My Best Hair Days

Hey Dolls!

Here is a post of my hair faves since I've been on my natural hair journey!  Keeping a photo journal is an excellent tool to track the progress of your growth and hair health.  I love to see my hair bloom before my eyes when I'm not even watching.  I have kept a photo journal since my BC.  Our hair grows, y'all!!!

I'm 32 months natural!  Check out my photo faves! Enjoy!

Healthy Hair Challenge: Jan Recap

Soooo....here is a little recap on my healthy hair challenge for the month of January.  I'm so incredibly proud of myself for sticking to this challenge of protective styling.  After being natural for over 2.5 years, I have never worn a low maintenance style for more than a week tops.  To go for 30 days is a major achievement for me.  Now the question is, did protective styling benefit my hair overall?  Hmmm...we'll let the pics decide.

In the first pic, I took this on 1/7/12.  The 2nd pic was taken just two days ago.  My fingers are literally touching the top of my bra in the 2nd pic.  I totally gained my .5"!  I'm thisclose from BSL and I'm just too excited!  For my hair to show this kinda progress in a three week span is short of amazing.  Couple that with exercise 3x a week, healthy eating, and just leaving my hair alone definitely benefits and promotes hair growth.  To celebrate, I wore my hair out for the first time on the 1st.  I missed my big fluffy hair and I wanted to flaunt it as a reward for being so disciplined.  Here is my twistout from that day.

I flat twisted my hair in 10 large twists and set it with my Qhemet AOHC and sealed with my beloved avocado oil.  I had incredible shine and bangin' definition.  It was nice having my hair out for the day, but today I have tucked it away for another 30 days.  Now I have a bit of an unconventional approach to PSing.  I don't keep a style for 5+ days straight.  I have fine to medium strands and keeping twists in my hair for two weeks will result in knots, tangles, excessive shedding and other not so nice things.  So I typically wear a style for about 3-4 days, maybe 5 if I'm lazy and refresh, detangle, reset, and restyle.  I manipulate my hair 1x a week.  Hats off to those curlies who can rock twists for a month straight.  My hair would rebel in the worst way.  We all have to do what's best for our hair, and mine is thriving pretty well.  Here is my style for the rest of the week until wash day on Sunday.  Pinned up with no where to go!

That's my January check in/update!  February I'll be tucking those ends all this month.  Hopefully, I'll get these city twists this month so I can stop doing my hair for a few weeks.  I need a break. lol

Week 4: Protect Ya Ends

Hey Dolls!

It's the 4th week of my hair challenge and I am mystified at how long I've been keeping up with my hair in protective styles.  I'm a "big hair don't care" kinda girl and I've never been a fan of protective styling, but y'all, here lately, I don't really miss my big hair these days!  *say what,  say huh?!!*  I know right!  I'm shocked, too.  Between my new busy schedule, which now includes grad school, styling my hair has been at the bottom of my agenda.  Low maintenance just works for me right now and being able to get up and go or add a few pins here and there, or my multipurpose bun have been time savers.  Who knew I would actually appreciate long term protective styling?  I just knew I would use up my two free days by now.

Right now, my hair is in flat twists and I pinned the twists into an updo.  I've been wearing my twisted updos for the last three weeks.  I like them, because they're simple, they last for a while, and it makes for a good style for workouts.  I'm in the gym 3x a week and this is by far the best no fuss style for sweating it out!  Every 2-3 days, I take down my twists to moisturize, refresh and restyle.  I spritz my hair lightly with water/Fermodyl 619 mixture for easy detangling.  Followed by my new favorite leave-in, Taliah Waajid Protective Mist Bodifier; I love this stuff.  My hair just absorbs it so well and it leaves it so soft and moisturized.  Finally, I'll add a little avocado/evoo to my ends to seal them.  Speaking of my ends, I am singing their praises right now!  No knots, breakage, dryness, splits!  They've never looked or felt so good.  I don't even have to add a styler or heavy cream when I restyle.  My hair stays moisturized for another three days, tops.

I'll wash this weekend and will retwist/pin for the following week.   My styles are by no means profound, but then again, they're not meant to be.  I'm going for a simple, no-fuss, heads off approach to styling and it's starting to grow on  me.  I like it.

In Nine Months, I....

Nope!  Not what you're thinking.  Soon, but at least not right now! LOL!  Sooooo....I was curious to see the progress my hair has made over 2011.  I made a few significant marks. I reached APL (arm  pit length), I straightened and trimmed for the first time since my big chop in 2009.  It is always best to track your journey in pictures to see just how far you've come.  It's interesting to watch my hair bloom before my eyes.  I take soooo many pictures, you would think was vain!  Maybe I am a little, but I digress.  It boggles my mind just how much my hair has grown.  It's just CRAY!

Out of curiousity, I went back through my natural hair albums and started to look at my length check photos.  I went back to February 2011.  This was my length before the trim and my hair after the trim. Pardon my half nakedness.  :)

The tattoo on my back is my guide to my hair growth.  In the pre-trim pic, my hair is about 1.5" past my tattoo.  I actually trimmed my hair about 2" when I straightened it.  In my post-trim pic, it falls  in the middle of my tattoo.  Granted, my hair was bumped a little, but not by much.  I was a little bummed for trimming that much, but I knew it would be worth it in the long run.  I checked my hair every two months after that to see how I was doing.  I checked in April, late June, late August and just recently at the beginning of January.  Here is my length check photo over the last 9 months.

Not bad for nine months from a 2" trim!  I don't have exact measurements, but I'll venture to guesstimate my hair grew roughly 3-3.5" in 9 months.  It's a little slower than average, but I'm sure there were several factors why that's the case.  The summer heat was a BEAST :/ and my ends were struggling with moisture.  I had some shedding and some breakage going on, but I tried to make sure it didn't get out of control.  I wasn't very active exercise-wise and my diet wasn't the best, either.  I'm sure my hair could've grown more if I had been a little more hard core in my regimen. Now that I've turned over a new leaf, I'm sure I'll gain another 3" by April to get my full 6" for the year.  Nonetheless, I'm still pleased.  At least my hair isn't in the same place it was nine or even six months ago.  Now, that's looking at the glass half full!

The Regimen: How the Magic Happens

 Naked Hair/No Product

In my previous post, I gave you an overview of my hair story.  Over the years, at least for the last two, I've learned SO much about my hair.  I've learned what works, what doesn't work, styles I can achieve, styles I struggle with, and most importantly, products that respond well for my hair.  The biggest misconception about going natural is that all heads of hair are alike.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  Our hair is as unique as our fingerprints.  We may all have "afro-textured hair", but our hair properties differ tremendously.  In order to truly understand what your hair likes and dislikes is to understand its properties.

These properties include, texture (fine, medium course), porosity (low, normal, high), density (thin, normal, thick), protein and moisture balance, just to name a few.  In fact, in my humble opinion, the least important factor is curl pattern.  Curl pattern is so subjective that it is very hard to pinpoint the "label" your hair falls under.  Our hair comes in several different patterns and textures.  That's what makes our hair so beautiful and unique.  We also get caught up in finding a "hair twin" or someone with a pattern similar to yours.  In some cases, this is an effective strategy, but even that can be misleading as some products she may use may or may not agree with your hair.  Again, there is more to natural hair than curl pattern and products.  There is a science behind it and we must take the time to research it, apply it and master it.

As for me, according to my research, my hair properties are as follows:

• Texture:  Medium -- A few fine strands with some course strands.  I fall in the directly middle.
• Porosity:  High -- My hair dries fairly quickly.  I can spray a section of hair with water and within minutes it is damp to near dry.  My hair soaks up moisture easily so I'm constantly having to use moisturizing products to keep it balanced, especially during the colder months.
• Density:  Normal/Thick -- Normal in a stretched state, such as a blowout; very thick in an shrunken state.  I have 80-90% shrinkage.
• Curl Pattern:  3C/4A -- Mostly S & O shaped curls, very spirally and somewhat loose.  Much tighter pattern around my edges. Very loose near my crown.

Now....*DRUM ROLL*

My Hair Regimen

 

I wash my hair every other week or no more than every 10 days.  I never go more than two weeks.

• Prepoo or prewash:  Spritz and moisten with water and Fermodyl 619* on dry hair; apply a mixture of EVOO and Avocado Oil to small sections from root to tip, paying close attention to the ends.  Finger detangle to remove shed hairs and follow with a wide tooth comb.  Don a plastic cap and let sit for 15-30 minutes.
• Rinse out oil and apply shampoo of choice in sections:  Mizani True Textures Shampoo (Target); Kinky Curly Come Clean (Whole Foods or Target); Giovanni Triple Tea Treat (Whole Foods or Target).
• Rinse out and apply conditioner of choice in sections:  Suave Almond Shea Butter conditioner (Walmart/Target); Aussie Moist conditioner (Walmart/Target); Herbal Essences Hello Hydration (Walmart/Target).  I like to mix EVOO, avocado oil and honey with my conditioner for added moisture and penetration of my strands.
• Leave in for 10 minutes or as long as desired and rinse out with cold water.  Cold water rinses close the cuticles to lock in moisture.
• Blot hair with cotton t-shirt (plopping) and let air dry until damp.
• Leave In:  Apply water-based leave in conditioner of choice:  Qhemet Biologics Cocoa Detangling Ghee (online); Kinky Curly Knot Today (Whole Foods or Target);Taliah Waajid Bodifying Mist.
• Oil:  Apply oil of choice to seal ends: EVOO, EVCO (coconut oil), castor oil, jojoba oil, or avocado oil.  I don't use all of these oils as a mixture, I usually seal with coconut and castor oil combo.
• Styler:  Apply creme-based styler of choice:  Butters, heavy cremes or pomades -- Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque (Target/Walgreens); Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie (Target/Walgreens); Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Creme (online); Koils by Nature Mango Shea Butter (online).
• Style as usual:  Twistouts, buns, braidouts, roll/tucks, puffs, blowouts, etc.

SN:  I do not use every product listed in one sitting.  I use one product for each purpose and I tend to switch from week to week for variety.  I listed different options that serve similar purposes.

*Please note:  This regimen is strictly based on what my hair responds well to.  I am in no way endorsing these companies or their products for profit or sale.  My regimen is personalized to suit my hair's needs.

Protein Treatments: 4-6 weeks
Protein treatment of choice: Greek Yogurt Recipe by Naptural85 on Youtube.  This is an amazing recipe and fantastic natural detangler!  My hair loves it.  Check her out!  
Henna:  I've tried henna 2x and although the results were great, the process was too long.  I'd like to revisit henna, but I have to schedule it in advance.  My goal is to do a henna gloss every 6-8 weeks.

I was doing a GYR protein treatment every wash day (2x a month).  These treatments are effective if your hair is experiencing breakage, excessive shedding, feels weak and limp and needs strengthening.  If you are protein sensitive, meaning your hair has adverse reactions towards the protein, such as dry, brittle hair, refrain from using protein- based products and research other options. 

*Fermodyl 619 is a used to combat porosity.  It's a great detangler and makes hair more manageable. Can be found at Sally's for about $8.00 for a 3/pk.

Hair Lessons 

• Lo Poo/Co-washing is just not for me.  I need to shampoo my hair to clarify my scalp and get rid of buildup.  It's very necessary.
• My hair hates gels.  I was never a fan of gels even relaxed.  I will use gel occasionally for smoothing my edges, but even that's not that serious.  I'm so not a wash n go type of girl.
• My hair loves oils.  My hair loves EVOO (Olive Oil), castor oil, coconut oil, avocado oil (new love), and jojoba oil.  I guess I should say most oils agree with my hair. 
• My hair loves moisturizing products.  If water is in it, it's a winner!  My hair soaks up moisture in a good way.
• My hair loves cones!!!   As much as cones are frowned upon in the natural hair community, my hair responds well to cones.  My hair is soft, shiny, manageable and those are all good signs in my book.
• My hair is not protein sensitive, but tends to get protein overload.  I just learned about overload on protein. Although, it has its benefits, protein can also cause adverse reactions when overused, such as shedding or dryness.
• My hair thrives when I wear it out or when I wear it in a protective style.  Some naturals swear by protective styling.  My hair retains length either way.  I'm wearing my hair in a PS lately due to my exercise regimen and to protect my ends from drying out.  I'm experimenting to see if my hair will retain more length with less manipulation.
• In the summer months, I struggle with finding a balance of moisture due to the humid climate in which I live.  I had such a hard time keeping a style from becoming a huge frizz ball when dewpoints were 60 degrees or higher.  Humectants caused frizz, while anti-humectants caused dryness.  I'm still trying to figure out the balance of both.
• I experience seasonal shedding.  During the late fall into winter, my hair tends to shed more than normal.  It used to worry me, but my hair goes through phases of shedding and only grows some more over time.  I monitor it closely, and I realize it's nothing more than norm for me.  How do I know?  My hair is not thinning, I have not lost density, and my hair is growing right along.
• My hair loves heavy cremes and butters.  My hair needs emollients to seal in moisture.  Shea butter is always a winner or products containing shea butter work well for my hair.  Light weight products really don't do much for me.
• K.I.S.S:  Keeping it short and simple!  The best regimen is a simple regimen.  I got past the PJ (product junkie) phase a long time ago and I don't have use for every "holy grail" known to man.  I don't own a steamer, a diffuser, and all that "extra".  I just need the bare essentials and my hair is perfectly happy.

There you have it!  My Winter 2012 Hair Regi!

My Hair Story: Introducing Nina!

When I started this blog, I had no idea the direction I wanted to take it.  I just kinda started writing whatever came to my mind.  I have so much to talk about that I tend to get a little scatter-brained at times, but I think that's ok!  I like variety.  I haven't really discussed my hair and there is no better time than the present!  My hair story begins like this:

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who was awe-stricken by the dopeness of natural hair!  She had a friend who had the most beautiful, kinky, curly tresses she had ever seen and wondered how she was able to achieve that look.  It was edgy, fashion forward, bold and it was au naturelle!  I started doing research on natural hair in 2007.  I'd never seen relaxer-free hair from this perspective before, and I loved it!  It wasn't "nappy" or dirty or unkempt.  It was beautiful!  As many of us, I was brought up to think that our natural hair was unacceptable, unprofessional, and unmanageable.  Relaxers were the end all be all to all things pretty.  Boy, was I wrong and thank God my mindset changed from that warped thinking! 

It started with reading fotki pages, reading blogs, and watching youtube videos.  After awhile, I become obsessed with going natural.  However, I just couldn't see myself cutting my hair down to a short fro.  I decided that cutting my hair was not an option, so I started transitioning in the summer of 2007.

My relaxed hair in 2008

 

Transitioning was so hard for me.  I was trying to wrestle with two textures by doing roller sets, buns, flat-ironing, and kinky twists.  It got redundant and frustrating after a while.  My first attempt, I transitioned for 6 months. In September 2007, I gave up and I'll tell you why.  My good friend was getting married and I was freaking out on what to do with my hair.  With no patience and no options, I folded and got another relaxer.  I was so disappointed in myself.  I regretted my decision.  I wanted to turn things around so in May 2008, I decided to transition again.  I got some cute micro braids to hold me down through the summer months and by August, I started wearing twistouts with my relaxed hair.

Transitioning in August 2008

I was really starting to love my twistouts.  I could only imagine how it would look with my natural hair.  I had been transitioning for about four months at this point.  I continued to do more research and the more I read the more I became anxious to do the big chop. I just wasn't ready to let go of all my length.  It was a losing battle.  I was too worried about how I would look, what people would say, and how I would care for my hair once it was all gone.  I just wasn't ready.  It was an emotional struggle rather than a physical one.  My family really didn't understand why I wanted to go natural, some of my friends thought I was crazy to cut all my hair off.  I was getting feedback on both ends of the spectrum, which made it even harder to go through with it. 

In November 2008, I hit another snag.  This time it was for superficial reasons.  I saw a super cute Gabrielle Union hair cut on the cover of an Essence magazine.  It was so fly, I just had to try it before I went natural.    For my birthday, my stylist and I decided to highlight my hair rather than cut it all off.  She wanted me to think it over, but she was very willing to do it.  I decided to get highlights and a layered bob (see above in black and white dress).  I rocked that style for another 2 months.  

In January 2009, I went for the Gabi do and got yet another relaxer!  *sigh* I know.  I really wanted to try that do as my final hoorah to relaxed hair.  I loved the haircut, but a part of me felt guilty for compromising my hair again.  I wore my hair in that cut for another five months.  My last and final retouch/relaxer was in March 2009.  I never looked back at the creamy crack ever again.  My two BFFs held me accountable until the day of my big chop.  One of them even scheduled my appointment for me to make it official!  On June 13, 2009 at 8:00 AM, my friends and I met at the hair salon and it was that day I took the plunge!  I was anxious, nervous, excited, scared, a big ole bag of emotions.  Emotional, yes, but it was the best decision I ever made!

BC Day: June 2009

I transitioned for 3 months before the big chop.  I fell in love with my TWA the very next day.  After the initial shock wore off, I rocked it like I was the fiercest *itch on the planet! I named her Nina, after the beautiful and sultry singer Nina Simone! I got mixed reactions.  I got mostly positive comments and compliments.  The best compliment came from a woman who said I looked "stunning and regal".  My confidence stock jumped about 50 points from that one!  I was absolutely flattered!

Fast forward to today, I'm almost 3 years post-BC and I'm more and more in love with my hair than ever.  The journey has been awesome with a few little snags, but the best part is getting to know my hair and accepting everything it comes with.  My texture, curl pattern, length, density, it's unique in its own special way.  Below are some favorites and some milestones that I achieved. 

Twist and Curl:  1 Year Post BC (June 2010)

 Flat Twist Out:  2 Years Post BC (July 2011)

Tension Blowout:  29 Months Post BC (Nov 2011)

My 31 month anniversary was January 13th.  I really don't keep up with months in between, but for the sake of this post I remembered.  I'm working towards growing my hair to bra-strap length or BSL.  I don't have much longer to go.  I'm about 2-3" from that goal.  I'm excited to see the progress of my hair.  I don't intend to grow my hair to my waist, but I'll be happy to see it get to mid back length as my ultimate goal.  I'll discuss my current regimen in another post and let you see what I'm doing to maintain and retain length.  

That's my story guys!  Two failed transitions, 3 relaxers, and almost 3 years natural and I'm loving it!  I'm proud of how far I've come!  I'm happy to share my journey with you, too!

 

Finding My Styling Niche!

I don't know about most of you, but I feel like I'm the most style challenged when it comes to creativity with protective styling.  I watch tons of YT videos, and those ladies make everything look like a piece of cake.  Meanwhile, I struggle with the most easy to follow styles.  So I just kinda tweak it towards my own liking, but the original creator's always looks so much better than mine!  LOL!  It can get frustrating, but I'm sure they also experienced some frustrations as they were practicing or perfecting their styles.  It all comes down to the old adage, "Practice Makes Perfect!"

Anywho, I'm trying to narrow my styling down to one per week, and I'm trying to get away from bunning my hair so much.

Today, I wanted something simple and no fuss that wasn't a bun.  I went with Grecian Twists!

I parted my hair straight down the middle and did two large flat twists down each section.  My hair was not stretched enough, so it was a struggle trying to gather all my hair into one twist.  Then I pinned the two flat twists in the back and tucked my ends under.  It's not the cleanest twist, but it's looks aight!

Not bad, huh?  I guess I'll perfect it with more stretched hair.  My hair is so dense.  Pardon the crooked part.  Like I said it was rushed!  LOL!

Protect Ya Ends: Week 2

Hey Dolls!

Week 2 and so far so good.  Week one, I was a little indecisive with how to style my hair so I had quite a few change ups.  I finally settled on the easy no fuss bun to get me through my week and weekend.  Today, I'm sporting another textured bun.  I know that bunning can't be my end all be all to protective styling, because too much of a good thing is not always good.  My edges may take a beating if done too frequently, so I'll be easing up on the bunning starting week 3.  I'll be going back to the tried and true twisted pinups.  By the end of the month, I'll be getting a more long term style (baby twists) to hold me over for about six weeks.  This will help me get through the first quarter of this challenge.  Stay tuned for that.

On another note, I did a length check this weekend.  The first one I've done since late August.  After 4 months, my hair grew a little.  I'm now about 1.5" from the top of my bra strap in the back.  I'm sooooo close!  My hair was more stretched in my August pic.  The January pic is not stretched at all.  I use my tattoo as my guide.  I'm sure by the end of this first quarter I'll be grazing my bra strap indefinitely!  *crossing fingers* Just when I thought my hair wasn't growing...it surprises me, yet again!  Check out my length comparison from August to now!  This is more motivation to see this challenge through even more!  My next length check will be in April.  Here's to another 3" of growth! Here's hoping!

Protect, protect, protect is the theme for 2012!  BSL: Mission in progress!