Money Saving Tips for Product Junkies

Hey all of you product junkies out there!!  Admitting that you have the problem is the 1st step.  right?  lol  Well welcome to the family we're here for you.  Whether you are trying organic OR non organic products it can get pricey trying to find what products work for you.  If you are like me and just love trying new things it can become even more of an expense... but it doesn't have to be.  One thing is for sure, if i try a product and I end up liking it, I WILL buy more!!  That being said...

Here are some tried & true tips to help you SAVE MONEY!! 

"Over The Counter" ~ These are products that you can get in any stores beauty section.  When I first went natural, Garnier Fructis & Infusium, Motions were my favs.  I don't use them anymore but I am just saying don't knock what you can get at Walmart or the grocery store. Some of those OTC products are great!  I have heard people swear by the Herbal Essence line.  Be careful though if you want to stick to organic products. Just because it looks and sounds organic, doesn't mean that it is.  (Read your ingredients)

Product Swaps ~ This is where you meet with fellow natural sistahs to swap products. generally the way it works is you get to swap product for product, so ex:  if you bring 8 items you leave with 8 items It is assumed that the persons swapping will only bring new or gently used items. if you have some kind of phobia this wont be for you :-)  But this is a GOOD way to mingle, try new things and also to see what else is out there and what others are using.  And its free!!

Mostly New & Some Gently used products obtained at a Product Swap

TJ Maxx ~ I really should include Ross & Marshall as well.  These stores often get shipments on several costly product lines.  I have gotten these product lines there:  GioVanni & EO. I heard that the Say Yes To.. line & some Carols Daughter has been seen there as well.  They are DEEPLY discounted! (1 Liter of Giovanni Deep Moisture Shampoo $12.99!!) They get different items every week, so what you find there will vary and they also wont have the exact same thing at a different store.  I love the hunt!

Buy in Bulk ~ Sometimes buying in larger quantities means paying less per oz.  Do the math.  You could end up saving lots of money this way. If you know you like it, buy the larger quantity.

Lola's Green Hair ~ I met this really cool chick via Twitter (@LolasGreenHair)  she has a very cool website by the same name.  Here you can post & sell your new & gently used items and you can also BUY new or gently used items.  The membership is my favorite price... FREE! The product prices are awesome!  Check it out for yourself!

Hair Shows ~ If you are fortunate enough to live in an area where there are Hair Shows do yourself a favor and check it out.  There are always LOTS of vendors selling some of your favorite products for the low low.  For instance I got a $20+ jar of Jane Carter Nourish & Shine for $5.00 at last years World Natural Hair Show ~ Atlanta.  There will also hopefully be  vendors from smaller & little known product lines to sell you GREAT products for a good price.  Word of warning, SOME hair shows are costly to get into.  If you are going in for product be aware of the cost and your bottomline.

Some of the items obtained from the World Natural Hair Show 2010

Some items obtained from the World Natural Hair Show 2011

"Meet Ups" ~ These are gatherings where people are merely meeting at various locations to talk Natural Hair.  Again, if you are in an area where these meetings occur, go to them.  There is most always a freebie or two involved.  Most of the time the freebies are sample size, but i have been to some where they gave full size! The double benefit of attending meet ups is that you are gonna be hanging out with like minded people, meeting new people and its just fun! aaand usually they're FREE!!

Start a blog or YT ~ When i started my channel & blog my intent was not to get free products, i didn't even know that was a possibility.  But as my memberships grow I am finding that more companies are willing to send us products to try.  So i wouldn't say this should be a reason to get into it cause its a lot of work.  but if you are already doing it... Its free products.

Please share how you save!!  Hope this helps

Thanks for Reading,
Peace :-)

Gorgeous Atlanta Natural (GAN) Swap N Shop

Our last meet up (5/15/10) was a Product Swap and I had such a great time! Got to hang out with my Fav Natural Sistahs PerfectlyPretty, Jinx, Monicajoi aka Knapsgirl. I also got to see Mahoganyknots and various other GORGEOUS ATLANTA NATURALS. It was a blast and I hope that everyone had as much fun as I did! This was my 1st Product Swap so I was unsure how it would work. Fortunately for us, Jinx had everything under control. For each item that you brought you got a ticket, when your ticket # is called you get to go SHOPPING! And by that i mean shopping for products. I would say there were about 30-35 Naturals in attendance, everyone came with armloads of stuff so this gave us a LOT to choose from. I came in with various items from my stash. Not things that i necessarily hated, but things that I either have in abundance or that just did not work for me.

Included in what I brought was Mixed Chicks Shampoo & Leave In Conditioner, Kinky Curly Curling Custard, Biolage By Matrix Shampoo & Conditioner, CoolAulin Conditioner by Lush to name a few.

Here is what I came out with after the Swap!

BRAND NEW Unopened jar of Taliah Waajid's Kinky Wavy Natural Herbal Style & Shine.

BRAND NEW Unopened jar of Carol's Daughter Mimosa Hair Honey.

....Very Gently Used Items

GioVanni Smooth As Silk Deeper Moisture Conditioner
Taliah Waajid's Crinkles & Curls
Carol's Daughter Hair Balm

Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti Humidity Smoothing Milk
Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Leave In Conditioning Cream

Darcy's Botanical Coconut & Cupuacu Butter
Darcy's Botanical Herbal Tea Leave In Spritz

PLUS Heaping Spoonfuls of Raw Unrefined Shea Butter that PerfectlyPretty shared with me (Thanks Sis!)

There were also vendors at this event!

KnapsGirl.Com was there. I STOCKED UP on Lil Better Butter. Don't think that I am playing when I say I love this stuff, cause I AM Not playin! This is the BEST butter that I have found for hair AND body. It is used by my entire family. Its subtly fragrant, perfectly blended, not too oily and full of natural ingredients. I LOVE this stuff! http://www.etsy.com/shop/knapsgirl


She also had the cutest little hairpins with her precious "Knaps" characters on them. This one sits neatly in my LittleChicks hair.


Tesa & Catrese were there with their custom Hair accesories. I got 2 lovely hair flowers.




Another vendor, whose name I didnt get, had some hot-to-death jewelry. I got 2 pairs of earrings.

...And a funky ring that I already adore!

Swap N Shops are a FANTASTIC way to try new products without spending a lot of cash. It is also a fun way to get together with like minded sistahs. If you havent had one yet in your area you definately should.

Gorgeous Atlanta Natural Meet Ups are always a blast! Check them out on FaceBook for more info.

Thanks for reading :-)

HairStory - Days of My Napps

As many of you Natural girls know the road to NappiHappiness ain't easy. If you were like me, you've had relaxers in your hair for many years and dont even know what the natural pattern is. After my big chop I was pleasantly surprised to find a head full of small coils. While growing my hair out i mostly wore it in an afro. I am fortunate to be able to work from home so only my family and friends saw my hair as it transitioned from relaxed to natural. Their reaction has been pretty positive. i have been at this for almost 3 years, and have used various products. Finding products developed for natural hair hasn't been easy. I'll be honest and tell you that in the beginning, i never really thought that much about it. My hair routine had gotten so much easier, what else did i need to worry about? I started off with washing my hair once a week, but wetting it everyday to achieve the ringlets that I wanted. The wash included shampooing & Conditioning with Garnier Fructis. I used the conditioner as my comb thru. I would completely resaturate my towel dried hair with Infusium Leave In Conditioner for dry/damaged hair. I would then apply a palm full of Pink Lotion Hair Moisturizer, a follow with a quarter size dollop of Loreal Melting Gel. This was a MESSY process. It left my hair really curly in some parts and poofy in others. Once my hair dried it remained sticky to the touch. Think Coming to America when SOUL-Glo's parents were sittin on the couch. Yep, I think I had a Jheri Curl, Even tho I was using everything made for dry hair, my hair was not being moisturized and it was left dry and damaged. I was also experiencing a lot of shedding. TRIAL/ERROR (I told you it wasn't easy!) Eventually, my routine transitioned to washing once a week using Garnier Fructis Shampoo for Curly Hair. I changed my comb thru deep conditioner to Motions CPR (Critical, Protection, Repair) mixed in with Garnier Fructis Conditioner for Curly Hair. While my hair is still very damp I sprayed with Infusium Frizzologie Leave In Conditioner and followed with a palm full of Motions Conditioning Cream. This process seemed to do a good job of keeping my hair moisturized. It was a little oily to the touch, but not too bad. The shrinkage that i experienced with this routine was insane. By now my hair is shoulder length when straightened with a blow dryer(I would blow it out straight periodically to cut my ends evenly), however, it would shrink to a short afro during the drying process. Once completely dry, I could then pick and pull it out to a reasonably curly afro. I found that as hours of the day went on tho that my afro would get poofy, frizzy and unruly. I didnt mind this so much, but it was unpredictable. On a humid day, I would get a huge out of control mane and on dry days I would get the curls that I wanted but this never lasted into the next day. I was continuously having to rewet and reapply all of the products and would get different results after every application. If I am just chillin in my hood or with my fam/friends this is not a problem but a learning experience, HOWEVER! Not good on special occasions because i could never know what my hair would do. Various headbands & scarves became my perfect standbys in case of Hairtastrophies. (HairStory within a HairStory - Had a business meetin in FL. Got my hair into a nice perfect afro. It was dry and cutely cropped. Fell asleep on the plane and woke to find the back of my hair completely flattened, stiff and unmoisturized. The front was doing its own thing. I had no products, no supplies, not even a comb. I remedied this by wetting the back of hair in the bathroom and applying some hand lotion from my purse. I picked at it and blended it and got it all to at least look uniformily wet (but not dripping) and just prayed that I could get in and out of that meeting and back on the plane home before my hair dried again! OOPS was still in early learning stages!! LOL) My hair is like a Soap Opera - Days of My Napps, All My Napps, One Nap to Live, etc...lol its a different HairStory everyday!