What I've learned in 2010

This year I have become extremely obsessed with my hair.  I've been natural for 7.5 years and have never  been 'into' my hair like I've been since January.  I've scoured youtube videos, blogs, forums, and websites religiously.  I've gained a wealth of knowledge from all my 'research.'  So this is what I've learned about myself and my hair this year.

1. I love my hair.

Locs. . .

and 'fro.



2. My hair is not like any other's hair.  We may have the same texture or the same length and I can try all the styles and products just like you but I am almost always guaranteed a different result.  I love that though!

3.  I really don't mind taking time to do my hair, as long as I'm in the mood.  And I don't have to do my hair if I don't feel like it either.  I love that too!  At the same time, I can't do just anything or everything (or nothing) to my hair and/or scalp without consequences.  Too much or too little of anything leads to disaster.

4.  I love making my own stuff, whether it's hair products or hair accessories.  That's where my creativity comes in. I've made hair gels and hair/body creams, and loc ties as well.  I want to do headbands and hair pins in the future.

5.  My hair really is an extension of my personality and individuality.  Not too many ladies around here are rocking locs or fros so I love that I don't conform to what everybody else is doing.  And even though I look to others for ideas/advice, they are just a springboard for my own creativity.

So as you can see,

I LOVE MY HAIR!!

What have you learned about your hair (and yourself) this year?

Til next time, thanks for reading.  Be blessed.  Happy New Year!!

Anniversary style update

I took out the twists in the front and this is what it looked like:

It doesn't look bad but this is not what I was looking for.  I wore it out anyway cuz I really didn't have time to twist it back up.  I wasn't tripping cuz I was still cute and hubby liked it.  As soon as I got home, I twisted the front back up.

I want the twists to have a curl to it so I decided to bantu knot them.  Hopefully, they look like something tomorrow.  I've decided to leave the flat twists in the back in for at least a week.  I'll change the front until I find something I like.  ;)


*Updated 12/30*

I took out the bantu knots in the front but left it twisted.  The curls were too tight for my liking so this is what I did:

I swooped the curls to the side.  I pinned them down so they wouldn't be all over the place.

I liked the outcome.

I wore it out on a lunch date with my boo. :)

*Updated 12/31*

Now y'all know I couldn't keep my hands out of my hair and tried something else with the front. The back is still intact.

I'm really feeling this 80's look. (My favorite decade by the way).

Not really feeling how how spaced out the flat twists are but this a work in progress.

I think I'm going to leave my hair alone until next week.  LOL.  We'll see how long I can actually do that. 

Til next time, thanks for reading.  Be blessed.



Anniversary Style

Tomorrow (12/29) is my 4 year wedding anniversary and I wanted to try something different for a night out with my boo.  I knew I wanted an updo and this is what I came up with:

Flat twists that end in banto knots in the back.

Two strand twists in the front. 

I think I'm going to wear this part untwisted tomorrow.

I had originally planned to wear all of the front in two strand twists

but ended up doing 2 flat twists on each side.

I'm loving the side views.

I like what I've come up with. 

I will post the final look tomorrow before I go out.

*Hair was freshly washed and detangled for this style and I will try to wear it at least for a week.  Hubby saw me doing my hair but he has not seen the final result.  I hope he likes it.  ;)

Til next time, thanks for reading.  Be blessed.

Coil Out and Hair Cut

So I couldn't wait til Christmas to take the coils out because I wanted to see the effects of my haircut (more on that later).  I'm glad I took them out last night because I didn't like it til this morning.  The day after is always better.  If I had waited til Christmas morning like I had planned, I would have been upset about my hair.  Anyway, here's how it turned out:

I like it and I think I will wear this style this winter while my hair grows out. 

About the hair cut.  The haircut was not necessarily by choice.  I found a ton of split ends while playing in my hair the other day.  I was so devastated because I knew there is only one way to get rid of them.  I knew that I had to cut it.  I was even more upset because I just trimmed my hair 2 weeks ago.  My BFF said it was probably the color that caused the ends to split.  Who knows?  I just know that I want healthy hair.  And longer hair would be nice too.  So I did another length check:

 Two weeks ago.  Today.

 Two weeks ago.  Today.

Two weeks ago.  Today.

I guess the top is the only place you can see a real difference

but I swear I can see a bigger difference all over.

I plan to make a trip to a barbershop to get the fro shaped up more.

I'm really not feeling the shape right now and I really just wanna cut it all off. 

I'm just frustrated.

Hopefully after the shape up, I won't have to cut it other than to trim it. 

We shall see.

Til next time, thanks for reading.  Be blessed.  Merry Christmas!!

Finger Coils

I tried finger coils last night.  I wanted a style that I could wear for a few days, somewhat of a protective style.  This is what I came up with:

It took about 2 hours to do my whole head (I detangled as I went) and I kinda like it.  Next time I try this, I will make them bigger.  This style makes me miss my locs but at the same time, I'm already missing my fro. 

 I plan to leave these in til Christmas then do a coil out.  I'm interested to see how that turns out.  Next week is my 4 year wedding anniversary and I have a style in mind that I'm anxious to try out for a night out with the hubby.  After that, I plan to wear my hair (ends) protected to cut down on manipulation.  Any suggestions?

So there's a new style.  I like it and I will probably try it again even though it's time consuming.  I will just make them larger next time.

Til next time, thanks for reading.  Be blessed.

Loose Napps Update: Month 1

It's been a month already. 

This is really the only pic I have to use for comparison as far as length or anything goes.

Length check

 Side length.  Front length.  Back length.

Edge Check

 Left side.  Front.  Right side.

You may not be able to see the thin areas but I can (and that's really all that matters).

I photographed these areas to see if the MegaTek and Castor Oil is working to help this area out.

I love those curls!!

You can't really tell my hair has been cut or colored. Oh well!

(Don't worry, that elastic is not tight, nor is it pulling my edges.)

Til next time, thanks for reading.  Be blessed.



So far, so good

So my hair has been loose for almost month now (official update coming soon).  The newness is gone but I'm still loving it.  In this month, I've seen a lot of YouTube videos, read a ton of blogs, and done a lot of research.  I've been looking for styles, accessories, regimen ideas, and hair loss solutions.  This is what I've seen/heard/learned so far:

• Jamaican Black Castor Oil.  A fellow nappy, Indigo, stopped by my site and suggested I try Jamaican black castor oil as a solution for my hair thinness. I did some research first then purchased some from JBC Distributors for about $10.  I like it even if it doesn't help with my thinness.  The oil is nice for moisture and shine.  It's also supposed to be good for itching and flakiness.  I also purchased some 2oz samples from Olde Jamaica Beauty Products.  I'll review all of these things in another post.
• Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioner.  This is what I use to detangle my hair after I shampoo.  It leaves my hair soft and manageable.  It has great slip so it makes detangling a breeze.  I use it every day when I twist my hair up for the night.
• MegaTek.  I purchased MegaTek back in July when I had locs and I first noticed my thinning edges.  It was suggested to me for hair growth by another blogger.  I used it consistently for about a month and then stopped.  Not really sure why I stopped.  So I've started using it again every night just in the front when I twist for the night.  I've added the castor oil to help with the dryness that the product can sometimes cause.

What else have I done?
I trimmed my ends last week (Friday).  I took at least an inch off and it ended up shorter than I expected but I'm ok with it.  The above picture shows the trimmed fro.  Nobody has noticed the difference but I can tell.  I don't think I can do my humps and bump style anymore but I haven't tried it yet. 

I also added some color Saturday.  Dark and Lovely Deep Copper:

The color did not come out like that.
:-(

How I applied the color:

I sectioned my hair into about 12 ponytails (for even distribution)
and just colored the ends.

 You can see a slight color change, nothing drastic.  I like the color right here.

(without condish; with condish)
I used a lot of conditioner so my hair wouldn't be dry from the coloring process.

This is how the color looked the next day:

No one really noticed that either.   :-(  Oh well.
Hopefully it will lighten up as time goes on. We shall see.

Other things I've done:

Afro puff.

I won't do this style often (even thought it's cute)

because it pulls on my thinning edges.

Big NO NO!

 

 

Humps and a twist (no bump).  Instead of making the bang a 'bump',

I twisted it and swooped it to the side.  Added a headband for more flavor.

So as you can see, I've been busy this month.  I will do an update in a few days (and every month) so I can watch my progress monthly.

Til next time, thanks for reading.  Be blessed.