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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
My first entry to my new online journal!
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.
Say yes to poo
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.
Supply shoppin'
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
Back to Sally's
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.
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11-04-03,
Tues.
New "Favorite" links!
[http://www.afronappy.com/forums/index.php]
[http://www.naani.com/celebrityphotos.html]
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.
Reflections
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.
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11-11-03,
Tues.
Veteran's Day
[
the holiday]
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:
- parted
hair in 3 sections (like the letter "Y" upside down)
and secured each section with big fish clips
- washed
each section in the shower with my Revlon's Creme of Nature
Detangling Conditioning Shampoo with a kneading motion&
immediately applied my conditioner to each section at a time
right after it was rinsed with warm water (Suave Naturals Coconut
Conditioner)
- I made
sure this time to work in the conditioner by rubbing it in my
hair and working it in with my fingers from scalp to tip.
- I combed
each section and re-clamped them with my fish clips
- after showering,
I thoroughly rinsed each section under cold water with my fingers
& re-clamped (clamping/braiding/twisting the sections you're
washing as you go helps to keep your curl pattern stretched
out. It makes working with your hair afterwards a lot
easier.
- with my
hair still dripping wet, I added my products: I decided to try
my carrot cream I haven't used in a while as my moisturizer. I
also added drops of Kemi oil to each section of hair.
Styling
in Flat Twists:
- I combed
out my hair and sectioned down the middle. I braided the
side I was not working with yet.
- I cut a
1" piece of hair from hairline down to the nape of my neck.
I cut out two pieces of hair from the hairline "piece1,"
"piece2"
- I like
to do my twists from right to left, so that's what I'm basing
my instructions off of.
- To start
it (first movement)
RightHand1- Took piece2
and pulled it counterclockwise over piece1; piece2
should be turning itself clockwise when doing this. Use
a free finger to grab piece1.
LeftHand2- Grabbed piece2.
- To continue
(for all other movements)
RightHand1- While holding piece1
in hand, cut out a new piece to add to it to piece1. Again,
pull piece1
counterclockwise over piece2
tightly to stay close to scalp; new piece1
should be turning itself clockwise when doing this. Use
a free finger to grab piece2.
LeftHand2- Grabbed piece1.
- To finish
(for ending twist)
Twist excess hair like you would for 2-stranded twists.
Flat
Twist-out:
- I rubbed
my Kemi oil up and down each of my twists just to make sure
they weren't dry when I took them down.
- I unraveled
each flat twist from the tips moving towards my hairline
- I finished
it off with a hairband.
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.
Stylin'
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.
Stylin' at Chuch
Notice how my twist curls look more devined
this 2nd time around. Double rolling the hair as I
twist results in high shine when the hair is dry and untwisted.
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You can see the ends came out a bit scruffy,
but it came out way better than my 1st attempt.
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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 ;)
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11-19-03
Styling w/Gel [pic coming soon]
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.
Celebration
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.
Prep Time: 30min.
11-26-03,
Wed.
The Eve of Thanksgiving: Hairstyle preparation
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.
Prep Time: 2 hrs.
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11-27-03,
Thurs.
Thanksgiving Holiday [stuff
the
holiday]
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
No Conditioner!
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.
Bad Hair Day
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.
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12-02-03,
Tues.
Better Hair Day
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.
New Style
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!
Prep Time: 15 min.
12-11-03,
Thurs.
It's Raining!
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.
Christmas Eve
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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