Hello! I'm back!

I know I said I was done with the natural hair blogging, but for some reason it is really therapeutic for me. I have been coming into my dashboard from time to time checking on all of you and seeing what's new in the world of blogging. I also come on to get pointers and ideas when I am in a hair rut. Thank you all for all of the great fashion and hair ideas. This is better than any magazine I subscribe to.

Update - My hair is doing great! I will be getting it straightened soon to get my ends clipped. I have not straightened my hair in 8 months, so I am a little on the reserve about doing it. I am also going to have another professional coloring done (this time with Aveda coloring) because the two-tone hair is bothering me. I swore off color at first because it dried my hair so badly, but since I am graying in the front and I don't think I would be good at the henna process, I think I will give it another try. Aveda is suppose to be more natural and kinder to your hair, so we will see. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago and I was so happy I could finally get all of my hair up into a ponytail. It is really cold here, so I will be rockin this for awhile.

I will blog here and there when I have a great product to talk about or some new hair techniques. I am always checking your blogs, so keep the greatness coming.

I love my natural texture and I will never change a thing!

Happy loving the natural you!

Hair Update!

Hello all!

Here is an update to my natural hair journey. No more rollers! My routine has become pretty simple.

1.) I cleanse my hair with Miss Jessies Creme De La Curl sulfate free cleanser.

2.) I apply organic virgin Coconut Oil and a handful of Say Yes To Carrots Hair Mud Mask to my strands while wet, then I put on a plastic cap. I let the concoction sit for about 2 hours. (30 mins. if I am pressed for time)

3.) Rinse, then I apply a little Herbal Essence Hello Hydration (watered down) to my hair. I comb through, section hair, then twist in about 8 to 12 twist.

4.) Air dry, untwist, and go!

I will be trying a rod/straw set next week, so I will post pics of the results.

Happy Naturals!

Hola!

Since I have been away for a few weeks, I decided to put up some more updates of my natural hair journey. I wanted to show those of you who are natural or who are thinking about going natural how easy it is to go from kinky to straight without the use of harsh chemicals. The dates don't coincide, but this is how my hair looks after it is pooed. The latter pictures are the finished result of a good blow dry and flat iron.

At first I decided not to straighten my hair that often, but lately I have been flat ironing it twice a month. I am going to color it (need some sometime sprucing) and rock my curly afro for a while and I will post pictures of the results later. (Whether good or bad - Let's hope good)

Happy Hair!!!!!!!

My Afro!

Well ladies, I finally decided to wear my hair totally out for work. I got up this morning, gave myself an apple cider vinegar rinse, pooed my hair with Miss Jessie Creme Poo, applied some olive oil and a little Moroccan Oil, sat under the dryer for about 15 minutes (had to because it is cold here), fluffed, got dressed, and out the door I went. I was not in the mood for rolling or twisting my hair. I was also tired of all the product buildup I was experiencing (I had not done my hair for 11 days). Well, here are my results! I like it, and I will rock it this way more in the summer when I can keep it wet and moisturized to highlight the curl pattern better.

I will embrace my natural hair texture and stop trying to manipulate it!

But the roller set and twist-out will still be my go-to style! (haha)

Detangling!

Hello Ladies! (Above Pic is my dream "do")

I enjoy wearing my hair natural, but the one thing I dread is dealing with tangles when I cleanse my hair. Everyone sheds about 100 hairs a day. I don't comb my hair for days at a time, so when I cleanse, all the hair is tangled in my nest. I am a long term transitioner, so I am dealing with semi-relaxed ends in certain areas of my hair. Because of this, my ends tangle the most. I received a ton of help from curlynikki's sight as well as many other blogs and YouTube tutorials, so I thought I would be of assistance to someone else. I hope this helps someone out there who is dealing with the "tangles".



My routine is to cleanse my hair, whether it is by co-washing or pooing with a poo that does not contain sulfates. I use Neutrogena Anti-Residue Shampoo or HPO Hair & Body Shampoo. I then apply a lot of conditioner to my hair, divide my hair into four sections, then I take my shower. For me, this allows the conditioner to soak in and melt away the tangles. After I have done my business, I proceed to detangle each section with my fingers first, then I use a large, wide-toothed comb. After I have detangled each section, I rinse without using too much friction from my hands, then I gently blot my ends to prevent a lot of drip. Now some sites suggest leaving some conditioner in your hair when you rinse, but I hate having dripping hair all over my back, so I rinse totally, blot my ends, then I apply a quarter size dollop of conditioner to my wet hair and comb through. Presto! No more tangles!

This has helped me so much with my routine and I don't dread cleansing as much. This also works well as long as I do my hair once every 4 to 7 days. If I wait any longer (7 is actually too long) my hair is a tangled mess and requires much longer to detangle.



My favorite conditioners to use for this process are numbered by most favorite and are as follows:



1. Herbal Essence Hello Hydration (my hair loves this stuff)

2. Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship (my hair loves this also - smells great!)

3. Herbal Essence Totally Twisted

4. Aussie Moist


It took some time for my hair to become accustomed to being natural, so be patient. Your curls will learn to behave but they will do them when they are ready. The key is to keep up a routine and moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!

You can use what works best for you, but the above are my top choices and they are the four that have provided me with the best slip. (Trust-I have tried many) Slip is needed to help melt the tangles away. You also want to stick with a cheaper brand because you use a lot to get the tangles to melt without much manipulation. They are cheap, but they are great on my hair. I always thought cheap products did not work but boy was I wrong!



Happy Detangling!

Here's Mitzi - Again!

I thought I would post this again for my natural sistas who may have missed it!

I tried the mixture Mitzi mentioned below and my hair loves it!

Well ladies, here is another natural beauty who has so kindly allowed me to feature her and her natural hair tips for all of my followers. This beautiful lady is extra special to me because she is one of the reasons I decided to go natural. After seeing her hair in Honey Magazine years ago, I said to myself "I wish my hair could look like that". Well, I am on my way and I hope Mitzi's tips can help others achieve a healthy, natural head of hair! Now remember, all natural hair textures are different, but all natural hair textures are beautiful. It's all about embracing your pattern and taking the steps to properly care for it. If you do this, you will have a beautiful head of hair, no matter how you choose to rock it!

Mitzi Miller is an award-winning journalist and the bestselling author of five books, including the wildly popular Scholastic/Point 3- book teen series, Hotlanta. A contributing writer for Essence, Miller also regularly contributes entertainment and relationship stories, as well as biting commentary and first-person pieces to a wide array of magazines, including Elle (U.K.), Uptown, and SET Magazine. Her extensive television experience includes regular appearances on VH1’s humorous list shows, as well as ABC’s top-rated morning show, Good Morning America, and The Food Network.

When not pursuing writing and television opportunities, Miller is a skilled public speaker who has appeared at various forums and seminars nationwide including the 2009 Young Women’s Empowerment Summit at Long Island University; The Freshman Honors Reception at Florida A&M University; and Essence Magazine’s Image of Black Women in Media Panel.

Miller resides in my fave New York City. You can keep up with her daily drama at her personal blog: http://www.mitzimoments.blogspot.com/

Here's Mitzi's routine:

OK, so for the record- I LOVE wearing my hair chemical free!

I made a spontaneous decision to cut off all the perm portions of my hair when I was a sophomore at Florida A&M University in 1995 and have not looked back since. Okay well, maybe once or twice on the days when my hair is giving me major attitude, I see a fabulous weave or it's freezing outside and the 'fro won't fit under a knit hat. But those moments never compare to the sensation of feeling of the natural texture of my own natural curls.

Honestly, I've tried a million products on my hair. But nothing works better than a little leave-in concoction my hairstylist Edris (who I HIGHLY recommend to anyone with natural hair) shared with me a few years back Its a combination of 3/4th natural Aloe gel (you can purchase this in any health food store) and 1/4 olive oil (you can actually use any type of perfumed oil you like, lavender, etc. I choose the olive b/c I prefer little to no fragrance). The oil keeps my curls moisturized while the aloe gel provides a light hold for the curls.

Here's how to 'make' it:

Pour to two ingredients into a container and mix together completely (if the container has a top, you can just shake it vigorously). Saturate your hair completely by running your fingers through small sections of your hair from root to tip. And voila, you're good to go! Depending on the amount of time you have, you can either air dry or use a hairdryer.
This leave-in conditioner is way affordable, easy-to-make and the best part?

No chemicals to dry out or damage the hair!

Much thanks to Mitzi for sharing with us!

Much love to her and the hair is fabulous!

I will definitely be adding this to my summer regimen!

Happy Hair!

Hair Update!

Hello ladies! Here are some pics of my progress during my affair of hair.

1st pic - August 10th, 2009

All other pics - December 9th, 2009

I saw my fabulous stylist, Marie Simone of Shi Salon, and she gave me my quarterly snip. I know some naturals don't believe in trimming the ends on a regular basis, but I have a routine where I get mine trimmed every four months. I do this to ward off split ends and to see how my hair is doing. I can only tell how my hair is doing when it is straightened and since I cannot do this myself(and I will never try), I have to visit the salon. I had about an inch cut off because I am trying to remove all relaxer off my ends. My hair has grown so much since my last visit(August 2009). I was surprised to see the growth and I am glad to know I did not have any breakage.

I will give another update in April.

Happy Growing!

Question!

This question is to my natural hair readers.

How often do you co wash, shampoo, whatever your routine a week? I am finding that I am really lazy when it comes to this. I am a full time student and a full time employee and I have a life, so the last thing on my schedule sometimes is my hair(next to laundry).

Since I have the pin-up, I find myself only co washing once every seven days, but I read where people do their hair every three to four days. Please let me know what works best for you because I am noticing more shedding since I am waiting and I wonder if this is good. I know not combing through your hair for seven days will result in shedding, but I just want to hear what you all think.

Thanks for any feedback.

Much Love!

Lazy in the Lou!

Hair Update!

Well ladies, I did another nice "chop" of hair to rid myself of those straight, relaxed ends. Here are some pics of a twist out that for some reason looks like a roller set. Oh well, I rocked it for 4 days, then I went to my trusted pin-up for 3 more days. The picture of me and the girls is an example of my pin-up. It's blurry because it was taken with a friend's Sprint phone. SORRY!

My pal LaCasey and I at the office on jean Friday!

I barely untwisted the back because I liked the curl pattern (all natural)

HAPPY HAIR!

Tips For Transitioners

Hello Ladies!



Since I am going natural, I am always looking for tips to keep this process smooth. I want to share some tips I received from the Kinky-Curly website http://kinky-curly.com/ that I think are very helpful. These tips are also on http://www.curlynikki.com/ throughout the site, but I thought I would put them all right here for you. (Especially you Sweet T-bits!)



TRANSITIONER'S TIPS
Are you ready to go natural? Not ready to do the ‘BIG CHOP’ and cut off all of your relaxed hair just yet? Here are some tips to help you make the transition from relaxed hair to a full head of beautiful, healthy, natural hair without cutting it all off right away!*



Remember, you cannot wash a relaxer out. The structure of your hair has been chemically altered and no amount of shampoo or vinegar can remove a relaxer from your hair. You must either grow it out or cut it off.*



The line of demarcation is the area where your new growth meets your relaxed hair, which is very weak and prone to breakage. It is important to keep your hair moisturized and detangled in order to avoid breakage. Always use a wide-tooth comb and good detangling conditioner such as KNOT TODAY TM.*



Do not use heated styling tools during your transition. A blow dryer with a comb attachment can stretch and break the hair. A flat iron or pressing comb used regularly or even just once at too high a temperature can burn the cuticle layer and damage the natural hair that is growing in. High temperatures from heated styling tools can break the sulfide bonds of our hair which can cause your hair to straighten out resulting in many different textures on your head. *



Opt for styles that will blend the two different textures of hair such as roller sets, straw sets or two-strand twist sets. Use of a good styling serum such as SPIRAL SPRITZ TM will ensure a longer lasting frizz free style. Other style such as braids, flat twists or individual twists also work well to protect the hair and blend the two textures *



Trim hair regularly during the transition phase as your natural hair grows in cutting off a bit of relaxed ends each time.*



Heal your scalp to prevent 'scab hair'. After years of applying chemical relaxers to our scalp our follicles may become damaged. The shape of the follicle determines the texture of our hair and as new hair grows in through a damaged follicle the result can be dry, rough hair also known as scab hair. A healing scalp tonic enriched with aloe vera can prevent or minimize this. *



When your hair has reached a length that you are comfortable with you can now cut off the remainder of the relaxed hair. You can now enjoy the versatility of having natural hair. Some of the styles you used to transition with can still be used now that you are 100% natural. You can roller set on large rollers for a straight/wavy look or twist or braid set for a crinkly look. And best of all you can now sport a wash and go look using CURLING CUSTARD TM Apply to wet hair out of the shower, air dry or use a diffuser and go.



Happy Transitioning!

Wonderful Information

I know a lot of my friends and followers are still relaxing, so I don't want to leave you out when it comes to healthy hair information. I was surfing the web and found a great video and her growth amazed me. This is a great example of what commitment and patience will give you in return with regards to taking care of your hair. To see more and get some great tips, go to

http://von-nique.blogsopt.com


Happy Hair!

Conditioning Treatments

I thought it would be a great idea to share conditioning routines. I have run into a lot of sistas who are baffled at how to manage their natural hair and keep it soft and tamed. I was once one of them and curlynikki's sight helped me, so I hope this will help someone else.

My routine is as follows:

1. I co-wash once a week with either Herbal Essence Hello Hydration or Totally Twisted, Garnier Fructis, or Pantene Nature Fusion conditioners. (I do not use shampoo at home because I still see my stylist once/twice a month and she uses a non-sulfate shampoo - I am looking for a clarifying shampoo though to remove the buildup from co-washing) I run my fingers through my hair to remove tangles, then I use a wide toothed comb to distribute the conditioner.

(Use a lot of conditioner and water)

2. After I rinse thoroughly, I apply Carol's Daughter Tui Hair Smoothie and Aveda's Dry Hair Remedy Hair Mask (both) and I don a plastic cap for about two to three hours.

3. I rinse, then apply a little Mixed Chicks conditioner or a little Hello Hydration to my hair and I rod set or twist. (I am now using either the Cantu Shea Butter or Carol's Daughter Mimosa Hair Honey on my ends before roding or twisting.)

This gives me soft but manageable hair for one week and combats breakage at the new growth line!

This may not work for everyone, but I am sure it will help someone.

Please share your routine! I am always looking for new ideas!

Also, if you are not natural but have a great routine, still share because a great routine will work for any hair texture as long as it moisturizes.

Happy Hair!

Progress Report

Hi Beauties! I just wanted to share with you my progress. My curl pattern is becoming much pronounced. I had a lot of the ends cut off last week. As you can see, the first picture shows a bunch of straight, stringy, relaxed pieces. Now, the strands are thicker and curlier.

Yeah, the relaxer is almost out of here!

July - After co-wash (No product left in - just water)
August - After co-wash (no product left in - just water)

Happy Hair!