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Saturday 11 June 2011

New Looks


As promised here are some shots of the looks I've been sporting, tell me what you think about them. I think I'm running out of tricks so I'll appreciate your suggestions of any quick and easy styles I can try. 


My hair somewhere in Month 7, clipped at the back and blow dried



I braided my hair when I ran out of ideas

































Wearing a ponytail extension on pulled back hair










Two different twists, the picture to the right is made with damp hair, and below from blow dried






at my sister's graduation reception
another dry twist out 

not forgetting how far I've come, the BC.






Thursday 9 June 2011

Hello Again

Just want to say a big thank you to all who have been following my blog from my BC and welcome all my new friends.



Its been 10 months since I BC'ed and it has been a wonderful experience, being natural has been and is still an exciting experience for me. Since finding the courage to cut my own hair, I find my self daring to do more and more. Like getting into the pool and finally learning how to swim, getting a pedicure from fish, being bold about making progress in life, passionate about things that I love and keep me happy and staying away from things and people that tamper with my joy.

I can't wait to share pictures of my hair and update you on what I've been doing over the last few months.

Saturday 26 March 2011

How much time is too much?



I've got to ask, since the subject of the amount of time I spend on my hair has been popping up quite often. I know I'm not being obsessive but I'll tell you how my routine goes and you tell me.

So I've been reading tons of posts about the benefits of protective styling and all the hair challenges flying around, I decided to make a few changes to my routine. I started off going to the hairdresser to make my twists and the plan was to keep them in for two weeks at a time, but I find at the end of the week my twists look frizzy and are begging for a re-doing. I stretched the first twists I got to two weeks, but I had plenty of knots on the tip of my hair when I took them down and it made my head look small.

The next week I got a cornrow + twist in front from the hair dressers again but I took them out after a week because again it got very frizzy. That weekend I opted to twist my self and instead of medium size twists I made minis, it took me 7 hours spread over two days to achieve this, but on the Friday of the same week I took the twists down again and wore a puff and pompadour for the rest of the week, that's where the troubles begin.

When I sleep with my hair in a pillow or scarf I get bed head in the morning and I really don't like my hair caking up at night and spending extra time in the morning to get it back in style. To work around this I make 8-9 braids/twists at night and undo them in to morning for a braid out or puff. The twists/braids take me about 20 minutes to make and about 7-10minutes to undo in the morning. so last thing at night and first thing in the morning :-)

So in total I'll say about 30 minutes a day,  over the week it adds up to 3.5 hours which is ok by me.
But I know it looks like all I do is have my hand in my hair all the time. But what to I do? It comes with the territory of being natural but it also comes across as slightly obsessive.

What do you think ladies?
How can I improve on my routine?
Have you been accused of spending too much time on your hair?
How much time is too much?

Thursday 17 March 2011

Sneak Peak

I've been fighting a bad cold but I'm taking a break to put up sime pictures of my hair, so we can see how I've been doing!

I had mini twists I made myself last Friday/Saturday but for some crazy reason I decided to take them down, don't ask me why, the plan was to keep them in for two weeks. Anyway this is my puff today:


And these were the twists before:

Oh I remember why I took them down, I was trying to do this pin-up look with my hair


Looks like I need plenty of practice to nail this one, it doesn't look quite right.



Products

This week I added some leave in to my routine, I was after a light weight conditioner I could spray on my hair along with my oil and water mix in my spray bottle. I ended of buying 3 (PJ)  in the spirit of seeing which one works best for me. I got Pantene pro-v aqua light, Loreal elvive full restore and  Loreal elvive re-nutrition night serum. I don't fall for all that soft and shiny crap advertised anymore, I judge by how a product makes my hair feel.
Both leave-in conditioners from Loreal had a similar effect on my hair, they really added moisture to my hair and were very suitable for reviving dry hair in the morining, and the moisture lasts all day. The main difference between these products is that the full restore contains wheat protien and castor oil while the serum has evening primrose oil and royal jelly extract, I think in future I can use one or the other and achieve the same results.

I haven't used the Pantene pro-v yet, but it smells good looks light weight hopefully it will be just as good.

I've lost count of how many oils I've got in my spray bottle and I've made it worse this week by adding flaxseed, wheatgrem and lavender extract. One thing I've noticed is that after this addition the oil and water seems to blend a lot better and stays mixed for a significant amount of time after shaking.

So the mix started off as shea moisture reconstructive elixir, then some oil form curls got added in to refill, then some olive oil, jojoba, tea tree, sweet almond, beargamount.........and it keeps growing.

In the last few weeks my new routine has helped my hair improve, I'm not officially doing any hair challenge but I'll keep twisting, learning, sharing and practicing the healthy hair habits I'm learning from the natural hair community.

Feel free to comment and share your tips with me.

Monday 21 February 2011

Re-visiting the Hairdresser

Honestly there are days when I wish I was a living mannequin, sometimes I want to unscrew my head give it to someone else to make my hair and screw it back on, this is how I felt last week. I was determined to make my own twists but as the day flew by, I started buying into the idea, well not screwing my head off, but letting someone else make mini-twists for me.

That's how I met the hairdresser, known to me in typical African fashion as "auntie". She was bubbly, enthusiastic and most of all happy to see my hair. She loved making my hair, no harsh pulling, no relaxer offered, she asked me what I wanted and gave me exactly that.

I felt happy that someone loved my hair the way it was, its been quite sometime since I had that feeling and comfort that my hair was in good hands, I'm grateful for this small blessing, it's good to know there's someone close by who can help me get the look I want for a reasonable price, with no fuss. I like the DIY but if I had a choice I wouldn't DIY! I hope to visit again in two weeks time for a deep treatment and a more interesting style.

So back to the twists, they were ok, but men in the morning I wasn't feeling it at all. All I kept thinking was, God please help me turn this into something nice. I didn't want to have to resort to a twsitout, which I didn't have time for and after all that money? Just to keep it in for one night, my blood was boiling hot in my chest.

Well, after agonizing for a considerable amount of time, and making my head a sea of bobby pins I came up with this look:

front/r-side




l-side
If this style could talk, I bet this do will be saying "at last", perseverance pays. This journey is taking an unbelievable amount of gut, obsession, patience and commitment, but the rewards make all the effort worth it.

This week I used:

The last of a V05 conditioner I had for a co-wash and used Kinky Coily Leave-in and a mix of my favorite oils.


How are you wearing your hair this week?

Friday 18 February 2011

A Few Lost Strands

This week, I've lost a few dear strands, ok more than a few. I suspect that flat ironing two weeks ago was to blame and some dry combing too. But the situation is improving, I'm in control. Out of all the mayhem came this do:




It's quite simple, a puff and two flat twists in front.

This style is what I'll call a living breathing style: it suited me well in all my activities, it held up elegantly at work, stayed in place when I worked out and and survived my daily trips to the pool. It only took a about 7 minutes to re-style in the mornings, as I like to condition or rinse after a swim.

This weekend my plan is to make small twists, I'll like to use some flexi rods to curl them up but I haven't got any! I'm staying away from the high street, and trying to use what I've got to create the looks I want to achieve, so I'll have a look in my stash and see what I can come up with.

Here's a list of Products I used this week:

Pink oil
Ojon Hair Shampoo and leave-in
Herbal Essences Beautiful Curls conditiner
Giovanni Extreme Protien Conditioner.

What are your hair plans this weekend?

Thursday 10 February 2011

Six Months Natural Update

Hey All,

I've had a amazing time with my hair over the last two weeks, I'm trying to get used to the new routine and weaning my hair off braids and extensions. I admit it's a bit challenging, but nothing good comes easy they say. As I continue to grow and care for my hair I feel a great sense of accomplishment and independence and I'm trying to simplify my styling options and routine as time goes by. For example, last week I maitained my twistouts by retwisting at night, for my length and thickness it is not possible to do four braids so I have to make 7-9 twists every night. And you can guess sometimes I'm too tired to do this at night, so I decided to try putting my hair in little puffs instead and the results were as good as the nightly braids. I've uploaded some pictures on my hair dairy album on facebook, click here to see what I've been up to

Also my hair clocked 6 months on the 4th, and following in the foot steps of other natural sisters I flat ironed my hair. I've been watching videos on youtube over the past few months to learn  how to do this. I found mitchellzee's video on flat ironing short natural hair and simplyouniques's straightening natural hair:  very helpful.

Here are the results:






I didn't like the feeling, my hair felt like a woolen blanket, I didnt know what to do with straight hair, besides combing it down, but on the positive side I was glad to see how far my hair had come in a short time and I found some ragged ends I need to trim.

But for now I'm back to normal:


Happy days!

Friday 28 January 2011

Three ways to wear a four inch fro

Yes I'm four inches long! Yeeeeeeeeeeeee. So I took out my braids and this is how I've been wearing my hair.

Didn't have a lot of time to play around, so I opted for a classy up do.


I bet this one does the Natural Haven proud, I made these twists myself.


And I also tried this pin-up look, it's classy and sophisticated. It's my dream style inspired by Janelle Monae


So what do you think? Which of these looks is your favourite?

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Mummy Put The Perm in My Hair



I've been reading a few bogs today and couldn't help noticing all the fingers pointing at dear mum. Mum who with the best of intentions took me to the salon after all my crave for permed hair, mum who finally decided I was old enough to get a relaxer, mum who paid for the perm, mum slaving with the flat iron to create that sleek look..........now becomes the bad guy.

Yes we're all saying mummy put the perm in my hair, but let's give mum a break, it was all out of love and for all the right reasons, we're all in the same maze or we once were. Some/Most of our mums still relax and re-touch every so often, but let’s remember as we re-discover our hair to love everyone regardless of how they chose to wear their hair because it's just hair. 

I wear my hair the way I do because other young women have encouraged  and inspired me to explore this unique aspect of my identity. It's not a fashion statement or a fad; I'm loving being this way. Some might think its crazy or bush, but I'm too in love with me to notice or care.

My hair might not be awe-inspiring for all but it's a blooming marvelous part of me, I hope mum will not feel too old to make this change someday, I love her anyway. Now that we're all strong and confident women I hope we can all give our mums an experience richer and more rewarding than getting a perm - the gift of being natural.