Love Your Curls Giveaway #2!

Good Morning!

The winner of our last giveaway has been selected, CONGRATULATIONS DIANNA! 

Now it's time for our next giveaway!!

This is a very simple and fun giveaway, but first you have to head over and LIKE our Facebook Page: Caramel Curlz N Swirls

HERE ARE THE DETAILS

****GIVEAWAY TIME! GIVEAWAY TIME! GIVEAWAY TIME*****

Please read the rules carefully, the name of the participants who submit the correct answer will be added and only one winner will be selected.

RULES:

LIKE this image;
SHARE SHARE SHARE this giveaway; and
COMMENT below with your answer.

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Well ladies and gents, it's that time again for our annual Black History Month.... let's do a Fun Trivia!!

Today's QUESTION is:

Who doesn’t enjoy a fresh scoop of ice cream on a hot day? This gentleman invented the ice cream scoop making it easier for people everywhere to enjoy their favorite treat. He studied at a seminary, worked as carpenter and then became interested in mechanics. He was first black man to receive a patent in Pittsburgh.

Who was he?

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Do you know the answer?  Great... go to our Facebook Page and follow the rules!! 

GOOD LUCK and hurry, this ends TODAY at 11:59 PM (EST)

Natural Hair Care- Daily Tip #2

Hello and welcome back!

"Have you ever wondered why Sulfate-Free Shampoos are a must have for natural hair wearers?  Here is the answer to your question:

Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to visit our blog tomorrow for another amazing "Daily Tip" brought to you by our friends over at Chi Chi Sophistication Natural Hair Studio. 

For more information about ChiChi Sophistication Natural Hair Care Studio 

visit www.chi-chi-sophistication.com

Product Review: Dark & Lovely Au Naturale Moisture LOC Line

Hello my lovelies!! 

Wow, can you believe it??  Easter has come and gone in a blink of an eye and due to the amount of rain we received, the Easter Egg Hunt at our Church was not the only event canceled this weekend. 

In fact, today's baseball practice has also been cancelled. We experienced close to 4 inches of rain during the weekend, making Easter Sunday the wettest day in March for Savannah since March 5th, 1959!!  Mother nature did not get the memo, "it is not supposed to rain on Easter Sunday"!!

Nevertheless, Ms. Bree's hair was perfect thanks to the products from Dark  Lovely Au Naturale Moisture L.O.C. Line... 

I purchased these items at my local hair store, every single product was $9.99 including the small bottle of oil.  I highly recommend you shop around first.  I wish I would have known, but Target has them at lower price!! 

The Products I used are:

Step 1:

Dark and Lovely Au Natural Super Quench Leave-In Spray - 8.5 oz

Step 2:

Dark and Lovely Au Natural Soak It Up Oil Cocktail - 4.1 oz

Step 3:

Dark & Lovely Au Naturale Moisture L.O.C. Lock it Up Sealing Cream 

Step 4:

To keep her hair shiny, I used the Dark and Lovely Au Naturale Nourishing Shine Nectar 5.75 oz and I can use it as often as needed.  

This time I did not used their Sulfate Free Cleansing Shampoo or the Deep Conditioning Delight.  But I will use them in her next washing session and will be posting our review once we do.  

Dark & Lovely Au Naturale Moisture L.O.C. line has been on the market for over a year. This is our second time using them and they did not disappoint me on either occassion.

Their entire line is infused with Coconut & Moringa Oils.  While I'm very well acquainted with the use of coconut oil, this is the first time I use a product with Moringa Oils. 

Moringa Oils comes from the seeds of Moringa Oleifera Tree.  Want to know more? Read this article about the Benefits of Moringa Oil for Skin, Hair and Health.

DURING OUR FIRST TIME:

How I used these products: 

I applied the Leave In Spray to freshly washed and detangled hair.  I highly recommend working in small sections.   Ms. Bree's Hair was divided into 8 sections. 

After applying Leave In Spray, I applied the Soak It Up Oil Cocktail followed by the Lock It Up Sealing Cream. 

As you can see on the picture above, I braided her hair instead of our usual Two Strand Twists. 

After three days or so, I unraveled her braids and her "braid out" was amazing! "Full and Fluffy!"

The scent of these products are amazing and they all go very well together.  The scent is not overpowering at all and it mellows out even more after a day or so. 

SECOND TIME USE

During our second time using these products, I followed the same L.O.C. technique.  Using the same products in the same order:

a. Leave In Spray, 
b. Soak It Up Oil Cocktail, and 
c. Sealing It Up Cream

This time, Ms. Bree has two pony tails on the front and medium size box braids on the back. I styled Ms. Bree's hair on Friday and it still looked amazing on Sunday Morning. Even with all the rain and humidity, she had no "fly aways" or "frizz". 

The "pros" of these products are: 

*They can be found at many stores;
*They do exactly what they claim;
*The prices are not extremely high.  They are a great alternative to any expensive hair product. 

The cons... uhmm well, the only thing I COULD find that can pose as a problem, is that they are NOT all natural but they are the next best thing as a "all natural" product.  I have not seen any signs of bumps, itchiness, flakiness, or product build up on her scalp.  

Overall, I like these products, and while some of my favorite are highly priced, these will definitely work as an alternative for those "dry" days. (By dry days, I mean those days when we really don't have a lot of cash laying around to spend on hair products).

I am considering trying more products from this line like Coil Moisturizing Souffle and Easy Twist Gel N Butter..... 

Have you tried any of these products?  Give them a try and let us know your thoughts.

11 Beautiful Hairdos for Your Easter Celebration!

Hello there my beautiful people!! 

Easter Sunday is March 27th and let's be real here for a second.  The way time is flying by and the way our schedules are always busy, Easter Sunday will be here before we know it.  

With that in mind, we have compiled a few quick and simple styles that will help keep your little one's curly mane under control.    With these styles you can spend more time decorating eggs or preparing those special baskets every kid loves to receive at the end of their egg hunt!  After all, our little curly babies deserve to feel as fresh and beautiful as a spring sunny day.

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This look is a great way to wear their curls out but still keep them under control.

Be sure to let us know which looks is your favorite in the comments below!!

The Importance of Family Portraits

YOU DON’T CHOOSE YOUR FAMILY- THEY ARE GOD'S GIFT TO YOU, AS YOU ARE TO THEM By Desmon TuTu.

This particular post is about the importance of a Family Portrait and not as much about hair. 

For my husband I, a family portrait is one of the most important things you can have in your home.  It's like a reminder of your family at a specific time in your lives.

Family members' schedules can be so difficult to coordinate, and it's easy to put off the portrait for another time when is more convenient.  

The important thing to remember is that the best time to take a family portrait is always NOW.  We all know, life is very unpredictable and we don't have control over certain things.  However, what we do have control of is the decision of taking family portraits and capturing as many special moments as you can.  

Families go through constant changes; they may expand, they may shrink, and they always age.  Our kids will not be kids forever and we all are constantly going through physical changes.

Below is our 2008 Family Picture, Lil B was almost two years and I was about five months pregnant with Ms. Bree. 

Remember how I mentioned before that "Families may expand", below you will see our 2009 Family Picture.  In this picture we wanted the grandparents to be included because THEY ARE part of our family and they play a big role in our lives. 

In this picture Lil B was three years old and Ms. Bree was almost eight months old.  Our family expanded by one little package!

You don't have to spend a large amount of money on professional pictures, several photo studios including Walmart, JC Penney and/or Sears offer different packages at low prices. 

But you can easily have someone take it for you while you are at a gathering of some sort or do what we did during the years 2010 and 2011, use the timer in your camera and take your own picture! 

In 2010, due to our busy schedules, we never made it to the studio BUT we still managed to take a nice photograph together and called it 2010 Family Photo.

In the picture above, you can clearly see the physical change in Ms. Bree who was 20 months old and Lil B was 4 years old.

I have lots of pictures plastered all over my family room walls and various size picture frames on my coffee and foyer tables.  I also have baby scrapbooks, which I made especially for each of my children. 

Now days I find it very difficult to do scrapbooks and I have opted on making photo albums through Walgreens Photo Store Online.  Upload the pictures, pick a book and done! You can pick the book up or have it delivered to your door. 

In 2011, I kept trying to find the perfect time to take family photos but never found it.  So again, we never made it to a photo studio.

This is our 2011 Family Photo:

While you can't see much change in Ms. Bree you can clearly see the change in Lil B. who was 5 years old while Ms. Bree wa  s 33 months.  

I'm thankful that my husband always reminds me that it's time to do our family portraits otherwise it would never get done and I'm more than sure that one day our children will thank their father too.

Come and share you family photos with us! 

Here are more of our photos

 

Ms. Bree's First Trim

I have been paying close attention to Ms. Bree's ends for weeks now and wondering if it was time to trim her hair.  

A lot of us wonder about the same thing, when its the right time to trim our children's hair.  Curly hair is not like straight hair where you can easily identify when the hair is experiencing split ends.  

Trimming their ends, especially those dry dull tips, will help to keep their curly hair looking neat and healthy. 

During my research I came across one of my favorite blogger's recent post, "When To Trim My Child's Hair" and it provided me with the answer I was looking for. 

"Trimming should be done when the hair needs it", Kandy Land Kurls states on her post and it made sense.  

I noticed my daughter's hair needed it a trim because of the following:

1.  I noticed that I had to moisturize her ends more than usual;

2. Detangling process required a little extra time;

3. I was only noticing one or two splits ends while braiding or twisting her hair.

After noticing these and after reading Kandy Land Kurls' post about when its the right to trim your child's hair, I decided that it was time to trim those rough ends.

The next step to take after you determine whether or not your child needs a trim is who is going to do it?? Should you do it yourself? or go to a Hair Salon?

Trimming the hair is very simple because the only thing you are doing is taking the very ends off.  You are not looking to make the hair even or trying to give the hair layers, you are simply getting rid off those dry ends.  

Trust me when I say this is something you can do at home.  

How I did it?? I did it by simply following the steps on Kandy Land Kurls' Post "Trimmed N's Hair". 

1.  I washed Ms. Bree's hair with Creme of Nature Argan Oil Moisturizing Shampoo;

2.  Used Herbal Essence Hello Hydration;

3.  Moisturize her hair with our favorite moisturizer- Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer;

4.  Banded her hair.  She wore her hair banded like this for almost two days.

Why band the hair??  Curly hair suffers from shrinkage, and its better to trim the hair while its dry, it will give you a better idea as to how much you are taking off.

As you can see on the above pictures, Ms. Bree's hair is quiet long. 

Trim the Hair:

1.  Make sure you use the right shears.  By that I mean, shears that are sharp and easy to cut with.  Dull and rusty shears are probably are not a good option.

2.  Work in sections:  Do not take all the bands out at the same time, instead try Kandy Land Kurls' technique by unraveling each section and trimming it, once you are finished move to the next section.

Once we were finished with the trimming process, these were the results:

I only took about 1/4 of an inch and in some sections I took even less.  Remember you are only taking off what is damaged.  

After trimming her hair, I decided to style it in Box Braids.  

1.  Sprayed a bit of water and applied more Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer with a bit of Bee Mine Curly Butter.

Do you have any cool tricks to trim your child's curls?? Come and share with us, we love to hear your comments and or suggestions.

Where Are The Curlz?!

Yes, her hair is straight! and NO, I did not relaxed her hair.  

I know many parents have concerns or are afraid of using flat irons or blow dryers on their children's hair.  

I am going to share the one thing my Husband said to me almost two years ago:  "Buying cheap things will give you poor results".  Investing in a good quality tool will probably due less damage than an inexpensive hair tool.  

After a long discussion my husband convinced me to buy a good quality flat iron.  Yes, I did pay a good amount  of money for it but to be honest it was totally worth it.  

  

I believe this is the third time I flat iron my daughter's hair and I believe that the process has not damaged her hair because of the following reasons:

1.  I don't do it often; Ms. Bree is about to turn four and I've flat iron her hair maybe a total of three times in the last three years.  

2.  I make sure I wash, condition, moisturize and stretch her hair before flat ironing it.   I don't use the blow dryer to dry her hair.  I rather band Ms. Bree's hair in order to stretch her curl pattern.

    *Why do this? If you stretch the hair before you flat iron it then you will spend less time going over the curls repeatedly.   (See What is Banding? Post)

3.  Once the hair is stretched, I apply a heat protector.  I personally use Paul Mitchell Smoothing Gloss Drops.  

4.  I DO NOT let the flat iron sit on one spot for a long time.  In fact, I recommend you divide the hair into small sections, and gently flat iron the hair.   Smaller sections are easy to do and will prevent you from having to go over the sections repeatedly.

5.  My flat iron has different settings: 240, 280, 320, 350 and 400.
I use the 320 setting to do Ms. Bree's hair since her hair is more delicate. 

  

The important thing to remember is to prep the hair before you flat iron it, to moisturize the hair, and then follow with a protective style.   

I will be doing cornrows on Ms. Bree's hair as the next protective style.

  

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Paul Mitchell Express Ion Smooth 1.25 Hair Straightener Flat Iron, 1-1/4 Inch

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UHN0NG/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B001UHN0NG&link_code=as3&tag=carcurswi-20