This was a good hair day

So this picture was actually taken about a month ago at my DD's birthday party. After looking at the pictures I was like,"man my hair looked good that day". Lol. Whatever I did that day must have worked.

How did I ever leave you?

Okay, so you know how we find something that we like, we use it for awhile, then we move on to something better? Well sometimes, we revisit that first thing and wonder, "How did I ever leave you?". That's what happened to me when I needed some oil for my DDs hair and I just didn't feel like going into the kitchen and running hot water over my coconut oil bottle for 2 minutes for it to liquify. So instead, I grabbed the small bottle of "Kemi Oyl" I had long since abandoned in the bottom of the barrette box. I added some of the "Oyl" to my babies freshly washed scalp and hair, just like I would the coconut oil, and WHEW, did it BLIIIING!! It was so shiny, not to mention her scalp just soaked it up. A little goes a long way too. I was on the last little bit of that small bottle, but don't think I didn't run right out and get the largest bottle I could find at the next opportunity I got.
Come to think of it I have picked up a couple of higher (for me) ticket products in the past couple weeks. Seems that PJ in me is coming back full force. I also just purchased a full size, 3oz. :( bottle of Sabino Moisture Block. SMB costs 21 bucks online and 6.95 shipping. I really wanted to get a bottle but I was not trying to pay 7 bucks for shipping.(Me and shipping rates do not get along) But luckily the nice lady from Sabino Hair: Diane, told me about a salon in my area that sells the product. I, of course, ran right over and picked up a bottle for only 20 bucks. Shoot I saved $7.95!
Anyway, for those interested in or ignorant of this product and what it does you can visit their site at www.sabinohair.com. I'm sure once I decide to straighten my own hair again, I'll be able to tell you more.


Oh, and just one more product I have my eye on... "HairVeda Whipped Cream" (description from www.hairveda.com)
Not too heavy, not too light! Whipped Cream has Just the right amount of moisture and oils to give you moisturized ends. Whipped (Baggy) Cream was originally formulated to work with the baggie method. However our customers reported that they use it for rollersetting, wash-and-go styles, sleek ponytails, and as a leave in conditioner. Just a dime size amount will do! It softens your new growth, adds unbelievable shine and gives new life to your hair! Your ends will love HairVeda's signature Whipped Cream.

Before, I leave I just want to say that my initial goal for this blog was and still is to provide atleast weekly updates, however I have had some changes occur in my schedule lately that have caused me to be off in my timing. I am learning to balance my time a bit better so I hope to update a little, or really a lot more often. I hope to add more updated pics as well. I am having a blast with my hair though. I just love all the new styles I'm trying. So hopefully I'll add a new post by weeks end. We'll see. Pray for me. I need balance in every area.

Touch up!

So, I decided that since I am the one doing my daughters kinky twists, that I could retouch it instead of waiting for them to get old....then take them down....then redo the whole thing. I actually retouched them after 2 weeks of initially doing it. Her hair grows really fast. I only retouched the front outer layer because of time constraints. I also made the ones I retouched smaller which also took more time, but I plan on doing the next row and the back outer layers as soon as I get some time. I'll probably wash them at the same time. I'm hoping to be pretty good after a couple more attempts at doing them. Now I need to figure out how to do the ends. I don't mind the ends not being curled on my DD, but I have had a couple of people ask me to do theirs. I would like to know how to do that first.
I love that pic of her. She was being silly.

I can finally do "stuff" to my hair

So my hair has finally grown to a length that I can actually do something other than just wash and go's. I guess I shouldn't say "finally", because it really has grown fast, but still, I was getting a little bored with my hair. Anyway, I decided to try a twistout on my hair. I'm so excited that that's even a possibility for me now.
So, I proceeded to do twists on my hair, which took all of 6 HOURS! I thought it would never end. But I sure did feel accomplished whwn it was all over. Here is the result. I really liked the result, but I need to get faster.

My second attempt at kinky twists

I know that I've been terrible this past month on updating this blog. Please forgive me. I actually did get micros 3 weeks ago and never even took one picture :( but take my word for it, they were reaaaal cute. I was quite happy with how they turned out. I know these words are worthless without pics, but I'm getting my life together again and I'll be trying to update as much as possible. My hair is still in braids, but I miss my hair so I'll be taking these out in a couple of days. In the meantime I attempted my second set of kinky twists on my DDs hair. I am really pleased with how they turned out. Btw, these took about 7 1/2 hours. Beacause her hair is incredibly thick and prone to tangle, about 1 hour was spent on detangling. Anyway, tell me what you think.

I'm so over the whole "TWA" thing!

Ok so I did it. I experienced it. I tried to figure out which products would work best for it. Now I'm over it. I enjoyed my short stint with the "TWA", but now it's over. I'm at a weird length that's in between TWA and BA (big afro. Some would add an extra "A" to BA, but anyway....I'm ready to just put this stuff up in some braids and revisit it in an inch or two. I'm planning on getting microbraids in a week or so but in the meantime I decided to blow it out and then straighten it. It was great the first day. It was a funky little rocker-do. Unfortunately, I didn't go anywhere so noone saw it, but I did take a picture. So here you go. Oh yeah, I plan on updating a little more often. I'm terrible with that I know. I'm going to do better. Btw, It doesn't look as good but it's still straight 3 days later. I attribute that to SMB (sabino Moisture Block) www.sabinohair.com. Check it out.

Check out my 'fro

I have been trying to be a bit more adventurous with my hair. All that means is that I've been trying to be ok with wearing an afro. While I think they look good on others', I'm not as comfortable with it on me. I've tried it several times and really didn't feel good about it, but forced myself to rock it. Well for some reason on one particular day I actually loved it. Me and my 'fro looked good that day! :-). I've had days since, where again, I DID NOT like it, but...I had my one good 'fro day. I have to say that I don't think it looks as good in the pics but here goes anyway.

Totally twisted over "Totally Twisted"

So for the past few weeks I had been trying to do some different things with my hair. Ok, so there isn't a whole lot I can do to my hair right now, I know but I was trying to get away from my regular curly wash n' go. I was basically just wearing it in an afro. I gotta say I'm not too fond of that look on my hair right now. Atleast not at this length, but hey, I tried it. I also attempted to twist my hair. By "twist", i just mean, taking a smal piece of my hair and twisting it until is stays. It was actually looking ok until I got to the DREADED front of my hair. It just flat out said, "NO, I'm not twisting". I don't know why I was acting all brand new like I didn't know what was up. LOL. I just figured it was a brand new day. (shout out to Keisha. LOL) Anyway, I guess by me wearing it combed for so long, my hair got used to it because after I washed my hair yesterday (using CON (creme of nature) and I even deep conditioned) it just wasn't behaving (of course you know I'm talking about my "bad patch" lol) at all. It barely wanted to curl at all. It was frizzy and straight so I just put a cut little flower in the front and went on about my day. So today I cowashed using my VO5 Strawberries and Cream followed by Herbal Essences Totally Twisted. I let the TT sit on my hair while I showered and by the time I washed it out, my hair was sooo soft. It was so puurty. I just love Totally Twisted!! It's not 100% but with a couple more washes it'll be back. Oh yeah, I bought this cute little headband at Walmart for $1.00 (see Nicole, I'm thrifty too.: )) from the Clearance aisle. I like how it turned out.

Tips and Tricks for the TWA (Teeny Weeny Afro) 1st edition

I shared in a previous post that it's my intention to share all of my hair woes and successes with you all in the hopes that if any should have my struggles, you'll have some solutions. It's true that everyone's hair is different, but maybe, just maybe I can save you some trouble.
One of the unique (annoying) things about my newly natural hair, is that there are different textures in it. Now that probably wouldn't be so bad if the textures were, say, some small kinky curls and some larger softer curls. That is not the case with my hair. My hair has smaller soft silky curls in tha back and on the sides, while the front and top of my hair is almost bone straight and actually quite dry. Sure, when it's wet it slightly curls up into large loose curls but I can not manipulate them at all if I want to maintain the curl. The result of doing that leaves me with straight, frizzy, dry looking hair in front and on the sides and with beautiful moist looking small coilies everywhere else.
So in short my issues are lack of curl definition and frizziness. To that, this is my solution: After shampooing or cowashing (washing with conditioner) I do not, repeat DO NOT, towel dry it. I put in my hand a quarter size amount of cheapie conditioner, like VO5 ( I love Moisture Milks Strawberries and Cream... ummm) or Suave, or even Herbal Essences conditioners which I really like (esp. Totally Twisted in purple bottle) but you have to be careful to apply a conditioner that's not too thick because you'll have to manipulate the hair too much to get in into your hair thus making this all in vain. With the conditioner in my hand I add an equal part of castor oil and rub it together and put in my hair. I am still careful not to manipulate the hair too much. I find that the conditioner moisturizes well and the castor oil gives great shine. It can be a little annoying with the water dripping down but I just wipe the water off and soon it stops dripping. If I'm in a rush I'll spray my heat protector on my hair (that adds shine as well) and blowdry my hair on warm until it stops dripping.
Notice how the front is a completely different texture. This is what it looked like before. I don't have an after picture but it does help. (Click pic to see larger)

See how curly it is on the side versus the top. UGH!!

"All Natural" Growth Aid

So I was on a hair forum that I frequent and everyone was talking about this "new" growth aid. Initially I didn't pay much attention because I try not to jump on every bandwagon, especially if it can potentially be harmful to my hair. There was one growth aid that's all the rage, where they use miconzal nitrate mixed with some type of oil and apply it to scalp. Oh, and in case you didn't

already know, miconzal nitrate is none other than the medical name for Monistat. Yes, you heard me right. Monistat. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not judging them or anything for using this. Shoot, they were getting results. I just didn't want to try it. I didn't want to risk it. But when I finally went in to read about this other growth aid called "MoeGro Growth Recipe", I saw that all the ingredients were all natural. I figured I could give it a try. So I purchased my ingredients and brewed me up a bath. I don't have any results yet but I will keep you all posted. It has been said that hair grows at an "average" rate of 0.5 inches per month. Just to let you know one member of the the forum reported 0.5 to .25 inches of growth in a week. She said she got more growth if she massaged her scalp nightly for atleast 5 minutes. So with that, I'll leave you guys the recipe. Tell me if you decide to try it.

MoeGro Growth Recipe
supplies:one glass jar, 6oz of jojoba oil or macadamia nut oil, 2oz aloe vera juice/gel, 2 tbsp of horsetail herbs, plastic squirt bottle (like the one for hair dye)

1. place oil and herbs in the jar
2. place jar in a pot of boiling water and allow the oil heat up
3. remove jar from water and place the top on it. Let this sit for three days so the herbs can infuse with the oil
4. strain oil in to squirt bottle
5. pour in 2oz of aloe
6.shake well and your ready to go

with this mix you will oil your SCALP (afterwards, I brush it through my hair) if you use Jojoba you may have to 6reapply every two days because your scalp will absorb the oil completely. With the mac. oil you will reapply it once a week depending on how fast your scalp absorbs the oil.continue to wash and condition you hair as usual just don"t pile on a bunch of other products. If you can don't put any thing else on you SCALP you dont want to clog you pores.

Some have substituted olive oil for the oil. I personally used coconut oil, but I now think it would be best to use jojoba oil. (It's a bit more expensive).

Updates

Okay so I have many updates to share with you all. I want to be detailed as you all share in my journey so that, should any of you choose to embark upon this journey, and come across some of the same coifing issues as me, you'll have some suggestions and hopefully solutions. That being said, I need to do some serious prioritizing in my life and "Coiffure" is a little further down on the list. I have all this stuff in my head and not in my blog. Stayed tuned though. I have some uum uum goodies for ya'll!

I DID IT!!!

Ok, so I got the itch (big time) and I scratched it. I DID THE BC!!! I am surprisingly, completely comfortable with it. I got it cut 2 days ago and I went to Starbucks last night with my cousin, which my first time out with my hair and I gotta tell ya, It felt completely natural (no pun intended). There was no self consciousness at all. My people have all been really supportive of me. My husband said he really liked it, but he said even more he liked how I just embraced the whole thing. That made me feel great of course. This is not something I would've ever thought I would do to my hair, but hey... you never know. I feel a little more grown up too. Lol. I like it even though I gotta say, I wish this hair up top would just act right. It won't curl. The back and sides are all curly while the top is just like, "NO, I'm not curling". What the deuce? (smile Chas) Hopefully it will begin to shape up soon.

written July 9, 2008

Can't wait until I'm "All Natural"

So it's been a little while since I last blogged, but I'm back at the urging of my friend. I have had alot going on with my hair lately but writing it down is another story.
Where to start....Ok, so in reading my last post, I have to tell you that my ideals have changed a bit. I don't know that I'll be wearing my hair straight most of the time. I am in love with natural texture in people's hair, and get this.....I love afros on some people, so I guess you just never know.
I have been learning alot about hair health in the last couple of months and I have definitely been putting it into practice. Between my 3 girls and I, my poor overstuffed closet can't hold all the hair products I've been buying. I have become a serious PJ (product junkie). I have found some staples though. I'll blog about those later.
The problem I've been having is that it's so hard to deal with two textures of hair because the two textures need completely different products. My relaxed hair needs moisture, but not too much because I don't want to weigh it down, while my NG (new growth) needs all the moisture it can get. Ok, so how am I gonna cater to both. Still haven't figured that one out.
I had been contemplating cutting my relaxed ends off, so I cut a piece in the back to see the texture and I really liked it so I had my sis-n-law cut the rest of the back for me. Kinda like where it would be tapered at. I really like it. I've been able to play with it without messing up my style because before I cut it, I couldn't keep my hands off my NG and would ruin my styles. Now I just play with the back. I keep thinking about cutting the rest of the relaxed hair off. I'm pretty sure I'll do it soon. I'll keep you posted!!

written July 2, 2008

I'm Going Natural!!!

Yep that's right, I'm going natural. I'm gonna grow my relaxer out. Now I don't mean "rough and stuff with my afro puffs" natural. I simply mean, "growing my relaxer out" natural. I'm sure I'll wear it straight most of the time... maybe curly sometimes..twists here, wild there, but the whole afro thing is not really my style. The hope is that my hair will be alot more healthy. It's not extremely unhealthy, but I have breakage problems in my crown area. I'm very excited about this and I have already been searching for products that will help me manage my mane. I wonder what it'll look like. I remember what it looked like as a kid but I've heard that after a relaxer, your natural hair texture won't be the same. I don't know if that's true but I'm just wondering. I haven't had a relaxer since March 23 of this year so I'm about 5 weeks in. This is the first time I actually want to see new growth. Most times people grow their hair out natural for a long time and then make the BIG CHOP, which simply means cutting off all the relaxed hair, sooo....I just shaved all my hair off..........

No seriously, I would never really do that, but I did cut off about 6 inches. I just decided to cut it up and get the ball rolling so that when I do decide to cut all the relaxer off, it won't be as dramatic. I was thinking of cutting it anyway. Aren't you guys excited for me !?!

Before & After

written May 2, 2008