 I went to my local Dollar Tree and I think I found something that is comparable to the bronze color I've been loving for years from Revlon Colorstay 12 hr eyeshadow pallette, 02 coffee bean...which I believe has been discontinued in stores. I have been searching FOREVER for a replacement to this color because I wear it 99% of the time! I stumbled upon Almay Pure Blends eyeshadow in the color "235 cinnamon." So of course since it was only $1.00, I picked it up :) This line from Almay claims to be 98.2% natural and hypoallergenic, so that's fantastic. It is paraben free and talc free! It is also made with 58% recycled packaging. The packaging is cute with a magnetic closure inside. The color is a shimmer bronze that's is neither too brown nor red so it compliments many skin tones. It's smooth to the touch but has better color payoff when used wet. I love it :) The color is very close to my beloved Coffee Bean, but Revlon still has this one beat with the staying power. I will use this eyeshadow though, especially if it's on sale LOL! Almay Pure Blends eyeshadows can be pretty pricey for drugstore...they vary online from about $2.00 to $9.00 dollars each! So finding it at the Dollar Tree was awesome :) If you are looking for a healthier makeup line, this one might be one to check out :D Have a blessed day! Note: I noticed that this line is not listed on Almays' website...Hopefully it's not discontinued!!! ugh... Why do I keep falling in love with discontinued colors??? Sigh...
0 Comments
Accessorizing your hair is fun but it can become quite expensive! Sometime's I can't even find an accessory that I like because the ones available are either too big, too small, or not cute lol. So why not make you own?! Here's what you need:
Here's what you do! Making your own hair accessories can be a lot of fun :D You can create all sorts of cool color combinations for your hair without breaking the bank. Also, you get to pick the right size flower for your hair length instead of having to deal with the "one size fits all" flowers in the stores lol. I hope you like this idea and give it a try! Have a blessed day :D Check out my YouTube video, NaturalMe4C- Easy Flower Accessories(How to make) :)
Ok, so I had to do it! I had to! (Hands up in the air lol) I had to do a Search and Destroy on my Single Strand Knots aka SSK's! My ends were just too tangled when I was separating a recent twistout and that was the last straw lol. So, I decided to take an hour and a half out the other night and do a "detailed" detangle session and snip off as many SSK's as possible. I decided to detangle my hair with Tresemme Naturals Conditioner (avocado and aloe vera) on dry hair. I didn't know exactly how things would go but I just separated my fro in very small sections, added the Tresemme and detangled. (I usually dampen my hair first but I was feeling daring lol.) Surprisingly, the conditioner actually gave my hair lots of slip even though I didn't use any water. (I now have another reason to love Tresemme! lol) I lost barely any shed hairs because I was mainly focusing midway to the ends of my hair. After I detangled each section I twisted my hair and hoped I would have a decent twistout the next day. I have never used Tresemme on dry hair before so I didn't know what to expect! I was VERY surprised at this twistout! My hair isn't freshly cowash or anything but it looks like it is :D The conditioner didn't cause any real shrinkage or anything! My hair has a light/ soft hold...I love it. I think I can get several days wear on this dry twistout... but we'll see :)
Since it's inevitable that I'm going to get SSK's no matter what, I think I'm going to Search and Destroy every couple months or so unless I'm feeling too many of them in my hair. My ends feel soo much better now and the dry twistout came out pretty good! But you know what? On Day 2 when fluffing my hair after showering...I felt a few more SSK's! UGH lol The never ending battle! I'm not going to stress about them though lol. Have a blessed day!
Omg I love shopping at the Goodwill! I have only been doing this since July or August and I love it lol. I use to think that I couldn't possibly find anything that would be decent. But I was TOTALLY wrong! I can not express how excited I get when I find brand new (tags on) items or practically brand new clothing from there! Today, they were having a 50% off all clothing sale and I could not resist checking it out. My total spent today was $24.16! This is what I picked up: (excuse the wrinkles in the clothes lol I just got back from the store :D) Happy Saturday! Other names for "Them"... *SSK *Fairy Knots What they are... Single strand knots are very tiny knots that form on a single strand of hair. They are very common in type 4 natural hair. Sometimes several knots can form on a single strand. Seriously!?!?! Ways to deal with them... Cut them out You can snip just above the tiny knots to get rid of them completely....for the moment lol. Since you are only snipping a little off of a single strand, length loss isn't noticeable. Unravel them Umm... this will require a lot of skills! I have attempted this in my bangs and I was VERY unsuccessful lol. Let them be I've come to the realization that single strand knots in my 4C hair are just going to happen. It's inevitable :( With such a tight curl pattern, my hair can help but ravel onto itself at some point in time. Ways to prevent them... *Keeping the hair moisturized Butters, oils, and conditioners are a must for moisturizing my 4c hair :) *Frequent deep conditioning Try using oils added to your conditioner *Use protective styling Updos, braids, buns, etc are great to keep knots at bay. However, even if your hair is up and out of the way it will still need to be moisturized. *Keep hands out of hair! LOL I seriously FAIL at this! *Detailed detangling I don't use a comb on my hair daily. In fact, I comb my hair only when I'm feeling lots of knots. My hair get very bushy when ever a comb touches it and I get knots regardless! lol *Keep up on trims I tend to only trim my hair when I notice the ends are scraggly or when I have too many single strand knots and tangles. *Use gel From time to time, I try to see what my fail would feel like if I don't use gel. My results thus far have always been soft hair with a little to no hold and more knots and tangles... so using gel makes a huge difference for me. *Use heat I have not used this method to prevent single strand knots but if you choose to blowout your hair or straighten it, it will cut down on knotting. I don't know when I will flat iron my hair. I've been thinking about doing a light blow out...but I'm not sure lol. I've been able to avoid heat (except my hooded dryer) since big chopping and I don't miss using it :) How I feel about them... I do not like that my hair gets single strand knots. However, I'm just going to keep moving forward in making sure I keep a steady regimen. I only cut knots when they are large or when there are several knots on a strand. ( I will be doing a "search and destroy" on my single strand knots soon...) Other than that , I leave them alone. I don't wear my hair straight at this time, so I don't need ultimate smooth strands. But it is very frustrating knowing that they are there...lol. What do you do about your single strand knots? Check out my YouTube video on SSK's :) SINGLE STRAND KNOTS! (Hair Talk)- NaturalMe4C As I've mentioned before, my skin has really had a tough time as I grew up. I'm actually a little traumatized from all that has happened lol. So I am VERY happy that it has began to "chill" out as time goes along... I have a very simple skin care regimen that I have been sticking to that has worked out great. From now on, I will remain consistent with keeping everything as simple as possible. There are soo many skin products and skin care lines out there that it seems like there has to be an easier way than "a cream for this, a cream for that." I don't think my skin can take anymore harsh treatment on my behalf lol. So from here on out, I need to be doing things that are both gentle and effective on my skin. Here are some goals that I'm working on in hopes to achieve better skin! God bless :) 1. Improve my diet to include more fruits and vegetables
(Can you believe I'm eating kale instead of lettuce for my salads?!? lol) 2. Using natural oils in my skincare regimen for balanced skin 3. Remove makeup every night before going to bed 4. Not popping pimples until they are ready! (Omg, I need some serious work with this lol) 5. Exfoliating regularly for a smoother complexion 6. Keeping my skin "truly" moisturized (Like with my hair, I'm going to try to use healthier products) 7. Exercising more often (LOL) 8. Getting enough rest at night (Lol does anybody ever get enough sleep nowadays?)  OMG my skin......Seriously, my skin has been through waaaaayyyyy too much over the years! Acne, dry patches, severe hyperpigmentation, skin burns, extreme oiliness, scarring etc! I have NEVER had balanced skin. I have always been self conscious about my skin because it has always had some kind of issue. I've tried acne products, sunscreens, fade creams, masks, exfoliators, scrub brushes and more over the years! Until the past 2 years or so, I have had trouble figuring out exactly what I should be doing with my skin. I finally figured out that like with my fro, SIMPLE is best for me :) Cleansers
Moisturizers
Toners
I have experimented with using vinegar mixed with water as a toner before, and my skin did like it. The smell is definitely strong! LOL I will probably be making some more using apple cider vinegar this time :)
So these are the things that I use regularly on my skin. I hope this was helpful! God bless! How do you keep your skin balanced? Check out my skinkcare video on YouTube! NaturalMe4C- Simple Skincare Routine After doing my experiment with different ways to stretch your hair, it was suggested that I try a banded twist out. So I gave it a shot :) This is what I did: THE COMPARISON :) I really love how much stretch the banded twist out gave my hair! It's almost shocking to see the difference in length. (My husband calls it super stretched lol.) I will definitely be revisiting this style again :D Since I was able to do larger twists, it didn't take me very long to do ( about 25 minutes.) So that's a huge plus! Although I love the results of using the bands, there is quite a bit of tension involved. So, I wouldn't recommend doing this all the time. I don't want to cause any thinning or anything like that in the long run. But whenever I'm desiring to see more length on my fro...I'm totally doing this! I LOVE this style! LOL I hope you like it! If you are having trouble with your regular twistouts and the shrinkage that comes with twisting alone, give this style a try!
Check out my YouTube video, 4C Super Stretch (Banded Twistout) - Natural Hair for the tutorial on this style :)
 I recently decided to search for a new leave in condtioner. I was using Tresemme Naturals conditioner as my leave in for quite awhile. That conditioner has been amaznig as a leave in :) It provides excellent slip for detangling. It also leaves the hair moisturized when being used as a leave in or a rinse out conditioner. When used as a styler, it provides a nice hold without the crunch of a strong gel. So yeah, this stuff is awesome lol. So why was I looking for something else? The fragrance lol. I wanted a better scent left on my hair LOL . The tresemme doesn't smell bad at all but it doesn't leave my hair smelling fresh for very long either. So enter VO5 Strawberries and Cream moisture milks conditioner! I immediately knew that my hair would love this conditioner as a leave in when I was doing my normal twistout routine. when twisting my hair, it gave a nice slip and worked well with my aloe vera gel. When I removed my twists, my hair was shiny, soft, and smelled much better :) My twistout definition was "poppin" and the hold was awesome just like the Tresemme! I thought I had found my replacement leave in conditioner...until i started getting the itchies :( . Since I use "rinse out" conditioners as leave ins, I try to avoid getting a lot on my scalp because it can cause my scalp to itch. Even though I completely avoided my scalp each time when using the Vo5, my scalp still itched a lot. I tried using the Vo5 as a leave in several more times to make sure it wasn't a one time thing, and the same thing happened. (I went back to the Tresemme for the" final test," lol, and I did not have an itchy scalp...) Needless to say I was pretty bummed :( But I know that stopping the use of a product that clearly was going to cause problems if I left it in my hair as a leave in, was best. Besides, the Vo5 is a staple of mine for cowashing so all was not lost LOL. Remember to stick to techniques and products that WORK for your hair. It's fine to venture out and try new stuff...besides there's soo many tempting options out there... but just know that sometimes you hair will be like, "What is this? What happened to the tried and true products you were using? And how are you expecting me to act with this new stuff? LOL" If your hair catches an "attitude" with a product don't feel bad, your not alone! LOL So, it looks like the Tresemme Naturals Conditioner has won! I will continue using it as my leave in conditioner for the time being :)
I hope this helps!
Natural Hair 4C- Tresemme vs Vo5 conditioners as a "leave in" :)  Umm... How is this possible? LOL Having 4C hair means having a LOT of shrinkage! Sadly, when I was little, this was the thing I disliked the most about my hair. Even though I wasn't a swimmer or anything lol, I still felt like it was just weird and awkward that my hair shrunk whenever it got wet or whenever I broke a sweat. I used to press my mother to straighten my hair ALL the time. (Even if it was just the bangs lol). I didn't feel very pretty seeing my hair in its tiny tight coils. I thought I looked like a boy. :( So, when deciding to go natural I knew that my hair would still have major shrinkage and that I needed to change my mentality on it. I tried to find ladies on YouTube with similar textures to mine because I really wanted to visualize what my hair was going to look like. I wanted to know that I wasn't going to be the only one out there rockin' this texture! LOL Watching videos helped a bit, but I still wasn't sure about what my hair would do. After awhile, I had a moment where I just had enough with the anxiety! I no longer cared whether or not my hair looked like someone elses... I wanted to see "me" and my texture. I decided to accept whatever naturally grew out of my head and embrace it! I decided to stop being afraid of my own texture. Now, I do prefer to "see" a little more length on my tresses most of the time lol, but I realize that the original way that God created me, is the way that compliments me the most :) My shrinkage amazes me! I still have moments where I'm like "How in the world does my hair shrink soooo tight?" LOL However, I honestly think that it is one of the coolest things my hair does! And I ain't mad at it! LOL How do you feel about your shrinkage? (Pics below are of my shrinkage 100 percent dry :) ) Although I don't wear my hair shrunken very often, I love having fun with it! It's nice to have options... The fact that my hair type has major shrinkage is awesome because there is never a dull moment with styling :) My hair tends to look different every single day LOL. Lenghty tresses one day...super short the next! (All with the help of water :D ) Sometimes, wearing a very short style can cause a little anxiety, especially if you love having long hair. But, remember that shrinkage just "happens" with natural curly hair! There is nothing to be nervous about when it comes to rockin' it! So enjoy your unique texture, ladies! How do you spice up your shrinkage? Check out my video Natural Hair 4C- Afro (TWA) Accessories on YouTube :)
So, this morning my twistout completly shrunken and undefined. :) I was too tired to cowash last night, so before bed I just added a little olive oil, avocado butter, and Shea Moisture Hold and Shine Moisture Mist spray to my fro. (I slept with my satin bonnet as well.) After examining my hair this morning, I tried to come up with a style for the day. I didn't want to wash it just yet, because I like to allow my hair to air dry over night. However, my fro was looking like it needed some serious attention! LOL I started reminiscing on a style my mom use to do with my hair when I was little. She would put my hair a puff at the top of my head and leave the back out. (Memories...lol) So, that got me thinking... Here's what I came up with :)
I love this hairstyle! It took less than 5 minutes to do and it's a fun way to add some shape to your shrinkage. I love that it "fools the eye by looking like a puff from the front, and then a frohawk on the sides :) This is a nice alternative if you don't like using tons of bobby pins to hold your hair in a "traditional" frohawk. It even works with the "awkward length" stage I'm in with my hair right now lol. I hope you guys like this style! Let me know if you try it out :) Be blessed! Check out my YouTube video, Natural Hair 4C- Easy Afro Hairstyle Tutorial for this style!
You have a BLAST! My husband Ty and I decided to do a fun tag on YouTube called "My husband does my makeup tag." I was soo unsure what he would end up doing! LOL  Happy 2013! Time is flying by! On this New Years Day, I first, want to take some time to thank God for His many blessings. I'm thankful for my family, life, health, and strength! Without Him, I don't know where I would be.... 2012 was a very big year for me! I've completley changed my mentality toward my hair. I love it! There were times where I never thought I'd be able to say that. I really didn't enjoy my hair growing up....it was always a hassle. But now that I've moved forward with my natural hair journey, I'm looking for great things :)
This hair journey has helped me gain confidence in other areas of my life
as well. I'm learning to just be who I am and not worry so much about the little things I can't change. I'm learning that those little things are what makes "me." :) Remember to keep God first in all things! Be blessed and have a Happy New Year! NaturalMe4C - 2013 Hair Resolutions! |
About MeCrystal aka Kriss Hey! I'm Crystal, an energetic married mother of two who is on a journey to become the woman God has meant for me to be. I'm sharing my journey in hopes to inspire others to be comfortable with who they are. Here you will find lots of things ranging from natural hair care, beauty, marriage fun, spirituality, and more!
Remember to be who you are and not the person others think you should be! Last Relaxer Date: February 3, 2012 Big Chop Date: August 5th 2012 Archives
August 2017
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed