Captured Curls: Yhanni and Jeffrina

I am very excited to share this weeks Captured Curls with you all! Today you will be reading about how two sisters care for their natural hair, loc'd and loose. The photo below may be familiar to you all if you have Tumblr. The picture happened to land on my dashboard a few weeks ago and I immediately fell IN LOVE with it. One of the sisters (Yhanni, with the locs) ironically started following me on Twitter. I had NO CLUE that she was one of the women in the picture. She tweeted me the picture a few days ago and I almost died, LOL. I had to have them on the blog and I just knew you all would love this post. Read their stories below!

Tell me about YOU

Yhanni: I'm a singer, dancer, actress (but who in LA isn't). Brooklyn, King's County, NY born, Herndon, VA raised, LA, CA living. 

Jeffrina: I'm a singer/songwriter, actress, dancer, and mother. Born in New Jersey, raised between NJ, PA, and CA. I now live in Los Angeles and love love love it!

Tell me your hair care regimen (do you use heat, natural products, ect...)

Y: I wash my hair once a week or once every two weeks. I have a lot of hair and it gets dry quickly so I wash it whenever my scalp starts crying.  

Jeffrina: I wash my hair every 2-3 days to keep the curls soft and fresh, otherwise they get frizzy and matted. I towel dry it then massage it with hair products while finger twisting my curls.

Tell me your texture and what works best on your hair type

Y: I twist my locs with this tea tree oil product that has a gel-like texture. I moisturize it with Carol's Daughter tiu hair oil, Jamaican Mango and Lime Spray oil and 'Nature's Blessings hair pomade'.

Jeffrina: My hair texture is thick and bushy with tight curls. Mango and Shea butter cream along with Coconut oil are great for moisture and shine. Once it's moisturized, I finger twist the curls with black gel to keep them tight and avoid frizziness.

 Tell me the reaction you got when first going natural

Y: I've been natural my whole life. 

Jeffrina: Everyone loved it and I felt so free not having to worry about how my hair looked all the time.

Did you BC or transition, if so when or for how long?

Y: N/A

Jeffrina: I transitioned first I cut my hair really short but I still had a relaxer and my hair was straight. Then one day I got sick of the maintenance and just chopped it all the way down til the relaxer was gone and I haven't turned back since. That was about a year and a half ago.

What makes you love your kinks, curls and coils?

Y: Unlike the India Arie song (Love you girl!) I am my hair. My locs are a big part of me, they have to be since it's the only hair style I've known.

Jeffrina: I have had every hairstyle in the book, and never have I felt so free or so confident til' I went natural. I can get up slap some moisture on my hair and keep it moving while still feeling good about myself.

 Where can we find you on the web?

Y: HTTP://WWW.YHABHUR.TUMBLR.COM 

HTTP://WWW.TWITTER.COM/YSUPREME

Jeffrina: HTTP://WWW.TWITTER.COM/ILOVEFRINA

Anything EXTRA you want us to know?

Y: My birthday is on Tuesday.. hheeeyyy!

Jeffrina: I truly think its amazing you are doing this. It is so important for women of color to love ourselves the way we were born. Not that I have anything against weaves, perms or anything else but I didn't even know the natural texture of my hair until a year and a half ago. Maybe if i would have known I would have loved it way before!

Curl Junkie's Smoothing Lotion Review

Under the jump is a video of my thoughts and experience with Curl Junkie's Smoothing Lotion. I must say that this leave in conditioner is BEYOND great and is almost tied with my love for Kinky Curly's "Knot Today" leave in. The smell is amazing, the texture is smooth and it's packed with glycerin, which my hair LOVES. I was able to pick this product up on the ground at the Hair and Body Boutique; it was $21 for 12 fl oz (pricey, worth it though) but not paying shipping was a huge plus. See the video below for my details.

Today's Hair: Twisted Out

(image found via google)

I finally decided to wash this hair over the weekend, it was dirty, frizzy and dry. I dread washing my hair but it's a must as we all know. I washed with Shea Moisture's shampoo and de-tangled with the matching conditioner. All in all it took me about 30 minutes to wash/rinse/detangle--which isn't too bad. Once I was finished that ordeal, I sectioned my hair is 4 parts and applied Curl Junkie's Smoothing Lotion from root to tip.This stuff is amazing, I plan to review it soon. I used my denman to brush through and remove any tangles that I missed while de-tangling in the shower, it also really helped smooth the hair in preparation for my twists. To get some hold and good definition, I twisted  my hair in about 12 large twists with Miss. Jessie's Baby Buttercreme (I will forever love this stuff, even though the ingredients are less than perfect).


This morning when I took down the twists, I was very pleased with my results! My hair was soft, bouncy and defined. Of course I snapped pictures for you to see. Click the jump to see.

Happy Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of you beautiful, strong women and single fathers! I hope your day was full of love, pampering and GOOD FOOD!  I commend everyone who is raising our youth to be the best they can be. You don't have to birth a child to be a mother, remember that.

xoxo,

Alex

Captured Curls: Cimone (A UK Curly)

Today's Captured Curls is Cimone! Her hair is beautiful and I think that you all will enjoy her natural hair story!

See below...

Tell me about YOU

My name is Cimone. I am a Natural Hair Enthusiast and UK Natural Hair blogger. I am also a Primary School Teacher in London, UK.

Tell me your hair care regimen (do you use heat, natural products, ect...)

I very rarely use heat. I only blow-dry my hair before putting in extensions or weave as protective styles-so far this year only once. I haven’t used hair straighteners in about 20 months.

 I use a hair bonnet which attaches to my hair dryer, once a week when I deep condition. My ‘Staple Products’ at the moment:

·         Aubrey Organics GPB Glyclogen Protein Shampoo-Rosemary & Peppermint

·         Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner

·         Eco-Styler Gel (although our love affair is on the rocks at the moment-we are on a ‘break’!)

·         Coconut Oil, Rosemary Oil, Amla Oil, Jojoba Oil and Glycerine

In regards to my regime, It’s quite simple at the moment:-

I detangle with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Moisturising Conditioner and put my hair in large twists. I then co-wash or wash with either of the Aubrey products. I haven’t yet found a staple leave-in, but I seem to always revert back to Organics Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner. Although I would like to find a more ‘natural’ deep conditioner-so any suggestions of products available in the UK would be greatly received! I twist again slightly smaller and let hair-dry in preparation for a puff or protective style.

I have also recently tried the TRESemme Naturals range-my hair seems to love it, but will have to use it a few more time before it becomes a ‘staple’.

Tell me your texture and what works best on your hair type

Hmm I’m not 100% sure! What I do know is that my hair is not the same all over. For example the back of my head is very soft and needs practically no product but it still ‘behaves’. My sides are very coily and need a lot of manipulation to do what I want. I have some real straight sections, and then the front is very wavy, but needs a soft touch as it easily breaks. A real combination!

Tell me the reaction you got when first going natural

Well I’m a lifelong natural! Although I must admit not a life-long lover of my hair.

I have put it through real hell over the years-with over use of the pressing comb and just real lack of understanding of my hairs needs. When I stopped wearing weaves majority of people were like ‘why did you wear weaves in the 1^st place?’ which was encouraging! Some guys did comment that I should relax it-but I had already met my fiancée who loved it so their opinions were null and void!

Through research and trial and error I have began to understand and love my curls!

What makes you love your kinks, curls and coils?

That my hair is SO versatile! I don’t stress about the rain at all (which in the UK is a regular occurrence!). That my hair seems to intrigue people-despite it being natural it is still deemed as an ‘unnatural’ and ‘unusual’ sight. My hair has inspired friends to become natural-which is fantastic. Above all though, that I am a role model for the little girls I teach-They see someone who doesn’t have relaxed hair, and understand that just because I can’t ‘flick’ it-doesn’t mean I can’t ‘rock it’ J.

 Where can we find you on the web?

You can find me at my all new blog http://SpeltWithaC.blogspot.com --- UK blog for UK Naturals.... 'SpeltWithaC-Flying the flag for the UK Natural Scene'  :-)

and on twitter http://twitter.com/CimonewithaC

Anything EXTRA you want us to know?

That to fully understanding your natural hair takes time and patience-it definitely isn’t one size fits all, but that’s the fun and great thing about natural hair it’s unique!

Protective Style'n

(image from http://www.allaboutmyhair.com)

As you all know I have been wearing my hair in PS's for weeks now. My braids did not last a month and I was slightly disappointed by that. I was hoping to get at least 4 weeks out of them but that failed. My hair got extremely frizzy and it started to look very raggedy in my opinion. Anyways, I decided it was time to go ahead and get WEAVED UP! I have been searching for the perfect hair for months now. Eryn over at Hair2ToeBeauty referred me to All About my Hair online and I found, literally, the PERFECT hair. It's called Kinky Curly wefted hair and it's amazing! Pricey BUT amazing. I believe in paying for quality and I am very happy with my purchase. 4 oz of this hair is $95 (for the shortest length). Most people need 8 oz of hair for a full weave like I got. I ended up getting 12 inch hair and paying *brace your self* $206.00 for it. Now, before y'all fall out, this hair can last me up to a year if I treat it right (which I will). I can re-use it over and over again and that is a PLUS. I have had the weave in since Friday and so far I haven't experienced any mattings or sheeding. I actually sealed the weft with "Aleene's No Fray" glue that I got at Michaels. My friend told me that sealing the weft was a good idea to prevent any access shedding that may occur while the weave is in. I am so satisfied with this hair, I actually co-washed it the other night and put 7 big twists in it. I am rocking a 2 day old T.O. and it looks GREAT!

I know y'all want to see pictures, so click the jump to see what all the fuss is about!