April Recap

Hey y’all!  I  know I’ve been neglecting the blog this past month, but I wanted to come back and do a semi update on a few things I’ve wanted to post all in one.

Nail Update I’ll have a full nail update coming soon, but I did discover a way to help my nails stay protected and to keep them from breaking.  This picture was taken at the beginning of April and my nails are much longer now.  Don’t worry, I’ll share my secret:-)

International Textile Expo

I attended the International Textile Expo this year and it was cool, because this was the first year it was held in Atlanta.  It’s an expo only open to retailers and manufacturers who buy or use fabrics, notions, trimmings and patterns for their business.

  My Sister’s Bornday

My sister’s birthday was in April also and we celebrate with food.  Lots of it.  So we went out to dinner multiple times.  One outing was at Brookwood Grill, one of our fave restaurants. Atlanta Dogwood Festival

I attended the annual Atlanta Dogwood Festival with my family and had a blast!  I love festivals and I go almost every year to this fest for all of the beautiful and unique art and the yummy food.

Marley Twists

 

I installed my marley twists almost 3 weeks ago and I love them!  In a future post, I’ll give you all the deets on the brand, color, and products I used for the install.  I’ll also share how I’m maintaining them.

Focus T25

 

I’ve also started the Beachbody Focus T25 program by Sean T.  It’s crazy how great of a workout you can get in just 25 minutes.  I’ll be posting my results from this also:-)

I hope everyone had an awesome April and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

-MkLaShay

Braid Out on Blown Out Hair

One of my uncles got married a few weeks ago and I wanted to do something different for the wedding.  Initially, I planned on flat ironing my hair.  It’s been over 2 years since I’ve seen myself with straight hair, so that would have been cool.  I looked at the weather forecast and saw rain for the weekend, which I hear is good luck for weddings, but bad business for straight natural hair.  I instead, decided to do a braid out on blown out hair. The products I used were:

• Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Leave-In Spray
• Urban Therapy Twisted Sista Blow Drying Cream
• Fekkai Glossing Cream (I’ve used this since my relaxed days and it’s a staple)

The styling tools I used were:

• Rat Tail for parting
• Wide Tooth Comb for Detangling
• Roller Brush for keeping the hair taut and straight for tension method blow drying
• Modified Denman Brush for blowing out the hair
• Clips
• Blow Dryer of course

I started with freshly washed and hennaed hair.I divided my hair into 8 sections.I finger detangeld, then followed with the wide tooth comb. I lightly sprayed the heat tame spray and then followed with less than a dime sized amount of the blow drying cream and the glossing cream.  I followed with the blow dry.Half way done!Afterwards, I put each half into a bantu knot to stretch it a little more.  On the pic below, the left was stretched and the right side wasn’t.  You can clearly see the difference.
I then braided my hair up using Shea Moisture’s Curl Enhancing Smoothie, sealed with a little whipped shea butter.The next day, I was all set!I took down each braid, with lightly oiled fingers.I love how shiny, henna makes my hair.I did a little fluffing and separating and my look was complete!  I loved it!  My hair was stretched, but still big and defined.  I still plan to flat iron sometime this year.  I have no idea when, so be on the lookout:-)

 

Do you ever blow out your hair or use heat before styling?

-MkLaShay

9 Inch Nails: How to Naturally Grow Long & Healthy Nails

via heyfranhey

I’ve been attempting to take better care of myself in every way this year and I often forget about the health of my nails.  I’ve never had a big problem with growing my nails a decent length, but I normally experience breakage the longer they grow.  I follow the lovely Francheska of heyfranhey and she posted her nail growing “secret.”  She suggested rubbing unrefined virgin coconut oil(or any natural oil of your choice) on your nails once a day.  Nails break when they become dry and brittle and the oil strengthens and moisturizes your nails.  The top picture and the one below are her results!

via heyfranhey

Her nails look amazing!  If you opt to wear nail polish, she suggest putting a layer of oil on your nail, then your base coat, followed by your polish.  Then, finish with your top coat to lock in the moisture.

via heyfranhey

I will be trying this out for the next month and posting my results.  The following pics are of my nails after oiling them sporadically for a week.  I can’t wait to see my results over the next month!

Does anyone else oil their nails?  If so, do you get good results?

-MkLaShay

 

World Natural Hair Show (Part 1)

I attended The World Natural Hair Show this past Saturday and I had a blast!  Like promised, I took lots of pics of the festivities.This is me after doing my make up and before doing my hair.  Hence, my hair being “pineappled.”  I’ve been slacking with my makeup lately, so I decided to something fun for the show. This is after taking my hair down and fluffing, fluffing, and fluffing some more.  This is a 2 day old braid out.  I wanted my hair nice and big and fluffy for the hair show. Walking in, I was a little overwhelmed.  It was sensory overload, with gorgeous braid outs, twist outs, fros, lucious locs, braids, blowouts, and booths everywhere I turned. Love this shirt!
The picture doesn’t do this henna tattoo any justice.  It was beautiful in person and had a lot of shimmer that didn’t show up in the photo. The Organic Root Stimulator/Curls Unleashed Area These earrings are too cute!

Check back tomorrow for part 2!

-MkLaShay

I’m Going to the World Natural Hair Show

I know I’ve been like Casper lately, but I wanted to drop in and say that I will be at the World Natural Hair, Health & Beauty Show this weekend!  This will be my first time attending, which is sad, considering I live in Atlanta.  I’ll be there with my nikon in hand, snapping pictures, and absorbing all the natural fabulosity that I’m sure will take place, and posting all about it next week.  I’m pretty excited!!!  Will anyone else be there?

-MkLaShay

“I Hope that You’re the One…If not, you are the Prototype” My New Love: Bentonite Clay

I have a new boo ya’ll!  I had to wait until we were going steady before I made the announcement, but I have a new love affair with bentonite clay.  For a while, I heard of many people using mud washes and mixing up different clay mixtures to cleanse their hair who raved about it.  One day while I was browsing in my fave vitamin store, I saw this big jar of clay for under $8.  I snatched it up with the quickness and tried a facial that night and really liked it.  Then, I tried it on my hair and I fell in love. My mixture consists of a few tablespoons of bentonite clay, apple cider vinegar, and aloe vera juice. It’s important to make sure you use non-metal bowls and spoons to mix your clay mixture with, because contact with metal may decrease the clay’s potency.
I don’t have exact measurements.  I keep adding and mixing until it looks right.  I also put a little water in to thin it out if it gets too thick. Next, I divide my hair into 4 sections. I lightly spritz it with my moisture mix. Then I put the clay mixture on from root to tips.  I take some and lightly rub it on my scalp also.  Be sure that your mixture isn’t too thick, otherwise, it may be hard to wash out. Continue to put the mixture on each section. Then I put me a plastic baggy on and let it sit for about 10-20 minutes, I use whatever is left over to make me facial mask too.  Why not? Don’t leave the mixture on your hair for too long, bc it can harden and be hard to wash out.  If you’re worried about that, you can wash it out immediately and still get awesome results. This is my hair after washing the clay mixture out.  My curls, kinks, and coils are poppin, my hair feels really soft, moisturized, and it feels clean!  This is now my go to cleanser.

Have you ever tried bentonite clay or a mud wash before?

-MkLaShay