Happy Holidays!!

Hi y'all out there in blogger land. It's been a long time I know. This is quite redundant right but until I have the appropriate time to blog it's going to be this way.
Now as much as I do love blogging there just really isn't enough time in the day to post every single idea I have....and I have a lot. Like trips I take, hair suggestions, ootd, fotd, hauls, spiritual inspiration...you name I've thought of posting. But when you add all the factors of school, social life, rest, and just plain old laziness; well I just never make the time. Not to mention I know what kinda blog I want to have and until I can make my website the way I know will help so many people, I just haven't had the motivation.
Other than that how has everyone's holiday season been treating them?? Blessed I hope!! :-)
Well as some may know from past posts my birthday is near the holiday, plus I do celebrate Christmas so I had a blast. Ugh and before I know it I'll be back in class. Which I love but I need a break every

Review of Dr Bronner's coconut oil

Hiiii y'all. Long time no speak. I say these words all the time but it's true. I am still so busy and so tired all the time that I barely have time to blog. This blog isn't about that though. It's about my favorite oil, well second favorite after EVOO. Coconut oil!!!
I've been using coconut oil since 2010 but never really used it on my skin until this year. I don't use it every day but most days right out of the shower it's the best. There are 100s of vloggers online that focus on all things natural, but my fave has to be "HEYFRANHEY" she is the best all NATURALe vlogger. I only say this because she really does use organic, natural products for her skin and hair. I'm sure she uses non natural items too.
After checking out her vids I've been in transition on going completely naturale, organic everything. But like everything else that's good for you going organic is expensive. So when I get a great job next year after graduation I'll make the complete turn around until then I'll stick to organic hair and body products.
The other day I realized I had ran outta coconut oil, which was a shocker because my first jar lasted so long. My second jar was the Spectrum brand expeller pressed which was unscented. It felt great on my skin and in my hair. It was purchased at pathmart for $9.99 for I think 12 oz. So since I had to go to "Whole Foods" for some essential oils, which I refused to purchase because it's really overpriced, I thought why not kill two birds with one stone and pick up my EVCO. Well they didn't have any Spectrum brand. I thought uhoh...what is a girl to do? Then I see another brand of EVCO. "DR. Bronner's magic all-one fair trade & organic fresh pressed virgin coconut oil" it also said "whole kernal unrefined". Lol. I said what in the heck is whole kernal, like popcorn kernal. I still don't know but after opening it up I didn't see actual kernels so I was less worried. Anyhoo, I get my purchases home, I also bought honey ill review that later cause it's Amazing. I open the jar and it smelled like popcorn. Lol. Now I'm like wait is it popcorn coconut oil or what. My other brands never had a smell so I thought about returning it but I liked how it felt on my hands.
After 1 week of use on my skin and hair I really love it. The smell isn't strong to me but I know some folks might not like it. Also it's the same price as my last jar $9.99 but unlike Spectrum EVCO it's 14 ozs . We'll see as time goes on but so far so good with this brand.
Recap:
- "DR. Bronner's magic all-one fair trade & organic fresh pressed virgin coconut oil" was purchased at "wholefoods" for $9.99. It's 14 fl oz.  -It's scented, although lightly it still may not be appealing to most.
-coming soon are the ways I use EVCO

THANK YOU for reading my blog. It really does mean a lot to me.

Pynkstarr

I'm late, but yesterday was my naptural-versay

Omygosh guy's. I've been natural for 4 years now. Well almost 4 years, let me explain. I had my last relaxer January 2010, which means that's my "technical" nappyversary. But because I didn't know I was actually going natural until the middle of 2010 I kinda don't count before my big chop. Numbers aren't as important as they used to be so 3 or 4 years, its not a big deal.
My hair journey is 25 years long. I've always had hair issues in some way. Whether I was relaxing or natural I had to deal with something. My hair was too short, too kinky, too nappy, falling out here, too dry....the list goes on. But it wasn't until I went natural that I was able to learn how to treat my hair so that it could be healthy and grow the way God intended; all while being okay with it being a little more kinkier than most. My advice to new naturals is to enjoy the journey and not take everything you read too seriously. I say that because what someone does to his or her hair may not work for your hair. Nothing wrong with tweaking directions here and there tho. Just do what's best for you, as long as you put health first.

Hope y'all enjoyed this post.

Remember to keep it fun!!!!!
Pynkstarr

Its my fiiirst week! And scandal recaps are dead! Maybe ?

So y'all are probably wondering what happened to the Scandal recap from last week and this week. Well first off I must say I hate bloggers who disappear. Like how dare they. Until I became one and well I'm with them now 100%. I'm thinking yea of course ill have mad time to blog at night. But um no. Here's why, the course I'm taking is very time consuming. And until I can do like most busy bloggers do which is download an app that automatically posts your once a day or whatever I can't do the weeklies anymore except on weekends like Sunday. I'm not going to go away for long tho.
Next the scandal recap....okay so I will still do it just can't do it weekly because I'm barely keeping my eyes open at 10 now. I wake up daily at 5:45, out the door by 7:15, at school from 9-2....come home and do my hw. By all that I'm soooo sleepy. But I did see the last to eps. Yall see Olivia's stupid ass go back to Fitz, ugh that women has man issues. But you see her parents aren't the best of role models so how else would she know how she should be with a man. Instead of having sex with different men every episode. She can fix everyone but herself. Her mom isn't dead, but I'm glad Kandi Alexander Plays her mom yay. Quinn is another stupid one who done got herself f"d up. Lol. Huck may torture her next EP she deserves it. And Cyrus has possibly ruined his own marriage. So jacked up. All these grown ass people have good jobs, appear to be intelligent yet their personal lives stink. But ill keep watching lol.
So I will keep you guys updated on school and such. So far so good! We'll see as time progresses.
Thanks so much for reading.
Pynkstarr

My Shea Butter Mixture recipe pt1

I, like most naturalists love making my own hair and skin products. It not only is a way for me to relax but a great way to know EXACTLY what is in my products.

Scandal Recap Season 4 ep 6

Last nights episode of Scandal was a little bit too draggy for my taste, but I did watch.

-First we see that Olivia is still trying to piece together that Fitz may have killed her mom. So she goes to the white house to confront Fitz, although they think she came back to work on the campaign. She questions Fitz on #operationremmington and he denies it by saying he doesn't know what she's talking about.

-Josie is now a Pope&Associates client so she and the rest of the gladitors are working on her campaign.

-Sally, VP of the USA, is secretly trying to throw Fitz under the bus so that she can run for president against him.

-Jake, Huck and Liv are still trying to find out more in regards to what really happended with that plane. Jake inquires info from a friend from the past. The friend agrees to help him and meet him later.

-Cyrus has information on a terrorist that was deported years ago, this terrorist some how has links to Harrison and it doesn't look good for him if he comes back to the USA.Cyrus is doing everything in his power to get Liv back even if that means threantening her team.

-Fitz, Milly, and Cyrus are scrambling because Josie is doing well in the polls with Liv as her campaign manager, and some preacher has gone rouge against the presidents infidelity. So they invite over Sally and her Hubby to see if she can do something about the preacher, since she's such a "good Christian". While at dinner Milly notices that Sally's husband is a handsy flirt. They can use this to their advantage.

-Liv is still upset, flashes of her last convo with her mom keep playing in her head. She calls her dad and asks him if he was the one responsible for her death. He says no.

-Quinn is still fascinated with guns so she goes to the range and Charlie comes in and peaks her interest.

-Jake goes to meet the lady about the info regarding the plane, some guy pops up and shoots her in the head and tells Jake to look in her bag. He finds a gun. The man takes him to Fitz. Fitz tells Jake to stop inquiring and that he can no longer protect him from NC-13. Jake leaves the office.

-Quinn reacquaintes herself with Charlie at the gun range . Charlie then makes a phone call to Sid telling him that he has Quinn. Which I'm sure is going to end badly for that gladiators.
-Fitz goes over to Liv 's apartment to ask her again to comeback to his campaign but she says no after he denies knowing about #operationremmington. She also tells him why shes so concerned about the plane, because her mom was on the plane.

This episode was kinda draggy. This is normal during this part of the season so most viewers start to channel surf around this time. I'll keep up my weekly recaps but I do hope it gets a teeny bit better with #mamapope. Her character will refresh things for me.

Scandal season 4 episode 5

Last night was Halloween and I was so into all the horror flicks that I kinda forgot about the show. So this recap is going to be short.

- Olivia's new client is played by Lisa Kudrow, who is a possible Democratic candidate running against Fitz. She had a secret child as a teen but she wants to keep it under wraps.
-Liv is doing her end of the contract with her father by going to dinner every Sunday.
-Jake and Huck are trying to spy on Sid to get info on #operationremmington so they are following him, at his house to download his files.
-Meanwhile the team is heading out of town to find out more about the baby Lisa Kudrow put up for adoption, but they find out that she lied and that her mom raised her daughter as her own. Meaning her sister is really her daughter.
-As the Republican party plans to expose the mystery baby, during the Democratic debate Lisa Kudrow announced the truth about her daughter / sister. She fires Olivia for making her tell the truth.
-Everyone heads out to the correspondance dinner, Jake is there with Liv. Liv gets a nod from the Secret Service she assumes its Fitz because they stayed up all night on the phone writing jokes. To Olivia's surprise it was actually Milly asking her to come back to be Fitz's campaign manager. insert cliffhanger here because she doesn't say yes or no.
-Jake gets upset that Liv only used him to see Fitz. And storms out. LIV goes back to her office where Harrison is conversing with Lisa Kudrow. She asks Liv if she'll come back. Liv says no, Harrison says what did you just do. I think she said yes to Milly but we won't find out until next Thursday.
-Jake comes home to see Huck still there. Seems as if he figured out why Fitz detoured to Finland back in the day. Turns out he was there to shoot down a plane that had Liv's mom on it. If this is true I'm sure Sid had his hands in it.

Now here is my review of this episode I'm kinda over Olivia's character being so blinded by love. I pray that no one is like her in real life but there are. I've been there minus the being in love part. But as far as just being plain ol stupid for a man who ain't worth the time. Hope they change that soon. Shonda needs to pull back the desperation just a Tad. But if you have watched and supported Shonda in her career you know that her female characters always have it together professionally but personally they are fucked up.
Ill continue to watch and share.
thanks for reading
pynkstarr

Blogtober 28-#Shop&frisk

Hey y'all.
long time no blog. Okay. Well maybe not that long.
First off id like to say blogtober is almost over. Womp womp. But I do believe this put fire under my bottom to blog at least twice a week. No its not errday but twice is what I can do right now.
Halloween is coming so please be safe trick or treating because people are crazy and get extra around the holidays.
This week is going to be exhausting with all the #shop&frisk talk. If u havent heard this  past week a few african American customers announced a suit they against Barney's the department store for being profiled after spending thousands of dollars in their store. This is very sad this happened but people need to stop being surprised that racism isn't dead. Not justifying what they did but I also have known for year's what stores to go in and where not to go. Case in point I don't shop at Short Hills mall. Most of the stores are too expensive anyway but they also racial profile. They don't even bother asking you if you need assistance they do the "we'll be right with you" thing and then disappear and help the white customers. Here's the solution my brown beautiful people STOP GOING IN STORES THAT FOLLOW YOU!! If before you make a purchase someone is rude, condescending, ignoring you, or just plain mean don't by anything. This isn't the first instance at a highend retail store....unfortunately it won't be the last. Just don't waste your time and money on places that don't want you in their store. More likely than not this is an employee issue not a policy made by the company. Pretty sure these so called "rules" aren't in the hand book. Because I have experience in working in high end stores I know this to be true. Just be aware of asshole behavior when you shop!

Moving on this week my family has so many bdays!! Happy Birthday! To my family and friends! And Happy Birthday to all the Scorpions. Woop woop!

I hope you guys have a safe Halloween!
Thank you for reading!
Pynkstarr

Blogtober 26-Am I a geek/nerd?

Am I a Nerd/Geek?

I pose this question to myself because I really think that I am, and now is the time to admit it. LOL. All my life people would call me a nerd because of many different things. I think it's because of my curiosity with Tech from video games to software. I remember being about 6 when I first used a computer at my school. It was the most fascinating thing I had ever seen. I came home and told my parents about it and how you could do all of these things with computers. My dad went to a used computer store and purchased a used Apple Macintosh. The big one from the 80's LOL. (Think Dunkin Checks In the movie). I wish we had kept it because maybe it would've been worth something. People laughed at me in school when told them we had an Apple. Can you imagine less than 10 years later they'd be as popular as every other PC. My first and only game was Paper boy and we had a joystick, it took these huge floppy disks. My mom is the kind of person that likes something for as little as a week before she gets bored with it, esp if it's not doing what she wants. I am a teeny bit more patient than that especially as an adult, as a kid forget about it. I didn't know what patience was. So although I was fascinated with the Apple Macintosh my dad and mom weren't feeling it just lying around the house. My mom takes some typing course and thinks she's a computer wiz so we buy a Microsoft Word Processor. It was a Monitor and typewriter. The screen had this humungous knobs for settings. But this was for my mother's use only. Unless I had HW she wouldn't let me get near the thing.

Eventually after my mom went through about 2 Word Processors (like I said nothing is ever right lol), and after my pleading to my dad we went to The Wiz and nobody beats The Wiz  lol. By this time I was pretty knowledgeable about what type of PC we needed, but of course a 4th Grader is never really taken seriously. Through the misguidance of my oldest brother and my mom's so called knowledge of PC's we end up with a Packard Bell. I was finally able to use this PC, mainly because by now the internet became more relevant and because we didn't have it my parents got bored with it rather quickly so they stopped using it. I remember it being Windows 98 and I had tons of games to play on it. From Barbie, to math games and puzzles. I was in love with it. My parents also bought me a PlayStation so I was on fire on the Tech front. But the only people who loved video games then were boys and I didn't want to always be seen as one of the boys. So again I kept it a secret that I spent hours on my PS playing Tekkan 3 and owned every Twisted Metal game known to man lol.

Fast Forward to about 6th or 7th grade, when it became a must-have for every household to have the internet. Something happened where Verizon wasn't available in our area, my dad wasted all this money putting an Ethernet card into the back of the PC. It was just a disaster. I rarely used it except to type HW or play a game. But I always felt that if I were given a chance to play around with it I could figure it out how to get the internet. I knew how to do things with the PC that my parents didn't. I helped them with resumes, I set up all the software on our PC. It wasn't until HS and all of my friends had the internet that I knew I had to do something fast. Everyone had AOL back then so I couldn't IM people or check emails. I was so dramatic but I felt like I was missing out on everything. So with my dad's permission I started tinkering around with our PC. I took off the back panel and had like a moment that I'll never forget. There were so many things I could take apart and put back together. It was fascinating. I set up the internet over the weekend but just changing some settings and switching some boards in the back. Well I was able to set up the internet by myself, and for free. Booyow!! lol. When I went back and told my friends they weren't as excited as I was so I kept my love for tech to myself. Who wants to be seen as a Nerd, it was bad enough I wore glasses, and was an A/B student. I didn't like feeling as if people thought I was a GEEK/NERD. I know now it's okay to be smart and be in to technology because of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. But when you come from the hood, go to a Catholic school, middle class family, smart, people look at you differently. You aren't one if the "cool" kids if you were smart. So I just kept it a secret for years and put it out of my mind.

Through out the years I learned terms, took computer courses in college, fixed/installed software my own as well as for others like family and friends. All self taught of course. But that's how you used to learn things. Now we have YT videos that show and instruct us on everything from installing software to fixing our Android phones. It's just always been fascinating to know that I can actually be good at something and have people need my help for it.

I know my blog posts can sometimes be long winded, but I said ALL of that stuff to say "Don't Block Your Blessings". If you have a talent, that you can't escape from or something you love doing and are really good at but not quite sure if its right, still explore that and except that that is maybe who you are. You can't deny that feeling for too long. Oh it's going to come out one way or another. So I can now say it loud and proud,

I AM A NERD!!!!
That felt pretty good to say lol.

Just be yourself and don't change something in order to appease your so called friends.
Thanks for reading

Pynkstarr

Blogtober 24-Scandal season 4 ep4 recap

Hey y'all here's my recap of Ep 4.

-Jake and Olivia are arguing in her apartment about her dad, Sid pope. She basically tells him that it's time they stop all communications because it can only end badly if her father found out he was still there. Jake leaves.

-The gladiators have a new client, a Senator who sexted some half naked pictures to tons of women, one ends up dead.

-Huck is back at AA meetings for killing, Quinn follows him but he catches her hiding out at the meeting.

-Elections are coming up so Milly, Cy, and Fitz are on their P's and Q's to make sure everything goes well, but people wont let it go about the infidelities in the WH. Not to mention Milly said some not so nice things about a Democrat women running for President (Lisa Kudrow) while sum else's mic was on.

-The gladiators are in court trying to prove the Senator to be innocent. They bring up things about the girl's past that may hurt David Rosen's case big time. Quinn is still trying to help Huck out with his 'Killing' problem.

-Turns out the Senator has a sex addiction. He has been texting women even during the trial. Liv and her team has to decide what to do now.

-Milly is doing media control because of her comments. Fitz has a proper burial for his friend from the navy, Pete Foster who Huck killed last week, he was apart of #operationremmington.

-Jake is following Liv's father to get info to bring him down. He leaves the information with Liv even though she says she wants nothing to do with him or what her dad does for a living. Huck looks through the file on the guy he killed and has the realization that Sid can probably be brought down

-The Senators wife goes missing for a while, then Liv finds her and persuades her to testify so that her husband doesn't go to jail.

-Huck and Jake show up to Liv's  apartment with evidence to bring down command aka Sid Pope. They bring her a file about #operationremmington which states that a plane Pete Foster was supposed to be flying was actually flown by Fitz.

-The Senator is found not guilty, Liv finds out that he wasn't really with his wife and that she was out that day. Then Liv puts two and two together and realizes that his wife was the killer of the girl.

-Quinn and Huck get into about her fascination for killing. Quinn, girl get it together. I don't like the way they are going with her character but we are pretty early in the season.

-Jake and Liv are making out when Fitz calls to talk about something, he hears a mans voice then hangs up. Fitz arrives at Sid Pope's headquarters. Which is not a good thing because it will bring up some past things that should stay hidden during election year.

My views on this episode was A+ we are getting closer and closer to finding out the truth with Operation Remmington. And if Quinn will become the new Huck and start killing people. She's crazy now. \
I know the recap is short but there was just too much details before. This recap this week is my new method. More of a synopsis of the episodes than detail formatted blog.

Thank you all so much for the support.

Feel free to leave a comment on this episode or the show below.

Pynkstarr

Blogtober 22-How I use protein treatment on Natural Hair plus review of Palmer's coconut deep conditioning protein treatment

Let me start off by saying I have absolutely no professional knowledge of hair. Whether that be natural hair or relaxed hair, professional I am completely ignorant to what works and what doesn't. Now when it comes to personal knowledge from years of taking care of my own hair then I can offer my input on how certain things worked for me and what just absolutely does not. As far as the physiological aspects of my hair I am learning as I go just as many of you are. I would love to be able to spew out information about  (cortex)
or

Blogtober 19-My week at a glance.

Well Hello out there in blogger land.
As you all know I love blogging and my goal is to continue to help as many people as possible with being relaxer free. So many people need help with this journey but I've always assumed that everyone knows everything. Just because we might know something we can't expect others to know it too. That goes with everything in life. So being able to blog or make a video in order to help someone out is awesome and fun to me. The issue isnt blogging though, the issue is actually posting. I have no internet so I had to post on my phone, which is fine but now I'm stuck using my old phone because my new one is in what android users call a bootloop. Oh I've tried recovering nothing works. That basically my only issue with posting regularly....lack of internet.
Next month I'm going to be going back to school so that may also play a role in regular postings. But I'm going to continue to do the best I can.

Now that that's out of the way lets update my week
Wed I watched this movie called 'Toy Story of terror'. I love animation esp the Toy Story franchise, I cried on the part when they were almost crushed in the last one and they were all holding hands. Ugh I was bawling like a baby. But I recommend this movie 100%.
Thursday I went to Walmart with my mommy. Her tablet stopped working and she had to get another one. But while I was there I found a Curls product that I've been wanting to try. It's called Curls goddess curls . I can finally wash my hair today so I'm going to try with one of my styling creams. I'm excited.
Friday I registered for school which made me so excited. I love school and have missed learning so much. Its a computer certificate that Ill be getting which is right up my alley. It was between computers or cooking. I love both my computers are more versatile than cooking to me. Plus I've been using computers longer lol.
Today is Saturday, the 19th of Oct and I'm just going to wash my hair and do a twist out with the Curls and probably Cantu Shea butter. See how that combo works.
My sewer has been stopped up so I was trying to figure how I'd wash my hair then morning it was a miracle it was clogged anymore. I know God did that...#wonthedoit
Well on to my Saturday chores.
Enjoy your weekend
Pynkstarr

Scandal Season 4 ep3 recap

I know I am late but I've pretty busy since Thursday. But here is my recap.

-Opening scene is Jake in Liv's bed. Liv is trying to talk to Huck. Liv goes into the office and she has a new client. Mel, Cy and Fitz are talking about political and parenting skills.

-Huck is trying to kill Daddy Pope from the info that Liv informed him of last week.

-Some crazy guy is running through the WH saying he needs to talk to the president regarding that closed file Daddy pope showed Cy, in the first episode. Gosh what the heck is in the File.

-After going through the new clients finanacials Liv realizes something is wrong so she goes to the White House, only to find that everyone has left there offices and as she walks through the door she sees that Mary (her Client), has a bomb strapped to her chest.

-Mary's son was killed in an FBI raid. But no one knows why. Turns out that her son might have been a terrorist and she wants his file declassified or else she will blow up the white house and Olivia.

-The president was released from the panic room. And he is on the job to finally be a real president by putting the snipers on the job. He makes the plan. Harrison informs Liv via cell phone that they are planning on shooting Mary and that those orders came from Fitz.

-Liv makes a call to the the negotiator and tells him to stand down.

-Mary begins to freak out and says Goodbye to Liv. Liv pushes Mary away from the window to show Fitz that she is in there too and so they won't kill Mary and blow up the room.

-Liv is trying to make a plan but now the negotiators think she is the terrorist to. She calls Jake, he calls the president for help. The president says he can't help.

-Huck follows Daddy Pope to the crazy guy, the one running through the WH, he lives in a trailer and whats the Pres to come clean. Daddy pope tells him to relax and he gives him something. On his way out he is met by a gun, Huck's Gun.

-With Huck gone the team is going crazy trying to hack into the FBI files. A women from the FBI pulls Harrison aside to inform him that Mary's Son is in fact a terrorist and they have more proof. Videos and letters.

-Harrison informs Liv that the FBI has proof, then he calls her back to inform her that the FBI agent seemed shady.

-They talk to David Rosen and ask him to search the name of the Agent, it turns out she was a fake.
David goes to Cy for information on the real true file. Cy says he can't tell him and that he is still indebted to him from the Citron Card and that he owes him nothing. The information in the file is "above his paygrade" (Cyrus will read you in a min) then tells him to have a good day.

-As Cyrus goes to open the door to kick David out, David begans reading off the names of all the officers that were promoted after shooting Mary's son. And he threatens to leak those names to the DNC before reelection.

-Cy, Fitz and some other official of the CIA calls Liv to explain that Mary's son Chris wasn't a Terroist but he was in fact a CIA agent that acted as a terrorist to bring down terrorist groups. But Liv couldn't inform his mom, Mary, because it's classified.

-Liv decides to lie to Mary about her son, calling him a terrorist instead of a hero to defend her country. Mary breaks down, Liv feels bad for lying.

-As the Senator, Liv and Mary go to leave the office, Mary pushes Liv out of the office and locks herself in. She detonates the bomb.

-Liv and the senator escape unscathed but then Quinn tells her she's been spying on Huck and found that he is obsessed with her father.

-Melly is in the WH drinking and laughing. Fitz asks her what happened, she says she is happy. He asks why and tells her that Olivia could have died tonight which is something she would be happy about right? Melly laughs and says no she is happy that Liv is alive because she is the only thing that she can use againt Fitz to make him her puppet. And that with Liv dead she wouldn't be able to make Fitz do as she pleases. She will hold this affair over his head forever. Which is why she was celebrating. Melly walks out and leaves Fitz sitting there.

-Liv heads back to her office, Huck is sitting there in the dark. Liv asks if he killed her father, he says he didn't. We flash back to the point where Huck has the gun in Sid Pope's face. Sid tells Huck that he left a job inside for him to finish and then walks away. Huck goes inside to find the crazy man tied to a table with a Razor. Huck goes back to his old self and kills the man, who I assume knew a lot about that file #operationremmington. Huck makes it look like a suicide.

-Back to the present Olivia is comforting a saddened Huck, he informs Liv that once you are in that's it you can get out.
Liv goes back to her apartment and Jake is worried about her. She asks Jake why was he there. Jake says he'll leave. She says no I mean why did my dad let you out. He says he doesn't know. Her phone rings, its her dad. Then her other phone rings, its Fitz. She tells Jake that her dad never just let people go and that he is using him for something. She tells him not to worry cause she is in too and he wont let her out either. Her house phone rings but her and Jake just sit on the couch.

-Sid is in the Limo looking pissed that Liv wont answer and throws down his phone.

That episode was great. A lot people have said that the show isn't as good since it's popularity has grown. Too me its still a great show, the writing, the casting all of that. There is a hater in every bunch right. Lol.
Hope e joyed this recap. Ill be back next weekend where they are doing an episode based on Weiner but the woman he sends his pic to ends up dead. . . .dum dum dum lol.

Pynkstarr

Blogtober 15-Keep the dream going

I feel as though we all have something inside of us, whether its a dream / goal from when we were younger or a new one that was formed as recent as last night. There is always a bigger picture. The only thing that we have to remember is that bigger picture. But I don't mean put it some where in the back of your mind or take it out once in a while. I mean look at that picture every time things don't seem like they are looking up. Because once you put that dream away that's it. It's gonna be almost impossible to get back on track of your goal. You're gonna have that moment that maybe it's too late. But its never too late. Ever!!!! That's why I say that if you have a dream than keep pushing. Don't let anything or anyone stop you...finance, people, spouse, etc. No one.
Everything that God has promised us is already ours, we just have fight for. God gives you the blueprint but He won't do all the work. We have to do things to. We can pray all day about jobs and families but sitting back and doing nothing won't make it happen. You have to keep on moving on when you feel like giving up and just think like this, this is my purpose therefore I am destined for success. God promised these things and he will provide, for God is not a man and He can not lie.
Really hope you guys can feel what I'm saying. I have been through so much, had dreams and them go...just gave up for what ever reason. Never thought that the situations I was in was a step to my real true purpose, so I quit my dreams. And have had to start all over again.
You'll never have to restart if you just keep on keepin on!

Take care and God bless

Pynkstarr

Blogtober say what?

Ugh when it rains it pours. I'm telling you every time I try to start up my blog..meaning get it back in to order, something goes wrong with my internet. Currently I'm using my old phone, not to sound ungrateful but it is old. Lol. Therefore it's harder to post blogs regularly. Friday I was thinking of a good idea for my posts...had it all planned then bam my phone refused to come on. I could've cried but I figured Id just keep working with it until it came on. Then I thought about what I was doing when my phone freaked out...doing some job searching. Now Some of you might think this is crazy but this is true, Every time I do a job search something bad happens. And I don't mean sometimes I mean like all the time...my laptop shuts off, internet goes crazy or something. Sometimes even when I blog something bad happens, I don't know what is going on. Then  I think is this is God telling me not to do these things... I mean what other explaination is this except God. I have lots of dreams that include me doing my own thing. Having my own business. At the end of the day there's no job out there that I'm going to be happy to get up to go to every morning that ill love 100%. Some of you hate your jobs right now, or do you kinda hate it and just deal with it until you find something. I can't do that anymore cause it's a waste of time and a health issue for me. It gives me anxiety to do things I really really hate but have to because I have no choice. I don't have kids nor any bills so I don't have much responsibility compared to most but still.

So back to my bad vibes I guess you can call them. After my phone stopped working I cried, asked God if He was serious not again. So I am not sure y this keeps happening because I blogging and I thought God wants us to do what we dream for. Of course he does but not everything we pray for is meant to be I guess ....or when we keep getting knocked down we just keep going. A delay isn't a denial and things take patience lots of patience. Crying helps, at least for me it does. So does prayer, lots of prayer. And find it in you to keep going.

Ill be back tomorrow!
If I'm not you know what happened. Lol

Pynkstarr

Scandal season 4 ep 2 recap (spoilers)

I love me some #Scandal. It's so good.

Here is what happened:

-We see how Huck and liv met, in a train station. Every Sunday liv goes to see her dad for dinner to pay off her school loans. (Flashback)

-Back to the present Liv's client is Jeanine who is a worker at the white house but was leaked as the alleged mistress. Liv and Fitz converse on Jeanine being her client and to watch his back. He tells her to do what she has to do.
-Cyrus and Milly want to know who leaked Jeanine as the mistress. They try and figure out a strategy. But first they have to find out where she is.
- The gladiators are doing their best to clear Jeanine, although it was there idea in the first place. They hold a press conference stressing that the WH is losing control because they keep leaking false info.
-Flashback again to Liv in the train station coming from her dad's house on the phone with Edison about getting married where she is almost mugged then comes Huck to the rescue. She runs away and he continues to kick ass.
-Back to the present the gladiators are trying to figure out a way to clear their client. News leaks about her spending all of this alleged time with Fitz which looks bad and now they have to find an alibi. She says she spends time with another co worker and they IM ( people still do they) which will be proof she wasn't with the president at those times.
-Eli pope pops up at Olivias job where he sees Huck and all of her gladiators. They go in her office and talk. Quinn is snooping as usual trying to figure out why Liv never mentioned her dad living in DC before. Huck tells her its nothing.
-Meanwhile in the office Liv and her dad are arguing about letting Jeanine lie and say she did sleep with the Pres and he'll let Jake (Scott Superman) go. She says no. And continues her search for Jake at the morgue.
-Liv calls Fitz to tell him about the black ops that have Jake and wants to know if he knows whether he's alive or not. Fitz says he can't help her. She says that Jake is being tortured. He tells her he'll see what he can do. Talks to Cyrus, Cyrus plays dumb, Fitz says I know you know who they are and to find out about Jake. Cy says there isn't anything they can do.
-Flashback to Liv spending another Sunday dinner at her dads. They began discussing her getting mugged she brings up what Huck said to her about being a black op assassin which is how he learned to fight, this opens up a can of worms of course cause her dad is in charge of those black ops.... and as you remember from last season Huck was released by another Black ops agent and they couldn't find him. We assume her dad makes some calls cause Huck goes missing.
-Another flashback is Oliva asking her dad if he ever asked his FBI friend about this Black ops agency, her dad tells her there is no such thing and to let it go. That her friend Huck was arrested for fighting train riders and that he was crazy. She says she doesn't believe that because Huck was always nice to her. Her dad yells at her to let it go.
- Back in the present, the team is still trying to get the IMs, they meet the co worker and convince him to do it the next day.
-Milly is watching the News talk ish about her maybe lying about the presidents affair to get attention for her failed career before becoming first lady. Of course she doesn't like that.
-Flash back to Olivia going to the Acme place Huck told her about, that's really a cover up for assassins. She thinks back to her father. Then meets him at a restaurant and asks him if he's the person training people to kill people. He doesn't answer, she starts to cry. He tells her to sit down and have dinner she leaves. Comes to the following Sunday dinner with Edison, revealing that they are getting married and that Edison would basically put a wrench to his black ops agency if he didn't let Huck go.
- Back in the present Jeanine is going to do a live interview telling the world she isn't banging the president. The gladiators fix her up and calm her down.
- That night Liv gets a call about a possible body... it could be Jake. While she's out, Jeanine who's sleeping on Olivias couch gets a call. It's FLOTUS!!! Dum dum dum! They meet in a limo to talk business. Meanwhile at the morgue its not Jake. Liv arrives home to Jeanine fast sleep on the couch like nothing happened.
-Flash back Huck is back in the train station with a black eye. Liv is happy to see him. Then her dad calls and she finds out that he physically harmed Edison to show that everything comes at price. He tells her to break off her engagement with Edison. She tells him to stay away from her.
-Back in the present the gladiators are getting ready for Jeanine's interview. They get word back that they can't use the IMs because Jeanine told him to erase then. The team realise someone in the white house got to her.
-Olivia's phone rings its the president telling her there wasn't anything he could do about Jake it was out of his hands. She tells him he is POTUS he can do everything.
- She then calls her dad to tell him to let Jake go. He tells her no.
-Liv asks Jeanine what they offered her, she plays dumb, then offers up that they promised her $2mil to lie about sleeping with the pres. Liv tells her it's a bad idea. Then they get interrupted by breaking news!!
-The breaking news is the president is about to announce that he is indeed having an affair with Jeanine. THE vp doesn't by it.
- Quinn has been spying on Olivias emails and finds information about Livs dad that she then brings it to Huck and he figures out who Liv's dad really is.
-Huck confronts Liv about her dad. Then yolks her up against the car asking her not to lie. He was angry. But then he lets her go and she reveals that her dad is Command. Huck leaves.
-Olivia is upset in her house, on the couch drinking wine. Her dad rings, he tells her to go to the door, she tells him she wanted nothing to do with him. But she goes to the door its Jake!!!! He's battered. Her dad tells her he'll see her Sun for dinner. She grabs Jake and hugs him.

Whew! Good right. You guys have to watch it to believe how great this show is. Next week Olivia is in a hostage situation!!
See you then!!
Pynkstarr

Blogtober day 10 2013-Gratitude; 99 things we are thankful for

Okay so I won't be typing in all 99 things but I will use 10 things.
This was posted this morning, at a time way before I wake up usually. I'm always cranky when woken up before my body clock wakes me up usually around 10-11( don't judge me) but this morning again I was awakened out of my sleep. Which isn't a big deal when you finally get your thoughts together, but at the time all these crazy things run through your mind. Then I saw this tweet from Iyanla stating that we should be grateful for things that seem small and to take the hour listing 99 things we were thankful for #thankfulthursdays.

Here are 10 things/ people I am thankful for:

1) God
2) My dad...best man in the world
3) My mommy... she's so strong, encouraged me to take care of my body.
4) Food in my stomach... none in my fridge right now but I just ate the best chk and broc from the Chinese food store.
5) Heat and hot water...seems so simple but unless you've been without you have no idea how amazing they are
6) My health
7) Roof over my head
8) Waking up this AM...although I love my sleep I am always thankful to wake up and ask God what He wants me to do today.
9) My friend Wes... he's always always here for me even when I don't ask for him to be I know he's got my back.
10) My mind...yes it is a terrible thing to waste. I keep my mind active by staying creative, doing puzzles etc. As we get older besides our bone mass the first thing that goes is the brain. Keep it active!!

Wow that was easy. But like I said I have a lot of things and people to be thankful for. God didn't make a mistake where he made us so let's be thankful for everything He has given us.

Pynkstarr

Blogtober 9,-The Big Chop & 5 tips I learned

I think the most asked question I get is should I BC or not and my answer usually is do it if you can deal with the (a) stares from people trying to figure out if you're sick which is the reason why you chopped of all of your hair...cause God forbid you did it for a personal choice. (B) not having long hair for a very long period. Depending upon your hair growth there is a time when after you BC you go though an awkward stage that many can't handle. It's serious! You don't feel pretty, you can't wear your hair in a ponytail. It can get frustrating, it feels like your hair may never grow back. You feel like there aren't any styles that make you look like a girl. I tell this to people because it's the truth for most, not all, naturals. What some one else can tolerate varies on the person. Since doing my BC 3 years ago I've been unemployed meaning I can wear my hair however I want. I can wear a hat or scarf for bad hair days. But for most people who work they experience a time when they feel their only choice is to go back to the creamy crack.

I've been there before too...YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We watch these people on YouTube go from a TWA (teeny weeny afro) to shoulder length hair in what seems like less than a year. They seem so happy they big chopped...they do all those styles but we don't see is what happens after the camera cut off. Its not going to be easy in the beginning but it's so worth it.

Here are my tips for BC:
1) If youre like me having relaxers in your hair almost all of your life then you've never seen your natural hair before. It's going to be dry. Not sure if this is everyone but

my hair was so dry. Just feed it water and a good moisturizer. 2) Purchase hair accessories to help with those days when your not feeling the natural look. 3) Don't feel confined to the "natural" rules that state you can't wear weaves, wigs... you can if you want to don't worry about what other people say about that stuff. Do you! 4) Eat properly and drink plenty of water. This helps keep your hair growing and healthy from the inside out 5) just have fun! Let go of being so worried about family and friends who have something to say. Enjoy this time getting to learn your hair and don't let anyone get you down. Rock that fro girl!! Did you big chop? Pynkstarr

Blotober 8- What's your favorite scary movie?

I know there isn't a person alive who has not seen at least 1 Scream movie. I've seen all 4 of course but that's not because they are horror films which I love, but because there is always a suspense to the movies. And I love me some supense thrillers. If you haven't seen any in this franchise here is a synopsis.

Sydney is a high school teenager who lives with her single father, her mother was murdered a year before all these crazy murders started happening. We later find out that Sydney's mother got around and so basically all of the killings had to do with her. People think Sydney's crazy and overreacting because her mother just died the year before. But we find out that there's an actual serial killer lurking strong around town. And unlike Jason or Michael Meyers franchises we spend the whole movie trying to figure out who the killer is. I have never gotten the killer right but after watching them multiple times I had an AHA! moment.

I really don't want to give too much away but this franchise is a good suspense thriller of whos the killer and who will die, there are some parts that can be jumpy like Halloween but if this isn't a problem then you will really enjoy them.... yes all four!

PYNKSTARR

Love and hip hop nyc season 4

What can I say except that I love reality television. It's just hard for me to see them because (A) I haven't had cable since 2005. (B) I was using the internet to watch my shows up until 2011 and whenever I have the chance to get a good wifi connection. Because I have such a hard time catching up on my shows I haven't been able to blog consistently. But I am hoping my luck will change before #LAHHNY season 4 because it looks so good.

Here

Can't wait until October 28 at 8PM.
Pynkstarr

Blogtober Day 7--Im almost 30...

God has an amazing way of telling me things. As most of you know I've been without any employment for 3 years now. I've applied to hundreds of jobs and only one interview. At least 4 times I missed a call/email for a potential job because of lack of phone service and internet service.
I still apply to jobs here and there but probably not as much as most people who are unemployed. Here is the reason. I can't settle. I know you are probably like well anything is better than nothing right? Although true for most, but from past experiences this is not the case for me. I've been hospitalized because of medical things that happened to me because I had that mentality. I hated my job so much because I began settling that it began to make me sick. Very sick. Depressed, ill, migraines, anxiety attacks... you name it. But I was making money, which is better than being broke right? Gotta pay those bills...gotta buy those clothes, gotta keep up with the joneses right? And because of these things I've always felt like i made a mistake. Although nothing is truly a mistake with my life. I've made choices I regret, but they were never mistakes.

Since I was younger I knew I was supposed to start my own business. I've always known this. But some how along the way it's like I forgot. And when I did remember i made an excuse as to why I couldn't do this or that. Meanwhile I was getting older and began to feel like I haven't accomplished much like most people my age. I don't have a driver's license, no car, never owned anything major like property, don't have my BA yet which delays my MA which delays my Phd...plus I'm almost 30.

I've been trying since 2010 to start a business....notice I say a business because I've tried many things and when the slightest setback occurs I'd give up. Between not having money to survive, and other life issues I put that dream a way. And now 3 years later I've picked it up again. All of them. Why not right? I regret giving up so easy but now im back to work. After reading #xonecole of necolebitchie.com she inspired me even more that (a) God was listening when I told him I was too old to start a business (b) everything comes in do timing, we just have to be patient.

You're never too old to do your thang!! Please remember this!

Thanks for reading,
Pynkstarr

Blotober day 6- Sunday dinner

I really wasn't sure what to post for today but then I thought why post about food. Yum. In most households, esp AA households, we hold Sunday dinner very close to our hearts because it's a time when we can be ourselves. Most families do it after church, while others do it after a football game. However you celebrate your Sunday make sure it's with people you love.

Happy Sunday,
Pynkstarr

Blogtober Day 5, Oct 5 2013- hair regimen

Hey lovelies,

I was just scrolling through my blog today and saw how far I have come since 2009. Not to mention the fact that my blog has not been very consistent, which I am almost sorry for but not only because I just love so many things. LOL. Any hoo I was going over my hair regi's and see that I haven't posted a new one in like 3 years. In three years a lot has changed, one major change is after going completely relaxer-free my hair changed. I have had ups and downs but my major hair issue is moisture, dry hair, and hair retention. I have learned a lot about my hair since my transitional period in 2010 therefore my regimen has changed multiple times through out the years. Not sure if this is a good sign or a bad sign to change your regimen so much, but hey I am human. LOL. So here is my current (by current I mean what I did the last time I washed my hair) hair routine.

My last wash day took a lot longer because I had in mini-twists therefore I had to use water and Coconut Oil to remove my twists. I also finger/wide combed detangled my hair using H2O and Coconut oil. ----This is what most people call a pre-poo

Next I used my ACV mixture on my scalp because it works for the itching I get in the crown of my head. My ingredients are\
ACV= 2 parts H2O + 1 part ACV + (optional) honey

The last few times I used shampoo my hair felt frizzy, and I hated it so I went back to my own poo mixture. Those ingredients are \
Poo Mixture= 2 parts water + 1 squirt of Castile Soap ( I use the lavender Dr Bronner's version).

Next my last two washes I've used Tresemme Naturals conditioner, which I love the way it makes my hair feel.

I made my own deep condition the wash before last, but this time around I ran out of eggs so I used Shea Moisture Deep Treatment masque. I left it on until the next day.

The next day I washed out the DC and decided I wanted to stretch my hair using the tension method, which I have described before in a previous post.

Then I styled my hair in a twist out.

To put it short
1) ACV rinse
(once/month) 2) Poo Mixture
3) Conditioner
4) Deep Conditoner
(once/month) 5) Style

I do this once ever two weeks. I used to wash or co-wash every week but changed that because I felt like my hair was getting so dry when I did.

Depending on the day I either air dry (most likely) or blow dry (least likely).

I hope this helps someone but like I said I will more than likely in the coming months change it again.

Thanks so much for reading

Pynkstarr /(*_*)\

Blogtober 4 , Oct 4th -Faith & belief

Hey,

I wanted to talk about faith and belief, again.....
I can't specify enough about these two things they go hand and hand. Both have been hard for me through out the years but I've learned that it's all physiological, this is what living is for most of us. In order to have faith we need to believe that all the great things that's happened to us can happen again. Although way deep down I know this, I am always reassuring myself that everything that happens to me is a blessing. Lost friendships, family members, jobs, money spent on stupid purchases. All that stuff that has happened were blessings. At the moment I put more effort, energy into those people or situations than i should have but that's what faith comes in. Faith comes in knowing that if you did something once, you can do it again. You got that job once you can get it again... maybe a better one. You got into that relationship once you can get into another one even better. You just have to believe, and be aware that this moment will pass and it's not the end of the world!

Thanks for reading,
Pynkstarr

Scandal season 3 ep1 review (spoilers)

Omgosh just got finished watching Scandals new season and I must say it had me reeling with anticipation. Something I don't believe I've ever felt before.... for any show. Well if you've never seen the show then this post won't make any sense. LOL!

Here is the recap:
-We open up to daddy pope and Olivia in the limo. Where we left off last season.
-He basically wants Olivia to disappear because of the fact that her name has gotten out as being the mistress to the president of the US.
-Daddy pope is a bad mam a jamma cause he goes in on Liv something serious. Tells her did she really think she'd be first lady, all the things no daddy should ever say to a daughter.

-She calls Cyrus to tell him she's leaving , on a plane to go somewhere. Anywhere to be unknown. Cyrus explains that if she leaves fitz will have a fit and he won't be able to control him. Fitz will think he (cy)  had liv killed and there for not trust him.

- Cy convinces Olivia to get off the plane, her dad is upset tells her she's making a mistake.

-Back at the white house everyone is going crazy over the story. Cyrus and VP are arguing as usual. (Sidebar: I tuned out at this part because Liv wasn't featured)
-Liv makes it back to the office, there waiting were her gladiators  to whisk her out at of the limo.

-Liv's team try and get her to come up with a plan, she says it being handled, they say by who the white house. She says yes and to go find clients they tell her all the clients care about is the cheating scandal.

-Things seem to be going bad because all of their clients are firing the gladiators.

- In comes David to ask liv what she's going to do, she's quiet, in walks the gladiators to turn on the news and they have a breaking story showing the prez coming out the back door of liv's place.

-Liv receives a call from her dad, she meets him in her garage, he tells her to get on the plane, she says no, goes inside calls some number....then the best scene of the night is her leaving in a limo while the paparazzi waits outside her building. And here comes at least 10 limos lol. Why don't celebs do that in real life. Oh wait I forgot they're the ones who called the paparazzi!

-Liv was actually going to meet up with fitz and mellie to discuss the situation. Fitz says he loves liv in front of his wife!!!

- They come up with a plan to just come clean with everything.

-Cy also comes up with a plan with his interns "Olivia kill folder", in which they research her life. They mention her being MIA for a few years...im sure they'll delve more into liv's past.

-Meantime the gladiators are coming up with their own plan, which includes throwing an intern under the bus with a video of her saying she thinks the prez is hot.

-This throws the press off of Olivia and on to the poor intern. Olivia is mad at her team for fixing the problem.

-We see mellie coming to the conclusion that Fitz was actually the one to leak Olivias name to the press to save face.

-Fast forward to cyrus's house where his husband is knocked out on his bed and a black op has a gun to his head. Cyrus is then seen with daddy pope, turns out he just wanted to inform Cyrus on something in a folder. Which we won't find out until the seasons end im sure.
- Last scene is the gladiators and their new client, the poor intern.

Wow! The first episode was out of this world. I don't think you can be sane and write anything this amazing. Shonda writes the way most writers do but no as predictable as others. She throws curve balls, leaves US hanging. I mean Id love to see what else she can do. Can't wait for next week. Will you be watching?

Pynkstarr

Blogtober day 3, Oct 3rd Scandal

Hey lovely readers,

I was thinking about what could I post about today. As I'm sitting here waiting for #Scandal to come on I couldn't help but think back to when I first started watching the show and why I started in the first place. Well the number one reason was Kerry Washington...um hello. The second reason was the fact that I try my hardest to support my people... and by my people I mean Black people. Not that it matters to most but there aren't many black actors/actresses on television with more than one scene. It's usually a guest appearance or one scene that we make a pop up. Or we are in multiple scenes but we play the sidekick to the main character. I mean history speaks for itself, the last leading African American actress was Dianne Carroll in a show called "Julia", which was more than 20 years ago. So my day 3 is a tribute to #Scandal especially Kerry Washington. I hope this season brings many many more. was

How I stretch my natural hair using heat 4C

My experience so far with heating tools have been a pretty okay one. I have never had any heat damaged hair since going natural because I haven't really put any heat on my hair. I think I have blow dried my hair maybe 4-6 times in the last 3 years. And I may have flat ironed my hair about 3-4 times after blow drying it first. I guess you can say I wasn't interested in it before, but now I am very interested in strecthing my natural hair every once in a while. The only issue is finding a good heat protectant. I never really purchased heat protectants before, except for maybe some pressing creams back when I was hot combing my hair. When I decided to go "natural" I didn't actually go natural, I just made a decision to not relax my hair because of cost. I chose to just straighten my hair, this was in Sept 2008. I started hot combing my hair what seemed like everyday and my hair just looking so fried I didn't even know why at the time. I didn't know what heat damage was, nor did I know why my hair was breaking off or was so frizzy looking. I had severe, I mean severe heat damage. So I decided after I got annoyed of straightening my hair daily I'd wear weaves and wigs. That was probably a blessing in disguise because when I eventually had the money Oct of 2009 I went to the salon and didn't have to have that much hair taken off. Which was great to me because I had liked my length at the time it was short but easy. I had also asked my beautician before she permed my hair if I had to get a relaxer or could she just continue to hot comb it. She told me that once you get a relaxer you have to keep getting them, so I got one. I wish she had told me that I could just cut off my ends every 6 weeks until the relaxer was completely gone. But salons are out to take your money, any means necessary. I had one relaxer in Oct 2009 and then kept getting it straightened every few weeks I had money and time to go to the salon. Then I think I got another relaxer in Feb 2010, but after that I stopped completely. I didn't learn about the Natural hair community until summer 2010 which is when I decided to go through my transition process. I didn't blow dry or flat ironed my hair as often, I honestly don't think I did either but can't remember. When I Bc'd my hair in Dec 2010 I just air dried for a few months and then in 2011 I blow-dried my hair. I didn't use a special technique on how to blow dry my hair I just used it the way I used to before going natural, which was a big no-no. I used high heat and the comb attachment kept pulling my hair out real badly. I didn't really know what it meant to try and retain as much length as possible. I just wanted to make it straight. It has taken me a very long time to understand that my hair will never be bone straight, without some kind heat damage. I don't care how much my heat protectant cost cause without it I'd probably end up with that hideous frizzy mess I used to get when I a relaxer. AKA the frizzy mess was heat damage. I really can't go through that process anymore. So this past weekend (June 2013) I tried my hand at Blow drying my hair the "proper" way. Like most recipes and instructions I took a whole bunch and remixed it to work for me. My First Blow Dryer on natural hair experience I went to multiple websites such as Curlynikki, naturallycurly, and my fave blackgirllonghair.com. I used some tips here and there, while using some of their sources to make up my own regimen depending on how well it worked after a few times. Some sites said if you want to retain length don't put heat on it, while others said it was fine as long as it was limited. I say go with your hair intuition, if your hair starts to look dull or drying after a few tries I probably wouldn't straighten my hair ever again using heat. 1) First I shampooed my hair, but since I don't own a gentle shampoo like most sites said I made a mixture of 1]Dr. Bronners Castile Soap with some water. I know this has worked on my hair before without making my hair feel too stripped afterwards. I also added a little olive oil. This was just to get my hair cleaned. I definitely recommend this, or a "co-wash" product that they make now just to get all those products out your hair. 2) After shampooing I deep conditioned with Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque. I was supposed to had left it in for 30 mins, but I got lazy and left it in for a few hours with my plastic bag on top of my head. I also finger/wide tooth comb detangled my hair and put into a few chunky twists before placing my plastic cap on. I rinsed out my DC and conditioned with Tresemme' Moisture Rich conditioner. I wanted to really make sure my hair was well conditioned before applying heat to it. Then I tried another go at my Infusium 23 leave-in that I've had for years but it seemed to never really work on my hair ever. I tried it as my water based product before sealing my ends with my Castor oil on the left and Shea Butter on the right. I only did this to see if I'd notice a difference but so far I haven't. I recommend both as great sealers. I plopped my hair with a tshirt because my hair was soaking wet still. I let the tshirt sit on my head for about 20 mins before blowdrying my hair. I blow dried half my hair on wash day and then the other half the following day. This step wasn't necessary to break up but it was like 1am and I needed to get my rest. I used the Tension Method to blow dry my hair. It actually worked well with drying and straightening my hair and since I didn't have an actual heat protectant I used Grapeseed oil and my Cantu Shea Butter Conditioning Cream. Not sure if this is actually a good combo but it has the same ingredients as most heat protectants did so I tried them both together. I used a low heat setting with a cool shot towards my ends. But my cool shot button broke on my dryer so I now have a permanent cool setting hair dryer. LOL. After blow drying my hair I put each section into twists to keep my hair stretched. And I just re-do them at night time before bed to make sure my hair stays stretched for the next day. Daily maintenance included staying moisturized, and well oiled to make sure my hair didn't frizz up. My goal wasn't to get bone straight hair but to just try something new. I plan to keep my hair this way for at least two weeks and may try my first protein conditioner to revitalize my hair after the blow out. I used either olive oil, coconut oil or Shea Moisture Curl&Style Milk. I will definitely blow dry my hair using the Tension Method vs with my comb attachment which obviously takes your hair out. I only had breakage when I detangled not when I blow-dried. And when I retwisted my hair at night I didn't have that much breakage. How do you stretch your hair? Pynkstarr

Blogtober day 2, Oct 2nd - nail tutorials for Halloween

Hello out there in blogland, It's day two of blogtober and what better to celebrate it then with nail art!! I found some awesome sites where they feature great Halloween ideas for nail designs... one site is http://www.glitterobsession.com. Hope you all enjoy her site. Pynkstarr

Cole Haan lunargrand wingtip

I have seen these shoes on so many men. First was Wendy Williams's stylist then her videographer. Then while watching Dr. OZ he also had on a pair. They are men shoes but I love them and they seem so comfy. Price:$198.00 Which isn't bad but I know some of us out there can't afford such expensive shoes. These are definitely an investment so I suggest buying suede protectant. Are you buying them? Or is the investment too expensive? Pynkstarr

Blogtober 2013, day 1 my most memorable Halloween ever!!

Happy First day of October...spoooky!! Lol. Okay maybe not but I tried. How are yall? great I hope. Well since it is October 1st I was thinking about vlogtober but I remembered my disaster vlogust attempt. Lol. So why not blogtober... that's a thing right? Well if not I guess I'm the first. Anyhoo my life is too uneventful to blog daily about it so my Blogtober will feature all things related to this month. From food to craft projects. Fashion, hair, tv shows, and of course a special last ten days. So to kick things off day 1 of Blogtober is a story that happened on Halloween when I was 7-8. I had received so much candy this Halloween. From my school, from stores on Main Street about 40 . I mean I had really racked up this time around. Maybe it was my diy Pocahantas outfit my mommy made. My long wig that came down to my butt. Who knows exactly what it was, but this was going to be the best Halloween ever! Or so I thought. Fast forward several hours and I found myself at a Halloween party at my dad's job, it was an annual thing but this time they had a pinata. I just kept waiting around for them to crack that bad boy open. My mother told me " they are about to play the pinata game but DO NOT GO GET ANY CANDY" she said I had enough candy. I mean she was right I had to big bags full of candy... not to mention the goodies I had gathered at the party. So I reassured my mom how I was a big girl and pinatas are for babies. But deep down inside I couldn't wait to see all that candy pop out of that humungeous pinata belly. So after several wacks at the thing it didn't crack not one bit. This frustrated me, my mom said why you look upset not like you're getting anything from it anyway. Well as soon as I saw it crack and all that candy came rushing out I ran for my life straight to that candy! It was like an impulse thing. My legs ran out from under me. Next thing I know I was on the bottom of a pile of 30 kids, that were way bigger than me....I've been tiny all my life. I was squashed... all I remember is my dad pulling me out the rubble, my best friend Leslie screaming like I was dying. And I was getting so much attention from everyone. Needless to say they never had pinatas again at the Halloween party plus they got so boring they just cancelled them altogether. As for me I got to get my leg scanned, it was fractured. And my mom did yell at me for disobeying her but was there for me making me soup and doing mom stuff. Yes I got hurt but it still was the best Halloween ever! What's your most memorable Halloween? Pynkstarr

Naptural hair diary-putting more efforts into my hair

Ever since the moment I have decided to officially go natural I have put more effort into my hair.

The same efforts I had put into my skin, my body, and soul I now do to my hair. I wouldn't say I never cared for my hair but that is what I assumed moms or hair salons were supposed to do, take care of my hair. But I know now that is not the case. Just like how I began working on my body in 2004, or my spirituality in 2008, I had to learn to put those efforts into my hair. But I am NOT my hair. Meaning that if today I wanted to dye it I would, if I cut it I would.

"Afros remind me of the 70's" say what!!

O boy! Here we go again! Am over reacting or are people really just too ignorant to understand how dumb they sound sometimes. My people ( black people) have been soooo brainwashed it's crazy. But I will confess that I was once as ignorant as these people in this video. Although I will say that once I became educated enough I no longer said disrespectful things about being African American or black. I wasn't raised to necessarily hate being black but I also wasn't preached to about the greatness of embracing my body, my skin color, my natural hair texture. I grew up knowing all these inventions black people did, all these accomplishments we've made, the strides we came through in history and today. But God forgive us for asking a white teacher why her hair is considered nicer than yours. Or hear your black teachers make fun of your African friend's afro in the 3 rd grade saying whyd they let her come out like that. I wasn't ever taught to embrace what I had growing on my head because my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles grew so accustomed to the European ways of living that they forgot that once upon a time wearing "nappy" hair was seen as a positive thing, being proud of who you were. Now don't get me wrong we have come a ways with our thinking and changing societies minds about not having straight blonde hair. But we still have so far to go. And Im not going to say just black people but Caucasians who feel like they can't wear their hair curly because of their up bringing. I can only speak from the black American stand point because I am doh black American. But please no matter your race please chime in. After watching the video, I was no the only one in shock. I mean "afros being in the 70's" really dude! If you didn't know how much further we've got to go then this will speak for itself. Leave your opinions below. Or email me at starrpynk@yahoo.com if you want a more private conversation regarding hair questions etc Pynkstarr lthough I will say that once I became educated enough I no longer said disrespectful about being African American or black. I wasn't raised to necessarily hate being black but I also wasn't preached to about the greatness of embracing my body, my skin color, my natural hair texture. I grew up knowing all these inventions black people did, all these accomplishments we've made, the strides we came through in history and today. But God forgive us for asking a white teacher why her hair is considered nicer than yours. Or hear your black teachers make fun of your African friend's afro in the 3 rd grade saying whyd they let her come out like that. I wasn't ever taught to embrace what I had growing on my head because my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles grew so accustomed to the European ways of living that they forgot that once upon a time wearing "nappy" hair was seen as a positive thing, being proud of who you were. Now don't get me wrong we have come a ways with our thinking and changing societies minds about not having straight blonde hair. But we still have so far to go. And Im not going to say just black people but Caucasians who feel like they can't wear their hair curly because of their up bringing. I can only speak from the black American stand point because I am doh black American. But please no matter your race please chime in. After watching the video, I was no the only one in shock. I mean "afros being in the 70's" really dude! If you didn't know how much further we've got to go then this will speak for itself. Leave your opinions below. Or email me at starrpynk@yahoo.com if you want a more private conversation regarding hair questions etc Pynkstarr

Cantu Shea Butter review of grow strengthening treatment!

Hey lovely readers, I have been using Cantu Shea butter products since 2010. Although I love them now, their was a time when their products just was not working for me I purchased Cantu shea butter Grow strong strengthening treatment because many people on you to recommend it there leave in conditioner. At the time I couldn't find it so I settled for the strengthening treatment, it works great as I was transitioning from relaxed to natural. After I bc 'd my hair it just seems to not work anymore; same with the leave in. I'm not sure what the problem was but I left my hair dry looking, even after freshly washing. So I stopped for a few months before I went back to try a different method of using the products. Twist-outs, braid-outs, protective styles, flat twists, you name it i tried it. Fast forward to today and I am officially back in love with the Cantu brand; esp their Grow strong strengthening treatment. And here are my personal opinions of the product. Price: Between $4.99-$6.00 What are the cons? I'm not feeling the fact that I can't really use it while my hair is wet I always let my hair air dry first before styling, but once I tried styling while it was pretty wet and I left my hair frizzy. Now I am not sure if I did something wrong or not, but that is definitely not recommended. What are the pros? Work well with my eco styler gel the olive oil brand, it leaves my hair shiny, soft, and it fights frizz on wash days. I also love to use it after I have blow dried my hair, my hair comes out so defined. Works well with perm rods but only if my hair is blow dried (read cons). Do you recommend this product and why? Yes, because it keeps my hair moisturized while in many of my protective styles. If you are looking for product that will keep your natural do is moisturized, this is a good product to try, but if you're going organic or refuse to use ingredients such as sulfate for Parabens than this is not the product for you. Ingredients: Water is the first one which is always a good sign. But there are Cetearyl Alcohol, Parabens, and added frangrances. It does have Shea Butter, castor oil, and sweet almond oil. I hope you all enjoyed this post. Stay tuned on more reviews. Pynkstarr

How to I do The Banding Method

After doing the Tension Method on my hair I realized that I loved my hair when it is stretched. But because I didn't want to over do it with the heat, I needed to find another way to stretch my hair. I've done so much research on natural hair in general, including stretching methods, and most bloggers recommended Banding as a good, heatless way to stretch natural hair.

Until recently I never thought I cared about stretched hair so I may have seen 1-2 videos on YT on the actual method and it seemed like a lot of work. But after reading tons of articles I've decided to go the Banding route. It seems in my opinion, that the only damage that could occur would be from the actual Banding, using rubber bands or hair ties with the metal connector. I used rubber bands but I didn't put them too tightly on my hair. And I only used rubber bands because I ran out of hair ties, but I made sure to not put them on the scalp only defending towards the end. I also didn't put the bands to close to my ends because that is the oldest part of my hair.

Here is what I did

1.Washed and detangled my hair as usual. Most articles say detangling is only necessary if you plan on doing a style after the banding, otherwise if you will be doing a twist-out or braid out it's not important. I am doing a protective style and really needed my hair to be detangled.

2. Sectioned my hair in small parts so it could dry faster, also while my hair was still wet I applied my Shea Butter Mixture to seal in moisture.

3. Once I had my hair sectioned off I applied Shea Moisture Curl and Style Milk, detangling with my wide tooth comb from tip to root.

4. At the base of my hair I used a regular hair tie, without the metal part, and banded the remainder of my hair with rubber bands. The thing about rubber bands all they WILL take out your hair if you are not careful putting them in and removing them. Don't pull them off in a fast pace because you will suffer the hair breakage that we all worked to hard to get in the first place. I don't recommend using rubber bands because of this very reason, I was in a bind therefore had no choice. But I will be investing in some Goody Ouchless Hair Ties soon.

5. I did steps 1-4 through out my entire head. It took me about an 1 and half to complete.

Yes some of you don't have any time to do this, but I have wanted to try this stretching method versus using heat. I will be featuring more videos and articles regarding various other stretching methods, such as Roller Sets, Plaits, Flexi-Rods, I mean the list goes on and on.

Stretching my hair using the Banding method is here to stay. Pynkstarr

I disagree with Sheryl Underwood but...

I was completely out of the loop when it came to the subject of Sheryl Underwoods comments in regards to natural hair. After reading the comments I, unlike most naturalistahs, tried to put myself in her situation. I have been trying my best to change my views on others opinions of myself or things that affect me personally. It just so happens that I am natural, therefore what she said did offend me. But lots of things that people say about natural hair offends me. This has nothing to do with Sheryl per se, just that WE naturals are always on defense mode because we know what it's like to be natural. We see the stares, feel the awkwardness from family and friends, so I think most of us just take EVERY single comment made about natural hair or curly hair to heart. Now since I have been on my spiritual journey the last few years, I've learned that no matter what a person says to you, it's not about you. Sheryl's views is a personal issue. Now whether or not she feels that it is a deeper rooted issue is up to her. Although her comments offended me, I don't take it too personally because it wasn't personal. Everyone on this earth has an issue with something and most people suppress it temporarily but it eventually comes out, usually in comments. Most people who are new at being expressive with their curly hair at one point in time said some not so nice comments about those naturals. Heck, people who are natural make comments about other people that are natural.

My advice is think before you speak because everyone is watching, thanks to social media. And also don't take everything so dag on serious all the time. Take it with a grain of salt and keep it moving!  ITS REALLY NOT THAT SERIOUS!!

Thanks so much for reading         

~ Pynkstarr

PS: I love me some Sheryl Underwood since the BET's Comicview days. She as a person, to me, just always seemed so genuine. Her story is amazing and if you don't know everything about her, except for seeing her on The Talk then I suggest you google her story before putting your judgement on Sheryl the person, not the star. I only am saying this because of the comments I've read about her in these last few weeks. Some people are starting to attack her personally just because of one mistake she has made.

How I deep condition my hair using Shea Moisture

Please enjoy my video on how I mix it up with http://youtu.be/bua2eyTLf4gmy products. I have been reading a lot about being cautious with mixing my products because of bacteria. Especially when using water. I only add oils to my conditioners not water. And if I dilute anything with preservatives I only make a little jar of it just for one use. All the things I use in this video are listed in the video description box. First i mix olive oil and deep Treatment Masque in a jar and apply it to my hair vigorously. I left it on for 24 hours, but that's not necessary 30 minutes is fine. If you have a hooded dryer then use it but if you don't like heat and don't have a hooded dryer I make my own heat using a wool hat. Then I place my satin cap over that. I hope this helps! Tell me what you do to mix it up when it comes to natural hair? Thanks so much for watching and reading. I love what I do no matter what. Pynkstarr

Back to school hairstyle for natural short hair

I did this hairstyle back in April after watching Taren916 do a how to fake a blow out video. Well after my failed attempt at it, my hair turned into a bird's nest. Since i was unable to post a video then I decided to post the video for natural back to school look.. The products used: Denman brush Eco styler gel (olive oil) Cantu Shea butter grow strong strengthening Afro pic(optional) Perm rods (3/4") Bobby pins Check out the video here Thanks for watching and reading :) Pynkstarr

The Mrs.Carter Show & MissP Takes on TV!

Support my gurl!!! Go Missp!!!

what about your friends?

What about your friends?

That is the question asked by my girl Missptv from youtube. I love her channel because she has kept it real since I've been following her like 5 almost five years now. Anyhoo, once in a while she gets a message, now whether it comes from God or whatever, she is always on point. She does videos and writes a blog about different areas of life advice; on relationships, friendships, love, family etc. I just always agree with her and she always seems to know how I am feeling at that moment. Her most recent video asked the question above, What about your friends? Which is my most favorite song from TLC, and my fave movie starring Monica Calhoun back in '93. I digress, she stated somethings in the video that I have been saying for years and that is some people are our friends temporarily. I have learned that years ago, it took me a lot of friendships to learn that but I did. Every relationship I have ever had was for a reason, whether temporarily or until this day, it's for a reason. I remember being told as a child that the friends I was cool with were not my real friends. And that statement upset me because how could anyone know who MY real friends were if they weren't in my shoes. But as you get older, things that the older generation used to say to me never registered until I experienced it. She mentioned that people will show you who they are especially when you really pay attention long enough. Some people show you right away while others it may take some serious hurting for you to see who they really are. 

For example I used to be friends with these sisters I worked with for years. We were more than friends we were like sisters, I mean they were always there for me when I really needed them. But I was also there for them as well, listened to them when they needed an ear, let them cry on my shoulder when ever someone hurt them, I mean I was there; or so I thought. One day I had an issue with someone from work who was their friend, basically they chose him over me. Made me feel like what I had done was my fault, which it wasn't it was his, but they made me feel like I deserved what this guy had said about me. I mean in the moment I saw a different side to them I'd never seen before. Then after a few hrs of me crying I started looking back on the other relationships that they had with other people and I just froze. They were mean to lots of people all the time, thought they were better than everybody, talked about everyone behind their backs. I mean I saw this all the time but always thought they'd never do that to me, they'd never treat me the way they treated everybody else. But like I said before people show us who they are in the beginning it's just up to us to realize it. Besides if it weren't for them taking me to church, I honestly don't know where the heck I'd be today. They served a purpose. 

Now I always keep two eyes in the back of my head. That is the only way to survive. This just doesn't apply to same sex relationships but also opposite sex relationships. When I was younger, guys would tell me all the time who they were, showed me who they were; whether it be a liar, cheater, non-commitmenter, all of the above. But did I listen to them, of course not it went through one ear and out the other. In 2009, I went through a situation where I realized I deserved so much more better than what I was being given, so I said a little prayer for God to send me someone to treat me like a Queen. And like a week later I met someone who absolutely did just that. Now we have always been just friends because that's all we are supposed to be, but it is still nice to know I can have a friendship like that. 

Not saying again that I have it all 100% figured out because I do not, but I know the signs right up front. You just have to listen to your gut, and don't accept any BS from any type of relationship. Also know when to cut someone off, or pray about it. 

The end

Pynkstarr 

My 1st Shea Moisture Experience plus rant on the pricing!!

Hey lovely readers

I have finally joined the club. What club you say? Well, the Shea Moisture club that is. I have made my first Shea Moisture purchase and it only took until 2013 for it to happen. I know, I know what took me so long right? Well there is this thing called unemployment and boy is it real. Then there is the fact that I try not to conform to buying whatever hair product is "trending" at the moment. But let me tell you all the being able to finally purchase this product made me happy because it was on my very long wish list of products to try. I love trying new things, but I do not like wasting my money! So this week after seeing CVS had a BOGO sale on Shea Moisture I decided to go ahead and spend my hard earned money to treat myself. I do so many things for my family and loved ones that I sometimes forget to treat myself, ladies you know what that's like. Some may get a pedicure or manicure, or get a cocktail or two with friends, whatever your vice is, make sure you take the time to do you once in a while. My vice is buying things, like clothes or hair products or make up, lately just hair products. I try not to spend too much money on them but it never ever goes that way.

First off my experience again at CVS was horrible yesterday, my dad and I went there for my hair products and a gallon of water, that's it. Oh and I think my dad wanted some hair stuff too. So of course like before the worker is all up in our kool-aid, not even watching the other shoppers, like he was just watching us. My dad saw his products and did a double take on the pricing. As did I after seeing how much the Shea Moisture products were. Although there was a BOGO sale I was still very surprised at the pricing of all CVS's products, esp the products for us naturalistas. I mean is it just me or are curly hair products very expensive now. I mean they have always been kind of pricey but now I feel like they are just too over priced for no reason. Even in the corner beauty supply store they had Shea Moisture Curly Smoothie for $15. Can you believe that? I mean I put it all out there about my economic situation. I do not get paid to endorse products, nor do I receive any products for free. I do not have it like that at all to just go out and spend money on hair products every chance I get. Even when I had a job I never did ,like most people. Like I said do you! I'm not judging! My issue is people are getting a little bit ridiculous on the amount of money they charge us on natural, curly girl hair products. However, I do understand people have bills to pay too right? So we can either boycott the hair industry (never going to happen), or just be smart about our purchases. Don't fall for the trends ladies and gents, it is not worth it sometimes. Don't feel bad if you can't do a haul of products every week. It will not be the end of the world if you can't rack up, it will be fine.....I promise!

Anyhoo I ended up not being able to purchase the conditioners and styling products I wanted. After spending about 10 mins in the store I purchased Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque w/Sea Kelp & Argan oil. It says for Dry, Damaged, Hair but lots of users say it really doesn't matter. I may go back later this summer and try some more products from this line depending on if I like these or not. I also purchased Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Milk w/ Silk Protein & Neem oil. It says for Thick and Curly Hair, Anti Frizz, moisture and Shine. My total for both products was about $19.00. Okay not bad I guess because they were on sale, but still way more than I intended to spend. I hope it was worth it and I can not wait to try these products and do a review for my blog and YT channel. There are so many ideas out there for hairstyles, as well as ways to use both products in ways other than what is printed on the back of the package. Shea Moisture products are certified organic so that also made the purchase less cringe-worthy.

Wish me luck!!

RiRi and M.A.C. cosmetics part deux

Here is a look at Rihanna's RiRi Woo lipstick from her new collection with M.A.C.

Dear...19 year old self

I was watching a video by Tarenguy or Taren916 on Youtube, the other day the series was called "A Women's Perspective [dating]. One of the questions it was asked what would you tell your younger self well I started to thinking really hard and boy are there so many things I'd like to say to my younger self. I mean I am still young I guess (25) and I still make mistakes in dating but I have way more wisdom than I was say when I was 18 or 19.

I heart Wedge Sneakers

I called this trend like 3 yrs ago in my fashion forecasting course. No one was feeling it at first but then they came around. Now everywhere you turn someone has them on. I love them so much, but sadly this trend will eventually fade away like other fads. But until then enjoy these photos.