African Pride #FreeToBeMe Giveaway!

I'm back! This time with a giveaway. Which ya'll know I love! I've teamed up with African Pride for Black History Month to gift 2 winners a full set (3 month supply) of either the African Pride Olive Miracle or the African Pride Shea Butter Miracle collection by telling us how you embrace freedom when styling your hair. Ya'll down? ;-)

Just tweet the hosting media outlet, @myafricanpride & me @thehairgurl and use the #FreeToBeMe hashtag on how you embrace freedom when styling your hair. More info below.

African Pride:www.african-pride.com
 facebook.com/MyAfricanPride
Twitter/IG @MyAfricanPride


The last day to enter is February 28th!

Good luck ladies! :-)

About African Pride Family of Brands:  

African Pride Hair Care helps provides moisture and nutrients the hair & scalp desires, because it helps replace the moisture and elasticity lost to styling and environmental factors. Naturally rich in vitamin E and other powerful antioxidants,African Pride Deep Conditioning Hair Care products helps restore and retain hair and scalp's health, vitality and natural luster. African Pride's Family of Brands consist of: African Pride Olive and Shea Miracle formulas, Dream Kids Olive Hair Care and Back to Natural Hair Care Products. Each brand in the African Pride family of brands will put you on the right path to healthy tresses with a silkening, feather-light formula containing the finest oils and African herbal extracts used to strengthen and protect www.african-pride.com

  

About Strength of Nature Global, LLC:

Strength of Nature Global is the choice manufacturer of innovative hair care solutions that specifically address the critical hair care needs, styling, and desires for consumers of color. The company's brands including African Pride, Elasta QP, Soy OYL, Profectiv, Relax & Refresh, GrowthRenew, MegaGrowth, SmartPerm, Soft & Beautiful, TCB, and Pro-Line Comb-Thru Professional are sold primarily at beauty supply stores and leading food, drug, and discount retailers. Strength of Nature has offices in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia. For more information visit www.strengthofnature.com. 

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Update: 2011 Hair Resolutions!

 *hair coming down a little in the back*

1. Continue transitioning & eventually chop off all of my relaxed ends so I can be fully natural! (Natural!)

2. Continue shampooing, deep conditioning, and moisturizing my hair regularly. (Check!)

3. Re-stock my Deity protein conditioner!! I miss this stuff so much! (Still haven't done this. :\)

4. Continue to cut 1 inch or more every month until completely natural.  (Check! Natural for almost 8 months!)

5. Try shea butter. (Trying this as we speak)

And why did I just now realize 1 & 4 are the same thing????? Why didn't ya'll tell me?? lol! O_o All I need to do now is get my hands on some of the Deity conditioner & I'll be all done. What's going on w/ your hair resolutions? We still have about 4 months left in 2011 ladies!

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I know I'm a little late in posting this. Finished all except 1. Don't worry. I'll be finding my Deity conditioner in 2012! Been trying so many products that I barely miss it. o_o

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My 1st Twist Out on Natural Hair!

Did some random twists on my hair just to stretch it today. I had no idea what style to put it in, but I knew I wanted it to be stretched. After taking the twists out, the curls looked so pretty! So I decided to rock a twist out (which i haven't rocked since the beginning of my healthy hair care adventure in '07). 

 I'll do a better one next time!! This one was completely random!

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4 Things I Learned About My Natural Hair This Summer

Things I learned about my natural hair this summer:

1. There were no ill effects (breakage, etc) from me applying the Textures & Tones hair color to my hair. The dyed hair is just as healthy as the part that isn't. :D I'm gonna continue to monitor my hair...

2. I get bored easily so creating hairstyles is a MUST. I thought when I went natural I would just rock curly 'fros all willy nilly, but by August I was already ready to change it up! lol I think I'm gonna put a hairstyles tab at the top of the page as I've come up with a lot over the years. ;-)

3. My pre-poo/co-wash detangle routine is the business. I never realized how helpful this would be to my regimen.

4. Postpartum shedding doesn't last forever! #thankgod

So summer is really over??? It's always hard to say 'see you next year' to my favorite time of year. :(  This is random, but.....am I the only that believes summer should start at the beginning of June & not towards the end? Because I'm a good sport....

Welcome Fall!

**Please check out this post & tell me how we should celebrate HairGurl's 3rd Birthday!!! :D What should we do??!!**

 
Photo from here

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HairGurl is 3 Years Old! :D

It's the last day of September & I just wanted to let you guys know that HairGurl turned 3 years old this month! Yes, HG has made it 3 whole years! :-) If you all remember, earlier this year I had a big Belated Giveaway Extravaganza where I had some amazing sponsors giving away all kinds of incredible gifts to my readers. :-) It was so much fun that I want to do it again-only this time around I want to do something different! I want ya'll to decide how we celebrate HairGurl's 3rd birthday. I have some ideas, but I want you ladies to chime in. ;-) So I ask you my lovely readers...WHAT SHOULD WE DO TO CELEBRATE???

Leave your suggestions in the comments!

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New Hairstyle: French Twist & Curls!

So here's the hairstyle I came up with after my straightened hair started to revert! :-) I LOVED it! It reminded me so much of this style I used to do on my relaxed hair.

My first time doing a dotted mani. :-)

Here's the scoop:
1. I moisturized my hair in sections with Vo5 Strawberries & Cream Moisturizing Conditioner & then sealed with my Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil. (I'm done experimenting with this conditioner on my natural hair. IT WORKS. My hair was very soft & moisturized.) I let the conditioner dry & soak into my hair.
 
2. Twisted up the back of my hair using bobby pins along the way. I stopped at the top of my head.

3. Twisted & rolled my hair in the front bang, top, & right front side of my hair.  I only added a very, very small amount of water to each section (so the hair could air dry faster). We were going to a house party for the Redskins-Cowboys game so I didn't have a lot of time. I think I did about 8 of them.

4.Took out the twists. Separated them a little. I realized that the ones in the front bang area didn't curl like I want them too, so i did about 4 banku knots to get that curl action going on.

5. Added my Apricot Mango Extra Rich Butter from DIY Hair Care Products to the nape and sides of my hair. Soft city ladies! I kept touching the sides & nape all evening like "Is this my hair?" lol! And it smells great. This is my 2nd time using this butter & it moisturizes the hair extremely well. I also should mention- since the Apricot Mango Butter mainly consists of shea butter that means I've tried shea butter. So I'm officially done with my 2011 Hair Resolutions! ;-)

I'll be doing a YouTube video for this hairstyle very soon! :-)

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1st Time Flat Ironing My Natural Hair!

Tired face...

I'm late posting this, but if you follow me on Twitter you've already seen pics of my newly flat ironed hair! This past Friday, I flat ironed my hair in lieu of celebrating me being 8 months natural. :D I told ya'll last week that I was gonna do it...and I did! :D Boy, that was the longest night ever. I was so tired. I didn't start prepping my hair until 12:30-1am (was waiting for Khlo-Child to go to sleep) I ended up finishing around 4am (i think). I don't know if you ladies can tell, but the ends of my hair were anything BUT straight. Chile....I really should've watched a few YouTube videos on how to effectively straighten natural hair ends. It is NOT as easy as relaxed hair I'll tell you!

 the edges felt wonderful & so smooth! As you can see my hair is around the length it was when I started my hair care journey.

Here's the breakdown:

1. Clarified my hair with VO5 Herbal Escapes Clarifying Shampoo

Clarifying made my scalp feel WONDERFUL! It's been way too long since I last clarified. It's great to do this before a flat iron session because it removes product buildup from the scalp & hair. Perfect for creating light, bouncy hair! :-)

2. Dc'ed with Mixed Chicks Deep Conditioner for about 2 hours. ( won a gift set back in April...)

3. Applied Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer & Garnier Fructis Anti-Humidity Smoothing Milk. I realize now that I should have applied either more of the Smoothing Milk or added an extra product. The Smoothing Milk gave my hair a silky feeling though.

4. Sectioned off the hair & began flat ironing with the GHD. Love this flat iron!!! Don't think I can say that enough! Remember my review?? I've written about this flat iron several times. It was just as amazing on my natural hair & made my hair feel so silky. Had I used the comb-chase method, I'm confident the entire length of my hair would have felt just as great.

 After I was done flat ironing, I didn't wrap my hair. It was just too thick & the ends were curly so the wrap wouldn't have been that effective anyway. I simply wrapped my scarf around my hair & finally went to sleep. I took a shower the next day & the somewhat straight hair I had became extinct. LOL

Will show you guys the style I came up w/ in the next post!!! Very easy to do!
For a next peek of the style visit the Facebook page...It's the hairstyle in my profile pic. ;-) There's also some on Twitter...

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Healthy Hair Icon: Joi!

1. What city can we find you twirling your hair? Northern New Jersey, even though that's not exactly a city.

2. Favorite food? A big juicy bone in steak medium well with a side of ketchup for dipping!

3.  Relaxed or natural? Relaxed

4. How do you keep your hair looking fly? I love getting roller sets because that's when my hair looks it's best. It's fluffy, but sleek. Shiny but super light. What's your hair care regimen? My hair care regimen is pretty simple, every week I shampoo, condition, and then deep condition. My add-on treatments include pre-poo sessions, henna treatments, relaxers every 10-14 weeks with a protein treatment the week before and the week after. For daily maintenance I moisturize and seal my hair with an oil when it feels dry, so it ends up being every few days instead of actually daily.

5. What's the craziest thing you've ever done to your hair? The craziest thing I've ever done to my hair is over process it. There was a time when I would get a touch-up every 5-6 weeks and then do a 'halo' in between that time. For those of you know don't know what a halo is I'll explain. A 'halo' is when you just relax your edges. I know, I know insert gasps here!

6. What are your fave hair products?  My new huetiful hair and facial steamer, Miss Keys 10 en 1 Conditioner, Creme of Nature products, and the Arganics Relaxer System. I have a ton more but these are at the top of my list right now.

7. What is the hair product, tool, or accessory that you absolutely can not live with out? Hands down it's Coconut Oil.

8. Favorite hairstyle? Side part with a low bun ... I know it's boring but it's my signature look.

9. What's your favorite color? Tiffany Box Blue :-)

10. The best season for your hair is summer because my hair is always wet, I'm a water baby and every time I swim I co-wash and use a deep conditioner. So essentially my hair is always getting the maximum amount of moisture. 

11. The worst season for your hair is winter because the moisture in my hair just runs for the hills! 

12. The best thing about my hair is it's health. When I first started my healthy hair journey I had no idea that my hair was so un-healthy. The things I was doing to it and how I was handling it were terrible. Fast forward to now and it might seem like I'm a bit overzealous with my hair care but really these are just the basics for healthy hair care. Shampooing, Conditioning, and Deep Conditioning are things you HAVE to do for healthy hair, especially if your hair is chemically treated.

13. 3 words that describe your hair's personality. Healthy, Flirty, and ((looks around shyly)) SEXY!

14. Where can we find you on the web?
Website: www.antihairslave.com I began The Anti Hair Slave as a progress style diary to track my progress and it has since grown into a resource for women who also desire beautiful healthy hair. The Anti Hair Slave is written by a woman of color for women of all colors.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/antihairslave
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Anti-Hair-Slave/196178760417981
Youtube: www.youtube.com/antihairslave

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Yay, Joi's BSL! Congratulations! That's my ultimate hair goal, ya'll. I've been following Joi's blog for years. I consider her to be a hair blogger veteran! I remember when she first started The Anti Hair Slave years ago & back then there weren't very many hair care blogs. Her hair always looks so healthy & bouncy. She's infamous for getting doobies which I'd never heard of until I started following her. Thus, I had to get her to dish about her hair regimen. ;-) Thanks Joi for allowing me to feature you!  

Got a head of beautiful hair & wanna show it off?? ;-) Email me at thehairgurl@yahoo.com

Make sure you are following me on Twitter & Facebook for more of my ramblings about hair and anything else I want to talk about. :-)

Hair Stare of the Week: Rocquelle

1. Who styled your hair? I did. It was an experiment that turned out great, lol.

2. How long can you uphold this style? With proper maintenance, maybe a week. I am not very good at tying my hair up, so I only kept it up 4 days.

3. How do you maintain it? I didn't really do any maintaining of this style, but for someone who wants it to last, I recommend tying it up nightly.

4. Finally, what city can we find you rocking this style in? Lol, HOUSTON

 You may remember seeing Rocquelle from the Green & Glamorous Recap post. Yep, I just met her & she's already on the blog! lol She tweeted some photos of this hairstyle & I was in awe. I just had to share this style with you ladies. It was too pretty not to! Tweet her @considermeluvly for additional questions on creating this beautiful hairstyle for yourself & also check out her fantastic vintage inspired fashion blog: considermelovely.com! Thanks Rocquelle!

If you wanna show off that fabulous hairstyle submit your pics to be considered for Hair Stare of the Week! Email me at thehairgurl@yahoo.com.

Make sure you are following me on Twitter & Facebook for more of my ramblings about hair and anything else I want to talk about. :-) 

Green & Glamorous Event Recap!

Saturday, Katie Mac from The Mac Styles & I ventured out to the Green & Glamorous Block Party & Beauty Event in Houston. I spent the majority of the day running around with the hubs grocery shopping & looking for an acceptable high chair/feeding utensils for Khlo Face. On top of that, it was raining. When it rains, it makes me sleepy. I don't care where I am or what I'm doing...the rain does that to me every time. Needless to say by that evening, I was beat & rain sleepy!....but nothing was going to stop me from attending this event! I couldn't wait! :-) I'd heard wonderful compliments about the Natural Resources Salon here in Houston ever since their feature on Great Day Houston. I haven't told ya'll this, but I'm kinda looking for a salon. I say kinda because I haven't really been searching per se.... Not a salon to maintain my hair. I do that pretty well on my own. I need a salon for the days when I just want to pamper myself or go in & get a wash & deep condition. I don't want to pay 2 arms & 2 legs for it either...And from the photos on their website, Natural Resources Salon was just what I was looking for.

We got to pick our own samples from the Earth's Nectar line. :D There's Katie looking stylish in her turban...

There was also an upcycling/remixing table. I brought 5 shirts, but ended up not getting any remixed. The jewelry was donated by Charming Charlie. The unused jewelry was up for grabs by the end of the night & I walked away with a few pieces of jewelry. Cool!

We got there late so we ended up missing the fashion show which featured Uche's (on the right) recycled fashions! She was so sweet. :-) You can see her designs here! As far as Katie...have you ever seen rain boots look so fly?!!?!


I met Rocquelle from ConsiderMeLovely. Ironically, I visited her site for the 1st time the night before the event! After the event,  Katie, Rocquelle, & I stood outside talking forever. lol At the end of our talk, I was given new fashion blogs to look up, a nudge to give Shipley's Donuts another chance, a craving for cupcakes, and Blue Bell's Dessert Trio ice cream added to my grocery shopping list! LOL

Shoe shot! I'm not included, lol. (left-right: Rocquelle, Katie, & Uche)

The hair was definitely a hit. I got a lot of compliments! :D Dress is from Macy's pre-teen section for $8.98. So this is what pre-teens/tweens are wearing nowadays??? #imgettingold

Side shot...This was a bantu knot pulled like in my recent YouTube video. However, this puff is in the center not on the side...Earrings from bss for $1.

I also ran into Leola, of the natural hair sorority-Pi Nappa Kappa. Loved her 'fro. I remember meeting her also at the Do You Expo. I'm not a member of the sorority, but I look forward to attending her event, Nzuri Natural Hair Health & Beauty Showcase in December. ;-)

The event was excellent...very well put together. We stayed well past the end of the event, but that's how we do it. Loved meeting new people. :-) The salon was gorgeous as well. Who wouldn't want to get their hair done there??? It looks so relaxing! I'll definitely let you ladies know if I go there for some me time with my hair. ;-)

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