Friday, August 20, 2010

Phở-King Adventure: I Luv Phở

Destination: I Luv Phở
Address: 4650 Jimmy Carter Blvd
Suite 133-B
Norcross, GA 30093
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday *24hours*
You got that right. Open 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. How convienient! I you don't feel like having the regular old McDonald's or Taco Bell as a late night snack, you can swing by here & snatch up some phở!
I went to this place last Friday. Surprisingly, it was nicely decorated, clean and a normal crowd of people. I thought it was going to me some trash heap since it's open forever.
They have a variety of food like most Viet restaurants. (Bahn Mi, Phở, Bun, Fried rice, egg rolls, etc...) They also have Boba tea! But I didn't try it...
I am more worried about the pho than any thing else.
The small bowl was a nice amount. Just enough to fill you up. On top of that, it's cheap! Like... $5.25? I can't remember exactly, but even the Large bowl was about $5.75 and the Extra Large bowl was around $6.25. Enough of price, let's talk about taste. It was the prettiest bowl of phở I have ever seen! Nicely decorated with thin, red onion slices, onions, and what not. Even the herb bowl was in a cute little boat shaped plate. The water had oranges in it, which, surprisingly once more, made the water taste nice. Not too strong like lemon but a nice, citrus wave.
And the Phở was nicely flavored. Not too bland but not overly powerful. Nothing like Yany Express (my fave place) but it's FAR better than Phở Mimi, Saigon Cafe in Duluth and Phở Hien, which is now closed down...
Adiam's meat was quite fatty though... Mine wasn't. So if you like fat, I suggest getting the well done brisket. I got the brisket and tripe I believe and literally, there were about 2 tiny pieces of tripe. Really?! Two?! Yes. I am serious. On top of that, I almost died eating their jalapeños. My mouth, ears, nose, eyes were all on fire. BEWARE OF THE JALAPEÑOS! Only eat if you want to die. And I like spicy crap!
But overall, it is a nice restaurant. Clean, clean bathroom, good food, especially if its late at night! How good can u get at 3am than this? Try it, you might like it.
And I will continue my journey to find the best phở place in Atlanta. Until then, Yany Express still has my heart.

Until next time,
The Phở-King, Raven

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Healthy Sexy Hair Conditioner!

SexyHair
I love this conditioner... I don't know what it does but it makes the my world of hair a whole lot better.

It's from the Sexy Hair products collection. (Big Sexy Hair, Curly Sexy Hair, Straight Sexy Hair, etc...) It can be a bit expensive. Luckily, I got one of the mumbo jumbo 33oz bottles for $12.99 when the regular price is $25. The regular price for a bottle that size (see above picture) is about $14.99.
But enough about money, let's talk about why I enjoy this product! Well, it makes my hair NICE! Soft, easy to comb through, fluffy. And since I am transitioning to natural curls, it somehow makes my hair so much easier to comb through and untangled. I don't know how but it's almost as if it beats the naps into submission with a belt. On top of that, it adds moisture to your hair! I don't know if it add extra vitamins into my scalp or what but it does make it easier to manage my hair, especially when it's wet & curly.

Now, this is not on of those "only for Caucasian & straight people hair" products or "solely made for women of color" things. This is for everyone! All hair types. (It even says it on the website)

Now, you are probably wondering why I am only reviewing on the conditioner. Well, the shampoo has Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in it, which strips the natural oils from your hair. Now, people with straight & oily hair can use products like this without worry because straight, oily hair is not cute. Curly haired people (of all races) have dryer hair because of the amino acid structure, thus making it good to preserve the oils in your hair. Which is why I don't use that shampoo. It makes your curly hair dryer than it needs to be.

I usually do a conditioner wash now that it takes longer for my natural oil hair to reach the bottom & use a tiny bit shampoo that has sulfate in it to remove excess dirt & oil until I can find a sulfate free shampoo around here...

But yes, good product. Good ingredients. Try it. =]
I'm actually about to wash my hair now!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Au Natural sans le Chop #2

So, it's been 3 months and 2 days since my last relaxer, perm, chemically induced hair coma, creamy crack for the hair treatment, whatever you want to call it!

I have realized that I am more gentle with my head than i would handle a premature kitten. I guess it's because I am terrified that my hair will break off into little pieces and I'll be left with half my hair gone.
But that could be my excuse to go bald... *HINT HINT: who's up for it?!*

But anyway! I still don't know what my "hair type" is. There's like 1 inch of curly happiness and about 8-10 inches (guess-timation) of dead, killed-in-the-hair-war relaxed ends....
BUT there is enough curly goodness for me to pull out a strand and take a picture of it! Look, look, look!
Photobucket
I had to edit the crap out of the picture for you to see the hair strands. I have really, really, almost non-existent-ly thin strands of hair. Literally, it was almost not visible on the white piece of paper...
But yes, you can see where its straight & chemically straightened & my NEW curly hair at the top! Yay! it's growing quite fast too. =D
Photobucket
But it's weird how the strand on the right is curlier than the one on the left... I have 2 different hair textures?! Hum... this could make things more complicated... Type 4a or 4b or 4c?! I don't know!

But I will eventually get my Leela James fro...
Or maybe extra curly like Esperanza Spalding...
It's hard to tell what my kinky-naps will be like since there is an Irish gene floating around in my gene pool (which explains the orangey-brown & oily hair I have). *Contemplating*
Eh, either one, I will be happy with my naturally flowing, genetic hair because not everyone is able to have it! In yo face! >=D

I don't know why it took me this long to embrace my natural hair-ness when people know I am one BIG advocate for natural beauty & my disliking of makeup, plastic surgery, injections, etc.
Sure, I wear the occasional eyeliner & mascara but that is only for enhancement of my eye shape. Its not like I NEED makeup to leave the house or be seen by the public eye! I don;t know how to put on foundation and eyeshadow is not to my liking.
I shall embrace the motherland and hopefully learn some tips to tell about my hair rehab & detox story.
Tis all for now,
Peace, Love & Embracing Natural Beauty