Hair Journey Journal – June 2009

 

 

 

So, as I mentioned before, the ends of my hair need to be clipped.  Not too much of it, maybe just a little under a half-and-inch or so.  It’s fine though–I always dread cutting my hair (I do it myself, btw) but once I take that first snip, I go nuts, and even start giggling madly to myself, lmfao.  It doesn’t take me long to discover why my stylists are so damn scissor happy–there’s just something about chopping away at a person without killing them; their progress, their growth–something about just hearing the scissors slice through it…I dunno…

Anyways, I put some coconut oil in my hair to keep it moisturized and relatively softer while it dried, and then I seperated it into 4 sections with my shower comb and fingers.

 

Don’t be fooled by how soft and fluffy it looks, lol.  Trust that the ends were…not so soft…and not so fluffy…

So I took each section apart just as I planned on flat ironing, and I used my shower comb to first detangle huge tangles, then used my favorite comb that has narrow teeth on one end, and then wider teeth on the other end…let me see if I can find a picture of it…

 

There.  Mine looks like one of those, but about 6 inches long, and white.  I use the wider-toothed section to detangle that same puff I just ran the shower comb through to get medium-sized tangles, and then the narrow-toothed end to get the smaller tangles.  Then, I put some One n’ Only heat protectant on the enter 1/4 section, and comb it thoroughly to distribute it evenly.  Once I’ve let it dry enough, I then take small sections and flat iron them. 

I haven’t gotten my hair soft enough to flat iron bone straight, but I’m nowhere near giving up–I’ll find something and when I do I won’t turn back, lol.  So for now, I get the less puffy/slightly straight flat iron results:

 

 

Will be back next week of what I did to my hair the next day–when I went to get it braided/weaved again.  It’s def. worth waiting for I’m really loving it.

 

 

 

So here’s the skinny…

When I found all these hair forums, I tried my best to read up on hair types, and weave brands, and textures, and all that.  The truth is that I understood some, if not most of it all…but I still walked away from everything I read with questions and question marks floating all around my head.  One thing about me is that I don’t fully learn by reading, I learn by doing as well. 

I’ve never really grasped the deal with paying hundreds for a certain type of hair, especially when I would see such beautiful hair at the BSS for a low price…I understand that it’s some female’s mission to have the hair be undetectable as fake, and I thought that’s what I should be striving for as well…but that just takes too much time and effort for me, and I’d rather be paying that much attention to my real hair…

So I decided that I wanted to talk about weave types, and my experiences with them, now that I’ve tried 4 diff types. 

Please note that these are just MY opinions and experiences.  I’m not looking for a challenge, and I’m def. not going to entertain anyone arguing over how I feel about a certain type of hair.  If I say “I don’t like it” I’m not talking about the hair in general, I’m talking about not liking it on myself.

With all that being said, let’s begin:

Wet-n-Wavy weaves:

 

When I first started going to my current braiding salon to get my hair done (last July) this was the brand they recommended.  I was hesitant at first (I like straight hair), but they assured me that I’d love it, so I decided to give it a try.  I can’t lie, I didn’t LOVE it, but I didn’t HATE it at all.  One thing I adored about it was that I didn’t need to worry about the troublesome task of constantly detangling it with a comb; all I needed was my fingers, and I was happy to just use them throughout the day to fluff up my curls.  Another thing I loved was that when it came time for me to start gathering new packs of hair, and buying new bottles of shampoos because it was quickly coming upon the day I’d have to redo my hair, and all my tendrils around the edges were snaking out of the braids, and showing, they matched up PERFECTLY with the Wet-n-Wavy.  When the hair was well-moisturized, it was a pleasure to have on my head.  But…and you know I have to list the negatives…when that hair was NOT moisturized…it was like matted yarnballs.  This…hair…needs…moisture…like…crazy!  There IS not a night that you can skip adding oils and lotions and conditioners to it, or you’ll suffer…you’ll have knots and tangles of hair all in between your fingers in the morning.   This hair needs so much moisture that I would spend half-an-hour before bed first detangling gently, and then adding a moisturizing conditioner to parted sections, and then sealing it with an oil.  I’d make about 6 braids just to let it all seep in, and in the morning, right before tying it all up with a silk scarf, and when I undid the braids, my hair would feel like I added no moisture whatsoever.  Want to talk about frustrating?  Try spending half-an-hour moisturizing the night before, only to have to spend another 10-15 minutes adding MORE moisture in the morning!  I just couldn’t keep up with all that product use, and I don’t really see me going back to this hair type.  Tangles in the back a lot (all around, really, but by your collar and stuff especially).

 

Human Hair weaves:

These weaves are exactly what the name of it implies–hair either donated or (rumored?) stolen from real people.  The type that most Black women usually get is something similar to what is pictured above, which is this…coarse texture of hair that is like a really thick head of hair that has been permed for the full amount of time.  This is the brand and type that most women who want to try to “fool” people get.  I tried this a few months back, just in case you don’t remember, and I really didn’ t like it.  I felt it was too stiff for me, and pray that when my hair reaches down to APL (arm pit length) it doesn’t just hang stiffly in the air the way this type does.  Tangles in the back a lot, always has a dull/dry look to it.  Don’t want this back in my head.
 

Yaki Weaves:

 

These weaves, from what I understand, are a mixture of human and synthetic hair.  If you compare this side-by-side to human hair, you might not be able to tell the difference by looking at it–but once you run your fingers through it the difference is more apparent; human hair is stiff–in my honest opinion the purpose of human hair is to basically blend your own hair in flawlessly (or as flawlessly as possible)–when it comes to yaki hair, the purpose is to keep the look of that blend, but not sacrifice the movement you get with silkier, more flowing hair.  I’ve worn this type of hair for years, and while it’s not the worst thing you can put into your hair, it does look like crap once it gets tangled, and looks like a goopy sticky mess if you put product in it.  It’s a cheap brand of hair, so basically you are getting what you paid for.  You also have to be very careful about adding heat to it, because while it’s MIXED with human hair, it’s not ALL human.

Hair Journey Journal – May 2009

 

 

 

Okay, so here’s what’s going on…

I get paid next week (the 15th).  Usually, I have no other choice but to wait until the weekend that I get paid until I can get my hair done…but…I cashed my tax refund, and I have money to play with that would more than cover the cost of my haircare needs–including getting it done.

So…

I decided not to wait until the weekend after next, but to go and take care of my hair this weekend.

It’s a mess–the fucked up part is that it doesn’t look bad.  Case in point–here is my hair today:

See?  It looks decent…but it itches like the dickens…

2 months of dry scalp…the Eucerin is doing a good job around the edges, but I just need to take all this crap outta my hair, and give it a damn good washing with some apple cidar vinegar, and tea tree oil. 

Anyways, I have decided to try yet another experimental procedure that I’ve seen a lot of people mention.  There will be no lemonjuice or mayo in this one.

It’s called the “Caramelization treatment”.  Here are the ingredients:

The recipe is:

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup red palm oil
1/4 cup shea butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
3.5 oz banana baby food
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
water (as needed to thin)

Source:  http://www.nappydelphia.com/search/label/treatments

So I plan on doing a little hunt for the red palm oil (have never heard of that) and picking up some molasses, and banana baby food from the supermarket.  The rest I have (shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil, honey, and of course water).

I will def. be back next Wednesday to tell you how it went, and to also tell you about something else that I decided to try–you’ll be surprised, trust.

 

 

 

So, I did as I said I would, and got my hair done last weekend.  I wanted to do a play-by-play like I did last year when I was doing my hair, but I just didn’t have the patience, and was in a bad mood anyway, so it was better that I didn’t, lol.

So, here goes…

First off, I was happy that I didn’t have to do any braid unraveling; I figured since it took the lady like 1/8th the time it took ME to take out the braids, I would just go back to her and have her remove them and pay a little extra if I had to–save myself the headache.

So, to start things out, I woke up late.  I was supposed to be out there at like 9:30am, and that was the time I was waking up…I was pissed at myself.

I wanted to start out early, so that I could have more time to spend on doing my natural hair–pampering it and such.  But nooooo…

So, I get to the salon and the woman is able to take out the braids and hair in about an hour.  Cost me $60.00, but I figured that since I wasn’t putting the braids back in it was just a “farewell to microbraids” fee.

Yep…the plan was to be DONE with microbraids, and the embarrassing flaking in front of my scalp, between braids.  The annoyance of having to wash between them.  The annoyance of having to redo the braids up on top and around my face after about a month…

I planned on getting a lacefront closure.

This is what it looks like:

]

 

Well, that was the plan…only it didn’t pan out…

I went to THREE DIFFERENT beauty supply stores, and not ONE of them carried lacefront closures.   I was PISSED!

Thoughts of racing to other counties to get it crossed my mind, until I asked myself what I would do if I went all the way out there, only to find out that they didn’t have it either!

In the end, I took it as a sign from God that I just wasn’t supposed to put it in–at least not this time around.

Besides, the look of confusion on my hairdresser’s face when I said “lacefront closure” was enough to convince me that even if I did find one, she’d sew that shit on lop-sided, and I’d look like a Conehead.

Back on Wednesday with the details of the actual process of doing my hair.

 

 

 

 

Okay, now on to the steps I took this month to prepare my natural hair to be put up for yet another two months…

First, of course, I had to detangle.  I used my trusty Shower Comb:

This comb is great at removing tangles without ripping the hair out the way a more narrow-toothed comb would.  Its use was intended for gently combing conditioner through your hair in the shower, and removing tangles while hair was still wet.  Hangs quite easily on a shower caddy, or (if you so choose to place it there) around the pipe leading to your showerhead.

Once I was satisfied with any large tangles that might have come loose, I used a regular wide-toothed comb, and then a more narrow-toothed comb to ensure that tangles from large to small were eliminated. 

No, I do not use a fine-toothed comb on my natural hair.  I don’t advise it for anyone else either.  That’s just going overboard.

Anyways, so I shook all the loose hair, and dandruff out–gently scraping at my scalp with my fingernails and the pads of my fingertips.  Once I was satisfied that I had gotten the bulk of it all seperated and discarded from my hair, I moved on to my Caramelization Treatment.

My hair right before the treatment:

Now, I couldn’t find all the ingredients from the entry listed above, so I tried my best with what I found or had available.

These were the ingredients that I used:

coconut oil
shea butter
extra virgin olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
banana baby food
honey
caro syrup

I could not, for the life of me, find anything called “red palm oil”.  I don’t doubt its existence, but it sure as hell is not trying to be found by me. 

I also could not get my hand on any molasses without having to go into a supermarket (which I didn’t want to do once the stylist had removed my braids–I didn’t want to look like the wild child roaming the aisles for molasses…)  I substituted caro syrup for it instead.

I mixed everything together, and this was what the concoction looked like:

It was the consistency of watered down pancake batter, and smelled strongly of the banana baby food (which smelled yummy).  I used my fingers at first to apply it to my dry hair, but then resorted to just holding my head over my bathroom sink, and tipping the contents of the bowl over onto and into my hair.

My hair with the treatment applied:

My hair didn’t feel crispy or crunchy the way it did with the coconut relaxer thing I tried last time–so that was a plus.  I put a plastic cap over my head, and left it on for about half-an-hour.

More on the details of the treatment and how the shampooing/conditioning process went next week.

 

 

 

 

I found an interesting read online about the weird (yet wonderful) effects of adding salt to your conditioner (yes, table salt, sea salt, w.e.)  Supposedly, it relaxes your curls and makes your hair smooth and shiny, not to mention moisturized.  The measurement was about a teaspoon of salt for every 8oz of conditioner, but I put about a teaspoon in every quarter-sized amount of shampoo and conditioner, lol. 

So I stood underneath the showerhead for a while, just letting water wash the Caramelization Treatment out of my hair.  My end verdict: it left my hair in about the same condition as before I had applied it.  Wasn’t impressed, but hey–could have been as disastrous as the Coconut Creme Natural Relaxer. 

I then added some salt to my Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap as I washed the treatment completely out of my hair…and I felt something kind of scary…

For a while, the stretch of a minute where I was washing the soap out of my hair, my hair felt as straight and smooth as when I used to wash a relaxer out of it!  It was actually squeaking between my fingers, and sliding around my hands strangely–and I freaked out!  I mean, what if my hair was slowly breaking down and dissolving as I scrubbed and pulled at it?! I panicked, stopped rubbing it, let some cool water run on it, and raced out of the shower to gently towel dry and inspect it.

It was fine!  I don’t know what happened as I was washing it out–if the salt caused that effect or what, but my hair’s thick curly/wavy texture was back.  I can’t lie, I was glad to see that.  You have no clue how weird my strands felt in between that minute stretch–I seriously thought I was going to towel dry the hair right off of my shiny scalp…then there’d be no NEED for a journal for a hairless head, would there?

Anyways, I towel dried my hair, and got ready to add the conditioner.

I decided to mix together KeraCare’s Conditioner For Color Treated Hair (I believe that was the one, it was definitely KeraCare, just not sure which one) and mixed that together with Wheat Germ Oil and of course salt.  I left it on under a plastic cap for about half-an-hour, and then rinsed out.  My hair was indifferent towards it, no need to try that again.

I was definitely not impressed with the KeraCare line–I’ve been wanting to try this so badly, and I finally found it at a store, and as expensive as it is it did nothing differently from any other inexpensive conditioner.  Boooo.

So I towel dried my hair yet again, and proceeded to blow dry, which really wasn’t any easier than it ever was.  I was really disappointed that nothing I used softened my hair enough to flat iron straight.

I’ve also noticed another sad thing–I have to trim my ends It’s been about a whole year since I’ve trimmed my hair so I’m really not looking forward to it, but I have to.  When I flat iron, my ends are really crispy, and I realize it could be because there are remnants of the perm I last used over a year ago damaging it, and threatening to break itself off if I don’t do it first.

I’ll be back with pictures in the next entry, and will continue with the blow dry/flat iron process.

Hair Journey Journal – April 2009

 

 

 

I undid each of the 4 puffs one at a time and applied One N’ Only heat protectant right before actually flat ironing, as opposed to just applying the tube to my entire head of hair.  I then used my Denman brush to carefully detangle each little section per puff so that I could flat iron section by section.

It took me about an hour-and-a-half, in total, and because that lemon juice (I’m naming that as the culprit) made my hair so dry it didn’t straighten all that well, but the end result was shiny and healthy looking (albeit puffy)

It’s my sincere belief that once I find a product that can soften my hair before, and during blow drying that my hair will straighten better with the flat iron.  I don’t blame the Sedu at all; any hotter and it would just burn my hair off, so…

Anyways, when I went to the BSS earlier that day, I went in search of a straight type of human hair that didn’t kink up/tangle easily, but still had flow and a silky look to it.  I found exactly what I was looking for in a pack of $20.00 hair (I was so pissed that I paid like $40.00 for the last pack of straight hair 4 months before and it was so puffy and coarse–not to mention short.  I wish I had known then).  I made one mistake, and that was buying the braiding hair shorter than the weaving hair, but I won’t make that mistake again.

So I went to my usual spot to get my hair braided, and was really happy with the end result (except for one thing–being that the braiding hair was shorter than the weaving hair, the stylist decided to try to retain length with the braids by not braiding all the way until she had all of my natural hair braided in before tying off.  The outcome of that was me having to go home and continue to braid past the endpoints to hide the puffy ends of my hair that were sticking out in plain sight.  I hope I’m explaining myself clearly enough for you to understand).

All-in-all, I have to say that I’m lovin’ this hair.  It doesn’t tangle (I figured for $20.00 I’d have a hammock in my hair the week after, if not the next morning) but it’s been over a week and it’s still silky and shiny.

See for yourself:

 

 

 

 

Okay, so don’t laugh at me but I came up with a pretty good idea that has turned into a GREAT idea so far–albeit a weird one…

First off, let me backtrack a little and tell of something idiotic I did which led to a discovery that I’m happy about.

I read on some website, shortly after getting this newest install put in, that baby oil combats dandruff.  Now, I’m not saying it’s 100% untrue, but I do believe that this rule only applies to someone with very…VERY short hair, or a baby’s scalp.  This is NOT intended for anyone with longer hair.

Like an idiot, an idiot desperate for relief, I bought into the propaganda, and doused my scalp with baby oil. 

Big…mistake…

I looked like a greasy fool.  I had baby oil all over my silk scarf, seeping through my pillowcases, all over the collar part of my clothing, running down my back, soaked and saturated completely through each strand, peek-a-booing its greasy ass anywhere my scalp was visible…

I took off from work that day, and it’s a good thing I did, because I was left with no other choice but to wash that mess OUT of my hair (and the install, of course).

Now, when I was getting the braids put in, the lady doing them was VERY strict with her instructions when she told me that I was not, under any circumstances, to wet the hair.  She didn’t tell me what would happen if I did, but I used my imagination and saw tangles, and puff, and frizz; I basically saw a cute install going down the drain all for the sake of some shampoo.

BUT…I’m no longer using shampoo <<insert smug smile here>>, so I grabbed my Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castille Soap, and lathered the f up.

I admit, even though I know the LCS doesn’t contain Laurel Sulfate, I was still nervous about how the hair would dry, but it dried fine, and that musky odor of babyoil and scalp sweat disappeared.

Now knowing that I could wash the hair, I felt more confident that if and when I needed to, I could do it again to cleanse my scalp.

So that’s exactly what I did the other day–just around the front of my hair, the braided section.  I scrubbed my scalp with the LCS very gently, so as not to disturb the braids and make my hair underneath them fuzzy.  Then I towel dried and let the area air dry ( I didn’t want to use a blow drier, because I just feel it’s unecessary and will cause overdrying…and more dandruff, lol). 

THEN…I did something that just seemed to pop into my mind, and I haven’t looked back since…

I took some of my favorite lotion for dry skin, Eucerin, and I pumped some out onto my fingers, rubbed together, and then applied to my scalp.

Yes…yes I know that sounds weird, but bear with me…

My scalp HATES grease.  My scalp HATES oils.  My scalp HATES conditioner, shampoo, or just having nothing on it at all.  What the hell else was I supposed to do?

I did the only thing that made sense–I took the lotion that I trust with my face and arms to prevent ashiness and I rubbed it onto my scalp, and let me tell you…

Itch is gone.  Flakes are gone.  Scalp looks/feels moisturized.

On top of it, Eucerin is noncommedogenic (meaning that it doesn’t clog pores).

I’m definitely going to be doing this ritually from now on.  It feels good to look in the mirror in the morning and not see flakes smiling back at me.

Hm…I wonder if I should rate Eucerin on my “Hair Products That I’ve Used” post?

Hm…

 

 

 

  

So I’ve been contemplating, and I think it a good decision to do updates maybe once every 2 weeks instead of once a week.  Bottomline is that I have a lot of other things going on (work, school, my sims 2 website that I’m trying to keep updated, and pretty soon I’ll be starting a weight loss journey journal) and I just don’t have the time or energy to start a new entry and really add detail to it.  On top of that, it’s not like my hair is really…doing anything special while it’s under this weave/braid combo, lol.  I think 2 weeks is good enough for thorough updates–and who knows, maybe once I take the braids/weave out for good, I’ll return to weekly updates.  No promises though.

So, it’s been almost 3 weeks since I did my little Eucerin experiment, and I gotta tell you…it worked wonderfully.  I was a dope though, and did not take care of my hair for the past 2 weeks (I’ve been falling asleep before I could tie up my braids, and waking up with them all dry and fuzzy–because I don’t have silk pillowcases…and don’t think I ever will get them…don’t know why…)  The moisturized scalp from the lotion lasted all of about a week and a day or two, so I think it’s a good idea to remoisturize every weekend. 

I’m not stopping though, because this stuff is the truth.  Not only doesn’t my scalp flake, but it doesn’t itch.

Some of the braids around my edges (and the part going down the middle of my head) have become ultra-fuzzy–my falling asleep without properly moisturizing/securing my head hasn’t helped.  I’m redoing them little-by-little, but they don’t look all that bad.

Anyways, I don’t have much to say so I’ll end things here. 

I’ll speak about what I want to do with my hair on May 16/17th in the next entry.  I have some ideas, and some things I want to try but am nervous about (changing my haircolor being one of them) so, until then…

Hair Journey Journal – March 2009

 

 

 

I know I haven’t posted pictures of my hair and its progress in a while, so I snapped two shots after undoing a few braids around the front and back edges of my head this weekend:

Front edge–I estimate it measures about 4 inches now–I’m getting there!!!:

 

And the front side edge pic:

 

Both edges haven’t been that long since the year I went back to back with weaves/braids like 10 years ago.  Brava me!

I have one more week to go before I remove the wet-n-wavy, and get my hair redone.  I can’t believe it’s time to get my hair done again–it honestly seems to have flown by so quickly, not to mention that my hair has only grown about half-an-inch in the two months that I’ve had them in.

I suspect dry scalp, overwashing, and drying weather to be the culprits.

I’ve changed my mind about washing my hair every two weeks under the braids/weave–I’ll wash it ONLY when ABSOLUTELY necessary.  All that drying out of moisture that my hair needs to grow stunts the growth and makes me a cranky bitch.

I’ve decided to go every other month with the wet-n-wavy, because I suspect that if I wear it every month, and put it in each time I go for a new install that I’ll tire of it, and eventually grow to hate it.

In some ways it’s low maintenance (like you don’t need a comb, you can just wet it, use your fingers to shake it, and then go) but in other ways it’s a pain in the ass (you basically need to apply product to it every night, or (if you add glycerin to your product) every other night.  Maybe I just haven’t found the right product that will keep it moist and moisturized for days on end, maybe that might make a difference…

It’s also a good cover for the hair (my hair) around the edges that slip out of the microbraids and the cornrows; it blends a lot easier.  Also, when the microbraids get frizzy, it’s not as noticeable.

I love straight hair though.  True there’s not much cover up allowed with my natural hair if it slips out around the edges (curly natural hair vs. straight weave hair) and frizzy braids may show more, but there’s just something about a nice sleek, straight style that makes me sigh happily.

I hated the weave hair I purchased before though–for the price I paid for it, it sure as hell was stiff and never seemed to get moisturized enough.  I vow to do research on the hair forums for a straight weave type that looks close to my natural texure if it were pressed, BUT has flexibility–at least more than that boar bristle weave I paid so damn much for before.

I’m really looking forward to removing this install.  I know I’m going to go nuts finally being able to scratch at the parts of my scalp that’s been covered by braids for 2 months.  I’m also excited at the fact that I’ll be using no sulfate shampoos, and will be trying out a natural relaxer on my hair (it’s supposed to loosen your texture a bit, make the curly more manageable).

I’ll talk about that next week though–I’ll detail what I plan my whole regimen to be. 

Until then!

 

 

 

 

T minus 2 days and counting…

This hair is SO ready to go, lol.  I just stopped taking care of it last week, and it’s flipping a fuzzy braided middle finger up at me every morning now.

I just don’t see the point in pampering it with products that cost crazy amounts of money, when I’m going to be taking it all out in a matter of 72 hours. 

Screw that.

I have to say, I HATE the way coconut oil makes this wet-n-wavy hair smell when I’m shaking it to detangle in the mornings.  It’s just like this musky, underwear you find under your bed kinda smell.  Maybe it’s mixing it with other products, but I can do without that odor…

So, I’d like to detail what I’m going to be doing to my hair this weekend in this entry.  I’ve also promised myself to print my hair agenda out and stick it under a magnet on my fridge, because I don’t want to stray from what I plan on doing.  I always try to improvize, and that leads me to coming back here the week after to cry to you guys about how I fucked up my hair…not this time.  You have NO CLUE how much I want to try a dandruff shampoo, NO CLUE.  I hear tell that Selsun Blue makes a natural dandruff shampoo now, but I see it’s packed with sulfates, so that’s a no no for me.  As BAD as the flaking on my scalp may be now, it’s NOWHERE near as bad as it was back before I stopped using shampoos.  I think that with time and care, I can calm it down to a state where it might itch a little, but the dandruff won’t be so severe.  I’m NOT gonna turn back to sulfates.  Not if I can help it.

This time, I’m gonna make a plan and I’m gonna stick to it.

1. Okay, first thing’s first…I need to clean my scalp.  I don’t even want to get into the details of what I’m having shoved up my fingernails everytime I scratch my head right now…but it’s not pretty.  Between leftover product, and glycerin-soaked or dry dandruff…it’s not pretty.   I plan on getting into the shower and grabbing that bottler of Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap, and just scrubbing my scalp as much as I possibly can.  I bet I’ll make those Herbal Essesnces commercial sounds, which is so not cool because my landlord will hear and think I’m pleasuring myself, but I don’t give a shit.  You have no clue how badly I wish I could wash my hair right this minute.  I’ve decided to then use ACV (yes, I’m going to retry it…if this is a fungus, this unnatural dandruff, and I don’t want to use those sulfate dandruff shampoos, then ACV seems to be the only choice) and apply it to my scalp, letting it sit underneath a shower cap for about 10 minutes while I soap up the rest of me, lol.  I’ll wash it out with cold water after those 10 minutes, and then reapply it for another 5-10 minutes.  I’ll rinse it out for the last time, and towel dry after that.
2. I’ve been battling with the choice of either doing a honey treatment on my hair, lime and coconut milk, OR doing a coconut milk, coconut oil, and yogurt mix.  After watching Youtube videos on all 3 methods last night, and reading all the reviews about the results of these natural relaxers…I decided to mix them all the hec together, lmfao!  I’m going to melt some coconut oil, and mix it together with some high fat plain yogurt, a good amount of honey, 2 limes, and some coconut milk.  That’s some serious moisturizing power right there.  Come on now–if NONE OF THAT works to just loosen my hair’s curl pattern, then it’s all malarky, and I’ll go on record for saying that it ain’t for any hair over type 2 or 3.  I’m going to slab the mixture onto my hair, and put a plastic cap on, before pulling on my bonnet hair dryer for about half-an-hour. 
3. I want to wash it all out with Liquid Castille.  I was going to add a bit of glycerin to this, but I don’t want anything to get into the way of removing the ingredients (especially the yogurt, yuck) from my hair.  I’ve read several reviews where the person who tried the mixtures said that they needed to wash their hair several times to get it all out.  I’ll just Liquid Castille it up until it’s all out. 
4. I’m going to finish it all off with a moisturizing conditioner.  I want to use something that has weight to it–and the V05 and the Suave just don’t…they’re light conditioners to me.  I have to dig through my arsenal of products, and find a conditioner that I’d like to try again–now that I don’t have the kinky, coarse and dry after effects of using a sulfate shampoo to try to combat it.  I’m going to mix a handful of the conditioner with a quarter-size amount of glycerin, and let it sit under a plastic cap for about 10 minutes, before I wash it all out with just water. 

If my hair isn’t conditioned to the maximum after that–shiny, soft, and manageable, then something is just wrong with my hair.  Plain, straight, flat out.

 

 

 

 

So, I’m back from my hair weekend.

Am I happy–meh.  But am I mad?  Not really.

I’m pretty much disappointed, but I do recognize that the things I’m disappointed in aren’t really a big deal, and don’t take away too much from the overall picture.

Me before removing my braids:

It was pretty tangled, but I was still able to get my fingers through quite easily.  Before I removed the braids, I used a paddle brush to detangle the ends, and then used a medium-toothed comb to undo the little knot that the braiders tie to bind off the braids so that they won’t unravel.

Okay, so let’s start from the top–

I came home on Friday night with a mission–to take those old braids out around the middle and edges of my head, so that I could wake up early on Saturday morning and drive over to the braiding salon to have them remove the weave.

2 things went wrong with this, however…

First, I procrastinated with the taking out of the braids, and ended up only removing half by like 2 in the morning on Sat.  I was sooo tired, and so disappointed, because I should have had them all out.  Now I was gonna really look like a wild woman when they took the weave out, with a small section of braids peeking out through a huge, puffy afro. 

Second, I woke up late.  I woke up at the time I was supposed to be at the damn salon, and decided to take out another section before leaving my house to boot!  I finally got there; had to wait for like half-an-hour cuz I got there so late and someone else was getting their hair done.  One good thing came of the removing part–the woman decided to take the remainder of the braids out for me, no charge.  She zipped right through taking them all out, it was incredible!  It would have taken me at LEAST 2 hours; it took her 15 minutes.  No lie.  Even though she said no charge, I still dropped her another 5 bucks, because I really appreciated it.

So I finally had my afro out.  As I poked my fingers through to feel the condition of my scalp, my eyes damn near rolled into the back of my head, seizure style, as I itched and scratched (gently) at those areas that were hidden underneath braids before, and could not be reached by my fingers.  I had sooo much buildup, I couldn’t WAIT to get home to wash my hair.

I decided to go with the straight hair, as I said in the other entries before this one.  I went to the BSS right after the lady removed the old hair, and went looking for a type of straight hair that would have body and shine, but wouldn’t be ridiculous-looking on my head, like an Asian person’s hair.  I found what I wanted, and after a quick stop at the meat store (they had coconut milk! I couldn’t find it at the supermarket), I was on my way back home.

I got home, and used my shower comb to detangle my hair.  Once I felt I had gotten any large tangles out, I then switched to my medium-t0othed comb to get out the smaller tangles. 

This was the result:

Can you believe how BIG it’s getting??!  It was amazing to see the height.  And to think–it’s not even STRAIGHT yet!

After this point, I grabbed my bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castille Soap, and jumped into the shower. 

Now, I believe I detailed the last time I took my braids out and washed my hair–I said I used conditioner first, and that my hair loved it; it was still loosely waved, and manageable…until I put the shampoo in, and that was where it all went to hell.

I give FULL CREDIT to a BHMer by the name of YourLeoQueen for recommending Liquid Castille Soap to me in place of shampoo.  She has no idea how much she’s helped me to move a HUGE step forward, and how much frustration she’s saved me from experiencing at the hands of sulfate-laced shampoos.  All this time I was fearing cones in shampoos, and wasn’t nobody talking ’bout sulfates (the REAL enemy).

I admit that I was scared when I poured a quarter-sized amount of the castille soap into my palm, and proceeded to lather up…

But, it was wonderful!  It felt like I was putting a conditioner into my hair, in that my hair didn’t kink up at ALL!  In fact, it basked in the LCS, and felt so moisturized that it wasn’t funny!  This product will be the first (if I’m not mistaken?) to receive 5 stars from me.  It’s the damn God’s honest truth, and will be my main staple shampoo from this day forward.  If you have heard about it, and wanted to try it, get out there and get it.  It’s pricey, but it’s not one of those overpriced/overpublicized products on the market–you won’t see this advertised on television (at least not here in the states, I don’t think?) and when you buy the bottle, it’ll look bootlegged, but that shit is being sold in Stop n’ Shop, so trust that they know the value of it.

Also, one bottle (albeit a $12.00 bottle) will last you for a LONG time.  I’ve had mine since November 2008, and to date (March 2009) I’ve only used 2/3–and that’s because I also used it as a soap for a while (I got the almond-scented one, and looooved bathing with it).  It has multiple uses, including clothes-washing, dishwashing, and general household cleaning.  Trust me, LCS is the truth!

So I shampooed with it, lathered up again after washing out, and then I put together a mixture of Apple Cider Vinegar, and Tea Tree Oil.  I added an equal part of water to the mix, and shook it all up inside of the applicator bottle with the nozzle tip.  I poured it onto my scalp, made sure every inch of skin under and between my hair had been doused (especially the edges) and stepped out of the shower to let it sit on my scalp underneath a plastic cap for about 15 minutes.

I stepped back into the shower to wash it out with lukewarm water, and then reapplied for about 3-5 minutes, before washing it out again.

When I was done, I shook the water out of my hair like a cat or dog (lol) and proceeded to towel dry, in order to prepare for the next step–which I’ll continue on with in my next entry…

 

 

 

 

 

So, I told you guys about the coconut oil/creme natural relaxer right?  I also told you that I planned to mix it with lemon juice, and honey.  I did just this, combining coconut milk/creme, coconut oil, plain yogurt, lemon juice, and honey. 

It smelled fine in the bowl.

It smelled horrible on my hair.

It just smelled like rancid milk, and there I was pouring it through my hair with the little hard balls of coconut dotted here and there…it was an awful experience.  It dripped down my neck, down my face, into my ears…ugh!  I even let it sit in the freezer for like 20 minutes before I used it, so that the consistency would be closer to a creme than a liquid, but it was still very liquified.

So I applied it throughout my hair (no, I didn’t comb as I applied–that would have had it splattering EVERYWHERE (walls, floors, body) and I just wasn’t having that.  I figured, “if it’s as effective as it’s being hyped up to be, I won’t need to manipulate much to get it to work”.  I then put on a plastic cap, and went to do other things while I gave it time to soak/sink in.

I couldn’t move much, as the mixture was on my head, because if I tilted my head too much to the sides, back, or forward, liquid dirty-milk-creme would come pouring out–all warm from my body heat.  It just got to a point where all I could do was wrap my towel around my neck, and just sit still and give it as much time as I could before I washed it out.

This mixture made my hair soooo hard, and rough!  I was PISSED that I spent all this money mixing together a concoction that was smelly, messy, and had an even more negative effect on my hair than the WORST products that I’ve used!  Never…again…

I assume it was the lemon juice, because of all the acid that must have dried the hell outta my hair, but I refuse to try that solution again minus the lemon juice.  I’d rather just use a deep conditioning–which I plan on doing in May.

I let some warm water run through my hair, and used my fingers to clean the mixture out.  I then used some more LCS, and then put in some Nexxus Humetant shampoo.  I’ve now given that Nexxus 2 strikes, I’m not gonna waste my time using it again just to give it a third; it smells divine, but it does nothing for my hair, and it’s way too expensive to do “nothing”.

After I shook my hair out again, I towel dried and then rubbed some pure coconut oil together in my hands, and distributed it throughout my hair (had no softening effect–or any effect whatsoever.  My hair just doesn’t like natural oils…)

I then used my fingers and a wide-toothed comb to part my hair into 4 sections, and proceeded to undergo the flat ironing process–which I’ll continue with in the next entry.

Hair Journey Journal – February 2009

 

 

 

I’m so frustrated right now, that I’m battling myself just to type this entry.

My scalp is in horrible condition, and I’m not sure whether it’s the weather or just some…I dunno, episode I’m going through, but it’s driving me insane.

So last weekend, I went to the drugstore to buy some Head and Shoulders shampoo.  I ended up with the conditioner instead (which I realized once I got home).  I figured it was a sign from God not to put that sulfate shampoo on my head, and figured the conditioner might provide some relief.  I also stopped by GNC to buy some extra-virgin Coconut oil (they sell it in its solid state, which looks like chunks of potato salad covered in mayo).  So I put the conditioner on, scrubbed my scalp as best I could in between the braids, being careful not to manipulate them too much, lest they slide off and fall out.  I let that sit on my head for about 20 minutes.  I washed it out, and then proceeded to melt the Coconut oil chunks, to apply to my scalp.

One week later, and I’m in an even worse state than I started from.

That Coconut oil might work well on the hair iteself (I wouldn’t know, since all of mine is under a weave or in braids), but on the scalp?  I can’t see it working for you unless you don’t have a dandruff problem to begin with.

Add to all that the fact that I didn’t even blow-dry my hair, so I had itchy wet/tingly/oily scalp all weekend long…was a mess.

 

Sorry that the last entry was so short.  I really didn’t have much to say anyway, I felt so down about my scalp situation.

I tried be creative too–melting both chunks of Shea Butter and Coconut Oil together, and putting it into an applicator bottle, figuring that they’d work together to relieve the dryness.  Boy was my face red when I woke up the next morning, applied some, walked out of the house to go to company meetings and looked like a greasy monkey when it started dripping down my forehead and leaving an oily residue on my fingers anytime I so much as stroked my braids…

Not fun.

So, anyways I’ve been doing my usual research (going through haircare sites, and forums via Google) and have come up with new information that could show me (and my scalp) some relief (hopefully).

For one thing, I definitely need to stay away from those shampoos.  That sulfate is no joke.  I actually think my scalp is allergic to shampoos, and want to go for at least 2 months using conditioner washes only.  First, however, I’d like to try using the Liquid Castile soap I purchased from Stop n’ Shop 2 months ago.  I want to make my own mixture of oils to dilute with the soap, and pour it into an applicator bottle to get it in between my micro and cornrowed braids.  When I wash it out, I’m then going to mix together my own little hot oil treatment (I think I’m going to use olive oil, tee trea oil, and castor oil), and let that sit on my scalp for 30-45 minutes while I sit under a bonnet hair dryer (which I plan to purchase between now and the weekend).

I’m then going to mix together a nice moisturizing conditioner in an applicator bottle, with and equal portion of water (so that the cream of the conditioner doesn’t get stuck in my braids and create a gooky-looking mess that’s hard to wash out).  I’ll apply that to braids and scalp (and maybe the wet-n-wavy–why not, right?  I mean that’s what I do when I brush it out and then wet it, apply conditioner {more on this in the next entry, complete w/pictures, I promise}).  Then I’ll sit under the bonnet hair dryer again as I dry all of my hair, and then proceed to style the wet-n-wavy portion.

I’ve noticed that the dry flaking is not just happening on my scalp, but on my face as well (it’s nowhere near as bad as my scalp however–thank God.  It’s just around my nose and cheeks a little; barely noticeable).  I figured that it was because I had been drinking nothing but soda for the past 2 weeks, and pulled back on my intake of it, substituting it with water.  I noticed an immediate improvement on the itching and dryness, but I just gotta exfoliate the flakes off of both face and scalp.  Hopefully by the next entry, I’ll have better news to report.

I also plan on buying some coconut oil pills from GNC.  I’ve heard great things about digesting coconut oil (for hair AND skin, plus it has antibacterial properties) so I should notice a diff. with hair and skin (hopefully) in about a month or so.

Okay…until next week.  Cross your fingers for me that my little hair/braid/scalp-washing plan goes well, lol.

 

 

 

Okay, so I carried out my plan to wash my hair (both real and weave) this past weekend.  I didn’t do it exactly the way I described up there, but I believe the results would have still been the same.

The first thing I did was grab a paddle brush (looks like this):

It has strong plastic bristles, with these little balls at the tips, and it’s GREAT for detangling wet-n-wavy hair, which is just what I did.  It took all of 15 minutes, and the end result was a puffy mass similar to that of Mia’s from “The Princess Diaries”:

If you follow this method to detangle your wet-n-wavy, don’t be alarmed by the amount of hair that will come out in your brush–wet-n-wavy hair is made very thick on the tracks they’re sewn into, so it will not be noticeable to lose a small amount.

I then proceeded to mix together the following ingredients into an applicator bottle (looks like this):

 

1. A small amount of melted 100% pure coconut oil

2. Liquid Castille Soup

3. A small amount of 100% pure tea tree oil

4. Equal part of water, to balance out the rest

 

Trust me when I say this…you do NOT NEED more than a few drops of that tea tree oil.   If you decide to go cuckoo with it, and add more than a few drops you will REGRET it.  Tea tree oil is incredibly potent–very concentrated.  Let’s just say that the best example I can give is that the second you unscrew the cap on the bottle, it smells like someone punched you in the face with a Christmas tree.  TRUST that a few drops is all you need.

I applied that to my scalp, and then washed it out with warm water.

Then, I reused my applicator bottle to mix together:

 

1. Suave Naturals conditioner (the green one, I don’t remember which scent/flavor)

2. A small amount of Tea Trea oil

3. Avocado oil

4. Equal part water to dilute the conditioner and make the mixture less creamy (so it doesn’t get stuck in my braids)

I applied that to my towel-dried hair, and tied my Gold N’ Hot dryer bonnet to my head for half-an-hour.

I rinsed the conditioner mixture out, towel dried my hair and then blow dried it.

I had to blow dry my hair 2-3 times about an hour apart, because the areas of my scalp that were still wet/damp were itching like crazy, but overall my scalp felt peaceful, relaxed…and Christmas tree fresh, lmmfao.

For real though…that tea tree oil is no joke…

 

Okay, so it’s been almost two weeks since I used my “no sulfate shampoo” method, and I have to say…

My itchy dry scalp has improved dramatically!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still dry and it does itch occasionally, but back when I was using shampoo my scalp was about 80% dry and flaky, now I’m down to about 40%.  It’s not 0%, but it’s definitely a good start.

That little mixture of oils I put into the applicator bottle did nothing for my scalp–I suspect that I’d have more luck using that on my natural hair itself.  All those oils do is irritate my scalp and make it feel like it’s smothered in motor oil–which causes it to itch from discomfort.

I got into a bad habit with the weave hair and extensions that I had to break myself out of–and fast; after seeing how soft and silky the hair felt after washing it in conditioner and oils that day, I decided to just get it wet in the shower every morning before work and add a little conditioner to it before walking out of the house that way.  Well, all I achieved was hair that dried less than an hour later into this bushy, puffy, tangly mess.  I had to use my Denman to brush all the tangles out on Sunday night, and let me tell you…it was tangled like a muth…

It took me about half-an-hour to tug knots out, and I had a handful of hair (not mine, thank God) that had come out on the brush.  I braided the synthetic hair into 4 big braids, and added Motion’s Marula Oil Lotion over the braids, saturating them as much as I could.  I then put Aussie’s Mouse/Conditioner onto each braid, and covered it all with a satin scarf.

In the morning, I untangled each braid carefully, and just shook it out with my fingers.  It came out really cute, and the curls were very defined.  I made sure not to get them wet in the shower, and will not wet them again in the future (unless I’m washing my hair, which–at the rate my scalp is healing from ended use of sulfate shampoos–might go back to being only when I take the braids/sew-in out).

It’s been a month and a week, and usually by now my hair is creeping steadily towards one inch in length.   Measuring from braids that are in the dead center of my head, my hair hasn’t even fully reached the half-inch mark.  I suspect it has to do with lack of moisture and all the washing I’ve done.  That’s why I really don’t want to get into the habit of washing my hair more than once a month–unless needed.

I have to learn to break these traditions that have been so firmly ingrained into my mind like “your hair is not washed if you’re not using shampoo”, or “you have to wash your hair at least once a week”.  I’m not saying these rules don’t work for other people with other (maybe even same) types of hair, but it doesn’t work for me, and that’s all I need to realize.  For so many years I’ve felt different from others because of my hair, and instead of embracing what my hair was, I felt bad because of what my hair was not.

It’s understandable though–at least to me; we grow up learning to place a high value on wispy, long, straight hair, so much so that by the time we’re adults we don’t even know how to take care of our own hair because we’ve been idolizing with the media shows as “good” hair or “well-behaved” hair.

I, for one, cannot wait until my thick, curly, natural hair is down to my waist.  I’ve had people try to scare me off from growing it so long by saying that they know women who have hair that long and it takes them hours and hours to detangle it, but I’m sure those women are so busy following hair “rules” that they’re not stopping to figure out what their hair really likes.  This goes with relaxed/fine/straight hair rules as well as natural rules.

You heard me.

All these ladies talking about natural oils and stuff working for their scalp.

Well, I’ve tried them, and they do NOT work for me.

If they work for you, well then you go ahead and do you, but as for me I need to find some other alternative because if I’m gonna sit over a hot saucepan, mixing together oils like I’m some damn chemist, my scalp better never itch again.

Hair Journey Journal – January 2009

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year everyone!  So, it’s 2009…a new year of hope, and hopefully of positive change for our nation and for each one of us, individually.

I ended my last entry rather abruptly, and never got a chance to list what type of hair dryer I was using, so I’ll do it in this entry.

First, I want to take back my statement that I wouldn’t do my edges.  After a full week of pulling my hair back into a cute little ponytail (I’ll include pictures of that with the next entry) the braids around my edges really started to puff up, and I ended up redoing them (well, to be truthful, just the right hand side). 

I redid it also because I realized that it was a great opportunity to try out different techniques of shampooing and conditioning.    What I did with the rightside edge was use something that a friend on a hairsite recommended to me–Liquid Castille Soap.  I got an almond scented one, and I have to say…it was really pleasant.  I would definitely use it again, my hair felt moisturized and everything, I would just need to use a dandruff shampoo (and I think I’ll use Loreal Natural’s) because the Castille Soap doesn’t control my flakes.  I then used Nexxus’ Therrape Shampoo, and I wasn’t really blown away.  I mean, it wasn’t horrible, but I didn’t feel like “ooooh…ahhhhh”.  I won’t be using that the weekend after next when I go back to the shop to take my weave out.

Anyways, here was a shot of my hair after shampooing and conditioning:

 

I then towel dried, and added One n’ Only heat protectent to my hair, combing it through to the ends before blow drying.  Here is the blowdryer I purchased from Sally’s:

Gold n’ Hot Ceramic/Tourmaline Blow Dryer

I’m telling you, I am SO happy I decided to purchase it.  I have no regrets.  Not only does it get my hair dry quickly, but even at a MEDIUM heat setting it manages to dry quickly and effectively, and doesn’t sound like 8 vacuum cleaners going all at once.

So this was the end result of my blow drying with the comb attachment and the One n’ Only heat protectant:

Notice that it’s not BONE straight, but straight enough to complete the job with a flat iron.  I kept the heat on my hair for longer than I should have here, and it didn’t do any damage, but I felt I should have just focused on semi-straightening it more than drying, because now that my hair is natural it just air dries quickly on its own enough as it is.

I then applied more One n’ Only heat protectant, and heated up my Sedu.  I raised the temperature to about 380-390.  I was still scared of smoking hair, or burn smells, but there was none of either.  My hair came out straight, and pretty shiny.

I know my hair looks uneven, and maybe even a little thin when it’s straightened in the last pic, but keep something in mind…

Those are my EDGES.  That’s right–the hair growing in a place where most women who are wearing wigs, weaves, braids and lacefronts HAVE no hair.  It may not look full now, but length is not my main concern at the moment–hair health is, and you can trust that that hair is healthy.

Well, I will be going to the beauty supply store this weekend, so I will look around for Redken products.  I’ll also be looking for recommendations on more hairsites–I’m LOVIN’ the heads of hair on the ladies over at LHCF (longhaircareforum).  Not to say that the ladies on BHM (Blackhairmedia) don’t have nice hair, but LHCF has more heads with longer hair (that I can see) and that just appeals to me more–I mean, there’s nothing wrong with taking a recommendation from someone with short hair, but taking a recommendation from someone with long hair is pretty much a must.

 

 

It feels like forever since I last wrote in you, lol.  I’m always tempted to do an entry before the following week, but I hold back because I don’t want that to become a habit–me submitting entries every few days instead of every week.  In fact, there will be a point (no clue when) where I’ll just submit an entry every other week, and then I might just taper it off to once a month.  I mean, once I find my staple products, and figure out how to soothe my dry/itchy scalp, and figure out styles that work for me there won’t really be a reason to have to say much on here, will there?

Anyways, 4 days until I get these damn braids and tracks taken out.  I can’t believe I keep these things in for two weeks at a time, and really can’t believe it’s been 6 months since I’ve been doing that.  I keep beating up on myself about how my hair isn’t tons longer than it is, but then I try to remind myself that I was cutting off inches at a time until July of last year, so from July til now there really should only be about 3 inches of new growth (and there was about half-an-inch at the edges, and about 3 in the middle, so that all adds up to my 3.5 inch edges and my 5-6 inch crown.

In my last entry, I promised to take a picture of the cute ponytail I pull my braids and weave up into.  It’s adorable (to me, at least), and I love that I can pull it up and into the middle/center of the back of my head.  I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about a high ponytail with the ends swishing around your neck and back that make you feel so pretty, lmfao.

 

Side View

 

View from the top

 

The secret is just to leave a little of the hair tugged out on the row of tracks closest to the nape of your neck.  It’ll just look like a loosely drawn ponytail there, and the ends of the hanging pony will be brushing up against there anyway, so it won’t be as visible.

So I was rockin’ that do until yesterday, because now the edges are really lookin’ rough…these braids are toooo ready to come out.

I went home last night with the intention of having a Head and Shoulders party at the edges, because they were itching soo soo bad.  It was HORRIBLE!  I mean, I’ve been itching my scalp like crazy for the past week or so, and I think I know why…

My skin (scalp included) is VERY sensitive, and fussy.  It doesn’t like to be plastered with grease and oil and anything else that won’t allow it to breathe, or it will break out/flake.  The secret (for me at least) is NOT to slop on a layer of grease/oil, but to just wash away the flaking at least once every other week and add a light moisturizer in between.  If you feel the need to soak your head in grease or oil (natural oils included) then you need to wash your hair more often/wash with a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner.

Anyways, I get paid tomorrow, so I will be making another trip to Sally’s.  I want to try the Silk Elements line (heat protectant spray included).  As I always state about these lines that do NOTHING for my hair (or nothing GOOD), I’ve heard really good reviews about it, so I thought I’d check it out.  I also want to pick up a Denman brush and a hot oil treatment.  I think I’ll be set after that.

Well, I’ll be back next week to tell you how my weekend removing the braids, washing the hell out of my scalp and hair and reinstalling the braids goes.  I’ve decided to go with the wet-n-wavy again, so I’m kinda looking forward to that.

 

 

So, I had yet another catastrophic hair weekend.  I know what I did wrong, so I’m not even mad or anything–just disappointed that I didn’t have the courage to do what I needed to do.

So, I woke up early Saturday morning to go and get the tracks taken out.  I was ECSTATIC once the hair in back was free–I was able to scratch, itch, rake my fingers through my hair (weirdly enough, my hair smelled like onions back there…not sure why…maybe a bad mixture of products over the two month period?  I dunno…) All the way on the drive home I was playing with my hair, and realized something…I think I’m kinda at shoulder length (SL).  I say “kinda” because I have a short, fat neck, lmfao.  What might be SL to me could be barely grazing the bottom of the earlobe for another.  This is the hair at the very nape of my neck:

So, when I finally got home, I started the tedious task of removing the braids.  I did what I always do, and procrastinated, so that by the next night I was still removing them.  When all of my hair was free, I did my little shake-it-all-out thing over the garbage, and proceeded to rake my fingers through my curls and waves.

This was what my hair looked like right after removing the braids, and right before washing:

I said that I’d wait every four months beore doing a comparison afro shot, but as you can see it’s getting HUGE!  What I especially love is how manageable it feels after removing the weave and braids–it’s pretty easy to run your fingers through, and not really all that tangled–the cornrows and braids have kept the hair seperated and under control.

Now, at this point I had a few options on what to put into my hair first.  I debated on it, and after speaking to a friend decided to shampoo first, then condition, and then use a hot oil treatment.  That’s not what I did though…

The first shampoo I used was a Sally’s brand (I believe it’s only sold at Sally’s) called Ion Hard Water Conditioner

I know they say hard water affects how soft your hair is, and can also affect the color you have in.  I wanted to rinse with a nice conditioner before doing anything else, and this product was really nice.  My hair liked it a lot, and it had a really pleasant smell.

THEN…I did something stupid…

A friend of mine on a hair forum I belong to told me NOT to use shampoo in my hair.  She suggested Liquid Castille Soap, and I went out to purchase it, tried it, and liked it.  I felt, however, that after 2 months of non-washed hair castille soap would be too gentle on my dirty scalp and wanted something with more “umph”.  Well, I got my “umph” and it came in the form of Silk Elements’ Shampoo (I’ll detail which one when I get home and grab a hold of the bottle).  

As I was lathering it into my hair, I just felt my hair kink up something AWFUL.  That was it…there was no going back after that.  Even if I used the very best conditioner in the world, my hair was a lost cause… 

I then used the Silk Elements conditioner, and felt my hopes die as (not surprisingly) it did nothing.

So, that’s the secret…no shampoo.

Unfortunately, I chickened out and decided to use the shampoo, which in turn led me to suffer the consequences of hair that would eat combs and brushes.

I never did use the hot oil treatment.  It was so late at night that I just wanted to hop in and out of that shower.  Realizing that I messed up by using the shampoo just took all the fun out of it all, so I just towel dried my hair and proceeded to spray on the Silk Elements MegaSilk Heat Protection Spray.

My hair after managing to part it into two big ass afro puffs:

 

I’m not giving the heat protectant a picture shout-out just yet, because I want to try it on hair that HASN’T been tramautized into puffy afroocity by shampoo before I give it a review.

Being that my hair was so puffy and frizzy and uncontrollable from the shampooing, I could not get a nice straight press like I did on my edges a few entries above.  It truly DOES matter what you use on your hair before pressing, trust and believe that.  Yes, a good blow dryer/flat iron is also key, but if your hair is not moisturized and yielding enough, you will NOT get a flat/straight press.

So, after 2 long hours (yes, you heard me–you’d think my hair was down to my ASS since it took so long) I finally got my hair as straight as it was going to get without heat damage. 

It doesn’t look different from the pony puff pic right above, but it WAS much easier to comb through, and straighter:

I was really disappointed that it didn’t come out as straight as it could/should have.  My plans were to chart how long my hair was when straightened, but that’s okay–I know what I did wrong now, and will not chicken out again in March.

So, anyways, I went to the salon to get my hair braided, and did decide to go with the wet-n-wavy. 

One thing that I did not chicken out on (and I’m glad) was telling the woman braiding about leaving some hair out in the back, and also about the upside down T formation that I wanted for my braids (just the middle where I part it and the edges alone to be braided).  She listened very carefully, and did a wonderful job.  I think she used maybe 2 or 3 rows more of tracks than she should have (this wet-n-wavy is NO JOKE puffy) but I can’t help but admit I kinda like the puff–I just need to get out there and get my Aussie Conditioner/Mousse to control it more. 

This is what it looks like now:

That’s right…FEAR the toothy smiley face!!!

Until next week!

 

 

 

So, here it is almost 2 full weeks since the Wet-n-wavy install. 

I love the way it looks on me, and I love the length (it’s mid-back length) but my scalp…

I now totally believe that weather affects your scalp and hair–no matter how much moisture you add.  The natural oils I’m putting on my scalp at night (Castor, Vitamin E, Aloe, Almond) do nothing for the flaking, and by the morning it’s like I’ve put nothing on my scalp at all.  On top of that, my scalp feels way too tender after rubbing the oil in–just kinda sore and painful to the touch.  I’ve decided not to go nuts with the oils anymore–makes no sense to if it’s not helping with the itching/flaking. 

By the way, there’s really not itch–it’s more just flaking.  I’ve decided to pick up a bottle of Head and Shoulders and just tie the weave/braids back and use a nozzled applicator bottle mixed with head and shoulders and water to apply to the area between braids before rubbing and trying to gently scrape my scalp.  I’ve decided that if all goes well with that, I’ll repeat every two weeks.  If some braids come loose, I’ll just touch them up (removing and redoing them) because the thought of a nice clean flake-free scalp is worth having to redo braids just 2 weeks after an install.

I kinda miss the straight hair.  This puffy/curly type hair gets dry real easily, so I’m finding that I have to add moisture to it every morning, and since there’s so much of it I go through like a quarter of a bottle of wahtever I’m using just to get it to calm down–but when it does calm down it’s cute.

I need to stop being lazy/cheap and get to the store to get me some Aussie Conditioner/Mousse, because from what I remember it keeps your curls so intact and defined that you only need apply it like once or twice a week.  I gotta grab me a bottle or two, because it’s taking me like 5 minutes every morning to add some form of moisture (usually a conditioner and then some BB Moisturizer) to my hair before leaving, and I could use those 5 minutes to warm my car up.

Hair Journey Journal – December 2008

 

 

 

Wow, November just seemed to have flown by!

I’m really shocked by that, considering that November was one of my hair months (one of the months I spend damn near $300.00 on my hair, getting it done) and usually those months put such a dent in my financials that they seem to drag on longer than 30 days, in my mind at least.

Well, I’m doing good–suffering from a bit of heartbreak, but hopefully this time next month finds me over that asshole.

Anyways, I’m at the 3 week mark with this Milky Way Straight Weave, and so far so good.  The only problem I’m experiencing is a problem I always experience, and that’s a dry scalp.  I know it’s not good to do, but I use my fingernails each night to just try to eliminate as much dandruff buildup around the hairline that I can, and then I put my 70% glycerin/30% water spray on it, before wrapping my head in my silk scarf.  I’m not going to say I don’t still wake up with a dry scalp in the morning, but I will say that I can only imagine how horrible it would REALLY be if I didn’t just keep cleaning around the edges at night.  A combination of my dry skin burden, and the weather just keeps me yearning for this time next year, when I should hopefully be able to wash my hair as often as I’d like to.

Okay, so I wanted to talk about a few finds that I came across.  I said it before, and I’ll say it again, every time I think I’ve found out all I could possibly need to know about my hair and hair care products, I get smacked in the face with new facts.  I think that’s just it though–if you’re doing the right thing by your hair you’ll always find yourself learning new facts, and trying new products.  There’s nothing wrong with having yoru main staple products, but how do you know there aren’t products out there that could take your hair to an even more unbelievable level, you know?

So, anyways, onto my new finds:

Sally’s Beauty Stores:  I had NO clue that these were where the really good products are!  You want to hear something messed up?  I actually LIVE near a Sallys, as out in the boondocks as I am!  There’s one right near the supermarket I shop at!  I always just glanced at it, figuring it was for Caucasian type hair, like Ulta seems to be (not knocking Ulta, I did get my Sedu from there, but I also got an air of products geared more towards Type 1 and 2 hair…which I have none of…)  So, I now know that Sally’s is there, it’s affordable, it’s close, and it has products that are coming highly recommended from the hair site I frequent, and even when I went looking for certain products, they seemed to only be sold at Sally’s, so Sally’s it is!

Blow Dryer With Comb Attachment:  I’ve always scoffed at this item.  I thought it pointless, considering that I didn’t really have enough hair to comb through like that, and that I had always managed to get by with my comb in one hand, and the blow dryer in the other.  Another main feeling was that if I used an attachment on the blow dryer to straighten my hair, the heat would be way too close to my hair (and I’m always reading about how damaging that is), as opposed to being able to pull the blow dryer away when necessary to comb through my hair.  Well, the woman at the braid place had to straighten my hair a bit before braiding, and she used her blow dryer with the comb attachment, and it did a good job!  It was pretty cool, because my hair was already dry, so all it did was detangle it, and help straighten it more.  So, I’m thinking that maybe I’ll let my hair dry a little after washing it next time, and then just apply a heat protectant and a smoothing agent, and use a new blow dryer with comb attachment, which I will definitely be buying soon–chances are, from Sally’s, lmfao.

There’s a few more new finds, but I think I’ll save them for my next entry–besides, I want to do a bit more research on them.

I’ll leave you with a comparisson shot of the front edges of my hair, near the hairline.  One is from earlier in the year, and the other is from last month.  It’s not huge progress, but it’s still progress!

 

May 2008

 

November 2008

 

Keep in mind that the ends were cut quite a few times, so it might have been almost 2 inches longer.  Doesn’t matter though–I’m focusing on health over growth right now.  When my hair gets healthy, then I can start to push for growth.

See ya next week!

 

 

So…I believe I’ve nearly reached the point-of-no-return with this weave.

Wearing it loose now produces dry tangles, and no matter how much oil/sheen/grease (yes, I’m desperate at this point, lol) I add to the hair, it looks/feels nice and silky when pulled back into a ponytail, but the second I leave it out and it’s brushing against my collar, it becomes dry and unmanageable.

On top of that, the braids are becomming fuzzier and fuzzier, and there’s about half-an-inch of new growth already pushing them up.  It’s a good thing–of course, because I WANT growth, but in terms of appearance…it’s not so good, lol.

I really wish I could take the middle section and edges of the braids out this weekend, and redo them, but I don’t get paid until Monday, so I won’t be able to buy any of the shampoos/conditioners/etc. that I want to get from Sally’s until next week/end.  I might just ignore all that, and take the braids out and try the whole co-washing principle to see if skipping the shampoo part really makes my hair any more manageable.

I’ve been spraying the glycerin/water mix on my scalp, and it seems to have calmed the dandruff down, but only visibly.  I hope these next few weeks really pass by so that I can take all this hair out.

I think I’m going to get the wet-n-wavy installed again…don’t laugh, but I think wet-n-wavy makes me look like a transvestite–it just adds this mannish quality to my features (in my opinion) so that’s why I’m undecided on whether I want to get that, or try for another straight type of hair.

Well anyway, I have been doing a bit of research online, and I’ve found some interesting tips on how to grow your hair longer, using natural methods.

One that I saw advices using Listerine on your hair and scalp.  My first instinct was to laugh, because I never would have thought to try something like this, but afer thinking on it for a while I realized that the very worst thing that could happen is that your head has sort of a minty smell.  But, doesn’t Head & Shoulders have a minty smell too?  And that hair growth aid–MTG, that supposedly smells like bacon grease!  So, a choice between using a product I already have at home, or having to order some bacon grease smelling horse product that’ll set me back at least $30.00…no competition.

Another tip was to use Gelatin Capsules, which I found were sold at GNC.  I remember hearing about gelatin growing your nails fast, long, and strong, but I just never linked that to hair as well.  These pills are on my wishlist for the next month, and hopefully this combined with the Listerine in a spray bottle will yield an inch a month, rather than half-an-inch.

I’m not expecting a miracle, but I would like a little bit of an edge that doesn’t leave me smelling like meat.

Here’s a picture I forgot to add to the other entries.

Measurement of where my hair reached in early November, shoulderwise:

 

 

So I finally got paid on Monday (I get paid once monthly, so it’s like a BIG deal when I get my paycheck, trust…)

I’ve been itchin’ to get my ass on over to Sally’s, to go nuts browsing through all the products, BUT…I am glad that other errands have taken me away from making a dash to that store so quickly.  It’s for the best that I did not go when I got paid earlier in the week, but instead will be going tomorrow night.  This will give me time to make  a list of all the products that I want to try, so as not to walk in there with my money taped to my forehead, and greedy sales people pointing me towards all these expensive products that won’t do shit for my hair.  I want to go into that store with a list and a plan.

I’ve been perusing reviews through Google, and on hair sites, and have narrowed it down to certain products/product lines, and do not want to lose my focus when I walk into the store.  I’m sure I’ll get someone who’ll direct me to a corner of the store geared towards my “type” of hair, and I’ll get all turned around–but not if I have my list clenched tightly in my first.  It is for that reason that I will make sure to prepeare, and I’ll used this entry to help me do that.

First off, I want to start by saying that I do not plan on using shampoo on my hair, come the weekend of 1/17/09 – 1/18/09.  I cannot find a shampoo that doesn’t dry my hair, and it’s not as if shampooing is taking care of my dandruff problem.  I can’t imagine just using conditioner, so I will find a cozy nitch in between shampooing and co-washing–baking soda.  I’ll use it in my hair twice.  Nice cleanser, doesn’t leave a smell, washes out easily, and leaves my hair feeling just as moisturized as it started out.  That’s good enough for me.

I will be undoing the braids around my edges this upcoming weekend, however, and have decided to give one shampoo I’ve seen reviewed pretty well a try.  If it doesn’t work, baking soda in January it is.

Okay, so on my list will be the following products:

 

For use as my shampoo:  Nexxus Therappe Luxury Moisturizing Shampoo

Now, I’ve read that it worked for a lot of people, and didn’t work for some…hopefully I’m part of the majority that it did work for.  They claim it really moisturizes your hair and leaves it silky.  I’m hoping so.  It’s not really expensive, so at least that’s a plus.  My first time trying a Nexxus product (at least that I can remember).  I’ll cross my fingers with this one.  

 

For use as my conditioner: Nexxus Humectress Ultimate Moisturizing Conditioner

They say it’s supposed to be as good as the shampoo, so I’ll believe them.  Besides, I like the idea of using the same brand of conditioner to the brand of shampoo I use.
 

 

For use after washing out the conditioner:  Silk Elements Megasilk Moisturizing Treatment

I’ve heard TONS of great reviews about it–especially from those with really coarse hair.  So I’ll basically leave this on my hair, under a plastic cap for maybe half-an-hour or so, and then wash it out.  From what I read about other’s experiences with it, it’s supposed to make your hair REALLY soft, which is what I’m going for.  Some have complained that it made their hair TOO soft, but as far as I’m concerned the recollection I have of how hard and dry my hair felt after I blow dried, NOTHING is “too soft” for me.

 

As my protein treatment:  Motions Oil Moisturizer Silk Protein Conditioner

 I seriously thought all protein for your hair made it harder.  I know people with perms need lots of protein to repair what the chemicals do to their strands, but I had no clue that there were different TYPES of protein!  This is the protein I need to make my hair softer and silkier.  I have never used Motions (once again, not that I remember) so I’m hoping for wonderful things from it.

 

As my heat protectant: Redken Smooth Down Heat Glide Protective Smoother Very Dry Unruly Hair

This is a really hard product to find.  I’ve just found out that Sally’s does not sell Redken products.  Kmart/Walmart/etc. sells Redken products, but not this particular heat protectant.  I will have a looksie at the BSS. 

 

As my daily oil moisturizer: BB Oil Moisturizer Hair Lotion

I know that hair lotions get a bad rap, but I have recently heard good things about this one, and am willing to give it a try.

 

 

 

So, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Chanukah to all!

My apologies for ending my last entry a little abruptly–it was getting late, and I wanted to head over to Sally’s before it closed.

Well, I got my first Sally’s experience, and I can’t really say that I’m impressed. I mean, it wasn’t horrible or anything, but I just thought it’d be so much more. For one thing, as I stated in the entry above, they do NOT carry Redken products, which sucks. For another, the store is pretty small–I mean, I know you may wonder just how big I think a hair store should be, but I’ve seen BSS (Beauty Supply Stores, for those who are wondering) that were twice, if not 3 times as big–so it’s a damn shame that these Sally stores seem to be on the miniature side.

There were a couple of things that I didn’t end up getting/finding. I didn’t find the silk protein from Motions that I was looking for–they didn’t have it in stock (fail on their part). I also forgot to get the Denman brush (fail on MY part). I guess I’ll be going back to their stores every once in a while, but I think I’ll stick to the regular old Beauty Supply Stores, because I feel they offer a wider selection.

So, last weekend I decided to undo the braids in the middle section of my hair–it was starting to take on that “are they braids, or are they dreads” look, so I had to do something about it.

Snapshot of the hair after I took the braids out.  It was so soft, and stretched out to about 4.5 – 5 inches in the middle.  I almost didn’t want to wash it.

When I laid my hair flat against my scalp, it reached down near my ears.  I’m more than hopeful that this time next year I won’t need to microbraid anymore, and will just be able to wear a few rows of sew-in tracks under my own natural hair.

So I took the braids out, and proceeded to use the Nexxus shampoo and conditioner.  Was not impressed.  It smelled absolutely fantastic, but so what?  I’m not going to review it yet because I want to use just the conditioner on it’s own to see if I feel a difference in moisture.  So far though, I see no reason to have spent the money on this line. 

I put on a small amount of heat protectant (I’ll insert the name of it once I get home) and combed it evenly through my hair.

I used all the products that I mentioned last entry, and there was still no difference in moisture.  My hair didn’t feel silky or anything.  I was so disappointed.

THEN…I plugged in the new Gold N’ Hot blow dryer I purchased from Sally’s; ceramic and tourmaline, if I’m not mistaken, and proceeded to use the comb attachment to comb through my hair as I blow dried it on a medium heat setting.  Let me tell you something…out of all the things I purchased from Sally’s that night, that blow drier was the best buy.  Not only did it dry my hair quickly (and on a medium heat setting too!) but it dried it straight, and IT WASN’T NOISY!!! My old hair dryer was so noisy, it sounded like an airplane landing–and my hair always came out so rough!

So, after marvelling at how straight and healthy-looking my hair was after drying, I then broke out my Sedu and (with so much fear of burning my hair off in my heart…) I set it to about 310 degrees, and proceeded to flat iron.

Let me tell you something…the blow drying makes all the difference in how straight the flat iron can get your hair.  I mean, I was only on 310, I can’t imagine how much straighter it would have gotten if I raised the temperature (which I plan to do next month, when I take everything out).

I was so happy–no crispy edges, no dryness, no dull/puffy hair, just straight, healthy strands.  The heat protectant did a good job, but I still want to buy Redken’s smooth down. 

Snapshot of my hair after blow drying and flat ironing:

A friend pointed out that my hair looks shorter from this angle.  I never thought to take another pic with it standing straight up in mohawk style, so that you could see the length–I will next time.

So, anyways, I have to do the edges, but I’m procrastinating.  I just don’t feel like spending my time taking the braids out and then putting them back in.  Besides, now that the middle is rebraided, my hair looks a lot neater, so I’ll try to hold back on doing the edges for as long as I can.

Once again, happy holidays!

 

So, I still haven’t gotten around to doing my edges yet…well, okay, let me not lie–I HAVE the time, I just don’t wanna. Like I said in the last entry, the middle part of my hair being redone has given my style a new breath, and I just don’t see the point in messing with the edges. Besides, I’ve gotten this babyhair thing going on with the strands from the edges kinda coming out of the braids, and it’s kinda cute. See for yourself:

So, I have 2 more weeks to go, and I think I can make it without having to redo the edges.

Okay, I’ve gotten the name of the heat protectant that I used right before blow drying my hair. It’s called One n’ Only, and I got it from Sally’s. It looks like this:

I’ve come to the conclusion that sprays are a no-no for my hair. My hair needs creams, oils, and gels to function/look at its best. When I use a spray, I notice that sizzle the flat iron makes, and I hate it. I know people say that’s just the product burning off, but I can’t help feel like that’s just the products burning off…with my hair. One n’ only is a cream that goes on pretty light. You don’t need a lot, and it absorbs really quickly. The smell isn’t the best in the world (honestly, it smells a little musky) but it’s not horrible, and besides, the scent doesn’t stay on your hair and follow you around. Not everything can smell like coconuts, you know? Lol.

So I put a little on before blow drying, being sure to comb it as evenly through my hair as possible, then I blow dried, and added a bit more throughout my hair (combing through once again) before flat ironing. No sizzling sounds, no burning smell–everything went well.

I’m pleased with the results it yielded, but curious about this Redken Smooth Down protectant…I know it’s a spray, but when I hear really great reviews about a product from other Black women, I just have to know if it’ll work for me.

Hair Journey Journal – November 2008

 

 

I thought I’d start November out with a message to all my fellow natural hair journey partners, and even to those interested in the process.

I stopped perming my hair in January of 2008. 

I stopped dyeing my hair in July of 2008.

I took these difficult, but necessary steps in order to take a firm step toward a healthy future for my hair.

Those who are reliant on perms may be so needy for them for reasons of fear: fear of not being accepted by other races, fear of the almighty afro puff, fear of hard-to-manage, thick locs.

I permed my hair for 15 years, and in those 15 years, the longest my hair ever got to was 8 inches (and unevenly so, at that).  Looking back on pictures of my permed hair, and memories of newly done perms donned as I stepped out of the salon, all I remember is how dead my hair felt (and yes, I know hair is already dead, but I’m talking about lifeless…dull…dry…limp…)  I remember the happy feeling of having my hairs move individually with and on the wind, but I also remember that the feeling didn’t last long.  Before I could blink it seemed a week would pass, and my hair was right back to unbelievably brittle before long.  I’d ignore all the stray hairs that feel by the dozens as I’d comb my hair each morning (sometimes adding excessive heat–curling iron/flat iron) and naively dream of a day when my hair would be down to my behind.

I do not now, and never will look down my nose at people who perm their hair, because I used to be one of those people.  I know the fear that grips you–the thought of not being to contain a huge fro, the thought of comb teeth breaking every day.  I also know that it’s not totally about fear–it’s also about having more options with straighter hair, or feeling that straight hair compliments your features more…trust that I understand, and if you are comfortable wearing your hair permed, then do you.  People will always find a reason to hate on you, so do what makes you happy.

Anyways, for those seriously considering transitioning, I say weigh the pros and cons.

I had permed hair, but it was dry and lifeless, even just a week after perming.  I stopped perming my hair for almost a year now, and I know that when I take this weave out the weekend after next my natural hair that’s never even so much as smelled a perm before will be so moist and full of life underneath that I won’t even want to wash it.

My hair was straighter with a perm, but still got wavy in humidity, and needed the aide of flat irons/blow dryers/curling irons on top of it all, so what was the use of adding chemicals if my hair was not going to be wave free?

The edges of my hair were an abomination with perms, never making it past an inch, and breaking off so easily it was an embarrassment.  I now have 3 full inches of healthy edge growth, that feels so silky to the touch it’s unbelievable.  This may seem like nothing, but 3 full inches of unpermed hair means it took me 6 months to get my edges to this point.  Imagine where they’ll be in another 6 months!

It’s a difficult step, whether you choose to cut it all off and start from scratch, choose to cut it off slowly, or choose to just let it break off–the time is what really worries most. 

“How long will it take to grow back?”

“How long will it be before I can pull it back into a ponytail?”

And then, of course, there’s the foreign hair factor, because–after all, permed hair’s needs are very different from natual hair’s needs, with only “moisture” being the similarity.

“How do I take care of such thick hair, when I’ve grown so accustomed to the permed texture of my hair?”

“What shampoos/conditioners do I use now?  Will the shampoos/conditioners I used on my permed hair work on my natural hair?”

My main message to all who are adjusting to the process, or on the cusp of attempting the transition, just don’t give up hope.  It’s most definitely a change, most definitely frustrating in lots of ways, but permed hair has just as many issues as natural hair…the issues are just different. 

I know that I haven’t come far enough yet to rub anyone else’s back in support, but I’ve come far enough to know the harm I was doing to my poor head of hair with the perms and dyes.

Long hair is definitely a posibility for Black women, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  And if someone asks you,

“Well, why aren’t there more Black women walking around with natural hair down to their behinds?” you can simply answer,

“Because most of us have never been taught how to take care of our type of hair, instead of idolizing, purchasing and trying to emulate Caucasian hair and hair products”.

They can’t argue with that.

 

 

So, I have a vague idea of how I want this weekend to go–in terms of getting my hair done.

There are certain things I’m happy about: not using any new shampoos, and certainly none of the ones that strip my hair of its natural moisture, not using any dandruff shampoos which tangle my hair beyond belief and do nothing to combat dandruff anyway, not bothering to waste my time attempting to remove the sewn-in section of my hair in back and just going straight to the woman who put it in for me and letting her take it out, and last–but certainly not least, getting the first straight weave I’ve had since June.

Then there are things that I’m kind of nervous about: I really didn’t want to use any shampoo in my hair at all, but it’s been two months…I mean, I need some form of cleansing for my hair, I also need to dye my hair again, because the ends are turning the same color red that I had in earlier this year–I’m afraid that whatever hair color source I use it will dry my hair out, as always I’m also afraid of cutting my own hair when attempting to remove the microbraids in front, and last–but certainly not least, I’m just as nervous about the straight hair weave as I am excited, because the wet-n-wavy really hid a lot of curly hairs in back that escaped from the confines of the cornrows over the two month periods that I’ve had them in…will the straight hair do as good a job looking natural up against those renegade hairs?

I’ve read a lot about coconut oil, and I really want to try it. Supposedly people are putting it into their shampoos and conditioners, as well as glycerin. They use it as a moisturizer after washing their hair as well. When I wash the conditioner out, I will be doing that, and hopefully it will make a difference past the other products that I’ve used up against my blow dryer.

Other than that, I’m okay I guess. I know for a fact that my hair grew approximately one inch in the last two months, and I’m really excited to take a picture of my inch-longer fro.

I’ll be back next Wednesday to give you the usual play-by-play, and hopefully that entry doesn’t start with, “I am SO pissed right now…”

 

 

Well, this time around wasn’t so bad.  There were a few annoying things that popped up, but at least I gained some length, and there were no knots I had to cut out.

I went out to the salon on Friday to have them cut the sew-in out.  I then came home, and proceeded to dye my hair the same color black (I think I mentioned before that the red from earlier this year was peeking through the black, and also my natural hair color is a dark-brown…while that might not show too badly at first, eventually it will look a little different when compared to the black extensions, especially as it grows longer…)

I then sat down, and undid all the braids.

My hair combed out after removing the braids, and the weave:

The edges measure about 2.5 inches, and the middle around 4-5 inches.  It’s getting there!!!

 I put the dye on my dry, unwashed hair, because I felt that it was the best time for my tresses to absorb the color.  It was a semi-permanent (I didn’t find the henna I was looking for, and did not want to use that muddy henna that I used before, but I wanted to color my hair, so I chose something that I felt would be less harmful than the ones full of ammonia and other harsh chemicals).

I kept it on under a plastic bag for half-an-hour, and washed it out.  Then, I used the Loreals Naturals scalp shampoo, and the Unfrizz shampoo that I like so much.  Looking back, I wish I hadn’t.  My whole plan was to use conditioner only, since shampoo seems to dry my hair out badly.  I mean, my hair wasn’t dry, and it definitely wasn’t tangled, but I still wanted to see what a co-wash only hair washing would have been like.  Next time–definitely.

I then used the V05 Moisture conditioner that comes in the 99 cent bottle.  All-in-all, my hair came out okay, I mean it was nothing to rave about, but at least it wasn’t tangled.

It was hard as hell to comb through my hair.  I just gave up on getting the comb completely through, and slathered on some Frizz Ease, and IC Fantasia Heat Protectant, and proceeded to attempt to blow dry.

It didn’t come out well.

My hair was hard, no matter what I put it in it afterward, and it was embarrassing to sit up in the salon with it looking so full and healthy, and feeling like broom bristles.

I think it was the Frizz Ease, or the lack of a deep conditioner after conditioning.  I also want to eliminate blow drying from my routine.  I think I’m going to use those little hair band thingies to stretch the hair from my scalp, and use glycerin and water in a spray bottle to spray the ends before twisting or braiding them into fat sections.  I’ll let it air dry after that.

Anyways, I got my straight weave.  Did not come out all that great.  I mean, it looks nice–don’t get me wrong, it does look nice, but it’s not as long as I thought it would be, it took FOREVER to do (I swear it was even longer than when I get the wet-n-wavy put in) and it’s a weird texture–like the texture of permed hair that has had its ass kicked into submission.  It just doesn’t rest upon your body, like your neck or your back, it kinda sits at a stiff angle on your shoulder and stuff…I won’t get this texture again.  It also seems dry, no matter WHAT I put into it.  This is gonna be a fun 2 months, I tell you what…

Anyways, here are some pics:

Front view:

Side view:

 

 

So, I’ve had this new weave in for about two weeks, and here are the results so far:

1.  Putting conditioner on the hair makes it softer (once it dries), BUT you have to be careful how to fold/plait the hair afterwards, because trust that I was walking around a few days ago with my hair sticking every whichaway, like a crazy cat lady…

2.  Applying heat is alright.  In order to straighten my hair without having to wait until I could sleep on it (to do it the natural way), I went home in the middle of the day to use my Sedu on it.  I was kind of scared, because I used some heat protectant spray on it (nothing special about the spray, so I won’t bother dropping brand names) and there were some sizzling sounds, but it was only the moisture from the spray making contact with the iron–there was no burning at all, not even a little.  On top of it all, my hair came out straight and shiny again, see?

3.  My scalp is dry…as…hell.  NOTHING is helping, not even the glycerin!  I mean, I know we’re in wintertime now, and the weather is cold and nippy, but I’m over here making my own snowflakes!  I’ve added glycerin and water to a little dollar store spray bottle, so hopefully that helps.

4. I need to stop being so damn quiet in that salon chair, and speak up and tell the woman doing the braids 2 things:  I need the hair at the very nape of my neck left out.  I don’t care if it blends badly with the weave’s texture, I don’t care if it’ll look akward left out–if I keep braiding until I hit skin like this month after month, those little warning bumps (formed from the teepee your skin creates when your hair is coming close to the point of being pulled out of your skin from the sheer force of the braids) will turn into “never growing here again” points for my hair.  The next is that it’s highly unecessary for me to have to get the whole front half of my head braided.  There’s no reason I can’t just braid the very edges, and then braid the middle section of my hair–which is where I usually part it anyways.  That should cut the sitting time in half, because I just cannot sit in that chair ever again for more than 3-4 hours, tops.

Hair Journey Journal – October 2008

 

 

So, in order to get the knots the T-gel formed in my hair, I had to use VO5’s Tea Therapy conditioner, and a bit of the Herbal Essences Hydrating Experiences conditioner, and let it sit on my head underneath a plastic cap for about an hour.  After that, I labored through the arduous task to trying to gently comb out/untangle the huge knots that had formed.

It took me about half-an-hour, and conditioner and hair flew EVERYWHERE.  I was FINALLY able to get the knots out, and run a medium-size toothed comb through my hair without it getting stuck, and I proceeded to get into the shower to wash the conditioner out.

I then tried something I was rather curious about, in terms of helping to keep my hair black–a henna colorant from Colora.  It was a box with contents that came in powder form, and you had to mix it with water until it got to a gooey consistancy, and then you had to slather it all over your hair.  Being that it has no harsh chemicals or dyes, you don’t have to worry about going over any previously dyed hair, but man oh man…

First off, that had to be the most ghetto hair experience that I had ever encountered…

1) There were no gloves included.

2) They didn’t even tell you HOW much water to mix it with!  You just had to use your own judgement!

3) It stunk to high heaven; it smelled like freshly dug earth.

I mixed it to a consistancy similar to cornmeal porridge, and thought it was good enough (I didn’t want to make it too watery) and proceeded to apply it to my hair…

It was like putting muddy dirt, that hadn’t quite mixed with enough water, into my hair.  I could feel each and every grain vainly trying to coat my hair, but I’m telling you…it was more a mess than anything, and in the end, I don’t even know if it really made my hair darker. 

On top of all that, it was a mess to get out of the bathtub, it’s seriously just DIRT, and it took forever to wash it out of my hair.

In the end, my whole plan to do something new and wonderful with my hair this time around failed.  I regret the shampoo/conditioner I bought (Organixx), I regret the henna hair color I bought, but I mostly regret that T-gel.

I finally managed to get my hair under control, and applied an anti-frizz serum that I liked because it smelled nice and didn’t seem to be oily–was sort of like KY Jelly to me.  IC Fantasia Heat Protectant and Straightening Gel.  Looks like this:

I was satisfied with the end result after applying a small amount to my palms, rubbing them together, and applying it evenly throughout my hair before blow drying it.  My hair didn’t feel oily, or sticky, and I felt it protected my hair against damage from the intense heat of the dryer.

My hair after blow drying straight:

As you can see, it’s growing quite evenly and full.  The permed edges have all either been cut off, or have broken off on their own, and I am now almost 100% positive that all the hair on my head has never been touched by a perm.  The front edges are kinda short, but that’s okay–I’m not cutting the rest to match–it is what it is.  I’ll let my hair grow for at least another 6 months (3 more installs) before going to a salon to have them even out my hair.  The main goal now is “growth”.

As upset as I was, I went to get my hair done by the same chicks again (it was too late for me to go find someone else), so I woke up early Sunday morning, and went to let them braid the front again and sew-in a weave in back.

End result:

 

 

 

A couple of things have stood out about my last wash/shampoo experience–good things.

For one, although my scalp was very dry, my hair was very moist, and thick (absolutely no areas were “thinning out”). 

I remember running my fingers through the thick waves that the cornrow braids had created, and loving how silky my hair actually felt–which was weird (to me) for not being washed completely for 2 months!

The shampooing process completely robbed my hair of that moisture.  I have finally come to realize that even those shampoos that advertise themselves as being “moisturizing” are ultimately “cleansers”, and will therefore grab anything it can from your hair in order to leave it “squeaky clean”, which is fine if your hair is oily or overly gunked with product(s). 

Mine is neither.

I’ve seen a term being bounced around, “co-washing”, which basically means that you wash your hair with conditioner.  I used to scrunch my nose up at the idea of excluding shampoo from my hair washing experience, but after the dry feeling my hair had once I last shampooed it, killing all that natural moisture that made those thicks waves I loved running my fingers through so much silky as hell, I realized that shampoo was not really a “necessity” for my hair.

There’s only one shampoo I trust in my hair anyway, and that’s the Loreal’s Nature’s Therapy Unfrizz Smoothing Shampoo .  It doesn’t dry out my hair, and feels almost like conditioner.  So I’m debating on only ever using that as my main staple shampoo, or using baking soda, because I do love the way my hair feels after that.

In short, no more big brandname shampoos.

As far as conditioners go, I think I’m going to stick with the 99 cent V05’s.  I want to do a little research to see which scents battle what type of hair issue, and see which my hair takes best to (by using small test sections).

As far as leave in conditioners, and heat protecters, I like the IC Fantasia one.  It’s a nice type of silky feeling on my fingers, kind of like KY Jelly for your hair.  It doesn’t stain, and it smells wonderful.

As far as scalp moisturizers, I will be using plain undiluted glycerin.  I happened to put this one my scalp, between the braids, sometime earlier this week, and my scalp has not itched as much, nor has a hint of flaking appeared.  It’s a bit greasy, and if you over apply you will definitely see (and hear–it squishes underneath your fingers) the product, but if you put just enough to moisturize your scalp, you’ll be surprised at how healthy your scalp looks.

Okay, that’s all for now.  Be back next week with more thoughts/findings.

 

 

 

I’m going to share a little incident with you, lol.

So, I went out on a date not too long ago.  I had just gotten my hair done a few hours before, and (like I’m always complaining) the horseshoe of the weave was showing a bit, because the braids had not yet been conditioned to pull back over the weave yet (that usually happens when I comb the braids back before I go to bed, and sleep on them that way).

This was our first time meeting up, and I could see his eyes moving to my hair every so often.  I knew the crown section with the beginning of the tracks must have been showing a little, but he made me so totally aware of it that I cringed inside.

After that horrific date (it was horrific for other reasons, the hair was only one negative issue that night) I had all these visions of meeting up with other guys, and having the same problem–even having them feel uncomfortable running their fingers through my hair.  I mean, what if we’re kissing, and their hands just wander, and they pull back when their fingers meet the braided section of tracks?

This fear lasted for all of a few days, until I did something really innocent that turned into something really cute to me…

I reached behind my head, right by the nape of my neck, and started to subconsciously pick at the hair that had been pulled out of the cornrows back there.  As I started to play with them, I realized just how long the hair back there had become!  I mean, it’s only about 3 inches long, but it’s touching my shoulders!

So here I am, worried about the outcome of having to hide weave tracks with braids for the next few years, when I don’t realize that it won’t be for “years”, more than likely just “months”. 

In 6 months from now, my hair will have grown another 3 inches, and I will have 5 to 6 inches of natural hair.  At that point, I can then make a conscious decision to erase the microbraids from my regimine altogether, and just cover the weaved in back section with my own hair up top (I’ll have to find a weave that closely matches my hair texture, of course).

So, while it seems like a long wait, the reality of the situation is that this time next year, my hair will be 6 inches longer, giving me a total of 8 to 9 inches, and microbraids will be a thing of the past.

If I meet a guy who likes me–I mean truly likes me, he’ll underand that I’m not wearing the tracks in back for fashion, but moreso to give my hair an opportunity to grow undisturbed.

 

 

It’s so weird–it seems like the first 3-4 weeks that I had my hair braided and weaved, it wasn’t growing at all.  I mean, usually I’ll experience that little puff point at the base of the braids, and the braids were still tight as hell!  I figured that the summer heat had taken the moisture that it delivered to my scalp with it, and resigned myself to a slow and painful (mentally painful at least) hair growth until at least late next spring.

And then, out of nowhere, seemingly overnight, the puff point came, and brought with it half an inch.

Now, of course once that happens, I’m left with no other choice than to redo the braids around the front edges, or suffer the consequences of looking like a hot ass mess (HAM for short).

So, that’s what I did this past weekend, around the edges, and in the middle part of my hair. 

The edges now measure around 2 inches, and the area just above the edges and in the middle of my head/hair measure about 3 inches.

Proof:

So, I just undid the edges, massaged my scalp, and rebraided. 

It didn’t come out as neat as it should have, because I didn’t wash all the glycerin off of my hair before rebraiding, but it’s fine–I was more concerned with getting rid of that puff point, lol.

Looks decent, but I can’t wait until November 15th to get it redone!

 

 

So my landlord is having a halloween party this upcoming weekend, and I am about 2 weeks away from being able to get my hair done.

Thankfully, I’ve been really good about applying the glycerin to my scalp every 4 nights or so (to prevent visible flakes) and about placing a satin scarf over my head before going to sleep, so my hair still looks pretty cute.

I redid a couple of braids, and might redo a few more.  I mean, it’s going to be dark outside (where the party will mostly be held) but I don’t want to take any chances at having bushy, knotted-looking braids in lit areas, lmfao.

I was supposed to wear a red wig (I’m going as a sexy devil) but I must have picked up the wig that everyone and they mama tried on before me, because when I got home and took it out of its packaging, it was all frizzy, and frazzled…I ended up throwing it away (no refunds @ Halloweentown USA…I know that now for next year).

I then had a crazy idea, the idea to spray some of my braids red (after all, it’s on the braided extensions, not my real hair) but then I realized that one of the many joys of having extensions lie in the fact that you don’t have to fuss with it too much…and I’ve gotten used to not fussing, lol.  If I spray painted my braids Kool-aid red for this party…I’d had to wash it out, and Lord only knows if/how it will wash out.  I definitely don’t feel like going into work on Monday looking the fool.

So, I’ll just wear it slicked back, with a headband, and loose.  I’ll take a pic and share it in my next entry.

Lesson for this entry:  Don’t forget that just because a weave/extensions aren’t your real hair you can go around doing any ole crap to it, and not pay the price later.

Hair Journey Journal – September 2008

 

 

As you can see, I’ve started a new challenge.  I definitely think I can get in at least 5 inches of hair before the year is over, but I decided to shoot for the stars with 6.

I’ve considered trying Megatek and all those other hair growth accelerators, but I’ve decided against using them for two reasons:

1.  Using a hair growth serum, at least to me, when you do not yet have a main staple shampoo/conditioner/heat protectant or leave in conditioner is like trying to run before you can even crawl.  The last thing in the world that I would want to do is have some product grossly unknown to me (the hair accelerator) do some horrible damage to my length so far, and overall health of my hair, and not even have the comfort of a good shampoo/conditioner line to try to combat it.  You cannot start a fire without a source of water nearby.  It’s silly.

2.  With the microbraids and sew-in braided into my hair, I cannot really do much in terms of washing, or else the braids will become loose, my real hair will become a matted tangled mess underneath, and the weave will have to be taken out much sooner as a result of all of that.  I’m hearing too much about the horrid smell of these products (some say it’s not “horrid” really, but more…I dunno, just overly-noticeable, and some have said it smells like bacon…as much as I love to eat bacon, I would not like to walk around having my hair smelling like it).  The last thing in the world that I need to is pay nearly $40.00 for a bottle of bacon grease, slather and lather it onto a weave I paid $90.00 to buy, and $145.00 to install, and end up having to wash it all out (and you can never really get it all out when it comes to braids) before having to take the weave out a month early, thereby throwing my hard-earned money into the trash.

I’m not 100% sure of this, so don’t hold me to it, but my plans for my hair are as follows:

September 2008 – September 2009, definitely weave city.  I want to give my hair a full year to gain at least 10 inches in length before I make a decision as to whether I want to continue to wear weaves, or wear my hair out.  Just to give you an idea of how long 10 inches is, it’s about the length (give or take an inch) of an adult woman’s wrist to the inner nook of her elbow.  That’s VERY long to me, and I can definitely do something with it should I choose to rock it with my hair out.  It’d be a little past my shoulders (more so in back) so I might wear it loose for a while, but I do see myself going back to the weaves for maybe another 6 months.

September 2009 – February 2010, if I do decide to go back to the weaves, my hair should have grown another 3 inches, giving me even more of a reason to want to wear it loose.  One thing I’m unsure about is whether I’ll want to wear it flat-ironed (straight) or natural (spiral curled).  Being that I love length, chances are that I’ll be straightening it, but I’ll be going to a salon to do that (I think the term is “Dominican Blowout”).  I’ll be sure to research salons around then, and maybe search around for good references, because I’d kill a stylist if she burned my hair off, or tried to sneak a perm onto my tresses after a full 2 years of hard work to get to that length.

February 2010 – July 2010, I estimate about 16 inches of hair by this point.  My hair should now be grazing a point somewhere above the middle of my back if I’m not mistaken.  Being that summertime will be upon me, I might just rest it underneath a weave from July until about October 2010.

October 2010 – beyond, almost if not exactly 20 inches of hair.  It should be down to the middle of my back, if God can help a sister out, and I know I will be flossin’ (showing off) like nobody’s business.  I’m over here right now smiling all giddy-like at the thought–can you imagine?  Natural healthy thick Black hair down to the middle of my back–no creamy crack (perms) involved, mine to style anyway I like, and wash anytime I like.

I can’t wait!

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!  I am officially 29 today.

It is my supreme wish to have a healthy head of hair that is down past my shoulders by this time next year, when I will be turning…30!!!  I don’t think I’ll mind turning the big 3-0, so long as I am on my way to getting my degree (just started school again after a 4-year break this year), on my way to a healthier lifestyle so that I can feel better about my body (I’ve given up soda, so that’s a first hearty step in the right direction), and I’m at a point in life where I can just go braid/weaveless should a special occasion arise, or should I feel the need to be real with my future significant other.

So the weekend after next marks the 2 month point that I’ve had this weave/braid combination in.

I can’t wait.

I want to rip this thing outta my head so badly that it’s not even funny.

I think back to when I was like 19/20, how I kept my weaves in for like 3 – 3.5 months, and I cannot even imagine how.  The itching is driving me insane, I wish I could just lift the hair off of my scalp, scrub my scalp, and then reattach the hair.  It’s nuts!

I have been reading good reviews about Organix Coconut Milk shampoos and conditioners all over the place, and curiosity has gotten the best of me enough to go out and purchase a bottle of each.  They will be my next experiment shampoo/conditioner, and I’m hoping for the best.  If those don’t work, the next brand I will be moving on to is Dove, and then Carol’s Daughter, and so on…

I’m determined to find a brand that’s right for me.

I now know–nothing with citrus in it (Garnier Fructise), nothing with shea butter (my hair and skin don’t seem to like shea butter   ), nothing that’s too big a name (Pantene, Herbal Essences, Aussie), and nothing that mainly features Caucasians in their commercials.

As much as I always hated to admit it, African American/ethnic hair and Caucasian hair are two totally different types of hair. 

Caucasian hair tends to get oily/African American hair tends to be dry

Caucasian hair usually grows straight/African American hair grows in spirals or waves

Citrus and other clarifying shampoos are good for Caucasian hair/Moisturizing and deep conditioning products are good for African American hair

Caucasians need to wash their hair more often to remove the oily buildup that commonly occurs with their hairtype/African American hair should not be washed more than once a week

Denying these differences all these years (and I denied them, btw, because I hated to feel different or weird by not being able to use products that were labelled as “for all hair types” when the truth is that it was mainly for Caucasian hair types) has held me back, and lost me tons of inches. 

It isn’t until you truly open your eyes, and realize that differences don’t make you abnormal…just different, that you can take the necessary steps needed to find out what works best for you, and have the same progress that others different from you have.

Youtube is a great source of ethnic hair videos, btw.  I will post a few of my favorites:

By far my favorite African American Hair video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDOPWlDylV4

Her hair is incredible.  I know it’s permed, but it’s still beautiful–and if anything, the fact that she perms it and it’s still growing long and strong should be an inspiration to those of us gone natural, because just think of how long we can grow our hair without all the chemicals she’s using!

 

 

 

 

Well, that time is coming up again, and I couldn’t be more excited.  I got paid this week, and will be getting my hair done on the weekend.

I have my Organix Shampoo and Conditioner (I have a really good feeling about them) and I have my T-gel Dandruff Shampoo to really lay into my scalp.

I went out and bought this Fantasia IC heat protectant, in a red bottle.  It smells really nice, and when I put a bit of it onto my fingers, it was really silky–not so oily as you’d expect.  Another product I have a lot of faith in.

I’m not sure if I’m going to straighten my hair, or if I’ll dye it.  The reason for both lies in the fact that I’ll be rebraiding my hair again, so why put it through all that just to braid it back up again?

I plan on going home on Friday night, and undoing my microbraids.  For those wondering how to take microbraids out, I don’t know how you get yours done, but I specifically ask the woman braiding my hair to braid PAST my hair, so that when the time comes to remove them all I have to do is take about 10-12 braids in hand, and cut right above the knot.  I can then unravel them all (they unravel quite easily) and remove them.

Then, I want to take the sewn-in portion of the extensions out, and give my hair a good shake!  Oh man, I bet that shake is gonna feel sooo good.  I’ll try not to use my fingernails to detach the dandruff from my scalp, because I don’t want the T-gel burning (if it does that? I don’t know how strong it’s going to be), so I’ll use the pads of my fingertips instead.

After that, I will use try to do some form of deep conditioning after detangling my hair hair, and then will wash it out, put the dandruff shampoo in, wash that out, and proceed to try out the Organix line.

I will NOT be using a leave in conditioner, because they just make my hair too hard, but will use the Fanstasia IC on my towel dried hair, and then blow dry it straight.

I’ll do my usual wrapping a head scarf around it, and then head to the braiding place the next morning.

I’m so excited, I can’t wait!

 

 

 

So…the big weekend came and went.

I’d say “the big day” but man oh man did it take more than a day…

NOTHING went right. 

First off, I went home and took out the microbraids.  It took me a few hours, but I got them all out.

I fell asleep after this point, figuring I’d wake up early Saturday morning, remove the weave, and then wash and blow dry my hair…

Man oh man…

I don’t know how that woman sewed that weave in, but she sure as hell knew what she was doing; she sewed that thing in so perfectly that there was no way anyone else could take it out–let alone me!  I couldn’t remove it!!! I struggled with it for over an hour before I had just HALF of ONE track, out of 5, and then realized that…I had to drive 50 miles to them, to have them take it out…then either pay $50.00 to rent a motel room to do my washing ritual there, or pay THEM $50.00 to wash it in the shop, or drive 50 miles BACK HOME to do it there, and then 50 miles BACK again!

Omg was I upset.

I ended up driving there, ranting and raving all the way as you can imagine, going to the shop, asking why they sewed it in a way that I could not remove it myself, and they INSISTED that I was not SUPPOSED to be able to remove it myself (which is bullshit, I’ve removed my own sew-ins in the past) and that THEY are supposed to remove it. 

So I said fine, but I refused to pay for it.  If you’re going to sew this shit into my hair in a way that prevented me from removing it easily, I’m not going to pay you for removing your handywork.  The woman said it would be $25.00 for her to remove it.

I was stuck, and she knew it.  After pacing, and considering alternatives, I finally gave in, and there went $25.00 unforseen dollars.

Anyways, let me fast forward, cuz that part gets me mad.

I ended up buying the hair I would have to COME BACK THE NEXT DAY (Sunday) to install at that point, across the street, then I went home to wash my hair out.

First off, I basked in the feeling of being able to run my fingers freely through my hair; it’s awesome!  I could actually feel the extra inch that grew in, and it felt wonderful!

I decided to do something I hadn’t planned on doing–I took some Hellman’s Mayonaise, and mixed it together with the Organix Shea Butter conditioner, and some of the VO5 Tea Tree conditioner, and place it on my head, underneath a plastic cap, as a deep conditioner.

I left the mixture on for about an hour, and then went to wash it all out.  My hair liked it.  It wasn’t like incredible-omg-I can’t believe how good this is-awesome, but my hair was definitely moisturized as a result of the combination.

Then…I fucked up…

I pulled out the T-Gel Anti Dandruff bottle, and had the damn nerve to put it in my hair…

First off, there was no tingle–just this medicated smell.  I scrubbed my scalp with it, and still no tingle.  I spent $20.00 on something that didn’t even give me a medicated-relief tingle…add to that the fact that when I washed it out of my hair…

My hair was sooooo tangled.  My hair has NEVER gotten tangled!  EVER!  NOTHING I’ve used has tangled my hair.  T-Gel cured me of that awesome habit though…

My hair was a mess…after that, NOTHING I put in was helping, NOTHING!

I used the Organix Shea Butter shampoo, still didn’t help–did not moisturize at all.  Then, I used the Organix Shea Butter conditioner, did not help at all.  I finally had to just use the V05 Tea Tree conditioner, let it sit on my head for an hour, and THEN proceed to slowly, and painfully/painstakingly detangle (comb out the knots).  It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it was definitely a negative experience.  I finally did get the knots and tangles out, and vowed never…EVER to use T-Gel again.  That shit belongs in the garbage.  Add to the tangle factor the fact that my scalp is itching now more than ever?  Fucking T-Gel.