Back in Acition: Full swing

WOW!!! I seriously can't believe its been this long since my last post! Im sure some are wondering what happened to Naturalluv! Well folks its a long story which is why I am taking this time out to say hello and let you know I will be back!

After I made my last post a lot has happened with my life. I moved twice and received several promotions. After I obtained my 4th promotion at my company my time was limited. I was up at 4:30 in the morning and home by 3-5pm each night, sometime later. On my days off I would sleep and sleep! I was too drained to do anything. This was becoming a problem for me. I thought chasing hours and working my butt off would make me happier, financially, but it didn't. So lately I have pulled back and since then I have been able to do more. You will see more post from not only my blog but on my youtube channel as well. I have so much in stored and now with all this extra time I can do what I love doing, sharing information with all of you!. Stay tuned for my first vid in over a year on Monday on my flat twist bantu knot, twist out!

Well it's time for me to go. See everyone around folks!!! =)

xoxo
Naturalluv
A.K.A Natty Luv

DD=DSM^2

In this day and age with the economy the way it is, everyone is looking for a good deal. With the additions of Groupon, Scoutmob, Half Off Depot, and now Amazon everyone is trying to ball on a budget. Well my friends I have a good one for you. It's called Delta Dining. I normally talk about natural hair but I love sharing any information such as this!!!
You might ask what is this program all about? Well let me shed some light. Delta Dining is a rewards program you can join to get Delta Skymiles while you are dining out. First, sign up with Delta Skymiles as a member (free membership). Next, you head over to Delta Dining and register your Skymiles account. Then, you register ANY cards (debit and/or credit) you have. It doesn't matter how many you have just register them. This way when you go out you can never miss out on earning miles. Finally, once you are registered and squared away head over to any participating restaurants and start earning miles. I started this program back in January of 2011 and already I have over 3,000 Skymiles that can go towards a Delta flight! Now isn't that grand!?!?!!!!

Normally in order to even qualify to get Skymiles you have to have a Delta Skymiles credit card. Now lets be honest, who can even qualify for a regular credit card in this day and age. Hey, if you can get a regular Delta Skymiles credit card then go for it!!!! For those who just want to rack up on miles without any interest and fees then Sky Dining is your best bet. You have a chance to receive up to 5 miles for every dollar you spend, and that includes the tip!!! Another good thing about Delta Dining are their promotions. Sometimes you will see promotions where if you spend a certain amount of money during a period of time they will add miles to your account. This can range from 500 to 1000 or even more.

I signed up for Delta Dining in December of 2010 but I didn't start using it until January when I received an email after I went restaurant next to my job. That's when I realized that they were on the Delta Dining list. As I went out around the city I noticed I kept getting more emails to do surveys. Since January I have over 3,000 miles. I recently took a trip to Miami and racked up on miles as well.

Another benefit of Delta Skymiles/Dining is that you get weekly specials and weekend specials to fly to the destination they have listed. Be sure to put your state as your departure state so they can send you deals leaving out of that state. I was able to get a round trip ticket from Atlanta to Miami for $151 (taxes and fees included in price). You know the program is legit because when you log into your Delta Skymiles account you see the miles transfer over from your Delta Dining account. That was the first thing I looked into after I received my first few survey emails. I have told a few of my friends and they love the program. You will be surprised how many restaurants participate!!! So if you are already going out for the evening, meeting up with friends, meeting with a client, or just out and about you might as well find a participating restaurant and earn some miles!!!!

So you have all the information now go and get cracking and rack up on miles while filling your stomach. What!! We all got to eat =)
Til Next time
Natural Lu

Black Silk Products Review

Black Silk Products was created by Desreta Jackson. Many people will best know her as Young Celie Harris from the Oscar Nominated Film "The Color Purple" Desreta has spent over 12 years of research to finally perfecting what she calls a “Mahoginized Technique” and a product that does what it says it will do. I was able to speak with the creator herself to get an insight on Black Silk. In our conversation she explained to me how the product came about. Her daughter was having issues with her skin. She went to numerous Doctors and nothing they gave her worked. She began to think about how West Indians used natural items for remedies. Desreta herself a native of Tortolla knew what she had to do. She began to mix, add and take away natural ingredients to make a product that would eventually turn into what it is known as Black Silk Products. What started out as a remedy for her daughter's dry skin became a hair product made by blacks, for black. It is the FUBU of the hair industries. She started to test the products on her daughter and herself. As they continued to use the products she notice who their hair began to grow longer and silkier. She moved from using the products to herself and daughter to friends, family and clients. It became an overnight success that she was able to run a successful home-base braider. The demand became so overwhelming she couldn’t meet the demand.

Interestingly enough, Desreta also owns her manufacturing plant. She has all the power on who and where she distributes her products, which is rare when it comes to African Americans and the hair industry. She stated that when she started to go into the manufacturing phase many have told her that her ingredients were on the high end. Their fear was that African Americans would not spend money on such a product. She stood her ground despite what the manufactures said because she knew the beneficial factor of each ingredient that made Black Silk Products so great.

As we got deeper into our conversation she began to explain to me how she got the data she needed to make changes to the product. Desreta did hair on the side to help put herself through film school. Each time her clients came back she would have them write down what they noticed about their hair getting real time response to what the product was doing. While attending film school she took up extra course in Chemistry. She stated to me "A lot of the time we use products knowing that its working or not working, but don't know why, I wanted to know those reason" Which is why chemistry was so important in her research.

I was able to get my hands on this products and tried it for myself. Of course I was skeptical as most will be when they hear about a new hair product that is promising wonders. First thing I remember that Desreta did we we first started to talk about Black Silk was put a sample of the product on the back of my hand. What happened next was mind blowing. The shampoo and conditioner literally absorbed in my skin. What shampoo do you know your skin will soak up? She told a funny story about her husband actually taking the shampoo one day and used is as a lotion because he was too lazy to get actual lotion. She later went into detail and told the main function of the product was made to re-balance the Ph level in your hair. So no matter what state your hair is in Black Silk WILL re-balance your ph level. Remember that your hair is basically made up of protein.

Facts About Ph Level:

Ph Scale base 0-14
Ph of 0 is considered Acidic
Ph of 14 is considered Alkaline
Pure water ph is 7
Hair and Skin ph can range from 4.5-5.5
Your hair is always adjusting depending on the weather. Your hair will take some time to adjust to the new conditions. When we use products especially new product your hair will take time for your hair to adjust to the changes. The natural oil that is produced in your hair that maintains moisture and balance is Sebum. Sebum is a natural protectant not only on your scalp but on your skin as you secret sweat. Think of your hair follicles as fish scales. As you use products the "scales" open and close. Products with low ph level (high acidity) will cause the hair follicles to lay flat and smooth trapping the moisture your hair needs. Products with high ph will cause the follicles to open like a pine cone causing the moisture that you need to escape which ultimately will dry your hair out. You can also test the products you are using with litmus paper to determine the ph level. It is important yet difficult to find balance with your hair. This is what Black Silk products are made to do just that. So you can stop the guessing game. Remember to keep away from products with a high Ph level. This can cause damaging to your hair.

My Experience with Black Silk

About a week after I received my Black Silk System I finally used the products. ( Took me while to use the system because my hair was already washed and done a day prior to receiving the products and it was styled)
First thing I noticed was the smell. It was rich of coconuts fragrance. I started with the shampoo which took only about two half pump for me. Of course I wasn’t expecting it lather because it was designed to cleanse with out stripping the moisture from your hair. After I was finished the the shampoo I felt how clean my hair was but also still soft and not dried out. This was a good sign. After my cleanse I proceeded to use the Silk Restoring Conditioner, which can also be used a a curl definer. It really didn’t take that much to get complete coverage. I did what I normally do, Put my conditioner in, detangled and sectioned off my hair where I placed medium size twist in it, place it under a conditioning cap and let sit for however long I keep it on my head. This does depend on what is going on so I can have conditioner in my hair from 1-8 hours

8 Hours later, hey don’t’ judge me lol I got real busy =)

I finally washed out the conditioner. My hair felt so soft!!! Ladies with 4c hair you know how hard our hair can feel (Brillo pad) I couldn’t stop running my hand through my hair. It was just that soft. Hmmmm I could get use to this!! Next I applied the clear protector. Now because I was so eager to use the products I didn’t read. The clear protector is suppose to be the first step I did. Black Silk Products is a system so when we hear system that means there is an order to how and when you use each product. Once you use the clear protector once (first time) you don't have to use it again for another 4-6 months and when there is new growth. So the Shampoo and Conditioner will be the only main things you would use during your regular wash.

The real test for me came in when I detangling my hair. I was amazed on how easy my hair slid through the comb with ease. I even walked on the wild side and used a fine tooth comb as I started to do my two strand twists. *GASP* GUH SEY WHET!!!???! Yes it was the only way to truly test this products capabilities. When I Say that comb went from root to tip without a snag I was a believer!!!! *Queue Shrek music* I have used Black Silk twice and I can say I love the way my hair feels with each use.

Picture of Black Silk Model

Be sure to check out www.BlackSilkProducts.com buy now and save today!!!!!

Overall I can say Black Silk Products is a must have product that you should have in your cabinet. Hope you enjoyed reading my review on Black Silk. Be sure to get your hands on this wonderful product you have nothing to loose, you try everything else so why not? Trust me, it will be worth the money!

Til next time,

Natural Luv

Sushi In My Hair/Castor Oil Challenge Update

It has now officially been 3 weeks since I started Hairlista’s Caster Oil Challenge Part 6. One September 1st I started the challenge and upon opening the Caster Oil I pours that transparent oil into a bottle and then into my DC mixture. So I went through my routine on my wash days. Pre-poo, poo, condition, avc rinse, then DC. Great!!!! I was glad to have started a great challenge and looking forward to seeing what results I will achieve on this 3 month journey. Boy oh Boy did I have a nice surprise once I began to add the oil to my scalp. I finally got a whiff of it. It threw me off because it smelled like something I smelled before. It was a distinctive smell to me. I continued to apply the oil in my scalp them massaging it in. Still I’m trying to figure out what the smell reminded me off. As I began to finish style my hair it hit me SUSHI!!!!!!! Yes Sushi out of all things Caster Oil smelled like sushi to me.  I love Sushi but ugh this was not what I had in mind.

They say that Castor Oil has an earthy smell well the oil I have has a fishy smell. I Don’t know maybe each brand of Castor Oil has its own smell, but im still trying to find the earthy part. Maybe I need to get the Jamaican Black Castor Oil to smell the earthy part lol

You may want to know how my hair been since I started the challenge, Well I have noticed a few things.

1. My edges are starting to fill in

2. My edges are starting to catch up with my hair, length wise

I was playing in my hair the other day and I began to pull and saw I was still pulling hair. I was surprised!! I got up and went straight to the bathroom mirror because I thought i  was losing it. To my surprise my hair was indeed long. WOW In all my life since relaxing my hair my edges were ALWAYS my trouble spots. It might not be much growth BUT its growth none the less. If this much growth can come rounding out month 1 I can’t wait to see what month 2 will bring.

I hope that each person taking the challenge has seen results so far because I am sure happy I am =)

Be on the look out for my review on Black Silk Products. Black Own, Black Made. First  African American Luxury Hair line. For information about this product  Please visit www.blacksilkproducts.com

Having some fun with eye shadow colors

Love Always,

Natural Luv

Tools of the Trade

When you become a follower of the Healthy Hair Movement there are a few things that are essential to our survival!!! We need the proper tools to maintain our lovely locks. It can be overwhelming when it comes to what you should have. Over the past 2 years I have gone through countless items brushes, combs, shampoos, conditioners to name a few. Now that I am well closing in on year 2 I have came up with the MAIN Tools that every person should have.

Brush: There are two kinds of brushes bristled and vented that I use. I use a bristled brush when I want to smooth out my hair to achieve a slicked down style. I use a vented brush when I am going to straighten my hair out and need to ensure that I can blow out my hair properly or I use the vented brush when I want to detangle a section before I use the bristled brush. One last brush I use is an applicator brush. Yes something that you use to put in a relaxer. You may ask why? I use this brush when I do my Deep Conditioning. I am able to get to each strand of hair for complete coverage. Try it sometime!!!!

 

Combs: Comb's are essential as if you already don’t know that! Combs help us part/section off parts of our hair. There are about three kinds that I use. I have a wide tooth comb, big tooth and a medium size tooth comb.each serve as steps to the detangling process. You don’t want to have any fine tooth comb’s because that can break you hair off as the hair catches in the fine tooth. Most black women own a rat tail comb. If you didn’t have a any other comb you had a rat tailed one. With natural hair rat tail comb is not what you need to use. You will cause unnecessary damage to your hair.

Clips: As your hair gets longer you will defiantly need clips. I use plastic clips. Metal clips tend to catch in your hair and also that can break you hair off.  We defiantly don’t want that. So if you use metal clips be carful when taking them out.

 

 

 

Pins: Pins are great when styling your hair. I try to keep away from pins with out the plastic tip. Once my pins protective tip is gone I push them to the side. With out the tip at the end of the pin it can cause unnecessary breakage. Remember our goal is to grow hair not break it. So your tools must be hair friendly.

Pin without a protective tip

 

 

Head ties/hair ties: I have LOTS of head ties. During my middle stage of my natural hair journey I utilized these ALL the time. It was a “tool” I used when I didn’t want to do my hair or when I needed to run out of the house I can take a head ties and put y hair up in a cute afro puff. There are two kinds that I have, elastic ones and cloth ones that I made out of strips of an old shirt.  If you use the elastic ones Goody’s have the ouchless ones. The head ties with the metal can cause breakage because your hair can get caught in the metal part. Same things goes when you use ponytail ties. Be smart and get the ouchless ones. We defiantly don’t want any snags.

 

 

This is my typical lazy hair doo!!! Head band rocking cute tight curly fro =)

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you were able to learn something new today til we meet again,

Natural Luv