My Journey to Long, Healthy Natural Hair

Using Heat on Natural Hair

2013-05-10T17:06:00.001-07:00

Occasionally I use heat on my natural hair. Before using heat my hair has to be prepped. The first step is always shampooing and conditioning. Sometimes I will do a deep conditioning if its that time of the month. Next I apply leave-in conditioner and twist my hair into chunky twists. When the hair is almost dry I will use the tension method to blow dry (warm setting) the hair dry.

About a month ago I was in Walmart and ran across grapeseed oil. I have been trying to get my hands on some grapeseed oil but it was so expensive at the health food stores. Walmart had it for $4.98 and its cold pressed which is very important to me. I mentioned all of that because I used grapeseed oil as my heat protectant before flat ironing.

The heat of your flat iron is very important. NEVER turn it up to the highest setting. I used 410 degrees but u may need it to be lower than that. My ends don't get straight with the first go round so I will use a small tooth comb on the ends before I do the second round. The ends will become straighter but if they don't I will not run the flat iron over it again.

I was very pleased with the results that were achieved but, I had a dilemma about what to do to keep my hair from reverting when I exercise. My solution was bantu knots! It was actually a win win situation because I could wear my hair straight for longer without having to flat iron again (which was a no no anyway).

After about 4 days I decided that my hair needed some moisture so I used a little moisturizer, a little water and sealed with coconut oil followed by 4 loose braids. The next morning my hair looked like this:

This was a super cute, super straight braid-out and I loved it! I have been following this process for the last few nights.

I have no doubt that my curls will return once I decide to shampoo my hair. Currently I'm using Loreal's no sulfate line and I'm loving it.

If you have any questions and comments please leave them below.

Thanks for looking.

Another Protective Style for Winter

2012-11-18T12:37:00.001-08:00

I had an event to attend on Saturday and I was wondering all week how I would style my hair. At first I thought about doing two stand twists but I didn't feel like taking the time to do them. So on Friday night I co-washed my hair and on a whim decided to blow dry it. Afterwards I flat ironed it and was shocked at how much growth I've gained since the last time I straightened it (see picture below).

Immediately after the event I was worried again about the straight hair. Was I going to keep it straight (flat iron for church tomorrow). As my husband and I drove home we decided to stop by the dollar store so I could buy some rollers to set my hair. The next morning I took the rollers out and rocked my straight hair again.

After church I was ready to do a protective style because honestly I was tired of the hair hanging on my neck.

I finally felt spending the time to do two strand twists. I didn't co-wash my hair again I just started with the straight hair. I failed to mention earlier that I used coconut oil on the flat ironed hair. Soooo I went off the deep end and didn't follow my modified curly girl method 0_0.

To do the two strand twists I used the water and Jamaican Mango & Lime Locking Creme Wax. This is so not curly girl friendly. It contains petroleum and mineral oil but it smells so good. The reason I used it was because it would hold the style longer. As you know Thanksgiving is this week and I'm off from work this week so I definately need a low maintenance style because I plan on getting a lot of much needed rest.

Back to the hair. My leave-in conditioner wa Biotera Ultra Moisturizing and I used it before I blow dried my hair for the straight style. This leave-in is super creamy and it leaves your hair sooooo soft. I got it from Sally's so if you buy it make sure its the ultra moisturizing because they have a regular leave-in thats not creamy and thick.

I will try to keep the twist for about 3 weeks. I will also moisturize with coconut oil and if needed I will use the Cantu Shea Butter Coconut Curling Creme. This product is water based and I really don't want the twists to shrink so it will be used as a last resort.

Two strand twists will be my go-to protective style this winter.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks for reading.

Protective Styling for Winter

2012-11-11T16:42:00.002-08:00

Well, well, well after enjoying so many wash n go's its time to start protective styling for the cold, harsh winter weather. So here comes the braids, twists, bun, updo's, wigs, weaves and such.

You may ask "Why protective style in winter?" As we all know cold weather is rather harsh on our fragile ends. If the ends are always tucked away there is little chance that they will dry out. If the ends are tucked away safely there's a better chance of retaining that length that we so desperately want.

A lot of new natural ladies are concerned about protective styling a TWA. How do you protective style a TWA? Well one way to protective style a TWA is to do finger/comb coils or 2 strand twists.

Finger Coils

This style was done using Eco Styler Gel and it lasted about a week. It's easy to do and took about 3 hours. After a week I wet it to rinse out the gel (I didn't have to undo coils) shampooed and conditioned my hair and re-did the coils for the next week.

Believe it or not protective styling helps you to retain length. When your hair is in a resting state and is not manipulated daily there's little chance that the ends will "pop off".

If you have any questions, please ask.

Curly Girl Method (Month 3)

2012-09-13T18:55:00.001-07:00

I am still doing and loving the curly girl method. I have modified the method to include comb detangling once every three weeks or so. The first time I detangled with a wide tooth comb (while doing the curly girl method) I was pleasently suprised that my hair was very, very easy to detangle.

In the beginning I used Tresemme Naturals silicone free conditioner but my head was itching like crazy. That conditioner smelled so gooood but the itching and flakes were more than I could handle.

Beautiful Twist Out

I was browsing in Target the other day when I came across Loreal's EverCreme sulfate-free nourishing conditioner. It was only $5.99 so I just had to give it try (my old product junkie tendencies reared up, lol). The itching wasn't as bad but the shine was amazing!

I wore the twist out above and the definition lasted all day long. I guess it was pretty moisturized, lol.

The longer my hair gets the more I am able to do with it. It can only get better with time. You know if God gave us the longer natural hair immediately after we big chopped we wouldn't know what to do with it and would probably have no other choice but to go back to the creamy crack.

O and about the itching, I have purchased some tea tree oil and it seems to work a little. I filled a spray bottle with water, conditioner, tea tree oil, extra virgin olive oil and vitamin E. I spritz my hair (not my scalp) with this occassionally. Every three days or so I do add drops of tea tree oil directly to my scalp.

So long for now. My next topic will be on protective styling.

Reflections on All I Have Done To My Hair

2012-09-01T14:20:00.003-07:00

Over the years I have done it all to my hair. It's been fried, dyed and laid to the side, lol. I had a jeri curl then returned to a relaxer only to return to the jeri curl. I remember dying my hair an auburn color and it eventually turned fire red. I also remember (while being relaxed) a bald spot when my hair fell out. But you know what, my hair always grew back.

Once I got married and had kids I had no time to experiment on my hair. I was addicted to the creamy crack so I relaxed my new growth every 4-5 weeks. My hair grew really fast back then. Once I reached age 40 things began to change.

I noticed that my hair was beginning to thin out. So my solution to this was to visit my sytlist more often and get frequent trims. Eventually that stopped working. Look at the picture below. It shows my trying to save my fried hair. The ends needed clipping and it just wasn't as think as it use to be.

A couple of weeks after this picture I got a hair cut and the girl did not cut it the way I asked her so that was IT for me. That's when I made up my mind togo natural.

I always knew that my hair was curly because my mom didn't let me get my first Jeri Curl until I was about 14 years old. Before that mom would wash our hair, let it air dry and use a straightening comb to tame the beast.

I transitioned for about 6 or 7 months but I couldn't take dealing with both textures so I decided to big chop on Thanksgiving day in 2010. My relaxed hair was so fragile that I had a big ball of hair everytime I washed and detangled my hair so my sister MsRosieVelt did my big chop. My only regret now is that I didn't do it sooner.

Look at those ends!!! Scragly (is that a word) is all I have to say. My relaxed hair was even longer than this. I would get the ends clipped about 3 times a year so it was about time to get another trim.

Hair Growth Progress So Far

2012-08-21T16:53:00.001-07:00

This is how I looked today at work!!! Everyone did a double take. Below are pictures which show my progress from my Big Chop.

August 2012

January 2011

November 2011

August 2012

Curly Girl Method Update (Month 2)

2012-08-12T17:48:00.002-07:00

I am REALLY loving this Curly Girl Method!!! I'm just wondering why didn't I try it sooner???

I did have to modify it just a little to meet my needs. For instance, I have detangled my hair with a wide tooth comb twice since beginning. I also use a silicone free shampoo to cleanse my hair when it feels like the conditioner is not cleansing enough.

The only styling products that I use are the conditioner, gel and my shea butter mixture. I love the results. Through trial and error I have learned what styling products works well together on my hair. If I want to use gel I can't use the conditioner, sooo I only use the gel after I co-wash my hair. I never use gel on unclean hair (from experience that's a recipe for disaster). After completely rinsing out the conditioner I apply eco styler gel or pro line extreme gel to naked hair and wear a wash n go.

The Curly Girl Method will be "my method" for now.

What do I do with all of these products?

2012-08-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

OK I have been following the Curly Girl Method for about 2 months now. Currently I use only silicone free conditioner to wash and style my hair. Every now and then I will use As I Am's Coconut Cowash to switch it up a little. My routine also includes using my shea butter mixture.

Now I have all of these hair care products that I have purchased over the last 2 years and I don't know what to do with them.

My daughter is considering going natural. She's 19 years old and she want her hair to look like mine but I have to remind her that it has taken me 2 years to get to this point, lol. I think I will hold onto the hair care products and maybe she will want to use them once she big chops.

Curly Girl Method Update (Month 1)

2012-07-16T17:37:00.003-07:00

I have been doing the Curly Girl Method for a little over a month now. It has been great! Why didn't I try this sooner. Check out this picture of my awesome twist out.

I have learned that twist outs look better when you hair is longer. I have been trying to do twist outs for as long as I have been natural and they mostly turn out a disaster, not this time. What did I did differently...The Curly Girl Method.

This twist out look the same all day. In Florida, the humidity has been terrible. I was sooooo scared that I was going to have a big bird's nest on my head by the end of that day but I didn't. The Curly Girl Method has given me the much needed moisture that my hair was dying for. Now that it's mosturized I don't have to worry about it pulling moisture from the atmosphere.

I love the Curly Girl Method.

Curly Girl Method Update (Week 2)

2012-06-17T12:54:00.003-07:00

I am loving this curly girl method! Ok I have been doing the curly girl method for the past two weeks and the most important question I have for myself is: Why haven't you tried this earlier? I am loving this. My curls are popping!!! They were not popping this much before I tried this.

My hair is soft to the touch. This has never happened before. Have you noticed that when you hair is wet is looks SOOOO good, but once it's dry it looks and feels like a desert. Well, the curly girl method will change all of that!

The main product I use is Tresemme Naturals conditioner. It is a silcone free conditioner. I was also using eco styler gel but I decided to mix it up and use As I Am curling jelly. Big mistake! Once the products dried my hair was a white mess. The curls were beautiful and shiny but there was a white residue. I have come to find out that Tresemme doesn't work well with others.

My new routine will include co-washing with Tresemme Naturals and styling with Burt's Bees conditioner and As I Am curling jelly. I will start doing that tomorrow. Hopefully, that combination will not cause a white residue. The Burt's Bees smells so goooood.

I will keep you updated on my progress.

Curly Girl Method

2012-06-06T19:06:00.001-07:00

Well it's time to jump on another band wagon, lol. I have started doing the curly girl method. The journey began on Tuesday, June 5, 2012.

The curly girl method involves using conditioner as your shampoo and styler. You are to do away with your comb, brush, hair dryer, etc. You use your fingers to detangle your hair in the shower. Well my hair didn't have much definition to it so I used some eco styler gel to get some curl definition. I was really pleased with the results.

Some girls do wash and goes daily and others co-wash once a week or so and style their hair with conditioner and gel. As for me, I have been doing wash and goes but that is going to get old real soon. Next week I'm going to try and style my hair with the conditioner and gel.

The conditioner I have been using is Tresemme Naturals. This conditioner is silicone free and has a very pleasant fragrance (sweet orange and lemongrass). Immediately I notice some softening of the crown of my head. This area has always been dry and rough regardless of the extra attention I have been paying to it.

I will post a picture on what my hair looks like on Saturday. At that time I will be 4 days into my curly girl method journey.

I will also try to do weekly post to keep you informed of the progress.

Thanks for looking. If you have any questions, please ask. ttyl

What Do I Do...

2012-06-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I stretched my hair a few days ago. Afterwards I didn't know what to do with it, so I did a dry braid out. I left the braids in for 2 days. Once I took the braids down my hair looked pretty good. As I left home to go to work it was still looking good. Once I arrived at work and looked in the mirror I almost screamed!!! My hair had reverted and it looked like a bird's nest.

I learned a valuable lesson that day, always have a back up plan. Luckly I had a stretchy ban and I bunned my hair right there in my office. I believe the problem was moisture. When I did the dry braid out I didn't dampen my hair with water and that was a crucial mistake.

Soooo today, I did another dry braid out on stretched hair. This time I dampened with water and also added a little more moisturizer. Hopefully, tomorrow when I take it down it will turn out beautiful. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Son's Graduation from Delaware State University

2012-06-02T19:39:00.004-07:00

Finally, I thought this day would never come. It seems as though 4 1/2 years have just flown by. When my son left home to go to college I wonder how in the world would I be able to afford to take care of my household and his, lol. By the grace and mercy of God and help from my mother, we were able to take care of him and all of his needs.

He received a Bachelor's degree in Sport Management on May 20, 2012. Currently he resides in Washington, DC and hopefully he will have a job within a couple weeks. We (my mother, my daughter, 2 sisters and 2 neices) flew from Florida to Delaware to attend the services. I snapped this great picture with him holding up his hands. He was so excited as well as everyone else who was graduating.

Natural Hair Update

2012-06-02T19:20:00.003-07:00

I know it's been a while since I have blogged about my natural hair. It has been about 1 1/2 years since I big chopped. Currently, my hair is about 8 inches all around and it grows around 1/2 to 1 inch every month. Lately I have been doing a lot of protective styles, such as two strand twists. I'll leave them in for a week then take them down shampoo and condition and redo it.

A few days ago I decided to blow dry my hair using the tension method and to my suprise I had quite a bit of growth since the last time I stretched my hair (see picture below). I turned the corner to go into the kitchen and my husband did a double take look and said "wow". I was cheesing from ear to ear (not at what he said but because of the growth).

Protective Style...

2012-02-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

I have a new protective style! I got a lot of complements on it. Most people thought it was my real hair, but guess what? It's not my hair. It's actually synthetic hair that I crocheted into my hair.

When you think of crocheted hair you think of the cute styles that mothers put into their little daughter's head. Well this is pretty much the same concept.

I went to my local beauty supply store to buy some bulk braiding hair. Ugh, they never have what you are looking for. So I decided to get regular curly weave hair on the welf. I cut the hair off of the welf and crocheted it into my hair. It took me about four hours to do it but, it turned out a lot better than I thought. By the way I only used one pack of hair.

Next time I will order some bulk hair from ebay so that the curls hang a little more. But overall I am in love with this protective style. I will wear it for about two weeks and I plan on redoing it again because "the girls" are going to Fat Tuesday in New Orleans in a couple weeks. Holla...

I braided my hair back into 9 braids.

Happy New Year!!! Best Twist-Out Ever!!!

2012-01-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone!!!

I am kind of a product junkie (yeah). Secretly I think a lot of naturalistas are product junkies, lol. I have been on the grease band wagon, I have tried Miss Jessie's, Beautiful Curls, Curl Enhancing Smoothie and so many others that I can't even remember.

The last couple of weeks I have been revisiting some of those products. The Cantu Shea Butter is going in the trash! It makes my hair look dull and it feels dry so goodbye. I retried the Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Smooth-n-Hold Pudding. I can't stand the smell but I wanted to give it another try. I did a wet twist out and a dry twist out with this and I really loved the results. Once it dried I couln't smell it. I did however notice that I had flakes falling from my hair. I shampooed my hair and was back to the drawing board :(.

Will looking through my stash I saw some raw shea butter and I decided to do something with it. I whipped up the shea butter with Jamacian Black Castor Oil, extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil. OMG!!! I got the best twist out ever! After shampooing I didn't use any leave in conditioner. All I did was add the shea butter mixture to wet hair. I don't know about you but when I go to bed with wet hair, I wake up in the morning with wet hair. Not this time. My hair was completely dry and super soft and it was soooo shiny.

The next night I dampened my hair with water and did some chunky twists and it turned out really good the next morning.

I think I have found my staple product.

I'm going to take a picture and post it soon.

Talk to you later...

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

2011-12-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

Jesus is the reason for the season. This means that Christmas is for Christ (Jesus). My family has always celebrated Christmas as Jesus' birthday but when you are a child all you think about is receiving gifts. Christmas was "the day" that we received things that we had been wishing for all year long. As an adult I now know the real reason for this day of celebration. Even though Jesus was probably not born on December 25 we do take that day as a day of rememberance of His birthday.

Remember above all else that Jesus wants His birthday present. Turn your life over to Him and receive the free Salvation that He has to offer. Your soul is all He wants as a birthday present. Turn it over to Hm so that H may present it to His Father (God). Once Jesus hands you over to God no one and I mean no one can pluck you from Him. Once God has you you are his forever. Amen

Trip to Delaware

2011-12-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

Sooooo my son plays football for Delaware State University. He's been there for 4 years and I have never visited the school. So this year he said he was going to be all alone on Senior Day and he wouldn't have any family members there to walk with him. Guess what? We went to Delware a couple of weeks ago. We included Ms. RosieVelt (my sister), MommaVelt (lol), my daughter and myself.

We flew to Baltimore, Maryland and drove over To Dover, Delaware. My daughter had to go through the metal detector three times and the finally had to use the wand on her. She has on all this jewelry and a big belt, lol. This was Ms. Rosie's and my daughter's first time flying soooo as the plane was ascending we were the only four people hollering, lol.

We had an awesome time in Delaware and my son has a picture showing his mother and grandmother walking him out on the field on Senior Day!!!

That's my son hugging the football coach while the

school's president is watching. My mom and I am standing

behind my son and the coach (see the red cap, lol)

By the way we also drove over to Washington, DC. We saw the White House!!! We couldn't find a park so my sister, MsRosieVelt got out and took some pictures. It was such a great experience. We plan on going back again real soon. He will be graduating in the Spring of 2012 and we all have to be there to experience it.

Talk to you later....

Checking In....

2011-12-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

I haven't been on my blog lately, shame on me! Well I'm back!!!

Wow, a lot has been going on lately. I reached my one year anniversary at the end of November. I was very excited that I was approaching my anniversary and guess what? I forgot about it and it didn't cross my mind again until today, Decemeber 2. I missed it :(. Anywho my hair is beautiful and florishing.

Wow, one year of growth!!!

I blow dryed my hair about 80% dry and this was the result. I was very shocked at how much my hair has grown! I hadn't straightened it since I flat ironed it a few months ago. I started to flat iron it but I had flash backs from the last time and I said "naw, I'm not gonna do it".

Now I'm rocking twist outs. I finally have enough hair to have a successful twist out. Look at the results below from a fresh twist out. My daughter claims I only take pictures of myself at work, lol.

I'm loving this natural thang....

Update, Raves and Rants

2011-09-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

I am loving this natural thing!!! I spend a whole lot more time on my hair now that I did when it was relaxed. I have not found a main style for my hair but I love wash and go's. Pretty soon I am going to have to find a style for winter. Any suggestions???

In the picture above I'm wearing a wash and go with eco styler gel. I slathered on the gel and slicked down my hair towards the back. Next I got in the shower and soaked my hair with warm water and attempted to shake out as much water as I could (can you say dizzy). I dried it off a little bit with a tee shirt to removed more water and shaked my head some more. I really loved the defined coils that I was left with. It took all day for this to dry.

If you looked at the post when I flat ironed my hair you will notice in the picture that my ends looked a little notty. My sister MsRosieVelt though that maybe there were fairy knots on my ends sooooo guess what I did? I dusted/trimmed my ends! Since doing this I have noticed that my ends are much curlier and don't shrink as much.

Some people like to hold onto as much length as they can get and wouldn't dare trim their ends. Me, I have no problem trimming my ends especially if it's going to give me better results. If you can notice in the picture above most of the ends were curly but there were kit a bit of straight ones.

More to come soon....

Thanks for Comments and Thanks to New Followers

2011-09-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my recently joined followers!!! I was suprised when I signed in to check on my blog and noticed that I have 3 new followers. Thanks again.

Also, thanks for all of the comments that I have received on this blog. For some reason or another I am not able to comments on your comments (go figure...). Maybe it's me or maybe its my computer or MAYBE its Google, lol. Thanks for the comments. I have answered and or replied to all of the comments by email so don't think I don't care, I care a lot!!!

I love talking about natural hair. I dusted/clipped my ends (pictures to come in a day or so). My sister MsRosieVelt said that maybe there were fairy knots on my ends so I just did the do. This will be discussed in my next post.

More to come this weekend.

I did it....

2011-08-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

Look at what I did.....

I flat ironed my hair! I bought a blow dryer and a new flat iron. I thought it was about time that I flat iron my hair just to see how much growth I have. I used Silk Elements MegaSilk Olive Oil Heat Protection Spray before I used the blow dryer and before I used the flat iron (just to be safe).

I was impressed with the growth! Afterwards I wrapped it and went to bed. The next morning I'm like "what am I suppose to do with this hair?" My hair was straight but was also curly at the ends which made it kind of difficult to comb through. So I decided to go back to what I know best, my curls. I shampooed my hair and applied my leave in conditioner.

To my surprise the curls did not snap right back! So decided to shingle my hair with my trusty Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel. Slowly the curls began to reappear. I love the results I got! My curls are not as tight as they usually are. My hair is hanging to the side instead of puffing up into an afro.

I don't plan on flat ironing again anytime soon.

Until next time....

Results of Twist Out

2011-08-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

The twist out was a success!!! I have attempted a twist out on several occassions but this is the first one that I would go out of the house with. The curls were really defined but I did take some out to early (last night) and that's why it's frizzy on the top otherwise I loved it. I will be using the Jamaican Mango & Lime Locking Creme Wax again.

Well......

2011-08-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well the wig thing lasted for about a week, lol. I got tired of all of that hair and the pressure that it was putting on my head. But it wasn't all the hot under the wig because I wore it mostly at work and it's always so cold in the office.

Last Saturday I did a great little style and work it for the full week. I braided the front and did little plaits in the back. It was cute but it was a pain to take them out. You have to be very careful when removing plaits. It took about 2 hours to put them in and about 3 hours to take them out so I won't be doing that again anytime soon.

I went to the store today to but some more Elastra QP Olive Oil and Mango Butter Moisturizer and I saw the Jamaican Mango & Lime Locking Creme Wax and I though hummm, why don't you give this a try? So I bought it.

I came home shampooed and conditioned my hair and put big braids in to stretch it. After about 2 hours I took out the big braids and did a few smaller braids in the front and put some 2 strand twists in the back. I applied the wax to each section of my hair and started twisting. After I finished I knew I had used too much. Well you live and learn!

The first few ingredents are no no's in the natural community. The first one is Petrolatum, the second is mineral oil and then Microcrystaline wax, D&S yellow#11, (and then the good stuff) Mango Butter, Lime Extract, Virgin Coconut Oil, Chlorophyll, Green Tea Extract and Fragrance.

I think I'm going to have a great twist out tomorrow. I will post pictures tomorrow if its successful. Next time I will not put as much product on my twists.

Until then.....

Protective Mode!!!

2011-07-17T07:09:00.001-07:00

No, this is not my hair, lol. I am going to give my hair a rest and rock this wig for a couple of months. I'm in protective mode.

Lately I have been manipulating my hair a lot (blowout, stretching, afros, etc.) so I decided to let it rest and see how much it will grow. Currently my natural hair is braided. My plan is to keep it braided for a week. Every Saturday I will take it down, wash it, condition it and put it back in its protective style. Before braiding it back I will moisturize it with either my whipped shea butter (I made it) or the Elastra QP Olive Oil & Mango Butter Moisturizer. I love the Elastra QP Olive Oil & Mango Butter Moisturizer. Its one of only a few products that I have used up entirely and will have to purchase some more. Both products are very moisturizing.