How to Choose a Salon and Stylist with Natural Hair

While searching for a salon, I came up with a checklist that helped me make a decision. Here are my requirements.

1. A Cosmetology license. Not everyone can do hair.
2. Consultations. If they don't offer these, do they really know what they're doing?
3. Recommendations please. Has anyone heard good things about the salon? Ask people who have the types of styles you want.
4. Good Products. Are the products
5.Cleanliness. I tend to do a drop-in visit to the salon. Sometimes I even ask for a tour. If the salon is dirty and the stylists are unkempt, this is a warning sign. I also check to see how many
6. Class. Did they answer the phone professionally? Was the music too loud for her to hear me clearly? Those are warning signs that they do not approach their job with the reverence it deserves.
7. Reasonable prices. Don't spend more than you have. If the prices do not fit into your budget, move on or decide to go oto the salon less frequently.


Do you have anything to add to my checklist? Please leave a comment to let me know.

A Natural Hair Documentary

Mom has a blog now!

Woo Hoo! I think I have her hooked. So, Welcome to Cats and Calico!
Cole

Braids Style

Again a simple style - I just plaited some hair at the front on either side of my hair. I then secured the plaits at the back with a black hair band. I was really surprised at how this simple style transformed look of my braids.

Try it if you like it and...

Keep it Kinky.

Myth Busters

Myth: You must oil your scalp every night and morning to keep it healthy.

Truth: Petrolatum and mineral-based oils can clog your pores, stunting growth and offsetting the scalp's natural, healthy PH. balance.

Proposition: Oil your scalp with a light, moisturizing oil like jojoba or coconut oil. Natural oils are light, moisturizing, and allow the scalp to breathe without blocking pores and hindering growth.

Princess Leah Protective Buns

How To Treat an Itchy Scalp

It's simply embarrassing. You're at dinner with your date, trying to hide the fact that you're scratching your scalp every other minute. And that's you resisting the urge to scratch. You go for one more scratch when you catch him looking a wee bit grossed out.

Can't help scratching your hair at dinner? So unattractive! Here are some natural oils you can apply to your scalp to relieve itching.

• Jojoba Oil moisturizes the scalp and it's odorless. No weird smells for you.
  
• Tea Tree Oil treats dry scalp and dandruff. It has a strong scent that fades after a few hours but works very well.
  
• Ultimate Herbal Oil is a great oil that relieves itching. It contains many natural oils and can be used as a regular hair oil or even body oil. I use it on my elbows and knees.
  

Try those oils and next time around you could be flipping your hair instead of itching your scalp.

Thanks!

I’m writing this post to say thank you to the hundreds of subscribers and followers of my blog and YouTube channel. Just this week, Laquita (a blog follower) had an article published on CLUTCH (congrats Laquita) and mentioned my sister blog on YouTube, KinkyHairBlog

Thank you Laquita. It is an honor to have been considered important enough to be mentioned it into your article. I wish her and all my readers and viewers a life of success and beauty as they continue their kinky-haired journey. I know it gets frustrating sometimes but always remember to…

KeepItKinky

Kriss Kross Braided Style

I sectioned off a square of hair in the front. I then sectioned that hair into two equal parts down the middle and crossed one over the other. It's that easy. I have the back secured into a single ponytail.

Pretty Dimples on Becoming a Hair Stylist!

With the state of the global economy, many people are starting either a side hustle or finding a new profession. Are you tired of doing all your friends' hair for free? Perhaps you could become a part-time or even full-time hair stylist.

I spoke to stylist PrettyDimples from YouTube to get you some advice on how you can get your money-making hairstyling on in a professional and legit way.

Q. How can I choose a good cosmetology school?
A. Do your research. Just because it has a big name such as Dudley or Paul Mitchell does not mean you will learn. Find out a school that focus on state board regulations and help you to get your license.

Q. Where can I find a good course to be trained to do natural hair?
A. Unfortunately there are not a lot of natural hair classes or courses (that I know about). You will have to do your own research like YouTube or Google and find out different techniques others have tried.

*KiK Tip*
There are lots of tutorial DVD's like Braids by Breslin that you can use learn how to create braids and natural hairstyles.

Q. What kind of certification will I need?
A. You need to be certified as a hair designer or a cosmetologist and you will get your license after you pass state board exam.

Q. Are there any rules about doing hair at home? What legal certification do I need?
A. There are regulations as far as doing hair in your own home. It depends on the state in which you live and you will have to research your state law.

Q. Is there money in doing natural hair only?
A. I think there can be money in doing natural hair only but you have to promote yourself. Natural hair is just starting to be big and depending on where you live it can be big. Nowadays, people are starting to cut back and in my opinion natural hair is work so I charge for my work but some may not want to pay. But if you promote yourself well you can make it happen.

Q. Is it best to do both relaxed and natural?
A. I like to do all fields of hair, white, black, Spanish, natural or relaxed because it expands your knowledge an lets you out of the box of just one field.

Q. Any tips on finding a job or a work station in a salon?
A. Most salons will pretty much hire you if you have your license. There is no resume needed or even experience. A tip would be to go somewhere where they have a high volume of walk-in clients so you can get your feet wet.

Are you ready to get your side hustle on? Start with evening classes to get your training. There little you can't do with determination and drive!

Keep It Kinky!

Lustrasilk Cholesterol with Carrot Oil

Looking for a cheap but effective conditioner treatment? This one is only $2.79. It's easy to find and easy to use.





Package Directions:

Apply to hair and scalp, leave on for 15-20 minutes, rinse and style.

My Best Results Directions:

Apply to hair and scalp, cover and leave on for 1o minutes with heat or 30 minutes without. Rinse and style.

Value for price: 4/5
Gives hair added shine and softness: 3/5
Helps dry, brittle and severely damaged hair: 4/5

I recommend adding an oil to the mixture. Try extra virgin olive for a little more softness and sheen. The Lustrasilk Conditoner is not a moisturizing conditioner. It is a protein conditioner, which often needs to be followed up by a moisturizer. I follow up with Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Treatment and then a herbal oil to seal in the moisture.

Banana Clip Natural Hairstyle Tutorial

Breakage Solution Suggestion

Having sever hair breakage? Try the Aphogee 2 step Protein Treatment. The treatment allows protein to bond to your hair and fill in the weak areas. Follow the instructions! If not, you could end up loosing hair instead. Check Youtube for tutorials and reviews. I will also have a review coming soon.

How To: Moisturize Natural Hair (Part 2)

Dis Discoloured Nails.

They are starting to look pale yellow and you are starting to panic. Fortunately you can get them looking nice, natural and prevent your nails from being stained from ever again. Here are a few ways you can get rid of discoloured nails


Some people say always use a base coat but how do they help?

• Base coats include great ingredients like vitamin e and aloe vera that can replenish dry and brittle nails. A clear polish is also acceptable as both protect the nail from being stained by your bright spring/summer polish of choice.
• Base coats encourage the health of your nails, allowing them to grow stronger and long without splitting.
• They also help your polish stay longer without chipping.
  

Are your nails already yellow? Here's what can you do?

• Soak your nails in a mixture of water and lemon juice for about ten minutes. Remember to lotion after so that your cuticles will be moisturized. I would repeat this twice every few days.
  
• Avoid wearing bright or dark colors for a couple of weeks to let the nail recover.
• Grow it out. The damage will only be on the existing nail and like hair, it grows and you can cut it. Just be sure to invest in a good base coat.
  

Enjoy wearing your bright summer nail polish colors but remember to keep those nails protected and reject discoloured nails for good.

Transitioning or Natural: A great Hairstyle tutorial.

I recommend doing at least six plaits for a more defined twist-out. The more plaits you do, the more defined your braid-out. I also keep my fingers oils to smoothly remove the plaits. This can also add sheen and gloss.

Natural Hairstyling Tips: Be Frizz Free

We know our hair tends to frizz. Many of us however don't know how to tame the frizz.

Comb your hair at night before going to bed. Don't comb it in the morning.

Yes, you read right. This comes in very useful if you are doing a style that requires a smooth top (like a smooth bun).

Create your style. Add some natural oils and Aloe Vera Gel ( a great natural gel) then tie your hair with a satin scarf to keep it flat. This works for other styles you want to reduce frizz with too. It's just like setting your hair with rollers. You're just using a scarf to encourage it to stay in place.

Do this with your hair our your child's too and you'll have less work in the morning. Just take off the scarf and run out the door.

You can also tie your hair with a scarf while driving to your destination to encourage as little frizz as possible. I use an (aphogee) oil spray then tie my hair with a scarf to have as little frizz as possible for the day.

I hope this helps you to...
KeepItKinky!

Organics Shea Butter: Product Review

(Click on the image for a large view that allows you to easily read the ingredients clearly.)

Pros

• Contains no petrolatum or mineral oil which are harmful to the body and hair. (another post will explain why)
  
• No build-up
• Nice smell
• Contains the ever popular, moisturizing shea butter.
  

Cons

• Shea butter is an ingredient but it's way down on the ingredients list which means there isn't very much in it. I can hardly pronounce that ingredients and to me, that's always a bad thing.
  
• Contains Propylene Glycol (can cause liver abnormalities and kidney damage)
• The immediate results are not long-lasting. You would need to apply this everyday.
  
• It give no sheen. Frankly, I don't know what the big deal is. I did even get much moisture. It was a bit oily, but not the kind that feels nice and moisture filled. I'd rather use Africa's best Herbal Oil. That one leaves my hair feeling healthier.

Notice how long the Cons section is? I'm not impressed. I'm not throwing it out though. I'll try it again eventually and see if my feelings change. Sometimes a product doesn't work in combination with another. Lets see what the future holds. Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend it. It cannot compare to the infamous Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Treatment.

Partial Updo Video and Style Results

Took down your twists/braids but don't have time to wash and detangle. Try Autumn's simple style.

Fabulous Find: Ultimate Herbal Oil

It's soft and silky. I'd almost think it could melt between my fingers. No, I'm not writing about Africa's Best Ultimate Herbal Oil. I'm writing about the way it make my hair feels.

I was a skeptic. I've tried many Africa's Best products and am often left less than impressed. This product however left my newly cut hair feeling nothing less than silky. No water needed when styling in the morning leading to a big poof.

The perfect blend of natural oils (click on the picture to enlarge and read the label) leaves hair hydrated. Finally a product that does what the label promises! It reduced my itchy scalp too!

Whether you are locked, relaxed or natural, this product is sure to please. No I was not paid for this post. Just found an excellent product and really have to share!

Keep It Kinky... and silky.

My Natural Hair Care Guide

Writer/Publisher, Amy Mc'Knight has completely revamped one of the go-to sites for women with natural hair. Formerly NaturalHairCareGuide.com, the new My Natural Hair Care Guide promises to be one of the best resources for women with or transitioning to natural hair.

It's the Facebook ™ of the natural hair community and also features useful articles and videos. You might even find an article or two written by yours truly if you visit the site. Won't you check it out?

http://mynhcg.com/

Heidi from the Bronx

Heidi is a busy, ambitious college student and soon to be member of the Peace Corps but that doesn't stop her from finding time to express her eclectic style.

She's been perm-free since June 22, 2007 and did her big chop a year after. The Bronx baby now resides in Florida. Continue reading to find out more about her natural style.


KiK: What is your favorite natural hairstyle and why?
Heidi: A hybrid between an up-do, and a mohawk. lol. It shows my eccentricity*

KiK: What products do you use to achieve it?
Heidi: h20 & Jane Carter Solutions

KiK: Do you have a style icon or inspiration?
Heidi: Yaya from Top Model peaked my natural interest... lol...then jade.I love that that she never compromised, despite whatever drastic makeover they planned for her, (red carpet, photshoots etc..) She was strong about maintaining her afrocentricity.

KiK: What do you want people to know about being natural?
Heidi: That I think our hair should be CELEBRATED. Not pressed, permed or altered to look like anyone else's. It's been imprinted in our minds that curls & kinks are unappealing--but its not true, our hair is beautiful, because its rare--and we shouldn't strain to make it look like the common.

Spring Makeup with Nicole

Spring is here, and it's time to pull out this seasons hot eyeshadow trends.

Bring out your shimmery golds, silvers, bronze and soft browns, to do a dramatic smokey eye, with a little less drama. Want color? Try earthy tones like greens, deep blues and tan.

Liner, liner, liner. liner is always in. Try winging it out for a cat eye look or smudging your eyeliner for a more smokey effect.

Here are my top eyeshadow picks for this spring season.

1. Sephora Moroccon Sunrise palette contains five very earthy metalic eyeshadows in a cute feminine white and gold case.

2. Duwop has a metallic eyeshadow trio called Crush Molten, pale champagne rose, rich burgundy-plum, and bronzy-gold. Three highly pigmented colors that will compliment any skin tone, it also works well as a eye liner.

3. NYX has a ton of eyeshadows to choose from, my favourite are there trios in Shangri-La, it has a very nice golden yellow, orange and peach colors. Serengeti and Copacabana are nice soft earthy colors that make brown eyes really pop.

4. Try Cover girls three kit eye enhancers in Golden Sunset and Annabelles eyeshadow palette in Spring Bloom to create gorgeous fun looks this season.





Nicole
http://naturalendlessbeauty.blogspot.com/

RRR for Naturals

I recently did a video on YouTube about simple ways that you can reduce, reuse and recycle as a natural. I gave 5 simple tips.

1. Reuse lunch box containers. Some times they get a bit old or scorched but you can use them to store your hair pins. Disposable lunch containers have lids so your pins won't be scattered in your draw.
   
2. Keep your spray bottles. Use old hair spray or disinfectant spray bottles and make your own conditioning mixture hair spray mixture without spending extra on a spray bottle.
   
3. Use old stocking legs as a hair tie to do your afro puff.
   
4. Use shopping bags instead of shower caps for conditioning treatment. Your natural hair will probably fit better into it anyway and you can throw it out when you're done.
   
5. Keep your old jars. Even those butter spread containers can be used to make your henna hair die or conditioner mixture.
   

Extra Beauty tip: Use old mascara wands

A Wash and Tuck Style

The Hairzings, EZ combs Comparison

Click on the table for a larger view.
I also did a video comparison. See the video here.

Protein Treatments Damage our Hair?

"Protein treatments are an excellent solution for repairing damaged hair, but no more than once a month. Anything more than that could result in breakage.", says Essence natural hair expert, Eugene Smith.

Could too much treatment be the culprit of my recent hair damage and breakage. Well people, I'm going to be reducing the amount of protein treatments I do on my hair. I was treating sometimes as much as twice a week. I'm going to purchase an oil and refine my regimen. Let's see if Eugene's theory is correct.

I became a deep conditioning addict. Time to do things in moderation.Too much of a good thing is bad.

Click here and here to see more of his advice.