5 natural (curly) hair essential products

Is it just me or being a natural comes with some prerequisites. First off, you have to learn a new linguo: twa, bantu knots, twistouts, prepoo, cowash. It gets really confusing real fast. Also, there's these rules to follow and stuff that they tell you you must have in order to have the beautiful, long, curly hair you've always wanted to have. Since I've been natural for a few months now I'm going to let you newby naturalistas in on my Top 5 curly hair essentials:

#1 Water spritzer bottle
This tool is great since our naturally curly hair is dryer and needs lots of hydration. It's also practical to have when you're styling your hair to spray a little bit of water before sealing with your leave-in conditioner or styling product. I have personally did a variant of this by mixing 1/4 of vegetable glycerin, 1/4 aloe vera gel, 1/2 water and a few drops of mint leaf oil.


#2 Vegetable and essential oils
They are your go to guys for moisture and growth strategies. My personal favorites are:
- Coconut oil: It deeply penetrates the body of the hair to make it shiny and resilient. It can be used as a prepoo (treatment to do before you shampoo your hair) as shampoo strips the hair from its natural oils. It can also be used for DIY deep-conditioners. I'll post a recipe in the next entry.
- Sweet almond oil: It nourishes the hair and prevents dandruff
- Mint leaf oil: It promotes hair growth and has a nice smell

#3 Satin cap/ scarf/ pillow case
Curly hair has extravagant taste and therefore you should not sleep with cotton pillow cases or head scarves!!! I kid, the actual reason why you should prefer satin to cotton is because the cotton will absorb the moisture from the hair and we've already established curly hair craves it. When I first eard this I ran to a hair supply store to get these and realized they sold the satin caps for 5$ so I went to the dollar store and bought a satin shower cap. After I scissored out the plastic interior lining, it became a good old satin cap that I had payed a fraction of the price for!!! I love DIY projects and saving money!

#4 Wide-tooth comb (or pick)

This tool is perfect for detangling your hair in a gentle enough way that you don't pull out all of your hair. I picked this type because it has a handle which I find practical but there are different types out there. Find out what works for you. It is not the priority since detangling your hair with your fingers is simple and efficient. It's also better for avoiding breakage.

#5 Sulfate-free shampoo
Harsh chemicals like these make the hair dry and brittle so avoid them. There are plenty of curly friendly lines out there were you can find a great shampoo that won't be too harsh on your hair.

Gardening tips and Tomato Jam recipe

Is it just me or things from the past are simply the best. This summer I got reintroduced to my mom's favorite hobby; gardening. Don't get me wrong, I've always thought that gardening was reserved for old people and killers that need places to hide dead bodies but I actually really enjoyed it. It also goes along with my resolution from earlier in the year to eat better and to watch out for processed food so when my boyfriend proposed to me that we make our own garden I was ecstatic. Only problem was, we both had little experience in gardening except watching our mothers do it. We remembered the basics but we needed back-up. Thankfully, his mother came to the rescue and helped us after the beginning of the process. We had gone to our local garden center and bought plants of tomatoes of different variety, peppers, hot peppers,cucumbers, herbs and plenty of seeds of different kinds (carrots, onions, corn, etc).

We carefully planted the different plants and seeds in rows as orderly as we could and watered. She was pleased with what we'd done so far but gave us great advice on regular maintenance, to help us get the max from our little haven. And that we did, all summer we had, tomatoes and cucumbers galore and were able to make great salads throughout.

A few pointers though if you're going to try the organic garden experience yourself:
1- Make sure to read up on the subject, our placement of the different plants was not optimal. We put the tomato plants in the front end but after only a couple of weeks not only were they very tall and blocking sunlight for the plants behind them but it also got very large; getting tangled in the other plants through the leaves. There are great garden starter apps on Iphone like Mon Potager and the likes but a good book probably would have been the more complete and best option.
2- Have a specific maintenance regimen that you can stick to; having a garden can be demanding in the sense that different veggies grow in different paces and you might have to replant during the summer for some species. You also need to take out the weeds that grow around because they suck out water that the plants should be getting. You should do this at least once a week. Last but not least you need to water at least once a day, before or after sunlight in order to not steam/fry your garden. Investing in some sprinklers and timers can be a good idea. That's what we did.
3- Enjoy, the time spent seeing the progress in your garden, spending time with your significant other, doing a free workout and reaping your crop.

Talking about the crop, when we dismantled the garden for the winter, there were many carrots as they're ready at the end of the summer, which is great cause we like to eat salads in the summer but soups in the fall/winter. Also, a lot of tomatoes were left but most of them still green from not getting enough sunlight and warmth. A great trick to get them mature indoors that my boyfriend learned from his granny is to put them in newspapers and in turn in a paper-bag, in a cool, dark place. A few days later they are ready for consumption.

That being said, we were left with a LOT of tomatoes and there's only so many salads you can eat so I remembered what my mom used to do in those situations; TOMATO JAM!!! :D
By now, you're probably thinking WTH??? But ear me out. You firstly have to remember that tomatoes are fruit, not vegetables. This jam is actually as sugary and tasty as any other and it was one of my favorite things growing up. As my family wasn't rich, my mom always had all these simple tricks to turn a nickel into a dime so here's how the recipe goes:



Tomato jam
3 cups of tomatoes (cut in quarters)
1 cup of sugar ( I mix it half brown- half white)
3/4 cup of water

In a pot put the water and sugar. You boil the sugar in order to dissolve it. Once the sugary water is boiling add the tomatoes and stir. Let it simmer on medium for 45 minutes and stir every once in a a while. You can strain to remove the skin and seeds. I blended it but didn't like the results as it made the jam turn orange instead of red. Next time I won't. Place the jam in sterilized jars. So there you have it!

Black women reverting to natural hair

I myself have stopped putting perm 4 months ago because: 1- It burnt my scalp almost every single time it was applied (but I was trying to be strong feeding myself with the you have to suffer to be beautiful non-sense) 2- I was trying to lead a healthier lifestyle so it was kinda incoherent for me to continue applying harsh chemicals to my hair) 3- I was a bit influenced by the whole movement (i have to admit watching pics of #teamnatural sisters on Instagram I was inspired to try something new: deal with my natural hair) So I shaved it all off, and I must say it was an empowering moment.

If you have taking the same decision to big chop (cut your permed ends in order to only have your curly hair left) I would like to congratulate you !!!! You did a BOLD move. BUT, I think you have to be aware of the repercussions in the way that others' perception of you might change. Your colleagues, family or even loved one might not love your drastic hair cut as much as you do! You must remember why you took that decision and why it was the right one for YOU. Weather it be health [perms are being linked to uteran cancers for African American women], values or even reconnecting with your roots be confident that you made the right choice. Also, it is nice to have someone who supports you in your decision to help you ease into the transition and make you feel comfortable. It might also be nice to have someone who can answer your questions as caring for natural hair is a whole other ball park than it is for permed hair. There are tons of instruction videos on Youtube and communities on Facebook. Joining just one of those is fine to start because the info can be overwhelming (sometimes to much is like not enough). My personal advice is if you've just big chopped, enjoy those first couple of low-maintenance months where you can just wash-and-go and maybe sometimes have a brush run through your hair, soon after you'll ear about bantu-knots and twist outs and protective style and WHOA, this is getting kind of complex!!! But don't worry, it will take you a few months before you can start to think about doing any of that so don't worry, you'll get there. Relax and enjoy the journey. I know I have mine!

C'est juste moi ou ça fait un petit bout de temps que je n'ai pas écrit? Bien que ce n'est pas par manque d'intérêts pour l'écriture mais j'ai développé une réelle passion pour la photo à travers Instagram comme mentionné dans mon message précédent. il est bien certain aussi que la chaleur ne me motive pas à m'asseoir pendant des heures à essayer de pondre des observations assez captivantes pour vous intéresser. Alors voilà j'ai passé beaucoup de temps à faire des photos et j'aurais la chance d'ouvrir MA propre galerie Instacanvas (une galerie d'art virtuelle. Elle n'est pas encore en ligne. vous me feriez vraiment plaisir si vous pouviez cliquer le lien suivant et voter pour l'ouverture de ma galerie: http://instacanv.as/constantly_sam Merci! Vous êtez trop chous!!! ****** I haven't been writting a lot lately because: A- It's summer time so it's hot as hell inside and out so I didn't stay inside trying to come up with something interesting enough to give a f*** about B- I've been busy with Instagram, which I wrote on my last post (that was in French so you may not have been aware) I actually have a chance to open my own Instagram gallery. Please be a dear and click on the link below to vote for my gallery opening: http://instacanv.as/constantly_sam Thanks a bunch!!!!

Les arts subtils qui se perdent!

C'est juste moi ou c'est rendu presque illégal et indécent d'adresser la parole à quelqu'un qu'on ne connaît pas dans les transports en commun? Dernièrement, lors de mon retour à la maison, en train de banlieue (non je ne vis pas plus à Montréal, je vis à Ste-Marthe-sur-le-lac: une mini-municipalité qui a eu beaucoup de succès dans les dernières années car les maisons à Montréal coûtent près d'1M$!), donc je me tenais debout car le train est souvent bondé en heure de pointe (je ne me plains pas, je fais juste le remarquer) et j'ai commencé à prendre des photos du trajet et des nuages pour Instagram.  Pour ceux qui ne savent pas ce qu'est Instagram; c'est comme si Facebook et votre album photos avait eu un petit.  Je trouve personnellement ça génial et je suis accro, mon chum n'y voit pas l'intérêt... Je diverge, donc, je prenais des photos pour Instagram et la femme qui se trouve à côté de moi me demande si la photo est sortie comme je l'avais expéré? - Je ne sais pas trop... en fait, j'en prends plein au cas-où elles auraient du potentiel.

Elle m'avait l'air sympathique et anormalement conviviale pour une utilisatrice de train d'heure de pointe.... alors je lui montré d'autres photos ma "galerie" Instagram dont la suivante, dont je suis particulièrement fière parce le Montreal Gazette l'a like!
- C'est une belle photo du Vieux-Port de Montréal ça, tu as du talent. As-tu déjà pris des cours de photographie?
- Non, pourquoi?
[...]
C'est ainsi qu'elle m'a expliqué que mes photos avaient des qualités techniques qu'on apprenait dans des cours de photos ou de peinture.  Elle m'a parlé d'elle; du fait qu'elle venait du Saguenay et qu'elle trouvait que les gens de Montréal n'étaient pas toujours sympas.  En tous cas, pas quand on ne les connaissait pas.  C'est vrai que la plupart des gens qui avaient vu se développer notre conversation nous regardaient d'un air amusés/intrigués.  Je lui ai parlé de moi et de mes intérêts et avant qu'elle parte, je lui ai demandé son nom et si elle avait un Facebook.  Je voulais l'ajouter.
Uno- parce qu'elle avait démontré beaucoup de courage à m'aborder sans aucune raison et qu'elle avait une belle personnalité
Deuxio- parce qu'on ne sait jamais qui pourra nous aider dans la vie.  C'était une femme d'un certain âge et bien que nous n'ayons peut-être pas plein de choses en commun peut-être qu'elle sera le contact, qui me donnera un contact dont j'aurai besoin un jour.  Qui sait?
Morale de l'histoire, soyez ouverts et courtois avec les étrangers, ça pourrait être le début d'une belle amitié ou tout le moins un contact utile pour votre avenir. C'est sûre qu'il faut mettre une bémol à cette règle pour les individus qui pourraient être louches (et qui finissent par être des psycho killers à la Luka Magnotta) mais bon je ne parle que de faire la conversation pas nécessairement de devenir meilleur ami avec n'importe qui.

Aussi, une autre fois dans le train, ça m'a pris de faire un compliment à une jeune femme qui avait une coiffure du tonnerre (à la Zoe Deschanel) et une très belle petite robe rouge.  Elle était très élégante et je lui ai dis.  Eh bien, ce compliment lui a pratiquement fait rougir, même venant d'une autre femme! Au début, j'ai trouvé ça étrange, puis je me suis dis que si elle avait réagi ainsi c'est probablement parce ça n'arrive pas souvent.  Ça ne me stresse pas.  Après tout, une belle femme peut bien faire un compliment à une autre belle femme.  Quelqu'un qui est bien dans sa peau sait que de faire un compliment à quelqu'un ne lui enlève rien. Alors, faites-en!