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).
