About Manetabolism hair vitamins and my own hair growth challenge

So, it took me forever to write another post and I apologize about that, I got caught up in so many things between enrolling my son into a new school, a family reunion, toothache and eventually a dental procedure so needless to say it has been a busy month for me so far.

In between all those things I got my Manetabolism vitamins in the mail (Yay!!!), and I couldn't wait to start taking them so I barely made it home from the post office when I had already taken the first dose. LOL

Within a week I could see that my nails were growing harder, I'm a nail biter and although I must admit that I still try to bite them, it has gotten a bit difficult to do it because they are thicker, so YAY!!! Also, my hair was in braids but they got really lose after the first week of taking the vitamins so I had to take them down and a very excited me did a length check, I don't have any before pics but I can tell you that it grew a bit!

After washing and de-tangling my hair I cut off an inch and I colored it (because it looked crazy), so the long piece that you see on the picture above is an inch shorter and my hair is a bit more even now. 

I will be posting my official results in about two more weeks. I will start another bottle as well, the  reason I even bought these vitamins is because after doing a lot of research, and I mean for months, I have seen so many great reviews and results that I just HAD to try them for myself. I'm very excited to share my results! 

Below are the ingredients and just a couple of testimonies from women taking the vitamins:

I will post my official review within a couple of weeks after I'm done with my first bottle, this is my hair after cutting and coloring it last week, I have a lot of shrinkage by the way, I only cut off an inch from a low ponytail, nothing too drastic!

Some of my friends have also taken the hair growth challenge, I'm excited to report their reviews and experience too!

Jr's Legacy!

A day like today, one year ago, I was blessed to give birth to a beautiful baby boy. We gave him his father's name, Patrick Jr and we were so excited and happy to have this little baby in our lives.

His birth wasn't easy... I was rushed to the hospital because I hadn't felt him move throughout the day, at the hospital they said he was suffering fetal distress and they performed an emergency C-section. I actually don't remember much, I just know it was almost midnight, they put me on a bed, started rushing me, I saw his father standing there looking at me hopelessly, helpless and scared. I had never seen him scared before, not like that.

I was crying, they asked me a few questions and I was out... I woke up in extreme pain, confused, my body hurt like never before and I had no idea what happened to my baby. I started searching from him. I tried to get up and they held me down. I asked for my baby, is he dead? A male nurse said what? Nooo, he's good. Strong and noisy. I smiled, fell back asleep.

Woke in pain again, this time they had me move to another bed and I was in the worst pain of my life, somehow I managed to finally do it and went to my recovery room. I woke up alone and confused. Eventually my partner showed up and said the baby was sick, I said sick? what do you mean sick? He said, he is connected to a bunch of machines and things, they say he is sick... I didn't understand, I had a perfect pregnancy, I wasn't high risk, I had energy, no weird symptoms, what could have went wrong? I tried to go see him but I wasn't allowed, that hurt me so much. I actually saw him the next day.

I worked through the pain which was unbearable, but I have this thing that whenever it's for my kids, no pain ever holds me back, so I managed to no only walk, but walk fast and I finally saw him. I was so happy, he was beautiful! A little miracle baby!

I thought he was perfect, although the doctors did not give me any hope and pointed out so many things that were wrong with him, to me he was just perfect! So what if his head is a bit big? What if his skin is a bit funny looking? He would be ok! Or so I thought...

The next few days we saw great improvement and we were so excited! We were able to finally hold him, he didn't need as many meds and breathing tubes, he was doing good! Then we noticed he had a silent cry, I thought maybe he's mute, but I heard him cry twice, so i figured he would snap out of it eventually... Then he wouldn't eat, then he started shrinking. Then one day we saw him and he looked bloated, pale and unresponsive. They said he had an infection... We looked for a pastor and went to bless him and the most wonderful thing happened! As the pastor prayed with us, both of us had our fingers in his little hands, as the pastor said Amen, Jr squeezed our fingers! Whaaat? I was in shock, it's like he was communicating with us, assuring us he would be Ok.

Unfortunately his condition worsened but I still had faith; I was worried, but I had some faith, but things didn't look too good... He would never recover... He stopped breathing several times, his organs continued to deteriorate, he wasn't able to eat properly. But I was there everyday, I was the first in line everyday, I would get there 2 or 3 hours early just to be first in line. I would sleep on corners, the nurses and guards knew me by name. I was there with much hope no matter what but I was ready for whatever.

56 days of life, on the 55th day he gave me so much hope, he looked so big, he looked me straight in the eyes, he smiled at me, things he had never done. I left there smiling hard, I believed my baby was coming home soon. I went home and started getting some things ready and out of boxes, I was positive that this boy was coming home soon.

The next day I visited him as usual and he didn't look too good, but we would have days like those, he would be good one day, bad the next. I was getting used to it while never losing hope. Later in the evening my phone rang and as it did I just knew. I didn't recognize the number and I just knew something was wrong... They said he wasn't going to make it through the night. I started shaking, running around the house, called my mom to stay with the kids. Called his father who was almost home from work and we rushed to the hospital. It was the longest ride ever. He stopped by the corner and I just jumped out of the car and ran to see my son, there he was, stable but his mouth full of blood. He had a lung hemorrhage, he was heavily medicated but bloody and weak.

I asked what were the chances of surviving and they said little to none. I prayed with him, sang to him, kissed him and within an hour he started bleeding out again, fading away fast. I asked to hold him... I just couldn't let him die on that cold bed... I held him tight as I sang and cried until I felt his last breath.

I still see it fresh in my mind.

My life after all of this has changed... This experience made me a better person, it shook me to the core. I decided that I could no longer live below my potential, I decided to live because my son died to teach me, to change me, to help me grow. I'm no longer angry all the time. I'm more aware of other people's problems. I'm no longer selfish. I'm at peace.

I knew I did all that I could, I know I gave it my all and that God used this to bring me to a place where I would have to make life changing decisions. I finally know who I am and what I want and how I want it.

My son's legacy is my life, this person who I am today is all thanks to him being in my life. My son's legacy is love, acceptance, understanding. When tragedy strikes you have to options, be consumed by it or to be uplifted. I chose the latter. Death is such a harsh word, I think my son has been elevated to a higher state. It's hard to see him as a helpless little baby cause he fought hard, he communicated with me at the right times. He told me it's ok. He gave me one hour before he went away, he let me have my moment with him And I'm so thankful for that. My little lion is a fighter, he is my inspiration, he brought me back to life!

To my beautiful son Patrick Jr.
I love you, thank you for choosing and loving me! ♥

The tea on hair shedding!

Hi there, I'd like to start this post by reiterating that these are MY personal experiences and I'm not an expert on this subject, I've just done some research and have found what works for me.

Anyway, on to the good part.

A few months ago after giving birth and being extremely depressed I noticed that my hair was falling out, I figured it was due to the hormones from giving birth and what not... I didn't really stress over it because I know that shedding after giving birth is normal and I figured it would stop one day, that was until one day about three months ago when I washed my hair and looked in the mirror and I felt kinda bald!

Not knowing what to do and having just gotten over my depression, I posted on Facebook that I needed some help in regards to shedding and thankfully a couple of my friends gave me some tips but it was my girl Karina who pointed me in this direction, she suggested that I did a 'black tea rinse'.
I thought: huh? Where does one buy that at? (Thinking it was some new natural product) And she said that it was basically making a cup of tea and pouring it over my head but she pointed me to this Youtube video for instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUWj33rqj_Y.
Please make sure you watch it BEFORE trying it or read this post thoroughly because one needs to follow instructions!

Any who, I watched the video and IMMEDIATELY went to the kitchen and got the leftover tea that my mother had made that morning. (She drinks tea every day, at all times! LOL) I poured it into a spray bottle and got to spraying as if my life depended on it.
Now let me pause here and say that before the tea, anytime I combed my hair it would shed pretty badly, I mean, I couldn't even run my fingers through my hair because a bunch would fall off without pulling or tugging at it. No wonder I was almost bald!
So I got to spraying my entire scalp and after about 10 minutes I applied conditioner over it because black tea makes your hair a bit hard and the last thing I needed was for my hair to become more tangled than usual. (Jesus No!) I left the mixture on my hair for maybe 5-10 more minutes and rinsed off while I detangled in the shower. The result was that I had ONE strand of hair on my comb after detangling. ONE!!! (Yes I'm shouting this) ONE!!! versus the regular dozens of hair strands.

I. Started. Crying.

Trust me, I'm not too attached to my hair at all BUT I had just gone through the worst experience of my life losing my baby, ended a relationship and felt extremely sad and just ugly, then to top it off, my hair was also leaving me? It was too much... It felt like the end of the world for a minute... And this little miracle that has been a part of my household for as long as I remember, this regular black Lipton teabag had the power to stop my hair from falling out, it stopped ME from having yet another thing to be depressed about. Yep, I'm being THAT dramatic cause that's how it felt for me!  Oh happy day!

It's very important to say that overusing black tea on hair has the power to stunt your hair from growing, so please use it moderately if you wish to try it. Also, make sure that you do YOUR OWN research. I have done research for everything I have tried regardless of what anyone tells me, and I suggest that you do the same.

I still use black tea every now and then but I also realized that I could make Rosemary tea, (Té de Romero), and pour it on instead of black tea. Rosemary is linked to hair growth so why not? You can get a little $0.25 pack of Rosemary at the grocery store, grab a little bit and pour it into some boiling water and let it cool off. Spray or pour and condition and go about your business. My hair is usually shiny and it smells very nice after I apply it and I haven't had any negative side effects.

I hope this is helpful for you as it was to me!

Peace & Love! ♥

Let's talk about honey, honey!

Hey peeps! 

In my journey to go back to natural hair I have discovered many natural remedies for some other issues I've had for a long time and I'd like to share my personal experience with y'all.

Honey is an amazing little gift from God!  

It has many healing properties and beauty benefits so after doing some research for different things and most of them were pointing me to honey I figured that I just need to have honey AT ALL TIMES in my kitchen AND bathroom cabinets. (Yes, I keep 2 stashes!) 

Anyway, I have been using raw honey and cinnamon on my face because I read that it can treat acne and guess what? It does! A couple of months ago my face just decided to break out with these huge bumps so I went to my trusted friend Google to find out how to fix it and I found this remedy. I can assure you that it worked for me!  The bumps started getting smaller as they were no longer red and inflamed and my overall skin looked bright and smooth. Nowadays, although I don't have any major breakouts, I still use it at least once a week because I love how it has improved the overall skin on my face. But wait that's not all...

For as long as I remember I have suffered from seborrheic dermatitis or seborrhea which is a scaly, flaky, itchy and annoying skin condition similar to dandruff (but worse!). This is not exclusive to the scalp but in my case it is, (Thank God!), and for many years I have spent lots of money on medicated shampoos that have not worked very well for me because it seems to only go away for as long as I used the shampoos and as soon as I stopped the shampoo it would come right back. So, about a month and a half ago I was having a major episode and I decided to look online to see if I could find any natural remedies, (cause that's what I do nowadays.), and I found this article: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/honey-heals-chronic-dandruff-scaly-itchy-scalp-seborrheic-dermatitis.

In case you can't access it, it basically says that there are studies that show great improvement in patients who suffer from this condition, to the point that they have had no episodes for at least a year! Needless to say, I immediately went to my stash and got to rubbing diluted honey ALL OVER my scalp, especially on those areas where I had major itchiness and flaking. And chile, let me tell you that it has been awesome! 
I'll give you a graphic description of my scalp before honey... It was white, dry, itchy, I mean very bad, after a few applications of honey? Chile, it's like I was born again! LOL 

I have been diluting the honey in black tea because I found out months ago that black tea is great for hair loss, hair growth and luster. (I will go into that subject on another post.) And the results on my hair and scalp have been amazing! The pictures below illustrate my specific treatment but you may use whatever works for you. :)

I will end this note with a little list of the benefits of honey and I hope that you decide to give it a try on whatever issues you may have. Again, this is MY personal experience and I cannot guarantee that it will work on you, I say give it a try and see how it works for yourself! 


Health and beauty benefits of honey:

1. Prevents cancer and heart disease.
2. Reduces ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders.
3. Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal.
4. Increase athletic performance.
5. Reduces cough and throat irritation.
6. May help metabolize alcohol.
7. Resolves scalp problems and dandruff.
8. Hair removal when combined with lemon.
9. Hair lightener and conditioner.
10. Heals the skin

Peace & Love ♥

I make a cup of tea with 2 bags and a tsp of honey and pour it on my scalp while warm. 

I part my hair and pour the mixture in, since it's watery it will drip all over so make sure you wear a thick towel, and one that you mind staining because black tea stains fabric.

I put my hair in a bun and go about my business, you may leave it on for at least 30 minutes, I like to leave it on for as many hours as I can until I can no longer tolerate the stickiness and then I wash and condition my hair. 

About my hair journey!

My last protective style, love my braids!

I want to start this post by saying that not because a person has what others call "good hair", "soft hair", "Paña hair", or whatever you may want to call it, that doesn't mean that a person hasn't struggled with their hair. Let me tell you my story....

Ever since I was a little girl I remember having UGLY hair. Yes. That's right. My hair was softer than both my sisters' and my mothers', therefore it should have been easier right? Nope, not quite. My mother treated my hair exactly the same way she treated my sisters and I remember at a young age trying to take control over it, which didn't go too well. I cut, dyed, permed and burnt my hair with a hot comb, all before the age of 15. Why? Well because I didn't like it! It was different in a bad way. It was frizzy, it grew outwards instead of downward, people made fun of me and my parents were NOT supportive and didn't know what to do. So fast forward to my adult years, I still struggled with my ugly hair. It was just never pretty and I would perm it twice a year so i could manage it but it was always a messy mess, only looked good on pictures, as soon as the flash died, so would my hair. 

In November 2010, after being nearly harassed by my friend Debz, a.k.a. Debzdaceleb, I was convinced to try "her ways" and go back to natural so I could find that "beautiful curl pattern" that she often say that I had. And Lawd, it's been quite a journey!

It's been almost four years now and I must confess that I have been this ( ) close to giving up MANY times. I've threatened to cut it, perm it, burn it, you name it, but it's all due to the frustrating multiple texture situation, which makes me look like I have uneven hair, it gets tangled and sometimes I just don't feel like dealing with it so I'm a huge fan of protective styling and that's why I still have hair. LOL Regardless of all of that, I LOVE my hair and wouldn't change my journey to discovery for anything in the world!

Now to the important part of all of this, my hair journey opened up so many other journeys. For the first time in my life I was less preoccupied about people's opinions of me. I sometimes don't even wear makeup (whaaat??), I know!  I just really feel free! 
My style is way more relaxed than it has ever been, too relaxed at times. (LOL) I mean, I still enjoy dressing up and looking nice but I feel so great that if caught makeup-less I won't have to faint and pretend I'm dead. (Cause that's how serious it was)... Needless to say, my self-esteem was impacted positively, my whole outlook on life has changed and I've become such a positive, stress-free person!  But this is not because of my hair, it's because in finding my hair roots, I also found myself, I finally know and LOVE who I am. 
So although one thing led to another, one thing doesn't define the other. My hair doesn't define me, it just helped me FIND me. (Corny, I know. But true!)

I don't tell anybody what to do what their hair, I think everyone can decide what works for them and we should all respect that, I can only tell my story and hope that it will inspire others to find themselves as well! 

Peace & Love! ♥

Introducing myself

Well hi there,

For those who don't quite know me, my name is Ilka, a.k.a. Miss B and I'm very happy to be able to share my story. I'm Panamanian, born and raised and I lived four years in several parts of the US of A. I love the beach, reggae music and good food. 

Some of you may ask yourselves: well what is she going to talk about? And let me tell you that my life has been so full of experiences that I can talk about pretty much anything. :) Now, I don't consider myself an expert on ANYTHING, I just like to share my experiences, ask questions, make friends and share more experiences! 

So... Anyway, I'm a Businesswoman, Translator, Interpreter, Dressmaker, Stylist, Designer, Hair stylist, you name it, but most importantly I'm a mother and I was gifted with amazing and life changing experiences through my sons. They are my entire life! Unfortunately my baby passed away in a horrific and traumatizing way, this experience alone brought a whole lot of pain, anger, grief, but also I was able to tap into my spirituality and through my belief in God I was changed forever. I will go into that on another post because I want to keep my introduction as light and short as possible and I have already said a whole lot! LOL

I'll be posting videos, sharing pictures, selling stuff, talking about nothing, so hope you're in for the ride as I figure out this blogging situation. 

Peace and Love my peeps, read ya later! ♥