GIVEAWAY COMING SOON!!!

Good Morning Beauties!
We have a wonderful milestone to reach here at Inside Outside Natural Beauty! MoJo and I will be doing our very first giveaway very very soon!!!

Are you excited???!!!???! Of course you are!

More details coming soon!!!

As always... Thanks for visiting.

Much Love

LovelyCurlyElle

Braid Out Success

Hi Beauties!!!

I talked about in my previous blog, wanting to do some twists in my hair. But after hour upon hour of trying, I just could not get them done to my satisfaction. So I decided to do a braid out instead. Now, if you know me at all, you know that I have never really been fond braid outs or twist outs, but I figured I would try one more time.

I have been all over the natural hair network looking for tips and ideas for a successful braid out and twist out. And guess what… it turned out great!!! So let me tell you how I did it!

I took my already stretched out hair (from the bun I wore in the previous post) and sectioned it into 7 sections. On each section, I used some Cantu Shea Butter Grow Strong Strengthening Treatment Cream, followed by tea tree oil and a tad bit of Olive Oil Smooth-N-Hold Pudding for a little bit of hold. I also dampened my hair with a tad bit of Shea Moisture hold & Shine Mist. I braided each section keeping in mind the way I wanted it to fall when I unbraided them. After I braided the braids all the way down, I twisted the ends so that they would curl up.  The braids looked like this:

After I was done, my hair was a little damp (like I wanted it), so I sat under the hair dryer (medium heat) for about 20 minutes. Then I put my scarf and trusty bonnet on, and went to bed. When I woke up, my hair looked like this:

Please excuse my just woke up, rough looking face :)

After getting dressed, putting on make up, and making myself presentable, I unbraided the braids. It turned out wonderfully! So the braid out will definitely go my list of favorite protective styles.

Love you guys!

~Elle

Elle is BUNNING!!!

Hi Beauties

I'M BUNNING TODAY!!!  ☺

How’d I do it?

First, I washed my hair with Shea Moisture’s Moisture Retention Shampoo

Then, I detangled with Aussie Moist conditioner, followed by tea tree oil on my scalp and ends.

After that, I braided my hair into a about 6 braids. I put on my trusty bonnet, and went to bed.

This morning my hair was still damp in some places (but that was ok), so I took down the braids, and put some African Pride Olive Miracle Growth Oil on my ends. I did this because when I woke up my hair was no longer in my trusty bonnet (LOL) and my ends felt a little dry.

After this, I detangled once more, and pulled my hair back into a low pony tail. I then took my hair and two strand twisted it all the way to the end. I took my one huge twist and pinned the end a few inches above the pony tail.

This pony tail can be done high and low, or even off to the side. You can also take the twist and pin it to the side or below the pony tail rather than above it. I also sometimes flat twist my hair up front back into a pony tail.

I really like KinkyKurlyQueen’s protective twists... they are too cute, so I think I’m going to try them tonight.

WBU? What protective styles do yall like? Send pics to IOBCurls@gmail.com and we will post some pics of you!

Much Love!

Peace!

LovelyCurlyElle

Random, and a Thought For the Transitioner

Hi beauties...

Elle here. You know, I have lots of people come up to me and asked “how do you get your hair to do that?” My response is always that I stopped getting perms/ relaxers went natural, and I regularly condition my hair and blah blah blah. Well, most of these people will react by:  (a) Saying “oh my hair does that, but its too much work” or “my cousin’s sister cousin’s has hair like that… but hers is longer than yours”, or (b) by saying “my hair doesn’t do that, are you mixed?”

My classmates from high school do not know me as a Natural Beauty, so it’s even harder for them to understand what’s going on on my head! This was my motivation to write this post... which may or may not become a rant. ☺

SO... I want to start off by saying I absolutely hate to hear black women say that their hair does not look good natural.  In my opinion, we should seriously reconsider the standard by which we judge beauty. Popular culture would have us think that unless our hair is straight and silky smooth, it doesn’t look good. Well I obviously disagree.

That being said, lots of people that say they have tried going natural didn’t actually give it a chance. They stop getting perms, but they throw a weave or wig on it, or press it straight.

Which brings me to my next point...

Tips for the transitioner:

EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR HAIR- until you find the right products for your hair,  experiment with different styles and tools, and use different styling techniques, we don’t really know what our hair has the potential to look like. Get to know your newly natural hair. Find out which products work for you, and which don’t. For example: I know that my hair does not like Garnier Fructis products. It leaves a film on my hair that looks greasy and just plain horrible LOL (I love the smell tho).

Surround yourself with other naturals or transitioners- There is something about having a support system that is comforting ☺, so find other transitioners (they are everywhere, in every neighborhood hiding behind braids and protective styles) and work together! Exchange tips, ideas and styles. CurlyNikki has a cell phone app for her forums that connects you with curlies from all over the country, and it is AMAZING!!! The natural hair community can also be found on twitter and Facebook. Search #naturalhair on twitter and enjoy.

Be patient and persistent- it’s hard to get used to seeing your hair different from its “normal” state, so you have to create a new normal! It is particularly hard when your relaxed hair is halfway grown out. There are many tips and videos on YouTube for styling transitioning hair.

Do you guys have any more tips for the transitioner? We would LOVE to hear from you!

Email us at IOBCurls@gmail.com or simply comment below.

Love you gals!

 Elle

LovelyCurlyElle Volunteers!

Hi Beauties!!!

I am currently involved in quite a few charity type things right now. But the most important one to me is volunteering with my alma mater! I volunteer coach the girls discus and shot put throwers, and it brings me sooooo much joy! They are awesome student athletes, as well as mature young ladies. They have asked me to do it again next year, boys and girls this time. I’m totally in! I’m actually considering trying to coach when I finally graduate and become a teacher. That was not initially my plan, but I enjoy it so much so why not right?

Last semester, a few other education majors and I went and volunteered at a tutoring center at our local housing authority. What they do is take children that live in the local government assisted housing, and help them with their homework. They also assist the students with any subjects they are having trouble with. They have parents that come sometimes and take computer classes, as well as English classes for those that are learning to speak English.

You know, the bible speaks numerous times about charity and giving to your fellow man. Deuteronomy 15:11 states “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” There are many verses that I could quote you, but I think you get the picture.

There are many charities that feed the hungry and homeless on thanksgiving and Christmas, but what about the other 363 days of the year? That’s where you and I come in. With this blog, we hope to inspire you to give more, time AND money (sometimes, simply paying your tithe contributes to charity. Many churches do great things for their communities, I know mine does!). Charged with the responsibility of updating this blog encourages FitNCurlyMoJo and me to volunteer more often, that way we have something to update you about!!

SO…

WBU?? Have you guys been doing charity work and/or volunteering in your community? If so, TELL US! We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!

LovelyCurlyElle

Twitter: @LovelyCurlyElle

To Love God or To Fear God?

Hi Beauties!

                I often have very meaningful conversations while riding in Cherry with my best friend LovelyCurlyElle (Cherry is Elle’s car). Last Sunday, we discussed how we would rather know God; through fear or through love. We both said that we would prefer to know God through love and shared with each other our reasons why. It just makes more sense, right, to have a loving relationship with our Creator rather than being afraid of being spite down by him any minute…
                As you will find out through these blogs, I am kind of beginning my journey into knowing God and learning how to better integrate him into my everyday life. Sometimes I feel like building a relationship with him is like some physics formula I have to try to balance out (some of my physics classes came easy, others I was completely lost in). I hope to use this portion of the blog to discuss my questions, comments and fears that I will have during my journey into God’s kingdom. By writing these things out, I also hope and pray that I may inspire just one person to begin opening themselves up to Jesus. Cause maybe, just maybe, you are thinking and wondering about the same things I am writing about. We can figure this stuff out together!
                Anyway, after our discussion about fearing God vs. loving God. I started to wonder if and why we are supposed to fear God. I wondered whether I understood the usage correctly.  As far as I can tell through my search of “fear” in the index of my Bible… “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, etc.) I gather that “to fear” the Lord is similar to “Knowing” Him. But why say fear? I fear that I am missing something in the meaning of this. Can anyone Help?
                I think I understand that to know the wisdom of God, one would have to fear Him because He and we know the consequences of the sin that we commit. Does that mean that we as Christians should refrain from sin because of those consequences? Or should we refrain from sin because of our love for God and the sacrifice that he gave us through his Son, Jesus? I guess I returned us back to our initial question… To Fear God or To Love God…. Can one even exist without the other?
                I would love to hear comments from any and all that may have a view on this. I think that I will have to do a little bit more research before I can feel confident in answering this question for you guys. Remember Beauties, we can figure this stuff out together!

Love Ya!

FitNCurlyMoJo
Twitter: @FitNCurlyMoJo

LovelyCurlyElle's Introduction

Hi Beauties!

LovelyCurlyElle here! This will be my personal introduction to you guys. I will tell you a little bit about myself. If you have any questions, or you want to know something that I didn’t cover in this section, feel free to email your question to IOBCurls@gmail.com and make your Subject: LovelyCurlyElle or simply comment below.

Name: Lauren AKA LovelyCurlyElle

Location: Born and raised in Georgia baby!!!

Age: 25

Relationship status: single (hey, it might come up!! LOL)

How long have you been natural: around 6 years

Curly Background: the last relaxer I had was in 2005. I had been in college for about a year (Georgia Southern University) and one of my teammates (Track & Field) was also my beautician. One day she was putting a relaxer in my hair (rushing because it was burning AS USUAL) and she informed me that this would be the last time she would be relaxing it. She said, and I quote “your hair is curling up in this darn perm, and I am not perming it ANYMORE!” I thought, “Sure you’re not! Haha” but little did I know she was not kidding. By this time, FitNCurlyMoJo, this ‘beautician’ friend and I were like the 3 Musketeers. FitNCurlyMoJo, I believe, was relaxer free at this time as well. I thought about attempting to throw a relaxer in my hair myself, but I thought… hey, why not give natural a try? The rest is history! :)

I will be doing a separate blog post on my nightly routine as well as my daily, weekly, and monthly regimen.

ALSO, I am reachable or should I say follow-able on twitter. My username is… you guessed it, @LovelyCurlyElle.

 www.twitter.com/LovelyCurlyElle