"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!!