I feel like posting what I got for xmas hee hee.

From my parents:
-Mini perfume collection from Victoria's Secret
-Mini set of the lip plumpers (which I loooove) from VS
-VS bronzer
-VS Bare Bronze spray (yummy for the summer it smells like coconut :0)
-Pretty eyeshadow
-Black pointy shoes for work (that are too big and that I need to exchange
-Very cool giraffe print flats...loooooooooooove

From my grandparents:
-A hoodie that I also have to exchange

From my extended family Secret Santa:
-20 bucks and some dark Dove chocolates

From my job:
-92 dollar christmas bonus
`$5 intelligentsia giftcard
-$25 macy's gift card
-Bottle of red wine

so yay for me and hope everyone else got everything they wanted!

Also, a question:
Does anyone practice the Morroccan Method of Hair Care?  I'm really thinking of buying the trial pack but it's not cheap AT ALL.  But if it really works as well as the website claims, I'd love to try it.  I'm thinking of just waiting til the summer, when I'll be (hopefully) graduated from college and working full time.  Then I won't feel guily about spending so much money on something that may not work.  But like I said, I'm determined to have my full, voluminous black straight hair back so if this stuff works then I'm all for it!! Can someone point me in the direction of someone who used this method? Maybe someone's personal journal? THAAAAAAAAAAANKS

La Diosa::Thanks for the help!

Well I decided to wait after I graduate this summer to try the Morrocco Method, because this way I will have more money to spend in case I do l like it and want to continue to do so.  Also because that will be 7 months from now and I want to see how healthy I can get my hair before I give it a shot.  After reading the website a bit more, I also think it will work better on hair that is all one length and all one color and I hope to be somewhat there at that point.

Speaking of that, I have no idea how I will!! At first I wanted to just trim gradually until my hair is all one length but I have a feeling I will be sick to death at that point because my hair will basically stay the same length(couple inches shy of BSL) til that  happens.  But I’m suuuuuuuuuper reluctant to chop it to the smallest layer because that will leave me w/chin length hair ?.  Also my little “side bang” is eye level.  And my virgin, uncolored hair is also about eye level.  Double ? .  Sooooooo Im thinking that 7-8 months from now, my shortest layer/bang etc will HOPEFULLY be long enough to where I will feel comfortable chopping it all off.  Then I will have a “new look” to keep me occupied/tempted to do anything drastic for a while, plus ALL my hair will be virgin,  one length, healthy with no dead, bleached out ends.  Then I can use the Morrocco Method to help me with my next goals: Horizontal volume and eliminate thinness from my scalp.  After that, my goal is seriously shiny hair.  THEN my next goal will be hair down to my waist!!! Yiiiiiiipppppeeeeeeee.

Quote:


Hi MTB - I feel just the same about my hair too!  The layers in my hair are the worst at the front where I had a fringe cut.  I sometimes think that I should just chop it off to the shortest layer which would be chin length now but I just can't bring myself to do it!!!  For the moment I am going to trim it gradually but that means it will take quite a while to get my hair even again but I feel that's best for me right now, so you must do what will make you happy  

Helloooooooooo! Well I just came back from Ulta (my fave store ever!) and got a buuuuunch of stuff.  I'm so excited!!

-Giovanni 50:50 balancing shampoo.  I read that it's better to rotate shampoos because your hair will need different things at different times.  I already have my Burt's Bees Very Volumizing Pomegranate and Soy shampoo, which I like but it leaves my hair squeaky clean and I think it may not be moisturizing enough, especially in the winter.  I've been using it exclusively (almost halfway gone) and I feel like my hair is in a "hair rut" right now.  This shampoo is supposed to be very very moisturizing and it's made w/natural ingredients (which I looove!)

-Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk shampoo:  Some of the ingredients (dimethoconol) scared me a little, but the smell sold me.  I"m obsessed with anything coconut, pineapple, mango ...I love tropical stuff.  This smelled so damn good, plus it has egg white proteins and I feel like my hair needs a little more strength. 

-Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk conditioner:  Again, the smell! I don't usually use conditioner (except for deep conditioner maybe one a week, and leave in conditioner when I feel I need it) b/c I feel like it may be too much for my fine, thin hair.  I also think it increases my shedding.  But it smelled toooooo good and I don't think it will hurt to use it occasionally.

-Neutrogena Body Clear Body Scrub: I'm trying to only use natural, organic things in my hair and skin care, but I couldn't find any that claimed to help with body acne.  I have not had body acne since I was like 14-15 and I'm 22 now and it just started appearing on my back like crazy! So until my skin clears up, this is what I will be using.  I hope it works!

-Burt's Bees Soap Bark & Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream:  I've also been breaking out on my face lately and I love Burt's Bees because they're natural.  I really want a glowing complexion, so this has Chamomile and Aloe to soothe and soften and Rosemary and Echinacea extracts that "reduce inflammation, tighten pores, and increase cell renewal"

-Almay Nourishing thickening waterproof mascara in black:  Needed a new one.  I have very long eyelashes but they're kind of fine.

-Almay Nearly Naked cover up stick in light/medium:  I might go exchange this for the medium b/c I think the one I got may be too light.  But the medium seemed so dark!  I will probably exchange it tho b/c I don't need it right away.  I still have some of my old concealer left.

-Ionic Antistatic Volume Detangling comb:  This appears to be seamless and it's supposed to dry hair faster and cut down on frizz and static (which I have frequently).  It was pretty cheap so I got it!

WISHLIST:  I couldn't get everything!
-Almay blush (can't remember the name)  It's water based and supposed to automatically turn to a shade that will go well w/your skin tone.  I hope so!  lol ...next paycheck!

-A boar bristle brush:  I don't usually brush my hair, but when I need to put it in a ponytail/bun etc, I need SOMETHING to smooth it down otherwise I'll have bumps and lumps and stray hairs everywhere.  But everytime I go to Ulta, the ones I want (for fine hair) are ALWAYS sold out!! I should call them and have them hold one for me...or maybe I can order it online..hmmm.

-These twisty foam rollers.  I didn't get them b/c my arms couldn't carry much else and also b/c I feel that I won't be satisfied w/the results.  I think I will experiment with pin and rag curls first.

Woo! that's a lot!  I will definitely be trying the Organix coconut shampoo and conditioner tonight!  So excited.   

In other news, while browsing through personal journals on various hair sites I stumbled across a challenge that I really want to try.  The 2008 Head to Toe Challenge.  Instead of focusing on one particular goal, you basically tackle all of them.  I really want this to be the year that I get everything together with my looks, health, personal life etc.  So here we go:

-HAIR- 
Get it as healthy, shiny, strong and thick as possible.  I want hot hair!  By doing this, I will continue to use the healthy hair habits I picked up from this board.  I will NOT heat style it unless it's a special occasion.  Once a month at the MOST.  Preferably much, much less often.  Learn to curl my hair w/o heat.  If i do flat iron it for a special occasion I will AIR dry first, no blow-frying!  I also promise to use homemade hair masks more often.  I also want my hair to be all one length and well on it's way to waist length by the end of the year.  I also need to stop playing with my hair so much!
-SKIN-
I totally want a smooth, clear, glowing complexion.  Luckily, I don't break out TOO often, but lately I have and I don't like it.  Remember to always wash my face daily, esp my makeup.  Remember to always moisturize, moisturize, moisturize the dry skin on my body with my new fave concoction (aloe vera gel with a varitey of oils)
-BODY-
Keep eating as healthily and nutritiously as possible!! I'm pretty good about this, but HORRIBLE at working out consistently.  I want a nice body!  I'm 22.  This is year 10 of my diet.  Ridiculous.  I need to just keep eating for my health (NO dieting, just pack as much nutrition in as possible) and working out regularly.
-OTHER-
1)  Be nicer to my family. 
2)  Smile more.  Try to do only good deeds and actions.
3)Meditate more
4)8 hours of sleep every night.
5) Graduate on tim

There are a few more things that I forgot to add to my "Head to Toe" Challenge. 
-stop biting my nails and have my sister do them more often.  She's really talented when it comes to this and has so many polishes, paint,
rhinestones, decals etc so I have no excuse not to.  My mom and I have been buying her supplies and stuff like crazy just so she can do our nails lol.  The other day I got her a brush, some gold striping tape, a 4 way buffer, rhinestones and some new polishes.  Then yesterday my mom got her a new set of brushes, special glimmery polishes and a cuticle remover.  Plus, when she does them I don't bite them or put them in my mouth as much because they're so pretty!  My nails always look like crap b/c I bite them.  I refuse to go pay over $40 for someone to put fake nails that will only horribly damage my real ones.  So my sister just paints pretty designs on my real nails.  For free!

-Keep my room clean.  This is the only thing my mother always rags on me about.  And my boyfriend.  They both call me the tornado for my amazing ability to make a huge mess everywhere without even realizing it.  My boyfriend complains that his room is always neat until 5 minutes after I arrive.  I have no idea how this happens but I will work on it.

Ok.  Now.  Product Reviews. From last night and this morning.

-Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Shampoo- Absolutely love.  It's sulfate free, but I guess I have nothing to fear from the teeny weeny cone in it (dimethicone) since it's my only cone shampoo, I will be rotating other shampoos that are all natural, cone and sulfate free and I do acv rinses at least once a week so I should be fine.  Anywho, the smell is so freakin yummy. Sigh. I miss it already.  I was def right about being in a hair rut thanks to my Burt's Bees Very Volumizing Pomegranate and Soy.  The Organix lathered up much better than the BBs and my hair felt so nice and clean.  Today, I do have mild scalp itchies which I usually never have unless I haven' shampooed in a while.  I reallly hope it doesn't have anything to do with the Organix b/c I loved everything else about it!

-Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Conditioner- Undecided about this one.  When I rinsed it out, there were parts of my hair that felt "rough" and tangly.  But it may have been b/c I didn't use my shower cap to put it out of the way while I went on w/the rest of my shower.  I put it in a ponytail since that was all I had on hand.  Oops.  So I will use this a few more times before I decide anything for sure.

-Neutrogena Body Clear Body Scrub- I like the smell and the little tingle.  I really hope this helps to clear up my bacne.

-Burt's Bees Soap Bark and Chamomile Deep Cream Cleanser- Another iffy one.  The reason why I wanted a new face wash was because I don't really care for the blackhead clearing scrub I know have because I don't think I need it on a regular basis.  And I hate the noxzema one my sister uses.  That stuff BURNS horribly.  So I go to use my new one and sure enough, this stuff starts tingling like the Noxzema! BUT thankfully it didn't irritate my skin so maybe it's a good tingle?  Next time, I will try the Peach scrub b/c I don't know about tingles.

Then I got out of the shower and moisturized my skin and body.  For my face, I used a tiny squirt of aloe vera gel w one drop of sweet almond oil.  I only applied to my dry areas (cheeks, under eyes, around my mouth, and in between my eyebrows).  Definitely will not do this again.  My skin felt tight and I added more oil to my face, so I think I will just moisturize with the oil and skip the aloe vera gel.

For my body, I used a big dollop of aloe vera gel with 2 drops each of sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil and jojoba oil.  I applied it to the parts of my body that don't get too dry and don't have stretch marks (legs, hips, arms, bottom of stomach) then for my really dry/stretch marky areas (feet, breasts, top of stomach) I melted a little cocoa butter, added apricot kernel oil and massaged those in.  So I think I have my body skin routine well under way, just need to work on my face skin regimene!

Then onto the hair.  I removed the towel and didn't want to use my Giovanni Direct Leave-In because I wanted to gauge the full effect of the Organix products.  So I just applied one drop each of jojoba and apricot kernel oil to my ends.  Then, I had read that if you comb your hair  often while it dries, it will dry straighter.  Now as I've mentioned, my hair used to be naturally straight and now it's neither straight nor wavy.  Well, I love straight, curly and wavy hair and I know how to make my hair semi-wavy(let air-dry) and very very wavy (scrunch w/aloe vera gel while damp) but I don't know how to make it straight without using heat.  I want to re-train my hair to just be straight w/o frizz or waves but this may take a WHILE.  So I combed with my new volume ionic detangling comb that's SUPPOSED to make hair dry faster and w/no frizz or static.  Well, I don't know if the comb sucks, if it was the Organix products or if my hair is "not ready" to be naturally straight again because my hair had these big, poofy body waves (it was straighter than air-drying tho) and tons of flyaways/frizz   Not happy about that.

Then my sis did my nails.  The tips are like a french manicure, instead it's a silvery glimmery polish instead of white.  Then there's a thickish black line where the tip ends, and little white dots in the black line.  Finally, the silver glim

Just came back from the health food store and walgreens.  Good news for my hair/skin, bad news for my wallet!  I picked up:
(from the health food store)

-Giovanni Nutrafix Hair Reconstructor:  I wanted a deeper protein treatmeant.  It's supposed to encourage thickness and volume, and fill in porous hair with rich proteins. 

-Heritage Products Rose Petals Rosewater.  The ingredients say vor-mag water and hydroessential rose oil.  I want to use this for my face/hair.

-Sample size of Jason Tea Tree Satin Shower Body Wash.  Tea Tree is supposed to be good for acne/blemishes so if I like this better than my Neutrogena Body Clear Body Scrub, I will switch to this.

From walgreens:

-Miconazole Nitrate Cream-yes you read that right.  I've read lots of threads on Long Hair Community and other hair boards along with articles before I tried this.  -azoles are often used in hair regrowth products (like NIoxin) so this is just a cheaper way to try it.  Been using it about 3 weeks and my new growth is incredible.  I really do think it's helping to fill in my thin spots, especially around my crown and my nape, which never seems to grow.  It also thickened up my eyebrows some.  I had a little bald spot from overtweezing that never seemed to grow in and it has.  I already went through a tube of this stuff (i mix it with jojoba and apricot kernel oil, some leftover folicure treatemnts, aloe vera gel and rosemary essential oil, which is also supposed to stimulate growth and apply it on my scalp the night before I wash)

-Burt's Bees Marshmallow Vanishing Creme with Mango Butter- Although I like my current way of moisturizing my face (thin layer of aloe vera gel while face is still damp, then seal in with a drop of sweet almond oil) I wanted to try this since it was on clearance, over 50% off.  I think it's going to be discontinued so if I end up liking this I may have to scour/stalk ebay.

-Organix Soft & Silky Vanilla Silk Shampoo- since I loved the coconut milk.  This smells soooooo good, like cake batter.  I got this because it had a mail in rebate for the entire price.  So it's like I'm trying it for free   If only I had seen this before!

-Conair 100% Boar Bristle Brush- since Ulta is ALWAYS sold out of the one I want and this one is half the price.  It's not as soft as I'd like it to be but that's ok.  I'm only going to use it for ponytails/updos because I always end up with bumps and lumps and stray hairs. 

-Cococare 100% Cocoa Butter sticks.  I bought the last 4 left in the store because they were .50 each.  And I love this for my stretch marks.  They have faded considerably.  I melt it a little, and add apricot kernel oil.  Love it. 

-V05 conditioners in
~Herbal Escapes Pomegranate and Grapeseed Extract Strengthening Conditioner and
~ Extra Body Volumizing Conditioner
mainly b/c I had coupons so they were .79 each.  I also desperatly want my hair to like conditioner as much as it loves shampoo, water and oils.   I want to give CO washing a try and I read these were pretty good AND they're cone free.  If it's just not for me, then I will give them to my mom or something.  I don't feel bad about buying these since they were so cheap.  For the price of one of my Giovanni or Burt's Bee's products  I could of bought about 10 of them.  OOOh speaking of which, if you guys like Giovanni products, go to Walgreens because they're on sale for 5.99!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Everywhere else I've seen them they're 7.99-8.99.  If only I had known this BEFORE my little binge at Ulta and the Health food store.  But Walgreens didn't have any of the stuff I bought (the Nutrafix or the 50:50...they were sold out of that one I think) so I don't feel too bad.

Also, Walgreens has all their vitamins/supplements buy one get one free!  I was going to pick up some L-cysteine and MSM, but I don't think they carry it Boo.  I might go back and get some evening primrose oil and either some flaxseed or fish oil.  But only if I return some of the crap I bought, which I don't think I'll be doing.  Either way, I NEED TO STOP spending!!! B/c I also just ordered some neutral henna from Morrocco Method website ::hangs head in shame::