beCHIC Mixer Epic Snow Fail

So you remember how excited I was about going to today's beCHIC Mixer at Ample Greenwich NYC? Well the snow washed all of that excitement away. I tried my darnedest to go but it just didn't work out. There weren't any trains running on my side of town and I refused to take the bus to another side only to wait god knows how long for that train to come. Not to mention the slush and flooding that was taking place. No sir not moi. At least I gave it a shot. So I'll show you what my neighbourhood looked like this afternoon.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

My snow face

And since I couldn't make it to this month's beCHIC Mixer here are some pics from last month's mixer which was also held at Ample. Enjoy.

The Lovely beCHIC Hostesses

Me

Doesn't she have the cutest smile?

Remember the ladies on the right? They were also at Curly Nikki's NYC Meetup

Recognize this pic?

My friends. Two fun gals to be around.

Ample Greenwich NYC

I'm disappointed that I couldn't go to the mixer. They had a lot in store for us namely a lot of networking and those who attended had the chance to showcase their products and services. I really wanted to see what everyone had. Plus who can pass up on $5 drinks and $5 appetizers? Neil the bartender can make a killer mojito. Hopefully I'll be able to attend next time. I must say that the beCHIC ladies so far have done a great job of providing a positive means for women to network. I hope that they'll be able to keep it up and I wish them lots of success. 

Curly Nikki NYC Meetup

So I attended the first ever Curly Nikki NYC Meetup on Thursday which was held at the Carlton Hotel and sponsored by Mizani. It was the first time I've been in a space occupied by so many beautiful black women with healthy natural hair. The unique hairstyles were giving me some serious inspiration. Mizani had a few products on display as well as goody bags. The entire atmosphere was on point, especially the music and I would do this all over again. It was so exciting and a huge success. Big Thank You to Curly Nikki and Mizani for a wonderful experience. Enjoy the pics.

Don't I look fab?
I opted for a blow dry and flat iron because I'm transitioning.
Outfit: blazer - H&M, top - Pay Half, jeans - Cello, shoes - Payless

Curly Nikki(right) and co-hosts

Rod Horton (Mizani Rep) & Jade Eshete (Model)
There two were a blast. Rod and Jade did a great job in demonstrating  the Mizani True Textures Curl Soft. Jade's hair is fabulous and felt truly soft.

More fabulous Ladies

Mom & Daughter

I met these two ladies at the Chic and Kinky meet up last month.

Lately I've been getting into attending hair related meet ups and I'm really having a blast. Next stop, Chic and Kinky October meet up.

UGHHHH!!!!

PIC

Don’t you just hate it when you have something on your mind and it just vanishes? I just had a blog post idea and was going to type it up right away. Just when I opened up WORD my mind went blank. And I know it was good that’s why I’m so mad. I'm getting old. I need some B-12. This is happening way to often with other things.

Yes, blogging about this was that serious. LOL. Rant over.

My Hair Journey

August 2011

I started my hair journey in the Spring of 2007, I believe. I wanted long hair for a long time but I didn’t know how to get there. When I first came to this country I would search online for natural hair care tips but never found anything I could really use, or maybe my mind was wasn’t prepared. I think it’s a little of both but more of the latter. Throughout the years I did relaxers and weaves along with other normal heinous acts toward my hair such frying, dyeing, and laying it to the side.

One day I wanted a change and got braids and when I took them out my hair had gained a considerable amount of length, as I normally hovered somewhere around shoulder length. I don’t remember how much length I had gained and wasn’t into taking hair pics yet but even my hairdresser said something after my relaxer. I do know I wasn’t APL though. So that prompted me to resume my search for hair care tips which led me to fotki and McElweewife. [Ya’ll remember her? I remember when she said she wouldn’t be around much anymore.] After watching her methods and one year progress at the time I decided that it was doable. I could get the same progress if I followed her regimen of wash and dc twice a week, and moisturizing, sealing, baggying my ends. I was then led to LHCF and BHM. I am so happy to have found her to this day as her progress was inspiration for my own hair journey.

Over the months I followed that regimen, then modified, then after reading about growth aids I hopped on band wagon after band wagon either failing or getting fed up of doing too much. I finally made it to nearly bsl after battling to get to apl and a scissor happy stylist cut off TWO WHOLE INCHES!!! After a few months I decided to go natural as my hair just didn’t feel right which I think was because of the bandwagons. I tried to do a long term transition but punked out after 3 months. 

THEN: - June 23rd 2008, 2am

I relaxed again January 19th 2010 after boredom and frustration with SSKs(single strand knots). I was APL(armpit length) but I instantly realized that I had made a mistake and relaxed two more times while weaving most of the time. September 2010 was when I decided that I was going to officially transition for as long as I can hold on to my relaxed ends and haven’t looked back at a relaxer since.  I can’t find all my pics but will surely update when I do but here are my last two updates. 

BSL (bra strap length)

MBL (mid back length)

Throughout this entire experience I've learned to stick to the basics and that less is definitely more. Leaving my hair alone and maintaining moisture, protein, and my ends have really given me fabulous results. It has been surprisingly easy working with my 13 months post hair.

Product Review: Grape Seed Oil

PIC

I've recently started looking for alternative moisturizing products because I feel like the commercial stuff isn't cutting it anymore for my oily/combination/who knows? skin. It's always been in the back of my mind but I was inspired by Moptopmaven to try more natural alternatives. She's covered oil cleansing which opened up possibilities of me exploring that and finding a non-commercial moisturizer. After much research I came up with jojoba and grape seed oils for moisturizing as I didn't have the guts to try oil cleansing.

I tried jojoba and while it was light it was still too heavy for my skin and clogged my pores. I later tried grape seed oil and have been using it for a few months. I can say that I really like it so far. It feels very light and silky, and absorbed very quickly, way faster than the jojoba. I also don't have an oily look to my face. I only used two drops so based on this a $4 bottle of this oil should last a mighty long time if it's only used for face. I use this regularly(about 6 months) and it doesn't clog my pores as my face feels great right now (hope this keeps up), I'd like to reap the benefits of the essential fatty acids.

What oils do you use for moisturizing? Are there any other natural alternatives to commercial products that you use besides moisturizing products? Please share.