Be you, be thankful

You have beautiful hair! You have hair that is versatile! Long when it's straight and short when it's curly! Most people wear their hair the same every day for years because its straight and lifeless. You however, can change your hair every single day! 

How awesome is that?

Be thankful for the beautiful versatile hair that God has blessed you with. Embrace your natural beauty and wear your hair how YOU like. If you love your hair, everyone else will too. The confidence you exude outweighs the circumference of your hair. It's longer than your shrinkange you tug on all day. It's shinier than the coconut oil and Shea butter you pre-poo with for luster. 

Be you and be thankful. 

-Leah 

No two heads are created equal

Sometimes I feel like my hair is not created equal; and its on the same head! But true enough, what works for me may not work for you. That's the thought behind 3 Girls With Curls. We are all naturally curly girls, yet completely different! However it never hurts to share stories on what worked and what didn't right?

That being said lets talk about the phenomenon of - Product Junkies! 

"Hey you! Yes you!" You are reading this blog to decide what new product you need to run to the store and buy, only to take up space in your bathroom cabinet for the next three years. 

While the purpose of telling you what products we use is to assist you in finding the right one for you, I feel obligated to also protect you from squandering your life savings on one use expensive products (must be the accountant in me).

 I like to consider myself a medium maintenance frugal person. Therefore, I typically do not spend a lot of money on things that I'm not committed to or feel may be a little too expensive for a test run. In those rare moments where I get the itch to venture into the deep end of products, I like to take one of two approaches: Product sharing or travel size/samples. 

When I decided that I must try the kinky curly curling custard because You Tube said it was the best thing ever, I went to Whole Foods with 1 of the Girls With Curls - Z! We got that curling custard and split it in the parking lot! Great move for me because I didn't like it! 

Recently I wanted to try the Deva Curl No Poo and Set It Free Curl Revitalizer. I saw the $20 bottles at Ulta. I stared at them for hours it seemed, until a travel pack caught my eye! $20 to try out four products seemed like a much better deal. Especially when you have no clue how it would work for you. 

Another great opportunity to "try before you buy" is visiting with friends. It seems like every time I visit a friend or vice versa, we end up swapping or sampling products! 

So think twice before you clutter your bathroom cabinet with products that don't work for you, but someone else swore by. Ask that person if you can borrow some of their miracle product, and give it a test run before you make that run to the store. 

Ciao for now! 

~Leah 

Leah's Video Post featuring baby E!

Check out the video featuring baby E. Enjoy! - 3GWC

Brown Paper Packages

…tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things!

Hi all, Lauren here.  Just thought I’d pop in and share a few of my most favorite natural hair things.  

First, let’s talk products.  In my opinion, the most wonderful products for washing and conditioning my hair are by Giovanni Cosmetics.  The products are natural, sulfate free, and biodegradable.  I have used the Tea Tree Triple Treat shampoo and conditioner, the Nutrafix Reconstructor for deep conditioning, and the Direct Leave-In for about three years, and my hair couldn’t be happier.  These products can be found at any drugstore, Target, Ulta, and Whole Foods…and even TJ Maxx in jumbo size if you’re lucky.  My next favorite product was mentioned here and is the gel/shea butter combo that Leah created.  Its one part eco-styler gel and one part softened shea butter, mixed together.  This product is a staple in my braid out and twist out styles. 

Moving right along… 

I have a problem drying my hair.  For some crazy reason, I can wash and style my hair at 6 p.m. and it still won’t be dry 12 hours later.  So, I took a page from the books of so many natural hair gurus and started using my boyfriend’s old white t-shirt to dry my hair.  After washing and conditioning my locks, I wrap the shirt around my head and leave it be for about 2 hours and then style.  My hair is just damp enough to set the style, but enough moisture is removed so that my style is completely dry by morning.

And finally, I.  Love.  Hats.  They have my back when my head is a mess and with the right jewelry, I still look pretty put together.  I spent this past weekend in Atlanta, and the weather was muggy, hot, and rainy…basically disgusting.  I tried it with a bun the first day, but when my creepy crawlies refused to lay down, I knew it was time to just pull out the straw fedora.  Thankful for the bad hair day, the hat saved me from a really boring outfit choice.   

 

Day 2 hair of wash n go - Leah

Hey there, Leah here...

This is my day 2 hair. Yesterday I did a simple wash n go. I used treseme natruals conditioner, a wide tooth comb for detangling and Eco styler gel. At night I pulled my hair into a pineapple and slept with a satin cap on. This is what it looked like when I woke up. 

For my curl revitalization I use Deva Curl Set It Free. I actually dilute it with water slightly because it can be a little too sticky for me. 

The pineapple really helps to keep the curls full and not flat because you are not actually laying on them at night. The curl revitalizer helps with any frizz you may have and also gives a little shine to your curls. 

For the edges I just used a wet brush to smooth them down. And presto! Off to work I go! 

Curly Baby Hair**

Hey there! Leah here....

So a few things have happened since I last told my story. This would be the most major change:

Yes! I had a little curly baby! Well, she's not quite a baby anymore. She's now considered a toddler at 12 months.

She's a cute little curly girl that doesn't like to have a her hair combed;Not that I can do much with it besides this one little twig in the middle. You see, my baby has a curly girl hawk! The middle portion of her hair is much much longer than the back and the sides, making it almost impossible to do too many cute styles. So, even though i'm strongly against more than 4 ponytails in one head, two is still hard to come by for this one.

I was very concerned about the baby shampoo, considering it actually contains sulfates (who would have thought?)! Not on my baby's hair! So I decided to go with the California Baby Shampoo. Its worked out pretty well so far. The only other product I use on her hair is Olive Oil Lotion, for moisture.

Another good tool that I remember my mom using all the time on my hair, is wet brush! It works wonders!

Unfortunately I had to leave home for a few days, and poor baby had a few bad hair days hanging out with Daddy. But this picture does show how the top of her hair is much longer than the sides and back.

 

So that's the little one's curly baby hair! I'll keep you posted on her curly journey as well. Maybe we should change the name to 3.5 girls with curls??? Naaaahhh

 

Take Care!

 - Leah

 

**The title of this blog is what my sister always referred to her "kitchen" (for lack of better word) as. "Leah, those aren't naps, those are my curly baby hairs!!!" - Oliva

3GWC Interview with Karon

Hey There! Leah here...

On the revitalization of the blog, I decided to do an interview with my sis-in-law Karon. You may remember her from my story post. She couldn't wait to share her story with you all, and may from time to time give be allowed to give her curly opinion in the future. So without further ado, I introduce to you Karon!

 

3GWC: When was your last relaxer? 

Karon: May 2011

3GWC: What was the one thing that made you decide to say no to the relaxer?

Karon: I thought it was pointless to continue wasting that money to go to a hairdresser to get a perm especially when I only went 4 times a year. If I can wait 3 months in between visits, I figured I could probably go longer!
 

3GWC: What was the beginning of your natural journey like?

Karon:  Well, even though I decided to grow my perm out, I continued to treat my hair as if I still had a perm. I still roller-set my hair every week and occasionally tried to wear wash and go’s.

3GWC: How long did you transition?

Karon: It took me maybe, almost 2 years to completely grow the perm out.

3GWC: What styles or products did you use for transition? 

Karon: I had no particular routine or products for transition. I continued to use whatever I was using at the time, mainly Pantene pro-v products.

3GWC: Did you do a chop? How much and when?

Karon: I did not do a chop but I cut bits and pieces of my hair along the way. Every time I would go in for a trim, my stylist would get rid of more bad hair.

3GWC: What's your current routine like?

Karon: My current routine involves pre-pooing for 30min to 2 hrs. I then rinse and shampoo, rinse again and apply Conditioner and a deep conditioner for 30 mins and comb out. I then rinse under lukewarm water and apply a Leave in Conditioner. I then proceed to style.

3GWC: What products do you use?

Karon: Pre-pooing: Shea Moisture’s African Black Soap Purification Masque and coconut oil, Shampoo: Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Shampoo, Conditioner: Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree Conditioner Deep Conditioner: Karen’s Body Beautiful Luscious Locs Hair Masque, Leave-in conditioner: Karen’s Body Beautiful Hair Nectar, Oils: Simplicity Hair Oil, Coconut Oil, Styling Products: Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Miss Jessie’s Pillow Soft Curls

3GWC: Do you straighten your hair? How often?

Karon: I may straightened my hair once a month. I usually will do a roller set and then straightened the roots that are really wavy with a flat iron.

3GWC: What's your fav style for the summer?

Karon: A really high, curly, messy bun! It keeps the hair off my neck and gives me a real bohemian chic look.

3GWC: Any advice to our curly friends?

Karon: Don’t give up on the process! Find one hair style that’s easy to do and that you love. Make it your go-to look and it will make it easier to keep going.

3GWC: Thanks for sharing your story, and we look forward to hearing form you again!

**If you would like to share your story with us, please leave a comment.
***Please feel free to leave any questions for Karon in the comments below as well.