PRODUCT JUNKY-ISM

Sorry I've been M.I.A everyone, I had finals and other things I needed to attend to but I'm back to talk about something that not only I, but alot of other women trying to take care of their hair, experience...

My name is Ms. Larutan and I'm a product junky...

A product junky (PJ) is someone who just can't seem to keep their hands off of hair products. I've tried so many things and whenever I hear about something new I can't wait to "experiment". For me it started around the time when I started taking better care of my relaxed hair. My PJism spun into overdrive when I decided to go natural. I was going all over the internet seeing all these reviews for this product and that product. Before I knew it I was buying products for my natural hair before I had even big chopped. It was outrageous lol. Eventually I lowered my purchases down but every once in a while I still buy something new. I LOVE buying hair associated things. I get happy in the beauty supply store or in a common hair aisle. Whenever I walk into anywhere that has hair products/accessories, even the average grocery store, I feel like I have to go look.

Sure, I find alot of good things that I end up loving and buying more of. And sometimes these product buying urges turn into my staple products. However, sometimes... they don't.

The thing about being a PJ is that not all products are going to work the way you fantasize they will. That review that you heard from that one random youtube girl that one day a few weeks ago?.....she doesn't have your hair. Some product purchases aren't going to melt away your tangles. The truth is that you've probably got something underneath your sink that'll do that already! lol.

So to all my fellow PJs, we've got to do better lol. I think I'm one of the worst PJs because I've just recently started tweaking the products that didn't work for me... a lot of the time I had just ended up pushing them to the back of my sink. But that's going to change. I'm going to try really hard to at least use up three-fourths of everything that I don't like in addition to using up everything that I do before I go out and try to find something that could possibly work better.

And to anyone who has just gone natural, TRY not to become a PJ. I've found that a lot of products seem to work better with every use so give it a little bit of time before you move on to the next thing. And also, don't jump on every hair product bandwagon. Basically just spend wisely. You (and your wallet) will thank me for it. =]

That's all for now

Less than Three <3

Ms. Larutan

Contemplating going natural?

"I want to go natural but I don't think it'll look right on me "

I've heard this so many times now and I always say the same thing: "Natural looks good on everyone that's why it's called natural =)." Something that would be there naturally has got to look right on you lol. That's like if I was to say that "I don't think my fingernails look right on me" lol. Now I'm not a "go natural" pusher but when I hear this statement it makes me think you're already on the edge of the decision so I might as well share some information. At this point, I think all you have to do is do some research on the dangers of relaxing (I had many encounters with chemical burns) and maybe browse a few natural hair blogs or forums. The inspiration and drive would surely set in. For me it didn't end up being about looking right to others, but looking right to myself. And I must admit that I feel like this was how I was meant to be.

 If you sit down and really do the research, I've found most end up either transitioning or big chopping before they know it. Plus, deciding to go natural doesn't always have to be some jump off a cliff experience. I've known a few people who have gone back and forth on their decision but just kept a relaxer off of their hair long enough to truely decide. That way you'll have months of growth if you decide to get rid of the relaxed ends or you'll have months of growth that you'll end up relaxing. No biggy. Natural or relaxed, we're all beautiful =].

But here's some inspiration nonetheless:

            

Gotta love that barbie! Lol.

Less than Three <3

Ms. Larutan

Protective Styling

If you've been reading along you already know I'm protective styling for the winter. I've been sitting/standing/living in these senegalese twists for some time now but they WILL be coming out November  23, 2010 (incredibly excited about that!). I'm still undecided about what my next protective style will be but that's besides the point of this post....


I want to talk about...


The Joys and Frustrations of Protective Styling

A good hair care regimen is likely to include some kind of protective styling (PSing). Whether it be adding hair with extension braids/twists/weaves or wigs, or just keeping your own hair twisted or bunned up. It's important to protect your ends if you are trying to grow your hair or keep your hair healthy in general and that is exactly what PSing is for.

The Joys
Psing can be great. You get to put your hair away and focus on other things while your hair can relax and grow. Of course you still have to make sure you're moisturizing and giving your hair what it needs, but styling no longer has to be a worry for the time being. You don't have to worry as much about if the bad weather is going to suck the life out of your locks or if your clothes are going to proceed to rip and break off your ends. And lastly, my favorite part of PSing, is the reveal. After taking care of your hair and leaving it alone to flourish, you get to shock yourself with beautiful growth or health after the PSing process has come to an end.


The Frustrations
PSing can be a son of a....gun. Putting it simply. If you're like me, protective styling can get very redundant. I get bored out of my mind while protective styling and I begin to miss my hair in no time. When I protective style I try to pick things that I can somewhat change. I wanted long senegalese twists so I could put them up, pin them into styles, and do different things with them. Another problem is that while PSing in styles that require extensions such as braids/twists/or weave (not so much wigs) some feel like they can't effectively treat their hair right. This could be a big problem and could lead to a dreaded SETBACK. A common issue with PSing in extension styles (including wigs) is damage to the hairline. One must be very careful about this. These styles should never be done too tightly and you must make sure to keep your hair cared for underneath them (moisturizing, etc).


Even with the frustrations stated, I believe that protective styling is still far more good than bad. If you don't want to risk damage by PSing in extension styles (wigs seem to have less risk but many are uncomfortable wearing them), you can always bun/braid/ or twist your own hair.

That's all for now.

Less Than Three <3

Ms. Larutan

Importance of Moisture

            DRY                               MOISTURIZED

I know..I know...

If you've researched hair care techniques you've heard this a million times before, "make sure you moisturize". It's probably going in one ear and out the other by now and I don't blame you. However, because it's so important I felt like I had to say it one more time.

Moisturizing and sealing are the number one best thing you can do for curly, coily, and kinky hair textures. No one could ever scientifically back up saying that their hair does better when its dry and brittle. Hair breaks and becomes unhealthy when its dehydrated so moisture is key. However, just adding moisure is not enough for curly/coily/kinky textures. This is because the natural oil produced in our scalps (sebum) cannot effectively coat/and lock in moisture as well as straighter textures. It is harder for sebum to flow down the swerves and angles of our hair strands. This is why we must seal in the moisture manually with other oils (some frequently used oils are Olive oil, Coconut oil, Jojoba oil, and Castor oil). Because there is less sebum being distributed naturally on the hair strands the further we get from our scalps, we have to pay close attention to the ends of our hair when both moisturizing and sealing.

Benefits to Moisturizing and Sealing:
1. Health: moisturizing and sealing keeps your hair healthy. Dry and brittle hair is damaged hair. The hair strand splits and breaks if not properly cared for.
2. Hair growth: Moisturizing and sealing protects your ends. The less likely your ends break, the more likely your hair will retain growth.
3. Shine: Because curly/coily/kinky textures don't reflect light as easily the extra oil helps to give our hair more sheen/shine and appear even healthier.

4.Curl Pattern: If you're natural or texturized and are interested in having curl definition, moisture is essential. Generally, the more moisturized your hair is the more defined your curls/waves/coils/and crimps will be.

Sorry for the haircare repeat. Hope it helped anyway.

~less than. three ~

<3

Ms. Larutan

Are having natural hair inspirations bad?

When motivational becomes harmful.


The Motivation:
I've seen some ladies who look at others' hair and just strive harder to achieve whatever it is that they are admiring, whether it be a style, length, thickness, etc. A lot of the time these natural inspirations really do help to remind us naturals to keep up with our hair care, assure us that our hard work is not in vain, and remind us that our hair can reach great lengths and health. However, there's a flip side to this as well. Looking at too many pictures of wonderful gorgeous hair and comparing yours to theirs could be harmful.


Part of the problem:


My own experience: When I was merely transitioning to natural hair, I was searching through all sorts of fotkis, blogs, and hair inspiration threads on forums all over the internet. The pictures definitely gave me more will to achieve what I wanted. 


However, after I BCed and my true curl pattern presented itself, I began to notice something. My 4a/4b hair was nothing like MOST of the pictures I frequently ran into while searching for large, lovely, professional images of natural hair. I mean of course there were some ladies with my texture but the majority were not. My hair did not look and could not do some of the things in the images that had been readily available to me. I became aware of this and was perfectly fine with it after certain style failures lol. However, many ladies might not be able to be "fine" with this fact and so they end up going back to the box... box of relaxer that is. 


This is a sad occurrence. No woman should have to feel like her hair is too coarse or even too silky for that matter. There shouldn't be any preferences in photos or images in the media but of course me writing this wont change anything any faster. Although the media does seem to be getting better at presenting all types of textures, I can't watch TV without seeing a natural in a commercial lol, there still seems to be an unequal presentation of curl patterns. Those with 3c and below types are shown far more often than those with 4 textures. This is why I believe any person planning on going natural should really learn to love their hair before they chop so they wont be deterred by what ever coils/curls/ or kinks that show themselves later.


The Answer to the Question:
So basically the answer to the question: "Are having natural hair inspirations bad?" is yes and no. It is yes if you're inspiring to have the exact hair of another person because every head of hair is different just like every person is different and you will probably end up disappointed. However, the answer is no if you're only using them for outside motivation and to remind yourself that natural hair is beautiful in all its different varieties.


I , while I have no problem with looser textures what-so-ever, find myself having inspirations of those with hair types similar to my own. It's just better motivation for me to see hair similar to mine being long, luxurious, and healthy.


I'll leave off by showing my ultimate hair inspiration at the moment, Mahogony Boisseau. Beautiful girl with beautiful natural hair:

That's all for now

Ms. Larutan