Book Review: Natural Hair Brand Miss Jessie

Book Review: Miss Jessie's by Miko Branch




If you have not had the chance to read this book yet it's an absolute must and here's why.
To all my naturalistas and curly girls please join me on my new blog to read my review of  the Miss Jessies's book.https://goodhealthqueen.blogspot.com/2017/04/book-reviewmiss-jessies-by-miko-branch.html




To all my subscribers wondering where I have been, I am recommitting to blogging but all my new posts will be on www.goodhealthquee.com please join me there!




Thanks for stopping by, sharing your comments, Following , Liking the FB page, subscribing by email, sharing with your friends and all those good stuffs...(smiles) Until next time have a better and healthier life... N'na

Natural hair: To Big Chop or not to big chop? My hair journey: Transitioning made easy!

To big shop or not to big chop? That is the question.

That is the question most women contemplate when deciding to go natural.

I have been transitioning since last year and I am finally just inches away to the end of my journey! The beginning was both exciting and frustrating, like any new endeavor we undertake.

 Once I got into the routine of things I became more and more comfortable with the transition and enjoyed the process.

Going natural is and should be a personal decision. Once we decide to do it we are faced with another big decision. We have to decide either we would transition or big chop. We all make our choices for different reasons but what's important is to own and be comfortable with the choice we make.

I knew that transitioning was the best option for me because I sure can't tolerate having ' bad hair days'. I can't tolerate the thoughts of my hair being in a condition I have NO idea how to manage.

I did notice in the course of my journey that most people put pressure on the BC but it's my hair not theirs. I am the one who has to be happy and feel confident about my " crown" so I was in no way going to give into any kind of pressure about the BC.

Transitioning granted me more control. I can handle my hair with length. I would have been a frustrate sister if I had cut my hair and learned to care for  it short and impatiently waiting for growth. I knew that even with a relaxer, short styles can be demanding so there was no way I would have complicated my life by having a BC.

Plus I am married and greatly respect the idea to always being/feeling  attractive. Personally I think that when we are into a relationship we should maintain our best look even with natural hair and I did not think that I could pull it off with a BC! 

I feel more confident when I look my best and I had doubt that a big chop would help me maintain that confidence consistently.

I wanted the natural hair without dealing with unwelcome frustrations.

Here an old article on the start of my natural journey: http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-am-coming-out-call-to-naturals.html


My Tips for easy transitioning:
Transitioning was easy for me because of the following:

1) I asked a LOT of questions before deciding to go natural.

2) I deep conditioned my hair every two weeks.

3) I maintained regular visit to the salon by having my hair professionally maintained and had my ends trimmed as needed.

4) I stuck with hair stylists that had natural hair and were very experienced in maintaining my hair healthy.

5) I stuck to products and procedures that work best for me from professional brands my hairdresser recommended to homemade products/treatment I loved.

I rarely used any protective styles throughout my transition. I got my hair braided just once in the course of my transition, and I used a pretty wig a couple of days when I was too lazy to attend to my hair.

Well, that's what worked for me and made my transition enjoyable!

Remember that it's your hair and either you BC or transition you are the one that has to love your hair (and make your man fall in love with your "crown").


What about you? What did you do once you decide to go natural? Are you a new natural? Are you transitioning or going with a Big Chop? Why?

N'na

Natural hair: Why I became a natural

Natural Hair: Why I became a natural, the beginning of my hair journey

I invite you to play the song below as you read...

Hello!!! Thanks for stopping by and welcome if that's your very first time here.
This post today is an introduction to some of the things I have in mind for the coming months.  I wanted to share with you my journey as a new Natural and how I got to consider undertaking this special journey.

I must say that I am not passionate about whether my hair is relaxed or not.  My decision to embark in a Natural journey has nothing to do with a special conviction like some seem to have.
I do love my hair relaxed,  it's just that I finally wanted to try something different with my hair and at this stage I am more curious than I am convicted.  Here is how my journey started:

Two years ago, I thought about going Natural but I went back to relaxing my hair because I honestly did not know what I was doing and what I was getting myself into! 

Then about 5-6months ago I contemplated once again the idea of being Natural because I kept admiring my mom's hair.

 She reverted to her natural hair about 3 years ago and  it had me thinking..." if  Maman's hair looks so pretty natural, sure mine would look fine too".

Becoming natural once again was easy for Maman (word for mommy in French) because she already had a short hair style! Her hair was very fragile and she used to think that she did not have very good hair! Silly, right?! When she decided to go natural, it was mainly because she was traveling a lot and did not have time to keep up with the maintenance of relaxing her hair, getting it professionally done etc.

She was so surprised to see how pretty her natural hair turned out that she realized how ridiculous it had been for her to relax her hair all those years! She started hinting at me that my hair would probably be nice if not nicer, should I would decided to go natural.

My twin sister has been natural for some years as well and she too used to think negatively of the quality of her hair until she went Natural.

 I was always told that from all my sisters, I was the one gifted with  " very good hair"!  I must admit that my hair has never been unhealthy! I always took great care of my hair except for the fact that I don't enjoy to brush or style it myself. I take care of my hair by having 'experts' take care of me!

 Even as a College student I did very good maintaining my hair healthy and nice! So unlike people who went natural because of bad experiences with relaxer, my decision to go natural has nothing to do with any bad experiences with relaxers nor is it an issue for me to keep up with my salon's visits! My reasons are more like..."let's try something new", "it could be good after all"!

So I finally decided to bravely embark in this journey, with my hubby's support,

Hubby & I in Charleston SC at a Gilligan's restaurant!
yeah you can laugh it's alright!!! I get it all the time! He is 6'5" and I am 4'11"

 by:

• asking plenty of questions
• doing lot of researches
• &  with the advices from many to be patient, keep taking good care of my hair & getting them deep conditioned regularly.

My biggest concerns were:
 1) I did not want to cut them totally short , have a BC meaning Big Chop like the Naturals call it...

 Look at this one! She is gorgeous isn't she?!
This girl is Christina Goh. She is actually an old high school classmate with a fabulous voice and a beautiful singing career. She is known as " La Perle Noire de l'Afro-Blues"!
That style fits her so well! But a short hair style like this is not for me right now...The last time my hair was like this I was a toddler! In the Naturals lingo this would be called T.W.A  for teeny weeny Afro.

2) I wanted to have some styles that would support my active lifestyle and still look feminine and stylish. I know short like above would be ideal but I am currently embracing other options like braids or sparrow curls.

I was used to getting my hair done every week, simply because...well...I used to run every single day , until my foot injury, and I have too much pride in my hair to go out on week-ends with  my hair not looking fly! (lol)

My friend and big brother K.A we are hanging out @ the GA Aquarium in ATL

 Plus the sister loves her hair and loves having someone doing it! I don't like doing my own hair, especially shampooing! Maybe that will change. I realized lately that most naturals love doing their own hair! Like my friend Africa below that you will soon be meeting!

Anyway, since embarking in that journey, I am discovering that there is kind of a sub-culture existing. The culture of Black women who do not use relaxer in their hair, who sport braids or creative styles with their hair...the Naturals!

Ladrica, a beautiful and God fearing natural who lives her life with great purpose

Many of the Naturals I am encountering along the way have their own brand of products as they probably developed them as they were trying to find products that work best for them.

 My most fantastic observation about Naturals is that many of the Naturals I meet seem to have a higher sense of purpose in life and a lot of confidence in themselves! Some tend to be very passionate abut their hair and put that energy in all their do.

 I am certain that there are some naturals out there who are not very impressive, it's just that I have been blessed to meet some amazing ladies and they are keeping me inspired! If I am going all the way, I need to hang around the ones who are beautiful not just on the outside but on the inside as well. My goal is to bring to you some of them right here for your enjoyment, to inspire the Naturals among you, and to help us all to understand them better regardless of our hair preferences.

 That's why, being 5-6 months in my journey of transitioning, (the term apparently used in the Naturals' world to say that I no longer relax my hair but haven't cut them down to its natural roots) I decided that it's time to talk about Naturals, natural hair care and natural products! I plan on featuring a Natural every month and I will support the ones with their own brand of products by often featuring some natural products.

Those are divacakes cupcakes bath bombs  from Chocolashea available on Etsy

I will still write about everything health related and I will open up about my weight journey back to my slimmer me and overcoming my foot injury as I am now considering cross training instead of relying on running so much.

The thing is this : no matter who we are and what culture or subculture we belong to, we still need to be healthy and fit so I will stay true to this passion of mine. This site will never be just about hair or just about naturals, or just about one very specific thing because we are people with a common desire for healthy living and we all have many facets.

 It's just that today  I'm coming out with my Natural facet and I am inspired by the song and the attitude of the Diva in the video below.  The one and only Diana Ross!  Her daughter, Tracee Ellis Ross,  is one of the most gorgeous natural celebrities out there...

I am inviting any Natural and their fans to join in the fun, follow the Blog, leave comments, share their stories, LIKE the page Healthy can be done facebook, follow Goodhealthdiva on twitter and spread the word about the blog and all these good stuffs...

For those of you who just have no clue what in the world it is I am talking about... juts keep coming by, Follow the blog and be entertained and educated by learning more about the world of Naturals' beauty! It is a fascinating world, you will be just as amazed as I am! I am in awe each day!

Look how beautiful Naturals are...

Those are some celebrities of couuuurse, but my goal is to show you some Real people (lol)...yeah celebrities are real people too, I know...but not all of us can relate to them!

 I want to show you Naturals we can relate to like this gorgeous one right below , Ladrica, owner of http://www.chocolashea.com/ the products showed above are actually hers!

 So if you are a Natural and would like for me to feature you (& your products) please e-mail me at goodhealthdiva@gmail.com.  In April I am featuring my gorgeous friend from the U.K Africa Brown. Soon after that I hope of having the privilege of featuring Ladrica. It will be good stuff so you better come back (smiles)!

Sharing below some pictures of the hair clips I made recently for a few of my summer dresses, I love dresses, skirts and flowers so I am now having fun designing accessories including hair clips and jewelries. Since I specialize in custom gifts and cards let me know if you are interested in any hair clips and accessories customized just for you!

Dark Orange hair clip

Pink summer dress

Pink daisy hair clip

Purple Summer Dress

Purple hair clip

Are you a natural reading this? How long have you been one? What do you like most about being natural? Did you have a lot of support becoming a natural? Do you think that most naturals are very self-confident women and seem to have a higher sense of purpose?! If you are a man reading this article, do you have a special affection for Naturals or not necessarily? What's your take on it?



N'na