The one product I continue to make...

In a prior post, I stated how I am no longer make my own hair products. The natural hair community has grown leaps and bounds over the past 5 years, and so has the sales of natural hair products. With all products out there, I still prefer to make one thing myself: Hot Oil Treatments.

If you are a type 4 natural, hot oil treatments are a must! There are several benefits to using  a hot oil treatment including: restored moisture balance, easier detangling, reduced shedding and increased shine. The pre-made hot oil treatments are not pure oils and are diluted with who knows what.

I do a lot of protective styling. Anytime I am going to use heat on my hair, a hot oil treatment makes for easier blow outs and more manageability, which saves time. My wash day time is cut down to 2 hrs. start to finish. I often apply hot oil treatments the night before to be sure I get the maximum benefits.

Hot Oil Treatment

• Olive Oil
• Castor Oil
• Jojoba Oil
• Sweet Almond Oil
• Avocado Oil
• A few drops of Tea Tree Oil ( if my scalp is dry)

Mix oils together in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 20 seconds. Be sure it's not too hot. Separate and lightly dampen hair. Apply to hair starting at ends working to roots. Sit under dryer, steamer, or leave on overnight. Proceed with wash day.

Three reasons I stopped making my own hair products.

I remember theI first time I attempted to go natural in 2004, my friend and I were only able to find one company that specialized in products for natural hair. Carol’s Daughter. That was it. After hours of research on forums (pre-Youtube days), we decided to try our hand at making our own hair products. Several trips to whole foods, which for us was about an hour away in the city, avocado,three different oils, raw honey, egg, banana, coconut milk and a blender and we had a all natural deep conditioner which we split between us. Fast forward two more natural hair transitions attempts--one unsuccessful, one successful--and 10 years, these are my reasons why I stopped making my own hair products.

#1-They are widely available and cost effective.

Back before the natural hair boom, there were very few products available on the ground. Now, you can go into just about any store and get quality, all natural hair products. Starting from scratch, you could spend $20 making your own deep conditioner. Since everything that you are using are all natural, once your mix it, you have about two to four weeks to use it even with it being in the refrigerator. If you desire a more customized conditioning treatment, you can add hibiscus powder, cassia, and the list can go on...as well as the price going up. Each of these add in can add anywhere from $5-$15 on to your conditioner.

#2-It saves Time

If your wash day is like mine, then time is of the essence. Between hot oil treatments, detangling, washing, deep conditioning, detangling, LOC’ing, and styling the last thing on my mind is making a deep conditioner, shea butter mix, or revitalizing spritz. Between the cutting, measuring, and breaking out the Vitamix, mixing and clean-up...I’ll pass.

#3-They do it better

Naturals know what their hair likes and what it does not like. Although we know, glycerine isn’t for me or my hair hates coconut oil, and that the 2012 version of TRESseme conditioner is way better than the new version. Many of the businesses that specialize in natural hair products study formulas and chemistry that just, well, work for hair. It’s their passion and they work on perfecting their product to do exactly as described. Not to mention that you will try ingredients that you may not have heard of or thought that your hair loves like rhassoul clay and mango butters. Many feature certified organic ingredients and natural preservatives that make your products last longer than if you made them yourself.

Bonus:#4-It Supports Small Businesses

Many of the online stores that I patronize are small, women owned businesses! Your dollars go farther than just that $12 whipped shea butter mix or flaxseed gel, you are building the economy and supporting another sistas dream with your purchase.

In a future post, I will share with you the one hair product I still make myself. What’s your thoughts? Are you a DIY’er or a Buyer?

Exciting News and New Posts!

I know its been a while, but I have been too busy and going through some personal issues. Let's get right to it!

I'm a brand ambassador! About a year ago, I went to a natural hair meet up and found a replacement for my beloved Qhmet Biologics Alma & Olive Heavy Cream: Carmella Marie Hair Crack (now called Treasure). I fell in love with this product! It was exactly what my dry, 4C natural hair needed.  Later that year, me and my curlfriend went to a Let's Talk Hair Expo in Youngstown, OH and had a great time. While browsing through my emails, I saw a email for brand ambassadors for Carmella Marie. Immediately, my mind went to me shooting to YouTube and Instagram fame with thousands of followers. Well, not really. I know social media will have people endorse any company for financial gain or social media fame. Not the case for me. This is truly a company that I can stand behind the products and most importantly supporting small, black owned business, so be on the lookout for product reviews, giveaways, and new posts.

 Speaking of giveaways, to help kick off the Carmella Marie Brand Ambassador program, we are hosting a 10 day challenge with the chance to win free Carmella Marie Hair products! My challenge consists of trying something new for 10 days. Its easy! It can be anything, a new recipe, workout, food, hair product, hair style, book, the list can go on. Follow me on Instagram @mzkarameldee for more details!

Are you looking forward to 2015?!?!?

 

In preparation of the new year, I decided to ignite my love of reading. I found the book 'Write it down, make it happen'. I saw this on one of my favorite YouTuber's Favorites video. I searched the library and found that they did in fact have the book. My goal is to finish reading it before 2015. I plan on writing down a clear, concise plan for the new year. Goal I want to accomplish, places I want to go, things that I want to see, but most importantly putting them into action! 

I am excited and looking forward to the new year! Please join me in reading and reviewing this book. If there are enough people interested, I will start a Google hangout so we can discuss, share, and encourage our plans for the future!

Follow me on Instagram at: @mzkarameldee.

What's New?!?! Blog Posts?

 

 Be sure to check back to see what's new here on Walking Through Honey! I am making a personal goal to post at least twice a month!

Natural Remedies: Part I

In a prior post, My Migraines, I talked about how I was going to start taking vitex to regulate my menstrual cycle. Since this post, I have gone through two bottles of vitex. My experience with vitex has been nothing but a positive one and here is my story.

For as long as I can remember, I have never had a regular period. When I was younger, they just thought that it was because I started at such a young age. As I got older, they pushed birth control on me to help regulate my period. I was on birth control, the pill and the patch, for about 8 years off and on. After I got off of the patch birth control, my body went crazy. I would have horrible periods that lasted almost 2 weeks, blood clots, and heavy flow. My flow was so heavy and lasted so long, I was anemic from the blood loss. I went to the doctor and they thought that it was fibroids, it wasn't. They did sonograms and their final conclusion: my ovaries just wasn't working properly. After about another 2 years on birth control, I decided to give it up. I was at the age where I wasn't trying to prevent pregnancy, but I wasn't doing anything to get pregnant. I made the decision to try to regulate my periods on my own, naturally.

I searched for months about which herb to try to to regulate my periods and decided on chaste-berry or vitex to do so. I began taking them as directed and within 2 weeks, I started to feel like I was going to start my period. Sure enough, it started. It started and lasted for 7 days. It was heavy, but that was to be expected since I hadn't had a period in months. After taking it for 3 months, I had three periods. Now, the one thing that I will say is that the number of days varied, but did I have one every month? Yes. 

Since this time, I have slowed down on taking vitex because I wanted my body to regulate itself and guess what? I have a period every month. I am going to talk with my gynecologist about the length of time between my periods and see if there is any problem with it. My periods are normal. I have a couple of heavy days and then it slowly tapers off; it lasts about 5 days and then its gone. This is the most regular periods that I have had in my life!!!

I used vitex strictly for period regulation. While taking vitex, I also took a multivitamin (filled with extra B vitamins), evening primrose oil, vitamin C, and a fish oil capsule. In my prior post, I stated that I also took Dong Quai. I still have this, but unfortunately, I couldn't stomach the smell to take it on a regular basis. I am sure that the vitex along with the other vitamins help contribute to my success.

If you are looking to regulate your periods naturally, or if you are trying to conceive, please research some natural alternative. There are tons of websites with information about it.

If you have any questions, please leave them below! 

This is my personal experience. I am not  a doctor nor do I claim to be. Please research and see what will work for you and check with your doctor to see if its safe for you to take any herbs or natural remedies.

Me and Menstrual Cups...

Have you ever used a menstrual cup? For a lot of women it seems very foreign to use a cup instead of the standard pad or tampon for their menstrual flow. I finally took the plunge last month and tried it. 

Research, research, research. I had been researching an alternative to pads and tampons for months. I thought about disposable pads, but considering that I hate washing clothes, having a blood soaked piece of cloth could be laying in my hamper for weeks drawing maggots and all types of bugs wasn't an option. I stumbled upon menstrual cups while searching. In other countries, its a normal thing. Here in the US, not so much. I remember telling my friend that I wanted to get a menstrual cup, and I was met with 'What? Huh? So, what will you use during your period?'. There are literally 50+ types of menstrual cups out there. Just search amazon and you will see plenty, google it and you could be reading for days. 

Its no secret that I had  horrible periods; blood clots, heavy flow, lasting for days on end. I say had because in a future post I will reveal how I took control of my periods without birth control or hormones. I still experience these symptoms but milder, and my period is a lot more predictable than it was before. The incident that lead me to trying a menstrual cup happened one afternoon at work on a Friday. I remember because it was super busy in the office. I had on a pair of jeans and I completely forgot to change my tampon/pad since lunch. I sat at the table to sort through some papers and felt some wetness after I got up. But since the seat was black (thank goodness), nothing showed up. I went back to my office and sat there and did some work on my computer. I got up to get ready to leave and that's when I seen it. There on my stripped office chair, a huge stain! I was embarrassed, but thankfully I was in the office alone. I went to the bathroom and there was blood on my jeans, visible for anyone to see. At this moment, I knew that I needed something that was more effective than a pad and tampon combination that I had been using for years. Saturday morning, I woke up and went to CVS and picked up Instead Softcups.







If you looks at the size of the softcup on the box, you will be slightly intimidated. I know that I was, but I brought them anyway. I had to wrap my mind around how this ring was going to fit inside of me...how was it going to fit down there. I read that box about 3 times before I tried it. To my surprise, you cannot feel them inside of you. I repeat, you cannot feel them. I used the instructions provided and it went smoothly. I put on a pad, just to be sure or in case there were any leaks, I would be covered. I wore my first one for 9 hours without a leak. The next day, I did the same, and had minimal leaking. I slept in them without anything, no leaks. The most important thing with the softcups is the placement. This may be one of the cons: You have to be comfortable touching yourself, seeing blood and it being a little messy. When you take it out, there will be blood and you basically have to finger yourself to get it out. I didn't have a problem with doing this considering I only have to do this 2 times a day. If you want to rinse these and reuse them, it may be a little weird in a public bathroom. I personally just remove, dump, dispose, and put a new one in. If you have a heavier flow, you may have to change more often. I can go 5-6 hours without problems on a heavy day. 

Am I a menstrual cup user for life? Exclusively, no. I will still wear a pantyliner or light pad a back up. And I feel like on light days, it may be a waste. As of today, I am happy with my experience with softcup and will buy it in bulk on Amazon because $10 at CVS is a bit much. I am also looking into getting a reusable menstrual cup such as the diva cup or lunette; I just can't decide. I would encourage all women to give the pads and tampons a break, not just for the environment, but also for your health. Research and find out what option may work best for you.

If you have any questions, please sure to leave them below!