AAAAARGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself.
Seriously, ya'll. I mean, damn. Cursed by GOD with nappy hair? Damn, I thought the whole tribe of Ham being cursed bit went out with slavery.
If some of the threads I've seen about natural black hair were written about natural black skin, the horror and shock over someone thinking that God has 'cursed' them with this skin that doesn't take henna and tattoos and for some reason doesn't show a tan as well and burns really slowly would be viewed as it really was - wanting something that YOU CAN'T HAVE. But because it's 'just' hair, it's okay.
*mutters and growls* If people spent as much time learning what their hair likes, what it can do and what it can't do as they did whinging about it not being like somebody ELSES hair, you might have hair you loved more.
Cursed? Just tooooo through. Cursed by GOD none the less - right after he gave Eve painful childbirth, he gave black folx nappy hair.
*shakes head*
Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself. Love your hair as you love yourself.
Follishness and Self-Hate
That worked EVER so much better
So - I fell asleep in the DC last night (no big suprise there, eh?) and didn't rinse it out til this morning. I then combed out my hair with some Humectress and CA, then put some WP in my hair and parted it into about 20 big twists. I then greased my scalp with the LR, and I let that dry, then untwisted them, combed it out one last time, and put in the flat twists.
Can I say!! I don't know if it was the prompt application of WP, or if the DC really DID make a difference - but my hair was soft and smooth and strong - VERY nice, really. I desparately wanted to trim my ends - snip snip snip - but I was strong, and I left them alone. I'm REALLY looking forward to getting all the red out now - it just feels so close. I'm thinking - listen to me - thinking about actually putting off my henna next week, and doing another deep conditioner. My hair really DID seem to enjoy the treatment. I need to take a picture of my twists in the back - they are so fat and lovely and shiny. I'm DEFINITELY pleased with this one - it's not the roundbun of the first one - but it's lovely.
I will DEFINITELY be doing my style of the week on dry hair from now on - the difference in the quality of the twists (and the neatness of the parts!) is obvious.
My hair is tied up in it's doorag now, and it just feels - lucious under there. I'm verry happy with my hair tonight. I sprayed it lightly with GJ before tying it up for the night - I figure that way, I'm starting my hair off on an even keel - LR and moisture. Tomorrow is more moisture - but that's what my hair needs. My hair has NEVER been 'mushy' as some women say their hair gets when over moisturized - I would LOVE to have 'mushy' hair, as that would indicate that my hair wasn't actually thirsty anymore.
Actually, next weekend is going to be a busy weekend. We are supposed to be getting our mattress delivered, and I'm going to an Imbolc ritual, both on Saturday. Hmm. I think that the rit is from 3-5 on Saturday, so..... maybe I'll DC my hair when I come home Saturday evening, and then take it out and do it on Sunday like I did this weekend. Hmm... that means definitely no henna - I COULD leave the house henna headed - but nah. And I really don't feel like leaving my hair out.
Bah. I'll figure something out.
What is a "Conditioner"?
The term "conditioner" is vague. Conditioners fall into different groups according to what you want to accomplish with your hair. People with thin hair need a specific kind of "conditioner", people with thick, dry hair need another...
Conditioners fall into six major catagories:
Moisturizers
Reconstructors
Acidifiers
Detanglers
Thermal Protectors
Glossers
Oils (E.F.A.'s- essential fatty acids)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Moisturizers
Are concentrated with humectants. Humectants are compounds that attract and hold moisture into the hair. They may not necessarily contain botanicals or protein (they often do).
Recommendations:
Janol® VitaMoist Conditioner
Paul Mitchell® Super Charged Moisturizer (The Best)
Pativa® Moisture Rinse
L'anza® Moisture Treatment
Reconstructors
Normally contain protein. Hydrolized human hair keratin protein is the best source, because it contains all 19 amino acids found in the hair. Human hair keratin protein has a low molecular weight. This enables the it to penetrate the hairshaft (the cortex). The main purpose of a reconstructor is to strenghten the hair.
Recommendations:
Paul Mitchell® Hair Repair
Paul Mitchell® Hair Masque (esp. for color treated hair)
L'anza® Power Treatment
L'anza® Keratin Booster (salon only product)
L'anza® Reconstructor
Pativa® Hair Masque
Acidifiers
The key word here is "acid". Yes, is is good to put acid on your hair. When a product carries a pH of 2.5 to 3.5 it is normlly termed an acidifier. This pH will close (compact) the cuticle layer of the hair. The result is shiney, bouncey hair. This pH range will adjust the beta bonds to alpha bonds (hydrogen bonds). Acidifiers do not weigh the hair. They do create shine, and add elasticity.
Recommendations:
Paul Mitchell® Finishing Rinse (Great for fine hair)
Paul Mitchell® The Detangler
Paul Mitchell® Seal and Shine ( a thermal protector too)
L'anza® Chemical Balancer (professional product)(Great)
L'anza® Detangler
Detanglers
Most detanglers are acidifiers (see above). Most have low pH's 2.5 to 3.5. They close the cuticle of the hair which cause tangles. Some "shield" the hairshaft with polymers (polymers are strings of "like" molecules- a chain). Some detanglers are instant, some take 1-5 minutes to work.
Recommendations:
Janol® No rinse Leave-in Conditioner
Paul Mitchell® The Detangler (instant detangler)
Paul Mitchell® Lite Detangler (great for fine hair)
Paul Mitchell® Creatives Finishing Rinse
L'anza® Detangler
Thermal Protectors
Thermal protectors safeguard the hair against heat. Using thermal protectors are one of the best things you can do to your hair if you blow dry, use curling irons, or hot rollers. They normally use heat absorbing polymers that distribute the heat, so your hair does not get heat damage (a major cause of hair damage)
Recommendations:
Paul Mitchell® Seal and Shine (the best sold anywhere)
Glossers
For the most part glossers are cosmetic. Most Glossers contain dimethicone or cyclomethicone ( very light oils derved from silicone). Used in small amounts they reflect light. Also, they are one of the bestproducts to control the "frizzies."
Recommendations:
Janol® Super Radiance
Paul Mitchell® Gloss
L'anza® Design Shine
Pativa® Shiner
Oils (E.F.A.'s)
If you have dry hair (esp. if you have chemicals on your hair{color-perm-relaxer}you need to add oil to your hair. The scalp produces a natural oil called sebum. EFA's are the closest thing to natural sebum (sebum contain EFA'S). EFA's can take very dry and porus hair and transform it into soft pliable hair.
Recommendations:
L'anza® Hair Polish
Paul Mitchell® Foaming Pommade
I don't know how good the recommedations are - they seemed to have a serious LOVE for Paul Mitchell....
But anyhow, here's the link....
So - there's been a thread on one of the other boards talking about the difference between regular conditioners, and DEEP conditioners. According to them, you can't use a reg. condish as a deep one - there is a difference in how it 'penetrates' the hair.
I was skeptical - I must admit - because I was thinking that it was just another way for the hair companies to get women to spend MORE money on 'extra' products. But - at the same time, I wondered.
I haven't used a 'real' DC in ages - largely because all of the ones I'd used before I started the HairThang, had cones, mineral oil, or petroleum in them - and I've decided to stop using all of those ingredients - but after reading that thread - I figured - hey! Why not? I haven't tried any new products in a while.
So, last night I swung by Sally's on my way home from work, and I spent about an HOUR in there. I read EVERY SINGLE label for EVERY item in that store that said 'deep conditioner' on the front, and on the back said that it should be used for 5-15 minutes.
Each. And. EVERY. One had either cones, petroleum OR mineral oil in it - ALL of them - except for one. It's called Silk Elements Revive & Restore Reconditioning Masque. It has a lot of yummy sounding herbal extracts and oils in it, and it's VERY rich and creamy.
I mixed some baking soda in water, some of the SERRRM and some honey, and then climbed in the shower to get my hair wet.
Now - I need to remember what I did this week - I used GJ and water on Monday, LR on Tuesday, GJ & HWater on Wednesday, LR on Thursday, took my hair out and played in it (scalp massage, finger combing) Friday.
The reason I wrote all that down is because when I got in the shower, and the water hit my hair - it turned into someone elses hair! It was thick and smooth and curly and soft and had almost NO tangles. I wonder if it was the HWater - that's about the only thing I did differently. I brought three misting bottles from Sally's as well - one I'm going to put rose water in, one I'm going to put HWater in, and I don't know what I'll do with the extra one - maybe honey-water?
Anyhow - I got my hair nice and soaking wet with HOT water (oh, the decandance! It's the only time I let hot water touch my hair - I WANT to lift up my cuticles now so that the conditioner can really soak in) and just rubbed and stroked and palyed with it - pretty pretty hair.
I got out the shower, put the SERRRM+ mix in my hair (very rich and creamy and felt like it was soaking in) then a shower cap, then my doorag, and on top of that - I put a wool hat.
I've realized that my hair LIKES humidity and heat. So - I've been putting a wool hat on top of my wet treatments lately, to encourage and hold onto my natural scalp heat. Besides, it feels lovely.
So, I'm sitting here now with that in my head. I plan on rinsing it out before I go to bed tonight, and putting my hair into several twists with some Whipped Pudding, so that it can dry straight - I can't do the fuzzy hair bit. Then, I'll put in some flat twists tomorrow....Hmmm, and I think I'll do some LR tomorrow too - that would still work, as Monday is a moisture day.
Hrm. I think I'm going to trim my hair again sometime in March. I'm thinking about MAYBE putting in yarn twists then too - I will most likely only have an inch or two of red hair left.... but maybe I'll wait til May, when I actually cut it all off. Hrm hrm hrmmmm... I don't know. I'll have ta think about it.
Oh! Okay - that is what I was going to do - I want to be sure to hold onto this information.....
See?? When I'm not constantly toying with my hair, I'm quuuuiet. I've been hanging out on a crunchy mama board, and that's been loads of fun.
My SHT FINALLLY got her box - I was so hoping that it would show up EVENTUALLY - there was no WAY I was going to be able to refind the stuff I had gotten for her, and I felt horrid that she might think I hadn't ever sent the box - but yay! She got it - and I think she likes everything!
Hair!
Still doing LR twice a week - no change there. I changed up my moisturizing spray last night, as my hair was feeling unusually dry - instead of spraying with plan water, then GJ, I mixed the last of my sample sized bottle of Humectress with plain water, and sprayed my hair with that, THEN sprayed the GJ on top of it - shower cap, scarf - and then, since my head was cool, I put a wool hat on top - *delighted sigh* It was like a head sauna - I'm SERIOUSLY going to do that everytime from now on.... I need to get another hat that's just for my hair, as I think that I might start rocking a hat on top of my hair tonics all the time - it will keep my head warmer, and moister, and I KNOW my hair grows faster in the summer in the south - and I really do think it's all that lovely humidity - so, yeah. Hmmm. I wish I had thought of this earlier yesterday - the thrift store was having a 50% off sale... or.... oooh! I could knit myself a hat! How much would that rock? *sigh* I've got loads of yarn, and I've got needles - all I need is to find a nice pattern....
I was busier than a cat with three tails in a room fulla rocking chairs over the weekend, so I didn't get a chance to 'get into' my hair til Saturday - which meant that as soon as I rinsed the Coconut/Lime/Honey mix out of my head on Sunday, I had to do my hair. I opted to do my hair wet, instead of letting it dry into twists and then do it....and I don't think I'll be doing that again. It wasn't that it was HARDER - it's just that my hair has been VERY fuzzy all week, and random 'bunches' of hair missed getting into the twists, because they were still all shrunk up against my head. True, it was much easier to comb and part, but - sheesh! The fuzz man, the fuzz!
I was telling a friend of mine how unreasonably guilty I feel sometimes over the fact that I tend to kick it more with non-black folx than I do with black folx - and the comment was spurred by the whole hair board thing. I - I have a really hard time going to NP anymore - largely because I'm SOOO over the 'hair as an expression of my blackness' bit. I really don't CARE if I don't get holla'd at because I have natural hair. I could give a fat fig leaf about 'calling out' folx who post on OTHER boards about how 'ugly' some stars natural hair is. I really don't CARE about your best friends cousins half brothers baby mama calling you a nappyheaded ho. I KNOW that my wanting longer hair isn't an aspect of me buying into 'eurocentric' beauty standards, and personally, I'm sick and tired of trying to convince women that just cuz your hair doesn't SEEM to get any longer, the ish is still GROWING and YOU are breaking it off. I just don't care about all the socio/eco/intrapolitical bullshit black folx seem to have, encourage, and nourish around HAIR. I DON'T CARE. It's not my thing, it's not my issue, and I don't have the time, energy, or desire to sift through 20 threads on THAT sort of stuff to find the ONE or TWO threads that are actually about HAIR itself rather than other peoples PERCEPTIONS of hair.
I care about growing my hair - making it stronger, LONGER, prettier and healthier. I care about trying new products that assist in those goals. I care about learning new styles, new ways to do my hair, and admiring those who have reached goals I can only hope for. And sadly enough, I'm not getting that from my natural 'sistas', so I kick it with the permed/pressed/natural sistas and the white girls.
Whoa. I didn't know I had that rant in me. Hm.
SOooooo - this weekend! Our mattress is getting delivered, I REALLY need to spackle and prime the kitchen, and I'm going to do a clarifiying treatment. Okay. You know, I'm seriously thinking bout clarifying on Friday night, and henna'ing on Saturday - but I'mma be good, and just clarify this weekend. My hair really does get upset with me when I henna more frequently than needed, so there's no need to rush.
I ordered Hair Souffle from the same lady who makes the LR - and I jsut don't really like it. It smells - chemical, and it's REALLY thick, and it's definitely a creme - so it doesn't melt into my hair. I don't know if I've used it on dry hair (I can't remember) so maybe I will try that - and use less of it, just in case I don't like it cuz I'm over using it. If I still don't like it, it might be going up for a swap....
Sooooooooooooooooo Sleeeeeppppppppppppppppy.
Okay. Last time I henna'd was the 23rd (or so) so that makes this week - four. Yeah. Okay, not that it matters, as I'm going to do a coconut milk & lime soak on my hair this weekend, next weekend I'm doing a clarifying, and the weekend after THAT I'm doing a henna - which would be what? Week 6? Good enough fer me.
Let's see - as of late, I haven't been changing much of anything up. Using cheapie conditioner + honey for my DC's - and I've been putting Humectress directly on my ends, THEN putting the conditioner/honey mixture on my whole head - I think that is helping my ends retain more moisture. I'm also consiously leaving it on for as long as I can stand - after doing all the reading about honey being a natural source of peroxide, I want to see if I can lighten my hair up gradually and naturally, and continue hennaing, so that it'll get redder and redder. Of course, the honey could be lifting the henna right back out - but we'll see what it looks like this summer.
I'm doing the Lenzi's Request twice a week, and the overnight moisture three times a week. My hair style is staying quite nice all week long - having my hair 'put' up all week really makes the weekends/hair time more fun - I'm looking forward to it. The only thing is, the day after I do the overnight moisture bath, my scalp ITCHES to high heaven. I'm trying to tell myself it's growing hair, because my scalp doesn't LOOK dry and when I scratch, I don't get any flakies....maybe there is something in the Greg Juice that my scalp doesn't FULLY agree with? Hrm, hrm, hrm. I'm going to use up the GJ, and then will most likely do a mix of honey, humectress, a wee bit of rosemary or tea tree oil and distilled water. Hm. Luckily, I have TINY spray bottle, so I shouldn't have to worry about it going 'off'. Thankfully, the day after I do the moisture soak, I do the Lenzi's, and man - that stuff is the BEST on my scalp - so soothing, so tingly, so delightful.
Oooh - I'm going through my Flickr, and I thought that these two growth comparison pictures would be cool.
This is from August:
and this is from November:
I had cut my hair at LEAST twice between the two pictures - but - the interesting thing is that my hair looks about the same length - it's just that the ratio between virgin/dyed hair is shifting in favor of the virgin stuff. I want to wait until May (which would be a full year from when I took out my locs and dyed my hair) to cut the last of the dye out....and I'm also going to actually measure again - just to give me an idea of how many inches I get in a year. It's going to be a real adjustment, going back to my natural color. It's - it's an okay color. I mean, it's dark brown - darker than my skin and my eyes, with distinct reddish tinges (naturally - I'm lookign forward to summer + honey + henna), and it's shiny and shimmery - but - it's - plain. That's it - it's just - Merh. Maybe that's why I'm looking forward to getting grays so much - at least then, I'll have some natural highlights!
In general hair-styling news - I'm sticking to the flat twist style, though, would you believe, I haven't pulled off one QUITE as good as that first one yet? *sigh* I think I'm over thinking it - or the cut took off just enough hair to make it 'different'. I know it took off enough that I can't pull off the 'rose' anymore in the back. I've been two strand twisting the back and 'tucking' it - kinda like a Gibson, I think? but a tiny, tiny, tiny Gibson. Even as I fuss about the fact that I can't make the rose anymore, I'm enjoying what I CAN do with the hair - because I know that as it gets longer, I'm going to have to relearn what does and doesn't work.
I really wish I kept a hair journal before I started locing - back when my hair was loose and natural before. All I really remember is loving Patene, and taking an entire weekend to untwist, detangle, clean, and retwist my hair - and I REALLY don't think it was all that long. I can't imagine what I was doing - either my hair has thinned - a LOT - or I was making twists the size of coffee stirrers, or I was just insane. I have some old pictures of my twists, but because of shrinkage, I have no CLUE how long my hair ACTUALLY was. Ah Well.
Updates!
Hackers suck, and that's all I have to say about that!
In the wonderful world of hair, I've come up with yet ANOTHER schedule for myself. I'm a very scheduled person - I like knowing what I'm supposed to be doing and when, rather than just floating all about randomly. anyhow.
Week 1 - Henna
Week 2 - Standard DC
Week 3 - Coconut Lime Soak
Week 4 - Clarifying DC
Week 1 - Henna
And so on, and so forth. That way, I'm changing up enough to not get bored, but I'm spreading things out enough that I shouldn't go overboard on any one particular thing. During the week, I'm working on only combing/doing my hair ONCE a week - not only for the convienence of it, but also so that I'm only manipulating my hair once a week. I've realized/learned that really - the less I do to my hair, the better. But, at the same time, I HAVE to moisturize my hair during the week, and I want to use some of the topical treatments that I've gotten my hands on. So far- this is what I've been doing.... on Tues/Thursday, I use Lenzi's Request on my hairline, and grease as much of my scalp as I can between my flattwists. Mon/Wed/ and Fri (assuming that I'm not doing a treatment to my hair friday night - usually means I've got somethng to do on Saturday) I spray my hair down liberally with Greg Juice (I finally found a use for it!) slap on a shower cap, and sleep in that - keeping the moisture in my hair so it really has a chance to soak in. Then Sat/Sun, I do the elaborate stuff to my hair, and redo my style.
Did I mention previously how much FNWL's henna rocked? I think I did, because I was commenting on the rapid and intense dye release onto my hands (which are finally henna free) - I need to order some more.....
One of these weekends - who knows when - I'm going to whip up a few more recipes.... I'm thinking about sliding a different topical treatment in on Wednesday, but I'm not sure...I might make it, and use it on my scalp after I do my weekely treatments.... hm hm hm..... not sure, not sure.
So, I braided my hair up after a nice DC (Humectress, honey, CASH) and let it dry, then braided it into my siggy hairstyle - and murph! I've yet to get it done as nicely as I did the first time - but practice, practice, practice.
But - I deserve a proper handslap = because as I was taking the braids out and combing them, I ASSUMED that my hair was still soft/pliable enough from the earlier dose of WP, and didn't apply my usual pre-combing ritual of HoneyHemp. *sigh* By the time I made it into the bathroom to start parting my tightly combed out hair, I looked down at my shirt, and saw all these WEE broken off ends of hair. *gathers then together gingerly and weeps*
But - it was a good lesson learned - It doesn't matter HOW untangly my hair APPEARS to be, or how smoothly the comb SEEMS to be going through my hair, I. MUST. MOISTURIZE. FIRST.
*sigh*
I want to find/make/buy a new DC - something REALLLLLY moisturizing. I'm thinking that the parched dry air and weather are sucking the yummies out of my hair - and that is a v. v. bad thing. I've skipped henna this week - so this is week one. I'm not hennaing until the end of week four, I'm thinking - or week 3 - depending on what my hair is looking like. I really need to come up with a good spray for the hair.
Also - I've been thinking (just a wee about) about putting in yarn twists once I've cut out most of the red (so that the demarcation between MY hair and the yarn isn't quite as obvious) so that I can play with my hair more (and put it up) etc, etc. *hrmhrmhrm*
Okay - I think that's all the rambling I have in my head for right now.
Notes to myself - recipes!!
I only made 4oz. I took 3oz of castor oil and added 1oz of coconut oil and added about a teaspoon (a measuring spoon) of sublimed sulfur powder and mixed it in carefully. I used gloves and made sure to mix it slowly so it didn't get on anything other than the inside of the container. With the recipe I used, it is about a 5% solution like mtg....but without the bacon odor
1 part (3 tspns) 10% sulfur powder, 4 parts black castor oil, 4 parts virgin coconut cream oil, 4 parts avocado butter, 2 tspns wheat germ oil, drops of WGO and rosemary eo.