Let's Talk About It: Appreciation

Hi guys!!! Alot of times when I am feeling "motivational" it is most likely when I have had to motivate myself, and just feel like my "Ah ha" moment could benefit someone as well, that is when I decide to share. I say that, to explain why some of my posts my contain, personal experiences and feelings of my own. Now I am sure that you may not always agree, or perhaps somethings may not pertain to you, but I hope that you are able to take what you need from my posts, apply them to your life where needed. With that being said, let's get started.


One of my many lessons of 2012 has been appreciation, how to appreciate what you DO have, even if it is not necessarily what you WANT, things could always be so much worse. Some of you may know that I am an LPN...I have been an LPN for going on 4 years...I graduated in 2007 at 21, my goal was to go back and get my RN before I turned 25. Just to be able to say that I was an RN at 25...I felt like that would be an accomplishment. Well, this October I will be turning 26...and needless to say I am still an LPN.

Alot of my classmates that I graduated with have gone back and obtained their RN license, and one girl whom I became really close with she went RIGHT back as soon as we graduated, so she was an RN at 22 years old. I admit I was a bit envious, and I felt pressured, but still here I am an LPN.

It is not as if I am "wanting" for anything, I live comfortably. The sole purpose of my pursuit to my RN license was just for "show", so others could be proud of me. Never stopping to think "Who says that they are NOT already proud of me?"....perhaps it was just me, not proud of myself, not giving myself credit.

It wasn't until today, in class, as my instructor went throughout the class asking everyone what they did...the class was full of nurse aids, patient care techs, a few truck drivers, some were unemployed...then he got to me and my responce "An LPN"...got many oohs and aahs and questions.

I thought to myself...while I have been so busy peeping in others lives, imagining how "good" they are, I have been neglecting to see my own light, my own life. I ignore all of the good that I have going on and only pay attention to the negative.

I realized; while I am dreaming about having her life, someone else is dreaming to have mine. That makes you think a bit. Not that I am saying to settle...and say well good is good enough, always shoot for the best, but be sure to celebrate the good that you have going on already. 

Energy is such a funny thing in the way that it will consume you. No matter HOW good you have it, no matter how easy you may have it, opposed to those who REALLY struggle, if YOU do not embrace the positive in your life, then you will never feel it, you will never emulate it.

You may know someone right now whom you think has it pretty good and may wonder, "What is she mad about?" "Why is she complaining?" and the answer is simply, because she does not recognize the positive, she ignore the positive things in her life, only feeding the negative and so that is what grows, it amplifies. The positive has been pushed down, repressed, taken for granted and no longer even recognizable...Why do we do this to ourselves? Have so much going for us, and ignore that, for what ISN'T going for us.

I have made it a personal quest to ignore the negative. I have started a prayer journal and when writing, I don't even mention the things that are going wrong, I talk about all the things that are going right, and I thank God for them. If something is going wrong, instead of giving it power, I thank God for the strength in getting through it, so that compared to me, that stepping stone is powerless.

If this is you. If you find yourself wanting something sooo bad, and find yourself beating yourself up over it, whether it be love, marriage, kids, career, finances, property...whatever it is I want you to stop. Right down your ultimate goals, in what you want, so that  you can never forget. After it's written down, leave it on that paper. You may set small goals that will lead up to accomplishing your overall quest...go back and look at it as a reminder of what you need to do...and TRY. That's all you can do. Don't beat yourself up over set backs, after it is written down, just leave it there and then focus on everything that is right in your life.

Do you have a roof over your head?
Yes? Be thankful.
Don't add in "Yeaaa BUT I stay with my momma....Nope! The question was Did you have a roof over your head? The answer is simply YES, not everyone is even that fortunate, to have a mother to stay with, to have a mother that care.

Mini Challenge: Tomorrow, take a break from the "have nots" and celebrate your haves :-)  Write down 1 thing  that you are thankful for having despite the things that you have yet to obtain. Whatever you write down, then find some way to celebrate it.

Ex. "I am thankful for my family" As a celebration we will all eat dinner at the table (opposed to in our rooms)

or

"I am thankful just for today, making it another day" As a celebration I will go on a nature walk and enjoy the moment (or do whatever it is that YOU as individual like to do, but may not always have time to do. Tomorrow...MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF....APPRECIATE YOURSELF for a change:-)

Hope you all enjoyed this post, as this the first of many to come. Feel free to submit suggetstions or topics. I am a sponge soaking it all in. Thanks loves!! ~Deuce~

Non Hair Related: Let's Talk About It!

So I have decided to add another component to my blog. I hope you all don't mind. I attempted before to start a seperate "growth and motivational" blog, but ehhh, running two blogs, one with 0 followers lol, I was not very motivated to keep up the writing.

So school has started back up right, and I am taking a Creative Writing class. I LOOOOVE writing, and I am sooo looking forward to this class. Being apart of the class, surrounded by others who like to write, such as myself, showed me that I don't really write enough. Sure I have a journal, but truth be told, sometimes I just like to feel like I am being heard. So anyway, following "Beautiful Brown Baby Doll" on facebook, I realized that she is not only an advocate for "hair", but she promotes all things that are important to her.

Then it me!! My motivation and growth blog does not have to be separate from Perfect Tresses :-) So here I am. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a bit nervous, I hope it all works out as well as I imagine it in my head. Please feel free to leave comments, opinions, and tips on such posts...They will all be tagged "Non Hair Related: Let's Talk About It" :-)

First Flexi Rod Turn Out!

Hey loves!! I know it has been loooong over due since I have last posted. However; my personal life is running on prayers LITERALLY...not only that I was hoping to make videos to go along with my posts, but like this blog, my personal issues held me up from making videos as well.

Anywho, back to hair.

Last week, I decided to pick up some flexi rods, first time using them, but I decided that I needed to dwell into styling more, so I bought the large purple rods. I bought 3 packs, as the cashier suggested, but only needed 1 and a half bags...decided to keep the extra just in case some went missing, as things normally do in my house of 3 little ones.

I didn't take pics of it step by step...and I do plan on making a tutorial but until next time:

I parted hair in the style I wanted it to fall.
From there I sectioned it in 4 sections.
Sprayed section with a mist mix
Then applied Mizani Setting Lotion
Clipped up hair that I would not be using
Spiral rolled hair onto rod and bent flexi rod to hold curl.

*Repeated until entire head was done.
I do not have a hooded dryer, so  I let air dry....and honestly it took about 12 hours. Luckily I had nothing to to do that day lol

Here are a few pics:

Hubby caught me sippin...I mean SLIPPIN :-/

Out of 8 years together, this was the first date night that I have worn my real hair, styled by yours truly :-) YAYY ME :-)

Hairlista Castor Oil Challenge 7!!!

\
Hello All I know it has been a while...but TRUST ME...I thank you all for sticking with me, and tuning in to today's posts :-*

So I have joined Hairlista's Castor Oil Challenge 7!!!! I will be participating in the Advanced Level :-)
My regimen will be as followed:

Oil Scalp with Regular Castor Oil (I use Home Health from Whole Foods) on:
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Followed my a 4 minute scalp massage (1 min per section)

Sundays are my wash days which I will cowash, then do an hot oil treatment with a mix of:
Castor Oil
EVOO
Coconut Oil
Shea Oil
I end my wash routine with an ACV rinse, then moisturize, seal, ect.

During this challenge
I will be protective style throughout the entire  challenge
as well as using no direct heat, no flat irons or blow drying.
Also, I will not be relaxing my hair until the end of the challenge.

Here is my beginning pic:

Looks like it ends at the third line!!

WISH ME LUCK LOVES!!!

Is anyone else taking part in the CASTOR OIL CHALLENGE 7??? If so PLEASE share :-)

Relaxer Corrective: 7/20/12

If you remember my post in May about attempting to self relax, you'd know that it was a huge fail and pretty much pointless. So I tucked my hair away and continued to wig. It wasn't until I did my bantu knot out that I realized how much new growth I had...so I decided to relax it.

After watching ULoveMegz for awhile, I decided to use ORS relaxer, however I don't care for all of that mixing, so I bypassed the kit and went straight for the professional relaxer.

 Based my scalp and relaxed ends with vaseline, with hair parted in four sections, I started on the right side, at the back. I did not time this, to see how long it took, but it did not start burning until I got to the last section (Front, left side). Once it began to burn, I quickly applied it to the remaining hair, did a quick smooth over and ran to the shower!!

I rinsed it thoroughly, then I applied Aphogee 2 Min Reconstructor conditioner to give my hair a boost in protein. After rinsing the reconstructor out, I then proceed to neutralize my hair. After newutralizing, I used ORS Replenishing Conditioner, and DC'd for about 5 hours.
Allowed hair to air dry 85%...then flat ironed :-)

The Results: I'll have to add pics a bit later to show, but let's just say :
I CAN FEEL MY SCALP YAYYY!!!!
I was so happy I could have did a dance in the shower, I felt good, it felt good, and most importantly fo all my scalp felt 100 pounds lighter :-)

Will do reviews on the products in a separate video.

Product Review: Organix Macadamia Oil Intense Moisturizing Treatment

First I want to aplogize for not posting in 2 weeks, I knew it had been a while but I didn't realize that it had been THAT long. That may be because I stretched my last wash day out for 2 weeks since I had used heat.
Any back to the business at hand.

Organix Macadamia Oil Intense Moisturizing Treatment is said to be an ultra-moisturizing formula provides deep conditioning.
On a scale from 1-10, I would rate it an (drum roll please...) ONE!!!!!!!!!!

Rant begins here -> First off, it's my own fault, I should have went with the reviews...upon research you will find more "meh, it's more like a regular conditioner than a deep treatment" and "It made my hair hard" reviews than the "Good stuff" reviews and  there were absolutely NO "AWESOME PRODUCT" reviews.

Still I thought, my hair isn't too picky, I was genuinely curious...why??? I don't know.

Well looking further, I was more turned off that Macadamia nut oil was the twelth ingredient. Though I prefer my main ingredient of interest to be within the top 5 ingredients, I let another hairlista convince me that 13 was not bad either  (13 out of like 24 ingredients tho???).
So I went to Whole Foods and picked up my own Mac Nut to add to it.

Now upon opening the product (which crazy me, I didn't open it until I got home) I found the product to be a bit thin, to be considered a "masque", it really seemed more like a regular "leave in for 3 minutes then rinse" conditioner. Still I proceeded, added about 1 tablespoon of Mac Nut, stirred and began to apply to my hair like a relaxer...

OMG I went to sleep, let it sit over night. Taking the plastic cap off that morning I should have known it was a fail. My hair was so stiff, WITH the conditioner on...so I got in the shower and rinsed it off...still my hair was hard :-( I tried detangling in the shower and literally all I heard was "snap crackle POP".... NEVER have I EVER, experienced any breakage when detangling under running water :-(
I didn't even finish detangling, I got out, towel blotted my hair, added my leave in thinking that would help detangle...NOPE! My hair was just to freaking hard, I just couldn't sit through the madness anymore. I ended up, cowashing all over again, and doing a hot oil treatment for another 8 hours. After rinsing the H.O.T (hot oil treatment- lol, I tried making it an acronym only to see that it literaly spelled out hot and many may not realize that I was trying to talk in text) lol, my baby was back, super soft, detangled in the shower not problem, just such a relief!!

Needless to say Organix was a huge disappointment :-(

Self Trimming??

Do any of you lovely ladies trim your own hair?

Two months before beginning my HHJ I had just gotten my hair cut in an asym bob.

When I began my HHJ, I didn't start off with a trim. I never trimmed my hair, and so basically I was just growing out the bob.

As my hair grew longer, the front, which used to be the angles of my bob, was longer than the sides and back. So looking directly at me, made my hair appear to be longer than it was.
The ends to me looked thin and stringy, I wanted my husband to cut it even (and I still may have him do the back), but he had to work...I was impatient and decided to do it myself.

I sectioned off small areas and ran my fingers down until I felt the ends began to look stringy and thin. Then I would cut them. The back still isn't perfect. I wanted it cut completely even on the 3rd inch line. Perhaps I'll have my husband do it for me in December before my end of the year length check. I just wanted to start the new year off right, no baggage lol.

From now until September, I will be cowashing and DC'ing every two weeks, followed by oiling and massaging scalp, braiding hair and wigging.

September- December I plan on getting braids, (plan)  & towards the end of December, I will be getting my second (and last) relaxer of the year!!!

Hoping to retain some super length!!!!