Two Year Anniversary

This month I will have been natural for two years! It's exciting to me because adapting to the needs of hair you've never seen, run your fingers over (which I did often after my BC!), or maintained takes effort and consistency. I'm so happy to have gone natural and although it has taken some getting use to, the time I put into my hair truly has become a labor of love.

During year two I wondered what I would have to figure out - added length brings added time, product, and without a doubt detangling. So I started reading posts about longer natural hair at my favorite hair forum "Happy Curls" and bought products that worked for the ladies there. This is a good idea, to a point, but in the end I typically found nothing that worked for them worked for me. My hair is 100% different from anybody else's on this planet so taking tips willy-nilly proved useless to me in my quest for moisturized, lovely hair.

Then I started hearing the ladies toss around a term, "Hair Twin", and I set out to find mine. A Hair Twin is someone who has hair very close to the type growing from your very own follicles. It's the closest you can get to hair that is like yours. Especially among African American women, hair texture can run the gamut. We all naturally have a curl pattern to our hair, but said pattern can range from very loose (culminated into big bouncy curls) to very tightly coiled curls. Finding your twin in that mix can be tricky, but I followed a lady on Happy Curls and found we have similar hair - she is my hair twin.

My twin uses a ton of different products, none of which I plan on incorporating into my hair regimen, but different hair growth issues would arise and I would feel like she was preaching to the choir. During year two my ends desperately needed a trim. Little did I know, initially, this would cause massive tangling, matting, locking, in a word: disaster. My twin spoke often of how her hair would just flip the script on her when it needed a trim - after having my hair trimmed I found this to be better than ANY product on the market. The tangling has subsided tremendously and detangling is no longer a nightmare. Who knew trims were so vital to the curly girl?

Another big issue that came up during year two was dryness. And I don't mean just "Oh my hair is a little dry today." I mean when I scrunched my hair in my hand I could HEAR it respond underneath. Seriously? I began to think this was my hair's plot in life and I was not pleased.

When you go natural you hear about how dry African American hair is, especially in its natural state so it's to be expected. I think I expected it a little too much to the point where I figured, "why bother, it's just going to be DRY anyway!" During year two I tried the worst kinds of products on my hair in hopes of shiny, moisturized, quiet hair. Grease my mom used on me when I was a kid, a kid with relaxed hair that is. It worked wonders then, but not so much on natural hair! It seemed to make my hair happy upon application, but in the morning my hair was a greasy mess! It just layed on my strands.

In the end I decided to try jojoba oil on my hair - not easy to apply by any means, but boy does my hair show signs of sheer joy after I use the natural oil. Makes sense: natural hair, natural oils.

Dryness and tangling were the battles of this past year, but since discovering what my hair prefers, what it needs, I am happy to oblige. And my "natural-versary" is in November, I discovered all of the helpful hair hints in OCTOBER. Yes, it was a rough year. I even considered my stylist's suggestion of a texturizer...that's a whole 'nother post in itself.

So my new hair regimen is as follows:
-wash twice with Cream of Nature Ultra Moisturizing (plus a teaspoon of jojoba added to the bottle)
-condition with Silk Elements Luxury Conditioner (to which I also added 1 tsp of jojoba)
-while in shower, comb through conditioner and leave for a couple of minutes before rinsing
-after rinsing immediately apply Cantu Shea Moisture Leave-In throughout hair (not just on the top!) and run a nickle sized amount of jojoba through ends of hair
-I detangle my hair and braid or twist into big sections as I detangle
-once all hair is braided or twisted, I go back through and divide the big sections in half and twist/braid again. Keep a spray bottle of purified water on hand because the hair will dry FAST seemingly just because you want it to stay damp.
-If I'm not going anywhere I keep in my braids/twists or ensure they are all dry and take them down to wear out for the day.
-My hair never goes to "bed" without it being twisted/braided up again. On night 3 or so after having it washed, I'll apply jojoba throughout, then wear my satin bonnet to sleep.

This has worked well for me lately...but just wait, it's sure to change on me again although I hope it is much later. Moisture is the key with natural hair, and spritzing water over your hair daily helps as well. Pure water that is!

If I've learned nothing this year I have learned that natural hair will give back to you whatever you put into it. A little effort goes a long way! Here's to the next year!

Normalcy

Because I found out people, or a person, actually reads this blog I decided to update it. It's been awhile and my hair seems to do what it wants when it wants to but I'm slowly figuring out when change will occur and how to keep things in check. I have finally reached a sense of normalcy with this natural hair of mine.

Poofy at times, curly when wet, an afro that I can "hide" under all describe the halo of afro-textured hair I sport. I love my hair, but not like I used to when it was all so new to me. My love for it has changed from infatuation and amazement to feeling like it's actually a part of me - the thrill is gone, sort of. I think my relationship with my hair can be likened to a relationship between a man and a woman: we're just comfortable with one another.

Normalcy seemed elusive during the first year of natural hair. I was playing trial and error all the time and when I decided I was sick of that I just stopped playing. Now my hair just does what I need it to do....typically. When it misbehaves I know how to whip it back into shape. This was not the case during year one.

The growth may contribute to this comfortable place I'm in. It's long enough to braid, to twist, to wear in a fro with a headband in place - always - and maybe I'm just comfortable with what I look like with natural hair. Virtually anything goes and I feel quite confident...not necessarily the case before!

So here I am, 1 year 3 months into this natural hair journey and I don't have to visit the Happy Curls web site every day. I don't need anyone to coach me every little step of the way and I feel confident in dealing with my hair on a daily basis. I know what my hair likes and needs, most of the time. I've gone natural and I will never, ever go back!

Some of the products I'm using now:
1) Cream of Nature Ultra-moisturizing shampoo
2) Silk Elements Luxurious conditioner
3) a mixture of castor and coconut oils - warmed to liquify, applied to hair and scalp
4) Hot Sixx natural oil - LOVE this for daily sheen and moisture

One Year Natural

This month marks my first year natural. It's been an interesting year with my induction being a short, short cut. As time went on I discovered I had no longer had the desire to force my hair to stay coily and let it fro to its natural state. I learned what would work for my hair, what would dry it out, and what would make it shine (like last month). I had days when I wondered why I thought going natural was a good idea and other days I would comb my hair into a crowning afro that garnered the attention of even black folk.


From the start at 2 inches to the length I've acquired over the year, I must say I'm proud to have taken this "journey" on and reaching one year makes the days ahead all the more exciting! Yes, it's just hair as some tell me like I really don't know that. But it's so different for me, this natural thing, that it's been similar to learning something new. It's fun and it's mine to enjoy so I'm going to enjoy it!! Breaking out of the monotony that was relaxed hair was a bit unnerving at the start, the only time I'd had hair that short was when I was very, very young. A time I don't remember. So it's an achievement and I'm thankful my stylist mom has been there, however reluctant, to help me tame it, nourish it and stay natural. She even learned to "deal" with this new hair and I'm so glad she did.

It was my mom who excitedly washed my hair last weekend, blow dried it into the large fro you see here, then flat ironed it into submission. I had to have one full inch cut from the ends, which taught me to get a good trim every 3 months to avoid hanging on to dead ends for that long. All in all, my hair was just gorgeous. It shined and had layers that grew into place naturally, much like my daughter's hair grows. My hair is now the length it was before mom cut the relaxed ends off. It's far more layered than I ever wore it relaxed, but basically, it's all there.

This year was the beginning of a pretty cool journey. I wonder what this next year will hold for my natural hair. I'll just brace myself for a bumpy ride.

Um, braids

It's late October and around the Mile High City it's starting to get pretty chilly outside. I'm quickly approaching my first "Nappiversary" and I'm thrilled but it also makes me think more about what I need to do for my hair to keep it healthy and growing strong.

This time last year, well in November 07, I was newly natural and thought I could wear Wash and Go's (WAGs) every day. I didn't just think this was a good idea, I actually wet my hair virtually every day to get the look I wanted. It was short, about 2 inches all over, so I couldn't exactly do any protective styles because I wasn't comfortable with that length in twists or braids and I'm not one who wants fake hair to add length. Wetting my hair via co-washes was what I did but I can not and will no do that this year.

My hair is much longer now, about 6 or 7 inches all over, but it is time to protect my hair from the cold weather. When dryness is your hair's M.O. you have to take the lead and be sure to hold on to every bit of moisture you can get. So protective styles it will be.

I decided, last night, to try out box braids (single braids). They turned out better than I hoped but they still are kind of...hm. I don't think I want to wear them out - although I did today - because they don't feel as cute as I would like but I do think I'd like them if someone else could do them for me. Go figure. It seems most styles look better, in my opinion, when someone does them for me. That doesn't help me take care of my own hair the way I hoped when I went natural.

So to keep it simple I will braid my hair and leave them in unless I go out. Maybe I can talk my stylist, aka mom, into braiding it for me small enough that I can leave them until December? Wouldn't that be fabulous?!

In a World of Weaves

In September I took a trip to Mexico with a bunch of ladies. When you, as a natural, venture out with Black women who stick religiously to weave hair for styling it can become glaringly obvious that natural is still not the norm. At what point did we as a race of women decide that our hair was good for little else than gluing or braiding fake hair into it? Am I crazy for thinking that we've bought into the euro-ideology that longer and straighter is better?

Three of the 8 of us was weaved to the max. I am natural, the other two relaxed. The rest: colors, length for days, and straight as Indian hair - weaved to the max. Even my own mother decided to top her "love knot" off with a coily ponytail for our night out. Weave, weave, everywhere.

Is straight hair better? Prettier? Although I have my moments of insecurity, I always find myself back at the same conclusion. Straight hair is in fact more common, maybe more manageable, definitely tends to be shinier - but better or prettier, surely not.

I once was asked by a woman whose opinion I once respected "a woman's hair is her crowning glory - so why would you chop it all off"? How can chemically altered or just plain FAKE be any more of a crowning glory than my naturally coily, cottony in some places head of hair?

In a world of weaves it can be hard to strut your stuff when yours is a head of shorter, "poofier" hair that tends to be less common. It's sad that nearly a year into this natural thing I still find myself a shrinking violet in a garden of fake daisies. I could just kick myself.

In a good place

My hair is finally doing what I hoped it would all along. It's got this fun twisted look that I'm able to manipulate into a face-framing coil fest and I'm loving it! So how'd I get here?

I had my hair colored a few weeks back - a really warm cinnamon brown I wasn't exactly expecting but my stylist, aka mom, took matters into her own hands and luckily I always like what she does. SO, while she twisted my hair she suggested I take small sections and run a moisturizer through each one so my hair won't be so dry.

"My hair will be a greasy mess," I retorted.
"Okay then, do what you do," she replied.

When I got home and was finally forced to take out the twists (my mom's an hour away and I'd gone on a mini-vacay) I decided to try her method. None of mine were working after all. It took FOR-EV-ER to oil each little section before I twisted it and I hoped, with each twist that this would work.

I went to bed, woke to some serious oil slicks on my pillow and my hair tie but as I untwisted each twist I discovered gorgeous coils that actually shined! Yes, MY HAIR shines using this method. Oil was too greasy, my hair didn't absorb it all and I don't know how to use any less so I tried a leave-in conditioner and didn't like that. Recently I tried a light hair "dressing" or grease by TCB and it looks and feels really great!! Then I can gently separate the twists for this gorgeous twist-out. I'm just lovin' it.

The lesson? Some naturals have to force moisture into the hair and if it's thick enough that requires we divide that stuff up. Grease may not be moisturizing my hair, but it holds in the moisture I do have after washing/conditioning/and deep treatments. It looks and feels happy so I'll stick with it until this head of hair decides it doesn't want to do it anymore...then we'll be back to the drawing board!

Updated Pictures - 8/08

This crazy combed out afro shows just how "big" my hair has gotten...and I am LOVING it!



At some point I gave up on the idea that I had, HAD, to define my curl pattern and there's such a freedom to truly accepting my hair's texture instead of fighting it - which is how I felt when trying this product and that one to make this head of hair curl. I do let it go curly some days, but most days I'm in a protective style or an afro.


It's growing pretty quickly, although I'm at a point where it's not long and it's not short. Which is why I stick close to protective styles so I don't have to even think about it too hard!