Au Naturale

Did I spell that right?

Anyway, it's been almost two years since I decided to go natural (June 2010) and at this point I'm almost fully natural. In fact, why not just go ahead and say I am fully natural. Okay, so technically I still have some relaxed ends here and there that will probably get cut the next time I decide to trim my ends or whenever the mood strikes which could be anytime. Either way it's safe to say that my hair is about 99% natural at this point.

I still wear my hair straight pretty much ALL the time because whenever I try a natural style I hate the way it looks on me. For some reason the styles I try never look how I picture them looking in my head. Maybe it's because I do everything myself. I don't know. I want to start going to a salon but I haven't found one so for now I'll just do what I've been doing. I really want to try doing more natural styles I just need to find ones that suit me but I'm working on it.

That's pretty much all for now, just a little update. Here's a few pictures of the fro just after washing and adding some highlights. Peace out!

Freshly washed hair. I'm not sure if this was before or after adding my leave-in.

See, you barely notice that I still have some relaxed ends in there.

It doesn't seem like it but you can see the highlights better with the hair straight.

Product Review: Tangle Teezer

I've been hearing a lot about the Tangle Teezer for a while and thought briefly about trying it out eventually but it wasn't a big deal. Recently I was in my local beauty supply store and just happened to look over and see the Tangle Teezers so I decided to go ahead and by one to see what all the hype was about. It was only $9.99 which isn't bad if you ask me. Lord knows I've paid more for hair products in the past.

Overall, I'd say it get's the job done. The Tangle Teezer definitely glides through my hair easier than a comb or my imitation Denman brush but otherwise it's not anything spectacular. It's good for what it does but I'm not sure that I would recommend it to others as something they would HAVE to try. The one thing I really don't like is the shape. It's made in such a way that it's comfortable to hold in your hand but you can really only hold it a certain way. I appreciate the freedom of having a handle. Anyway, it's good for what it is and it does make detangling easier but to be honest I haven't used it very often. I'd give it 3.5/5 stars.

Another Flat Twist Out....

As I showed you in my last post I had a pitiful attempt at a bantu knot out recently. Instead of washing my hair again and starting over (which I'm sure you know is a pain), I tried to save it with a poof. Then I thought hey, maybe I can work this into a flat twist out so here we are. Again, I didn't feel like washing my hair again so I just worked with what I had. I detangled the poof, sprayed my hair with water, added a little Eco Styler Gel and Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding and started flat twisting. I used end wraps and perm rods on the end and let my hair dry over night. My technique still isn't that tight so the curls in the back are a little messy but otherwise I really liked how it came out. However, I slept on it wrong so the next day it just looked crazy. There really was no fixing it at that point so I just wore a hat all day and washed my hair the day after. Here are the pictures:

Like I said, kinda messy.

It really did look better than this picture shows....lol

Bantu Knot Out w/ a Twist

It's been a long time since I tried a bantu knot out so I decided to try again to avoid using heat for a while. The first time I tried it was pretty early in my transition and now I'm a year and 5 months in so it was VERY different. The method I used was to two strand twist the hair then put it into a bantu knot secured with a bobby pin. I saw that method on YouTube but I can't remember whose video it was. I did the knots on freshly washed and conditioned hair while it was still wet. The only products I used were Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding and coconut oil. I wore a satin cap and let my hair dry overnight. Parts of my hair were still damp when I took them out and I don't really like the results so I just pulled it back into a poof instead. Here are some pictures:

I think I had about 11 bantu knots all together.

A mess with no curl definition....smh

At least I was able to leave the house this way.

 Next blog post will be how I tried to save this by doing a twist out.....

Hair Experiment: Mini Twists Take 2

After over a year since the last time, I finally decided to give mini/two strand twists another try. I'm liking it better this time around because I made them smaller and because more of my hair is natural but I'm still not 100% satisfied. The older the style gets the more I like it but I'm only keeping them in for about two weeks and it's been about a week now. The main problem is that the ends look thin compared to the rest of my hair but that's because my ends are still relaxed. Also the hair in the front of my head around the edges is thinner too which is annoying.

Anyway, I did the twists on freshly washed, blown dry hair (to stretch). The only products I used were Tresemme Heat Tamer spray to blow dry, 100% coconut oil, and Eco Styler Gel for hold. I followed this video by naptural85 on YouTube for guidance. I did them over two days (about 20hrs total) because I get easily distracted but a normal person can probably do them in a few hours depending on how small they are and how long your hair is. Here's a few pictures of the results.

Hair Experiment: My First Straw Set

After viewing several YouTube videos for tutorials, I finally decided to try a straw set on my hair. It was pretty time consuming but I liked the results. Also I could have been done faster if I didn't take so many breaks in between but whatever. My only problems are that I wish the curls would have come out longer to show the true length of my hair and I wasn't able to get the straws tight to my roots so they look kind of puffy. Other than that I really don't have any complaints.

I did this on freshly washed and conditioned hair. After washing I detangled and separated it into about 10 sections to work with. I used a total of 58 straws that were in a 100 pack I bought from Wal-Mart and bobby pins to secure the straws. I used more than one bobby pin in a few that felt too loose. It took me from about 12p-7p total to do everything (wash, condition, detangle, input straws). I let my hair air dry overnight which I probably wouldn't recommend. Sleeping on those straws was a challenge so in the future I'll probably sit under my hood dryer so I can take the straws out. The only products I used were Eco Styler Gel, water and Lotta Body setting lotion. I think I used a bit too much gel because the curls were a little hard when I took the straws out. I'm told this style can last up to two weeks but I'm probably gonna wash it out before then. I learned to do this style from YouTube videos by diimpulz and KYSBROWNSUGA so you can look them up for tutorials. Lots of pictures to follow....

As you can see the roots are really puffy.

After separating the curls.

 

I got sick of the curly fro after a few days so I just decided to pull it back into a curly poof. I like this look much better on me.

Hair Experiment: Two Strand Twist Out w/ Perm Rods

Lately I've been straightening my hair every time I wash it and I wanted to give my hair a rest from all the heat so I decided to try another two strand twist out. This time with perm rods on the ends of the twists. At this point my hair is about half natural and half relaxed. I thought that the twist out would look better now than with previous attempts because I have more natural hair but that wasn't the case. To be honest I wasn't too happy with my results.

I did the usual wash and condition before doing my hair and I also did a hot oil treatment with jojoba and tea tree oil. After I detangled and separated my hair into sections and began twisting. I don't really remember how many sections there were but I used about 30 perm rods so that was 30 twists. The only products I used were my Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioner and Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue. I twisted on wet hair and let them air dry overnight. Here are a few pictures....

I used end wraps the help keep the ends smooth and reduce frizz.

After removing the perm rods.

After separating to twists. It looks pretty messy and I couldn't do much with it.

In the end I just pulled my hair back and kept it pinned up until the next time I washed it. I'm not sure if I'll try this style again. It was very easy to do but I didn't care for the results at all.

No BC for Me....

Hey, that rhymed!

Anyway, I realize it's been a while since I posted anything but to be honest there really isn't much to talk about as far as my hair is concerned. It's actually been months since I've done a real "transitioning" hairstyle. I've basically been using different techniques to straighten my hair every week. Yes, I know: Heat bad, no heat good. Whatever. Until someone can find a way for me to get a relaxed look with no heat and no relaxer, a flat iron is my best friend. I try to minimize the use of heat as much as possible. I only straighten my hair every 2-3 weeks and rarely, if ever, use heat in between washes.

About the big chop.....I'm tempted to just clip the rest of my relaxed ends because I really want to do another two strand twist or twist out hairstyle and I know it'll look better without those relaxed ends. However, my hair isn't as long as I want it to be right now. I'm really big on length at the moment so I'm not ready to cut yet. It's only a little over a year into my transition so hopefully by the end of this year or early next year I'll have the length I want. I'm also considering a bob type cut but I'd definitely have to wear my hair straight then so I don't know.

Even if I were to try something new with my hair I broke my camera so I couldn't post pictures anyway :(. That's all I really have to say for now. There's a couple of new products I'm trying out so I'll post reviews on those soon.

Peace out.

Hair Diary: One Year and Counting

This past June 4th was one year since my last relaxer. I don't have any pictures to post because I really haven't done anything with my hair lately. I went on a little mini vacation but I just kept my hair in a bun or ponytail the whole time. I'm still nowhere near cutting off my relaxed ends but I definitely have a lot of new growth.

Nothing major just a little mini post to acknowledge this milestone. I'm gonna wash my hair in a day or two so hopefully I'll remember to take some pictures to post to show my growth.

That's all for now.

Just A Little Update

I'm currently 10 months into my transition so I thought I'd make a little mini post showing my progress and growth. Nothing major, just a few pictures showing my new growth. As you can see from the pictures I have a lot of new growth and there's also a lot of shrinkage. Sorry if they're hard to see, my camera sucks at taking texture shots.

Lots of shrinkage!!!

So I Straightened My Hair......Again.

I've made no secret of the fact that I prefer to wear my hair straight but the last couple of times I tried to straighten it I didn't get my desired results. Recently I bought a new flat iron (Revlon Perfect Heat ceramic 1 inch) and tried a new technique for straightening and I LOVE the results. I've been trying not to use a lot of heat on my hair and up until flat ironing the other day it's been going pretty well.

Anyway, this is what I did:

• Washed and condition my hair with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration moisturizing shampoo and conditioner
• Then I detangled my hair and parted into about 6 sections, braided and let it airdry
• I got impatient so I took the braids out before the hair was totally dry (in the future I'll let it dry overnight instead of trying during the day)
• After I took the braids out I used a round brush and blow dryer to straighten/stretch my roots
• Then I took small sections and flat ironed my hair

The only product I used after washing was Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream. Afterward I just wrapped my hair and tied it in a scarf for bed. Pictures to follow.

It's hard to see but the top is blown dry and the bottom is flat ironed.

If you look closely you can see the different textures next to each other.

Shiny!!! lol

Another Day, Another Twist Out

After my most recent failed attempt at two strand/mini twists I decided to try to save my hair by doing another flat twist out. The waves/curls/whatever you wanna call them came out great but I still wasn't 100% satisfied, but then I'm rarely fully satisfied with my hair so that's nothing new. The twists were done on dry hair and left in my head for nearly a week. There were 6 twists total. 2 on each side and 4 going down the back of my head. The only product I used was Miss Jessie's Curly Buttercreme and I kept my hair tied in a scarf most of the time. The only time my hair was untied is when I left the house and then I just wore a hat but you can probably just wear the twists if you want (personally I just don't care for that look). Also, I still don't have soft rollers so I improvised with cotton balls and rubber bands on the ends to help them blend in...strange I know but it worked out surprisingly well.

In the future I'll try not to make the parts in my hair so defined and probably make the hair damp so the curls will last longer without having to keep the twists in so long. Here's a few pictures:

I know, they're starting to look a little rough. Probably from laying on them in my sleep. I definitely wasn't trying to sleep "pretty" with these in...lol

As you can see that side part is still pretty defined.

That's not a bald spot I promise! I just didn't cover the part...lol

View of the back.

Yet Another Braid-Out Attempt....

This is my third braid-out attempt after two VERY unsuccessful previous attempts. I have to say that I actually don't hate it. I was all set to hate my hair and swear off braid-outs forever but it's not that bad. It's not as good as I would like but at least this time I think I know what I did right and what I did wrong. For starters, I did it on dry, stretched hair. In the past I tried braid-outs on wet hair and it was just a mess, especially because I tried to do cornrows. I learned that I just can't braid my hair in cornrows while it's wet. That's pretty much the only thing I really did "right" with this braid-out. Everything else I still need to work on.

For starters, the curls in the back aren't defined as well as the ones on the front and sides. They look more like very loose waves than curls. That's probably because I'm not very good at doing cornrows in general and trying to do them on the back of my head is still hard for me. With a little more practice I'll be okay with that part. The other thing is that the ends are kinda funny looking. I don't have any soft rollers to put on the ends of the braids so I just tried to pin-curl but that didn't work out too well.


This is what I did:
-Separated hair into five sections with my fingers
-Applied coconut oil to the roots and Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream to the rest of the hair
-Braided in cornrows and pincurled the ends
-Tied up hair with a satin scarf

I left the braids in for two days before taking them out this morning. Here are some pictures: 

Back of my head, you can see there's really no definition to the curls.

After taking braids out, before styling.

Hair Tools: ConAir Styling Brush

Another product that I keep hearing about is this Denman brush. Everyone says it's good for detangling, etc, so I figured I should give it a try. Now that my hair has been growing out for a while it's becoming more difficult to comb through and detangle when it's wet.

After looking online I saw that the Denman brush is a little pricey so I held off on purchasing it. Then when I was in Rite Aid I happened to see a ConAir styling brush that looked very similar. I didn't buy it the first time I saw it because I wasn't entirely sure. I went back online to see what was so special about the Denman and I saw that the main thing was the rubber cushion base. The ConAir brush has the same type of base and is only $4.99 so I figured it's probably just as good.

I haven't used the brush yet but hopefully it'll get the job done. The label says it's for all-purpose styling and it's "great for thick, coarse hair." Only time will tell.

Hair Products: Miss Jessie's

Ever since I started looking more into transitioning I've been hearing about Miss Jessie's hair products. They recently had a buy one, get one free sale so I figured it was a good time to buy a few products at a reduced rate and try them out. The products I got were the Curly Pudding, Curly Butter Creme (not pictured) and Curly Meringue. I haven't had a chance to try them yet but it seems like everyone that uses these products swears by them. Hopefully they live up to the hype. I'll keep you posted!

Hair Experiment: Curlformers Take 2!

Finally I was able to try out my curlformers again! If you remember from this post, the last time I tried I wasn't able finish the entire process. Anyway, I'm very satisfied with my results and I'll definitely start using them more often. It's a very simple way to get bouncy, heat-less curls. I won't get into how to use the curlformers because they have instructions in the box but this is what I did:

I co-washed with my new Herbal Essences hydralicious conditioner and detangled before rinsing out the conditioner. I didn't use a comb to divide sections, I just finger parted. I also combed through each section before applying the curlformer. Make sure the hair is wet when applying. The only products I used were Neutrogena Triple Moisture silk touch leave in cream, chi silk infusion, Twisted Sista 30 second curl spray (mentioned in my last post) and a spray bottle with water. I sprayed each section of hair individually with the Twisted Sista. I used 33 of the 46 curlformers that came in the box and I slept with them in overnight which was uncomfortable but not terrible. Results pictures below!

As you can see my hair is a little longer than the rollers but it wasn't significant.

After removing....obviously lol

Another view of the curls.

After separating the curls with my hands...

It's a little messy but I like it...lol