Happy 101 Award

I am honored to receive the Happy 101 blog award from Gina and Kim of Peace, Love, & Pretty Things. Thank ladies! I love these kinds of blog awards because it gives us a chance to celebrate each other and spread positivity throughout the blogosphere.

So here are the rules for accepting and passing on this award:

1. Thank the person that awarded you this in the new post.
2. Name 10 things that make you happy.
3. Pass the award on to 10 other bloggers and inform the winners.

So, again, thanks to Gina and Kim. I am totally honored!

10 Things That Make Me HAPPY! (in no particular order)

1. Love... te quiero mi vida!

2. Food

3. Exercise

4. Music

5. Money

6. Family

7. Babies

8. Cool shows like Lost, Fringe, The Golden Girls, and Mad Men

9. My Naturally Leslie readers!

10. Learning about different cultures and languages

There are so many more but these were just a few that came to mind....

10 Cool Blogs I LOVE...I'm passing this award to you!

1. Apricot Tea

2. Natural Hair Natural Products

3. Glamazini's Natural Hair Journey

4. Newly Natural

5. Nappturology 101

6. Naturally Obsessed

7. The Natural Haven

8. Franchesca.net

9. Amber Carroll Photography

10. ArtOfficial

So much inspiration in the wide world of cyberspace. Thanks again for the recognition and much love to all my fellow bloggers out there!

Look Who's On the Cover of Essence

Photo from Essence.com

With a string of lead movie roles under her belt and on the eve of a new album, the inimitable Jill Scott covers ESSENCE's May issue--looking and feeling better than ever! In "And Baby Makes 2," Jill is photographed at home with her 9-month-old son Jett, as she opens up about the difficult road that led her to single motherhood, the sister circle that helps her get by, and the perfect life she enjoys today.

The lovely Jill Scott! I love Essence magazine and I love even more when they have Jill on the cover. I especially can't wait to read the Love Your Hair section! What do you think? Do you love the cover or what?!

Dr. Miracle's: A Review

For this review I am going to talk about the Healing Leave In Treatment and Conditioner, the Damaged Hair Medicated Treatment, and the 2 in 1 Tingling Shampoo. All product descriptions and ingredient lists are directly from the Dr. Miracle's website.

Product Descriptions/Ingredients

2 In 1 Tingling Shampoo:

You can actually feel this shampoo promoting strong, healthy growing hair as it leaves strands shiny and clean. Doubling as aromatherapy in the shower, Dr. Miracle’s 2 in 1 Tingling Shampoo & Conditioner is the perfect tool to end dry, lifeless hair by way of moisturizing and conditioning.

Ingredients:Thermalceutical™ Complex [Water (Aqua), Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Leaf Oil, Menthol,

Menthone Glycerin Acetal, Behentrimonium Methosulfate (And) Cetearyl Alcohol, Polyquaternium-10,
Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil], Ammonium
Lauryl Sulfate, Polysorbate-20, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Lauramide Dea, Glycol Sterate, Peg-150 Distearate, Propylene Glycol (And) Diazolidinyl Urea (And) Propylparaben, (And) Methylisothiazolinone, Citric Acid

Damaged Hair Medicated Treatment:

This ultra intensive deep conditioner treatment masks hair with its rich essential oils, proteins, amino acids, and anti-oxidants, providing extra moisture for tresses damaged from over-processing and heat styling. Exclusive Thermalceutical Complex promotes blood flow to the scalp, helping to end slow growth problems.

Ingredients: Thermaceutical™ Complex (Aqua, Salicylic acid, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Olea Europaea, (Olive Oil) Fruit Oil, Persea Gratssima (Avocado) Oil, Frunus Amygdalus (Sweet Almond) Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Lanolin, PEG-75 Lanolin, Propylene Glycol, petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sorbitan Sterate, Polysorbate 60, Eugenia Caryophullus (Clove) Leaf Oil, Menthol, Menthone Glycerin Acetal, PEG-40 Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Methylparaben Propylparaben, Disodium EDTA, Diazolidinyl Urea.

Healing Leave In Treatment and Conditioner:

This daily treatment restores and conditions cuticles for smooth and super-strong hair. Also creates polished wash-and-go looks.

Ingredients:Thermalceutical™ Complex (Water, (Aqua), Menthol, Eugenia Caryophllus (Clove) Leaf Oil,

Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil), Glycerin, Propylene Glyco,
Peg-75 Lanolin, Polyquaternium-10, Polyquaternium-11, Diazodinyl Urea, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Propylparaben

The order of operations was first, I jumped in the shower and shampooed with the 2 in 1 Tingling Shampoo. I followed up with the Damaged Hair Medicated Treatment that I left in for about 3 minutes. After rinsing, I sprayed my whole head with the Healing Leave In Treatment and Conditioner.

Let's just say my hair was very mad at me by the end of this. The products were drying, the tingling felt like my head was freezing and on fire at the same time, and the smell was so over powering that it literally took my breath away. Menthol and clove overload! Why Dr. Miracle's?

My hair was so tangled and very snarly. I was unable to detangle successfully with any of this product so I ended up whipping out another staple condish to get through my hair. I was hoping the thick creamy Medicated Treatment would soften my hair so I could get through it. Well, it sat on top and did not seem to penetrate at all. The leave in made my hair almost squeaky and dried very quickly. I had to rewet my hair and apply castor oil to make it feel like hair again.

Overall, these three products did not work for my hair. I kept thinking that they might be better for relaxed hair that does not require as much effort to detangle. Although, I cannot imagine that anyone could use these three things back to back and not feel completely dried out.

Ok, so some constructive criticism. One, ditch the scent and opt for something softer. I get that these products are being marketed as medicated, healing, etc, but there is no woman (or man for that matter) that I know who would like to smell like a bag of cloves. Second, maybe take out the mineral oil and add some shea butter to the mix. I am no chemist or product specialist but I can feel a difference after using something with mineral oil, especially since I don't use it normally at all.

Final thoughts....not pleased, cannot see myself using these products again. :~(

I still have a few more to review so that will be coming up. I hope to use heat with one of them so maybe that will make a difference. We'll see....

Dr. Miracle's: A Review

A few months back I was gifted with a very generous box of Dr. Miracle's products. Inside the box I found the Intensive Healing Oil, Damaged Hair Medicated Treatment, Temple & Nape Gro Balm, Healing Leave In Treatment and Conditioner, Intensive Spot Serum, 2 In 1 Tingling Shampoo & Conditioner, Tingling Intensive Deep Conditioning Treatment. Wow, talk about a gift box!

Over the past few months I have tried the products and I will be giving my review for them a few at a time.

But before I get into the individual products, I want to talk about the packaging, the presentation, and the scent.

Packaging: Each product comes in a brown box. The paperboard containers look old fashioned with the Dr. Miracle's logo printed in black on the front and top. Something about them look serious, not at all fruity or floral like most hair products marketed to women. They seem to say "we mean business" or "we have a purpose and our product is more about functionality than beauty". The red, black and brown color scheme punctuate this ideal, accenting the medicinal or healing theme of the product. These are not for the average girl who wants a sensual hair experience. They are here to fix, cure, or heal damaged hair and scalp.

Presentation: In addition to the packaging, Dr. Miracle's is probably most easily recognized for their ads in magazines like Essence and their commercials. Clearly, these publications are aimed at Black women. As we know, we spend more money on our hair than anyone else in this country. Knowing this, and playing up the good hair/bad hair (although not directly so) debate, Dr. Miracle's tends to do before and afters that aim to persuade Black women that whatever is broke about their hair, Dr. Miracle's can fix. It's not just a hair product. It's actually a miracle! Hmmm... I will give it some points for hilarity (that scream at the beginning makes me laugh each time) but at the same time, it always makes me uncomfortable with how the before and after pics seem to say that something is inherently wrong with Black hair. Especially that one with the woman with the long curly hair. Yeah, it looks a bit frizzy before. Nothing a good leave in/gel/styler couldn't tame (if that is the look you're going for. Personally I like frizz every now and again). And I am not against the straight after pic either. But to imply that the before was unhealthy (read damaged, unruly, just not right) and the after is beautiful (read straight, fixed, cured, whatever) is just the wrong message to send, in my opinion.

Scent: This is what did me in. Ok, I get it. This product is supposed to be the cure. So that means it must smell serious and intense, like medicine, right? Wrong. Menthol, medicinal, just plain strong! I think I put off trying most of this stuff for the smell alone! I am very conscious about the scents that go in my hair and on my scalp. So right off the bat, Dr. M lost major points.

Ok so that is the preview. The first two products I will review are the 2 In 1 Tingling Shampoo & Conditioner and the Intensive Healing Oil. And don't get me wrong. Even though I have some strong opinions about many things about this line, there are some good ones too. Stay tuned...

Braid Take Down...Phew!

After 7 weeks of my wonderful braids, I decided they had to go for a couple of reasons. For one, they were getting really furry at the roots, beyond what I was comfortable with. The actual braids themselves were not frizzy one bit because they were so tight but the roots started to look a little bad. Second, my scalp would not get clean. Debris would get trapped under the base of the braid and that made me upset! I hate not being able to effectively cleanse my scalp so I felt it was time. Third, I simply missed my hair. I must be crazy to miss all the detangling but hey, it happens.

So I thought I would be able to do this method for taking down my mini braids but that did not go as planned. I ended up having to take down each braid, one at a time, over the course of a few days. They were simply too small to comb out, even doused with conditioner and starting at the very tips. It took for-ev-er!

So, I began by jumping in the shower to do a short wash with castille soap. Then I loaded my hair up with a slippery conditioner (I used a combo over the three days of Pantene and Herbal Essences), and got out and began to unbraid. Having the conditioner on my hair made it a thousand times easier to undo the braids. It kept the ends slick which prevented tangles as I worked my way up.

After I took out a small section, I coated the hair with castor oil and two-strand twisted it up. The castor oil turned out to be a wonderful addition to this routine and I will share why in a sec.

As you can see, I started at the front. I only got this much done on the first day and knowing I had to go to work the next day, decided to leave in the twists so they could dry overnight. So... I undid the twists the next day, pinned them up in the front, and left the back hanging down. It was actually kinda cute and I got some compliments. Unfortunately I did not get any pics but it was functional for that day.

Each night before I went to bed, after spending a couple hours with my hair soaked and conditioned, I would rinse out the twists. The castor oil left my hair feeling sooooooooo soft and moisturized. You can see the shine in the pics and I really attribute that to the castor oil. I will be using this oil from now on after I detangle with conditioner and before I rinse.

Over the course of the next few days I repeated this process until last night when I got the last braids out.

There was no real growth goal with this style but I know I gained an inch pretty much all around. I will definitely be doing this again this summer so I can swim and enjoy the heat without worrying about my hair!

In the end, I would say this has been the best protective style I have ever had. I could wash and go, literally, and my hair was protected all the time. I went from combing and styling weekly to having about a month and a half of no manipulation. I think my hair really thanked me for it.So what are some of your fave protective styles? Do you prefer them in the winter, summer, or all year round?

A Cute Transition Style

I wish You Tube and natural hair blogs had been around when I went natural 10 years ago. I would have done such a better job at transitioning from relaxed to natural hair. As I've mentioned before, I flat ironed/pressed my whole senior year so that by the time I chopped, the front was heat damaged and limp. Tsk tsk. Oh well!

There is so much more info out there for you ladies who find yourself transitioning nowadays. Here is a vid I found that shows one cute transition style you can try with perm rods. Too cute!

Also coming up on Naturally Leslie...

~A review of Dr. Miracle products

~A review of Pantene Nature Fusion Conditioner

~My micro-braid take down (ahhhh!) and my thoughts on this style

~Reader Question about tangles!

All the Natural Ladies!

Essence is making an "all call" for natural-haired divas (why we gotta always be divas? lol). Will you send your pics in?

Calling all natural hair divas! Send ESSENCE a picture of your hair style and tell us what you love about your natural 'do. We're looking for real women rocking their hair natural: Ceasars, fades, twists, curls, locks, long or short--we want to see it! Please send three pictures and your contact info to streetstyle@essence.com today!

Natural for a Cause

I received this in an email and, as a woman employed as a professional educator (school counseling), I wanted to share.

Naturally Me will donate 25% of all orders and 50% of all consultant kits that are purchased in the month of march to Operation Prom Dress. Operation Prom Dress\NCSG will collect prom dresses and give to HS Seniors who cannot afford to purchase a dress of their own. You can make your skin soft and beautiful and also help out a worthy cause at the same time. Naturally Me products are 100% natural and vegan friendly.

There are so many kids who miss out on some of the cool activities at school like prom that most of us took for granted as part of the high school experience because of money. Now that many people have lost jobs and the wallets are tighter, this is a cool way to support a small business while also giving back to teens who are less fortunate.

Check it out: http://www.naturallymebychaundra.com/