I went and reread, and it's been exactly a month since I did my last henna....and I'm not going to do another one until....the middle of November, I think... that should be about right.
I'm wearing my hair in two flat twists down both sides of my head - and it's Meh. My hair isn't quite long enough to be pulled into the style HAPPILY - and it's thin in some spots where the shorter hairs give up the ghost, but - it's a satisfatory quickstyle. I think I like the 3 twist version more though.
Um....gah. There was something else hair-related I wanted to write about, but a sudden wave of the 'must sleeps' hit me, and it flew right out of my widdle head.
*strokes hair*
It's definitely growing - slowly, slowly (see, this is why I wanted to put my hair up over the winter - if I get a 1/2 inch of growth between now and spring, I'll be pleased!!), but not fast enough!! AHHHH!!
Okay. I can be patient, I really can.
Hair Notes
So.... I realized last night that I can redo my hair - WITHOUT having to comb through it. How brilliant!! So - I redid my hair last night - I'm getting better at this - esp since I did it WITHOUT combing it out to stretch all the little bits out... quite pleased.
But, asI was looking at my hair, standing all wild around my head, I realized that it's high time for another trim - my ends are starting to look very piecey and chunky and generally unhappy. But! I've been holding off because I wanted to trim with moontimes, and I kept forgetting to go and look and see when was a good time for a trim, so I haven't done one since - sheeeesh, I need to look back - it's been at least two months. And I've decided that I want to do regular trims until all of the dye is gone - I really don't want to grow out this poor damaged stuff.
Anyhow! Found a website - and *sigh* it looks like I'll be waiting ANOTHER two months to give myself a trim - Dec. 20, 2006 is the next best date - I JUST missed out on this month, but with the whole housewarming and all - ugh. Hair cutting was the last thing on my mind. So! That's that!
Also - I've noticed that on my 'short side' I barely have ANY dyed hair - it's almost all browken off... *poutpout* *strokestroke* But it's long enough to fit into my hairstyle (when wet and stretched and not meddled with - if I don't do any of those things, I just tuck it in with a bobby pin (I need to get more accesories)), and I suspect that it's actually the STRONGEST hair (once I stopped doing dreadful things to it like bleaching it). It's actually the MOST interesting hair on my head - stubbornly tightly curled, thick (THICK - and I'm talking density as well as strands) and just generally purty. And naturally, it's also the hair that I play with the most. *le sigh*
Anyhow - really just wanted to note the website, and the hair trimming date, and I really will try to start a photo journal this weekend... .Really.
REALLY!
Sheesh.
*LOL*
So.
I was sitting here tonight, and reading TLHC, and suddenly (no, really?) got the urge to go and play with (and take pictures of) my hair.
I took out my hairstyle, I went and got my hair properly wet so that I could put the conditioner in it, and suddenly got the urge to actually TRY out my Oyin Grand PooBar.
So I hopped out the shower, and grabbed it, and rubbed it in my hair, and - its really interesting, how my hair feels differently based on what I do to it. My hair instantly curled up - I could FEEL that it was curly, which makes me think that once it dries, it'll be more kinky and less wavy - but who knows? Anyhow!
I mixed up some White Rain Apple Blossom, and some of the creme I made, and slapped that on my hair....and I'll leave that in overnight, and see what my hair ends up being like.
I took some pictures and AHHHHHH!!!!! My parts looked roughly the size of the grand canyon, but the texture of my hair was amazingly obvious - and gorgeous! I mean really - it was lovely. The color too was, lovely. It looked more like art than like a picture - and the shine!! Sheewee!! I WILL be starting a photo journal this weekend - I should be able to dig up several different older pictures of my hair from my computer, as well as scan some even OLDER pictures - it'll be fun.
My texture is interesting....I'm still debating whether I want to start taking silica, or if I want to wait until my hair gets longer. I think that as my hair gets longer, the curls will loosen just from the weight, so, I'm not sure that I WANT to take anything that will straighten my hair, but I'm SOOOOOO not the most patient woman, and I want curls NOW, dammit, NOW.
Gah.
G'night.
G'night.
Sweet jesu, I'm SO glad that's over.
So, this weekend was our housewarming, and after all of the running, running, go, go, going of the last week - I'm just so THRILLED to be done with it all, RALLY I am.
Anyhow! Hair type stuff.
I'm still in love with my hairdo, despite the fact that I need a good bit more practice before I'm really comfy rocking it.
I've 'tweaked' the gel a bit by doubling it with half palm oil/half shea butter and dumping the last of the ACS oil in it. It's now a semi-solid that dissolves in my hands into a smooth yet thick creme almost (not greasy at all). I've been using it on my post conditioner hair - I think I may have found/made the perfect leave-in!! And of course, since my hair is all 'put-away' anyhow, I'm really just trying to keep it moisturized enough that it won't get OVERdried out during the two days that it's 'put-up'. Then, I condition, detangle, and put it back up - I think that I might stick with this routine for a WHILE - definitely all through the winter at the least - and as I get better at parts/flat twists, I'll most likely start experimenting with doing then in different 'designs' so to speak.
It's been three weeks now (four, this weekend I think) and I'm itching to use up the last bit of my henna. *hangs head* I know, I know - but I miss my henna!! I haven't made the CASH oil - that might happen this weekend. I'm also considering only hennaing my TIPS, since that's the area that 1) actaully TAKES the dye and 2) actually NEEDS the protection that henna gives. I'm going to try to hold out for a full 6 weeks though.
My hair FEELS wonderful though - strong and smooth from root almost to the end. As I stroke strands of hair, I can feel the difference between my virgin hair and my tips - my tips feel 'wrinkled' while the rest of the strands feels freshly pressed. I would LOVE to get my hands on a super strong microscope and take a gander at my hair.
I'm shedding like a molting butterfly - I'm not the least bit suprised, considering that I go into 'downmode' alltogether once it starts to get chilly. My plan is to get into a really GOOD routine, pattern, habits over the winter, so that when the warm weather comes and my body goes back into 'awake' mode, it will have already been 'trained' to know that it will have all of the building blocks it needs - to make muscle AND to make hair.
I'm still all over the supplements - MSM, O369, Biotin - I'm taking 4000mcg of the biotin, 3600mg of the O369, and some stupid amount of MSM - I love the stuff, not just for my hair, but because when I work out - it makes the soreness and achiness GO AWAY. *swoons* I'll take this stuff for the rest of my LIFE for that reason. The one thing (both for my overall health and my hair health) that I KNOW I'm not up to point with is the amount of protien I'm eating - I'm not getting in NEARLY enough. At some point this week, I plan on going to get a thing of vanilla flavored protien powder, that I can mix in with my oatmeal in the morning....and I'm considering a daily evening shake since I have the other container of PP sitting at home. That way, I know that I'm getting at LEAST an extra 40-60g of protien a day...on top of the amount I'm getting from real food (which is most likey about another 50-60g). *nods* I'll start taking the evening shakes tonight - that should help until I can get the powder for the oatmeal - I've never liked 'chocolate' breakfast cereals.
And - YAY!! I got a camera (finally) so I will start to take progress pictures. How exactly that is going to work, I'm not sure, considering how curly my hair is. I think that I will take mushroom pictures (haircombed out flat from the crown of my head) every month, so I can keep track of the length changes. I'm going to take pictures of the right AND left sides, because of my 'patch' on the left side - I really think it's breaking/shorter simply because of the different texture. I've been loving on it a little more - making sure it gets first dabs of conditioner and leave-in, and combing it especially gentle. THough! I must admit - and I lay all of this at the feet of citric acid - my hair has not been NEARLY as tangly as it was before. It could be the regular moisturizing as well.... And it's either SERIOUSLY releasing curl, or my hair is growing like a mad thing - my hair in the back is fully toching my back now - I have a VERY definite V shape, but it's full and not scraggly looking, so I'm happy with it. I might even start a *gasp* photo journal. That would rock!
I think I have little baby hairs popping up - but I'm not sure if they are babies or if they are the last holdouts from a horribly broken off strand. I think that they are babies jsut because there are so MANY of them. Anytime I touch my parts, there are all of these tiny, fine little hairs that aren't nearly long enough to actually get caught in the hair style. I really HOPE that they are new hairs growing in - maybe by the time my hair is long enough for a ponytail, they'll be long enough to really contribute to my thickness measurement.
So, I played this weekend.
I made this mixture:
2/3 cup of honey
1/3 cup of avg
a cup of oil (I'm thinking of using 1/3 shea, 1/3 coconut, and 1/3 palm)
2 tsp of citric acid.
I melted the solid oils, and mixed everything together - then poured it into a glass jar, and let it cool, giving it a healthy shake every now and then to be sure that it would stay together.
I slapped that on my head Friday night (what IS it about AVG that as soon as it hits my hair, it turns into liquid and drip, drip, drips EVERYWHERE???), and then, slapped a regular conditioner + honey on top of it Saturday morning.
Did things, did things, then rinsed my hair out Saturday afternoon, and mixed together some of the goo, plus some HH, plus some ACS oil, plus some African Royale MOM, and put that in my hair (focusing on the ends) and flat twisted them tight.
Sunday, I woke up to take them out - and realized that I had made a REALLY good gel. MAJOR hold. MAJOR hold - I'm thinking there is too much honey in the mixture - man!
So, hopped BACK in the shower, rinsed it out, combed my hair out with some Humectress (I gotta admit, that stuff DOES work nicely when it's used quickly), and then re-moisturized my hair with some HH, and put it into my 'work' style.
Is not being able to make a straight part for ANYTHING a sign of having thick hair? I part, and part, and part, and there is STILL hair in the middle of my parts. *sigh* It might just be the fact that I'm not super used to it yet.
Anyhow - I LIKE the HoneyGoo, but it's TOO hard. So - I'm going to mix some cocoa butter, more shea butter, and a touch of mango butter into it - basically turn it into KCC, and see if that has a WEE bit less hold.
My hair has also DEFINITELY grown longer - I think that I can update my length back to 7 inches! *happy dance* I'm really thrilled by that - I can TELL that it's growing, considering the 2+ inches of roots that I have, but after the trims and my breakage - having additional length is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
So.....another weekend without henna. I don't know what to DO!! I suppose, I could work on the house - really, work on the OUTSIDE of the house, as it's gotten cooler and stuff.
Hairwise, though - I'm going to try a citric acid co-wash, and see if I can wipe out my rough ends all together. I'm also going to make a SMALL batch of the KCC and see what I think. I want to try something super extra triple special deep conditioning/moisturizing... I'm thinking about honey + aloe + ACS oil (can you tell I'm trying to use it all up so I can make some CASH oil and not feeling guilty bout it?)
*sigh*
I want to PLAY. Maybe I'll experiment with a new style.... I don't really LIKE bantu knots (the remind me too much of alien headbumps), and I suppose I could practice my flattwisting (I think that I'm going to make TWO flat twists in the back rather than three - at least while my hair is this short).
I might henna my nails again! The henna is starting to grow out, and I really do like the color on my hands...it matches my skin nicely. Hmmm - that might be fun.
So. Many things have been going on in the world of hair lately!!
I think I've found a style that I'm actually - *gasp* HAPPY with. It gives me the feeling of long hair, it's protective, it's easy to do (takes less than 1/2 hour) and it's PRETTY. Basically, what I'm going is parting my hair from ear to ear (behind the ear, not on top of it) and then parting the front portion down the middle. Then, I cornrow the front starting at the center of my head and ending with a little 'tail' that fits PERFECTLY behind my ear.
The back, I part into thirds from top to bottom, then make three flat twists, then braid the 'tails' of those together, and tuck them under the middle twist.
It's easy to do, it's VERY secure, I don't have to worry about my hair being blown around, it fits my face WONDERFULLY, it's protective, and it's easy enough to do that I'll be willing to do my hair every other day or so - which will allow me to keep my hair more moisturized! Beyond that, the style just - feels right. I have a tight little 'cap' of hair somehow, and it feels WONDERFUL. I definitely need to pay more attention to my hairline with this style - I'm not pulling it tight at ALL - but you can clearly see the 'thinner' bits of my hairline. *sigh* babyhair. I'll have to be sure to love on it regularily with the SS oil and the ACS oil.... maybe I'll alternate days.
Speaking of moisturized, I'm thinking that *sigh* I HAVE to go back to moisturizing my hair every other day like I was doing while I was wearing it loose. It's funny - I'm slowly learning what works and what doesn't - sometimes going to far one way and ignoring something else I should have learned. That month that I was wearing a puff everyday, I deep treated my hair ABOUT every other day - and it LOVED it. But - my hair was getting fried and damaged on the ends from not being in a protective style. Then, I went to the twists - a VERY protective style - but I was also only moisturizing once a week (okay, I WAS getting it wet, but that's not REALLY moisturizing it), so it got dry and brittle - plus the henna overkill.
Now - I've got a protective style, and it's easy enough that I CAN take it out, Deep Treat, and put it all back in - and the style itself won't take more than an hour - to take out AND to put back in! So. I'm happy with that.
I wonder what the next thing I'm going to learn will be?
I've also been thinking about (spawned from a thread here) why I want long hair - and the main thing I kept coming up with is that it FEELS right. My inner vision of me involves having - this huge mane of hair - and interestingly enough, I'm pretty okay with it being my natural color. Now, because of how my hair is, huge is a relative term - if I had hair that was slightly below my shoulders unstretched - it would be HUGE loose (and I'm thinking about BSL or longer stretched).
It's interesting, thinking about me & my hair. The one time I had reallllly long natural hair (between APL and BSL) was immeadiately after the second relaxer of my life when I was 18, and I promptly chopped it off to a pixie cut. I think I did that because having straight hair just - didn't FEEL right. From there, I had braids most of the time - anything between shoulder length to BSL. Then, when I got sick of dealing with my natural hair (because I didn't know what the hell to do with it!!), I put it in dreads, and loved it - but as they got older, I hated the denseness /flatness /stringiness of them.
Under it all, I've always KNOWN that my natural hair, grown long and free, is what I want/need/desire, but have always believed that it just wasn't POSSIBLE with my hair type.
Lies, dammed lies!
Anyhow, I'm thrilled with my hair for right now.
In an effort to STAY thrilled with my hair (and to use some of the WONDERFUL hair gunk that is slowly filling up my bathroom cabinet), I've been scoping the recipe forum for some good ideas. I REALLY want to create a Whipped Pudding knockoff. I'll have to post the ingredients - but basically it's butters, oils, honey and aloe. I'm not sure if my hair likes aloe (I know my nose doesn't like it - WHEW does that stuff have a tummy twisting aroma), but I figured as much as my hair likes WP, it can't be ALL bad. I also want to make a nice deep conditioning treatment - I'd VERY much like to wean myself off of using commercial conditioners. So far, the recipes that I've lined up have been these:
Fox's SheaButter
1 part Shea Butter
1 part Conditioner
1/2 part Oil
A few drops of essential oils that compliment your hair type and scent preference
Mix all ingredients together well. If your Shea has been melted, you may have to chill the mixture a bit before you can get it to blend. Fox uses Shea at room temperature. Once mixed, place in a small, sealed container.
I like this one - but it has the conditioner in it. I'm wondering how this would work if I used honey in PLACE of the conditioner. Hm, hm, hm.
SunCat's Cocomanshea Conditioning Butter
1 Part Coconut Oil Unrefined which is solid at room temperature
1 Part Coco Butter
1 Part Mango Butter
1 Part Shea Butter
Place ingredients except coconut oil in a glass measuring cup and heat in the microwave until melted. Add the coconut oil and stir, if the coconut oil doesn't melt completely then reheat until it melts. Stir well and let it cool slightly. Pour into desired containers.
I love this one - all butters and oils - and I HAVE all this stuff (well, except for the unrefined coconut oil, but I could substitute some jojoba.....). I'm jsut worried about this being a little TOO oily for my hair.
So - I'm thinking that my recipe will be a mix of this stuff - plus a few extras of my own (I really need to find that citric acid thread).
Firstly - I want to map out my recipe for the new CASH oil (ASC oil plus Henna). Hah! That's perfect. Or SHAC Oil....... Or.....HACS Oil..... Or HASC Oil (isn't that a line of hair products??) or CHAS Oil..... or ACHS Oil..... or CAHS oil.....or.........
Anyhow! I think I'll stick with my first idea. :lol:
Kiya's CASH Oil
2 parts jojoba oil
2 parts coconut oil
1 part castor oil
1 part cayenne
2 parts amla
1 part shikakai
1 part henna
Simmer for hours over VERY low heat, strain herbs out of oil, place into glass container, seal well.
Use in conditioners, SMT's, henna, scalp massages, butters - anywhere you want to!!!
Kiya's Conditioning Creme
2 parts shea butter
1 part cocoa butter
1 part mango butter
2 part CASH oil
1 part honey
Liquify all ingredients, mix together well, let cool slowly. Use as a moisturizing treatment on damp/dry hair.
Now - this is my PLANNED recipe. I wonder if I can find a tiny crockpot (dammit, I knew I should have kept that rice cooker!). I want it to be light and fluffy, so I plan on melting everything in a crockpot (low, controlled temp) then removing the pot from the heater, putting in an ice water bath, and whipping it as it cools - should prevent it from getting grainy as it solidifies, and make it a little lighter. I might try this weekend after next....if I'm actually in town.
I'm thinking that I don't have to worry about it going bad, because I'm not using any water to introduce buggies into the honey. Still, to be on the safe side, I might put a few drops of my grapefruit seed oil into it - and I think that once it cools a bit, I might also put in some of my Egyptian Musk Oil (my personal scent) to give it a light bit of aroma.
*grins* I can't wait to start experimenting!!
Some Mistake Terrible!
So.....continuing on the tale of my very first SMT.
After I rinsed it out, my hair was - meh. It wasn't SUPER moisturized like I had expected, but I figured that was from the henna, and wasn't going to worry about it. I oiled it with a bit of jojoba oil, braided the front into two little cornrows, and twisted the back up into 5 or 6 fat twists - so that I could twist out on Monday, and rock a new style.
Monday:
I twisted out the back, and - my hair was CRUNCHY! I mean - horrid, horrid, HORRIDLY crunchy. Ever time I TOUCHED my hair, little bits were breaking off *weeps in horror* - and it was OILY. I'm thinking that maybe my hair just plain isn't ready for the jojoba oil straight up just yet - it was sad. I braided the back up before I worked out because I didn't want to scrape it against the bench, and went home, already plotting on what I was going to do.
I got home, cleaned up a bit, made an SMT (1 1/3 cup conditioner 1/3 honey 1/3 aloe), and climbed into the shower to get my hair wet. As I was getting it wet, I could still feel the 'crunchiness' of the ends - so I got the bright idea to try some citric acid on my hair. I mixed up a splash of citric acid with some water, and starting pouring it over and squishing it into my hair.
Oh. My. GODS. I could FEEL my hair changing under my hands - it went from crucnhy to soft and supple - I could actually FINGERcomb my hair - and from the root to the tip, it felt - good. Like PROPER hair. And my curls!!??!! They just - BOINGED out from everywhere!
So - I hopped out, slathered the SMT into my hair, out on a showercap and a headscarf, and carried on with my evening. I went to sleep in it, and rinsed it out this morning.
Okay. FIRSTLY - I can actually see my self using a brush, if my hair feels like this all the time - soft, supple, tender, strong - my hair hasn't felt this balanced in AGES. I worked a healthy bit of HH into my damp hair, and decided to just push it back into a pufro, largely because wonderful feeling or not, as I was picking out my hair, I was seeing FAR more little o's of hair scattered about the sink than I wanted to.
So. I was feeling kinda plain though, so I put on some makeup - which, by now is mostly rubbed off, as I ALWAYS rub my eyes, and eating with lipstick on is - yicky.
I REALLY need to experiment with styles for my hair at the length it's at NOW. I keep thinking about all of the wonderful things I will be able to do with it when it's longer (me in a pomadour - I can't WAIT!), but I need to practice now. It's long enough that I can do nice flat twists and cornrows (I think flattwists are more work appropiate though) and it'll help me be less bored with my hair, as WELL as leaving my hair out so that I can love it and condition it, and restore it's moisture balance to it.
My hair is dry now, and it still feels good - still a little dry (I really think butters are the way to go for me - I ust don't know how to effieciently spread them through my hair), but much more 'stable' and soft than it was yesterday.
Recap:
Henna - I think it was overkill, I won't be hennaing that way for a while - I'm going to an every other month timing.
SMT - meh. I'll have to try it again, but didn't seem to be any better than a usual honey + conditioner dealio.
Citric Acid: :love: :love: :love: I'll DEFINITELY be using this - but only to 'cure' the crunchies that the end of my hair tends to suffer from. Just because I KNOW the dyed bits are going to break off is no reason to rush the process, hey?
Something Moisturizing Time!
So!!
I woke up this morning, shocked the have a dry head - this is the first morning in AGES that I have not Henna'd on Friday night. Anyhow - I figured that since my hair was dry, I could do a nice deep oiling before I wash it, and see what my hair thought of that.
So, I mixed some of the jojoba oil and some of my ACS oil together, and just liberally globbed that on my hair. My hair feels - dry. The mix is WONDERFULLY dentangling (as I pull my twist out apart with my fingers) and it SEEMS to be allowing my shed hairs to come out much easier without knotting up. I'm also doing a lil massaging here and there - the ASC is making my head tingle (or maybe that's the biotin, I dont know). My hair is certianly delightfully curly - still standing straight up, but CURLY - and rather frizzy. It'll be interesting seeing what it looks like after I get it good and wet.
Anyhow - I'm starting to put together my SMT mixture.
The 'pure' recipe is:
1 part Fave conditioner (must be moisture), mine is VO5-Sun Kissed Raspberry.
1/4 part honey
1/4 part clear aloe vera gel (I use Fruit of the Earth).
Place in a cup and warm in microwave for 10 to 15 seconds--just until warm. Wash hair and squeeze out excess, blot dry, leave in under heat cap, warm towels or shower cap, what have you, for an hour or so. Rinse well.
I'm thinking about adding a DAB of henna (just a wee bit!), and some ACS oil.
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So! It's 6:30, and I'm ready to start DC'ing my hair. I've got 1/2 cup premixed henna thawed, I'm going to add 1 cup of WR Water Blossom, 1/4 cup of honey, 1/4 cup of aloe vera gel, and 1/8 cup of ACS oil.. I'm going to warm the honey & AVG & Henna in a tub of hot water........then mix in the conditioner & oil and let it warm some more.
Well!! That was MESSY!!!! I mixed everything together, and it was even nastier looking then the henna was the first time - more like sick baby poo than regular poo (and my fellow henna heads will understand that!)
I wonder how many of the chemicals that go into commercial hair products are simply to make it pretty and prevent it from going bad? I mean - really - can EVERYTHING that your hair needs come from your kitchen? It would make sense - everything that your body needs can come from the kitchen, and your hair is a product of your body - so why not?
Anyhow - it made a lot - more even than the amount of henna that I usually use. I rinsed out the oil from my hair with wonderful hot water (I'm ALWAYS so excited when I can rinse out my hair with hot water, since I try to ALWAYS rinse my hair with cold water to keep the cuticles down), and then dried it a wee bit before squishing the SMT into my hair. As soon as it hit my hair, it turned into - water. I think it was the aloe vera gel, as it started out mostly clear before turning a faintly yellowish orange color (from the henna, I assume).
I'm guessing that it's not supppoossseeddd to be this drippy, so I think it must be the henna - I'll leave it out next time.
I ended up wrapping up my head like I would with henna (saran wrap, paper towel, shower cap, cotton scarf) in order to catch the flow upon flow upon flow of drips.
Hopefully, this will help soften my hair wonderfully and reduce the 'stiffness' from my over henna'ing.
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So - I figure this will be in my hair for about three hours (that'll take me to 11ish) and I'll rinse and detangle my hair in the shower, and let it air dry before going to bed.
Hair Issues
So, I posted about my freaky split roots both here & on LHCF, and in both places I'm getting an overwhelming 'That's WEIRD!!!' response. I didn't post it on NP, because honestly - I think that there is more hair knowledge on those two boards, whereas NP is more about hair acceptance/hair politics.
This would be a normal split end, where the top is at the root, and the bottom is the oldest part of the hair.
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My hair is doing this - the top is stil the root end, and the bottom is the oldest bit, and the dyed bit starts well below the split.
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So far, I've gotten answers/suggestions that I know don't apply (like relaxing/hotcombing), stuff that might be right (like overtwisting/lack of moisture) and things that I really think might be it (over-hennaing!!!!!! :shocked:). One person on LHCF said it might be severe "trichorhexxis nodosa" (:bigeyes:) and suggested I go to see a dermatologist!! *groans* I honestly don't think it's that bad, because really - this is most likely the HEALTHIEST my hair has ever been.
My shedding rate is gone way down, it's soft (but wiry), it's shinier than a new copper penny, it's growing like gangbusters (sometimes I swear I can SEE it grow), my scalp is clear and clean, my hairline is filling in........ I don't think I have anything WRONG with it - it's just being - weird.
I'd say I see/get about - 20-30 hairs coming off a day (broken, shed, whatever) and out of those - maybe 4 or 5 are the weird split ones, or suspiciously skinny rooted ones. 10-12 have a root bulb attached, and the rest are red only, so it's just the dyed bits breaking off.
So!! I'm NOT going to use my last bag of premixed henna - if anything, I'll start doing henna glosses every other week. When I went to Wild Oats, I also got a bottle of Aloe Vera gel, and I'll do a SMT this weekend, just to be sure that my hair is happy and conditioned and moisturized, and I might try - TRY - a new hairstyle next week, just in case my repeated twisting is stressing the roots. Hmm.... that means finding a new hairstyle.... I need to learn how to do bantu knots - but no, that involves twisting too. Maybe flat twists instead along the front, and leave it loose in the back? I wish I had paid more attention to WHERE those strands of hair were coming from, that might have given me a hint about what might be causing it.
In less weird hair news..... I rinsed out my hair GOOOOD this morning, and slatered HH all over it so it's EXTRA soft today and smells just HEAVENLY.
I also rumamged through my FNWL package and hmmm. The coconut butter is fractionated, so it doesn't smell all nice and coconutty (I might get some food grade stuff instead). The mango & cocoa butter were hard as ROCKS - but smelled SOOO good. The mango butter was also kinda gritty - so I think I'm going to have to season that the same way that shea butter needs to be seasoned, and whip it with the shea butter to insure that it's nice and smooth. The citric acid is - odd looking - it's granules instead of a powder like I was expecting, and it's a HUGE bag, so I'm going to swap bits of it out for other coolio stuff. I haven't tried the jojoba oil yet - I just hugged it and loved it and promised my hair that it will be slathered in it soon.
I still haven't found any yarn for my twists - but then, honestly, I haven't REALLLY been looking - I've been SO wiped out after working out that all I want to do is go home and collaspe face first into a soft flat spot - but I feel good doing it, so I'mma keep on, keeping on. I'm also dragging my feet because I'm really DREADING going to Walmart. Reaaaaally, I am.
Hm. I think that's it for now.
Hair Issues
So, I posted about my freaky split roots both here & on LHCF, and in both places I'm getting an overwhelming 'That's WEIRD!!!' response. I didn't post it on NP, because honestly - I think that there is more hair knowledge on those two boards, whereas NP is more about hair acceptance/hair politics.
This would be a normal split end, where the top is at the root, and the bottom is the oldest part of the hair.
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My hair is doing this - the top is stil the root end, and the bottom is the oldest bit, and the dyed bit starts well below the split.
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So far, I've gotten answers/suggestions that I know don't apply (like relaxing/hotcombing), stuff that might be right (like overtwisting/lack of moisture) and things that I really think might be it (over-hennaing!!!!!! :shocked:).
One person on LHCF said it might be severe "trichorhexxis nodosa" (:bigeyes:) and suggested I go to see a dermatologist!! *groans* I honestly don't think it's that bad, because really - this is most likely the HEALTHIEST my hair has ever been.
My shedding rate is gone way down, it's soft (but wiry), it's shinier than a new copper penny, it's growing like gangbusters (sometimes I swear I can SEE it grow), my scalp is clear and clean, my hairline is filling in........ I don't think I have anything WRONG with it - it's just being - weird.
I'd say I see/get about - 20-30 hairs coming off a day (broken, shed, whatever) and out of those - maybe 4 or 5 are the weird split ones, or suspiciously skinny rooted ones. 10-12 have a root bulb attached, and the rest are red only, so it's just the dyed bits breaking off.
So!! I'm NOT going to use my last bag of premixed henna - if anything, I'll start doing henna glosses every other week. When I went to Wild Oats, I also got a bottle of Aloe Vera gel, and I'll do a SMT this weekend, just to be sure that my hair is happy and conditioned and moisturized, and I might try - TRY - a new hairstyle next week, just in case my repeated twisting is stressing the roots. Hmm.... that means finding a new hairstyle.... I need to learn how to do bantu knots - but no, that involves twisting too. Maybe flat twists instead along the front, and leave it loose in the back? I wish I had paid more attention to WHERE those strands of hair were coming from, that might have given me a hint about what might be causing it.
In less weird hair news..... I rinsed out my hair GOOOOD this morning, and slatered HH all over it so it's EXTRA soft today and smells just HEAVENLY.
I also rumamged through my FNWL package and hmmm. The coconut butter is fractionated, so it doesn't smell all nice and coconutty (I might get some food grade stuff instead). The mango & cocoa butter were hard as ROCKS - but smelled SOOO good. The mango butter was also kinda gritty - so I think I'm going to have to season that the same way that shea butter needs to be seasoned, and whip it with the shea butter to insure that it's nice and smooth. The citric acid is - odd looking - it's granules instead of a powder like I was expecting, and it's a HUGE bag, so I'm going to swap bits of it out for other coolio stuff. I haven't tried the jojoba oil yet - I just hugged it and loved it and promised my hair that it will be slathered in it soon.
I still haven't found any yarn for my twists - but then, honestly, I haven't REALLLY been looking - I've been SO wiped out after working out that all I want to do is go home and collaspe face first into a soft flat spot - but I feel good doing it, so I'mma keep on, keeping on. I'm also dragging my feet because I'm really DREADING going to Walmart. Reaaaaally, I am.
Hm. I think that's it for now.
Silly Gal!
*laughs*
Quick comment.
So - yesterday is the day I go to see my 'personal trainer' and he whooooppppeeedddd my tail. I was huffing and puffing, dripping with sweat, and couldn't think straight about nothing but getting some food in me, taking a cool shower, and going to sleep.
Yeah, it was like that.
So - I go home and do precisely that. Take a shower, eat, relax for a lil while, then go to sleep.
I slept in late this morning, then headed out to work, and as I did so, I noticed that the screen door to the foyer of our house was open - and that's when it hit me....
I GOT MY FNWL SHIPMENT!!!!!
Mind you, I KNEW this cuz I saw online where the delivery had been made around 3:30pm, but I was so zoned out by the time that I got home, that I totallllllllly forgot about it. If I had gotten online for a second last night, I might have remembered, but I was too zonked to even look at the PC.
If I had woken up for work earlier, I most certainly WOULD have gone back in the house - just to open the package and sniff the bottles.
I'm about to go work out again tonight - but oh! I will remember my package this time around!!
On other hair related news - I stopped by Wild Oats last night and picked up some biotin lozenges. I love that there are options OTHER than pills - taking the O369 is bad enough :puke: . I think that will be my last supplement addition. So far, I'm taking MSM (6000mg) O369 (3600mgs) and Biotin (3mgs), plus my daily multivitamin, and I figure after the New Year, I'll start taking a preconception/fertility boosting vitamin. I was considering taking silica as well, but that apparently straightens hair - and I'm more than happy with the results I've gotten from the externals, and anything that I can do that doesn't require ANOTHER pill is a good thing.
I got my hair soaking wet last night when I came home, and I meant to put some HH in it, but I forgot. I've been rubbing it good today to make up for it and to bring some of the oil from my scalp into my hair - but now I'm thinking about going home and putting some jojoba oil in my hair.... ummhmm!
My First Bu!
Wow. I'm still amazed by my hair - and I've learned a few things.
I had to go grocery shopping Sunday, and since my flat twists were all wonky looking, I took them out, put some HH in my hair to make it combable, put two bantu knots in the front, and made - get this - a wee BUN!!! - in the back, and went out merrily shopping. Now, when I say a wee bun, I mean a WEEEE bun. Like - tiny. It wasn't really a bun, it was a bu. *L* But, I was pleased.
A few hours later, I finally sat down to start twists my hair - and like BUTTER baby. I had the usual 'fried end' tangles (I'm considering another trim before I do the yarn twists) but a little WP solved that, and I finished a head full of the softest, smoothest twists EVER. My hair was surprisingly straight (definitely 'wavy' rather than curly) and - interestingly enough - even straight - it stood STRAIGHT up from my head. I had a fabulous bit of a mohawk (product free!) for a while as I was parting the top of my head to put twists in. It amazes me that even though I have this enourmously fine hair, it isn't the LEAST bit limp - at all! Sometimes, I feel like I could pick a lock with my hair - tiny wires that they are. How can hair be soft of silk, and stiff as wire at the same time?
I can definitely see a difference in length (my front twist hits the very edge of the bone in my nose - that break between bone & cartilage) and the color has turned a bit more brown than red - I'm blaming that on the Amla mix that I put into the henna.
I think for my last henna (the LAST ONE - for a few months, at least) I'm going to do straight henna, maybe some paprika, and lots of conditioner - but no honey - to give the red a full chance to 'stick'. Mind you - I'm starting to see COLOR on my roots now. Ain't that a mess? It looks - light reddish brown, moreso than anything else - so I guess many many many applications of henna are needed in order to convince my hair to take. Umph. Figures. I'm thinking about starting to experiment with different KINDS of henna to see if that makes a difference. My FNWL shipment is out for delivery now (I LOVE online package tracking), and I want to try some Jamila henna as well - and some Musharaz. So - we shall see.
I've been sitting at work all day, stroking my roots - they feel SOOOO Soft and smooth and - tender, somehow. I'm STILL seeing splits at my roots :rolleyes: and I'm wondering if my hair texture is changing from the MSM that I'm taking, and THAT'S why I'm getting splits up there. I can't SEE a difference in the texture of my hair at the roots, but meh - who knows?
I'm going to go to the Fabric store near my job over a lunch break at some point this week, and see if they have a better selection of yarn. *sigh* We shall see (I really don't want to go to Walmart - maybe I'll try the SuperK up the street from my house as well).