Pravana for African-American Hair

"Pravana Perfections Nano-Amino Complex miraculously suspends the internal texural memory of the hair to safely transform it to a new, frizz free ,soft and shiny look and feel.  It will retain its new look  and memory state for 8-12 weeks. It will then gradually return to its pre-Service state with no line of demarcation.  This is a  low pH formula and contains no harsh chemicals, which make it safe to use on all clients. It poses no health risks and actually improves the integrity of the hair. "

Last year, I visited a dermatologist because my hair was breaking and shedding excessively. It had become much thinner...and I very worried. She told me that the breakage was due to over-processing: too many relaxers, flat-irons, and heat.

Know what else she said?

"Yeah...you might want to stop putting heat on it...and cut out the relaxers..."

I stared her blankly in the face, making  sure that I'd heard her correctly. "Excuse me?" I wanted to say.

I couldn't believe that she'd said that to me. Maybe she could go without flat-ironing her hair, but certain people cannot. Clearly she didn't know the weight of what she'd said. Because she was smiling. And I was practically in tears. I was losing my hair. I didn't want to go natural because I liked having my straight hair; I loved having bangs. It was the end of the world for me. Melodramatic? Yes. But Understandable...right?

But I went through with it. The flat-iron, blow-dryers and relaxers....I put a stop to them.

For about a year now, I have been natural, but it's a little difficult to suddenly stop relaxing your hair after 5 years of enjoying straightened, manageable hair. I went through that "ugly phase" where a big burst of new-growth impeded on my straightened hair and I looked a little like a lion. It was not pretty at all. I didn't know what hairstyles to do...I couldn't wear my hair as if it were relaxed because of the new-growth, nor could I do any natural styles because most of my hair was still relaxed. It was a very sad time for me. So, I just braided it and waited. 

But I got tired of that, day after day. I appreciated the fact that my hair would be healthier and stop shedding if I stopped relaxing it and flat-ironing it all the time...but sometimes even that fact wasn't enough to keep me from thinking about straightening it again. 

But I stuck with it. And I'm really glad I did. My hair stopped shedding. I got to see my naturally wavy hair again. And I thought it was beautiful. I realized how fuller and healthier my hair is, naturally.

And then something else wonderful happened. My hairdresser called me up one day, telling me about this system called "Pravana" that was an all-natural way to straighten my hair. She said it contained no harsh chemicals and would smooth out the hair cuticle a little, to make it more manageable. Then she said that it wasn't even permanent. That my hair would go back to the way it was within 8-12 weeks. 

Hook, line and sinker, she had me. I went to the shop early because she said it would take some time. I was at the shop for approximately 2-3 hours.

She said many people wondered if Pravana worked on African-American hair. (So, I was a guinea pig, I guess.)

1. First, she washed my hair with the special Pravana shampoo. 

2. Then, she blow-dried it. (I was really excited by this point!)

3. So, she parted my hair into four sections to apply the Pravana, and then began to flat-iron it. It wasn't as thick as a perm, and it didn't burn. But it did tingle a little. And smelled like burning candy to me....

Once she finished flat-ironing it:

4. But that's not the end! She had to wash my hair again to get rid of the residue from the product.

See how smooth it is already?

5. And then, she blow-dried it a little more. And flat-ironed it one final time. 

So, finally, My hair looked like this:

I am extremely happy with the results! My hair retained its body and had a lot of volume (more than with a relaxer)! It moved like crazy! My hair was silky-straight. And by silky straight, I mean that I couldn't even put it into a ponytail. The ponytail holder slipped right off. (No "kinky" texture, either. silky smooth. SMOOTH.) It had so much body that it wouldn't even stay behind my ear. 

So, how long does it last? How well does it hold up?

Well, it lasted through Southeast summertime humidity and aerobics classes. It didn't frizz, and still moved beautifully. 

Once I washed my hair, my wavy texture returned (almost like the picture in step one), but it was still more manageable and less frizzy than before. If you flat iron your hair, it becomes silky-straight once again. 

And get this: I didn't need to put any oil on it. At all. Period. Or any other product for that matter. 

So, how much did it cost? About $220.

You can only use the Pravana shampoo and conditioner. It's about $40 for both.  

I had Pravana applied to my hair in early August. It is now late October. When I flat-iron it, it still becomes silky-straight, but doesn't hold up as well in humidity. However, it is still smoother, without a doubt. And much, much softer. And I still don't need to put oil on it! It's probably time for me to have it reapplied...

So, have you had Pravana? How did it work for you?

Scans from April Popteen 2009

I bought this old Popteen magazine from Ebay! Here are some of my favorite pages!

Dreamv/ Yumetenbo

Dream Vision/Yumetenbo (….or Dreamv for short)

Yumetenbo is….basically a really adorable (and affordable!) Japanese clothing store that carries varying styles such as “Princess”, “Glamorous”, “Beautiful”, and “Girly”.

Yes, from frills to floral skirts, and bows on shirts to hearts on pants, to acid washed skinny jeans and sexy off-shoulder tops, to cute patterned one-pieces and hair accessories, to absolutely adorable high-heeled shoes…Dreamv has it all!

The Japanese website is very simple to navigate even if you don’t speak Japanese.

See the first pink tab with the girl in the bows? That’s the tab that will take you to the page featuring “Princess” items. As you could probably guess, Princess features fills, bows, pastel colors, and ribbons.

I really think it’s a great place to build up a basic Sweet Lolita or Hime Gyaru wardrobe!

The purple tab to the right of the Princess tab is titled “Glamorous”, and this is what I would call the “Sexy” tab.

Glamorous features clothes that are similar to the ones found in American shops like Body Shop, Bebe, or maybe even Express: more fitted, off shoulder or cut-out tops, acid washed jeans, short, punk skirts…basic street or hip hop fashion in a huge variety of colors.

I really think Glamorous fashion shows a little bit of everyday spunk and attitude!

The beige-ish, yellow-ish, brownish (what color IS that?) tab to the right of the purple one is labeled “Kirei” or “Beauty”.

It really focuses on a more formal, sophisticated fashion that might be worn by older young adults or even in an office setting. The clothing here is almost like a toned-down “Glamorous”—the colors aren’t as wild, but some tops are still fitted and off-shoulder. From what I can see, there isn’t much variety in this section; it’s very basic.

So, I definitely think Beautiful (...or maybe "elegant" would be a better way to say it) could be used for plain basics or for women who have evolved from the loud fashion of Glamorous.

The light pink tab next to Beautiful is called “Girly”.

The clothes here are simply…feminine. But not as frilly and Lolita as "Princess". “Girly” is very casual: simple, lace collar or floral dresses and tops, polka-dots, cardigans, trench-coats…easy-going school girl fashions. Very gentle.

Like “Beauty”, the colors available for “Girly” are more neutral and spring-y. Cute, simple, charming fashion.

The pink tool bar near the top of the page has the categories “Tops” “Outer” and “Bottoms” where all the clothing on the website is mixed together and categorized by type. The “shoes” category is really the place to go if you want Lolita or princess shoes. Most of them are platform, pumps or heels of varying colors. They look like little doll shoes….awww!

I also love Dreamv's sizing! Most of their garments are available in Japanese sizes S-L or M-3L; so it’s a good place for non-Japanese people to get their hands on Japanese fashions that fit!

If you want to purchase Dreamv items, then you can use their Rakuten website which caters to those overseas. The front page looks like this:

Dream Vision/Yumetenbo also has a Youtube page! And a Facebook page!