Fierce and Natural

Fierce and Natural inspirtation!

Rachel Stewart

 

Tynette

My Natural Sistas

Happy Saturday

I hope everyone who is able are taking advantage of the beauty of nature this weekend. In my case, Saturday was packed with charitable events and gardening. A Zumba marathon for charity and supporting Created Tampa, a lovely non-profit organization that rescues women from the sex industry locally. I was able to bring my daughter along and begin to teach the importance of loving kindness and philanthropy. I was also able to do a bit of organic gardening with my son.

A Vast Majority of Sisterlock Consultants Suck

A vast majority of sisterlock "consultants" suck! I need to say it. Very few of them , very few care about healthy hair care and even fewer EARN their hourly wage. Let's consider this, there are people with PhD's, teachers, missionaries, Pastors, emergency workers and health care professionals that do not make the 35, 45, 55 dollars an hour that these individuals want to secretly re-ti your hair.
consult

I believe in natural hair for a number of reason including the freedom that it is to control what is put into and what is done with my hair. I went natural because I love who I am in my natural state. There are certain aspects of sisterlocks that is so stressful and frustrating.

Consultants are gouging, they are abusing the trademark and they are over charging for what you are getting in return. I will gladly pay a consultant her asking price, if I am receiving a product of equal quality. But some of these consultants want a rate of pay that, in my opinion, they have not earned.  Some are, quite frankly, delusional about their abilities. They have NOT earned it in quality. They have NOT earned it in expertise. They have NOT earned it in the way in which they deal with and educate their clients.

The end of my rant, I am sorry for this brief moment of ugliness. I am tired of getting the same emails and questions from other sisterlockers trying to overcome the "consultant" obstacle.

Hair Inspiration: Salkisre

This may not to be to everyone's taste but I appreciate Salkisre's bold individualistic sisterlock style. Here is the caption from the picture:

This is how I wear my hair, short with an “Auset braid” its actually remnant from the ‘Sisterlocks” (locs) I sported for 9 years. In Ancient Egypt and parts of Asia , the ‘Youth Loc” is worn by royalty.

Healthy Diet Equals Healthy Hair: Lemongrass Beef and Pho

My corporate wellness nurse noted that my hair issues could stem from a lack of protein. But, I believe I eat plenty of protein, at least that is what MyfitnessPal.com tells me. I know I am genetically predisposed for low iron and I eat lots of iron rich foods and I have increased my red meat recently. But I wonder if diet is a culprit, any one who follows my life and marriage blog knows I eat wonderfully (see one of my new recipes below) but I wonder if my genetic iron issues is to blame. My blood work was superb and my thyroid functions perfectly so I know my hair-loss was not related to the more common issues.

Alas, I have decieded to eat a body and hair healthy diet as well as return to a rich chemical free and homemade scalp conditioning regiment (even though sisterlocks corporate frowns upon it).

Last Night I made Lemongrass Beef and Pho for dinner. For the recipe please visit here:
http://raisingself.com/grass-fed-lemongrass-beef-and-pho/

An Evening at the Ballet

My husband purchased two tickets front and center to a one night only showing of the Harlem ballet locally.

In preparation I purchased make-up (I did not even own lip gloss) from Whole Foods Market that was plant based and natural. I found the perfect Youtube instructional video for a make-up novices like myself that appreciate a more natural look.

Hopefully I will snap a few pics of the full  look and post later.



Update

The Harlem Ballet was AMAZING and we loved it. My make-up looked so natural and it gave me just enough UMPH and made me feel a bit more elegant without feeling weighed down! The natural make-up I bought washed off so easily and my skin looked more radiant after!

Before

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Hair and Fit Inspiration: Caramel A La Mode

Bantu Knots on Locs and the Ubber difficult to blue jean wear overalls!

What Tynette is wearing:
white tee: hanes.
overalls: zara.
coat: vintage.
heels: zara.
handbag: zara.
specs: balenciaga.

Details about THE HAIR!

source

First Hair Cut

My husband cut my son's hair and my emotions over took me! Gone is my baby, my youngest child, and in his place is a man-child. An independent being who says NO two out of three times when I ask for a hug or kiss.

All Natural Skin and Hair Cleanse

Did you know the main ingredient in most hair cleansers is salt, yes salt. We need salt to live and the right salt works wonders for our body inside and out:

The sulfates in Epsom salt help flush toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body to eliminate harmful substances. Your skin is a highly porous membrane and adding the right minerals to your bathwater triggers a process called reverse osmosis, which actually pulls salt out of your body, and harmful toxins along with it.  source

Mixing Epsom salt with your favorite shampoo and even conditioner can help removed excess oil and product build up. The salt helps to detox hair, add shine as well as volume and not strip all of your own good natural oils. Mix salt with your favorite light shampoo or conditioner and work through section by section.

Usually you just mix 3 parts salt with 2 parts shampoo or conditioner. But since my sisterlocks and scalp are a mess I mixed a bit of coconut oil, aloe vera juice, natural shampoo and Epsom salt.

 Mix it well!
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A New Battle With Thinning Locs

Recently, I've started to lose locs hardcore.The most likely culprit is waiting long periods in-between retightenings. My hair seems so fragile.  I need to find balance between my old hair regime, that kept my scalp healthy and hair strong at the roots but made my locs swell up and unravel. I know the sisterlock shampoo presents optimal results but the chemical content does not fit my lifestyle.I am working on my own all natural alternative. I think I will have to return to the scalp paste, then wash with baking soda and rinse with ACV and aloe vera juice. I may have to do spot scalp messages with essential oils for hair thickening and growth.

 I recently had to combine locs to avoid loosing more at my hairline. :( Hitting a ugly season with my locs.

Giving My Toddler Brotherlocks

The husband has agreed to giving our 16 month old brotherlocks. A girlfriend who recently became a consultant has agreed to put in a few test locks. His hair desperately needs taming but his fro has the weirdest shape and he hates it being picked out. We figured if it does not work out we can just chop it off. I can do the re-tightenings and would make sure to use extreme care. No harm, no foul. I think it would be cute and as soon as he is able to go to a barber we may just chop it off.

Two Strand Twist on Sisterlocks

Check out this great  two strand twist video by ChocolateMilk0104

Crazy Long and Beautiful 10 Year Old Sisterlocks

HAIR ENVY!!!!

Micro Blonde Sisterlocks

Sad part is, I was not in a place to listen to her video, but loved just staring at her sisterlocks, which are just beautiful!

Throw Back Thursday: Just Gave Birth Locs

One Month after giving birth to our 2nd child locs!