Tuesday, November 19, 2013

I hit 5 digits!!

Today is a happy day for me! According to the statistics of blogger, my blog has received more than ten thousand views!! Considering that I blog to keep tabs on myself and sometimes to just record what I have been doing to myself and sometimes to put my vision boards out there, it is amazing that people actually read all of my random ramblings!

To all my followers - I see you, lol! And thank you!



To the lurkers - I know y'all are PLENTY. Especially over in the US of A. Thank you for taking an interest, much appreciated.



Herewith I promise to continue to be a little crazy, a little hair obsessed and totally random!

Blessed week everyone!

PS How come over a third of my readers are American and less than 10 percent from my home country Namibia? I'm just wondering...



Travel bug has bitten in a major way...again!

2013 is at death's door. We have a matter fo weeks before we end off this year and this of course brings with it much introspection and reflection. So, this past few days I have made the decision that I am going to go on a little Eurotrip next year, during the European summer. I'm going to be saving my little behind off (no more expensive experimental hair products for me!!) because on this little Eurotrip I WILL (Yes, I will experience as much as I possibly can!!) be privileged to experience some of the following:

London




Amsterdam



Munich





The Rhine Valley



The Alps



Venice





And of course, Paris








Come hell or high water, 2014 shall be the year that I adhere to my travel lusts. 

What's on your to do list for 2014?



The verdict is in

So, a few weeks ago I spent a ridiculous amount of money on hair products, a few of them I bought simply based on some online reviews and the intense desire to see if they would also work magic on my own tresses. Alas, at least one of them is a major bust!

Let me relay my most recent wash day and you'll see what I mean. 

  1. Prepoo with the last of my Tresemme Split Remedy and sunflower oil. I can't believe how brilliant sunflower oil is! I used is only for cooking in the past, thinking that only the more expensive oils are suitable for one's hair. Boy, was I wrong - ceramide rich sunflower oil is brilliant. Tangles disappeared as I covered my hair in the prepoo mix, which was oil heavy, I was a complete oil slick when I was done. I chilled with this for about 20 minutes and then headed to the bath. 
  2. Shampooed with Tresemme Ultra Moisturising Shampoo. I really dig this shampoo, it really doesn't take much to get my hair nice and clean, but my hair never feels stripped. Ever. My hair was SO soft after shampooing that I skipped the instant conditioning and moved straight to deep conditioning. This might have been a mistake. 
  3. Yeah, this is where the crap starts. I couldn't find my bottle of ORS Replenishing Conditioner so I grabbed the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Long & Luscious Conditioner. Since I felt like it was a bust the last time I used it (no slip, hair didn't feel moisturized) I also grabbed my bottle of Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Conditioner and I mixed them up. The Tresemme Naturals provided slip and so I slathered on the mixture, trying to cover every strand, covered my hair and then shilled for a good 45 minutes. Once I go to rinse though...oi vey! Aussie truly is not for me. Or rather for my hair. Considering that a bottle costs close to a 100 bucks, I am very very pissed and disappointed. Even with the addition of the Tresemme, my hair did NOT feel like they received a miracle! It felt better than the time I used only the Aussie, but my hair felt clumped together and slightly straw like. I was NOT happy. 
  4. I applied my leave ins of Kair Serum, Bone Strait, Moisture IQ and 2 spritzes of the Tresseme Heat Defense. I then proceeded to finger detangle my hair. I lost way too much hair for my liking, and my hair simply didn't feel 100 percent. After finger detangling, I parted my hair into three vertical sections and started to roller set, detangling each section separately before placing the roller. Again, too much clumps and knots. I swear, it feels like the Aussie CREATED the knots. I had a mix of water and Tresemme Conditioner that I spritzed on my hair (it was drying quickly) before placing the rollers and this helped a BIT. 
  5. Once I was done, my shoulders were killing me, and it was getting late. So I whipped out the hair dryer to speed the process along, and it still felt like it took forever for my hair to become dry. 
  6. Once dry and out of the rollers I wrapped my hair and went to bed. And my hair feels thick, like the strands are coated. Not liking it. 
Conclusions - I saw demarcation line breakage. And I don't know what to do to stop it in its tracks. Advice?????? Secondly, I will never repurchase Aussie conditioners. They might work like the bomb for other ladies, but my hair does not like it! And it is too bloody expensive! I also think that I need to adjust my leave in product application so that my hair stops having this heavy feeling right after being freaking washed. Overall not a happy wash day. 

How did yours go?
Happy Tuesday

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Hindsight has 20/20 vision

Hey there y'all!

I want to tell you a little story, actually provide you with a tiny bit of personal history. Many many years ago (okay, it wasn't that long ago, but it sure feels like it) I was elected as a prefect to my high school. Now, to any of my readers not familiar with the concept,  prefects are also referred to as hall monitors, student representative council members, learners representative council members etc etc. Basically we were a group of 20 seniors who assisted the teachers with discipline in the school, as well as fund raising attempts and school spirit events. Anyhoo, once elected, once the initial euphoria has worn off, there is one day that every newly elected prefect dreaded - initiation day! Initiation day is very much comparable to hazing, but to be honest it was loads and loads of fun.

The day before our initiation day we were informed to bring to school shorts and a t-shirt that we do not feel particularly sorry for. On the day we were summoned to the Phys. Ed. changing rooms and had to change into said sorry ass clothes. We were then blind folded and led across the school yard. Do not ask me where everywhere we walked, I do not know to this day. Kindly note that the rest of the entire school was a raucous audience to our "shame and humilation". We were dunked in the school fish pond (yep, still blind folded) and then fed some gross stuff, ( I can totally do Fear Factor!!) and then stuff was thrown on our heads whilst we were standing in the very hot, unforgiving Keetmanshoop summer sun. Specifically, an egg or two were cracked over our heads, cooking oil was poured over our heads and syrup - sickly sweet golden syrup, amongst others. Of course this mess was all over my hair, as well as dripping over my face. I was a HOT mess when I got home. My mom would not let me in the house, her words - "Go hose yourself down first! Here's a towel!"

So I trotted out to the lawn and started hosing myself off (thank heavens I was wearing a bathing suit underneath those nasty clothes!) Of course, the mess that was my hair needed much more than just the spray from the gardening hose. Once acceptable to my mother's standards I entered the house and jumped in the shower. I cannot remember what products I used, but be assured I did the "lather, rinse and repeat as needed" routine a few times!! Back then I didn't even know about deep conditioning, I just applied LOTS of conditioner after finally getting my hair clean and chilled with it for about 5 minutes before rinsing and roller setting. My hair felt good once out of the rollers and I didn't think much of it, I was just happy that I was clean.

Fast forward to the next day. Our initiation continued with a fun day, which included activities like potato sack races and 3 legged races, new prefects versus the old prefects. Now, I looked around at the other girls, and noticed that a lot of them still had oily, nasty looking hair. Some girls did a wash and go, but the curls were lanky from the oily residue. Others looked stiff. Looking at pictures from that day a million years ago my hair was fresh, shiny and positively gorgeous. And I never quite knew why...until now.

Now I know that hair likes protein, and eggs contain a lot of protein. My hair unwittingly got a protein treatment on initiation day. Secondly, hair loves hot oil treatments and oil rinses in general. Sunflower oil contain ceramides, which is excellent for hair as it prevents moisture loss. That day my hair unwittingly got a ceramide rich oil rinse. And lastly, golden syrup contains molasses as its primary ingredient, which adds moisture and sheen to hair. Essentially, I got three nice treatments on initiation day without even knowing it. Looking back my hair thanked was in an excellent condition for about two weeks following that day.

Now that I remember all of these wonderful things, how am I going to use that information in the future? I now know that my hair is a little protein sensitive and I have enough protein conditioners in my arsenal, so I don't think that I'll be grabbing the eggs just yet. But, that big ole bottle of sunflower oil in the kitchen that almost never gets used - THAT bad boy is moving to the bathroom, and shall be incorporated into hot oil treatments and oil rinses and prepoos. What's even more great - sunflower oil is dirt cheap, especially compared to my other oils that I've been using, which is coconut and olive. I am actually looking forward to my next wash day just to have a go at the sunflower oil.

Anybody else have had good experiences with sunflower oil? Holler at me!
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Have a great Tuesday everybody!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Stepping up my game game in order to retain

Hey there y'all. As I've professed numerous times before, I want to reach APL by the end of 2013. I have about 1.5-2 inches to go, and only about 50 days in which to do it. So first I'll tell you about my most reecent wash day and then my plan to reach APL by 31 December 2013.

My wash day was simpler. Since I know trying too many new things can lead to disaster, I simplified this wash day to get the most from not only what I was USING but also from what I was DOING.


  1. Prepoo (detangle) with a 70:30 mix of coconut oil and olive oil. Left it in my hair under 2 plastic caps for about 30-45 minutes. It is bloody hot in Windhoek right now, so I think the natural heat helped the process along. 
  2. Shampoo using my regular Tresemme Moisture Shampoo. I really like this shampoo. It lathers like cray cray, but my hair never feels stripped. So I feel like my hair is nice and clean, without it feeling dry, stripped but rather feeling nourished and soft. 
  3. Instant conditioned using Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Conditioner. Yeah, the verdict is out - I like this conditioner, and shall repurchase. 
  4. Deep conditioned using the Amla Legend Deep Treatment. This DC is VERY thick. It also didn't melt into my hair on application, and it didn't have much slip. I hate products that don't have slip! Regardless, I smothered my hair in it and covered my hair with a couple of plastic caps AND a scarf to try and trap heat, and I prayed that this would help. 
  5. Glory halleluja! Rinsing out the treatment my hair indeed felt soft and strong. Not as buttery soft as my beloved ORS Replenishing Conditioner makes my hair feel, but much better than the Aussie made my hair feel the wash day before. I think there's about 2 uses worth left in the tub, I'll give a more thorough review once I've finished the tub. 
  6. Applied my usual leave ins - Bone Strait, Moisture IQ, Kair Serum and I added a couple of spritzes of the Tresseme Heat Defense. Even though I did not plan on using any heat, I believe that one cannot say no to protection. 
  7. I proceeded to roller set and then had my hair air dry in the rollers. 
My hair came out feeling GREAT. I cross wrapped it after applying a bit of my Amla Legend 1001 Oils Wrapping cream, covered with a scarf and went to bed. This morning my hair felt uber smooth, but here's where my retaining strategy kicks in. Instead of wearing my hair out, or even just in a normal ponytail, I did a french braid and I'm planning to keep it in this braid for at least 3 days. 

My retaining plan is thus protective styling and minimal manipulation. I shall moisturize and seal every night, but by means of spraying my hair lightly with water, then oil and then covering with my satin scraf whilst in the french braid. I want to see if I can't cut manipulation of my hair to just twice a week, wash days included. 

So here's my look for today until at least Thursday:


As y'all can see, my hair is still a lovely mahogany shade. I actually think it looks better now after the first official wash since I applied the colour. And I think my braiding skills have improved. Styles like this would also be most condusive to my work out plans, pretty out styles do not survive in the gym!

Any other goals out there to be reached by New Year's Eve?

Have a great week everybody!



Colour cravings somewhat satisfied

Alrighty. Y'all would remember that with my latest hair haul I also picked up a box of temporary hair colour, which is basically just a colour rinse, namely Caivil Colourshines in Racy Wine. I was aiming to be fierce redhead for a few weeks.

So last week, I got home and being slightly bored, I grabbed the box. Now, according to the instructions, hair must be shampooed first before applying the colour. Since my hair was quite clean, considering that my wash day was 2 days prior, I decided to forego shampooing and apply the colour from the word go.

The colour needs no mixing, it can be applied straight to ones hair, which is what I did. Out of the bottle it is the reddest of red that you can imagine, although the shade is a cooler red instead of the warmer red that I was expecting. Regardless, after seperating my hair into 4 quadrants I started applying it. After my haid was coated, I covered it with a couple of plastic bags an chilled with it for a good 45 minutes. According to the instructions, the deeper you want the colour, the longer you sit with it, adding heat if you want it to last longer than the normal 4-6 washes.

When I started rinsing - holy mother of Zues! The water refused to run clear people! It looked like my head was bleeding, lol. I still have patches of pink on my bath tub despite scrubbing like a crazy person. Anyhoo, when I was FED UP of being bent over the tub, I applied my trusted ORS Replenishing Conditioner, covered my head again and proceeded to deep condition for another 45 minutes. When I rinsed out the conditioner - more red coming out of the hair!!!! I was wondering if I will have ANY colour left on my hair once I'm done. My hair FELT great though.

I then put in my usual leave ins and proceeded to roller set. When my hair was dry and out of the rollers, I could FEEL that maybe I should have shampooed, my hair felt heavy. Soft, yes. But also heavy. Regardless, I did still have colour in my hair, but it's more a deep mahogany shine instead of colour that pops. Also, the colour rinse made my strands swell, meaning that my hair has been thicker and has had more volume since, which is nice. So I wrapped my hair and it came out pretty straight the next dat, so I just ponytailed it for the rest of the week. (I wish I could give y'all a pony tail comparison of my progress, but with my previous phone being stolen, all those pics are gone now. Oh well, I will just have to kind of start all over.)

And here's the result. Check out all of that stubborn colour left by my nape that did NOT want to be rinsed out, lol.


I still have a little of the colour left in the bottle, I might give myself a touch up in a few weeks time to deepen the colour. 

What do y'all think of colour rinses? Anyone tried Caivil's Colourshines? 

Happy Monday everybody!

Trying everything at once - huge mistake!

Hi there everybody! I know, long time no see. So, last time I told you about my massive hair haul and how I lost my mind just a little bit. Well, it seems as if my mind remained lost for longer than I contemplated. Reasons why a) I'm craving MORE products (the product junkie in me is craving another fix!) and b) on the wash day following that haul I basically tried everything that I bought and my hair was not happy and now I have NO idea which product is to blame!!

To give you a quick recap on that stupid washday:

  1. Prepoo for 30-45 min with a mix of olive oil and Tresemme Split Remedy. As I told y'all, I am not crazy about that conditioner and now I just wanna use it up and then I shall not repurchase. 
  2. Rinsed out the prepoo and shampooed using the Amla Legend Shampoo. This shampoo smell divine and is uber thick, which means it'll last forever. That's what I like, What I don't like - for a shampoo containing sulfates, it didn't lather much. In actual fact, it barely lathered. I shampooed my hair 3 times because it just didn't really feel clean to me...next time I'll try the shampoo in an actual shower instead of bent over a bath tub, maybe that'll make a difference. 
  3. Instant conditioned with Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Conditioner. Okay, off the bat, I think I really like this. Silicone free but SO MUCH SLIP!! My finger glided through my hair, tangles melted away, my hair felt soft. Over all I think not a bad buy at all. 
  4. Deep conditioned with Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Luscious Long. This conditioner is also uber thick, which translates into not much slip. I don't like lack of slip at all! I however persevered and deep conditioned with it under a plastic cap for 45 min. When I rinsed it off though - my hair did NOT feel as conditioned as I would have liked. But it was the first time, I'll revisit the Aussie, since there's still quite a bit left in the bottle. 
  5. Put in my usual leave ins of Bone Strait, Moistur IQ and Kair Serum, but then also lightly sprayed my hair with the Tresemme Heat Defense. I then proceeded to roller set my hair. (Note to self: Must buy bigger rollers! Yippee!!)
  6. As it was getting late I dried my hair in the rollers with the hair dryer. When I took out the rollers my hair felt coated and stiff. I was not a happy camper, but I don't know what the culprit is exactly. 
So, lesson learned - do not try a whole arsenal of new products all at once!