Hail Curls!!! How to love your curls

I naturally have curly wild hair. When I was younger I didn't like my curls so much and they didn't like me either. My hair was always a mix between frizzy curly locks and an afro of tangled mess. I never understood why I was being tortured like this. Why does my hair have to be so wild and unmanageable? If it was humid outside at all my hair would double in size and frizz. I knew that I liked curls. Other women looked beautiful with their curls but mine didn't look so beautiful. Needless to say, my hair in my childhood was a pain in the butt.

It wasn't until I got older that I truly appreciated the art of the curl and learned how to cultivate the most beautiful of curls. I had to do some experimenting and learning when it came to handling and styling my God-given locks. I learned many things about curls and taking care of hair in general.



First, I learned you have to love your hair. No matter what kind of hair you have, you should LOVE it, but especially the curls. Not all curls are created equal but they are all sensitive to normal hair care routines. Curls need extra special love and attention. When my sister or girlfriends want to scrunch their hair and ask how I always get mine to look the way they do, I tell them,

be gentle and love the curls.

Let me clarify. Curls tend to be a little drier than the average head of straight hair. Curls need a little extra conditioning and nourishing treatments. It is important to not wash your hair with shampoo to often because it can lead to dry hair. Second, curls need a good conditioner when you wash your hair as well as a good light-weight leave in conditioner. When handling your curls or wet hair, you have to take care to be extra gentle and not toss your hair about like a normal head of hair. You can't just put your hands in your curls and toss them around without purpose.

After you get out of the shower and your curls are still wet, use a comb, hair pick or your fingers to detangle your hair. Do so gently and don't comb too much. You don't want to use a regular brush on your curls because it can brake your hair more easily and in general it affects the integrity of the curl.

After you have combed out the tangles, gently toss your head of hair over and use a really good leave-in conditioner or mouse/gel. This is where it really counts to be gentle. With my product spread on my hands, I gently cradle the ends of my curls in the palms of my hands and softly scrunch the curls towards my scalp and gently close my hands around them and gently release. I do this a few times until I feel like I have given every curl a good scrunching and that the product is evenly distributed. I try to keep product away from my roots because it can weigh down your hair even more.

Now that your hair is scrunched, you can flip your head back over to the upright position and use your fingers to twist and manipulate the curls around the crown and frame of your face. This is just a little something extra to make sure that your curls dry how you want them to.

Next, you can simply let you hair dry naturally or you can use the help of a blow dryer. If you choose to blow dry your curls, I would only use a blow dryer if it has a diffuser attachment. The diffuser will ensure the best looking curls. It keeps your hair from getting too dry as well as provides indirect heat so that your curls don't get blown to smithereens. You can gently throw your hair back over and start blow drying the curls from underneath first, since they take the longest to dry and this will add a little extra volume. Now flip your hair back over and again manipulate the curls in front and blow dry any other curls by gently cupping and scrunching them as you dry.

As a last touch I like to use a anti-frizz hair serum or Moroccan oil. I rub about a dime size in the palms of my hands and gently scrunch the ends of my hair all over, paying attention to avoid the scalp. This will add an extra barrier from humidity and add a little extra shine to your curls.

If you have curls, you know exactly how challenging it can be to get the most out of styling them.
Curly hair is beautiful and a blessing, I have learned. All you need is a good routine for fixing your lovely curly locks and life seems to be right again. I hope that this helps anyone looking to make their curls more beautiful, bouncy and manageable. I wish I knew how to take care of my curls when I was a young girl and looked like Little Annie. But now that I do know, I want to share it and I wish you luck. Love your curls and they will love you back.

Blessing

 

Delicious DIY Honey Vanilla & Coconut Oil Deep Conditioning Hair Mask

 

There are a lot of hair conditioning products on the market these days and that can make the task of choosing the right fit a little challenging.  It is also hard to find a good all-natural product that doesn't cost a fortune.

You don't need to go to the store (well you may have to buy something) or spend a small fortune (just a few well spent dollars) in order to get the best all-natural, organic (if you choose), completely edible, deep conditioning hair mask. All you need are a few ingredients that you probably already have around the house, about 5 minutes to make the mask and 20-30 minutes of deep relaxing hair therapy.

I won't lie, this is a different experience than going to the store and buying (pantene) conditioning hair mask, filled with artificial fragrances and chemicals. I'm not saying that store bought conditioners don't work, because they obviously do. However, when you make it yourself with natural ingredients, it will have a very earthy natural fragrance and texture. The mask won't feel the same as a store bought brand because the ingredients are totally different and this recipe won't contain any alcohol, waxes or harsh chemicals. The brands you find at a store may leave your hair feeling soft but most of them are not good for your hair and contain ingredients that could make you really sick if you ingested them. So why do we want to put that on our hair or body? (Good question!)

This recipe is so good for you and your hair that you could literally eat the hair conditioning mask. You read that right. This recipe only contains 3 ingredients and all three are food grade (you can eat!) You may not want to sit around eating spoons of it but the point is that it's natural enough that you could and it would cause no harm to your person. (Yay!!!)

Okay, I will get to the recipe and give you a bit of information about the ingredients and why they are so great.


Recipe:

3 Tbs. Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
2 Tbs. Raw Organic Honey
5 drops Vanilla Oil

THAT'S IT!!!

Mix all three ingredients in a small bowl or glass measuring cup (the Pyrex one with the handle work great) with a fork until well blended. Apply as much as needed to cover all you hair (damp hair works best). The conditioner will begin to melt with the heat from your hands and head as you are applying it and can become drippy, so use a towel. After you hair is saturated with the mask, then wrap your hair in a towel and let it do its magic for 30-60 minutes (the longer the better) You can also add a little heat with a blow dryer before you put the towel on but it is not necessary (about 20-30 seconds). Now it is time to wash it out. You may have to shampoo your hair twice just to make sure to get all the mask out of your hair. Style as usual. Your hair may not feel silky at first but bear with me and make it to the styling part. Blow dry your hair or give it time to air dry before you make up your mind.

Your hair will be so soft & shiny and you will feel good knowing you used something that you not only made but that is great for you and your hair, not to mention pretty cheap (Bonus). I recommend using this mask no more than once a week to avoid your hair being weighed down or a build up. You can store any left over mixture in the fridge and use it the next time. Just let the mask sit out and reach room temperature before you use it again. I hope you enjoy this hair mask and find the experience as pleasant as the results. Remember that it is going to create residual benefits and it is good for your hair!!!



A little bit of knowledge:

Your coconut oil may be in a more liquid or semisolid state depending on how you store it and the temperature of the environment at the time. Mine was in a semisolid state, but it is okay either way. If you don't have virgin coconut oil, you can use almond oil, jojoba oil, olive oil or avocado oil (There are a lot of great natural oils). Coconut oil is so good for your hair and has tons of benefits (conditions, strengthens, repairs and nourishes). While the products at the store may seems great they don't actually treat your hair like coconut oil does. Coconut oil works to actually penetrate the hair and scalp to care and treat on a deeper level for the healthiest hair. Check out this link for more in depth information about the benefits of coconut oil. Coconut Oil. You can also purchase virgin coconut oil from this site.

I love raw honey and the texture. Most people usually own the regular honey and that works just as good for this recipe if you want to use that instead. However, if you have not tried raw honey, I recommend getting some. You can use it on toast or anywhere you would use the regular honey. Prepare to fall in love with raw. It is like a natural honey cream. Mmmm!!! Not only does honey taste amazing and make for a great hair mask but honey is also a natural humectant, which means it draws moisture out of the air. It makes your hair shiny and silky. (If the bees start diving at your head, it's because you smell so delicious) Honey also had antimicrobial properties, contains vitamins and minerals, has many healing properties and it is also very affordable. Click this link Honey for more great information and tips about honey and how you can incorporate it into more areas of your life.

This recipe calls for Vanilla Oil and that is not the same thing as vanilla extract and they are not the same thing at all. Vanilla extract has alcohol in it and vanilla oil is the oil that is cold pressed directly from the vanilla orchid plant (Vanilla planifolia). I used vanilla mostly for added fragrance and of course the oil is conditioning.Vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world (just behind saffron). Vanilla is also the world's most labor-intensive agricultural crop, which is why it is so expensive. Check out the link to find out more about Vanilla and why it is so great.

Blessings