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! ♥