Hi All!

I’ve been focused on moisture over the last month and rocking wigs this week to give my hair a break.  Tomorrow is “hair wash” day and I am so excited!  I trimmed the remaining dead ends from my hair (about another 2 inches).  I put it in about 8 twists and wore a combination of wigs this week (in-laws were in town and wanted to spend time with them and not rush my hair process..it’s just not lavish:).

My hair needed the break and I kept it moisturized daily with aloe vera/rose spritz (aloe vera juice, water infuesed with organic roses and hibiscus flowers, and plain water).  I also let my hair absorb moisture in the shower a couple of days.

I used my homemade oil mix (I didn’t measure but I used about 2 tbsps sunflower oil, 1 tsp wheat germ oil, 1 tbsp castor oil and 8 drops of grapefruit essential oil–for joy:) to massage my scalp and moisturize my ends/strands.

I ordered a fresh bottle of Terressentials (yes, I’m going back to the essence:) so I’m going to use this instead of my own mix this week.

Enjoy your weekend–Lavishly!!!

Went to see Kathy Griffin…Hilarious!

Lavish is 3 Years Natural today. I can’t believe it’s been 3 years! I gave her a nice deep condition with eggs, avocado, olive oil, vatika oil, raw honey, and yogurt. She loved it!

Here’s to more wonderfully healthy, lavish years!

I took this picture right before I washed my hair after wearing twists for a week and a twist out for a day.  I even got to wear my cool Old Navy clip (it was on sale for $1.99 YEAH:).  I haven’t been able to wear a ponytail like this since last summer…loving the henna results!

Happy Valentine’s Day–Love is all you need!

I’ve discovered that many of the mind and body techniques I use at home and practice with friends, family and clients, are great for a daily dose of relaxation.  This post is from my work blog and I use this technique when I’m working on a new project, feeling a little anxious, or just want to strike a True Goddess Power Pose!  Enjoy the article below.  Let me know if this technique works for you…

By striking a power pose (open and expansive postures) you will not only feel more powerful, new research suggests that you will actually be more powerful.  Whether you’re going in for a job interview, balancing work and family, creating your own empire, or simply want to feel more powerful.

According to Amy Cuddy, and other researchers at Harvard and Columbia Universities, this causes your body to produce less cortisol (the stress hormone) which makes you less stressed and more confident, more excited about what you’re doing, and more warm and engaging.

These high power poses can also increase testosterone levels.  The changes this creates for your hormones causes you to  feel:

• more powerful
• competitive
• less reactive
• have a greater tolerance for risk – an important skill when embarking on new projects and adventures!

Practice each pose on the photo below for 1 minute each.  Practice them when you notice tension, frustration, stuck, overwhelmed, fearful or doubtful.  As Amy explains, “these poses reflect and reinforce power.” 

(For my psychology fanatics and cool nerds:)  Here’s Amy explaining more about her research in a truly powerful presentation…no pun intended!

I took my twists down this morning after my lavish red wine henna treatment. My hair has fully grown back from the damage and the fullness is slowly coming in.  That will probably happen over time when I’m no longer looking for it!

The photo below was taken about 6 weeks ago (December 2011).  Do you notice a difference?

I have found my henna mix!  The first mix I made was based on CurlyNikki’s Green Tea Recipe.  I enjoyed it, but my hair had a straw-like feeling after my treatment.  Here’s my post about my first henna experience:)

For my second treatment I went with as much moisture as possible.  I used Minimalistbeauty’s Henna and Coconut Milk mix and loved the moisture, but my hair still had the straw-like feeling from before.

My goal this time was to still get rid of the straw-like, dry feeling I’d experienced.  I liked minimlaistbeauty’s addition of oils to her henna mixture so I added this to my mix, along with essential oils, yogurt, and extra honey.  I applied this mix to my dry hair, let it sit overnight and rinsed it out in the morning.  I then deep conditioned and washed my hair as usual (the full recipe is at the end of this post.)

Here’s how I mixed my Henna with red wine & oils (if you are not 21, please do not try this without the help of a legal adult…even if you are over 21, don’t start sippin’ on yack and blaming Lavish!)

1 cup red wine

100mg jamilla henna (I’m still using the batch I ordered from mehandi.com)

I used red wine because I read in How to Henna by Catherine Cartwright-Jones, that red wine will give you richer, more chocolatey brown highlights.  I gave it a try.  My hair seems to hold a little of the color and my grays (I didn’t realize I had so many:) are a warmer brown instead of a fiery red/organge using wine.  I let this mix sit out all day (from about 7:30am to 10:30pm).

When I was ready to apply it to my hair, I stirred the mix and added:

2 to 3 tablespoons honey

1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sunflower oil

1/2 tsp wheat germ oil

1 tablespoon greek style plain yogurt

I used 5 to 10 drops each of the following essential oils:  rosemary, basil, patchouli, ylang ylang, grapefruit, thyme, clove bud, and cedarwood

I mixed all this together and let it sit for about 20 minutes.  When I took the lid off it smelled SO GOOD and looked just like chocolate!

This mix was the perfect pudding cakey-like mixture I was hoping for.  It was also shiny and packed with extra moisture.

I changed the order of my henna application to reduce the physical manipulation of my hair.  Since repeated rinsing is part of the process, I want to be as effective as possible with each wash so that I can wash less and get all of the mix out of my hair–gently.  My hair doesn’t like to be manipulated a lot and can tangle very easily.  I wanted to see how applying it to dry hair would be different.

This mix was very easy to wash out.  I soaked hair in the tub when I woke up the next morning and then rinsed and detangled with Aubrey Organics Blue Chamomile Hydrating Conditioner.  This stuff smells so wonderful…so, so wonderful!  I rinsed for a while before applying the conditioner and let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour.  I was running around so it could have been longer:)

I deep conditioned with some old Anita Grant Deep Rhassoul Condish.  It was still AWESOME!  I mixed it with about 1 cup of hot coconut milk.  My mix was too runny but luckily I had some rhassoul clay in the stash.  I mixed in some extra, applied the condish in 4 sections, and let this sit on my hair for about 4 hours (it’s was cleaning/hair day).

When it was time to rinse I used my Homemade Milk & Honey Conditioner to wash the clay out. The conditioner mix included:

3 tablespoons yogurt

1 cup coconut milk (left over from clay)

2 tablespoons honey

1 tsp vanilla extract 

(this stuff smells good enought to eat/drink)

I discovered that cocounut milk leaves my hair feeling really oily but not greasy.  I’m not sure if my and lavish like this.  It’s an interesting sensation and I’m going to watch my hair this week to see how she responds.

I ended my lavish treatments with an Apple Cider Rose Rinse

1 cup hibiscus flower and rose flower water (had some left over)

1 cup water

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 drops lavender (could have done without this…I think it smelled better without it)

My hair loved each treatment.  I think the coconut milk conditioner was missing an avocado and some olive oil.  I’m going to experiment with this next time.  Shout out to the CurlyNikki thread for homemade conditioner ideas and inspiration!

I love this red wine henna mixture.  I think this is the right amount of oils for my hair and I love that wheat germ oil is included in the mix.  I could hear my hair getting stronger!  My hair is so soft after these treatments, no straw like feeling, no itchy scalp afterwards, and my hair looks and feels amazing!  I’ll definitely be using this mix again.

Full Henna with Red Wine & Oils Recipe

1 cup red wine

100mg jamilla henna 

2 to 3 tablespoons honey

1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sunflower oil

1/2 tsp wheat germ oil

1 tablespoon greek style plain yogurt

 Optional:  Your favorite essential oils.  I used 5 to 10 drops each of the following:  rosemary, basil, patchouli, ylang ylang, grapefruit, thyme, clove bud, and cedarwood

Lavishly Treat Your Hair:)

I love my body.

http://www.louisehay.com/affirmations/