Moisture Routine: The LOCO G!

Huh?

I bet you're confused but have no fear i shall explain.
=)

After the take down of my braids my hair was in serious need of some TLC which i gave it last weekend. and i had it in a protective style for most of last week until i decided to wear my hair in it twist out.
With this cold weather i did not moisturize as well as i should have =/

Le Sigh...

But i did use my LOC method and sealed afterwards with some castor oil midweek, which helped in sealing in moisture on my somewhat crispy ends. So it became an LOC+O. I usually go LOC+G, sealing it all in with a light weight gel (ors loc & twist creme, miss jessie's jelly soft curls, or curls cashmere curl jelly). I liked how my hair felt after sealing with the castor oi so i said i'd do it again for this week.

But this weekend i decided for an uber method the LOCO G! lol yes you read it right (the crazy g!)

So its pretty much all i said earlier loc method with an oil followed by gel in the end.Yes it sounds like much but if you have coarse (4b/c) hair that soaks up moisture and want to wear your hair out in the 11 degree weather out in NYC then you have to go to extremes..

(damn polar vortex!)

O_O

So this is what i used this week.. i traded up the alikay naturals leave in for the miss jessie's leave in condish (won it in a giveaway.. it was a miss jessie's wash day!)

My hair feels awesome and I wont be moisturizing again til the end of this week.. hopefully!

Whats your moisture routine like?

A.Soul

Poem: Soon I Will Be by KC Burke

And I told you
that i am not ready

I am still learning
about the world
and myself

I am still growing
into who i am
into who i think i
should be
and who i want to be

I am slowly forming
into an individual
that I want
my family to be proud of...
that my friends are aiming towards...
that my future husband and children are in awe of!

my future self will be ready
but my self now is not

A.Soul

Poem: Happiness Becomes Me by KC Burke

I am happy
And in my happiness
I want to squeal....
              girlishly
to jump and dance,
              do my happy jig!
to clap my hands and
              stomp my feet...
to scream:
              YES! YES! YES!

Can you tell....
              I am happy!


A.Soul


Wrote this when i found out we went international with ASOM Designs

O.O Shea Moisture Shampoo Gone Bad! O.O

the smell. omg, the smell.

its like a rotten eggs and perm mixture

:::faints:::

Ok, im done now. But this shit stinks. I bought a bottle of Shea Moisture's Raw Shea Moisture Retention shampoo when Walgreens was having its half off  sale in December. I haven't used the bottle yet myself seeing as how i still had my mini bottle from the shea moisture hair color system box when i colored my hair back in November. I was even thinking of mixing in the smaller bottle with the bigger one.

I'm glad i didn't....

Monday my mom asked me if  used the Shea Moisture shampoo yet and if i added anything to it. I told her no and that i used the mini when i washed my box braids. She went on to say that when she used it it smelled disgusting and she thought that since she had the acv in her that that might have caused the change in scent, But when she used it a second time without the acv or any other products the scent was still there and asking me she now knew that i did not change or alter its contents. Opening the bottle myself, i closed that shit immediately. My first thought was that there is a permed masked as the shea butter shampoo in my house. Then the smell of rotten eggs kicked in.

Eww.

Of course i emailed the company that same day (still waiting on a response, but im thinking with the help of social media.. it'll come faster. so to twitter, facebook, blogger, tumblr, instagram i go)

I honestly spent the last few minutes getting ready this morning taking pictures so you could see the difference in color of the bottles. One, the mini, is the regular tan shade and scent, while the other is is a light creamy green color with a very putrid smell.

                                

I know its probably a bad batch i got or something else (i dunno, maybe bad storage placement on my end) and i'm not saying that this has occurred to me before or frequently. Its the first time. I just want some acknowledgement on  the issue. I mean i only paid $4.99 for it. its not that serious. But if i could get a new bottle that would be awesome. =)

Anyone else had a bad experience with a product similar to this? Has a product expired on you?

Wish me luck!

A.Soul

Protective Style: Flat Twists & Roll Tuck

found this on Entwine Naturalle Couture facebook page.. might be my style for this week!

i dont know if i'll get my twists this lose, cause i usually twist tighter than whats shown but ill give it a go

And there it is. Not as neat as hers but i like it and it fits my face. Instead of leaving the back straight i had it in mini-twists to give it a more crinkled look. Left that in for two days before i took them out and roll tuck them away. 

Protective Style II Take Down & Wash Day

                     

Braids are gone people! (finally) After 7 long weeks, i took them down friday and im and so glad to have my hair out and about again. Its a learning experience doing these type of long term protective styles. its long term for me since i dont where my hair in twists for more than a week or 2, 3 is sometimes stretching it.

But take down took me an entire day. I pretty much stayed home after my surgery and chilled on netflix on my brothers big screen lo. Like the loc extensions, i took my time taking out the hair, spraying my roots with the acv spray and ball of dirt collected at the start of the braids. I gently pulled that apart and finger combed for each braid. After a while the pain kicked in from sitting in one position so long and i had to stop for the rest of the night.

heres a good video to watch on take down..

Saturday was wash day. i treated with a protein treatment plus a bit of garlic in the mix to help with my major shedding that occurred. Garlic will be a new addition to my weekly treatments from now on. Afterwards i followed through with the luscious locks shea butter shampoo (can find here or here) and then alikay naturals honey sage deep conditioner (here).

                               

With the DC i read on Curly Nikki this "Before rinsing, add a daily conditioner to seal in the treatment" It was a couple months ago before when i read this that i finally put it to use this weekend because hair still felt some type of way to me. i used Shea Moisture's Raw Shea Restorative Conditioner and it felt great afterwards. i would have used the shampoo but it smells something awful. Never have i ever used used the raw shea shampoo before and it smelled rancid (like rotten eggs and perm)... Just NO! i was not using it and i emailed them immediately! i really like their shampoo its just his one bottle that came out wrong... Lets see how that goes (cue side eye)

As for moisturizing and styling products, i used;

• alikay naturals lemongrass leave in (20% off Code FOC2014, ends 2/10)
• my oil mixture
• alikay natural shea yogurt moisturizer (20% off Code NMEL2014, ends 2/20)
• luscious locks shea butter curl enhancer (out of this months curlkit)

A well needed trim followed. I dusted my ends in th large sections after moisturizing. then again in smller sections as i went through for styling. I was aiming for a flexi rod set.. before i headed out for my friends surprise birthday party (of course my hair didnt dry in time... NEED HOODED DRYER!)... ended up with two large flat twists for the night (no pics)

And now i need a protective style for the week, cause its gonna be cold in NYC =(

...found it yesterday, new post with pics later!

Happy Days,

A.Soul

I've had Surgery

So if you follow me on twitter or instagram you'd know that i had surgery Thursday from that hematoma thingy ive been complaining about.

But it wasnt a hematoma. i visited my gynecologist on Monday and she told me that my doctor read the chart wrong (joy) and she did not understand why they told me i had a hematoma. Yes it was enlarged and they did see something but that wasnt it.

Whoosa!

Any who, what i had was a polyp (been spelling it wrong for a while lol). More specifically an endometrial polyp.

As Defined by Wiki:

An endometrial polyp or uterine polyp is a polyp or lesion in the lining of the uterus (endometrium) that takes up space within the uterine cavity. Commonly occurring, they are experienced by up to 10% of women.[6]...They range in size from a few millimeters to several centimeters.[7] link here

So pretty much i had some extra tissue in the lining of my uterus that cause me to have heavier bleeding during my periods and some bleeding before and after (pretty much light to heavy spotting).

Now the procedure i had done was a hysteroscopy. Its was a transvaginal procedure meaning they enter through my vagina and no topical incisions made. They opened up my cervix and scrapped away at anything thy could see that was abnormal.. hence polyp. Of course they explained to me what could go wrong, specifically a tear or scratch in my cervix (which unfortunately did happen) that they could fix up right away. So i have a few stitches on my cervix (again joy).

I was put under anesthesia and had me a lovely oxygen mask (my throat finally stopped hurting as much today). So i will be spotting for the next two weeks (again joy). No sex or bubbles baths (:::tear:::) and no tampon use at all (basically nothing inserted) until the all clear from the doc.

Le Sigh.

But its all good. And did i tell you my best friends are awesome. They both came and stayed with me for the day of. Krys came after work. Kizz's parents dropped me off and then took us all home. Mommy was there of course! And i love them all so dearly.

My support system is awesome!!!

Anyway thats my news, I've no pain (until 6-8pm last night) mostly a migraine and sore throat. Other than that i'm all good.

Have a great Weekend!
A.Soul

Side Note, the pain i was experiencing in my ovaries was something different altogether, but the birth control pills, as i was told by my gyn will relieve the symptoms. thank Jeezus!

Shea Moisture Saturdate

Have you heard about todays date with She Moisture?

No?

Well then, i must share this good news with you! Lol.  =)

Today Shea Moisture invites you out to your local Walgreens, where they are have a BOGO sale on Shea Moisture products. There you will take a selfie with said products and enter for a chance to win $100 worth of Shea Moisture goodies.  winner will be randomly selected and announced on facebook on Monday

Sounds fun right!

 Bring a friend & take some random selfies with Shea Moisture goodies at your local Walgreens Today!

ASOM Designs Giveaway!

So this week ASOM has gone to international waters and we sold one of Krystal's Chunky Fabric Necklaces!

And i've noticed that we have over a hundred likes on the FB page. So i thought why not celebrate our recent good news with a giveaway!

So i talked with the girls and they agreed, seeing as how Krystal handles the fabrics i spoke with her on the fabrics available and we have a pretty nice ankara that i like.

See.

We are giving away one 1 1/12 inch (large)  button earring  and one matching Queen necklace, in a lovely set. The necklace will of ourse be handpainted and come with a leather cord attached.

Enter Here: http://tinyurl.com/llunwnm

52 Books: 1:Jubilee By Margaret Walker

SO i cam across this on twitter, and then again on IG. And nowi see where it all began about 3 years ago on this site here. With the avid reader i am on Wattpad and how i used to be as a child with my novels, i find this challenge to be inspiring.

In this challenge you 52 books for the year. One book a week that is of interest to you. You can buy them or borrow them from the library, up to you. I like to buy my books and have them in hand or you know keep it in my kindle app on my tablet (very handy as well)

I slowed my reading down with school because it was hard to keep up my reading for fun and the reading required for class. But now im slowing getting back into my passion of reading for fun. I started off this year getting a new copy of a book i lost a few years ago (thanks nephew) called Jubilee by Margaret Walker

This book took place in slavery times. It followed one family about through their years as a slaves from working on the plantation is a child to the civil war to the trials of their freedom. I enjoyed this book because as a young black i find Vyrys struggle my own. Her story is a battle of fear and acceptance and the will to fight, of nature vs. nurture and a simple history lesson of life in that time. Bad with descriptions but you get the gist in the second sentence.

Would i recommend this book, absolutely!

can buy it here!

Currently reading: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde