Braidout Tutorial

I love to do a braidout on freshly cowashed hair. After a cowash, I will apply my leave ins and allow my hair to airdry about 90%. I add more leave in and coconut oil and then I braid my hair in 6 cornrows, 3 on each side. Sometime I curl the ends and other times I leave them straight.

I then add Elasta QP Olive Oil and Mango butter to my edges and brush then straight.

When my edges are straight, I tie my scarf down to hold them down while i sleep.

In the morning, I apply grapeseed oil directly to each cornrow using an applicator bottle. I then unravel and manipulate my hair to hide the parts. On the second and third nights, I simply moisturize and seal my hair and re-braid. I then spritz my hair with water to set the braids. I usually only allow 3 days between cowashes when i am doing a braidout  to prevent damage to my ends.

The braidout below was done using "Zaneandrob's satin scarf method"

 

Here, I used flexirods to get a tighter curl.

Just received my Sedu Flat Iron!

I purchased the one inch Sedu Pro Ionic Ceramic Tourmaline iron. Folica.com was having a sale of $25 off orders over $75 and free shipping. My iron came in one day and I am so excited! It is wayyyy to humid right now at 100 degrees fahrenheit where I live to flat iron so I've mainly been wearing braid outs, buns, and ponytails. I can't wait to try out my new flat iron. I will post before and after picks soon.

Exercisise Update

Yesterday I went to the gym and did the following:

15 minute interval running including a total of 5 minutes on speed 8 (sprint)
3 sets of 20 on the Quadricep machine
2 sets of 15 and 1 set of 20 on the Hamstring "special leg curl" machine
50 "girlie" push ups with breaks
50 walking lunges
Abs- my husband's routine

I drank a protein shake after the gym.

Today, I am having a very hard time walking because of the soreness... I really want to run but it will have to wait until tomorrow. Hopefully it will be less painful then.

Juicing Cleanse Anyone?

Hubby and I purchased a Juicer yesterday because we want to start a juicing cleanse. This cleanse will help detox our body and help us to lose weight. We’ve decided that we will have one regular meal per day and two glasses of freshly squeezed juice to replace the other meals. We will also snack healthfully as needed.
For breakfast this morning we mixed: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, apples, lemon and pear.
For lunch: we mixed grannysmith apples, kale greens, carrots, celery, ginger, and lemon.
For dinner: I had left over jerk chicken and rice from a Jamaican restaurant. I made hubby teriyaki marinated lamb, curry rice, and a small shrimp salad.
We have not yet decided how long we will keep this up. We will play it by ear

Hair, Indigo and Other Things

I really haven’t been doing much to my hair. My goal is to stop trimming so often. I’ve just been moisturizing my ends with HELTR leave in, water, and coconut oil, nightly and twisting into a bun. I try to shampoo every 7-10 days if my scalp has build up. I co-wash when I am changing hair styles ie. from a braidout to a bun or vise versa. I straighten every so often, usually by roller-setting. I try not to flat-iron often.
Between school and trying to maintain a consistent fitness routine, my hair has become less of a priority. As long as I keep it moisturized and it’s not breaking… I’m happy….
On another note, the indigo did not fully take to my hair. It is darker but not black, like I prefer. I am trying to decide whether I want to reapply it before or after my next relaxer touch up…

Exercise Log

This is a log of my jogs. I am currently  trying to lose 10 pounds. My goal is to jog 5 miles 3 times per week.
Saturday July 9,2011- Ran around my block. 2.2 miles in 30 minutes. Also did 30 “girlie” push ups

My First Henna and Indigo Experiment!

I’ve finally purchased my henna and indigo! I purchased 1 pound of henna and 3.5 oz of Indigo powder from Amazon. My plan is to mix the henna tonight, apply the henna tommorrow night before I go to bed, rinse out the henna Friday morning and apply the indigo.
My henna recipe is as follows:
Steep 1 bagof Indian Spice Yogi Tea and 1 bag of green tea in 2 cups of boiling distilled/RO water. Chill the tea for 15 minutes in the freezer to knock off the heat.
Stir the tea in about 1.5 cups of henna powder. Add two caps full of Organic/Raw Apple Cider Vinegar.
Add a tablesppon of egg whites (I would add more but I just did an egg treatment a few days ago…)
Add a teaspoon of Rosemary leaves and a dab of ginger powder(to help neutralize the smell.)