How it all began...

In 2006, I had just graduated from college and began working for a news organization in the top five market.    With an insatiable appetite to learn as much as I could and big dreams of the future, I quickly learned how first impressions mean everything, so if you don't look the part, no one will take you seriously. An unfortunate truth, but something had to be done -- and fast. Hoping to find a style that would be easy to care for while I figured out to do with my own hair, yet offered versatility and a professional appearance, I decided on installing micro-braids. The style was similar to the picture below including the highlighted color.

Once I removed the braids, however, I realized I was in worse shape than before I started. My hair was fried, dyed and laid to the side. It was a dry, damaged mess after years of relaxing, mechanical abuse and at-home box hair color. I used a black rinse hoping to conceal some of the damage and was left with was can be seen in the picture below.

I joined a popular message board geared toward learning how to grow long, healthy hair for women of color back around in early 2007 and that is when the product junkie addiction began. I jumped on almost every bandwagon hoping I could grow my hair to beyond my shoulders for the first time since I was kid. With all that bandwagon hopping, I picked up several hundred products, tools, and accessories along the way. Five years later, I have a solid hair care regimen and healthy, non-chemically treated hair to the middle of my back but still can't seem fight the incredible urge to peruse the hair care aisle in the drugstore or supermarket. Even if I need to run in and grab something quickly, something inside of me always says I HAVE to check those aisles "just in case" a product I have never tried is on sale or newly stocked.

*Sigh*

So, that's my story and hopefully this blog can be my happy ending to an expensive habit. I plan to review the many hair and beauty products I have gathered over the years by "shopping my stash". My main problem: I don't even know what I have anymore!

Most of the items in my hair arsenal were impulse grabs. You know...those items that were on the clearance rack, or had awesome ingredients, or was rediscovered in the back of my refrigerator next to the box of baking soda.

Anywho, I hope this blog will help you all in your search for your holy grail products BEFORE committing to a purchase that could fall flat, all the while helping me cure my addiction by seeing what actually works instead of what I think might work.

Being a product junkie isn't an easy addiction to shake...so let's do this together, one bottle of conditioner at a time.

And that's the way it is,

~Amanda