Beauty and Nature

One Month Natural w/ Length Check (Video)

L. — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:06:31 +0000

Bonding Over Natural Hair

L. — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:31:11 +0000

Mom and I had a great conversation about being natural. We didn’t always have much in common as I was growing up, but as I get older and gain more insight about the world, we have more common ground. She and I have polar opposite views of hair: I love to DC and baby my afro. Mom just does the basics. It’s always been this way, but we do agree on several positive aspects of having natural hair.

Not worrying about relaxers! No-Lye or Lye? Box or Jar? Texurize or bone straight? Oh, it burns (but that’s good, right?) Now where did I put that neutralizer?
Simplicity! I like to DC, but it’s nice to know that I can just spray water on my hair and add a little leave-in and/or oil and the curls are POPPIN’! I just love rubbing my hands over my fro.
Don’t fear the Raper…uh, I mean the Weather! We had rain for a week here in the desert so it was of course humid. Nice not to have to worry that my hairdo is going to revert or fall limp. My hair is thriving with water.
Stronger, healthier hair! My husband can play with my hair and I’m not hearing “pop, snap, pop” fearing that I’m going to find enough broken hairs that you could mistake for a small animal.
Surprise length! Making people who think that you’re bald-headed with your TWA swallow their own faces when you stretch a curl LOL.

The list could go on. Of course it varies according to whom you speak. I can say for myself that for now–natural is where I want to be. Next stop: gray hairs (nature’s highlights)!

Experiement for Hair Growth

L. — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:01:33 +0000

Since I cut my hair down to the natural curls, I have been surprised by how much new growth I got since my last relaxer in May ’09. When my hair is compacted down, it is a TWA (Teenie Weenie Afro), but when I stretch some of the curls, they are about 3-3/4 inches long. The longest part in the back is already almost to my shoulder and the front area just touches my eyebrows.

I have been using MT/OCT/MSM and just added Bee Mine to the rotation of growth aids I am using. I would like to see full shoulder length by December of this year. What has been working for me so far is the regimen I am going to follow for the time being.

Co-wash 3-4 times a week
Use shikakai bar once a month
Deep condition after each co-wash/shikakai wash (mixture of protein and moisture)
Trim every 2 months
Scritch my scalp at least once a day
Apply growth aid after scritching (i.e. MT/OCT/MSM one night, Bee Mine the next night and so forth)
Drink hot green tea with stinging nettle powder and honey at night in the winter and spring, iced in the summer
5Grams Biotin each night before bed
be-Beautiful vitamin powder with MSM during the day
Baggy as needed

It may seem like a lot, but I have become accustomed to this regimen, and it appears to be working for me, so I’ll keep on keeping on =) I’ll be checking in about every six weeks to see what’s up.

Vid of the Big Chop

L. — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:55:48 +0000

So, after some obstacles to overcome, I finally was able to upload the edited version of my live recording of my Big Chop. I was so nervously excited, I was just yakking away not really saying much. I’m so glad to be natural again; I’m having so much fun!!

Big Chop Completed!!

L. — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:22:49 +0000

Well my wonderful readers, I have finally made the leap to natural! On December 27, 2009 I did a live broadcast of myself cutting the rest of my relaxed ends off. It was such a freeing feeling to not have to deal with damaged chemically treated hair any longer. As I write this, I am uploading an abridged version of the live broadcast to YouTube. I was so nervous (with excitement) while I was snip snip snipping away! Because of my nervousness, the original broadcast was longer than I planned, and I jabbered non-stop.

I just love playing with my curls and coils without the limp straightened hair in the way. I went to Vegas the day after the chop, but I wore a wig to protect my hair from the elements (it was cold in Vegas last week—brrrr!) Since it’s been pretty warm here back home in Palm Springs, my hair has been allowed to be free and wild. I gave it a really nice, deep conditioning treatment yesterday, and my hair is thanking me non-stop LOL. Right now my hair is just to the bottom of my neck. My plan is to have my hair be at least shoulder length by December 2010. I think that if I make sure that I don’t do too much my hair will flourish and continue to be healthy and gorgeous for years to come.

New Color and Going Natural!

L. — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:09:05 +0000

So it all started with me wanting to surprise my husband when he came home from his trip. I tried to make my long near-black hair platinum blonde. I hear the chorus of “uh ohs” in the distance, and they’re right. Not understanding the science of hair color, I thought that simply grabbing the lightest blonde shade available (for AA hair) would give me the same flaxen hair as Miss Mary J. Blige (love her!). Of course Iwas WRONG. I was welcomed by an orange mess that I couldn’t get rid of no matter how many times I bleached–like four times in two weeks.

My husband saw what I had done when he came home. He felt so sorry for me, he gave me money to get color correction done by a professional. After carefully researching my options, I found a wonderful stylist who specialized in high-lift hair tones. After some strand tests to find out what would work, she found a viable solution. My hair came out a nice golden blonde on the first three inches. The rest would refuse to give up the orange. After unsuccessfully trying to tone the orange, it was clear what needed to be done: chop, chop!

I hadn’t planned on going natural until my grays started coming in. Getting that big haircut ahead of scheduled convinced me to decide to go on the natural journey early. Since I get my hair bleached, I am not going to go back to relaxers–I think relaxing was the reason so much of my hair fell out after my last touch up (gee, ya think?). Anyway, since my hair was extremely vulnerable at that point, my stylist (hi, Ms. B.J.!) recommended a BKT. She gave me a brochure, showed my her certification with some info and let me think about it. My wonderful husband shelled out the $300 for me to get it done.

I cannot express enough how much my hair turned around with just that one treatment. It went from weak, fragile, breaking and dull to shiny, strong and healthy feeling. I got the treatment that requires at least 72 hours before wetting the hair; hard to do when I’m tempted by our pool and going to gym classes at college. Somehow I managed to get through it. Let me tell you, when I say that my hair after cleansing was much more managable, I mean it. My natural curl was looser, but still there. The comb went through from root to tip like a hot knife through butter. Within a week, my husband noted that my hair not only looked thicker, but felt thicker, too. Lo and behold, he was right! I can easily see that I will be making BKT a part of my hair care routine.

Without further ado, here are some pics =)

Before the blonde fiasco:

After blonding and BKT:

Hair fall after last relaxer:

Hairline now:

I can’t wait to see where this natural journey takes me!

My Apologies, and a Thank You

L. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:02:13 +0000

First off, I want to apologize for the long hiatus I have taken from updating this blog. I have addressed comments, but have not updated posts in a while. I took some time off after my Mother-in-Law passed away last year. In response to the grief, I have been putting a great deal of concentration on education, counseling and personal reflection. For a while I was not sure if my marital situation was going to change.

At any rate, I’m back. I have done some things to my hair and my body that have been major changes (at least to me). I have bleached and cut my hair, had a BKT (Brazilian Keratin Treatment) done, and got rid of my spare tire. In the coming weeks, I will do my best to consistently update this blog. Upcoming topics:

BKT

Using Herbs for Your State of Mind

Keeping Bleached Hair As Healthy As Possible

A big THANK YOU to those of you who have been following me even in spite of the lack of updates. If there are topics you would like me to address, or if you have questions, feel free to drop me a line. See you soon ^-^

Ayurveda Videos

L. — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:15:21 +0000

For some reason all the comments and videos got erased, so I’m gonna try again. My apologies to those who have commented on the original posting.

This video by Trenelim on Youtube demonstrates how to use herbal powders for haircare. Very informative and entertaining =)

Another Megatek/OCT Update

L. — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:00:21 +0000

A few days later than promised, I have another update on the growth I got from using Megatek and Ovation Cell Therapy (OCT). I just bought and added the OCT about a month ago. I have been combing it with the MT and applying it every night. I also added oiling my scalp with coconut oil before I go to bed to protect my ends. So without further ado, here are the latest growth pics from August to November. I’m almost APL now =)

August/September

November

Product Review: Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery

L. — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:35:48 +0000

I’ve heard a lot about this product from the forum I belong to. Since I have a great deal of new growth, I’ve been looking for a deep conditioner that will soften all of my hair right down to the curly roots.

I searched high and low for this deep conditioner in my city, but had a hard time pinning it down. I finally found it at my local Walgreens for $6. It is also available on the Walgreens website.

I tried it as soon as I got home. I applied it to my dry hair, and applied a steamed towel to my hair. The directions say it works within 3-5 minutes, but I kept it on for about 2 hours, re-steaming the towel along the way. I must say I didn’t have high hopes for this product, so this was a litmus test to see if it would do anything. It better do something for $6 (yes, I’m cheap). The jar is rather small, and the directions claim that it only takes a little to get the job done. So, I used a little in an effort to not use it up too fast. It melted right into my hair.

Results

Turns out a little was all I needed. With our hard water, I expected the same thing I got from other conditioners: moist for about a day, then dry. With this conditioner, though, not only was my hair velvety smooth after rinsing, but the soft feeling lasted for several days afterward. I must say it’s quite addictive the way it made my hair feel! As I type this post I am deep conditioning with it right now. Is it worth the money I paid? In a word, I’ll have to say yes. I will be making this a regular part of my conditioning regime.