Onyx Box Opening January 2015

Recently I was sent the Onyxbox for the month of January.  What's this you ask?   It's a monthly  beauty subscription service that is geared towards women of color.  Previously, the box has featured items from Shea Moisture, Cargo and OPI nails and a host of other beauty brands.  So naturally I was excited to see what was in this month's box and I was definitely not disappointed.

There are so many natural hair brands out there who offer hair products for our textured tresses. A service like the Onyxbox allows you to try before you buy.  Inside this month's box were items from Woman to Woman Naturals, Anu Essentials and Beija Flor.  This is my first time trying products from these brands and I am interested to see how they work on my hair.

WATCH MY REVIEW FOR THE MAY 2014 ONYX BOX HERE

I already tested out the Creme Brulee Moisturizer from Beija Flor on my hair which is currently straight.  It did not cause my hair to revert but left me with soft hair that smelled like cinnamon.  The Anu Essentials line is one I've heard of on Instagram.  There appears to be a small sample packet of nearly every product they offer in this month's box.  Then there is the leave-in conditioner by Woman to Woman Naturals.  It has a citrus scent which will make for a nice mid-winter pick me up.

But wait, there's more!  The wintery dry climate of Colorado has left me with dry skin.  I was glad to find the Cracked Heel Stick Soap by Luxuriant in this month's offerings.  It says that it cleans and exfoliates so there may be hope for me yet!  Lastly is the Golden Ticket Nail Sugar by Cinapro.  To date, I have never seen a nail polish product with a light up cap.  Where have I been?

One of the best features about the Onyxbox service is that you can head over to www.weareonyx.com and shop the collection of goodies offered.  There you can also sign up to receive your own monthly beauty box.  See website for details.

Note:  This box was sent to me courtesy of WeAreOnyx for the purpose of this review.  I am not affiliated with www.weareonyx.com and/or any of the brands mentioned above.

Protective Style Challenge Week 3: The Puff

Keeping my hair up in a puff for this
week's "protective" style

I have decided that in order to keep myself motivated to wear protective hair styles, I'll be wearing one

style per week.  That way I can try different styles while keeping up with my weekly wash routine.  This is my third week on the protective style challenge and I've decided to wear my hair in a puff.  Now, I know what you're thinking, a puff is not technically a protective style.  This is because the ends of my hair are not tucked away or, "protected".  Still, I figure this style will work for me because it will keep me from combing and manipulating my hair.

To style my hair this way I like to use a banana clip placed sideways.  This gives me a much fuller effect than your usual ponytail holder.  I used to cut apart hosiery and use one of the legs for a long wrap around hair tie which also works.  You can watch how I use the banana clip on stretched hair in my Youtube Video.

As far as the products I used, I pretty much followed my usual wash n' go routine.  After cleansing and conditioning my hair, I applied a leave-in conditioner and then grapeseed oil.  Then I added a thick creamy moisturizer to each section of my hair before applying hair gel.  My favorite gel at the moment is Eco Styler gel with Argan Oil.  I realized the order I used to apply my products basically meant I was using the L.O.C. method to moisturize my hair.  That means leave-in, oil and cream; in that order.  I'm curious to see if that will make a difference in how my hair feels
this week.

Next week I may end up doing a ponytail roller set on my hair so that I can experiment with an up-do.  Until then, I'll be wearing the puff with a mid week co-wash to cleanse my scalp and add moisture.  Then back to the puff to ride out the rest of the week.

How I Prep My Natural Hair for My Wig

Rocking the Verona Girl Half Wig by Freetress
for my protective style challenge

It's official!  In today's video post I announced my protective style challenge.  Now I'm really on the hook to stick with it over the next couple of months.  I'll also do updates periodically to share about the products and styles I'll be trying so stay tuned to my Youtube channel,"mitchellzee".

I also thought I would share how I get all of my hair flat enough to wear my new half wig.   My hair can be pretty full when dry so my best option is to braid my hair while damp.  I also demonstrate what I used to moisturize my hair which we know from my last post was just okay.  Still, the braiding proved to be a pretty good option for me.  Check out the video to see how I did it and also what I thought of the, "Verona Girl" half wig by Freetress.

WATCH MY VIDEO ON 

HOW I PREP MY NATURAL HAIR

FOR WIG WEARING

Keeping My Hair Moisturized While Protective Styling

It's a wig!
protective styling with
this full cap wig by Freetress

Last week I started a personal protective style challenge.  A protective style is one that protects the ends of your hair by tucking them away.  My personal challenge is to style my hair this way for a few months.  This will be challenging because I prefer to wear my hair down more often than not.  Hopefully this will lead to the length retention I need in order to gain a few more inches this year.  I plan to do this by wearing my hair in up dos and
under wigs.

Right now,  I only have two wigs and plan to purchase a couple more.   I'll also be styling my hair in buns, braids and flat twists when I'm not wearing a wig.  I'm doing all of this to keep myself from manipulating my hair.  I suspect that the constant styling
I'm used to has led to my hair length plateau.  For me, more styling
tends to lead to more trimming.

The moisturizer that saved the day!

Before braiding my hair up last week, I cleansed my hair and scalp with a sulfate free shampoo.  I towel dried my hair and applied leave-in conditioner and grapeseed oil to seal in the moisture.  I assumed that this would be enough to keep my hair moisturized for at least a couple of days.  I also used Eco Styler hair gel to smooth my edges down.  Lastly, I braided my hair into two dutch braids like the ones in my braiding video.  Then I wore my wig during the day and wrapped my hair up at night for about two days.

I  thought that the products and the fact that my hair was braided meant that my hair would stay moisturized under my wig.  Boy was I wrong!  A couple of days later I took my hair down and my hair was so dry.  I quickly applied some moisturizer and then sealed with the grapeseed oil again.  I braided it back up and hoped for the best.  The next day, I could tell that my hair was feeling softer but I still wanted to give it more moisture.  I ended up cleansing my hair again and conditioning.  I decided to do a wash and go style using a heavy conditioner as my leave-in, moisturizer, oil and then gel.  My hair had so much life!  The moisturizer I think was the key.  My leave-in conditioner was not enough on its own.

My current combination of products
to keep my hair moisturized while protective styling

After wearing my hair curly for a few days, I decided to try again.  This time, after my cleansing routine, I applied a heavy conditioner as my leave-in, moisturizer and grapeseed oil.  Then I brushed my hair back into a simple bun.

I can tell a huge difference in how my hair feels.  If this combination of products works for me, I will continue to do this throughout my protective style challenge.

New Year, New Hair Goals

Wiggin' It!
Wearing my new everyday
lookby Freetress

I want three more inches!  My hair has been stuck at APL (armpit length) for what seems like forever.  Part of this is due to my frequent trimming to even out my layers and add thickness.  Now that my layers are growing out, I want to concentrate on overall hair growth.

At the end of 2014 I started looking into ways that I could retain more length in the new year. Of course a lot of people with longer hair contend that protective styling is what got them the hair we all lust after.  I for one am not keen on putting my hair away for months at a time.  I love variety and my scalp does not do well under such conditions.  It looks like cleansing my hair multiple times per week is preferred.  So any type of long-term protective styling is out.

I do still want at least three more inches though and I want them this year!  I'm thinking along the lines of protective styling on the go with wigs and half wigs.  I can braid my hair up underneath the wig and no one would be the wiser.  This would also allow for washing and co-washing whenever I need to. 

So far, I only have two wigs and a diy u-part wig which requires that I leave some of my own hair out.  My current wig selection is okay but, I've got my eye on a couple of styles that may be more in line with what I'm craving right now.  I don't want to wear anything too outrageous.  Just something to get me through the next few months while I quietly hide my real hair. 

Same wig with shorter bangs

As far as haircare goes, I plan to keep my hair in good condition by doing deep treatments weekly.  I will probably use things like light protein treatments, moisturizing deep treatments and hot oil treatments.  I have videos for how I do these on my Youtube channel.  I'm also putting away the scissors.  I can't seem to get enough of those blunt cut ends but I've been cutting off all of my progress.  I do like to do a light trim on my ends every three months though so we'll see.  Here's to reaching new lengths in the new year. . . fingers crossed.