Monday, November 21, 2011

(Another) Quick Minute!

A while back I tried a twist-out. Actually, I've tried several twist-out: none have done it for me. Apparently my hairy was to thin and fine for it to work...
:(
And if the twist weren't pitifully sized, then I'd tried it on bone dry tangled hair... which is probably not the best state to do anything with your hair.

Alas, I gave up and said that I'd just have to be a wash-and-go kinda girl.

But then, Saturday night, I had just conditioned (honey+oliveoil+conditioner+deepconditioner) and cleaned (apple cider vinegar) and decided to be proactive about breakage by doing more than haphazardly twisting or pulling it in a ponytail before bed. I pulled up a tutorial on doing flat twist, which i did to my bang area (I was SO PROUD of myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) before realizing that I was not quite efficient enough to do over my entire head, so I did regular twists over the remainder of my head (about 10-13).
The next morning ( we went to the UniverSOUL Circus) and I undid each twist, separated (is a must for my type of hair), fluffed the roots, and voila! It was so fly! And was not going to pull on my edges! Im rocking it again today (re twisted last night), but I'm def. going to was it tonight before I twist.

I'll try to post some pics of it l8er!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Quick Minute!














This first pic is my hair after a cider rinse, followed by a 45 minute honey, olive oil, and Suave Professionals (rosemary and mint, i think) conditioning treatment.

The 2nd is how I've been wearing my hair: pulled back a little with some twists in the front to frame my face.

I haven't been on in a while: senior year is kicking my butt! But I have a wee bit of extra time this morning before I run off to the bus stop, so here it goes:

Parvenu T-Tree Oil (its more of a light weight cream) is amaaaaazing on my hair! I realized early on that my hair does NOT like heavy products, so this stuff is a godsend. Only problem is that for around $5 a jar, it would only last me about a week and a half to two weeks. My solution to that was to get another, heavier leave in conditioner. I use the Parvenu when my hair is wet and the other for twisting my hair at night.

Apple cider vinagar is great for removing buildup! Just make sure to dilute it with water first! A rinse leaves my curls uber ready and bouncy; just be sure to moisturize afterward.

thats it! gotta go!

Happy Hair Days!!!!!!!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Totally Loving My Hair Again!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lol, I'm excited, can't you tell? I decided to take my senior portraits at a later date, and very cheerily dunked my head into a sink of water. Then I ran it through with a mix of honey and olive oil, doused it with water and a Vo5 run through, and was wholly thrilled to see my corkscrews and coils popping back up!

Apparently, my hair cut (which, if you recall, I got after getting my hair blown out, so i wasn't sure how much of my relaxed ends had been cut) took off more of my ends than I had originally thought: pretty much obsolete except for about a centimeter or less in a few areas in the back center of my head. And, evidently, my hair was just bursting to be free of its ragtag relaxed ends because now its curing up like I've never seen before! Yesterday I could not help from sticking my fingers in my hair and fondling each and every little spring (I even christened one my "favorite" for its tightly coiled texture and perfectly formed shape).

I'll admit though, that the hairs on the top of my head, just above the crown, seem to refuse to spiral at all (neither does the front, but I do manage to get some nice S shaped curls, so i don't mind). Instead, it just barley manages to clump together in a sort of fluffy wave. I'm not sure if this is a result of that hair texture, or if it's the result of badly damaged, poorly manage hair. Or, if this part of my hair grows slowly and it is still gripping tightly to its previously relaxed way of life.

Before I go, here are some websites that I have gotten some great info from:

*** http://www.nappturality.com/

http://going-natural.com/

*** http://www.curlynikki.com/

http://motowngirl.com/

*** http://bglhonline.com/

*** http://www.afroniquelyyou.com/

***starred sites are my faves***

Oh, and of course, YouTube for countless minutes of wisdom and comedy.

^_^

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

HEYYYYYYY!!!! REMEMBER ME?

Wow.

Really: WOOOOW

Evidently blogging does not come naturally to me, as it's been 363 days since my last post.

So, what's happened in the last (almost) year? Here's the dirt:

Re: Weight
Over the last year (September of '10 mostly) I lost about 30 pounds from my greatest weight of approximately 230 lbs. which would be great if I had not, toward the end of the school year began packing it back on. Consequently, my weight loss is now only about 10 pounds, which is hardly worth mentioning at all.
My failure to lose and maintain a greater weight loss is disappointing (esp. with my mom mentioning it at every turn, and my sister leaving her son with me so that SHE can go to the gym). Fortunately I have found myself with a rejuvenated since of motivation: COLLEGE in a year, and Senior Prom earlier than that. I don't want o have to "settle" on a dress because it's the only one that fits. Also, my mother's health has been iffy lately. I don't want to be an unhealthy person. I'd like to be able to trust my body to do things the way that God intended.
Some rules that I've decided to STICK to this time?
1. Water, milk (skim), and green tea. That's it. No soda. No lemonade. No Tall caramel frappacinos.
2. Fruits & Veggies. Which I have no problem with, but I always forget to eat anyways.
3. MOVE. Always. I need to remember that. I find it way to easy to curl up on a couch and watch ANTM.
4. Fried foods are Satan. Really. And like Satan, they are better avoided that battled.

RE: HAIR
Well you see... it's kind of a funny story...
Sisterlocks, right? That's sort of where this whole thing started for me. And all was going hunky-dory, up until i went for my consultation. My consultant first kind of rubbed me the wrong way when she acted less than favorably toward my super adorable nephew
<--- Right?! Who can not adore that?!
Anyways, I found myself further irked by her attitude of superiority over those with traditional locks ("They're jealous. They could have Sisterlocks too: They just don't want to pay the money."), which I found very distasteful. She also ragged on about how thick my hair was, adding an additional $50 to her standard price. That really rankled me because it's bona fide b.s. My hair is not thick in any kind of way. Despite these reservations, we made the 3 day appointment. Before I left she asked me to stop flat ironing my hair & to let it relax.
During those flat iron free days, I started to really develop an appreciation for my natural hair texture. Then I began to mourn it looming demise. So what did I do?
I CANCELED MY INSTALLATION
I know, right? After a year of waiting, I tossed that dream two weeks before it became a reality. But it felt like cheating somehow. My hair deserved a chance to live on it's own accord.
My hair is currently blown out and straightened (using a dryer and flat iron, both on low/medium heat) by the very talented Yesenia Hernandez of Senkay Natural Hair Studio (it's on Facebook0 check her out), simply because my senior portraits are coming up, and I've not yet mastered my curly-kinky locks well enough to brave being immortalized in them in my final public school photograph. However, I find myself missing my crazy hair (which i am now re-typing: 4A in the back (coiled and springy) and 3C in the front left (though I'm not sure- its more wavy than curly, though this may be because that's the actual texture, it's been overly flat ironed, or that section of hair contains more relaxed hair because it doesn't grow as quickly)) I want so badly to run my head through the shower head and feel my curls popping back up.
I'm not sure how much of my ends are relaxed, it was a few inches in the front, but I recently got it cut so that might be gone.
I've stated putting a mixture of olive oil and honey in my hair, leaving it for a bit, then rinsing it out in the shower (btw, I brush in the shower. My hair seems to respond best that way, and i don't even need a comb). I've also been ppulling it into a ponytail at my nape, then twisting the ponytail itself into a single two strand twist, so that the front lies flat, while still maintaining some curl (its a nice look with a headband). I'm going to try to stop no, because that tension cant be good for my ends.
Another thing- no more shampoo. Ive been co washing with Vo5 conditioners, and my hair feels great. when I've got the spare cash, I'd like to try some more high end, thicker conditioners, but presently, Vo5 is working find for me.

I wanna try a coil out soon...

I'm dead tired, and haven't slept in my bed since Friday, so I'm signing off!