Vacation

Hello Ladies!
 There will be no activity from Diva Locks for at least a week, don't be so sad ;) the diva and I along with my mom are going on a little vacay to Vegas baby! Well actually the diva has her dance national competition so that's the real reason we are going but we are going to make a vacation out of it. The hubs couldn't take off work so he won't be going and JJ is going to stay home with him so it's a girls only trip. I am going to miss my men while I am gone though :( But we are going to have a blast and I will have lots of pics for you guys and a product review, and a swim care hair care routine so lots to look forward to dolls.

I am going to be extremely sad that I am going to miss any giveaways going on during that time :(

Criss-Cross and Two Buns

Disclaimer: This style was something that I did in 5 min. it came straight from the diva's normal banded style she wears after shampooing. So with that being said please ignore the horrible parts I didn't re-part her hair for the style and when I banded her hair at night I don't go for straight parts.


Sooo anyway I started this style on freshly clarified and deep condition hair that was sealed with Darcy's Botanicals Oil. Her hair was so super soft!

Simple style two criss crossed 3 strand twist ponytails that connect to two 3 strand twist buns in the back.

Enjoy!

New Hair Brush

Hello Divas,
 So yesterday I was trying to find this beauty supply store that was apparently out of business or moved locations because it wasn't there (insert sad face here) I was going to buy some Joico K-Pak Chelating Shampoo as part of my newly developed swim care hair care routine (more on that in another post later). Soooo I had to go to the CVS that was right there since the beauty supply store was no longer there and to my discovery that CVS store had lots of great goodies I was like a kid in a candy store. I picked up some of this instead of the K-Pak (which CVS didn't have, mind you they had all other kinds of products by Joico just not the kind I needed)

Ultra Swim Moisturizing Shampoo, I will do a review on this later, stay tuned


I also picked up this lovely!

Similar to the Denam Brush but a lot cheaper, I paid $4.29 and I picked up some hair clips for 50% (sale going on) I used this brush last night on damp hair after I detangled with my wide tooth comb and man I love it already! It just glided through my hair and made it so smooth, no snags or anything. It's my new baby :)

Enjoy!

Co-Washing

Hello Ladies,
 So I was at my local Wal Mart looking to use my coupons, Side Note: I think I am an amateur Extreme Couponer :) Anyway I had a coupon for Aussie Moist or Herbal Essences Hello Hydration, well I didn't buy either because I read the back of HEHH and saw that it contained Sodium Hydroxide so that is a big no-no then they were out of stock on the smaller bottles of Aussie Moist and considering I have never used it before I wasn't about to buy the big bottle. So I saw out of the corner of my eye in it's pretty green bottle Suave Almond and Shea Butter Conditioner so I bought the 32oz bottle for $2.84.

I know, I know I am super late on this product but I was looking for a new co-washing conditioner. What is co-washing you might ask for all those lovelies who don't know its when you wash your hair using only conditioner and no shampoo. I like to co-wash about 2-3 times a week in between my weekly wash with shampoo. I am currently using VO5 Moisture Milks which I have a love/hate relationship with. I love that it gives great slip and it's super cheap to buy less than a $1 but I hate that it is so thin and it becomes even thinner after I add EVOO to it. So I thought I would try something new, hence the Suave.

Have you used this product before?
If so what were your thoughts?
Do you love/hate it? Why?

I love hearing your guys thoughts!

Also do you co-wash your daughter's hair? I don't, because I don't like to manipulate the diva's hair when wet. I prefer to work with her dry, stretched, moisturized hair. I suppose I could do a co-wash then bun it and style the next day. Hmmm, maybe I will try that.

Winner of our 1st Giveaway!!!!

Drumroll please.......






The winner is

Michelle G!!

Please email me your address!



Length Check

I straightened my hair for a concert last night and I had the opportunity to do a length check

Enjoy!

April 2011

June 2011

Two Braided Ponytails with a Zig Zag Part

Hello There!

I didn't have a style in mind when I came up with this so I just went along and this is what came out! I first started with two angled cornrows going in opposite directions. Then I made a zig zag part going down the middle of the diva's head for two ponytails. I made 3 braids in each ponytail and then braided them all together and bobby pinned them to the other side of her head.


Enjoy!

3 braids

Braided together

Pinned across the head

10 Facts about the Diva - Virtual Play Date

Hello Lovelies,
 The Diva and I were invited to participate in this really cool Virtual Play date by one of my really good blogger friends Kandy. Thanks for the invite Kandy!!!!

Here goes:

If you have a blog post 10 facts about your child/children. Next thank and link back to the person who invited you to the play date. Invite a few other bloggers to participate in the online play date.

Have Fun!!!

1. Favorite movie of all time is Shark Boy and Lava Girl, she can watch that all day everyday lol
2. Favorite TV show is iCarly :)
3. Her favorite colors are dark pink and black (her words)
4. She wants to be a teacher when she grows up. Side Note: Before she wanted to be a waitress at Denny's LOL (definitely not knocking any Denny's employees but I told her to dream higher she could do anything)
5. She is definitely a girly girl, she loves wear skirts and dresses and would wear heels if I let her lol
6. The diva LOVES dance! She loves Jazz and can't get enough of it!
7. She is such a bread eater, any kind of bread she loves them all!
8. She loves to go to the pool, but won't get her hair wet : / That is changing this summer though
9. Loves to play with her stuffed animal Pug dog she named Brownie
10. She is obsessed with playing Dress Up games on the computer

That's all folks......

I would like to invited (in no particular order)

Pink Sugar
Curlture
Kinky Haired Lady

Non-Hair Related (Tutu)

So I made my second tutu ever! What do you think? I made this for my friend's sick little niece, God Bless her she has brain cancer and she just turned 1, please keep her in your prayers if you pray.

Enjoy!

Back of tutu

Front of tutu

Untrained Hair Mom: Twizted Tee's T-Shirt Giveaway

Untrained Hair Mom: Twizted Tee's T-Shirt Giveaway: "If you are Naturally Unique, Au Naturale, or on that Natural Hair Jorney this giveaway is for you! Add some HOT tees from Twizted Tee's to..."

Poof & Twist Out Ponytail

The diva has been begging me to change her hairstyle, So I took the 8 twists out for a twist out ponytail and took the flat twist design out and made a poof.


Enjoy!

Shampoo vs. Shampoo

So many of you may know that I have been on the hunt for my staple products, and with that being said I have tried many different kinds of shampoo's both SLS and Sulfate frees. I tried Curl's Sulfate Free Cream Cleanser which I didn't like, then I tried L'Oreal Sulfate Free Ever Pure Line, which was just okay and then my favorite of all time is Proclaim Olive Glossing Shampoo which contains SLS and I bought at Sally's. So I decided to compare the ingredients in both my shampoo's Proclaim and L'Oreal. Here are the results of my study :)

Proclaim Olive Glossing Shampoo

Ingredients:
WATER ,SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE ,COCAMIDE MEA ,COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE ,FRAGRANCE ,DISODIUM LAURETH SULFOSUCCINATE ,OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) FRUIT OIL ,OLIVE OIL PEG-7 ESTERS , HYDROLYZED WHEAT PROTEIN/PVP CROSSPOLYME ,GLYCOL STEARATE ,POLYQUATERNIUM-10 ,DECYL GLUCOSIDE ,PANTHENOL ,PEG-60 ALMOND GLYCERIDES ,CINNAMIDOPROPYLTRIMONIUM CHORIDE ,BENZOPHENONE-4 ,TETRASODIUM EDTA ,CITRIC ACID ,METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE ,METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE ,YELLOW 5 (CI 19140) , RED 33 (CI17200) , BLUE 1 (CI 42090), ALPHA-ISOMETHYL LONONE, LINALOOL, HEXYL CINNAMAL



using Tightly Curly's ingredients dictionary:
Good means that I like to see this in a product's list of ingredients
Caution means that this ingredient may not be good in some hair care products, or for some people
Okay means this product appears safe for a curly person like me to use
Avoid means this ingredient may hurt your hair. If you see this ingredient in a hair product, it's best to put it down and walk away.

L'Oreal EverPure Moisture Shampoo

Ingredients:

Aqua/Water/Eau, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycol Distearate, Glycereth 26, Decyl Glucoside, Parfum/Fragrance, PPG 5 Ceteth 20, Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Amodimethicone, Polyquaternium 7, Polyquaternium 10, Methylparaben, PEG 55 Propylene Glycol Oceate, Propylene Glycol, Carbomer, C11 15 Pareth 7, Benzophenone 3, Benzyl Salicylate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Glycerin, Trideceth 12, Laureth 9, Linalool, Tocopherol, Limonene, C12 13 Pareth 23, C12 13 Pareth 3, Benzyl Alcohol, Juniperus Communis Fruit Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Rosmarinus Officinalis Oil (Rosemary), Methylisothiazolinone, Sodium Hydroxide, Citric Acid

So as you can see the L'Oreal brand contains more questionable ingredients than the Proclaim, while it does contain 3 Good ingredients and the Proclaim only contains 2, it also contains 2 Avoid ingredients while Proclaim has none. 

My new staple shampoo and conditioner will be Proclaim Olive Glossing Shampoo, it is so moisturizing and I can detangle my hair with my fingers with the conditioner, I haven't been able to do that with any other conditioner.

Enjoy! 

Flat Twist Design & Twist Ponytail

It was hair time in our household so I wanted to give the diva something different and this thought popped into my head. I parted a rectangle section of hair on the top of her head then I made 3 angled parts within the rectangle section of hair and made flat twists that connected in a swirl pattern. I then wrapped that twist around the ponytail. For the hair remaining in the ponytail I made 8 small twists.


Enjoy!

8 Twists

Twist wrapped around ponytail

Cheese :)

Protective Style (Bun)

Hi there :)
  So I retired the twist out and decided to wear a protective style today, I left the front section out and gathered the remaining hair and wrapped a pony-o around twice then I sprayed my ends with Califia Moisturizing spray and then sealed with my Darcy's Botanical oil then I rolled them under and pinned them in placed with bobby pins. I moisturized and sealed the front section and rolled that to the side for a little swoop and pinned in place.

Enjoy!

Side view of swoop

pinned section ( I really need to learn how to hide my bobby pins)

Top of swoop

Bun

I couldn't find a darker pony-o :(

Product Review Time!

So I was recommended this brand of hair care products by one of my blogger friends Precious, so I purchased the sample sizes of their Moisturizing spray (Califia Moisturizing Spray) and then I was in need of a deep conditioner so I decided to try (Olive Moisture Mask)

Olive Moisture Mask

Their Claim:

This thick creamy olive butter deep conditioner is designed to detangle, moisturize, and soften hair to put an end to breakage. Komaza Olive Moisture Mask does not contain proteins making it friendly to deep condition weekly if you choose.

Ingredients:

Distilled Water, Dipalmitoylethyldimonium Chloride (A derivitive of Palm Oil), Behentrimonium, virgin olive oil, olive butter, aloe butter, soybean oil, coconut oil, polyquaternium, quaternium 87, jojoba esters infused with nettles, horsetail, rosemary, peppermint, marshmallow, xanthan gum, pro vitamin B5, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin B6, allantoin, honey, inositol,citric acid, rosemary essential oil, lavender essential oil, lemon essential oil, Polysorbate 20, cinnamon cassia, potassium sorbate.

Color: Light Green

Texture: Thick and Creamy

Price:  16oz $16.00; 4oz $6.50

Scent: Kinda weird but smells good at the same time

My Thoughts:

So after I washed my hair I applied this conditioner and put a plastic shower cap over my hair and let it sit for 25 min. I then detangled my hair with a wide tooth comb while the conditioner was still in my hair, then I rinsed. I LOVE this stuff! I made my hair feel so super soft after it dried I could have just styled it without using any other product. This will definitely be one of my staple products, my hair was left smelling good, feeling soft, shiny and felt really moisturized. I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Califia Moisturizing Spray

Their Claim:
This detangling moisturizing spray helps control frizz and softens hair while adding volume. This product is excellent for dry thirsty hair. Follow with a hair lotion or moisture sealant. pH Balance 4.5

Ingredients

Distilled Water, Aloe Vera, Shea Oil, Jojoba Esters, Algae Extract, Behenetrimonium, Quaternium 87, Panthenol, soybean oil nettles, horsetail, rosemary, peppermint, marshmallow, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Allatoin, Citric acid, vegetarian fragrance, cinnamon cassia, potassium sorbate

Color: Whitish

Texture: Creamy/Watery at the same time :)

Price: 8oz $13.50; 2oz $5.00

Scent: I haven't noticed one, maybe there is one but it must not be strong.

My Thoughts:
I like this product, I think it gets the job done, it moisturizes my ends (what I mainly use it for and then seal with an oil) perfectly. I don't need a lot of it and I like that it has a pH balance as well. This too will become a staple product for now.