Naturally Kinky

My husband needed glasses, as the last pair of glasses he purchased was in 1992. No Lie. There were twisty ties holding them together, rust, and scratched lenses galore. Needless to say it was time for new glasses, but alas neither he or I have vision insurance. This is where Zenni Optical enters the picture.

You can get a pair of prescription eyeglasses for $8. Yeah EIGHT DOLLARS!!!!!! So we went to the Target Optical so my husband could get an eye exam. The optometrist wrote out a prescription, and we with a quickness picked out some frames, and placed an order. My husband purchased two pairs of glasses. One pair was $15.95, his back up pair was $8.00. The site had a lot of different styles, but no brand names, I personally am not too much into brand names, so this isn't a big deal for me, even though I am still rocking my Donna Karan glasses from 1996. Yeah I rock. It takes two weeks on average to receive your order. Shipping is really cheap, it was $4.95. The glasses arrived and they were nice. Oh, I forgot to add, being all siditty like I am, I purchased two pairs as well, each pair $8.00 for myself.

Overall the glasses were good quality, and if they break or lose a screw, you won't be as upset as you can always order more online. My suggestion is to order two pairs, your everyday pair and your back up pair for your accidents. I also plan to buy a pair of prescription sunglasses for me and the hubby there as well to keep in the car while we drive. I was really impressed with the pricing and quality. I know even with insurance after you pay your co-pay for exams, I never get or even see glasses this cheap. What I usually end up spending with exam is close to $250 minimum. The glasses are always so expensive. You gotta pay out the wazoo for lenses and frames. But here, the most expensive pair of glasses seem to only run around $40.

I have always had a lot of hair, and I always needed something to wrap or protect my hair before I purchased my silk pillowcases. To wrap my hair, I used an L.B. Soc. I used this because it covered almost all of my hair when it was straight, and it was comfortable, and it was great for thicker hair, I even use it now as a head wrap on the days I am cleaning around the house to keep my hair out of my face. For a while I put it on when I would shower between hair washing and then put on a shower cap on top of that. I have so much hair, it doesn't fit under a standard large shower cap anymore.


Thankfully, now we have the TOPAZ shower cap. It is from the same folks who make the L.B. Soc.

Both these products are made for those with dread locs, so that can handle a lot of bulk for those with longer locs. I plan to buy the shower cap so I can shower without having fear of my hair getting wet, which always happens because I always have hair sticking out from the shower cap I currently use.

Soila wanted to know if I could post my skin care regimen ove r here, so I figured, great idea. My skin has been rocking lately, and I praise the use of coconut oil and shea butter. As you can see I put a pic of my ugly mug up sans make up to show you my skin, I am at my ugly time of the month, where I always break out, and I have minimum acne right now. Most of my dark spots have faded and I attribute it to my skin care regimen.

My magic potion is shea butter and coconut oil. I make it myself. I got the recipe from Najahface's book, Mixed Up (do you notice I plug this book often, there is a reason for that, the stuff in that book works so well!!!! Yall need to go get it for real. Because of her, I make pretty much all my hair and skin care stuff.) I mix about half shea butter and half coconut oil. I put a little bit more shea butter than coconut oil. I put it in a container, nuke it, so that is mixes easier and then I put it in the fridge to harden up. Sometimes I add scent to it, but I not only put this stuff on my face, but also on my body and hair.

To put oil and shea butter on your face you would think is a recipe for skank nasty skin, but it works well. The reason it works so well:

Shea butter fades dark spots, and is a great moisturizer. Coconut oil is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, which acne is basically bacteria under the skin acting a damn fool. For a more scientific and more legitimate explanation go here for shea butter, and here for coconut oil.

Now for my skin care regimen after all that talk:

In the morning I use my black soap to wash my face. If I am not wearing make up I put on my shea butter/coconut oil mix afterwards, just a little dab will do ya. A little goes a long way, unless you like looking greasy. If I DO WEAR MAKE UP (foundation, eye make up, etc>) I DON'T USE the shea butter/coconut oil mixture on. It will make you look extra shiny, greasy, and your make up is prone to easily wipe off. Coconut oil makes a great make up remover.

At night I do the same thing (black soap and shea butter/coconut oil mixture). If I wore make up that day, I use coconut oil as a make up remover with a cotton ball.

Once a week I will put on a mask to draw out impurities.

That is it. If I have a pimple I put a little extra of the coconut oil/shea butter on it at night and it seems to go down or disappear the next day.

So I have been using Tom's of Maine for the past week or so. It has not burned off my arm pits, it can last a pretty long time, and it doesn't leave the residue regular deodorant leaves on my pits. Downside is, when I "glisten" a bit too much, I need to re-apply with a quickness. I put some on last night after my shower, slept all night, and about mid day today, I noticed I didn't smell the lovely smell of apricots, but rather the start of something different. The lesson, if I shower at night, reapply in the morning. It can only work so well.

I have officially switched to aluminum free natural deodorant, at least I think it is natural. I am using Tom's Long Lasting apricot. A lot of the natural deodorants have a reputation for not being strong and if they do work burning the hell out of your arm pits. I have had my deodorant on for the last couple of hours, so far so good, but I need to give it a few days, before I say anything positive or negative.

The reasons I decided to use natural deodorant:

Aluminum has been tied to breast cancer
I am turning into a hippy
Regular deodorant leaves a residue under my arms that seems to be water proof, I usually have to scrub my armpits off in the shower to get rid of that icky feeling.

Needless to say I am scared to death my deodorant will burn off my armpits and/or make me stinky as hell.

So I got excited I found some glycerin in my medicine cabinet and promptly made some hair products. I made my normal spritz, adding glycerin. I made a hair pomade with red palm kernel oil, glycerine, and coconut oil. I was steady putting both these products in my hair, and they made my hair feel skank. It felt kind of dry and sticky. My hair was not soft, and the lesson is learned. Glycerin hates my hair. The pomade has turned into a body moisturizer. The spritz is useless. Hey you live and learn and it goes to show you that different things work for different people in this natural hair journey. You never know what works until you try it.