Twist & Shout: Twist Out Pics

*Drumroll*


Now for the event you've all been waiting for......pics from my lovely twist-out from those adorable twists I had last month lol


Enjoy and be inspired ladies :)

Day 1 of Twist-out






Day 4 of Twist-out

Stay tuned, another twist-out is about to happen pretty soon and more pics are bound to be born. Have a great day!!!!

Helpful Hints: How To Maintain Twists Past 2 Weeks

Finding new ways to do things with my hair is always fun. Although I am currently at a loss for a new natural style to rock (straw-set? lengthy sew-in? super short sew-in? cornrows?), I have found a way to preserve my lovely two-strand twists and thought I should share the wealth.


I'm sure my fellow naturals out there with locs and twists and other semi-high-maintanence styles know that washing our hair with these styles can be quite a hassle. I'm not sure if everyone out there has looked into these yet but there are special shampoo caps that you can get at your local beauty supply to help you wash your hair without the fear of unraveling. The one that I have was only $1.99 and it's perfect for washing twists in-between twist outs and regularly scheduled washing sessions. I decided to get this when I saw it because using a stocking cap, which I did with my teeny twists--as suggested by the stylist--, didn't feel right lol It was weird to me and I was glad to see that they make a cap just for that. I needed to wash my hair but I hadn't rocked my twist-out yet nor did I want to give up my twisted lovelies :) With this cap, my beauties look rejuvenated and fresh as ever. Go ahead and find one and give it a try :)

Day 1 After Washing with the shampoo cap

Day 2

Skin Crisis Averted

This stuff is the best!!!!!!

Hello natural night-owls!! lol I am rarely up at this hour (I likes my sleep, 8 hrs please...haha) and I have never blogged this late before either but everyone is alotted a few random moments every now and then. A few posts back (try last month....lol) I ranted about the issues I was having with my skin. I was trying everything. Neutrogena products, Clean & Clear, my tried and true Proactiv (worked wonders when I started having skin issues in 05-06), and anything else in-between. Well, my dear-sweet-fiance' was always raving about the Dudu Osun Black Soap that he uses. I never used it even though he kept telling me to (I'm so hard-headed lol) just like with Shea Butter; he always told me to use it because its 1) it's natural, 2) it has so many healing properties and skin/hair health benefits, and 3) its just the bomb! The thing is, you really shouldn't use things on your body that you wouldn't put into your body (i.e by eating)--I've always known that, and it's something that should just be like "well, duh!" but everyone doesn't see it like that. I finally gave in to the shea thing earlier this year and I loved it! Best thing ever! But....I didn't stick with using it on a daily basis, I only used it every so often and continued using commercial lotions by Jergens, Johnson & Johnson, etc. *Slaps hand* Bad, I know. But that is going to change.

Back to the soap...........

So by a twist of fate--if you will--a very generous and kind friend of ours gave me a bar of the Dudu Osun soap and some Chinese Ginger Tea when I got sick a few weeks ago. My face was still breaking out like crazy (this was way after my 1st skin crisis post) so it only meant that I needed to try this famous black soap. Ladies.....(and Gents if you're there.....) this Dudu Osun is the TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol I kid you not. Using this soap, you won't need to worry about that dry after-feeling you get from processed, chemical-laced soaps. I won't lie, I love Dove to death---why I didn't wanna let go and use my new find---but even the Sensitive Skin formula left my face dry a lot of the time. With the black soap, I can wash my face and not have to worry about putting on lotion, moisturizer, etc. Even without using Shea after washing with Dudu, my skin felt amazing and has a brilliantly healthy and natural glow. I saw my blemishes fade and the dark spots began to disappear. I figure in a few more weeks, my face will be flawless once again. And I owe it all to my newfound loves: Dudu Osun Black Soap and Shea Butter :) I just bought a 32.oz container of dark yellow shea butter (I hear the darker, the better (ie more vitamins, etc)) and two boxes of Dudu Osun from a vendor at the African World Festival in Downtown Detroit, all for $15--2 for $5 soap and $10 for the large shea container, not bad at all)

I can't wait to see how my skin progresses! I'm also going to modify my vegetarian diet to make sure I get all the nutrients I'm supposed to get

Buenos Noches Amigos!

P.S: Below I am going to list the ingredients in the all-natural Dudu Osun Black Soap and the benefits of Shea Butter.

***Everything as listed on the box/label***

Tropical Naturals Dudu Osun Black Soap:

Ingredients-Pure Honey, Shea Butter, Osun (camwood), Palmkernal oil, Cocoa pod ash, Palm bunch ash, Glycerine, Aloe Vera Juice, Lime juice & oil, Lemon juice & oil, Water & Fragrance.

Dudu Osun is the age-long African black soap made the traditional way by hand from PURE NATURAL INGREDIENTS AND HERBS from the tropical rain forest and savannah regions.

No artificial colors; no preservatives; Bio degradable. Product of Nigeria

http://www.tropical-naturals.com/

African Shea Butter:

100% Natural

African Shea Butter is made from the nut of the African Shea Tree. It contains a rich amount of unremovable fatty acid which renders it far superior to Cocoa Butter an other natural vegetabl butters. This fatty acid is crucial to rejuvenating and moisturizing the skin. Shea Butter provides all the essential vitamins needed to make skin look and feel smoother, softer and most importantly, healthier. Its theraputic properties protect the skin from wind, cold, sun, and it helps heal wounds faster. Shea Butter stimulates cellular activity, fights the effects of aging and repairs rough, damaged skin.

Usage:

1. Treatment of dry skin, eczema, and minor burns.

2. Pain relief from swelling and arthritis.

3. Improves muscle relaxation and stiffness.

4. Sunscreen, due to its rich content of vitamins E & F

5. Treats dark spots, skin discolorations, stretch marks, wrinkles, and blemishes

6. Massages, diaper rash, and as a hair conditioner.

Shea Butter does not expire. Store in a cool place.

Product of Ghana

Twisted Up

Oops, I did it again! lol That was supposed to be the title of this post, which I could have sworn I had drafted and tucked away for some editing---but it seems it isn't here :( ----. Oh well. Anywho, after washing my hair last Wednesday, I decided it was too soon for me to put another round of my lock and twist gel in, so I just washed and conditioned (nothing deep, just a much needed cleanse) and let my hair air dry ("big" mistake lol). I decided to do this because I didn't get to run to the beauty supply and get more of my gel, so twisting would have to wait a day. I thought about dry twisting but with my air-dried mess of a fro, but I didn't see that as being a smart choice.

Thursday I rinsed my hair and deep conditioned with my fav deep condish--Neutrogena Triple Moisture of course!--with lots of marination under the cap going on; I had so many things going on at once I think my hair was conditioning for a couple of hours lol. But once I was able to rinse, my hair felt as soft as ever and was wet and ready to be twisted up into perfection once again.

I was scared going into the twists again because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to make my hair as perfect and beautiful as before. I gave it a go with my arsenal of snacks and my little dvd player---I watched 'Secret Life of Bees' and 'Knowing', both great movies---and my hair came out just as cute. Personally, I think the first set of twists was the best but that could only be expected since I wasn't exactly expecting my hair to look so good before, and the second time I had an expected result that I was looking to achieve.

It took a few days for my hair to 'fall into place' and start to grow on me. It's been a week and it's still cute :) I haven't done any photos this time around as of yet but I feel a mini-shoot coming on lol

Have a great day!!
~Lena

Twist-Out & Shout

Hello all!! After a two-week stint rocking those absolutely gorgeous twists that I wrote about in my last post, I am rocking a twist-out! It was only fitting that twists of such beauty would yield the perfect twist-out. I un-twisted last Friday while I was under the weather (summer colds suck!!) and my hair was just as beautiful twisted-out as it was twisted up :)



The first day of the twist-out was flawless and through the congestion and all, I managed to snap a couple of pics to capture the glory. Day two, my hair was bigger and better than ever but I didn't get anything captured.....sorry. Since my hair needs to be cleaned (the horror! the horror! lol) I decided to take some Day 4 pics to capture how much volume my hair got over the days. My hair was a little bigger and had a lot more waves. I appear to have some new growth going on seeing as that I had some visible parts at one point (especially the main one in the middle up front). It may be growth....it may just be from the style being as old as it was....I dunno lol. I probably won't do a real length check any time soon so I won't really know yet.



I am going to wash my hair tonight but I don't know what I want to do. I can't re-twist tonight because I don't think I have enough of my loc and twist gel. So....I'll give my hair a little break tonight by washing the gel and extra stuff out and get to twisting tomorrow. School's out, so I have all day!



Toodles!

~Lena

P.S.: Blogger is acting funny at the moment and won't let me upload my pics :( Hopefully I can get them posted by the weekend......

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 :)

Summer Stylin

There has been an ongoing indecisiveness about what to do with my hair lately. I've been rocking my pony puffs like its nothing for the past month I believe. It's quick, it's easy, it has been my staple style. I need something new asap, or I'm going to scream!! lol "Where's your beloved weave?" you may ask. Well, those plans changed; not because I changed my mind, but the person I was counting on to do it backed out on me. I wanted sleek-straightness instead of curliness (in the weave that is) simply because I don't want to have it in forever for it to end up looking a hot-a-mess in the long run. With a straight weave (especially with the grade-A+++ stuff) you can get away with pulling it back in a low ponytail until you get it redone or taken out if it gets to looking a mess. With a big fake curly mane....no....lol. You wouldn't be able to hide those frizzy lookin things. Back in a pony? I've never seen it done and I don't want to waste time or money trying to find out.

So until I can convince myself to get a curly weave, I am trying to figure out a natural style that I can rock that is cute and different from my usual. Oh yea...a cute, natural, new style that I can rock that won't be destroyed by winds associated with rollercoaster drops! lol Yes, an amusement park trip is in order soon and I don't want to spend an arm and a leg at my natural hair salon on the straw-set that I've been dying to get just so a week later it gets attacked by monster forces(i.e wind, humidity). The same goes for that curly weave. What would that look like? I dunno. Given that it takes me forever to do my hair in twists, shall I embark down that treacherous route? I dunno. Maybe I'll crack and get the curliness anyway. Omg...the madness! haha

Ladies, what have your summer styles been thus far? What do you plan on trying for the remainder of it? Spill it :)

~Jolie


Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in Caramel-playing with make-up to hide my skin crisis

Skin Crisis

Don't you hate it when you feel on top of the world and then all of a sudden something happens to make you feel like you've crashed and burned? Well, when my skin breaks out that's how I feel. I feel like I've crash landed into acne-world and there's no point of return at this moment. I know I'm probably exaggerating that a bit but lol I hate this.

My poor face has been breaking out for the past 3 weeks (it may have been longer than that). Every time I look up, I have a new little buddy sprouting on my face. I wash my face everyday. I moisturize with shea butter and I am a vegetarian. What gives? lol My hubby thinks it the culprit may be this black soap that I was using but I wasn't using that when I broke out (I actually started back when my face broke out---I thought my face missed it, it was natural black soap! haha) and I'm still not using it. So, yea....I don't know what to think. When I had bad breakouts a few years ago I used Proactiv and it worked wonders but since it was getting charged directly onto my dad's card (daddy's little girl right? yea right....) and we didn't think I needed it anymore my subscription stopped. But my face was fine. Only a blemish here and there, and that was rare. For those I used Clean & Clear Advantage Acne Spot Treatment and, VOILA! spots begone. But those left dark marks from time to time, and I'm fairly light so its super obvious when it happens.



With this surge in acne bumps popping up everywhere and the constant use of my lil C&C friend(and my bad habit of popping some of these bad boys on site---I need to break that habit, don't ya think?) I have been left with these hideous dark sopts on my face that have me feel a few levels less than pretty. So began the search for ways to make these spots disappear faster.



I have heard of Mederma before but never actually needed it. I knew I should have gotten some when my belly piercing went awol and and my body decided it was better off unpierced. Shoulda got it, but I didn't; but its not too late. I joke with my friends that I have two belly buttons now because of it. Looking up the uses for this scar healing miracle, I decided I would give it a try. If it doesn't work for my acne dark spots (which I found out in my search that they are not scars but hyperpigmentations resulting from skin inflammation {from the breakout}) then I will have it on call to fade my belly piercing gone wrong. According to the package, I have to use it for my belly for 3 to 6 months (yikes!!! lmao) and for my face 8 weeks, both requiring 3-4 applications a day. I hope to see the results I am looking for because I don't like looking like a leopard :(



I am journaling my skin's progress, so pictures will be shown after a few weeks.



Stay tuned.



P.S---If you have your own acne issues, please feel free to share your horror stories and remedies or products you have used, have heard about, etc etc

Ciao Bellas!!

To Twist Or Not To Twist.......

My first set of kinky twists: Summer 08
Before I discovered two-strand twisting my natural hair

Greetings fellow naturals! A few posts ago I talked about going into protection mode and getting a full-headed sew-in weave, soon. Well, I have changed my mind. I haven't fully reneged on the weave thing, I've just gotten the urge to attempt to do some really small two-strand twists on this thick natural head of mine. Foolishness you say? Indeed it is lol. I can barely stand the medium sized ones I do now (I've done it about 3 times and wasn't looking forward to a number 4). It takes me forever to do them; about 2hours at the minimum. I have had extremely teeny ones before, set on rollers at a natural hair salon (My fellow Detroiters look up Afia's I'm Naturally Beautiful Hair Salon, they are amazing---hooked a scared transitioning sista up :) If you would have seen a before picture.....ooh, you wouldn't have believed that I had tons of hair tamed into that teenie curly style. The owner was shocked too lol . They said I looked like a totally diff person. My hair only looked twisted if you got right up into my hair and looked closely at it. From a normal distance it looked like I just had defined curls.

--I want those teenies back but I don't have $90 to spare--ouch! I haven't been since the end of last year but that doesn't mean I'm not going back. I hate making appointments for anything so lol but I will be back there before this year is over.

Anywho, I was considering doing some relatively small twists but with my length I don't think they are gonna look like I'm imagining; my twists are going to be quite lengthy so, we shall see haha

Until I experiment with this tomorrow (or Saturday) here are some photos from the teeny weenies from Dec 08. I should have taken closer shots of my lil teenies but I wasn't thinking about that back then....

Adios~

My oldest nephew and myself..........

Me with my two oldest nieces.......

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!

Nappy Roots-Loving You When Others Don't Pt. 1

I love my hair. Always have (not always in natural form though....) and always will. I usually respect other people's opinions because everyone has a right to their own views. But caution people: Sometimes your opinions--mostly the uneducated ones--will make you look stupid as hell and others will not like you. Just because you lack confidence doesn't mean I do too nor does it mean you have any right to bring me down into your own personal hell.



"Dang girl....you lookin' a little rough today."

Now I know friends and associates/acquaintances/whatever can joke with one another about things and there will be no problems from doing such. But what happens when that person you know is a complete jackass at times--90% of the time--always being pessimistic and always putting down any and everybody they know or don't know. I ran into one of these individuals a few days ago and he had the audacity to tell me I was looking rough. Now, to someone who's brain is stuck on repeat with these girls (respectable women and hoodrats alike) rocking nothing but straight weaves and relaxed hair-of course I looked rough. A 5'1" cutie with a slim-but-curvy-where-its-right body wearing a well fitting polo, capris, and flip-flops rocking a pony-puff and headband just screams rough right? Yea...ok..*sarcasm*. To these fools who think women who rock natural hair look rough, you are just that---a damn fool. I quickly put him in his place while a customer in his store listened and smirked as I did it. "My sweetheart LOVES my hair natural, thank you very much." Then the fool backed off, apologies and all. He is of no importance for me or any other woman who isn't his girlfriend to be trying to wear our hair fried just to please him and other fools out there. I used to be relaxed, true, and I don't knock those who prefer that route for their hair but it will be a cold day in hell when I let someone "call me out" for not having my hair "done". Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore'.



"Dang....yo hair nappy!"

Not everyone is going to like what you do. Be it the clothes you wear, the school you chose to go to, the major you choose to pursue or not pursue---everyone will not always be in agreeance. Family members are usually the worst ones. Another example--from the same day actually--I went to a family function later that day and yet another ignorant comment about my hair was made. While playing a game of Scrabble with some of the family, one of the cousins decided to touch my ponytail and tell me it was nappy. In the natural world, this word 'nappy' can be taken as both a positive and negative statement. Its kind of a double edged sword because some of us are proud of our nappy roots while others make it out to be the worst thing in the world. That's why fools are so determined to see women with relaxed/straightened hair; they think it makes the girl oh so superbly-irresistibly beautiful. Not. Again, don't get me wrong-straightened looks are great but they are not the only hairstyles that make women beautiful We are beautiful regardless. Shoot, even not having hair is beautiful if your head is shaped for it and sometimes even that doesn't matter. Anyways, as I felt my puff being poked at and squeezed I thought it was my hubby cuz he does that sometimes and he'll say something like 'his puff ball' or 'mine' or something cute and funny lol but after a few seconds of silence I realized it wasn't him and turned around; not only that, I know when my baby is touching my hair :) So when I see its our cousin, he's like "Dang Angie, yo hair is nappy cuz." I looked at him and said, "So? What's your point?" He had this weird look on his face that may have been meant to be funny *I, nor anyone else was laughing* but it read to me to be a look of disgust and question. Seeing this I said, "For the record my hair is not 'nappy', its natural." He said something else but I stopped paying attention. I don't have time for stuff like that. Oh but here's the kicker--he wants to loc his hair. I could have opened a whole new door for that comment he made just based on the fact that he hasn't cut his hair in weeks b/c quite frankly, I could have told him his hair was nappy too. But I don't want to discourage the impressionable ones haha



You have some 'interesting' hair.....
I had a previous encounter before these two incidents, at school, that I meant to discuss but I didn't. There were two guys talking loud as hell in the library--one of those its-people-by-us-I-want-to-sound-important-cuz-I-know-they're-gonna-hear-us-even-tho-its-not-important- convos--and after being at the computer next to me for like an hour, one of the guys decides to tell me I had interesting hair. They were both black, the one with the braids being the one who spoke and the other with some sort of free-style afro thingy (I don't know how to describe it--a non picked-out fro? idk). When I got up to leave is when he said something (why not say something before now?) and at that he points out his boys' hair and says "He has interesting hair too." So I said thanks with a hint of confusion in it and left but I wondered for a sec, what the hell was his point? Was he tryna be funny? He was gonna get a very rude awakening. Was he tryna hook-up me and his boy by using our 'interesting' hair as a common ground? I was str8 gonna laugh in their faces---aint no way in hell, married or not. The way he said it suggested he was tryna be funny but i let it go b/c it just wasn't one of those days and he def. would have gotten his feelings hurt.

When people approach me the wrong way, of course I am gonna say something back. Escpecially when it comes to my hair. I don't go around making comments about you being ugly or judging you in other ways so why do you have carte-blanche to harass me about my hair? I know its gonna keep coming and I expect it and accept it. Doesn't mean I'm gonna like it and it doesn't mean I won't retort. I just know that those of you out there who try to put us natural beauties down better have some comebacks ready b/c when you try to go hard on us, we will cut you deep.

I detest ignorance, don't you?

To Weave Or Not To Weave......

Buen Dia Todos,

During this waiting period to see the changes in my henna sample I've seen nothing. The hair I applied it to is soft and smells great but the color change is subtle. This leads me to believe it will get deeper with time and more applications but I don't know exactly what that would look like on me, on my hair. So..... I have decided to add another sample application to see if any real dramatic color changes occur. The last thing I want is to order tons of henna for my hair only to end up with greatly conditioned hair of a color I don't like lol. The conditioning I want; unapproved color I don't want. Looks like another henna application will occur soon. Very soon.

In other news, after much thought and careful consideration I have decided not to straighten my hair for the rest of the year. *people gasp with shock* I know, I know. It will indeed be a challenge, but I feel that it is time to give my hair a break from pressing combs and flat irons for a while. I want my babies (hair strands) to be comfortable as they are and not have to get tortured every few months. My initial plan was to get it straightened every few months to monitor growth but I feel that doing so will only keep me from my goal length (APL to BSL). Getting my hair straightened has been the norm for my hair since I was little. If it wasn't getting pressed, then it was getting chemical baths (relaxers), and vice versa. I haven't seen my hair in its natural state since I was.....hell I don't really remember, but its been time for a change. I have decided that if I am going to wear it straightened it will be done via some other means. Meaning....rollersets and weave. Up until my visit to that natural hair salon I went to for my teeny-weeny two-strand twists, I hadn't had rollers in my hair since I was a little girl. Now that seems to be my way to go for super tight curls and brushed out straightness.

I've never been a real big weave person mainly because I always had long hair and it was etched in my brain from lack of information and scowls from people close to me that weaves were for super-short haired women, hoodrats, and generally people who thought long silky/wavy/curly/blonde/red/brown hair they weren't born with was the way to go. That was until I found out that wearing weaves is a good way to protect your natural hair from the elements and heat styling, over processing, etc---as long as your natural hair underneath is cared for properly. I was intrigued when I heard this b/c with my hair being APL in the past, few people would question whether or not the hair on my head was mine or not. As long as I have the funds for some great quality hair and someone to do it for me, who knows what the heck they're doing, I will have that sleek look that I'm used to. PLUS, I could experiment with different styles, lengths, and colors without doing major harm to my tresses. Of course from time to time I would leave the weave alone and let my natural hair breathe and be free for a little bit.

I really want to do this. I really do. If and when I do it, pics will be posted.

This summer it is going to be all about protecting what's mine.

Peace

Henna Test Update

Greetings naturals. I just felt like posting but its not going to be anything elaborate. My henna test came out great so far. Just looking at the hennaed hair and the non-hennaed hair lets you know something went right lol. The color difference is obvious but its not auburn red like what was assumed to happen. At least not right now its not. I predict that the auburn color will become more apparent over time and probably after another application of henna. But for now the hair with the henna applied to it is more richer in color, kind of like a deep brown. My un-touched hair sample looks all dull and gross compared to it. That's sad knowing that it came off my head :( but oh well. Its from a brush....collected over time.....BUT I cannot wait until I get to order my henna to do my full head of hair.

I'll have before and after pics of my henna trials later.

Hasta Luego!

Henna Test Part 1

Hello all. I have finally decided to go about doing my first henna test. I was supposed to write about ordering some samples from the Henna For Hair website, which was done back in April (bad I know) but school kept me busy and I forgot to post. Well....I ordered a few samples: two 3g samples of Body Art Quality Henna from Yemen, which is supposed to have a higher dye content than the BAQ from Punjab and Pakistan; two 3g samples of Indigo, to apply after the henna trial treatment to accomplish a jet-black color in case I'm not feeling the deep auburn that the henna is supposed to give my hair; some plastic gloves-henna and indigo are messy, I don't want orange-red-or blue hands lol; and some carrot bags-you know, the plastic cones bags Mehndi artists use to apply mehndi/henna art to your hands, arms, feet, etc. Today I just felt like getting it over with and seeing what this henna could make my hair sample look like. I don't really want to use henna for coloring but that is just one of the perks to going for top-of-the-line deep conditioning. That is why I want to have the option of using indigo to keep my hair from being too bright. From my research, the henna will give people with dark brown hair a deep auburn color and people with hair very dark brown or black a nice auburn glow in the sunlight but pure glossiness in regular lighting.


I can't wait :) The true results shall be in by Friday--to see how deep it starts to get I mean. I will rinse it out in a few minutes, take a few pictures, and I shall return with part 2. I promise.

The henna sample, my hair sample from my brush, and the little bowl I mixed in.

I mixed the sample with orange juice. More details later Now we wait.......

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!

Hair Danger Zone

Hola natural world, I have returned. School has kept me busy, busy, busy and Spring Break last week made me lazy, lazy, lazy. The last time I posted, I was rocking those sexay kinky twists courtesy of my homegirls at Abass Braiding. I got them done January 17th and kept them in until March 14th. I wanted to keep them longer and probably would have if I hadn't realized that keeping those things in my head would do more harm than good in the long run. Most of you ladies out there already know that with braids and extensions, the risk of getting a receding hairline run high. Having to worry about braids/twists falling out is also an issue some of us worry about. As my second month of having twisted extensions approached, I began to feel like my hair was screaming to be set free lol. My scalp itched like crazy at first and I think it was because my hair wasn't 100% keen on having foreign hair intertwined with it (I've only had twists one other time and different hair was used that time--same for the zillions I had). After the first wash, I was set; oiling my scalp afterward helped too. I mostly wore my hair up or back in a ponytail; eventually the weight of the hair started irritating me and started to make me paranoid thinking of possible breakage and falling out--so I switched up between that and wearing it down. During my last month I decided to wear my hair down with some of the twists from the front pulled back and tied together--and that didn't help my paranoia at all.
I finally decided to take my twists out (March 15th) and let my natural hair be free. I thought I had a significant amount of growth and could not wait to see the stretched out (pressed/flat-ironed) version of my hair. Before I could do that, I washed my hair with Burt's Bees natural shampoo and conditioner in More Moisture Raspberry and Brazil Nut. I wasn't sure how exactly my hair should have felt after using the shampoo (it didn't feel "moisturized", it felt weird lol) and it wasn't supposed to lather since it was natural shampoo, so I didn't know if it was working or not. I conditioned with both the Burts conditioner and my Neutrogena deep conditioner and air dried. I love my hair. Part II coming soon....

Growth

Who says persistence doesn't pay off? I keep eating right, get rest as needed, and keep stress at a minimum and what happens....? My hair and nails are growing!!! lol I know, I know...."hair and nails grow all the time". Yea, well I mean I am seeing noticeable growth that wouldn't be as noticable had I not added my new multivitamin to the mix (see my Healthy Hair post). How did I notice all of this change exactly? Well, as I've told you before I have my hair in kinky twists (with added hair of course) and its an obvious thing when you have these sort of extensions (just like zillions) and your hair grows out. Tomorrow marks 3 weeks since I've had them and the new growth is very noticeable to me. I'm wondering if I will be able to keep them in as long as I want without looking a mess down the line. Anyways--on to the nails. So like I said, my nails are growing as well. My nails were significantly long (at a medium length if you will--in comparison with nails that are acrylic or gel extensions or overlays) until I cut them down almost a week ago. Reminder-these are my actual nails we're talking about. I have the tendency to change my nail color very often and last week they were wine (burgandy to some) and I changed it to a soft pale pink Saturday. Not even a full week later, the base of my nail at the cuticle has no polish there; its defined where the polish begins and there is a lil space between that definition and the base of my nail/cuticle ridge. I only notice that type of growth when I have acrylic overlays and stuff (ladies you know about those fill-ins). My nails are leaving their short state for the length that they love--at least until I file them down again. But seeing as that they are growing back faster than before, I may leave them be and see what happens. I may even take photos of that as well.
I don't know yet, we'll see......

Hairxperiment/More Healthy Stuff

I want to do something different. Soon. I want to experiment with mixtures of natural ingredients to see what works for me and if I find something that defies the odds and such, I may recommend it to friends and family to see what results they get from it. I already have a spray bottle with my own leave-in conditioner mixture (nothing too complicated, just my fav deep conditioner mixed with water---shaken vigorously of course lol), so I figure why not experiment with my own creation to see what would really stimulate my hair into growing--ya know outside of eating healthier.
To keep on track with my quest for a healthier me, I bought alot of stuff from the grocery store that I haven't bought before. I walked past the organic foods section and ended up with some acai berry juice mixed with passionberry and...well when you get stuff that's supposed to be oh so healthy--you're gonna taste it lol. What I mean is some healthy foods don't taste all that good. I picked up a little bottle of Bossa Nova Acai Berry Juice and the after-taste reeks of robitussin. Yes....robitussin. This juice is supposed to be a very potent antioxidant and I figure a lil bit more antioxidants than I'm used to can't be all that bad, so I tried to see what it would do to my diet. I also picked up some organic 2% milk. I usually alternate between vanilla soymilk and regular 2% milk but I'm one for variety and I've never tried organic regular milk. I still have soymilk left so when I finish I am going to try this new milk and see if it tastes any different from non-organic. I LOVE LOVE LOVE PASTA!!! lol and decided that since I don't get enough grains in my diet and I'm always eating pasta of some sort I would trade the regular run-of-the-mill pasta for whole grain pasta. These changes should be interesting. I got other healthy stuff also but I'm sure no-one is really that interested in everything I'm trying to eat. I will end on this though: I have been trying to eliminate red meat from my diet forever but somehow I always get sucked back in (steaks are soooo tempting haha) but sometimes when I cook (mainly for my dad-who loves his steaks and burgers) I notcie that the smell of red meat is so not appealing. To me the smell is just as bad as rotting meat. My dad can tell the difference between good smelling cuts and bad ones but I can't anymore. I mean I can, but both odors are repulsive to me nowadays. I always thought it was all in my mind but now I don't care if it is or isn't. I made it a point that this year would be my year to stop and with multiple slip-ups last month, I am done with red meat as of this month. I am also watching for sodium contents in my foods that I buy. My nutrition class is taking over my mind lol.

Later

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!