I've been neglecting this blog

I know I haven't been good about updating but I'm going to try to do better. Yes, I'm still locking and 's going well. I'm impatient though so I cannot wait until they grow long enough to hit my shoulders so I can do a pony. I'm low maintenance these days due to scalp issues. I wash about once a week or when the itchies become unbearable and that is about it. Sometimes I may add a little olive oil or jajoba oil but that's all. I'm finding less is more as far as my scalp issues are concerned. I also latch about every 4 weeks and that is going well. I find that my hair fuzzes up rather quickly after I latch and it is probably due to the washing. (I used to wash or rinse daily) we'll see if this new routine makes a difference. It doesn't seem that my hair is really growing but I can tell that it is when I latch(it stretches out a bit more) I still have shrinkage and can't wait for the day that my length starts to show. Maybe I'll take some new pics and compare them to my start if I can find some photos.(My comp crashed and I lost everything, EVERYTHING. all kinds of photos and videos of family , friends , and hair. I've learned my lesson and am now a backing up sista! lol

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Mac Addicts Unite!

 For all my MAC Lovers, Mac  is having their friends and family sale.  

What: MAC  Friends & Family Sale 

When: June 16th through June 18th

Where:  online only( don't be walking up to your local MAC counter asking about your 25% discount because it's ONLINE Only.)

MAC will be having their Friends & Family Sale June 16th through June 18th, online only. The discount will be 25% off all products on maccosmetics. com. Available on U.S. and Canadian MAC websites. The discount code is SAVE25.

Receive FREE STANDARD SHIPPING with any CAD$75+ purchase. No offer code necessary. Offer is valid on orders shipped to Canadian addresses only. .

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Wash Day For The Kid

Yesterday I decided to wash, condition and  do the kid's hair.  Mind you she has been wearing it in 2 twisted puffs for about 3 weeks.  Anyway, I finally  had the opportunity to try out a purchase that I made a few weeks ago.  It's the Styling Therapy Brush by Goody.   Let me say this Brush  was a miracle worker on the kid's hair.  Loved it!! (although she didn't, she hates for me to do anything to her hair) This brush allowed me to detangle and  do twisted ponytails with relative ease.  I can see me and this brush being together for a very long time. lol  I'll do a review later on.

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My Hair is Coming Along

So My hair is coming along.  I have started latching since I wash so frequently and I have really gotten the hang of it. I don't like to spend money frivolously so I started off trying to latch with a latch hook since I had one already.  It was easy to get the hang of it since I know how to latch hook but It kept getting tangled in my hair and was just a mess.  I then tried to make a tool out of a paperclip.  The clip turned out to be much easier but my hair still kept getting caught on the clip and the tape that I wrapped around it to cover the  part where I twisted the paperclip.  I then moved on to using a yarn needle and I absolutely love it.  No catching on the hair, no awkwardness, it glides through the hair easily and it really is a breeze to use.  Yes,  I have  gotten the occasional two locs latched together and believe me its no fun trying to undo but other than that it's been working out quite lovely for me.  

I'm still going back and forth about the size of my locs.  I  love the look of bigger locs on other people but I wanted the size of sisterlocs for myself.  I had them small (not sisterloc sized) but then started worrying about them being too small.  so I combined some.  Then I saw photos of people who's locs seemed as small if not smaller than mine and then I wanted to make mine even smaller.  (hard to do once you've latched ) so I had to leave them be.  No (while they are a nice size, I still think that once they mature they might get even bigger and I don't want that. I was watching someone's You tube video, she also had braidlocs which were similar in size to mine when she first started them,  no they are huge. She even commented on the fact that she didn't expect them to get as large as they were and she didn' combine any.  That threw me for a loop because everything that I have read concerning locs states that they will swell and then condense not get larger.  Most who have started their own say that you should make your parts as large or small as you want your locs to be but hers didn't fit that theory.  I'm about a month in to my journey and mine are larger than I expected them to be considering their size when I first put them in.  I hope they condense to a size that I'm comfortable with.

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Don't Forget to Rock Your Red Today! Help Support Women's Heart disease Awareness

Today is National Wear Red Day,a day when Americans nationwide wear red to show their support for women's heart disease awareness. Heart disease is the number 1 killer of women so to show your support, wear your favorite red dress, shirt, hat, socks, pants, pins, or whatever. Just Rock Your Red!!!

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Guess what?

Yes, I have switched it up again and combed out my locs that were progressing quite nicely. Why did I do it you ask? Well I restarted them using another method. I know you are probably thinking that this chick has hair ADD but honestly, I don't. I am 100% sure that I am locing. but the twists weren't feasible for my lifestyle. Quite a few of them had actually started to loc towards the ends, but the roots were another story. I'm a frequent washer, at least once a week and more often than not, more than once a week. I have scalp issues so washing or at least wetting my hair is a MUST. I just didn't like having to deal with the constant unraveling every time I washed so I decided to start them over using braids. Took me 3 days and I just finished up yesterday. Honestly, I don't like the look as much as I did the twists but this is definitely more manageable for me. (I washed as soon as I finished up with my last braid) Had a shampoo bar that I just had to try. Anyway, it felt lovely to wash and still have my braids intact, no unraveling, no need to re-twist or retighten. Loving it. I just want them to get that Older look too them because they are considerably more "scalpy" looking than my twists were. Anyway, I guess they were born on inauguration Day! Whoo Hoo!

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Good News New Yorkers: J crew is Having a Sample Sale

Clothingline, is hosting J.Crew’s Sample Sale in New York City.

WHEN:
January 20 - January 25
Tuesday 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

WHERE:
The Sale will be held at:
261 W 36th Street
(between 7th & 8th Ave)
2nd Floor


DETAILS:
Items will be up 70% off retail.
Mens, Womens, CrewCuts, J.Crew Collection & Madewell will be available.
Over 20,000 units of clothing will be at the sale.
Dressing rooms will be closed during this sale.
Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, debit cards, and cash will be accepted.
The entrance and selling floor closes up to 30 minutes prior to the close of the sale.
Call 212-947-8748 or email jordan@clothingline.com for more information.

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HIL Disease is a real problem

I am suffering from HIL (hand in loc) disease. I mean it's a real issue for me. I can sit and play in my hair for hours on end without even realizing it. I find myself. twirling, pulling massaging and doing all kind of things to my hair. Impatience is another thing that I must overcome. I'm just ready for my hair to loc already. I'm lucky in the sense that I believe with my hair texture, it won't take long for me to loc. I'm guessing by 4 or 5 months I should have progressed fairly well.

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My poor babies

I have been neglecting my hair so. I almost became a semi freeformer as I haven't had the time to re-twist. I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not but I redid my twist locs on Christmas day, Took me three days to complete. I was satisfied with them overall but I wanted to make my parting neater. Anyway. I rolled it up using pipe cleaners and had beautiful curls while I was away. Needless to say, my head was itching something terrible so as soon as I came home, I washed it. That was about a week ago. I re-twisted the top and sides but never got around to the back so ya'll know I was looking a hot mess. Last night, I finally got around to finishing my re-twist and now I'm sitting here in some pipe cleaners(make shift curlers) wondering what the end result will be. I also oiled my scalp with coconut oil in an attempt to combat some of the itchies due to dryness.

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Wash day again due do the 'Itchies"

Today I washed my twistlocs. It's a true process for me. Normally when I decide to wash(since my hair hasn't loced yet ) I usually braid and then band my hair to cut down on the unraveling at the root. I normally band near the root and again near the end of the plait. This method works great for me but I have a hard time removing the rubber band from the end of the plait. It usually gets tangled in my ends and is becoming a real hassle. Since I really don't have a problem with my ends unraveling, I decided to skip the braiding and banding at the ends and just band near the root (sort of mini puffs all around).



The last time I washed, I used my prescription Loprox shampoo. I think it left a scab in my hair so this time I used baking soda , water and apple cider vinegar. I also used a drop of Dr. Bonner's Peppermint Castille Soap. (I need to see bubbles what can I say *shrug*) Anyway, I love the way my hair turned out. I still had some problems removing a few bands despite my not having banded the ends but my scalp feels wonderful. (I still get the occasional itch) but nothing like before. I really think my itchiness was due to dryness. If anyone knows of a sure fire way to combat dryness without hindering my locing process...I'm all ears. I know folks like to.... make spritzes with essential oils, carrier oils and water but that only works for me until it drys. By the next day, my hair has usually soaked up anything that was put on it and I'm back to being dry again.

Anyway, after I rinsed for a while to make sure I got everything out, I rubbed some jojoba oil in my hands and lightly oiled the puffs. I then removed the bands and oiled my scalp(very lazily I might add because I didn't feel like going through all of the parts) with my Jamaican Black Castor Oil. I can't believe how soft my hair is. Thats odd because personally, I don't think oils really work for me. The softness that I'm feeling today, I think has more to do with the baking soda/ vinegar wash than anything I did afterwards although I do believe it made a huge difference with my scalp. I tend to think of oils as more of a sealant than an actual moisturizer so if you know of any moisturizers(preferably creamy) other than glycerin or something that will cause product buildup....HOLLAAAAA! But anyway, I just sat there and played with my twistlocs for over an hour I believe. lol I can't wait until my hair starts to loc, I'm curious to see how they turn out. I'm sure I'll be combining some near the crown because that's my thin area and I don't want to experience any breakage due to weak locs. I took some of the twists, that I believe to be weak, out and braided them to give them a bit more strength. We'll see how it goes which is one of the reasons why I wanted to make them small ...this way if they don't turn out the way I envisioned, I can always marry them and make them bigger.

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Parabens, Petroleum and Mineral Oil Oh My!

Disclaimer: First Let me start off by saying that this is MY opinion and My Opinion only!!!

This posts stems from a question regarding a particular hair product. Someone was interested in trying it out, loved the ingredients and loved the price but then saw parabens listed way down on the list of ingredients and then said "Those ingredients sound lovely but oh it has parabens, Oh Well, I have to find something else." Now I don't know if this person has had bad experiences with parabens, her hair hates them or she's just going by what she's heard which brings me to this little ditty, If it works for you, by all means keep doing what you're doing.

I personally am not one to buy into the all the hype about no petroleum, mineral oil, and blah blah blah. I will try the product regardless of the ingredients if I think its something my hair might like. If it works for me then great, if it doesn't then time to find something that will work. When I was younger, I had my scalp greased, semi regularly and my hair never looked better, was thick, full, natural hair. While I did get my hair straightened as a child, I never had any chemicals in my hair until I was about 11 or 12 years old.

Anyway, my hair was healthy and strong back then. It amazes me that someone can get a slew of compliments on their hair, raves about how healthy it looks, how much and how quickly it grows and how shiny it looks. The person can say that they grease their scalp with Blue Magic Hair grease and then all the hoopla about how bad petroleum is for your hair starts. Never mind the fact that you.... just complimented the hell out of this person's hair and the fact that its thriving. Now this person who has seen nothing but great results from incorporating this into her regimen automatically stops using grease because of the hype. Why? If its working for you keep doing it. Everyone's hair and scalps are not the same. What works for one may not work for the other, I don't care if you are hair twins.

Case in point. My hair loves creamy anything, leave-ins, conditioners you name it. I read rave reviews about Giovanni Direct Leave-in. Ran out and got a bottle and it did nothing for my hair besides make it hard. Worked wonders for other folks but did nothing for me. YOU are the best person to determine what is GOOD for your hair. You know your hair and what it responds to better than anybody else. If Petroleum works wonderfully for your hair by all means use it, If mineral oil is your things, don't stop. This may not be the popular thing to say but I just thought I'd share.


DISCLAIMER: I am by no means advocating the use of these products if they have not been proven useful in your regimen so don't run out and buy some Vaseline on account of me

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I Want Locs Already

I really need to stay out of my hair(and leave the photo animation alone haha) I had to redo quite a few of my twistlocs because I wasn't satisfied with the parting. (looked extremely crooked to me) Anyway, Some had progressed as well as can be expected for me having put them in on Thanksgiving or the day after. (I have to check to make sure) I still am not totally satisfied with the parting so I may do a thorough inspection when time permits so I won't have to redo anymore.

I did them really tiny because I was trying to get them sisterloc size, Besides, It will be easier to combine them if later on down the road, I decide that I want them bigger. rather than to start off big and later decide that I want them smaller. So you can have an idea of how small I'm talking, here's a few photos.

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Product Junkie Alert: Miss Jessies BOGO is Back

Yes My Fellow Product Junkies. It's that time of year again. Miss Jessie's is once again having their annual BOGO (that's buy one get one free event) so now is the perfect time for you to stock up. The sale actually started the beginning of this month and will run until Dec 31st so make sure to make your purchases before then. I know some of you have been wanting to try Miss Jessie's products but the price was just to steep for you. Well now is the perfect time to get more bang for your buck and sample those products that you've been wanting to try. Happy Shopping!

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For all You Product Junkies Phyto & PhytoSpecific Friends and Family Sale

The Sale begins Monday December 15 at 9 A.M. EST and ends December 18th at 5 P.M. Thats 4 days only people so if you are a product Junkie and you need to re-up on hair products, vitamins, shampoo and the like, or you just want to fatten up your stash, check out this friends and family sale.

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I'm loving my Twists/Locs so far

As I've said in previous posts, I am seriously considering locing my hair. I have had twists in for about 3 months so far off and on. I plan to see how long I can leave them in without redoing them or wanting to wear my hair out. Anyway, I wasn't quite satisfied with the way my twistlocs turned out so I redid them on Thanksgiving (or the day after) to a size that I'm happy with. I've washed them quite a few times because I can't deal with the itchies and while I have had some unraveling near the root, the base tends to stay put. I am in the process of retwisting now (been at it for 3 days now because I do a section at a time lol (yeah I know I'm lazy but I don't have too many more left to do.) They look kind of scalpy in the crown area because that's where I had my scalp issues but hopefully they will thicken up a bit so the scalpyness won't be much of an issue. They were also newly twisted so that's part of it as well.

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Wash Day For The Kid and I

Today is Wash day for the kid and I. Lawd I dread it for the kid because she has a mountain of thick hair. Her hair is easy to style when its wet but once it dries, whoo chile! Not to mention that no matter what time of day I wash her hair, without fail she is soo sleepy and needs to lie down. Doesn't matter if I do it at 8 A.M. after she wakes or 6: P.M. when she's in the middle of watching TV or online. Without fail I get the "why do you have to do it now , I was just getting ready to lie down because I'm sleepy" She's not fooling anybody. I love the kid's hair though. She has the perfect length that I'd love to achieve. She's also in need of a trim.




When I'm done washing and conditioning her hair, I'm more often than not hard pressed to find a hair style for her. Most times I like to..... cornrow it or do some type of style that will last her two weeks or more because trying to do some hair every morning, early in the morning is just not the way to go for me. I usually just do the same old tried and true styling with her. I've run out of ideas though. If anyone has any ideas for childrens style please leave comments. (we love comments hint-hint!)
Currently she's rocking box braids that I did extra big to save on time.

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Star Style: Amel Larrieux Shares Her Beauty Secrets

Amel Larrieux has a look as eclectic and ethereal as her voice. The neo-soul singer's smoky eyes and thick tresses are her trademarks along with a unique sense of style. It's as hard to pigeon-hole her style as it is her music. Half of the former duo Groove Theory and break-out solo artist with the soulful Infinite Possibilities.

Her creative spirit, passion for music and self-defined sense of beauty come from the same place, within…and she shares it with the world.

"We all have different ideas of what is beautiful," Larrieux says. "It's not just what is on the outside, the way your hair flows a certain way or the color of your eyes. It's what you have on the inside that makes you like no other person. That is beautiful."

Amel on Skin
"I use Cetaphil on my skin as a cleanser. I've used it for years," Larrieux confides. "My grandmother looked 70 when she was 90 and she swore by Noxema and Vaseline, and sometimes I fall back on them too."

Larrieux says she has very sensitive skin prone to dryness and breakouts. She uses a product that her husband, Laru, found during a recent facial: Murad Perfecting Day Cream SPF 15. "It works well for both of us."

Larrieux also uses Essential Element's Joie de Lavender body lotion. "It's organic and very healing. The lavender smoothes my skin and doesn't break me out and it calms me before bed."

Amel on Hair
"I wear my hair natural and I have to stay on top of it. I am very much into lubricating my hair. I use different hair oils and pomades and I only wash my hair every two to three weeks," Larriex says.

One of her favorite hair products is.... Monoi de Tahiti, a coconut oil with coconut extract directly from Tahiti, which she uses to oil her hair and scalp. She also uses Indian hemp as a pomade.

Larrieux has a hair care routine that she recommends for women with natural curly, wavy, and/or frizzy hair. She encourages them not to wash their hair too much. When you do wash, use a hot oil treatment once a month. She also swears by using a leave-in conditioner like Nexxus Humectress, her favorite. She says it's great for the thickest of thick hair.

"I try not to use the word nappy because I don't like the word nappy," she says. "I think we can look for ways to redefine our hair."

Larrieux also likes to use Pro-Line's coconut oil, which she finds light enough to use in her hair of several different grades. She also uses a pomade that her grandmother used, Clairol's Vitapointe Creme Hairdress and Conditioner.

After washing her hair at night, she oils her scalp, puts a bit of oil on her hair, then sections and braids her hair in two, four, sometimes six braids. She says the process protects and sets the hair. In the morning she takes out the braids and runs her fingers though her hair to create a wavy effect.

"It's as simple as that," she says. "When I go to shoots I tell the stylists not to touch my hair because it is the way I like it."
Amel's Favorite Make-up Trick
"I like kohl under the eyes for that smoky look. You can look punky, like you are from the 1920's, or like a desert dweller. That's the kind of look I like."

Amel on the Go
"I don't go anywhere without my Evian mister. I spray it over my face five to six times a day. I spray it in my hair to get tangles out of my hair. It's much gentler than tap water.

Monoi de Tahiti. It's so fragrant. It makes you smell like an island girl.

I never leave home without concealer and Smith's Rosebud Salve. It's the best lip balm ever. It smells like my mom. She always smelled like tea rose and you can even use it on your elbows and feet."

Larrieux says an eyelash curler comes in handy too.

"It's good to carry anything that gives what you have a little umph, whether that's an eyelash curler or something that smells nice."

Amel on Beauty Eating Habits
"I believe my outer beauty suffers when I don't take care of my inner self," Larrieux says. "I drink tons of water even when I don't want to because I feel I suffer so much if I don't. I don't eat red meat. I'll do it if I'm craving iron in my diet, so once in a while I'll have a steak. I eat lots of proteins and drink soy milk"

Amel on Beauty Fitness
"I run two miles on the treadmill everyday. I took ballet for 12 years so I do barre work everyday. It helps to elongate my muscles and helps with flexibility."

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My Journey into Nappturality

I realized that I haven't mentioned anything about my own journey into napturality so here is a little question and answer session about my journey. (and no the photo to the right is not me!

How long have you been natural?

I really can't even remember but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say since about 2002 or 2003.


Why did you decide to go natural?
Well, it really wasn't a conscious decision that I made. I, of course, had been a permie until the emergence of braids and micro braids. I had been wearing braided styles since about 1991 or 1992. Occasionally, when I would take them out, I would relax my hair if I was wearing it out for a while or sometimes just the edges if I wanted my braids to look nice. Most of the time I was in braids anyway so becoming natural just kind of happened. I realized that because I was just going to re-braid it anyway, why bother relaxing. I turned to braids because I liked the growth factor. My hair grew so much when I was pregnant and in braids and I wanted to keep the momentum going so to speak. During that time, I was the hair board queen, I started looking at photos of natural hair and all of a sudden relaxed hair seemed less and less appealing to me.

Did You have a long or short transition?
I guess while I was...
wearing the braids, I was actually transitioning without knowing it or at least without planning to so I would have to say long. My plan was to stay in braids but the more natural heads I saw, the more curious I became about my own natural hair.

Did You Big chop?
Not really but I do remember the day I cut off my relaxed ends. I had talked my mother into getting braids, (her first time ever and she had a really cute cornrowed style) After taking them out, she washed her hair without combing it out first and was met with a head full of matted, tangled mess. She then got out the scissors and cut her hair down to a TWA and a week or two later I followed suit. (not down to a TWA mind you,because I had some length from wearing braids for so long) I remember that day like it was yesterday. I had just stepped out of the shower and just decided to cut off my relaxed ends. (a month or two before I had taken down a braid and cut the relaxed ends off of that section) I still wore braids for a while after that until scalp issues and a bald patch made me ditch the braids for good. I didn't totally miss out on the Big chop though as I was forced to do it 2 years ago after a bad dye job left me with broken edges around my hair line to about an inch back.


What Do You Love about being natural?
I love the versatility that I have now that Im natural. I love that my hair is big and beautiful and stands up straight and salutes people as they pass by. I love the fact that water is now my friend, raining out? No problem my hair loves it? No more talk of sweating my hair out, no more swimming without getting my hair wet, no more burns from the curling iron and sitting in hair salons for hours on end.( although that was a rarity for me because I have always been a do it yourselfer as far as my hair is concerned.) I love everything about being natural, I mean really, What's not to love?

What types of styles do you wear?
I mostly wear twists,and twist outs. I ,on occasion when I can get it right, wear wash and goes and puffs (although I haven't worn a puff in a while now). Currently I'm contemplating locing so I've been in twists now for about a month or so. I'm the type that likes to stay playing in my hair and I love to change it up and experiment with products a lot so right now I'm just trying to see how long I can stay in twists without touching them and I'm finding it hard as hell.


What's so hard about it?
Well the most difficult thing for me is to not re twist my hair when they start looking fuzzy and lose. As a matter of fact, after a month or more of twists(I think some even began to bud) I took them down and re-twisted them two days ago in an attempt to make them smaller.

So have you decided to loc for good?
I think I'm just about 99 percent there. I really love the look of sister locks but my mind just cannot rationalize me spending upwards of $600 to have them done. I also like the look of braidlocs and that is something that I would be able to do myself since I was the micro braid queen ( and yes I did my own) but I figure if I somehow changed my mind, un locing a braid would be too difficult to do so for now, I'm settling with my twists. They aren't as tiny as I want them but they'll have to do. I did happen to meet someone who inquired about my hair and told me that her niece had just gotten locks. Of course I talked her ear off and she told me that her niece had gotten sisterlocs for $100 bucks. Now that is definitely doable with me but unfortunately, her niece wasn't with her at the time so I couldn't see if they were actual sisterlocs and how they were done.

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Infomercials Are The Debil: WEN Hair cleansing System

As I may or may not have mentioned before, I am a true infomercial junkie. I probably have anything and everything that has been advertised on an infomercial including the dreaded Perfect Pasta(which didn't work the way I thought it would or should. I used it as soon as I bought it and my pasta was just as hard as it was when I took it out of the box. Anyway, The latest infomerical product that I'm hoping to try is the Wen Hair Cleansingsystem. Fortunately for me, My mom has got the infomericalitis just as bad as I do and she informed me that she ordered it for herself. Now my mother and I are both natural so I'll have to beg her to see if she'll let me try a bit of it to review. If you've seen the infomercial, they do state that the Wenn cleansing cream works on all types of hair and they even had an African American model in the commerciaal as proof. Her hair type seemed to be a 3B or 3c from what I can tell. Mine however is predominately a 4B so I'll have to see how it works for me.

Okay, I begged and pleaded and my mother relunctantly let me borrow some. I washed my hair first with my Neutrogena because I had too much product in it. Since the Wen doesn't lather, I figured this would be the best thing to do (besides, the models on the infomercial had all washed their hair before with a regular shampoo before using the WEN....of course they only did it to show the differences between regular shampoo and WEN but oh well.) Anyway, I applied the WEN to my hair(it also comes with instructions that tell you how many "pumps" of product you should use for your particular hair length and type.) Since my hair is coarse, it suggested I use 8 pumps for the front, 8 for the back, 8 for the crown, and 8 each for the right and left side for a total of 40 pumps and as I mentioned before, I am a little heavy handed so I like my hair saturated but because this wasn't mine, I stuck with the reccommended usage. I kept the product in while I showered and then rinsed out. I have the sweet almond mint. It smelled a little mentholated but not terrible. I loved the fact that it had a tingling sensation as well. It did make my hair rather soft(at least while it was wet.) I applied a little as a leave-in and then twisted before it became totally dry so I don't know how my hair would feel after it was dry had I not twisted. Since I've only used it once so far, and I'm quite sure that that is not enough for me to give it an unbiased review. I'll hold off until I use it a few more times. I will have to purchase some first because as I said this was borrowed. The kit also came with a styling cream (which smells heavenly... totally different scent than the cleansing cream)

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Star Style: Tanika Ray Dishes ABout Her Mane

Its no secret that Tanika Ray, host of TV's Extra has gorgeous hair. If you're like me, I'm sure you have a million questions about it, Is it real? Is she natural? Texturized? What's her regimen? What products does she use? Well Tanika finally dishes about her lovely locks: Psssst....She confirmed that it is her real hair when Barbara Walters did the unthinkable and asked her about it.

Tanika on her hair:

Well, here it is ... my hair is naturally curly -- that's the basis of my hair style. I love sticking to what works but it's still imperative to experiment with numerous products. I have met soooo many woman with sooooo many various types of hair and one product does not fit all, but here are some to try ...

Products:

- Citre' Shine (super affordable shine and drugstore find)
- Bumble and Bumble Styling Crème
- Miss Jessie's (anything by this sister team)

Tips:

- only comb hair when in the shower and under the water
- let your hair air dry without touching it (seriously hands off)
- once dry use only your hands to loosen up the curl

Warning:

When wearing your hair curly and natural be prepared for an unpredictable outcome. Everyday my hair takes on it's own personality. If you're type A ... this is not the style for you.

Definitely useful tips. maybe Next Time Tanika will go into a step by step process of how she styles her hair for various appaearances and events.

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