And The Winners Of The Whipped Butter Giveaway are..........

Whoop whoop! So we have 2 winners from our last giveaway. The questions were fairly straightforward so didn't expect anyone to give any far out answers lol.

1. The African Shea Tree - has a number of 'aliases' depending on whether you're using it's scientific name ( Vitellaria Paradoxa) or the language of the Country where it's found (Karite, Bambuk, Nku, galam etc)

2. It is predominantly found in East and West Africa - about 19 African Countries now produce Shea Butter

3. Ori is the Yoruba name for Shea Butter

Finally got my braids in - Protective Styling Continues!

Finally! After weeks of sticking my fingers in my hair, 2 protective style fails and an intense bout of twice weekly conditioning; my tresses have finally been put away in my favorite protective style of all time - braids!!! Yay!

For about 3 weeks leading up to this time, I switched up my regimen a little - deep conditioning my hair about twice a week and  since I didn't want to shampoo till I was ready to braid; I would pre poo overnight with my oil of choice (Njoy on scalp and coconut/brahmi oil on hair) and  in the morning, I'd slather on deep conditioner to my hair, cover with a plastic cap and then use my heating cap for about 30 mins to an hour. I'd then rinse the deep conditioner out, co wash, apply my oil mix to damp hair ( coconut oil, Olive oil, Avocado oil, Castor oil, Jojoba Oil and Rose hip seed oil) and then follow up with either my Kimmaytube mix or just the Kinky Curly Knot Today leave in conditioner.

I normally use this with my Rhassoul Clay wash mix but it's packed full with so much goodness, I decided to add some to my oil mix for daily use.

I was wearing a wig in this period so my hair was always in about 7  or so plaits and in the evening I'd oil the length of my hair with my oil mix. Using the LOC method (Liquid, Oil, Conditioner layered in the hair in that order) on my wash days actually helped me retain moisture in my hair for longer! So all I had to do in the days following was just oil my hair for added strength without having to remoisturize. It's definitely something I'm going to incorporate again when I take down my braids.

The End Of My Colon Cleanse Journey and My Twist And Curl Using Perm Rods.

I finally did it! I completed the 9 day colon cleanse and live to tell the story! lol. Don't mind my theatrics. So I got through the 5 day liquid only fast (just barely) and have gradually introduced solid food back into my diet. By the 4th day my jeans were beginning to sag around my derriere and that's how I knew I was really losing weight :) - that's always the first 'victim' when I lose weight.

So my final weight was 70.8kg. I know it will probably adjust to a 71/72kg and then I'll probably just maintain that. There's a boot camp starting in my area next week and I've been contemplating joining - not to lose weight but to build muscle and tone up any *ahem* loose areas. It should be interesting to see how that turns out. I will definitely be taking pictures of each area of my body before the boot camp starts and then take pictures right after to see how well I've done.

For some reason, the colon cleanse this time around was a little harder on me psychologically than the last time I did it. I can't really put my finger on what was different this time but then again I think the last time, I was in need of a distraction and I turned everything I did into personal projects to be achieved and would pour myself into them wholeheartedly.