Monday, March 7, 2011

Protective styling for awhile




I have decided that I'm going to do some protective styles for awhile. Here is my hair in chunky twists so that I can stretch my hair in preparation for mini twists. I will be starting on these in the morning...Haven't decided how long I will keep them in.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Pictures Coming soon

My small digital camera was stolen so I haven't been taking pictures. I do however have a DSLR but it's kind of awkward taking pictures of my hair myself using that, but as soon as I figure out how I will be posting pics. (I would use my cell phone but I don't particularly like the quality of the pics....it's kinda crappy)

Experiment update

I know this update is kind of late but after leaving the conditioner in over night and rinse out the next morning I'm kind of on the fence about how I feel about the results. My hair was soft and felt moisturized but not quite like I like it. I will be playing around with this (maybe add a thicker base) and see how I like it. But for the most part it is effective if you don't need/want a lot of moisture.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Experiment...

So tonight I decided to wash my hair with Elasta Qp Intensive Treatment Stimulating Shampoo (this wasn't the experiment I just like the tingle and I needed to shampoo my hair). Now here is the experiment: I needed a deep conditioner AND I wanted to try out a new product that I picked up earlier today (V05 Tea Therapy Calming Chamomile). Normally I use V05 as a cowash conditioner but I had never used the Tea Therapy "flavors". Instead of using this for cowashing, I decided that I would mix up my own deep conditioner. So I squirted out some of the conditioner, added some honey and some EVOO, mixed it in a small bowl, then applied the mixture to my hair in sections, twisted each section (6 in all), placed a conditioning cap on my head covered with a satin bonnet, and I'm leaving it on overnight. I will rinse it out in the morning and come back to report how my "experiment" turned out.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Tracking my hair growth

Just wanted to share how I've been tracking my growth. Unfortunately I haven't been taking any pictures (I most definitely need to and will be) but I have been using a spreadsheet that was mentioned over at naturallycurly.com.
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/growing-out/105669-hair-growth-chart.html

This chart is great!!! It is helping me make realistic goals and allowing me to know approximately when I will reach those goals.

Vitamin Regimen Starting 02/22/2011

Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 22, 2011, I will be beginning a vitamin regimen both for my health and for my hair. I will be taking a women's one a day multivitamin with breakfast; 500mg MSM (may increase gradually later on)with lunch; Super B complex, 500 mg Vitamin C, and 1000mcg Biotin (this also may gradually increase later on) with dinner. I will take these for a few months to see if there will be any difference. I am taking the multivitamin for overall health, MSM for my knees and also hair, and the others are mostly for hair (Vitamin C will also help for my immune system because it seems like I'm always catching a cold). I will keep everyone updated on my progress.

Monday, February 14, 2011

And the winner is....


Photo from MTV.com

I do not/did not watch the Grammy's but I was excited to know that Esperznza Spalding (one of my natural hair inspirations) won best new artist. It's about time that someone recognized REAL music. I had to shake my head however at how Justin Bieber fans responded but then to think about it most are a bunch of children sooooo....Just goes to show that the nonsense that is played on the radio doesn't always win.

Friday, February 11, 2011

My Hair Journey

"Ouch!" I cried. "Be still!" mom said. I was a thick haired, tender headed child. Mom was never much of a hair person so she often did not know what to do with my hair. Most of the time, growing up, I wore my hair braided (cornrows, singles, crochet...you name it I probably had it) with the occasional press and curl (if it was a holiday i.e. Easter, Mother's Day, Christmas, etc.). I NEVER was allowed to wear my hair loose (often heard "You have too much hair for that.") so although I didn't have a relaxer, I unfortunately did not know what my natural texture looked like.

Soon mom became frustrated and impatient, so at the age of eleven (right before starting middle school) my mom had one of my older cousins apply a relaxer to my hair (dad wasn't very happy...). As I waited for the relaxer to process (and felt for the first time "the dreaded tingle")I anticipated seeing myself for the first time with straight, silky hair instead of the braided or puffy,somewhat straight hair (now that I think back, all I can do is shake my head). After the relaxer was rinsed out, my hair was blowed dried and styled...and so the process continued every 8-12 weeks for the next seven years.

At the age of 18, upon graduating high school, I decided that to symbolize me being an adult and the change from high school to college, that I would stop getting relaxers and go natural. So I set out to find as much information I could about natural hair and growing my hair longer. I would spend hours upon hours on hair forums, and spent dollars upon dollars trying hair products. Once I felt I was armed with enough information, I walked into my nearest Hair Cuttery one February morning in 2006 and had all of my relaxed ends cut off. The stylist kept asking if I was REALLY sure I wanted to cut off THAT much hair (was about BSL at the time). I remember taking a deep breath and saying "DO IT!" When I walked out of the shop I was suddenly unsure if I had made the right decision. For the next, 3-4 months I wore my hair flat ironed, a phoney pony, or headwrap. Soon I became comfortable with my natural hair. I was able to find products and techniques that worked with my hair and I received many compliments.

Fast forward to April 2008. I began to get bored with my hair so I decided that I would relax my hair (ugh "the dreaded tingle" AGAIN). I remember sitting in my kitchen one Friday night and having my dad apply a virgin relaxer application to my hair. I would then receive a touch up every 12 weeks until November 2009.

2009 was an interesting year for me. I graduated college in May, I cut my APL hair to a SL bob in June, my best friend moved to the other side of the world in July, started graduate school in August, got my last relaxer on November 6, chopped my then slightly grown out SL bob to a chin length assymetrical bob later that month, watched the movie "Good Hair", and decided to transition again to natural hair in December.

In 2010, I pretty much used protective styles and did not use heat. On November 20, 2010, after a veryyyyyyyyyyyyyy frustrating experience, I stood in front of my bathroom mirror and began cutting my hair (6 months before I had originally planned). At first I thought "What am I doing?!?" but soon I became excited and liberated. Now I have decided that I will NEVER use another relaxer and I am embarking on a lifelong (??) journey to healthy, long, natural hair.