SumKindaWndrful

Beautiful Textures Review

Ria Naturalista — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:22:34 +0000

I tried out the some of the products from the Beautiful Textures Line on my own hair. I saw it at Sally’s and grabbed it on a whim. I’m glad I did, because if I had gone of the videos on their website, which I think are awful in the manner they have their model demonstrating the products, I wouldn’t have thought twice about NOT trying them. They’re alright. What do you think?

Terms Every Naturalista Needs to Know

Ria Naturalista — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:50:35 +0000

The natural hair world can seem so overwhelming at times, especially with all of special terminology and acronyms!
The following is by no means complete, but I compiled it as a means to aid with the revamping of the Natural Hair FaceBook group which I have been a admin since 2006. If you haven’t checked it out yet (which is unlikely as we have over 30,000 members) you need to!

ACV/Apple Cider Vinegar – Exactly what it says it is, can be found in the baking section of grocery stores. ACV is used most often as a rinse in order to restore the natural pH balance of the hair. It can be used added to conditioner or plain water to provide a “slip” for easier detangling. ACV has several other uses such as removing household stains or to suppress the appetite.

APL: Arm Pit Length

Baggy Method
– A method of deep conditioning the ends of the hair (which are the most fragile) by applying a plastic conditioning cap, sandwich bag and/or saran wrap atop of conditioned ends of hair.

BC or Big Chop – The big chop is the final step to crossing over to the natural side. It consists of chopping off all of one’s chemically processed hair. Often, many naturals do a big chop to relinquish any heat damaged hair as well.

BSL: Bra Strap Length

Cones/Silicones – A class of chemical ingredients that is found in many commercial hair conditioners; Silicones provide “slip” felt in conditioners. Use of a sulfate shampoo or ACV is used to remove the build up that cones can leave behind.

Co-Washing
Conditioner Washing
– Washing the hair with conditioner only. Many commercial conditioners, contain just enough sulfates to serve the same purpose as shampoo for persons with a tendency for dry scalp/hair

Creamy Crack
- A reference to chemical relaxer.

DCT
- Deep Conditioning Treatment

Demarcation Line
- Refers to the point where relaxed hair meets the new growth. For transitioners, it is important to reinforce the new growth above the demarcation line because having to textures of hair on one strand results in breakage. This breakage often can go above the demarcation line resulting in damage to the natural hair. A common means of preventing breakage is by keeping the hair in protective styles such as two strand twists, or braids with one’s own hair.

EO/Essential Oils
- also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils or aetherolea, or simply as the “oil of” the plant from which they were extracted.An oil is “essential” in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant.

EVOO
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil

EVCO
- Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Leave-in
- A conditioner that is not meant to be rinsed out after applying. Such conditioners help to provide additional moisture to the hair than water can give.

No-poo
- Washing the hair without conditioner. Co-washes are a form of no-poo. ACV rinses are also considered no-poo.

PJ: Product Junkie
- One who is unable to control the inclination to purchase every beauty product they come across. Though many PJ’s are self-proclaimed, the term is sometimes used on other’s in a negative sense.

Pre-Poo
- Deep conditioning prior to shampooing. The reason for doing so is to counteract the harmful stripping of the hair that sulfates in shampoos can cause.

Plopping/Plunking
- A method of wrapping soaking wet hair, which has had a gel or other curl enhancer applied with a t-shirt to encourage stretched but defined curls.

Shrinkage
– Refers to the length naturally curly/coily/kinky/nappy hair APPEARS to be after air drying without stretching.

Slip
-A measurement of how easily a product allows hair to detangle. Also refers to how slippery the hair feels when a product is applied.

Stretching
– A means of preventing shrinkage on natural hair. Stretching can be accomplished by banding, braiding, flat-twists and blow-outs.

Transitioning
– The drawn out process of slowly cutting away at relaxed or heat damaged ends of hair. Many persons who opt to go natural feel uncomfortable with the idea of wearing closely cropped natural hair. Transitioning allows them to maintain a comfortable length while at the same time getting rid of damaged hair.

TWA : Teeny Weeny Afro

WL : Waist Length

20% off Black Friday / Cyber Monday Sale going on NOW!

Ria Naturalista — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:51:12 +0000

All items in my Esty shop are on SALE!!! Just use coupon code THNX2011 at the check out for 20% off your total order. This includes custom made orders!

CLICK HERE FOR MY ETSY SHOP!!

Miss Jack Davey, a Natural!!!

Ria Naturalista — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:53:27 +0000

I was doubly excited when I opened my tumblr a few weeks back to see a picture of THE Miss Jack Davey of J*Davey not only sporting an afro, but also with a pregnant belly.I couldn’t immediately decide what had me more elated, the belly or the hair, but being the practical woman that I am, I decided that it was the belly. For this means that now a mother, Miss Davey can show the world how to still be a rock star while raising little ones, something I thoroughly believe in. “Who is J*Davey you ask?” Tsk tsk tsk… Only the most wonderfully awesome duo around. In fact, I welcome you to download “Evil Christian Cop: The Great Mistapes” a mixtape that your guaranteed to listen to over and over again if you have any kind of true passion for music. To me, listening sounds like a sweet mixture of sex, rock and roll, ufo’s and a non-stop high otherwise known as undergrad.

With just a sneek peak of Jack Davey’s twist out shown above, you can imagine my thrill at seeing it in full motion in their latest music video comprised of two songs, “Whatyoulookin@” and “Kill for Fun.” While her hairstyles switch up a bit in the vid, I certainly apperciate seeing her REAL hair versus the constant braids and wigs, we’ve grown used to.

Need some more of her absolute awesomeness?
Try the live version of “Whatyoulookin@” I recorded at a Spring 2011 show in Chicago:

Or here’s another recent favorite. If you don’t love J*Davey after viewing this, well, my friend, we simply cannot be friends.

The Sloppy Bun- My #NaturalHair MileStone

Ria Naturalista — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:44:13 +0000

Recently I’ve been tossing my hair up into quick buns, super convenient for moms-on-the-go and daily exercisers such as myself. From as young as I can remember, I have been fascinated with high bun hair styles and would get micros in undergrad just for the sake of making giant sloppy buns. But as a loose haired natural, sloppy buns, just seem out of reach when your hair has limited length. It wasn’t until last week that it dawned on me that my newly regular bun was a mile stone of sorts that I had reached on my natural hair journey. Previously, whenever I tried to do a bun, it required bobby pins, head bands, and several clever tactics. Now I can do a bun in under 30 seconds if I really wanted to. What’s the big deal about a simple bun you ask? Despite having “longer” hair this shows there are still various things to be accomplished. Many simply focus on length, which is perfectly fine, in terms of their natural hair goals. But with this bun, I realized there are so many other “goals” one can have with their hair. I asked my youtube subscribers what they thought and here are some of their responses:

More on my sloppy bun and how I achieved it:

CHECK OUT THE BOUTIQUE!

Ria Naturalista — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:56:36 +0000

I am sooo excited to offer my crafts for sale! Be sure to check the boutique page out for my items available through etsy. Shea Butter coming soon!!

Naturally Fit Mini Meetup

Ria Naturalista — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 02:28:15 +0000

YAY!! A meetup! This coming Saturday I am inviting everyone out to Zumba at the studio followed by a trip to Kennesaw Mountain (Georgia) for small hike. And why not? A group of natural women, talking hair, working out, what could be better? Shout out to Dejavu807 of youtube for suggesting the idea. She is one of our boot campers! You do not have to do Zumba first, but if you do, there is a $5 fee to ensure our lovely instructor Portia, who is also natural, gets paid. Otherwise, no cost! Just be sure to bring water, maybe a snack or two to ensure your energy!

We will meet at Tone Natural Fitness Studio, 1860 Sany Plins Road, Marietta GA 30066 at 12:15p and from there caravan over to the mountain. We plan to leave no later than 12:45p so please arrive promptly!!!

My weight loss before & after

Ria Naturalista — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 14:41:24 +0000

For the longest, they idea of exercise equated to washing a week load’s of caked on dishes. It seemed to be a rather undesirable chore. Married to an athlete/personal trainer/nutrition guru served as no sort of motivation except to run in the opposite direction. Everything I saw my healthy husband implement as a part of his lifestyle I deemed as extreme and abnormal. What REAL person could live like that? In the video below, I show a brief snippet from when I was at 140lbs, a rather high point on the scale for me. In looking at the video, I recall I could not feel like myself. I was constantly dressing and standing in ways that I believed hid the shape of my body. I got tired doing everything and had little desire to do much of anything except what had to be done. For a while I stayed in the mid to upper 130′s which allowed me to believe that I was not too far at all from the 120 lb range I desired to be in. I could get there anytime. But when I saw 140lbs the day I stepped on the scale at our REC, the most accurate scale I had access too, I knew something had to give. The first few pounds I dropped permanently were honestly due to poor eating habits.I was working non-stop when we first moved to Georgia and my job at times, gave me only 30 minutes between my classes. That half hour had to be used to address parent’s concerns, prep for the next class and welcome my new class AT LEAST 10 minutes before the class was schedueld to start. I survived the summer on granola bars, binging whenever I had the chance and my husband was not around. Nyles got very good about making me breakfast and having dinner ready when I came home, sometimes after 10p at night. He even began to make me lunches full of every nutrient I needed. When we decided to do the bootcamps, I was determined to participate for as long as we instructed them. So far, I have been there every week and my eating habits have drastically changed. I have destroyed a total of 15 so far. My goal is 117 lbs and from there to become muscular. No, I don’t want to be bulky, but I do love muscle. Think CharlieJames on youtube.

On twitter, I’ve taken to using the hashtag #naturallyfit, because I think it is in everyone’s best interest to be the healthiest version of themselves possible. Taking weightloss pills, starving and reducing calories temporarily are not the healthy way to go about weight loss. Weight loss and reaching a higher level of health is a gradual process. It does not occur overnight. Lemonade diets, “fat” flushes and so forth are all temporary and rather dangerous. Naturally fitness involves ensuring one is eating proper foods regularly, not feeling deprived and regular exercise. It is NOT natural to sick 8 hours a day. It is NOT natural to guzzle 32oz cokes, diet or otherwise. Restless leg syndrome is your legs telling you they need to run. Shift work disorder is your body telling you it needs sleep at night and vitamin D from the sun during the day. #naturallyfit is about restoring our bodies to the natural balance of things. I hope you join in

How Natural Can You Go? Challenge

Ria Naturalista — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:39:49 +0000

Going into business for ourselves has certainly influenced (if not forced) me to become more economical in my spending habits. Over the summer, as my Carol’s Daughter this and Karen’s Body Beautiful that began to run out, I realized it was not in my wallet’s best interest to run out and replenish those supplies, especially considering the way I tend to blow through those products. I had to contemplate because I was not ready to put sub-par products in my hair simply because they were more affordable. I thought back to before I used boutique products and my hair was thriving. I found it funny how quickly I forgot about basic kitchen ingredients that worked so well in my hair.

I decided to challenge myself to use only “natural” products as far as styling goes. Because I know my own limitations, I am not including shampoo or wash out conditioners in this challenge. I wanted to extended an invitation to all my subscribers to join in on this challenge as well. As a way to say thank you for joining, I have a small giveaway at the end of the challenge. Please see the video for prize info.

Details

Challenge runs Oct 2, 2011-Oct 31, 2011
To be eligible, entrant must be a subscriber of SumKindaWndrful on youtube and EITHER a fan on facebook.com/InspireYourself or a subscriber of the www.tobeanaturalista.com blog. To enter, post a comment, picture, or video response on one of the three websites depicting how you will go about the “How Natural Can You Go?” Challenge. Winners will be selected based on creativity and resourcefulness demonstrated. Winners will be announced after October 2, 2011 on all three websites. US and Canada residents only.

Naturalista… it’s So much more than just hair!!

Ria Naturalista — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 03:16:08 +0000

When I initially conceived the notion of my natural hair student org at my alma mater, I never envisioned it to be simply about hair. In fact, my grand master plan was to use “going natural” as gateway drug of sorts. My thoughts were to hook folks on their curls and then convince them to treat their holistic selves better. In my decade long journey to amoretti natural lifestyle, I have witnessed time and time again many women who take the step to go natural in their hair, go even further, slowly cutting out unhealthy foods from their regular diet, exercising more (or adding it at all, let’s be real) and even becoming more open to various understandings of how the world works around them. Oddly enough, there are those who feel these changes are fallacious, non- genuine, changes in attempt to fool those around them. In fact, a recent “inquiry” to LolaZabeth.com founder of the LolasGreenHairLolasgreenhair.com asked why do all women who go natural suddenly stop being black, as in, their words not mine, no longer eating fired chicken, doing yoga and going atheist. I use inquiry in quotes because I truly believe this person is likely a troll with some feelings of inferiority due to their own self conceptions. But in all truth, there is a healthier lifestyle to be obtained for most African American, and many African descend women globally, despite the path they choose to get them there. There are many non- natural haired women who have a exceedingly healthier lifestyle than most naturals in the “natural community.” One of my closest friends who has relaxed hair that swings just above her waist has one of the healthiest lifestyles I know. This includes what she eats, her career of choice, the way she support her friend, the means she goes about relationships (as drama free as possible) and her overall outtake on life. She is my number 1 inspiration on so many things in life and I wish more people could be like here regardless of what they do to their hair.
Tell me this, which do you prefer, a gorgeous 12 inch diameter Afro on a sister who scarfs down a whopper, large fries and Dr. Pepper, or weaved-up, relaxed out sister who is a vegetarian, looks 15 years younger than she is, instructs Zumba, booty kicking boot camps, and is full of positivity? Do you get my point? I am on a mission in my life and that mission is to live the absolute best possible life I can live. What’s more is that I fully intend to use my life as an example to others as to what is possible for themselves.
FINALLY , to my point… I have found that My process of living a holistically more natural lifestyle is indeed a process. It has been a step-by-step journey with constant revelations and much trial and error. When I met my husband, close to eight years ago, my hair was loc’d with about 8 inches of relaxed hair at the ends. I drank whole milk religiously despite being fully aware that within half an hour I’d have a severely upset stomach. I ate nothing more than cereal and Hamburger Helper every single day and drank nothing but apple juice and Dr. Pepper. My only form of exercise was the nights when I was fully inebriated and on the dance floor. I still managed to snag my man a feat with which I credit my utterly complete restructuring of my self esteem (watch about my birds nest project here). It took me close to a year before I could be convinced that I wanted a healthier lifestyle. I dropped the milk and beef (I’d long before quit eating pork) and I began working out at the gentle persuasion of my now husband. I gave up drinking and smoking and even incorporated regular sleeping habits, something I probably hadn’t had for several years. I began to have more energy and even a six pack come in when I found out I was expecting with Sun. While I had to give up my ab exercises, I continued riding my bike, eating healthy and getting regular exercise at our gym. I believed it was some sort of divine intervention that had saw to it I was in my healthiest state ever when I got pregnant. I’d been on my healthy kick for five months (and only married six months) when we got news. I credit my exercise through nine months, complete with lunges, for my < 3 hour labour and 5 minutes of pushing to get Sun into the outer realm.
Exercise was just the beginning. Over the years my diet has experienced a very gradual change. I say this to encourage those who want to go vegetarian or vegan. Some people, very few, can go cold turkey on a sudden dietary change and stick with it forever. For me it was gradual in that I eventually found myself turning away at certain foods, like beef and chicken until it was simply undesirable. I still enjoy turkey from time to time and fish is a weekly part of my diet. I don't feel like I am missing out on the things I know longer as I simply do not crave them anymore. Sometimes I would go back to eating certain things but I never saw it as a failure so there was no guilt.
Beyond food and exercise, one of my most proud accomplishments was erasing "drama" from my life. Despite all those nonsensical quotes about what true friendship is, I do not allow people into my inner realm who hold themselves to a lower standard than I do. That standard is measured by the way I value myself, the expectations I hold myself too, and the goals I have set out to accomplish. Overly negative persons are not welcomed in my realm. Persons with low self esteem and refusal to grow in a more positive direction are not welcomed in my realm. Persons who allow themselves to repeatedly be misused and abused by the person they "LOVE" despite numerous interventions and warnings, and pep talks and assistance offered, are simply not allowed in my realm. And by my realm, I mean the point where I allow people to get to know me, the real me, where we share our flaws and successes and push one another to be better people. Outside of my family, there are currently 3 people in that realm. And if it never grows, I am perfectly okay with that because my life is wonderful and I enjoy all that comes with it. There is so much more I could go on forever about. But I will wrap up with this, I promise to be the best me I can be the picture of perfection that I have dreamed of since my childhood.I invite you each on this path, this never ending journey of happiness and fulfillment and if I inspire wonderful! If you have something to share, please do! I find inspiration in almost everything I turn my attention to.

Remember the you you are today is the you you've always wanted to be. If that is not encouraging, then take the first step in Your process, evolve and then change.
-Ria