Coconut Love!

I am planning on writing a blog soon about all of my favorite products I use on my hair and while I was going through my products the main one that has been the most consistent for me for the past 4years has been coconut oil.  I use this on both my hair and my skin and it is by far my favorite product, so I thought I would give you guys a little run down of the benefits of using coconut oil.

Hair

If you are a curly haired beauty then you probably already know the importance of moisturizing you hair and sealing in the moisture with an oil (if you don't know look for it in future blogs that will be here).  Coconut oil is able to bind the natural protein structure of the hair. This helps the hair retain its natural moisture content and reinforces the hair fiber, making it stronger.

Coconut oil's hydrophobic oil characteristics allows it to stop the penetration of water from the surrounding air and environment, which makes it a great pre-poo because it keeps your strand from swelling so much when water is applied during the washing process.  So consider adding coconut oil to you hair regimen for soft, shiny, and stronger hair.

Skin

Once I started using coconut oil for my hair, using it for my skin soon followed.  I use the oil for a all over body moisturizer when I get out of the shower, and I also use it on my face after washing.  It may make you fill a little oily at first but it absorbs into the skin slowly allowing your skin to be soft a moisturized all day.

Coconut oil is packed with antioxidants, along with the medium chain fatty acids that help build cells rather than destroy them, making it an excellent choice for younger looking skin. Using coconut oil regularly helps build and repair skin, and it is know for actually slowing down the development of wrinkles and liver spots.

I got a tip from Hey Fran Hey to use it every day on my nails and I have received great results.  My nails are strong and healthy and can grow to great lengths if I allow them too.

Internally

Now I haven't tried this myself so I can't say how well it works.  But I have read that eating a spoon full of coconut oil a day will help with your overall health.  It is known to help with weight loss, raise your good cholesterol, strengthen your immune system, and help control blood sugar levels.  I may have to test these out one day.


All in all the use of Coconut oil has some amazing benefits one of the key things is to make sure you get unrefined virgin coconut oil.  You don't want to miss out on all the amazing qualities by purchasing a version that has been stripped of all the properties that makes it oh so good.

Do you use coconut oil? If so tell us how!

Protect Your Tresses!!!

I have been wearing my natural hair for almost 3 years now and I absolutely love it! I will save my hair story for another day. In this post I just want to talk about protective styling.  I just can't get enough of wearing my hair out.  I just love the fullness, and the look of my curls weather its in a wash 'n' go, braid-out or twist-out I just love having it out!.  This love of letting my hair flow freely has hindered me just a little from where I would like to be lengthwise.

Its important for people with curly hair to practice protective styling if they want to grow their hair to new lengths.

Keeps your ends tucked away.  Your ends are the oldest part of your hair and usually the driest, keeping your ends tucked away helps protect them from unnecessary breakage and in the end this helps you to see more length as your hair grows.

Keeps hair moisturized.  We all know the curlier your hair the drier it can be. We don't get as much of the oils our scalp naturally produces to flow down our strands as much as our straight hair friends or even our friends with looser curls so we have to constantly find other ways to put the moisture into our hair.  When our hair is bunched together it tends to hold on to moisture longer.  So always make sure to moisturize your hair properly before you tuck it away.

Keeps the weather from damaging your hair. The natural elements around us can be damaging to our hair as well.  The wind can cause some serious unnecessary tangles and the heat from the sun can cause damage as well.  So its always good to give your hair a break from these elements.  Wear a scarf or a hat on a bright sunny day, your hair will thank you!

Stops breakage from everyday styling.  Day to day styling to your hair will cause breakage. The twisting, braiding, untwisting, unbraiding, smoothing, combing, brushing just manipulation in general is bound to cause a little breakage especially if you are not gentle with your hair.  Wearing low manipulation and protective styles helps you keep your hands out of your hair and gives your tresses a much needed break.

So I spent the last 3 days (on and off of course) putting Senegalese twist in my hair.  It took forever but the payoff will be grand. I am going to try and keep these in for about a month before I redo them.  My goal is to keep my hair protected most of the summer.  So I will be looking for more styles I'm sure when I get tired of the twist, and I will make a post later on how I like to style my twist.

What protective styles are you rocking this summer?