(Somewhat) irrational hair thought of the moment

So for the past few months, I have been trying very hard to avoid the reality of labor and delivery.  And let me tell you, this stage of pregnancy has been hard to avoid.  I swear every BabyCenter newsletter has a whole section dedicated to "live births" or people want to volunteer the details of their traumatic experience.  So you ask, why am I trying to avoid all of this and remain in a state of ignorant bliss?  Quite simply, it scares the crap out of me.  The pain, the hospital, the fact that anything can happen...all of it.  I miss the days of believing the stork brought my little brother to our house.

But one thing I keep thinking about is holding my beautiful little girl and our first moments together.  So I'm giving you fair warning to laugh at me or think I'm some crazy pregnant lady but I wonder, is it wrong if the first glimpses my child eventually gets of me are weavealicous vs. natural?

Again, I prefaced this all with the fact that this thought is probably super irrational, trivial, silly, etc., but it is one that I keep thinking about.  Probably because my hair is one of few things that I an actually control.  Am I some type of a fraud if she sees me with with my weave and lashes (oh yes, lash extensions are my latest obsession -- post coming about that)?  Or should I be stripped down and natural like her?

I'm leaning towards the weave because I can only imagine how my natural hair would look after hours of labor.... it wouldn't be cute.  And maybe I am slightly vain for wanting to look somewhat decent when my child comes into the world.  It would be nice to have a fresh pedicure and for my hair to look presentable.

And quite frankly, I can't be the only one who has had this thought.  I know that some woman have full make up on, fresh for those post delivery pictures with their little bundle of joy.  Soo poo on you if you are judging me!  I'm just writing down what some people are thinking about :o).

Impulse decision

So big news first. My husband and I are expecting! The little peanut will be making his/her debut in October. Around the date of my last post is when I found out… needless to say life has been a whirlwind since then.

I was extremely tired during my first trimester (luckily that’s the only real symptom I experienced) and had a hard time keeping up with my hair. So I turned to a weave and that helped me out a lot. I figured it was better to take care of a weave properly, rather than risk damage to my natural hair by not giving it the time it needed.

So on Sunday after yoga, I had the bright idea to take my weave out because I missed my natural hair. My hair has always grown pretty fast and I always heard that your hair grows like crazy you are pregnant due to hormones and the prenatal vitamins, but I was not ready for the amount of hair I discovered. I was overwhelmed with the amount of hair on my head and I am at a loss for what to do with it.  I feel like I am starting my natural journey all over again.

I carefully removed my weave and washed/conditioned my hair like usual. I made an impulse purchase at Target and purchased Jane Carter’s Hair NourishingCream and used it as a heat protectant before I blew out my hair. I am very happy with the product and highly recommend it, despite the price tag (~$17). My hair was soft and had a nice shine when I was done. Later that night, I curled my hair on grey and purple flexi rods using some Natural Oasis hair oil. 

The next morning I had big, fluffy, textured curls. Now what do I do?  Besides a bun and two strand twists, I am fresh out of ideas. I know I should leave the heat alone and style my hair wet, but did I mention I was pregnant and tired? 

Day 1

Day 2

Out with the old and in with the...natural?

Hello.  My name is Elisa and I am/was hooked on weaves! 

For my wedding, I really wanted to have long beautiful curls. I should have known I would get hooked and keep weaving it up for months. Well last night I was finally sick of it and took it out *snip snip* (well actually my mom did). 

Messy poof.  Post weave removal.  Pre wash.

My hair is in pretty good shape. It's not dry at all. My ends look great because I just got a trim before my last install. But I freaked when I got all the weave was out. Why, you ask?  You know the saying "out of sight, out of mind"? Well this saying truly applies to my alopecia situation. I stopped taking my medicine back in September (that is another blog post in itself) and figured that letting my hair rest would hopefully keep my hair loss to a minimum. I don't know if my alopecia has worsened or if I am in shock because I haven't really seen my hair since June, but I am definitely feeling some kind of way. I do have some edge breakage but I am pretty confident that I can get them back on track. 

All in all, I really missed my natural hair and I am so happy to see it. I have been lusting after beautiful 'fros, twists, and poofs and now I can have all of that again.

Cleanser: Wen Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner
Deep Conditioner: Wen Sweet Almond Mint Re Moist Intensive Hair Treatment
Detangler: Kinky Curly Knot Today
Twisting Agent: Organic Root Stimulator Lock & Twist Gel

Follow me on Instagram: @kabobbell

It has been TOO long...

Hi Lovelies!  It has been WAY too long.  After my summer internship in New York City, I moved back to Ithaca for my last year at Cornell.  School mixed with wedding planning and recruiting made for a hectic life.  So for the most part, I have been rockin' my natural hair.  I did however get a weave for our engagement pictures.  Here is one for your viewing pleasure :).

Photo by Love Life Images, Inc.

So let's talk about the weave.  My weave was beautiful, but I decided to leave some of my real hair out to make it look more natural.  I have never done this before.  I usually get full weaves, not exposing any of my natural hair.  Here is a close up (you know I can't resist showing off my handsome fiancé).  This was a hasty decision because I didn't think about the maintenance for keeping my hair straight, especially since I have a trainer 3 times a week.  When my hair was freshly straightened, it blended very well with the weave (this time I used wavy Indian Remy human hair).  But as the days went on it was harder and harder to blend.  I ended up putting heat on my hair 3 times a week and using that much heat on my hair concerned me.  Since I rarely straighten my hair, I didn't want the heat to alter my curl pattern for that one section that I left out.  I was very good about using heat protecting products before any heat touched my hair, but that still didn't make me feel comfortable.

Another issue I had to deal with was due to my hair thinning due to Alopecia.  Making sure my scalp wasn't exposed was difficult and really left me feeling insecure.  I did discover "hair shadow" which is basically eyeshadow for your scalp.  The stuff is great.  I was able to put this on my scalp to give the appearance of hair; this stuff was a lifesaver.

Well I managed to leave my weave in only for one month.  I'm going to Brazil (yay) for 10 days and the thought of having to deal with the heat, humidity and my hair, was too much to think about.  I have noticed that my curls are more relaxed in that one spot that I was flat ironing on a regular basis.

I'm glad to have my natural hair back.  I'm still following my same wash, condition, and styling routine, but I am finding that I experiment with how I wear my twist outs a lot more.  Here are some pics of my latest 'do.  Also, I put a clear rinse in my hair a few months ago.  I'm sure it has rinsed by now, but I'm loving my hair color (most of the henna has grown out).