My last hair post was on November 1st. Since then, I made the 18 month mark with my natural hair journey in mid-December. I have enough blog posts to chart my year in hair. So, I'll just post these comparison shots.
This is how I began 2010:
This is how I ended 2010:
It's safe to say that I have retained some length and am apparently doing something right. It's to the point where I cannot wear a scarf (like I did at the Sai.nts-giving get-together above) or a ponytail (directly above) without being asked if I'm wearing a hair piece. Maybe that's a compliment.
To address the questions that I have been asked:
Do I HAVE to big chop to go natural?
No. Do what you're comfortable with. I think that people seem to think that just b/c I did it that I'm a proponent for it. If for some reason, I decided to relax and then go natural again, I will most likely transition until the relaxed length is cut off. I'm glad that I had that experience. But I didn't transition long enough to fully learn my hair. So, I kept cutting the front of my hair, not realizing that it tends to be more wavier than the rest of my hair. In addition, when I got it cut professionally, I had my sides and back faded so that I could have a style. With that, I lost the little bit of length that I had grown during my 3 month transition.
Do I have to have a particular texture in order to go natural?
Hell naw! I'm from N.ew Or.leans but I'm not Cre.ole. I'm mixed with black and blacker. So, the thought that you have to have a loose texture or be biracial or whatever the hell to wear YOUR hair how YOU WANT is craziness. Some of my fam and close friends, rejected the idea from the start. Be strong enough to tell whoever opposes to kick boulders with open toed shoes and keep it moving.
I have gray hair and I'm trying to figure out how to dye it naturally. Any ideas?
Have you researched henna? I henna'ed my hair during the beginning of my journey, but I have not been consistent. I only did it for conditioning purposes but it gave my hair a reddish tint in the sunlight, nothing too drastic. The only reason why I haven't used commercial dyes is b/c I'm allergic to the PPD in them. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with playing with color.
What products do you use? (I apologize for the periods)
Shampoo - She.a Mois.ture Org.anic Yuc.ca and Bao.bab Thick.ening Shampoo
Conditioner - Yes to Tomat.oes
Deep Conditioner - She.a Mois.ture Raw She.a Butte.r Deep Treat.ment Mas.que
Moisturizer - She.a Mois.ture Co.conut and Hib.iscus Cur.l Enhan.cing Smo.othie
Gel - Fr.uit of the Ear.th Aloe Ve.ra Gel
Oils - A spritz of coconut, castor, jojoba, rosemary, and vitamin e oil (I only use at night)
Nothing has really changed, since I'm not a PJ.
So, I was reading my favorite hair blog, of the moment, Mop Top Maven. She is holding a 6-month heal.thy hair challenge. I will most likely be on the sidelines and not officially checked in, but I would like to continue to implement my healthy hair practices and check my progress by July 1st. I have even gotten my friend, Kat, on board (who is now natural) and a coworker (who is relaxed). I will upload pics of me here but form an email ring with them (b/c I still have this thing about keeping my blog semi-personal).
On Thursday, I switched my regimen around. I washed and then deep conditioned. I revisited am.la and brah.mi and mixed them into my deep conditioner with a dollop of castor oil. I then sat under the dryer for about an hour (longer than I intended b/c I got sidetracked while reading hair blogs). I rinsed the majority of the mud out in my sink, so as not to clog my shower drain. I then conditioner washed the rest and proceeded to detangle and style. Let me just say that I will never do that again. Whipp.ing my hai.r back and forth while it was wet just caused the most tangled mess that I've ever had to deal with. After suffering a wicked detangling session, I decided to leave well enough alone.
I allowed my hair to dry in twists all day Friday. I took them down and then went to a Wii - Michae.l Jack.son Exp.erience tournament at my girl's house yesterday. I didn't get home until 12:30am, fooling around with Mike. I got the work out of my LIFE. But where I went wrong was that I was trying to sing along (which isn't required). "Di.rty Di.ana" is my JAM and I kinda overdid it on some improv'ed air guitar, lol. That game goes HARD. But I digress, lol. Needless to say, I sweat, sweat, and sweat again. So, the following pics are a bit grimey, but I wanted to show my starting length on the 1st of the year to compare to the ones that I'll take on July 1st.
Hopefully, I won't get crazy with the regimen tweaking or else my after pics won't look too far off of these. We'll see.
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4 comments:
Before I even begin, i want you to know that it took me like 30 seconds to find a place to post a comment, that and I've started reading your blog from beginning to end, so I'm still somewhere in 2008. Yep, I know I am special :)
I just wanted to say that I love your hair. It is absolutely gorgeous. The headache that you speak of (the maintenance of it all) looks effortless in your pictures. I wish my hair came close to something that resembled a very natural look, which only means I need to take better care of it. So, mucho kudos to you in doing something a lot of black women are scared to do. After speaking with a real hair dresser, I will definitely make the decision to do the real chop, or derive something from the previous chop.
I am struggling while trying to figure out how to comment from my phone.
Thank you for the compliment! I guess that I have to remind myself that when I was relaxed and trying to grow my hair out, that my regimen was just as lengthy with the roller wraps.
Patience has never been a strong suit of mine. Wish that I could say that I was working on that. :)
Great hair growth! I will be 1 yr natural 1/31/11 and I must say its been an interesting journey so far. You're doing a great job
"Interesting" is the word that I use when I'm trying hard to choose my words carefully, lol. Thanks, Nikki!
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