Conclusion: Without sealing in the moisture, it evaporates from the hair, leaving it dry. Dry hair is the arch nemesis of Natural Hair!
As you know, I am an avid user of the L.O.C Method both as a transitioner and once I was fully ; I’ve sang it’s praises from here to Youtube and to anyone who will listen! Today I ran across a scientific experiment which visually illustrates how moisture (water) becomes trapped when we use oils and cream as a sealant. More on the experiment here.
As with every new year, my personal resolution is to become better; smarter, more kind, more tolerant, patient, and to love better.
This is the beginning of my first year fully natural.
This Sunday was my first Beauty Day Sunday and as I sat with my clay wash, I decided to plan a few hair goals for myself. Read more...(474 words, 15 images, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)
It’s been a minute but I’m back! It’s been hectic so I just wanted to update you on where I am in my Newly Natural Hair Journey!
Baby Sis and I
Currently, I am 2.5 years post relaxer, 6 months post BC.
I’ve been beside myself since I BC’d; I’ve been so enamored with my hair that I’ve abandoned my tried and true protective styling for the most part.
Back to Basics
My plan is to return to protective styling for at least 4-5 days a week and let it all hang out on the weekends.Read more...(298 words, 8 images, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)
So I’ve been trying (and so far failing) to figure out what I can use to give me a defined twist out, minus the frizz. So far, I’ve tried had mild success with the chunky twist out using my moisturizing spray mix and my shea butter cream. The night before I went skydiving, I knew I wanted to wear my fro, so I put about 8 large twists in my hair after moisturizing and sealing. The results were great.
This was more of a frizz-out, rather than a twist-out 🙁
I’ve not had luck with the smaller twists for a few reasons (I think): Read more...(589 words, 2 images, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)
Last week, I blogged about the benefits of flax seeds for the hair. Being the DIY-er I am, I decided to try to make some for myself. When I was relaxed, I never used gel simply because I thought it made the hair hard, flaky, and would dry the hair out, which would eventually mean breakage, so I’ve never used gel for the most part. Since I’ve started my transitioning journey, as my hair has grown longer, my styling options have increased. I can do high buns, which are an easy go to protective style for me, however, my fine hair makes it difficult to achieve a sleek bun without the addition of styling aids to combat the fuzzies, as I call them :). Read more...(928 words, 1 image, estimated 3:43 mins reading time)
In addition to being the first day of Black History month, this is also my 21 month Transitioning Anniversary, YAY ME! Congratulations to all the transitioners who decided to take the plunge and transition to natural hair. I hope your transition allows you to learn and love your hair, as I have during mine. Check out my tips for transitioners, present and future.
I found a widget to count down to my BC, which I have decided will be on Saturday June 30, 2012. Just in time for the Essence Festival in New Orleans! Read more...(522 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)
This week was interesting, to say the least. I have been on travel all week and will continue to be through next week. In anticipation of this, my plan was to start my wash routine (pre-poo) on Saturday night. Unfortunatly, things didn’t work out that way.
On Sunday, I got started on my hair at about 10 am. There were a series of things that had to be done before I left home, including wash, condition, and Protective Style my hair. I began by using my Amla Oil pre-poo. Usually, I leave it on for at least an hour, but due to time constraints, I cut it down to 30 minutes and didn’t do a thorough finger detangle as I added the oil. I then used a cheapy clarifying conditioner to co-wash my hair, in sections, of course. Finally, I applied my ORS deep conditioning mix and covered with a plastic cap. Usually I let my deep conditioner sit for at least an hour…again, due to time constraints, I only left it on for 30 minutes. By this time it was 1 PM and I had 4 hours until my flight left, which meant I had roughly 3 hours until I needed to leave the house. After rinsing my conditioner out, I used a tee shirt to get my sections as dry as possible. I then proceeded to add my liquid leave in, followed by my creamy leave in, and finally my shea butter whip to seal in the moisture. By the time I finished braiding, I had about 3 braids to each section (12 braids total). I figured my hair wouldn’t be entirely dry in 2 hours, but I was hopeful. As the time got closer, I realized that I was wrong about my hair being at least 75% dry, despite the fact that I used the cotton tee to get as much of the water out of my hair as possible. I had to take some sort of action so I pulled out my old faithful hand dryer! I haven’t used this in at least 20 months, however, I figured this could move the hair drying process along. I set the temperature on medium heat, and ran the blow dryer along each braid. Unfortunately this only helped so much. I bit the bullet and took down my braids, which were only probably about 45% dry. I noticed immediately that my hair wasn’t as soft as it normally would be, had I done my normal routine. Read more...(930 words, 2 images, estimated 3:43 mins reading time)
It’s Thursday, and I not only re-moisturized my bun, but I also repositioned the bun!
I have been wearing a bun for almost two weeks now. Prior to yesterday, I’d not re moisturized, washed or conditioned my hair since my last wash day. I was being lazy really.
I posted my week 3 update for the challenge and received a comment from Natural by Nature:
“I love your bun, i was rocking this for a minute as well. Its one of my favorites. i often pin my to the side. I never actually take down the style and redo, but I do unroll the bun part, moisturize and tuck it back under”Read more...(369 words, 2 images, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)
So uh…this is week 3 of the challenge, and I didn’t wash, deep condition, and restyle my hair this Sunday 😐 Shoot me! Guilty as charged! I have no explanation what-so-ever, other then the fact that I wanted to sit on the couch this weekend and honor MLK by watching old movies 🙂 I just really felt lazy and my hair was on my brain but I really didn’t make an attempt to do it. I did make sure to use my silk scarf, BTW 😉