Afroniquely You

I know I have quite a few hair idols..people who inspire me to continue my journey because they have achieved a lot with their hair, or just the way they care for their hair. Here’s a look at some of the hair I admire the most:

KimmayTube: Simply put she has amazing hair and is really good at what she does, videos, fashion, and overall just great information. Plus her story inspires me.

KinkyKurlyQueen: Her head of hair is just amazing and I truly love her tiny plaits and enjoy her informative videos.

BlackOnyx77: She has so many hair tutorials it’s just great.

Rustic Beauty: She gives me a reminder that every one can grow their hair long and strong and beautiful.

These were just a few of my favorites. So I want to know: Who’s hair do you look to for inspiration, or that you find to be quite beautiful and idol worthy??

Someone asked me what if they colored their natural hair, would they still be considered natural?
My personal opinion is yes the person is still natural, but I want to know, do you consider the person to still be natural? Share your thoughts I’d love to hear it.

It’s time to have you all leave your mark on this blog. I’d love to hear your stories. Have you ever had to deal with setbacks? Have you ever felt like your hair just fell short on a hump and you no longer know what to do? Share your story of having a setback, and if you overcame, how you did so.

Maybe you did a BC either recently or years ago and you want to share your story on what happened, email me and I’ll be glad to share your post.

Are you transitioning and have something you want to share about your favorite products, transitioning hairstyles, the joys and pains of transitioning? Then email me your story.

Want to share all three? That’s totally fine too.

Send all stories into: afroniquely@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Sasha-Shae

It brings me great joy to introduce to you all the following feature. Ms Eddie Simpson, Entrepreneur, mother and a wonderful down to earth woman. She is founder and owner of Sweet Nature By Eddie hair care products and also she runs the Fabulous Black Woman website that embraces the black woman and the dream and aspirations she can become. I hope you enjoy her inspiring story and of-course check out her product line and website.

Below is a snippet of her biography:

After suffering the devastating effects of severe hair loss and damage related to the mishandling of her hair and using products that contained less than favorable ingredients, Eddie began to research ways to grow her hair healthy, strong and long. She purchased every product in the beauty supply store that claimed to be a miracle cure for damaged hair, but found that these products did not live up to their claims and some actually did the exact opposite of what they promised they would do. Along her journey to healthy hair she discovered priceless information regarding the harmful ingredients contained in hair care products geared towards African Americans; the most effective ways of washing, conditioning and handling African American hair; the most beneficial ingredients for African American hair; and much more. She has compiled her 12 years of research and authored the Comprehensive Guide to Growing African American Hair to Its Fullest Potential. The guide includes everything one would need in order to grow and maintain healthy hair. The book is extremely informational, entertaining as well as easy to follow and understand. There is a chart included in the book which reveals the hair-friendly foods, vitamins and minerals, a glossary of ingredients to avoid, as well as a section of homemade deep conditioner recipes. The back cover documents 18 months of Eddie’s hair growth, which is quite impressive.

The information Eddie discovered during her research was extremely valuable, but it did not solve the problem of finding healthy hair care products at reasonable prices. This led her to formulate a comprehensive hair care system, Sweet Nature by Eddie. For years she used homemade concoctions that contained ingredients essential for healthy hair and a healthy scalp. While using these products in conjunction with her research findings, Eddie consistently saw tremendous improvements and extraordinary growth with her hair, including growing her relaxed hair past her shoulders and later managing her very thick natural hair. She then began to make the concoction for family and friends along with providing them with a copy of instructions, which she later turned into a book, and they too began to have unprecedented hair growth.

How It All Started

In early 2007, Eddie worked full-time, was a full time Human Services student and was beginning her divorce proceedings. Concerned for her ability to balance her extremely full life and work, her employer gave her the ultimatum of dropping out of school or losing her job. With bills mounting, a mortgage to pay and two children to support, Eddie decided her education was more important and opted to continue school and leave her job in September 2007. As she walked out on her job, she had no back-up plan, no options or any alternative means to support her family other than unemployment benefits, which would not be enough. Quickly, Eddie realized that she would have to sale her home that she had lived in for six years. After getting it appraised, she was told that its value had gone down tens of thousands of dollars, thus her only option was to file bankruptcy. Preparation for this major life transition was difficult for her to say the least.

While going through a mountain of trials, Eddie searched for peace and clarity through constant prayer, learning meditation and reading “The Secret”. This quickly allowed her to become focused, peaceful, and calm, yet motivated and energized her and her creativity began to flow. She soon began to see the blessings in losing her job, her pending divorce, and being released from her upside down home loan. She was no longer stressed and her feelings and thoughts became increasingly positive and her confidence soared. In November of 2007, she envisioned a website; one to help women get through trials as she had faced; a website that provided resources, and support for single mothers or women facing tribulations; a site where women like herself were encouraged, inspired and featured for their strength, courage, and success. When she awakened; she began research on how to build a website and within one week, www.fabulousblackwoman.com was born.

During this same period, Eddie had continued to get rave compliments on her hair and was encouraged by her family and friends to market her products. With no prior experience in business or marketing and only having the background of stirring up a couple ingredients in a bowl, she went to the health food store and purchased a bunch of raw ingredients to tweak her concoction and make it more marketable and appealing. As she sat in her kitchen adding a tablespoon of this and a cup of that; she felt as if she had been making her products her entire life. She knew exactly which ingredients should go first and which should go last, she was able to distinguish how high to heat and how low to cool the mixtures, and easily determined appropriate measurements, as if she was given a recipe from God. Because her products were birthed during a very difficult time in her life, she wanted to share her journey with all that purchased them, so she tells her stories of triumph, encouragement, and struggle on the labels of her products and called them Sweet Nature by Eddie.

Because Eddie considered herself more of a teacher than an entrepreneur, she wanted to educate her customers and not just sell them products. She wanted to share all of the knowledge she had on growing her hair healthy, strong and long, so she authored a book on the subject. She also writes hair care articles for several online magazines and blogs and she gives FREE hair consultations, workshops and seminars.

In 2009, Eddie received Female Entrepreneur of the 1990’s during a citywide high school reunion; she was promoted to Platinum author for the quality of her hair care articles, was accepted in the Who’s Who in America Directory for her work in the hair care industry, as well as featured on the cover of Influence Magazine. She has also started a social network www.fabulousblackwoman.ning.com for women to share their own experiences. She also has a Fabulous Black Woman group on Facebook and BlackPlanet with over 2,500 members. Although hair care is Eddie’s passion, her mission is to help empower, inspire and motivate women through support, encouragement, and sharing of stories of triumph.

Below are the following: a photo montage of her hair growth: (p.s. she has recently cut her hair off, and it thriving by use of her products, you can see her hair grow at her youtube channel), a montage showing the growth her sister, daughter and self achieved by using Sweet Nature, and lastly, sweet Khyli’s hair growth progression.

Where to find more about Eddie:

• Fabulous Black Woman: http://fabulousblackwoman.com/
• Sweet Nature: http://fabulousblackwoman.com/SweetNaturebyEddie.html
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/FabulousBlackWoman
• Fotki Album: http://members.fotki.com/AngelNapps/about/

I hope you truly enjoyed this and that you do check out the product line and the series of informative videos and tips she has on her fotki!

ALSO it’s her birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDIE!! May you be blessed to see many more.

Stay blessed and Afroniquely You!

Hello and good morning all! Today I want to introduce to you a natural who sports locs. Check out his regimen and his words of advice. Introducing Carver Bedeau:

Carver Bedeau

How long have you been natural? All my life but Dreads roughly about 5 years

How did your natural journey begin? I grew up with my grandmother and

everytime i tried 2 grow my hair she would make me cut it. once i lived on my own i began growing locs

How was the experience from then to your journey now? It was a stressful one cause my family was never supportive of me growing my hair saying locs have no place in society and life was harder for us but i was determined to prove them wrong

What tips do you have for newly naturals? I would say treat ur hair like a plant water it, feed it with the right stuff & love ur hair

What is your routine? After getting ur hair done always rap ur hair when going to sleep, don’t pull hair to much when re-twisting but don’t get hair done to often

What products do you use, or what would you recommend? Jane Carter solutions

Advice to those wanting to grow longer hair: Have patience. If your constantly looking after ur hair to grow u would’nt notice the growth. Just take care of it and give it time

Name the main things that have kept you through your natural journey and have kept your hair growing strong and long. Determination 2 prove my family wrong of their perception of locs

What besides hair interests you? Fashion shows, Models, Photography, Bar tending, Bottle Flairing, Modeling, Jogging & Soccer

See more photos by Tai'Rae at myspace.com/tairaephoenix

Where can we find you? (fotki/blog. /website):

• carverbedeau@hotmail.com
• carverbedeau.webs.com
• modelmayhem (search carver bedeau)

I am very pleased to present Ms Chris-Tia Donaldson of the book Thank God I am Natural! I had a very fun time reading through and listening to her advice and I hope it is helpful to you and that you can learn from it as well.

What prompted you to start your natural journey?

I went natural in 2002 after I grew tired and frustrated of spending so much time and money on my hair. When my hair was relaxed, it would go through this vicious cycle, where it would grow then break off, then grown then break off some more. Finally, I met a stylist, William of W Salon in Boston, who told me that I didn’t need a perm and that I could start pressing my hair.  Long story short, I decided to stop pressing my hair and wore a wig for two years at my first law firm out of law school. Back then, I felt like I had to look like the 21^st century version of Claire Huxtable (complete with flowing hair) in order to be accepted by my white colleagues, gain better assignments, appease my clients, etc. In the end, I failed miserably when it came to pleasing others, and came very very very close to being fired. My preoccupation with my having “good hair” and my rejection of my inherent qualities as a black woman were largely part of my performance related issues.   Today, I am a successful lawyer, thanks to embracing my true and natural self and abandoning mainstream notions of what it means to be beautiful.

How has being natural affected your outlook on the way society views women? (In other words, there’s a stigma on being natural, how do you embrace your natural tresses while allowing yourself to shine forth in society?)

Now that I’m natural, I’m definitely more aware of images and portrayals of black women in the media (on tv and in music) and in every day life. When I went natural back in 2002, I felt likethis hairstyle was reserved for only the “political/spiritual” types, but I think in the past seven years it has become a much more mainstream option that can be worn by a black women whether she’s a corporate lawyer or a cashier at Walgreen’s. I also find think that going natural and embracing your hair (and other parts of yourself) the way it is helps to minimize stress in other parts of your life, and to foster a greater sense of awareness related to the products you put on your body and in your body.

How would you maintain healthy tresses? Tips/routines

Here are some  tips from my  book Thank God I’m Natural: The Ultimate Guide to Caring for and Maintaining Natural Hair that you should keep in mind to help keep your strands looking their best:

• • Mucho Moisture. “Keeping your hair moisturized, conditioned and trimmed regularly is an absolute must for preventing breakage and minimizing split ends,” says celebrity stylist A.J. Johnson of AJES The Salon in Chicago. Since black hair tends to be dry, A.J. loves products that contain natural ingredients and light oils that can be easily absorbed by the hair, and encourages his clients to steer clear of products containing beeswax, lanolin, and petroleum – which merely coat the strands and have a tendency to attract dust and lint.
• • Never comb dry hair. Always mist your hair with water or apply a small amount of pomade to your tresses to help the comb glide through your locks. Go slowly and if you come across a tangle or knot, try to detangle it with your fingers first before going for a comb. Avoid small combs with sharp teeth, which can tear the hair. Instead, use larger combs with rounded teeth and smooth edges.
• • Don’t overbrush. Forget the old saying about brushing 100 strokes a day! The truth is, over-brushing can lead to breakage. Regular, gentle brushing is okay, but be sure to invest in a brush with firm bristles with rounded ends.
• • Get your beauty sleep. Sleep wearing a satin scarf or bonnet, or if you prefer to sleep with your head uncovered, purchase a satin pillow case. Wool and cotton strip the hair of its natural oils, leaving it dry, brittle, and prone to breakage. If you live in a cooler climate, protect your hair from wool and cotton hats and scarves by wearing a satin scarf underneath your cap or by purchasing silk-lined winter accessories.
• • Treat your scalp. Take a few minutes each day to give yourself a scalp massage “This simple practice increases the circulation in the scalp area and promotes healthy oil production,” says Jill Scott’s go to stylist Syreeta Scott, owner of Duafe Holistic Hair Care Natural Hair Salon in Philadelphia.
• • Turn off the heat. Blow dryers and curling irons can cause considerable damage to the hair and, in some cases, can permanently straighten your natural texture. Instead of heat styling, consider natural styles such as braids, twist-outs or a puff, which can be achieved without causing major damage to your hair.
• • Keep your ends protected. Once your hair reaches shoulder length, the constant friction caused by your hair rubbing against your clothes often results in dryness and breakage. You can avoid this by wearing protective hairstyles, which don’t leave your ends exposed, and keeping your ends well conditioned.
• • Choose your stylist wisely. Choose a hairdresser that you feel comfortable with and who specializes in caring for natural hair. Finding the right stylist is one of the most important steps to developing your personal style and growing beautiful, healthy tresses. A good stylist will be honest with you and take the time to educate you about your hair. To locate a stylist in your area, check out the Salon Directory on my website at www.thankgodimnatural.com.

I am sure you have probably found a few fave products and styles, what are they?

I love Elucene’s Moisturizing Shampoo and Condition. It’s a great product made with natural ingredients and it smells great. I also like making my own hair oil which consists of  almond oil, grapeseed oil and jojoba oil. Finally, I love the Jamaican  Rasta Locks & Twist Locking Gel for my twist outs and flexi rod sets.

There are a lot of books on natural hair care out there, what exactly makes yours so different and a cut above the rest?

Well, I think there are a number of factors which explain why Thank God I’m Natural was recently proclaimed the “Natural Hair Bible” by Essence Magazine. First off, it features the styling recommendations of celebrity stylists for individuals like Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill, Floetry, Mos Def, among others, in addition to the perspectives of everyday women on going natural. It contains an entire chapter devoted to homemade hair recipes, which people LOVE, as well as an international salon directory. Finally, it covers virtually every topic related to natural hair from the truth about hair relaxers, product picks for different types of  natural hair, dealing with hair loss, tips for distinguishing between natural products and their imposters, among many other subjects. The catchy title of the book has also become a rallying cry for women of all races from Chicago, Illinois to Pretoria, South Africa to embrace their true selves, and realize they are beautiful just the way they are.

Many young women and for that matter young men, are wanting to find a way to set a new standard for themselves. Some have taken on a new lease on life after going natural. What advice can you give to youths about staying positive and conquering dreams?

Stay strong.  When your family, friends or co-workers start to question your decision, when you start to get frustrated with the two textures, or when you’re running out of styling options, remember that this is a temporary stop on your natural journey. You’re going to have your share of rough patches, but going-natural will definitely be a decision you’ll never regret and your hair will thank you for it.

Sometimes naturally course type of hair can be extremely difficult. At Afroniquely You I try to pay special attention to those with type of texture. What do you think are the best practices/tips for maintaining this type?

• Let go of your European standards of neatness. Instead of trying to make sure every hair is in place, roll with what you have. Your confidence will take you much farther than you can ever imagine.
  • Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize. Keeping your hair moisturized, conditioned and trimmed regularly is an absolute must for preventing breakage and minimizing split ends.
  • If you can fry chicken in it or if it requires heat to melt, don’t use it on your hair. Since black hair tends to be dry, I love products that contain natural ingredients and light oils that can be easily absorbed by the hair. Steer clear of heavy products containing petroleum and lanolin.
  • Purchase a Copy of Thank God I’m Natural: The Ultimate Guide to Caring for Natural Hair. It’s the most comprehensive resource you’ll find on the subject.

What do you enjoy doing, besides blogging and authoring your book? I love traveling to different countries, working out, going to museums, playing tennis, and trying new brunch spots with my girlfriends.

What are some things about you (fun, different) that we probably don’t know?

Thursday night is my favorite night of the week. I love lemon drop martinis and bacon cheeseburgers, which I might be giving up soon to become a vegetarian.

What influenced you to write Thank God I am Natural?

I wrote Thank God I’m Natural to help dispel some of the most common myths and misconceptions  about kinky hair. Part of the reason it took me so long to let go of my relaxer is because I was so misinformed. Like so many black women, I thought I couldn’t wear my hair in  its natural state, because my tresses looked nothing like Alicia Keys’ or Mariah Carey’s.  When I came to the realization that I could go natural, I wanted to share all the information I learned about caring for my hair with others. I also wanted to let the ladies know that going natural would not put an end to their career, prevent them from getting a date, or require them to join the “movement”.

Can you touch on natural hair in corporate settings?

At this point in my career, I don’t think twice about wearing my hair natural and have finally come to fully appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of my kinky mane.   To be honest, I think we as black women are far more consumed with what other people think about our hair than what we need to be. I really don’t think non-blacks are thinking as hard about our hair as we would like to believe they are. In this economy, people are worried about keeping their job and their house, not how nappy your hair is.  I think Ursula Burns is a testament to this.  Burns is the first black women to become CEO of a Fortune 500 Company and she sports a natural.

What can we expect from you in the future?

Over the next twelve months, I’m looking forward to getting started on launching my product line. I’m also working with my marketing team to take Thank God I’m Natural international. Finally, I plan on hosting a series of self-publishing workshops for first time authors throughout the year.

Where can we get a copy of the book?

You can purchase an autographed copy of my book online at  http://wordpress.thankgodimnatural.com/store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or at your local black bookstore.  I have a list of black bookstores on my website carrying the book, so to the extent you can support them, please do so.  Let’s keep money in our community in 2010.

Been Natural For?

I’ve been natural for 8yrs, I decided for my 25th birthday I would cut off all of the relaxer. I did a big chop & boy when I tell ya, I couldn’t stand it, I couldn’t stand it….LOL.  I don’t wear a ceasar very well, hahaha  Every year since high school I would stop relaxing my hair from may till my birthday in september.  I felt I had a very good amount of new growth so though I was nervous about the actual cut, I was mentally prepared for it.  I mean it’s just hair right??  Once he started with the clippers I was like “WHOA” ok, I can deal with this but then he kept getting lower and lower and pulled out the scissors, I wanted to scream “What are you doing, stop cutting”  Instead of screaming, I just asked “Why are you still cutting?”  He just said, “U still have some straight ends” which means he assumed I still had relaxer that needed to be cut off.  What I found out, that he should’ve known, is that we as colored people have different textures growing from our head and I just happen to have some strands that are bone straight.  It took a month for me 2 start liking it more, my hair crack then was Paul Mitchell foaming pomade, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED that product.

At the time I knew nothing about caring for natural hair, I was still greasing my hair and shampooing my hair with the wrong shampoo and was wondering why my hair was so dry and when it didn’t feel dry it looked so dull.  I had to learn not to play in my hair cause it would just get frizzy, now don’t get me wrong I CAN’T STAND PERFECT CURLS for me because it looks unnatural as if I had a curl put in.  Now, I’ve gotten better with my hair but I’m far from a pro.  I’m still a work in progress but I’m not giving up by a long shot.  Your readers can look into the curly girl method, in this site the author actually lists some info that can be helpful: http://curlgirljourney.blogspot.com/2009/01/easy-to-find-curly-girl-method-products.html

Advice to the newly natural:

I would tell anyone who is newly natural that it’s a real commitment and I know it can be frustrating because having natural hair is a job on it’s on.  The rewards of being natural far more outweigh relaxers.  Though many cultures don’t admit it, they would love the diversity that we have with our hair.  No longer being a slave to the elements of nature, be free, be wild and don’t worry if it’s windy and your hair blows in the wind.  I LOVE my hair big and all over the place, don’t care if it’s windy or if it’s misty outside which can be a relaxers nightmare.  I have a lot of hair but it’s far from being thick and when my hair was relaxed I only enjoyed it when I got a roller set, I would take the rollers out and keep it moving, didn’t even want sheen spray cause it would weigh my hair down.

Since it’s cold out, I dampen my hair in the shower, add some conditioner, use my denman brush and brush thru the ends.  Rinse with cool water, apply a lil more conditioner then spray with my vegetable glycerine mixture, shake and brush my hair back into a clip, add some gel and pin the ends up.  Sometimes I cheat on the cool water, I mean come on, who likes cold water.  I stick my glycerine bottle in the fridge so it’s cold when I use it…LOL  Not sure if it works the same but it works for me, esp when it’s cold out…hehehe.  At night, I oil my scalp and massage it in, when not feeling lazy, I rake Cantu shea butter through my ends and braid just the ends up if I know I’ll be wearing a ponytail the next day.

Where can we get helpful information?

I’m addicted to Facebook and youtube and there’s a plethera of information on youtube about natural haircare.  I wanted products that were inexpensive and worked well, I got tired of trying soo many different products (which can be expensive) and they wouldn’t work for me.  That’s money sitting in my closet on the shelf that needs to be in my pocket.  I’ve been using Trader Joe’s Nourish Spa shampoo and conditioner as well as Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle shampoo.  I decided on Trader Joe’s because it’s inexpensive and has natural ingredients.  I co-wash with get this…VO5 conditioner, u can’t go wrong (though some don’t like it, they prefer Suave naturals line,I haven’t tried it as of yet) it’s cheap, if you have a good 99 cent store u can get them in there or find them for under $2.  This conditioner provides a very good slip which is great for detangling and these products don’t leave a build up, on my hair.  I co-wash daily but shampoo my hair about once every 2wks or when I feel it’s time.  I try and deep condition once a week with a heating cap that I purchased from naturallycurly.com.  I love this cap because u can either heat the gel inserts in the microwave or boil them on the stove.  I choose the later because I don’t like microwaves, the heating cap stays warm for 30min, I usually heat it up 2x, if it’s late, I sleep with it on.  Don’t worry, it stays put and you aren’t stuck in one place, it’s the best (in my opinion).  For a deep condition, I have a bottle concoction of different oils along with tea tree oil (for dry scalp), I apply this to dry hair, massage, then  I’ll mash up an avocado with some mayo, honey and extra virgin olive oil (evoo) in a small bowl and apply it to my hair.  I section my hair, apply the conditioner and comb it through section by section then add a plastic cap and the heating cap.  I also use Elasta QP DPR-11deep penetrating remoisturizer as a deep conditioner.  You can also dump out your bottle of conditioner in a bowl, add honey and extra virgin olive oil, mix together and replace in the bottle.  This will provide extra shine and moisture, the honey mixes well and isn’t sticky nor does it go rancid.

You went natural because?

The main reason I went natural is because my scalp couldn’t take the chemicals.  Each time I went to have a touch up my scalp would be on fire and I’ve always used mild relaxers.  I’m glad I made the decision or rather I’m glad the decision was made for me.  I love my curls and would have never known the true texture of my hair if I didn’t go natural.  The versatility I have is practically limitless, I enjoy playing around with my hair textures, the only problem I’m having now is finding hair color.  I love color but the last color I put in changed the texture of my hair and really dried it out.  Moisturizng is the key to natural hair, you just have to find what will work for you because what works for one doesn’t work for all.

I experience MAJOR shrinkage so when I do my twist outs it’s like a 2 step process in order to stretch the hair.  I double strand twist damp hair in medium sized twists, with cantu shea butter leave in conditioning repair cream making sure to apply extra on the ends.  Once it dries, I separate the twists then re-twist them in bigger strands.  Sometimes I use BB oil moisturizer hair lotion with the twist outs or if I do cornrows,  and only apply the cantu on the ends.  I may also do bantu knots and loosen them out when I’m ready to go, just to get a different curl pattern.

Tell us something about you:

I enjoy helping others in different areas of life, whether it’s personal or general.  It makes me feel good to be able to help others or make others feel good.  If I see someone and I like something about them I’ll pay them a compliment.  A lot of us are too busy tearing each other down, I would rather put a smile on someone’s face.  I like to make body products and would love to learn how to make soap and learn how to blend essentials oils for the perfect scents.  I’m fascinated in learning about natural and homemade products, it’s the time and  personal touch that means a lot.  I also love, finding unique gifts that are not expensive for people, playing sudoku, music, being a couch potato, rough housing with my boys, laughing and enjoying life the best way I can at the moment.  Things could always be better but I’m still truly blessed and thank God everyday.  I also enjoy setting goals for myself to achieve even if it’s one thing out of the entire year as long as I accomplished something, I’m good.  My next big goal is finding my blood relatives and getting the answers I desperately need.  I’m no expert in any area of life but if I can help I will try my best, I can be reached on Facebook, or by e-mail sarcasticcj@gmail.com, when contacting me it would be better to state hair in the subject or something that won’t make me think you are spam…LOL

A few good recipes from Carline:

Hair oil mixture, I use 1oz each of (I just happen to have these on hand, u don’t need 2 use all of them though they work for my sons and I)
-hemp oil
-sweet almond oil
-sunflower oil
-apricot kernel oil
-evoo
-cranberry seed oil
-wheat germ oil (pure)
-grapeseed oil
-jamaican black castor oil
-tea tree oil (about 10drops)

I want to try this mixture which is much simpler:
-jamaican black castor oil ( or just castor oil)
-vatika oil
-coconut oil
-Evoo

Vegetable Glycerine mixture for a 12ox bottle ( I eyeball it, so it’s not precise)
-2oz Vegetable Glycerine (if it doesn’t say vegetable then it’s from a pig)
-3oz Pure Aloe Vera Gel
-10 drops of tea tree oil (kills fungus)
-10drops rosemary oil
-10 drops Cederwood oil (not nec, choose whatever scent u wnt, u may want to increase the drops up to 15 depending on how strong u want the scent)
-1/4 tsp jamaican black castor oil (had a measuring spoon on hand)
fill rest of bottle with water leaving space at the top so you can shake thoroughly then use, shake well each time.  Try and use while still in the shower or put something on the floor, the glycerine can be very slippery.

I know that was a good read, please come and see many more like it on the blog.

And as always, stay blessed and Afroniquely You.

Fleurtzy is no stranger. With her awesome youtube channel and her very helpful blog Texture Playground, I’m sure most of you know of her or have seen her before. It’s my pleasure to bring her over to Afroniquely You. Hope you enjoy:

Been Natural for?
I’ve been natural for nearly 5 years.

Loves being natural because:

I love the freedom, versatility and beauty of my natural hair. I am in awe with my hair at this stage. My journey has been very fulfilling. When I first decided to go natural after 5 years of relaxing, I did not know what to expect. I was excited and nervous, because I originally relaxed my hair to have more styling options. I wore a single ponytail all through high school and did not want to have to go back to that. Going back natural was a blessing. Watching my hair grow and experimenting with products and techniques have helped me learn how to care for my hair and style it in its natural state. I am still learning and that is part of the beauty of this journey. It just never gets old!

Challenges being natural?

My biggest challenge is keeping my ends moisturized. People never guess that I have difficulties with moisture because my hair always seems very soft, but I promise you that it is because I care for it, and I pay close attention to my ends. If I neglect my hair for any given time, it shows and my ends are the first part to show it.

Fav products?

I’ve been making a lot of my products at home in the past year. I’ll speak of my favorite ingredients: mango butter, jojoba oil, castor oil, coffee butter, shea butter and hemp seed oil, to name a few. Of the conditioners I use, Yes to Carrots Mud mask and Pantene Relaxed and Natural Replenishing Mask are definitely noteworthy.

Word of Advice:

Avoid HEAT! I’ve had my worse hair experience thus far with heat. It it so easy to overprocess our hair when heat is used inappropriately. I use that word vaguely because there is no telling you much heat is damaging from one person to the next. It greatly depends on your hair starting health, porosity, elasticity of your hair, protective barriers (products) between your hair and that heat dispensing tool. You just have to be very careful and use your own judgement.

Also avoid wearing your hair too tight. You can create a host of problems for yourself, and have to spend a great deal of time regrowing your hairline. For sleek ponytails, you can use a scarf, headband, tie your hair the night before, hair gel or natural wax, etc. You get the idea.

Helpful Sites/Books:

At the top of my list for helpful sites are always NaturallyCurly.com and Motowngirl.com. There are so many other sites and blogs that I know are wonderful and helpful. I always recommend Grow It! by Chicoro to those contemplating going natural and those who are already natural. I took a few pointers from her book. My favorite place to shop for ingredients is Texas Natural Supply. They have some of the best prices for ingredients, great customer service and expedient shipping.

Link up:

Blog: http://textureplayground.com/blog

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Fleurzty

I hope this interview was helpful to you, be sure to check out more like it.

Stay Blessed and Afroniquely You!

So it’s becoming more apparent that afros take on a sort of taboo picture. Very rarely will you find people who openly accept the afro in all its picked out glory. If you wear a fro, they expect it to be curly, or else it’s not acceptable? What’s your take on the matter? Afros, or not?

**This is a new series added to the blog, and I hope all of you will give feedback and also if you want a subject/topic to discuss, email me: afroniquely@gmail.com

Stay blessed and Afroniquel You.