Been So Looooong (Mystikal Voice)...

The first time someone mentioned to me that they hadn’t seen a Suzie CurlMichael post in a while I thought, “You’re right! I need to post something soon.”

When the second person asked me whether I was still writing my blog I replied, “Of course! I have a few things in the can.”

When my straight(haired), and curly(haired), and male(haired), and vanilla(haired), and chocolate(haired) friends alike began asking what was going on with my blog time and time again, I realized that I needed to devote some time to consider why I hadn’t been writing…

Did life get too good?

The holidays and the beginning of every year are always a really good time for me. I’m surrounded by people I love, I'm traveling, I’m eating good, I’m sleeping good, and feeling good which ultimately translated to my dedicating less time to sitting and writing about what my hair is doing. As the year began I dedicated an immense amount of time to self-reflection and my massive vision-board project. Writing took a back seat but was never too far from my mind.

Did I abandon my curls?

Hell NO! My hair still consumes a huge portion of my life and I am still a card holding member of #TeamNatural. I’ve trimmed in the last 6 months, I’ve hennaed regularly, deep conditioned weekly, Ebonnet-ed practically every night, washed-and-went most every day, twisted out, roller-sat, and spread the gospel to various Curlies who stop me on the street asking, “What’s that, a straw set?” (It’s not by the way).

Did I grow bored of talking about my curls?

(Pause) Well, I wouldn’t say that “bored” is the most accurate of words to describe how I'd been feeling… But I did reach a point where the anxiety of developing, writing, and editing posts exclusively about my curls became just one more thing I pushed off to tomorrow's to-do list.

So what’s a Curly to do???

When I began writing Suzie CurlMichael I limited my subject matter to my hair because I felt as though I could express myself without being an OVER-sharer... My mother reads this thing for goodness sakes (quite often if my view count when I haven’t posted in over a month is any indication “Hi Bernice!”) But my lovely Sugarer (blog about my sugaring obsession coming soon “Hi Misty!”) recently suggested that perhaps I should expand my subject matter. Hummmmmm.

While I’m probably not ever going to tell you who did what with the candlestick in the library, I am going to broaden my scope a bit and let you in on my world beyond my hairline. That being said… I gotta run. I just got back in town from a weekend in Vegas and I gotta put my life back together a little bit. And just in case you were wondering, there’s NO way you’re going to hear anything about that trip… girlfriend code. BUT I do have SO much to share with you now that I am loosening the reigns a bit. And I PROMISE I’ll be back soon.

Ciao!

SCM

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OUT OF STOCK… But not OUT OF OPTIONS

I believe that I am nothing if not loyal (to a fault at times). I am loyal to my soil (thank you E-40). I am loyal to my friends. I am loyal to my family. I am loyal (and here is where fault begins to rear its head) to my hair products. Since I big chopped in 2008 I have been a faithful user of the Hair Rules line (see my review of my favorite Hair Rules products here). I’ve maintained that there wasn’t a thing in the world that could gently cleanse my hair like my Hair Rules Daily Cleansing Cream. Nothing quenched my curls like my Hair Rules Quench Conditioner. And nothing could whip my curls into shape like my Hair Rules Curly Whip. When I first chopped my hair I was an 8oz. user. As my curls began to grow I bumped up to the 16oz. containers. Now that my hair stretches to 7 inches at it longest point I've moved on up (like the Jefferson’s) to the 32oz. containers… And herein lies the rub… Hair Rules has been OUT OF STOCK… of the 32oz. sizes of my three go-to products... For months (insert scary music here)!

If I lived in New York I would skip down to the Hair Rules Salon and restock my stash (easy breezy). But I don’t live in New York. I am a Cali girl (born and raised) and the stores here seem to think that 8oz. sizes of daily use conditioner and styler serve a valid purpose other than just making my curls thirst for more (Little Shop of Horrors Style… Feed me Seymour!). I’ve checked, and checked, and checked Hair Rules’ online store throughout the past few months only to find that the 32 oz. sizes of my go-to products are still OUT OF STOCK… Recently, I reached my limit, I decided that I would throw up my white flag and drive to the no so local Target (of course it would be too much to ask that the Target in my hood stock the line) and raid the shelves of all the 8oz. sized Hair Rules that I could fit into my cart. As I got into the car to prepare for my ride a voice of reason chimed in and whispered… “Why don’t you try something new???” Hummmmm… Well, it is the weekend… Hummmmm… I do have a number of other products I could give a go…. Hummmmm… I REALLY don’t feel like traveling south of the 10 to splurge on the small bottles of Quench and Curly Whip. Yes,  in this instance size does matter… A LOT! The cost per ounce is more than 40% higher for the smaller bottles than in the larger ones)… Okay it’s settled. These things that made me go Hummmm inspired me to go back into the house put on a little CC Music Factory and raid my stash.

I grabbed some bottles and jars of the new stuff and hopped in the shower and low and behold… There is life after OUT OF STOCK. While my curls didn’t react exactly as they had with my Hair Rules products I achieved maximum slip, defined curls, and maximum softness. Perhaps the best reward was the fact that each of the products I used were readily available on the ground at most of the stores that I frequent (ie. the Target in my hood) and are sold at price points that don’t break the bank… Victory!!!

While I still plan on re-upping on my Hair Rules staples whenever the 32oz. sized containers are back in stock I’ve learned that just because someone is “Out of Stock” doesn’t mean I am “Out of Options.” I am enjoying this period of trying new curly products and styles. The braid out in this photo was achieved with Giovanni Organic Smooth As Silk Deeper Moisture Conditioner ($8), Giovanni Organic Direct Leave-In Weightless Moisture Conditioner ($8), Curls Curl Soufflé Curl Cream ($16), homemade flax seed gel to smooth my edges, and finished with a spritz of Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Reconstructive Elixir ($10).

Which of your favorite products can be hard to find? What do you use as a back-up?

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