Irresistible Me {Video Review}

Purchase your Irresistible Me hair HERE!

You can read the written version of this review HERE! Purchase HERE!

Irresistible Me Hair Extensions Review

Brown Girls Hair

Okay! This is my very first time wearing hair extensions and installing them myself. I have worn weave only one other time in my life back in 2010 when I got braids for a cruise.

Irresistible Me

This is totally out of the box for me. I must admit, I am totally excited about trying it to see how it will look in my hair. It's funny because when I opened the package, I left the hair sitting on the table and my hubby walked by and said, "I know you didn't buy this weave!" LOL!!

This review will give my honest opinion of:

The Quality of the Hair
The Quantity of Hair
Ease of Use
Ease of Styling

The Quality of the Hair

Irresistible Me has two ranges of clip in hair extensions: Silky Touch and Royal Remy Hair. 

Silky Touch is 100% natural Remy hair. These extensions represent great value for money and can be very easily styled and curled to blend in your hair perfectly.

Royal Remy is top of the line and comes from just one donor with virgin unprocessed hair. Then it's colored to one of the 14 colors available at Irresistible Me. Additionally, a special treatment unique to Irresistible Me is added for extra silkiness and durability. This line is also very easy to blend with your own hair. Ultimately, the Royal Remy hair will last longer and is the closest match you can find to completely unprocessed hair. 

I have the Royal Remy. I must say, I am very pleased with how well it blended in with my natural hair! It is amazing to say the least.

Irresistible Me also carry: Ponytails and Highlights (these are basically Royal Remy quality hair extensions but you get to combine any two colors from the ones available.

The Quantity of Hair

All of the hair extensions (no matter the weight you choose) come in 10 pieces: 1 pc of 4 clips (8"), 2 pcs of 3 clips (6"), 5 pcs of 2 clips (4"), and 2 pcs of 1 clip (1.5').

The weight (100g, 140g, 200g) refers to the total weight of the hair you will order without the clips attached. You can also choose the length that you want from the lengths available: 14 inches, 16 inches, 18 inches, 20 inches, 22 inches, and 24 inches.

I used 16"-200g which was more than enough hair for me! I didn't even use it all.

The thickness of the hair is relative to both the weight and the length you choose. For example, a 14 inch-100g piece will look thicker than 24'-100g so keep that balance in mind. The longer the hair, the bigger the weight should be selected. See video below to help you with the selection process.

Ease of Use

This was my very first time installing any type of clip ins into my hair and I found it super easy to do. It took me less than 20 minutes to put them in. And for the most part, I was able to get it right the first time. Not a lot of trial and error. 

Ease of Styling

Irresistible Me says human clip in extensions can be straightened and blow dried, curled, and heat styled along with your normal hair. But, just as you shouldn't let your ceramic straighteners or hairdryer near your own hair without applying a heat protection spray, you should also be sure to spray your clip ins with a heat treatment spray. This protects the hair from the often 200-300 degree temperatures of modern ceramic straighteners without damaging it.

I found it easy to curl my extensions. I used a flat iron and that made the process more difficult for me. It wasn't the hair that made it hard, just the tool that I was using. The hair curled beautifully. 

My Overall Opinion

I absolutely love the Irresistible Me clip ins. They are beautiful and super easy to use! I would recommend these to every body! I have never been big on weave and clip in hair, but I'm big on these for sure!!

Purchase yours HERE!! They have a annual sale going on NOW starting at $129!

Click HERE to watch me use Irresistible Me Clip Ins for the very first time!

How to Make Flower with Hair *Roll & Pin Method*

Brown Girls Hair

This is a quick tutorial of how to make a flower out of your hair or in other words, how to make your hair look like a flower! This is perfect for all ages and hair types.

Click HERE for the tutorial of the entire hair style!

Crystal Swain-Bates Books Reviewed

My daughter had the pleasure of receiving 3 books from an awesome lady named Crystal Swain-Bates!
She is the author of 5 books that fill the much needed niche in the African American literary market. My daughter was so excited when she opened up the package and saw books that featured characters that look like her!

It was so much fun capturing her discovering these books on camera. I will post the video version to this review later in the week! It will be very fun to watch, I promise! You will get first hand how my daughter feels about each book!

This written review is more of my point of view. The video will be solely my daughter's point of view.

I took some pictures of the front and back covers of each book so that you can see how beautiful and creative the characters look!

The first book that we will review is called Color My Fro!

Color My Fro by Crystal Swain-Bates

This is a coloring book that caters to women and girls of all ages! All of the characters have cute natural hair styles. The fashion is very chic and fun! It's even better that you can color them to look however you desire!

My daughters choose this book first to explore. I'm sure it's due to the fashion! She loves clothes! If your little one is a fashionista, I'm sure she'll love this one too!

Color My Fro: In celebration of the beauty of black women with natural hair, 31 big-haired fairies, mermaids, warriors, models, cheerleaders, and fierce divas grace the pages of this coloring book. Fun for any occasion, “Color My Fro” is perfect for natural hair lovers of any age.

Brown Girl Enjoying Color My Fro

One of my favorite pages in Color My Fro

SUPERMOMMY by Crystal Swain-Bates

Suppermommy is about how a little girl feels about her single mom! I must say when we first opened up this book, I didn't think my daughter would relate to it because she's not in a single parent home! To my surprise, she totally could relate to it because GREAT Mom's are great single or not! We both loved the story line in this book. It captured both of our attention as we read it! This is a must have for all households that have a Supermom involved!

This is a very easy to read book and the illustrations in it are awesome!

Supermommy: Perfect for children in single-parent homes, this picture book celebrates a single mother’s seemingly supernatural ability to care for her children, at least in her daughter Miadora’s eyes as she attempts to showcase her Supermommy at her school’s show and tell.

The Colorful Adventures of Zoe & Star by Crystal Swain-Bates

This is the perfect coloring/activity book for Spring Break and Summer Vacation! It carries you through and adventure with the girls while giving fun and exciting activities to do along the way! I love the way this book encourages girls to have self confidence and to explore all of the positive possibilities that life has to offer not to mention the natural hairstyles that they are rocking in this book!

The Colorful Adventures of Zoe & Star: This book follows the afro-sporting Zoe & the braid-wearing Star as they imagine themselves as scientists, veterinarians, fairies, princesses, and more! Follow them throughout over 45 fun-filled coloring and activity pages that inspire creativity, promote self-confidence, and celebrate diversity.

Crystal didn't forget about our boys, she has also written a book that is especially for them. We didn't get a chance to review it, but for those of you who have little boys, buy it for them! I'm sure based on the books that we have, they won't be disappointed! The description of the book follows:

The Colorful Adventures of Cody & Jay: This book follows Cody & Jay as they imagine themselves as scientists, race car drivers, superheroes, artists, and more! Follow them throughout over 40 fun-filled coloring and activity pages that inspire creativity, promote self-confidence, and celebrate diversity.

All of Crystal Swain-Bates books are published by Goldest Karat Publishing.  You can purchase them on that site or on Amazon.com. They are all less than $10 each!!

We are sure you will enjoy them as much as we are!! Stay tuned to our YouTube channel for the video version of this review!

Click HERE for the video!

Transitioning for Little Girls and Moms

My daughter has never had a perm, but I did! I had a perm for more than 20 years before I decided to transition my hair to natural in 2009.  (My daughters hair inspired me to transition to natural.) I knew that if I could be patient and figure out how to manage her natural hair, I could certainly do the same with mine.

If you gave your little girl a perm and now regret it or you've transitioned like me and want to do the same with your daughter or whatever your situation maybe, I am going to share my transitioning tips and suggestions with you.

My suggestions are based on HOW I TRANSITIONED. I would use this same method on my daughter if I were in the situation of transitioning her hair. You can use this information for your daughter's and/or your transition to natural hair.

WARNING.....

It is NOT going to be easy and the journey of figuring out what products your (daughters) hair likes is NOT going to be fun or CHEAP. I can't promise you that your hair or your daughters hair will look or feel cute to you during the process, but you just need to be determined to make it work no matter what!

What works for your favorite YouTube Guru may or may not work for you. The Natural Hair JOURNEY is exactly what it is. It is a journey to figure out what will and won't work for YOUR hair. Yes, try the methods that you see. Yes, try the products that you think will work for you. Just know that it will take a lot of trial and error to find what works best for YOUR hair.

1. PATIENCE
You must have tons of patience in the process of transitioning. You are going to have a lot of up and down moments going through this process. You must be patient with your hair and give yourself a fair chance to figure out your hair.

2. BIG CHOP
I choose not to do the big chop because I don't have the face for short hair and my husband didn't want my hair to look like his so I just simply let my perm grow out. That is exactly what I would recommend for a little girl. For most girls, the big chop is out of the question so how about doing LITTLE CHOPS.

LITTLE CHOPS can be done by trimming the ends as the hair grows. For every inch or two of new growth, trim a inch. It may appear as if the hair isn't growing because you are trimming it often. But in the long run, you are getting the same results as if you did the big chop you are just taking smaller steps.

3.NEW GROWTH
Dealing with 2 textures isn't going to be easy, but it can be a smooth process. During this time with my hair, I chose to keep my hair in roller sets. For me, roller sets help to mask the 2 textures as my hair grew.

For a little girl, I would keep it in braids or cornrows being careful to make sure they are not too tight.  Keep her hair moisturized and clean. Curlformers are a great option as well.

4. DEMARCATION LINE
The demarcation line is where the new growth and permed hair meet. It is said to be the most delicate part of your hair where breakage is most likely to occur. When your hair is wet, you will notice from the root to the demarcation line your hair will be curly/kinky (that's your natural hair) when you see that the rest is straight, that's your permed hair.

It's up to you when you choose to cut the remainder of the permed hair off. When you do that, you will instantly become an all natural hair girl! For your daughter, I suggest you wait until her natural hair is at a length long enough that she will be comfortable wearing before you cut the remainder of the perm off. The amount of time it takes for her hair to grow will vary from head to head. Stay patient and enjoy the process.

5. HAIR PRODUCTS
I found it difficult to find the right hair products during my transition phase. That doesn't mean that you will have the same experience, but it was very frustrating for me. I would spend money on a product only to find that it dried my hair out or it made my hair to oily, or it didn't do what the label claimed that it would do for me.

Once I cut the last inch of my perm out, I was fully able to judge how my natural hair reacted to a particular product. Finding the right product was hands down the hardest part of the natural hair process for me.

6. HAIRSTYLES
I'm sure you have already heard about protective styles, if you haven't google it. It's mainly styles that require little or no manipulation (combing) of your hair for a set period of time. For example braids, twists etc.

I was careful not to use a lot of heat during my transition (aside from sitting under the dryer for my sets.) My other go to style was a wash and go ponytail. I wore that ponytail to death for a whole summer (May-August). Then I wore a wig from August-October. I'm not much of a weave person but if you are, that is another great way to transition. I can't give any tips on how to care for your natural hair in that state because I have no experience with weave (sorry).

One last thing, you may see a lot of ladies who are able to spray water on their natural hair and style it.....for me a spray bottle of water was NOT my friend and still isn't. That made it very hard for me to do anything with my hair other than slap some moose on it and put it in a ponytail.

Try the spray bottle of water when you have absolutely no place to be that day so that if it doesn't work, you can start over.

This is all that I can think of right now so if you have any questions or issues that I didn't address, post them and I will update this post with answers (if I have them!)

Oh and be sure to Buy plenty of hats for bad hair days, trust me, you will need them!

Be Encouraged! You can do this!

This Article was featured on CurlyNikki.com HERE!

Another great article you my like to read is Teach Your Daughter How to Care for Her Natural Hair!

A Little Girls Encouragement

One of our supporters and fellow bloggers made the post below on our facebook page.

I shared the post with my daughter and this is what she wanted to share with the little girl!

Curlformers Review + Giveaway

Giveaway December 19, 2013-January 3, 2014

I think we all know what curlformers are unless you have been living under a rock. Curlformers are a styling tool that offers an easy and fun way to create gorgeous curls without damaging the hair because heat is not required other than to dry the hair if you choose. Curlformers came about in 2008 when Hair Flair Ltd. in conjunction with Sally Beauty Supply launched this cool hair styling accessory.

The video below demonstrates how to use the curlformers and softhood as well as shows the results of my daughter and I using the curlformers on our natural hair.

Tips for using curlformers:

1. For natural girls, after you wash/condition etc. use Lotta Body Setting lotion mixed with water. The amount of water depends on how hard you want your curls to be. The more water you use, the softer the curls will be. This will help your curls hold and last longer OR use As I Am Twist Defining Cream. It produces awesome results. You can see me use it on my daughters hair here.

2. Load both of the rods first, then do 2 at a time. It will make the process go much faster.

3. If your curlformer doesn't curl properly, Don't take the hair out to start over. Run your thumb down the middle of it and release it. It will curl perfectly into place. You can watch our quick how to video here.

4. Keep a spray bottle handy. Curlformers apply smoothly to damp hair.

5. I found that with our thick natural hair, the softhood took a very long time to dry the hair. I suggest the softhood for fine/thin hair.

GIVEAWAY

Long Corkscrew Curlformer Set

&

Softhood (Dryer not included)

PRIZE: We will be giving away one Long Corkscrew Curlformer set (Retail $58.95) and one Softhood (Retail $15.95) to one winner!

DATES: The giveaway starts on December 19, 2013 and ends on January 3, 2014.

What you must do to win:

You must enter via Rafflecopter below. The first 2 options are mandatory to qualify. The 2 required options are: 1. Subscribe to Brown Girls Hair Youtube Channel. 2. Follow @BrownGirlsHair on Instagram. All of the other options are not required, but the more you do, the better your chances to win. If you choose to tweet, you can do one tweet per day for extra entries. Be sure to include @BrownGirlsHair in your tweets. READY....SET....GO.....

Good Luck!

If you already have curlformers, please share your hair style pictures on our facebook page. We will also share your pictures on our Instagram!

**This giveaway is sponsored by curlformers.com**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This giveaway is sponsored by curlformers.com**

As I Am Product Review

As I Am Products

I purchased all of the products at a local Sally's Beauty Supply Store with my own money. This review is not sponsored by any company.

It is truly my own opinion and experience with these products as all of my product reviews are.

I have used these products on 3 different heads, My Daughters, My Mother's, and Mine. I am going to give you the results of each person's hair while using the products and after the products were used.

All of the products in the As I Am line smell exactly the same!

Coconut CoWash

How I used it: I washed our hair with the cowash just as I would with shampoo.

My Daughters Experience

The cowash cleaned her hair well. It left her hair with a warm fresh coconut scent. Her hair felt soft and well conditioned. It didn't take a lot of product to saturate her hair.

My Mom's Experience
I did not use the cowash on my Mom's hair.

My Experience
The cowash cleaned my hair well. It didn't take a lot of product to saturate my hair. It took less than my daughters of course. I used about 3 to 4 tablespoons full on my whole head.

Would I purchase this again? YES hands down. It works amazingly for us!

Leave In Conditioner

How I used it: I put our hair in 4 sections and applied it to our wet hair section by section. It was easy to tell if I covered an area because it made our hair soft.

My Daughters Experience

It made her hair feel soft. It made detangling very easy.

My Mom's Experience

I did not use the cowash on my Moms hair.

My Experience
The same as my daughters. It made my hair feel really soft and detangling was a breeze.

Would I purchase this again? YES, I am on bottle #2 now because my son used the first one up!

Twist Defining Cream

How I used it: I used this to do a curlformer set and twist out. I applied it after the leave in conditioner on damp hair. Then I brushed it through with a goody vent brush. Then I applied the curlformers for the set or twisted the hair for the twist out style. 

My Daughters Experience

It provided incredible hold to her curls, twist, etc without drying her hair out or flaking. This cream is truly the best holding product that I have used to date. Her curls were soft, bouncy, and shiny! I even found that when I use this on her ponytails and take down her plaits, they are wavy like a braid out! Too cool!

My Mom's Experience

It provided a great hold to my Moms twist out as well. It didn't leave her hair feeling heavy and loaded while holding her twist together.

My Experience

It held my curls as well. I used this on a curlformer set and I was pleased with the shine, softness, and bounce that my curls had. 

Would I purchase this again? YES. This works wonderfully on curl sets, twist and braid outs! This really makes my daughters hair look really shinny. It also adds moisture to. A little product went a long way.

Smoothing Gel

How I used it: I used it both on wet and dry hair to lay down the edges.

My Daughters Experience

When I used it on her dry hair, I found it to flake up once it dried. When I used it on her wet hair to do the curlformer set, there was no flaking and it held well. I have found that this works better on wet hair in small amounts.

My Mom's Experience

I didn't use this on my Mom's hair.

My Experience

I did not use this on my hair because I didn't like the flaking that it produced on my daughters dry hair.

Would I purchase this again? No. I will stick with the eco gel. It's cheaper and does a better job for us.

Double Butter Creme (not pictured)

How I used it: I put it on our curls, twists, etc after they were dry. I used it as a moisturizer as needed on dry hair.

My Daughters Experience
This cream does an excellent job of keep her hair moisturized during the day. I apply it daily on her hair. I have skipped a day at times and her hair is still in good shape. It doesn't take a lot of this cream to get the job done. It's smooth and keeps her hair shiny and moisturized between washes. 

My Mom's Experience

I didn't use this on my Mom's hair.

My Experience

My scalp is naturally oily so I don't normally apply any moisturizer to my hair. I applied a very small amount of this to my curlformer curls and I was pleased. I like that it didn't way my hair down and it didn't make my hair feel oily but it complimented the other products in the line by adding moisture to my curls as the days went by. It did bring life back to my curls once they were 3 days old.  

Would I purchase this again? The verdict is still out on this one. I will have to use it a few more times in different weather conditions to determine if this will be a stay in my hair product arsenal.

Final Thoughts

Overall my hair loves As I Am products. It brought back the bounce and body to my hair that I had in my perm days. I really love that about it. I also like that all of the products smell the same. My hair holds a constant coconut fragrance that is soft and pleasant. Even on wash day our hair still smells good!

It works wonderfully on my daughters hair too! I really love the leave in and the twist defining cream on her hair. I can't wait to do a full twist and braid out with this product on her hair soon.

I also plan to purchase the shampoo and other products that I have not tried in this line. 

**You can view me using the products in my dauthers hair HERE!

Flexi Rod Set on Natural Girl

Brown Girls Hair

This is the hair style that I put her hair in after taking down her box braids. I took them out over a period of 3 days (weekend). I started taking them down on Friday night for about 2 hours. I started in the rear and worked my way to the top.  Then on Saturday night I did about 3 hours and Sunday it took an additional 2 hours or so. Why it took longer for me to take them out than it took for my good friend to put them in is beyond me! LOL! 

On Sunday after 2 hours of taking braids down, I washed, deep conditioned, finger detangled (while the conditioner was in) and wide tooth comb detangled (after conditioner was rinsed out). Then I did a Flexi Rod Set on Brown Girls Hair. I didn't show the results in the video because it got really late and her hair still wasn't dry so she ended up sleeping with some of the rods in the back of her head : (! She said she slept good. I made sure her sides were dry before bed because I know that she sleeps on her sides and not on her back. 

This style lasted for 2 weeks...well she's still wearing it this week. I just keep it moisturized and put it in one or 2 pony tails.

I decided to add water to the lotta body because I wanted her hair to have hold, but still be soft and not hard. That made it easy for me to brush (not comb) her hair into the ponytails.

*Madame You* Best Natural Hair App Available

Happy Monday Brown Girls!!

I was searching for a good natural hair app last week and I came across one that I am so excited to share with you. It's hands down the best app that I have seen on the market for a natural hair community. There goal is to provide a platform where you can share hairstyles and discover products with a community of girlfriends.

One of their main goals is for you be able to match up your hair with hairstyles and products that are most fitting for your hair type! Now that's cool!

It is called Madame You. It is very NEW. It was founded by the 3 lovely co-founders of Techturized Inc. Jess Watson, Chanel Martin, and Candace Mitchell.

Watch the video for more information on these lovely ladies!

If you like to get in while a project is on the ground, this would be one to jump on. They are based in Atlanta and are super friendly. When I found the app, I e-mailed them to let them know how much I like it and they were are so friendly. Be sure to download the app and upload your hairstyles to get involved in this community that will soon be one of the best resources available.

This is how the app looks!

Icon

Madame You App

Screen Shot of App

MY Profile

Download this App NOW!! Don't miss being apart of this!

www.madameyou.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/Techturized

Roots Only Comb Applicator Bottle Review

Roots Only Bottle

I purchased my roots only bottle at a local Sally's store for $6.99.

The Roots Only comb applicator bottle claims to offer the following benefits:
*evenly distributes solutions so you use less
*no parting or sectioning required
*apply evenly in hard to reach areas

These are the instructions for how to use the bottle:

Scalp conditioning easy as 1,2,3!
1 Add desired amount of oil/conditioner to roots only applicator bottle
2 Comb and squeeze to condition scalp and roots
3 style and go for gorgeous hair

Hair color
1 mix solution and apply by combing to scalp and new growth
2 process and rinse per manufacturer's instructions
3 style and go for gorgeous hair

PRODUCT REVIEW

Did the bottle evenly distribute the oil so that less oil was used?

Yes!! The bottle evenly distributed the oil causing me to use less and it really works!!

Was parting and sectioning required?

No. I did not have to part or section her hair to comb through it with the bottle. Before using the bottle, I took my daughters hair down, combed through it, and let it hang. Then, I used the bottle to comb the oil through with no problem at all. 

Roots Only Bottle

Did the oil apply evenly in hard to reach areas?

Because I'm not using the bottle on my hair, there are no hard to reach areas. The oil did apply evenly to my daughters hair.

My thoughts......

I really like using this bottle and will continue to use it to oil my daughters hair. It works wonderfully!!

I like that the bottle has the measurements on it because I can see how much oil I am using each time. The bottle holds up to 4oz of oil.

I will also purchase another bottle and use it to distribute leave-in conditioner in my daughters hair on wash day!!

If I ever decide to be bold and add highlights to my hair, I will use this bottle to do it!! I do recommend this product, especially to those who have a lot of hair to oil. It's truly a life saver!!