Hair Tales & Happy Halloween!

//My how time flies! Today is Halloween and from here on…its a straight shot to Turkey time and Christmas cheer! Here are a few photos from a braid-out I did this past week. I washed, used my Aphogee 2 Min Reconstructor, deep conditioned, and then applied my leave-in. Refer to this post for products. I then braided my hair into about 10 – 12 hanging plaits and secured the ends with gray perm rods. I let it dry overnight and in morning I undid the braids, added some coconut oil and shea butter mixture, fluffed, and kept it moving! At night, I just put on a silk bonnet and refluff in the morning. Easy breezy. 🙂

For Halloween, I decided to dress up as Princess Tiana from my favorite Disney movie, “Princess & The Frog.” The movie is so cute to me and it’s about time that we had the first Black Disney Princess!

Such fun times! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

The Look: Peek-A-Boo

//Another fab thrift find. It’s beginning to get a bit chilly (read 60 degrees lol) so I want to try and wear all my cute warm weather outfits before the winter chill sets in. My friend’s mom spotted this dress and passed it along, and I’m so glad she did! It fits great and the peek-a-boo back adds some playfulness to the look. I paired with Sam Edelman zip-up booties and my purple Aldo bag.

 

Excuse the neighborhood grass…we had a drought here in Texas!  Dress//Thrift Find; Shoes//Sam Edelman; Purse//Aldo; Necklace//Macy’s; Ring//Forever 21; Bracelet//gift; Sunglasses//Forever 21

 

 

 

The Little Bird – Luxury Consignment

//I had the pleasure of attending the grand opening celebration of a new luxury consignment shop here in the heart of Houston in the Galleria and I am definitely visiting again!

The Little Bird is owned and operated by Keele Lyod who opened her first high-end consignment shop by the same name in Aspen, Colorado. Loyd gained popularity amongst the well-heeled, luxury-loving crowd and found that many of her store patrons were native Houstonians. She began to travel to and from Houston for charity trunk shows and to help ladies clean out their closets to sell designer pieces from Dolce & Gabbana to Prada. Loyd developed quite an affinity for Houston, but in 2008, she found herself here for a different reason. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and moved to Houston to begin treatments at our world renowned medical center. Loyd is now a cancer survivor and has clients all around the globe. So for you ladies who would love to add a few (or a lot!) designer pieces to your closet and love a discount, make sure  you check out the store.

Here are some pictures of the many items in the store. I’ve included the prices of some for reference.

YSL Pumps – $325

Chanel Pumps – $665

 

Chanel Purse – $1495

Dolce & Gabbana Peep Toe Pumps – $395

Dolce & Gabbana Bag

Louis Vuitton Purse – $795; Prada Pumps – $425

Fendi Cashmere & Chinchilla Coat – One of the sales ladies informed me that there were only 3 of these coats made and JLo purchased one of them. The fur was the softest thing EVER! I literally stood there and rubbed it for 5 minutes…walked away and then came back again.

Bill Blass Jacket – $495. I loved the look of this jacket. I actually purchased a black and white striped jacket not too long ago and I plan on doing a look post soon.

 

More Pictures:

Chanel Dress – So cute! 

 

Beautiful Hermes bag

The shop receives new shipments each day, so there is always an excuse to go check the new selections. Happy shopping!

Location: 1735 Post Oak Blvd Houston, Tx 77056

Website: http://thelittlebirdinc.com/

Work Wear Wednesday!

//The recent influx of mosquitos has made outdoor picture taking almost impossible! This is a work wear look that is very “Mad Men” in my opinion and I love the color of the skirt and the lip color.

Top//Thrift find (Ann Taylor); Skirt//New York & Co; Shoes//BCBGeneration; Purse//Macy’s; Bracelet//Macy’s; Ring//Thrift find

Think Pink 2.0

//Bright color pants are another fall trend that I’m feeling right now. I love the brightness of these pants and I balanced it with a neutral sweater top and studded slingbacks from Charlotte Russe.

Top & Pants//Thrift finds; Shoes//Charlotte Russe; Purse//Kate Spade; Watch//Michael Kors; Sunglasses//Charlotte Russe; Necklace//Macy’s; Bracelets//Forever 21

Hair Tales – Comparison Pics, Regimen, and Flexi Rod Set

//As I’ve progressed in my hair journey, I’ve learned so many things, experienced many accomplishments and setbacks and I’m proud that I’ve maintained enough discipline to continue to reach my goals. As I said in the previous hair post, I still have a ways to go to get to where I want to be personally, but hey..so far, so good! I wanted to share some throwback pictures and progress pictures just to show my transition through the years. At time when it comes to growth, it seems like my hair has stopped, sat down in the middle of the road and said “sooo…i’m just gonna chill here for awhile.”  But then I’ll look at a comparison pic and realize how far I’ve come. So it always helps to keep photo evidence of your hair if you are in the process of growing it out.

Here is what my hair looked like back in the day before I started actively focusing on healthy hair care. It always looked “nice”, but it was definitely NOT healthy. I dyed, highlighted, heat-styled my hair on a continuous basis and it remained the same length for years on end.

Around 2005-2006, I, along with a close friend of mine, started researching healthy hair and that’s when things started to change. I developed a regimen and over the years, I have tweaked and modified it as necessary. My hair is currently relaxed and I stretch my relaxers anywhere from 6 months to 9 months. Here are pictures from as early as 07 to this year.

//My current regimen is as follows:

Daily:

When Hair is curly (roller set, flexi rod, braidout) – Moisturize hair with water based moisturizer/leave-in conditioner and seal with coconut oil. At night, cover hair with satin bonnet and KIM (keep it moving).

When Hair is Straight – Moisturize hair with homemade moisturizer (created by a friend of mine and contains shea butter, peppermint oil, and castor oil). I use this moisturizer when my hair is straight because using a water based moisturizer would cause my hair to get frizzy and defeat the whole point of wearing it straight. At night, wrap hair and KIM.

Take One A Day vitamins with a meal.

Weekly:

Wash hair with sulfate free shampoo, use light protein on hair while in the shower and rinse. Once out of the shower, deep condition hair by placing conditioner on hair and sitting under the dryer for approx. 20 min or cover with a plastic cap and leave on for 45 min without heat.

Rinse out conditioner, spray on leave-in conditioner, and detangle with Tangle Teezer. Style as desired. After each wash, I apply castor oil to my scalp. Castor oil is known to aid in hair growth and I like to apply it 1-2 times a week. From here…move to Daily routine.

As needed:

Co-Wash – A conditioner wash is for when I need to wet my hair and either redo a style or switch it up. Constant shampooing can leave hair dry and dull, and co-washing allows you to wet your hair when needed, but still keep your hair moisturized and feeling soft. Some ladies co-wash several times a week and then by the end of the week they wash with shampoo to remove any product build-up. If you’ve heard of Wen by Chaz Dean, I believe it’s a similar concept.

Protein Treatment – When I experience any breakage with my hair, I may decide to do a protein treatment. Since I do weekly protein treatments with Aphogee 2 Min Reconstructor, I don’t do other protein treatments often. But on occasion I have done an egg treatment to impart extra protein for my hair. Egg is a natural protein and there are several youtube vids on ways to do egg treatments (Here is one) and I use an egg mixed with conditioner. I mix it together, apply to my hair, let it sit for about 20 min, and then rinse out WITH COOL WATER. If you rinse out with water that is too warm the eggs will scramble. No Bueno. The result is shiny, stronger hair. 🙂

Moisture Treatment – There are many moisturizing treatments you can use as needed. I prefer using natural ingredients on my hair when possible, so I’ve done Molasses treatments for moisture in the past. Blackstrap molasses can nourish and repair damaged hair and provide much needed moisture, especially in the winter months when there is little moisture in the air. For my mixture, I take blackstrap molasses (purchased from HEB), conditioner, and coconut oil or avocado oil and mix it all together then apply it to dry hair. I let it sit for 30 min, rinse out, shampoo, light condition, spray leave-in and style as desired. I’ve noticed a difference whenever I do it and it’s a money saving treatment. Here is a video on how to apply the mixture.

Product List:

My list of products change over time and through the various seasons. You can refer back to the previous post found here, to see what I am using and then read above to see how I use it. These are my staple products, though I will try different ones that catch my eye and report on them here. I buy most of my products from Whole Foods Market, Sally’s, Ulta, or HEB.

Styling Options:

I typically wear my hair in some sort of curly style just because when it is straight, it usually requires some type of heat and I don’t want to do that often. Continuous heat styling can be damaging to the hair, so I try and keep it to a minimum. I will post on the various hair styles I wear. Below is the look I am currently wearing and that is a flexi rod set done on dry, flat-ironed hair.

To get this look, I had previously washed, blow-dried, and flat-ironed my hair. I wore it straight for a day or so and then added approx 6-7 medium sized flexi rods to my hair at night. In the morning, I took them out, applied my shea butter mixture, finger combed my hair and separated the curls. I lightly sprayed some holding spray just because the morning fog here in Houston has been crazy and I’ll step outside only to have my curls drop in the walk from the door to the car! At night, I reapply the rods, cover with a satin bonnet and…KIM!

Future hair posts will include discussions about styling options and the importance product ingredients.

~Jess.

Work Wear Wednesday!

//Animal print is SO in this fall. It’s everywhere you turn and I’m happy to join in on the trend. And it’s one that has made a comeback because I definitely wore an animal print dress for my 21st birthday and it was big that fall season as well!

Sidenote: Check out my article I wrote for Fashionably Houston recapping the finale night of runway shows for Fashion Houston! Click HERE.

Blouse, Skirt(Anne Klein), & Ring//Thrift Finds; Shoes//Guess; Purse//Dooney & Burke; Watch//Michael Kors; Bracelet, Sunglasses, & Earrings //Charlotte Russe