HAIR REPORT

For the last 3-4 weeks, my hair has been a tangled, knotted mess.

On Tuesday, however, I decided to take matters into my own hands and wash it. I shampood and then conditioned with se evoo con in a bottle and the dc'd with se con in tub. I left that on for approximately 15 minutes after applying it in sections and massaging it onto my strands. While in the shower, I used a small tooth comb to get out the tangles. This, as can be expected, resulted in a lot of hair loss. However, once done, I had no tangles.

I applied my silk serum, blow dried and then applied my moisture mix and sealed. I blowdried once more and had light, soft hair. Sadly, it was thin!

My hair has been thinning and rank with split ends. So much so that i have been overly tempted to do a big chop. I have decided, upon this last operation, to wait until tomorrow or Friday to attempt a relaxer. Once completed, I will straighten my hair and then take off at least an inch from the back and then dust everywhere else. If I can have collar bone length hair that is healthy, that will be just fine at this point.

It is super annoying to have yet another hair setback. This only confirms to me that I clearly cannot achieve longer healthier hair on my own, because no matter what I do, once I am about an inch or two from APL, I suffer a significant setback and have to lose hair.

When my hair is relaxed, I think I will go for 8-9 week stretches. This stretch has been very tough. I also will make sure I use my growth aid 1-2 times a week. I will ask Arlo to bring me some black castor oil when she comes in january and rely on that to help thicken my hair.

*sigh*

Making my own bath salts

I've been reading the Parsimonius Princess blog and loving all the frugal tips in it.

One recipe she provided is for bath salts.

Here are the ingredients:

1. 1 part baking soda
2. 3 parts Epsom salt
3. 6 parts sea salt or kosher salt
4. 10 drops of essential oil
5. a few drops of food coloring

I can't wait to make this. She recommends making it into gifts, which I agree with. However, this becomes one more product for Nature Isle Farm!!! yipee!

Nice Skin product recipe

I honestly think that this recipe and the resulting product make sense for the face.

MAKING MORE ESSENTIALS...

Today, I was able to make a new bottle of body/hair oil, moisture mix for hair, and three containers of body balm.

The body balm consisted of

1. 1/3 coconut oil
2. 1/3 olive oil
3. grapeseed oil
4. castor oil
5. black castor oil
6. 6 drops clove bud oil
7. 6 drops lavender oil
8. jojoba oil

They are currently in the pantry where I hope they will solidify. If they don't...well, I'll be able to use them as body/hair oil. They are in old Jason body cream containers.

A SOAP RECIPE

Watch this castille/olive oil soap tutorial. I think I'd like to make something like this. Will tweek it obviously...

Hairbrew recipes and Nature isle farm thoughts

The last time I used a hairbrew was approximately 7 weeks ago and I discussed it in my Self-Relaxer Review.

Today, I am preparing to make another hairbrew and I am taking it up a notch.

Last time, it included the following:

1. Oregano
2. Mint
3. Lavender
4. Thyme
5. Basil
6. Rosemary
7. Sorrel

This time, I plan to include the following:

1. Oregano
2. Mint
3. Lavender
4. Thyme
5. Basil
6. Rosemary
7. Sorrel
8. Rose Leaves and Petals
9. Pepper leaves (approximately 5 or 6)
10. Carrot leaves (from 3 carrots)
11. Strawberry leaves (approximately 4 or 5)
12. Citrus peel

That is bound to be a serious concoction but I figured that I have loads of plants that are underutilized and it is time to remedy that. I pray that these little experiments of mine prove fruitful in the short term - great hair for Funmi and I. I also plan to drink this tea - that should be interesting.

In the long term, I see such concoctions becoming a key part of Nature Isle Farms, God willing. Hairbrews that you can drink, rinse your hair with, pour into your bathwater etc. They are healthy and natural. Good enough to use on kids too.

As of now, Nature Isle Farms has the following potential products in the lineup:

1. Hair/Body oil (also can be used in bathwater)
2. Moisturizing Face Toner (great for acne prone skin)
3. Hair-removing Wax (all natural and less painful)
4. Hair moisturizing potion (my moisture mix)
5. Face and body scrub (sea salt mixed with toner)
6. Hair growth serum 
7. Body butters (coconut and shea butter based)

And soon, I will make soaps, body lotions, body and lip balms. I also want to make my own alcoholic drink from rum, that has a little sparkling and sweetness to it. Sounds like it could be great. A pomegranate, lime and rum fizzy drink, for instance. The lime juice DH makes can be turned into gourmet drinks with lavender, pomegranate, strawberries, raspberries, karambula and other fruits and possibly sold back to Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Wegmans and other supermarket chains. I'd try to get them into Walmart and Target as well.

The sky is the limit.

I'LL BE MAKING MY OWN LOTION/CREAM

I decided a long time ago that it was time to start making my own body cream for the family.

My reasoning is that this knowledge can save us money, create a natural product that is healing to the skin of everyone in the family, and potentially become a lucrative business for hubby and I.

As a result, I started doing my research and currently, the only thing I need is beeswax.

Here are a few of the videos I have been watching to gain some knowledge as well.


How to make an infused oil:



How to make a basic cream:


How to make an ointment:

I MADE MY OWN WAX!

But not without a mishap, however.

My first attempt at making wax resulted in candy brittle and a burnt finger tip. Oh, and a small burn on my lip when I tried to suck on my burning finger and managed to get smoldering sugar wax on my face =(

Anyway, after hubby worked very hard to get rid of all the sticky sugar in the pot, I tried again. This time, I used the same measurements of ingredients (as noted here) but changed how long I cooked it for. I put it at a high heat for about 2 minutes and when it started to boil, I turned the heat down a bit for another minute. Then I left it on an even lower heat for 30 seconds and took it off the fire. It probably sat in the pot for approximately 5 minutes before I poured it into my Mason jar.

I then applied thin layers of wax to my lower legs with the end of a plastic fork. The wax was removed with strips of cloth from an old pair of Calvin Klein Performance work out pants that were on their way to the trash. I removed quite a bit of hair and it was all very exciting, honestly. Can't believe I made my own wax for free.

One thing I noticed was that the hotter the wax, the more efficiently it worked. That means, it took off more hair and left behind less residue on my skin. The next time I wax, I will use strips from a cotton t-shirt. I hope it will lead to more effective hair removal. The workout pants I used had a small amount of spandex in them and I am not sure if that acted as an impediment, but I'll see if there's a difference in the cloth strips used.

I plan on waxing my face and underarms tomorrow. Hope it will go as magically, but a tad faster than today's over 2 hours.

MY SEA SALT SCRUB

The last few days have been bad for my skin. Not because I am breaking out but because I am bound to break out.

For some odd reason, I did not wash my face for a few days. I knew I had trouble coming even though my skin was the best I'd ever seen it in a while.

So, to prep my skin for the upcoming battle, and over-compensate for failing to keep it clean and moisturized, I did the following: I took sea salt and added a dash of my toner oil to it.

This was the second time using the sea salt scrub method. The results after the first time were very good, but I wanted to turn the concoction up a notch.

The result was, once again, heavenly!!! Once I washed off the sea salt-oil mixture, my skin felt super moisturized. I did not wipe off the water from my face but let it air dry. The result was soft, not oily, skin.

Sadly, I soon developed acne! I'm not sure if its is due to the new scrub or the fact that I didn't take care of my skin. I believe it is due to the latter. I will use the scrub again on Tuesday or Wednesday and hope for the best.