Yep! Pretty much made my week. What a surprise it was to spot myself on Essence.com! Two of my Instagram posts made the cut for their EssenceHair page. You can check them out here along with some other great naturalistas.
Shout out to this great publication for keeping pace with the natural hair movement.
The January issue of Natura Magazine is here! With the gorgeous Kerry Washington gracing the cover I am even more proud to say that I am a part of Team Natura. With a focus on self empowerment, this issue is full of inspiration and encouragement for women to be who they are which you all know is right up my passion alley!
As a contributing natural hair blogger expert for this amazing online publication I always look forward to seeing the finished product that founder Malia Brown and team have worked so hard to produce. I highly encourage you to go check it out! From natural hair care, fashion and health, it is 188 pages of Awesomeness! Click the cover below to see what the January issue has to offer. You won’t be disapointed!
You can also check out my weekly blog posts for this great publication here.
At one of the Natural Hair Small Group meetings I help lead for my church, the conversation of using or not using a comb came up. Some believed that combing natural hair can contribute significantly to breakage, even with a wide tooth comb. I had previously never thought twice about combing my natural hair. I would typically comb it as I co-washed in the shower or immediately after as I applied my leave-in conditioner. Frankly, not combing my hair seemed pretty crazy to me.
After that meeting I decided to try out this not combing my hair nonsense. Turns out, I love it! Since chucking up the deuces to my wide tooth comb I’ve noticed a few things. 1. My curl pattern is more defined without applying any product to it. 2. My everyday texture is incredible and 3. I seem to have retained more length than usual.
Instead of using a comb, now I just use my fingers. Finger combing, what a brilliant concept. I’m still able to detangle my hair effectively without losing the benefits of not using a comb. So, outside of using a rat tail comb for precision parting for various styles, I think I’m pretty much done combing my natural hair…ever.
Nappy New Year Beauties!! As you go into 2014 here are 10 to do’s for your natural hair journey:
1. Love YOUR natural hair. Don’t fill up with hair envy. Love the tresses God blessed you with. It’s more beautiful than you realize.
2. Don’t take your natural hair journey so serious. Loosen up a little! Unless you’re a chemist and love the science of black hair don’t stress yourself out over making your own Shea butter or custards.
3. Have FUN with your hair. ‘Nuff said
4. Learn more about your natural hair texture. The more you know about your tresses, the better equipped you’ll be to keep it healthy and help it grow.
5. Try new products. Don’t be afraid to try a new product or hair line. You could be missing out!
6. Try new styles as your hair grows. Half the fun of having natural hair is the versatility it offers. Get creative with your curls.
7. Encourage other women wanting to go natural. Be someone’s motivation. Remind them of their beauty and encourage them to get aquatinted with their kinks.
8. Do NOT be a big chop bully. Be sensitive with your transitioning friends! Don’t push them to big chop if they’re not ready.
9. Use what you’ve learned in 2013 to take better care of your tresses. If you’re anything like me you had a lot of hair trial and error last year. Let’s do better this year.
10. Do NOT underestimate the importance of curly support. Stay encouraged on your natural hair journey. It is critical, especially in the early staged. I’ll be here to keep you motivated :o)
Achieved this awesome fro with Motions Define My Curls Creme
I am excited to say that I’ve partnered with a phenomenal publication dedicated to natural hair and healthy living, Natura Magazine. Check out my first blog post about tips on how to maintain your child’s natural hair here and stay tuned for more writes from yours truly!
Here I am rocking my official Kinky Girl tee repping the kinky hair nation ❤
While I thoroughly enjoyed the versatility, after just a week I decided to chuck up the deuces to my straight hair. I am now happy to say the curls are back and I am back to my growth challenge regimen. Speaking of my regimen, I’ve gotten some questions as to what my regimen has been since I started the growth challenge. So, here’s a look at what I’ve been doing to promote hair growth during this 6 month challenge.
That’s pretty much it! I try to stay as consistent as possible. Although I’ve fallen short on a couple of these items I’m really proud of my dedication and progress. Looking forward to the next 4 1/2 months of awesome hair growth! Stay tuned for updates!
Click here to check out my original blog entry about my growth challenge.
It’s been a little over a month since I decided to go hard with a 6 month growth challenge. Since then I’ve been pretty consistent with the rules I set in place for myself. Lots of protective styling, H2O, vitamins, etc. and so far it definitely seems to be paying off.
The weather here in Florida has been in the low 70s, perfect for straight hair. And so, I couldn’t help myself. I tried a new product from the Cantu line (stay tuned for a review) and decided to straighten my hair. I was extremely happy with the results. Although there was heat application, I took care of my hair during the process and my straight hair has offered me some incredible motivation to continue the challenge. Check out the comparison from when I first started the challenge to now. My hair is noticeably longer and more healthy after only 1 month! I’m definitely feeling encouraged!
I partnered with an incredible woman tonight who owns a fabulous fashion mobile boutique. White Tent Runway is leading the mobile boutique revolution in the Tampa Bay area and stays on the cutting edge of fashion trends.
I had the opportunity to talk to several ladies who are either natural or currently transitioning at the boutique’s first Friday event, Style Studio. As I encouraged them on their journey’s and offered various natural hair tips based on my experiences I couldn’t help but think about the importance of that kind of interaction when you are in the midst of such a significant change as transitioning.
You may not realize it initially, but not everyone is going to be supportive of your decision. Unless you are fully committed to your natural hair journey there is a good probability that you will not make it to the point of truly being able to enjoy your natural hair. During your transition or post big chop people will look at you sideways and make rude remarks, and unless you are confident, know who you are and love yourself completely, you could easily be persuaded to give up on your journey and revert back to your relaxed hair. If you’re going to do this, you’re going to need curly support!
Staying encouraged by surrounding yourself with people who are supportive of your decision to embrace your natural hair texture is critical! Find inspiration and motivation to stay committed to your journey through other naturals. Visit YouTube and find channels that keep you positive. I encourage you to check out my channel here. Talk to other naturals that you know and trade products and tips. Keep it fun. This is an exciting time in your life. Don’t let people who are unsupportive bring you down. The quote below sums it up It’s only a matter of time before they start asking you how you achieved such gorgeous hair so don’t give up!
So, my growth challenge has got me really feeling myself! Feeling incredibly encouraged and excited about my potential to reach my waist length goal, not necessarily within 6 months but perhaps in 12. It’s amazing to me how one small initiative like a hair growth challenge can inspire you and build up your confidence.
I’ve been taking my all natural vitamins twice a day, playing with protective styles and trying to be more active. The big challenge this week has been drinking more water. Gotta find a way to get it in!
I did get a few new products that I’m really excited to try: Cantu Grow Strong Strengthening Treatment, Bioinfusion Curl Cream, Motions Define My Curls Creme, and Motions Hydrate My Curls Hair Pudding. Super excited about trying these products!
Check out my YouTube video below to find out more about my growth challenge as well as these products and how I plan to use them.
Well…one thing is for sure, my self-love is definitely on overtime! I suppose the natural Be You Beauty thing to do to maintain such a healthy level of confidence like this would be to find more positive, healthy initiatives to take on. Who knows…this could be the beginning of something Be-You-tiful!
TJ Luvs Being Natural 