The Aphogee Treatment Tutorial

Okay, so you've already heard me talk about Aphogee Treatments, I'm sure. The goal of this treatment is to stop breakage dead in its tracks. Salons all over the place swear by it. It has saved my hair on more than one occasion! They have renamed and repackaged their products, which was throwing me off. Couldn't figure out why nobody had the bottles of the stuff! Anywho, here's a trial packet of the product, and what it really looks like. It's a liquid, very thin, very watery. It basically spilled all down my face, floor, shirt, and everywhere else.

The directions say to use the treatment of freshly washed hair. I used Giovanni Smooth as Silk Deep Moisture Shampoo. This, as well as the conditioner are cult faves of mine. I'll never live without them.

The Aphogee Balancing Moisturizer is a MUST if you're going to use the treatment. Seriously, it says so on the package! This is a bottle that I've had for a bit over a year. I liked to use it before or after a co-wash to give my hair some added moisture.

Just for some added punch, I used the last of my Redken Real Control Intense Renewal Masque. It sure was sad to see it go. This is one of the first masques that I have found that may work wonders on relaxed and natural heads. I added about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil and EVOO to the masque for some extra love.

Hair is freshly shampooed. I must admit, it feels kind of nice to cleanse my hair. I do this about once a month, since I am an avid co-washer.

Time to get it on! This mess stinks. It smells overly fragrant, obnoxiously even. It's like the treatment stank on it's own, so they overpowered it with a perfume-ish scent to hide the original stank. lol

Kind of blurry, but this is my hair with the stank in it.

Came down to my room to let my hair dry. Directions specifically say NOT to manipulate the hair as it gets hard. You can sit under the dryer, air dry or blow dry. Once the hair is hard, and I mean REALLY hard, it's time to wash it out!! Then, follow with balancing moisturizer. After this, I opt to moisturize the hell out of my hair, adding the masque. Afterward, hair feeling stronger and ready for war, I twisted my hair in 10 sections for a twist-out tomorrow.

Hey everyone!

I haven't used this blog in over 3 years, but I thought I should come on over and update you! If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably seen my loc progress. I've been loc'd for 4 years now! This is a style I created a few weeks ago at a blog conference.

Also, I have a lifestyle blog called Peace, Love: Erin Joy right here on Blogger. It's a lifestyle blog that covers family, food, decor and the journey to my wedding in March. I post there every couple days, so I hope you'll follow me there! I'm still blogging about makeup on my beauty blog, Scandalous Beauty, and I've got new videos coming to my YouTube channel soon!

Time for a Trim!

Since I've decided to take out these twists and get a good old deep condition, I'm going to trim my hair. I am not of fan of trimming, but I know that my ends aren't in the best shape, so I'm just going to get rid of them. No pain, no gain right??? I have a pretty basic trimming technique, as many of you may have. I clip the ends of my twists. I might not even be cutting off enough to keep the split ends from spreading, but hey, it's worked this far! I typically trim 3 to 4 times a year, just because I don't want to get carried away.

Do I Really Want to Lock???

Okay, I can't lie, I'm having second thoughts. Within the past 2 months, I've spent over $100 stocking up on my favorite hair products, moisturizers, oils, conditioners and things of the like. And then, I started looking over my pictures, various fotki's that I have saved, loctician's prices. I'm having second thoughts!!! So, I'm thinking that I may just wait it out a bit, use up my products, do tons more research, and then set the date. My hair has been growing pretty well, and I'd kind of like to see what more I can do with it. Oh well, I haven't used conditioner in my hair since the week before I decided to lock. I cannot WAIT to deep condition!!!

I swear, I hate being so indecisive.

It's Begun...I'm Locking!!!

I have officially decided to loc my hair. I still love all types of natural hair, and will continue to blog about it. But, I will also keep you all informed about my loc journey. I'm so excited!!!

On January 9th, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired about a whole lot of things. So, I looked up my favorite black movie youtuber, Watunobouthat, and watched 3 movies while twisting my hair. I used Taliah Waajid Lock It Up to twist. I haven't been able to find my freakin' camera cord, but the minute I do, I'll show you all pics! I am slightly blown because I just bought a bunch of Indian Oils to add to my conditioners. Apparantely, I can't use the conditioners that I have because they provide tons of slip, great for relaxed and naturals, not so good for those trying to keep in two strand twists. I wanted about 150 twists, but I have around 130. There are a few that could be separated, since they are slightly larger than the others. I know that the twists will get thicker as they loc, and I am elated about this! The part that I was most nervous about was estimating how thin the twists had to be to give me the future thickness that I desire.

So, the picture above is the twists as they begin to get worn in, rough and kinky. I have made an appointment with a loctician so offically start palm rolling my hair. I am eventually going to maintain them myself, but to start, I'd rather have someone else do it.

I Want Locs!!!

Did I tell you all that I am thinking about locing my hair?? I'm about 70% sure that I want them in, like, next week! I may just try them myself to see the look, then take them out until I am ready. Najahface breaks down some different ways to start your locs here!



This portion was cross-posted at Scandalous Beauty:


Yes, it's true. I want to loc my hair! I have been thinking about it for months and months now, but haven't officially expressed my feelings about it. But, as the days go by, I constantly check out locs of all shapes, sizes, lengths and colors. I even re-watched videos of myself in twists just to make sure that I was comfortable with the look. I want my locs to be about the size of my pinky finger!





I have had such an awesome time during my natural journey! I haven't had a relaxer since 2005!!! There are a ton and a half of options for natural hair, and I haven't done a tenth of them. But I just love, love, love the locked look!!! I must have it!!! I will probably procrastinate and not get them done for a few more months, since I already bought those huge tubs of Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercream andQhemet Biologics Amla & Olive Heavy Cream. That stuff was NOT cheap, so I will NOT loc until I use them entirely! To be on the safe side, I'll probably keep my hair twisted more often.

Doesn't Lauryn Hill look amazing in the picture? Billy B. was the face beater, clearly.

Review: Trader Joe's Nourishing Spa Conditioner!

I'm. Addicted.

Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme. Buy One, Get One on all items through December 31, 2008.

Blowing Up The Twist Out....

This look is the product of adding Giovanni Direct Leave In with a bit of water and some oils. I really wanted to have BIG hair. Eventually, I'd have to pick it apart with my fingers and really play with it to get the thickness that I wanted. But alas, it has arrived!!! You can really see my brown hair that was dyed a few months back versus the newer growth that is still black.

Time for a Twist Out!

I had my twists in for a bit over two weeks, and it was time for them to come on out!!! Here is the result. I love a good, defined twist out...but I REALLY love throwing conditioner in it and turning it into a gigantic twisty fro!!! I'll be doing that in a few days! It's amazing the longevity you get when you rock twists for awhile!!!

Roots: Have You Seen These Products???

One of the members of Janet's glam squad was a natural girl, and cute as a button. We'll call her Lil' Janet. Anywho, her hair was so soft and supple, it was insane. I asked her what products she used, and she brought these two products down from her hotel room. She likes the product on the right, but she absolutely adores and cannot live without the product on the right!!! I looked at the ingredients, which contain mostly glycerin. Nevertheless, I WANT IT!!! She said she has only seen them in Los Angeles. If you have seen these products before, please tell me where!! ;-)

Close Up Of My Twists

Today I co-washed my twists. I used Giovanni Smooth as Silk shampoo and conditioner. This was my first time shampooing in quite a while, and my first time ever using that shampoo. I drenched my hair in condish, for about 15 mins. After, I lightly rinsed, as to leave a bit of condish in my hair. Then, I used a bit of Coconut Oil and Vatika Oil as my leave in. And voila, here's my hair, still wet.

Twisting!!!!

Oh shucks!!! Look, I'm in twists again!!! I'm really wanting to do micro twists. My goal is to keep myself twisted for a few weeks, probably only two. I am getting really bored with them though, and I'm ready to bust out into a full twist out! So, the first time around, I had them braided to the ends. But, someone from my Naturally Scandalous You Tube Channel told me to leave them open and twirl them around my fingers to get them to curl. Instead, I finished my hair and threw some conditioner in it, wet my hair and let the bottom curl naturally. I'm just hoping and praying this helps me keep my ends safe!

Twisting is a way to keep me from playing with my hair. I constantly play with my hair, and darn near every time that I do, I lose a strand. So, maybe if I stopped tampering with it, my ends won't be so busted! Yikes!