Colder weather = more deep conditioning!

So the weather is getting colder and my hair is getting drier.  I usually cowash/condition my hair once a week, but I think I will have to start doing my hair twice a week.  My hair needs the extra moisture.  I usually deep condition weekly without heat, but I think I am going to start adding heat to my regimen.  Tonight I cowashed and deep conditioned with a mixture of my favorite conditioners (Aveda Dry Remedy, Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recover Hair Mask, Aubrey Organics Conditioner Honeysuckle Rose, and some left over Aloe conditioner made by E'tae).  I sat under the dryer for about 15 or 20 min and then styled as usual.

Since I have run out of my Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme, I picked up a shea butter pomade by Kemi and I really like it.  I'll let you know if I can replace the Baby Buttercreme with this.  That would really help my wallet too!  I haven't put another rinse in my hair because the dark brown is holding up pretty well.  Granted my hair isn't as dark as it was a couple weeks ago, but it is still a dark reddish-brown.

I am debating trying the E'tae products again now that I am natural... I am not sure yet though.  My hair is in need of a trim and I think I am going to get it straightened and trimmed for my company holiday party at the beginning of December.  I'll keep you posted!

And then there was... brown?

Hello all of my beautiful and nappy (or soon to be nappy) folks!  As I am sitting here getting ready to watch the much anticipated presidential debate, I thought I would whip up an update post.  Well as yall have probably figured out (if you didn't already know this about me), I am random and may change at the drop of a dime.  So after a couple months of the red, I opted for a dark brown rinse to tone down the red.  Why?  Because I felt like it.  Hell, I was PMSing - nuff said.  So in the sunlight my hair still has a lot of red shining through, but in normal light, my hair is a nice deep brown.

I'm digging the dark brown.

I haven't had any issues with my hair being dry.  I am still cowashing it about once a week, maybe twice a week.  As the cold weather comes along, I may have to opt for some heavy duty conditioners as my hair tends to get dryer in the fall and winter months.

I am sure that I am due for a trim soon, so I'm going to start thinking about that sooner rather than later.  But all in all I really can't complain.

It's official - I am awful at getting my hair straight!

So I had this great idea to straighten my hair since it's not as humid anymore - boy was I wrong.  So I washed my hair with Hello Hydration shampoo by Herbal Essences (it was on sale and I had a coupon - as far as shampoos go, it's pretty gentle).  I conditioned my hair using my BioSilk conditioner and combed through my hair with the Knot Today detangler/leave in.  I heard great things about Paul Mitchell's Straight Works which is like a gel that helps keep wavy and curly hair straight, longer.  So I used about a quarter size of the gel and blew my hair dry on the warm setting.  So far so good - my hair feels nice and soft.

Next step - the straightening comb (calm down, it's an electric one).  So I took small sections and sprayed on a heat protectant by Motions.  I actually like their heat protectant.  It smells great and my hair was super soft.  I find that a lot of heat protectants leave you hair crunchy.  So below are some pictures of my hair only after the straigtening comb.

 

As you can see my hair still is pretty poofy.  So next step - the Chi flat iron.  I sprayed a little more of the heat protectant and then flat ironed each section.  Mind you it is around 12 a.m. at this point.  Below is the result of the flat ironing.

I still wasn't thrilled, but I told myself I would add some Baby Buttercreme and then wrap it and see what I ended up with in the morning.  So the next morning, I bumped the ends and got the below result.

 

It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't look great lol.  So it's official - I am awful at straightening my own hair and I will leave it to the professionals!!!!  I clipped some of it up before I went to work, because as soon as I went outside, all hell broke loose!  So that night, I braid my hair in 3 big cornrows and this morning I just wore it big and kinda wavy.  Now I just have to find someone inexpensive to straighten my hair for me.  HELP! :)

Time to be straight?

So one of my favorite people convinced me to try and straighten my hair. She has a gorgeous hair full of natural hair that she straights every one and a half weeks. Please pray my hair turns out okay. I will be mad if I spend 2 hours trying to get it straight and it looks like poo tomorrow.

Any advice from anyone? I already have gotten some good tips but I need more. Her hair is trained so she can get it straight with a blow dryer and flat iron. I think I will need to use my electric comb because I swear my hair won't want to go straight!

Wish me luck! I have much to catch you guys up on! Pictures of the straight hair will follow soon!

Update: This was a big mistake. I feel like one big, red, poofy, hot mess! I will try to blog about this experience tonight or tomorrow. I hate humidity. Before I left my house, my hair looked great! The minute I stepped outside - POOF!

Roots already!

So after 3 weeks I already have roots. Granted no one else can see them, but I know they are there! I tried to take a picture, but I couldn't even get a good picture of my roots, so maybe I'm trippin! Days like this I am glad to be natural. Since my hair is so big, no one can really see what is going on with my roots! But before I get it straightened in the fall I'll have to take care of that. Ugh! Color is definitely high maintenance - so anyone thinking about taking the color plunge please be ready for some extra work. This weekend I am thinking about putting in a rinse just to liven up the color. Red is the hardest color to keep from fading, so until I color it again, rinses will have to do! Jazzing has two colors called Spiced Cognac and Red Hot. I've used Red Hot before and it's definitely red hot, so we'll see. I need something to brighten it back up. As always I will post pictures this weekend.

Curly ain't cuttin' it for me right now!

I re-discovered how much I like Pantene's Hydrating Curls conditioner! I used it for my co-wash and my "deep" conditioner on Saturday. Here are the next steps I followed:

1. Knot Today as a leave in. I found that I didn't have to use as much after using the Pantene conditioner. My hair was very soft after my co-wash.
   
2. Wet Set Pudding. This product didn't elongate my curls at all (not sure if it was supposed to). I like the consistency and texture and I can't really say if it defined my curls either.
3. Kinky Curly Custard. I applied this as I normally do basically using the shingling technique.
4. Air dried for an hour or so and then used a blow dryer to speed up the drying process. I think the combination of the Wet Set Pudding and the Kinky Curly Custard did make my curls hang better when they were wet but once it dried, I feel like my hair looked and felt the same.
   

And then after it dried...Don't get me wrong, it's cute and curly but I just wish my hair was longer so the curls would hang. So after a day of that look, I opted for the fro again. I re-washed my hair and blew it out. I'm excited for the fall/winter weather because I am going to try to get my hair straightened more often. My LS gets her hair done (she's relaxed) at the Hair Cuttery and her stylist does natural hair. So I'm going to give her a try in a few weeks and see what happens.

Natural Hair + Salt Water, Chlorine & Sun = Crunchy Hair

Hey everyone! So I am back and somewhat back on track. Mexico was great - the weather was perfect, food was awesome and the margaritas were yummy! I had high hopes of a low maintenance hair trip, but I was quickly shown that that wasn't the case. I tried to keep my hair dry for as long as possible because the minute it got wet and started to dry in the hot sun, it got crunchy and shrunk. I HATE that I have a hair shrinkage issue. UGH! I was able to keep it moisturized thanks to the Aveda Dry Remedy conditioner and Baby Buttercreme. After a day at the pool and the beach I washed my hair with tea tree shampoo and conditioned with a mix of the Aveda Dry Remedy and Paul Mitchell Tea Tree conditioner and then I blew out the fro. My fro was big and cute while I was in my room, but the minute I stepped outside, the humidity took over and my hair curled up.

So for a bit of a change and a break from the blow dryer, I am going to rock the curly look for a few days. I am going to try to use the Wet Set Hair Pudding (that I haven't used yet) and the Kinky Curly Custard. This time I am going to let it air dry for just an hour or so and then finish it off with a blow dryer so I can shape the curls. I'm curious to see how my color looks curly! So I'm off to cowash, deep condition and be curly! I'll be sure to post pictures!

Mexico here I come!

Hey everyone. I'll be gone through Wednesday so I'll be sure to post when I return. I'm sure I'll have stories to share regarding my hair and the Mexican climate. Hugs.

My Transitioner Tips

Lately I have been getting a lot of questions regarding my transition, so I thought I would compile a list of my top tips for transitioning from the fire cream (aka relaxer) to becoming happy and nappy.

1. Be patient and don't get discouraged! I can't stress this enough. There were many days when I wanted to just slap a relaxer in my hair and there are times when I didn't think I would be able make it the point where I am today.  People will tell you you are crazy and that you just need to put a relaxer in your hair.  But if you are really serious about going natural, don't let anyone discourage you.  Natural is beautiful!
2. Maintain the moisture and protein balance in your hair. Different conditioners are protein or moisture based. I found that as my relaxer grew out and I had more natural hair exposed, protein conditioners didn't really benefit me. But when I had a relaxer, I found that I needed to use protein conditioners more often.  Check out a great post from one of my favorite blogs, Healthy Texutres.
3. Be gentle. As your hair grows out you will have a demarcation line - the point at which your relaxed hair meets your natural hair. It is imperative that you keep this particular area of your hair in good condition and moisturized. If not, you will experience a lot of breakage and damage. With that said, no matter how gentle I was with my hair, my hair still snapped at the democration line. Some people say that you are able to transition experiencing little or no breakage, but I don't know if I really agree with that.
4. Avoid heat as much as possible.  I know it's tempting to constantly try to keep your roots straight by using heat. I was a slave to my flat iron for months. But excessive heat can sometimes change your natural curl pattern. If you are tempted by the sight of your flat iron, curling iron or blow dryer, get them out of the house or wear hairstyles where you won't be tempted to use heat (i.e braids, weave, straw sets).
5. Do the BC sooner rather than later.  I did the big chop after about 8 months (in March 2008) with no relaxers and I wish I would have done it sooner.  I would have saved myself time in maintaining two different textures, my hair would have grown faster and my curl pattern would have developed faster.  I know it's scary to cut all of your hair off, but trust me, you will be happier after you just go ahead and do it.  Buy some wigs, wear braids, get a weave - just cut it!  I cut mine myself but if you don't feel comfortable, go to a salon.  I eventually went to a salon to have my hair straightened for a nice trim in July 2008.
6. Water and vitamins are you friend.  Be sure to get plenty of water and vitamins in your diet on a daily basis.  Not only will your hair benefit from this, so will your overall health.  In terms of vitamins, I take a multivitamin formulated for women and a Biotin supplement.  Not only is my hair growing like a weed, I don't get many skin breakouts and my nails are strong and long!
7. Trial and error.  As you can see from my many blog entries, I have tried many products.  Everyones' hair is different therefore different products work for different people.  Unless you are a very lucky person, chances are you will have to experience a lot of trial and error to see what your hair likes.  Your natural hair might not like the products you used to use on your relaxed hair.
8. Do your research.  There are soooooo many forums, blogs and websites focused on black natural hair care.  The questions you have have more than likely been asked by someone else.  So do your research and read the plethora of information available to you.  More importantly, talk to people you know who are natural and get a hair coach.  I have several! :)
9. Be happy and nappy!  All of your hard work will pay off and you will be happier because of it!

Aveda Dry Remedy Moisturizing Conditioner + Brilliant Universal Styling Creme

Being that I just dyed my hair with permanent color and since I will be in the scorching Mexico sun for 5 days, I thought it would be a good idea to make sure I had products that would make sure my hair stayed super moisturized. After an especially sweaty session of Bikram Yoga last night, I knew I would have to wash my hair this morning. So I got in the shower and co-washed with my V05 conditioner and then used the Aveda Dry Remedy Moisturizing Conditioner mixed with my BioSilk conditioner. I let that sit on my head during my shower and washed it out right before I got out. Instantly I noticed that my hair seemed softer and not coated and weighed down with product, which sometimes happens after using a heavier conditioner.

I then applied the Knot Today leave in/detangler and had no problem coming through my kinks with a wide tooth comb. I let my hair air dry just a little (probably for 10 minutes). Before I started blow drying my hair, I applied a nickel size amount of the Brilliant Universal Styling Creme. I didn't want to use much because the product is thick and it is recommended to layer it in. As I was blow drying my hair, I would add a bit more of the styling creme.

My hair stills feels very soft but not greasy to the touch and I think it has a nice sheen to it. Before I go to bed tonight I will either use some Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme or the Brilliant Universal Styling Creme before I twist my hair. I definitely think these products will help me keep my hair in check in the Mexico climate.