Autumn and Castor Oil Rendezvous!!!

IT IS OFFICIALLY AUTUMN

Happy Fall, my loves! We have so much to look forward to for these colder months! And I am not just talking about the comfort food and quilted blankets! I'm talking about the preservation. Getting my skin care back under control, elongating my days where it concerns constantly shaving my legs, and heading back into the gym with a sweatshirt on instead of a skimpy wife-beater so that fellow members can't see how much I REALLY have to get done on my body. *Sigh*... low-self-esteem-much???

Anyway, this autumn, I have also included getting my hair care up and running. I need to finally LEARN my hair. I mean, I already know it likes a mixture of all-natural and unnatural products, but I need to finally find my staples and thank you LORD for this Castor Oil challenge I am participating in with BlakIzBeautyful of Kinky Curly Coily Me, I feel like my blog name ~*ForeverCoily*~ will now have some expectations to live up to! Let's start with this Castor Oil challenge! 

FALL 2012 CASTOR OIL CHALLENGE
The Fall Castor Oil Challenge began September 1st, 2012 and will run until December 1st, 2012 (my birthday month, YAY!!!) It consists of you dedicating yourself to using Castor oil on your edges, nape, scalp, and/or strands for no less than 3 days per week, and for those who would like to be considered for the challenge prizes, participants must post their responses and encouragements on each of the blog's weekly posted check-ins at least 3 times a week. Now I must admit, I don't even know what the prizes are for this challenge, and quite frankly, I am not in it to win anything. I just want to put my hair to the test and see if I too can--for once--stick to something concrete. A regimen of sorts, if you want to put it that way. Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE to talk about my obsession for having structure in my life. But I've slowly realized that I've never really KEPT structure. And that shows in the fact that I started my hair journey in 2009 and have only accumulated about 2 inches of length SINCE. Need I say more?

This rendezvous I have with falling in love with Fall and having this strong friendship with Castor oil has gone far beyond what I expected. So much so that I have FUN writing my weekly check-ins and words of encouragement to fellow participants. I mean, my last response was a NOVEL. It'll be posted below if you're curious. This week's check-in was about finding favorite products, how we form our criteria for a favorite product and how we are coming along our fourth week in for this challenge. And I can not wait to read the rest of the responses!!

I do wish, I wrote this post sooner and no, not EVERYTHING in my life is going smoothly. But at least some things are and those ae the things I will be dwelling on. So let's forget the opposite sex. Let's forget the stress of gaining a second job, and let's put to the side, the fact that I am having a HARD time saving money. No! I'm not a shop-aholic, but an entry-level position with minimum wage can only get a sistah so far, especially when she has bills to pay. Thank GOD I didn't not have to take out loans for college! This Fall Mentailty is REALLY turning around my bitter feelings of the summer. 

For more information on the Castor Oil challenge, click the link above. You won't be able to enter to be considered for prizes, but you can always follow along and see what Castor Oil can do for your hair too! My response to this week's check-in is down below!

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WEEK 4 CHECK-IN    

Hey all! Happy to be back for another check-in! So let me jump right into it! .

-1- THERE ARE SO MANY PRODUCTS ON THE MARKET? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITES?
So yesterday was my wash day and I decided it was time I buckled down to find some staples....Since the winter months are slowly approaching and all. A few weeks ago, I attended the Fashion Week natural hair meet-up at Marx on the UES and was one of the raffle winners. My prize was from the Sofn' Free GroHealthy line and I received the "Nothing But...Intense Healing Mask and the "Nothing But...Curly Wake Up Spray." To top it off, our gift bags came with sample sizes of the line's Shampoo, Conditioner, and Pure Pudding as well! I was a bit hesitant but I figured why not try the line out. And I must say that I LOVE this product line!! I mean my regular faves include the Creme of Nature Argan Oil line, an occasional cheapy conditioner, Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie, and an oil mixture. But THIS LINE!! PLUS the use of my Castor Oil has topped all expectations! And on the first try too?!? Usually it takes 2 to 3 washes for my hair to "succumb", like, or love a product, but even before I washed out the final step--the mask--I had the MOST silky soft hair. So soft that I even let my hair air dry like 90% of the way with NO product. And I still have leftovers of the samples. That's how THICK and light the products are. So this is now my FAVORITE product line. And I haven't even used their pudding or spray as yet but I'm expecting good results! 

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-2- WHAT QUALITIES DOES A PRODUCT NEED TO HAVE IN ORDER FOR IT TO BECOME ONE OF YOUR FAVORITES?
Besides the shocker quality, my favorite product needs to be at my disposal, it's price range should equate the integrity of its ingredients, it should leave my hair feeling moisturized for longer than 2-3 days and it shouldn't weigh my hair down (without my permission). And the Sofn' Free products definitely passed this criteria!

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-3- SINCE USING CASTOR OIL, HAS YOUR HAIR BEEN MAINTAINING MOISTURE?
I believe castor oil is the REASON for my light, free, feathery, wind blown, soft, silky, hair. LOL. I swear, before this, my hair felt like barbed wire. It was thick but in a matted tangle-y way. Now I can use Castor Oil, do a twist up and wake up the next morning looking like I just got a light blow out. I don't know about length because I'm not good with my own judgement, but as for feel and moisture, Castor Oil definitely gets my vote! 

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-4- HOW DID YOU USE CASTOR OIL IN YOUR HAIR LAST WEEK (WEEK 3)? DID YOU FIND YOURSELF LOSING MOMENTUM OR ARE YOU STILL GOING HARD?
Since I had a braided protective style for 7 days I just made sure to spritz my hair morning and night with water and to put castor oil around my edges and nape. My scalp stayed moisturized until I pulled out the style 7 days later. Thursday night, I pre-pooed with a cheapy conditioner and my castor oil. Friday morning I washed, conditioned, and did a deep treatment on my hair. Then I styled it with castor oil and Kinky Curly Knot Today, and it stretched my hair to the max in about 6 hours (all air dry--NO HEAT). This past week, I am impressed with myself because I haven't lost momentum. However, I have noticed that because I'm going hard, I have been combing and detangling my hair more often which is resulting in more shedding than usual. Sounds like a good thing since I'm keeping my hair detangled, but the constant use of the comb is not making me feel better.