Clear Rinse + Aveda Brilliant Emoillient Finishing Gloss = Smooth Ends

My ends are soooooooo smooth! I decided to give myself a clear rinse this weekend mainly because I wanted to preserve my color as long as possible and try to boost the shine level of my hair. After the rinse and a deep conditioner (I sat under the dryer for both), I smoothed a few pumps of Aveda Brilliant Emollient Finishing Gloss in my hair followed by Baby Buttercreme. As I was coiling my hair, I noticed that my ends are soooooo smooth. They have never felt this smooth before. I've always like Aveda products but I think I am slowly but surely changing over to a strictly Aveda product user. I mean, there products are not any more expensive than other stuff that I have been buying, they smell fantastic and they are made with some great ingredients. I must say that every Aveda product I have used, has delivered on what it claims to do for you hair. I am totally recommending their Brilliant line for black hair, natural or relaxed. The products in this line contain oils that I think are fantastic for our hair. I used to use their products during college and I don't know why I stopped, but I am so glad I rediscovered them again!

It's all about SHINE!

So I am on this shiny hair kick. As some of you know, I LOVE color and I have been itching for some summer color. I really didn't want to do a permanent color so I opted for a semi-permanent color. So I researched the preferred semi-permanent colors of naturals in the forums that I frequent and was really surprised by what people liked. People really seem to like Natural Instincts, so I decided to give it a try. I used a color called Golden Cappuccino and I am really happy with the results. As promised, the color change is subtle and you probably can't tell unless I am in the light, but I swear my hair feels fabulous since I colored it! The conditioner that comes with the color is great as well (you are given a 6 week supply).

When I was in Target and I saw that Biosilk has a conditioner. I remember loving Biosilk Silk Therapy when I was transitioning and flat ironing and I thought I would give the Silk Therapy Conditioner a try. Well I wasn't disappointed! I also decided to start using the Silk Therapy in the mornings for an extra dose of shine! I am going to try using the Silk Therapy on my wet hair before twisting it to see what kind of shine I am able to get! I think I am going to start integrating more of the Biosilk products into my hair routine. They seem to really do well with natural hair.

Well that's all for now! Tah tah!

Things are going good yall! :)

So I have added a new style to my repertoire :). Now I have been coiling my hair after washing it, letting it air dry and then separating each coil. I like this better than 2 strand twisting it. I am still using the same products and am really happy with the my hair! It's growing very fast and really starting to look cute, in my opinion.

Wash and go isn't for me... yet.

So I tried the whole wash and go thing two days in a row this week and my hair didn't do what I wanted it to do. It curls too tight and just shrinks right up when it dries. So I thought I would try to be 'cute' today and make myself a style of some sort and it worked. Take a peek at my pictures. I used a very small amount of the Aveda Brilliance gel that I just bought and used a little bit of the Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue (I am out of the Baby Buttercreme) and two strand twisted and coiled some pieces last night. And voila! As I am writing this, I am finishing up re-twisting it because I am going to rock this style again tomorrow.

Update

Well I am happy to report that my natural journey is going well. I've been taking my multivitamin and Biotin supplement every day and I can say that I do see a difference in my hair thickness and growth. My little 'fro is growing and is definitely more full. I have been experimenting with Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme as well as Aveda's Be Curly line, in particular the curl enhancer lotion. I LOVE the Aveda curl enhancer BUT it curls my hair so much that I have major shrinkage but adorable curls. So I went to Aveda this past weekend and the sales associate recommended that I mix the curl enhancer with the Brilliant Retexturing Gel. That way I'll still get the curl but maybe I will be able to retain some length. I am still using my Wen cleanser and love how soft my hair. Each time I use it, I can tell that my hair is softer. I definitely recommend this product to anyone - relaxed or natural. I probably wash my hair every 2 or 3 days depending on how lazy I am feeling. In the mornings I spray my hair with a water/oil mix I made to try to revive it a bit and at night I use some Caster Oil (solid) to keep my hair soft.

I'll try my best to take some pictures after I wash and try this concoction tomorrow morning. As usual, I'll do my best to keep you all posted.

My curly fro made its debut at work!

Hi everyone! As you know, I have been wearing my natural hair out on the weekends and my super cute wig to work during the week. Well after my wine club this meeting this weekend, I was further assured that my hair was cute and that I should wear it to work. As you can imagine, I have been a bit apprehensive about wearing it out especially to work because I am not 100% comfortable with it yet. But, I sucked it up and wore it to work yesterday and people liked it. I think I am getting better when it comes to figuring out what to do with it. My next step is to go to a natural hair salon. I just called one that was recommended to me and she told me that my hair needs to be at least 3" to hold a style, so I might just go in for a consultation.

Right now I have been washing or cowashing about twice a week since I work out and then adding some Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme to my hair and two strand twisting while its wet. Then in the morning I untwist and run my fingers through each twist for volume.

I have also been taking a multi-vitamin from the Vitamin Shoppe as well as a Biotin supplement to promote healthy and fast hair growth. So far I have noticed a huge difference in my nails. They haven't broken in 2 weeks!

Well, wish me happy nappiness! As always I will keep you guys posted!

:)

So I debuted my curly fro to my family and to my utter shock, amazement and surprise, they LOVED it. Even my grandmother, who has been known to throw a hissy fit in the past when I cut even an inch off of my hair, truly liked my new short do. So here are some pictures. These are after I co-washed and put Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue and sat under the dryer for like 45 minutes. I am not 100% sold on Miss Jessie's products. I don't like how they left my hair feeling 'crunchy'. But I will say I think I found a new product that I am falling in love with for my cleansing and conditioning needs. After Easter dinner, my aunt and mother took it upon themselves to wash my hair again with a product called Wen - I think it was the Fig conditioner. It's basically a cleanser/conditioner/leave-in all in one - and it's FANTASTIC. Not only did it save time, not having to put a whole bunch of crap in my hair, it left my hair feeling extremely soft. The minute I worked it through my hair, my hair just instantly softened up. After that, my mom parted and braided my hair when it was wet and it's still that way today (well underneath my wig lol). It's funny, but my hair has turned into the family project.

Oh and I just got another great suggestion to try Ouidad products (thanks Reighan) so I requested a brochure so I can learn more about their products as well.

I still really don't know what to do with my hair. I am counting down the days until I get my lace front wig! Hopefully that will solve some problems until it grows a lil bit more :). That's all for now :).

So, now what?

Bottom line, I have no idea what to do with my hair! It's funny because when I think about it, for the past 20 years of my life, I have only had experience doing my relaxed hair, so why would I know what to do with my natural hair? Either way, I am frustrated. At night, I experiment with it but in the morning I slap on a wig and head to work. This weekend I think I am going to wash it and try out one of the Miss Jessie's products all over and see how that turns out. The other night I tried different products on different parts of my head and was happy that my hair was curling up!

Not knowing what to do with my hair is leading to more anxiety about even wearing my new natural look out in public.

I will be sure to keep everyone posted. If anyone has any suggestions about what to do with my hair, please tell!

I DID IT!

Yes, I did it. After 8 months without a perm, I cut off all my permed ends - by MYSELF! I finished taking out my braids today and said, why not? And honestly, I didn't have that much to cut off (picture to the side). Most of what I had to cut was in the front and on the sides. I just put an order in for Miss Jessie's travel size pack so hopefully I will have that soon. My plan is to wear my super cute wig I just bought (picture to the side) until I either figure out which cremes work the best to make my curls look long or until I get my lace front wig that is in the process of being made. I would say when I pull my curls tight, I have about 2 inches (longer in some spots) of natural, soft, thick hair. And for once, it's all my natural hair color which is a nice dark to medium brown. Sadly I haven't had my natural hair color in years!

So this is what I did. After taking my braids out, I pre-poo'ed, washed my hair and let a deep conditioner sit in my hair for a few hours. I then rinsed it out and cut the ends off when it was still wet/damp. Then I wet it again and used some of the Pantene curly conditioner and rinsed most of it out, but left a lil in. I then put in some of the TRESsemme curl hydration lotion and some of my Keracare leave in conditioner. Now I am letting it air dry. Instantly as I was cutting off my ends, my curls were springing back to a tighter curl!

I am too excited and a bit shocked that I took the scissors to my own head, but it's done now. I am definitely glad that I did it, because it was time and I have no regrets. Once I get the right product in my hair, I will post the "post chop" picture and the "after product" picture.

So yeah. My natural journey is now into the next phase! How exciting!

I'm back... and with a new style!

Hi everyone! So sorry for the loooooooonnnng delay. I started a new job and have been traveling as well. So drum roll please.... I got braids at the end of January. I couldn't handle the two textures any longer. The plan is to keep getting my hair braided and in between braids I plan on doing good conditioners and slowly chopping off permed ends. I have included a picture of my braids. I decided to go with lacing (aka invisible braids) because the style is versatile and I like that it looks like a weave and not necessarily braids.

Getting braids has definitely made my life much easier. I have been able to save hours of time on the weeks and just in the mornings because I don't have to slave away with my hair. I am so excited about moving closer and closer to being relaxer free. Thank you so much for all of the encouragement I have recieved thus far!

Also, thank you to everyone who has been leaving comments. I am trying to catch up and respond as fast as I can to each one.