embrace natural appearance – Strength Scripted

Curly hair rules: 6 DO’S and DON’TS for beginners and beyond!

Solid advice for anyone trying to maintain curly and wavy hair

I’ve put together a small list of Do’s and Don’ts that are important and helpful to know when trying to take care of your curly or even wavy hair! (Sometimes waves can turn into curls with the right care!). I kept the list short and simple to not overwhelm you, but please message me or comment below if you have any questions or need some advice or product suggestions. I am going on 5 years of my “healthy hair journey” and I’ve learned quite a lot about hair care techniques with clean beauty products so I would be more than happy to be of service to you! I want everyone to love their hair and one way to do that is to share what I know about caring for textured hair.

Now let’s get into it!

Do NOT brush your curly hair when it’s dry!! This also applies to brushing your hair in the shower with your fingers while shampooing and conditioning. You think you’re getting the knots out, but you are actually messing with your curl pattern which increases frizz!
Do brush your hair when it’s soaking wet with a wide tooth comb or Denman after you apply some detangler cream. Start from the ends and work your way to the roots. Short strokes! It’s best to apply some detangling cream to your wet hair before brushing for best results.
Do NOT believe that a product is right for you because it’s all over Tik Tok or that it says it’s for curly hair or even if other people have had good results. Everyone’s hair can react to the same product differently. Don’t compare your results to others! Your hair is unique!!
Do stick with products that are working for you!! It’s easy to want to try new things which is perfectly fine but keep things consistent.
Do NOT think the same routine will get you the same results. Your hair products should switch up on wash day based on what your hair needs I.e more moisture, more protein, etc. You might swap out a product or add an extra. The weather and humidity levels play a factor in this as well.
Do check 👏🏼 the 👏🏼 ingredients👏🏼 !!! Make sure your hair products are free of parabens, silicone, sulfate, etc. as well as too much alcohol. (The first 5 ingredients are most important when checking the label).

There’s a lot more advice I can give but I will save it for future posts so be sure you’re following this blog and bookmark this website to your browser. Please let me know if I could help you in any way. I can’t wait to connect!

xo, J

Skin care is too complicated!! Let’s simplify it a little…

Why have people made skin care so complex and overwhelming?! I know we have learned a lot and really homed in on the specifics of skin care products which is great, but to the average person it seems so overwhelming that many don’t know where to begin!! So, my goal with this post is to try to simplify some things for you to give you some confidence to find and create the best simplified skin care routine for YOU!

Cleanse • Moisturize • Sunscreen

To make it extremely simple, focus on these 3 areas. First cleanse your face (Try the cleansing face bar soap I mentioned in a previous post) then you follow that with a moisturizer and then a sunscreen. Keeping it very simple will make it easy for you to stay consistent. On a relaxing day- usually Sundays for me- get yourself a face mask to do weekly!

As you create the habit of doing your skin care routine daily and are ready to add a new product(s) then you can look into other skin care products like a toner after you cleanse your face, an eye cream and serum. These aren’t always necessary though!! The rose water toner I’ve tried always made me break out and cause redness so I decided that it’s just not for me at the moment. Don’t go crazy and add a bunch of things to your routine at once- you won’t know which product your skin doesn’t agree with, which products are doing what for your skin and if you even need that extra product.

Living simply is the goal!

Some things to keep in mind when selecting your skin care products and creating your routine …

• Always check the ingredients. Avoid things with a ton of alcohol and long ingredient lists with many things you cannot pronounce. Alcohol can be drying for your skin. Also, stay far away from anything that lists “fragrance or perfume” as these may make the product smell good but can also expose you to cancerous and other harmful things.

• Big brands are not always the best! They are often times living off their name and not the quality of their products. Don’t feed into the hype these brands create.

• You are getting what you pay for when it comes to beauty products most of the time. The good stuff might cost a little more, but it’ll be absolutely worth it for your health. Keep your eye out for sales!

• Some of these new beauty tools are not worth the money or hassle and may even cause irritation to your skin, like the black head machine or electric scrubbers. Try it if you want, don’t try it if you don’t want to!

• Doing a skin care routine twice a day can be overwhelming to many people with limited time! Attempt to consistently do it at least once a day. Remember you’re doing this for YOU.

• Trail and error! Stick with a product for at least a month to see real results unless you developed irritation immediately after using, then stop. It takes time for our skin to adjust and show physical improvements so give new products time to see if they really work for you.

I hope that you’ve gained something from this post and you are confident enough to begin creating or adjusting your skin care routine. Don’t overthink it! I’m here to help the best I can so please comment or message me if you’d like me to help you with product recommendations or techniques.

Now go be great!

xo, J

Simple and effective ways to enhance your natural beauty without adding any makeup!

What you need:

•Coconut oil (Raw, unrefined. From the grocery store) OR organic jojoba oil.

•Eyelash brush (used exclusively for your lashes)

•Eyelash curler

•Eyebrow brush

•Eyebrow gel & filler

•Lip plumper (clear color)

Starting with coconut oil or jojoba oil (my new go-to for moisturizing your skin). Rinse your face with cold water. Pat dry then apply some of your moisturizer or oil. It’ll give your face a nice shine however if you are using coconut oil, you may want to pat some areas with a tissue after about 5 minutes of letting it sit to wipe off any excess oil. The organic jojoba oil doesn’t leave your face as greasy as the coconut oil, but both are great for your skin. Just be aware that coconut oil may clog your pores when overused, so go easy!

Doing little things to enhance your features you already have can go a long way. Feel good about your appearance because you were so uniquely made.

Next, gently brushing your lashes every morning can really improve your eye appearances (especially if you are wearing a mask, people notice eyes more than ever now). Go a step further and apply a little jojoba oil (or organic salve) to your lashes. Go light because if you get some in your eye it may make your vision a tad bit blurry for a few seconds lol Speaking from experience! The jojoba oil may help with lash growth as well!
Now it’s time to curl those lashes with your lash curler! Look for one that won’t crease your lashes. You can find some decent quality ones at your local CVS pharmacy.
Along with your eyes, are your eyebrows that can either hurt or help your look. Having the right shape and fill can dramatically enhance your appearance. That’s where the eyebrow brush, gel and filler comes in! Maybe you’ll consider the filler part makeup, whatever lol. Play around with your brows!! Get to know them! Brush them all in an upward direction and slowly shape your brows how you like. Use the filler to fill in any areas with little hair or to create a more prominent arch. A little goes a long way and for a more natural look, don’t go too crazy. Then use the gel to hold your brows in place. I found my brow gel and filler at Target!

I also suggest finding yourself a good eyebrow person whether you wax or thread them. Be clear with how you want your eyebrows to be shaped (each time you go because they can’t remember every one of their client’s wants. Speaking from experience!!!) and have them work with you to obtain that shape. It won’t be overnight but working with the same person who knows what your goal is will make it much more attainable!

Lastly, some of you might pass on this especially if you are required to wear masks. But adding a clear lip plumper can really be the cherry on top for your natural look 💋 Don’t forget to apply some moisturizing lip balm beforehand (Burt’s bees is the way to go, organic salve and coconut oil can be used as well.)

[Can’t forget to mention! Your hair is equally as important but that discussion will be for another post 😅]

Now you’re ready to slay the day! 🌹

What do you think of this simple natural routine? I do this every single morning, I may skin the brow fill & gel on some days, but this is so quick and easy I do it right after brushing my teeth. It makes me feel refreshed and ready for the day without having to worry about removing any makeup at the end of the day. As a mom, I’m always looking for ways to simplify my routines so that I can keep up with them consistently. It’s easy to allow your self-care to go on the back burner, but we are no longer allowing that, right!? Right.

Now go be great Darling!

xo, J

The journey of loving my natural self, including my wild curly hair.

It is time to start embracing your natural appearance!

I can picture her now. The little girl with super frizzy curls whose parents had no idea how to care for them. Years of brushing my dry curls, adding no products, no nutrients or moisture and lots and lots of ponytails. Then middle school hit, and the crunchy gel covered curls were in, but my hair was so unhealthy, brittle, lacking significant moisture, and my curls were wavier so my ‘curls’ didn’t look like the other girls. I hated my hair with a passion. It wasn’t until high school when I got a hold of my first flat iron. FORGET ITTTTT. CURLS WHERE?!

Oh, this straight hair gave me LIFE. It gave me more confidence and gave me a new look. But looking back at it now, this confidence felt more superficial. Hidden under a face of makeup and a flat iron. I felt fierce asf though don’t get me wrong but at the end of the day I was tired of this ‘look’ I had to keep up with daily. It was heavy on my heart and felt very inauthentic to my core. I didn’t feel beautiful in my own skin, and I knew that was something I needed to work on. It wasn’t healthy to live this way because if I didn’t love myself then who would? Self-love is the most important kind of love.

Women need to realize that we set the standards for how we want to be loved by someone else.

Moving forward, I decided to put down the flat iron and wear my hair natural. I am not going to lie to you, it was very hard for the first 6 months to a year as I learned how to wash, style, and sleep with my curls, and which products are good for my hair and each of their purposes. Man, it is a lot of work to manage a head of curls!! But I am sooo happy I did it. Fast forward a couple years to the current day of me having healthy, defined, bouncing coiled curls!!! My confidence took a huge leap! It wasn’t until I learned to love my appearance without makeup and a flat iron that I reached true self love. The biggest lesson I learned was that we are all so beautiful in our own unique ways. All we have to do is be kind to ourselves, focus on what we love about ourselves, nurture our mind, body & spirit, and create your own personalized self-care routines for your hair and skin. Simple care goes a long way. When you show yourself appreciation, it will repay you double. A happy you is a successful you.

Treat your natural hair and skin like a flower and help it to flourish.

However, as the years went on and I adopted a journaling practice, I realized that my confidence and self-love was more than just my hair. It was about loving exactly how God created me. Every imperfection was made perfectly in His eyes. He made no mistake. Now it’s our job to love every bit of ourselves, His creation. Why try to change your appearance to look like the rest of the world?! There is no one in this world like YOU. No one talks like you, thinks like you, cares like you, or creates like you. Sure, call it cliche, but cliches are usually TRUE! THERE IS ONLY ONE OF YOU!!!! So act like it.

Now go be great.

xo, J