Hair Damage, Breakage, Etc.

I hate that I even have to write this post.....

It's happened, I got a weave that took my hair out :''''(. Okay, so I'm not bald or anything but my edges definitely took a hit as a result of my most recent Senegalese twists. In the past when I've had them, I put them in myself but this time I wanted to go to a professional. My regular hair stylist told me she couldn't do the twist but another girl working at the shop suggested a place because that's where she went. I had seen her Senegalese twists so I already knew they did good work so I wasn't worried. I should have been.

I had SO many issues with this "shop" I don't know where to begin. First, they didn't wash my hair before twisting. I came in, chose what color hair I wanted and they just started twisting. Huh?! This was my first time ever going to an African hair braiding shop so maybe this is a normal occurrence. Someone please enlighten me. The other HUGE issue I had is that I felt like they had no consideration for my personal comfort at all. I felt like I was just a wig head to them. Now I knew getting these twists would be painful, especially because I got them so small but this was on another level. I got to a point where my neck was so tense and tight and literally shaking. I was grabbing on to the salon chair for dear life. Then whenever I would try to adjust myself for some kind of relief they would just pull/push my head right back to where they wanted it (their were two women working on my hair).

I was seriously ready to cry by the end. Then when they got to my edges around the front of my head I could feel how hard and tight they were pulling and it didn't feel right but it was done so I didn't feel like I could do anything.

Cut to now after having the twists in for 5 weeks I take them out and my edges came right out with them. We're not talking Naomi Campbell filter but three little spots in particular. If my hair is pulled straight back it's really noticeable so I'll be wearing side parts for quite a while it seems. I've heard that Jamaican black castor oil can help with growing back edges when applied daily and I really hope it's true. I'll be applying that stuff religiously. I'll give an update when there's something to update.

Later....

Where Have You Been Miss K?!

So clearly it's been quite a while since I've had a new blog post. You may (or may not) have been wondering where I've been all this time. For my ego's sake, let's just say you have. What happened is that I finally found a good hair salon to go to where I live. Yay!!! Good for me, bad for my blog because if I'm not doing my own hair there's really not much for me to post about. Also, I haven't been wearing any natural styles lately. I've been getting my hair straightened about every two weeks since around March so again, nothing to post about.

I'd hate to think that I'm just going to stop posting all together but I honestly don't know. As of now there's really nothing new going on with me or my hair to talk about. Still, I plan on keeping you posted. One thing is that I found I can still get that "relaxed" look while having natural hair which is all I really wanted. I'm happy because that gives me more options with my hair.

That's all for now and like I said, I'll keep you posted. Later!

Product Review: Curls Unleashed

A few months ago I was browsing my local Sally's Beauty Supply store and found the product line called Curls Unleashed by Organic Root Stimulator. The label says the product line is "Perfect for all textures" including wavy, curly and kinky hair. I'm always up for trying a new product so I decided to give their moisturizing conditioner a try to start just to see if I liked it. One thing I didn't like was the price. It cost $14.99 for a 12 ounce container of conditioner and I'm pretty sure I've gotten more for less with other products but I was still willing to give it a try.

I have to say I really liked the results. I left the conditioner on for about 15-20 minutes after applying and it left my hair feeling SO soft. Unlike most other naturals I've seen, I really don't pay that much attention to ingredients like sulfates, cones, etc so I can't really speak on that. I personally look at what the product label promises, the smell of the product and the results on my hair once I actually use it. After using it a few times, I must say that I really like the Curls Unleashed conditioner, so much that I decided to try some of their other products. Today I bought their shampoo and leave-in conditioner. I haven't tried either yet but I'll give a review when I do. Hopefully I'll like those as much as the moisturizing conditioner.

12 oz bottles of leave-in conditioner and shampoo, $10.99 each at Sally's.

Hairstyles: Curlformers.....again

I decided to try Curlformers once again now that I'm fully natural. The last time I tried them was pretty early on during my transition so I thought it was time to explore again. To be honest I wasn't happy with the results. Once I separated the curls I just didn't like how my hair looked so it felt like I totally wasted the day before doing my hair.

I applied the Curlformers to wet/damp, freshly washed and conditioned hair. The only products I used were Kinky Curly's Knot Today leave in detangler and Curling Custard. Also I kept a spray bottle of water to use when my hair got dry. Based on these results I probably won't use Culformers again which is unfortunate because I really liked the outcome the last time. I'll probably just end up pulling my hair back into a curly poof/ponytail for the time being.

Here are a few pictures (some of them are out of order but you get the idea):

After removing the curlers.

After separating the curls. It looks okay but I didn't really like it.

I was really hoping for a silkier look to my curls but that didn't really happen.

Hairstyles: Flat Twists with a Poof

I recently tried to do a flat twist updo into a high bun but it didn't turn out the way I pictured it in my mind. It looked OK and I left in it for about a week but that's all I could stand. I didn't feel like washing my hair again so I decided to try to save the style with flat twists and a poof in the back.

This style was really quick and easy to do and I really like my results. The style was done on dry hair and the only products used were small amounts of Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding and Eco Styler Gel. On random impulse I started on my hair around midnight and was done by around 1:30 am. All this time included taking out the flat twists from the previous style.

Here are some pictures: