A nap is tryin' to curl!

So I am sitting here in bed, and I reach to scratch my neck and lo and behold I find "the little nap that could" tryin' to curl up! I am soooo excited. Maybe there is some hope for my naps. Just wanted to share my excitement. I think my coach is proud that I am chuggin' along!

Hair Update –October 9, 2007

Hello everyone! Miss me? Well there is nothing bad to report. My hair is still responding well to my products and weekly routine. It is really starting to grow which is great. I get so excited when I can get more of my relaxed ends trimmed off! The first picture is of my hair after blow drying it. Scary—yes I know. The next two pictures are two days later after the flat iron. This weekend I flat ironed my hair and rolled it up right after that. I unrolled my hair about 2 hours later and it was perfect. So I think I am going to stick with this routine for a while. But all in all, so far so good—people definitely can’t tell that I haven’t put a relaxer in my hair since July, unless I tell them! :o)

So natural hair isn't corporate (according to Glamour magazine)?

Check out this article. It's sad that people are still quite bold with their racist thoughts and beliefs and really have no shame about what comes out of their mouths. SMH. Thanks for sending me this article K!

Wash Day—October 1, 2007

Hello everyone! So I washed my hair on Friday (9/28/07) and again used my E’tae products. This time I used Nutrient, Aloe, and Preserve along with my Creme of Nature shampoo. As expected my hair came out soft. I then blew my hair dry and I must say I did much better this time! Instead of curling it, I flat ironed it so I could ge the roots really straight. Let me tell you, Ithat really worked! Before flat ironing it, I used some Buttershine to protect my hair from the heat. I wrapped my hair up on Friday night and it came out cute on Saturday (pictures are below—I am wearing the blue top). I would have preferred more body but I think it looked cute regardless.

For my Saturday night event, I did use the curling iron because I didn’t want my hair to be bone straight. I’ll post those pictures soon.

Last night, I rolled up hair on hard rollers and it is cute and bouncy today! See the pictures below. All in all, things are well again this week. I’ll keep yall posted as usual. Have a great week!

Carmel Treatment –September 25, 2007

Good morning! Sorry for the delayed post. I have been a tad busy (and sleepy) so far this week. So I did a Carmel treatment this weekend. I was told the longer you leave it in, the better, so I let it sit on my head Saturday morning for about 2 and a half hours. This worked out well because I had to clean up my place. So after that I used the Creme of Nature shampoo (Sulfate Free – green writing on the bottle) and the Aloe conditioning treatment. I let my hair air dry for about 10 minutes and then I used my new BaByliss Pro Ceramix Xtreme blow dryer (let’s be mad that I haven’t bought a blow dryer since college) with a comb attachment and dried my hair. I must say this was a great purchase. It gets hot but not so hot that my hair is burning and it does a great job of getting my roots straight. The front and sides got very straight but my blow drying technique is sub par and the middle is a bit poofy aka nappy lol. After that I slapped on some Buttershine and curled my hair with my new BaByliss Pro TT Tourmaline 500 1” curling iron. (Again I haven’t bought a curling iron in years. My old curling iron is a Gold N’Hot—nuff said). The pictures of the final product are below. I think it came out pretty well.

The last two pictures are from today—3 days after I washed my hair. It still looks pretty cute. I have either pin curled it or rolled it up at night. This weekend I am going to try something different since I need to get my hair straight. I am going to use my E’tae products, blow dry and then flat iron my hair to make sure I get the roots super straight. Then that night I will roll up my hair on rollers and see what happens. Wish me luck. If anyone has any blow drying tips, please send them my way because this is def not my forte!

A little needed inspiration...

So I have a wonderful hair coach (I am lucky because I have several) who particularly watches over me at work. Well amidst one of my many meltdowns (believe me, I have many), Coach Terra sent me the following clip about Brock. I must stay, it was truly inspiring lol. Watch the whole thing!

Checking In – September 20, 2007

So…6 days after my trip to the E’tae Salon and my hair still looks great—light, full of body and moisturized! I have worked out and everything! The only product I have put on my hair since last Friday is the Watershine and I only use a tiny bit of that in the morning if my hair needs some shine. I just received the Buttershine in the mail (I forgot to pick it up at the store). The next test is to see how my hair comes out when I do it myself and follow their directions. Hopefully it comes out nice because I have a function on September 29th lol.

Look for a post this weekend with more pictures! Also today is my TWO MONTH mark! Two down and MANY more to go!

My experience at Salon E’tae in Philadelphia- Update

Happy Monday! As promised, here is my "review" of my experience at Salon E'tae.

Overall I must say my visit was fabulous!

Everyone at E’tae was extremely helpful and readily answered my natural hair care questions. When I got there, the shop was packed, which made me feel a lot better about everything too! I was bummed that I couldn’t get a Carmel treatment because I had oil on my scalp but I was reassured that the other treatments would leave my hair feeling just as bouncing and soft—they weren’t lying!!! I do think that they should tell people how to prep their hair prior to coming into the salon, when they are making their appointments for the first time. So, I had a shampoo treatment. My hair was washed, conditioned and treated using Aloe, Preserve and Nutrient. Next my hair was blown dry (it air dried a bit—maybe 15 minutes) and my stylist clipped my ends and hot curled my hair. She put a bit of the Buttershine on my hair prior to curling it and then put some Watershine on it at the end. My hair was and STILL is very bouncing and light. My stylist suggested that I pin curl my hair for the first few days while I still have the curls and then roll my hair up at night or wrap my hair if I prefer a flatter style. Here are pictures:




I was also told that blow drying my hair once a week won’t damage my hair if I use their products correctly and carefully style my hair during the week (which I already do). So I think I am going to scrap my current hair routine and try this one, being that I am trying to go natural. Maybe I won’t have to get braids after all…

All in all, my drive to Philadelphia was truly worth the trip and I will be going back again soon. I purchased all of the products they used on me at the shop and I was given great instructions on how to use them at home. So check them out (http://www.etaeproducts.com/) and let me know what you think.

Update: When using E'tae Products they recommend using the Creme of Nature shampoo in the yellow bottle with the green writing. I believe it is the Ultra Moist formula.

Today has been a good hair day thus far...

So I worked out last night and of course the naps have come out to play! If I am not being lazy, I’ll usually pin curl my hair at night towards the end of the week. It’ll come out curly in the morning but since I am still trying to master this technique, some curls are flipped under and some are flipped up lol. Either way, I can usually pin it up kinda cute and no one knows it was a mistake. But last night I decided to roll my hair on my hard pink rollers so I could have some sort of body this morning and it came out kinda cute (see picture). I put some Castor Oil on my roots this morning since I noticed they were getting a bit dry. So today , I would say I am having a good hair day :o). Hopefully I can stay dry. If I get rained on, I am sure that I will be ranting on here tomorrow!

Wash Day- September 7, 2007

So I did my hair yesterday and it came out well and softer than usual. I tried the Nexxus Emergencée Conditioner (instead of the Mane & Tail Conditioner) and I am not sure if it was worth the price tag. I may try this treatment again in a few weeks because yesterday I used it was a pre-poo and not as a deep conditioner. I did co-wash for the first time and my hair seems to be happy. I am going to continue doing this through my transition to hopefully keep the breaking to a minimum. Here are pictures from my rollerwrap:

So far I have about an inch of new growth in the front and a bit more in the back. Below are pictures of my rollerset and the final result. I am in desperate need of a trim so I hope to take care of that next week during my visit to E’tae. Check out the pictures below of the final product. Have a great weekend (what’s left of it).