Healthy Hair

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last addition to my ever-going story. Sorry, school has top priority since the new semester started. Anywho, this weekend marks 2 weeks since I've had my twists in and I have washed once. I know, Iknow.....you're not supposed to wash your hair with twists until after 2 weeks...blah blah yada yada but it ITCHED!! lol It was done kinda tight in some spots (I went to a new braider this time--actually two had a hand in this madness--) and I could not sleep that well for the first night because of the soreness. Then came the itchy scalp. I co-washed before I got them done because excessive shampooing isn't good for your hair, especially my hair, especially during the winter months. I decided to use whatever shampoo I had on hand (since buying new stuff isn't going to help the recession therapy lol) and I opted to use some of my remaining Head & Shoulders Smooth & Silky ( from my relaxed days....). It made my scalp feel funny but it was probably from all of the awful scratching I had to do. I oiled my scalp with extra virgin olive oil and voila! a couple of days later, I'm itch free!!! I decided a while ago that I was going to make healthier choices regarding my hair and my overall health and so far so good.

Three main things I have done so far to ensure that I get my hair to its healthiest point is to
1) drink lots and lots of water
2) take multivitamins; I take GNC Women's Hair, Skin, & Nails formula
3) eating healthy foods--this comes natural to me b/c I love to eat and I love fruits and vegetables

With these three things (and two other things that I should be doing but haven't this month are exercise and get lots of rest) I feel that will better my chances at regaining my healthy hair length and maintaining its thickness and overall good health. I estimate that by the time I take my twists out, I will have achieved a nice little amount of growth and after I get my next couple of protective hairstyles, my hair should be where I want it by my 22nd birthday (which is in September)

My next post will probably be about healthy foods to add to your diet to achieve a healthier diet and give your hair the boost and pampering it needs.

Hasta luego!

Hairresistable

So how about I didn't do exactly what I planned on doing. The last post was about doing my own twists until I get a sew-in a week later, and then eventually getting my hair pressed out or flat-ironed out to view my hair's progress. Well....I slipped lol; with the ridiculous arctic weather in my area, my twist-out wasn't surviving. I couldn't resist. No matter how much moisturizing I would do for my scalp and strands, they remained dry; and it drove me nut!!! So...I opted to straighten and see what my no-chemicals and no-heat regimen had done (No relaxers since July 2007 and no regular flat-ironing since summer 08)

Instead of waiting to flat-iron my hair like I wanted, I decided to do it a few days ago. Its nothing to brag about, especially since it doesn't seem like I've made any real progress but I must keep in mind that my hair is thick as heck and all of it wasn't able to be straightened as good as I wanted. I didn't want to over-do the straightening thing (trust me, I know how to get it bone straight if need be...lol) and apply too much heat to my hair, so I only ran through it one good time and pulled it up into a pony tail.

Since I don't like having my hair pulled up in a ponytail all the time (thats all I can do right now without adding more heat to my hair) I have opted to go get kinky twists or zillions again. I am at odds about which to get b/c zillions supposedly do more damage but I didn't experience any problems when I had mine or after I took them out. If I don't get my twists or braids, I may get the sew-in that I have been dying to get, just because I haven't done it yet; BUT I think I may wait. I don't really know right now, I just know come tomorrow I may have one of the three.

Stay tuned....this journey is getting better by the minute!

Mane Progress

I am ecstatic right now! Ok maybe not that happy, but I am thrilled to note that my hair is making progress. I can't remember my hair ever feeling so alive, so soft, so....WOW lol. The longest my hair has ever been was arm-pit length. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get beyond that point, maybe to BSL (bra-strap length) or even waist length. My journey towards long and healthy tresses has been good so far and I can't wait to see how my hair has progressed when I stretch it out/straighten it out in a few months. Instead of doing that now, I am going to stick to my protection and moisturization regimen (in addition to my eat right and stay fit-n-tight regimen) and straighten my hair out to see my progress in 3 to 4 month intervals. So, when I straighten in April or May I will take pictures to capture the moment and proceed to go back into protection mode by doing more protective styles....until my 3-4 months is up again. During my transition to becoming fully natural, I will continually try new, all natural/organic methods of treating and caring for my hair.

After searching the net for inspiration for new products to help me through my journey, I stumbled upon Miss Jessie's products. After seeing the before and after pictures of clients of the shop and users of the products I was sure that I found my new favorite product line. Unfortunately, there are only two places in the state that I live in that utilize that line and neither one of them are close to me. I took a chance asking the people at the beauty supply near my house if they sold Miss Jessie's and like I thought, they didn't. I was prepared for that but I was still disappointed b/c I was so eager to try using Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding to achieve a more beautiful and effective twist out look (my fiance' looooovvvves when I wear my hair in curly fros and twists outs and stuff lol) that I saw demonstrated in a tutorial from youtube. Sooo....I had no choice but to work with what was available in the beauty supply{not my idea of a fun place, I can rarely find what I need or really want :( } and I opted to get the Shea Butter and Aloe Creme Natural Moisture Balancing Treatment by Mane N Tail. I really needed a styling product for curls but if that guy would have said another jheri curl product I would have screamed lmao. So, I looked and looked for a looong time and still nothing. Searching for natural products in a huge chemical pool is hard, you're probably not gonna find what you're looking for. The M n T stuff was as close as I could get for natural moisturization ( the 2nd thing I went looking for in addition to a good curl styling product) so being a shea butter fan I went with it. It wasn't expensive so it was either a win or lose situation.

The results:

When I got home I realized I left without a styling product, ya know in the midst of getting satin hair caps, a water spritzer bottle, and the perfect shade of light pink nail polish (my fav) you tend to forget something.... I was tired of my hair looking crazy so I figured I would do the twists anyway since I didnt use a product the last time and they came out ok. This time, I was armed with a moisturizing product that was much needed to nourish those ends of mine that have been scorned by this crazy winter weather. I applied the treatment just as it said (on damp or dry hair--I did damp) with my water bottle (w/ water & a hint of my favorite deep conditioner in it--- Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily Deep Conditioner, its the BEST!!!) on hand and went to work. I must say, this shea butter n aloe vera creme smells absolutely FANTASTIC!!!! Omg, its soooo sweet and I was not disappointed with how it made my hair feel. It smells like cookies or cake to me and I think it is because of the almond oil it has in it. I definitely checked out the ingredients before I decided to buy it and Im glad I did; you can't go wrong with olive oil, shea butter, sweet almond oil, and the various root extracts. Hopefully, I will be able to continue to see and feel the results of this lovely treat.

While I was doing my twists I was able to stretch a few down to get an idea of how long my hair is and how long its getting. I was happy, like I said before, to see that it is somewhere near my collar bone (stretched from the longest point), soon to be arm pit length, and eventually bra-strap length. I estimate that in a few months my hair will be back to where it was once upon a time

I will probably edit this later to add pics of my hair after I finished.
Until then people.....

Time For Something New

So.....it's been a while. I've decided to delete the previous posts I had up here for various reasons, one being that this blog had no direction whatsoever. Ranting and raving about my problems wasn't doing anything at all. Fortunately, I have found my reason for blogging: my hair. I've decided that there is nothing better for me to blog about other than my journey from relaxed to natural.

I should have done this months ago, maybe even two years ago since thats when my journey began. I haven't relaxed my hair since July 2007 and I am transitioning from one state to the next via multiple methods. Searching the net for styles, reading blogs and forum posts about what has worked for others, and determining my hair type and how to deal with it has been fun and challenging all at the same time. It always seems to me that my hair hasn't grown any since I stopped using relaxers, but since I haven't actually straightened it with heat in the longest I can't really be sure. With all the styles and methods I've used since then, I've always managed to condition and oil as much as possible and needed. This lead to my hunt for the best, natural products there are out there (as well as pursuing a healthier diet with added vitamin supplements). Even if I wasn't able to do the vitamin deal, I always made sure to moisturize and condition my strands since having two textures causes alot of breakage with the dryness.

For anyone who's wondering (and for my own records), here is a quick run-down of the styles I've had since the last relaxer in July 07:
1. blow-dryed and flat-iron
2. wash-n-go ponytail w/gel
3. wash-n-go ponytail w/o gel, with leave-in conditioner only
4. kinky twists w/ hair added
5. cornrows w/hair added
6. braid out
7. micro two-strand twists (natural, with my hair only), curled
8. micro twist out
9. two-strand twists (natural)
10. twist out

Numbers 1-3 had been repeated numberous times before I actually got the kinky twists. The rest of the styles are more recent and will more than likely be repeated as well.

While I am transitioning, my goal is to do as many protective transitioning styles as possible. I have been trying to stay away from sew-ins but at some point I think I will. I was even considering it for this weekend, but after seeing a tutorial on how to achieve a better twist-out look, I may do the sew-in at a later date.

For now, my 4?? hair (not sure if it's 4a or 4b, I have a mental block on that info right now lol) is partially back to its natural state. It's fun to wash my hair and see the curls in the back and around the sides but irritating to not be able to do much with it at the moment except twist it.

I love my curls and hopefully by the end of the year my hair will be past my shoulders like it was back in 2003-2004.

Stay tuned, for when I return I will have another style to add to the list.....