This Blog Stuff...Geez

I hadn't been on my blog for a few months and am quite surprised to see my viewing count in excess of sixteen thousand. Wow! I can't believe that many people are interested in my little old blog. He he he. WFT! Now I'm no slouch in the intelligence department and happen to know that roughly fifty percent of the viewers of this blog are cultish haters who haven't got much of a life. The Internet has so many pages, websites and blogs, that I can't fathom how mines get so much play. Wow! That's about all I can say. Now to all the legitimate people who come on my blog to get hair information, I welcome you and sincere thanks for viewing my blog. I happen to be somewhat a celebrity in my part of town to certain people, who just can't get enough of me. They are constantly up on here absorbing every single word that I put on here and looking to see what or if I say anything about them. I feel sorry for all of you and pray for you all and hope that you all find God and put Him into your lives instead of doing all the things that you all do. I'm a simple woman who happens to appeal to numerous folks who are on a path straight to the bowels of hell and believe that my intervention can save them or something. Newsflash: God is the only entity that can correct your evil ways and redeem you! The next time you have me on your mind, which I know is all the time, ask God for forgiveness and turn your lives around! I was watching Dr. Phil today and the topic was about mind control and cults and it hit home for me. Any human being that wants to control another human being in a very negative way, is surely in line for the harsh reality of what God has in store for them. You will see yourself and your offspring spiral to the point of no return. If people really knew what hell consisted of, they would get on their hands and knees and beg God for forgiveness and never do wrong ever again!! Hell is not a really hot place where you go and see a man in a red costume with a tail and pitchfork. Think of hell as a place where you are in a free fall for all eternity, with no one to help you, while you are tormented with bitter pain, with demons ripping your flesh off, burning you, causing the worst feelings you could not even imagine! Intense fear, anxiety, and the worst nightmare that you cannot awaken yourself from. This is not a joke! So don't believe that what you do in your day to day lives goes unnoticed. Maybe your family, friends etc. will miss some of it, but God misses nothing! Think twice before you succumb to someone telling you what to do to other human beings and what to say! Be careful of what you do and say to people because you can never be one hundred percent sure of who people really are!!! There are numerous angels on the earth who work in tandem with The Almighty and watch everything that goes on constantly. Your best pal who you like to brag to about all your "doings" just might be that angel who was sent by God for a purpose. Now being an observant and intelligent woman I know numerous people are in the frame of mind that what they do doesn't matter at all and they can conduct their lives in whichever manner they choose. True, we all are given the gift of free will and can choose to do evil things and cause chaos and then we can choose to behave in a way that is pleasing to God. It is very easy to love the people who you love, but the real test is to love the people who you feel you hate or don't like. The Bible teaches us that God finds favor with people who have the ability to love their enemies. That's a bitter pill for most people to swallow including myself. But if you wish to see God's face and not end up in hell, then that is what you are required to do. Anyway in closing, DO NOT TAKE REVENGE ON ANY HUMAN BEING, BOW DOWN AND GET ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES AND ASK GOD FOR FORGIVENESS & LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE CHRIST LIVED HIS AND DECIDE THAT FROM THIS DAY FORWARD YOU WILL WALK IN GOD'S FOOTSTEPS AND NOT YOUR OWN!

NOTE: The above photograph is taken from the Shroud of Turin and is a depiction of that Shroud. This is said to be a likeness of Jesus Christ by many people. They do not know how this shroud came to be and how the image was put on there to this very day. I myself am mesmerized by the man's eyes and find it hard to not stare at the photograph. I find this photograph to be a comfort for me when I'm feeling down. The face is of a man who enjoyed smiling, by the deep laugh lines. Every time I look at this photograph I am reminded that Jesus Christ did indeed walk on the Earth, was crucified, died and arose from the dead all for us!! He was mocked, jeered, and generally hounded by non-believers. Now imagine if the Son of God could have sustained this kind of treatment from humans, then whatever we go through in our lives that is negative and causes us pain is nothing compared to what Jesus Christ suffered on our behalf. For this reason I put my whole trust and faith in the Almighty and pray for folks who do wrong to me because I know that that is the way that Jehovah wants all of us to be. Look deeply in this man's eyes and in doing so you will be able to search your soul and know that there is salvation and so much love for all of us from the One Most High!

Kinky Curly Curling Custard

I had been on numerous sites that sang the praises about this product and wanted to try it for quite some time. I was a little leery about ordering off the Internet and had read many a blog and website of people complaining about their orders taking forever to arrive, so I never did order this product online. I happened to be in a grocery store (Whole Foods) and was looking at the hair and beauty products that they had and noticed the product on the shelf. I was shocked to see it there and promptly snatched one up to the tune of $25 dollars. For me that's a lot of money to spend on one hair product. I didn't try the product out right away because I had been sporting my collection of wigs. I finally decided one day to try the product out, so I washed and conditioned my hair and applied it to my hair. Now on account that my hair is fairly coarse and doesn't have a curl pattern, I was pretty much sure it wouldn't curl my type of hair. I was right. This product left my hair hard and extra dry by the next day. My hair seemed like it wanted to fall out from it being so dry. I don't know if I applied too much of the product, which has the consistency of slimy gel. My hair only waved up some, but no curl whatsoever. I believe my hair type is 4a,4b & some 3c. I would not buy this product ever again. My daughter, who has a curl pattern to her hair, loves this product and it works beautifully for her. She can't say enough good things about this product. Well to each head, it's own. I would say that you have to have at least 3c hair for this product to work and produce a curl pattern to your hair. Also if you have baby fine 4a-c hair, it might also work. My hair is very thick and coarse and it doesn't work well for my hair. I recently twisted my hair using a fair amount of regular gel (Fantasia IC) with good moisturization, and noticed much more of a curl pattern to my hair than when I used the Kinky Curly. I would recommend if your hair is less than a 3c curl/wave pattern, that you use a lot of moisturizer with this product due to the dryness it produces on a more kinky wave pattern of hair. Please check one of my Youtube videos below. Please watch, comment, rate & subscribe!

Dr. Bronner's Magic Peppermint Shampoo

I bought a bottle of Dr. Bonner's Peppermint shampoo to try out since I sometimes have a dry itchy scalp because I like to keep my hair braided up in the winter months, and I like it. I previously posted on the soap that I tried, but the shampoo is a little better than the bar soap. After shampooing my hair with this shampoo, my hair felt very soft to the touch. It didn't stop my scalp from itching and I still had some dryness and flaking on my scalp after using this particular shampoo. I still say it's a fairly good shampoo. Now I went to my usual BSS (beauty supply store) and priced it at $9.99 for, I believe, 16oz. bottle. I think I used to see a smaller bottle and wanted to try the smaller bottle in case I didn't like it and decided to check into another BSS to find it. I didn't find a smaller bottle, but found this product a little cheaper at $7.29, so I bought it. The consistency of this shampoo is rather watery. The label says it's concentrated and to dilute, but I just poured some in my hand and lathered away. This shampoo has no detergents and says it's 100% vegan. This shampoo is a castile based shampoo. Now one thing I noticed after using this shampoo is that it dried out my hair somewhat. So if you are going to use this shampoo, follow up with a good conditioner and a good leave-in type conditioner. Below I list some of the ingredients & claims of this shampoo.

Ingredients: Water, saponified organic coconut*, & organic olive* ( with retained glycerin), organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, organic peppermint oil, mentha arvensis, citric acie, vitamin E.

*Certified Fair Trade Ingredients (I don't know what this means)

Claims: 1 soap for 18 different uses. Guaranteed no synthetic peppermint oils and 100% vegetarian. Super mild castile has outstanding water softening and cleansing powers. Preferable to harsh soap & defattening synthetics. It does not cut dirt, but dissolves it. it is the mildest, most pleasant soap you ever used or your money back.

Dove Anti-Frizz Cream

I recently purchased this cream and tried it out on my hair and I happen to like this a lot. You don't need to use a lot of the cream and it made my hair feel nice and smooth. The day that I used it I didn't happen to have any gel to smooth my hair back and it worked like a charm all by itself. I don't know if this product is an active product on the regular store shelves, since I bought mine from a dollar type store for $1.99. A lot of times you get products in the dollar store that are either discontinued or not actively placed on store shelves like CVS, Wal-Mart etc. They had two different types of the cream and I have the "Smooth & Soft" type. I believe the other one was a botanical type anti-frizzant if I remember correctly. Below I will list some of the ingredients of this cream and the claims the product makes. This product has silicones and if you don't like to apply silicone to your hair you may want to skip this one.

Claims:
*For a smooth, finished look with enhanced shine
*Smooths away frizz and tames fly-aways
*Won't leave hair weighted down, even after reapplying

Ingredients:
*Water,Dimethicone, Silk-Amino Acids, Glycine, Arginine, Cystine, Hystidine, Borage Officinalis Seed oil & Glycerine.

*I included some of the ingredients. For a full disclosure of ingredients look up product information.

A Comment On Something I Read

'4 Little Details Men Notice About Women'

Here's something I read on the Yahoo page that I thought I would post a comment on.
Someone wrote about the things that guys (4 little details) notice about women.

Below is a condensed version of the article.

Hands:daintiness, complexion, how they look holding a wine glass, whether they are manicured.

Hair: doing simple actions provoking powerful emotions (hair blowing in the wind) giving a man a good mood.

Attitude Towards Others: how she treats others ie. nicely respectfully.

What She Notices: someone who can laugh at and notice little things, and who always brings new insights to different situations.

Firstly, as for hands, I have big hands (nothing that dainty about them). As for the complexion, the writer didn't say what they meant by complexion, eg. light, dark, tanned, porcelain like. I don't know because the writer didn't elaborate on it.

Now about the hair blowing in the wind...Come on, don't men know that we women don't like our hair blowing in the wind? You spend all day getting your hair just right, perfectly coiffed, all hair sprayed up, with finishing spray to boot. And then it happens. The big swoosh of wind that dismantles the entire hairstyle. So maybe you guys should rethink that blowing hair in the wind stuff. And how could someones hair blowing in the wind evoke such a strong emotion that could change a man's mood anyways? All I know is us sisters don't usually have that "blowing" type of hair unless it's got a relaxer in it and mine doesn't have a relaxer and I don't believe it could blow in the wind. he he

Now as for attitudes of women, and how they treat other people whether 'nicely' 'respectfully' etc. I try to treat people with respect and I believe that's a good thing. So I agree with this one.

What a woman notices is also a biggie for me. I notice things about people, but don't dwell on it. I might give a little sly remark about things I notice about people and like a guy that can appreciate my brand of humor.

Now a word for the gentlemen of the world since the aforementioned writer of the article asks: What is a little thing (appearance, moment or personality)that you notice in a guy that is a simple, beautiful thing?

Here are some things that we women do notice in you guys: height, hair, well dressed/groomed or not, roving eye or not, chivalry and how they smell.

Me personally, I am attracted to a well groomed guy, meaning, his hair is neat and not wild looking. Someone who dresses well (love, love suits), and I don't quite care what type of clothes a man wishes to wear as long as it's fitting him good. nothing more sexy for me that seeing a man in a nice polo type shirt and a nice pair of slacks & shoes without socks (sexy sexy). A guy who listens to his woman and who realizes that we women are hormonal, meaning we do get our times, and who can still see beauty in us when we act a fool, is the kind of guy that, in my pinion, is ideal. Men should also realize that some women are simple and appreciate the simple things in life and are low maintenance and then there are some women who are high maintenance and like to have everything done, but that's only one's personal preference, and either way it's all good. My hair won't be blowing in the wind anytime soon and my nails may not be manicured to perfection all the time and I'm not always 'nice' he he (you can tell this by some of my posts). I can hold a wine glass and swig wine like a guy if I want to, even though I'm not really a drinker, or I can drink a soda and be fine. It's about time we women and you men did try to understand each other a bit more and not place so much emphasis on things we read about on how someone should be or act and pay more attention to our own feeling about a particular person and try to enjoy the good aspects as well as the not so good aspects of that person.

In closing, both women and men should 'notice' what's on the inside as well as what's on the outside. We should also 'notice' whether someone is being authentic or if they're being what you or someone else wants them to be. Some simple and beautiful things that we should notice is how we feel around someone, how they react to us, and how the dynamics feel when we are just letting loose and being ourselves are all simple things that we can notice about someone.

Shea Butter As A Hair Conditioner

Recently I bought some African shea butter at a festival down at Penns Landing that I thought I'd put something up about. The gentleman I bought it from said that it was all natural, so I plunked down $10 for it. So far it's a good conditioner, but the only thing that I don't happen to like about it is that it causes the hair to shrink a lot, especially in humid type weather. It also builds up on the scalp with regular use and I had to really shampoo my hair a few times to get it out of my hair. I think I'm going to mostly use this on the ends of my hair and not too much on my hair because of the build up problem and the tendency for the hair to attract a lot of lint if you are heavy handed with this. I know that some people on the Net swear by shea butter for their hair and it is a good product for your hair, but for all the people that like to CW (conditioner wash) their hair, should probably use it sparingly because you'll have to use shampoo to get it out of your hair. Anyway, I've posted a photo of what the tub of shea I bought looks like if you'd like to try some of this.

Something For Your Spirituality

This post isn't about hair, but I thought I would post it anyway to help people come to terms with their spirituality. I've posted photos of St. Edward the Confessor who was canonized a saint in 1161. I'm also posting information about this saint for anyone interested in saints in general. Please read the following information and really reflect on your life and doings:

ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR
King of England, born in 1003; died 5 January, 1066. He was the son of Ethelred II and Emma, daughter of Duke Richard of Normandy, being thus half-brother to King Edmund Ironside, Ethelred's son by his first wife, and to King Hardicanute, Emma's son by her second marriage with Canute. When hardly ten years old he was sent with his brother Alfred into Normandy to be brought up at the court of the duke his uncle, the Danes having gained the mastery in England. Thus he spent the best years of his life in exile, the crown having been settled by Canute, with Emma's consent, upon his own offspring by her. Early misfortune thus taught Edward the folly of ambition, and he grew up in innocence, delighting chiefly in assisting at Mass and the church offices, and in association with religious, whilst not disdaining the pleasures of the chase, or recreations suited to his station. Upon Canute's death in 1035 his illegitimate son, Harold, seized the throne, Hardicanute being then in Denmark, and Edward and his brother Alfred were persuaded to make an attempt to gain the crown, which resulted in the cruel death of Alfred who had fallen into Harold's hands, whilst Edward was obliged to return to Normandy. On Hardicanute's sudden death in 1042, Edward was called by acclamation to the throne at the age of about forty, being welcomed even by the Danish settlers owing to his gentle saintly character. His reign was one of almost unbroken peace, the threatened invasion of Canute's son, Sweyn of Norway, being averted by the opportune attack on him by Sweyn of Denmark; and the internal difficulties occasioned by the ambition of Earl Godwin and his sons being settled without bloodshed by Edward's own gentleness and prudence. He undertook no wars except to repel an inroad of the Welsh, and to assist Malcolm III of Scotland against Macbeth, the usurper of his throne. Being devoid of personal ambition, Edward's one aim was the welfare of his people. He remitted the odious "Danegelt", which had needlessly continued to be levied; and though profuse in alms to the poor and for religious purposes, he made his own royal patrimony suffice without imposing taxes. Such was the contentment caused by "the good St. Edward's laws", that their enactment was repeatedly demanded by later generations, when they felt themselves oppressed.

Yielding to the entreaty of his nobles, he accepted as his consort the virtuous Editha, Earl Godwin's daughter. Having, however, made a vow of chastity, he first required her agreement to live with him only as a sister. As he could not leave his kingdom without injury to his people, the making of a pilgrimage to St. Peter's tomb, to which he had bound himself, was commuted by the pope into the rebuilding at Westminster of St. Peter's abbey, the dedication of which took place but a week before his death, and in which he was buried. St. Edward was the first King of England to touch for the "king's evil", many sufferers from the disease were cured by him. He was canonized by Alexander III in 1161. His feast is kept on the 13th of October, his incorrupt body having been solemnly translated on that day in 1163 by St. Thomas of Canterbury in the presence of King Henry II.

Note: (top photo) The Wilton Diptych, depicting Richard II being presented by three saints to the Virgin and Child. Nearest to Richard is his patron saint John the Baptist. Behind are Saint Edward the Confessor and Saint Edmund.
(bottom photo) St. Edward the Confessor

Stretching Out Natural Afro Hair

When you have natural kinky type afro hair, trying to achieve certain styles can be a bit difficult at times. After I wash my hair it shrinks way down and I look like I have about two or three inches of hair, even though it's much longer than that after I braid it and it dries. Just the other day I was in a rush to style my hair after washing it and I braided it & used a hood type dryer to dry it quickly, but my hair didn't dry all the way & it was shrunken when I slicked it back. Maybe had it dried thoroughly, it would have been more stretched. I do not apply any type of heat to my hair and usually like to stretch my hair by braiding or twisting it up. Usually after the second day of braiding and re-braiding my hair it's usually sufficiently stretched so that I can pull it back. There are many "straightening" type products on the market, but I have only tried one of them by Smooth & Shine, a straightening balm, with minimal results. The product I tried recently escapes my memory, but I will post a photo & name of the product as soon as I am able to. I've posted a photo of the relaxing balm, which I tried on my hair many years ago when I was trying to go natural and wanted something to stretch out my new growth hair and it worked okay, but nothing spectacular. Some people like to use a hair dryer to stretch out their natural hair, but I have not done this myself, since I don't like to use heat on my hair. If I were in a pinch I might use a hair dryer though. Another good way to stretch out natural kinky hair is to use some type of roller after washing the hair, making sure the hair is sufficiently damp and rolling the roller tightly on the hair and either letting the hair air dry or by using a hair dryer. Here is a helpful link to a page on follica.com with reviews for the Straight Out product: href="http://">href="http://www.folica.com/Smooth__N_Shine_r1510_1.html Check out one of my Youtube videos below. Please watch, comment, rate & subscribe!

Getting Some "Shine" on Kinky Type Afro Hair

Throughout the years, even when I was regularly relaxing my hair, I was always trying to get my hair to look shiny. My hair always seemed to look dull most of the time. The only time I did have shiny hair was when I went to the beauty salon and let the professionals work their magic. They have knowledge of what products works best with your type of hair, and the expertise to have your hair looking good. Too bad I didn't take some courses in beauty school because I believe that would have helped me out some. Some of the products that I have used on my hair in the past and currently, mostly contain some type of silicone in the product. I believe silicone is supposed to reflect light off of your hair if applied properly. And even though a lot of web pages/sites do not think using silicone on kinky afro type hair, I use it sometimes and don't have a problem with it.

Here is a recipe for a shine type concoction. I have not tried this, but am anxious to try it out. I know that my afro type kinky hair doesn't really have a shine to it per se, but you can always increase the sheen on your hair, so try this out and post a comment if if works.

Liquid Brilliantine recipe

3 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons castor oil
4 teaspoons mink oil
3 teaspoons liquid lecithin
3/4 cup mineral oil
Few drops of essential oil

Mix all the ingredients together. When you shampoo your hair, this mixture floats away very easily. The castor oil helps to hold the hair in place after combing. You may also use this mixture under a hot cap.

Dr. Bronner's Magic Peppermint Soap

I recently bought this soap to try out on my hair for a change and it's okay. I had to shampoo my hair several times to really get it clean with this soap, but it left my hair nice and soft and my hair didn't feel like it was stripped after the three washings. I used to use to soap to wash my hair when I was younger and decided to give it a try once again. I like to try out new things and am a bit of a PJ or product junkie for those of you who are familiar with hair language. I have so many products that I have tried, some I like and and some I don't. This particular brand also comes in a liquid shampoo also. I was going to try it out, but decided I would try to soap first. Here are the ingredients:

Saponified organic coconut, organic palm & organic olive oil (w/retained glycerin), water, organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, organic peppermint oil, mentha arvensis, salt, citric acid, vitamin E.

My Kitty Leading A Life of Leisure

Will you take a look at this photo of my cat? (Click here to see a funny video of my cat on Youtube)I bet your eyes can't believe what you are seeing. He He. I snapped this photo of my cat because she always does this move and I am perplexed when I see cats do this. I'm thinking I would put a caption on this photo as: This is your brain on drugs! He He. Or how bout this one: Just polished off a six pack of Miller, now I'm chillin. He He He. And to make matters worse this cat has the nerve to always be in your way while you're trying to walk, and if you even brush up against her she hauls off and double whacks you with her paws and then hang onto you and bite you!!!! Ungrateful Puss!!! He He. I keep telling this cat that I'm not gonna have her stuffed when she dies if she keeps biting me like that! Yuck Yuck. She's never gonna get that part in Puss & Boots if she keeps up doing this. Anyway, I still love my kitty. Even though cats seem to generally be mean spirited, ungrateful, sneaky, not giving a damn if you like them or not, people are still bending over backwards for their cats. A dog would never bite you if you accidentally brushed against them. My cat destroyed my brand new living room set by clawing it to pieces, yet I still buy her premium food! What a fool I am. Anyway, to all cat lovers, keep on letting your kitty lounge on your freshly washed clothes, pick fleas on your just changed bed linens and generally being aloof, uncaring and biting you whenever they feel like it cause we all know we still love our kitties.

Suave Sleek Frizz Control Gel

Since I'm on frizzy hair I might as well add this gel to the mix. I bought this gel some time ago and used it a few times. It is a very good gel for when the humidity is high and your hair frizzes up. It has a nice smell and a silky feel to it. When I use this gel it holds my hair nicely and keeps the frizz at bay. As a matter of fact I used it today and it held my hair beautifully. I recommend this gel to all "nappies" and even to people who don't have afro type hair, but hair that frizzes up.

One Hundred Degrees of Hair

The weather for the last few days has been very hot and humid. Today it got to 100 degrees in Philly. Anyway, I decided to post a hair recipe for frizzy hair. I know that my hair frizzes up a lot on humid, hot days. Even when I wash my hair on a humid day, it never seems to dry at all. I envy people who do not sweat in their head and their hair does not shrink. By nature kinky afro type hair has a tendency to shrink roughtly 75% or more when damp or wet. I really hate that about my hair. Cool days don't give me that much of a problem with shrinkage other than when I wash my hair. I am super hot as I type this up because I don't have any air conditioning yet, but am going to get it in a day or two. Well, as I said that I would give a good recipe for a frizzy hair:

Frizz Buster Hair Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup conditioner
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon almond oil

Directions:
Mix ingredients, blend well. Pour mixture over damp hair, work it in....leave on for about 20 minutes for a good deep conditioning. Rinse out. This works for all hair types.

NOTE: I haven't tried this myself, so if anyone tries this out and it works pleas email me or post a comment and let me know. Thanx.

My Strands

I tried to take a photo of a few of my strands, but my digital camera is not that good, but I'm posting the photo just the same. The four strands show the different types of hair on my head. As you can see the top strand bends in the "z" angles, which eqauals 4B or 4C hair. The bottom strand has more of a curl pattern to it, namely 4A I believe. In the middle the strands are little "o's", with the left one a little smaller than the right one, again two different types of hair. When I purchase a better camera I will again take photos of different strands of my hair and hopefully the photos will be a little clearer. The hair samples came from the middle and front of my hair. I did not take any from the nape or sides of my hair which I believe is more of a 3C.

Tightly Coiled & Kinky Hair Information--3C thru 4C Hair

Information regarding type 4A thru 4C hair seems to be the most popular on this page. I have looked at other websites and webpages and have come up with additional information for this type of hair. I took information from naturallycurly.com, which is a good website for all types of hair. They have numerous pages filled with all kinds of information about products that work, in their opinion, and products that don't. I still believe you have to try out products for your own hair, because what may work beautifully for one head may not work on your head. In my opinion, hair can be very unforgiving. Too much shampooing, not enough shampooing, too much conditioning or not enough conditioning can have deleterious effects on your hair. And sometimes you can take what you feel is the best care of your hair, only to still end up with damaged and/or unruly "bad" hair days, weeks & months. To look at type 4 hair, you would be led to believe that it is strong and can withstand whatever you would do to it. But because type 4 hair is so fragile, it needs the most moisture of any other type of hair and needs to be handled with care. So without further adieu, below is some good information I got from the web and I hope you will find it of further help:

Type 4: Kinky hair
If your hair falls into the Type 4 category, then it is kinky, or very tightly curled. Generally, Type 4 hair is very wiry, very tightly coiled and very, very fragile. Like Type 3 hair, Type 4 hair appears to be coarse, but it is actually quite fine, with lots and lots of thin strands densely packed together. Healthy Type 4 hair won't shine, but it will have sheen. It will be soft to the touch and will pass the strand test with ease. It will feel more silky than it will look shiny. Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg and the actress Angela Bassett are all Type 4s.

Type 4 hairs looks tough and durable, but looks can be deceiving. If you have Type 4 hair, you already know that it is the most fragile hair around. Why? Type 4 hair has fewer cuticle layers than any other hair type, which means that it has less natural protection from the damage you inflict by combing, brushing, curling, blow-drying and straightening it. The more cuticle layers in a single strand of hair, the more protection it has from damage. Each time you damage your hair — fire up the curling iron, fry it with chemicals – you break down a cuticle layer, robbing your hair of much-needed moisture. I cannot emphasize this enough. It's like taking a wire and bending it again and again. Eventually, it's going to snap and break.

Many women with Type 4 hair rely on chemical relaxers to make hair easier to control. In its natural states, sometimes Type 4 hair doesn't grow very long because every time you comb it, it breaks. (Of course, if you have dreadlocks and never comb them or keep them braided, your hair can and does grow quite long.)

There are two subtypes of Type 4 hair: Type 4A, tightly coiled hair that, when stretched, has an "S" pattern, much like curly hair; and Type 4B, which has a "Z" pattern, less of a defined curl pattern (instead of curling or coiling, the hair bends in sharp angles like the letter "Z"). Type 4A tends to have more moisture than Type 4B, which will have a wiry texture. But what if your hair has been chemically straightened? How can you tell which subtype you belong to if your hair is relaxed? You'll need at least one inch of new growth to tell. Pull at the roots. If you can see a definite curl pattern, then it's an A, if not, then it's a B.

Type 4 hair can range from fine/thin to wiry/coarse strand texture. Generally, this hair is densely packed to give the appearance of very thick but fragile hair. 4a hair has a clearly visible curl and wave pattern that ranges from pen size curls to pen spring size coils. 4b hair has a tighter wave pattern and kinks of various size. This texture does not exhibit the shine or silkiness of looser type curls, but instead has sheen, and a soft, almost cotton-like feel. As with other types of curly hair, showing the true length can be an extra challenge, as the hair may grow “up” or “out” before starting to hang down. In its unlocked/unbraided state, type 4 hair is known to shrink up to 75% of the actual hair length. With the proper care and technique, type 4 hair is indeed resilient, manageable, durable, growable and easy to control.

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Two New Products

I just bought two new products a few days ago, so I decided to post about them because I like both. I got Extreme Curling Gel & Press -n Curl Wax, both by Lottabody. I tried both of these products and like them. Even though the gel is a gel to create curls, I like curling type gels because they have more slip to them and always seem to hold my hair better. Now as for the Press -n Curl Wax, this product has petrolatum & parabens, two things that are not that good for your hair. The smell is nice and I didn't find the curl wax to be either too stiff or too greasy. I mostly will use the curling wax around the edges of my hair when I pull my hair back to keep the hair down. The gel was very slippery, which I like, and didn't dry too quickly before I could properly brush down my hair. This is what the products claim:

Press -n Curl Wax
* Temporarily straighten coarse hair (with a blow dryer).
* Use as daily maintenance to smooth stray hairs.
* Use as a wax for twists and locs.
* Even coarse hair remains straight on the most humid days.

Extreme Curling Gel
* Eliminate frizz and enhance curls while conditioning, moisturizing
and adding shine.
* A must for anyone with tight curls and coarse hair.

These two products were cheap and you get a good size for both of them. I'll use them for a while and then post an update on the bottom of this post.

My Hair

This is a photo of my freshly washed hair with no product on my hair (bottom photo). I conditioner washed my hair and then applied another conditioner and rinsed out my hair and this is how it looks after I finished. After I did the conditioner wash I decided to twist my hair up and I did just that (top photo). I used ORS Twist & Loc Gel *(the one with the coconut milk in it). I like the product but the only thing I don't like about it is that it made my hair stiff and tacky feeling after I removed the twists a week later. I also used ORS carrot oil, which I had not used in a while and now I know why I didn't. It caused my scalp to itch a lot and I was allergic to it. I'm going to try something a little different the next time I decide to twist my hair because when I remove my twists I don't like my hair to be dry, stiff or not feeling moisturized. After about two days with the twists I did put olive oil on each twist so that my hair wouldn't be too dry, but it didn't seem to help as much because the twist gel was way too stiff. I don't think that I would purchase the twist gel again when I'm done with it. I don't know if maybe I used a little too much of it since my hair is thick. Anyway, next time I'll use it more sparingly and see if I get better results.

My Two Babies

I recently purchased two things that were on my wish list of some things I have wanted to get. I got two new combs from Sally Beauty Supply and I'm liking them both a whole lot. The first one (first pic) is the detangler comb & the second one is a wide toothed comb. These are two dynamite combs that work and get the tangles out of your hair with the least loss of hair. What I did was after conditioner washing, I combed my hair using the detangler comb in the shower with a full head of conditioner. It's always best to detangle your hair in the shower with a good amount of conditioner on your hair, since wet hair can be quite fragile, but with the conditioner on it and using careful strokes of a good detangler comb, you'll save more of your strands. As you know, kinky natural hair has a tendency to knot up and tangle easy and should be carefully handled wet or dry. I do comb my hair dry and I know I shouldn't, but sometimes you have to. I take my time though when combing my hair dry and always put oil on it before doing so. Anyway, in closing, happy mother's day to all the mother's everywhere and to my future mother-in-law. Cuckoo time...Happy happy joy joy, whoo whoo hoo hoo, spinning & twirling, eyes floating to the back of my head looking at my man. Whew! Why the he** did he have to be so damn fine???

Getting Smooth Skin for the Summer Months

Dragon skin belongs on dragons, not people. It's about that time again when we all will be bearing more skin for the summer months. You know what that means. You want your skin to look good for shorts, skirts and sandals. I personally like to keep my skin looking good year round, but for those of us who want to get ready for summer skin now I'll share a few tips. The one thing that I have found that is really important for nice looking skin is to exfoliate. Whatever products you like to use to smooth out your skin, you should start now to get your skin looking good. I like to use a loofah pad for my entire body, top to bottom. They're relatively inexpensive and you can find them almost anywhere bath products are sold. I sometimes get mine from Liquidators store. You can sometimes find discontinued ones for real cheap. CVS and other stores of this type sell exfoliation pads for both the body and the face. Get one of each and use it and you'll see a difference in your skin in no time. Pay special attention to your feet ladies, because there's no use in looking good and your feet looking bad. Keep your toenails clipped and clean and ALWAYS POLISHED. After a bath or shower is a good time to scrub off dead skin on your feet. The skin is softened and can be easily removed with the least trouble. I like to use one of those pumice type stones on the back of a grater type thingy. And remember that your toes have hang nails and the cuticles need to pushed back as well as your fingernails. There is nothing more unpleasant than to see a woman with ugly, unsightly looking feet. If you get into the habit of keeping your feet looking nice year round, then they will be summer ready from the get go. Baby oil (gotten on the cheap from the dollar store) is a good moisturizer for feet and legs, especially after shaving the legs. I'm hairy and have hairy legs that I like to shave in the summer. I keep one or two bottles of baby oil on hand at all time. I sometimes like to put a few drops of fragrant oil into my baby oil so I have a nice scent with my moisturizer. Easy, easy, cheap. There's no excuse for bad looking feet or skin in the summertime.

Hair Brush Information

Dry hair can be a big problem with most people, and particularly people with afro kinky type hair. On account that kinky hair grows the way it does, spirally from the scalp, the natural oils from the scalp cannot reach the length of the strand to properly lubricate it, so you are usually left with parched, dry hair. In order for you to get the natural oils to the very ends of your hair you usually have to brush the hair. I'm careful with using a brush on my hair because improper brushing or too vigorous brushing can break the hair. I have three brushes that I use. Two are natural boar bristle brushes (more delicate type brushes) and a detangling type brush. The natural boar bristle brushes I have are two different types. One of them is a bit more sturdy for when I am trying to pull my hair back. The other one is very soft and I usually use it to brush back my hair after I put it in a pony tail, to even out the hair and get the hair to lay down. My detangler brush (Denman knockoff), I use when my hair is tangled and a regular brush cannot remove the tangles without breaking off my hair. I'm going to one day buy the real Denman brush because I've wanted this brush for a long time. Denman makes a lot of brushes and they cost more than regular brushes you buy from the BSS. They're not super expensive, around $7 or $8 dollars for the one that I want. You can get the Denman brushes from Sally Beauty Supply store. I have looked in different stores, but haven't found them in other stores. I have been using natural boar bristle brushes for many many years now. I used to use the nylon type brushes and started using the natural boar bristle brushes after my sister told me about them. They are more gentle to the hair, by not pulling the hair like nylon brushes do. Nylon brushes are definitely a no no for any type of hair, and in particular natural kinky hair. That old adage about a hundred strokes of brushing the hair doesn't apply today. A few strokes with the brush is all you really need. Only enough to get at the natural oils on your scalp and distribute them to the rest of your hair. So brush on baby, but take your time and don't overdo it.