Perfect Pony Puff--How I Got To Where I Am Today

I'm baaack!! lol I couldn't wait until exams were over to post again; it just wasn't gonna happen this time. Remember the last time I tried that? Yea, I was MIA for about a month or so. But anywho, I decided that I wanted to share the ingredients for my perfect pony puff.

My pony puff has been one of my staple styles since going natural (I don't know anything else but that and twists). Before my last relaxer back in July 2007 I was rocking pony puffs in the pursuit of a natural me, but I decided to relax again because I was in a wedding in glamourous Cali. I was sooo corrupted back then. I only knew then that sleek, relaxed/pressed styles were "appropriate" for big events and such. I wish I would have known then what I know now. Natural styles work just as well and sometimes even better :) My puffs back then didn't require much, at least I didn't attempt to do much. I washed and conditioned with my faithful Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine shampoo and condtioner and did a deep condtioning mask of theirs also. To keep some of my faint curliness (actually fake most of the curliness lol) I left in my conditioner. Nowadays, in 2009, its a whole new game!

I decided to go natural last year in 08 after not relaxer for a full year. I wanted to get my length back to my hair but for some reason I just couldn't. My sweetheart kept telling me to get my ends clipped but I kept avoiding it like the plague! Every time I went to someone to get my ends clipped they almost always took my APL length hair to shoulder length or worse---neck length :( Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with short hair and it actually works for about anyone but I was used to long hair and long hair worked for me. I got tired of hearing my dad go on and on and on about letting people cut my hair and how it won't grow back if they keep cutting, etc etc. This time around I was afraid that if I went in for clipped ends I would come out with a TWA that I wasn't ready for.

I never thought about doing a BC. My oldest sister has done enough of those for me (Hi big sis!!) My dad is always talking about how she shouldn't have done it and this and that. OMG!?!?! lol I can't deal with him, so I decided to do a gradual removal of the relaxed ends :) When I finally got around to doing that back in April I was able to go to someone who wasn't just out to chop away my thick hair. She showed me why my ends needed clipping and why there was alot of it instead of getting right to cutting. My hair ended up somewhere at my neck, alot shorter than it was before, but as long as my relaxed ends were gone I was good to go.

Within a month my hair grew back!! Yay! lol I was soooo happy to see my hair healthy and growing. I'm not sure if the clippings can take sole responsibility b/c I started taking biotin supplements before the chop but hey---who knows (I won't know until I get back on track--I stopped when I started multis and omegas). I loved seeing my hair's true length but to see it I had to have it pressed and flat-ironed. Can you say damage, again? I wasn't looking forward to damaging my newly natural tresses with heat all the time so I began more twist-outs. I was using QP Elasta Mango Butter before my lil chop for my twists and figured I would continue. I did twists and twist outs but quickly got bored. Taking summer courses doesn't leave much time for trying something new----if I don't like it and definitely don't want to go out in public with it, I can't just wash and try again. It would take me the whole weekend to get it right lol. So, I decided that until I get a sew-in of some sort I will rock my pony puff.

Rocking the pony puff came after I didn't find the flexi-rollers I wanted to get for a straw/flexi-rod set at my beauty supply. Foiled by my stores lack of inventory, I decided to use the IC gel that was raved about in the hair forums that I came across in my research and use it for a slicked back puff instead of the straw curls. I definitely love the results I get, expecially since my natural curls are blossoming everyday. I have concluded so far that my hair is definitely a mix of 4b with some 3's thrown in there. Only time and more pony puffs will tell for sure :)

Pics of my pony-puff coming soon!

Lovely Lengths

Greetings fellow Naturals! Its been a while.....almost three months to be exact.....and I have lots to share. First I want to fill you guys in on what has changed since my last post. I had just taken out my kinky twists and washed and conditioned with Burts Bees. I decided that straightening my hair on my own wasn't going to be very productive in the future since straightening it this time arround turned out very weird...really harsh. My hair looked normal in some areas but at the ends it looked like hell. Literally. So..I opted to twist my own hair and wear it in a wash-n-go ponytail. That didn't last too, too long because the Easter holiday was rolling around and I wanted to look presentable in the way that I was most comfortable: a wrap. Now I didn't go back to perms (yuck) but since I needed to start treating my hair better I to get it straightened to really get to those icky split ends. My new hair care specialist (hey Auntie!! lol) showed me the difference between healthy ends and unhealthy ends when I explained to her my previous traumatic experiences with scissor-happy stylists. My hair ended up shorter than I expected once she started trimming and shaping my tresses. I wanted to cry at first but then I told myself that it would definitely grow back and this time it would be longer and stronger. My hair came to my neck, midway I believe. It wasn't that bad to see since I had been there before. I was determined to keep eating right and keep taking my biotin supplements along with caring for my hair the right way.

After a few weeks of keeping my straightened locks, I decided to try a new product while doing more two-strand twists. Let me tell you, Organic Root Stimulator Lock and Twist Gel is the best there is! No petroleum or harsh chemicals, mineral oil, etc. Its basically all natural and it gives you the best looking and feeling twists and twist-outs you will ever see or have. I would wash and condition my hair and get to twisting. 2 to 2 1/2 hours later I was all twisted up. I took them out the next day to rock a cute, curly twist-out and loved it! So did everyone else. My husband really loved it. I kept that look going for as long as I could until I had to redo it. Then the middle of last month we had a wedding to attend and the curliness of the twist-out could not be manipulated enough to my liking soooo....I opted to flat-iron it out (after washing and deep conditioning of course) to see how much length (if any) had been retained. My hair was looking good. Not much too much shedding and not that many tangles. My ends always give me hell coming out of a natural style to a pressed look (I'm not super skilled at that yet....give me time lol) so my ends had to be manipulated to at least look healthy even though touching my hair told a different story......

So, I kept up with my DIY wrap for about 2 weeks until I let my cousin (another miracle worker in the fam, hey girl!) hook me up for some family festivities. And thats where I am today kiddies. A week after wash, condish, press, and iron, my hair is smooooove lolz. I plan on getting my second round of end-clipping sometime in the near future. Its amazing how much my hair has grown since the last clipping (almost two months ago) and I see my hair being back to the length that I'm used to (APL-arm pit length) in the next few months and even longer by the end of the year. I can't end this post without adding that my newfound hair healthiness is not only a result of clipping damaged ends and moisturizing and such, but it is also blossoming because of my lifestyle change of switching to vegetarianism. After a weird encounter around Easter, I stopped eating the remaining animals that I was so fond of. No more chicken, no more lamb, no rabbit, no ham, no steak, turkey....I can go on forever. I am officially a full fledged veggie-head and there is no going back. I drink chocolate whey protein shakes to supplement what I'm not getting from the aminals (I know its animals bay, that parts for u ;) haha) and I am also taking Omega 3, 6, 9 pills and a very potent multivitamin. I've never felt better. I still have my biotin supplements, so I will continue to take those until they're all gone; after I do more research to make sure I'm not overdoing it I may decide to continue.

That is all for now people. I have more things to tend to.
Ciao!