Natural4U is Officially Here!

Hello Everyone,

It's been a little while but I have been busy working on my new business, Natural4U.  We make 100% All Natural Hair and Body Products.  Check us out at  www.bewonderfulbenatural.com and see which products can work for you.  Our products have multiple uses for today's on the go woman and we offer fragrance free options as well.  Check us out!  Oh and I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  This Friday feels wonderful as I'm resting and watching Queen on the Centric channel,lol.  I haven't seen that movie in ages. 

Enjoy!

The Natural Hair Diaries &
Natural4U

Good Wash and Detangling Hair Day

Hello everyone!

Today is Columbus day and we had off from work.  So I took this opportunity to my hair.  I really feel like it's therapeutic to do my hair, especially when it turns out so well.  It had been 3 weeks since my last wash and figured now was as good of a time as any.  I first detangled my hair first by spritzing it with water and I actually finger detangled it.  I've tried this before but I wanted to give it another try.  I took my time and stayed up late last night and my detangling was a good experience.  Since I twisted my hair using my Natural4U Shea Dream Hair & Body Cream...Coming soon by the way ;) It really aids in the detangling process and helps make it a breeze.  Once that was done, went to bed.  Woke up and did my favorite pre-poo, Amla Treatment...check out my other post below regarding this.  I let this set in my hair for about 2 hours today.  While doing this, I watched the R&B Divas Reunion Pt. 2 on Youtube...I was so glad to see it 'cause I missed it when it aired on t.v. last month.  So after eating and watching youtube, I did my wash.  I used my favorite shampoo right now...



And I'm quite pleased with myself that I haven't wavered on this product.  In the past, I usually tend to switch up my shampoos, but since realizing that a sulfate free shampoo is best for your hair,  I've stuck with it and i really like it.  You only need a little.  I keep my hair in twists, take them down, wash my scalp first with a little bit of the shampoo, then I apply some to my hair to wash it, then I finger detangle my hair, rinse, and retwist.  Then it's on to the next twist to repeat the same steps.  I really like this finger detangling thing for pre-detangling and washing my hair.  I believe it's better for your hair as it's more gentle on your  hair strands while wet.  Once hair was washed, I got out of the shower, dried my hair with a microfiber towel (but you can also use an old t-shirt), then proceeded to add my next fav leave in...

 

Again proud of myself for staying true to this product as well.  Now this is where I used my comb.  Whenever I apply a leave in, I like to use my comb.  I only use a seamless comb on my hair when I comb it.  Because my hair is strengthened due to my Alma treatment, I don't mind using it.  I use what's called a bone comb and it's seamless and it doesn't snag the hair.  I plan on selling these on my site aswell, but in the mean time look it up.  Plastic wide tooth combs with seams in the teeth of the comb tend to snag your hair which can lead to breakage.  My comb is made out of wood as is seamless but I'm hearing about some plastic combs that are seamless too.  It's worth your investment to find a seamless comb when detangling your hair in the future.  Here is the result of my comb after detangling my hair with mine...

 

 

For my naturals out there...not bad right?  And this is why the wash/detangle hair day was a good one.  Welp, the work's not done yet...must twist my hair for stying now.  So more to come later on my results...

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful day...

 

The Natural Hair Diaries.

 

Natural4U Products Sneak Peak and a first time record :)

I wanted to do a quick post before going to bed about the unveiling of one of my products for Natural4U...

Shea Dream Hair and Body Cream©  is the product in the above picture.

I used it tonight.  I wanted to twist my hair up for the week and decided to see how long it would take me if I didn't stop and just continued to twist my hair.  I watched briefly the Emmy's long enough to see that Kerry Washington didn't win Lead Role for her role in Scandal, then promptly switched channels to the TV show Revenge, and kept on twisting.  The result was a personal record...3 hours and I was done. My results are below...I was impressed and wanted to post this :) It usually takes me a couple of days but I was determined to finish. I love how this hair cream feels...it has a whipped texture,is moisturizing, and helps make styling easy.  It's also a great body moisturizer.  Can't wait to share more with you all  real soon...until then, sleep tight.

The Natural Hair Diaries.

 





The Natural Hair Diaries Presents...Natural4U Products

Hello Everyone!

It's been a while and I wanted to get back to something that I enjoy alot and that's posting about hair.  Right now I am taking down my twists and I've got 3 more to go (I should've been done and started the process of washing my hair but Sweet Home Alabama came on and well, I had to stop,lol)  Anyway I was also working on my sketchbook of ideas for my next project...Natural4U Products.  It's an All natural hair and body product line that I've been working on this summer.  Something I've been wanting to do for some time now, but I decided that this year was that time to do it. No time like the present as they say.  I am looking forward to sharing with you the new look here at Natural4U Products and what better way than to share it on social media with you all.  I even created a Twitter account (@N4UProducts), it's open my eyes to a new world and I'm looking forward to all that's in store.  Check it out. 

More to come very soon...

The Natural Hair Diaires

Doing my favorite Pre-poo...Amla Treatment :)



So, umm...yeah...I haven't posted in a while as you can see,lol...
But I felt the urge to post today because I am doing my favorite pre-poo treatment...Alma Treatment.  I have the recipe on my site if you are interested in trying this out for yourself.  I haven't had a chance to do my Amla treatments in a while. I'd like to say that I would do these once every 2 weeks but I'd be lying,lol.  As a natural, I tend to want to try other pre-poos or brands in between doing Alma's and most of the time, my results aren't the same.  I like to take pictures of my hair journey from time to time and it really helps me to document what styles or products work.  When I looked back at my log, I realized that the last time I had washed my hair, it was on March 31st...yeah...I know.
I have been doing good things with my twists while they've been in for over a month.  I spritz them at night and seal with either an oil or a Shea butter mixture.  That kept my hair moisturized.  I tell you it takes a while for me to do my hair, which isn't a bad thing because that means my hair is growing...ya!  But it does take a while and since I've decided to add more twists to my hair, it takes even longer.  The end result though is a style that can be done in many ways...up dos, ponytails, crinkly twists where if you braid them up at night after misting and sealing, you have wavy (crinkly) twists in the morning and a new hairstyle.  The versatility of twists are endless, but when you are putting them in, you aren't as enthused about it,lol.

So today's post is two fold...I want to review the new products I'm trying and then show the final result of my twists. 

In my Amla treatments, instead of using my usual cheaper conditioners I added a new one I bought recently called Andalou Naturals Moisture Rich Conditioner Argan and Sweet Orange -- 11.5 fl oz.   Here is a pic...



 I saw this conditioner on sale at a natural grocery store called MOM's Organic Market in Alexandria, VA and smelled it.  It smelled delicious and it had Argan oil in it so I figured I'd give it a try. 

My other purchase of new hair products was a shampoo  and leave in conditioner that I've had my eye on in a while.  Prior to buying the above product, I also got
Beautiful Curls Curly to Kinky Shampoo and Leave-in from Whole Foods a while back.  I looked them up on my phone while at the store and saw some good reviews and decided to give it a try.  I am on the hunt for a shampoo that won't strip my hair so I am going to see if this does the trick.  Here is a pic below...

     

So I am in for a treat and ready to see how my hair will turn out...I will twist with my home made Shea butter mix (also on this site for the recipe) and go from there.  Twisting my hair can no longer be done in one night so this will take a couple of days (I hope) but I'm ready for it.  So stay tuned for my next post on my results...

 

The Natural Hair Diaries

Amla Treatment

(For some reason this post went out without me adding the recipe,lol...ok so let's try this again)

A friend of mine asked recently..."So what is an Alma treatment?"

Amla is an ayurvedic herb, gound into a powder. A paste is when you take an ayurvedic herb, mix it with boiling water, let it sit, then apply it to your hair. I call it a treatment because I add conditioners and oils to my mixture and use it as a pre-poo. Then wash it out and style. Amla is for conditioning the hair. Amla also cleans the scalp as well and in time, contributes to healthy hair and healthy scalp. Also, the more you use amla, the darker your hair will become. It also makes your curls pop which is something I love. 

Here is a recipe that I uses to make my treatment...

First you have to purchase a box of Amla powder like the one you see here. I use Hesh Amla I got mine from an Indian store and you can look for one in your area to purchase this.  You can also look on amazon to buy it as well. 

Your mix will look like this when you folloow the directions below...

• Detangle unwashed hair into twisted sections.
• Place 3 tbsp of amla powder into a bowl.
• Add 4 tbsp of conditioner (no protein)  Use a cheapie one for this recipe.
• Add 3 - 4 tbsp of another conditioner (no protein).
• Add 2 tspn of coconut oil
• Add 2 tspn of another oil (olive oil)
• Add 2 tspn of another oil (jojoba, coconut, olive, etc.)
• 1/2 cup of water (use sparingly as you don't want mix to be runny).
• Your mix should be like a paste.
• Add 6 drops of essential oils : Rosemary and Lavender.
• Mix together and smooth onto hair with fingers. Don't comb through.
• Place a plastic cap on & let it sit for an hour.
• Rinse off, wash your hair as you would normally, and then style.
• Any leftovers can be placed in the freezer for future use.

Your hair will come out feeling softer and stronger. This will also help with less hair shedding over time.  I try to do this every other weekend.  More on my routine in a later post.  Until, try to enjoy this very hot day!

The Natural Hair Diaries :)

Curlformers (My First Attempt)

Ok so in June 2nd (Saturday) I decided to do my first Curlformers set by myself.  I had Curlformers done on my in the past by one of my friends and it took a minute for her to put them in there.  The results were nice and done during the Winter time.  Nevertheless, I wanted to try it myself and see what I could do.  Now luckily, during this weekend, the humidity was low and the temp was about 70 (high).  So I figured, why not.  Prior to this, I purchased the Curlformers pack at Sally's Beauty Supply.  Click on the word Curlformers to learn more about this product or to order your own.
Curlformers

I am also a Beauty Card Club Owner so I did get this product at $63.99 price. I suggest if you love Sally's like I do, you may want to do the same.  The card costs $5 and you can get discounts on the products you buy instore as well as online.  Not to mention coupons.  But I'm getting side tracked here,lol...

Anyway, I figured it was an investment that would pay for itself since going to the salon and getting a rod set costs usually $65 and if I'm doing it myself, I don't have to get mad when the style I paid for doesn't quite look like I had imagined it would,lol...but more on not getting what you paid for later.  So on this particular Saturday in June, I actually co-washed my hair since I had done an Alma treatment the weekend prior (more on this later too). 

I detangled my hair and used a light leave-in on my hair.  I added a little water to my spray bottle and mixed in my Kimmaytube leave-in and then spritzed my hair.    You only need a light leave-in when you are doing a set.  The more products you place on your hair, the longer it takes for it to dry.

After this, I proceeded with the process of sectioning my hair into small sections, I added a little of my shea butter mix and some Eco-styler Gel to each section, then followed the package directions...

Feed the Curlformer onto the hook, with the hook facing upwards. Place the section of hair in the hook then withdraw the hook.

Sounds easy enough right, but it took some time.  I started around 2 pm and didn't finish until 5:30.  In between this I needed rest breaks and lunch,lol.  I'm sure it will be faster as I use it again, but it's not something you can rush through that's for sure. You will need your Saturday free in order to use this product. 
Well once I was finally finished, I looked like this...



I will have to get some longer ones as some of my hair was longer than the curlformer so I had to use rods for those parts.  Other than that, it was cool.

I sat under the dryer for about an hour under medium heat.   You can do this or let it set in your hair for atleast 6 hours if you don't want to use heat.

I let the set stay in my hair until bedtime. Once I pulled it out, my hair looked like this...

And that was it!  The curls stayed in my hair through Sunday to Tuesday and I did get compliments on it.   More on how I extended this style when it began to poof in my next post :).

The Natural Hair Diaries

Shea Butter Mix

Hey Everyone...

School has been keeping me busy but as of June 21, I was finally free to enjoy my summer and go back to some fun things that I had enjoyed doing.   Going back to my writing as well as updating my hair blog.  These next upcoming blogs will update you as to what I've been doing and trying since my last post.  I enjoy using natural products on my hair and I started incorporating some of my old products from the past and added some new ones as well. 

Shea Butter Mix

In May, I had found a shea butter mix on a Youtuber's site (Naptural85) that I had been wanting to try.  It required me to use a mixer to blend together some hair products that I already had.  Here's the link to where I got my recipie from...

The ingredients I used were...

-Unrefined Shea Butter at Room Temperature


-About 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil


-About 1 tsp Olive Oil


-About 1 tsp Lavender Jamaican Black Castor Oil (Tropic Isle Living)


-About 1 Tbsp Jojoba Oil


-About 1/2 tsp Vitamin E

I blended everything together and it was cool because I looked like cake batter, just a little harder to mix since the shea butter was a solid.  I guess it took about 4 minutes to mix everything together and my mix ended up looking like this...

I placed my mix in a plastic container and placed it in the fridge.  But there was not need for this because it just made it hard,lol.  So when I was ready to use it, I had to place it in the microwave for about 10 secs before using it.  Well lesson learned.  Now I just keep my container in my cabinet in the bathroom until further use.  Results on using this mix...coming soon.

The Natural Hair Diaries

My Press 12.22.11

Whenever it's time for a trim, I go and get it done by my trusted favorite stylist who will also press my hair afterwards. I usually have my hair pressed 2 times a year as I am not a fan of heat styling. It's also good to see how long your hair has gotten for growth purposes. So I asked my stylist to take a couple of pics of me and here I am at the top and I am pretty pleased! The back looks nice too :)

The Natural Hair Diaries...

7 years Natural and still growing... :)

My Latest Headband...

Check me out! This was a cool headband that I found at Tysons Mall in Fairfax. I got it at a kiosk but I can't remember the name of it. I plan to go back there again for sure so I'll have to post it when I do. It's sort of like a hat, but not really. It's actually a knitted headband and neck warmer. The back is out but it covered most of my head. I love this band. It was pretty cold this weekend and perfect for it. Can't wait for it to get cold again so I can show it off again.

New Hair Regimen

Hello everyone, I'm back with my latest update on my blog and I wanted to share what I'm doing now with my hair. This weekend I decided to try a honey conditioning prepoo treatment. I like to do prepoos (sounds funny I know) because it cuts down on the in and out of the shower routine. You can also call this dry conditioning, where you are basically putting a conditioning treatment on your hair prior to washing. So for my treatment this weekend I did a Rosemary Honey Moisturizing treatment. I always wanted to use honey as a treatment in my hair so I decided to give it a try. This recipe was one I found at http://www.motowngirl.com/ site. The ingredients are...

1/2 cup of honey

2 teaspoons of warmed olive oil

4-5 drops of Rosemary essential oil.

Mix together and apply on hair prior to washing.

Leave on for 30 mins under dryer and longer with out the dryer.

(Rosemary is good to help hair grow and honey adds shine and softness to natural hair. )

In fact, check out this site I found that talks about the benefits of honey on hair as well as for your whole body at http://honeyfanatic.com/honey-facts/honey-good-hair/

Next I warmed a towel in the microwave and paced that along with a plastic cap over my head for about an hour. I was watching the Kings of Comedy on Comedy central and got sidetracked but it was cool 'cause the longer the better for my hair.

I realized that 1/2 cup of honey is alot of honey to use for a treatment. I only needed about half of that for my hair so I am saving the rest in the fridge for the next time. (Note to self, remind hubby not to throw out my treatment in the fridge,lol...)

Afterwards, I washed my hair in the shower with Curls Creamy Curl Cleanser (from Target).

I liked this cleanser because it doesn't contain sodium Lauryl sulfate, which is a drying agent in many shampoos. Smells great too.

Afterwards, I applied my leave in (mixture of olive oil, aloe Vera juice, Kemi Oyl (old school), and Knot Today's Leave in Conditioner). I liked this mix and I started using it after I heard about it from Kim Love's YouTube site over a month ago. You can check out the recipe for her Leave in on there. Just type in Kim Love on YouTube and look it up. She doesn't use Kemi Oyl but you can use what ever oil you'd like.

Next, I twisted my hair in two strand twists all over. I am doing more protective styling this Winter vs. wearing my hair out. It's time for a trim so I will probably break my routine to go in for a trim and press and curl this month. I'll post pics of this as well.


Results...the pic below shows it.

I liked it! My hair felt soft and moisturized. I am definitely going to do this more often.

Next hair blogs to look for...

• Trim and press at the Salon


• Protien Treatment


• Henna Gloss (Really excited about this one)

More to come later...until then, be blessed and stay natural.

I'm baaaaack!...Did you miss me? :)

Well, it has been a while...since Jan. 2011. But the bug has hit me again to write about my hair journey. So much has happened since the last time I've written on here, but now that I'm back to a regular schedule (somewhat), I wanted to update my site. So since last January, I've gotten married. In fact, November 19 will make it 3 months...YAY!. Wedding preparations can take on a life of it's own. That will be a blog for another day though,lol. So we are here and I wanted to post up some pics of my hair recently. I'm going to try really hard to update this blog at least once a month. If I can do it more than that, that will be even more exciting.

I'm working on trying something new for the fall/winter season...Protective styling. Whooohooo!,lol...Apparently, after researching some hair blogs, it's all the rave to retain hair length. I had somewhat done this in the past. But I would eventually wear my hair out more often, which during the colder months, tends to dry out my hair. Wearing natural hair out during the colder months will dry out natural hair so protective styling is key to retain moisture and length. So the picture above is an example of one of my protective styles. I am rusty as I am having trouble moving my pics on here,lol...so that means I'll be doing this more often as I have forgotten how to strategically place pictures on here.

I supplement with a cute Goody Ouchless barrette and a headband in the 2nd pic and I actually am going old school, using a banana clip in the first one. I like to try different types of headbands and hair accessories when I wear my hair like this. Plus it saves time for me in the morning. You can see the back in these pics. I'm still tweaking how I want the front to look so you will see that later :) I like to take pictures in general, especially hair pics. I am working on my fall/winter hair regimen and I will post those later. Until then, enjoy and as always, there's more to come...soon.

The Natural Hair Diaries

7 Years and still growing :)

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone! Well it's been a while, (actually a little over a year) but that's fine because I will have lots to talk about in this new year. I have a wedding to plan for, I will be talking about my hair, stuff that goes on from time to time, and new hair products that I will try. I am excited and ready to get back into my blogging. So I thought I'd start off with showing off my latest style...I had it done in Raleigh, NC. It is a blown out, two-strand twisted, up do. I love this style and get it done when I can get an appointment down at my fave stylist in the NC. Leave a message if you'd like the stylist's info. Anyways, here's my latest style. I tried to put some cool new background on my pic using my photo software but it couldn't come up so maybe next time for the dramatics. I have the front and the back as I took the pic on my phone right after it was done. That way you see it in it's newness. Well that is all for now...I will have more info up as I talk more about hair and other interesting topics that come to mind. Until then, I leave you with a question...

What is your favorite natural style or style period to wear during the winter months? I'd love to hear about it as I may try them myself...Talk with you soon...

The Natural Hair Diaries

6 years Natural and Still Growing...

Well I haven't figured out how to turn these pics around yet but here is what the snow looked like this morning...There is much more out there now.

the snow outside my window
Veronica

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My Pressed Hair...

Okay so I figured now was just as good of time as any to write about this,lol...my students are taking a pre-test and so I thought about blogging about my hair. I got my hair pressed on Friday, Dec. 4 and I really love it. It has grown so much and I realized that it has been 5 years since I went natural. My hair is better for it. I would post up some pics now but that would require me to smile and pose in front of my students and well, it's just not appropriate,lol. So I will post some up later on today so that you can see. One day I will be able to do it myself, but until then, there is always Harmony Salon. Thank God for people who know how to do natural hair. Do you know, stylists today can't even do relaxed hair? They mess that up. It's true. So many women have cried many a night 'cause their hair was messed up by some un-knowledgeable stylist. More to come on that later as I feel like ranting would only make me upset, and I don't want to do that right now. So instead I will just say that my current motto for my natural journey is...5 Years and Still Growing...yes it's true...More pics to come on this later...I promise.

11,894 views...hey that's not bad...

I know I need to go to bed but here it goes,lol...I am wasting time and I figured why not view my blog to see something new. So I did and I saw that 11,894 folks have visited my site. How cool! I need to type on this thing more often then,lol. Well tommorrow is Fall and I guess whether I am ready for it or not, here it comes. I had a great summer and I am looking forward to an even better fall and winter. More play info coming soon and pics too...well eventually...one day...okay sometime this year,lol...how is that? More to come later...

Peace.

Great Pic taken by phone...

This pic was taken back in May 09 in DC on a beautiful Sunday afternoon over the Potomac River. The beauty the God creates is simply amazing! More to come later...

My love of writing...

Has caused me to create my second skit about relationships. I am excited and I love to write. Infact, I want to one day do writing such as screen plays, skits, novels, short stories, and plays as a full time gig. I currently work as a teacher in elementary grades but I have always wanted to write. Even as far back as being in the 5th Grade, I remembered writing a play for my 5th Grade class back in Manhattan. I believe the school was P.S. 76 and the students were really into it until the boy character had to kiss the girl...and then everyone was like "ill",lol...and that was pretty much it for my early Broadway debut. Fast forward to 2009...and I have finally arrived. Oh sure, it's a short play now, but there will be more hit plays to come and it will be a great way to reach others. It's my ministry and it makes me happy to say so. To minister to others in a realistic way about Christ is something I've wanted to do for a while now and thanks to God, I finally can. Now I know this is a hair blog but I figured why not also use this to write about my love of writing as well. You never know who is reading this and for them, it could mean something. So as I close, I look forward to writing more things and sharing them with as many people as possible. I know that many aren't going to look on here to see date and times for my events right away but if you are curious and want to know more about where this play is headed...send me a note and I will forward to the Evite. More to come later...

Hair pic of the week...

This was a style I wore a couple of summers ago. It was a nice look that looked very close to a relaxed hair style. It was a braided up bun and it was done by my stylist. I loved this style because it was a low maintenance type of style where I could just get up and go. It lasted about 3 weeks I think. It's a great style to wear to work too as it's professional. Definitely one of my favorite summer styles.

Catching up...

Well, it's been a while and I have been quite busy this summer. I wanted to type something as it's been a couple of weeks almost since my last post. I have just finished two big projects...putting putting new living room and bed room furniture in my home. I even had my room painted to give it a fresh look. I had been planning on getting this all together since January of this year and finally had the chance to move forward with it in August. I am quite happy with my search for furniture and I will be posting pics up soon showing it. It's been a great summer and it's almost time to go back to my real job, teaching little ones and molding young minds...oh what fun,lol. It is very rewarding at the end of the year, but in the beginning, teaching young 5 year olds new skills is exhausting. But on to the hair stuff...what's next, hair pic of the week of course,lol.