Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts

Friday, July 22, 2011

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 :-)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Sistah Cafe & Our Natural Kids NEW Look!

Greetings Family!

I appreciate you all so much for checking out my blog as well as my other online entities.  We have made some changes recently and I wanted to share them with you, so consider this a relaunch!

With the help of our friends over at BosGraph Design we have made all of our sites more attractive & hopefully visible by updating them with professional logos, warm and inviting colors, and by removing all  unnecessary links.  As my relationship with the online Natural Hair community grows I wanted my sites to represent.  I am hoping that these changes will help to invite more views, sponsorship & donations as we continue to share our knowledge & experiences with you.

Introducing...


Our Natural Kids ~  This site was launched back in February 2010.  It was a result of the positive feedback that my daughter & I received after we posted a bunch of Natural Hair Styling & Maintenance vids on You Tube.   This is a social networking site that allows its members to do everything from Uploading pics & vids to blogging to personalizing your own profile page, you name it.  We have discussions boards as well as chat capability.  There are interactive sub groups like MotherBloggers & The MarketPlace to help members connect!!  We have volunteer contributors there to give you professional tips (Jamesha Bazemore) and to encourage you in a positive way (Keianna Johnson) We are now nearly 800 members strong with members in nearly every state and many countries worldwide!!  People from all over the globe are coming together on Our Natural Kids to discuss hair care and maintenance for children with curly, multi textured, afrotype hair.


The Sistah Cafe ~ Its all in the name.  This is where your girl, The SistahChick, hangs out! Here I share a little bit more about myself.  Whether I am writing about my Natural hair, showing you pics of my family or our latest trips, bringing you updates from my Container Garden or just sharing recipes...Cafe's are warm & inviting places where you can relax, chill & be yourself.  The Sistah Cafe is that plus more!!!


The SistahChick's Spot ~  This is my YouTube Channel.  I became a YouTuber on 4/10/2009 with one goal only and that was to share my Natural Hair journey with the world!  Since the beginning Natural Hair has been the main focus of this channel.  However, as with life, there are many different facets to every journey.  Here you can watch as My LittleChick and I show our hair regimens.  Here you can also see a video diary of my Quit Smoking journey, product reviews, tutorials plus footage of various events that I have attended in Atlanta, yearly photoslide updates set to funky music and much much more! 



The SistahChick & Our Natural Kids ~ We are on FaceBook!!  Our FaceBook fanpage allows us to possibly come in contact with at least some of its 500 million users.  Here we are able to quickly update you with whatever is going on in the African American online community.  We provide links to pertinent news/info regarding natural hair products, videos, websites, etc.  for kids and adults as well.

All of these entities are a direct result of my love for my race, my people & my culture.  I truly enjoy sharing & fellowship with like minded individuals.  Being online allows us to reach people that we wouldnt normally be able to come into contact with.  I hope that my community appreciates the time, cost & work that my family & I have put into all of these projects. We will continue to share our positive light & energy with you and we hope that you will spread it on to others! 

Thanks for reading.
Peace :-)

Saturday, November 27, 2010

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!!



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:

Friday, October 22, 2010

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

Monday, January 25, 2010

The SistahChick's YouTube Channel!

I am sure that I have made reference to my YouTube Channel before, but please allow me to formerly introduce it to you. In April 2009, I decided that I would like to chronicle my Natural hair journey among other things in a way that documented as well as expressed the real me, doin what I do best and thats running my mouth! LOL. So I set up a YouTube Channel and the rest is history. By joining all of the very knowledgeable ladies of the YouTube Natural Hair Movement not only have i made some really cool friends, but I have also gotten and given some truly wonderful advice. Even though I decided to go Natural and BC'd back in 2006, I had never actually gotten to know my tresses very well, and was limited to simple Puff with Headband styles. I knew nothing about properly moisturizing, curl defining, conditioning...none of that. It was through YouTube that I learned how to properly care for, style and pamper my gorgeous 4a- 4b hair. I continue to learn daily and share knowledge as I go. As you will see, I have gotten my entire family involved in my journey and we are having lots of fun. Its been especially exciting for me and my little girl who is affectionately referred to as "The LittleChick". My decision to go Natural has opened up the door to so many things, and even led me to quit smoking! (I have been nicotene free, since June 19, 2009!!! - Check out the Freedom Series below!) Well enough with the intro... see for yourself :-) Below are several links. I hope you enjoy!

This link will take you directly to my channel, The SistahChick's Spot. Here you can view all of my videos, playlists, favorites, and also check out my friends & subscribers lists plus other need to know info!
http://bit.ly/5NZLg1


I have taken the care to categorize some of the videos that I have made into playlists (videos grouped together by topic)

Fierce 'Do's' & Smokin Hot HairStyles
Here you will see a variety of seriously HOT Natural hairstyles!!
http://bit.ly/8MccLv


Methods & Techniques
Here are some tried and true Methods and Techniques!!
http://bit.ly/4Lctvs

Natural HairCare - Product Reviews
I have tried many products during my journey and will try many more, this link will play a list of the video reviews for some of my favs!
(Remember, I am not a professional, so all of the opinions given are specific to my own personal experiences!!)
http://bit.ly/8BRqm9

Freedom - Journey to Be Smoke Free
My Freedom Series!! Nicotine Addiction is serious and quitting smoking is not easy. Follow my journey to be SmokeFree!
http://bit.ly/6wXunt

LittleChick Hair Maintenance
This is our newest series. It chronicles my daughters haircare & maintenance
http://bit.ly/5KH2MN

There are several other videos posted for your viewing pleasure. Please, check them out & let me know what you think. I also take requests, so if you have a question or an idea that you would like to see as it pertains to Natural Hair Care, etc. Please feel free to send me an e-mail to: TheSistahCafe@gmail.com. All ideas will be considered.

I plan to really expand my horizons in 2010 with vids demonstrating the preparations of some of my fav recipes and also on ideas for redecorating on a budget. Please subscribe & Stay Tuned

I appreciate, as always, that you took the time to read this :-)

Peace,
The SistahChick