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.

20 Weeks Post Relaxer

Soooo... Things went pretty well this time.

Yeah, I know my part is crooked:-)

I decided to do my first shampoo OUTSIDE the shower. I separated my hair into about eight sections, sprayed it down, applied shampoo and scrubbed like mad.  I pinned each section up, until I could hop in the shower.

Once in the shower, I rinsed each section out and applied a second round of shampoo.  My hair felt squeaky clean.  I know most naturals and transitioners are not fans of this feeling, but I like it. I want to know that my hair is clean.

So next I used A LOT of VO5 creamy conditioner to put some moisture back in there.  I finger detangled, rinsed out the VO5 and deep conditioned with Neutrogena Triple Moisture mask.

From there, I sat under the dryer for 15 minutes, rinsed out the conditioner, dried it with a t-shirt, applied Knot Today Leave-in and braided it up.  I later applied a little Shea Moisture Curling Enhancing Smoothie and coconut oil.
I didn't really style. I was lazy, I pulled it into my normal 'Black Mormon 'do.'

To summarize: It took two hours to wash and detangle my hair because of all the sectioning, BUT... and it's a big BUT... my hair did not violently curse me out.  It was darn near nice to me. I still felt like I lost more hair than most, but I did not have a three hour detangling session and that alone is a blessing.

I think I'll try this same process next week and see how things go.  If I like it, I may try to toss in some curlformers to switch up this incredibly boring look.

Side note: my scalp is still itchy. I think the change in seasons is getting to it. I need to find a good moisturizer for it.