Hair Style Of The Week: Courtesy of Curly Nikki and Michelle B.

This Sunday after going through my ritual of pre-pooing, detangling, shampooing, and deep conditioning, I was at a loss.  I was not sure what to do with my hair but I knew I wanted something different than my norm. I scoured the internet for ideas and inspiration. After scrolling through a few blogs and watching a few YouTube videos I came across this video on Curly Nikki's website:
 


Score! It was love at first sight. Simple, creative, different and last but not least protective.

The Front...

The Right Side...

The Left Side...

The Back...(ignore the bottle in the background) ; )
Also, I had a hard time pinning my hair to one side like Michelle B. did in her video. As a result I ended up dividing the back  into two sections (top and bottom ) and then doing a loose flat twist and a pin to each. 

Overall I am satisfied with the results. I think this hair style would be more dramatic if my hair was longer however I definitely like the look as it stands right now. I received a few compliments on this style today so I might recreate it again in the near future. Until next week...

There's nothing wrong with a little hair envy....

My style rut requires an intervention! I know protective styling coupled with time, care, patience (this is a hard one, I don't even like waiting on line), and consistency will equal longer lengths by this summer but I want BIG hair now! Here are a few images that have been keeping me on track. The source...one of the best for kinky, coily, curly inspiration: Fuck Yeah Curls Curls Curls. 

Are you in need of some pictures to inspire you? Click HERE!

Loving Yes To Carrots!

Despite it all I  still miss my hydrated summer hair!

This is a small update but I thought I would share with you all my new favorite conditioner for deep conditioning, Yes to Carrots! I told you all earlier that I would give it a try along with some other conditioners. I am so glad that I did try this particular product. Note that I do add some doses of my own to my conditioners (ex. Shea butter, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Honey, Vitamin E, and Nettle and Horsetail extracts, etc.).

Melted Shea Butter, Olive Oil, and Honey 

I've added in my Yes To Carrots Conditioner and a few other ingredients...

Loving It! 

 For the record, I also did this with my Hello Hydrations conditioner as well. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are the days that I am scheduled to re-moisturize my hair a la Giovanni’s  Vitapro Fusion conditioner, Herbal Essences’ Long Term Relationship conditioner, and Castor Oil to seal my hair. However, when I took my twists down from my pin-up last night they still felt soft to the touch. Before Yes to Carrots I was considering a switch to re-moisturizing every day because my twists felt dry and dehydrated over the last few weeks. Needless to say I was thrilled last night when I discovered that my kinks were not parched.  I will be using  Yes to Carrots one more time next week after I apply “Henna”  to my hair. For those of you unfamiliar with Henna it a great deep conditioner and natural coloring for your hair. Curly Nikki has a lot of information in regards to it on her website.For more information click here and scroll down.  As for me, after this Henna treatment then it’s on to the next one.

Deep Conditioning With Heat...Benefit or Waste of Time?

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As you may or may not be aware  washing my hair is an intensive process. If you have read my hair regimen post, then you will recall that I promised to adhere to it for at least the next 6 months. Part of what makes this a huge ordeal is the deep conditioning process. Which looks a little like this:

• ·         hair is finished washed and rinsed;
• ·         take hair bonnet or steamer off top shelf of closet with a ladder or chair;
• ·         apply deep conditioner to hair in sections;
• ·         find a place to plug-in the bonnet or steamer;
• ·         sit under the heat for at least 20-30 minutes while simultaneously trying to not let the overwhelming heat actually overwhelm me;
• ·         rinse hair in cool water;
• ·         replace hair bonnet or hair steamer to its rightful place.

After reading this you may think what’s the big deal? However, this all takes a lot of time from me doing other things . So recently I read  a post on curlynikki.com (Myth Vs. Fact Deep Conditioning) that most conditioners do not say on the label to add heat or leave them in for a long period of time. Naturally, I sought independent confirmation of this in my junkie stash of deep conditioners and here’s what I found:

• ·         Herbal Essence’s Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner  Directions: massage it in, Soak it up, rinse it out.
• ·         Giovanni Deeper Moisture Conditioner: apply daily after Smooth as Silk Deeper Moisture Shampoo. Massage through to ends before rinsing thoroughly.
• ·         Miss Jessie’s  Super Sweetback Treatment (I don’t use this anymore but thought I would look at it as well): leave in for 30 minutes then rinse….properties are amplified when used under a steam treatment or under an overhead dryer on a heat setting.

I just felt plain confused. The post went on to explain that adding a longer duration or heat to your conditioner does not cause it to penetrate the hair more. It was always my understanding that heat lifts the hair cuticle to allow for conditioner to penetrate the shaft. As part of my investigative research, I visited Kimmaytube’s site and watched her video on the structure of hair.  

Basically, I think the post raises a good point about conditioners; however, I find it difficult to believe that adding heat does not provide some benefit to the hair shaft. A hair’s cuticle layer protects the shaft; therefore, without using heat you are only conditioning the hair’s cuticle and not the shaft…

I will continue my research on this…until then I will continue to use my hair dryer! 

Hair Challenge Update



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 I’m about four weeks into the hair challenge and the most revealing thing is that I’ve learned that I can be impatient beyond reasonable expectation. I have a tendency to expect immediate results and I haven’t seen any quite frankly.

The Good:

I have been consistent with my regimen, washing and deep conditioning weekly, moisturizing every other day and for the most part using protective styling. In addition to this I have joined another hair growth challenge sponsored by comedian/actress Kim Coles, Curly Nikki, and the folks at naturallycurly.com.  

As a result I will also track my progress and growth via a blog on naturallycurly.com as well as on this site. Double the pleasure, double the fun!

The Bad:

I have not kept up with adding an Ayurvedic element to my hair care. This is mostly because I need to sit down and order some items that I do not own already like Vatika oil and some dried herbs (ex. - blue malva, hibiscus, marshmallow route, etc.)  I have made a vow to myself that I will purchase these items, so that I can add them to my hair regimen. Also, I just haven’t the time as of late to dedicate to the henna treatment process.

Other than that I am ready for month two.

Style of the Week

This week I decided to keep it simple to alleviate some stress. Last week I attempted the tuck and roll, which I showed in some pictures:

The Tuck and Roll 

 However, whenever I took down my hair to re-moisturize it I had the hardest time pinning it back up. I ended up putting my hair in a low pony tail, which received a lot of compliments, but is all but protective. I scoured YouTube for protective style inspiration, which turned out to be unsuccessful. In the end I settled on a combination of flat twists on one side and some medium sized twists on the other. In an effort to add a protective element, I pinned up the twist to one side and pin curled the side that was left out. On Monday morning I unpinned the twists and I was pleased. 

Flat twists...

Pinned up twists in the back...

This method proved to be simple, effective, and hat friendly (it was like 2 degrees in NYC). I’ll probably rock a twist-out from these twists this weekend. I’m still on the hunt for next week’s style myself. What are some hair styles that you’re considering in the upcoming week?

Wash Day Blues

Hey Folks. It's wash day and I am not a happy camper. Sometimes it can be such a long drawn-out time consuming process. I would pay money to be anywhere else doing ALMOST anything else. In an effort to inspire myself I went online to one of my favorite websites fuckyeahcurlscurlscurls. Hopefully a year from now I can achieve some of these looks:

All Pics from fuckyeahcurlscurlscurls

On a side note I have found a shampoo that I absolutely love (the product junkie in me can't help but picking up a new item or two every once in a while). It's Herbal Essence's Hello Hydration Shampoo plus Conditioner. Yes, a two for one. I love it!

Story of a DISCIPLINED Naturalista: My NEW Hair Rules

In order to reach my hair goals for 2011 I created a hair regimen to which I could stay true (fingers crossed).  With my current work schedule the thought of washing my hair every week is a painful one, but I know that this is all for the greater good! Along the way I may alter this routine by adding or eliminating some products, but here is what I have so far:

·         SUNDAY:

§  Finger comb through hair to detangle with Grapeseed Oil or Olive Oil. Eventually I will switch to Vatika Oil (Coconut oil infused with Ayurvedic Herbs).  Twist hair into four-six sectionsand place under a plastic cap for an hour.

§  Shampoo hair with a moisturizing shampoo section-by-section. Currently, I own Herbal Essences Hello Hydration, Giovanni’s Deeper Moisture Shampoo, and Shea Moisture’s Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo. (I would like to pick one of these, but this Naturalista is on a budget and will be finishing all three of these bottles J ). I am going to continue to use Kimmaytubes’  shampoo buffer technique and follow my shampoo with a conditioner to detangle hair. In a nutshell, rather than rinse shampoo out completely you squeeze out excess shampoo and place conditioner on each section detangle then rinse. Need more details? Click here!

§  Condition with Herbal Essences’s Hello Hydration Conditioner or TRESeme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner. Rinse.

§  Deep Condition with Giovanni’s Deeper Moisture Conditioner supplemented with Nettle, Horsetail, and   coconut oil.  Followed by either a  deep conditioning with my Huetiful Hair Steamer or a hard bonnet hair dryer for 30 minutes.

§  Rinse hair in cold water to close the cuticles.

§  Apply leave-in conditioner to my hair - I am currently alternating between Herbal Essence’s Long Term Relationship Leave-In and Giovanni’s Direct Leave –In Hair Treatment and seal with a mixture of Jojoba and Coconut oils.

§  Style: The plan is to style my hair using a homemade mix comprised mostly of Organic Raw Shea Butter, but I’m in search of  something else that I can use for styling. For example, I loved Miss Jessie’s Baby Buttercreme because it kept my hair super soft, hydrated, and glossy; but, I cannot stand the smell of it -*YIKES!*  The list of ingredients alone make me cringe!  Do you have any suggestions? What do you use as your styling agent?

·         MONDAY: 

§  Back at work with clean, shiny, healthy looking hair. \m/ J \m/

·         TUESDAY:

§  Dampen hair with Giovanni Vitapro Fusion Leave-in Hair Treatment and seal in the moisture with a mixture of Coconut oil and Castor oil or Vatika oil.

·         WEDNESDAY:

·         Hump Day! Making weekend plans!

·         THURSDAY:

§  Dampen Hair with Giovanni Vitapro Fusion Leave-in Hair Treatment  and seal in the moisture with a mixture of Coconut oil and Castor oil or Vatika oil.

·         FRIDAY: 

§  Time to celebrate! I made it to the weekend ladies. J

·         SATURDAY:

§  Dampen hair with Giovanni Vitapro Fusion Leave-in Hair Treatment and seal in the moisture with a mixture of Coconut oil and Castor Oil or Vatika Oil.

·         SUNDAY:

§  Take it from the top!!!

In addition, I plan on purchasing some herbs for bi-weekly herbal rinses, creating herb infused oils, and using Henna on a monthly basis as well.

                                                                  THE ARSENAL!!!

Are you a regimented Naturalista or do you listen to your hair and react as necessary? What items does your hair regimen consist of?

2011: The Year Of Taking Control

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As I mentioned in my post on January 6th, my hair has been through a lot in the past couple of years. I have been natural since the summer of 2003, I have never really taken good care of my hair. Moreover, the last two to three years my hair shows signs of significant neglect and mistreatment; perhaps to a point of no return? It’s hard to reverse so many months of damage; however, since this July I have made the decision to simply wear my hair “out” (in its natural state) and for the past 7 months I have been making more of an effort to take care of my hair. Despite my steadfast resolution to be natural, I still face major frustration when dealing with my hair. It seems like no matter what I did it was not having of an effect, so I have made the decision to up the ante!

One of my all-time favorite bloggers, The Moptop Maven, has started a Healthy Hair Care Challenge for 2011 and I have decided to join-in and keep track of my trials, tribulations, and progress right here in this blog.

My Goals:

·         Less hair breakage and shedding. As of right now if I simply touch my hair I will be left with strands in my hand; I would like to put this to end.

·         Length Retention. Currently my hair is chin length in the front, and grazes my collar bone length in the rear when stretched. Ultimately I would like my hair to reach arm pit length by the end of the challenge.

·         Create “Stylish” Protective Styling. I try to keep my hair in protective styles most of the time; also I avoid applying heat to my hair, which as you know means that I‘m trading style for the safety of my hair. I live in New York City  the mecca of fashion and as a result I want to always feel and represent myself as a natural diva!

·         Wash/Detangle/Deep Condition Weekly. I’m on a bi-weekly schedule at the moment, but I think my hair could use a bit more TLC in this department .

·         Thicker, Longer, Stronger HAIR! Period! No explanation needed there. J

Moptop Maven goes into detail about three types of systems you can use with your hair in her blog. Traditional (using traditional hair care products that you can find in your beauty supply store and pharmacy), Natural (using products that you may buy in your local whole foods – products such as  shea butter and castor oil for example) and Ayurvedic (Using Ayurvedic herbs and oils such as Henna and Vatika Oil). I’ve decided to use all three practices while participating in this hair care challenge mainly because...I’m a recovering product junkie! In the last few months, I have used everything from Jamila Henna to Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme. I have a lot of hair products (okay -- maybe too many) and I don’t want to simply discard them all, so I intend to incorporate them into my new regimen. I’m truly excited by all the possibilities of joining-in on the challenge. I am hoping to see greater success with my hair in the year 2011.  I hope those of you who have decided to make some changes to your own hair regimen (or even joining-in on the challenge yourself) have much success as well. Here’s to a successful year to us all!!

For more details on Mop Top Maven's hair challenge please click here.


What are your hair goals for 2011? How do you intend to reach them?