Well! All of these brands, very popular and formerly only available online, are now at Target! I don’t know about you, but I’m excited!  Especially about the Jane Carter and Curls! This will certainly save on shipping!

Miss Jessie’s: Check out their facebook page or their website to see the locations their products will be available.

Jane Carter Solution: Here’s the list from their website.

Shea Moisture: Some of the products are only available online, here is the Target website. You can also find the stores they’re sold in by typing in your info here.

Curls: Here’s a list of Target stores now carrying Curls products.

With all of the many, many different hair products out there, it can put quite a dent in the old pocketbook to get try a variety. When I arrived on the natural scene, I ended up spending a hefty sum to get my hands on as many products as I could. I don’t regret this much, as it helped me to establish this blog and the many product reviews that I am able to share here.

Now that I am able to receive a lot of samples to try out, I don’t have to spend as much money to satisfy my PJ (product junky) needs.

Having said that: This issue of money and hair care brings to mind a disturbing trend. It really became apparent to me after viewing the movie “Good Hair”. Look at the following scene to see what I mean:

If you can’t see the  video, it’s the scene where Chris Rock is in the beauty salon flabbergasted by how much weaves cost. When he asks the ladies what jobs they have one replies “childcare” and the other says she’s a school teacher, to which Mr. Rock replies “What a minute, school teachers don’t make no money!”

Ya’ll, I of course laughed and laughed about that until I took a serious look around my own neck of the woods. As I may have said before, I work with a mostly African American, low income population.

A good majority (not all) of these folks may not have a ride to the hospital ,they may not have enough money for the electric bill, and they may have to ask a local charity to feed them….but dangit, they are gonna have money for their hair!

I am DEAD serious. It still shocks the living daylights out of me to see this, and I see it entirely too often.

It’s just very distressing to see so many people who say they can barely afford to get the rent paid (and I see this in the online hair community a lot though I am hoping there is exaggeration in most of these cases) and then come in with your hair in a differently style every week with a ton of human hair (not to mention that Louis Vuitton bag, but that’s a whole ‘nother post).

I’m not saying that people who are broke should just completely ignore their hair or even that they should go natural (because ya’ll know how expensive salon relaxers are!) . I have been broke before, I have been hungry before, but you best believe that I wasn’t going to the beauty salon because I had more important things to put my money towards like, um….food? I would spend money on some products just to make sure my hair looked decent, but that was it.

What’s my point in all this? To say, we all need to prioritize. A lot of ladies come to this blog and see all of the product reviews and get overwhelmed, by both the selection and the prices. Guess what?

You don’t have to buy any of this stuff. There are many, many, many more affordable alternatives to the products that we all love. Would I love to always use natural and organic products? Yes I would! But if I ever become a stay at home mom again, I know that this is not going to be possible. I already have some locally available selections from this post  and am currently working on a part II.

Let’s be real: Natural ingredients are not cheap, shipping is as expensive as H-E-double hockey sticks, natural salons will often ask for your firstborn child in return for doing twists, and the economy is bad.

You do not need to go broke to be natural. You can learn to do your own hair. You can find local, inexpensive products or make your own. Cute hair accessories can be found at the Walmart and Target just like they can be found online.

All of this is said with much love.

Because I know you newly natural ladies are on the lookout for some bold pieces of jewelry that don’t break the bank, I’m going to share with you a site I found through LHCF.

The site is called Two Dollar Jewelry…if you have two dollars, you have enough for a pair of earrings, a necklace, a ring, or a bracelet. Shipping is $1.60 for the first item and then $0.55 cents for each additional item. Then, if you spend over 50 bucks, shipping is free.

Now, this jewelry is two bucks and not something you’re probably going to be passing down to grandkids or anything, but for the here and now, it’s a great deal. Especially for those of you who like to have a different pair of earrings for each outfit (you know who you are!).  I’ve had all of mine for a few months now and only one thing broke on me.Hence my reasoning for not recommending any of the stud earrings. I fell asleep in a pair and I woke up with them laying on my pillow. The dangly earrings seem to be a better pick.

I have ordered two necklaces which seem to be pretty sturdy thus far. I also ordered two bracelets from this site, but have yet to wear them. They also have some non-two dollar items such as scarves and hats that are pretty cheap inexpensive. I’ve not ordered any of them so I can’t vouch for them.

The delivery was pretty quick, I believe it shipped the same day,  and I had to sign for everything to receive my package, so I think you need to have a physical address.

If you’re afraid of your skin turning green, try and get the wooden jewelry which they seem to have plenty of. I got wooden necklaces and bracelets just for that reason.

Just a heads up on possible good deals when you PJs are on the prowl online.

There’s a neat website called Pebble.com that  allows you to search for products and find a good deal searching several different online stores.

It also has a question and answer portion for each product where you can get feedback before you buy it. I was just playing around with it since I can’t buy anything (2 more months on the No Buy Challenge!) and I found Jane Carter Nourish and Shine (normally 22.00, not including shipping) for 18.99 using this website.  Some products will have several listings under them comparing the prices. Another example: I did a search for the book Going Natural it brought up seven results of varying prices.

It will compare prices from Amazon, The Vitamin Shoppe, Borders, Buy.com and many others e-retailers.

Though I can’t purchase anything hair related right now, I did however find a great deal on a new sports bra that I’ve been wanting to try for awhile. I saved 18 bucks on it! Go me!!

I hope this post helps someone find a good deal, even if it’s not on hair products, I’m all about pinching pennies lately!

Hello, I’m a PJ.

I have a lot of products and they can get out of control.

Hello, did I also mention that I’m a clutterbug?

I tend to have a lot clutter unless I am actively trying not to. Which is most of the time.

So when I started seeing that my newly acquired products were starting to get out of control, I knew I had to do something. Enter my “Master Plan”:

Yes, indeedy, that is a shoe tree. And it fits me just fine for holding the majority of my hair products, along with some of my skin care products. I first saw this in my Mother In Law’s bathroom and thought it a novel idea.These are not all of my products, the ones I rarely use are tucked away in a small storage container under my sink.

Good points:

Cheap to purchase. These are available at the dollar store in some areas, though the ones from Walmart tend to be tougher.

The plastics pockets make it easy to clean with a damp cloth when needed. You can also label each pocket if you really want to organize things. There is also the added bonus of being able to clearly see your supply.

Easy access. No containers to go and open, no shelves to reach up into.

Much neater than products scattered over the counter or tossed under the sink.

Not so good points:

Easy access…for kids. If you have little ones in your house, there is nothing to stop them from indulging in a nice mouthful of KCCC.

Door banging may ensue if your tree gets too full.

Visitors to your bathroom can easily peruse your stash and steal your goodies!!

For this particular activity, you prolly want plastic!

I no longer purchase plastic caps because I have substitutes readily available to me every time I go to the grocery store: a plastic bag.

Modeling a bag for ya'll!

The handles are in the front. I tie a loose knot with the handles, push all of the air out of the bag, and then tuck the knot in the front above my forehead. I sometimes wrap a towel around it.

So the next time you need to DC, just go dig around in that drawer or cabinet where you keep extra grocery bags and plop it on your head! I know plastic caps are cheap, but in today’s economy every cent counts. Also, it’s better for the environment to find an additional use for all of those plastic bags.

If you’ve got a big surplus, remember that a lot of grocery stores offer recycling for plastic bags right there i the store! Happy deep conditioning ladies!

We all know that there is a recession going on right now and that can put a hurting on the PJs (product junkies) out there.

I write a lot of product reviews on items that I order online. These are not the cheapest products in the world, but they are usually of good quality. However, I think it’s important to find quality products that are near to home and, also,  more on the frugal side. Especially with shipping costs being what they are.

Here is a list of products and ingredients that are inexpensive and can usually be found locally. Though I will recommend these products, I do have to say that I don’t use some of them and would only use them if I had no access to the products I really love.Some of these I have already mentioned and they will be linked accordingly.

I will mention the ones that I prefer and do use first.

• Food grade Aloe Vera Gel can very often be purchased from whole foods or health foods store. It costs me about 3 dollars for my supply which I use in my homemade spritz. I usually buy AVG every other month.

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• Animal glycerin (made from animal fats) can be bought in most drugstores , but veggie glycerin is often available for purchase in bulk in wholefoods stores and can be very inexpensive.  Here is a wonderful article from NaturallyCurly.com on glycerin. And I want to add that I do not use glycerin much in the dry winter weather.

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• Many oils can be bought at your local grocery store. My favorite is probably olive oil, but among others are castor oil (it’s not just for staying regular!),safflower oil, and almond oil.Here is a helpful list of oils from Motown Girl.

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• Molasses- Info contained in Caramel Treatment article

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• Honey- Info contained in Caramel Treatment article

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• Baking Soda

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• Suave Tropical Coconut Conditioner

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• Fantasia IC Hair Polisher Styling Gel with Sparkle Lites

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• Hollywood Beauty Olive Creme Hairdress for Dry Hair
  

Ingredients:Water , Isopropyl Myistate , Soybean Oil , Olive Oil , Stearic Acid , Stearyl Alcohol , Glyceryl Stearate , Vitamin E , Matricaria Extract Chamomile , Calendula Extract , Vitamin B , Macadamia Nut Oil , Vitamin A , Coconut Oil , Rosemary Extract , Sage Extract , Vitamin C , Great Burdock Extract , Triethanolamine , Methyl Paraben , Propyl Paraben , Imidazolidinyl Urea , Fragrance , FD&C Yellow No. 5 , FD&C Blue No.

I used this briefly before I discovered the handmade products that I enjoy more. It’s pretty creamy though and fairly moisturizing. I have seen some ladies on the hair boards swear by this, though it would not be my first choice. I does have a lot of good ingredients, which was surprising. It’s also quite light for a hairdress.

However, it does contain parabens (if you are looking to avoid those). I bought it at WalMart for about 3 dollars.

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• GVP Conditioning Balm

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Myristyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Decyl Oleate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum), Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Hexyl Cinnamal, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Hydrastis Canadensis (Golden Seal) Extract, Fucus Vesiculosus (Bladderwack) Extract, Methyl-2-Octynoate

This is from the GVP line at Sally’s which uses the same ingredients as the big brands and pretty much yields the same results. This particular conditioner is a knock off of Biolage Conditioning Balm which I have also used and really liked, but was a bit miffed at the price. I was very happily surprised to find it Sally’s for only about 4-5 dollars. It’s very thick so I would just usually dilute it and cowash with it. It too contains parabens and also rosemary.

In addition to these product suggestions, let me also add that NC.com has a pretty good article with some money saving curly tips. Enjoy! Hot Curls on a Budget