Straw Set

New Straw Set on Natural Hair. I should have taken a picture of my hair before it was set. but here is a picture of my hair set on straws.

Took her about 2+ hours just to set it on the straws. Then I sat under the dryer for 30 minutes and then she pulled the straw out and just fingered the curls. I like it. And here it is today at work!

OK back to work I go!

And I'm back on my journey!!!

So I guess you are wondering where I've been for almost a year? Well.... I had a baby so my focus was on being pregnant and preparing for my new son to arrive. Needless to say my blogging took a back seat. But the good thing is that I wore braids from December until last week (August 12) and now I only have about 2 inches of relaxed hair left on my head!! I can't believe it!!! I'm going to the beauty shop next week and I will probably let her just cut off those last two inches. Tonight, I after Evan goes to bed, I plan to play with my hair. I'm going to wash it and probably straighten it. I want to try some natural styles, but since I have somewhere to go tomorrow morning I will play it safe and do what I know will look sort of decent. :-)
I promise to post pictures. I just wanted to get my first post in my blog out since it's been so long. I'm excited about my journey, but also a little intimidated by my hair. I've never been with out a perm and now it's been 15 months!!!
Let the journey begin!
TTFN

It's been a minute

It's been a minute since I've posted. I've been a little preoccupied lately. Other things on my mind, but never the less I'm still growing my relaxer out! I now know WHY my momma gave me a perm at a young age! My hair is SOOOOO thick and the curls are very tight. I mean, when my hair is wet now, it totally swells up (like that swifter mop commercial) and very hard to comb trough! So with that said, I'm praying for a healthy baby, but hoping for a boy. WHEW!

I've been getting my hair pressed every 2-3 weeks depending on what I have going on. My beautician complains about the thickness of my hair, but compliments me on how healthy it has been since saying NO to the relaxer.
I haven't purchased any new products lately but here are a few that are on my list:

Denman Volumizing Brush - I need a better brush to use when I try to blow my hair straight myself. My ionic blowdryer comes with a comb option but it's not a very good one.

Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla Leave-in Conditiner - I hear this is great for detangling your hair, but not so good on moisture. I'm going to keep researching this and other leave ins. Let me know if you have one you like.

Well comb? - This is something that my BFF Kristen told me about. I'm still trying to find the correct spelling so that I can research it, but she said she uses it when she flat irons her hair and it makes it very smooth and less frizzy. I'm assuming its some type of setting/styling lotion. I will get back to you on that one.

Well, that's all I know. Keep reading, I'll try to post monthly!
TTFN!

My hair is doing well!

I'm so excited to report that my hair is doing well!!!! I have minimal breakage and shedding!!!! I got to give it up to my weekly deep conditioners and saying NO to the flat iron!!! LOL

Here's a pic of my hair from a this past Saturday. I got it pressed last Thursday and it has held up so nicely!




This is me and my friend Melanie. It was her baby shower. I look really greasy in this picture, but that's because I was working my booty off at the shower running around being hostess! :-)


I took my own products to the salon last Thursday. I felt kind of bad doing that, but I wanted to see how well these Fusion products would work if my beautician did my hair. I was very pleased with the softness and body of my hair. I don't know how my beautician liked the products (she didn't say one way or another), but I surely liked the end result. My hair was shiny, not greasy and definitely not weighed down because of whatever OIL/GREASE or PRESSING CREAM she normally would use.

I know I keep saying I'm going to try someone else, but I haven't had time to really look for someone so for now as long as I can manage to keep my hair healthy on my own and get a press every now and again, then I can keep going to her.

If interested the fusion products I speak of are from Details Express Salon
It is a 6 step process:
1 - Refresh Detoxifying Shampoo - eliminates calcium and sodium build up on hair
2 - Refresh Hydrating Shampoo - adds moisture
3 - Restore Triple Conditioning Therapy - deep conditioner
4 - Replenish Leave-in Conditioner - setting lotion and thermal protector
5 - Fusion Conditioning Serum - protect the hair cuticle when blowing it dry
6 - Fusion Finishing Sealer - protects hair from humidity and moisture after the ionic fusion straightening process

I do all six steps if I'm using heat on my head and it definitely makes my hair feel soft, smooth and light.

TTFN!

Hair progress

A watched pot doesn't boil so I decided to give my posting a break.

hair progress...
In the last two weeks, I have conditioned weekly and tried Curlformers on my hair. Last Thursday I had some leftover egg yokes that I didn't need in a cake that I made so I used it as a pre-poo on my hair. It was quite messy. I read that eggs can be a protein treatment but it will definitely take more than one time to see results. This isn't something I think I will do too often. LOL


What I decided to do is go see my beautician again on this Thursday. I will get a APhogee protein treatment, trim and press. My ends have gotten very straggly and they feel dry compared to the rest of my hair. Daily, I still see a lot of short strands in the sink and I'm trying not to be discouraged. I figured a good trim would help. I really need to try more protective styles and stop flat ironing as much. Right now I only use it once a week (when I wash it and flat iron it for the first time), but I really want to find more styles so that I don't have to flat iron it at all for a while. The curlformers were fun but only lasted 4 days and it took my friend over an hour to set my hair. I guess I will just have to invest the time.

I want to co-wash my hair tonight but the problem is what to do with it if I don't flat iron it? Two-strand twists did NOT work for my hair. I think my hair is too straight. My hunt for an easy daily do continues.


Ta Ta for now....

Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Avocado!

I just read this article about Avocado and the healthy skin and hair benefits that are associated with it and I had to pat myself on the back! I had planned to use avocado in my hair tonight!! About 2 years ago I was reading about pre-poos on www.longhaircareforum.com. Pre-poo is short for a pre shampoo treatment. You can do this with plenty of different items that will help your hair with moisture, shine, and softness. Sort of like a hot oil treatment. Well, I had read about many different concoctions that people have tried for their pre-poos and I wanted to make one myself. I did it a few times back in 2008 and I really liked how my hair felt afterwards, but it definitely takes time and I think that's why I had stopped doing them.
Here's what I did and what I plan to do tonight:
Create my pre-poo mixture -

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) - I really like EVOO for hair.
Avocado - I will probably use a half of one
Honey - to make it thicker maybe? not sure why I used honey before
conditioner - just any old conditioner that I already have

Mix together and warm in microwave for about 30-60 seconds.
Part my hair in sections and paint on mixture at roots sort of like you would a relaxer.
Then work it in all of my hair and definitely put it on the ends.
Cover with a plastic cap and wait about an hour. I will probably use my Heat Therapy Wrap that I bought a few weeks ago.
After an hour I will rinse it out, then shampoo as normal followed by my weekly deep conditioning treatment (30mins).
Blow Dry and Flat Iron ( haven't used either since last Tuesday!!!)
WHEW!!! I told you this takes time. I probably won't finish all of this until 10PM.
Pre-poos are great when you have the time. I'm making the time tonight because my hair needs some TLC right now. I hope to keep up the hard work but I know this may get tedious.

Here's the article if you want to read about what they say about avocados. They even have a Avocado Conditioner Recipe at the bottom of the article.

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/ingredients/luscious-avocado?utm_source=nc_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20100727

Lots of support

I'm feeling the love! I've gotten a lot of support from my friends. I posted my thoughts about going natural on Facebook and I had an out pour of from new, old and current friends! I've received calls, emails, and many friends that I run into all asking me about my journey and sharing their stories with me! It has been really encouraging! Thank you all!



So I thought I'd post a pic of my current hair length. This was when I flat ironed it last week. I don't know what my length goal is right now, because I know with this transition, I may do a LOT of trimming. We'll just see how it goes for now.
Saturday I washed and deep conditioned my hair and tried to two strand twist it for the first time. It felt like it took forever!!! I twisted, then undid it and twisted again and again. I decided to let it air dry so I took it out Sunday morning before church and WHEW!!!!!! Wasn't what I expected at ALL!!!!! I thought I'd be able to wear it out and crinkly but yeah, that wasn't working. I had to pull it back in a sort of half up, half down due that I usually do with my roller-sets. I thought about posting a pic, but I don't like it so No pic. :-)
I just finished re-twisting my hair and I actually think I'm getting the hang of twisting it. Practice makes perfect!

Schooling You:

I started looking at my ends to see if I have any that are split. I look often because this can also be a major problem with chemically processed hair. I really wish i had a microscope so that I could examine my hair at like 10,000 times zoom!!!! I started looking it up and you get split ends when the protective cuticle has been stripped away from the ends of hair fiber. The picture is of a strand of hair that is damaged by chemicals. Picture from chicagonow.com.

Things that cause split ends:
Excessive heat from curling irons or hair dryers
Coloring products
Relaxers
Not enough moisture

I'm guilty 3 of the 4 things listed and plan to TRY TRY TRY to moisturize my hair. I'm now in search of a daily moisturizer that I can use that will not be too greasy but will keep my conditioned! Those are my ends below. They need help but they aren't split :)
I will let you know what daily moisturizer I end up trying. Ta Ta For Now.