Taliah Waajid World Natural Hair Show

Is it sad that I am already planning what I am wearing, how I am styling my hair and already made a wish list of products for the 15th Annual Taliah Waajid World Natural Hair Show (WNHS) in Atlanta this year? lol

Source

Since the first time I attended the WNHS in 2009, I have always squealed like a little school girl when the dates of the show and the list of vendors are announced. The WNHS Spring show is April 28-29th and I plan on attending both days and most likely breaking the bank, lol. 
Everytime I have attended, I usually go in blindly into the mass ballroom filled with vendors and only going to booths I am familiar with. This year I plan on visiting vendors I am not familiar with and also being open to the different activities at the show.

This show includes, a whole bunch of natural hair vendors, professional workshops, manufacturer workshops, life and wellness workshops, a big chop segment and even more!
If you can make it this year, I suggest you try your best to to go. You will not regret it! If you want to find out more information about the WNHS press this link www.naturalhairshow.org and everything will be there. 


Hope to see you there!

Transitioning

So, if you read my first post you know that I have heat damage. These photos were taken the first night I washed my hair after it was flat ironed. I did a lot of things in attempt to make my hair revert (Beer, Aphogee treatments) and I even wet my hair every day when re-twisting my hair to see if any change would occur. And of course, no luck.

I decided if I ever flat iron my hair again I will do it for myself, with TONS of heat protectant. I have even realized that the areas that are slightly curly, isn't even close to my real texture. I was emotional for a very long time and I still look at other naturals and wish my hair wasn't damaged but I just see this as a learning experience. I cut only some sections of my hair, because I was actually planning on big chopping all over again. So that is why you see shorter sections in the pictures. My hair was past collar bone before all of this happened. But I am not going to be BC'ing again so I am now transitioning BACK to natural by protecting my new growth by keeping my hair moisturized and protected.

In each picture my hair is wet and has conditioner on it.

Are you a first time transitioner or making a second journey? Tell me about it below! 

Thank you for reading!

My curlBOX!!

My curlBOX is finally here!!! I am so excited to review this box and the services I received while placing my order. 

Source: curlBOX

Of course, I gave in to my inner product junkie and ordered curlBOX on the opening day. I was order #7. (Yea, it was that serious). Of course like other naturals I was apprehensive about this service and was nervous to be the guinea pig. I had some issues registering my account because the system was asking for my federal tax id number (Social Security number). I contacted curlBOX on Twitter about the issue, no answer. I then contacted them on Facebook, they responded but not consistently. I then emailed the company. I got an email in about 10 minutes after I sent it out. I suppose it was Myleik Teele herself (The creator of curlBOX) that responded to me about the issue and she was quick to remedy the situation (her name was signed at the end of the email) . She was so sweet and helpful, so that was a bonus.
I received the shipping information on Tuesday Feb. 7th and UPS delivered it on Thursday Feb. 8th!! That is pretty good! The subscription is $20 per month and it provides you 5-7 hand selected natural hair products. The products you receive are from either established or up and coming brands. 

MY curlBOX!!!!!

The Goodies!!

Groove Therapy Eradicate Detoxifying Hair Cleanser, 2 fl oz

Curly Hair Solutions Extenzz, 2 fl oz

Hair Rules Kinky Curling Crème, 8 fl oz

Sofn’free GroHeatlhy Nothing But Curly Pudding, 0.5 fl oz

Sofn’free GroHeatlhy Nothing But Cleaning Conditioner, 1fl oz

Hair Rules Quench Ultra Rich Conditioner, 0.5 fl oz

Karen’s Body Beautiful Sweet Ambrosia in Pomegranate Guava, 2 oz

I am satisfied with the product selection. I was very excited to see Hair Rules products because I have been wanting to tryout their products. The Karen's Body Beautiful Sweet Ambrosia leave in is a good addition to the one I already own, and I love this leave in already. I am also excited about the products that I'm not familiar with and I am willing to try to them out to see if they work for my hair.


I won't continue with this subscription (personal preference) but I may just sign up again in the future because after all, I am a PJ ;)
Did you get a curlBOX? How did you like it?

Review: Cantu Shea Butter Leave In

As a born and bred PJ (Product Junkie), when someone raves about a product, I am more than eager to go and buy it immediately. 
So when MeechyMonroe raved about the Cantu Shea Butter leave in Conditioning Repair Cream and experienced great results with her twist outs, I figured it was a must have. Sadly for me, I didn't have the same results. Ever since my heat damage I have been trying to retain moisture and keep my hair soft. This product didn't help me with that. 


I would have to say that I was apprehensive to use this product when I first went natural because of this: 

I don't fully understand the warning because I have a whole head of new growth but when I saw other naturals use it with no problems, I caved in. 

 

The product is creamy and fairly thick. It goes on smoothly and gives me enough slip for detangling. It has a very pleasant smell that lingers very lightly. It  goes on white but dries clear. I have been using it for about 4 months and every time I have used it I was disappointed. My hair was dry, brittle and dull. I thought the heat damage was preventing my hair from retaining moisture. But the leave in was actually drying my hair out, no matter how much shea butter and oils I applied. The first three ingredients are water, shea butter and soybean oil. The product also contains "cones" (silicones) so that may just be the culprit. But then again, I have used cones in the past and I really haven't had any issues.
Being a PJ has its risks but it is a learning process finding out what works best for your hair. So long story short, this product will either be swapped or stored in the back of my collection. But don't get discouraged if you have been waiting to try this product, it may just work for you.


Do you like this product?


  

Shea Butter

Since I went natural nearly a year and a half ago, shea butter has been a staple in my hair regimen. As we all know Shea butter has great benefits, not only for your hair but also for your skin. Shea Butter moisturizes and soften the skin and the hair. When you add oils to the Shea Butter and whip it, makes it easier for application and makes it more beneficial. 
I have a tutorial with the oils and steps I take to make my Fluffy Shea Butter. Check it out below!

Damaged

When I was a year and five months natural I made one of the worst decisions in my natural hair journey: To go to a natural hair dresser and flat iron my hair. Two things went wrong:

1. Trusting someone that doesn't know the first thing about my hair

2. Giving her extra tip because I liked the outcome of my hair, lol

My experience was terrible. I will start with the girl that washed my hair. It felt like she was ripping my hair out by trying to "run her fingers" through my kinky curly hair. When they applied a deep conditioner to my hair and put me under the steamer, I am pretty sure the steamer wasn't working effectively. You might be saying to yourself, "Why didn't you speak up?" Well, there goes the trust part, me trusting in the professionals. 

Idiot.

Anyways, while the hair dresser was doing my hair, I asked her if she used a leave in because it seemed like she was struggling with my hair.  She "claimed" she put a lot of leave in and heat protectant. Once again, I trusted her and left it alone. I don't personally like to tell people how to do their jobs especially when they say they did something. The only thing I told her to do is to use the "tension method" while blow drying my hair because once again it seemed like she was struggling. She took my advice, my scalp thanked her. 

I forgot to mention that there were other clients in the salon, they all "claimed" she does a great job and that they haven't incurred any heat damage. So once again, *trust*. 

So let's just say, I was feeling good that I got my hair did...I felt like there should have been a runway and a big 'ol fan blowing in my face. I wouldn't lie, my hair look really good. I kept my hair "straight" for about 2 weeks. When I finally decided it was time to go back to my kinky curls, the worst happened. Portions of my hair was damaged....straight, despite all the washing, DC's (deep condition's), and protein treatments I did. I cried so much that night. 

The next day I thought I could contact the hair dresser I "trusted" and inform her about what happened. 

Let's just say she got on the defense, claimed that us "lay" people don't know what "heat damage" is, especially hair bloggers on Youtube (?). I was like wow. She said give my hair about a month to revert. (Um, it has been nearly 5 MONTHS!!!!). Something funnier happened about a month later when I contacted her again and told her my hair didn't revert. She didn't respond to my messages AND she blocked ME on facebook. WTH. Really? I'm sorry, did I mess up YOUR hair?

Long story short, I am transitioning ALL over again and I am pretty sure NO HEAT PROTECTANT was used that day at the salon. So I am hoping October of this year, my hair will be back to the length it was last year. So, I say to all of you considering flat ironing your hair by a professional, ASK questions and be as annoying as possible. Why? Because you are giving them YOUR money and YOUR hair is at stake. It will pay off in the end. Trust me.