Old Faithful: Three Strand Twists | The #WashDayExperience

Summer is here and as always I'm looking for easy no fuss hairstyles. Before yesterday's wash day I rocked a half down, half faux updo. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures but I will share pics next time. Although I love wearing my hair out my hair gets extremely tangled. Which is why I'm only wearing my hair out once or twice a week.  Anyway here is a recap of yesterday's #washdayexperience:

                                           

Pre-Shampoo: Hair Trigger for 45 minutes . I like to do a little finger detangling during this step. Plus, this leaves my hair so nice and soft after.

*My hair has been shedding a lot recently. Has anyone else experienced this lately? Is it because it's summer? I swear I'm finding little hairs everywhere. Lol.

Co-Wash: Shea Moisture's Cleansing Cowash Conditioner

Protein Treatment: ApHogee Intensive Two Minute Keratin Reconstructor for 2 minutes.

Deep Condition: SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque + Tangles & Beyond Deep Moisture Conditioner for 35 minutes under a plastic cap. I had a little bit of the Deep Treatment Masque left and decided to mix it in with the Deep Moisture Conditioner. Once I started using it again, I realized how much I love this conditioner! I started to use the Denman brush to detangle but opted for my wide tooth comb instead. With all of my recent shedding I thought it would be more effective.

ACV Rinse: I sprayed the rinse in my hair and massaged it into my scalp for a couple of minutes.

Tea Rinse: For this week's tea rinse I used three bags of Earl Gray (my gray/silver strands on the side have been laughing at me recently) and two bags of green tea. I usually pour the mix over my head and repeat until it's gone. But this ends up being so messy and I'm not sure if I get all the black tea in my hair. I'm going to go back to putting the tea rinse in a spray bottle and applying it that way. #nomess #nofuss . I apply a cotton t-shirt on my head for about 15 minutes to catch any excess liquid.

Leave-ins: SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil and SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie

 

I think this might be my best three strand twist. Before I started twisting, I put my hair in five sections (front, middle, back and one for each side). Instead of waiting until the end I did the front section first. Then I did the sides, the back and finished with the middle section. And guess what, this made the whole twisting process so much better! I know, some of you probably already do this, but hey, this was a breakthrough for me. Lol.

                    How was your wash day? Join the link-up and share your #WashdayExperience

10 Cool and Creative Summer Date Night Ideas

Summer is here and I'm back from my unplanned hiatus from the blog. May was crazy with all the moving (in Monterey) and then to Portland. I just needed some time to take it all in. But now I'm back :). Now that summer is here it's time to spice up your date nights. With the beautiful weather there are tons of fun and creative things you can do with your honey. Not sure where to start? Here are a few fun date night ideas to try with your sweetie.

1. Go to a brewery

Nothing says summer like sipping an ice cold beverage and relaxing on a patio. Head to your local brewery to learn about the great brews in your area and don’t forget to sample something from their menu! 

Don’t know where to start? Most breweries have “flights” or samples of their beers served in small tasting glasses. This lets you sample the types of beers they brew before you commit to one.

If you’re not a beer drinker, head to the nearest winery to enjoy a nice glass of wine while touring the grounds. 

2. Plan a game night outdoors

Take game night to a whole new level by bringing it outdoors.  Find your favorite childhood games like Twister, Monopoly, Uno or new games like Cards Against Humanity and Heads Up and have a fun night of competition. Make it a double date or a couple’s night by inviting your friends and family.

You can even find outdoor-friendly games like Giant Jenga nowadays!

3. Have a Picnic

Take your lunch or dinner and head to your local park, backyard, the beach or your favorite outdoor location. Be sure to pack your sunscreen and a blanket to get cozy while you eat. If the weather isn’t cooperating, enjoy your picnic indoors.

4.  Host a Barbecue or Bonfire

Grilling is one of my favorite parts of summer. It is a fun and a relative easy way to enjoy great food. So grab your favorite food and drinks and fire up the grill! Not a grill master? Opt for a nice relaxing bonfire with s’mores and your honey.

To see the rest of my summer date night ideas, visit Strong Is Our Sexy. 

Wash Day Recap: Back to Low Manipulation Styling

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!

I have been slacking on the blog posts this month but we're finally settled in Portland. And, now that we're settled I can actually get back to my regular hair routines/practices. Here is a recap of Friday's wash day:

1] Pre-pooed with Hair Trigger doing some light detangling with my fingers and left it in for an hour.

[2] Shampooed with Shea Moisture's Cleansing Cowash Conditioner. 

[3] Protein Treatment with ApHogee Intensive Two Minute Keratin Reconstructor for 2 minutes.

[3] Deep Conditioned with Tangles and Beyond's Deep Moisture Conditioner for 40 minutes.  Before I rinsed it out I used my Denman brush to detangle it. My hair was a tangled mess from wearing my hair out. This conditioner is a god-send because it melted all of my tangles away and brought my hair back to life.
[4] T-shirt dried my hair for about 15-20 minutes. I wanted my hair to be damp not soaking wet when I applied product.

[4] Applied my leave-ins: Jia's Caribbean Dream Cream  and Tangles and Beyond Deep Moisture Shea Butter.

[5] Styled my hair:  I knew it was time to put my hair back into protective styling. It was fun having it out for a little bit but honestly the tangles/matted hair is not fun. I will wear my hair out but not all the time. I prepped my hair for the style by banding it with hair ties to stretch my hair. 

My original plan was to try a style that I saw on YouTube but I couldn't get my hair to cooperate. Instead I just did a tuck and pin style, totally on the fly. I think it turned out well, especially since this was a style I made up in the moment. I'll wear this style until Friday or Saturday. Depending on how my hair feels, I may take it down Tuesday to moisturize it and then put it back up.

                    

How was your wash day? Did you try any new styles or products? Join the link up to share your #WashDayExperience

Wash Day Experience: The Hotel Edition

Hey everyone!

As I mentioned in my last travel adventure update, May has been a busy month. So busy in fact that it took me 10 days to wash my hair (I usually wash once a week). By the time I washed my hair we were (me, the hubby and the dogs) staying in a hotel until we left for Portland.

Before Wednesday's wash day I wore my fro out for a whole week, playing around with different styles. At the end of the week, my hair was a tangled mess so I decided to pin it up until I had time to deal with it.

One of the styles I wore during the week.

My first "puff"

                                     

Here is a recap of Wednesday's wash day:

[1] Pre-pooed-- I didn't have time for a long wash day, so I skipped this part.

[2] Shampooed with SoapBox Argan Oil Shampoo (sent by Influenster, a product I will be reviewing soon).

[3] Deep Conditioned with The Antidote by Tangles and Beyond for 20 minutes.  Can I just say that I love this conditioner? There will be a review of this soon.

[4] Detangled-- Usually I detangle every wash day but with all of our things packed for the move, I couldn't find my Denman brush or wide tooth comb.

[5] T-shirt dried for about an 20 minutes.

[6] Applied my leave-ins: Jia's Caribbean Dream Cream  and Tangles and Beyond Deep Moisture Shea Butter.

[7] Styled my hair: Since we were leaving for Portland the next day and I had to run out to meet up with friends after washing my hair, I went with a simple style: my afro with a flower. My plan is to wear this style for a few days, then pin it up on Sunday and keep that way until my next wash day (either Wednesday or Thursday).

How was your recent wash day? Be sure to share your #WashDayExperience by joining the link-up.

Until next time!

~Adventures of a Nappy Chica

Final Countdown in Monterey Part 3: Good Old Days 2015

I just realized yesterday that I haven't posted anything this month. Life has been a little crazy, insane hectic this month. With moving out of the apartment/unit we were renting, the hubby finishing up school, finishing up work and prepping for Portland, I haven't had time to think about the blog. But, my goal is to finish up the last few days in Monterey by sharing some more of my recent adventures.

About a month ago I had the opportunity to join one of my Zumba instructors on stage at Good Old Days in Pacific Groove. This two day festival featured live entertainment, food, arts and crafts, carnival rides and much more. And what is a festival without free Zumba?! Local Zumba instructors taught free classes to the public on both Saturday and Sunday.

Dancing it up on the stage

It was a really great experience and is getting me excited to teach my own class! Since getting my certification, I have been learning choreography and getting a playlist together. I'm hoping to teach Zumba while we're in Portland this summer.

Group shot--excuse my facial expression

                                                                                                           

Until next time!

~Adventures of a Nappy Chica

On the Road Again: Gearing Up For Our Next Move

With less than three weeks in Monterey, the hubby and I are gearing up for our next adventure:






That's right we're moving to Portland! The hubby will be doing his internship in Portland, Oregon from May until September. We are both excited for this new adventure and the chance to experience all of the great things Portland has to offer. I of course will be sharing all of those adventures right here on the blog. If you have any recommendations on things to do, places to visit or other insights on Portland, please share in the comments below!


Until next time!



~Adventures of a Nappy Chica

Wash Day Recap: I got 99 problems but my Fro ain't one of them

Ok, I don't have 99 problems but I thought the title was super clever and wanted to use it for today's post. As someone of you know, I celebrated my 1 year natural anniversary on Sunday. To celebrate I undid my twists and let my fro out all day Sunday. The plan was to do my normal wash day and then twist my hair for the week, which has been my routine for the past month or so.

[1] Pre-pooed with Hair Trigger for about an hour.

[2] Shampooed with Tangles and Beyond Rhassoul Whip Poo . I normally only shampoo once a month by I ran out of my Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus Co-Wash Cleansing Conditioner. I didn't realize that until I put the Hair Trigger on my hair.

[3]  Protein Treatment : ApHogee Intensive Two Minute Keratin Reconstructor . 

[4] Deep Conditioned with The Antidote by Tangles and Beyond for about 40 minutes. Unfortunately we don't have a microwave at our current place but I can't wait until we move. I'll be able to incorporate heat  again. This stuff is amazing! It's my first time using it but so far I love it!

[5] Detangled-- I wish I could say that I did but didn't. The good news is I didn't really need to. The Antidote made my hair soft and manageable, I honestly didn't need to detangle it.

[6] Tea Rinsed - I'm seriously slipping on my tea rinses. In my defense, we are leaving Monterey in about two and a half weeks. So needlessly to say life has been a little hectic. We already have most of our things packed #wearereadytoleave . Unfortunately my tea rinses have suffered because of the upcoming move.

[7] ACV rinse  No rinse this week because I didn't find my spray bottle until the next morning. But it will be back on the next wash day.

[8] T-shirt dried for about an 30-40 minutes.

[9] Applied my leave-ins: Jia's Caribbean Dream Cream  and Tangles and Beyond Deep Moisture Shea Butter.

[10] Stretched my hair-- I don't know if it was because of my hair anniversary or if I was just tired, but I didn't twist my hair. Instead I used my hair ties to stretch my hair over night. 

When I woke up the next day I was too tired to do anything to my hair so I decided to wear my fro out. My hair is longer, which means my fro is bigger. I was self conscious about wearing my hair out at work because it's not how I usually wear my hair but with the some pep talks from my hubby, I strutted into work proud of my fro.  I was surprised on how many compliments I received from co-workers, many of whom said they would love to see my hair out more.

My fro at the end of the day yesterday

A close-up 

Last night I stretched my hair again using hair ties. This morning I wanted to do a couple of braids but my hair was out of control. That's the problem with wearing the fro, once it's out it is hard to tame it (at least from my experience). Instead of fighting with my hair I rocked a frohawk today.

How was your wash day? Don't forget to join the linkup and share your #WashDayExperience.