Can I use heat regularly and maintain healthy hair? Part 1

Probably the most infamous enemy of healthy hair is excessive heat usage from styling tools. We all know that. We all believe it. Some of us have even sworn away our flat irons for good in an effort to create thriving hair.  With all that said,  the question I have is this:  "how can all of these women pictured below use heat on a regular basis and still maintain thick luxurious hair?" And, most importantly," how can we learn to do the same?"

In order to properly answer this most important question, one must first look at these women and seek out some commonalities.  From these common practices, we will grow and get better. But before we get fully into this post, I must make an important disclosure:

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***The information below is meant to serve as a guide on how to use heat responsibly, it is not a license to use heat tools in an ineffective way. My heart just can't take looking at another head of heat damaged hair. I do not want to be responsible for the creation of such.***

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Years ago, I visited this stylist who did a pretty decent job of creating the look of healthy hair.  My friend recommended her and I was eager to try her out for myself.  I sat in her chair as she shared her strategy of how she would do my hair that day.  My only input to the conversation was when I asked that she roller set my hair instead of blow drying.  Immediately, she declined my request stating that if my hair dried under the hooded dryer, my strands would not be fully sealed which could allow for breakage and other non-desirables.  That conversation never left me. 

I eventually left her when I found Dominican salons that would both roller set and blow dry.  It never failed, every time after a blow out my hair, bone straight, would virtually stop breaking and decrease shedding considerably for up to two weeks.  Even when Marie did my hair, I rocked the straight style for at least 2.5 weeks with limited shedding and breakage compared to when I normally do my own hair.  It seemed like each time I went to the salon for a straightening, my hair (temporarily) stopped showing visible signs of damage (breakage/shedding).  What's the connection here?

To understand this deeper, we must contemplate what occurs when we use a straightening tool.  Please keep in mind that most of what I will say is my interpretation of what I think takes place.  None of this is fact.  When one uses a flat iron, three forces come into play--heat, pressure, and tension.  These three factors when combined together, have an extraordinary ability to help seal the strand while creating the look of straight hair.  Sealing the strand can provide some great benefits when done right.

Potential Benefits

•  The feeling of silkiness which reduces friction caused by manipulation.  From this, actions such as combing, detangling, and styling become easier because there is less resistance in the strand, which could lead to less tangles and breakage.
• A sealed strand can better resist external factors such as humidity.  The hair strand expands when it comes in contact is excessive moisture.  As the strand expands, the cuticle layer is raises which creates a rough texture. The hair follicle, then is more susceptible for breakage. 
• Sealing can also provide us the opportunity to reinforce the strand with nourishers that can strengthen the hair.

You might be thinking to yourself "that stuff you listed actually sounds pretty good for the hair."  So why am I hearing all the time that heat isn't good for the hair, and why does my hair feel damaged from my heat usage?

Those are great questions, my friend.  My response to you is this:  Heat is like a wild, ferocious animal that must be tamed and trained for domesticated use.  If not properly trained, the animal can turn on the owner at any moment, attacking unexpectedly, and viciously devouring him.  Knowing this, the animal owner must use extreme intention, focus, and caution whenever interacting with the animal because the consequences of failing to do so is just too great.

In the same way, careless, frequent use of heat tools on textured (chemically treated) hair is like someone frolicking in the cage of a hungry beast, expecting to come out unscathed. It's just not realistic.  On the other hand, if you study the routines of the lovely ladies mentioned above, you will find that they have some common practices to combat the harmful effects of heat.

• Most, if not all of them, restricted heat usage to once or twice a week.  I remember the days, back in high school, when a curling iron was just as commonly used in daily styling as a comb.  This behavior equivalent to having a meaty steak in hand, and back turned, in the presence of a hungry beast.  It just can not happen!
• The heat usage usually occurred in combination with the weekly wash routine.
• They are intentional with the products they used whenever heat was involved.    

My theory is this.  When heat is used after the wash day process, you may be in a place where you can experience the potential benefits I described above. The hair is freshly washed, and conditioned to a desirable state. This makes for the perfect opportunity to properly manage the use of the a flat iron.   Then there's those of us who aren't as disciplined in the use of heat styling tools.  When we choose break out the flat iron after the initial wash day, we start to experience a certain level of diminishing return.  The idea of diminishing return is that the level of effectiveness (or benefit) will decline with continued use of the flat iron (especially if the use occurs between washes). 

I believe the beginning of mastery, with regards to regular use of heat, can occur once we start to shift our view of the intended use of the styling tool.  As a matter of fact, from this point on, I will no longer refer to a flat or curling iron as a styling tool.  Instead, let's call it a sealing tool.  If that's the case, we must think a bit deeper about this sealing process and how to do it effectively.  This topic requires it's own post which will be part II on the topic of effective use of heat.  Talk to you soon!

How a chance encounter at Target lead to a blog Feature

Just another random trip to Target, I thought. I had one item to pick up then I'd be on my merry way. Since I was out of town and unfamiliar with this Target's layout, I wandered around a bit before I found what I was looking for. Just as I was walking by the beauty section, I noticed someone pass me. What immediately grabbed my attention was her healthy ponytail that swung slightly from side to side as she walked by. My first thought was to casually walk over to the hair product aisle, where she was standing, to see which items she'd pick up and ask her a few questions about her regimen, and how she keeps her hair looking so healthy. Best of all, she would think this was some random conversation and she'd have no idea that I was this crazy hair blogger that followed people to the hair product aisle just to get a closer look at her hair.

 There was no time to rehearse what I would say as I walked up to her, I would simply have to freestyle it. Turns out that this young lady was happy to share her routine. I must say that I truly enjoyed our conversation and her sharing reminded me of several healthy hair tips that we can all learn from.

 Ladies, meet Toni!

 Toni has been natural for several years. Although she does wear her hair curly from time to time, lately she has been maintaining straight hair. Every two weeks, Toni, visit her stylist where she receives a steam deep conditioning treatment to hydrate her hair before straightening session.

****side note**** Remember my post on Healthy Hair lessons we can learn from Naturals? One thing I neglected to mention was that natural haired ladies love to quench their curls with steam treatments. Thanks Toni for helping to remind me of that.

Toni once had color treated hair which she recently trimmed. Part of the reason why I stopped her was because of how thick and even her ends appeared to be. The thoughts from my last post were still fresh in my mind so I decided to ask her a little more about her trim.

Toni and her stylist negotiated about how much to take off and finally settled their agreement on around 2 inches. Her color treated ends were prone to split and they appeared less healthy than the rest of her hair. Since the trim, Toni says that she experiences way less breakage and reduced shedding (which will mean greater retention in the long run). Plus she has the added comfort of knowing that, as her hair continues to grow, it'll have a thicker, healthier appearance overall. Toni's hair was in a ponytail when I met her. When I made the small simple request of asking her to turn around so some random stranger could take a picture of the back of her head and post it on the internet, she gladly obliged. Without a moment's thought she took down her hair and prepared for her shot.

 I helped her prepare for the shot by finger combing her tresses. Her hair was soft and smooth to the touch with no snagging or tangles what so ever (no shed hairs either). To keep her hair feeling nourished between salon visits, miss Toni rubs a little virgin coconut oil into her fabulous mane every couple of days. I could have gone on and on with my discussion with her. Toni was amazingly pleasant to talk to and I could have stared at her hair all day. But alas, we both had to continue on with our Target excursions. But before I go, let me share with you Toni's advice to those of us who are also on our hair journey.

 Toni reminds us to keep our hair well moisturized, love the hair you have, and be patient with your hair in your journey. She's been on her natural journey for over 5 years. My thanks to her for allowing us a glimpse into her world for our learning. While writing this post, what came to mind was how many women, I've talked to, with beautiful hair use heat regularly and can still maintain overall health. I think that's I topic I'll be exploring a little deeper in an upcoming post. Stay tuned.

The one thing that all people with healthy hair seem to have in common

There's something that I've been pondering on deeply over the past few weeks.  I travel almost weekly and, lately, I've been taking advantage of the idle airport time by doing something constructive.  So instead to catching up on emails, or making follow up calls, I've decided to stare at the various heads of hair as they walk by.  What I've been looking for, as I stare at these random strangers, are commonalities that can give me clues into achieving healthier hair.

I'm happy to report that all of my intense observations has revealed a commonality so obvious, that I'd be a fool to ignore.  You see, in my purposeful people watching, my objective to was see what people with thick, healthy hair seem to have in common.  The secret to their thick, healthy hair, from my observation, seemed to be connected to well trimmed ends.  As a matter of fact, the more blunt of a cut a person had, the more thick and lush, their hair would appear.

I began to wonder.  Did these beautiful haired women just receive a fresh cut prior to going on their trip or was receiving a trim a regular part of their routine?  So then I also observed strangers in regular, every day environments and what I say in the real world version was not different than in the airport.  Without having interviewed these women, I had no other choice then to come to the conclusion that maintaining trimmed ends, is correlated to thick hair that appeared to be healthy.

I have to admit that this really isn't earth shattering news. But what's new for me isn't the fact that we have to trim our ends. We all should know that by now.  I bet that if I had stopped some of these random women and asked them about who often they trim, it would be quite frequent.  Some of us might be thinking "they trim all the time because their hair grows so fast."  Sure, that may be true. But it may also be an excuse we create for our selves so we don't have to trim as often.  That's kinda like saying "of course Kelly Rowland does 200 situps every night, look how flat her stomach is."  So to that statement, I respond, "does she even need to do sit ups because she has a flat stomach or does she have a flat stomach because she's consistent with her situps?" I also observed people who's hair didn't appear as thick and healthy.  These folks were more likely to have less than desirable ends.  So I have no choice but to think that well maintained ends are directly linked to perfect hair in some way.

So then I started to think about my own hair journey and realized that this was one area that I've paid little attention to.  Sure, I have invested in obtaining a quality pair of trimming scissors made to fit comfortably in my left hand.  But, to be honest with you, I haven't used these scissors to their maximum potential.  So now I'm ready to try something different.  I figure I have nothing to lose since I'm familiar with the results I get from what I've already been doing.  For the next year or so, I would like to maintain my ends by trimming several times a year.  I'm thinking every 3 months or so.  My end in mind is to keep the look of well trimmed ends.  This means that I'll be trimming my hair as a proactive strategy to maintain healthy hair versus a reactive way to deal with thin, breaking ends.  This may mean trimming more frequently than 3 months, who knows.

Some might be wondering, "won't this mess with my length and retention?"  I also thought the same thing. I will counteract this with a focus on growth during this time (with healthy eating, scalp massages, silica, etc) while I am maintaining well trimmed ends.  For someone like me, who is always manipulating and doesn't do much protective styling, having well maintained ends should be a huge plus.  I suspect that if I do this for at least a year, I'll receive more benefits than drawbacks.  My desire is for this to become a new lifestyle change for me rather than to be a gimmick or flavor of the month that will lead to my hair goals. I'm hoping by doing this one thing different, I will experience different results long-term. Perhaps I'll go back to using the full moon phases as my trimming guide.  For those of your who are interested, here are the dates for 2012 according to the Morrocco Method website.

Best Days for Beneficial Haircutting in 2012:

March 20-21 - Spring Equinox — are the best dates to cut for spring and the ultimate dates for shaving one's head.
June 20-21 — Summer Solstice — are the best dates to cut for summer.
September 23-24 — Fall Equinox — are the best dates to cut for fall.
December 19-20-21-22 — Winter Solstice — are the best dates to cut for winter.

Protective Styling = Powerful Progress! A Relaxed Hair Health Feature

I'm really excited about sharing this post today.  From the moment LHCF member, "pre_medicalrulz," shared pics of her progress in our email communications, I just knew she had to be featured on the blog.  Not too long ago, I wrote a post about caring for the hair while protective styling under weaves/wigs.  That entry was inspired by several emails I'd received from readers who struggled to retain length with protective styling with extensions.  I'm happy to say that miss "pre_med" was doing just fine with her length retaining strategy.  Her only concern was regarding her ends which seemed to struggle more than the rest of her hair.  We talked about doing a blunt cut trim before her next install as a possible solution to her concern.  By the time she shared her next update with me I was elated!  Then she contacted me to share her most recent update and I knew for sure that I had to share her story with the world. 

  

1.  What is your hair type? I am a 4 something, possibly a B.

 How would you describe your hair? When I was young I use to think my hair was coarse because that's what people told me but as I learned to handle it, it's simply thick, lush and strong. 

2. How often do you touch up/relax? I make it a point to touch up every 16 weeks. No less than 14 weeks at the minimum. 

3.  What is your current length? Somewhere between MBL and WL air dried. I haven't straighten since Dec so I don't know the true length. Only air dried.

Tell us more about your air drying process.  If successful air drying is trying to get a straight look then I'm not the one to ask. LOL. I simply air dry. No scarf method or any other tricks that other ladies do, just simply let it hang out. It doesn't bother me much only because it's about to be put under a wig or in a bun once it's dry. 

4.  Please share your regimen. What do you do daily, and weekly, to care for your hair?

Daily: Moisturize with Elasta QP Olive Oil and Mango Butter. Seal with any oils. I recently started using Organix Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum as a sealant. Nightly: it's under a bonnet in a loose bun or several plaits. I'm either under wigs or a lose bun throughout the day. 

Weekly: I deep condition every week. Sometimes I use shampoo weekly as well but mostly wash with conditioner only. I deep condition no less than an hour and a half. My wash/conditioner/protein products are all Nexxus products. I also do weekly protein treatments. My hair can stand it. 

How often do you wear your hair out vs. protective styling?    I rarely, rarely wear my hair out. I will wear it out all day on the day I wash or all day on a fresh relaxer but that's about it. Even on special occasions it's in a high bun

5. You've made some huge progress with your hair journey. What do you attribute most to your success? 

Protective styles has given me great length retention. If I never protective styled I believe my hair would not have shown fast progress in 4 month spans as it did. But I can only speak for myself. I also believe protein and moisture balance was 2nd in command. Without this balance, I would have had so many set backs. 

6.  Have you had any setbacks/trouble along the way?

 I use to have set backs with the front of my hair and end up needing to take off 2 inches or so.

7.  How did you overcome your setbacks?

I stopped wearing stocking caps solely under my wigs and started using satin durags as a base. I also laid off the half wigs and started wearing full coverage wigs. That way all my hair is tucked away safely. 

8.  How are you able to maintain such thickness overall? 

Honestly, I haven't been doing anything special on purpose for the thickness. However I have noticed if you lay off the heat (curling irons, flat irons), air dry all the time, and stretch your relaxers at LEAST longer than 12 weeks; thickness happen on its own. For some people at least. 

9.  Looking back at your journey so far, is there anything you would do differently? or wish you would have done sooner? 

Absolutely. I started my journey a little over a year ago and I wish when I first started that I was confident enough to start off with a fresh cut. I tried to start my progress on weak ends and 8 months within my journey I showed no signs of retention until I chopped 2 inches of the weak ends off. After that, it was retention after retention after retention. 

(March 2012)

10.  Someone is reading this right now who's about to start her hair journey. What advice would you give her? 

You have to try things out for yourself and then stick to what works. Simply pay attention to the way your hair responds to certain products. It will tell you what works and does not work. In the beginning keep it simple and basic; daily moisturizer, moisture shampoo, moisture deep conditioner, protein conditioner/treatment and oils. And please do as much research before you start your journey. You want progress not set backs. Ask questions and reach out to people who are also on a hair journey for support and advice. 

11. Do you do anything additionally to support your hair? (nutrition, vitamins, exercise)?

 I do not take hair vitamins nor exercise excessively. However, I still believe for many people these things play an important part in overall hair growth and health. I recommend people use what they need. If hair vitamins give a person a boost in overall health, then I think that person should continue to consume hair vitamins. 

12. Is there anything else would you like to share that I haven't asked you about?

 Don't quit. In the beginning you'll expect fast results but just be patient. Just don't quit. It's so worth it. 

I just love looking at pics of  Pre-med's hair and, the way she's going, she'll be waist length in no time at all.  Here are the takeaways I got from her sharing that I'm reminded of:

• Deep Condition, Deep Condition, Deep Condition!
• If you are serious about retention, protective styling and low manipulation is the answer.
• One of the first steps to a healthy hair journey may just be a proper trimming.  Lately, I've been paying close attention to the women I see, when I'm out at about, who have thick hair. One commonality that I can tell, is that they have blunt, or will trimmed ends, 98% of the time.  That is too much of a coincidence for me to ignore.  

I love sharing features and I hope to share many more inspirational hair journeys with you all.  If anyone would like to share their journey and progress on the blog, be sure to contact me so we can make it happen!

My journey to flawless, clear, glowing skin

Along with the hair journey, I'm currently embarking on other journeys in my life.  One of them is my skin care journey.  In previous posts, I've mentioned the constant battle with acne I've been engaged in ever since I was a youth.  This year, the decision has been made to take an aggressive approach on obtaining healthy skin.  Ever since the beginning of the year I've focused many of my energies on creating healthy, clear skin.  I've invested money on products, I've a followed a defined morning and night time routine, I've shifted my eating habits.  All of these new actions have helped me to see progress in my skin health but I still will not satisfied until my skin is flawless.

Along with all the actions I was taking to help my skin, I also created some affirmations that I recited on a regular basis.  I would say things like "I love how clear and beautiful my skin is" or  "my skin is clear, flawless and it glows."  I verbalize my affirmations because I believe it draws me closer to my intentions and it draws my intentions closer to me as well.  Another thing I would do is stare at pictures of women with amazing skin so I can absorb the images into my subconscious making my intentions that much more powerful.

Then one day it happened.  I was introduced to a skin care professional who had a huge part in creating the beautiful skin of the very women who's skin I would stare at day after day.  Turns out that many of these women frequent a day spa nestled in swanky Beverly Hills.  The woman who created this spa has been in business in the same location for over 23 years and she's built up quite a clientele. The moment I received a piece of information about the whereabouts of this spa, I immediately started plotting on how I could get there. Even though this infamous spa was located on a different coast then I live on I had no reservations.  Lucky for me, my job affords me the opportunity to fly to California from time to time and such an occasion occurred this week.

I arrived at my appointment at least an hour early because of my excitement.  As I sat in my vehicle across the street in eager anticipation, I noticed a young lady stepping out of the spa looking all kinds of fabulous.  I got a chance to get a closer look at her as she returned to the salon and her skin was immaculate.

I secretly daydreamed of the moment when my skin could someday look like this.  As I stood behind her in line, I over heard her scheduling a follow up appointment for the next time she flew into the town the following month.

 While I waited for my appointment time, I took a moment to browse around the establishment and took note of the various celebrity photos on the wall.  Some I recognized, some I didn't.  Immediately, my gaze fell upon the signed picture of Stacey Dash and a smile flashed across my face.  "Stacey's skin is amazing and I'm standing in the same place that helps create her gorgeousness."     I also hear that Nia Long is another loyal client.  Tami Roman from Basket Ball Wives once tweeted that she used Lady Dee's facial scrub to promote healthy skin.  Tami also has amazing flawless skin.  Meagan Good is also rumored to be a client.

Finally, it was time to have my skin serviced.  Much to my dismay, the person who would be working on my face wasn't Lady Dee but a woman from Russia by the name of Helen.  To be honest, I was a little bummed.  Helen brought me to the back room and proceeded to fire off a series of questions regarding what I currently use for my skin.  On that day, I just so happened to have an active breakout. Just a week or so prior, I consumed gluten because I had to fulfill a responsibility granted to me as a judge on an Iron Chef type team building event at work.  In order to judge the teams fairly I had to consume prepared dishes in which bread/wheat flour was a main ingredient.

Helen looked at my skin and said (in a stern, heavy Russian accent). "You are too young and beautiful to not have beautiful skin."..... "I will make your skin beautiful okay."
"You trust me?"  "You trust me, okay."  "I will make you skin beautiful." "I take before and after picture of you. You see the difference okay?"

Something about her direct style and the heavy accent stirred within me emotions of trust and compliance (mixed in with a little bit of fear and submission).  Helen had heavy hands that felt extremely powerful. In the months prior, I visited two estheticians but none had hands like Helen.  To be honest with you, I was a little afraid when it was time to do extractions. I didn't know how much force Helen would use and how much pain I'd have to withstand.  I held my breath and hoped for the best.  I took to the extractions like a champ and Helen acknowledged my bravery afterwards.  My favorite part of my experience was the facial, neck and shoulder massage.  Helen (with those powerful hands of hers) identified areas of stress located in my shoulders and proceed to work them out to the best of her abilities.

When the facial was completed, we walked together to the receptionist desk and Helen proceeded to share with me before and after photos of various clients who suffered with extreme cases of hyper-pigmentation and acne. In some of the photos, what appeared to be birth mark type scarring on the faces of some clients were removed completely.  I was amazed.  While I do suffer from acne scarring, I felt like my skin wasn't as extreme as the faces in the photos. This brought even more confidence in the results I could achieve from consistent services.  We talked about me coming back for a peel. Apparently this peel would be the answer to all of my prayers.  I reminded her that I lived on the other side of the country.  She shared that she has clients fly in from New York, Miami and, other states on the east coast, that are willing to travel regularly to maintain gorgeous skin.  I purchased several of the recommended products and, with tip, my tab came up to around $280.00.

It's been almost four days since my appointment and my skin just seems to look better as the days pass.  The most obvious difference I'm noticing is in the texture of my skin which is much smoother and brighter than before.  It's starting to show signs of a healthy glow. Helen promised me that if I use the products religiously, my skin would continue to improve even between appointments. Smooth skin is only half the battle. Eliminating the deep scarring is my ultimate goal.  So I've got to find a way to to return for a skin peel.  Once I do, I'll share my experience as a second installment to this blog post.

Before I go, here are some lessons I've learned from this experience that I'd like to share with you:

1. It's about being willing to step out and doing what it takes to achieve the results I want.  Sure I could have continued buying products and doing other things within my comfort zone but they probably wouldn't have created an extraordinary result.

2. People who have achieved extraordinary results take extraordinary actions to get there. Yes, I could have looked at Nia Long, Stacey Dash's skin and said.. "(sigh) oh well, I could never get my skin to look like that, they must have amazing genes."  So now whenever I see someone with the results I want to create, I start to ask myself "what kinds of things are they doing (consistently) to achieve this result?'

3. Thirdly, it's about being consistent.   I struggle with this limiting belief that once a result is obtained, nothing more is required.   I'm now learning that even when a goal is achieved, we still need to maintain the behaviors the created the result otherwise, progress won't be made.

Hair Food Recipe: Poke Power!

Today I'd love to share a quick recipe for a dish I've been enjoying ever since I was first introduced to it's deliciousness while on my trip to Hawaii. It's called Poke (pronounced poke-ay) which is relatively easy to prepare (no cooking involved) and it's really yummy.  I love sushi and seafood so I gravitated to this dish the moment I first laid eyes on it. I was served Poke as an appetizer but I like to create enough of it to enjoy as a main course.  So let's get started, but before I do, I'll inform you that I don't measure anything so I apologize in advance for not having proper measures listed.  Everything is according to taste so if you like a lot of something, add more!

What you will need:

-Raw fresh Tuna (cut into chunks)
-Green onion (sliced thinly)
-Red pepper flakes
-Thin Dried Sea weed strips (I found them at an Asian grocer)
-Toasted black sesame seeds
-Sesame oil
-Soy Sauce (low sodium)

I start off by rinsing the tuna and cutting it into large chunks and tossing them into a shallow bowl. Then I usually add the chopped onions.  I used to buy whole green onions and slice them up myself but I'm no longer involved in this manual labor since I realized that Walmart offers them already pre-sliced.  I've experimented with these pre-packaged onions on several occasions and they have a pretty decent shelf life.  I definitely eat more green onion because now of how convenient they are.


The order of the ingredients doesn't really matter much.  But I like to ad the red pepper flakes in earlier so they get a chance to soften under the moist ingredients.  Also, the sliced seaweed come pretty stiff. They too will soften but I like to add them near the end, maintaining the some of the stiffness because it adds a nice contrast to the softness of the tuna.

In the pic below, I've added the black sesame seeds, the seaweed, and and sesame oil.  When you add the soy sauce, start off with a small amount and increase gradually to monitor the salt content.  These seaweed strips add  a nice taste plus they are pretty salty so I like to leverage the seawead for it's natural sea-saltiness over the soy sauce.   Using less soy sauce also allows you to taste the unique flavors each ingredient brings individually. 

The final product tastes pretty close to the real thing I had in beautiful Hawaii.  I've served this dish over white rice and also over a bed of spinach or field greens in a salad.  While in a Whole Foods once, I noticed they had a "low carb" sushi dish which was raw spicy tuna served over field greens with sliced avocado.  That's what inspired me to add fresh sliced avocado to my Poke salad and the results were amazing.  I threw in the avocado on the greens so it wouldn't disturb the flavor of  the Poke. 

In these pics, I used much less soy sauce then I'm used to which left the tuna nice and pink. In the past, when I added lots of soy sauce, the tuna soaked up the sauce and the left overs became overly salty and the tuna lost it's brightness in color.    I adore this dish because it's flavorful and chock full of omega 3s and protein. Add the seaweed, which is loaded with minerals, and the red pepper flakes to increase circulation and you've got a recipe for a healthier body and (of course) healthy hair! I also just realized that it's a raw food entree that helps me increase the amount of raw foods I enjoy. 

I hope you love this dish as much as I do.  I look forward to sharing more hair healthy dishes with you in the future.

I now have a tortoise! (again)

This is most likely my most random post ever. Completely unrelated to hair but I just had to share the good news. I have an African Spurred Tortoise! Let me clarify....my tortoise has returned to me! Or should I say, "I think my tortoise has returned."   You may be a little confused so let me explain further...

It all goes back to 3 or 4 years ago when my father, out of now where says he has a surprise for me and hands me a tiny baby turtle.  At the time, the tortoise was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand and weighed only a few ounces.   When I got it home, I felt like it was totally out of place in my home so I tried to build and outdoor enclosure for it.  My lack of experience with tortoise enclosures turned out to be a recipe for disaster for the little guy.  After two weeks or so of safely living in my home, I place him outside in his makeshift enclosure and, within 2 hours, my tortoise was gone.

My husband and I discussed several scenarios of the possible fate suffered by the baby tortoise including, him being eaten by a hawk or garden snake.  Other theories came to mind but we were stumped as to what happened.  Fast forward four years and we have new neighbors move in.  It wasn't until they were good and settled when my husband noticed that the neighbors had, in their back yard, a giant tortoise that could easily weigh over a hundred pounds!  This, of course, brought back the memories of the baby tortoise we once had.  He and I always joked that this tiny baby animal could possibly out live us and could weight over 200 lbs one day.

I figured that since our neighbor had a giant tortoise of their own, we could live vicariously through them by peering out of our back window into their yard, and marveling at this magnificent creature.  Then, out of nowhere, my husband tells me "I think your turtle is in the back yard".  We live near water so we get all kinds are turtles that stop by from time to time.  But turtles and tortoises are not the same.  Of course, I'm in total disbelief as I walk to the back while explaining to him the difference between a turtle and a tortoise ( and not getting my hopes up).

Then, it happens, I lay my eyes on the tortoise and suddenly I'm filled with excitement!  I can't believe I've found my turtle!  Where has he/she been all this time?  What has he been doing?  How did he survive this long without us noticing him?

Then my rational mind came to play and I realized that this could very well be a tortoise that escaped from the yard of my neighbor only a couple of homes down.  Is it possible that they have a slew of tortoises over there that we haven't noticed?  But to be honest, I think his size probably correlates with the amount of time my baby tortoise has been gone.  He's probably around the size of a football.  The neighbor's tortoise is at least 20 times the size of this one and we've eyed their backyard enough to have noticed other tortoises if they had any.  Who knows?!   Either way, I'm celebrating as if my long lost tortoise has miraculously returned to me.

I apologize for the randomness but who knows, maybe I'll be inspired to write a post titled "10 healthy hair tips I learned from owning a tortoise."  Hey......anything can happen.