Tool Change

Just a month ago, I purchased the Gold N Hot 1400 to help with my deep conditioning and speed up the styling process.

Well.... I just took the dryer back today and ordered a new one.  This dryer is approximately $40 and it basically gets an "F."

1. It was great for deep conditioning because you don't need your hair to dry.  You just need some hot air on the product

2. It's not very sturdy.  On more than one occasion, it came crashing down on my head.  Not only was it annoying, but it scared the crap out of my little dog, Roxie.

3.  My hair does not dry easily.  Since the age of five, I have spent A LOT of time under the dryer.  So I didn't think the dryer would dry my hair in 20 minutes, but I did expect SOMETHING. This thing did nothing for me.  I would probably have to sit under the thing for 24 hours for my hair to dry in curlformers.  I don't expect salon power out of these things, but I expect A LITTLE drying help.

I hate taking stuff back.  I know it's dumb because you shouldn't pay for something that doesn't get the job done.  I wanted to love this dryer, but IT DID NOT WORK for me.  I took it back to Sallys and ordered a Conair Babyliss dryer. 

 Hopefully it gives me a little more help.  Again, I'm not expecting a miracle, but I want something that I can sit under without fear of it crashing on my head and I want it to actually work towards drying a large portion of my hair.

Earthquakes!!

I took this picture at night and the cam could only focus on my bright shirt!

What an AMAZING day!  I experienced my first and second earthquakes today.  The first was a 3.9 and the second was a 3.8.

I am a Midwestern girl, so this is so wild to me.  I can honestly say, it's just like the movies.  You feel this sudden movement and it takes your mind a second to register that THIS IS AN EARTHQUAKE.  

I was sitting at my desk when the first one hit and I immediately called my husband and my momma.  When I couldn't get my mother on the line, I texted her and my father.  I was waaaay too excited.  In fact, my boss was slightly disturbed by how UNdistrubed and excited I was.

Everyone says I should have been preparing to get under a desk, instead of basking in the power of mother nature.  And you know what? They are right.  If one of those quakes had been the BIG one, I would have wasted critical moments.  I would have been too busy trying to absorb it all and determine if it was anything like I imagined it would be when I read accounts of earthquakes as a student.

Anyways... I am thanking God for showing the beauty of his power and his mercy.  This was indeed a great and amazing day to me.

Side note:  My hair is still straight.  I used a goodie ouchless barrette to pull half of it up and I bobbie pinned my bangs behind my ears.  It's boring, but a bit of a change up from the sleek straight look.

Houston, We Have A Problem!

It has only been four short months since I took over my haircare... and look at this!

Look at the amount of products under my sink.  I'll break it down for you:

4 different shampoos
12 different types of conditioners
2 bottles of hairspray (I'm trying to get a light hold, without the sting of heavy alcohol)
7 miscellaneous products including coconut oil, gels, smoothies, milk....

So I am going to take a firm stand right now with myself...ABSOLUTELY NO MORE PRODUCTS. NO MORE!

However, I am in need of more styling tools and accessories:-)  I need a brush of the Denman persuasion and just more headbands, clips and such.  I've never really collected hair accessories except for ponytail holders.  My mother was pretty strict when I was young. I was to return home with my hair in the same state it was in when I left the house.  Therefore, I did not play in my hair and my styles consisted of either wearing my hair down or in a ponytail.  I didn't put much imagination into it. I went to the shop to get it done and NEVER put additional heat on it.

I'm not hating on my Mom.  My hair was always nice and I always had a decent length because I kept fever fingers (yes, that's how my mother described hair-touchers) out of my head.

Of course, I'm two decades behind in do-it-yourself haircare because I just never had to do it before.  I've ripped out lots of hair and it's definitely been rough, but I'm proud of myself.  I'll get it together soon enough... and hopefully use all these dang products on which I spent my hard earned money.

I've Been A BAD Girl

I got my hair straightened today and I love it!!!  The stylist trimmed off two inches and gave me a press.  My scalp felt the heat of that comb a bit more than I'd like, so I'm glad that I won't need another trim for two months.

My trip to the shop was bad and good.  As I told my mother, the shampoo boy gets a thumbs DOWN.  I was so excited to see a man would be washing my hair because big hands mean a great scrubbing.  But he was so timid. I was definitely underwhelmed.  I like a little aggression in the scalp---  makes it feel good.

Anyways, after he shampooed, he attempted to untangle at the sink and I was about ready to sit up, when he finally gave up (let's just say it wasn't going so well).  I was moved to the blow dry girl, who quickly detangled, blow dried and moved me on to the stylist.

I loved the stylist.  I mean.. she's not better than my two favorite of all time (Dorothy and Frenchie), but she was better than the last chick I had.  We talked about the products I use, how I use them and how I style my hair.  It was a very interesting conversation.

And that's when I was bad and purchased MORE shampoo and conditioner.  I just couldn't help it. I haven't found my staples yet.  But I got some Design products and I am really hopeful that these will do the trick. I want to have two sets of good products so I can trade them out each week.  I also picked up a pack of larger curflormers and a new clip.  Yikes!  I'm putting myself on punishment.

I'm hoping to keep this straight look going for two weeks.  After that, my goal is to get more out of my curlformer sets.  When the curls start to fall, I want to do more than pull it back in a severe bun.  So I've been looking at some YouTube videos in hopes of finding a style that I can fashion my hair into, after the thrill is gone from the curls.

Musings

My hair is in limbo at the moment.  Wash day is Saturday.  I THOUGHT I was going to a shop to get it straightened and trimmed, but they sent me a rather impersonal email cancelling the appointment. Ugh! I am so annoyed.  So, I have another date with the curlformers and jacked up ends.  I may have to figure out how to trim it myself.

Here's something random:

A woman at my job told me she tried to twist her hair back like mine (not pictured above), but it didn't work because her Asian hair is too thin.  I was stunned.  She thinks my hair looks good like that.  Here I was lusting after her jet black, stick straight hair.  Interesting.

Oh and update: I just called the salon.  It turns out they had a software malfunction that sent out cancellation emails.  Hooray, my appointment is still on!  I'm getting my trim:-)

Strange Happenings

These are my curls!  It's day 3 of the curlformer set and I spent the day in drizzle.  I think it held up pretty well.  Of course my standards of cute may be changing because I've been so whack for so long.

Happenings.

1.  I found out that my Vitamin Shop carries Aubrey Organics facial cleansers, but it doesn't carry anything for hair.  Workers can order it for you, but they do not have it in stock.  I thought it was cool that they were willing to order it.  I didn't need any. I am on hiatus from purchasing products because things seem to be working okay at the moment.  I need to dedicate those funds to accessories:-)

2.  I went to Victoria's Secret to pick up some undergarments and discovered a little secret.  Chocolate brown bras are seasonal.  I consider the color my nude because I'm chocolate, but when I asked the lady about it, she told me this should be the season for it, but they don't have them in stock.  I gently placed my bag filled with items down and left.  There's no need to purchase something from a store that considers me seasonal.  It's funny they have the nude that I consider tan in stock for all styles all of the time. There was not a single chocolate brown bra in that store.

3.  My husband made we walk away from a new bag that I didn't have cash for.  I tell you I was ready to whip out the plastic, but he reminded me that the credit card was not a responsible option.  I'm still a bit mad at him, but I'm happy that he loved me enough to say it:-)

Ok.. It's Officially My Bday

This is how my hair looked for the big day.  It held up a bit better than expected, but my edges aren't as smooth as I would like.  However, if I'm going to be 100% natural one day, I better get used to it.  Here are some shots.  This is day 2 of my latest curlformer set.

I swear this camera makes my hair appear a lot shinier than it really is.  Oh... and I forgot to mention that someone actually complimented me on my hair.  She made my freaking day.  I thanked her out loud, but in my mind I felt like I'd won a gold medal.  This hair is a mighty battle.  Every little bit counts:-)

Birthday Hair!

I stayed up all night Friday to do my hair.  I knew there was no way I could do it this weekend because my birthday is Sunday.  While I am so happy to celebrate another year of life, I was most happy about spending an entire weekend with my hubby.  I wasn't going to let my hair stand in the way of that.

When I got home from work Friday night, I walked the dogs and quickly got down to business.  Once again I sectioned my hair into six sections.  I did the first shampoo outside the shower.  I sprayed each section with water and lathered up with Giovanni Tea Tree shampoo.

Next I hopped in the shower. I rinsed out the Gionvanni and did a second wash with the Shea Moisture raw shea restorative shampoo.  Next I piled on lots of the Suave professionals Almond and Shea butter conditioner.  I wasn't expecting much from it because I'd read some 'ifey' reviews, but it was alright on the first try.  I piled it on each section, pinned them up and finished up.

So I did the usual deep conditioned and yes, I pulled the curlformers back out. I was up until five am putting those bastards in.  This time I used ORS twist and lock gel for hold (I don't think I used enough, so I won't comment on the results).  When I woke up, I sat under the dryer for an additional 90 minutes hoping my hair would be dry.

Duh da Duh, it wasn't.  Once I took those darn curlformers out, I had to sit under the dryer for another hour.  So my curls won't last as long, but whateves.  Here's a look at it before I left the house.

After hours in windy San Francisco, this is how it looked afterwards.

Excuse the harsh lighting.  The curls are already falling and I can't wait to see the hair disaster that awaits on my actual birthday (I do not sleep lightly).  BUT I am so proud of the little progress I've made. Plus, I'm treating myself to a visit to a new hairdresser next weekend.  My ends are in desperate need of a trim:-)

Bun It Is

So... after looking at yesterday's pictures, I plopped a headband on the front to try to salvage that mess.  I didn't take a picture because...well... it was hard to look in the mirror or at a camera lens.

Today, I decided to bun my hair and use two goodie ouchless headbands to try to smooth out the front.  My front is a bit choppy because it is trying to recover from that bad perm.

Here's a look:

I at least don't feel shame today. Hopefully the front doesn't frizz up mid day. BUT as it stands, I feel pretty good.

Shout out to Fred Shuttlesworth for fighting for my equality and Steve Jobs for changing my life so much that I now blog.  Wow!  Steve is getting all of the attention, but Fred without you, I probably wouldn't have had access to Steve's inventions. Thanks, Dudes:-)

Hair Today!

It's Day 4 of the curlformers and well... I didn't leave enough time to tackle my hair. So, I look like a bald-headed boy. At least my hair FEELS better than it looks:-)

I tried to use a scarf to flatten it out in the car.



It didn't work. OMG!

 From the front I looked bald, but surprise!

There's hair back there.

Today goes into the EPIC FAIL category. I shall carry on!

Curlformers Day 2 & 3

I pineappled (meaning I piled all the curls on top of my hair) my hair at night and took those curls down in the morning.  The curls held perfectly in the back, but my front needed some work.  It wasn't as smooth and shiny.  I wasn't terribly disappointed, as this is a work in progress.

But here is what it looked like on Day 2:

So... I look a bit busted in the face here.  Concentrate on the hair!

You can really see where my new growth ends and the relaxed ends begin. Kind of cool.

I wore it out to lunch with my hubby because I felt it was fun, but I pulled it back for work.  Big hair means lots of attention and I've never been one that liked to stand out for anything other than the quality of my work, while on the job.

Oh and here's day three:

The curls look great in the back.

Yikes!  That shot is great for the curls, but makes my back look strange.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I think everything will be pulled back for day four.  I'll have to wait and see:-)

A Hair Breakthrough?!

There is a small chance that I may be on the brink of a breakthrough, but I don't want to say it as a fact, until about a month from now.

BUT!! For the first time since I started this epic battle with my hair.  I think I may have won a small victory.  This week, I tried my expensive curlformers again and SURPRISE! I am happy with the results

People, this is more than five months post relaxer.  Now what this picture doesn't show is that my edges are a bit frizzy, but whatevs.

I'll breakdown how things went this weekend.  I separated my hair into six good sized sections.  I spritzed each section with water and used the last of my dry-itchy scalp shampoo to scrub each section individually.

Next, I hopped in the shower, rinsed out each section, washed again with Shea Moisture shampoo, rinsed again and dumped some v05 conditioner on there.  I finger detangled each section, rinsed, twisted, secured with a goody ouchless band, then continued my shower duties.

I think I could have saved some time by literally rinsing a section, putting in the shampoo, rinsing again, then slapping on the conditioner, but I did everything to my entire head before moving on to the next step.

Anyways, once I was out of the shower, I applied Neutrogena's Triple Moisture mask, combed it through each section and sat under the dryer for 15 minutes.  I rinsed it out in the shower, let my hair sit for about 10 or 15 minutes, then I dried each section, applied Knot Today, combed it out and braided it.

I walked my dogs and did some other stuff, before busting out the curlformers.  If you read about the last experience, you know I lost two big chunks of hair the last time, so I was extremely careful.  I counted them all out. I had 48 (I think).  My hair was in six sections, so I figured 8 would be good for each section.

I worked through two sections of my head, then threw some laundry in the machine.  I worked two more sections, stopped for laundry (you get my drift).  I was tired at the end, but, unlike the last time, I had enough curlformers for my entire head.

I used Shea Moisture's curl enhancing smoothie, a very little coconut oil and Bee Mine curly butter to set the curls. I slept overnight with the not-so-comfy curlformers.

The curls looked pretty good when I took them down. I separated the curls and pinned them back for the finished product.

I plan to pick up some ORS twist and lock gel for the next time.  Oh, I'll also sit under the dryer for as long as possible to dry.

My next goal is to make my hair look pretty again for the next time and to cut down on my styling time. It takes me all day to do this.  I don't know if I should only shampoo once or not, but I like my hair clean and I feel like one shampoo isn't enough.  However, I'm trying to use as many natural products as possible so it won't take so much to clean my hair.  I don't know if the twist and lock gel fits under that description.