Just a short update, change and photo.

Hey everyone,
I hope you like the new look of my blog. I used the same colors but different photos for my Learning the Art of Lovin' Life blog. It was time for an update. This time I thought of showing a few different hair styles. I hope you like it.

I am doing well. I hope you are too. Just busy with family life. I'm trying a new routine I'm posting on my Learning the Art of Lovin' Life blog about. It's called 4 Weeks to A More Organized Home. There is a link to the original website on my blog there as well as my progress. It's simple and sort of fun.

In the hair world, not much has changed. My daughter is exploring and learning to moisturize and condition more. There are tons of You Tube videos for natural hair and websites with products claiming results that not everyone will get. We are trying to find what works for her. I do the Pure Natural Blends cremes but that's not all that needs to be done. It's not a a miraculous solve every problem product lol just a great moisturizer!

I'm enjoying my braidlocs. I've got some new growth that I'll need to maintain soon. I'm going to do the latching style maintenance. I haven't counted my braidlocs yet. I suspect it's over 200 which is what I wanted.

Braidlocs - A fresh start.

Hello Everyone! Well I finished my hair! I finished on March 15th. I'm happy with it. I love them thinner! I hope to be able to maintain these braidlocs. So far so good. I've been Youtubing for tips and such. I think I will do the latch hook method for maintaining them. Here are some photos of them.

 Just washed.

 First night I finished them. Here you can see the size of the braids.

Here you can see the ends. I like the loose ends.

So far so good!

Splitting Hair Do.

Hello Everyone!
I haven't blogged in a while. I've been quite blah again about the locs. You know I really tried to get use to having locs the size I didn't originally ask for. I wanted them smaller. They turned out thicker and I wished I liked them better than what I originally wanted. I'm such a fan of the thinner sisterlocks look though. I pondered taking them down, cutting them off, or just letting them grow. Well I noticed my hair line has changed. Hmmm. This happened before. I think it is because of my hormones from pregnancy are reducing. My hair is changing. I also failed to take my vitamins for a while too and I saw my hair actually suffer for it. So ladies and gentlemen thank your vitamins! Any how I went back and forth about what to do. Do I call the stylist back? Do I do it myself? I heard that you can take your locs down. It's almost been a year so I didn't know how difficult it would be. Well I saw a couple of youtube videos on taking down locs. I felt I could do it. I was a little afraid. Fear kept me from going for it. One day I decided I would do one in the back to see if I could do it. Well it wasn't so bad. I took the loc down, split it in two and braided it back. I was going to wrap the hair in a DIY loc but I decided to keep them as thin braids. So technically these are braidlocs then. It does take a while but I feel a whole lot better. LOL I'll tell you this though, I'm not looking forward to how long it might take me to maintain these sized locs but we will see when that time comes. I took a few pictures of my progress so far.

So this one is the size I want.

These are my original locs now. Funny thing is they don't look so thick but this is a photo of the ends.

Here you can see the difference in size. 

 

This is the back. I like the size and I feel comfortable with it. It may take me a while but this is a life time hair style... at least I think so for now!

I hope your hair experiences are going well. I'm learning that if you try and compromise and change into something you don't really desire to be satisfied where you are, you won't be happy. Does that make sense? Maybe it's too late. eh, Go for it! Don't let fear get in your way. With this situation I have to say I'm such a DIY person, and after all if I mess it up, it will grow back :)

Dying to Try It

Hello All!

I hope you are enjoying the arrival of November! Happy Fall. With the fall comes cooler weather. I'm always on the look out to create or try new products for moisture. My locs have been softening up. I do wonder if it's just me getting used to them or are they actually softening up. The new thing on my mind is dying my locs. I've seen some really interesting loced hair colors. I'm in a toss up between blonde and a red. I'm leaning more towards blonde. When I originally had my hair loced my loctician (April 12, 2011) put a few locs of a lighter brownish red color. It added something extra but I think I'm ready to go bolder. I've dyed my hair blonde before. Well not my whole head just streaks and the back bottom part. I liked the streaks. So I think I'm going to go for it. Not sure how many streaks I'll do though. I went to the store last night to see what hair colors were available for a good price. I can't remember what brand I used last time. The last time I had my hair dyed was in 2005. Dying the locs will be a new adventure to learn about. I've been doing research and I've read the big warning only have your loctician do this, and then I hear it's easy from the DIY'ers. I'm a DYI'er :). After deciding not to get any hair dye last night, this morning I decided to do a little Photoshop work to a photo to see what it might look like. You tell me, Go for it or No.


                                           Stay as is                        or                                  blonde streak?

Chignons & such

Hello Everyone!

I think it's time for a hair update :). I've recently had the baby. She is doing well, she's 4 weeks today! I think I'm getting back to my normal self. I definatly feel better. I'm 1/2 pound aways from my pre-pregnancy weight. Im not at the weight I wish to be but I'm happy to be back to square one in this situation.

So what's going on with the hair scene? I've been back and forth with my hair. I've had people ask me advice which is very flattering but I fell on the care for my own for a little while. I had some serious hair hatred during pregnancy too. I didn't want to make any hair decisons until after pregnancy. It might have just been the hormones ;).

I'm still on the quest to find out how to soften my locs. I've been using the Triple Moisture conditoner from Netrogena. I'll mix it with water and gycerine and use it as a daily spray. I tried and Apple Cider Vinegar rinse and it did remove build up. I was quite happy with it. My locs are frizzy but I'm getting used to it. I think I'm actually embracing them as they are...

A few days ago I tried a hairstyle that I saw in Whole Living Magazine. I took a picture of the page. It was really easy and quick to do.

Here is my result. I really like this style. I'll add my own twist on it and add curlies in the front or something.

I also did a braid out style that didn't last long, and a few other styles.

Ok that's about it. :) Need to go cuddle the kids now. Have a wonderful day/night.

Lock Loops

Hello all a great friend, Alyssa posted on the LoCs ‘N’ Dreads facebook group that she had purchased some Lock Loops. I looked up the site, www.lockloops.com and views a few youtube videos on them. I had seen the site and thought eh not now they look a little goofy. So I dismissed them until now.  My order was placed for 1 pack of 30 on July 20, 2011. I did receive a notice that they were on back order. That to me was a bummer but a good thing. It meant I had to wait but obviously they seem to be in demand. I got my lock loops on the 29th. I was excited to see them arrive.
I found a YouTube video by BigandLittleM on how to make your own leave in conditioner and setting lotion. I am still trying to soften my locs and decided to try her homemade recipe. It did seem to soften my hair. It’s a simple recipe so click and view her video! I surprised to read on the Lock Loops bag that it’s better to have damp hair and not completely wet hair. I just knew the hair needed to be saturated. I was glad that the hair didn’t have to be wet. I actually used the leave in conditioner recipe she gives in the video instead of the setting lotion. I haven’t made the setting lotion yet. Any how I sprayed my hair and put the lock loops in. I like these! I like these better than the flexi rods! They are soft foam and easy to sleep on.  Here goes the photos.

Here you can see a few of them being taken down. I used all 30 of the Lock Loops. There were any were from 2 locs to 4 locks on one Lock Loop.
Here they are all taken down. I had tighter curls with the Lock Loops than the flexi rods.
Here is a photo of the curls later on that night. Some of have dropped.
So I’m officially a Lock Loop fan! I may order another package so I can put fewer locs on them. Thanks Alyssa for letting me know how you liked the Lock Loops!

Pregnant and blah

Hello Everybody,
Well... I've not really done much with my hair. I've basically been wearing it up in a bun or a side bun.  I'm still trying to find a way to soften them. My hair is softer than the loc extension. I guess I'm hesitant to try much because I don't want to mess with the locking process. The loc extension feels scratchy. I've worn them up and off my neck and back. *sigh* any advice on this would be well appreciated :).

Besides my own locking issues, I've got some fantastic news to share! Pure Natural Blends was featured in an online video show review! I am so excited about the review, 2 new hair cremes and the new site layout and look! The video show can be seen here, just login as a guest. http://221588.myvideobroadcaster.com/playback/r/hwpM3NUB1Be3yphF

Visit PureNaturalBlends.com to see the changes and the two new products. We also added a blog to keep our wonderful customers up to date, Visit the blog here http://purenaturalblends.blogspot.com/


So here is a little picture for an update on the side ponytail hairstyle. My pregnant chubby face is coming along too lol!