Fall into Winter Hair Care

 With the colder months looming in the near future it's time to re-think your hair care regimen!
Seasons changing, leaves breaking away and blowing carelessly with the wind. Fall fashionistas are gearing up with knee boots, beanies, and blazers galore. Naturalistas have to ready themselves to embrace some changes as well. Remember our Summer Hair Care Tips ? It's time to put that on the shelf next to the bright tank tops, flip-flops and  skimpy bikinis...

Get ready to fall into winter hair care. Notepads out and pens up, I've got 11 tips for your winter hair care regimen ! Let's get going!

Conditioning and Moisturizing
1. Incorporate more deep conditioning into your regimen. Your strands are gong to need a little more pampering during this cold weather season ! Make sure you pay attention to your hair's needs.

2. Become a moisture maniac but be sure to remember hydral fatigue. Leave-in conditioners are a great way to add in some extra moisture here and there. You might want to try a heavier leave-in if you're using a creamy type of  Leave-in Conditioner. Don't forget,  over-night baggy treatments are great way too boost moisture.

3. If you're a co-wash type of gal, you might want to ease up on the co-washing or make sure your hair is completely dry before stepping outdoors. 

4. If you're a shampooer, implement more shampoos that are moisturizing for that extra umphh ! 

Protecting and Sealing
1. Protective Styling (which doesn't always need to be intricately done. If your ends are protected from clothing, weather, etc then it's a protective style.) Check out my post on protective styling for some tips!

2. Be sure to protect your hair from accessories such as beanies, hats and scarves. Sometimes your hair can snag on the rough fabric. Try wearing a satin or silk scarf underneath your hat or beanie of choice for added protection.

3. Adding in heavier butters and oils for sealing purposes if it so suits your hair needs. Some hair types don't like the feeling of heavier butters. My kinky, nappy hair loves it. 


4. Don't forget that you should still be sleeping with a satin cap! Keep your hair snuggled up and safe. If the satin scarf or cap isn't your thing, opt for a satin pillowcase.

Extra Love and Care 

1. Love on your hair with some awesome hot oil treatments! Why not give yourself a scalp massage while you're at it ! Go ahead and be fancy and baggy that hot oil treatment.

2. Concentrate even more so on your ends.  You can do this by just doing a baggy treatment on your ends or giving them an extra mist of water and sealing it in! Make sure they are fully protected when wearing a protective style. They're the old heads of the group, so treat them accordingly.

3. If you own a steamer, this is another great way to get more moisture or to make up for lack of moisture. I don't have a steamer so I "steam in the shower", sometimes with a baggy and sometimes without.


There's one item that's usually overlooked when thinking about winter hair care that can sometimes be detrimental to maintaining moisture... the heat in your home! Yes, it can cause dryness just like the warmer months. So if you feel that your hair a feeling slightly drier than normal, don't hesitate to give it a boost with some of the tips above !


Now, if by chance you're in a warm area why not check out my tips on spring and summer haircare and enjoy the warmth of the sun rays for the both of us !

What are some ways that you adapt your regimen for cooler seasons ?

(CLOSED) SimplyCare's One Year Blogaversary Giveaway ! (CLOSED)

I've kept you all in enough suspense all week !

Let's have a giveaway. *cue applause*

Happy Birthday Bloggy ! + A Retrospective

It's a celebration y'all !

365 days.

So many things can happen in a year, that's a lot time.

Yet it passes by in almost a blink. Just like that, it's gone and you have another year to progress, strive, and continue moving forward.

Today this blog turns 1 year old. Can you believe it ? I certainly can't. I remember my first post like it was yesterday! Literally.

Sometimes when I am writing posts, and I need to back link or reference a past post, I am shocked by how long it can sometimes take for me to come across the right post.

Have I really written that many ?

I wonder how many people have read, shared, or even actually liked what I have posted.

In  year's time what are some ways that I can gauge the effectiveness of this blog, it's growth, and reach ?

I definitely have more readers, comments, and subscribers. Yet somehow it's not enough. I'm still the new kid on the block, but maybe I haven't asked enough people to play ! Lol.

This blog and I have come a long ways together! Our first series, blog challenges, Black History Month, a little bit of Frolicious Mixtressin'. I can't wait to see what another year will bring! 


Enough of the retrospective, let's move on to candles and cake !

This year celebration really creeped up on me. It's like I knew it was coming but subsequently forgot about it. It doesn't feel like I've been blogging for a whole entire year.

So, I guess this means a celebration is in order, for a number of things.

1. Reaching 100+ likes on the Facebook page
2. Surpassing 150 Followers in the facebook page
3. One whole year of bloggity bloggin'

I'm excited about this giveaway but more skeptical than I should be. I didn't write a really in-depth post about the mishandling I encountered with the United States Postal System, and I don't intend to now. I just hope that this time around things run much more smoothly.

This giveaway won't be "huge" like some 1 year blog celebrations that I've encountered but I do intend to have more than one winner. That's big to me !

So go tell all your curlfriends, while I finish up the details for the giveaway!

Questions ! 

What's one or two of your favorite things about this blog ? 

Do you have a favorite post, or maybe a post that taught you a new thing or two ? 

I would LOVE to know ! 

What would be one or two things you would like to see on this blog in the future ?

September is a Wrap!

I'm sure you're wondering how I did with my September challenges right? I mean, I just know that it was dogging you in the back of your mind that I barely put up any type of updates (except for here , oh and here too).

I'm sure a "Get on with it Stephanie" might have been voiced, even loudly... in hopes that I would perhaps "get my life" and thoroughly update you on challenging myself with challenges.

Well, relax and let your finger do the scrolling.

Let us begin...

Everyone wants to place blame right ?

No one wants to be blamed either I might add.

So as much as I would love to blame my raggedy, no good, very bad laptop for my lack of blogging and vlogging. I can't.

 I can only place but so much blame upon the sleek black, technological paper weight known as the "dreaded damn dell" The rest, alas, must be placed with myself.

I started out with great intentions, I penned a cute little calendar, wrote down what would be posted what day and where.It was great,  I had everything mostly mapped out.

But the DIL bug bit me, and oh did it bite me hard!

DIL? Do-It-Later. Now you know.

Don't let his coy smile fool you!

The goal was to post 3 blog posts weekly, 2 vlogs weekly, and 1 one art blog post weekly. I had enough ideas to fill up an editorial calendar but you can clearly just how many posts I actually did publish. Now, I won't bore you with specifics or wallow around, I glad that I actually did it. It being accepting all those challenges and attempting to see them all though with great results.

I only fell short in the blogging/vlogging area. Elsewhere I did a darn good tootin' job!

Bevie Challenge ? Great, I'm glad I randomly decided to do that for myself. I drink way more water now, and I can tell a difference in my skin, even if my acne monster is out to play right now. Having a toteable water bottle makes it easier as well, plus I'm being "green" It's a win-win for me and Mother Earth. You're welcome.


Squat September ? Definitely sweet, I don't have a before and after pic, but I do see a definite noticeable difference. I've always had more junk in my trunk so it's kind of hard to tell. LOL.
I see changes in my legs and thighs! Thank you squats and lunges. Bless you.

Now that we are in October I'm doing some more challenges! Read more about that here. I'm just going to keep going and be better!

Oh, and as far as the KCCM Challenge, that's going great as well. I post regular updates about that each week. I think that I'll be installing another protective style soon also.

That's all folks !

Quick question, do you have ways to keep challenges in order ? 

 Do you tend to keep going or end it if you miss a day or two ? 

October What ?!

Well, welcome to October curlfriends! This month just barged right on in! I can't believe how fast these days are just passing us by !

Well, to welcome in the month of October I'm doing some more challenges ! My September Challenge Recap will be up tomorrow.

So why more challenges ? Why not! I found a great fitness and yoga challenge that I'm very excited for! I've been trying to incorporate more yoga into my exercise regimen and now I've found the perfect way.

GrowSoulBeautiful started a yoga-a-day challenge on Instagram. There is a pose for everyday of October, and you post an image of of yourself doing each pose. Simple and fun! Make sure you are following my Instagram account @iSimplyCare! Why not join in on the yoga-a-day pose as well! I did the first pose today and it felt so great ! My lower back had been hurting from an exercise that I did earlier. The Upward Salute (Urdhva Hastasana ) pose really stretched it out for me.

My Urdhva Hastasana

Yoga-a-Day for October

The fitness challenge that I'm doing this month is by Hey Fran Hey and Chescaleigh. It's called PlankandGreenOCT. For the month of October, you plank daily and each day 5 seconds is added to your original planking time. You also drink a green smoothie daily with four difference leafy green vegetable bases, week one is Spinach.

This challenge I'm particularly excited about, because I was looking for ways to step up intensity and core/ab workouts and this definitely helps. 

I'm not overloading myself with challenges this month just in case you were wondering ! Lol. I'm going to continue to focus on blogging, building my brand and vlogging semi-regularly.

Did you join any challenges this month ? 

What are they, are you excited about them ?