The Wonders of Virgin Coconut Oil

We are HUGE fans of Virgin Coconut Oil. I (Steph) knew pretty much nothing about it before learning that it could be useful as a scalp and hair oil. Then my love affair began! 

First, it smells heavenly. Like...well, COCONUT! Hints of the old suntan oil smells from the 1980's waft through my memory. If you have coconut oil and it smells like nothing, you don't have VIRGIN coconut oil. Only the virgin actually smells intensely like coconut. This is the stuff you want.

This oil can be incredibly versatile in your home if you are going to use it on the hair/scalp. Katie uses it while styling V's hair, and I apply it liberally to G's locs, her scalp, her skin, and she also eats it by the spoonful, and we cook with it. Even the dog knows it's good for him and he always gets to lick the spoon or the empty container. Add the oil to the water you boil your rice in....delicious! Instead of popcorn oil, use straight coconut oil in the pot on the stove! You might find you don't even need butter.

Coconut oil has a very low melting point and you will frequently find that it has melted if your home gets warm inside. It will look like a clear liquid in the jar, and, when solid, it will appear more or less snow-white. If it's cool in your house and you reach in to get some oil, and find that it's solid as a rock, don't worry....just dig hard with your finger and scrape some up, or use a spoon, and it will melt instantly in your hands. Some people find it a bit wet and oily on the skin for their taste, but a little goes a long way, and it will always soak in given time. It is a light oil that is going to seem more wet than greasy. Just don't plop your freshly oiled child down on your suede sofa or anything.

Tons of info, pretty much all of it I think :-), can be found at Coconut Connections. They discuss all the science of the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil and why it's a myth that this oil is unhealthy for you...quite the contrary, in fact. They also talk in depth about why it's so good for your skin.

Last year, I had a dreadful bout of buildup on G's hair (I'll be blogging about that later). After much ado, I finally got the locs clean. Since then, coconut oil is one of the ONLY things I will freely put on her hair. I have never had a buildup issue with it. It has always soaked in really well. 

You can also melt coconut oil with butters like shea, cocoa, mango, etc to make your own body butters. The coconut oil will soften the harder butters.

Virgin Coconut Oil can be found at most health food stores and sometimes even in big box stores like Walmart or Target. Just make sure you are getting VIRGIN. If it doesn't say it on the label, it's not it.  It can easily be ordered online, as well. You can purchase some in our Amazon store in the sidebar on this blog.

If you are new to VCO, as we say for short, give it a try and let us know what you think!

GIVEAWAY!!! - Tate's Natural Miracle Hair and Body Products

Yesterday you read our rave review of the Tate's Natural Miracle Products and TODAY is your chance to win some to try for yourself!  Hooray for FREE!!!!

And thanks to Truly Pure and Natural for supplying the great prizes!

Three lucky winners will receive this seriously AWESOME prize!  Your choice of (1) 16-oz Tate's product of your choice OR a combo pack of any (3) 4-oz Tate's products. 

You will have until Friday, July 23rd 12:00PM EST to enter the drawing.  We will be choosing the winners from the comments left on THIS post by a random number generator.

To enter please leave a comment on THIS post and answer this question: 

Please go to the Truly Pure and Natural site and let us know which of the hair or body care products you would MOST like to try!  (It doesn't have to be one of the products we reviewed.)

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If you would like to earn EXTRA entries do one or all of these things:

1) Sign up for Truly Pure and Natural's newsletter and leave us a comment letting us know that you did.  

2) Head on over to our Keep Me Curly! Facebook fan page and become a fan. Leave a comment stating that you are a fan. (or that you already were a fan)

3) "Share" our Keep Me Curly! Facebook page with your friends and come back and leave a comment letting us know what day you "shared" us.

4) Follow @keepmecurly on twitter Come back and post a comment that you are a follower and leave your Twitter ID. (or that you were already following)

5) Tweet any unique tweet announcing our blog or the giveaway with @keepmecurly in it! Cut and paste your tweet (not tweet id status) and post as a comment. You can get 1 entry for EVERY unique tweet!

6) Become a follower of our blog or subscribe to our blog through an RSS feed. Simply post a comment saying that you are a follower. (or that you were already following)

7) Subscribe to Katie's youtube channel and come back and leave a comment stating that you are a subscriber. (or that you were already a subscriber)

8) Leave a comment on one of Katie's youtube videos. Leave a comment HERE letting us know the title of the video you commented on.

9) Go to Steph's Snapaholics website and leave a note in her guestbook. Come back and leave a comment HERE letting us know that you signed the guestbook.

10) Place an order at Snapaholics between 7/20 and 7/23 Noon EST. Leave a comment including your order number and order date.
11) Grab our badge! If you add our badge to your blog leave us a comment saying that you are using it with a link to your blog.

12) Advertise our site or this giveaway in a forum or other blog! We would really love it if you wrote about our site or this giveaway on your blog. If you are passionate about natural hair care, or Katie's youtube videos have been really helpful to you, or if you love cute hair things, talk it up on your blog! Earn TWO entries for doing this one! Simply post a comment saying that you are talking about us with a link to the forum or blog, then put (first entry) then comment again and write (second entry). If you can get friends of yours to talk about us or our giveaway on THEIR blog, earn two MORE entries!

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The winners will be announced on Saturday, July 24th. It is the responsibility of the winners to contact us at keepmecurly@gmail.com to let us know their mailing address.  IF the winners do not contact us by Friday, July 30th, we will choose new winners.

Who can participate? Due to high shipping costs for heavy hair and body products Truly Pure and Natural is not currently selling their products to non US residents.  Our apologies to our out of country fans!  We love you too and don't worry, you will be included in future giveaways!

*** If you have any questions or if you have comments that are not related to the giveaway please feel free to email us at keepmecurly@gmail.com or leave your comment on yesterdays post. In order for this giveaway to work we have to ask that you do not leave any other comments on this post if they do not follow the guidelines of the contest.***

***Also make sure you leave a SEPARATE comment for EACH thing that you do. Every comment will be assigned a number and an online generator will choose the winners from those numbers. The more things you do, the more comments you can leave and the more chances you have to win.***

Tate's Natural Miracle Hair and Body Products - Product Review

This is Keep Me Curly's first official haircare product review! We hope to be doing these often and, when we can, accompany them with a giveaway! Today we are reviewing a product called Tate's Natural Miracle Hair and Body Products. The wonderful company that has provided the samples for Katie and Steph to review is called Truly Pure and Natural.

You will have to bear with us as we decide exactly how we are going to do some of these things on our blog. Please leave us feedback in the comments if you like or dislike our format. Our plan for product reviews is to do both a video review and a written review, so here goes!




Products:
Tate's Natural Miracle Shampoo
Tate's Natural Miracle Conditioner
Tate's Natural Miracle Hair Gel
(They sell more products like these, but we only reviewed these 3)

Website:
Truly Pure and Natural

Ingredients:
Shampoo: Mountain Spring Water, coconuts, hazelnuts, pine needles, chamomile, nutmeg, lemons, thyme, passion flower, apples, cinnamon, eucalyptus, sea salt, geranium, raspberries, almonds

Conditioner: Mountain spring water, apples, strawberries, rose, lemons, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, boysenberries, oranges, cloves, ginger, pineapple, blackberries, celery, cherry bark, oak bark, orchid, marigold, hazel nut, pine needles, coconut, chamomile, jasmine, calendula, parsley, thyme, papaya, eucalyptus, passion flower, cinnamon, geranium, nutmeg.


Gel: Mountain spring water, pine needles, pine bark, oak bark, honey, lavender, calendula, basil, parsley, cucumber, tomatoes, rose hip, allspice berries, citrus peels, juniper, lemongrass, sage, mint, thyme, vinegar, peppermint, apricot, peach.


No dyes, gluten, colors, iodine, glycols, sulfates, parabens, fragrance, or phosphates. No animal testing!


Scent:
The Conditioner and Gel were pretty much odorless, and the shampoo smells lightly like Almond Extract while you are using it but afterwards doesn't leave a lingering scent. I also believe the shampoo comes in an odorless version. These are GREAT for people with scent sensitivities.

Uses:
These products are SO versatile! They can be used on a variety of different skin types and for all kinds of crazy uses that you would never think of! The website has a pdf you can download of the 100 different uses for the conditioner! For now we have just used them for basic hair and skin needs, but even for that they are very versatile. The Shampoo is great for washing hair and body on all of our family members. The Conditioner is great for Co-washes, and as a leave in conditioner on our girls with locs. It is also great as a shaving lotion for women. It makes for silky smooth skin when used as a LOTION on Katie and little E, but needed to be applied very heavily to be moisturizing enough for B and V. Steph came up with a great way to mix the conditioner with distilled water and a bit of virgin olive oil in a spray bottle that has been working wondrously as a hair and body spritz for Miss G. (check the video) The gel is non-sticky and has a light hold. Works good as a gentle, not crunchy, styling aid for Katie, and Steph has been using it too. Steph doesn't do anything to her hair in the morning after washing (except brushing), and running the gel through damp hair has really helped prevent the flyaways! We will have to update you after V's next hairstyle to let you know how the gel works for cornrow styles. I believe we have only tapped the surface of the many cool uses for these products!

Cost:
$5.99 for the 4oz bottle (this is the size you see in the video)
$19.99 for a 16 oz bottle, but less when bought in combination packages

This is slightly on the expensive side, but not so much when considering that they are all VERY natural products. We have found that a little goes a long way for most uses of the products so far. If it also eliminates the need to purchase many other products, this can be cost-effective as well.

Overall Impression:
We were both really excited for the chance to try these new products and to work with Denise, the lovely woman who sells them at the Truly Pure and Natural store. We are very impressed with the ingredients and feel so good about knowing exactly what we are putting on our families' hair and skin. I don't think we have ever come across a shampoo and conditioner that contain all these wonderful ingredients before. If you choose to use the shampoo and conditioner for all of your hair and skin care needs for your whole family you could eliminate MANY of the bottles cluttering up your shower and cupboard!

For more details about our experiences with Tate's please view these videos.





*We were not paid to do this review. We were sent samples to try with our families and give an honest review.

Come back tomorrow for the chance to win some Tate's for yourself! We can't wait to hear what you think of these products too!

Easy Big Bead "Jazzy" Ponytails

Even though G has locs, I couldn't help myself when I came home from one of my bead suppliers with brand new Big Giant Ponies (BGP as I like to call them) in the shape of butterflies. I haven't done many beads on her lately, but I just HAD to put in some butterflies. BGPs have a larger hole so it's easier to get them on several locs together.

I am a big fan of ponytails. Guess I can't call them Puffs anymore, since they are locs! I will do high ponytails as long as humanly possible until G says she's too old for them. This style is very fast and a great way to add some zing to ponytails, for ANY kind of hair.

First, cornrow or flat twist some bangs to one side. For unlocked hair, you could actually just do bangs hanging down the front of the forehead. But remember, these are larger-holed beads. If you don't have enough hair to mostly fill the bead, it looks a bit odd. Believe it or not, this is the first time I have ever cornrowed bangs to the side! 

Because they are locs they were too thick to get through the bead nicely, when I was finished. I did get them on, but it hung funny. Kind of stiff. So I took that out, and where the braid left the scalp, I split it into two and two-strand twisted it. These were perfect for the beads and I adore the way it looks. To hold the beads on, I used a plain black flower snap, Snapaholics Style #3 (this is a very underrated snap. Plain black snaps are great when you don't want the snap to be the focus. They just kind of blend in.) I just let the twirly ends of her locs hang down below the snap. I initially tried rubber bands but I would have had to put two on all bunched up in order to fill up the large hole in the butterfly bead. Rubber bands and the wispy ends of locs don't go well together!

Next, I parted the hair down the center as you can see. I did six box braids, three to the right and three to the left of the center part, from ear to ear. I included about 6 locs or a couple more in each box. I didn't want them to be too thick for the beads. Then I just added the beads to the 6 braids. Finally, I put the hair in ponytails, including the box braids. There you have it! The braids fell toward the front of the ponytail and you could see all the pretty beads. For unlocked hair, if it's long enough you can just box braid ALL the hair and then gather it into the ponytails.  Or fit what you can into the ponytails and leave the rest hanging down box braids. 

Best of all, her hair made the tick, tack, clicky, clacky sound that I know and love....and miss, since we haven't done beaded styles so often anymore. We were both happy!

Enjoy! And find LOTS of BGPs at Snapaholics! Stars, hearts, butterflies, barrels. We got 'em! 

Stay tuned for our next post early in the week, which will be a review of a VERY all-natural haircare line. We will follow that immediately with a giveaway!

FREE SHIPPING (US ONLY) SALE AT SNAPAHOLICS.COM!

ama Snap came home from the supplier yesterday with LOTS of stuff, and CUTE new LARGE HOLE beads! Can you say, "BUTTERFLIES?"

...and "PURPLEY STARS?"

I knew you could!

See website for details on how the free shipping works. :) Click link to Snapaholics in sidebar to GO GET BLING.

Happy Shopping!

V's Criss-Cross Cornrows with a twist!

Today I am going to introduce you to a new way of showing off my latest hair creations!  I will still be making "how-to" videos from time to time, but some styles are just a variation of an old style and I believe that pictures and a few directions will do the trick!

This style is a variation on our Criss-Cross Cornrows.  Just click on that if you would like to watch my video tutorials on how to do Criss-Cross Cornrows.  They are the second and third videos on the page.

Since V's hair had been in the "pizza" pattern for the weekend, it was really easy to get started on this style.  Anytime I am cornrowing into a ponytail I start by parting her head into four quarters and then breaking each quarter down into smaller "pie pieces."  In this case, I left the ear to ear part constant, but I got rid of the forehead to neck part, and turned what had been 8 triangles into 6 triangles.  Like this:

Hopefully you followed me on that first part!  Now, each of these 6 triangles are going to contain 3 cornrows.  One fat one and two skinny ones!  The fat one will go down the middle and the two skinny ones are going to Criss-Cross over top of it.  So, working with one section at a time, divide into 3 parts:

Hopefully you can see from that pic that the middle section is very wide and the two on the sides are not.  Next you will do that big, fat, center cornrow:

Now, with the two side sections you need to divide them in half and pin the front half of one side and the back half of the other side out of your way.  If you don't know what I am talking about, now is the time go watch that Criss-Cross Cornrow video!

After you pin the two parts out of your way you will start to cornrow the section nearest the hairline until you get to where you parted it in half.  Now you need to just do a regular braid (quite a long section of regular braid in order to cross it all the way over that big fat cornrow!) until you reach the other side and continue your cornrow with the back half of that section.  Then take out the pins and repeat with the leftover hair!

 Now all you need to do is continue making these three cornrows in each of the other 5 triangle sections. I say "all you have to do," but don't be fooled, this took me 3.5 hours to finish!  I never claimed to be fast!  Here are the pictures of the finished style:

When I was spraying V's hair this morning she said "I love it when my hair is all curly!"  I believe she was referring to the twists in the back that end in curls.  I asked her what her favorite part of this style was and she said "All of it!"  What a cutie pie!  I think on Saturday we might take out the twists and do a twist out OR a big puff!  I can't wait!

Katie

A Blast From the Past

Last Friday I took out V's current style.  I knew that I did not want to put in her new style until Sunday so we needed what I call a "temporary style."  I often do this in between styles, and the temporary style can be left in anywhere from overnight to a whole week.  It mostly depends on my schedule. 

When I was choosing this weekends temporary style I decided to bring back one of my old reliable hair styles.  When I say old, I mean, before my cornrowing days!  Did you know that when I brought my kids home from Liberia I had not even once thought about their hair needs or how I was going to care for it.  Ok, well maybe once.  While in Liberia I asked the foster mothers to show me how to cornrow.  All the little girls in the foster home wore their hair in cornrows or some form of box braids and they were all so CUTE!  Guess what?  The foster mothers LAUGHED at me!  Then proceeded to sit me down and show me how they cornrowed B's hair (show, not explain) and then said, "Now you try!"  Well, that led to more laughter since I didn't have a clue what I was doing and they were making me very nervous.  So I pushed the idea of cornrowing temporarily out of my mind.  When we left Liberia the foster mothers had B's hair looking like this:

I thought this was SO beautiful!  I had dreams of one day being able to do such wonderful things with my precious daughters' hair!  But after the episode with the foster mothers, I didn't have high hopes.  Well, I think you all know where this is going.  Less than a year later I did this:

I can't tell you how proud I was of myself that day!  I have often wondered what the foster mothers would say if they could see my girls and their braids now.  Anyway, back to when we first brought our kids home.  I was so wrapped up in learning how to be a mom (and to 3 kids at once!) that I really didn't give their hair a great deal of thought the first month or two.  For V this wasn't too much of a problem.  She had pretty short hair and even though her little afro could have been a little better maintained, she was still looking pretty adorable!

But B on the other hand, her hair was a bit longer and it often looked like a terrible mess!  This first picture is right after the girls had a bath, so it looks cute.  But the other picture, well, it speaks for itself!   By the way, this is back when B was very much into pink, princesses, and anything girly!

Yeah, B's hair could have been better, but I was trying.  It often looked something like this:

Every hairstyle was pretty much some variation of large sections with either braids or twists coming out of it and ended with a barrette.  And then I found the hair group!  I was instantly inspired by all the pictures, and even before I figured out cornrows the girls hair saw GREAT improvement!  This was V's first real hairstyle:

Poor Baby had to deal with ring worm when she first came home and she had a big bald spot in the back of her head!  Looks like I might have had these puffs pulled a little tight! Hard telling with my girls, they almost NEVER complain about their hair bothering them!

Now, after all of that, I have to get back to my original point.  Sorry for the rabbit trail!  You know when I said B's hair was pretty much always just big sections with one braid coming out of it.  Well, one of my favorite ways to part her hair was what I would call the "pizza" pattern.  Some people might call it a "star" pattern too.  I found this pattern to be easy and cute.  I would just divide her head into four quarters and then divide each of the quarters in half again.  I don't have any really great pictures of it, but I found one:

You can see here that her hair was still too short to fit up into those high pony holders so I would just leave some out at the bottom.  As you will see, this is the style that I decided to bring back from our past for V's "temporary" style this weekend!  Even this old style looks better when I do it now!  Let this be an encouragement to you new moms out there!  With time, practice and longer, healthier hair....you will see great improvements in your skill level!  And your kiddos will thank you!  

*note:  Now go back and look at those scary pics of V's first hairstyle with her sparse hair in the back!  You would never guess it to look at her now!  

*note #2:  Did you notice how V's hair accessories match SO perfectly with her outfit!  Come on, admit it, you all LOVE to match your little girls accessories to her clothing!  

Come back soon because I am going to be posting V's finished hairstyle in another day or two!

Katie