My new hair crack

I have never used gels before. Scratch that..I did use Jam when I was younger, but that's when I was wearing strictly ponys and it's not a 'real' gel IMO. But, I have found a new hair crack.

Fantasia IC Hair Polisher Styling Gel...better known as IC Fantasia.

If you could be in love with a hair product, this would be my first love. After watching videos on YouTube regarding wash-n-go styles, many of the women suggested this gel. I decided to buy it one day at the store. (I'm trying to not turn into a product junkie..but it's really hard...)

This gives me the curly look that I want out of my hair!!! I have never been so happy. But, I realized that by the end of the day, my hair feels dry. I need to add more moisture to my hair next time, but I'm not dropping my crack. I'm in love! and I got it bad!!!

Dream Hair??

Usually when someone takes this journey (to natural hair), they have dream hair in mind. Don’t tell me you don’t have dream hair. Just as you have a dream house, dream car and dream man/woman, there is also DREAM HAIR. Dream hair is the hair you’d love to have.

For me my dream hair was Teyana Taylor. I love her big hair and how she wears it! (still on the fence whether or not it’s a weave)

So, what's your dream hair??

(image source)

Good Hair

I really look forward to seeing this movie. With all the pressures on black women that start with our hair, it will nice to see all these stereotypes aired. Maybe then we can get over our hair.

Now that I'm natural, I can really see the issues. Why is wearing MY NATURAL hair such a problem?? How unfair is it to black women to made to feel like their hair, the hair they were born with, is WRONG. The only way to correct it is to LYE to yourselves? If you like your perm, fine. But, now that I'm going thru this process, I LOVE MY HAIR.

I have never really embraced my hair before. I always thought that you were supposed to get a relaxer. That's just what I had to do. My hair was supposed to be straight. Go figure, I had another option.

Not hair related...but...

I just thought this was so cute. I got this the other day from Ten23 Designs. Nice way to add some flair to your laptop. This is a vinyl decal, so it's removable and versatile! I love the turquoise color!!!

You like it?

Haircessory You'll Love!

I really hate not having internet at home. I feel like someone cut off my right arm!!! Who knew I was so dependent on the NET?!?!? Anywho…
I love my headbands and accessories for my hair. With having a TWA (Teenie Weenie Afro), I think accessories are the only way to make it look kept up (my opinion). Mainly, it’s not at the point where I can just wear it. I think I look like a weird afro lady when I don’t have an elastic band and/or headband on.

So, the other day, when I was shopping at one of my favorite Etsy shops, Ten23Designs (shameless plug for a friend :P), I started searching for accessories for my hair. I came across KitMit who makes these cute reversible headbands (nothing I love more than reversible stuff!).

They fit snuggly to the head and I love the patterns she provides. Today, I have on an elastic headband to pull my hair back with this headband over it. I probably didn’t even need the elastic one. And since this is a fabric headband, you don't have to worry about it digging into your skull behind your ears (don't you hate that???). The perfect headache-free hair headband!!!

Til next time...

Review: Jane Carter Solutions Condition & Sculpt

*it's hard to see in the picture, but my hair is really curly!*

So, last night after my workout, I co-washed my hair with Organix Vanilla Silk conditioner. As you should know, I use a million different conditioners on my hair. So far, Organix seems to work the best.

Anywho, while my hair was still damp, I added coconut oil and Design Essentials Therapeutic Leave-In conditioner. Then I applied about a quarter size of Jane Carter Solutions that I got from Curly Nikki to my hair. I rubbed it in as best I could all over. I didn’t see much of a result last night as I let my hair air dry. So, when I went to bed, the crown was still damp.

This morning, I re-wet my hair a lil (b/c if felt dry – simply rubbed water over my head). I brushed my edges down before I put on my elastic head band. After re-wetting my hair, I could see a difference in my hair. My curls were more defined and a lil firm. Although, I had a little bit of shrinkage, I like the way the product makes my hair look. Much more curly and a lot less afroy.

I think this will really work well when my hair is longer. All in all I would say this is a good product to have for any junkie!

The ingredients are:


Deionized Water, Anthemis Noblis Flower (Camomile), Symphytum Officinal Leaf (Comfrey), Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail), Urtica Dioica (Nettle), Rosemarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf, Humulus Lupulus (Hops), Lawsonia Inermis (Henna), Certified Organic Essential Oils: Lemon, Vanilla extract, Panthenol, Polyquarternum 11, Phenoxyethanol.

Crazy Dream..

I had a crazy dream last night about hair type. In my dream my hair morphed into type 2B hair. Very defined spiral curls. Weird, I know.

Hair Type is a big topic among black women. As many of us still think of certain hair types being ‘good hair’. Also, know your hair type will help you when you choose products that works best for your hair.

Most black women fall among these hair types. Looking at my hair, I seem to have mostly 3C with some 3B in the back of my neck. Now, depending on what you read, your self diagnosed hair type will be different. I’ve read that you must get your hair soaking wet in order to determine your hair type. Other places have said that you’re hair needs to be dry. I used the wet method. With the wet method it was easier to see what type of curls I had.

I haven’t had a chance to use the Jane Carter Solutions Conditon & Sculpt yet. Hopefully tonight, I’ll be able to do it. At the moment, my internet connection at home is JACKED (as my friend likes to call everything now adays! Lol). So, until I get a hack to get back on line at home (I know, I’m dying!), I’m going to have to figure out how to upload pictures of the finished product once I try this stuff. Give me a minute though, I’ll be back online soon!

Til next time…

Wash-n-Go

I need to watch YouTube tonight. I’m trying to figure out how I can get my hair to look more curly and less afro-y (my word, don’t look it up).

This morning I attempted a Wash-n-Go. More like a Wet-n-Go. When I woke up this morning, my hair looked matted and dry. So, I decided to loosen up the curls by running warm water over my hair. I tried to leave as much water as I could. As you could imagine, I was dripping all over the floor. I applied Tui Hair Oil, Design Essentials leave-in conditioner and Soft & Beautiful Botanicals Lite Crème Moisturizer. My attempt was to achieve the wet n curly look. But, only a few pieces of my head look wet n curly. The rest looks like a fro with curly ends. Yeah, I know..weird. Especially since I now see the 2 different hair types I have in my head (drastically different!).

So, I’ll try it again tomorrow. For being runner-up in the contest, Curly Nikki sent me a sample of Jane Carter Solutions Conditon & Sculpt. Per the bottle, ‘for taming curls and frizz and for wet looks’. TA-DA. I’ll try this tomorrow and see if I can achieve the ‘wet look’ with this product.

Til next time....

Irritated!

Why am I irritated? Well, I wanted to touch on the fact that my dad hated my hair.

His reaction irritated me (now that I think about it). Sure, that's his reaction and I'll always be his baby girl blah blah blah...

But, why in the Sam Hill (something my co-worker always said 'Sam Hill') does it matter whether I cut my hair our not? I feel like singing India Erie, I AM NOT MY HAIR.

Wouldn't you think that you would just be happy? But, I have to be going thru something in order to do something so drastic. I wanted to cut my hair. I have been battling with my hair and wanting to go natural. But, my fear of others reactions stopped me.

When he told me he hated my hair, I told him 'Oh well, IT'S JUST HAIR and it will grow back!'. He just kept repeating "I just don't like it, what are you going thru".

I'm going thru CONTROL!

Til Next Time...

Carefree Hair

I have enjoyed a weekend full of carefree hair! I hadn't done JACK to my head. Not even comb it. I've kept it moisturized with leave in conditioner and oils. That's been about it. But, I have loved having my hair short.

I think if I ever was to get a relaxed style, it would be something like Halle Berry's short hair style. I'll work on getting the figure too...

So far the only super negative feedback I've received is from my dad. He hates my hair. lol. He told me so this evening. Also, told me that if I was young enough, he'd whoop me for cutting my hair. HA!

Til next time...

So..I cut off all my hair

“Mommy, your hair looks JACKED UP” ~ 5 year old son

“I wouldn’t do it, but if you’re happy, I’m happy” ~ 11 year old daughter

“I like it. You look artsy & smarter” ~ Friend

“WOW” ~ Step-Mom

“Did you get a haircut? I like it!” ~ Manager

“Zoinks” ~ Co-Worker

“OMG, Thank God it’s CUUUTTTTEEEEE” ~ Best Friend

“Love it” ~ Friend

“Sexy” ~ Co-Worker

Most others around me (mom & Dad hadn’t even seen it yet) that have seen my hair, hadn’t really said much. Kinda like ‘no biggie’. For me, which is cool!

After I wrote the post about fear controlling my reason for not cutting my hair, it bothered me. I don’t like being scared of something that I can control (not like my fear of palmetto bugs..eeewww). And…it’s just hair! Why have I had a complex all these years about having short hair?? It was the fear of what others would say. How would they look at me, etc. Last night, I didn’t care!

So, with scissors in hand, I took my fear on and just cut my hair. At one point, I even contemplated stopping. I was at the point where I can just pony it up. But, I had to let go of my comfort zone. I wanted to embrace change. I needed too.

After I cut it, I didn’t feel anything. LOL. O.k. wait…I did feel in control. But, I was neither happy nor sad. I was ‘whatever-it’s short now. Now what?’

So coming to work today, I didn’t feel the least bit worried about others reactions. I love how I look regardless of what my hair looks like. I feel I let go of my ‘hair issues’.

My only beef now is, Why didn’t I do this sooner?

Wordless Wednesday - Scissors Won!

Before
After...
Transitioned for 5 months (Feburary 2009-July 2009)

Being a Punk!

I’ve always been a simple maintenance type of girl. But, right now, my hair is working my maintenance nerves. Last night, I had scissors in had, ready to just cut it all of. What stopped me?

FEAR!

Fear of what I will look like with a TWA (Teenie Weenie Afro). I’ve never had short-short (different than just short) hair before. The shortest I’ve had my hair was just below my ears and that was in high school….and relaxed. Most of my life, I’ve had my safety net of a ponytail when having a bad hair day (like today).

Fear of the stigma from having short hair. Hair is very important to black women (not all, but most) and going natural is a big thing for us. Many of us think about it, but the fear of actually doing it is what makes us go back for another relaxer. You can look at black hair magazines and not see many natural hair styles. Mostly are relaxed hair styles…even the short hair ones. So, going from straight to a natural curly texture is scary to say the least.

I know I’m being a punk about my hair. I'll get over it soon...

2nd attempt Bantu Knots Results

O.k. so, I did my Bantu Knots last night dry. I didn't' wet my hair (because my hair seems to never dry by the time I wake up!). I wanted to see what kind of results I would get dry. Maybe I would get the same ones from last time. I took them out this morning and I love how they came out.

They're more wavy and not spiraly (my word). It's hard to tell from the cell phone picture but they looked good.

Until...I went out side. My hair sucked all the moisture from the hair and stored it! Then with the magic of animation turned into a frizzy mess (o.k no animation, but yes frizzy mess). I looked a hot mess by the time I dropped my son off at daycare. Sooooo, before I even got to work this morning, my hair was back in a ponytail. Trying to conceal the frizzyness that was my head!

It's getting even harder to not take scissors to my head!!!

I'm a winner!

O.k. it was only runner up! But still honored.
I entered Curly Nikki's contest for Kinky Curly Curling Custard. I had to write a Haiku.

Here it is in the picture. My wonderful friend who does vinyl designs made this for me. Thanks Lauren of Ten23 Designs, it looks beautiful!!!!

Thanks Curly Nikki for the contest!!!

Picture Day : Good Bantu Knots Out.

This was the first time I tried Bantu Knots back in May and I haven't been able to duplicate this style since. My Bantu Knots never turn out this way again!!

Trying to remember what I did. I think my hair was dry and straight. This was early on in the transition process and I didn't have a lot of new growth. But, I just love how this turned out!!! Kinda carefree and cute!!

I think I'm going to try this again tonight. Maybe I can get this style one more time!

Happy almost 4th

This weekend I plan on eating me some ribs!!! My dad BBQ'd before he went out of town. So, the cookout is ON!!!! Doesnt' that picture look good. I'm getting hungry!!

I don't know about you transitioners, but every weekend that goes by it gets harder to not make an appt at SuperCuts or somewhere to get my hair cut. I feel like I'm ready, but I'm trying to hold out and transition. I know if I get my hair cut, I'll miss my ponytails that I love so much. But, I do know that a wash-n-go is probably so much easier. I think the initial shock of having short-short hair might be a bit much. But, I just want to see what my hair looks like already. I swear, why does it take so long for hair to grow.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a good weekend. I'm going to try and take some pictures of whatever hairstyle I do this weekend.

Til next time..

Finger Combing

*note, this is not me in the picture. Picture taken from here*

Finger combing your hair, especially during transition, can save your hair a lot of damage. Granted you don’t get the ‘laid down’ look you want but you can achieve a workable style.

I went to bed last night without re-rolling my hair. I was frustrated with my perm rods b/c the ends kept popping off. Every time one popped, I cussed! So, I need to get more from the hair store soon. Anywho…I just put my hair in a loose ponytail last night and tied a scarf around my head and went to sleep.

Well, this morning the scarf was missing and my hair looked crazy. No way was I going to get a comb thru my head. I could have sprayed my hair with my mixture (water, vegetable glycerin, essential oils) but that would have taken too much time and I wasn’t in the mood. Plus, like I said before, I hate getting smudges on my glasses!! So, I decided to finger comb my hair. I only added a little bit of coconut oil. I tried to get as many knots out as I could. My ends were still curly from the other day, so I just put it in a loose ponytail. I put an elastic headband on and I was ready to go.

Now, I’m not one of those chicks that get bothered by my edges. I welcome the curls coming in. If your edges bother you and you want them to lay down, simply add some gel to this routine and a boar bristle brush. Works the same way.

Til next time.

Wordless Wednesday - Old School Hair