New style...naturally

So Sunday night I was looking for a new way to put my hair up. Hoping for something that will last a while I decided to try twisting my hair a different way and then pinning it up in the round. Did I explain that well? What I did was part it in circles or spirals around my head the way my mother use to part my sister way to braid it around her head. From there I twisted as usual and then just pinned everything wrapping the twist either left or right.

I'm wrapped my head lightly and was able to sleep on it last night and it still looks good this morning so we'll see if it holds all week

Keep it real, keep it natural

Happy Hairversary to me!

Woohoo!! My hairiversary month and I am still finding more 'previously owned' hair bling. Honestly, I haven't worn any of these jewels since I went natural. They just kind of fell in the back of a drawer full of headbands, barrettes, pony holders and all kinds of stuff.

The last one I actually wore today with my up in a protective style. I not sure what this is suppoed to be, from this view it looks kinda like a butterfly. I turned it the other way and looks kinda like a ladybug. Well, even being a bit blurry the flowers are easy enough to get right without quinting and standing on one foot. So I definitely liked the look I got with the...BUTTERLADY!!! Yeah, that works, hahaha.

So my hair is in my usual easy double stranded twist and pinned up in a kinda roll thingy like my other styles with one hundred millions hair pins. It's a definite 'do again' style.

Keep it real, keep it natural

Still hanging in there

It's getting close to my anniversary, or should I say my hairiversary. Getting through the first year and beyond was very difficult. So many times I wanted to throw in the towel and go back to the chems. I am so happy I didn't do that.
So often my hair becomes a conversation piece. Total strangers have walked up to me and boldly asked questions about my hair. I have to admit, I haven't gotten any really stupid questions or comments other than when a sista told me my hair needed to be raked and it looked like grass that needed to be mowed. Funny, I'd forgotten these comments until I started this posting. Anyway, I wasn't offended at all, instead I looked her square in the eye and said, "Yeah but this is my real hair not store bought so whatever I do with it, it's all good. That ended the whole conversation becuase, eh she wears wigs. LMBO
I still have so much to learn about doing my own hair and it's so much fun. I have been noticing that my looks really dull and I was not pleased with this at all. On recent visits to hair care sites such as the coil review and motowngirl I discovered that I need to clarify my hair to remove chemical build up. There is great information about homemade, chem-free recipes for your hair, video links about hair styles, product reviews and all kinds of yummy information on these sites. I discovered that pretty much all the products I have been using on my hair are the wrong products for natural hair. I'll find some place to donate these product. There are places where people need help and the products are not really harmful, just not good for natural hair.
So for me, today is my spa day. I'll be at She' Bejai getting the works!!
*Baking soda and water to clarify my hair thus removing all the nasty chemical build up.
*Suave Tropical Coconut Conditioner for co washing
*Elastra Conditioner for deep conditioning
*Olive Oil to moisturize my ends.
*Double strand twist for styling.
*Air dry
The fun doesn't stop there folks!! After all this I need a facial scrub and a foot soak & scrub. I should have some things around the house I can use for this as well. When I went shopping for my hair products I also bought eggs, apple cider vinegar, honey, and brown sugar. I know there's a home recipe in there somewhere. It seems the only thing missing is a massage to round out my day but seeing as how I can't do that myself...maybe a nice hot bubble bath will do. Of course this means I'll be home all day and probably night too but no one said beauty was easy. LOL. Anyway, when I go to work Monday there will definitely be a noticeable glow to my skin after so much self-pampering.

The natural way

I am liking natural more and more as the days go by. Who knew I would be someone with chemical-free hair! If someone had told me three years ago that I would go natural I would have laughed myself silly.

Ok, here it goes. This first picture I'm not sure of the date, probably sometime in April 2009, is a braid out day. This was probably my third day so things had gone a bit crazy and you see that there is still quite a bit of relaxed hair on the ends.

This is a better picture of a fresh braid out, probably day one in August 2008. I always roll it up for a neater look. During this period I was still at the 'You must be crazy to go natural' stage. Combing my hair after washing was a beast!

But now!!! I hear music! The hair gods have smiled on me and transformed my hair. I read so much about the 'Big Chop' and decided to go for it. I put my hair in small braids and cut diagonally at the puff. Then I followed the advise on the Nappaturality site that says not to shampoo so much. Instead, I spritzed my hair with water and used organic hair mayonaise. I twisted in small sections and then rolled my hair that night.

I am loving this! I have gotten so many compliments, who can I think about chemical fires again.

NEVER

Ok, so today I took the twist out after 5 days and this is my result. I didn't roll last night so it's not curly but the twist out should last at least three to four days! The hair mayonaise helped give me nice tight twist so I am expecting a nice twist out. Chopping off about 3" of my hair wasn't such a bad idea after all but I still need to do another chop, at least one to two more inches. Then even if I don't roll my hair the twist out will look so much better.

Keeping it real

In February 2008 I decided to go natural. My thick head of hair was out of control, I wish I had some pictures! I used to tell people that you could hide a small child in the back of my hair between touch-up. Combing my hair after a good shampoo took me back to age 6 when I would get brushes broken over my shoulder for not putting my head down. Hey, that kitchen was a mess! During this transition it easily took up to two hours just to comb through my hair and then another couple to braid it up to air dry. It's been about 15 months now and I couldn't be happier with the way my hair has turned out. I can comb my hair and braid it to air dry in about one hour, maybe two depending on the syle.
I was turned on to a site called nappturality and found out that a lot of the things I was doing to my hair was the right thing to do. I decided on my own that natural meant no hot combs, hot curling or flat ironing. I decided that I would go a step further and not blow dry either. It seems that these are the things this site promotes! Who knew?
Pictures will be added later