The best part of my teen years

Has now come back to me!!! My favorite hair stylist, the only person who I would ever trust with my weaves, is back on the scene!! I missed her, and even went on the prowl to "look" for her (that's better than saying being so obsessed that I was scouring the internet for two years lol). I found out she got married, and didn't even find out her last name. Needless to say, my search ended up with nothing but goose egg, zilch, nada. Grant it I have one of my best friends who just so happens to be finishing up hair school, but there's only one person who will actually do my weave (no offense to my bff, but this woman used to listen to my demands even if it meant I didn't know what I was talking about lol).
Anyways she's living out our Capricorn dream, she owns and operates the salon (high five, if one of us was going to do it, it was her). Her name is Shawn, and the name is Salon LaShawn located right at Boulevard at the Capital. http://salonlashawn.com/

HAIRVEDA SALE!!!

Yes, I am a pusher (well not official...yet :), hint BJ) of these products. If you have no problem with waiting two weeks for wonderful products that are hand-made with love, please support the Hairveda fam. I love the Whipped Clouds, but I (see this is my opinion) just can't use it as a leave-in, but more as a moisturizer. The MoistConditioner-Pro (protein), left my hair soft, and noticed that even after my rinse I had less shed hair. The Whipped Ends Cream 3in1, works wonders, but I only have a sample, and still want to give it more time (read: being stingy with my $$ lol).
The sale has already sold out of the beloved Vatika Frosting I've been reading about (it was on sale for $5....grrrr, day late dollar short literally), and the equally infamous Almond Glaze was $4.99. Of course these would be the popular ones because a lot of women were singing these products praises, and were probably like me waiting for the sale drooling lol. Oh and if you really don't want to go mixing your own blend of ayurvedic oils please get to CoCosta Shikaki Blend oil. I felt my scalp suck up the oil, and it starting begging for more. You can't beat the price of $6.50 when the original price is $11. Also for us fellow DC Metro area customers, we get a discount on our shipping. I know when I checked my order as soon as it shipped, I got it the next day (well you can see my reaction to how thusty I was once it arrived). Excuse me Ms. BJ from Hairveda (and family members), if you happen to google Hairveda, and see it mentioned on here...PLEASE LET A SISTER KNOW WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO OPEN YOUR STORE!!! LOL

Those lovely people at Clutch Magazine

Ha, no they didn't ask me to become a writer for them (even though I secretly wish). Their natural hair columnist wrote an article that showcases all of the "natural support groups." Speaking as someone who has been natural on more than one occasion, we do need support groups. Other cultures are thought to embrace their uniqueness, and we were told that our nappy didn't make others happy. Browsing the forums I used to frequent (sorry I refuse to pay for advice I can get for free in these trying times) I ran into some pictures of women with 'fros that would make my hairspirations look flat. If have one question, if you are a woman who is of Pacific Islander decent, what tips do you have for your hair (if you don't straighten it)? I know I could just easily google it, but I want to get some feedback. Until then, here's the article with the support groups. http://clutchmagonline.com/beauty/natural-hair-online-support-groups/#1 (sorry that you have to copy and paste, but for some reason I am having no luck with posting my links).

Some, if not all, of the support groups are of those that I follow here on my blog (yay go me, being a nosey blogger lol), i.e. http://newlynatural.com/blog/, www.curlynikki.com, brand new community http://www.mynhcg.com/12-hair-tips-for-transitioner.html, and http://textureplayground.com/blog/ (these three are very informative, IMO).

My hair care from high school up until my freshman year of college

My hair regimen was so simple back then, and I really don't know what went wrong. I guess once I started getting so involved with life (working, commuting to school, and not having the funds) I stopped really being as less obsessed. So this is me trying to remember what I did, and maybe I can try to see what I need to go back to the way things were.

High School/ Freshman Year Regimen

• co-washed my hair like every other day with any conditioner that was in the bathroom (Suave, Motions CPR, Pantene, etc.)
• shampooed my hair over the weekend because that way I could just sit there under the dryer and chill
• rarely used heat because my hair was either pulled back in a ponytail, or in a wrap style
• rarely used hair dye, just a lot of rinses because I lifted my hair at least 2x a year
• used hair grease, it helped my seborrheic dermatitis
• went to the beauty parlor at least 2x a month in high school, and once a month in college
• wore protective styles when life got busier; weaves, cornrows, ponytails
• got a trim when the seasons changed (Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer)
• texlaxed when I didn't know anything about it, I just didn't want my hair bone straight because it had no body at all
• during the summer didn't even bother with relaxing because I was so lazy, that if I wanted my hair straight I would just air dry in a bun and press my roots with a flat/curling iron. Most of the time my relaxers were about 4-5 times a year
• faithfully gave myself a deep conditioning treatment 2x a month, and a hot oil treatment once a month
• worked out everyday: I was in dance and took a gym class every other semester, and in college I was always speed walking to classes (I lived in the back of campus and was always rushing) and going to as many parties as possible
• was a wash and go queen: co-wash and add some settimg lotion and was out!

Like I really knew what I was doing back then because I would purposely cut my hair to my mid-neck just to see how fast I could get it to grow. Maybe I need to go back to those days of hair care by keeping it very simple.

Co-Washing

I'm a very very very very big fan of co-washing aka conditioner washing, and leave it to TCHD (shout to you girl!) to post two very informative vids on the topic. I recommend every black woman to at least try co-washing for 2x a week for a month, and watch how much softer your hair will feel. I didn't know I was doing well by hair by doing that in high school. Maybe that's why my hair would be back down to my shoulders after my usual 2 inch cut to even out my hair (it would grow back in about 2-3 months with no damage). I need to go back to what I was doing in high school when I was experimenting with my hair. Now I know that all I have to do is just work on doing braid outs and roller sets, which I laugh at since lil' diva won't allow that to happen, lol. Anyways here is the video, once again shout to TCHD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4y9SWVuWck
For some reason it's not allowing me to copy the code, but I will edit later when the TDs are taken care of (TDs=techinical difficulties).