Sometimes when you need a good laugh, it doesn't hurt to pull out some old pictures! LOL  We decided to share some of the pictures from our "younger" years on YouTube :)  We had a lot of fun...it was a little embarrassing but it's all good lol.  Taking a look back was a great way to remind us of how far we've come together.  We truly feel very blessed to have made it this far :)  Have a blessed day!


When is the last time you and your spouse dug up old pics???

  I'm really loving this style!  I have been rocking a high puff very often over the past couple weeks lol.  It's sooo easy to do that it takes only minutes to create!  I think the puff is a great "go to" style when you can't figure out how to wear your hair lol.  A high puff just takes things up a notch!  This style has a classy look, but can also be worn for things like exercising. (Which I need to start doing lol! ) 

Check out my  YouTube video, High Puff Tutorial - NaturalMe4C  to see how I create this style :)

  I decided to do another strand test on my fro to see what my porosity level was.  I had done this test back in January, but I wasn't sure if I had done the test right lol. Like before,  It turns out that I have low porosity hair :)  I'm happy that my regimen has benefited my fro even before I found out the porosity level of my hair.   I don't have to make any changes as of now with my regimen :)  Yay!   




Here's how I tested my hair:

    Normal porosity means that your hair has no problems accepting and retaining moisture :) In the strand test, hair that has a normal porosity will sink at a rate that is not too fast or too slow.  Even though normal porosity hair doesn't have too many issues, be careful with what you do to your hair as porosity can change over time if damaging things are done.  (relaxing, coloring, flat ironing, excessive manipulation etc.)  

    Having low porosity hair simply means that your hair has a hard time allowing moisture in and allowing moisture to leave. In the strand test, the hair will not sink after a long period of time has passed.  
(My hair was still floating after almost an entire day had passed!  LOL I ended up dumping the water because I figured that was plenty enough time to determine my hair porosity lol. )

Common Characteristics: 

*Hair has a hard time absorbing products and water

*It takes ALOT of water to thoroughly wet the hair!

*Hair takes a long time to dry completely

*More susceptible to product build up since the hair takes forever to absorb the product

*Hair is resistant to chemical processes (relaxers, and hair color)
 ( It use to take forever to get my hair straight when I was relaxed lol.  And I also used to leave hair color in longer than the recommended time as well lol.)



Things that can help:

*Try using Indirect heat (steam, and hooded dryers)  
  These things can help by gently opening the cuticles to allow moisture to enter the hair :)  (My fro LOVES the steam for a shower!  It pops right out! lol )


*Wash hair with warm water to remove build up from the hair strands

*Apply products to damp hair rather than soaking wet hair.  
    If you have a hard time getting products, butters and oils to soak into your hair, try t-shirt drying your hair for 10 minutes or so before applying your products.
    (I have no problem applying olive oil and avocado butter to my hair when there is a good amount of water left, so I guess it depends on what you use :)   )


Things to avoid:

Strong proteins:
   Protein tends to seal the cuticle even tighter so moisture will have an even tougher time getting in! Low porosity hair tends to feel dry and brittle after protein treatment and sometimes breakage can occur :(


Silicones, waxes, petroleum: 
   Since these things block moisture from getting in, it will not do any good for low porosity hair.  These ingredients tend to make the hair "appear" moisturized and shiny, but in reality that is not the case lol

Heavy oils and butters??? :
     I am on the fence with this recommendation simply because I use heavy oils and butter on my fro without any problems.  I use olive oil and avocado butter when doing the LOC method. I also use castor oil on my scalp  for deep conditioning.
  I think the reason I haven't had any issues with olive oil and avocado butter is because those oils actually penetrate the hair shaft unlike other oils and butters.  So even though they are heavy, they eventually sink in :)  
   

 Having high porosity hair means that your hair has no problem allowing moisture in, however the moisture leaves almost as fast as it enters lol.  In the strand test, high porosity hair will sink very quickly.  



Common Characteristics:

*Usually signs of heat damage, chemical damage or damage caused by being to rough on your hair.

* Processes quickly when it comes to relaxers and hair color



Things that may help:

*  Heavier butters and oils
  These will prevent moisture from leave the hair strand soo quickly

*  Apple cider vinegar rinse
   This can help close the cuticle to prevent moisture loss.  It also adds shine and smooth the hair :)

*  Cold water rinses
  After washing your hair, try a final rinse with cool water to close the cuticle and add shine to the hair.

*  Protein treatments
  Since high porosity hair tends to be weak, protein can be use to strengthen the hair.  However, be careful to use the right protein treatment.  Do your research to find the best solution for you :) 



Things to Avoid:


*Harsh Sulfates
  These ingredients tend to strip the hair and cause dryness...which makes problems worse

* Silicones, waxes, petroleum etc.
  These ingredients may make the hair "appear in better health but in the long run won't solve any problems.

*  Direct heat
  Heat will only make things worse and over time may cause thinning and breakage.


*  Harsh chemicals such as relaxers and hair color
  These things will continue to damage the hair in the long run and eventually cause major damage. 

I hope this helps!  Have an awesome day!!!

Check out my YouTube video, Hair Porosity - High/Low - NaturalMe4C 

    Alright, I had THE WORST night of finger detangling with my fro last night lol.  THE WORST since being natural!  To top it off,  it was ALL MY FAULT lol.   What happened was, 2 days ago, I needed to wash my hair but I forgot that I was supposed to twist my hair to cut down on tangles etc.  ( I'm still getting used to this new step in my regimen lol.)  I have been pretty faithful to washing my hair in twists except for two times...one of which was this time!  I was pressed for time so I decided to wash my hair loose.  I was like, "I should be okay...my fro should be cool....."
  
   MY fro was everything BUT cool!  It was a mess and MAD at me!  My shed hairs got all kinds of stuck in my hair... and I had no choice but to grab the scissors and snip them out :(   Since it's time for a trim, I wasn't too heart broken about using scissors, but I was extremely frustrated with how long it took me to finger detangle and dry twist my hair.  It took me like 2 1/2 hours!!!  (Although I rarely dry twist or retwist my hair, when I do,  it usually takes me 25-45 minutes to finger detangle and dry twist lol. )


     I have learned my lesson!  I should have just taken the 15-20 minutes to twist my hair before cowashing it and this would have never happened.  I HAVE to cowash my fro in twists or some kind of sections from now on to avoid this "situation" again lol.  I'm going to try a couple different ways to wash my hair to see what I can do in case I'm pressed for time again and can't twist my entire head.  It's going to happen at some point, lol.  There will be times where I'm just tired or lazy when my fro needs attention.  So I will be trying to figure something out for those times :D  Have an awesome day!  

   Ty has done some amazing things this past year and he continues to shock me at his determination to get fit!  I'm soo proud of him!!!  He has had an incredible weight loss journey and has decided to share  on YouTube, what he has done to achieve his awesome results!  He looks awesomely hott!!! :D)  I love you hon!!!

  We got some questions about our boys and how they got along with one another, so we decided that we'd let them have the chance to speak for themselves!  LOL  We're very blessed to have two handsome and healthy young men in our family :D  They're soo awesome!  

    I went to Walmart a little while ago to search for a new lavender eye shadow palette because I needed to replace my old Rimmel London Smokey Purple palette.  So I picked up NYC Individual Eyes 939 Bryant Park... created for blue eyes lol. (I know my eyes are no where near blue but I wanted to give it a shot lol.)   I'm happy to report that the shades work well on my skin tone.  I think it's awesome that it comes with primer and an illuminator :D for that extra oomph.  The formula is easy to blend and nicely pigmented.  It has great lasting power, especially if used wet.  I also like that this palette isn't too expensive... costing under $5.00 at most drugstores.  After trying this one out , I'm going to look into trying the other shades as well.  (Just don't tell Ty I'm buying more makeup lol.)  

  The same day I went to Target, I had to stop at CVS to repurchase some Aloe Vera gel.  CVS  is awesome for headbands and hair accessories so I wanted to see what they had on sale!  I spotted some SCUNCI headbands that I had been eyeing for about a month or so.  So I caved and decided to buy them lol.  After all, CVS was having the usual buy 1 get one half off sale on hair accessories...so why not?  They're really cool because they have a sheen to them since they have a silky/satin feel. These headbands stretch out nicely and glide onto my hair, so it shouldn't cause any damage, so I'm  really happy about that.  They ended costing my less than $8.00 for 6.  Not bad at all!
 

    I have been doing some shopping this past week lol. ( I had to repurchase some staples, but it's also been a little while since I picked up some new stuff :D )   So I went to Target a few days ago in search for a new eye shadow brush so I could get rid of the stinky one. lol  (Yes, I haven't tossed it yet! )  But I am officially done with that brush.   I ended up choosing another brush from the ELF line, but this time I picked one from the Studio line.  It only cost me $3.00 and it doesn't smell bad lol!  The bristles are soft and it picks up color very well.  
    I also decided to pay the hair section a visit lol.  Besides, there was NO WAY to pass up on the temptation.  I wanted to see if my Target started carrying the new Shea Moisture products...last time I was there they didn't have any :(  This time however, they did and I was soo excited!  I wanted to try the mousse and the conditioner but I settled on the Curl and Shine Conditioner for now.  (The mousse had glycerin in it...so I'm gonna give it a little more time to warm up outside before trying it out.)
  The conditioner cost me $11.99 which I wasn't thrilled to pay, but I did lol.  I'm very excited to try it out and will let you know how it goes!  Have a great day!!!

    Ok, Micah was in need of some new shoes and jeans!  It was time lol.  He's in between sizes right now, so it was hard to find some inexpensive clothes and shoes for him.  I didn't want to spend to much because he is growing really fast!  So we headed to Payless and he picked out some new sneakers.  (I only gave him two options lol.)  My little man has some pretty nice taste to be 3 years old!  He was very decisive and ended up with some red, black, and white Smart Fit shoes($11.24).  They have no laces, so it will be easy for him to put on by himself.   He's happy with his choice and is now rockin' his new shoes :)   For his jeans, Old navy was having a sale so we got two pairs of regular fit jeans for $10.99 each.   
    I also had 2 coupons for Kohl's (my favorite store lol), so we went there as well.  I found some cute flats to wear (Which Micah also helped pick out.)   They are really comfy, kind of like tennis shoes, and look awesome with jeans.  I used to wear heels all the time back in the day, but after having children, flats are a must for me!  I don't have time to be uncomfortable,lol, but I still want something with some style :)  I told Ty that I'm working on building a stash of flats... (He's not thrilled with this idea lol but that's cool :D )   My shoe wardrobe is really boring so that needs to change.  It's been like 5 years since I've tried to get back into cute shoes lol!  I think I've waited long enough!

  Alright, I decided to try to get the look of a blowout without using heat.  I REALLY wasn't sure what I was doing or how my fro would turn out, but I don't think the results were too bad for my first try lol.  Next time, I might switch up my products to see if I can get a little been more sheen...  My hair is naturally duller whenever it is combed out or fully shrunken lol.  I'm still learning how to work with it :) .  I love this look!  Have a blessed day!