Hair Care Boot Camp: Cold Weather Hair Care

As the temperatures prepare to drop, it is time for us to kick our hair care routine into high gear. And taking extra special care of your hair is important whether you are natural or you’re relaxed like me, say it loud, I’M RELAXED & I'M PROUD (fist pump, explosion of confetti, queue the noise makers) Relax, I kid, I kid! I am so NOT into the whole relaxed or natural debate. Do what works for you because I will most certainly do what works for me.

Anyhoo, I have my hair relaxed every eight weeks because as I have shared many times on my blog, I am extremely lazy when it comes to doing my own hair. I’m good at basic home maintenance but elaborate styling, at home washing and conditioning? No. Not. Happening. I have a standing hair appointment every Saturday morning. Since the cold weather is surely on the way, my stylist and I will work together to keep my hair healthy, growing, and on my head this season like we do every winter.

Here are my cold weather hair care tips:

Protect Ya’ Neck – No this isn’t just a song by the Wu-Tang Clan which was my jam back in the day, but I digress… It is a way to prevent breakage at the nape of your neck. Acrylic and wool coat collars and scarves are the hair enemy! Head to your nearest TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or even Macys and find an assortment of affordable silk scarves to wrap around your neck as a barrier between your hair and collar. If you wear a hat, you can find a satin skull cap from your local beauty supply store. I bought one from Sally’s last year. It kept my hair style intact, my head stayed warm, and my acrylic knit hat never touched my hair.

Drink your water – Simple enough. We all know we should drink 3 liters a day but I suggest squeezing in an extra cup or two if you can. In areas that are really cold like Chicago, the dry air can be extremely cruel to African American hair.

Grapeseed Oil & Organic Coconut Oil – There are so many hair care companies that tout these two oils as the main ingredients in their products but when you look at the back of the package they are somewhere in the middle or end of the list. I say eliminate all the stuff you can’t pronounce and just purchase these two oils from your health food store. OCO is a great pre-shampoo treatment. I use it weekly before I go to the salon. GSO is a wonderful natural heat protectant and it strengthens the hair making it resistant to breakage.

Rosemary Oil – There are reports that RO is good for growth. I like it use it for an at home scalp massage once or twice a week. It tingles and really opens my scalp up. I can’t speak on the hair growth aspect because I take a lot of vitamins and supplements so I always have a lot of new growth. I don’t know if it’s the RO or the vitamins or everything working together.

Blowdrying...Just Say No - I know the blow dryer is fast but it can be more damaging during the winter months. Take the extra hour and sit under the dryer. Wraps and roller wraps are wonderful because your hair holds the shape which means less at home heat styling. All you have to do is add a few self holding rollers in your crown for height, wrap your hair at night then in the morning comb it or leave it wrapped and put your satin skull cap and winter hat on, then style your hair when you get to work.  Okay...was that NOT the most run on sentence? LOL! Who cares, I had to get my point across :P

How will you change your hair care routine this winter? Do you have any cold weather hair tips? Please share in the comments section!

A Life of Style: Hair Care Boot Camp

The picture on the left pretty much sums up how I feel about my hair as of late. I'm such a drama queen at times! Lol!!

I made the mistake of switching hairstylists and getting my hair cut again. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, my new stylist does amazing work, but she's obsessed with cutting a lot of her clients hair short. Super. Short.

In my opinion, short hair is too much work. I don't have the patience to fuss over my hair. I need my hair to be a workable length so that I can quickly style it and go about my day. I may have mentioned in this series how lazy I am when it comes to my hair.

So I've started a new agressive hair growth regimen:

The first step will be returning to my former stylist. He knows my hair and really worked on making my hair healthy.

Step two involves vitamins, vitamins, vitamins. I changed up my vitamins and I'll share them in a separate post.

Step three is my special hair mix:

• Rosemary Oil - 1 oz.


• Grapeseed Oil - 4 tbsp.


• Avocado Oil - 4 tbsp.


• Organic Coconut Oil - 1 heaping tbsp.


• 2-4 drops of Dr. Miracle's Healing Oil & 1 drop of Tea Tree Oil

I mix the above oils and apply to my scalp one to two times a week. This mix works well for my hair. My relaxed hair drinks this up.

And the last part of my regimen which I can't stress enough is water, water, water. I have cut down on the high fructose sugary juices and eliminated pop (soda). My main drinks are water, Nantucket Nectar juices, and GTS Organic Raw Kombucha (YUM!!!).

Soon I'll be able to add eliminating heat to my regimen but with my hair being so short I have to curl it. Luckily I learned that grapeseed oil is not only a strengthening oil but a natural heat protectant that can resist heat up to 425 degrees.

Hopefully I'll have some good growth over the next few months. I'll update my progress in June.

For more information:

Now Foods is a natural product company whose products are in many health food stores.

Organic Coconut Oil

Organic Kombucha

Dr. Miracle's Healing Oil

A Life of Style: Hair Care Boot Camp 2010

Happy Sunday! I've been feeling some kind of way about my hair so I decided to blog about it. I'm long overdue for a Hair Care Boot Camp update so I'm bringing this series back in a big way for Twenty-10.

My last Hair Care Boot Camp post was ahem, quite some time ago and so much has changed. Back then I was growing my hair out and really wanted to achieve a certain length. Well I made an impulsive decision on December 5th, 2009 and got my hair cut short. Fast forward to today and I am so over my hair cut. I'm so over my hair cut, I need a new word for over. I loved my hair cut for about three weeks but now I regret going short. So I'm back on my healthy hair regimen...again.

Throughout my recent hair journey, I have discovered that when I am stressed out, my hair suffers. Last summer was a particularly stressful time in my life and by September my hair was not doing well at all. My stress level has reached an all time high and the damage is done. I cut my hair because I needed a change. I was hoping to feel more sassy and chic. You know channeling my inner Mary J. Blige or something. Well the feeling of sassy and chic hung around for three, four days at the most. Perhaps I really wasn't ready to go short.

If I can just get my bob (pictured at right) back by June, I'll be very happy.

Wish me luck!!!!

Hair Care Boot Camp rides again...

A Life of Style Meets Dr. Miracle's

Today was a really good day. Everything flowed according to plan (that rarely happens). I was on time for all my appointments. My hairstylist got me in and out of the salon in record time. I ate four mini cupcakes from Sugar Bliss (ignore that). And the icing on the cake was meeting the fabulous ladies behind the Dr. Miracle's brand.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Brand Educator, Kathleen Johnson and Marketing Director, Joelle Joseph, who visited the Windy City for television appearances and meeting local bloggers.

We chatted about hair care, Dr. Miracle's extensive product line, transitioning from relaxed to natural hair, and the importance of getting and keeping your hair healthy.

I must admit, before today I was not familiar with Dr. Miracle's products at all. I've never used them. Luckily I was given the opportunity to test some products before today's meeting.

As many of you know, my hair is relaxed and the bulk of my hair care takes place within a salon. Today I got my usual shampoo, conditioning treatment, and wrap. I took Dr. Miracle's 2 in 1 Tingling Shampoo & Conditioner, and the Healing Leave in Treatment & Conditioner. I always apply organic coconut oil to my hair as a pre-shampoo treatment one or two days before having my hair washed. As an extra treat, I applied the Intensive Healing Oil Hair & Scalp Treatment as well.

While I applied the oil to my scalp, the slightly sweet yet medicinal scent took me back to a wonderful childhood memory. My great-grandmother used some sort of hair dressing that had a similar aroma. I used to help her brush her hair when I was about three years old. The power of scent is a very real thing.

My scalp tingled a little which I liked. I wrapped my hair with a silk scarf like always and this morning my hair was so soft and my scalp did not itch.

During the harsh Chicago winters, my scalp is especially dry and itchy. The healing scalp oil calmed all the itching.

My stylist's assistant used the shampoo and she liked the fragrance. I liked the tingle. Tingling means its working! Even though the shampoo has conditioner already mixed in, she insisted on a deep conditioning treatment under the hair dryer. After my hair was rinsed, she applied the usual wrapping foam. I asked her to mix the foam with the healing leave in treatment and conditioner. I went back under the dryer for an hour.

Once my hair was dry, my stylist began his job of styling me pretty. My hair had a lot of shine; I was amazed at how great my hair looked and felt. Trying new hair products always makes me nervous. I'm never sure if the product (s) will make my hair feel like a Brillo pad. That was not the case today. I'm excited to try more Dr. Miracle's products now and tell you all about them in the weeks to come.

While speaking with Joelle and Kathleen, I learned so much about Dr. Miracle's products and company. Each product heals an issue plaguing African-American hair - heat styling, chemical over processing, dryness, and breakage. Heal the hair, then nurture it and it will grow.

If you've used Dr. Miracle's products, I'd love to know how well they worked for you. Please leave a comment or send me an email. Over the next few days, I'll be posting more about Dr. Miracle's products and there may even be a giveaway. So stay tuned to A Life of Style!

For more information:

Dr. Miracle's

Dr. Miracle's Blog

A Life of Style: Hair Care Boot Camp - Client Etiquette

In my last Hair Care Boot Camp post, I gave tips on finding a new stylist. Now it's time to focus on client etiquette.

There is no doubt that your stylist needs to maintain a certain level of professionalism to ensure that you'll keep coming back. As a client we have to do our part as well.

I'm at the salon every week so I see many client faux pas. Here's a list:

• Being late for your appointment and having an attitude when you have to wait - Okay things happen, you lose track of time and you're way more than 30 minutes late for your appointment. Just call if you're going to be late for your appointment. Remember your stylist has a schedule to keep and one late client can throw his or her day off.


• Indecisiveness - It can be very helpful to have a hair style in mind when you get to the chair. I once witnessed a woman slowly flipping through a style book as she was sitting in the chair. She had no clue how she wanted her hair styled and she was asking the stylist for his opinion which he gladly gave and she shot down every one of his suggestions *rolling eyes*. Eventually her stylist had to escort her to the waiting area so he could begin working on the next client while Miss Indecisive made up her mind.


• Rudeness - Treating the salon receptionist and assistants like peasants is never cool. The staff can and will report your funky attitude to the manager or stylist and who knows how your hair could turn out? "Ooops! You did say just a trim and I've just given you a shorter version of Diddy's infamous mohawk. My bad." I have seen women stroll into the salon tossing their furs at the receptionist, barely acknowledging the young lady. Check your attitude at the door. Sometimes when you're nice to the receptionist, they'll slip you product samples when you check out ;) I even come bearing small gifts, a cup of joe from S'bucks can always brighten a day.

• Expecting a miracle - Remember that scene in Barbershop 2 where Queen Latifah was a stylist? The woman in her chair had a big ol' bleached blonde afro and asked "Do I look like Beyonce?" And Queen Latifah replied "Yeah, just like her." The look on Queen Latifah's face was priceless. There is no amount of hairspray, hair color, or sew in weave that can make any of us look like Beyonce Knowles. Please remember your hair stylist is not a magician. Stop expecting a major transformation at the salon.

• Poor hair care at home - I can't stress this enough. You have to take good care of your hair in between salon visits. What's the point of going to the salon every two weeks if you're frying your hair with hot irons everyday, not drinking any water, eating a bunch of unhealthy foods, and the last time you were on a vitamin regimen your mom was twisting open a bottle of Flinstone's chewables! Your stylist will get annoyed with you if he or she is taking good care of your hair and you aren't doing your part.

I really believe in treating people the way you want to be treated and it's important to maintain good businesss relationships. If you want your stylist to take good care of you then make sure you exhibit good client etiquette.

Have you guys witnessed any examples of poor client etiquette at the salon? Leave your stories in the comments section and I'll post them.