*happy dance*
So - I left work, and went to the BSS. I wanted some more deep conditioner and I had'nt been to the BSS up the street from me yet.
I spent an hour in that place, picking up bottles, reading the ingredients, hitting the words 'mineral oil' or 'petrolatum' or my personal favorite 'parafidum liquidum', sighing and putting the bottle back on the shelf.
I mean, really - if I wanted to put a mix of mineral oil, vaseline, and water in my hair, I could whip that up at home.
The ones that passed the petrol exam, usually failed dismally at the cone-free test. I figure it this way - I KNOW that I have exceptionally dry hair. I'm looking for an exceptionally moisturizing conditioner - but if I get one that has cones in it - my hair isn't going to be able to be fully moisturized throughout the week - and well, that defeats the bloody purpose!
So - I walked out of there with two conditioners (after an HOUR), one moisturizing conditioner (Elasta QP Intense Fortifying Hair Conditioner), one protien rich conditioner (Remedi Hi-Potentcy Protien Moisturizing Conditioner), a hair creme (Cream of Nature Nature's Design Mositruizing Creme Hairdress with Carrot Oil and Vitamin E), and a 12 oz container of gylcerin.
Okay. The protien stuff I got, because - well, I'm sick of the coconut milk mix. It's too damn thin, and it's drippy, and it gets EVERYWHERE, and it attracts ants. So, if my hair likes this stuff, it's going to take the place of that on the 3rd week.
Despite the fact that my hair doesn't seem to like glycerin (it HATED StaSofFro and wasn't all that fond of Greg Juice), but I think I might like to add a bit of it into my nightly misting spray - I think that it will help my hair suck that 'moist' air from around my head into my hair. I rubbed a bit of it into my hair in the store, and my hair seemed to like it, so we'll see.
The hairdress I got is because I don't think that the whipped pudding alone is quite as moisturizing as it should be - so I'm thinking about using this stuff on my wet hair, then putting the WP on top of it. It'll be interesting to see what my hair thinks of it.
Then, I came home, and started detangling my hair....well, really, I started detangling my hair on my way home (playing with my hair in the car is a fabulous thing).
And MUCH to my delightful suprise, I had little breakage. I don't think I've ever really explained JUST how much breakage I could get. I would touch my hair, and tiny piece would come off in my fingers - detangling my hair would leave me with a HUGE pile of hair - and most of it was broken pieces. I wanted to cry sometimes - seriously, that's what put me on this crazy moisturemoisturemoisture kick. Half the time, I didn't even SHE shed hairs - I think they just crumbled into wee pieces.
Yesterday - I was getting MUCH fewer strands of hair, and they were LONG pieces, too - many of the with the bulb still on! :hollie
So - that makes me VERY excited. With the amount of breakage that I had, I was seriously worried about preserving my ends - now that I actually want to KEEP these ends!!
I'm gonna calculate my yearly growth rate in TWO months!! (Yet another reason I want to preserve my ends!).
Interestingly enough, my hair is more - consistent, now? It's - really fabulous. I'm not loosing any curl - it's still as nappy as it's always been - but it's - it's working WITH itself. I'm actually able to rock a really cool, pretty, natural looking shake & go now - it actually just - settles. It's really amazing the difference that having the color in my hair made - I LIKE my hair. Now, I jsut wanna get it long.
I know this is a BOOK. :lol: So I'll stop now.
Good hair times, Good hair times.
Oooh! I haven't posted for a while!
Well - I henna'd last weekend, and while it wasn't a TOTAL disaster it was - interesting. I used some henna I found in the local Halal shop - and - ew. It was full of twigs and sticks, and took FOREVER to release dye - though, it WAS very conditioning. So I guess I can't complain TOO much - but I'll be tossing the rest of it. I just placed an order with FNWL for more henna (2lbs this time!), some shealoe butter, some rosemary and tea tree oil, and I think that's it.
I took the new set of hairline comparison pics as well.....Here's the originals...
And here's a month later
Hmmm... not too bad. I think that the fronthairline is filling in NICELY - the sides are still *waggles hand* I've been thinking about using the MTG - but I don't know. That stuff IS stinky. I'm thinking that maybe some Vatki Oil would be better. *thinks* I don't THINK anything is rubbing my sides moreso than the front....but then, my scarf has to go behind my ears, and I don't know how much that pulls. If that's the problem, I might just have to accept that the side will always be a little thinner, as I can NOT have my ears pinned down. *shudder*
Hrm. I'll have to think about it.
Let's see, what else? I talked about the icky henna - oh! I have to find another deep treatment. I'm seriously thinking about going through ALL the hair stuff I have in the cabinent, and coming up with something - but at the same time, knowing what I know about different kinds of conditioners - I think it might be worthwhile just going and buying a real DC. I only use it once a month - so...... *sigh* It's just a PAIN in my rear finding one that has no petroluem products or cones. I liked the Silk Elements stuff I had before - but it smells so dang chemically, and - well, after the twig adventure last week, I'm really not trying to deal with anything that has little bits and pieces of random organic material in it.
I'm really happy with my hair in general, despite my worries that I'm balding and that I'm breaking it all off and that fungus is going to grow on my scalp from me trying to keep it moist - which, really, is all linked.
I swear - I think if I had a Jherri Curl, my hair would be down to my behind - my hair is TERMINALLY dry. It doesn't really matter what I put in it - I have to do it EVERYDAY in order to keep the moisture level high enough. I've started sleeping every night with my freshly misted hair under a showercap, so that I'm giving myself little 'saunas' all week long. The mister usually has water + some sort of conditioner that is okay as a leave in - I'm alternating the Humectress and the Honey Hemp. The oils I ordered from FNWL are going to go into the mister - rosemary for stimulation (just in case I AM going bald) and tea tree oil as a antifungal/antibacterial/general keeping stuff in check.
OHMI! Speaking of going bald! I had this dream this morning - a bunch of unhair related stuff was going on, then I passed a mirror, and literally did a triple take. My hair was SHORT (like Rosemary's Baby), STRAIGHT (relaxer for DAYS) and a hideous brassy blonde color. Even WORSE - I had HUGE shiny bald patches scattered all through my hair. Normally/awake, my hair is dense enough that I don't care HOW I part it, I can't put my finger on bare/hairfree scalp (I can almost do it right at the top of my head, but it's still not hairfree). In the dream, I had shiny patches as big as my thumb that I could rub - totally hairfree. I was oddly calm about it - sorta sad, but not NEARLY as freaked out as I was when I woke up. Very strange. I haven't had straight hair in a dream in - a very, very, LONG time.
But anyhow, as I was saying before that side trip into the wonders of my subconsious, I'm misting my hair everynight....on Tue/Thur, I'm doing Lenzi's first, then misting, and the rest of the week, I'm just misting. As the weather gets warmer (and more humid!) I think that my moisture issues will ease up some - but - it's REALLY an uphill battle, and I think that my hairs' dryness is a MAJOR cause of the breakage that I get. It's so saddening, all the little half curls of hair that I'm left with - and it doesn't matter HOW gentle I am with my hair (though I MUST get better with using HH on my dry hair before touching it with a comb), it get breakage. It's a combo of the fineness of my hair, as well as all my lovely little tiny curls.
Ah! Speaking of which - very bored with a camera after a detangling session left me with this avant art picture....
I did nothing to my hair to make it do this, by the way, this is just what came out onto my hands as I was taking out my flattwists.... *sigh*
And then, here is a lovely picture of a split hair - notice the secondary partial split close to the bottom? *sigh*
Anyhow!! Those are why I'm trying to figure out how to keep my hair constantly hydrated. If I wore a wig, I could wear a showercap underneath. But, it's rally not that crucial.
And - now that all of my red (or most of it - I still have a fine fringe of red, but it's pretty insginicant - it's a really pretty highlight on my flattwists though, so I'm not going to trim it off) is gone, I'm thinking about doing yarn twists again...and I'm wondering what the thin line is of being damp/being mildewy. *makes ew face*
I think I'm going to take next Friday off, so I might try then. Or, I could stop being a wuss and at least experiment this weekend. It might be easier than I think.
Maybe.
We'll see.
Okay.
I think I'm done!
Okay, okay, I'll admit it.
I have a problem with the scissors.
I know, I know! I said I would wait til MAY to cut the last of the red off - but it's such a tiny bit! and it was SOOOO tempting.
So. Urm....Saturday night, I rinse the coconutty stuff out of my hair, give it a good combing, admire it's lovely soft moist goodness, then twisted it into about 15 fat twists. I was feeling on the twists, and noticing how the areas of my head without and red came to a nice blunt end, while the red bits trailed off into nothingness. I ignored it (then) and left it alone til Sunday.
Sunday, I get up, and untwist my hair - and then, as I always do about that time, I started playing with it, and picked it out, and I noticed just how LITTLE red hair I had left.
So. I dug around, and found the scissors - and this is what I have left. Ignore the bumpy bits - I didn't hack at my hair THAT badly - I jsut didn't pick it out all the way.
I missed a bit on one side, and in the back too, I think. But still! My natural hair color! Loose! This is a first in like - man - 6 years? 7? I don't know, but it's been a while.
I frown worriedly at the bigger part at the top of my head - I'm not sure what to think of it - Am I balding? is the hair just thinner up there? Did my dreads always part/wear there so it's just - looser? Is my part just crooked? So. And since I always part differently, I don't know how I would keep up with it... but I AM keeping an eye on it.
Next weekend is henna! Woooooott!!!!!! I think I'll use the henna I got from the halal store - hrm, that means I need to do a new strand test. Dang, and I think I just threw out the hair I trimmed off. I'll have to see if I still have that jar of hair in the cabinet. What? Don't YOU have a jar of hair in your cabinet? :lol:
Oh!! I gotta say hello to MsHelena & SweetAfton & Lambie & CharlieMae & ISABEL!!!!!! :lol: Hiya Girls!! :woot *sigh* I really DO need that smilie EVERYWHERE.
Okay.
I think I'm done.
Well.
Because I was out of town last weekend, I didn't do my 'scheduled' treatment, and just did a regular DC instead. Then, I was thrown off schedule, and forgot to do my Lenzi's on Tuesday. Instead, I doubled up on Wednesday, and did Lenzis AND moisture, and then did jsut Lenzi on Thursday, and did nothing but take my hair loose on Friday.
I'm sitting here now with a coconut milk/lime/honey/DC mixture on my head - I don't think that I'll EVER be able to do this one without it being amazingly drippy. Therefore - this is going to have to be one of the ONLY non-overnight treatments I have - I'm not willing to get my pillowcase all ick and damp and such.
So - I've had this in for about 2 hours now, and I figure I'll leave it in for another hour or so, then comb it out, rinse it out, then twist my hair up into some fat twists with some WP, and then MAYBE I'll try this new style I've been thinking of since my hair will be semi straight, and I'll have all day to play with it.
Hmmm. What else? Next weekend, I take new hair line shots. And three weekends after that, I can trim my hair.
Well...wait. I didn't go out of town last weekend - I was home, because last weekend was Hubby's Bday. I think I didn't do the coconut milk mix last week because I had planned on going out, and then didn't, and well - I just didn't do it. I did however cut some of my hair last weekend - I cut most of the red off my nape hair - it was amazing how - loose and - curly, it was. It didn't LOOK like my hair - it was - entirely different, and odd. I was thinking about wearing a fro, and I just got sick of the mullet - so I took my scissors to the back of my head. I trimmed about an inch and a half off - I can't WAIT til all this red is gone so that I can put away the scissors and just GROW.
And lately, I've been growing crazy, thinking that my hair breaking off and getting shorter and will.never.grow. I know, I know - crazy type insane - but hey. That's what I've been thinking.
Hrm. I think I'm done.
Ahhh....
...it's been a while since I've written, largely cuz well - same old same old with the hair.
I was out of town over the weekend, and I played with my hair (mangled it, more likely). First, there was the costume party that required my hair to be in little puffs - that was simple enough. But then, I had to do a quick flattwist (down either side of my head) as a style - and that didn't work so well. It's interesting - I think that my hair is getting THICKER - it's ALMOST the same length as it was before when I did that style (if not a little longer), but I can't get the hair to 'tuck' in proper - so I think I've slowed on length, and am gaining thickness (which is really just a different SORT of length) for right now.
Monday night, I did the RDC, and then did my usual flattwists - jsut a little skinnier this time - and it's VERY nice looking. I should have taken a picture when I first finished them - I'm the most pleased over these. The red in my hair is fading, fading, fading away - right now I have the most red in the front of my head, and it goes down the middle of my head like a reddish mohawk. The back hairline still has a good bit of red left on it too. Interestingly enough, those sections of hair are the 'looser' sections - a 3c texture, maybe.
Also! I've started to be able to see the henna on my hair - it's a interesting purplish cast in BRIGHT direct light. So - that's exciting, and gives me a push to keep doing the henna, besides all the other rocking stuff - eventually, dammit, I WILL have red hair. *lol*
I'm starting to think about cutting my hair again....last time was in late december, right? So, March would be about right.... the new moon is on the 19th, and the equinox should be the 20th, so I might do it that weekend - the 24th. Oh, poo, our anniversary is in the middle of the week - that sucks.
What else, what else? I'm pretty much at peace with my hair. I still am doing to Lenzi's on T/Th, and adding moisture M/W/F. I got some MTG in a swap that I'm thinking about using, but there have been varied reports about the safety in pregnancy, so - hmmm, I don't know, I don't know. The Lenzi's will last for at LEAST another 3-4 months though, so I've got plenty of time to decide.
I think - I'm not SURE - but I think my texture is changing. It's - interesting. I don't know WHAT'S going on up there, really.
Another interesting thing that I kinda sorta think I saw when I was flattwisting my wet hair - what looked like patches of yellow 'goo' on my scalp. I usually have virutally NO build up on my scalp, and I can't see them once my hair dries, so I have no CLUE what the heck it was....but I'm so not worried about it.
I think that my hair is breaking off more than I would want it to though. I'm thinking that it's still mainly the dyed/damaged bits, as it looks like the thickness is traveling down the twists that I do - but still.....I'm not super worried about it, just - murph.
It's cold too, which sucks majorly.
Okay, I think that's all I've got.
More Stuff....
So.... I rinsed the henna out, and figured I would try a quick DC with the other DC stuff I got last week - the Doo Gro Stuff. *scrolls up* Okay, I did talk about my shopping trip, but I didn't talk about the Doo Gro stuff, because once I got home, I read the label - and SUPRISE! It had petroleum in it.
Anyhow, I figured since I KNEW I was going to have to recondition my hair in order to comb it after wearing it out - why not try the stuff?? And - Ew. My hair was - drier somehow, and tangly, and - ew. Definitely did NOT approve. Anyhow, I ran some HH and some H through my hair, picked it out, pushed it back with a old kneehigh, and rolled out to Imbolc.
My hair is amazing. I don't think I've mentioned that lately, but my hair REALLY rocks. It's got AMAZING curl that translates into shrinkage - but then, it's so MALLIABLE, and easy to make straight.
I've been CONSIDERING getting a flat iron. Purely out of curiousity, really. Hehehehe. I'd really much rather just borrow one, as I doubt I'd use it after the first time I did it, and realized that I STILL hate my hair straight.
Also - my hair is DEFINITELY getting longer - and I just noticed it. I'm playing with my loose hair......
Okay. Let me go back to me saying that my hair rocks. It's - amazing. I mean - it's thick....no - it's DENSE. It's a solid cushion - it's my heads memory foam! I - I really wish I could describe my hair. It's wiry - but soft. It's curly - and - I mean - CURLY. It's truly like what I think lambs wool would feel like - how amazing it would be to lay on a blanket that felt like my hair!
Okay - like I was saying, I'm sitting here palaying with my hair, and I realized that it was long enough that I could pull it in front of me, and look at my ends without rolling my eyes ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the way into the top of my head.... just halfway up there. *LOL*
And considering my recent chopping, I'm very pleased by that. I'm wondering if my spring/summer growth spurt is about to start. That would SOOO rock.
As much as I love, and honor, and all that good stuff my hair - I know that I still have some issues with it. It was funny - and sad - me this afternoon trying to figure out how to style my loose hair. I think it's still not long enough to do whatI Want it to do, but at the same time there is always that niggling wonder of - what am I basing what is acceptable on? Having grown up in an environment - in a culture - where nappy hair is NOT cool - how can I judge my own work - knowing that no matter HOW objectively I try to look at it - I'm still prejudiced AGAINST the hair that grows out of my head.
It's sad. And I don't know what set of lens I need to wear to be able to make a difference... but.... well.
I'mma keep saying my hair just isn't long enough to do what I want it to do. And ignore the deeper implications of that. If there are any.
Anyhow - interestingly enough - my colored ends are 'looser' than my natural hair - around my hairline (where all my hair is looser - all the way around my head) it looks like I have relaxed ends, and everytime I look at them my fingers twitch towards the scissors - but I'm being good.
Ooohhhh!
Monthly schedule.
Week 1 - Henna
Week 2 - RDC (Real Deep conditioning - ie, using a deep conditioner)
Week 3 - Coconut Lime Soak (I REALLY have to figure out a way to make this LESS drippy)
Week 4 - Clarifying Conditioner
Week 1 - Henna
Really, the only think I changed was replacing the DC with a RDC but....
Hell. I supposedly cowash - okay, most of the time, what I REALLY do is DC with whatever, and scrub at my scalp, and then rinse it all out. I'm wondering... well - after the cocunut & lime I always cowash, to comb it. Same with the henna. So - that would be cowashing every other week, and rinsing throughly every other week.
Now - *thinks* I'm using H&W on my hair twice a week, and LR on my hair twice a week - and that's about it, except some WP when I twist my hair.....and sometimes some H as a in leave-in.
All cone-free, all water soluble.... Hm. I'm wondering if 'washing' my hair less has been the reason for the fabulously silky states of hair the last two weeks?
Innnnteresting.
Good lord, I've written a book and a half.
And really, I don't THINK about my hair all the time. It's just. Well. This is the only place I TALK about my hair, and I think fast.
G'night.
Whooops!
Hahhaaaahhaa!! I didn't realize the last thing I wrote was that wonderful rant. Sheesh! I don't know what it's been this week - if it's not one thing, it's another - I feel like I'm being sucked into - drama - but really, it's just that I'm interacting with PEOPLE instead of being a freaking hermit like I normally am - and people can be STTTUUUUPPPPPPPIIIID.
Anyhow, I decided that despite having to do something tomorrow, I DO have enough time to henna this weekend, so I did. FNWL henna, hot water - sat for about 45 minutes. Added conditioner & honey, slapped it in. I'm officaliy in LOVE with FNWL henna - I need to buy some more, actually. I had a little left over, enough for a light application.
My hair was fabulous AGAIN. I don't know if it's the fact that my hair is actually properly moisturized, or if the Lenzi's Request is doing something, or WHAT - but my hair felt freakin FABULOUS. And - I'm seeing a LOT fewer broken hairs - sheds, yes, but much fewer brokens.
:hollie I may have actually found a - ROUTINE. *gasp*
I also FINALLY took pictures of my hairline to keep up with the results from LR. I'm shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, by how bad my hairline looks.
Today's the second, so I plan on taking the same series of shots in March, April, May, etc, etc until I'm out of Lenzi's. Pictures really are worth a thousand words.
Hrrm. I think I'm going to wear my hair out tomorrow - I'm going to SG's Imbolc Ritual at 3pm, and I want to sleep in late... so I doubt I'll have alot of time to fiddle with my hair after I rinse the henna out. I'm thinking about running some humectress and some HH through it, and rocking a wee fro.
I've started using the palm kernal oil that I got in a swap on my skin - and oh. my. GOD. This stuff is FABULOUS on my skin - it's the best ever. It makes me feel all smooth and wonderful and suchlike.
I'm thinking about trying something different with my flat twists next time I do them.... we shall have to see. And I'm still planning on doing yarn twists once I cut out all of the red.
