but…now I don’t even have to look that far. My partner in crime, Yashieka, has an online boutique, Aux Pieds De Shoes & Accessories, that specializes in fashionable shoes that come in larger sizes.

At one point in my life, the only thing that I wanted to change was my breast size. Compared to my mother and younger sisters (who are alot thinner that I am), I’m ’small’, even though I’m a “C”, but they’re “D’s”. But after seeing how much trouble they had with back issues and finding shirts/blouses that fit appropriately, you know, I’ll keep my “C’s” and be happy. I doubt I’ll ever be smaller than a size 10 and honestly, anything smaller just won’t look right. I refuse to walk around looking like a lollipop with massive hair. Hmmmm…now that I think of it, I think my hair might weigh a few pounds on it’s own (keep the jokes to a minimum, Yashieka!).  Anyways, I’m grateful for my parents genes that have given me this body, there’s nothing on it I would change.

This morning the McDonald’s drive-thru line was about 20 cars deep. I looked inside to see if the wait was any shorter, and of course it wasn’t. People gotta have their hotcakes in the morning I guess, my son being one of them, well actually he wanted a chicken biscuit sandwich. So I’m sitting behind this grey Camry while inching closer to the speaker to order. All of a sudden this woman starts patting herself on the head.

I’m like WTF?

She kept this going on for about 2 minutes. My son was sitting in the front seat was practically in tears. He wanted to know why this woman was hitting herself on the head. So then of course, I had to explain to him the hair weave pat. I told him that a lot of women who wear hair weaves, can’t really get to the part of their scalp that itches to scratch it like a person that normally would without a weave. So instead of taking a finger to scratch the area, they’re forced to pat it.

“Mommy, she looks like she’s petting a dog”, he says.

I was at a loss for words with that comment. I swear this woman in the grey Camry, patted her head the whole time we were in the drive-thru line. I would hope that after she left McDonald’s she would head to her beautician to get her weave re-done.

One of my favorite movies as a kid was, “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”, with Tina Turner & Mel Gibson. The main thing I loved about the movie was the costume and set designs. Although it didn’t have one of the best plots, but at that time I was 11 years old, so that really wasn’t a concern of mine.

In the movie the promised land is referred to as “Tomorrow Morrow Land”, and Max (Mel Gibson) has agreed to help the lost children in their search of “Tomorrow Morrow Land”, but then comes across Aunt Entity (Tina Turner) and the battle ensues.

Who would have thunk it, that almost 23 years later in the year 2008, the offspring of the lost children of “Tomorrow Morrow Land” are alive and well and now attending their first prom!

People, please get your kids!! Upon viewing these photos, I figured out they were from a New Jersey prom, so I must bow my head in shame.

I’m not sure what parent in their right minds would let their children walk out of the house looking like this:

For some reason this kid reminds me of K-Ci from Jodeci. I’m not sure who made this outfit for this couple, but I’d ask for a refund.

The family that PROMS together, stays together. I’m upset that this kid’s first prom memory won’t be that of her own senior prom, but of her daycare prom.

At first glance, she reminded me of Evillene from The Wiz, sorry girl, but the bad news is, is that your dress is horrendous!

Hmmm, you tell me, is her date a guy with breasts or a girl? I can’t seem to tell. I have no words for either outfit.

Pink & Green was definitely the color to be seen in at this prom. If I was a guy, and my date made me wear something like that, she’d have to go solo.

My question is, whatever happened to just going to David’s Bridal or looking at Prom magazines for a dress? Am I that old? What parent in their right mind, would let their child walk out of the house looking like an escapee from Thunderdome? I’m all for experimenting with fashion, but these kids look like science projects gone bad!