Molasses Treatmeant

Blackstrap Molasses is a great natural product with many uses outside of the kitchen, It is made of the left over goo that remains after raw sugar is turned into the granulated stuff that you find in the grocery store.

Molasses is chalk full of iron, calcium, magnesium, copper and potassium. With so many nutrients it is easy to see why molasses helps stop breakage/shedding, darkens hair and adds softness and shine. Molasses also has been know to help with acne, heart palpitations, arthritis and anemia just to name a few.

I started doing molasses treatments to combat shedding and breakage due to my transition and I loved it so much I added it to my weekly regimen. I use it as a pre poo before I wash and deep condition.

Here’s how :
(note Molasses is a protein so make sure to always follow up with a moisturizing conditioner]*

I normally just eye ball it, but if you want to measure it out here’s how

1 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses
2 tablespoons of EVOO
½ a cup of Conditioner
5 drops of tea tree oil



I put all the ingredients in an applicator bottle and shake shake shake.




Then I section my hair off into 4 sections and apply the mix throughout.

I cover it with a plastic cap and leave it on about 20 minutes and rinse it out.

Then I wash and deep condition like normal..

This leaves my hair soft and strong, and I have minimal shedding and breakage.

Hope this helps.

The Dirty PArts of the Bible

The Dirty Parts of the Bible
Author: Sammy Torode

The Dirty Parts of the Bible is a coming of age story sent in post depression America and is centered around a young boy named Tobias. Tobias is the son a Baptist preacher from Michigan, and he only has two things on his mind God and girls.

The adventure begins when Tobias’ father is blinded in a freak accident. This causes the preacher to send 20 year old Tobias across country to his hometown of Glen Rose, Texas to find money he buried in a dry well decades before. In his quest for the cash Tobias encounters prostitutes, hobos and even a demon and learns more about himself and his faith.

Dirty Parts is like an adventure, comedy and love story all wrapped up in one smartly written and entertaining novel. It is a quick and easy read that keeps your attention from cover to cover and will even have you laughing out loud. I only discovered this book after I ordered Water for Elephants (haven’t read it yet, review still to come)and Amazon suggested I read it too. Since it was only .99 cents, (I‘m not gonna lie the title peeked my interest a little) I decided to get it and it has become one of my all time favorite books. I definitely recommend giving it a try. :)

2.99 cents on Kindle/Kindle app
13.95 on new on Amazon.

Dry Skin Quick FIx..

I found this little beauty on a recent excavation to Wal-Mart. It was my shopping day(i'm such a house wife) and I had to restock a few personal items as well. As I'm sure you all know by now, I have a really REALLY dry skin so lotion is an absolute MUST for me and being that it is smack dead in the middle of winter and my Jergens has not been doing it's job as of late.

So as I was pursing the health and beauty section I figured I would look for a new lotion to help get me thru till spring. Mind you I have tried just about every lotion, ointment, cream and salve I could get my hands on and nothing has really worked. So I took my time and read over each bottle carefully so that I wouldn't make the wrong choice. Thats when I saw the VASELINE Brand Oil/Gel. I figured I would give it a try until I noticed the baby oil GEl was the same size but it was 2 bucks cheaper lol. The frugalista in me couldn't resist the swap, But once I got it home I remembered that I tried the baby oil gel before, and it only left my skin feeling greasy and coated.

As careful as I was in the store I saw the chance to save a few bucks and ended up capping out, but since I bought it I thought hell might as well give it one more try. Thats when I did something I should have done a long time ago... I READ THE DIRECTIONS lol.
This Stuff IS amazing, you just have to use it right!

What they say..

Step out of the shower or bath, then apply on wet skin to lock in moisture and leave skin feeling soft and smooth. Pat dry with towel.

They are not kidding when they say leaves skin feeling soft and smooth. I use this every night when I get out of the shower, and I haven't needed lotion since. In fact the only time I put lotion on is when I use scented lotion to help layer whichever perfume i'm wearing that day.

The only thing I would say is a little goes a long way. If you use to much I will leave a residue on your skin, and for about 3 bucks a pop you can't beat it with a stick. Definitely a staple in my skin care arsenal from here on out. Next time I think I'm going to try the lavender scent..
Hope This Helps

Peace
So Much Love
Erika

Long tim no talk ):

Hey Dolls!!!!
I know it's bee FOREVER, and for that I apologize. I really have just been a LAZY bum the past several months and I am going to make up for that.

Life has been good to me. I got a promotion, Caleb and I are as happy as can be,l and I am going NATURAL!!! I have be struggling with my transition, but I am finally getting back on track. My last relaxer was 4/22/2010 and I am hoping to Big Chop in June, just before my birthday, but this transition is starting to get the best of me :(.
I really need to buckle down and take better care of my hair because I have really just fallen off.

Anyway more on that later. I just wanted to check-in to let you know that I am BACK!!! My goal is to put up a new post atleast once a week until I get back into the swig of things.

Thats all for now

Peace
So MUch Love
Erika

Going Ayuvedic!!!!

Yep. I know I am supposed to be keeping it simple, but with the winter months just around the corner I want to be prepared. I am currently 18 weeks post relaxer and I don't plan on relaxing any time soon, so in order to combat breakage/shedding I am going to start implementing some ayurvedic methods into my regimen. My hope is that I will have a full on ayurvedic regimen come this November. There is so much to learn and some many combitations to try I don't want to rush it and I still have some products to use up anyway.

I found an Indian grocery store aboout 20 minutes away from my house and they carry everything I'll need. Caleb and went yesterday and I had to pick up a few things..

Neem Powder- good for dry scalp and promotes healthy hair growth
Alma Powder- conditions, and stregthens hair. also helps promote growth
Orange Peel Powder- great for shine, can also be used on the face as a toner.

Thursday is my next wash day and I will go over how I use these products and I promis to take lots of pics. Until then

Peace
So Much Love
Erika

Bantu Knots, trail run..

I have been in a protective styling rut as of late so I have been trying to shake things up a bit by doing more low manipulation styles. Before, I would just throw on a wig and I would be cute and protected, but now that my hair is starting to get to a lenght where I can actually do braidouts and twist outs etc and actually like the results. I have mastered the braidout, now my next conquest is the bantu knoutout. This is my first real attempt at knots. I did 8 small knots and here's what I got.



I like the results, but I think next time I am going to try to do about 4 big knots. This looks a lot like my braidout, except the curl pattern is a bit differnet, but to the average eye(Caleb) it looks just the same. Just to give myself a little more variety with my styles.

Peace
So much love
Erika

Day Trip to DC

Yesterday Caleb and I took the train into DC. He's never been so we went the tourist route and walked around the national mall seeing the sights. I did a braidout, and it lasted suprisingly well considering how hot it was. Here's a few pics...






I am really loving the 8 braid braidout. It's so stylish and so easy to do. I just moisturized and sealed. Then I applied some of mt got2be texturizer to each section before I braided, then I put a foam roller on the ends and went to sleep. The next day I put a tiny bit of coconut oil on my fingers and un bradied the braids. I added a flower accent and I was done... Its my new weekend look and it doesn't even matter that I have hella new growth because its such a curly look anyway.

Peace
So Much Love
Erika