200 & Styles....

Happy 200th Post to me!!!!

I missed 100, somehow. *lol* It's most likey back in the mists of re-posted entries, somewhere.

I actually did go and look at the protective styles thead yesterday, and I pulled quite a few ideas from it....

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Huh. I like both of these - slick, yet doesn't require full head coverage.



Esp. the second one. Hrm. I could, instead of fighting the break, take advantage of the break. Instead of parting my hair from forehead to nape, part it from ear to ear.

Then, I can even do a slanted part, in the front, if I wanted to add some 'interest' up there.

Hrm.




That's also an idea too - a low bun using the ear to forehead section, and a high bun using the ear to nape section - and 'blur' the two together so that they look like one bun?

See, this is where these whirl-a-bun things might come in handy. I could so use one at the top and one at the bottom. Hrm, hrm, hrm. I've seen them for cheaper on some dance supply websites though, so I don't know.

I've kicked around the thought of bangs - made of two strand twists in the front, thus 'taking up' some of the shorter hair in the front, and making a middle highish bun in the bun.

*sigh* This is where a good phony pony/bun would come in handy, as I'm almost certain that even if I arrange my hair so that it all FITS into the correct configurations - it's going to be anemic looking. *lol*

And I really don't like the look of Bantu knots around my hairline. Oooh - two strand twist bangs, and four Bantu knotted buns made of huge two strand twists in the back? That could definitely work.

I really don't like knots coming out of the top of my head. I feel like my head is large enough, I don't need to give off a dinosaur type impression. *lol* And of course, there are always flat twists, as a bangs option as well.

And while I'm more than willing to wear a head wrap, that's a strictly after hours sort of thing. For me, *lol* wearing that to work would make a statement that I'm not trying to imply, and the effort to 'erase' that impression isn't worth wearing it. *giggle* At least not right now.

And, also, I have this 'thing' about symmetrical hair. I LIKE the part down the middle, I have to admit - it's nice and balanced and classic looking.

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I've decided to go ahead and order the camera battery. If I'm going to be experiementing with styles, I want to keep a record of it, danggone it!

Oh! I've also added a new album to the NapSnaps - Style Inspirations! I so often see cute styles - it's high time I started collecting them all in once place!

Term of Office

Tsktsk, I haven't posted in a while.

That means this is gonna get long, naturally. Wasn't I talking about updating every Friday? :lol: Well, I'm close. Every other Friday, or something.

My hair is growing! Well, I mean, it's always growing, but it's on one of those cusps again - where I can tell that it's longer (and thus more stylable) than previously, yet magically not QUITE long enough to hold any of the new styles I try to do with it. *sigh* I'm so glad I do me, cuz otherwise I would be so odd looking.

I somehow lost the battery to my camera *sigh* so it'll be a WHILE before I have any new pics. I think the last ones that I took that showed length was - early June/late May, I think? Ah well, ya know, it bugs me, but it doesn't.

I know my hair is growing, and I know it's growing faster than it normally does - even for a summer spurt. *pleasedwiggle* So - pictures, they will come. Might not be a la minute, but the change, it will be fabulous.

I've come to terms with the fact that I'm almost certain I'm not really going to feel like I have any 'hair' until about 48 months in - 4 years. *sigh* It's - weird. I might have a wee case of hair anorexia, but these natural layers are a so & so. And I realized, as I've been fooling with my hair, that I'm not really going to feel like I have something to work with until the hair from my front hairline can go over my melon head, and touch my nape. One strand, forehead to nape. *sigh* And that's SO going to take a while. Buggering natural layers!

I was traveling, and then sick for a while in there, and I kinda got hair-lazy - stopped doing the twice weekly DC's, stopped doing my Mega-Tek, stopped putting my hair in two strand twists - it was just sad.

I've gotten fired back up this week (though I still didn't do the DC - *sigh* ) and I'm going to try to get back in the habit.

My 8 week cycle is so out of the window, as well. I'm redoing my hairstyle every weekend - My styles/neatness quiotent simply won't tolerate nightly massaging, twice weekly DC's, AND only refreshing the style every other week. And, my hair is soft, so it halos if you look at it too hard. *lol*

Hrm. This is more rambly than usual.....

Right now, the style I'm 'rocking' is 11 'braids' on either side of my head, which are then turned into two flat twists - one on either side.

It's - well, it's a work in process. I really have to perfect my parting game. *sigh* I SUCK at parts, man.

I tried doing a single flat twist from the midtop of my head to the back - not happenening. Mind, my hair wasn't fully stretched, either, so that might have made a difference. In the back it looked nice - but it 'broke' at the high part of my head - ear to ear, I think, is the biggest part of my head. *lmao*

The braided flat twists also want to break in the same place - *pats side of head forlornly* But that's okay - in a little while, this style will too, be in the past.

*sigh*

I should look through that collection of protective style pictures this weekend.

And take notes.

Okay, I think I'm done. Maybe I'll post more, tomorrow. I rambled less than I thought I would.

Ahhh, the wonderful mud!

I think I'll make a concerted effort to post something every Friday, esp since the summer is here, and I suspect I'll be in my hair weekly.

So, let's start with the adjusted schedule, shall we? I've figured out that since I WILL be getting my hair wet at least 6 times a week (exercising in the summer is a whole different beast), I'm going to have to redo it, at least weekly. So - I'll be doing something to my hair every weekend.

I'm keeping a close eye on my hair without henna. So far - I dunno. I think that my hair might be getting a little finer - I'm seeing fewer of the super coarse hairs lately. At the same time, I'm deeply paranoid about the strength of my hair. This is really the first time that's I'm even considering dealing with my hair, truly as it is.
Interesting - I just realized that. Hrm. I've internalized the whole 'African descent hair is more fragile' more than I realized.
I've always contended that with gentle, appropriate handling, African descent hair while more fragile than others, can be just as durable as non-African descent hair is. I think that I understand what the appropriate handling for my hair is - or at the very least, I'm attentive enough to learn from my hair what is and is not appropriate for it.
So - by all rights, I should be - well, rather open to moving forward without henna. I'm actually excited about seeing my own hair, and in the long term - I know that I want to go gray gracefully. And letting go of henna now, will help that.

I think, what's also giving me pause, is that for the first time since I've started this hair journey - I'm making the conscious choice to let go of something that works, and that truly saved my (bleached/dyed) hair - but that I really, truly, might not need anymore. It's rather different than letting something go because it harms my hair, or smells funny, or is too much hassle.
Funny, those are all things most people say about henna, too. Ah well.

But. Giving up henna will allow me to expand a little more in the wide realm of protein for hair. The yogurt & ThickIt experiment went wonderfully, and I'd love to explore the world of coconut milk more, as well.

I dunno. *laughs* The more I put off making a choice - well, maybe that's the choice I'm making. I'm choosing to leave my options open, but for right now, it's getting dropped out of the rotation.

But! I think I'll fit ONE more in before I totally give it up.

I want to do a steam treatment this weekend, and I think that a Henna + Steam treatment would be amazing - and I would be done with it in just a couple of hours, instead of my usual overnight shindig.
I wanted to do a caramel & steam treatment this weekend, anyway - I could certainly fit that in after a henna & steam treatment, too.

Ah, yes, I think that might work, indeedly.