OMGosh, Time to Restock On...

It has been one busy six months here at my internship. I am so happy to go home and visit family, and am hopeful that the change of scenery will allow me to study harder and smarter for the LSAT. In the meantime, as I pack, or think about packing, my bags, I realize I need to restock on some much loved hair and beauty products. Doesn't it seem that things always run out at the same time? Anyway, I have decided to wait until I get home to restock, to avoid carrying so much stuff on the bus. Here is my list of products in my beauty cabinet that needs restocking:

• Jojoba Oil - If it wasn't for the argan oil I have, I would not have anything to moisturize my skin with.
• Yes to Cucumbers Conditioner - I have been using the YTCarrots for slip and moisture, but that smell leaves much to be desired. It actually lingers! So I will be restocking on YTCucumbers soon enough.
• Apple Cider Vinegar - Talk about being in much need of a good ACV rinse for my hair, especially with this hard water. I actually meant to purchase some my last grocery trip, but forgot. I may try the Bragg's brand, with the "mother" in it. I hear it does not smell as bad as completely filtered ACV.
• Aloe Vera Juice - This go around, a la HeyFranHey, I plan on trying the Aubrey Organics brand of aloe vera juice. It is all natural, and comes in much smaller and more travel friendly bottles than the Lily of the Desert brand I have been using. 
• Tea Tree Essential Oil - I use this as an all natural preservative for my DIY moisturizing spritz. It is also a great spot treatment for pimples, just dilute a little bit. I was able to find a bottle at the CVS/pharmacy last purchase. Hopefully, I will be able to again.
• Chagrin Valley Shampoo and Soap Bars - This go round, I plan to buy the large bars, and perhaps cut them up to share with Miss Cee C and my other sisters. Although they don't work well in hard water, they are travel friendly and can be followed up with a good ACV rinse. Also, I want to try their complexion bars and body bars, moving towards using only plant based soaps. Lastly, the prices are great and the shipping options are plentiful and affordable.

And in other news, soon I will be taking my picture to attach to my LSAT admissions ticket. I am thinking I might need to decide what hair style change I want to make soon, since the picture is supposed to look as much as we would look on the test date as possible. 

On the Fence: How to Be a Low Maintenance Natural

Well, it  has been quite a while. What's been going on with me? Life, in general. Everything, in particular. I have not been thinking about my hair much, because I have been steadily studying for the LSAT, which I take December 3, which is right around the corner. I am nervous, but at the same time, I will be so happy to get it over with. The most I have been thinking about my hair has been in the sense of I NEED A CHANGE. What I mean is that my hairstyle needs to change (for easier maintenance), my approach needs to change (perhaps I am making things more complicated than they have to be, or my mindset needs to change (perhaps its not the hair, just other things in life and my hair is just one more thing to do). All in all, when looking at my regimen, my number of products, and my hectic schedule, I realize that my regimen and hair care needs to get back simple, really quick. A year from now, God-willing, I will be enrolled in law school and life will be even busier. Who will have time for hair or money to spend on it. Thinking of this, I have toyed with the idea of two different (maybe polar opposite) ways of dealing with my hair:

Option 1: Bic Chop #2: Doing a big chop and maintaining a low fade natural look. The only maintenance for this would be cleansing. light conditioning, and regular trims/cuts. I would have to find a barber, making this not as low maintenance as it could be, but life will be simpler than it is now in the world of natural hair. I would have to pay that barber regularly for trims, making this not as cheap as could be, but again, simpler than my current regimen. I have been recently told that having a long neck would make it easy for me to pull of a short fade. Cool! I might feel like a swan. How nice?

Option 2: Locs, Take 2: I have already reached out to the woman who started my first set of dreadlocks my junior year of high school. She joked and said, "Why did you ever cut them in the first place?" No worries, no regrets from me. I also told her that I would like them to be smaller, since they were what I consider medium sized. She agreed they could be smaller. With locs, I had exactly four hair products: shampoo, oils, scalp spray, and twist/loc gel. My brands of choice then were Suave Clarifying Shampoo, various oils, a scalp spray made by my loctician, and Jamaican Mango and Lime (I swear everyone with locs uses JML). Anywho, Take Two, I will definitely be using a more gentle, but residue free shampoo, such as Dr. Bronners Castile Soap. The oil of choice: JOJOBA, since it is closest to the sebum made by the scalp. Twist and loc gel of choice: either Jamaican Mango and Lime or 100% pure aloe vera gel.

Life was so simple. The only things I didn't like about locs was retwisting and washing. I liked the end result, but not the long process. I am more and more embracing the fact that I am a low maintenance natural. With the two options, the ulitmate decision will be whether I want to rock long hair and let it grow or maintain a pixie cut. Who know? I am still on the fence. I may just end up tossing a coin to decide. At the moment, I am leaning more towards pixie cut, because I have not maintained one before.

I just love pixie cuts. It is the only straight hair style I like. (No offense to straight hair, I just prefer curly hair). Some great pixie straight hair cuts I love include Ginnifer Goodwin and Emma Watson. But no body does it like Halle Berry.