And the winner of the Threadmill & DarlinBabe Giveaway is …
Congrats lady! E-mail your full name and mailing address to me at hairscapades@gmail.com so that I can get your information to our giveaway sponsor! You’ll get a $30 gift certificate to use at Threadmill and/or DarlinBabe and can select a ring of your choice!!
Last January, when I decided it was time to get myself together and started running on the treadmill as part of my training, I was experiencing knee pain. I’d had a left knee issue about 3 years prior and was diagnosed with chondomalacia of the patella. So, I just assumed the knee pain was attributable to that, the excess weight, lack of conditioning and old age, especially since both knees were starting to bother me. I was using a brace that was not very helpful and eventually purchased the Ace Knee Strap after seeing the contestants on The Biggest Loser using similar knee supports. I figured, if that little band could help control knee pain for people who are severely obese, it should work for me! And, i did!! It worked great!! Most of the time.
So, I started using two knee straps and, for the most part, my knee pain was eliminated or significantly reduced. But then, one day, for reasons I can’t remember, I decided to take a look at the bottom my five year old sneakers (yeah … I said it … five years old *smh*).
Good frickin’ grief. I was shocked. The shoes had NO tread left on the outer edge. Like, NONE!! I was well aware that I should replace my exercise sneakers at least once a year, but I had always let cheapness override common sense. I realized how stupid I had been. But, no more! So, I looked up how to identify the proper running sneaker for one’s needs and hit Dick’s Sporting Goods. I begrudgingly handed over $100 for some Brooks sneakers and headed home with my purchase. And, my exercise life was changed forever.
Do you know, I had absolutely no knee pain when running after that moment? No knee straps necessary. That was really a wake up call to me about sucking up the desire to save money and purchase the equipment necessary to do the job.
So, when I decided to start incorporating more cardio floor work with The Biggest Loser DVDs, I knew that running sneakers wouldn’t do the job. They are not made for that type of movement and the same knee pain that they helped eliminate during running, they were starting to cause when I was doing floor aerobics. So, I hit Marshall’s and picked up some cross-trainers. Ahhh, relief … again.
Running (R); Cross-Trainer (L): See the difference in the soles?
So, all that to say, for those ladies working towards health goals or who just exercise regularly, make certain that you have the right shoes for the job!! Don’t be a dunderhead like me ;)!! Having the right equipment wil improve your work out and help avoid and/or prevent exacerbation of injuries. Need help figuring out how to find the right sneakers? Here are a couple of resources that I found helpful:
http://www.therunningadvisor.com/running_shoes.html
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/how-choose-athletic-shoes
********************************************************************************************************
Do you make certain that you wear the right sneaker for the job? Have you had a similar experience where you eliminated pain from an injury by getting the right equipment?
As I indicated the other day in this post, my plopping experiment didn’t go too well. After bunning to save the day, my hair was looking quite the mess when I took it down that evening.
So, I figured a dry twist and curl was in order and opted to try a couple more items from the Sofn’Free Nothing But line. I decided that I would try the Curly Wake Up Spray and Curly Pudding combo. If you remember from my review of the Mold & Hold Wax, this line is free of petrolatum, mineral oil, sulfates, parabens, colorants*.
Curl Wake Up Spray ($7.99)
Curly Pudding ($7.99)
*Click the hyperlinked product names to check out some great info about the ingredients on the Nothing But Hair Care site.
So, I placed my hair into 8 twists after spritzing lightly with the Curl Wake Up Spray and moisturizing each section with about a finger full of the Curly Pudding. The Curl Wake Up spray had a light, citrusy smell that I really liked. The Curly Pudding didn’t have too much of a scent at all. It was white and had a lightly whipped consistency that was neither runny nor too heavy. After twisting all of the sections, I set the last couple of inches of each twist onto small red flexirods. The next morning I released to a softly defined TnC. This was my hair at the end of the day.
Pretty good, right? If you remember, the only things I used on my hair on wash day were KCKT leave-in and AVJ to seal. So, I didn’t have much product on it before using the spray and pudding and the added moisture was good.
However, that moisture is partly attributable to the glycerin that is high on the ingredients lists. And, unfortunately, my fine, medium to high porosity hair is not a fan. Glycerin tends to make my hair tacky (though, surprisingly, it was not overly so) and leads to frizz (i.e. lack/loss of definition). If you’ve spent any time in NJ during the summer, you know the humidity is a BEAST. So, with that season fast approaching, using anything with water attracting glycerin is a recipe for disaster for those of us with high porosity hair.
The other ingredients about which I’m not too enthused are the dimethicone and dimethiconol. I generally try to avoid non-water soluble cones, with the exception of amodimethicone and bis-aminopropyl dimethicone, which repel build-up. So, although I don’t practice the Curly Girl Method, I do tend to avoid too many build-up prone, water blocking cones (see this Curly Hair Product Ingredient Guide for more info on cones and other common ingredients).
Final Thoughts:
With all the above being said, although I got a decent set, these two products in the Nothing But line will not become staples for me. But for those who don’t mind a cone or two and have hair that loves glycerin, these just may be the ticket (especially with the reasonable price tag)!!
*********************************************************************************************************
Have you tried the Sofn’Free Nothing But Curl Wake Up Spray and Curly Pudding? If you have, how did they work out for you? If not, what products do you use for dry sets?
hairscapades 