Sister's Keeper Products Sampler

In this pink bag is from Sister's Keeper Products there's a whole lotta little good for your hair and body samples to pamper myself from head to toe.

So the first thing I did was take the photos, then opened everything and smelled and rubbed everything everywhere.

Here's the run down!

Dip Hair & Body Moisturizer
On shampooed, towel dried hair, I add just a little bit of this as a leave-in and let it just about dry before layering it.  It has a very light, non-greasy texture.  As its name suggests it can be used from head to toe.  This would be great on the skin for those who do not like to be shiny.  It readily absorbs too.  It's sweet nutty fragrance is light enough to wear with other perfumes and body sprays.

So Chic Styling Butter
I use this right after applying the H&B Moisturizer for a little sheen.  I can see this being a good shine/sheen product for polishing twists-outs to give that extra pop. Plus it smells great having a tropical fruit feel along with underlying butter scents. Yes, I rubbed it on the skin.  It leaves a bit of a glow to the skin without being heavy.  Back to the two on my hair, my hair is soft, flexible, nearly frizz free, sheeny, and very touchable.


Dream Whip Body Butter
This is a soft butter that goes a long way.  It melts easily into the skin.  It's like an aerated oil, very delicate.  This too leaves a beautiful glow to my skin without being greasy.

NYLA Butter 
I really can't tell the difference between this one and Dream Whip.  After reading the discriptions again.  NYLA is pretty much the same as DW, but without the shea butter. I'm not sure which scent this is but it smells like graham crackers, love it.

Hair & Body Souffle v/s Coco Body Mousse
I haven't tried these on my hair just yet, but I can see this being similar to So Chic.  If I had to pick between the two, I'd get both just in different fragrances.  They are both whipped and feel good on the skin.  The souffle is mango and avocado butters based, no shea.  Coco has soy and cocoa butters.

Brown Sugar Body Scrub
This is a great way to exfoliate and seal in moisture in one product. Brown Sugar has the thickest oil I've seen in a scrub. It has brown sugar, dead sea salt, vitamin e, and many good oils to pamper the skin.

Goats Milk and African Black Soap
I have not used these yet. Honestly, I really haven't tried a handmade body soap that I didn't like.  They are much better than commercial soaps.  Google the two kinds and learn the magic of them both.  If you haven't tried a bar and shopping at Sister's Keeper, get one.

Overall, Sister's Keeper has made a collection of products using a variety of butters and ingredients to make the skin and hair supple.  These products will make for great butter sealants.  This is a great sampler for me because I'm using all these little jars all over!

Bye!

Products were paid for by me. 

My Hair's Conscience

It's me at work.  I'm feeling the small earring thing, but for some reason I just couldn't get a good picture with them showing.  My reflection in the mirror was perfect, but the camera phone was not cooperating at all.  You know how they do!  As far as earrings go, 3 inches and less is my still.  I know people with TWAs and other styles usually go for gigantic earrings.  Simple and elegant trumps out large and bold for me.  With that said, I'm going to focus on smaller earrings using gemstones and precious metals. 

If you've been around me online from way back, 6+ years ago, then you'll know I've been using Jamaican Mango & Lime Cactus leave-in moisturizer forever.  Yes, it's been through changes.  No, it's not all natural.  It's made by a Black owned business, but I get it from the local Asian beauty supply store.  It works.  It's a light weight, water soluble, slippery cream.  I don't use conditioner after watering or shampooing my hair, so this is all the product my hair gets and needs. 

I was recommended this product, Garnier Fructis, Sleek & Shine leave-in by a relaxer wearing person who occasionally does the wash-n-go that is curly in some places and straight in others.  O_o  I was very hesitant, but was assured that it should work for my hair.  It does just fine, but a little too much turns my hair white and chalky.  This product is not all natural.  I bought it at Harris Teeter.  It's not made by anyone I know.  Honestly, I don't think my hair really likes it anyway.

I would like to find a nice all natural, handmade product for my hair, but it cannot have SHEA BUTTER. 

If you've used these products and your hair liked them, would you try to fix something that isn't broken?  I'm Facebook & Twitter friends with so many people who make products and I feel guilty not being able to say that I use Black Woman Over There Hair Pudding Custard Souffle Mousse Leave-In Moisturizing Conditioner Cream Butter.  Should it matter who you get the product from if it works?  What would you do?

Whip It Real Good ~ Bath & Body Review

I have been indulging in handmade bath and body products and I think they are worth a high five, chin up, fist bump, and a purchase.

One of the first products I feel in love with is one I actually won! It pays to enter contests. I received samples of Khemet Botanicals Vegetable Body Wash in Abaco Juju along with Let It Whip Body Souffle in the same fragrance. This body whip is delightfully light and full of moisture. My face gets dry and this is a perfect way to enjoy the benefits of a shea butter mix without it being heavy and greasy. It's texture is like mousse and is nice for hot summers when anything on the skin feels smothering. It absorbs readily and you don't have to wait to put on clothes or just use it at bed time or on your feet.

I've been an admirer of Itiel the owner of Smell Goods '98 for some time now. When she said that she was going to do a live broadcast with Q & A, I joined the chat. I'm glad I did because she just happened to drop a coupon code for $5 off any purchase. I already knew what I wanted and didn't hesitate in grabbing Sugar Whips from her Stay Sweet collection which has positive

affirmations for young ladies and ladies young at heart. It's a fun body wash in that it's fluffy in texture and has sugar for exfoliation. I've tried liquid body washes that exfoliate, but Sugar Whips is totally different and I get excited each time I use it.

The next product up is the heavy duty type of product for ashy elbows, stretching a pedicure feet, and lizard skin. It can also be used on hair too. If you don't know me by know, I have never locking Sisterlocks and they don't like products. With that said, I can't do a review on how this works on hair. I came across the owner of DIY Hair Care Products on Twitter and was drawn to her and the hair/body butter. I was in need of a good shea butter mix that I can use after a good soak and pamper me time. After a few tweets and admiring each others products, we decided to barter. I love bartering! I received 3 4oz jars of Whipped Body & Hair Butter in lavender, energy, and cake. I enjoy all of the scents, but energy has an edge on the others for now.

Bobeam Shampoo Bars by Laquita

Please read my interview and product review with writer Laquita Thomas of Clutch/Kinnks and Bobeam hair and body products. Focus will be on shampoo bars, hair teas, and shea moisturizers.

CHECK IT OUT ON....

On the Road to Queendom

Traditional to Sisterlocks, Brotherlocks

Sometimes locks can break. I've heard that Sisterlocks are so tiny that they snap without warning, at anytime they fall off. Any hair, relaxed, natural, or locked, can snap off but it gives warnings. One thing is to stop breakage before it happens - preventative maintenance. Make it routine to retighten or retwist on time. Anytime there is two textures or in this case state of hair going on, there will be a battle and the texture at the end will lose.

Julia has past shoulder length traditional locks with lots of new growth. This makes for a great opportunity for the locked hair to either slide out or break off. Basically, the hair that sheds remains in the lock, some hairs that are still in the root bed are in the lock, and then new hairs are growing and will be incorporated in the lock. When the hair is not maintained properly, all that's holding the lock is the hair in the root. Now and the hand in locks disease, time, the weight of the locked part, and styling the next thing that can occur is breakage. Unfortunately, this is what happened to Julia's crown area.

If lost locks are saved they can be sown back and/or wrapped with added kinky type hair to make the lock smoother and more stable. If the client is ready for a new start, then channel your inner Edward Scissorhands and get to cutting! I'm a slightly destructive person so this was fun for me. Even though I was quite scissor happy, I cut below the new growth and

into the actual mature part of the lock. Next, we used large push pins to pick out the lock.

While Julia was hard at work picking out some locks, I put in some tester Sisterlocks, in the front like she asked so she can see them! We both wanted to keep going, but you know the deal. Plus i had another client coming.

My next client was started using the twisting with product method. He was told not to shampoo his hair and that the dirt would help his hair hold. By the time another client told him about Sisterlocks/Brotherlocks, his hair had build-up already. He was itching for a scratch too. Yes, I went there with that one. For those of you too young or too old, Itching for a Scratch is an old school hip hop song.

Going from traditional locks to latch-interwoven locks is easy, if you have enough hair. This session marked a milestone in which his hair had grown enough to put into locks. In areas that were too short I used the twisting - rolling method with Taybutta by Shawnta' of Infiniti Naturals, a natural hair stylist, to hold the hair. I still used a little this time for stray hairs.

Wearable Art - Bits Baubles & Buttons

I love beads and so does Bits, Baubles & Buttons by Bridget. I have been twittering, facebooking, and yiming Bridget for some time now and I have been honored to watch her build her site along with her catalog of elegant and cute jewelry. Bridget has a great eye for pretty beads and has the rhythm of a tap dancer when it comes to designing jewelry.

In the first photo, I'm wearing one of her clip on hair accessories and Unperfect Coil copper earrings. The rest of the photos I'm wearing a pair of custom made Having a Ball blue and white drop earrings.

You can find Bridget on Facebook and Twitter via her links on her website. Oh, if you become a BBBbB Facebook fan you can use the special 10% off code from the month of November!

Wearable Art - Yarncoture

I really want to thank Maryum of Yarncoture for making this custom open-top hat for me. It is made of 100% Peruvian Highland Wool which she knitted then handwashed - twice - for that fleece look. The lotus flower can be worn on the hat or as a brooche. CUTE! Custom orders are hard to do sometimes because of materials and trying to get that vision just right. Maryum you nailed it and a lot of people have given you compliments on twitter and facebook.

I really don't like cold weather, but now I can't wait for the chance to wear my new little friend.

Maryum knits and crochets and has fingerless gloves, various hat styles, shawls, baby booties, all sorts of handmade goodies. Winter is coming!

To view more photos and information about this hat click HERE!

It's My Birthday

A hat that fits!

It's 6:21am and I couldn't wait to get off of work to open my presents that I bought myself. It's my birthday and I'm excited. Over the weekend my parents and I went on a road trip to see my sister, Tomoka, in Atlanta. We did not hit any tourist spots because we've been there and done that before. My father really did want to go to the aquarium. And you know, I really wanted to see Andre 3000, maybe next time.

We did go shopping! The first stop was the Coach outlet where I found my happy birthday gifts! I also bought a black floral dress that allows for a lot of cleavage and leg. I will wear that this weekend while I continue to celebrate my birthday into the first week of May. I also bought another lady shaver. I don't even know which kind I got. It was under $20 at Wal-Mart. I had a gift card there, otherwise.... I think this will be the fourth one. I keep dropping them in shower and the replacement screens and blades are just as expensive as the the entire shaver itself.

Say hello to my little friend!

Update: There's a give-away going on so please visit On the Road to Queendom. She's giving away some of the prettiest lock/twist adornments that I've ever seen. One has a peacock feather!

Designing Like a Wild Child

Bohemian Bangle by Wild Child Dzigns

Hair Tie by Tomoka's Twists

When Wild Child Dzigns shared this bangle on Twitter, something clicked. I wanted it, but for a hair tie. Please stop by her site, she makes crochet items including swimsuits, halter tops, tams, and other beautiful accessories.

Please enter the give-away on On the Road to Queendom Thank you all for entering!
The free s/h sale is ends April 19th!

Make Money Honey

This darling little hair tie is by Erama. Silver is very popular for hair accessories and Erama has a vast selection of silver hair ties. She has several colors and some have danglings such as one that I hearted in Etsy "Good Hair".

Some people joke that I hustle others products just as much as I do mine. I'm just trying to keep the dollars within the community, OK! So I also purchased Cheleski's - The Knotty Truth natural hair book. I'm so proud to own it! This book will make a great gift for your relaxed friends who you are trying to get to go natural, lol. Seriously! It's an all in one guide to natural. It even has color pictures and you just might recognize a few ladies from the natural hair forums.

Moving right along, I'm waiting on a hair tie from Naturally Sophia. I grabbed MHS. She's offering free s/h so please get one while the getting is good! You have to see her cowrie puff/ponytail holder.

I missed the meet-up in Charlotte. I won't talk about that other than to say this. Ladies if you cannot make your appointment, please call your trainee/consultant. Next time!

I will be attending the Raleigh Natural Hair Meet-Up, yes. It's hosted by Natasha. WOW. I know two locked goddesses named Natasha who are hostesses for us. This one is March 21st.

I am enjoying finding beads and discs. I believe everyone else is too. I appreciate all the blog love, kind words, purchases, photos, invites to meet-n-greets, and the emails. Thank you for being my friends in all the ning.com groups, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and even MySpace. Those who send me African Safari gifts will get discounts, lol. Thank you for your understanding and patience as well. Praise God from whom all blessings flow, you know.

To be honest, it's not easy at all. Anything worth having is worth working for. Can I get a witness? I'll tell all about it one day.

People keep talking about the economy, but a lot of people are still purchasing. I guess instead of buying big ticket items, a little hair ornament adds more happiness and beauty to your day. I know I enjoy making them and most of all wearing them.

Available on Tomoka's Twists Dot Com

Delightful Swirl - high luster quartz

Fire J. - red jasper, quartz

Blush - high luster quartz

Star Crochet Creations Earrings & Tomoka's Twist Give-Away

I found out about Star Crochet Creations - Lovenia's Esty boutique from the LockItUp yahoo group. Whenever someone posts a link anywhere, I'm there. If I've had a really good week on my own goodies, I'll buy.

I'm sorry. It's 6:40am and you know I work the long, late night shift. Usually, when I'm like this I cut it short with a few words of praise, pictures, and a link. Stay with me because this gets interesting!

I bought a few sets of these pink lucite beads for this TT in June and sold a hair tie, earrings, and bracelet set. Like to see it? Here it go!

That and other sets like it really didn't go over that well, so I stopped making them. What really stopped me from using the rest of these beads is that they are vintage lucite. And after looking at this set, I want those round beads back! I really should have kept these to myself.

I thought, maybe this was too gaudy, so I made a plain set that never sold. So, with business picking up I decided I'd try with the pink lucite beads again. The problem is that these beads are shaped differently and I wanted to make these grand earrings with them. A month has gone by since I made the TT. The second problem is, I can only make one set. I make one of kind sets and after lamenting over them and taking lots of pictures, I sell them. If I say a set is a one of a kind set, I didn't even make one for myself! Call it greed, but I want this pink TT, lol.

When I saw Lovenia's crochet earrings I knew I would never have to make the earrings! What a beautiful relief. I can make two TTs ~ one for me and one for you!

If you've read this far, thank you!

I think the TT will be a perfect match. Being the history behind these bead, you can tell I can't put a value on them. If you buy the earrings, let me know by using the name that you purchased them with, so I can send you this Tomoka's Twists. There's only enough beads for one to be given away, so the first person to holla wins! If you want to be incognito send your name to carmen@tomokastwists.com.

OMG ~ Note how there is no facial hair. Laser hair removal really does work.

Enough of my sleepy jibber. Please stop by www.starcrochetcreations.etsy.com to get these earrings!

Hair Ties - I Did It My Way

I couldn't find a horn tube that I liked, so I made one. If you like it, let me know!

I Don't Use...

...Taliah Waajid's Lock It Up Gel. It's been a year since I started my Sisterlocks over and they still haven't matured. Some come aloose still. It's all good. I just want those googling that I don't use that product. It's too good for my hair, lol.

Got Your Covered with Virtuous Creations

I received a question concerning hats, locks, and lint from Miss Jacque'

Comments: I love the site and your hair. Question, I always see loc wearers in crochet or other knit hats how do they protect their hair from the lint that comes from them?

Hello Jacque,
Thank you for compliments and asking such a good question. For crochet/knit and any hat without a lining it best to put a silk/nylon scarf under it. Natural fibers, animal fur, and 'linty' yarns compete with the hair for moisture and oils along with leaving lint in the hair.

I do wear black crochet/knit hats with a tight spun yarn and pattern. Those do not leave as much lint and when they do, it blends in with my hair. Alot of women wear head wraps using non-linting materials. I wear the stretchy dreadlock caps.

I recently purchased a cap from Virtuous Creations and these are very silky and stretchy.

Here are a few other sites that have the stretchy lock head gear.
http://lockscrunchie.com/
http://cheaplocsocs.com

I personally like the headbands because my hair isn't long enough to fill up the caps just yet.

I hope that answers your question!

The black and white floral print hat is by Virtuous Creations who I have raved about on the yahoo groups LockItUp & Lovinlocs. I figured should grab this one before it was gone! VC also sells lock jewelry, hairbands, and fleece hats with matching scarves.

If all else fails with the lint grab a Sharpie!

Juicy Bags Give~Away

Remember the custom made laptop bad JuicyBags made for me? She's having a contest.

Click -->> Juicybags Give-Away

Valentine's Day Give-Away by Rosalyn Scent

Rosalyn Scent is having a give-away for Valentine's Day. There is a 1st and 2nd placer winner. The 1st place winner will receive a complete gift basket filled with pampering goodies. The 2nd place winner will receive a collection of travel sized bath & body products along with Bleu Kashmere's 'Erotic Flava'.

To enter please visit -> Rosalyn Scent's Blog

Serah's Cupcake Soap Give-Away!!!

I think these soaps are so cute. Please stop by Serah's Cupcake Soap Blog to enter the contest for your chance to win a cupcake soap of your choice. You can enter multiple times too!

Updates & Picture & More Obama

Handmade crochet Obama caps/hats/and more $20 no s/h!
I got a large size just in case.


Remember that video I did a while back? Someone watched it and bought a Juicybag. I don't know who you are but thank you so much. It really means a lot to me because sometimes I don't think I have fashion sense! Seriously, it does mean a lot, more than words can say.

Rock Obama

I just received the sweetest kufi. It's a crochet Obama hat. I'm getting bad at this picture thing. http://www.africreations.com/Crochet-Obama-Hats.html

People I'm on Twitter hard and I just now noticed that this blog was written in Twitter style. Pitiful I know. I'm addicted to twitter. It's gotten so good to me that I want a large feed of my tweets on my blog. I have the little twitter one liner on my sidebar. I have joined a few groups and I've gotten a few direct messages from somebody famous. How cool is that? Very.

http://twitter.com/carmennc

New Video - Angelicgems & Juicybags

I haven't watched the video, so I hope it goes well. I don't like watching myself.

rmcandlelight asked "Can you do a video showing us your locks?" I did a quick post with a few pictures. I wanted to take some pictures for Angelicgems & Juicybags to show me actually wearing their items. So I thought - I'll just do a video!

I have been looking for a quirky, color laptop tote for a while now. I have a case for it, but for everyday use it's not practical, too bulky and it just screams - steal me. Or when I'm at work when I got my laptop back, I had the case and brought it inside and somebody said, "I see you brought your laptop." The business is mine. Stay out of it!

I twitter and one of the many fine Etsy artists that I follow sells these totes made of CapriSun or Kool-Aid Jammers pouches. So I twittered her asking if they would be suitable for laptops. Next thing I know, she's asking for dimensions and colors. She's adding extra layers for strength, two closures, and a list of extras that I would have never thought of...

This bag has gotten so many compliments. It's by JuicyBags at http://juicybags.etsy.com so please stop by to see all of her items or leave a note to get a custom bag.

I did a post not long ago about Angelicgems and her cute jewelry. You read about it or just skip what I have to say and go straight to http://angelicgems.etsy.com Her work speaks for itself!