Natural Hair: a sport?

From the guy who bought us, "Yo Boyfriend don't like you're natural hair?", comes a new video that I think you'll enjoy (for more ways than one...at least for me ;D) Check out SJSafety18's video and channel.

*Happy Hair Days*

 =D

#ROCKTHELIPS

Today, March 8, is International Women's Day! International Women's Day was founded in 1910 as a day that each country would devote to recognizing and addressing the needs and concerns of women. It remains an important day not just for women, but for everyone. 

Rock the Lips is a really awesome social media campaign that brings awareness to the day in  a really creative and fun way. All you have to do to show your support is rock a red lip! Share your "power pout" by snapping a pic and tagging it on Instagram with #RockTheLips (or sharing your photos on Twitter, Tumblr and all forms of social media). It's a simple yet fun and meaningful way to acknowledge gender inequality, education and health care, violence against women, income disparity and recognize the power and value of women everywhere!

(For more info visit HERE.)

Will you rock the red with me today?

Be the Change You Wish to See in This World

When I was in high school over 5 years ago, I watched a documentary called Invisible Children. Ever since then I have supported this organization by having film viewings at my school, buying bracelets as donations, collecting offerings at my church for the cause and just educating people about the situation. You can't believe how entirely happy I am that people are spreading the awareness of something that they may not feel effects them personally but truly does. We are all of this earth and should do our best to see fit that justice and opportunites are given to those who effect our greater community. Take a few minutes to step away from the hair blogs, to stop looking at the hair tutorials and to pay attention to something that TRULY matters.

Wait...you're black and you wash your hair daily?

Source: Black Girl with Long Hair

I just wanted to quickly share this sorta funny experience with you all. It always seems like I have the most interesting conversations on the metro going to work in the morning. And most recently they've been random conversations about hair with random strangers. Yesterday on the train this friendly, older, white woman who was sitting across from me told me that she loved my hair. Of course I thanked her for her compliment (even though to me it was a real basic braid out that I usually sport daily) but she kept telling me how beautiful it was and how she wished she'd see more people wearing that "uniquetexture."  I choose to ignore the fact that about 5 other women on the train was also sporting natural dos....She asked me what I did to get my hair to "look like that" and we got into a pretty long conversation on products and routine. I told her I wash my hair about every week, and let me tell you she was FLABBERGASTED! You would probably think she was surprised by how infrequently that is, since a lot of women with straighter hair tend to wash their hair either every day or every other. But she was actually surprised at how often I washed it. She even asked if I was sure that it was healthy for me. Even when I told her that I only usually shampoo once or twice a month and co wash other times, she was generally concerned for the excess amount of water that usually hits my strands.

I told her that my hair needs A LOT of moisture for it's continued health and the best way to get that moisture was with water. And that the frequency of washing is specific and varies for each person. But she told me that she had always learned that black hair could only be washed about once month or our hair would fall out.

It got me thinking of all of the myths we have about all types of hair. And how the majority of these teachings are passed down through our families. But yeah, I just wanted to share that encounter with you guys. At this rate I'm sure I'll have more train convos to share with you in the future lol.

#marchmadness

 (Doesn't she just make you wish for Spring? Source: Tumblr)

Another month has zipped by and it's already March of 2012! I honestly keep thinking that the New Year Day was yesterday! Because the days/weeks/months are flying by I've decided to be on top of this here blog. So for the month of March I'll be trying (really really hard!) to write at least one post every day! We'll call it March Madness. And yes, it may drive me mad lol!

I'm really excited for the challenge and the opportunity to communicate with you all more. If there's any thing that you would like to see here this is definitely the time to let me know. I'm always more than open to here new ideas, to answer questions, to give advice and to take advice from anyone! SO let me know what you would like to see a post on (or a series of posts) by leaving a comment or emailing me at Shaybuttahh@yahoo.com. (yup, double "tt", double "hh") Since my old email address crashed and burned sometime in January I thought it would be good to create one especially for the blog!

Thank you everyone for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the madness coming this month!

This Week's LUUUUST!!!: Mishal Moore

I love music. It's honestly my number one passion in life. My degree reflects it. My job reflects it. My musical library reflects it. And my blogs/networking sites do as well. I'm always searching for artist that I can fall in love with. One of my more recent finds have been the talented and beautiful Mishal Moore. Her voice and songs are dreamy and her natural hair is lust worthy, for real! So check out not only her wonderful music below but photos of those beautiful curls of hers.

 (Source: Myspace)

Get It Again - Mishal Moore by mishalmooremusic

No Strings - Mishal Moore Mixtape by mishalmooremusic

Review: Vatika Hair Oil

I've been really trying to stick to the ayurvedic/natural aspect of my 6 month healthy hair challenge. It's actually been a lot easier than I thought because the products that I have been using are so accessible and CHEAP! One of the products that has actually been a major part of my hair regimen for over a year now is  Dabur's Vatika Oil. I've spoken about it a few times on the blog already. I thought it was about time for me to give you an in depth review.


Vatika (Enriched Coconut Hair Oil)- $3.99 (10.14 oz) : Vatika is a Premium Coconut Hair Oil enriched with Henna, Amla, Lemon and six other trusted herbs. Vatika's unique natural formulation ensures deeper oil penetration to give your hair and scalp complete nourishment for problem free, healthy hair.


Ingredients: Coconut oil, Neem, Brahmi, Fruit extracts of Amla, Bahera and Harar, Terminalia belirica, Kapur kachri, Henna, Rosemary oil, Lemon oil, TBHQ, Fragrance.

[You can go HERE to see the properties of some of these ingredients]

Honestly if I were stranded on an island for the rest of my life and I could only have one oil with me...I would probably choose this one. I LOVE it! It makes my hair feel amazing every time I use it. I tend to use it various ways mostly as a hot oil treatment and a sealant for my ends.

After I shampoo my hair I use it as a hot oil treatment instead of deep conditioning with a conditioner. I place the whole bottle of the oil in a bowl of very hot (yet not boiling) water for a few minutes,  pour the oil on my hair, place a plastic cap over my hair and let it sit for at least an hour (Most times, with my laziness, it's over night) I then rinse it out and style as usual. And when I braid or twist my hair I always seal my ends with this oil. When I take my braids/twists down my hair always feels super soft and looks very shiny .

Coconut oil in general has always been a hair saving ingredient for me but I love that the added ingredients in this oil help promote strong healthy hair which is what i'm always looking for.

The only cons I have are the smell and consistency The smell is definitely something to get use to. I wouldn't say that it smells bad but I wouldn't necessarily want to wear the perfume equivalent  of it either. If you want all of your products to smell like fruits and berries this probably isn't the one for you. Also because the product base is coconut oil it is usually in a solid state, which isn't a problem unless you're trying to squeeze it through the super tiny hole you have to puncture in the protective top. It can be annoying to have to slightly heat up the oil every time you want to use it. I usually just take the whole protective top off of it and let the slighly solidified product run out the larger opening.

Over-all this product is a God-send for my hair. Although I love my Extra Virgin Coconut oil, it's nice to know that I have a product that is considerably cheaper, and has a great amount of ayurvedic properties that  are so beneficial to the hair. You can find it at your local Indian grocer/store or if there isn't one near you check out this link to order it online.