That naughty, naughty scale!

Hola chicaroos!

So I've been noticing that ever since I've come back to college, my waistline has been expanding. Every time I step on the bathroom scale I get depressed, which makes me want to eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk (circular logic, I know! But I'm an emotional eater..)

At some point, this downward spiral is going to have to stop! I told myself I would start working out again 3 weeks ago.......and I've only been once! You'd think that at this point I would have gotten it together, but alas, I have not. And why is that?

I can sit here and say that I'm too busy to workout, that school and my internship are so taxing that all I want to do is sleep when I get home...but that would be a lie..

I can sit here and say that dieting doesn't work for me, but that would be a lie as well..

What I should just finally admit to myself is that I'm weak. Yes I said it! I. AM. WEAK! I just don't have the will power to say no to food! That cookie looks just too good to turn down. That piece of pie smells too scrumptious.

And Pinterest does not help one bit! Them pics get me every single time and I'll find myself whipping up a batch of "Homemade Brown Butter Apple Handpies" at 2 in the morning... Needless to say, this vicious cycle has got to stop! Cause let's face it, my mama will KILL me if I come home looking bigger than when I left.

So how am I going to conquer my weight and late night cravings?? Well for starters, I'm going to give away every bit of fatten food I have. Them Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies I bought today need to go. Those mini cake doughnuts that have been sitting on my kitchen counter need to go too! I am going to do a kitchen overhaul and get rid of it all.

Next, I'm going to change my habits. Instead of stopping at Jimmy John's for lunch (they have the best subs!) I'll bring a sandwich with me to school. I'll snack on fruit instead of cookies and chips. If I start making little changes to my diet, hopefully they'll evolve to bigger changes in my weight (and my pocketbook).

Finally, I'm going to workout at least three times a week. The gym is literally a few steps away from my front door for goodness sakes! There really is no reason why I can't dedicate and hour of my day to get some fitness in.

I know I'm not the only one out there who gets like this sometimes. Sometimes you get so wrapped up in your life that you can lose track of other things.....like your weight. But no more! I'm making a change and now that I've told the world about it, I have no choice but to follow through ^_^

How do you keep the pounds off? A combination of diet and exercise, or maybe something a little more drastic like weight loss supplements? Share in the comments section, I'd love to hear your feedback! 

Summer Reading Update!

So remember that book I was raving about that I was gonna start reading back in July??? Well I finished it! No, I didn't just finish it. It took about 2 weeks, but I was so hooked that I didn't notice.

Let me tell you, it was SO GOOD! If you're into paranormal fiction, I suggest you go grab you a copy of this little baby. I'm giving it my stamp of approval, and guess what.....there's a sequel!! I haven't had time to pick it up, but as soon as a get a second of free time I'm ordering it off of Barnes & Noble.

Happy reading!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

Hello my sweets!

I am so sorry I've been MIA for the past few months, but I have been sooo busy. School started again, and my internship, not to mention I've been filling out applications for law school! Yea, things have been pretty interesting around these parts..

But I haven't forgotten about you my lovelies! I do plan on starting back up on the blog thing, but I'll have to limit my posts to about one a week.

Also are there any topics you guys would like for me to touch on? I'm taking suggestions and requests for posts!

Summer Reading Update!

So remember that promise I made to read a book a week during the summer? Well my summer seemed to have gotten pretty busy in the matter of a few days so I'm just now starting a book........AND it's not Glimmer like I said it would be.

Alas! These are not excuses! It's just that I found a pdf of this book that looked interesting and it was free, and you know how I feel about free stuff! Anyways, I started reading it on Monday and I love it! It might be one of the longest books I've read in a while so it may take me longer than a week to read, but who cares??

The book is called A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and it's NOTHING like Twilight, True Blood or any other paranormal book I've read. I won't away too much about the book, but it's about a university professor who comes from a long line of powerful witches, but refuses to use her powers......there's the twist that makes it really interesting! Check it out people, cause I am loving it so far.

Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue Review

This post has been a long time coming, and I am so sorry for that. It's been a crazy week and I'm finally getting back to some normalcy.  I promised you guys a review and don't think I forgot!

So I did the twist out and I have to say that I am quite impressed with the results. One day I will do a tutorial on how I do my twist outs, but today I am just going to do the review for the Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue.

If you read my last post, you would know that I got my Miss Jessie's sample kit in the mail on Saturday. I was so excited to try out Miss Jessie's cause I've heard some great things about it and I must say that the Curly Meringue is amazing! First thing off let's talk about the smell. As I've mentioned before, I'm big on scents and how my products smell and this cream smells great. It's not too heavy, but I wouldn't call it light either. It is, however, very pleasant. The consistency is very nice as well. It's nice and thick but not greasy at all. 

So I washed and deep conditioned my hair and used a small amount of the Curly Meringue on each twist. I liked how it immediately showed definition in my curls as I worked it through my hair. After I two-strand twisted my whole head I tied it up and went to sleep. 

2 days after twisting...

I ended up having to leave the twists in my hair for an extra day so they were really set by the time I was ready to take them out on Monday. As I took them out, I noticed that my curls were really defined and bouncy. There were a few flecks of product in my hair towards the front where I used more of the cream, but other than that my hair felt soft and my curls held for 2 days!

After untwisting...

 I tried to use the Meringue again this past Saturday for a wash and go but I hated it! It just didn't work for my hair at all. At first it felt oily and a little sticky and then as it dried my hair felt crispy and hard. Just not a good look at all. 

Tada!

Overall I like the Curly Meringue for twist outs but that's about it. I don't think I would buy it because the 8 oz is $22 at Target and the 16 oz is $38 online..........I can definitely find some better products to do my twist outs with that are way cheaper. In fact today I picked up Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Curl Souffle. I've heard some good things about using them together for twist outs so I'm going to give them a try. What do you guys use on your twist outs?


Well I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day (kinda late, I know) and I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Love ya!

Free Stuff!!

Who doesn't love free stuff?? No one right? Well Miss Jessie's is currently giving away free samples of their products..yes, I said free! All you have to do is go on their website and pick out any 3 of their products and a few days late you'll be in product heaven.

Here's a picture of my sample pack that came in the mail today:

As you can see it comes with your choice of 3 products (and they are quite big in size), a style guide, a product guide, and a hair type guide. And trust when I say it's free, I mean completely free. You don't even pay for shipping.

If you're like me and you've always wanted to try out Miss Jessie's but were deterred by the high price tag, then this is perfect for you. I think I'm going to try out the Curly Merengue tonight on my twist out. I'll let you guys know how it goes tomorrow!

Here's the link to the website:
Miss Jessie's

 

Guest Blog!

So a good friend of mine started up a blog today and I am so happy for her! It's about fashion, beauty, shoes...basically her obsessions. She's clearly new to the blogging thing so go show her some love!

simplyintriguing.blogspot.com

 

Summer Reading List...

Now that I am done with the LSAT, my summer can finally begin! And along with summer comes my summer reading list! If you may or may not know, I am a HUGE geek! I have been known to stay up and finish a whole book in one night just because I can't put them down.

I'm constantly adding a new book to my 'to-read' list on goodreads and I'm starting to see that I racking up an endless list, plus I really need to make more room on my Nook for more books. So to cut down my list I'm going to read at least a book a week, starting with...

Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

It looks really good, click on the link to read the summary.

If you guys know of any good books you've read or think I should read them let me know, I'm always up for suggestions!

Eggs, eggs, eggs!

So I have been hearing a lot about using eggs as protein treatments. It is essential to do a protein treatment at least once a month depending on the texture of your hair. Here is an article I found about protein and your hair, check it out.

Anywho, so I found a egg protein treatment recipe on Wednesday that I decided to try out just to see how it works. Apparently it would stop breakage as soon as I put it in. Of course this made me even more excited to try it so I decided to wash my hair that very day (I was due for a wash anyways).

Here's the recipe:

-1 egg
-1/4 cup olive oil
-2 tbsp mayo (I didn't have any mayo so I skipped this one)

After I shampooed my hair, I massaged the mixture in my hair and saran wrapped my head. Yes. I saran wrapped my head, but you can use a shower cap if you would like. I left it in for about 30 minutes then rinsed it out. Let me tell you, my hair didn't break as promised, but it was rough! But fear not, an hour of moisturizing later it was nice and soft...and strong! No breakage in sight!

Overall, I was very pleased by my results, but next time I'm definitely gonna use mayonnaise and see if there's a difference. I expect the same results though. I'm going to try this twice a month and see if if makes a difference in the quality of my hair.

What do you guys do to get your hair the protein it needs? I'd love to hear your methods!

Product Tuesday: Carol's Daughter Tui Moisturizing Leave-In Conditioner

Every Tuesday I will post about a product I love, a product I hate, or a new product I would like to try. This Tuesday I'm going to start off with a product I LOVE! 

I'm not a fan of every Carol's Daughter product I've tried, but I am in love with their Tui Moisturizing Leave-In Conditioner. I use it every day, sometimes more than once! And the label doesn't lie, it really does make detangling a cinch! 

I use it as a refresher everyday and as a leave-in spray after I wash my hair. It's so light that I can use it everyday without having to worry about it weighing down my hair or making it oily, and it keeps my hair soft and moisturized throughout the day. And the smell! Oh, it smells so good, like berries and sweet flowers! Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating about the smell but it really does smell divine.

Now for the good stuff, the ingredients! It doesn't contain any silicones, parabens, petroleum, mineral oil, artificial colors, or alcohol which is amazing! Cause these days it's a little hard to find products without ALL of these in them. It does contain aloe leaf juice, pro-vitamin B5, wheat protein, lavender, honeysuckle extract, and sage extract. 

It comes in a 8.0 oz spray bottle and cost $12.00 at Macy's. Overall, I swear by this product and I will continue to use it, but don't take my word for it, try it for yourself and let me know what you think! 

Carol's Daughter Tui Moisturizing Leave-In Conditioner

8 fl oz

$12

Macy's, Sephora, carolsdaughter.com

Ingredients List: Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Polysorbate 80, Panthenol ( Pro-vitamin B5), Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium PCA, Butylene Glycol, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower/Leaf Stem, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Lonicera Japonica ( Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch, Hydrolyzed Corn Starch, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Caramel, Fragrance (Parfum)

Welcome!

Hello my fellow curly headed sistahs! My name is NaturaleeDee and I'm here to spread the curly love around. I embarked on this natural journey 3 years ago right before I started my first year of college at Florida State. Let me just say that my Big Chop was not by choice! At that point my hair was very damaged from years of perm and heat. I had tried going natural before but that creamy crack was so good to me! The damage caught up to me and the middle of my hair was practically bald...imagine that, shoulder length hair with a bald spot in the middle! It was not cute. After trying almost everything to make my hair grow, the fabulous owner of Natural Trendsetters in Tamarac, Florida told it to me straight. "Hair is like grass...if you cut it, it will grow." And that was it, 30 minutes later I walked out with 1/4 inch of curls on my head.

While at first I thought of my BC as a traumatic experience, I quickly learned to embrace my natural hair. It's freeing, it's beautiful, it's healthy and it fits me. Simply put, I LOVE MY HAIR! I have learned so much in my short journey and I want to share my experiences with you all. I want to learn with you guys and help you grow with me, and that is the sole purpose of this blog. I hope that you guys enjoy this blog as much as I will!