Very rarely can you spot a celebrity walk the red carpet and find an (inexpensive) identical match to the methods used to construct their hair or makeup (unless they're spokespeople for drugstore brands - that doesn't count!). More often than not, there is a "steal and splurge" comparison of the real to the steal and how you can 'pull it off.' So when my a little birdie told me that Kat Dennings strutted her stuff (check out the cleavage!) on the red carpet to the Thor premiere with her locks maintained by super wallet friendly Suave, I was impressed. The products are almost completely all cheaper than a five dollar footlong!The starlet's hair looked like the perfect middle between walking past the mirror and slaving for hours with rollers and products in front of the mirror. Suave Professional Celeb Stylist, Jenny Cho said the goal was to infuse a lot of sexy 80s attitude into the hair's look and texture.



Check out the brand on Twitter (@SuaveBeauty) and Facebook.

Will you be recreating this style?

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Preaching about hair and skin being similar and their neverending thirst is not enough. You have to practice what you preach as well. Depending on how far into your non-washing schedule you're in will direct what kind of product you can put in your hair. For example, one or two days into the schedule, you can get away with nearly any product. When you start getting to four to five days, you need to start skipping on products that don't contribute to moisturizing your strands. At this point, creams are less optimal than oil-like products, because dry strands just make it disappear. Enter into the courtroom: Avon Advance Techniques Daily Shine Dry Ends Serum. The product promises shine and more than 50% of a decrease in frizz on both wet and dry hair. Dry hair? I'll take that challenge!

Emma Stone debuted her new blond (don't you always think it deserves an e? I always do, so disregard the spelling errors!) 'do recently. This is probably a preview of her Gwen Stacy character in the upcoming Spider-Man addition to the Marvel series.

Emma's red locks matched her super light skin tone and made her a standout. The blond? It washes her out a little bit, and makes her a bit forgettable. Just me? I would say maybe Gwen Stacy should be reincarnated as a redhead, but the comic diehards would probably come to my house with torches.

Most amusing is that the red hue is not Emma's natural hair color, but the blond is. What do you think?

Team blond or red?

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Rihanna originally gained fame when she started changing up her hair. It became a once a month event that the tabloids ate up. A bob! Red! Without confirmation on whether the songstress enjoyed it as much as her audience, the internet is overrunning with images and how-tos.

Sure I'll declare a RiRi diet shortly, but this was just too good. Following her long extensions to her statement red crop, the star arrived at the American Music Awards (inset) with an auburn tint to her hair, save for several bright red strands peeking out around her neck, and, wait for it, CURLS! Being a curly girl myself, I'm always excited to have a Hollywood member rock the style.

Are you on team straight or team curly?

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After a brief fascination with ombre coloring in clothes (still my favorite), fashion and celebrities fine tuned their microscopes on hair. Ombre hair is now a more natural (and much more affordable) method for coloring hair. The colored hair grows out, letting the ends serve as a darker color, thus forming a slight wash from light to dark. I assume the same can be done in reverse (but would be a little harder to get the shading to remain not choppy).

Drew Barrymore rocked the trend to each magazine and website's delight, but during her recent visit to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Hillary Duff showed that she too, is proficient in the ways of ombre. Her hair is embracing the trend with a little more tenderness, as there is not as strong a contrast from the lightest to the darkest color. Shoot, it may have even been an accident (though I doubt it).

How do you like the style?

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I recently had the pleasure of attending a product launch for a brand already near and dear to my heart; Mizani. From previous posts regarding hair and recreating styles (check some out here), I have always mentioned the necessity of using some hair oil, whether it's to maintain the softness of your hair several days after washing and styling, renewing your do, or just to add some sheen for that "I was in a commercial" overall style.

The event was very last minute on my schedule, so of course I was caught unawares without my camera. I tried to make my Blackberry do it's best, but at the moment it's doing it's worst at uploading the images when I need them (so stay tuned!). The launch was for Mizani Supreme Oil.

Some info about the product:
Supreme Oil is a 99% naturally-derived formula with 8 natural oils (sesame, jojoba, almond, avocado, apricot, olive fruit, sunflower and argan oils) that is silicone, mineral oil and paraben-free. Designed for any hair type, this ultra-light treatment penetrates and absorbs to treat and smooth the hair, so it is not greasy unlike silicones and mineral oil that only lay on the hair’s surface. Experience a truly exquisite treatment with an ultra-luxe velvety touch. (source)

More Clothing...

The benefits as listed on the site:
1. Delivers intense moisturizing & exceptional softness.
2. Imparts incredible shine.
3. Nourishes hair and skin.
4. Leaves hair and skin soft and silky.
5. Helps enhance skin's overall texture & appearance.
6. Fortifies and strengthens hair to help prevent breakage.
7. Improves hair's elasticity and manageability.
8. Locks out humidity for continuous frizz control.
9. Non-greasy, fast-absorbing.
10. Can be layered over or under other hair or body products.

I haven't subjected the oil to a rigorous test yet, but from using it at the event I can vouch for many of the claims. The oil is a smoothing, frizz erasing (depending on what state it catches your hair in - my hair desperately needed a wash, so it just softened the disaster area) hair sheen, which also doubles as an all over scent and body oil. Right after I put the oil on my hair, another attendee inquired as to what my perfume was.

Because the oil contains zero silicone, parabens, or waxes, it is safe to use on the body as well as the hair. It's actually the smartest to do, because all hair products touch our scalp (and thereby our skin) in any case. The oil is not greasy and leaves your digits free to type away on Twitter or shake hands with new contacts within minutes. This was the most (pleasantly) surprising feature for me, because that's one of the necessary evils I agree to when I use hair oil (almost every day). I usually have a box of tissues handy to wipe the excess grease away, or head to the bathroom to wash my hands.

The company already covers much of haircare in terms of Scalp Oil, Conditioner Treatment, and basics like the Shampoo and Conditioner, but this product serves as a multi purpose product for ease of use. It works with every hair and body treatment (blowout, smooth, renew, natural extensions, braid refresh, scalp treatment, body, etc.) and is travel friendly.

I'll take it for a spin for a week and let you know how it works out. In the meantime, you should still try it out and consider getting one.

What is your favorite hair product?

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Jennifer Hudson was looking regal in purple as she performed for the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education’s 15th Grand Slam for Children benefit concert held at the Wynn Las Vegas. Her purple Michael Kors gown hugged all her slimmer curves to a T. Sure the neckline and shoulders looked a bit plain, but the bright purple made up for all errors.

Photo Credit: HollywoodLife

The singing bird had a subtle smokey eye with a neutral glossy lip and a matching mani. Her nails looked like they could've had China Glaze in Grape Pop on. Right before she went out the door, she must've taken a quick look in the mirror and seen how great she looked, so she made sure her hair looked fab as well.

A severe side part with a sleek wave into a braid on one side and some wispy waves on the other end. Want to do it yourself?

1. Brush your hair and style as usual (use either a curling or flattening tool to create subtle waves).
2. Create an uneven part, taking about 80% of the hair to the side you want the braid on. The remainder will be your sultry wisps.
3. Use the rest of your hair to create the braid. Start braiding at the nape of your neck, shifting in a diagonal to the front. 
4. Use a color similar to your hair color to secure the braid.
5. As always - use some shine spray to keep it glossy (my favorite is Palmers).

Do you like it enough to recreate it?

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London's screening of the 3D movie, Alpha and Omega  brought out leading voice Hayden Panettiere with a furry friend in tow.

The story about two wolves trying to make their way home, stars Justin Long and Hayden Panettiere as the female and male wolf. In the beginning, they are not fans of each other at all, but the rest requires watching.

Photo Credit: HotCelebsHome

Hayden showed up to the London premiere looking casual and super chic with all the attention on her furry date and her hair. She had on a sequin, oversized tunic, gray skinnies, neutral pumps, and a gray clutch. Everything in the outfit is blah compared to the hair.

The new haircut was old pixie cut mob news for me until I saw this 'do. It looks as though she used gel and texturizing putty to make several strands stand out, and the rest sit by and invite the spotlight.

This hairstyle seems genius for both the quickness in which you can accomplish it, and the way it can apply to both long and short hair.

Rihanna was seen in Vegas partying it up with Katy Perry in honor of the Teenage Dream's bachelorette festivities. Her red hair was finally red throughout (remember when I complained?) and in the shots of RiRi at the pool, she was sporting the cutest elastic headband.

This boho look went perfect with her wavy locks, especially with some strands at the front of her face, and the other side neatly tucked away. Her bathing suit was a bit toned down for the everyday Rihanna we have come to know, but that hair seems to steal the spotlight no matter what she has on. I love the shade and have to admit not everyone can pull it off.

The bachelorette party seemed to be a hit and involved a viewing of Cirque du Soleil's Ka (right, source: Huffington Post). I just want to know - why are there plenty guys in the party? Isn't it an all girls boy hating club kind of get traditional get together? :)

Keep reading to check out some options for elastic headbands in all price ranges, and let me know how you rock your hair with em!

More Forever 21...

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Sometimes when I lean my head back to relax and close my eyes for a bit on the subway, when I lean forward again, sometimes the metal edges of the walls of the subway car steal a hair or two. The violation of my hair follicle always makes me grasp my head, and the area that was leaning against the wall always feels a little flatter. I know that this happens from the two objects leaning against each other, and pressure, bla bla bla. All I could really hear in my head though were my mother's warnings to take care of my hair or risk losing it all with age.

A lot of my personality is encased in my hair. Is that weird to say? Anytime someone asks me to describe myself or how I would like to be described, 'curly' inches it's way into the picture - and by all means I am not one to object. So at times when I feel like I have been neglected the curls - well it kind of makes me feel sick to my stomach. Melodramatic, maybe - but absolutely true.

My mission has become to be the ultimate caretaker of my scalp and hair. As I pay closer attention to freshness and youth retention in my skin (moisturizing, SPF, and limit sun exposure), body (exercise and eating right - though I haven't done much of either well in a while - and you didn't hear that from me - but I did improve on regular vitamin consumption!), and most importantly my hair and scalp, I find that there are certain measures that need to be taken to continue maintenance. You know - so that if you could compare my body to a vehicle without regular checks under the hood and maintenance, it would just sputter and give up in the middle of the road. Yaya is not giving up in the middle of the road.

Before I took to the army of products itching to be deployed to battle on the shelves of drugstores, department stores, and salons, I sought to declutter my own stash. I found my pot of Yes to Carrots hair mask from the StyleFixx Girl's Night Out goodie bag (see what was in it here) and brought it with me to the shower.

From the site:
"C is for Hair Care - Hair and Scalp Moisturizing Mud Mask 250ml - 8.45 fl.oz


Experience gorgeous hair like never before with C is for Hair Care.
Moisturizing, softening, detangling, shining, volumizing… need we go on??


C is for Hair Care contains extracts of organic carrot, organic pumpkin & organic orange, rich with Beta-Carotene, Alpha-Carotene, Vitamin E and other enzymes that keep your locks in tip-top condition.


Key Ingredients: Extracts of organic carrot, pumpkin, orange & honey contain Beta-Carotene and Vitamin E to keep your hair moisturized and full of shine.


Instructions: Apply to towel-dried hair and massage thoroughly. Leave on for 12-15 minutes (no cheating!) and rinse with lukewarm water. Use 1-2 times per week.


Tips: For maximum nourishment use twice a week, concentrating on roots and scalp."

Look y'all. I would be hard pressed to ever tell you that curly is not the way to go. Curly is Yaya all the way. When I was little, I used to cry because my hair was such a problem. I wasn't savvy yet to the benefits of hair oil and sprays and such. I went completely natural with my hair and the frizz was tease factor number one. It was cute until the end of kindergarten and then it was back to reality. My grandfather (yes you read right) was the genius behind giving me pigtail braids that would last through any of my toss and turning dreams and still look neat for school. Whenever my mom or grandma offered to make my braids I would refuse. They were too soft with their hand and my braids would fall apart. How I longed to have sleek straight hair and maybe even bangs (another toddler horror story for another day). But my mom didn't let up. She said if I didn't like my hair the way it was, that she could easily shave it all off. Now look. No one could strike fear in my heart like my mama. She knew just the words. Soon as I transitioned into high school, my knowledge bank began to expand with hairsprays and leave in conditioners. Though I can't say I haven't suffered any epic hair fails after my learning sprees, I can say that I couldn't love my curls any more than I have since those learning days.

Image Credit: Style.com

That's the story of my hair. The story of fashion week? Let's start with the invites. Once the season starts, to get an invite in the mail is of the highest level of excitement. It's like Secret Santa at Christmas mixed with a surprise birthday party. You want it to happen. You want someone to think you're special, but you just sit and wait. Then it comes. You ooh and ahh even if it's terrible, because the experience can never be terrible. Right? Imagine my surprise party when I opened my invite for the Ports 1961 show. A small calendar just for fashion week, with a packet of seeds was in the mail. The date of the show was written in on the specified day in the calendar. As famous as they are for fancy invites, they didn't fail this season.

You wouldn't be surprised then, that no hail, sleet, or snow could stop me from attending the show. I was late, yes. I wrongly thought that I would be able to get from point A to point B and wherever else I wanted on the alphabet path during the first days of fashion week, to find that my little legs and public transportation didn't agree. So I got to stand on my tippy toes to watch the show, with nary a backstage detail on the beauty or hair. The silver lining on my depressing cloud? Not a single thing could dampen my day once I saw the models. The models were rocking big CURLY hair. I took pictures and phoned home that the show's hairstyle was what Yaya looks like in the mornings. Hello 80s? How nice of you to bring the hair back.

I met with the head stylist for hair for the show later on in my fashion week adventures (oh wait, did you doubt me?), and he said the Ports 1961 was a fun recreation of a big 70's perm. He said 70's but I couldn't get the 80's out of my mind. Any 70's hair experts out there? I'll research this and get back to ya.

The weather outside is frightful the songs blare. Well... I don't know about that. If you wear enough layers, you can keep your fears at bay. But our skin and hair are always victims of drastic weather changes.

What to do? I'm a big fan of using every hair product on every shelf until you find the one that's right for you, but I never go too far from my Organic Root Stimulator Anti Frizz Olive Oil Glossing Polisher from Walgreen's (I buy one for every house I stay in - i.e. mom's, aunt's, etc.). It adds a soft sheen without a crunchy texture & doesn't dry my hair out. Plus it has this faint fresh smell. It's good for straightened, frizzy, freshly washed, etc. hair.

But enough about me, let's hear more about me, lol! Miss Yaya has a guest editorial about winterproofing your curls on the curlytop fave NaturallyCurly.com. Be a dear and check out the article here. Even if your curls come courtesy of a hot iron, a braid, or even a dream - you might enjoy the read (and even pick up a tip or two)!

The first time that I mentioned Hydroveil, I was posting a review of their hair oil that continues to work wonders for my scalp. I made promises to post images and gossip from the event, and I am coming through!

As you might have read through Twitter, this was an event I was not used to at all. Anyone seen Good Hair or been to the hair show in hotlanta? This show harkened back to their commotion and excitement, but on a smaller scale (I don't think the original size can be duplicated at all). The air was full of dancers, Hydroveil hair spray, and scissors galore.

Check out all the photos and contest details after the jump!

For years I was told that to have long hair, I needed to take care of the split ends, and dry tips of my hair. With my frizztacular curly head, I never questioned the advice because every time I got a trim, my hair was back to its bouncy and yaya lovin' self. But then winter came and I saw flakes.

Winter snowflakes? Nope. Winter scalp flakes. It probably sounds disgusting in writing, but there's nothing more frustrating than a desire to claw your scalp to pieces every five minutes and the snowstorm to follow. I didn't realize that all my painstaking methods of haircare weren't bulletproof. I thought I was finally educated, but you learn something new every day.

My scalp was a dry mess. Every time I deep conditioned my hair, my scalp was sitting in a corner (kind of) wondering 'what about me?' I even thought using Olive Oil in my hair would alleviate the problem, but the leaves fell and so did my assumptions. Your scalp needs attention all its own.

As y'all take a peek at the calendar date and the last time I posted, I'm sure many are sitting there giving me a side eye. Almost a week y'all. That's how long I took time off from blogging and even scheduling any posts because I felt like first thing's first. No internet for me.

I spent the days enjoying my birthday week (as I like to call it) meeting with people and sometimes just napping the day away. Maybe it's that I was tired, but really - I was trying to catch back up to the things in life you can never get back. Time with friends, enjoying the moments as they come, and letting your body do what's natural.

Now, I'm also a junkie for events and places that are all about expanding my box of memories and my mind. I'll always look for new places to go and check out, and this week was no different.

As part of the UrbanWorld Film Festival in New York City, I got to see the premiere of Good Hair (and Mississippi Damned - but that's another story). I loved it to strands [ :) ] just so you know.

The movie comes out October 9, 2009 in select theaters and on October 23, 2009 nationally. I can't recommend this movie to everyone enough.

Chris Rock did a great job addressing hair and more specifically "bad vs. good hair" and how a lot of people viewed it. Most of the world views the "European" straight and sleek look as the constant optimum.

While I am the first person to say do what makes you feel good, I would love to see more people embracing their natural them and realize that good hair only means "well taken care of." Bad hair to me is the same as bad skin, or bad anything really- if it's left alone, uncared for, & unaddressed, what do you expect?

What do you consider good hair?

Happy Saturday!

Magazine Weekend is fully underway!

The clip for today is from Ladies' Home Journal magazine for August 09. I loved this issue and especially the Julie & Julia cover - don't they look related?!

The article I found most interesting was about taking care of your hair in this weather. Recently a lot of people have been paying closer attention to hair management and maintenance as compared to a high focus on color and change (unless you plan to shave your head - 'cuz that's a trend too).


and don't forget to check out their website either! They have a cool outfit planner tool that I'm sure you'll enjoy while at ::ahem:: work.



Shoot me an e-mail to MyOwnJudge@gmail.com if you would like me to explore other/have topics and/or magazines, or for general opinions of what's in magazine weekend.

From NaturallyCurly.com: "We asked our CurlTalkers for their biggest concerns about your curls and kinks, and they told us. The answers covered a wide range of topics, from self-image issues to finding a good stylist. Here are the ones that rose to the top of the list"

2. Finding a stylist who understands how to work with curls.

“Finding a stylist who knows how to deal with curly hair without making their curly client look like a mushoom when done. (nightmare process! I just went 6 years without a professional cut!),” said CurlyCassieRo.

4. Unpredictability.

“With the same routine every single day for 30 days, I can have 20 different heads of hair in a month, and maybe only half of them are good, if I’m lucky,” says PrettyPorcupine. “I know you’re just supposed to ‘embrace’ its “unique” personality and be all “free and easy,” but let’s face it. That is just not realistic when you have to look decent for work every day, want to be sure you look good on a date or for a special event, or because you just are so fricking tired of not knowing how the hell your hair is going to look at any given time.”

5. Acceptance of curls in society and in the workplace..

“Every time I pick up a magazine or see a segment on a TV show about “how to manage your curls,” the answer is always to straighten them! It’s insulting,”says Tinah. “The mainstream media pushes straight hair as the only acceptable option. Just once I’d like to read an article on how to manage curly hair that actually tells me how to manage curly hair, not how to make curly hair straight. I’m pretty sure we ALL know how to make it straight! We’ve spent years doing it!”

I'm a crazy curls kinda girl y'all and I love it. When I was little I would have it because it was such trouble for other people to brush my hair. I would wear braids a lot. Also - since I was little, whoever did my hair never put products in it, just brush it into a poof and voila - yaya. Not cool.





Once I got the hang of it, it became my trademark. I have only straightened my hair three times in my entire life.

What are your hair concerns? (no matter curly or not!)

Is it hard to maintain it? Do people always ask you why you don't change it? Tell all!