Natural- versary

This month of July represents my 3 year mark since my last relaxer. Im trying to find pictures of my hair before.

A couple days ago I did my first puff and I LOVED the way it came out, dont you? Its full and beautiful. Its a little lopsided but it was my first time doing this. To get this I co washed my hair, which by the way Ive been doing every 2nd day since it warmer out, I brushed up the sides and applied some Activator grl with aloe to moisturize and some Lets Jam soft hold to keep it together. I used a leg cut off from an old pair of pantyhose and tied around until I felt comfortable.

To cut or not to cut

is definitely the question. I havent had my hair trimmed in about almost 2 years and my ends are starting to feel rough and you can definitely tell the difference from the ends and the rest of the hair. So I decided to so a very little trim and mayb Ill do this every 3 months until the ends are all gone. Now I understand why people dont like to get their hair trimmed. I feel like I should just cut off the bad ends off but then thats my growth that Im throwing out the window, so like I said I do a baby trim every 3 months until it better.

Im just backtracking because I just realized that I posted the pics of my hair in the curled twists without showing the twists before the curls. Im really enjoying how my hair has been looking these days!

After the Twists are out

this pictures shows how much growth was made during the challenge. the top white fuzz ball is where the extenstions met.

Once I took out all of the twist I oiled my hair and did a 24 hour hot oil treatment. Once that was done this I carefully detangled each twist strand by strand, so I could retain as much hair as possible. Until now, Ive always just combed out the knots which is probably why my hair "never grew" I know now that I just wasnt retaining length. I learned this technique of detangling twists from Grow Afro Hair Long and I think that was the best piece of hair information that I have discovered thus far,

The big puff of hair on the right side is what came out from me detangling each twist, strand by strand and the left side is from when I detangled while co-washing.Here is my hair after the whole ordeal.

remember how I told you that my hair got completely pulled out in Feb 08? Well here is the current state of that section of hair. There is no longer a bald spot and the hair in that section is growing fine. Im so Happy. Ive been waiting so long to do some "Chiny Bumps" or Bantu Knots, whatever you wanna call it, becauseI couldnt because of the hair loss in the middle but now I can!!!

Playing catch up

Ok so I have a BUNCH of pics that I took while I was on my work hiatus and Im going to post them in several different posts. While I was doing my 90 twist challenge, I did some research on doing a banana and coconut milk deep conditioner, I forget who I initally saw doing this but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.

I took 1 can of coconut milk and one banana along with some honey and blended it, then smooshed it into my freshly washed twist and donned a plastic cap then rinsed the next day. It left my twists feeling very soft and moisturized.

Here is the final result, soft and moisturized hair. zero products were added in this shot and you can see the shine. I braided up the hair to air dry when I slept and then released in the morning.

3 month length check

Im so happy and proud of the way that my hair has been growing. If I only knew what I know now back then, who knows where my hair would be. In case you just joined us, in Jan of this year I made a vow to take better care of my hair and for th emost part I have been staying true to that.

So here is my 6 month hair length check. Im not ready to get my hair straightened so I just stretch the hair as far as it goes. These pictures were all taken at the end of the day and all I did was a simple wash n go.

Sat's dinnerdance

this pic is from sat @ my job's family and friends dinner dance. Im just about over the half way mark with my 90 days, im at day 52. I have A TON of new growth and I have an idea for a new hairstyle but no time to devote to taking these out and putting in a fresh set. with in the last couple of weeks I havent been as diligent with my routine as I would like but Im trying

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finally.....

Today is the day, Im finally going to wash my hair. YYAAYYY for my hair. its been over a week and a half since my last co-wash. This work week is going to be a little crazy so I have to do it know. Im going to cowash with HE Hydralicious the purple one and Im going to try a homemade deep conditioner. I was researching some things other naturals put in theirs, I have most of the common ingredients but Im just going to wing it and see what happens. Also I have to make another batch of my whipped Shea Mango butter mixture. Since Ive been using the raw Shea butter on my face Im going to whip some up as well as a body cream. So Ill back on later tonight with an update.

Day 20

I havent really been keeping up with my routine as much as I would like to but my new growth is coming in at a steady rate. I still spritz my hair with the Infusim 23 and water concoction I made and seal with Shea Mango butter, when I remember, and it seems to be doing a good job. However I haven washed my hair since Fri the 7th. I keep telling myself I need to do it but tonight I will. Im going to the gym and Ill probably do an oil treatment while Im working out and then come home and finally wash my hair.

Im suppose to be doing the same kinky twist on my sis's head before she goes back to school on Sun and my mother wants me to do hers as well. I have my work cut out for me.

I do think that at the half way mark I will redo my twist entirely, I mean this set still looks pretty decent but I think I just want to start a new. Also I might be going to Miami end of May so I might keep the twist in longer than the 90 days, I 'll keep you informed

Day 8....UPDO

I had to leave work early yesterday and didnt get to post so I just posted it today. Anyhoo, so I went home lastnight and didnt feel like washing my hair so I left the oil in and did an almost 24 hr hot oil treatment. Around 1pm today I was able to tend to my hair.

I put the twist in 2 loose pig tails. I ran some warm over to rinse out the oil, then I used V05 chamomile tea cond to cowash. I liked it because its very light and I was able to put some on my hands and apply it between the pigtail. I let it sit while I washed up then I stood under the stream to let the cond rinse out.

Once I got out I put a t-shirt around the head to catch the water and got dressed. I sprayed some Infusim 23 all over the roots, then my Jamaican castor oil concoction all over as well. I made a Coconut oil, Castor oil mixture with some EO and I poured some in my palm and rubbed it down the parts. My scalp gets dry so this was my way of "greasing" my scalp. Lastly I melted some Shea Mango mixture in my hands and smoothed it down the twist stopped about where my natural hair ends.

I wasnt exactly sure how I was going to replicate the accidental updo I did yesterday so I just did a completely new one. I like when the back of the hair is woven like a basket weave, where you basically alternately pull hair up from each side of the head as you go up. Once I got to the top I grabbed a section and rolled it onto itself and then pinned it on top of the hair from the basketweave and did the front section the same way.

It came out very cute and the entire process took about an hour give or take 10 mins. As I was pulling out of my driveway this guy who's apparently my neighbors brother , approached my car and told me how I was pretty and this that and the third, so I know I did something right lol

Day 7..(yesterdays post)

only 93 more days to go lol. So far things have been going well. Tonight when I get home Im actually going to be washing my hair. Im at work right now and Im doing a hot oil treatment to my scalp and hair. What I did was before I left for work, I massaged in a mixture I made, dont really remember what I put it but I think its EVOO, peppermint EO, Jojoba oil and I cant remember i made it awhile back. I did a 5 min scalp massage and donned a clear shower cap then a black crocheted beany so you cant really tell.

According to my coworker, however you can see the plastic , as she pointed out lol. I did this to treat my scalp because it been a little itchier than usual. I had my br check to see if the scalp was dry but it wasnt Idk why this has happened but I figured the heat from my scalp and the oils do rectify this issue.

Today my son had a check up and while I was waiting for the Dr to see him I had unintentionally put my hair up in some kind of bun with no mirrors, no pins, no anything.

My bf happened to take a pic of me and the baby as I was consoling him after his vaccines and the updo was captured...might I say how nice it looked, so now Im not sure if I want to recurl the hair or wash it and wear it in an updo.

Now that im thinking about it, this week I will do an updo to change up the look. When I get home I'll try to post the pic of the updo, how I wore my hair tonight at work and the updo results. This should be a quick hair night, considering Im doing the longest part now.

Also almost every other day Ive be spritzing my hair with Infusium 23 and then a mixture of Jamacian Black Castor Oil, water, Rosemary and Lavendar EO's and a little Suave Trop Coconut cond. then I melt some of my Shea Mango butter mixture and smooth that on the ends then go.

3 month hair check

At first I didnt think that my hair was retaining any length because when I would detangle my hair I felt like so much hair was coming out, some of which had the white cuticle at the ends and others didnt indicating breakage. However pictures do not lie and I can definitely see and feel the difference since I started taking care of my hair. Here is my 3 month hair check, I started in Jan 09 and my first check is now Mar 09.

Change of plan...

Like I told you guys before in April I was going to do 90 day twists....I think Im going to start next month..well actually in a weeks time. Im moving it up because this week Ive barely touched my head and I wanted to wash it yesterday but that never happened and its still out from the last time I did it. I need a break from it always being out and my hairs grows better when its braided up.

I plan on doing the twist myself, because its a lot cheaper and ...well..yea its cheaper and I need my little pennies now more than ever lol, Im going to plan to put the twist in on Tues March 3, my day off. It will probably take me most of the day especially with the baby. Im going to wash my hair with Giovanni 50/50 clarifying shampoo Monday night and do an overnight deep conditioner with ORS hair mayo with an egg mixed in, and I plan on repeating that every month. Im not sure if I want to redo the twist every month or just let them stay in the entire 90 days..Ill keep you updated on my decision.

Im having big expectations for my hair this summer. Ive been doing A LOT of research on henna and cassia obotava and its effects on hair and Im convinced that thats where I want to go next, Ill do another post on that. I believe that the best way for me to achieve my expectations is to do this 90 twists.

Hair today...Gone tomorrow

When I became fully natural I decided that I would keep my hair braided up because thats when it grew the most. I would get box braids, full head weaves and didnt really wear my hair out, only in between. So on this one occasion I went to another salon under a good recommendation, whenever my beautician does a full head weave it looks a little bulky to me so I wanted to try somewhere new.....first mistake- Stick with what you know. So the girl who I was recommend to go asked another stylist to braid my hair up for her and she starts to braid up my hair in a beehive and Im telling her not to braid so tightly and she listens and it was that bad. As the girl is starting to sew the weave in I feel my head getting very warm and my head starts to hurt but we keep going....second mistake- I shouldve stopped her right there and took the entire thing out since she was in the process, but I didnt. I wasnt sure if it was the whole process compounded with me being hungry. It got so bad at one point that I had to step outside to get some air, but like I said I wasnt sure if it was the hair being done and being hungry, because I do get very bad hunger headaches. I finally went back inside and ordered some food, I ate and felt a little better. Needless to say my hair came out so flyyyy, so I was happy. I change my hairstyles frequently and about a month later I was ready to take the weave out. So my boyfriend and I did so, I go in the shower to wash my hair and as Im washing my hair, CHUNKS of hair start to come out in my hand, so Im trying not to panic and pass out. Im crying as I wash my hair and more hair comes out. So I get out of the shower, by this time I cant even breathe or talk to relay the message to my boyfriend. I sit on the floor and turn around to show him my head, and hes silent, for what seemed to be a hour, and all you can hear is me crying. I ask him if it was that bad and he slowly says..."yea babe, it is". There was a golf ball sized patch of hair missing, like as if someone shaved my head with a blade. I cried for hours and started to hyperventilate and I really thought I was going to pass out. I went back to the salon and showed her what happened and she had the nerve to ask me if I had cut the hair out. Now if I had cut the hair then there would still be some hair left in the scalp, but there was NOTHING!! Just a patch of shiny, clear scalp with no piece of hair insight. I was too through and didnt want her touching my hair ever in my life. I thought about suing her behind but that wasnt going to bring my hair back and talking real bad about her and the salon. For awhile there was nothing I could really do but try to use the hair around it to try to cover the spot. Over time it seemed like the spot grew bigger to about the diameter of a tennis ball. Thank God it eventually grew back and its not as noticeable as before. Ive learned my lesson and Im never letting anyone new touch my hair..not even to wash it.

My Story

This is my first blog and I was inspired to start a blog of my journey being natural after reading several other blogs. It seemed like a great way to not only track my hair progress but also an outlet to interact with other naturals and learn off of each other trials.

I contemplated going natural since I was a sophomore in high school, but never really acted on the thought of doing so. For as long as I have known myself my hair was always relaxed. From what my mother told me I had thick hair and it was always a struggle to do it so she decided to relax it to ease the pain of doing my hair. As the new growth would grow in I knew what she said was true as my hair would be very thick and coarse. I would go to the salon and get my hair relaxed and doobied like clockwork but it would never grow past the top of my shoulders. One day I was with a group of friends walking in NYC standing on the corner about to cross the street. As we were walking I saw a big head of hair coming towards me and I was in complete awe. Here was this lady with the biggest Afro I had ever seen and I just had to stop her. She was very nice and we briefly chatted about her hair and from that day I was over relaxing my hair and wanted to be natural. Just as I was about to graduate h.s. I thought that since I would be beginning a new chapter in my life I would do so with my hair. The summer after my first year of college, I decided that July 2006 would be my last relaxer. At the time my hair was dyed red and I grew the relaxer and color out for about 6 months, at which time I grew tired of the straight red ends and decided to do The Big Chop and haven't looked back.

I was always a fast learner and with no formal training, I quickly learned how to style hair and that was my side hustle even to this day, but this year for some odd reason I realized that I don't really know how to "take care" of my hair. Yea it has been growing but I never really did anything to it, except for the once every 2 wk washes and braiding it up. As this year began I realized that I needed to do some research on hair care and Ive come across a plethora of information that I never knew existed. To be honest I feel ashamed that I never thought of doing this before, but its better late than never. Now I have vowed to myself to learn to what my hair needs to flourish and to take better care of my hair, so this marks my journey.................