ARE YOU BORED WITH YOUR HAIR

Having natural hair can can be boring at times so here are a few ideas to spice up your hair as well as the NEW YEAR!!

1. Try color. This is a big one, so make sure you’re ready. Want a really big change? Try a new hair color. Nothing says fresh like a deep, dark brown or vixen blonde. If you’re feeling really brave, and have the skin color for it, go for red. But please let a professional do it!

2. Do a "Big Chop". Big chops mean different things to different people, but they’re definitely not for the faint at heart. If you’re tired of your locks and want a liberating experience, a big chop  for any hair type or texture  is sometimes the best solution.

3. Add some highlights!! If you’re too attached to your natural hair color to completely change it, highlights are a happy halfway meeting spot. They are also a great option if you are interested in looking more mature. Incorporating highlights into your hair enhances the style because the varying color draws attention to the shape and adds a hint of sophistication.

4.Add a part to your hair. A really easy way to change your look is to try combing your part to another side. Parting your hair down the middle will emphasize your forehead, while parting it to the side will emphasize your cheeks. Even moving your part to the opposite side of your head will give the appearance of change. It will add more volume to the top of your head without any styling involved!

5. Add Accessories!! This seems like the most obvious way to change a hairstyle, and that’s because it is. However, accessories are largely forgotten or taken for granted. Don’t underestimate the change a small bow or hair band can provide. They’re easy to incorporate and there are so many different accessories available that you’re bound to find something unique. Here are some accessories to look for next time you go shopping:

• Hair bands: Decorated with rhinestones, flowers, or lace, the possibilities for change are endless.
• Bows: Bows are a cute way to clip your bangs up, or keep your hair out of your face.

• Bandannas: Wrap them around your head or just above your ears for a funky new look.

FITNESS CHALLENGE

 January 7, 2013 starts the fitness challenge. You must go to my Facebook page and comment on the status to enter by saying im in or something like that or send me an email at meredith.mckey@gmail.com

First you must do a starting check-in with your weight! Also send an email to meredith.mckey@gmail.com with your starting weight AND A PIC OF THE SCALE. This is totally confidential but also important to make sure you're telling the truth. Plus I know everyone will not want everyone to know their weight. You should keep up with this as well (keep a journal of your progress) THIS IS A MUST!!!

Second you must do monthly check-ins by commenting on a CHECK IN blog ON how you are doing and your struggles and things that are helping you become fit.  (This is a must and I'll send a Facebook, twitter, and instagram post when the check-ins are coming.) IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE YOU MUST DO THE CHECK-IN EVERY MONTH! ONCE the fitness challenge gets closer to the end you will have to do WEEKLY check-ins.

Last but not least you'll have a better you and whoever has the biggest percentage of weight loss will win the CASH grand prize. There will also be a second and third place winner as well.


To calculate your percentage of weight loss you divide your number of pounds lost by your starting weight. Then multiply the answer by 100 then you'll get your percentage.

Example if you start at 125 and end at 115, 10 pounds lost, your percetage of weight is 8% below is how I calculated the formula.

10/125=.08
.08x100= 8%

Even if you don't win we are all winners.


This is a 6 month challenge!!!

AS I AM DOUBLEBUTTER CREAM!

So recently I started trying out new products. About 2 weeks ago I purchased the As I Am Doublebutter Cream.

Now on to my experience with the As I Am Doublebutter Cream. First off I purchased it from Sally's for about $27.00 which is more than I would have liked to pay but I'm always game for a new product so it's OK and it's like 16oz so I guess the price is OK because the jar is huge!!!! Now I went home and washed my hair and applied my oil and then twisted my hair (which took 3 hours because I did small (very small) twist). The next day I wore my twist and everyone kept telling me how GREAT my hair looked. So I wore my twist for 4 days before taking them out, then rocked my twistout for a few more days. So the next week I did the same thing and even then I only had to put this product on my hair once and my hair stayed hydrated even though I still put a small amount of Jamaican Black Castor Oil in it every other day just because. This product smells great and I think I'll continue to use this for my twist and also a little bit goes a long way. This product is not heavy at all. OVERALL this is a great product. This product left my hair smooth, soft and my twist were the bomb! So if you are all for trying out a new product i'd suggest this one.

 Moisture is essential for great natural coils and curls. When your hair feels a bit rough and dry, and looks that way too, this is the jar to reach for. The power-packed As I Am® DoubleButter® Cream is a rich emollient blend, graced with the finest array of natural butters and organic oils. It gets the job done. The benefits says that it locks in moisture, gives dull dry hair softness, shine and manageability, ccontains Pro-vitamin B5, (known as Panthenol), to help repair split ends and strengthen hair and  pprovides dehydrated hair with what it needs to look and behave its very best.

The ingredients:

Key Ingredients: Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Castor Oil, Jojoba Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Sugar Beet Root, Wheat Germ Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Wheat Protein, Panthenol and Lanolin

Aqueous (Water, Aqua Purificada, Purified) Extracts: Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) ¹ and Phyllanthus Emblica (Amla) ¹ and Citrus Reticulata (Tangerine)¹ and Beta Vulgaris (Beet) Root¹, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)¹, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil¹, Theobromo Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter (CocoaButter)¹, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil¹, Emulsifying Wax NF, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil¹, Glycerin¹, Lanolin¹, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil¹ , Beeswax¹, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil¹, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein², Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil2, Carbomer, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Linoleate, Triethanolamine, Potassium Sorbate, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Fragrance/Parfum, Limonene.
Source: 1-Natural; 2-Wheat derived

You should use it:
Apply sparingly or liberally depending upon your hair's need for moisture,
manageability and vitality. Rub within palms and scrunch onto hair gently so that coils and curls are
undisturbed. May also be used to set soft lustrous twists and twist-outs

And then they give you tips of joy

• Try using a little As I Am® DoubleButter® Cream along with the Twist Defining Cream for in-between re-twist touch-ups.
• Don't rub oils and butters into your finished style too vigorously. It can disturb coil/curl definition. Instead, rub the product between the palms of your hands, then massage throughout the hair and scrunch onto the ends.
• Don't overuse. A build-up of emollients can actually work against your natural curl definition, and instead of looking shinier, your hair may appear dull and matted.

22 Anniversary Celebration

My gym Your Best Body which is located in Gaffney, SC will be celebrating it's 22nd year of operation Monday, December 10th! There will be a lot of giveaways. It starts at 5pm and the first 100 people will get a FREE anniversary t-shirt! The drawings begin at 6:30 and you must be present to win. There will be food catered by Daddy Joe's BBQ from 5 until 7 and they are even giving away A BRAND NEW FLAT SCREEN TV AND OTHER GREAT PRIZES.

They are even having specials for example Buy 3 boot camps, get 3 free (value of $375), buy 3 partial body wraps get 3 free (which has a value of $105) Spray tans and massage and other things as well. 

SO COME ON OUT AND HELP CELEBRATE 22 YEARS OF OPERATION. 

What I've Learned so far by being natural!!!

I've been natural for several months (2). and it has had it's ups and downs but if I have learned anything it is that you have to have a lot of patience. Patience is the key while dealing with natural hair because it takes time and a lot of TLC! I bc'd and wanted my hair back but it'll eventually grow back and when it does it'll be longer and healthier than ever. Now to grow long hair you will have to have patience because it will not grow down your back over night! Next, I've learned that you have to keep your hair moisturized (hydrated)! Water if your friend but don't just put water on your hair you need to use a sealant to keep the moisture in! (My favorite sealants are jojoba oil, Castor oil, raw Shea butter, extra virgin olive oil). Next that you need to keep your ends trimmed or dusted because the ends of your hair does tend to become more dry especially in cooler weather and you can do more harm than good if you have dry, and brittle hair) So keep those ends healthy as well. Next I've learned that you should not over shampoo your hair it's OK to use shampoo but make sure your shampoo is free of sulfates. I normally just co-wash (co-washing is using conditioner instead of shampoo to wash your hair). Some shampoos can strip your hair of natural oils if they contain sulfates. Then, I know when doing natural hair you always want to put your hands in your hair but low manipulation styles are the best. But when doing a style make sure that you are not putting to much stress on your scalp and hair. Pulling your hair to tight can cause you to damage your hair and your edges pretty bad. Also be mindful of the hair accessories because they can damage your hair. I'm not saying don't use hair accessories but be careful of the ones that you do use. Another thing is to avoid hard bristle brushes and combs. Not saying that you can use combs or brushes but be mindful of them I suggest that you use a Denman brush it's about $10 from Sally's. This brush has helped my detangling process to become shorten and easier. It's okay to use a brush and or a wide tooth comb but try to limit the use of those products! Also you are what you eat. So I suggest that you eat lots of proteins, and your hair can and will reflect that. Also try to get some exercise in even if it means parking out in no mans land at the grocery store. And last but not least   BE PATIENT!!!

I LOVE SHOPPING!!!

A lot you may love shopping but how about shopping and saving at the same time. Yep, recently I went shopping and bought a lot of Christmas gifts!!! I mean a lot but the next day I received a message from my friend who works at the store where I purchased a lot of the gifts from that said TAKE IT BACK AND repurchase everything that you bought because if you use your charge card to that store you'll get 40% off. HMM.... I was like do people actually do that umm yes they do and last week was my first time doing so and BOY AM I glad that I did!!! I actually saved about $25.00  by doing this and even picked up an extra outfit for myself. WOO HOO... so the next day I went back to the store and got more stuff and saved more money. Then on Friday night my husband and myself went shopping for him and I decided that I wanted a new shirt from the Gap so we went it and I found one that I like and it was marked down 60% so I would have paid like $11.00 for the shirt but once I got to the register and was about to pay I remembered that I had a coupon in my email from the Gap. SO I ended up getting MY SHIRT FOR FREE!!! I just love getting stuff for free. I usually let my coupons expire because I forget about them but I WILL not be doing that anymore! Also I purchased some boots from shoedazzle.com and the original price of the BOTH pair of boots were like $40.00 each.   SO I bought 2 pair of shoes for under $40. Which is a steal because if I wouldn't have used my coupons I would have paid about $80 for both pairs. SO if you have coupons or a chance to use a discount use it because you'll save in the end which will allow you to spend that money on something else OR SAVE IT!!! SO I LOVE A GREAT DEAL AND I OFFICIALLY LOVE SHOPPING!!!

GO BACK TO YOUR ROOTS!!!

So everyone knows that I decided to go natural in September of this year and I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. (Yes it's more time consuming but this is who I am) Anyway I was having a conversation with this guy at work and he stated that NATURAL hair only looked good on dark skinned women and that we that decide to go natural need to go all the way natural! NOW many of you are probably looking and reading with your mouth open and asking the same question I did what does that mean? SO he stated that if we as black women want to look like our ancestors did then we should dress like them as well meaning not wearing shoes, bras or clothes for that matter. I sat there for a minute because I was a little confused about what I should say next. So I finally told him that everyone has ancestors that did all of those things not just Africans. And that I'm happy with my hair and I don't let people dictate to how I should look anymore and just because I'm wearing my hair in my nautral state does not mean that I should wear clothes, or shoes for that matter. I also stated that I no longer let the world dictate to how I wear my hair. Now this guy has an 8 year old daughter who has natural hair but her dad doesn't really love her hair. I can say this because he stated that he wants her to have straight long wavy hair like Europeans. Now, don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with straight, long, wavy hair or should I say fried and dyed and laid to the side. I told him that he should teach her to embrace what GOD has given her and that everyone is made different! He should teach her how her hair is just as important as the straight hair. Her hair isn't "NAPPY" it's as soft as a cotton ball and that it can and will grow as long as she cares for it properly. (Black hair can grow long if you show it a little tender love and care).

Yes it may shrink when wet but who cares!!! I know when I wash my hair I have major shrinkage and the other day someone said your hair is still short!!! I laughed and stretched my hair out and they were surprised that it was as long as it was but guess what it shrinks but I don't care because it's only hair. The hair on my head does not define who I am and neither should yours. Embrace what GOD has given you and love it to the max.