Playing with Parts

Lately I’ve been playing around with hair parts and I’ve been noticing the dramatically different looks I can achieve just with different angles. My hair has really grown and I’m starting to see the difference and enjoy a few styling options that weren’t there for me before.

Right now I’m enjoying the dramatic diagonal side part and the center part. I'm going to try a zigzag part that I used to kill back when I was relaxed, soon as well.

Note in the images, I just did my regular twist-out, the same products were used on both looks. I have to say that I love both looks and having bangs again are fun and flirty. My husband also loves the bigger hair. 

Are you experimenting with parts, how is it going?

Blessings and Curls,

Kim aka B-Curlie

Product Review - Hair Honey

Over the last few weeks, I’ve revisited a product that I used back in my transitioning days, it is Kynk Naturals, Hair Honey.

I purchased the Hair Honey from Noah’s health food store, but it is also available on their website, http://www.kynk.ca.

How to use (as quoted from Kynk Naturals):
A conditioning treatment that improves you hair’s strength and flexibility. Apply Hair Honey to clean wet hair to help ease tangles when combing. Hair Honey can also be used to reinforce hair ends when styling especially with braids & twists. For the not -so -intense kynks but severe dryness issues, saturate dry hair and wrap head & hair in a (not too) hot towel. Then wash as usual. Use Hair Honey as needed on natural or treated hair.

Ingredients:
Persea Gratissima (Apricot Kernel), Prunus armeniaca (Avocado), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut), Cera alba (Beeswax), Melaleuca Alterfernolia (Tea Tree), d-alpha tocopherol (Vitamin E), Mentha Piperita (Peppermint), Ribes nigrum (Black Currant aroma), Oleoresin Rosmarinus Officinalis (rosemary), Petroselinum sativum (Parsley), Thymus vulgaris (Thyme), & love (Agape).

My thoughts: 

Now that I’m 100% Curlie, I find this Hair Honey works better on my hair. It looks honey and has a mild honey and menthol/peppermint scent. The strength of this product is that it is a great for sealing in moisture. I often used it to apply one top of my moisturized hair. Yet for me, the best use of the Hair Honey was adding it to my deep conditioner. It gave my hair a protective coating and I love that.

I may not use it every day because I’m used to fruity and floral scents in my products, yet since all the ingredients used in Kynk Naturals products are all natural, I will keep the Hair Honey on my rooster. I should also mention that the Hair Honey is also has Clean Care's seal of approval for safer beauty & personal care products in Canada. It’s important to note that their mantra is, “If you can't eat it we don't use it!” In essence it makes my hair feel good.

Have you tried this Hair Honey or any of the other Kynk Natural products? Tell me what you think.

Blessings and Curls,

Kim aka B-Curlie

3-strand twistout

I’m not sure if I’m late with discovering the 3-strand twists/twist-outs or maybe I’m just on time. You tell me!

The twisting technique came up in my YouTube search a week or so ago, when I wanted to try something different. I was intrigued, especially since I’m a twist-out addict. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do with my hair, after I’ve tried something new, I always go back to my beloved twist-outs. It’s just a dependable style for me. So I watched a bunch of videos to show me the technique on how to create a 3-strand twist, but best one for me was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5bTiC0dLhM from JustKellee101. Even though her hair texture is not the same as mine, I found her instructions were very concise and easy to follow.

My thoughts:

First of all, it usually takes me 45 minute to an hour to twist my hair, the 3-strand twist took me almost two hours. Perhaps that was because it was me first time doing it, I’m not sure.

One thing I did like was that I did not need to do as many twists. I only do 12 twists, opposed to about 16 twists. My hair is thick and fine, if that makes sense and I do not get big, juicy twists, but with the 3-strand twists I did and I liked them.

The results:

I have to say I wasn’t sure about this set when I took down the twists, because they didn’t seem to have the body I’m used to. Usually, I only fluff my roots on the first day of my twist-out. With this set, I had to fluff and separate to get the look I wanted. So I found it a little bit more labour intensive. The definition is also pretty good, but since I had to disturb the twists more than I usually do, I have a feeling I may have more frizz, but trade it off for bigger hair.

My twistout after a full day.

My verdict:

I will try the 3-strand twist-out method again just to give it another shot. The next time, I might try it on stretched dry hair. I like aspects of the process and the look. By the end of the week, I will let everyone know on Twitter if the bigger hair and frizz was working for me or if it just got on my nerves…we shall see.

Have you tried 3-strand twist-out? Tell me about your experience via Twitter @CanadianCurlie

Blessings and Curls,

Kim aka B-Curlie    

Christmas Hair Wish

PHOTO: http://santacallsllc.com/

Usually at this time of year, I come out with a product wish list of things I want to try out, this time I wanted to do something a little different.

Among the materialistic things I would love to receive, there is something much more important, I would like for a Hair Wish.

It is for every woman and child with natural afro-textured hair to be proud to rock their curls and love themselves for who they are. 

As of late, I’ve been reading sad stories about young girls who have been tormented at school, not only by kids, but by adults who are supposed to have their best interests at heart:

Seven year old, Lamya Cammon, in Milwaukee had her braid cut and put in the garbage by her teacher, because she was playing with her hair. Why this women thought it was OK to even touch Lamya’s hair at all is beyond me.

Tiana Parker also seven from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was told that her dreadlocks were not acceptable at her school. Her parents, eventually switched her to another school.

Twelve year old, Vanessa VanDyke from Orlando, Florida, was threatened to be expelled from school, if she did not cut or shape her hair. The school seemed to change their mind once, the press got involved.

My point is, this has happened too many times and I think it’s horrible that any of these girls had to go through this. You cannot tell me that these experiences have not done a number on their self-esteems. It is a blessing that all of them have supportive parents that helped them through this discrimination.

We need to embrace and love each other for who we are, especially when thinking about our children. That is my Christmas Hair Wish … What are yours?

Blessings and Curls,

Kim aka B-Curlie

Canadian Support

PHOTO: Flag Wallpapers 

So I was thinking the other day about the products I use on my hair, and I realized that none of my staple products are Canadian.

I would love to support more Canadian companies that have integrity especially when it comes to natural hair and beauty products.

I do remember trying Kynk Naturals Hair Honey, in my early transitioning days, and I loved the smell, shine and sealing properties that the product gave my hair. Yet, as everyone know, as you transition, so do the products you use… I think I will revisit some of their offerings in the future.

I also tried Curly Canadians and fell in love with Hair Love, however the company is no more. A company that is new on the scene is Queens & Kings Natural Products. I have not tried any of their products yet, but they are located in Nova Scotia and specialize in natural hair and skincare products.

So tell me where are all the Canadian natural hair products? Do you know of any you’d like to share?

Blessings and Curls,

Kim aka B-Curlie

Craving Marley Twists

For the last couple weeks, I have been craving to have Marley Twists installed or something similar to them. I love my curls, but I’m ready for a little change and a break from having to do my hair every day. Here is a great how-to video I found for Marley Twists from My Natural Sistas – it makes me want them even more when I watch it.  

My only problem is I haven’t had extensions in about seven years or so, only because the last time I had them in, my scalp had an attack. My dermatologist friend told me, that many of the hair companies, often package the hair, even human hair with chemicals that many black women are allergic to, but don’t know it. So she wasn’t surprised when I mentioned what happened to me.

Even though my scalp went crazy that one time, it didn’t happen every time I had extensions in the past. So I set on my search for hypoallergenic extension hair. I was pleasantly surprised when I found Prota Hair. On their website they say it’s not human hair, best is made with Ultima, which is a natural hair protein, very close in structure to keratin. That other feature that they mention that really attracts me is this blurb from their website:

“Prota Hair is even better than human hair because it is hypoallergenic, less-tangling, easy to restore, and flame retardant!  For sensitive scalps, Prota Hair is the best option because it is hypoallergenic and always clean and free from harmful bacteria.  And because Prota Hair is made with Ultima Organic Protein, the hair retains moisture so that it is soft and easy to manage.”

I have not purchased the hair yet, but I plan to in the next few weeks. Before I do so, I would love to hear from you. Have any of you used this brand or type of hair?

Blessings and Curls,

Kim aka B-Curlie

My Mini-Twists

So I’ve just returned from a wonderful holiday in Jamaica. There is so much to say, before I even talk about hair. Ironically enough, one of my blogging idols, was staying at the same resort. It was the first time for us to meet face-to-face, since all of our contact has been through email and Twitter. She is the one and only Accidental Natural I also featured her a while back, check it out here.

After I booked my ticket and knew I was going for sure, I then started to scourer the internet looking for ideas to style me hair will I was on vacation. I intended on swimming as much as possible and I needs a style that would allow me to do that and deal with tropical humidity and dryness. I also knew that I didn’t want to spend my vacation washing and twisting my hair for twist-outs each day. I decided to try my hand at mini-twists.

I put them in myself on freshly washed, deep-conditioned and blow-dried hair. The entire process took me about 5.5 – 6 hours to complete. Here are my pros and cons and if I will do mini-twists again.

Me rocking my mini-twists in Jamaica.

Pros:

• Your hair will swing again (depending on your length).

• They are easy to wash and moisturize.

• A good test, if you are considering to loc your hair in the future. You will get a feeling of what your hair will look like.

• If you twist on stretched hair, you will see your true length, at least until it gets wet and shrinks.

• They are very versatile and fun to style

Cons:

• Depending on your hair texture and your activities, re-twisting after a week, may be needed.

• My twist started to matte after only two weeks, even though I moisturized every day.

• There will probably be a lot of knots when you take them down, even if you use conditioner like I did.
• The twists will shrink when we, but that comes with the territory.

• Can take a long time to do, depended on the size and length of your hair.

Will I do it again?

I have mixed feeling to be honest. I loved the low maintain factor and the look of the twists, but take them out and the finger detangling with tons of conditioner was not fun. I think I will try it again when I go away, but I won’t keep them in that long and perhaps moisturize them even more that I did on this trip.  

Have you done mini-twists, what was your technique?

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie

My Staple Products

So as I mentioned in my previous post, my hair officially turned two years old. I thought I should mention a few of my staple products that have never failed me.

I’m not a hair-typer, but for those who do, I believe I have two textures in my hair. The back is 4A and the rest of it for the most part is 4B. I know these producs won't work for everyone, but hopefully some of them will.

Let’s get to it:

My go to shampoo is Scalp TherapeShampoo Organix South I buy it from well.ca (free shipping in Canada). I know some of you are avid cowashers, but I need to wash my hair every week with shampoo. It’s a natural product that does not give me a lot of lather. The scent is not amazing, but I love how it washes all of the residue from my hair and scalp, without irritation which is important for me.

My go to conditioner and deep conditioner is Tresemme Naturals. It’s just magical. I get great slip from this product and I find it makes my hair easier to finger detangle while in the shower. When using as a deep conditioner, I any natural oil on hand.

My go to leave-in is still the Kimmaytube Leave-in with Kinky Curly Knot Today. I know Kim Love now has her own  product line, that I’ m sure it is wonderful, but I haven’t tried it yet and as of right now this leave-in mixture has been great for my hair. I’ve loved the Knot Today, ever since I began transitioning and it has done nothing but good things for my hair.

My go to styler is Jane Carter's Curl Defining Cream. I came across this product by chance at an iHeartmyHair event. I’ve experimented with others and they have been OK, but I always end up re-purchasing the Curl Defining Cream.

My go to gel is EcoStyler – Morrocan Argan Oil. I love this stuff.  It slicks my hair back like no nobody’s business, especially after a misting of water. I often end up wearing a puff or updo, a few days before wash day, since my hair is not interested in doing anything else at that point.

My go to oil is Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. First of all I love the smell of coconut and the way it just melts in my hands. I use it to seal moisture in my hair and to even style flat twists when it’s too early in the week to use gel.

My go to butter is my Shea Butter mixture. There is something about making something nourishing for your tress. My hair loves it and I use it for everything from styling, sealing or even as a body cream. I will say, that I do not use it all the time, it really depends on how I feel and what my hair needs.

I'm looking for great protein conditioner. I need something mild. So if you have any suggestions, send them my way.

 

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie 

Two Years Natural

So its official I’ve been natural for two whole years. It feel like yesterday when I just decided to transition and grow my relaxed hair out. Sometimes the transition was tough, especially on those days when the roller set just didn’t look super cute or when I flattened my hair while sleeping on it. As much as I love my hair to look good, I will not sacrifice my rest for it!

My big chop after nine months of transitioning.

I also went through a traumatic, bout of seborrheic dermatitis last year that resulted in hair loss in the front of my head because I tried to treat it myself. The good news on that front is that my hair is resilient and is not holding any grudges. ;-) It’s growing back and I can’t even tell where the loss happened, except for the shorter hairs.

Today - two years of curliness, rocking a stretched twistout.

Now I’m looking forward to many years of natural glory and springy curls with personality. I guess what I’ve learned so far is that you have to take care of yourself, pay attention to the needs of your body and hair and most of all be proud of everything that makes you unique.

Where are you at in your journey? What has it been like for you?

 

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie

 

 

 

Salon Nightmare – Lesson Learned

Over the holidays, I was in one of my very good friend’s wedding. It was a beautiful day and I’m overjoyed for them.

During the preparations for the wedding, I actually decided not to do my own hair and have my friend’s stylist do it. As a bridesmaid, I wanted to participate in all the pampering including getting my hair done. Well, let me tell you that it was one of the biggest mistakes ever.

Although the stylists were black, they had no idea how to take care of natural hair, except to press or relax the hell out of it. I wanted a simple cornrow style in the front of my head and either twist or roller set on the rest. As some of you know, I’ve had trauma on my scalp from my dermatitis, but my hair is in a much better place now and can definitely withstand cornrows as long as they aren’t too tight.

After washing my hair, my hair was pulled and tugged in horrible directions with sometimes a small tooth comb. Let me tell you my hair is not used to being treated like that. No gentleness or care was applied.

When it was time to do the cornrows I was told, that extension hair was needed for a fuller braid. Needless to say I had cornrows in for Halloween and they were fine with only my hair.

Me as a leopard for Halloween - loving my cornrows :-)

I am allergic to extension hair and I would not let them use it. They didn’t like that. I ended up sitting in the chair for count’em FIVE hours only to have flat twists in my hair and bantu knots in the back. Throughout the nightmare, I got comments from the stylists like, “I can’t do it, because I only braid tight – I’m confused”, “since your hair is SO NATURAL, we can’t do this or that” and “because you have a curl pattern this it taking me longer to do” the best one was “if your hair was relaxed, I would be done by now”. CRAZY right. They made me feel like my hair was a nuisance for them and that is not how you should feel when your are paying customer and when they are providing a service. That was the hair prep day.

Needless to say, I finished my hair myself the next day and tried to put as much love as possible into it. I was not happy, especially since I know I could have done a better job myself, instead of paying someone to treat my hair like crap.

My wedding hair - not my favourite, definitely could have been better.

This experience made me realize that doing your research about a stylist is very important. You can’t just let any “black” person touch your hair. You cannot assume that because they look like you that they know how to respect your precious curls.

Lastly, even though the experience was traumatic, it made me realize how proud I am be natural and that it’s important for more black women to let their curls be free. We need to put the pressure on our people who are stylists to learn the proper way how to take care of the natural hair that grows out of our scalps, instead of focusing on learning ways to manipulate our natural hair.  

Have you had a similar experience? Share your story ...

Blessings and Curls, 
B-Curlie

Black Canadian Dolls - available

I am so happy and proud of this news.

Some of you may remember one my posts Dolls Like Us.  I talked about a letter I sent to Maplelea Girls about creating a doll that represented black girls. We know that growing up most of us did not have a doll that looked like us or that we could relate to. I know I would have loved to have a doll that looked like me when I was young.

I did a survey asking all of you what you thought a black doll should look like for skin tone to hair type. I submitted your opinions to Maplelea Girls and guess what … they listened and took your comments into consideration when creating the dolls.

The two black dolls from Maplelea Girls. Photo: www.maplelea.com

Here is what Kathryn Morton, President of Maplelea Girls said, “We have two black dolls available now. We did the curly hair, as your readers suggested, but we also wanted to offer an alternative so we also did one with “textured” hair. They are part of the Maplelea Friends collection where girls get to make up their own name and character for their doll, using the journal that comes with it. Thanks so much for your help with this.”

WHAT A VICTORY! Thanks so much for being wonderful readers and for helping to make a difference. I’m really PROUD -  you should be too!!

Blessing and Curls,

B-Curlie

Featured Curlie - Brooke

In early summer, I was fortunate enough to connect with a young Curlie, who is an up and coming, actress, model, entertainment correspondant and aspiring ROCK STAR … her name is Brooke of http://www.itsbrookesworld.blogspot.ca . She is very wise in her nine years and really a joy to meet and talk to. So it was my great pleasure to interview her and meet her parents. She is definitely on her way to stardom and a great inspiration to other young Curlies out there. Keep up the great work Brooke and Thanks for being a part of Canadian Curlies. See our interview below:

 

Let's keep our girls strong and self-aware of their beauty! What young curlies inspire you?

Blessing and Curls,

B-Curlie

Hair Support

I was recently talking to a friend of mine who is natural and she mentioned that she almost broke down a got a relaxer the other day.

PHOTO: www.kewlgraphics.com

I was in shock and tried to encourage her not to. The thing is, after thinking about it, I do not think it is right to judge others and try to tell people what to do. It’s never been my nature so why start now? Another thing I would like to mention is that I know I will probably be natural for the rest of my life, now that I’m here and have fallen head over heels in love with my curls.

Don’t get me wrong there are days when feel like shaving it off into a buzz cut or pressing the hell out of it, but there are also days when my curls reflect my personality the way nothing else can.

The bottom line is, yes I would love for my friend to stay natural and for us to continue our CURLY journey together, but I know this life is not for everyone, so I have to respect that.

This brings me to another point that those of us of African descent need to embrace each other whether we are straight, wavy, curly or reppin’ dreads in our hair.

Yes, some styles are healthier than others, but at the end of the day it’s a personal decision and we should not let how people wear their hair change the way we treat them and we should also respect their decision.  The truth is we should not even have to consider these thoughts and just be who we want to be and what feels right.

Blessings and Curls,  

B-Curlie 

Swimming ... ah natural

It’s been awhile and my life has been crazy busy over the last couple months. So apologize for not posting on a regular basis.

I have decided to take swimming lessons again. Yes I said again, because I’ve taken lessons numerous times before and made great progress but never got to the place where I feel 100% comfortable jumping into a pool, ocean, or lake. In retrospect, there are a couple of the reasons why I didn’t learn as a child was, first of all neither of my parents swam and I also believe that dealing with a little girl’s chlorine-filled hair once or twice a week was not something my mother was interested in dealing with. I can understand that, I had a lot of hair back then and it was super thick. 

At any rate, I’m here in my 30s, I’m taking swimming lessons for the first time with natural hair. I’ve done a little research and found a great video from Naptural85 (one of my favourite youtubers) on how to protect your tress while swimming.  The key seems to be filling your hair with water and conditioner to keep it moisturized, but also if your strands are already full of goodness, the chlorine will have a harder time penetrating them. I plan to try Napturals85 steps and hopefully my hair will survive my swimming adventures. :-) I’ll keep you all posted.

 

Do you have swimming with natural hair tips? I’d love to hear them.

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie

Curlies that make me PROUD!

I was recently talking to one of my really good friends (she is caucasian), who happened to read my blog for the first time this week. I often refer to each other as sisters from other mothers, since we are so in sync and usually say things in-stereo.

She read my post: Straight Up and she was really struck by it after reading about the chemicals black woman use just for so-called beauty.

She then said imagine if Michelle Obama and her daughters were to go natural. They could not only influence black woman in North America, but all over the world.

The Obama family

I totally agree with her and it would be wonderful if someone like Michelle Obama would go natural and show her true beauty to the world.

I do however want to mention that I’m honoured to be a Canadian Curlie and see that our former Governor General of Canada the Rt. Honourable Michaëlle Jean has rocked her curls on many different occasions. It was really great to see and makes me feel proud.



Rt. Honourable Michaëlle Jean PHOTO: www.nsb.com

Here are a few others that make me proud, not only because of their beautiful crown and glory, but also because of their accomplishments as African Canadian women – GO ON WITH YOUR BAD SELF!!!

 Measha Brueggergosman - opera singer

Jemini – G98.7 FM radio personality PHOTO: www.fullcc.com



Rosey Edeh – ET Canada correspondent - PHOTO: www.postcity.com

Trey Anthony – creator of Da Kink in my Hair - PHOTO: www.nsb.com

What other African Canadian public figures make you feel proud to be curlie???

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie