Hot off the press curlies! The new edition of Lorraine Massey’s “Curly Girl” is here.

Massey’s book was my true inspiration for leaving brushes, sulfate-shampoos, and blow dryers by the way side – forever!

After reading the original Curly Girl book in 2007, I took a leap of faith and put its practices into my daily hair care regimen. And with much praise to Lorraine, my hair and my sanity has been restored! This month, to my delight I discovered that a new edition came out of the Curly Girl classic. Along with a demonstration DVD, this book includes several helpful new tips & tricks for every specific curl type. (more…)

You’ve probably heard a lot about the benefits of a good night’s restorative sleep. And, you’ve probably watched an Oprah episode or two targeting unfit mattresses teaming with dust mites, or bed pillows that are in the most pathetic, lumpy state. How about something that comes even closer to your face? Your pillowcase.

Cleaning aside, have you ever thought about the fabric of your pillowcase? For starters a soft feeling fabric is nice, and something that keeps cool and comfortable against your skin is ideal. A while back I was reading about the benefits of using a satin pillowcase for the hair and skin, (more…)

So, a few weeks ago I had hair trouble. My normally pin straight hair suddenly went wavy, overnight. After 4 helpless days trying to whip it into shape I finally just called my stylist and begged for emergency intervention. She cut and styled, and as she finished she mentioned that my hair could use a little love. “It’s been almost two years since this hair started to grow” she said, “you should think about treating it with an oil to perk it up and give it some life”.  I stashed the thought in my “someday I’ll try to remember that” file and went on my way.

A couple days later I was browsing online, as  do occasionally(okay, all the time) and came across something that opened my “someday” file right up. (more…)

Just wanted to pass on a great holiday deal from Karen at Curlslikeus.com!

Every Curl Deserves to be Happy this holiday season. Surprise your best “curl friends” with a set of curl-friendly towels that define curls while defying the frizz.

Buy 1 Curl Cloth™ Set and 1 Set for 50% off.

Regular Price: $24 for 1 set

Sale Price: $36 for 2 sets

One week only. Offer valid from November 27-December 4th. Color options may vary based on available stock

You can also read my (and silly Tracy’s) review of the Curl Cloth here:

Curl Cloths:  Naturally Curly Gals Rejoice!

Some of my favorite curly hair products come from the award winning DevaCurl line (follow the link to learn more).  I personally use both the No-Poo and the One Conditioner from the DevaCare collection, because they are products specifically for color treated hair.  Sometimes just the washing with the No-Poo is all I need for lightly-conditioned bouncy curls, and this or the Low-Poo are the products I would recommend for finer haired folks.  When my hair feels fried, I will add in the One Conditioner, and apply it usually just on my ends and let it sit for several minutes before rinsing.  All of these products have a bright and natural orange smell – leaving your hair smelling so yum!

The newest product addition at DevaCurl is their “MirrorCurls.”  A finishing serum that can be applied to wet or dry hair, is 100% silicone free, and is meant to add moisture and incredible shine.  Leaving your hair so bright they say, “that you can see your curls in it.” (more…)

Wanna hear a great entrepreneurial story? Read on about Karen and what she is doing at CurlsLikeUs.com.

Once, while on a trip to NYC, I had the opportunity to have my haircut and styled at a salon that focused exclusively on curly hair. To my surprise, after washing my hair the stylist used paper toweling to remove excess water from my hair.  He said he preferred using an old t-shirt but that was not allowed at this upscale salon.  He went onto explain that traditional terry cloth towels have too course of a texture to them.  Not only can this texture disrupt the natural “S” formations of your curls, it can roughen up the hair which can cause breakage, split-ends, frizz and even inhibit your hairs ability to shine!

Karen put this new information into developing her own  product, the Curl Cloth. The Curl Cloth removes just the right amount of moisture while setting your favorite styling product in the hair.

The Result? After testing out the Curl Cloth for the past few weeks, I will never go back to using anything else.  (more…)

Roxanne asks, “What can I expect if I have curly thin fine hair that gets frizzy?”

Without a doubt, fine-haired curlies have their own set of special needs.  Hopefully this post will help you enhance your curl without weighing it down, and keep frizz to a minimum.

What increases the Frizz-Factor?

• Lack of moisture and protein in the hair, or damaged hair.  This can be due to coloring, processing, overuse of heat appliances.
• Humidity.  That dang moisture content in the air upsets the balance of moisture within the hair, thus causing chaos.

Best Practices to keep fine hair frizz-free:

• Brushing.  If you can avoid it, only comb through your wet-conditioned hair.  Style your hair with your fingers.
• Drying.  Air-drying is the best choice, followed by loose scrunching with the use of a microfiber towel (Curl Cloths and Cyclic Towels are my favorite). (more…)

A well-deserved repeat post, and after using this morning was again feeling the love for this itty-bitty towel!

Towels. They are a functional, everyday, commonplace household necessity.  How many of you remember the type of towel you dried yourself off with after leaving your shower or bathtub recently?

After Mo wrote a wonderful nano-silver based soap, “What doesn’t this soap do?”, the same company sent us a set of their towels to try out.  They are quite small  (37 X  65 cm), unbelievably soft, promise to be anti-bacterial, odor resistant, and 7 times more absorbent that regular towels.  As Mo and I both discovered, Cyclic towels turned out to be most absorbent, addictive, coveted items in our households! (more…)

In embracing my natural curl, I have dramatically changed my methods of taking care and styling my hair.

If you are not familiar with the No-Poo, water-soluble silicone, air drying, no brushing, deep conditioning, cool final rinse, finger scrunching, hair plopping, and hair clipping terms associated with the “Curly Girl” Method, I have some good reading for you.

“Curly Girl,” by Lorraine Massey: A great introduction to the entire concept and theory behind the correct way to manage your fabulous curls. Massey is the Queen when it comes to the curly girl method. (more…)

Random things that crossed my mind, but never quite made it into their own post…

Last week Aromaleigh had a killer 50% off sale on their Rocks! sonic collection. I know, I know, I would’ve told you but I was on vacation and didn’t hear about it myself until only a few hours before it was over. I bit the bullet and bought the sample set of the whole mineral eyeshadow collection, since I have been wanting it for ages. I threw in a full size sealant, which allowed me to get a full size Elemental Hue for free, and the whole kit and caboodle (plus 3 additional free samples) was at my door in under a week. Honestly, it’s a great deal. Except for one baggie which inexplicably showed up practically empty, I can get 5 or more uses out of each color, depending on how I choose to use it, and with 80 colors (plus all the other samples I already owned) to choose from I may never need to buy eye shadow again. Yeah right, who do I think I’m kidding?! At the suggestion of our very own Deco Diva a while back, I went out and purchased a 3 ring binder and filled it with collectible card inserts. (more…)