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2003 This was the year I decided to do my own hair journal. I have been interested in the hair journals of others in an attempt to find the ultimate hair regimen that is best for my hair by seeing what others use. Well luckily, I've recently found a few people who have hair that comes close to my own... but not quite. The one person who's hair resembles my hair texture only has a picture journal, but doesn't talk about what products she uses or anything related to her daily haircare. So I got the thinking lately... why not start my own hair journal for people with my own texture of hair? Well, he' it go... 10-10-03
Today is the day I try something new with my hair regimen. I have tried once before but I am determined to try yet again... the no-poo method. Yes, it's a challenge, but I'm willing to try and try again until I find what works for my hair. But if I don't like how it's turning out, my shampoo is always an arm's length away. For those of you who don't know about it, "no-poo" means you don't wash your hair with shampoo. It's encouraged to wash your hair with conditioner to maintain your hair's natural oils. It is said that washing your hair with shampoo dries out those natural oils form your hair because of its harsh drying chemicals, which makes sense. BUT, I have not agreed with this method for a while now because I don't understand how you're supposed to get your hair and scalp clean with just conditioner? Conditioner alone doesn't have a cleansing agent like shampoo does. When I first tried this I felt like I had dirty goo on my scalp, because when I ran my nails on my scalp for my clean test that's what was found. Since, I have tried to concentrate my shampoo only on my scalp to keep it from my hair--kinda like relaxer application. 10-11-03,
Sat. Yeah, I procrastinated a bit. But I did it. Where's the enthusiasm? I didn't like it. I mean, after washing like 4 times with conditioner, yes my scalp felt clean, but it also ached at the same time from rubbing my fingers so much over it! And I don't think that's really good for your hair. My hair also felt real dry from the amount of water I used. I may do a modified no-poo, but hey, there are harsh shampoos out there, and there are gentle ones as well. Technique is also very important. Something as simple as washing your hair with cold water will give you different results compared to washing your hair with warm or hot water. So I'm gonna keep dooin' what I doo, and that's sham-poo. I also put some twists in my hair, regular size. I think it looked pretty good, and it took me less than two hours to do :) 10-18-03,
Sat. I got paid on my b-day (14th) so I went shopping for some new hair supplies and replenishing some old ones. My main reason for going is to find this AURA Leave-in conditioner. This Sally's said they had it, but when I got there it was a different story. They had the price tag, but no item! I bought a sample AURA Cherry Almond conditioner, ORS Shea Butter, some empty bottles and a spray bottle, a long-toothed comb, and a Generic Leave-In Conditioner. I got the washin' and usin' my new products. I loved the AURA conditioner; it smelled great and felt like silk in my hair. I'm very happy to have my Shea back in my life. Now, the Generic Leave-in Conditioner is a mimic of Paul Mitchel's THE CREAM (whatever that is). I just got it 'cause they didn't have my AURA. Now, it felt okay when rubbing through my hair, but I just could not see what it was doing for my hair. *shrug* 10-22-03 11-04-03 UPDATE: I barely remember this day! But I think this was when I found the AURA Leave-On Conditioner at another Sally's branch. Boy was I so happy to finally have it. People, just so you understand, I've been product-splurging recently, ever since I got my Financial Aid check! I've missed it... there are so many products that I've gotten that I can't wait to put a review of them online! Also, somewhere here was when I got my Natural Woman/Natural Hair book in the mail as my b-day gift! Man was I excited, and it fulfilled my expectation. It's a great book if you want to learn of more styles for your natural hair. It has huge, beautiful color pictures and various how-to instructions on how to do the styles in the book. Because this book is for those who are okay with maintaining their hair, I'd say it's a good "advanced naturals" book. 11-04-03,
Tues. Prep for Wash Tonight I took down my twist-out while "studying" by pulling on each one while trying to slide my finger nail through each ringlet to separate the hair. This took a while, almost as long as it used to take when I used to take down even smaller twists on my once shorter hair. I know my hair is growing longer so I try do to my twists larger. And I know I should have wet my hair first. When I was done, I spritzed my new Sav-on's Glycerin and Rosewater mix (mixed in with water in a spritz container) to my hair and gently combed my hair in sections. I noticed that when I did this, I saw unbelievable shine on the wet sections of hair that I was holding! Now, getting all excited, I started playing around with it by spraying all over--the shine was still there. I can't wait to see if my hair looks different in the morning, as this was the first time I'm doing this. Anywho, after combing sections of my hair, I braided my hair into the four parts I had already separated and tied a scarf over it. I'm way too tired to wash my hair tonight, so I'm just gonna do it in the morning. I was just preparing my hair so I'm not wasting time doing this tomorrow. I find that taking care of my hair is less stressful when I make time for it. I like to plan ahead of time the approximate day my hairstyle will go dead on, so that I can plan to wash my hair that night or the following morning. 11-07-2003,
Fri. I learned something new about my hair and thought I'd write about it. I washed my hair 2 days ago with only my Cream of Nature Conditioning Shampoo to see if it really worked as a conditioner too (and to cut time). Well, I know now not to do that again because my hair felt so different when I rinsed. It felt thicker, tighter, and thirsty for moisture. I had the worst time styling it that I wasn't quick to write about it. I also started thinking negative things about my hair--it got ugly that morning. Because of something as simple as not using conditioner my hair wouldn't behave and took twice as long to style. Procedure is so important in our lives that if we don't write down what works for us we'll forget and mess up constantly. I've learned that there are things that I must do to my hair in order for it to behave and look the way I want it to. I also thought of how many natural women have my type of hair, and that's few to none. I hate thinking that I'm the "only one", but the majority of natural sistas out there have a looser curl pattern than mine, and many have less dense hair than I. So I find myself envying other natural heads because I see no one with my kind of hair--my length, my texture, my thickness. "Are there any African American women out there with my kind of hair" I now find myself wondering. I wonder if my genes have anything to do with it; the fact that I was born from two Native Nigerians may explain it? I'm sure this will all become oh so clear later in my journey. 11-11-03,
Tues. I discovered a new style this weekend. I first saw it in my Natural Woman/Natural Hair book and then on an online personal picture journal. The style: medium flat twists from front to back. I tried this Saturday right after washing my hair. But when I was done it looked nothing like the pics I saw! I maybe got two of them right, and one wasn't even a cornrow. I refused to take a picture of this mess because if you saw it, all it would look like is rows of hair, no twists! I laughed and my boyfriend got a good one in himself. But when I untwisted these bad boys the next day Sunday I got a completely different hair style! I guess I could say that it was my first flat twist-out. It lasted only a day, but I loved it :) I'm definitely going to try this again... I can just imagine how it will look when I get the flat twists right!
Wash regimen:
Styling in Flat Twists:
Flat
Twist-out:
I really can't wait to try this again. I'm sure I can perfect it the more and more I do it. I have never done flat twists before and now all of a sudden I'm giving my own instructions on how to do them! And that's really how it's going to be from now on, trying styles I've never tried before and keeping positive, no matter how badly I'm butchering them. 11-15-03
Sat. Today I attempted the flat twists once again. Luckily for me, when I don't get something right that makes me want to go back and re-do it until I get it... and I think I got it ;) Man, I was sooo happy because I felt like I knew what I was doing... after only 2 tries! Maybe it helps that I've been doing individual twists for some years now, so the only thing really that I was lacking was the rhythm of it all. But anyhoo, what I did was wash my hair with Creme of Nature, condition with Suave Coconut Conditioner, rub in my Sta-Sof-Fro Leave-In Cream, and add some Kemi oil to the hair. I didn't use much product. I got the technique which I posted above, but I needed to get down the proper movement, like "what piece goes where and how." I'm so excited that I've adopted a new hairstyle :) It took me under 2 hours to do these twists. I'm planning on doing a twist-out tomorrow for chuch. Today, I also ordered a grip of Carol's Daughter hair products online: Hair Butter, Mimoso, a hair oil, and Hair Milk. I should be receiving them mid next week! 11-16-03
Sun.
My flat twist-out came out wonderful. Although my 'rents were chasing me around the house with their hairspray, I told myself I loved it and I knew it had just enough sheen in it. I wouldn't let 'em break me down! What I did was, I rubbed my Kemi oil up and down my flat twists. Then I carefully unraveled each flat twist, one twist at a time. This took maybe 5-7 minutes do do, just to show how careful I was trying to be. When I was done, I just moved some twists around and there you have it. I put my pantyhose hairband on the front and pushed it back to show my hairline and that's it. I can't wait to see the developed pic of it :) Later on that day, my parents saw it completely done and they actually liked it. My first natural hair complement from my parents :D In the evening, I was all pumped up and wanted to do my lil' sis' hair in the same style! She has short relaxed hair, maybe 5" long tops. She has really short hair about 1" long at the back. So what I did was I rubbed Sta-Sof-Fro Leave-In through her hair and sprayed my Infusium Leave-In Conditioner. I parted each of her twists no more than .5" apart because her hair was so short. I did her twists from the top of her head down to the sides of her head, and the twists at the back down to the nape of her neck. I used ORS Twist & Lock Gel which did wonders in giving moisture and shine to her hair. It got a bit slippery though when reaching the ends of her twists, but I was able to make it work. Total styling time was about 3.5hrs. Man was I tired, but I was so pleased with the results. I can't wait to post the pics :) Again, when I left my mom called me from work just to tell me she loved what I had done to Bev's hair ;) 11-19-03 Wow is all I can really say right now. This doesn't even look like my hair. I'm taking pics so you all can see this crazyness. Last night I combed out the last of my flat twist-out, conditioned the hair and scalp with cream and oil, braided it back, and went to sleep. I woke up to a sticky mess and didn't know what to do with the hair. There's no time to wash it, and I don't have the energy for that. So what I decided to do was get out my Eco Styler strong holding clear gel, which I've refused to use due to its ingredients I didn't seem to pay attention to when buying, and I decided to slick glops of it through my hair. Whoa, I had never used so much gel in my life. I also rubbed in my Leave-In first, and sprayed my water/Glycerin/Rosewater mix as I went. But amazingy, it did a great job of slicking my hair with shine and making visible, shiny waves!!! I'm so excited, I can't wait to leave the house to show it off. Haay! Now, I have to cross my fingers and hope this stuff won't crack or flake on me throughout the day! Just incase, I'm taking my water mix with me;) 11-22-03,
Sat. For my 2yr
celebration w/b/f, I decided to wear my natural hair out. It
looked blow-dried out, without the use of a blowdryer. (trying
to recall) I think I had combed out a twist-out the day before
and slept with my hair in big braids. The next day I just
combed it out, pushed my hair up in the top left and right sides
of my head, and held them with clips. Now, by the time
we took pictures, my hair may have fro'd a bit more, and it was
cold and windy. So I can't wait to develop these pictures
'cause I really don't know how I looked.
11-26-03,
Wed. I wanted to
do another twist-out for Thanksgiving, so on this day I washed
my hair.. um.. with conditioner--yeah, I thought I'd give it another
try. Actually, I've been doing this on and off for
the past 2 wks; it's just really convenient. *boldly* Although
I still prefer my shampoo ;) Anyway, I did 2-layer flat
twists in an attempt to lesson the frizzy ends I get when I flat
twist-out my hair. I also twisted tighter (the hair
pieces between my fingers, I don't mean pulling hair out of my
scalp) to help stretch the hair. Instead of combing the
ends (of the pieces of hair I'm flat-twisting), I simply used
my fingers to pull and stretch out the hair at the end. I
think combing it makes it come out frizzy. My flat-twists
are coming out more beautiful with every new try. With
these, I added my Carol's Daugher products: Hair Butter (moisture),
Hair Milk (ends), Mimoso (shine, pleasant smell), and Amen oil
(hair sheen, scalp). I spritzed Setting Lotion over it.
I wore my satin scarf over it and let it dry overnight.
11-27-03,
Thurs. I did my Flat Twist-Out, and I must say, it came out great! The only thing I rubbed over my twists was my CD Amen oil, and that's it. It was very beautiful, I was so happy to see defined curls from root to end on my flat twisted-out hair! I feel like a pro now :) I'm really lovin' this hairstyle, which I may make just my holiday hairstyle. I must say it's a relief to know a hairstyle you can depend on when you just need to do something with your hair. When special events come up, a hot comb will rarely come across my mind--before mastering this hairstyle, I honestly wanted to get one because of how beautiful my hair turned out the last time I did it. But my hair is delicate and I must come up with healthier styles for such fine hair. I can relate this to eating right. Carl's Jr's fatty burgers is a tempting and easy option to satisfy your hunger if you don't have a healthy meal plan. But if you have your healthy meals already planned and set for your day, Carl's Jr has a lesser chance of crossing your mind for the time being. So, someome who does not know how to style or take care of his/her natural texture will opt for a pressing comb more easily than someone who doesn't have that problem. Am I right, or am I right? 11-30-03 I failed to travel with conditioner and I refused to buy a new one (gotta slow down in my spending)! So, come Sunday I really needed to wash out the end of my flat twist-out. It was horrible how I had to deal with my hair--piling in moisturizers and creams, spritzing it with leave-in and rubbing in oils and my pomade... all to comb my hair! I noticed that the last 3" of my hair seem very dry (Note to Self, I need to hurry up and try that Henna Coloring Conditioning treatment I got a while ago). I also refused to only shampoo my hair due to my last experience with having harsh hair to comb as a result. 12-01-03,
Mon. I didn't get to wash my hair before the start of my day, and I was just too darn tired to wash it this evening. In fact, I'm going to bed and will pray for a Not-So-Bad Bad Hair Day for tomorrow. NOTE: This is not a state in which you want to find yourself--one must make time for his/her hair. This one is too strung out from the Thanksgiving Holiday to want to deal with her hair. Today my hair was worn in a pony with 2 clips on the side. 12-02-03,
Tues. I finally washed my hair this morning, put my moisturizing products in my wet hair, and slicked it back in a pony puff, with two clips on the side. It's been long since I've worn the classic pony tail, and I think I'll be wearing it for a minute. This style is convenient for working out as well; I can easily wash or rinse my hair without having to take down a particular style first, and quickly put it back in a pony. I noticed that the left side of my head of hair constantly remains "less curly" than the right side of my head of hair. I constantly wonder why is this? I noticed this a few months back, around March I'm sure, after I took down my cornrows + pony style down. It seems as though the curl has been streched out and won't revert. So when I slick my hair in a pony, put the scarf on to air dry, and take it off, I notice that my right side always has a beautiful wave pattern as opposed to my left side. In addition to that, the very back of my head is the curliest! I have really cute coils of curls... one day I plan on wearing it out like that. I wonder, is this from excessive ponytail wearing in previous months? Needless to say, I have different curl patterns around my head. 12-10-03,
Wed. Yep, I was wondering if I could actually pull off wearing my hair out after washing it, with no pulling and no combing. I wanted to see if my curls were really still there, or if I had really stretched them out with excessive pulling of the hair. Hmm... Well, I actually tried it. I washed my hair this morning; I rubbed in a good amount of my ORS/Lustrasilk deep conditioning mixture ('cause I hadn't done a deep conditioning treatment in a long while), showered, and rinsed it out with cold water. Afterwards, I rubbed in my CD Hair Milk, 'cause it's light and doesn't require rubbing vigorously at the hair and I didn't want to take out the natural formed wringlets of curls. I wanted to push the front back, so I pulled out one of my Goody hairbands and pushed my hair back an inch. While trying to match my big hair to my face and attempting to make it all rhyme with eachother, I pushed the band back a little bit more, maybe 3" from the hairline. I brushed the pushed-back hair with my boar brush, rubbed some Mimoso Hair Honey on it and tied a scarf for half an hour. I took off the scarf and had waves of sheen at the front while my hair was still drying. I also spritzed what was left of my ORS Natural Shine onto my hair. I must have looked at myself in the mirror 30 times because I had never worn something like this b/4. I wanted it to look "right". Well, the next best thing for me was to put on my make up so that incase the style wasn't for me, I still would have a pretty fact to look at, lol. Well, I seemed to have gotten complements on my hair regardless. I guess this style's a keeper ;) Now, what
do I call this style? It's not really a fro because its
not picked out.... I washed my hair and left it... Hmm... how
about the Wash 'N Go... Ni-ce.... catchy! 12-11-03,
Thurs. Who hoo! I was just so happy when I felt the rain falling because my new found hairstyle won't be affected by it! Perfect timing to try this style. I'm definitely wearing it for the rest of the week. 12-24-03,
Wed. Today is the last day I will be in my apartment until early January, so I wanted to give one last entry *sniff* and update with as many more pics today. Today is also my first day on vacation until Janurary *whoo hoo*! So, I thought I'd use today to style my hair for Christmas. I had bought a box of Hennalucent in the color "Bark Brown" that I decided to use today. This unfortunately won't be my first henna treatment ladies... it's my second. My first one was done some weeks ago and I failed to write about it because I saw no results. Right now I'm sitting in it waiting to wash it out. I took pics of my last treatment so I will soon put up a step-by-step page on how to color your hair with Henna: I know, I know, I'm *amazing*.
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