June 2010

I was playing in my makeup after taking down a set of bantu knots done on blow dried hair. It was super cute until it met humidity which equaled 0 curls and 10 on the BAAfro scale. I liked my afro but I never fell in love with it. I dont think I did much with my hair in june, but straighten it for my birthday and this style. My hair feigned into a poof on my birthday too but it wasn't as bad as previous experiences. Sorry I dont have any non incriminating pics of me on my bday. That was a really bad pic day for me.

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May 2010

I also found myself defining my curls a lot last summer as well which actually only added to the single strand knot issue more but I just couldnt keep my hands out my hair. Not to mention I was very much so in love with my curls. So here are my long over due wash and go and rinse and go instructions.

Wash N Go
1. Detangle hair with deep conditioner and place in plaits.

2. Rinse hair while still in plaits and allow hair to dry 50% to decrease drying time. (I Found that the size of my plaits and the drying time I allowed before applying gel/defining my curls effect the type of curls I have. I.e. With these results I didnt allow my hair time to dry which added to the frizziness at the roots. But allowing the hair to completely dry before the next step will allow for a more wavy look depending on your natural hair's texture and response to moisture. Which is why the deep conditioning step is so important. Without it your hair will try to suck all the moisture out of the air and product you use. Holding your hair hostage to the frizzies more so than the wash n go style you're trying to achieve.)

3. Unravel a plait and section off 1 inch to 2 inch smaller sections clip the larger portion out of the way.

4. Apply leave-in conditioner (i used hawaiian silky 14 in 1) just enough to lightly give the hair moisture or a light coating depending on how long you let your hair dry. Dont over do it.

5. Then apply gel (i used eco styler clear gel)to the roots in a downward motion and to the length of the hair in a rake and smooth motion. Remember less is more when applying product and the amount of times you rake and smooth. You want to do it enough times where the hair is completely coated with product but not drenched in product.

6. Continue sectioning off 1 inch to 2 inch sections and repeating steps 4-5 until you have completed your whole head.

7. If you like extra volume or full curly hair once you are done applying product flip your head upside down and shake or for more fun turn Willow Smith on and Whip Your Hair.

Rinse N Go (to refresh that 3 day old wash n go)
1. While in the shower lightly rinse your hair remember not to rinse the product out your really just wetting your hair.

2. Lightly pull and squeeze your hair into a ponytail just enough to reactivate the gel. Your not squeezing out the gel mind you. Your hair should feel heavy.

3. Plop and Repeat step seven from above to separate your curls. More shaking/whipping equals more volume/fullness.

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April 2010

So last april I blowed dried my hair and put it into cornrows in hopes of stretching out my hair and minimizing the single strand knots. Unfortunately I was honestly not feeling this style. I kept it for about four days and tried my hand at wet bunning again. Which actually kind of worked out because I found myself doing this for the majority of the summer. However I did get a few styles in.

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Long over due for an update

So what have you been up to?

Life has been a train ride lately so much has changed including my thoughts on my hair. But I've also been busy. I guess i'll have to do some back logging lol for this update. I think that'll be the easiest way to update. So here it goes.... O by the way happy new year!! I'm always late lol.

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Mini Update

Hey, I've played in my hair for the past three months and have had many single strand knots as a result so I've decided to go back to my braids. Right now I'm wearing cornrows. I've discovered that my hair can be knotty and rough and grow slowly when I constantly manipulate it. This has led me to believe that braids are the secret ingredient to get my hair knot free and to keep it soft and highly moisturized almost like a secret ingredient makes hamburgers taste like steakburgers. I know weird analogy but it works. I'll be back later with more details on what I plan to do for the next few weeks.

Happy New Year!!! LOL

Okay I know I'm three months late, but I'm here. I've been trying to get my self together so that means less blogging and stuff, but I have managed to get some of the surprises together for this year.

The first being that I have reopened and updated my fotki (click here) . So some of my old pics which are already in my earlier posts are there including some new pics of what I've done recently with my hair. I've been debating on how frequently I want to update this, not quite sure yet.

The second surprise is that I'm finally on twitter (check the sidebar to the left). Well technically I've been on twitter, but I have not been tweeting because I had no idea of what to tweet. So I've finally come up with my idea of tweeting a Hair Tip of the Day. Sometimes it might be quirky or silly, but I promise to always tweet truthful facts.

Update on challenges

As you know I started on 6 challenges. First the Braiding for 2010 Challenge: I'm completely failing this challenge. After the 6 month HYH challenge I've been wearing my hair out in puffs, rollersets, washing and bunning. I think I've only worn a braids/weave once this year and it was only for two weeks because the hair was horrible it shedded everywhere and... UGH it was a hot mess. Batik is what I used, it usually works for me, but then again I never get color and this time I did and it was horrible. I've been thinking about calling this a quits because honestly I'm sick of braiding my hair and I refuse to pay for something I can do myself.

Valentines Day Challenge: I pretty much didn't keep up with this challenge. I never checked in and on reveal day I had the funky braids/weave, I wish I never did them they caused so much drama the whole two weeks I had them. SO MUCH DRAMA. I won't go into detail. So yeah umm I've been a very bad challenger in regards to these two challenges.

Baggy Challenge: I'm in this for two sessions which equals the whole year. I slacked a little last month by only baggying twice a week instead of four like I stated I would. But I'm going to up this especially since I've planned my exercise schedule to work with my hair washing, styling, and baggying schedule. This helps to make both regimen simple.

Super Healthy Ends Challenge: I have really been into this challenge. I've been super gentle to my ends moisturizing and sealing them everyday and always snipping at my single strand knots. I'm going to reduce my search and destroys to certain days of the month. Because honestly S&D's are extremely time consuming. Its bad enough I spend hours on wash day caring for my hair, but its well worth it.

4 month Ayurveda challenge: I've also been actively participating in this challenge. I wash every weekend with ... We'll talk about Ayurveda in another post. Its in my regimen now lets just leave it there for now.

MBL Challenge: Most of the time I wear a PS ponytail or bun even when i do my rollersets. I'm very paranoid about my hair touching my shoulders. Even though it passes my shoulders now I'm still not comfortable wearing my hair down because sometimes I feel my hair snagging on my shirt. This is a big no no. Also taking care of my ends every night is definitely helping me retain length and I ALWAYS wrap my hair with my silk scarf before I go to bed.

Okay I feel like I'm missing one, but these are the ones that I remember, I'll have to check later for one that I may be missing.

Upcoming

Of course I still have to do my reviews, and those other things, but also coming up is my length check on the 19th of this month. I haven't officially checked my length by flat ironing my whole head since September or October of last year. So I'm super excited to see where I am now. I hope to do more posts once I find a way to publish a post through my phone it always only goes to the edit file... Okay I'm rambling now. Chat and Tweet with you all soon.

Hair Plans for 2010

My house is in order after a super cleaning spree yesterday. I think I went clean crazy. I put on the music and got to work. When I was done, I was ready to relax and browse the hair boards of Long Hair Care Forum. Then I began thinking about all the hair challenges I have signed up for. I have signed up for a total of 5 challenges. All of them work well together. Although I'm still trying to work out some of the kinks for one. Here are my challenges and this should be fun to see how I fair in them.

Challenge ONE- Valentines Day 2 Month Challenge

This challenge has already begun in fact it started on the 14th or 16th of this month and I have been trying to be diligent in this because I believe that I may be able to graze bsl by the end of this challenge. I am truly hoping that this will be the case. What have I been doing for this challenge?

Drinking half a gallon of water daily

Taking my Woman's One A Day and Kelp Vitamins

Moisturizing and Sealing my ends 1-2 times a day and Bagging at night

Protective styling with the exception of Christmas Day and SO's B-Day

Washing once a week

Although I have to admit that I have not DC in about two weeks which is probably why I have resulted to the Baggy method. I do not condone it as a substitute I imagine that if I deep condition and add bagging to compliment that then my hair would probably flourish beyond what I could imagine. I've just been very very lazy lately especially since school has let out for winter break.

Challenge TWO- 4 Month Ayurveda Newbie Challenge

For the past few months I have been researching Ayurveda practices and herbs as well as checking out the threads on them at longhaircareforum.com. I really like what I saw and had been seriously thinking about trying it. Especially since my hair really likes Henna and natural products. When I saw the sign-up thread I couldn't let it pass me by. My current regimen will change when I start this challenge in about a week.

Challenge THREE- 2010 Braid Challenge

This is the challenge that I have been trying to work the kinks out on. I am beginning to be hooked on twists and honestly after the hide your hair challenge I am beginning to grow tired of fake hair. The only thing with this is that I still have enough hair to do two sets of micro braids which could last me about five months. I also don't see myself just braiding my own hair without fake hair. To get myself prepared for this challenge I have been trying to wear my own hair in protective styles. I know eventually I will get tired of my hair and probably will end up braiding it with fake hair unless I can find something more interesting. Sorry for the rambling I'm just trying to figure out how I want to wear my hair. I probably just need a new braid book that always inspires me to go back to them.

Challenge FOUR - 2010 Super Healthy Ends Challenge (Both Sessions)

Although the challenge has not begun I have already begun. This is where the baggy method comes into play. Every day I have been moisturizing my hair with water and cantu shea butter leave in conditioner (review coming soon) 1-2 times a day. Then I seal my ends with unrefined shea butter (the yellow kind). At night after I moisturize and seal I put a plastic shower cap on my head and wrap my hair with a satin scarf. Doing this for the past few days has revived my ends from being hard and crispy almost crunchy to soft and silky. I love it and I don't think I'll ever stop doing it unless my hair tells me to stop. Please do keep in mind that there is a such a thing as too much moisture. Hair can become mushy and the best balance for that is protein. If this were to ever occur I would probably switch out the cantu for a protein leave-in conditioner I have and skip the baggy when I wrap my hair until my hair got back to normal.

Challenge FIVE - 2010 MBL

The Ultimate Challenge for the year. Middle Back Length is the length I hope to be by December 2010. Why? Because I finally graduate from College and nothing, I think, would go better with my cap and gown then long MBL hair. This would be awesome. When I first started thinking about growing out my hair this was my long term goal and APL was my short term goal. Since I started going on to Long Hair Care Forum I have made the goal of APL twice. Once during my transition and now that I am natural. With a little over an inch to BSL, this is my new short term goal, I think I can really make it to MBL by the end of the year. Wish me luck.

Those are the 2010 Challenges at a glance and I need to go eat and get ready for this evening's festivities. So HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! and I'll chat with you all in 2010.