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26 April 2009

Twist n Curl Success!!

So I took the curlers out and my husband says "Is that it? Are you going out like that? It's cute but I hope that's not it." I'm like "no, there's more to do"

Anyway, I took the twists out and fluffed the curls a bit and OMG it's too cute - CurlyNikki and Shuantae1 would be so proud. I wish I could get the hang of my camera and post the pics. I will as soon as I do.

I got to church and comments ranged from "your hair's so nice, I really like it" to "wow, it's so sexy". My husband loves it, so I'm really happy. I wasn't sure about it as I did it because it seemed so short and I'm trying to grow it, you know? But I think this style's going to be a staple in my transitioning closet.

For tonight, I think I'll just tie my satin scarf on it and hopefully won't 'squish' it too badly and then rock it to work tomorrow. Will definitely report back on that.

xxMwuahxx

Transition Style #1 - Twist n Curl

Ok, so I'm transitioning to a natural look and my hair's kind of short, so I'm a little bit low on the kind of styles I do while transitioning. I was thinking of doing a sew-in weave but it's getting too warm for all that. My hair's also very weak from years of frying so braids are also out of the question.


So I was searching for a transition style to try out. I've just taken out my crochet braids - sorry I don't have any pictures - but I loved them and I'll definitely be doing them again in the colder months. I've heard a lot of fuss about Twist n Curl on the Hair Boards esp CurlyNikki and I couldn't wait to try it.


Right now, I'm sitting with perm rods in my hair and I'm itching to see how it turned out. Here's what I did:

  • Washed twice with Luster's Pink Oil Conditioning Shampoo and 1/4 cup of baking soda - I've heard that adding baking soda to your regular shampoo turns it into a great clarifier, which is what I needed after wearing the braids for 4 weeks. Also won't be using Pink Oil shampoo again because it's got Sodium Laureth Sulphate in and they are sooo bad for your hair.

  • Deep Conditioned with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Conditioner for 1 hour (no heat) - I absolutely love this conditioner!!! It's awesome! I use it on my daughter's hair and her hair is so soft and manageable. It made my hair much easier to detangle.

  • Detangled with Wide Toothed Comb - OMG My hair was such a mess of knots and breakage - there was enough hair for a small mammal sitting on the side of the bath tub when I was done detangling.

  • Rinsed and blotted with towel

  • Sprayed in Aphogee ProVitamin Leave-In Conditioner

  • Rubbed in Kids Organics Shea Butter+EVOO Detangler Moisturizing Hair Lotion (it's my daughter's) and did a final detangle - the comb was just running through at this point. Everyone raves about Shea Butter on YouTube and the Hair Boards so I'm definitely buying some in bulk and mixing up a batch of Purpleola's Special Shea Butter (hehehe) - I don't know what I'll put it yet though. I'll keep you updated.

  • Rubbed in some Oils - Wild Hair Growth and Wonder 8 Oil - just some stuff I had laying about the house, which I may or may not use again.

  • Parted into 4 sections

  • Did a bunch 2 strand twists in each section with KeraCare Curling Wax- I had to trim my hair (each twist) because that's how I plan to transition without really doing the BC and my ends looked so ragged it was embarssing.

  • Curled each twist on perm rods till it was all done

  • Tied a satin scarf on it and went to bed

Shuantae1's video was my inspiration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8X8xtcOdgA

It took a while because in the midst of it all, my duaghter wanted me to twist her hair and made sure I used some wax - "Mommy do it hair?" (while holding up the tub of wax to me) - she's going to rock a twist-out to church today.


So that's it. I'm excited to see what it'll look like and I'll add some pictures to this post and show the results real soon.


xxMwuahxx

25 April 2009

I'm going nappy

Ok, so I'm tired of getting my relaxed, my new growth coming in and then running back to the salon for a retouch every 6 weeks - sometimes less because my hair was growing so quick. The truth is, I've been tired of it for a VERRRY long time, so I stopped going as often and would try to strech my relaxer. The problem was, I didn't know what I was doing, so my hair just broke off :-(. Then I said enough is enough! I'll just keep my natural hair!!!!

I have very thick, very coarse 4b textured hair - so it's coily, can be wiry, dry, brittle and then my hair's also super porous so whatever moisturizer I put on it, it just sucks in and dries up so it needs A LOT of moisture.

I've tried transitioning once before, about 4 years ago just before I got married. I had a sew-in weave for my wedding but took it out while I was on our honeymoon in Jamaica because it was too darn hot! So I got another relaxer and the cycle started all over again.

Now, I'm a mom of a gorgeous little girl with gorgeous 4a hair - hers is a little bit softer than mine but also super thick and coarse. But she's not yet 2 years old and there's no way I'm processing her beautiful hair - so I thought I've got to 'LEARN' about natural African-American hair care. I say learn because you know you don't really learn anything at the beauty salon. So I joined the hair boards. Thanks to my girl KP for leading to longhaircareforum.com, which led me to YouTube and there are soooo many natural and transitioning sisters on there - it's great. So I've learnt some things and my daughter's hair is FABULOUS!!! And I thought: "If it works for her, it can work for me". So I'm transitioning again.
I got a sweet haircut when I got my last relaxer in February 2009, so my hair's quite short, which makes transitioing a little bit scary because I want LENGTH not shrinkage, but I've started this journey now and I'm not turning back.
I just want to share this journey which anyone that wants to join me in my quest to have gorgeous, healthy, NAPPY hair.

xxMwuahxx