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…)

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…)

In honor of Harry Potter’s new movie being released today, Bionic Beauty posted a magical Harry Potter Manicure and Pedicure! BB’s post inspired me to further the Harry Potter hysteria, and here is a post to honor two Harry-Curly heads, Hagrid and Hermione.

A year ago we created a poignant hair “Lock-umentary” that can be read at both Tracy’s website, Dandelion Mama and here.  The progress that her hair made would make any Gryffindor proud.

The Three Week Naturally Curly Challenge:

Tracy takes a before picture and starts her 3 week journey. (She compares herself to Hagrid.) (more…)