Wednesday, November 26, 2008

New Hairware!

Doesn't this sizzle? This is a fascinator I made for a fellow BAB (www.brownandbridal.com) sista. Mo gave me carte blanche on the design, and it had me a bit intimidated at first...I was like UHHHH...WHAT IS I'M GONE DO???? Okay...Not really...but close...

Crazy, but I actually saw this piece in a dream...That's how I usually come up with designs...I go to bed one night stressing over what I'm going to do, and sometime during the night I think God gives me the inspiration...

So here's what He gave me. It's the MONIQUE. It works...




Monday, November 17, 2008

Sulfates...at it again...

I ran across this article and thought it was rather interesting...




If you have no idea why we’re pondering that question today, go brush your teeth real quick and grab a drink (orange juice, iced tea, beer—anything except water). Awful, isn’t it?You can thank sodium laureth sulfate, also known as sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) for ruining your drink, depending on which toothpaste you use. Both of these chemicals are surfactants – wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid – that are added to toothpastes to create foam and make the paste easier to spread around your mouth (they’re also important ingredients in detergents, fabric softeners, paints, laxatives, surfboard waxes and insecticides).
While surfactants make brushing our teeth a lot easier, they do more than make foam. Both SLES and SLS mess with our taste buds in two ways. One, they suppress the receptors on our taste buds that perceive sweetness, inhibiting our ability to pick up the sweet notes of food and drink. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they break up the phospholipids on our tongue. These fatty molecules inhibit our receptors for bitterness and keep bitter tastes from overwhelming us, but when they’re broken down by the surfactants in toothpaste, bitter tastes get enhanced.
So, anything you eat or drink after you brush is going to have less sweetness and more bitterness than it normally would. Is there any end to this torture? Yes. You don’t need foam for good toothpaste, and there are plenty out there that are SLES/SLS-free. You won’t get that rabid dog look that makes oral hygiene so much fun, but your breakfast won’t be ruined.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Moisture...

What is it??

I got this question the other day, and I thought I'd post it in the blog because I think there are a lot of people who don't know what moisturizers are and what they're suppose to do...First and foremost, let me start off by saying sorry to all y'all sending the "nasty grams" because I haven't updated the blog...I've been trying to get Tress Dressed up and running, and it's been A LOT of work. I was in a craft fair yesterday, and sold most of my pieces, so I have to revamp my website...I pretty much have to start all over...I COULD have worse problems, right? I'm not complaining...I'm having the time of my life...Anyway, y'all keep praying for ya girl...God is blessing me BIG TIME!
Anyhoo, on to the moisture subject...


Water is the only for real, for real "moisturizer". The only problem is that water evaporates quickly, so it (alone) can't keep our hair moisturized for very long. Oils help in moisturizing by preventing the water (for real, for real) moisture from evaporating from the hair...

So technically speaking, no...Oils aren't moisturizers...They aid in the process of moisturizing...What you want a moisturizer to do is to increase the water content (by hydration) while at the same time reducing its evaporation...This is a moisturizer's one and only goal.

The hard part is to find one that doesn't leave your hair, sticky, greasy, gooey, gluey, or hard in the process...And unfortunately, we've learned to THINK that moisturizing the hair means our hair has to be greasy or oily at the same time. It doesn't...Thankfully technology and research has afforded us vast offering of moisturizers out there with a ton of benefits...

Which brings me to one of my must haves HUMECTANTS!!! Man, if Obama hadn't won the Presidency, I swear I'd be voting for humectants for President! A humectant is a moisturizing "vehicle" (for lack of a better word) that is benefical to our hair (and skin) . Humectants (like glycerine and honey) draw the moisture from the air. Having a product that has both humectants and oils in it is best (IMO, of course...;) )

Different moisturizers do different things, and everyone's hair responds differently...Some folks swear by shea butter while others swear by olive oil. There's no magic potion, so it's always best to try out different ones to find the one that's best for you. I make my own hair butter with a mixture of shea butter, sweet almond oil, and some other stuff. It works for me...

So here's a list of some great moisturizers that I've tried:

Shea Butter

Olive Oil

Sweet Almond oil

Coconut Oil (Refined, Virgin, or Fractionated)

Carol's Daughter Healthy Hair Butter

Curls Quenched Curls Moisturizer



Oyin Handmade Whipped Pudding