Big bowl of juicy hair "secrets"

Well people that do their hair themselves have down the basics. The basics are shampooing, conditioning, blow drying, etc. The following tips are SMALL things that you can add to your basic routine for HUGE results. Now dont get too excited and do them all at once lol. Try them one by one. What I mean is, only try ONE trick per um...method. Follow your usual routine but spice it up with just ONE of these tips to see if they make a difference. If you like it, keep the method and document it so can keep track of what you like and dont like. Once you try the ones that you think you like, try combinations. They may make a WORLD of difference in your regimen. Take a deep breath! Here goes...

1. Rinse with diluted apple cider vinegar to remove residue. You may also use this afer your neutralizing shampoo to be sure that the pH level is where it suppose to be.

2. Over night, prepoo with your favorite oil. Coconut is the best for me. Try it.

3. Deep condition on dry hair either before just washing it out or shampooing your hair. Spend about 30 minutes with it on with heat. Heat opens the cuticles and allow the conditioner to penetrate.

4. Using a hot towel creates steam and infuse the moisture in your hair. Put a very warm wet towel on your head and cover it completely with a shower cap. Sit under the dryer. You may also do a double layer of towel - cap, towel - cap. Try this with deep conditioner on dry hair then with wet hair being deep conditioned after shampooing. Choose the best method for you.

5. Because your hair is naked after shampooing, hot oil treatments can be very beneficial AFTER shampooing.

6. Shiny hair can be achieved with a cold water rinse and diluted apple cider vinegar. Both will close the cuticles. Im not sure if the order in which you do it makes a difference. Perhaps a cold diluted apple cider vinegar solution is your best bet.

7. To follow up with cold things to seal the cuticles, try refrigerating your leave in conditioner.

8. Taking vitamins with warm water helps your body absorb it better. Some recommend taking some at night. Follow the directions on your bottle, if it tells you to take it with food, do so. Also, try not to take them all at once if you have to take many a day. You body will flush out the excess.

9. When roller setting your hair with curlformers, rods, etc, make sure your hair is WET not damp.

10. If you are conditioning your hair, pat or gently squeeze your hair to get rid of excess water. Moisturizing on damp hair also helps. If you are leaving in conditioner or using a leave in conditioner, use a tiny amount in soaking wet hair and work it through your strands. This will help smooth the hair.

11. Become hair conscience. Dont let your hair touch anything but silk or satin. This will help your hair from snagging. What does your head touch constantly? Your pillow? Your head rest? COVER IT! I forgot about plastic shower caps. Those are ok. :)

12. When shampooing or conditioning, work in conditioner from the middle of your length on down. This will help when you shampoo your hair. It will keep it from tangling when you shampoo or part your hair to condition roots.

13. Comb or finger comb your hair with water pouring over it. If you are natural, just shake and go when you get out. If youre in the shower, you may bun your hair easily because your hair is down your back and detangled.

14. Warm your oil before adding it to your conditioner.

15. Use cool water to shampoo to keep it from stripping too much moisture, warm water for open cuticles to accept conditioner, and cool - cold water to seal the cuticles back up again.

16. Shampoo, condition, etc in sections. This help to evenly distribute products. There are a lot of people do this in 4 sections. I shampoo and condition in two halves.

17. Apply conditioner in intervals. If you are deep conditioning, apply it all over and sit under the dryer with a cap for 15 minutes. Let it cool then repeat for 2 more intervals of 10 minutes or more. Its been said that hair can absorb products better this way. Once you let your hair cool slightly, apply condition to areas that are drier than others. Your hair really absorbed the conditioner in that section!

18. Stop trimming your hair and just baby your ends. Once you learn how to care for your ends, you retain length with healthy hair without having to face the scissors.

19. Is your shampoo too drying? Dilute it or pre poo with oil. When I dilute it, i get lots of suds that can spread easily.

20. After applying leave in, wait a moment so your hair can absorb it and THEN apply oils to seal it.

21. Use filtered, purified, or spring water as much as possible. Chlorine and harsh elements in tap water can break down the hair.

22. Instead of scratching your scalp, let the itch stimulate your scalp or message that area lightly.

23. Ever so often, use chelating shampoo. This will clean your hair deeper than clarifying shampoo.

24. Have extra time? Put on a plastic cap for a few minutes after applying a leave in conditioner. This will help tangles.

25. When doing twists or braids, put a styling aid on your FINGERS and let it work down your hair while you style it.

26. Saving money? Partially wash out your conditioner. Try to get the conditioner off your scalp though. This can serve as a leave in conditioner. Also, capture some of the run off conditioner in a cup or bowl when you are washing out your conditioner. Rinse out the conditioner completely of your hair and scalp but use the diluted conditioner as a leave in. Save some for later perhaps.

27. You may also roll your hair backwards with rollers. People usually roll downwards towards their napes. Try rolling upwards toward your hairline. Just do it in the opposite direction that its usually done.

28. Detangle your hair from the ends up. Take your time!

29. Amp up cheap conditioners with oils and natural humectants.

I will adding more helpful tips as I learn

To my visitors

Hello! I took a mini break but I promise I will try as hard as I can to give you new blogs with juicy information more often. One thing I love is seeing new information that I can learn from. I encounter it all the time but forget to blog about it. Everything that I learn, YOU will learn. The only thing is, I have to catch you up on what IVE learned from the past as well as the information I get continuously. Not only do I need to spill everything I have learned into words but I think organization is KEY. In the future you will see a different layout and categories that can help you troubleshoot and questions or problems you may have. My goal is to make THIS your one stop place for answers and new insight. Please bare with me while I collect information and organize my knowledge into words.

How to tame your inner PJ

A PJ is a product junkie. I just so happen to be one. I have oodles of products on my shelf, under my bathroom sink, ect. Yesterday, I did one of the hardest things lol. I gave the products that were so-so to my friend. I feel so weird now having a shelf that has 3 bottles on it. Trust me, theres more under the sink but...my shelf STAYED full. Also yesterday, I decided to "get my ducks in a row" so to speak. I made a list of things are mandatory/health for hair care.

Pre poo
Chelating shampoo
Moisturizing shampoo
Protein conditioner
Deep conditioner
Smoothing conditioner (optional)
Co washing conditioner
Leave in
Sealer

This is the mission for myself. The smoothing conditioner is optional or I may just use diluted apple cider vinegar to wash off residue and smooth the cuticles. Cold water also helps too.

What really helps is making a list of categories that you need. From there, find your staple product for each. The ladies also refer to it as the holy grail product. The products will surely vary for you because of our different genetic make up or what your hair likes. I hope to find the staples for each category and not sway from it. Here is what I have so far.

Pre poo - Coconut oil
Chelating shampoo - I will try the redken cleansing creme
Moisturizing shampoo - Experimenting with Shikakai & Nioxin for growth
Protein conditioner - Mega Tek Rebuilder
Deep conditioner - Aussie Deep
Smoothing conditioner (optional) - Matrix sleek look
Co washing conditioner - Tresemme for now but I want a silicone-less product
Leave in - Giovanni direct leave in with aloe vera and glycerin
Sealer - My whipped shea better

I also want to leave Mega Tek in my scalp. It is a growth aid. We will discuss this later. For the deep conditioner, I want to try a joico balm product. This is not noted in the category but I want to try John Frieda's clear glaze just to boost shine. Healthy hair will shine on its own mind you.

When trying a new product, try not to use other new products with it. Use it with your normal routine or regimen so you can see if it works well or not.

When finding a new product, check out the ingredients of course. If you want to follow your categories, make sure that you read the labels. The label will tell you if it is moisturizing and so on. Stick to what YOU want. For example, if your co wash category indicates what you want MOISTURE with that conditioner, dont pick up one that says focuses on protein or reconstructing. Some products do more than one job though. I hope you know the difference and get what I am saying. Good luck dropping the habit!

Goal

For a while, I never sat down and made a specific goal for myself. All I knew was, I wanted to transition long enough that when I cut my hair, I have great length. The thing I was missing was when to trim. Im not sure if I want to keep the ends forever or get to a certain length and cut as I go when I reach it. I know I want my hair to be bra strap length while curly. I REALLY hope my hair grows down and not out with my relaxed ends but I know that might not be the case when I cut that hair off. I am currently at bra strap length now according to MY bra. I straightened my hair out today and was surprised. The next time I straighten it will be on graduation. I might not even do it then. I dont want to straighten my hair anymore via flat iron.

I picked up seaweed yesterday and I will be washing my hair daily if possible. I will blog on that later.

Cinnamon and Honey formula for weight loss

This should be prepared at night before going to bed.

1. Use 1 part cinnamon to 2 parts raw honey. 1/2 tsp cinnamon to 1 tsp honey is recommended but can use more or less as long as in the ratio of 1 to 2. --- so 1 tsp cinnamon to 2 tsp raw honey is ok too as an example.

2. Boil 1 cup...that is 8 oz of water.

3. Pour water over cinnamon and cover and let it steep for 1/2 hour..(30 minutes)

4. Add honey now that it has cooled. Never add honey when it is hot as the heat will destroy the enzymes and other nutrients in the raw honey.

5. Drink 1/2 of this directly before going to bed. The other 1/2 should be covered and refrigerated.

6. In the morning drink the other half that you refirgerated...but do not re-heat it...drink it cold or at room temp only.

Do not add anything else to this recipe. No lemon, no lime, no vinegar. It is not necessary to drink it more time in a day...it is only effective on an empty stomach and primarily at night.

This works for most people. Inches are lost before any measurement on the scales. This program will cause significant inches lost...but you will reach a plateau and may not lose anymore. This is because the cinnamon and honey cause a cleansing effect in the digestive tract and cleans out parasites and other fungus and bacteria that slow down the digestion...causing a toxic build up. (Lowers pH) Once this is all cleaned out then you will most likely have the weight loss slow down.

Other side effects from a cleansing can occur because of toxins being released...if this occurs, cut back on how much you use or take a break.

Additionally people report increased energy, more sex drive, and feeling happier/mood enhancer.


*NOTE:The honey used needs to be REAL RAW UNPASTEURIZED HONEY. If it says PURE honey it is most likely pasteurized. It is best to only buy honey that says RAW or UNPASTEURIZED on the label. The difference is that the enzymes are all heated out of the pasteurized honey.