Flat twist out

Last wash day (Friday the 23rd), after my wash n fro, I set my hair in flat twist. Four days later, no retwisting, here's what it looks like.

Another day later, no retwisting, after showering with no shower cap and applying some coconut oil:

I'm getting more into the non-defined look. I still prefer definition from some sort of set but when my hair clouds up a bit and looks more indistinct I still think it looks cool versus thinking it looks a mess and I need to reset it. I believe spending more time looking at pictures of people with undefined styled hair has helped broaden my outlook.

When I wear my wash n fro, I'm more self conscious of how short it shrinks versus the actual texture. Next summer, I'll definitely rock that style a lot as my hair should be longer and I like how quick and carefree it is.

Blown.....

About 2 weeks ago I washed my hair in twists and gave my scalp a good rubbing. My scalp was itchy and I wanted to really get up all debris and have a fresh scalp. The downside is the dandruff and scabs that had accumulated from scratching my scalp nearly raw all came up and got caught in my naps!

I tried rinsing for an extra long time after conditioning to no avail. I realized the only way to get this crap out of my hair was with a fine tooth comb. The only way to accomplish this was stretching my hair out.

I needed to blow dry.

I'd been thinking about blowing my hair out for a few weeks. I wanted to do it in April so that I could attempt to trim my hair evenly and see what state my ends were really in.

Sally's Beauty Supply was having a 'sale' on blow dryers and I'd checked them out but didn't feel comfortable spending that kind of money. I think I'll be using it a few times a year so it wasn't worthy of a significant investment.

Since this was a sudden decision, I needed to get my hands on a dryer quickly. I had already deep conditioned with Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing Conditioner with some olive oil added. I used Beautiful Texture's leave-in for the first time then sealed it in with a dimethicone heavy heat protectant. I plaited my hair up, tied on a scarf, put on a hat and headed to Walmart to buy a blow dryer.

I chose the Remington D-1000 from Walmart for less than $20:

The process took longer than I expected bc I went through small sections at a time. I originally started on cool but I didn't have the patience for that. So I used the next setting up which felt like low heat. I could blow it on my skin without a burning sensation.

What felt like all day later, I had this:

It was not straight as if I'd used an attachment so it was still difficult to access my ends. I chose to trim since I'd blown it out. I don't think I will trim again until September unless my hair tells me otherwise. Even then, if my hair seems to be in good shape I may skip it or just do a dusting. I have since bought a comb attachment but I'm a bit weary of using it. I'm dealing with breakage right now and I don't think using the attachment will be good for the health of my ends.

I chose to set my hair in dry bantu knots using only my castor/coconut oil pomade. I had visions of hangtime and my hair blowing in the breeze due to the youtube videos of bantu knotouts on blown out hair. That was NOT my experiece. Not sure if I don't have enough hair for that effect or if my hair will not do that period. It was soft, fluffy and the hold was good overall. I didn't reset it that night, just slapped on my bonnet and my hair was fine.

What I did.....

On Friday the 23rd, I washed my hair in twists w Giovanni Deeper Moisture shampoo. My scalp was itching and I didn't want it to get out of hand like last month when I scratched until I broke the skin and had scabs.

I focused on my scalp and only ran my hands down the length of twists. I rinsed then applied the matching conditioner. I let that sit while I bathed then rinsed.

I chose not to deep condition my hair this time. I was tired and really didn't feel like it. I also needed to go by the duplexes that we are trying to get into so I unraveled the twists which were very fuzzy. the roots were not clumped at all. I applied 2 pumps of Shea Moisture's Raw Shea Restorative Conditioner. I chose not to seal with any oil bc I didn't know what my end game was going to be. I pinned either side up with a comb and left the house.

I guess I can call this look a wash n fro. Since I didn't define my texture. There was some definition but I'm not sure if it was my hair pattern or bc I washed in twists. I would try this method again.

I noticed some flaking caught in my hair due to dry scalp. Very annoying. While out my fro shrank up as it dried. By the time i came home it was 95% dry. I applied a coconut oil w rosemary oil mixture to my scalp for dryness. I haven't done that in several weeks. I left my hair like this all day while wearing a bonnet. I refreshed it before picking up my husband with a spray bottle of Aloe Vera juice, water, and a touch of olive oil.


At night before bed, I sectioned my hair, spritzed with my Aloe Vera mix, applied Beautiful Textures detangling leave-in and detangled. Then I moisturized with my Shea Moisture. I barely sealed some ends. I'm running low on my castor/coconut mixture. I set my hair in flat twist via a tutorial I watched from blakizbeautiful. I think this process took me an hour+. Tied up my hair with a satin scarf then covered w a bonnet.

I Chopped......

a while ago.

Towards the end of my transition I found that I spent less and less time thinking about my hair. The patience that I so desperately needed finally showed up. To the point that when I finally chopped off my remaining relaxed ends on November 27, 2010. I felt little more that straight exhaustion. It took a lot longer than I expected.

It was a sunday. I started at 4pm...and with a few breaks for dinner and to watch an hour long show, I finished up a little after 11pm. I was so very tired. I didn't care enough to try to document the process.

But I do have pictures. So without further ado.....

When I took the twist down, it was not hot. With some manipulation, I came up with this:

A few days later here are shots of my hair during my bday weekend:

I was very proud of my little puff. That wasn't the intended style but the ouchless band I'd use krept up into a puff configuration throughtout the day.

Big Chop Preview........

Below shows my hair about a week and a half after my BC.

Shrunken, no product. And with a few straggly relaxed ends here and there apparently.

All twisted back up:

And the resulting style from this set:

I've been keeping flat twist on the sides to disguise my scab hair.

long overdue.......

man...i just haven't had any drive to update this blog. There's been a lot going on but even before that I just couldnt find the care to update this little blog about my hair.

i'm still quite excited about it...in fact, seeing that the little ticker over on the right is at 16 days to countdown my final chop (as of 11/15/11) I'm excited and almost surprised its just a touch over 2 weeks away.

What I should have done and what is sorely overdue is recording that I did a medium chop back on 10/14/11. I cut off about 3 inches. it was a lot and quite shocking at the time. Only leaving 1-3 inches of relaxed hair thruout my head. the biggest shock came from the lost of length. i immediately disliked it and for a moment or two considered extendining my transition til I got more hair. At the time I had about 5-6 inches of hair. Accounting for shrinkage....I didnt have much hair at all.

My facial expression above, pretty much sums out up how I was feeling. I was disturbed at how short my hair was and I still had relaxed ends which meant my hair would have to be cut even shorter!

but having a month to grow accustomed to it was exactly what i needed to do and I'm sooo very glad that I did it. I feel comfortable with it now. I have a better handle on styling it and better idea of what to expect when I chop off the very last bit.

The most exciting development of having less relaxed hair is not having to twist/set my hair nightly. I can put my bonnet on and go to sleep. Get up, fluff, and my hair looks reasonably good for a solid 3-4 days in a row. At least with the bantu knot out set. i tried a twist out which was a dismal failure. the last bit of relaxed hair will not allow me to experiment with that style yet. I tried one braid out and that looked ok after I styled it a bit. It was very different pattern than a Bantu Knot out but I liked the fact that it allowed me to show more length.

I am sooo ready to be done with transitioning. I haven't been updating bc...well, I dont have anything new. My hair is no longer something that occupies most of my thoughts. Yes, I think about it every once in a while but I've rediscovered the other things I liked to obsess over.

One other thing that I've come to accept. My growth rate. It's just going to take patience. That's it. It will probably be 2 more years before I'm hyped about the length of my hair. In the meantime I'm gonna try my best to make the little bit of hair that I have look great. By being creative with styling and not getting stuck in too much of a rut, I'm sure I can accomplish that.

Three Hours.....

Three hours...

Three hours of my life wasted.

Wasted on a henna gloss. A henna gloss that I'm doubtful did anything aside from drip down my neck.

I had what I'm guesstimating about 50 grams of mixed henna frozen from my 1st henna application. I defrosted it in the fridge for slightly over a day. I took it out around 8 or 9pm Saturday. Mixed and applied it about 11am Monday morning.

I didn't measure anything so the measurements below are eyeballed

-Abt 50 or so grams of leftover henna mix
-Abt 1 cup of Proclaim Argan Oil Hydrating Mask (Conditioner)
-1.5 Tbsp Raw Honey
-3-4 Tbsp Olive Oil

I first clarified my hair with Tea Tree Tringle Shampoo mixed with about 1 tsp baking soda. (first time doing this too....yeah, my eyes are rolling at my own self) I then applied the Henna Gloss and covered it with 2 plastic caps. I left it on for exactly 3 hours. I then rinsed with tepid water. Squirted my hair with some Apple Cider Vinegar (to close my cuticles) then another another splash of tepid water.

I squeezed my hair with a towel and checked it out in the mirror. I couldn't detect any visible difference in my hair. My hair didn't necessarily 'feel' any stronger like the first time I did the straight henna application. Actually, my hair felt a tad oily.....and almost as if there was a bit of residue in my hair. It also seemed frizzy. My coils weren't springing like they normally do when I've deep conditioned. I have no idea how my hair is supposed to feel after a gloss so I let it air dry and I decided to plait it up for a braid out with rollers on the ends. I'll see how it looks and feels tomorrow. I probably will end up washing my hair on Thursday bc I think my hair has some kind of residue in it. I've read other people's account of feeling like their hair was 'coated' with something. I think that's a good way to describe the way my hair felt when I rinsed it earlier today. It just felt coated.

I guess my henna had already demised the day it spent in the fridge or perhaps all the olive oil prohibited dye uptake (which is how you get the conditioning benefits) AND/OR the dimethicone in the conditioner I used contributed to blocking dye uptake. I've got another 16 oz container of the Proclaim Argan Oil Hydrating Masque. I'll use it up but won't be repurchasing this product. On top of the dimethicone it has Isopropyl Alcohol. In the middle of the ingredient list. Unfortunately I didn't read the label thoroughly before I purchased it.

I'll be trying the Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose as a deep conditioner after I run out of what I'm currently using.

Anyway, that waste of time.

August: in some words

STRESS! Stress Stress Stress Stress!!!

oh my goodness have I been stressed for the last 30 days.

We've relocated. We ARE NOT settled. It took 18 days to receive our goods. We had no hot water for the first 4 days when we arrived and I had to wash my hair. HAD TO.

We've got ants.

Oh good Lord the ants. I have fought ants since I arrived! I broke down an called Terminix to get some serious ant busting action out here because...I just can't...I can't deal with pests in my home...not where I'm living and laying my head.

I. JUST. CAN'T.

So the great part is that the ants...I think they are FINALLY gone...I haven't seen one in a few days.....

My hair. Some stuff has happened that definitely needs documenting.

First of all, during all the driving and the first few days after arriving. I researched Henna. I read a lot of articles, forums, and personal experiences with Henna. I spent hours upon hours researching and decided that I indeed wanted to try it.

Im in for the long haul. So I need to strengthen my fine fine strands. I know I flapped my gums a bit about chopping early but I just don't have enough hair. At the end of July I had 3 inches of natural hair stretched. I've got serious shrinkage so those 3 inches looked very much like an inch at best in it's natural shrunken state. Granted...early in my journey I doubt I would wear my hair completely shrunken. I hear the detangling session after that can be off the chain. But still....I want some more growth.

Unfortunately the stress of the move and EVERYTHING else (gah!) has stunted that growth. Here I am about a solid month since my last measurement and I'm still at a solid 3 inches...not even a quarter more. This...this is discouraging. I stopped torturing myself with weekly measurements. That's just insane. Monthly seemed more realistic and reasonable. I'm more likely to see some kind of result with a monthly measurement. But this time....nada. absolutely no movement. I snipped some hair right in the front so I could accurately guage growth (and shrinkage)so I know I'm measuring the right hair...

I've lost a whole entire month of growth potential presumably due to the sheer stress of what's going on around me.

That sucks pretty bad.

Anywho...back to the henna. I did all that research...then purchased some henna from Mehandi.com. With relaxed hair still on my head...I'm not taking any chances on getting henna that might not be pure. I did my first henna application back on August 12. I made a note of my first impressions in my phone but it seems that note didn't save or was mistakenly erased.
.....sigh.....

I'll do a full henna post seperately.

I feel like I'm all over the place in this post. I really just wanted to get back into the groove of posting and hope to organize my thoughts a bit better soon.

I've been washing my hair roughly every 5 days. Not where I originally wanted to be but at least it's not a full week or more. I want to get back down to every 3/4 days because my scalp is happiest on that schedule. Before I left Pittsburgh, I did purchase

I've been using it ever since we left and I really like it. I use it as a leave in conditioner/moisturizer. I have not used it as a rinse conditioner. I'll do a full write up of my impression of that one of these days too.

If this isn't scattered enough I did snip a few more pieces of hair free several days ago on the back right side. Why? ....Well...I'm not really sure. I was just kinda playing in my hair one night before knotting it up for bed and was applying aloe vera gel to various section to watch the roots. there were some corkscrews in the back that were curling in a rather stunning fashion and the relaxed hair attached just looked....pitiful. I asked my husband what I should do (bc I was trotting back and forth between the living room and bathroom showing him what my hair 'did'). He offered to snip them for me...but I wanted to do it myself. so I did. the patch is about the size of a silver dollar. It's another area where I can monitor growth. The texture if different from the front. Definite corkscrews where the front is corkscrewy but tends toward a bit of s-curl as well. I've got this random patch over my left ear that travels down to the nape that just won't do anything at all. At best it waves up after a deep conditioning treatment but that's it. Usually that hair is just 'textured'....It just lays there. It's almost straight. It's the wierdest thing and unfortunately annoying bc I think this will keep me from doing straight wash in go's in the future. How can I wash n go with this random straight patch on the side? smh.....lol. That would look a hot mess. The sad patch won't even finger curl right. I'm interested to see if that will change at all after I chop.

ok..ok....enough rambling. I need to go do laundry. oh my gosh...the laundry. and I have to go to the laundrymat bc we don't have a washer yet. I really don't like that. sigh...

i'm just gonna say it because it's my journal and if I don't put it here then where would I put it?

I don't like it here. There. That's it. I don't like this new place. I don't like this house we're renting. I don't like the heat. I don't like how far away we are from either coast. I dont like the fact that I have to drive to the city to get stuff I'm accustomed to having withing minutes from my home. I dont like the way my neighbors refused to speak to me for the first 2 weeks and now another full week later only one of them does. I don't like the fact that there are barely any black people here. I dont like it that we have no idea where any churches are and haven't found anyone to ask about a black church anywhere......

I dont feel this move was a mistake. I know it wasn't. I just dont like it yet. I hope that changes soon.

Transitioning in transit

This has been one whirl wind of a week....posting from my hotel room in St. Louis where we decided to pit stop on our way out west.

I'm popping in just to update primarily because over the last few days I've noticed my scalp issues flaring up around my front hairline again. I'm thinking this must be stress related bc I havent used anything new on my hair. I did miss 2 doses of Zyrtec this past week. It was very dry and tight and itchy. The more I rubbed and picked at it the more annoying it became and I got self conscious when I saw that it was flaking up.

I had an applicator bottle of vinegar in my toiletry bag so I bust that out and applied it to my hair line with a cotton ball. then I used cool water to rinse the most irritated side. I forgot to rinse the other side of my hair line which I'm regretting as I type this bc the vinegar smell has lingered. I applied a little moisture spritz to the area and sealed it with olive oil. After about 20 mins things settled down and I'm comfortable. Hopefully that spot has been set to heal. I dont plan to wash my hair until Monday when we prayerfully will get into our new place.

To tie up loose ends, here is a picture of my hair from my husband's going away party. I wore my hair in a flat twist out:

This is the style that I used the Elasta QP Silk Setting Foam. It turned out ok. I'm still just learning this set and will admit that the one I did for that day was not the best one I've done so far. but I think I salavaged it pretty well with the headband and using bobby pins to shape the sides.

That's a wrap...so very tired....about to fall into the bed.

Another Conditioner

So...a really quick impression of the infamous Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Pak.

I found this while going thru a drawer in my bathroom as I organize and get rid of stuff in preparation for the *relocation*...that is in a week! OMGOSH!!! I am NOT ready.

anyway, I'm trying to get rid of stuff, use up stuff that I can and ran across this last night. I've seen countless people on boards and on Youtube that use this stuff but honestly....I was skeptical. I wrongly assumed that it included mineral oil or petroleum since it's inexpensive and marketed as an ethnic hair product. I'm not militant about my ingredients but those two I'm trying extra hard to stay away from bc they truly dont do me any favors. I base this upon the fact that when I cut out all the products that included those items, my hair FELT so much better and my scalp is doing GREAT! That's after suffering with severe scalp psoriasis/dermatitis for YEARS...

I scan the ingredients and don't see mineral oil or petroleum so bam, used it today. I'm prepping my hair for my husband's going away party tomorrow. (the Organic Root Stimulator Hair Fertilizer did include Petroleum so I trashed the samples I had of that)

First, I washed my hair with Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle shampoo then detangled with their conditioner. I applied the Replenishing Pak. I used about half of the package on my necklength transitioning hair.

First of all this smells like oranges. I'm not an express fan of the smell of oranges but points for originality bc I think this may be the first orange smelling product I've smeared in my hair. The consistency is like pudding. Imagine some lemon/orange pudding.....now take a scoop of that pudding and smear it on your hair. Exact SAME consistency.

Most of the mentions I've seen of this product stated mixing olive oil with it so I squirted in a few pumps of olive oil into my hand and mixed. I applied it kinda in sections and finger detangled before popping on a plastic cap and donning my heat therapy wrap.

I left the ORS RP on my hair for an hour with heat. Hopped back in the shower and rinsed with cool water. I attempted to detangle a little with my wide tooth comb and noticed this conditioner really doesnt have much slip. BUT i also noticed NO HAIR in my comb. At the end of this last rinse there was 1 lonely strand in my comb.....this is unheard of. at first, i was thought that wasn't that big of a deal since I detangled prior with the Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner but NO. this is a big deal bc everytime I comb my hair there is hair in the comb thanks to the the process of transitioning.

Afterwards, I squeezed with my hand towel and hopped to the mirror. I didnt notice major popping of curls in the top which is what I keep my eye on bc those are the more distinct ones that i can see but I did catch some major coil action above my right ear. I've never noticed that before.

I've read somewhere from someone who felt this conditioner was a good protein conditioner..I've read on MakeUpAlley a few accounts of this conditioner making people's hair hard. So I'm thinking that this conditioner probably leans more towards protein than moisture. My hair was not soft when I rinsed. Nothing like how my hair is soft when I rinse out my Protectiv Argan Oil stuff. I would venture to say my hair felt stronger. And since it is my haphazard opinion that my hair could benefit from a little protein here and there I will certainly purchase this conditioner again.

So I've set my hair for tomorrow's party and to keep it interesting I'm using a setting foam that I've barely used a few years ago and certainly never on my natural roots.....HOPEFULLY it will give me good results tomorrow.

I'll record my impression of that either way....

*I hope to get back to recording my thoughts soon but everything is so up in the air with the relocation. We plan pull out of here on the 29th and take a few days to drive the 1000 miles.

It was bound to happen sooner or later.....

Something’s gotta change….

Friday I washed my hair after an 8 day stretch…..Travel and then revival at church all week left me with no opportunities to wash my hair. As I’m not a fully natural diva….i can’t just hop in the shower and wash my hair any ole place. I gotta have time, the right products, ect.

So late Friday night, I wash my hair. I was exhausted. See previous week of travel and church. I popped on my heating therapy wrap to deep condition and was so miserable, I decided to sleep in the conditioner and deal with rinsing, detangling, ect the next morning. Note to self: don't bother going to bed with the therapy cap on...it makes your ears hurt.

That morning, in the shower as I tried to detangle, I was getting discouraged. Now surely, it was not as bad as the harrowing experiences I've read of women standing in a cold shower for 2 hours crying. No suh….ain’t gonna be that dramatic about it. But frankly it was more frustrating than it has been in a looong while. Unsure if waiting 8 days was a factor or not but heaven knows when I finally got out the shower and got dressed. I stood in the living room with my damp hair and I shook my head at my husband:

“Something’s gotta change”

(which led to an interesting conversation where we got into the chemistry of relaxing hair and the societal conditioning that we all have to see our natural hair as something undesireable and to be straightened out-but I'll touch on that later)

my relaxed hair is cut in an inverted bob so my front layers are signicantly longer than the back. I don’t have any troubles detangling the back. It’s the front that was being a donkey that morning….

So…I’m taking this as a sign that my regimen needs tweaking. Particularly how I wash my hair. I’ve read here and there about people who section their hair before washing it. They twist/braid it and wash it like this without loosening the twist/braid. I didn’t bother experimenting with this bc I didn’t think I could. I had very short hair in the back….but lesson has been learned. I will at least twist the front before I wash my hair again. That will be tonite.

In order to do this I’m also gonna have to experiment with my detangling process. I’ll need to do that at the sink. Now one option is to apply conditioner to DRY hair. Get it good and saturated (as I understand the hair absorbs more of it in the dry state) and detangle that way….I’ve also heard of saturating the hair with oil….once again on DRY hair then commence with the detangling. Since I’m planning at least 2 twist one on either side of my head, I think I’m gonna try them both and see which won wins my affections. The back I’ll probably just do what I normally do. hop in the shower and let the water wash away the definition left by the Bantu Knots…….then detangle with conditioner as normal….that is unless the heavens open and the sink detangling is such a breeze that I smh at silly ole me in the shower trying to comb my nest.

on a related note: I got 2 overripe bananas….I intended to make my husband some ‘Nana Pudding…poor man done went to the store and bought some Nilla wafers for it too…..now….would it be wrong of me to mash those bananas up with olive oil and put them in my hair???
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Yes…yes it would. But I’m so tempted….so very tempted, lol. I better make the Puddin before I wash my hair or he’ll be mighty disappointed.

How I wear it.......

This will be a picture heavy post as I need to dump some pictures that profile how my hair has been looking for the last month or so....I missed some days of documenting but I feel that what I have is a good depiction of how I've been rocking my hair daily.

All style below are Bantu Knot Outs. I'm considering trying some braid outs after my last day of work.....July 15th. But for now...I've stuck with what works and looks good (most of the time). I've gotten bored with them so I'm definitely looking forward to mastering something else.

Bought this headband from Sally's. I believe it was $6.99

Brown Goody's headband from Walmart

Black scarf worn as headband. I allowed the tails to fall down my back. Bought this from Walmart too.

This was on a very tired knot out. I originally thought I was gonna have to wrap my hair up this day but I played with it and it didn't come out half bad.