A 70 year old woman finds "the fountain of youth" right in her backyard

My Hair Update

So I thought I'd give you guys an update on my hair and how it's coming along.  Well, it's going overall well.  I'm retaining length that I'm overall happy with but I have a few challenges.  I'll go into those first, and tell you about my triumphs and milestones last.

Challenge # 1:  Styling
Yes, I have yet to figure out the styling part and it's very very frustrating.  I can never seem to re-create the same look twice.  I'll use a certain product and a certain technique for my twist outs and have great results and I'm "Aha!  I think I finally got it.  I found the formula and I'm sticking with it!".  Next week, I do the exact same thing and the result is a HOT MESS!!  This has happened to me many times.  I don't attribute it too much to changes in humidity etc because it'll be like a week apart and no drastic changes in the weather that I can feel but still...  I've done small twists, large twists, this product, that product, the results are always a crapshoot. My hair is thick and course extremely extremely prone to frizz and shrinkage which always work against me.  Case in point just recently I used Jane Carter solution Wrap and Roll setting lotion to do large twists on dry hair.  The result was soft fluffy shiny hair.  I tried it again a week later, the result was frizzy, poofy, dry looking (although it didn't feel all that dry) hair.  Argh!

Challenge # 2:  Detangling
Every time I hear or feel one of my strands snap it makes me cringe...literally.  This is why I hate wash day.  I have yet to find the perfect detangling technique (I don't think there is one).  I wet detangle in the shower with as much efficiency as possible but it's still a chore.  I don't have time to go through every single hair to check if there is a bulb at the end to see what percentage of the hair left in my comb is shed hair vs. broken hair but I choose to trust that it's almost all shed hair.  I do what I can to keep my hair from shrinking and re-tangling after I have detangled and I use my moisturizing deep conditioner.  But inevitably when it comes time to style my hair and as I'm going through doing my twists, I can feel/hear strands snapping, I find several knots which I do my best to unknot but most times end up cutting out, it drives me crazy!  I've tried it all.  I've run out of Shea Moisture leave-in and I"m gonna try to find another leave in with maximal slip and moisture to try to prevent this from happening.  Other than that I'm not sure what to do.

Challenge #3: My Edges

This has really helped me with styling my edges

There is not much to say about this one.  As gentle as I am with my hair, I still have breakage around the hairline in the front and sides.  There really is no way to style your hair (unless you wear it out all the time which is even more detrimental) without putting some kind of tension on the edges and apparently mine can't  tolerate even the least bit of manipulation or tension.  I try not to feel discouraged and keep on keeping on.

That's it for my challenges.  Now my triumphs!

Triumph #1:  Length Rentention

Bun with flat twist in front

I have been retaining some good length, I'm just about at shoulder level now. I can do cool things with my hair like a bun with a headband or flat twists in the front or even a french roll.  The plethora of styles that are now becoming available to me are exciting and I look forward to more opportunities for creativity.

Triumph # 2: Moisture
I seem to have figured out how to keep my hair moisturized and the products that do it for me.  My hair is usually very soft and touchable when it's out (which isn't really much these days) and even while it's in twists I'm on point with my moisturize and seal game.  I have also been seeing less single strand knots in my hair which I attribute to keeping my  hair stretched and moisturized

Triumph #3:  Confidence
Well I'm still working on this one honestly but I've seen improvements.  I'm more confident wearing my natural hair sometimes in a big ol 'fro out and about the looks I certainly get.  I've become more accepting of my texture (which is not what is traditionally considered "good hair").  I've made peace with it all.  I love that it's so thick and voluminous and I'm excited for it to get even bigger!  

Oscar Night

I did not catch all of the Oscars last night.  What I did manage to catch was Viola Davis's glammed up natural TWA which also made People's Best Makeup and Hair Ensemble.  It seems natural hair is slowly making its way into the mainstream by the brave few who dare to  introduce it there.  Viola admits she has historically always worn wigs in her movie roles and to red carpet events. She mentioned that her husband encouraged to her to do it and to be her true self.  That's a great husband!

In other news, Viola's fellow The Help won Best Supporting Actor and I am so thrilled for her.  If you haven't see the movie you must.  It is a great film and kudos to them both!

Natural Hair Feature Updates: My Sisters

So far, I have featured my two sisters on my blog and I am very proud of them both.  They  both wear their hair beautifully and proudly so here are some recent pictures of them and where they are now in their natural hair journeys.

 Debbie:

Debbie has been doing a lot of protective styling with twists, bantu knots etc, for length retention and it's working!  You can check her out at Debbie's blog

Sonya:

As you can see, Sonya's favorite hairstyle these days is the puff.  You can find out more about Sonya and her natural hair regimen at Sonya's blog

Kudos to both my beautiful sisters, I know they will continue to inspire me and others with their natural beauty. 

A Man's Point of View: Sha Stimuli and Video

A few months ago, I came across this video by a rapper I had not heard of named Sha Stimuli and I loved it!  The video is cute and made me laugh because it was so true.  It gave a critical look at the way women are about their appearances without condemning.  I found it uplifting. 

 

Peep the video via the link:
 Sha Stimuli: Wake Up and Go

Sha Stimuli was also featured in Essence magazine this month.  Pick up your latest copy of Essence to read the full article in the "Sex and Love" section but here is just a blurb from what he had to say:
 "I want a woman to be able to look in the  mirror and be comfortable with who she is.  A woman who couldn't love herself as nature made her was not someone I could be with for the long haul"
He goes on to say, "I know what you're thinking: Men say they want a natural woman but then they turn their heads for the glamor girl.  I admit that men are visual creatures.  But the women men like to check out or fantasize about having sex with are different from the ones we commit to in a relationship"

I have to make one comment about that last statement.  I am a firm believer that you can be both.  Natural, confident AND glamorous.  You don't need fake hair, fake eyelashes, fake boobs and a fake butt to be glamorous.  I'm just saying...

Anyway, his is a refreshing point of view and I just thought I would share.

I love my hair!!!

Valentine's Day is in 4 days!  For some of you this means a day to bask in love.  For others it means a day to sulk about another year of singledom.  For me, it means my two-years "natural anniversary" (I had my very last relaxer on Feb. 14, 2010!).  So this post will be a celebration and an update of my hair.

How it looks:

Length Check

 

I am so proud that I have made it this far.  Me and this hair have had some ups and down over the past two years... I'm not gon' lie!  But at the end of the day, I am IN LOVE with my big, poofy, soft and fluffy, crazy kinky hair!
I hope you all have a lot of love to give and receive this year and continue to show love to the wonderful and unique gifts God gave you, including your hair... wherever you may be in your "hair journey"... natural or not.  Much love naturalistas!

My Wash Day Regimen (Every two weeks)

PrePoo:

1)  I section my hair into four to six sections

2)  I take a section and spritz hair with water so it’s slightly damp then saturate with coconut oil and put away.  Do the same to each section

3)  I leave for at least one hour preferably covered with a plastic cap

Wash and Detangle

FYI, I have tried dry detangling (on damp hair) and wet detangling on soaking wet hair.  My personal preference is wet detangling.  I saw just as much hair in the comb when I was done with each. The only difference is that the wet detangling did not take as long for me because I found it easier to get the comb through my hair.  That’s just me though. I suggest you experiment for yourself if you have hair that is more than 5 inches long.

1)  In shower, I loosen a section from the bear claw.  I get the hair soaking wet under the shower and apply Hello Hydration conditioner liberally.

2)  I finger detangle gently until I feel my fingers are making their way through with relative ease

3)  I take my wide tooth comb and gently detangle from end to root.  I tend to have a lot of tangles at my root so I take extra time to go through again and make sure I slowly get the comb going through this time from root to end.

4)  If I am shampooing that day I take the section I just detangled and rinse the conditioner out and then I apply a VERY small amount of shampoo (I’ve been using Dudu Osum shampoo, I recommend you stick with sulfate-free) which I quickly distribute from root to end and then rinse.

5)  I retwist and secure each section with my bear claw after I’m done with it to avoid shrinking and re
tangling.

5)  Proceed to other sections and do the same.


Conditioning

1)  I again remove a section and use a towel to remove excess water.

2)  I then slather a generous  amount of my deep conditioning mixture, retwist and secure with bear claw to avoid shrinkage. 

FYI:  My deep conditioning mix consists of: Raw shea butter, honey, castor oil, and Burts Bees grapefruit deep conditioner.

3)  I do each section and leave for 10-15 minutes.

4)  I then rinse section by section with relatively cool water and retwist/secure with bear claw


Leave-in

1)  I remove excess water with a towel

2)  I then apply Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner as a leave -in and plait each section instead of twisting it to stretch.

3)  I try to leave the plaits in a few hours and go about my day wearing a beanie if I have to go out and about.  This is to stretch the hair  in preparation for twisting, however my hair takes an eternity to dry so I usually end up twisting my wet hair anyway.  But at least it’s not dripping wet when I get to it.

Styling

1)  I do so small to medium size twists 1 section at a time by undoing the plait.  Don’t undo all the plaits at once to avoid shrinkage.  I use a mixture of raw shea butter, Eco styler gel and coconut oil for my twists but you can use whatever works for you

2)  I then pin my twists up, smooth my edges and cover with a silk scarf if I’m heading to bed. 

3)  I spritz with water and seal with castor oil daily.

3)  I remove my twists after 7-10 days and wear a twist out. (I usually have to re-twist the hair around the edges and around my center part after about day 5 as it starts to look frizzy and messy)

The End