My Goodies Have Arrived - Black Friday Buys

So I told you guys about my Black Friday purchases back in this post over here.  I must say that my goodies arrived quicker than I expected and I am beyond excited. The product junkie in me is squealing with excitement. Bahaha! Most of my purchases are items I have not tried; and waiting for Black Friday was a great way to do it.  I got some really good deals, so if they end up not working for me, I won't feel so bad about how much I spent on it. I do have high hopes for these products though. Now without further ado, let's check out my goodies!

TGIN
My tgin package arrived on that Monday after Black Friday. I was pleasantly surprised when I got home.  I had no idea that my package would arrive so quickly When they said Super Fast shipping on their site, they weren't kidding! 
I purchased their Butter Cream Daily Moisturizer and repurchased the Honey Miracle Hair Mask.  I also added the travel size Organic African Shea Butter to my cart to qualify for the free shipping.  I know that I like the Hair Mask so I'm really hoping the Moisturizer will be a win for me too.

True by Made Beautiful
My True products just arrived today.  I am so siced to try these all natural hair goodies. I am just sure I'm going to love them,... or at least I hope! For black Friday all products on their site were available for $5.00 each. I couldn't decided which item to try, everything sounded so amazing.  I decided to order each of the 7 products in the line.

Here is what I got:

1.  Co Wash Cleansing Conditioner
2.  Moisturizing Shampoo
3.  Nourishing Leave-In Conditioner
4.  Conditioning Styling Cream
5.  Hydrating Hair Butter
6.  Intense Treatment Masque
7.  Quench Curl Refresher

Usually I'd be ready to use my new products on the very next wash, but I want to wait until I've used up a few other items before opening and using these. Definitely be sure to stay tuned to find out my thoughts on these goodies. It won't be too long before I do.

Who else has got some Black Friday or Cyber Monday goodies to dish about? 

What did you buy? 

Did anyone else take advantage of the True by Made Beautiful or TGIN sale?

As always, thanks so much for reading!

Black Friday Buys

Hello all! I hope that everyone had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving Holiday with loved ones.  And I pray that everyone who is traveling will or have made it safely back to their destinations.  I did not visit my home town this year. Me and my sister stayed here and did a little dinner of our own. I actually smoked a turkey for the first time. Thank goodness it came out good because I did not have a back up plan! LOL

Just getting started

Done just in time for the fixins' ;)

So of course we all know that after Thanksgiving and even on Thanksgiving Day means Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Some businesses have even extended their Black Friday sales through the whole weekend.  Well here are the hair goodies that I stocked up on after 12am Thursday night/Friday morning. I actually took a little nap but woke right back up for these deals.

TRUE by MADE BEAUTIFUL
I have never tried this line before, but have heard very good things. On Friday only, all products on their site were on sale for $5.00.  I have seen some reviews on a few of their items and had been wanting to try. I think these products are sold at select Sally Beauty Supply stores, but I haven't seen it.  Of course with each product being $5 a piece, I had to pick up everything in the line. Did I go overboard?

If you missed the Black Friday sale, no worries. The Cyber Monday sale is still pretty good. Details are below!

TGIN NATURAL
I definitely wanted to restock on the Honey Miracle hair mask that I reviewed here.  The tgin Black Friday sale extends through today. So if you haven't got a chance to stock up on any of the tgin products for $9.99 each there is still time.

I restocked on the Hair Mask and also decided to try out their Butter Cream Moisturizer. I ordered some for my mom too. She has transitioned to natural so I'm trying to turn her into a product junkie help her find the products that work best for her hair. ;)

MIELLE ORGANICS
Here is one more sale that I thought would be worth mentioning. This is another line that I wanted to try but I think I've purchased enough hair goodies so maybe next time.  I figured I'd go ahead and share for anyone interested. They are offering BOGO Free on the Babassue Oil and Mint Deep Conditioner.  But the offer is ONLY VALID TODAY BETWEEN 11AM. - 3 PM EST.  It's 12:46 as I'm typing this, so there's just over a couple hours left to scoop this up.

What hair goodies have you stocked up on this Black Friday?

Thanks for stopping by!

Product Review | She Scent It Banana Brulee Moisturizing Deep Conditioner

Product:  

She Scent It Banana Brulee Moisturizing Deep Conditioner

Price for 9 oz. Jar:  $12.50 at www.shescentit.com  $14.00 - This is what I paid when I purchased this product from the Tendrils and Curls shop set up at the Kinky Hair Unlocked event I attended in Atlanta, GA. You can check out my post on the event here.

Ingredients:  

Water infused with Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, 
Salix Nigra (Black Willow) Bark, Chamaemelum 
Nobile (Roman Chamomile), Rosa Canina (Rose Hip
Seed) Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Musa Sapientum (Banana) 
Extract, Emulsifying Wax, Ricinus Communis (Castor) 
Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, 
Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Honey, Hydrolyzed 
Cotton Seed Protein, Theobroma (Cocoa Seed) Butter, 
Prunus Amygdalus Dulsis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Orbygnia 
Oleifera (Babassu) Oil, Silk Peptides, DL Panthenol, 
Silica, Phenoxyethenol, Fragrance

Promises:
"An intensive weekly moisture boosting treatment that nourishes each strand, increasing strength and manageability, leaving hair soft, shiny and smooth.This conditioner was formulated to

Wash Day | Getting Steamy With It

Hello all! Another week has gone by and another wash day post has been created around these parts.  This time I made sure to get in as much conditioner as possible on this wash since I pretty much skipped any conditioner on my last wash day which you can read about here. I don't know...it just felt wrong somehow. I just had to make up for it in this weeks Wash Day Experience. 

DEEP CONDITION

This week I decided to revisit deep conditioning on dry hair after receiving a tip on speeding up my wash day from Lizzy over at Lisa's Journal. It's been a long time since I started my wash day with deep conditioning, so I figured I'd give it a try. I mean, I'm not really feeling the shower hopping life, but it has been my life for the past....hmmm...how long have I been on this hair journey?? LOL

I started off by massaging my scalp with coconut oil.  I then applied She Scent It Banana Brulee Moisturizing Deep Conditioner.  I had almost forgotten I had this and decided I'd finish off the jar. Another empty from the stash! YES!!!

For an extra boost of moisture, I decided to dust off the old steamer.  My hair was sectioned in four. I twisted each section into a large bantu knot and sat under my steamer for about 20 minutes.  I allowed a few minutes for my hair to cool off.

***Table Top Steamer Tip***

If you have a table top steamer, using an ironing board is a great way to easily adjust the height.

SHAMPOO & CONDITION
Next I shampooed my hair with 40 Carrots Retinol Rich Shampoo.  This shampoo is very gentle so I opted for this shampoo to keep me from feeling like I washed out the benefits from my dry hair deep conditioning session. I followed up with Herbal Esscences Naked Moisture Conditioner and rinsed thoroughly. I actually exited the shower without having to jump back in. Yay!

LEAVE-INS & STYLING
I decided to do another twist and curl with larger flat twists and larger perm rods.  For my leave-ins I used Annabelle's Perfect Blends Moisturizing Hair Cream and Macadamia oil to seal. I set my twist and curl with Eco Styler gel.

I was worried that my hair was not dry when I took it down the next morning. I felt a slight bit of dampness so there was some frizz going on; but I was still fairly happy with the results. I guess it wasn't too bad. I had a few compliments at work. Also when I was at Walmart a woman complimented me and asked if I had done my own hair.  She wanted to know if I could do hers. LOL! I am definitely no stylist. Just practicing and having fun. Ha ha!

Well how was your wash day experience?  What fun styles have you tried lately?  Please do tell. Head on over to the Wash Day Experience Linkup and share!


Thanks so much for reading!

Wash Day | Bantu Knots to High Puff

Hello there ladies and gents! Coming at you guys with another wash day post. It seems that I can never keep my wash days quite consistent. Always making adjustments based on what's going on.  My intent was to wash DC and try out the jumbo perm rods that I recently purchased, but instead I ended up going with bantu knots to save some time.  So let's get into the deets of my most recent Wash Day Experience!

PRE-POO
I parted my hair into four quadrants and applied my Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Bath, Body, and Massage Oil. I say it's good for more than just your bath and body. I love this in my hair and it smells lovely.  I applied this to my hair and sat under my heat cap for maybe 20 minutes or so.

SHAMPOO
I shampooed with Herbal Essences Wild Naturals Rejuvenating shampoo which is a new product for me. I picked it up on sale at Walgreens.  I figured since I love the conditioners maybe the HE shampoos might be worth a try. I also bought the conditioner for this line as well, but I haven't tried it yet.


DEEP CONDITION
I totally skipped my deep conditioning treatment ya'll!!! I didn't even use a rinse out conditioner while I was in the shower and I wasn't about to hop back in!!! I had every intention of deep conditioning my hair. I had actually planned to apply it and leave it in over night because I started on my hair so late. I started dreading having to get up the next morning to rinse and style. The perm rod idea was out the door by this point. I was also expecting my cousin to stop through on her way back to Atlanta so I knew I wouldn't have the time to mess with my hair on top of everything else i had planned to do.

My sister had done bantu knots on her hair earlier that day so I thought maybe I'll just apply a good moisturizer and do some quick bantu knots. So bantu knots it was.

STYLING
My hair was in my usual 8 sections (each of the four quadrants parted in half).  This time I did twists instead of braids. So I just unraveled each twist section, applied my Pura Body Naturals Muru Muru moisture milk, sealed with avocado oil and applied my Eco Styler gel (since I couldn't find my Carol's Daughter styling creme) detangled and twisted the section into a knot. I had 8 knots total. I slept in those and prayed they did not take long to dry. Unfortunately they were still a bit damp even after having them in over 12 hours. So I just wore the knots as is the entire day and took them down the next morning.

I ended up turning my BKO into a curly High Puff using a banana clip since I wasn't completely happy with the take down results. It wasn't bad, but since the sections were so big i felt like my hair was more frizzy than I liked.  Fortunately my hair felt super soft even without a conditioning treatment; but I definitely won't be making it a habit of skipping my DC..

fairly decent definition on the curls

I had to play with the camera a little bit. =]

So that was my wash day. Didn't quite happen how I planned. I always feel like I have to rush...maybe because I tend to put it off because I just don't feel like it. #WashDay #ICant  LOL!!!

Did anyone else have a wash day that didn't turn out quite how you hoped? Do tell. Head on over to share your post on the Wash Day Experience link-up if you have one at Saving Our Strands or Just Grow Already. Can't wait to read about how your wash day went!


Thanks for reading my lil old post! :)

Product Review | tgin Honey Miracle Hair Mask

Product:  

Thank God It's Natural (TGIN) Honey Miracle Hair Mask

Price for 12 oz. Jar:  

$14.99 at www.tginstore.com

$17.99 at Target

Ingredients:  

WATER, RAW HONEY, OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) FRUIT OIL, SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED OIL, ALOE BARBADENSIS (ALOE VERA) LEAF JUICE, STEARYL ALCOHOL, CETYL ALCOHOL, STEARAMIDOPROPYL DIMETHYLAMINE, GLUTAMIC ACID, FRAGRANCE, BENZYL ALCOHOL, EDTA, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, DIMETHICONE, METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE, METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE.

Promises:

• Restores life to dry, damaged, or color treated hair 

• Improves shine and manageability

Wash Day + Giveaway Winner Announced

Hello all! Just coming at you with a quick wash day post after almost 2.5 weeks since my last wash. I washed my hair yesterday after I got home from work and since it was a bit late, I needed to make it a quick one.  Here's how it went down!

I used my Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Bath, Body, and Massage oil for my prepoo.  The mixture contains several excellent oils including Safflower, Vitamin E, Jojoba, Coconut and Olive.  I then detangled my hair in the shower with running water and did my usual 8 braids.

SHAMPOO & CONDITION
I shampooed with Mane and Tail shampoo.  Since I didn't have much time to DC and I knew I wanted to add some protein back after my flat iron session over 2 weeks ago, I decided to condition with Nexxus Emergencee,  I let it sit in my hair while I showered and then thoroughly rinsed.

LEAVE-INS AND STYLING
I used Pura Body Naturals Muru Muru Moisture Milk and sealed with Argan Oil.  I also used Proclaim Olive Foaming Wrap Lotion and Regis Design Line Enchanted Blow-Out lotion and blow dried my hair. Since I was in a rush, I did not use the cool setting this time around.

For work I threw my hair up in one of my usual buns. I where a lot of buns these days!

And that's it. Another boring old wash day! Sorry it was so quick, but I 'm trying to get back to my show. Empire! What!!! LOL

****************GIVEAWAY WINNER***************
On to more exciting news. The winner that was selected at random for the Lengthening Locks Blogiversary was.....drum roll please....Jas Sherese of Lengthy Lovely Locks! Congratulations, Jas! I hope you enjoy the gift card and can't wait to find out what products you decide to try!

A big THANK YOU to all who participated and for supporting.

Okay..back to my show now! Ummm...why is Hakeem tripping though?! LOL. Okay I'm done! :-P

Wash Day + Length Check | (Giveaway Reminder - $25 Ulta eGift Card)

So here we go! Another wash day post. Well this wash actually occurred two weeks ago. I'm trying to hang on to this work I put in, since I ended up doing a flat iron and length check! And it was definitely work! But let's get on to the deets.

Detangling
I did the same method I did the last couple of wash days. I parted my hair into the same four sections and saturated with Mane and Tale Detangler.  I then hopped into the shower and used my detangling brush along with the running water to detangle my hair. I had to grab my Aussie Moist to help with a few knots from the twist and curl set.

Shampoo
I shampooed with Mane and Tale Shampoo. At this point my hair was in 8 braids as shown in this post here.

Deep Condition
Overnight with my new favorite conditioner TGIN  Honey Miracle Hair Mask.  I'm planning to stock up. I will have to do a review soon.

Leave-Ins Plus Blow Dry
After rinsing and thoroughly detangling I applied my leave-ins and blow dried my hair on the cool setting.  Once my hair was completely dry, I flat ironed using my Sedu Revolution and trimmed as I went through each section. So I don't have a before trim pic, but I wasn't too worried about it.

Leave-ins and Heat Protectant

On a side note - I really like the blow dryer I've had for the past couple years. I don't really mention it much, but I love that it has a cool air setting; not the cold shot button like a lot that I've seen, but it actually has a cool air setting and you can change the speed of the air as well.  On the cool setting the display screen turns blue, when off the display screen is orange. I rarely use it on the heat setting; only if in a rush.

I tried to get a decent length check pic. (My sis took this. I had to beg her so I took what I could get. LOL!) My hair did not stay flat at all after I finished. By the time I got home from work my hair just felt frizzy and dull. To get a true length check I tried to stretch it the best that I could. I think I'm around line 12 which is right at the top of my bra strap.  I haven't retained much length which is to be expected with me transitioning and all. I still have some bone straight ends that need to be chopped away; and then to grow out the texlaxed section!

Wearing my JGA Lengthcheck Tee

Length Check

Looks like BSL

And there you have it! My Wash Day Experience!  Which I'll be sharing on the Wash Day Experience Link-Up hosted by S.O.S and JGA! Head on over and add yours too!

BTW Don't forget about my 3 Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway. Click here to find out how to enter! I am giving away a $25.00 Ulta Gift card. The giveaway is eligible for U.S. residents only at this time. But I will try to include my International friends on the next one for sure!  


Thanks for visiting and for all your support!

Lengthening Locks 3 Year Anniversary and My First Blog Giveaway!!![CLOSED]

October 26, 2015 marks the 3 year anniversary of my blog. How exciting! I don't know why it seems like longer but just 3 years to the day.  I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has supported this blog and for all your kind words and encouragement.

I thought that the best way to celebrate this milestone would be to host my very first GIVEAWAY!  I do want to say that I wanted so badly for my first giveaway to include not only U.S. but International subscribers as well; unfortunately this particular giveaway will be U.S. only. I'm sorry. I will try to make the next one works out to include any and everyone who wants to participate. Now on to the deets on this giveaway!!

I decided to giveaway a $25.00 Ulta eGift Card.  You can get up to 15 entries for a chance to win this gift card. I thought Ulta would be a great pick because they have so many amazing products to choose from.  So there is sure to be something for everyone.  The giveaway will be open until November 4 at 12 a.m.  Please get your entries in if you are interested and feel free to share with your friends!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Again I want to say a big thank you for all the support that I've received during my little old journey.  It is greatly appreciated!

With Lots of Love,

Taking Stock - #1

I was inspired by Lydz of Crowning Glory to do my own Taking Stock post.  I thought it was pretty cool to stop and reflect on what's going on with me. Check out her blog to find out the source of where the Taking Stock posts originated.  I think this is something I'd like to continue regularly. Not uber interesting but here's what's going on with me.  I tried my best to answer every line.

Making : This post..does that count? lol
Cooking : nothing..too late for that. earlier I made sautee'd spinach and kale with crab cakes(I did not make the crab cakes)
Drinking : Just finished a cup of green tea with bamboo tea
Reading: Nothing currently
Wanting: a winning lottery ticket. Early retirement please! lol
Looking: at TV...about to pop in The Office dvd...love this show
Playing: I just finished playing spider solitaire while sitting under the hair dryer
Wasting: time worrying about things that haven't even happened yet
Sewing: Bad at this
Wishing: for an awesome vacation. I never go anywhere so this would be nice.
Enjoying: relaxing at home
Waiting: For my time off for work this week
Liking: my new electric throw. its so cozy and warm
Wondering: about what I want to do for my time off later this week
Loving: my new found hair style
Hoping: That all my family and friends continue to be blessed
Marvelling: Over this new TV show Mr Robot. Kind of freaky!
Needing: to straighten up my room...and start back studying
Smelling: my chocolate covered almonds that I can't seem to put down
Wearing: shorts and tshirt; it's time for bed
Following: a whole lot of natural instagramers; i've become addicted to Instagram now that I'm not on FB
Noticing:
Knowing: that I need to stop worrying so much when there is no reason to worry
Thinking: I should be asleep now because I have work in the morning
Feeling: very sleepy
Bookmarking:  a super cute hair style I want to try and several Kale recipes...
Opening: my tub of chocolate almonds...again...lol
Giggling: about how I'm still eating these almonds while lying in bed.
Feeling: like I need to clear my head.

Have you done a Taking Stock post?  If not, do give it a try.

Thanks for dropping in!

DIY Off the Should Sweatshirt

So this is not your typical hair post but is still somewhat related.  Fall has come and the weather is starting to get cooler. Of course that means it's time to bring out everything warm, cozy, and cute.

Well some of you may know that I am currently transitioning to natural hair. I'm actually right around 81 weeks post. I've made it just over a year and a half! Woot! Lately I've been loving a lot of the natural hair apparel that I have seen popping up on my Instagram feed with words of inspiration for natural gals. I just love it...but sometimes these items can be a little bit pricey.  Well, my sis planted the seed in my head of designing my own so I figured I'd give it a shot!

I watched a few videos on making your own off the should sweatshirt and there didn't seem to be too much to it. I will be honest and say that I wasn't completely happy with my results but it was not too awful for my first attempt.  Here are the items that I used for my project.

1. Medium sized men's Fruit of the Loom Sweatshirt from Walmart

2. Iron on Lettering purchased from Hobby Lobby

3. Scissors

4. Measuring Tape

5. Iron

I wanted to do a video of my first DIY attempt at designing my own sweatshirt, but my video recording application on my laptop did not want to cooperate with me; so no video. I thought that would have been fun to do.  If you want to attempt your own project, I'd suggest watching a few videos before attempting as I wish I had done. I found one the I wish I had seen after I had already started cutting. She was the one that used measuring tape, which I didn't have at first. LOL! I am posting her video below.  I liked the care she took in cutting the neckline.  She is actually doing a t-shirt hear and not a sweatshirt; but similar concept.

Here is the finished result of my sweatshirt! I was not completely happy, but of course it was a learning experience. First I think I bought the sweatshirt too big for my liking.  Secondly, I think I made the neckline too big. I definitely wish I had measured first and I might have been happier with it.

I didn't know what I wanted it to say but my sis and I were browsing around Hobby Lobby and she saw the lettering that spelled out L-O-V-E.  I looked at her and said "How would I use that". "Natural Love" she said to me. Duh moment! But I loved it.  I purchased additional lettering for the "Natural" part of my shirt.  I just followed the directions on the packaging to iron on the letters and Voila! My own off -the-shoulder natural inspired sweatshirt. And I must say it is SUPER comfy and cozy!

So what do you guys think? Have you done any DIY projects lately? Do tell!

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Lots of LOVE!

Wash Day | Flat Twist and Curl

Has it been a week already? Time sure flies when you'r having fun with your hair. And I did just that in my most recent Wash Day Experience. Here is how it went down.

DETANGLING
Just like with my last wash day I sectioned my hair in four and saturated with Mane and Tail Detangler.  I then hopped in the shower with my detangling brush to thoroughly detangle my hair with running water.  I parted each section in half since detangling in smaller sections is easiest and I braided each section once I was done.

SHAMPOO
I wanted to thoroughly clarify my hair so I used my Redken Hair Cleansing Cream and massaged into my scalp and hair (which was still in braids), then thoroughly rinsed.

PROTEIN TREATMENT
Since I noticed a little breakage I decided to finish off my jar of ORS Hair Mayonnaise.  Yay!!! I emptied a product!! But sadly I will probably just replace it with something else that I don't need to buy. Ha!

I used my Hot Head Conditioning Cap for a deep treatment.  Love this thing! After my hair cooled, I rinsed out the conditioner and followed up with Herbal Essences Naked Moisture Conditioner.

Love my Hot Head Conditioning Cap

TIME TO STYLE
I couldn't make up my mind how I wanted to style my hair, but I wanted to give my hair a break from the blow dryer and wanted to do something fun.  Since I have fallen in love with perm rods, thought I'd try my hand at a flat twist and curl.  I had no idea how this was going to turn out, but it wasn't too bad.  Some spots were a little frizzy but I actually liked the results. I thought it was going to be a big mess!

For my leave-ins I decided on Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Leave in Conditioner, coconut oil, and Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Styling Pudding.  I massaged a little castor oil mixed with peppermint oil to my scalp before taking down the twists.

I will definitely be doing this style again. Loved the curls and the volume! I realized that I've reached a point in my hair journey where I feel more comfortable with doing more with my hair and trying new styles.  I'm doing a lot more than I used to in the beginning.  Finally having fun with my hair!

So how was your wash day experience? Did anyone try any new styles lately? Please do tell and share your post in the Wash Day Experience link-up hosted by S.O.S. and JGA.

Thanks for reading, my friends! Until the next post. :)