The Good Hair Blog: As I am Coconut Cowash
Check out this review of one of my FAVORITE co washes!
Always remember: You are Fearfully, Wonderfully and “Beautifully mane.”
Tag Archives: Black women
To pre – poo or not to pre – poo?
This past weekend, before I began to wash my hair with my current installation( yes, I still have my partial weave in… chose to leave it in for another week or so ), I noticed how DRY my hair and scalp was. Like, super dry.
Because I have a partial weave, and I typically flat iron the real part of my hair to blend in with the extensions when styling, I don’t moisturize as often for two reasons: 1. I don’t want the extensions to become super oily and 2. I don’t want the real part of my hair to look overly greasy.
Now, before my wash days, I haven’t been pre – pooing like I usually do. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the phrase “pre – poo”, its short for pre – shampoo, meaning a moisturizing routine you use before shampooing your hair ( for example coating your hair with olive oil, jojoba oil, etc.) Realizing how dry my hair was this past weekend, I realized that, partial weave or not, my hair was in DIRE need of a good pre – poo treatment! And so the process began.
Heres my five step formula on how to properly pre – poo your hair before either co – washing, or clarifying your natural hair:
1. Make sure you have all of the ingredients you need. Great pre – poo ingredients to use are sealing oils, such as coconut oil ( unrefined ), Olive Oil, Jamacian Black castor oil, etc. Make sure you also have a wide tooth comb for sectioning, and a plastic cap for covering the hair. My personal favorite is coconut oil! Make sure it is always unrefined.
2. Section your hair. I typically section my hair into four sections, since that is what tends to be easiest for me. With my current installation, I simply separated the real part of my hair into two small sections before the process.
3. Coat each section with the pre – poo mix or oil evenly, and twist or braid to prevent tangles or breakage. Pretty self explanatory.
4. Cover hair with a plastic cap and allow your hair to sit under a hooded dryer for 15 minutes. No hooded dryer? No problem! You can either use a blow dryer for approximately 20 minutes, cover without heat for an hour, or simply allow the pre – poo to moisturize overnight.
5. Follow up with your typical wash routine!
There you have it! The pre – poo process is such an important part of a naturalista’s wash routine. One of the most important ways to maintain healthy, natural hair is to always moisturize. The more moisture, the better! 😉
Hope you naturals had a great weekend and a wonderful MLK day! Here are a few pictures from a Charity Ball I attended this weekend in Downtown Detroit for UAW Ford Motor Company. We do it big in the D’!
Posted up with my co – worker/ fellow fashion blogger ransackthecloset. Check out her posts on http://ransackthecloset.wordpress.com!
Share your comments and thoughts below. Always remember: You are Fearfully, Wonderfully and “Beautifully mane.”
Road to mastering “The LOC Method”
Do you use the LOC method? What has been your experience?
Share your thoughts and comments below!
Always remember: You are Fearfully, Wonderfully and “Beautifully mane.”
Have you checked out my “Beautifully mane” about page?
What the heck is “Beautifully mane”? How was I inspired? Check out the link below.
Is the term “nappy” offensive?
So I came across a heated twitter discussion ( as always ) a couple weeks ago about the word “nappy”.
The question was, Are you offended when people, whether black, white, hispanic, what have you, use this word to describe African American hair?
Needless to say, there were TONS of very colorful responses. Some thought the term “nappy” is utterly despicable, and should never be used in the English language. Others weren’t as offended by the derogatory term, simply because they “don’t care” or it doesn’t bother them as much.
Source:http://Www.globalcouture.net
PERSONALLY… I think the term “nappy” is such a slang term, and we all know it derived from the slave days. “Nappy” was used to describe African American hair that has more of a “coarse”, kinkier texture. In my opinion, it just has such a negative connotation, and RING to it. It sounds gross. Im not a fan of the word.
Naturals, what are your thoughts? Are you offended by the term “nappy”, or does it not bother you? Post your thoughts and comments below!
Always remember: You are Fearfully, Wonderfully and “Beautifully mane.”
Check out this FLY Natural Hair Cuff Bracelet!
Check out this FLY Natural Hair Cuff Bracelet!
Naturals, how F – L – Y is this bracelet?
This accessory is in my opinion, the perfect addition to a Natural Girls accessory collection. Check it out, share your comments below & don’t forget to reblog and follow the fabulous just pearlz by following the link above.
With kinks,
Lizz
Always remember: You are Fearfully, Wonderfully and “Beautifully mane.”
Light Skin vs. Dark skin: Are we at Race War with OURSELVES?
So, I came across a very compelling article the other day on the web. It was entitled, “10 Unnacceptable cycles Black People have to change.” I will make sure to have the link will be posted below.
The title immediately grabbed my attention, I had to see what this was all about! Scrolling through the list, I saw the cliche stereotypes that our race does seem to hold true such as poverty, crime, sexual promiscuity (For clarification, I am not saying other cultures cannot be held accountable to these stereotypes as well), etc. I came across the eighth thing on the list which was as follows: “Intra racial discrimination”.
Below its title, it stated “We are one community made of up various colors. At no time should we place one complexion over another. Without divisiveness, we are a force.”
Powerful. I began to ponder… what did they mean by this? I immediately began to think of all of the “Light skin” vs. “Dark skin” memes I have been witnessing lately. Are we at a stage in our history in which one complexion within black culture gets preferential treatment over the other? Interesting, right.
To fully understand intraracial discrimination and the skin color paradox/color complex within the African American community is an issue that I not only feel very strongly about, but it needs to be addressed.
The United States of America is known WORLDWIDE as the melting pot, made up of various cultures, races, religions, and backgrounds. While in some cultures, diversity isn’t typically embraced as freely, but here? We embrace it, we live it. And it hasn’t always been this way, especially in African American culture.
From the time period in which slavery was abolished, to the Civil Rights movement, to electing our FIRST EVER African American president of the United States, our country has come a long way. Although racism, as we know it, is still present, it is not necessarily PREVALENT. But there is a question that comes to mind… What is the actual meaning behind “racism?”
Sure, there is Racism as we know it, which can be defined by Google as “The belief that all members of each Race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that Race, esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” This includes stereotypes against races, discriminating against other races, religions, or others who we think are drastically different than us, in a way that we are not accustomed to.
Historically, you could argue that lighter skinned African-Americans get preferential treatment over darker skinned African-Americans, because they are seen as being closer to white. Unfortunately lighter people have received preferential treatment throughout the years, especially when it comes to educational, employment, and social opportunities. This standard that light-skinned people are treated better than other complexions has inevitably created a divisive skin color paradox, with serious psychological repercussions.
For example, this whole “Light skins be like” and “Dark skins be like” trend on Instagram and other social media avenues. Sure, this trend started off as jokes that DO IN FACT hold truth, but are we discriminating against our own race?
If I see a African American of a lighter complextion in passing, do I automatically assume they don’t reply to texts, or are more emotional? Is it meant to be light hearted, or is it new age racism?
And don’t even get me started on this whole Drake thing. Saying he’s emotional because he’s light skinned, or that he’s “soft” and everything. Again, these assumptions and stereotypes do hold some truth to them, but when is enough ENOUGH? Are we taking these jokes too far? Is someone bound to get offended? Is it fair to say that we are discriminating against our OWN RACE?
There is no right or wrong answer to this never-ending question; just facts, thoughts, feelings and emotions. This topic has been heavy on my heart and I would love to hear your comments and thoughts below.
Are we at a race war with ourselves?
Thanks guys!
Always remember: You are Fearfully, Wonderfully and “Beautifully mane.”
