Eye Candy

Today I went to the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  I was grinning from ear to ear... literally (I must have looked like a crazy person) when I saw all these beautiful natural haired women in Cache.  I mean all the sales associates were natural haired women.  One had kinky hair that she wore in a kick-ass chunky afro (fearless!), another had a head full of tight curls that hung down toward her shoulder, and still another had her hair flat twisted in front and a bun in the back (so classy).  All different hair textures and curl patterns but all stunning.  I didn't know where to focus my eyes when yet another naturalista walked in, a customer, also rocking a fro.  I was trying not to be creepy and stare.  I really wanted to ask to take their picture but that might have been intrusive (read: creepy) and they were all pretty busy.  But it made me realize this "natural hair movement" is going strong.  Hell, I"m hoping there is a bit of a natural movement all around.  Not just hair, but our bodies, our faces, nails, eyelashes, what have you.  I'm all about taking care of what gave you!  Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against enhancing your beauty but that's not the same as drastically (and sometimes permanently) changing what you have to fit some "ideal".
I think it's awesome because we as black women are the only women who have this kind of hair and for so long we were ashamed of it (myself included).  But seeing these women wearing it so proudly, unabashed, in the workplace, on a date, just plain put and about being confident and fabulous... it has made me feel great.  It is just an affirmation of our beauty: something that society has threatened to put into extinction.  I love that this hair I have is unique to black women.  I feel a part of something.  As many struggles as I have with my hair I would never dream of going back for this very reason.
Anyway, that's all.  Just had to get that out there. 

PS: I have had these extensions in all of 2 days (see  my previous post: Havana Twists) and I"m already missing my own hair.  Oh and when I asked my boyfriend if he likes my new do, his response?  "It's... different.  So I like it but I like your real hair better and the different styles you do with it.  Your real hair is more fun to play in".  Aww... that's good to hear :)

Havana Twists

I'm rockin Havana twists y'all!  This protective style is definitely popular for the summer especially among naturalistas because it uses Marley hair which blends in well with kinky curly hair.  I've seen a lot of ladies rocking this style including Solange and a few of my fellow natural hair bloggers and it looks absolutely amazing on them.  So I had my sister put them in for me today and I couldn't be happier.  I was expecting that maybe it would be a little bit heavy but they're not at all. It's a very cute and trendy style that will give me a break from dealing with my hair for a few weeks.  I'm not sure how long these are going to last but I'm hoping to be able to wear them for at least 3 weeks.  I'm going to try my best to make them last that long. 
So here is the low down: 
It took about 4 hours to install.  Also consider that it's  my sister's first time installing these so there's a bit of trial and error involved increasing the time it took. 
I used 3 packs of 1b hair plus a wee bit of a 4th pack.  The packs cost 5.99 each at my local beauty supply store.
I washed my hair thoroughly detangled and moisturized prior. 
I used Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie and Ecostyler gel during the install for moisturizing my hair and for hold. 
See photo below

No More Protective Styling

Hey naturalistas,

Just giving you guys an update on how my hair is holding up without protective styling.  I have to admit it hasn't been easy fighting the dryness and the tangles.  For some reason I find that when I wear it out no matter how much I moisturize, it always ends up being dry anyway. Aside from those two things its been going pretty well. I've had to consign myself to spending 10 to 15 minutes every night prepping my hair for the next day which usually means braiding it for a braid-out or styling out in a bun or updo. Honestly I have not missed having my hair in twists.  One could argue that wearing your hair out all the time is more damaging than having it in a protective style. There is the nightly manipulation and unfortunately I have hand-in-hair syndrome which can cause knots, tangled and breakage.
Oh and lest we forget it's summer and the humidity is a b@%ch!  So I kind of have to set my expectations low for wearing my hair out.  Frizz and shrinkage are inevitable. 
But I've been trying to offset these things with gentle manipulation, drinking more water, taking my biotin vitamins, and consuming more protein (more on the benefits of all these things in a later post). This is basically an experiment to see how it goes and hopefully I will continue to retain length even without having to wear long term protective styles 80% of the time. That's not to say I will never wear my hair in twists again.  Sometimes I do need a break from styling my hair daily and twists are definitely good for that.

I

My Hair Just Wants to Be Free!!!!

I'm feeling a bit rebellious.  Here's the deal:  I'm tired of protective styling.  I've been  wearing my hair in twists about 80 percent of the time for the past two years.  Now as much as my hair has grown out and it's gotten a lot easier for me to style it while in twists  its still not the look that I envision for myself. I still sometimes feel a little bit frumpy so after a frustrating week last week I decided that I am forgoing wearing my hair in twists at least for a while and I will see how this goes.  The biggest challenges i foresee are knots, shrinkage, dryness, and split ends.  I will have to figure out ways to minimize all of the above and it's  going to be a challenge.  Wish me luck and I will keep you guys posted.

Before: wearing my twists at work

After: rocking my twist-out on the weekend

Hair and humidity 2

It's been raining here in south Florida for over 2 weeks straight!! The ground is saturated with rainwater and starting to flood.   The air is wet and humid...everything outside is soggy.  Between rainfall the sky is just gray and dreary and then it starts to sprinkle again.  Then torrential downpour then it starts the cycle all over again.  After 2 weeks straight of this I'm fighting to maintain a bright mood but boy is it hard! 
As for many hair...well I'm determined to ignore the rain and humidity and do as I please.  Last night i retwisted some of the frizzier parts of my old twist out, wrapped the ends around rods and slept with them in (quite uncomfortably might I add...i guess it's true that there's a price for beauty).  Anyway I was hoping today would be somewhat sunny but I woke to torrential rain and drizzly humid weather in between.  Today it's harder than ever not to feel gloomy!
  I was tempted to just pull my hair back into a bun after all that trouble I went through to prep it for wearing it out in big bouncy curls.  But then I  decided not to let the weather get me down.  I refuse to spend another depressing day sitting on the couch watching the rain fall and I decided would be wearing my hair out rain or sunshine.  I undid my twists, got dressed and ran in the rain to my car. .no umbrella!
So here i am.  Oh and on the way to my car I found this purple flower growing out of the lawn...it seemed so out of place there all alone growing out of the soggy ground.  I plucked it and stuck it in my hair and off I went. 
I ended up at Starbucks.  Ok so it's not a fine day at the park but at least I got out of the house.  And yes the beautiful curls of this morning are transforming slowly into a giant ball out frizz but so what?  One thing I can say about this bad weather... when  the sun comes out again I will appreciate it so much more! I guess you need the dark to appreciate the light.  Happy Saturday natualistas!

Wash N Goes Don't Work on Nappy Hair

Funny I came across this video because I haven't worn a wash-and-go or even considered wearing one since I had a TWA and it's been awhile.  But recently out of sheer laziness and also curiosity I've been considering trying one.  I've watched a couple of videos on how to do one on Type 4 hair but looking at the videos, I kind of snapped back to reality.  It's just not for me.  Anyway, this video had me laughing because it's definitely MY reality.  I guess I'mma stick to my twists ant twist-out or whatever.

Wedding Glamour

I got all dolled up for my sisters wedding I had my makeup done professionally for the first time and was amazed at how different I looked.  It was a little bit more makeup than I was used to wearing but I also felt a lot more glamorous than I usually feel. It was a great night.  She was a beautiful bride and I was happy to share this experience with her. Please check out the pictures of my hair and makeup and  my beautiful sister below.