Back from Vacation in Tobago

July 2011

Our highly-anticipated vacation on the island of Tobago finally came to fruition!  We spent ten days on the island living in the guest home of a family friend.  Tobago is simply gorgeous.  From breathtaking vistas to the multi-color blue ocean, and from the wonderful food (we ate right off the land) to the friendly people, those 10 days on the island blew me away.  The beaches we visited were so crystal clear... there's just so much to share from that trip, I'll have to break it up over a few days.

I noticed most women wore relaxed/straight styles, but I saw plenty of people -- men, women and kids -- with locs.  I only saw a handful of free form naturals/fros.  I've heard/read on other blogs that natural products are a bit harder to find in T&T.  I visited a few stores to see what kind of hair products the average person might score.  It was pretty much the same as what you'd see in an average BSS -- lots of petrolatum, mineral oil, etc.  I did notice the full line of Herbal Essences products.

As for my own hair, I was all over the place.  Because I swam in the ocean several times and took multiple showers a day due to heat and sweating, my plan for wearing twists the entire time just did not hold up.  I did twists, twist-outs, wash-n-go, puffs, and even had my friend do a couple of french braids one day.  Shea butter was my bestie for sealing and those basic styles.  My wash regimen didn't seem to be as effective, perhaps because the water was... harder?  It reminded me of West Texas, where soap didn't lather quite as well.  Even my normally very sudsy Dr. Wood's Shea Vision Liquid Black Soap didn't froth for me.  In the end, it didn't matter much.  Hair was easily a distant second to the daily activities, rest, great food, etc.  

More to come on Tobago :)

My Vacation Short-List of Natural Hair Supplies

Shea Butter

As I prep for summer vacation on an island, I know I have to bring some items with me but don't want to carry everything in my arsenal.  So what's going to be in my suitcase for hair as I head to the Southern Caribbean?

• Shea Butter - I purchase my raw organic unrefined shea butter from Butters-n-Bars.com, but you can find perfectly good shea butter at your local BSS as well.  Expect to pay about $8-10 USD for a one-pound container. This stuff is multi-purpose, which makes it a great item to have on hand for sealing and styling hair, as well as for daily moisturizing for face and body.  Hubby loves to use it too.  Having this takes the place of carrying lotion.
• Aloe Vera Gel - My favorite brand is Fruit of the Earth, which you can get at most health food stores or online, but right now I'm trying Trader Joe's brand AVG.  I mix AVG with shea butter for face.  AVG is also nice for brushing down edges when wearing a puff.  Of course, it's also good for bug bites and cooling for sunburns.
• Curly Pudding - I just can't get enough of this stuff for twists lately.  Curls by Sisters Smith (which I've mentioned like a thousand times on this blog already) is still on heavy rotation.
• KimmayTube Leave-In - I heard Kimmay no longer has the video recipe up on YouTube, but if you do a search on Google for the leave-in, you'll find the easy recipe. 
• Conditioner - I'll be using Trader Joe's Nourish & Shine.  I mixed it into an almost-empty bottle of the jojoba oil so I wouldn't have to carry much, plus the oil gives a boost of shine and slip for detangling.
• Shampoo Bar - I'm bringing a Chagrin Valley Honey Beer shampoo bar, which is also a wonderful body soap.

I will also bring the basic styling tools along -- Denman brush, wide-tooth comb, some pretty scarves, Goody ouchless bands, and bobby pins.  It's going to be humid, so I'm not going to be a stickler about curl-definition.  Softness, easy styling, and easy cleaning after dips in the salty sea water will be more important.

I know it depends somewhat on where you're going, but what are your must-haves for hair while on vacation?

Day 30: One Thing Your Excited For

30-Day Blog Challenge - last day!

Happy Independence Day!

Just one thing about which I'm excited?!  No, no.  This won't do.

First of all, Happy Independence Day!  I pray you had a safe and blessed holiday weekend.  I'm excited about celebrating the day, relaxing in fellowship with friends and eating some high-quality meat, preferably cooked over an open flame.  What's more exciting than a weekend filled with fireworks? How about a summer vacation on a beautiful island? Oh yea.  I'm interested in seeing how I well I maintain my current hair regimen with limited products. I wonder how many travel-size tubes of curly pudding and shea butter I can pack without alarming the TSA? Maybe I'll just wear twists the whole time. I haven't decided yet.

I'm even more excited about starting a family. I'm not pregnant, but I do have great expectations (hey, you never know what God has in store!). We are starting foster care/adoption information sessions soon.  We are ready to learning as much as possible so we can share our love with a child (or children). It's going to be a whole new world.



Peabo and Regina just killed it on this one.

I'm also excited about writing more regularly and frequently. This challenge served as a great appetizer for me and showed me it is both possible and enjoyable to blog and still have a life. It prepped my palette for other creative pursuits, including video editing, making earrings, crafting and sketching. Thanks again to Tia of HerBestHair for posting the challenge.