Product Review: got2b CrazySleek hot smooth FLAT IRON & BLOW DRY LOTION

This is my go to product for when I'm straightening my natural hair. I also use this on my relaxed clients hair. This bottle runs about $5.99 normally (according to Walgreens.com). On the back of the bottle, the directions read as: Remove lock from the sprayer. Spray on towel-dried hair, distribute evenly. Blow-dry completely, then flat iron.

When I use this product, I follow those directions but since I'm natural I take it a bit further. I apply it to my towel dried hair, blow dry my hair in 4 sections (I squirt about a quarter sized glob on my hand, then on my hair while still wet.), and while my flat iron is heating up I add a little bit more to my ends. Doing my hair this way allows me to prolong the sleek look for a couple more days.

The product smells good, is very light & not waxy. It is by far one of the best NON- alcohol heat protectants I have ever used. I will & have been using this every single time I decide to put heat on my hair. So should you!

My Hair Regime

It would only make sense if I posted how I'm taking care of my hair these days.. I will say that NOW (as of 1/1/11), I decided that I would take super good care of my hair & come up with a hair schedule/regime.

Currently, I have been washing my hair with shampoo & conditioner (I use to be a co-wash girl, but some skin issues have changed that for me.) I've been using Suave Professionals Damage Care Shampoo & Suave Professionals Humectant Conditioner. I added some olive oil into the conditioner to give it a little more ump. Also, I detangle my  hair with the conditioner in using my Denman brush & a wide tooth comb.

While my hair is dripping wet, I apply either Elasta QP Olive Oil & Mango Butter moisturizer or B&B Mayonnaise & Honey. I just like how both of those products smell and how they add just enough shine & moisture to my hair. (I'll be doing product reviews soon!)

To protect my ends, I gently detangle my hair using a wide tooth comb. Recently, I've been loving the big curl look, so I do about 6 or 8 flat twists around my head (I'll post pics later!). Depending on what time I wash my hair, I'll sit under the dryer. If I'm tired I'll just put my satin bonnet on & go to bed.

The next day, I make sure my hair is 100% dry before I take the twists out. Fluffing my hair up to look fuller gives me the exact look I'm going for. To keep the style up, I re-twist my hair up every night using a mixture of conditioner & water in a spray bottle & shea butter to seal the ends. Here's a pic of my hair tonight.. Tomorrow is my wash day.






I try to wash my hair once a week, but since its been so cold I've been trying to push it to once every 2 weeks. I'm also trying to decide if I want to "hide" my hair for a while, using a sew in weave or braids.

My Realization of Why Chemical Processes Go Wrong...

Good day people.. Yesterday my mom & I went to Barnes & Nobles which gave me some time to scan thru some of the black hair magazines (there were roughly 3 or 4 there).. As I'm looking at all these books I see beautiful hair and I was just thinking to myself, all black women could be walking around here with gorgeous hair if they knew what to do to it and learn how to care for it. Then as we were leaving, I was still thinking about hair care and what people do wrong.. I know that I'm one of them but I came to these conclusions:

1. Relaxers: Yes, you can relax your hair without causing damage; it's all in how you apply it. If it is a virgin relaxer (meaning you have hair that has never had any relaxer on it previously), only then do you comb the relaxer all the way to the end of the hair shaft. Too many times have I seen or heard women overlapping the relaxer on previously relaxed hair, which causes breakage most times or over processed hair.
2. The Frequency of relaxing: I know it is said that you are supposed to relax your hair every 6 - 8 weeks. Now I've thought about the actual growth of most peoples' hair is about a quarter of an inch to half an inch a month, relaxing hair at any of those lengths (in my opinion) is too soon! Now possibly within a entire month you get about 2 inches of new growth, then I could see relaxing your hair. But at half an inch, even 1 inch; I would tell my client that they don't need a relaxer, just a good deep conditioning and I would flat iron the hair. Call me crazy but I think the less you relax the healthier your hair appears.(When I was relaxing my hair before, I would go about 4 - 6 months w/o relaxing my new growth and I had a lot with close to NO breakage.)
3. Strength of relaxer used: I have never, ever, ever had a super strength relaxer touch my hair, a family member's hair, or a client’s hair unless that is what they wanted to use. I would never suggest a super for anyone!! Now some people would disagree but a super is too strong in my opinion. But then again I guess people like hair that lays flat down, with no body!
4. A good hair care regime: After getting a relaxer, you can't just go into braids or not caring for your hair properly. You hair is super fragile now. I personally would wear my hair in ponytails (when I was relaxed) but after abusing my hair with rubber bands, I noticed major breakage in the back of my head, so I stopped wearing them as much and would wear my hair out. I loved the look of a fresh wrap or a roller set. So my top 3 hair styles would be a roller set (which can transition into a wrap), a wrap, and a rod set (it gives off a curly look and lasts for weeks!).

I hope this helps someone who has relaxed hair see where the damage is coming from and try some of my suggestions!! If you have questions please leave a comment!! I will try to answer all questions as soon as I get them!

Weave: A friend, not a enemy.

Living in this Northern Mid Atlantic/Southern state, I see weave no-nos all the time. Multi-colored, horribly trimmed and raggedy ones. Yesterday, I saw a 2 toned skunk weave: all black with 2 WHITE tracks to highlight her bangs. Talk about bad?! I gagged.

Weave To Dos:
1. Buy quality, human hair weave. Those synthetic blends LOOK fake. The point of a weave is to make people think its all you!

2. Buy hair this is close to your natural hair color. If you can’t find that color, dye it the same color as yours. Since its human hair, it won’t hurt the hair.

3. Pick hair this is just like your natural hair texture. It helps with it looking believable & blending (if that is the technique you are going to use).

4. Finding the right technique: This should maybe be #1 but anyhow, there are several weave techniques you can choose from.
- The full weave where none of your natural hair is out.
- The partial weave where hair alone your hairline & maybe hair for a part is left out to cover & blend with the weave.
- Braidless method. I honestly don’t know how this is done.
- Glue in/Bonded is where hair glue is put on the tracks and bonded throughout your natural hair to give it a fuller look.
- Quick weave: you can protect your hair with a stocking cap and glue tracks to it.
- Hard wrap is when your natural hair is wrapped with gel and the tracks are glued to the wrap.

5. Picking the right stylist. Now everyone & their mama these days say that they do the best weaves ever! Yeah, probably so for some. The rest, yeah right. Talk to friends, people on the street, the chick @ your job claiming she’s half Native American & Dominican but you know she’s all black. A good ‘Weave-ologist’ will have clients out there speaking the real about what he or she can do with some weave. Make sure whoever you pick has photos of their work & not just photos of themselves rocking weave.

With these tips, enjoy Weavedom.

Research. Research. Research!

To make this blog great, I'm researching ways to help my followers find their best hair way. Google is a great way to search for new hairstyles, stylists, or even video help of how to do your own hair. I'm just going to give you some great SEARCH words/phrases  & some websites you can visit to possibly help you find exactly what you're looking for.

If you're in search of a website where you can interact with others going thru the same thing as you, search HAIR FORUMS.

You could get more specific and search for HAIR WEAVES, BLACK HAIRSTYLES, BLACK HAIR, NATURAL HAIRSTYLES, HAIR WEAVES FOR BLACK WOMEN.

Here's a list of sights I visit at times:
BlackHairMedia Forum
Nappturality.com
MopTopMaven
LongHairCare Forum

Youtube Channels I love!:
PrettyDimples01 (She does some of the cutest natural hairstyles)
Reniecedotcom (She's a great stylist & her website is just magical, full of weave wonderment)
MsChanda (Great weave tutorials)
ThomasAdrianna (She does weaves & braids on her own hair. Great tutorials)

My Hair Journey

Over the past 5 years, my hair has changed so much. In high school, I was always stretching my relaxer. I would relax my hair maybe 2 times a year & by the summer time I was natural. After graduating, I was 100% relaxed & damaged. Then I went back natural for the first official time. The first time natural was great. I was loving my hair's natural curls..... Then I started hair school, January of 2008 & the girls there thought it would be good if I relaxed my hair so I could do more with it. I fell for it & relaxed my hair and hated every bit of it. I had to quit hair school because of financial issues & decided to start fresh with my hair again. I cut almost all of my hair off. In about a year, I gained all my length back with braids & it was healthier than ever. Since then, I have been natural & loving everything about it from the wash & go styles to some braided styles. I will say that I haven't been taking care of my hair like I should & it shows in my strands. Stress & lack of care has taken a toll and now I'm trying to get my luscious curls back again.

As of right now, I'm back to baby-ing my hair. I just cut about an inch of split ends & knots off earlier this week. Just with that trim, I can see that my hair is bouncing back like it should be. I'll be updating my hair status every month or so. Maybe I'll post pics of my styles and create some type of regime to healthy hair.

1st Official Hair Blog

Hello all!!!

This is my first official blog! I'm so excited right now. Anyway, thanks for checking me out. Please stay glued to me, I will be sharing (hopefully daily) my thoughts about hair, advice on hair, and just HAIR!

Hair is my passion, I've been doing hair since I was about 13 years old, and it comes to me like second nature. I'll share my experiences with my own hair, doing other peoples' hair, and the importance of GOOD hair care!

Thanks again & God Bless!