Eliminate Dry and Drab Hair - DIY Avocado, Honey & Olive Oil Hair Mask

DIY Avocado Hair Mask 

Did you know avocados are known for keeping your hair hydrated?!
It's true! Avocados are great way to prevent split ends also. I'm sure you wondering how, right? It's all about the natural avocado oil. This light weight oil is easily absorbed into the scalp and into the hair shaft. You can never go wrong with this natural oil. 

The next ingredient you'll need is honey.  Honey is the almighty humectant. This natural humectant draws the moisture to your hair (this is great for those who suffer from having really dry hair... like me). It's full an antioxidants as I've said in my HONEY post. 

The last ingredient is olive oil.
Olive oil gives your hair added shine and seals moisture in.

LOCK YOUR MOISTURE IN and throw away the key!

 SHABBY HAIR  YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED!

The answer to your your dull-as-dish-water hair can be found in your kitchen (I crack myself up)! 

Deep conditioning accompanied with this DIY Avocado Hair Mask is the ticket (Get on board).

Ingredients: 

1 ripe avocado

1 Tbs olive oil (feel free to substitute with your favorite oil ex. almond or jojoba)

1 Tbs honey

Instructions:

Open the avocado and remove the seed. Scoop out the flesh of the avocado and place it in your bowl. Add a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of olive oil into your bowl. Blend ingredients. If you want a smoother consistency, use a simple hand mixer.

Next, apply this mixture generously to your hair, first making sure your hair is damp for maximum absorption. Part hair into four sections and massage the avocado paste into your hair. Feel free to use a wide tooth comb to distribute the mixture evenly.

Once your hair is saturated with the Avocado Hair Mask, cover completely with a shower cap.Leave on your head for 30-35 minutes and allow the mask to deeply penetrate hair. Rinse the mask out completely with warm water and follow through with your normal hair routine.

Now let's say you don't feel like whipping up a hair mask... Check out Blinging Beauty's perfect alternate Burt's Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Hair Treatment! (Click here for the original post) 

Pics courtesy of www.med-health.net, www.thenibble.com & www.health.com 

PART 2 HONEY FOR YOUR HEALTH

This will be a continued post on HONEY!! Honey for your health! 

While honey looks good, smells good and taste good... It's also a healthy sweet treat that will assist your body with additional help to boost antioxidants within your body, as well as, increase antibacterial/antiviral properties. 

This post will deal with HONEY AND ANTIOXIDANTS.  

Why does everyone continually talk about antioxidants?

It's said that Antioxidants assist our body by preventing diseases like cancers and certain heart diseases. 

Increasing antioxidants in your body is the equivalent to having the Justice League available to support you in fighting unhealthy free radicals. 

Antioxidants are heroes helping to keep your body safe from nasty free radicals that may try to take over your innards. (I may have taken that description a little too far... pardon my imagination and creativity)

How does honey become rich in antioxidants?

We are all aware that honey is made by honey bees from nectar of flowers and plants... right? (If you don't know... NOW YOU KNOW - in my best Biggie Smalls voice)

In order for honey to be rich in antioxidants the nectar that is gathered must come from flowers/plants that have antioxidants in them. 

If you're anything like ME... your thought would be well which honey has the highest amount of antioxidants?

According to Nicki Engeseth, PhD, Assistant Professor of food chemistry at the University of Illinois, "Buckwheat is the highest of the honeys tested, with about 3 times as many antioxidants as acacia honey, which is much lighter in color,"

The darker the honey... the more antioxidants seem to be present. 

Now please keep in the mind... Buckwheat honey will taste different from other honey

. 

Buckwheat honey is known for reminding you of molasses (at least that's the word on the street).

SO! If you are a molasses lover, KUDOS for you! ROCK ON! But if you're not a molasses lover, take heed to my warning. 

Do I recommend that honey be taken to increase antioxidants in your body? 

SURE! but let's be honest here, please continue your fruits, veggies and other supplements you may ingest to increase antioxidants in your body. HONEY can only do so much.

Here’s how I incorporate honey into my diet:

Instead of reaching for white sugar, I'll reach for honey to add to my tea/coffee or hot breakfast cereals. I also add honey onto my toast (YUM) and I swallow a teaspoon of honey almost every other day! (That's why I'm so sweet... wink wink)

Honey offers a nice change when you're looking for a sweet substitute and

WHAT’S BETTER THAN HAVING A SWEET SUBSTITUTE THAT CAN BE BENEFICIAL TO YOUR HEALTH! (Confetti is falling)

NEXT ON MY SHOPPING LIST! RAW BUCKWHEAT HONEY!

PS… I’m not a molasses girl LOL! (Stay Tuned for that review)

Photo ref - http://gambarubee.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/buckwheat-honey.jpg

Hey Honey!

Hello Honey! Did you know honey has a multitude of benefits? Honey is a tried-and-true natural remedy for beauty, health and wellness. 


After becoming an au natural gal, I would often times hear folks say, "just pick up a jar of honey at your local grocery store" OR  "use organic honey ONLY."


What is Organic Honey? 
Well, according to Honey World and the USDA, "Honey is currently NOT included in the USDA’s National Organic Standard according to a recent policy statement by the USDA’s National Organic Program. This basically means that there is no legal definition of organic U.S. honey." 

Of course I couldn't believe it!! ORGANIC HONEY HAS NO LEGAL DEFINITION! (o_O)
According to The Brookfield Farm Bees & Honey "Your honey can be certified organic by the US government, although they have no regulations to define organic honey."

Photograph by Tony Hutchings/Getty Image

So... what about Raw Honey, right? 
Apparently, there is no "real" definition for raw honey also! I know right. Basically, Raw Honey is unpasteurized, unprocessed, unheated honey. Raw honey is an alkaline-forming food. It is best none for it's natural vitamins and antioxidants.

Well now I wondered about Regular Honey.
Regular honey, is pasteurized honey. This honey has basically been heated up ladies and gents. Some say the process of pasteurizing honey kills "bacteria" (like yeast) found in honey and other's say this makes honey's health benefits null and void! (Whomp Whomp) 

Like most folks, I drive to the store, find the magical aisle where honey resides, pick up the jar labeled HONEY, put in the cart and away I go; BUT was it really honey? Did bees make that honey? Should I care? 
I really didn't care until I asked my kiddies to buy mommy a jar of honey. They bought a bear shaped jar of HONEY SYRUP. I explained to my kiddies how important it is... to READ first of all and I began to explain to them this was not the honey I was looking for. The first thing they said was, "it said HONEY and it was in a bear jar". At any rate Honey Syrup could not soothe my upset tummy.

The lesson here is the following:
Just because it's sitting on the top shelf near the Smuckers jams, jellies and Skippy peanut butter (No shade thrown here - I am a regular on this aisle.) OR because it's in a bear shaped container or a odd shaped jar, labeled with cute, smiling honey bees in a wispy motion, does not mean it's the type of honey I'm looking for. Check out the label. Raw Honey is not Regular Honey... HONEY! 

This is PART 1 of a continued post on all things HONEY related.  

SHE'S THE BOMB WITH A BEAUTIFUL SMILE!

She's a talented, beautiful dark-skin, actress AND she has a smile that can light up a room. Do you know who I'm talking about?  

DID YOU KNOW... Lupita was inspired to become an actress by watching the movie Color Purple! (YES THE COLOR PURPLE) Lupita said, "When I saw Whoopi Goldberg and she looked like me, I was like, 'Oh, I can do this!'" WHOOPI INSPIRED LUPITA!! It seems so rare that you ever hear anyone mention Whoopi Goldberg for inspiration BUT why not? 

Now for my Whoopi rant! Throughout my life people have said, Qi you have a big smile like Whoopi Goldberg! (Some people think this is a horrible thing and that it's not accurate.) Quite naturally I say thank you and THEN I say... I wish I had Whoopi's money! I'd really smile like WHOOPI THEN! (I am cracking up... but I am so serious)

We all know... no one is perfect but we cannot deny the many accomplishments Mz. Goldberg has achieved... to name a few... She is one of the few persons to win an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony, and an Emmy. She has been seen in over 150 films, and she was once the highest-paid actress of all time. Her humanitarian efforts are more than a notion and she is an activist (Power to the people). 

Of course we all know...she is (MY FAVORITE) a moderator and co-host of The View, Whoopi actually replaced Rosie O'Donnell (I totally forgot Rosie was on The View).

NOW FOR THE NEWS YOU MAY NOT KNOW! DID YOU KNOW! 

Whoopi Goldberg & Ben Silverman sold an Interracial Romantic Comedy to ABC called Iman and Andy! I KNOW RIGHT?! YES I AM SERIOUS!  

Here's the scoop (Courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter) "Iman & Andy is a thirty minute comedy about two 20-something interracial coworkers at an online magazine who have been secretly dating. They are forced to work on a relationship advice blog when thenew editor-in-chief exposes their relationship." ( I cannot wait to see this one) 

LONG STORY SHORT! WHOOPI is actually BEYOND inspiring! BUT what I LOVE the most about her is the fact that she is happy with who she is! despite what people may say. WHOOPI! YOU ARE THE BOMB!! ROCK ON!  AND LUPITA YOU HAVE IT RIGHT!! 

Who Is The Choqolate Chiq?

Who is the Choqolate Chiq? 

I am the following: 

I am a mother, wife, big sister, and a daughter. I am dark skinned, African-American woman from San Francisco, California. I have an awkward sense of fashion (I believe ugly items can be cute), I have super coily #naturalhair and I cannot live without music.

I am best known for...

My big smile, awesome sense of humor (this opinion may vary), and my red lipstick addiction. 

Why do I call myself the Choqolate (pronounced chocolate) Chiq (pronounced chick)?

I am the sweetest, dark choqolate, brown skin chiq you'll ever know!! 

Did you know... 

I grew up thinking my dark skin was deemed as ugly and undesirable (sad face).

Unfortunately, I remember what it felt like to hear someone say, "dark skin is ugly" and I remember being treated badly because of my dark skin tone. I will admit these things were very hurtful to my self-esteem. (Don't worry this did not ruin my life. This experience taught me a lesson.)  

As I grew older, I began to realize my skin was really beautiful. My dark brown skin was not a curse or some thing to hate. My complexion looked like #Choqolate. I learned to love and embrace the skin that I am in.

Random fact about me:
I love celebrating womanhood no matter the skin tone, ethnicity, size or shape. 

Random fact about the blog post called Choqolate Chiq :
This page is meant to encourage all women, while paying attention to darker skin women who need that extra encouragement. 

I want women everywhere to be proud of who they are. Whether you are white choqolate, light choqolate, milk choqolate or dark choqolate... OR no choqolate. 

It's important for you to know that true beauty comes from within and shines on the outside. 

This Choqolate Chiq is all about #InsideOutBeauty.

BEY'S 2014 CALENDAR IS HAUTE!!

SHE IS... Flashing bits of skin, rocking sexy black latex boots and sporting a hat like she runs the world! 

SHE ALSO... Never ceases to amaze the world with her sultry, stylish, sex appeal.

SHE IS... BEY BABY!! 

BEYONCE IS THE "NEW" BOSS (Diana Ross is still THEE BOSS in my book BUT Beyonce is right behind her!)! Here are a couple of my favorite shots in black and white accompanied with my thoughts if I were BEY! 

 I RUN THIS!! 

 Yeah... You love my style

 You coming over or what!?!

I am a DIVA BOSS! Now take the picture!! 

Check out the behind the scenes video below! AND I'm sure you want your own copy of Beyonce's 1st Calendar right?! Here's the link >> shop.beyonce.com.

HandiBac Anti-bacterial Moisturizing Hand-lotion I Love You!

I have a love hate relationship with Bath and Body Works. 

What is a love– hate relationship - It's an interpersonal relationship involving simultaneous or alternating emotions of love and hate. 

Now to explain, Bath and Body Works is known for having cute and sweet smelling  products that fit perfectly into a purse. My teenage daughter magically disappears into this store EVERY TIME we are in the mall. The fun and friendly scents accompanied with the tentative staff get the both of us every time. While my daughter runs from tester to tester... I head to the back of the store to find what new, little, budget-friendly treats are on display. Whether it’s hand soap, lip balm, lotion or fuzzy socks... I tend to always find a little something there. 

One day, (last year) I stumbled upon Bath and Body Work’s HandiBac Anti-bacterial Moisturizing Hand-lotion. This hand lotion is absolutely perfect especially due to the new season (the official welcoming of colds, flus and other viruses). Let's be honest, hand washing should be something everyone does BUT sometimes you are not near water or soap.  I find that this happens quite often and when this happens everyone runs to the nearest container of hand sanitizer! Often times the antibacterial hand sanitizer gels and constant hand washing can cause your hands to be more dry than usual. 

Hence my excitement when I realized the HandiBac Anti-bacterial was was also a Moisturizing Hand-lotion. As I applied the White Citrus - HandiBac Anti-bacterial Moisturizing Hand-lotion onto my hands, I  was greeted with a clean and fresh scent. I rubbed the anti-bacterial lotion all over my hands AND my hands felt moisturized! YES!! Germ free & moisturized!! My hands were not left dried out at all! Needless to say, I bought every scent they had. I thought these would be great for the holiday season.

Germ fighting, hand moisturizing lotion in my purse is like a loaded weapon of goodness (I know you're thinking the word weapon and goodness don't mix BUT in this case it does!).  This light and smooth hand-lotion has a special place in my heart. I adore double duty compact products. 

Here is where the dismay arrives... Quite naturally I realized I need to purchase more germ free lotions to give away as gifts! SO I hopped online to purchase more... the Bath and Body Work's website said the following:

THIS PRODUCT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE (psycho music theme is playing right now) NOW HERE COMES THE HATE!! 

NO!!!! Bath and Body Works!!!! WHY?!! I really hate the phrase NO LONGER AVAILABLE, especially when it's a product I love!! 

I took it a step further and asked the staff at Bath and Body Works if this product would return and no one had an answer. (violin is playing). With a deep breath I went back online, did a general search and found this lotion is only being sold on Ebay and amazon.com. In the meantime I'll hold on to my HandiBac Anti-bacterial Moisturizing Hand-lotion as if it were a precious piece of gold.