Braid Out v. Twist Out

When I was transitioning, I despised braid outs. The pattern was just sooo not cute to me, it waved instead of curled and that's NOT what i was going for. Twist outs (well 2 strand flat twist bantu knot outs) gave me more of the curl that I was looking for.  Now that I'm natural, I've noticed that things are just the opposite. Twist outs, although they do give me the desired curl pattern, cause a lot of shrinkage and more frizz.  Braid outs, although they produce a wave rather than a curl give me the length I desire and makes my from so much more appealing to me. What I do is 2 strand flat twist the very front (bang) portion (cuz it makes it look oh so sexy) and braid the rest. I get the bangingest morning do's =D

P.S. I also recently learned that my length isn't qualified to be a TWA anymore, (womp, womp) because it's over 3 inches, so i am calling it post-TWA lol.

P.S.S There's a poll at the right side at the top of this page. I want your opinions on your favorite wet set styles this fall/winter season.

Shoutouts!!!

I have new followers!!!!!! Thank you all for following my little ole blog. I hope I don't disappoint! Like always, stay tuned!  And be sure to leave comments!!! 

 

Determined

I'm determined to be able to do this by March...that'll be my one year grow out mark and my 5 month since the BC mark. My hair is the perfect texture for this! AHHHHHHH can't wait!! I'm thinking bout coloring Renee too. Although she looks fab in her shade of brown, i've always wanted to experiment with lighteners. There's this hair lightener that some stylists use that has no bleach or peroxides...it's purely oil. What kind of oil? No idea, but when I do lighten ( when I have money) I will be using the oil lightener and putting in this color. I think it's like a 33 in weave. I'm excited =D

I have no idea who she is or where this picture is from, but her hair is to die!! <3

never been happier with my hair...BUT

I just did a little dance inside when I remembered/realized that I was completely natural (it's still kind of unreal to me to put the title to the state of being since it's only been a week). But, at the same time I cringed for my little sister. Today, yet again, my mother insisted that she needed a touch-up. From what I saw, her roots weren't even showing and at the crown there was hardly a quarter inch of new growth.  On top of that, she still had huge scabs from her last touch up which was over a month ago (probably why there's no new growth).  I said to myself (phew!) but at the same time, I was kind of sad because she's only 13, she doesn't want to perm her hair anymore, and as if that's not enough reason, her hair is falling out, breaking, AND her hairline is receding. If those aren't red flares, I really don't know what is. It's a damn shame I tell you, a damn shame! My sister insists that when she's old enough, she's going to go natural..my only fear is that by then, her thin hair will be far beyond repair. I only hope it works out for her.

Thank You Sesame Street!!!!

I'm sure many of you have seen this video on tons of other natural hair blogs, but you know I gotta get my 2 cents in ;).  I love this video! When I saw it on the Wendy Show, I was smiling sooo huge because this is exactly what little kids need to hear. When you are small, all you know is what other people tell you until you're old enough to observe the world for yourself, and by that time, you're already corrupted.  When I was small, all I heard about my hair was how much I had and how hard it was to deal with. By the time I was 6 years old I had already had my first relaxer. When I wasn't getting my hair relaxed, I was getting it hot combed. DAMAGE, DAMAGE, DAMAGE!!!!  Not only damage for my hair, but more importantly, damage for my self image. From that young, green age of 6 years old, I learned that my hair wasn't pretty unless it was relaxed and pin straight. Now don't call DYFS or anything on my mother (lol) she didn't (and still doesn't) know any better because she, like many black women out there is uneducated about how to take care of their natural hair because for soooooo long,black women have been told that black hair is unmanageable and ugly. Well, here's the duh for you...If you don't know how to do something, how are you going to do it? Uhm...learn!  DUH!!!! Granted, there were no resources back in 1995 (when I was 6) that aided black women in taking care of their natural hair, but we have no excuse now. It's time to start learning, educate yourself!!! I am so glad that Sesame Street made this video to show little black girls that their hair is beautiful and they are beautiful even if they don't look like the shiny hair girl on the perm box. :D

My First Puff! (tear)

The staple style among almost all naturals (if not all) is the afro puff. MsVcharles from youtube gives a tutorial of my favorite TWA style (for now) and below are my results.  I love this style because it's so simple and easy. Also, it makes your hair look bigger and longer than it actually is (teehee :D) love it! One alteration I made was instead of using gel (i hate the hardness) i used castor oil, pomade and leave-in conditioner. I think it smooths the front down even better than gel while moisturizing!!! 

[stay tuned for my review on Cantu Hair Dressing Pomade later].

my hair is crazy thick!!!!

prettiful flower <3

There you have it! Hope you like,

chunky twist out (frohawk)

Another thing I did while transitioning was youtube. I watched tons of youtube videos on styles for natural hair to make sure I was prepared. This is one of the styles that I was itching to try and adapt. Here's a pic of my first attempt. I two strand flat twisted the sides and used my oil mixture (mostly castor oil with an addition of avocado and/or olive oil) to give it a little shine.

More upcoming TWA experiments...stay tuned!!!
'til next time: 

Dear Transitioners,

When you're transitioning, you need to develop an entirely different mindset from the one you had while you were still relaxing. Here's what helped me to transition successfully:

1. I decided I wanted to transition and I had a solid reason.
2. RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH-- the internet is your best friend, look at pictures, read stories of fellow transitioners, learn about your hair, because if you don't your hair is going to be "unmanageable" solely for the reason that you have no idea what your doing.
3. Change your entire product artillery. Learn about ingredients, and figure out what is best for your particular texture through trial and error. Read the ingredients and reviews before you buy and be sure to look for key words that describe what your hair needs.
4. Stay away from heat! You're going to hear this everywhere...the line between your relaxed hair and your new growth is weak and prone to damage, so handle with care. When I was transitioning, here are some of the styles I did:
• months 1-2 after last relaxer---wash and go. I wore the waves that my relaxed hair had when wet along with a little help from styling mousse. 
• months 3-4ish (depending on you) ---braids! carefree, kept my hands out my hair, and promoted growth. I talk about my braid regimen in earlier posts. 
• months 4ish-6ish--twist and curl, braid outs, bantu knot outs, flat twist outs. I tried and loved everything. Find your niche and it'll be great.
5. Wash often! I co-washed weekly and shampooed monthly usually on Sundays because I had the most time on these days to properly detangle and primp.
6. When it's time for the BC, your hair will tell you, your soul will tell you. I did it without family support and succeeded. Don't let anyone bring you down!!

Good luck!

by the way....my hairspiration!!

I looooooooove this picture! Ima wear my hair just like this in a few months!!!

BIG CHOP...for real this time

Thursday night. October 7th, I BIG CHOPPED!!! I think i had a little too much time on my hands to look at pictures of young curlies on natural sunshine and curly nikki's blog. I came across this one girl who had the same length of hair as I had new growth and her hair was beautiful.Truly inspirational.  Completely unplanned and without apprehension, I came home, grabbed the sharpest scissors I could find along with my spray bottle and started chopping away. By 10:30-ish, i was completely natural!! Lemme tell you! It felt so nice. i had no connection to my permed ends, I didn't even take a before picture or measure it. It just felt like I was taking out a weave or braids... It felt like i was morphing into a new kind of beauty... a rebirth.

Meet Renee:

side view of Renee ;)

Renee is what I've decided to name my hair lol...odd? of course, but that's okay because I'm odd! lol.But peep the significance. Renee, in French means "re-birth" which is fitting because this natural hair is a re-birth of me. It symbolizes the shedding of my old sense of beauty and the birth of a new sense of beauty. My redefinition. Now, some of you who might not remember my old posts about why I embarked on this journey to natural hair can reflect on my first posts. If you do remember, you'll see why this name is perfect for my hair. Also, to add to the significance, Renee is also my middle name. So one could could infer that this re-birth is, in fact, me coming into the person who I truly aspire to be. A woman who is completely aware of herself, knows what she wants, and will fight to get it regardless of what haters think. Renee is just the beginning of my path to independence.

RU football game against UConn..pay no attention to his face lol.

Mini Big Chop revealed

So I have lots to tell you guys! Since my last post, I mini chopped and finally BIG CHOPPED!!
This is a picture of my mini chop:

after i cut it, i twisted it

3 inches!!!

  

trying on my sweatshirt for Friday's game with my mini chop. what you see is all i cut lol.

So, like I told you guys before, I did a little test chop a couple of weeks ago on a tiny section in the front of my head. On Monday evening, curious me wanted to see how I'd look if I chopped off the entire front portion of my hair (the relaxed ends).  And I thought it looked fab and I could sooo work it with my beanie....and I did....until (in the words of Alice from Alice in Wonderland) I got curiouser and curiouser! On Wednesday night, I put in coils:


They looked fabulous with my beanie and so Lauryn Hill-esque
Then, I figured: (1) it's my hair and I can do with it what I please (2) it's not like I'm altering my face or skin color, I'm only cutting my hair so how different could I possibly look (3) I cut the front portion, how hard could the rest of my head be?! and I chopped!!!!

Continued in the next post...

Mini Big Chop

Just thought I'd tease you guys... i did a mini big chop with the middle of my hair that I had in the poof today. I love it, its soo cute. Mind you,. I had no qualms in chopping off a huge portion of hair, but I did get lazy -_- otherwise, it would have probably turned into a complete big chop. Pictures soon. Sooner if I get some comments...nobody's been showing me any love on my blog lately :(

Beanie = Care free Protective Hairstyle

It's getting quite chilly in Jersey, and since my hair is getting longer, it's also taking longer to dry.  Because of this, I can't really do the wet set styles that I love any more :( However, I discovered beanies last year (while still relaxed) and always rocked it with my bang out.   When I decided to go natural, I didn't really think that I could where it anymore because my hair wasn't straight. THEN, I saw a lot of other naturals sporting gorgeously on the web and decided to try it too.

relaxed 

natural ...kind of ;)--side view

 

Method:

Last night (like every weekend) I triple conditioned my hair (co-wash, conditioner, deep conditioner). Then, I 2 strand flat twisted the sides with my fave oils (castor and avocado or olive oil) and Eco-Styler Olive Oil gel with a little spritz of my Aussie leave-in ...it's my fave thing to do! After that, I put the back in two braids and pinned them away, because I knew that portion wasn't going to show. To get my poof in that wave pattern I put my Herbal Essences leave-in on the whole front section, two strand flat twisted it and put the remaining hair into a bantu knot. It gives me the perfect curl/wave w/o being frizzy!

This, and variations of it, will most likely be my staple style until my BC...Stay tuned!!!!

BC postponed--NEW DATE!

So guys, I told you guys that I was going to do my BC last weekend. However, I came to a huge ROAD BLOCK when I realized that there was no one to do the cut for me :(.  and i couldn't do it myself because i have THREE INCHES of new growth so, it needs to be cut properly. That's the bad news...

I do have good news though....=D
This thanksgiving, we're having a huge shindig at my house (in Jersey) with all my aunts and cousins coming down from Florida. Two of these cousins happen to be married to hairdressers, who happen to do natural hair, and who are coming to MY house. Meaning, that the BC is set for the ending of November and not only will it be done, but it will be done right! I'm so excited!!!

Until then, the beanies are back! Last winter/fall, I bought a deep turquoise beanie and it was fab! I didn do my hair until the front was jacked up -_-. Now, since the front of my hair is natural, I can so rock it all winter!!! *drumroll please* Fab protective hairstyle+ beanie = warm head AND healthy hair AND therfore healthy new growth. I'm actually wearing one right now, but I'm in class (shhhh....) so I can't take a picture. I'll take a picture and upload it later =D.

 I've been away for a while, but I'm back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 =D Look for new posts on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays....
i love you guys for supporting me
<3 stay tuned!!!!!

none of your frizzness: smoothing leave-in cream

This one is good too. It makes my hair rly soft and it smells yum! It's also a good curl definer. My hair loves it! I actually like it better than the long term relationship leave-in because this has more of a water base, so sometimes I don't have to use anything else with it which really makes for less build up.I think I like the Aussie spray better, though.

Aussie Hair Insurance Leave-In Conditioner

I love, love, love this stuff! On the bottle it says "The Hair Insurance collection, accented with splashes of natural Australian Botanicals, helps protect and strengthen your precious ‘do against damage." I bought it because my herbal essences none of your frizziness leave-in was almost finished and I went to restock. Damage protection seemed ideal for my transitioning hair and I wanted a leave-in that wasn't so thick. Let me tell you how this leave-in made my hair feel amazing. I don't even need to use it on damp hair as instructed to get the desired results. I just spray it on a section (for a bantu knot out for example) and my hair comes out sooooo soft and bouncy the next morning and not at all greasy. I'm really loving it.