Total Lunar Eclipse

My kids and I were fortunate to be able to partially witness a Total Lunar Eclipse on 12/21/2010.  In the wee hours of the morning, my son and daughter and I bundled up, placed blankets on the lawn and laid out there with our cameras to see what we could see.  We watched off and on from about 1:00am to 3:15am.  Overall it was a very cloudy night and we missed a lot of it.  But we got a real good glimpse of the beginning of the eclipse. My daughter marvelled at the brightness of the full moon.  My son expressed amazement at the entire concept of planets moving.  From what I have read, there hasn't been a Total Lunar Eclipse in the Northern Winter Solstice since 1638.  Check out Wikipedia to Learn More... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2010_lunar_eclipse#Local_times

Witnessing the awesome power of the Creator with my kids, was a true blessing and celebration. 

...Laying on the lawn & being weird in our hood...creating memories...Priceless

Winter Solstice

Thanks for reading!

Peace

12 Days of Natural Hair!

I took a popular Holiday song and changed the words around a little!!...to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas!!

Sing it with me!!

On the 1st day of my journey my true love gave to me

a big bottle of Jo-jo-ba Oil!

On the 2nd day of my journey my true love gave to me

2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 3rd day of my journey my true love gave to me

3 satin bonnets, 2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 4th day of my journey my true love gave to me

4 Rat Tail Combs, 3 satin bonnets, 2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 5th day of my journey my true love gave to me

5 lbs of Raw Shea Butter!! 4 Rat Tail Combs, 3 satin bonnets, 2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 6th day of my journey my true love gave to me

6 Ouchless head bands, 5 lbs of Raw Shea Butter!! 4 Rat Tail Combs, 3 satin bonnets, 2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 7th day of my journey my true love gave to me

7 Natural Hair Shows, 6 Ouchless head bands, 5 lbs of Raw Shea Butter!! 4 Rat Tail Combs, 3 satin bonnets, 2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 8th day of my journey my true love gave to me

8 different conditioners, 7 Natural Hair Shows, 6 Ouchless head bands, 5 lbs of Raw Shea Butter!! 4 Rat Tail Combs, 3 satin bonnets, 2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 9th day of my journey my true love gave to me

9 Protective Styles, 8 different conditioners, 7 Natural Hair Shows, 6 Ouchless head bands, 5 lbs of Raw Shea Butter!! 4 Rat Tail Combs, 3 satin bonnets, 2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 10th day of my journey my true love gave to me

10 Bantu Knots, 9 Protective Styles, 8 different conditioners, 7 Natural Hair Shows, 6 Ouchless head bands, 5 lbs of Raw Shea Butter!! 4 Rat Tail Combs, 3 satin bonnets, 2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 11th day of my journey my true love gave to me

11 YouTube Videos, 10 Bantu Knots, 9 Protective Styles, 8 different conditioners, 7 Natural Hair Shows, 6 Ouchless head bands, 5 lbs of Raw Shea Butter!! 4 Rat Tail Combs, 3 satin bonnets, 2 Afro Picks & a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

On the 12th day of my journey my true love gave to me...

12 com-pli-ments

11 YouTube Videos

10 Bantu Knots

9 Protective Styles

8 different conditioners

7 Natural Hair Shows

6 Ouchless head bands

5lbs of Raw Shea Butter!!

4 Rat Tail Combs

3 satin bonnets

2 Afro Picks

& a big bottle of Jojoba Oil!

Wishing you & yours a Safe, Blessed & Prosperous Holiday Season!!!

AfroPuffs and Ponytails - Inspiring African American Girls!

A week ago my daughter and I had the pleasure of seeing ourselves featured on this fantastic website regarding Our Natural Kids.  When I tell you that this website is your ONE STOP shop for all things black girl related, you need to believe me.  Afro Puffs and Ponytails, Inc. is a non-profit organization created primarily for supporting and uplifting African American/Black Girls! Their website provides encouraging articles, events, program listings, and resources for African American/Black teen girls, young girls, and their parents.

AfroPuffs & PonyTails
Inspiring African American Girls

If you know anything about the real me or even if you have just been following my online persona, then you know that I believe that our beautiful baby girls are our most important resources for the future.  I have dedicated a very BIG part of my life towards encouraging young girls by providing information and resources that promote self esteem.  We are so honored to be mentioned on this website, I just had to come and share.

Please go there and check out our feature in the Hair Care for African American Girls' section
Our Natural Kids - An Active Natural Hair Network for Parents

and please save the following link to your favorites so that you can return often.
AfroPuffs and PonyTails

Thanks for reading!

Peace

Ohm Body Hair Products ~ A Review

I had the pleasure of reviewing a new product recently and I wanted to tell you all about it! 

Ohm Body Products is a company that makes products for the Body and for the Hair.  Their products are 100% Pure and Natural. They SMELL Great!! and I especially love the fact that the ingredients list on each of the products that I tried start with:  Love, Wisdom and Patience (Or variations of that!)

Products to be reviewed:  Sweet Hair Pudding, Hydrating Hair Milk, Herbal Conditioner

You know what?? I can show you better than I can type all of it!  So here...check out my video review!

 

To Learn more about Ohm Body Products go to http://www.goingohm.com/

Thanks for reading!

Peace :-)

Join Me on Nappturalite Radio ~ 11/28

The SistahChick & The LittleChick

I will be a guest on the very popular Nappturalite Radio Show on Sunday, November 28th, 2010.  The show starts @ 6pm EST and I will be part of the 2nd hour. Nappturalite Radio is dedicated to the love of all things related to black natural hair care. Sunday's topics will be Hot Natural Hair Products for the Holiday and Natural Hair Care for Kids. I will be sharing information as well as participating in well rounded discussions regarding Kids and Natural Hair. I hope you will tune in and check me out!


To do so please follow this link on Sunday:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nappturalite

THIS WILL BE A SPECIAL HOLIDAY SHOW!!

from: http://www.nappturaliteradio.com/

Our Annual Holiday Shopping Show & Natural Hair Care for Kids!

This week, we've got two shows in one! Join us for the first hour for our 1st annual Holiday Shopping Show! Our Holiday Shopping Show is a cross between "Oprah's Favorite Things" show and a natural hair giveaway!...

...The 2nd hour will feature Natural Hair Care for Kids! Join us for special interviews with Jamesha Bazemore of Imani Joi Naturals Products, The Sistah Chick of the Our Natural Kids Network, and celebrity stylist, Marcia Hamilton, the stylist behind Willow Smith and her video "I Whip My Hair"!!!

To read more go to:

http://www.nappturaliteradio.com/

Black Friday Sales and Specials!!

Friday, November 26th (11/26/10) is the National Day after Thanksgiving Sale aka "Black Friday". There will be sales EVERYwhere both on and offline. If you LOVE to shop and maybe are a Natural Hair Product Junkie like moi, then you are gonna wanna know about these sales!!!

Check out Sage's Black Friday Sale beginning Friday at 8am - 10pm offering 25% discount in store, free shipping for online shopping!!!

Tell them The SistahChick Sent Ya!

Check Out Pura Body Naturals Black Friday Sale!  All hair and body butters will be 25% off.  MuruMuru Moisture Milk and Sapote Hair Lotion will be 10.00.  The 4 pack hair sampler will be 15.00 - it includes samples of the cupuacu hair butter, amazon hair and body butter, sapote hair lotion, and the murumuru moisture milk.   They will also be having a Cyber Monday Sale with all mineral eyeshadows on sale for 4.00 each!!



I can't wait to try these products!



Belle Butters will be offering free shipping on both days!  Black Friday AND Cyber Monday!

CURLS is offering a few Black Friday Specials-one of them is specific to our Curly Q kids line!!

Kick off your Black Friday shopping with a special Deal from CURLS

· The first 100 customers to purchase (1) CURLS Milkshake on Friday, November 26th starting at 1:00amPST will receive (1) Coconut Sublime for FREE!

Curly Q’s for your Cutie! Keep those twirls detangled!

· The first **50 customers to purchase (1) Curly Cutie Cleansing Cream and (1) Curly Q Gel-les’c together on Friday, November 26th starting at 1:00amPST will receive 50% off. Both products for $15! **Will also be entered to win our “Tangle Free” contest.

Which includes (2) tickets to see the movie Tangled! 

 

South Florida News Reporter Redefined by her Natural Beauty

Check out this reporter from WPTV * NBC!! I love this story, especially the little girls reaction to her mommy's natural hair! 

Thai "Tweet Up" in Atlanta

I attended my very 1st "Tweet Up" last nite.  What is a "Tweet Up" you might ask.  A "Tweet Up" is a meeting that takes place amongst people who are connected someway or another on Twitter.  This event was hosted by a Twitter friend of mine named @SwarthyDaisy.  @SwarthyDaisy and I have been friends on Twitter for quite some time so i was very excited when I heard that she was putting this event together.  Held at Thai Fusion and aptly called "Thai Tweet Up" this meeting far exceeded anything that i expected.  I found the ambiance of the restuarant to be very inviting. 

I was greeted at the door by @SwarthyDaisy.  Even though she and I have attended several of the same events, we had never met face to face.  Its always fun meeting people that i have chatted with online.  She is just as friendly and outgoing as i thought she'd be.  I was the 1st one there so I helped her and her husband set up the giftbags that she'd prepared for us.

The bags were filled with various items that I cant wait to try!!

I especially loved my pick!!

As the guests arrived one by one we were all introduced and began to mingle.  I met some AMAZING people from various online arenas.  The area of Women & Finance was represented by @AndreaAmir founder of Smart Money Chicks a site that helps to create financially savvy women through education, webinars, discussions and events.  Health & Wellness was represented by Dalia Kinsey (@EatingBeautiful) She is the creator of EatingBeautiful.com a site that explains how we can escape the diet trap by making certain lifestyle changes.  In the area of Technology we were introduced to Reggie Levine.  Reggie has a website and a YouTube channel dedicated to giving advice, demonstrations and tutorials on all of the latest gadgets from phones to keyboards to gaming system controllers.  You can find him on Twitter @LeReg on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/LeReg and on the net http://www.reggielevine.net/.  Art, Photography & Jewelry was represented by Wilma Jean aka @MsLeJean.  Her "She" art series is outstanding and I am hoping to grace my walls with one of her pieces soon.  Do yourself a favor and check out her work http://wilmajean.com/.  Other folk in the house were @WritesALot, @HelloLT, @Lucy_Pearl, @hicksgirl93, @WatchTheShoes, @JavonStyles. @uncleshecky and @LadyLovelyPeace <~~ A SUPER Positive chick that I was already following on Twitter...

Long Story Short

We ate good food... 

We networked...

 We shared ideas and resources...



We had a GREAT time... 



@SwarthyDaisy, @TheSistahChick, @LeReg, @MsLeJean





@SwarthyDaisy & @JavonStyles

I learned SO much!! I should have taken notes but I have already implemented some of the tips that i received.  I can't wait until the next "Tweet Up"!!

Thanks for reading!

Peace :-)

Natural Skin Care - Oil Cleansing Method

I have been trying for a while to come up with a working alternative to my normal skin care routine. Just to give you a little background on my skin woes. I have been battling adult acne since my daughter was born. I am guessing that I had some sort of hormonal change after giving birth to her and it screwed up my skin. I have tried everything there is to control my outbreaks. I have been a Proactiv user for years but "Going Natural" with my hair has eventually led me to look for natural alternatives for my skin. Proactive worked for me in the beginning, but the more knowledgeable I have become about ingredients the more I wanted to try something new. For the past 8 weeks I have been using the Oil Cleansing Method. I can't remember where i first saw this method being discussed but it sounded like a great idea and I have nothing to lose so i did a little research. I found a great website http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/ among others that explained exactly what the method is and how it works. The jist of it is this. Instead of stripping all of the natural oils from your face like you do when using any of the popular commercial skin care regimens, why not try gently removing the impurities from your skin by massaging it with nutrient filled oils that are similar to the natural oils that your skin carries. This massage followed by a good steam to open the pores, leaves your skin feeling naturally soft, smooth & healthy. The website mentioned earlier will give more details behind why this method can work, so I'll let you go over there to read about it. I will go on to tell you what oils I chose for my concoction and why.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil ~ This is a thick and nutrient filled oil that is supposed to work well by adding vitamins A & E (antioxidants) to your skin. (5 parts)

Castor Oil ~ Is the actual cleansing part of this method its good for removing impurities. The oil is thick and carries the other oils. If you use too much of this, you could actually end up drying out your skin. (3 parts)

Jojoba Oil ~ This oil is light and is said to be the oil that matches our skins natural sebum most closely. It is very absorbant, so using it by itself would probably make your skin oily since it absorbs so fast. When you use it with the others though it becomes restorative (2 parts)

Tea Tree Oil ~ is an anti inflammatory as well as an antiseptic. Adding this soothes the skin and calms any outbreaks that you may have and it also helps to preserve the blend. (6 drops)

I blend all of this together and keep it in an air tight container and use it 2x a day as follows:

I pour a dime sized amount of the blended oils into the palm of my hand. I rub my hands together to emulsify the oils. This gets them nice and warm for my face. I then slowly massage my face.

I soak a wash cloth in hot water (careful! not too hot) and lay it on my face until it cools and then gently wipe. I do this 3x or until i feel the oil is wiped away sufficiently. I follow with a cool water rinse (to close the pours) as well as a homemade toner (recipe to come!)

This combination works perfectly for my oily skin. I have been using it for about 8 weeks and these are the things that i have noticed

~Increased elasticity in my skin (40+'ers will understand)

~Decreased amount of outbreaks

~Rapidly fading darkspots

~Skin "appears" blemish free

I believe that if I continue using this method that I may be able to restore my skin back to its former pre~baby lovelyness...and if not, I will certainly come back with updates! If you have used this method before, share your oil recipes!

Thanks for reading

Peace :-)

This Week in Natural Hair 10/18 - 10/22

WoowwWW! What a week we had folks! If you don't happen to follow any of the "goings on" in the Natural Hair Cyber-Social Community allow me to recap.

Monday 10/18 - A beautiful and interesting segment of Natural Hair's new fav mascot aka the "I Love My Hair Muppet" from Sesame Street was covered on ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer. If you havent seen this muppet you MUST check her out. She is beautiful and new to Sesame Street. She is chocolate and lovely. She has Natural Hair and sings a confident song about how much she looooves her hair. Its just great. The segment explored the story behind this character and it turns out that she was a the brainchild of a white Sesame Street writer who adopted an Ethiopian daughter and wanted to teach/help her love herself. Its a beautiful story. Go to abcnews.com for the full story. Check out the YT vid.


AT THE SAME Time this story was being told, Lil Miss Willow Smith was debuting her hit song, "I Whip My Hair" on BET. This song has become a sort of anthem in the Natural Hair community and how can you not love Will & Jada's kid? She's an energetic cutie pie and she's got us ALL throwin our hair around and having fun. I think its great :-) Hit up Bet.com to see the episode ( http://www.bet.com/video/1386154 )

AND THEN... Kohl's SMH @ Kohl's. Were they really selling a Halloween Costume called "Ghetto Fab Wig" that featured a woman wearing a textured afro wig with a bunch of gold jewelry on...?? Yeah they were. A bunch of us bombarded @Kohls_Offical with demands that they remove it immediately...and guess what?? They did. They also apologized profusely. But still, how dare they?


Tuesday 10/19 I was saddened to hear about a NASTY YouTube scuffle going on between some of our most popular Vloggers. I wont mention names or discuss this further because I dont want to give it anymore power, but it happened. :-( Here is what I tweeted on this day:
#NaturalHair Seriously...Why Cant we all just get along?? I got LOVE for ALL of my Sistahs. > 19 Oct

Wednesday 10/20 Oh happy day! Sesame Street's "I Love My Hair" muppet was featured on a segment of The View! I was so happy!! They discussed the beautiful message that is being spread by this popular new character. Teaching little black girls to love their hair, what could be better right?? and then I heard Ms Sherri Shepherd imply that our hair needs to be relaxed in order to be manageable. (record scratch) Now you may not get that from what she said, but its what I got. First she said that the straightening comb was invented by Madame CJ Walker, which is absolutely not true, then she gave explanation as to possibly why 1st Lady Mrs. Michelle Obama does not wear her hair natural. She said "...its about manageability...we press our hair, we relax our hair..." No disrepect to Ms Sherri because she is my sistah. I just wish she would do a bit more research before making her statements. Whether we like it or not, she reaches a very wide audience, so I need her to get things right. Nuff said.

Thursday, 10/21 Not much went on in the #NaturalHair Community on this day, but today Black In America 3 aired on CNN. I wont say much, because there's too much to say. To me this Soledad OBrien series has never adequately represented any part of the Black America that I know. I mean seriously...not all of us go to Mega Churches and feel that its God's responsibility to bail us out of bad financial decisions. Some of us live within our means, take responsibilty for ourselves and we do just fine... following this show was Anderson Cooper 360. long and short...they did the doll test on a bunch of kids (The doll test is a test for kids. They have 2 dolls, one black & one white. They ask the kids to choose the one that is the prettiest, nicest, etc... Google it to learn more) So they do a modernized version of this test, all of the kids say that the "white doll" is the prettiest and the nicest. They all say that the "black doll" is not nice and its bad because its dark. It was very sad. Especially, when the little black girl explained that she hated her own skin and hair because its brown and nasty. If they had tested my little girl, the outcome would have been totally different, so this test was very biased and the results are unreliable. moving on.

Friday 10/22 Jawn Murray. Jawn Murray is an Entertainment reporter for AOL's Black Voices. Apparently, he commented on twitter that there were some Militant Nappy Headed Angry Black Women that are mad at Tyler Perry for his attempt at For Colored Girls. A lot of people felt that it was very derogatory and offensive to have a representative of an African American media outlet speaking this way. Ok 1st of all who is Jawn Murray again? I'd never heard of him till today. Is Aol Black Voices still around? wooow. ok. This guy also later commented that any Militant Nappy Headed Angry Black Women who have a problem with what he said, should "...Get a Life and Get a Perm." Say What? ForHarriet.com started an online petition calling for an immediate apology or his termination from Black Voices lol... his apology is below.

Whew...like I said in the beginning...What a Week! Lets hope that next week is a bit more calm! I cant take all of this drama! Until then... thanks for reading :-)

Peace

BFF's (Best Friend's Forever)

I was gonna title this post "Myrtle Beach Trip" because that's where i went last weekend and I wanted to share it with you. It was a GREAT time... the ocean, the weather, the accomodations...everything was fantastic! But it occured to me why we had that much fun and it wasn't the place, it was the company. We could have gone ANYwhere in the world, and the results would be the same... because i was with my BEST friends. These friends of mine or BFF's include: My husband, My fav cousin (yes i have a favorite) My best girlfriend, and my homey (a guy i met in college) I have been close with these 4 folk for 20+ years and my friendship with each remains strong. A friend, according to my own definition is: A person who can see through all of your bullshit but still likes you anyhow. Through good times and bad THESE people are still there. We have partied together, cried together, laughed togetherand bailed each other out (lol). Ride or Die. We have Encouraged, Advised and told each other the plain old truth. Before jobs. Before babies. Before responsibilities they were around. They are the true definition of BFF (Best Friends ForEVER). Enjoy the pics :-) (Oh yeah...we went to Myrtle Beach for a weekend of fun in the sun with 16 other people that we never met before.)

The condo was great!

...Everything was in walking distance

We ate at this place called Dick's Last Resort


...you don't want to know what goes on there

The Beach was FANTASTIC. It was a Breezy & Sunny 92 degrees with big beautiful waves crashing to shore every few seconds. Paradise.

...Fun in the sun

...and at night :-)

The weekend ended with a hearty breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. Before everyone retreated to their respective locations we hugged, expressed our pleasured meetings, and then we left...

No one could ever know me

No one could ever see me

Seems you're the only one who knows what its like to be me

Someone to face the day with

Make it through all the rest with

Someone I'll always laugh with

Even in my worst, I'm best with you, yeah

It's like your always stuck in second gear

When it hasnt been your day, your week, your month, or even your year

But...

I'll be there for you (When the rain starts to pour)

I'll be there for you (Like I've been there before)

I'll be there for you (...because you're there for me too)
(Lyrics to Friends written by Bobby Vinton)

Thanks for reading.

Peace :-)

Sistah SpotLight! ~ MahoganyKnots

You know them don't you? They are a Natural Hair Duo comprised of "EbonyKnots" & "MahoganyBella". Together they are known as MahoganyKnots. I had the pleasure of meeting these two young ladies through our hair group, Gorgeous Atlanta Naturals. Since day 1 they have been super friendly and enthusiastic about ALL things Natural Hair related. The LittleChick & I are very fond of them because of their positive energy and I wanted to tell you about them today!

MahoganyKnots are two women who have been friends for years and together they decided to start blogging/vlogging about their hair experiences. The fantastic thing about them is that coming from two different individuals you get to experience the diversity that IS Natural Hair. They are what I consider to be among the "Who's Who" of the Atlanta Natural Hair Scene. They contribute GREATLY to the Atlanta Natural Hair Community by planning and organizing FANTASTIC events (that I try to attend each and every one of!) that I have mentioned in previous posts. They have a terrific blog MahoganyKnots.com that is full of product reviews, interviews, event listings, terminology etc. MahoganyBella has a gorgeous head of thick luscious hair and she is very meticulous with her product reviews. She thoroughly tests products on her own hair, and provides photos of the results. Whether you are newly natural, transitioning or a seasoned natural you will definately gain knowledge from their site. They also have a Youtube Channel, MahoganyKnots - Natural Hair Cafe. With close to 3500 subscribers in just over a year, they are easily a favorite of many. Like their blog, their channel is filled with information pertaining to natural hair. Here you get tutorials of various super creative styles that Ebonyknots creates. She demonstrates from beginning to end and makes it all look so easy. She even does this parody of a Natural Hair guru whose name is "Clover - The Natural Hair Expert". It is HEELARIOUS!! Check her out here The Natural Hair Expert The creation of this over the top character allows us all to laugh at ourselves a little. I love it. Together these two bring a wealth of valuable information and present their seperate hair journeys in creative ways that are both entertaining and educational. Please check them out.!!

MahoganyKnots can also be followed on Twitter @MahoganyKnots and liked on Facebook MahoganyKnots.

Thanks for reading.

Peace,

The SistahChick