Summer Hair Affair

Aaahh, it feels good to be back!

My apologies for the unintentional hiatus. Everything just turned into one big whirlwind of events overnight....so it seemed. Ah, maybe it did lol. Between my last post and this post, I have aced more exams, discovered new hairstyles, and graduated from college. Yay me!! lol.

I played with the idea of wearing my hair in a natural/curly style for graduation but unfortunately that didn't materialize. I decided to stick with what I was used to (judge if you want, I really don't care lol) which is my slick straight press. My hair was banging and it lasted a good while through all the heat and anti-heat and everything. Well almost everything; it didn't outlast my sebhorreic dermatitis! Argh!! I had to wash my hair even though I didn't want to (wanted my money's worth of flaunting my length lol).

Flash-forward to today which marks a full month since I graduated (yay!!) and my hair is in twists. Cute twists might I add. I have been slacking on my posts and taking hair shots....and posting them.....but I promise I will make that all up this week. I have soooo many pics to share from graduation and before graduation when I experimented with a style I hold dear to me. I am going to name my hairstyle soon enough but it fits me so well that I may just name it after myself :)

Sooooo many things to come. Pics, pics and more pics!
Stay tuned!

~Lena

Zillion Twists

How about it. I'm back just like I promised lol


Well, here are a couple of long overdue pics of my recent twiting venture. I entitled this post Zillion Twists because of how my twists look.....like the zillion braid extentions. Although this was done by fluke, I can absolutely see myself doing this twisting style again.


It's much easier and could possibly be faster--if you don't start late and take day long breaks like I did. The only problem is that the method to get to this look could be damaging. These twists come on the heels of my second venture with my new MaxiGlide steam flat-iron. I love that thing so much! It is a tool that will make you want to take more precautions with heat styling more than you ever would before.


Before twisting, I found that my relapse with heat had lead to the inevitable split end heat damage in various areas (mostly in the back....dunno what I did different from the 1st gliding try!?) I mean....this was that damage you could feel and frizz you could see. The side and front areas had some splits too and some were mad horrible yo! lol I decided then that wearing my hair out like that would cease until either the summer or briefly in the fall. I will be doing the Disney College Program at Disney World in the fall so I may or may not have to flat iron my hair for professional events/classes. I don't think i will though as Disney is open to diversity and I've seen employees with twists before. I need to work on my zillion twists w/o the heat part haha




While my ends are still very much exposed and are not curled up on themselves (I didn't use my rods or water for these!) I need to figure out a way other than search and destroy missions to preserve my ends. I'm going to try my shea butter but we'll see.


I give you my twists:

Henna Pics Part 2

Buenos Dias Chicas!!!


I apologize for the late addition. I know I was supposed to post the rest of my henna pics the day after I posted the first set, but things didn't quite go as planned obviously. Finals are next week (but I have an early one tomorrow....my prof is moving *sad face at both* ) and other things over the weekend kept me from posting.


I wasn't 100% sure that I wanted to do this to myself and put those horrid, messy henna pics up especially with my skin the way it was/is. My skin is improving, but the left-over redness is killing me more than anything right now. That.....and the slow-to-fade dark spots (I read somewhere that those are signs of healing *confused face* isdk.


But anywho, I am going to try to do my next henna session this weekend but seeing as that I may not have enough to do it (100g may not be enough for all of this hair lol)


So.....as promised here are more pics of my 1st henna process.


Hasta Luego!

Beautiful Twists

I did it you guys!!!!!! lol Last time, I talked about wanting to do more two-strand twists or attempting to do a rod set to achieve a curly look. With my big 'ol head full of thickness, a rod set was NOT going to happen just yet (even though I managed to buy 5 packs (12 in each) of rods for 50 cents at my local beauty supply just in case--good deal for a first time thing, no?). I decided to go with my beloved two-strand twists and they came out absolutely GORGEOUS yall!!!!!!!!! haha. It's so wonderful I almost cried! lol Not really, but I wouldn't have been shocked if I did. Being that you ladies know the journey of trial and error we go through with our natural tresses, you can probably understand my excitement of obtaining perfect twists after trying so hard the first few times they were done. The first few times were super puffy--not what I was going for but I dealt with it---and not small enough (ya know, how the kinky twists/senegalese twists are). But, after much patience and determination I achieved a cute twisted look.

I will be rocking my twists with flower clips that I previously purchased to spruce up my pony puffs--when possible. I may have to make another trip to the beauty supply for more clips b/c I only have 4 colors so far: white, black, pink, and yellow

The Process:

Doing my twists have always taken me a long time and between twisting and taking breaks and being on the phone, I didn't finish until a little after midnight Saturday-after starting around 6:30-7:00 Friday evening.

I washed my hair with my remaining Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine shampoo (just to get rid of it and not let it go to waste; I heard about the lawsuit, no worries the shampoo was bought too long ago--I'll be on my for real natural shampoo/no poo game soon enough) and conditioned with Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Conditioner (I let that sit in for 30 min, covered in a cap to trap heat). I detangled with my wide-toothed comb while shampooing and conditioning.

After rinsing the conditioner out, I blotted but didn't really aggressively dry my hair so I could work with wet hair (plus I hear its better to blot natural hair than wring it dry or anything). I sectioned my hair into five areas/sections; how exactly--Idk, I just know I managed to get a part in the middle and sections on the side and back for easier/supposed to have been faster styling. I had my spray bottle filled with water and a little conditioner(Herbal Essences Hello Hydration) and my Organic Root Stimulator Lock and Twist Gel, my rotating table mirror, my portable dvd player, Push, and Bride Wars, and went to work. My mind was on small twists and that's what I got, small twists. Some of the ones in the front curled up naturally, so for the twists that weren't in sync, I got a chance to use my rods for them and any others that needed a little curl.

The Results:

Beautiful, absolutely beautiful twists!!!!!!!!! I will definitely do this again :)

My sweetheart loves it, and so has everyone that has seen me since I've had them in:

right side
left side
Hello Beautiful!!

Any comments or questions? Post them here and I will be sure to respond

Have a great evening :)

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!

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.....