one big, huge, supersize update

I am a lazy blogger. It's true. Partially that's because I'm a lazy blogger. But additionally, it's because I have been trying to figure out the easiest, most seamless way to update the look & feel and navigate-a-bility of the blog. Any suggestions? I had looked into Wordpress a while ago, but I'm not sure.

[Back on topic]

Here is everything that has happened since my last post.

This is from late October...

...after the co-wash & deep condition I detangled (using Qhemet Biologics Olive & Honey Hydrating Balm and my Denman D3) and put my hair in 5 mini-puffs.

This time I braided the roots and THEN did the 2-strand twists. It prevented them from being puffy at the roots, but it made the take-down time super long!

I twisted using Qhemet Biologic's Amla & Olive Heavy Cream (YUMM!!!) and QB's Hairbush Tea (which is basically a very light gel). This stuff is like Manna from Heaven, y'all...I'm telling you!

...I thought I was really doing something! (CLICK on the pic above to see the detail.) It took 7 hours this time and I think that's because of the braided roots. It took a while for me to get the hang of that and I never did really get into a groove like when I just do straight twists. Oh well, better luck next time...

(CLICK on the pic above to see the detail.)

...the hot roller experiment (it wasn't terribly successful)...I went out and got some of those mesh rollers instead & they worked much better. because of my length, the hot rollers just made the twists stick up a little. the mesh ones made it do more of a spiral-y thing and it was much cuter. I'll have to get more so I can jazz up my future twist styles...

That's some pretty serious shrinkage!

BAM!!! Now you can't tell me that twist-out ain't hot like fire!

This was a labor of love, I swear. I used those same Qhemet Biologics products...

...not exactly my original plan for how the back would look, but OH WELL! By the time I got done with the front I really didn't care WHAT happened back there!

I held on to this style for 2 weeks. Surprisingly it held up fairly well.

Those flat twists unravel very nicely. I like how they maintain the length, unlike the 2 strand twists...

This was the next last-minute-emergency-my-hair-is-staaaaank project. I'm getting pretty creative, huh? :-)

Unfortunately, I didn't love it. The only reason is because of the back. Now how pissed off was I: I have like 4+ inches in the back. But when I did this style, those twists barely came up off the back of my head! It was ridiculous!! So it was reasonably cute in the front and in the back I looked like a 1 year old boy. So, since I had a holiday function to go to & I couldn't possibly go looking like a baldheaded hoe (well, I guess I didn't exactly look like a hoe...I wonder what hoes look like exactly...is there a look, per se?.......)

So this was the resulting twist-out. Cute, huh?

I was knocking 'em dead at that holiday party!

I was so impressed with my hair that after 3 very big, very strong drinks, and a long night of bowling, chatting, and generally being cute, I re-twisted about 80% of it, so it would still have some definition today. Not bad...not bad atall!

I can't believe how much my hair has grown sometimes.

This was my very first twist-out, back in May of this year...the 28th, to be exact. All I can say is WOW! What a difference a few months makes.

new skillz

Hey y'all!!


FLAT TWISTS

I finally took the time to try some flat twists...and they seem to have worked.



(now, you know you gotta click on 'em to make 'em bigger...)




(I know, I know, it's not the neatest)





TRIMMED ENDS

After a long & futile search for someone to trim my ends, I decided to do it myself. I used to cut my hair way back in the day when I was a permie & it was all good. So I took the plunge...

I co-washed my hair and parted it into small, bite-sized sections. I detangled each section with my Denman D3 brush and pulled the hair straight, bringing thumb & forefinger all the way to the end & snipped in a straight line. So I cut probably less than half a centimeter from each little section. It took about an hour, & I'm pleased with the results.





(it's all puffy in the front!)



(this style reminds me of Vanessa's boyfriend Robert on the Cosby Show)



MORE FLAT TWISTS

So, hanging around on Nappturality, I got inspired, thinking I could get creative with the flat twists. I did ok, considering I was super crazy rushing, didn't even finish and wasn't looking in the mirror (lazy, just plain ole' lazy). It's still not finished, but I'm sure I'll get 'er done sooner or later. It was a great idea, in theory...

here and there and everywhere

I don't have much to say. Just a few things here & there to keep you in the loop.

ROUTINE

My routine has pretty much stayed the same as the last time we spoke. At a minimum I wet my hair every day. At least every other day, I put in a reasonable amount of MotownGirl's L-IC.

Lately I have also added a small amount of Carol's Daughter Mimosa Hair Honey to my fingertips also, for some additional moisture & sheen. If I don't use a ton of it (like no more than a dime sized scoop) I don't have the allergic & acne reaction to the stuff that I did when I first got it. I definitely can't use it every day, though. It's way too heavy for that and it does drip down my face if there's too much on there. The rule of thumb has become, one dime-sized application of CD MHH between each co-wash. Anything more is a recipe for disaster. The results have been nice though.

The Clairol Herbal Essences None Of Your Frizziness is working so well, I added it to my latest batch of MotownGirl's L-IC. It is still doing amazing things to my curls!

HAIR STYLES

My hair style has been fairly consistent since we last spoke, but here's a few pix anyway...


(this one above is a good texture shot to click on, if you're not sick of looking at my curls!!)





Those twist-y things in the front take me between 10 and 15 minutes to do, but I am so lazy, once I put them in, there's no taking them out. It's really kinda sad. But oh well...


RESOURCES

I have to take a moment to acknowledge that I have given in and started reading the Nappturality forums. When I initially BCed, I had folks tell me about Nappturality.com. I went & checked it out but didn't care for the format (not to mention it runs slow as molasses on my home computer). But I have been going there recently and it would be wrong for me not to at least give a shout out to that community. Those ladies have been extremely helpful, inspiring and entertaining. It is a fantastic resource and I'm glad to have re-discovered it.

So if you haven't already, check it out.

.....and last but not least.....

GROWTH!!

(can you tell I'm excited??)

I have decided that every now & then I will do a growth check in these same spots on my head. Unfortunately I don't have much of a comparison. I have done the front on 2 separate videos (the first time was on "i'm parched (& wordy...and possibly drunk)" and the second time was on "catch up"). But I don't think I have any pix of the side length or the top length, except the ones below. I'll do better...swear!







After 8 months that's how long my hair is! And this (below) is all I've got for comparison (from week 1 and 2):





[EDIT]

and scrolling through old posts, I found this pic from July




That GNC UltraNourishHair is doing it's thang!

the Gerber baby is back!

The last few days have been quite exciting...remember when my hair was shorter & I used to always talk about my curls this, my curl pattern that, oh my cute spirals/springs/coils? It's been a long time since I've seen any of that and I wondered if it would ever be my circumstance again.

Lo and behold.....the curls have returned!

This is what I'm doing these days:

I am limiting co-washes to once or twice a week now. Instead, when I need to cleanse my hair and scalp, I'm doing the baking soda rinse (see below for recipe). It gets everything clean & rinses out the product without being harsh or drying, with the added bonus of making my curls go *POP*!

I have FINALLY figured out that I don't need handfuls of product in my hair. So I have gone back to using MotownGirl's L-IC (see below for recipe). Turns out using a nickel or quarter sized portion goes a long way. And it also doesn't result in the white-head that was happening when I was slathering goo-gobs of the stuff all over myself every day.

I apply the L-IC differently now too. Instead of the aforementioned slathering, I work it around in my hands and only put on what's on my fingertips. Of course what's there doesn't stay for long so then I rub my hands together again to redistribute and go for again, gently, with my fingertips. It helps to control how much product goes on as well as where it goes. It also helps me to touch & manipulate the hair less while it's wet, so that I don't end up with a funky looking fro.

If I feel like I need some additional product or moisture or whatever during the initial styling process, I've been occasionally using either a finger full of the Cantu Shea Butter L-IC or a dab of Herbal Essences None of Your Frizziness Conditioner. If moisture is needed during the day, I spritz with (a lot of) water or (a few squirts of) water/glycerin mix (15:1).

My hair has been full and moist and soft and I really hope it lasts. Oh, and I got this style idea from one of my YouTube girls (Check out nappygungun's "Going To School" vid). I know there's nothing innovative or new about it, necessarily. I just always seem to draw a blank on what to do when I take the twists down.

So here's my most recent pix. All of them should be clicked on and looked at in the giant size so you can really see those curls. Even my "massa" part is starting to curl up a bit!








BAKING SODA RINSE

1 tablespoon Baking Soda
2 cups Warm Water


MOTOWNGIRL'S LEAVE-IN CONDITIONER

1 cup thick, heavy conditioner
1/8 cup oil (I used mostly coconut, then a splash of olive)
1 tblsp Vegetable Glycerin
1 tblsp Silk Peptide Powder

catch up

Did you miss me?

Child, child, honey child....I have been a busy little bee these last 5 weeks or so. I have a few pics, and a few things to say. Hopefully I'll get back onto a more regular schedule soon, so y'all don't forget I'm over here!

JAMAICA

So, I had a week in Jamaica. Before I went, I co-washed, deep conditioned & detangled and in the hours after all that, I got to playing around. Ended up with a modified mohawk.




Anyway, extreme laziness (and business, honestly) set in and I didn't have a chance to start my vacation twists until late the night before departure. Two & a half hours in...




...four hours in...




I was delighted to discover that instead of 8, these twists only took me 5 hours! So I'm getting better at this, thank goodness. I also discovered that you can't take gel on the airplane. Technically I knew that, but the thought didn't cross my mind until we were about to get in the take your shoes off & get groped line. Obviously they threw it away, all while politely turning down my pleading request to "just let me put some in my hands".




I ended up doing the front (my softest part! the part that needs the gel the most!! [groan]) with some honey that I acquired from the Starbucks at the Charlotte airport. I mixed a tiny amount of honey with some water and made a makeshift gel. It was a little bit stuck to my bandana after a few hours but that didn't last. Lucky for me the twists DID last and looked great! They held up well through all kinds of swimming and other random water play (it was a few days prior to the hurricane, so there was lots of rain) and because I was in chlorine and salt water, I did 3 baking soda rinses without the protection of a stocking cap. And I did the Sea Breeze thing on my scalp a few times too.




The twists held on for 4 weeks.





Last Jamaica comment.....I thought it was very nice that the "Children Crossing" sign clearly shows people of color.



TWIST OUT

As always, the twist out was super cute!







THE WASH & CONDISH

A week later & it's time to wash my hair. I used 2 new products....Herbal Essences Hello Hydration and None of Your Frizziness for my co-wash and was happy with the results. I used so much, I actually got a pretty good lather going! I needed it - my hair was a mess after 5 weeks of no combing or detangling and only cleansing the hair/scalp a few times. Surprisingly though, the detangling process was very simple and quick. I mean don't get me wrong, in 5 weeks I had shed enough hair to cover several small children....but the comb through was not problematic. My only issue is my perpetually clogged shower drain.

And boy is it growing!!!!!






THE VIDEO

quickie braid - out

In an effort to bring back the moisture and loveliness to my hair, I had an idea.....how about instead of waiting to do the long drawn out twist & twist out, I just do a right-quick thing that I can rock for a few days. That right quick thing ended up being a quickie braid out. I randomly braided the front & sides and in the morning I removed said braids so I should have some texture.

Results....

...the first time I tried this, I was shocked to discover that my hair is way too short to make big chunky braids and I am way too lazy to deal with making a bunch of braids. So I ended up with a cornrow single/combinations...







To get some hold in the braids I used a combination of the Organic Root Stimulator Loc & Twist Gel and the Giovanni Sunset Styling Lotion.



They were still a little damp in the morning, but it was all good. I took down the braids & sprayed in just a bit of water and the Aldrea's L-IC, and VOILA!...a new hairstyle is born!!







Kinda cute, huh?

That braid-out lasted about a week, and my hair was a little nicer for it. It wasn't nearly as soft and luxurious as with the previous twist & twist-out. But much better than after I used that shampoo. I'm definitely feeling like I need to co-wash less, and find a milder shampoo to use when I do co-wash. I'm beginning to think that because it's summer time, my product mix needs to change to account for all my hours in the sun.

I did it again a few days later, made the braids much neater and had good results again.

i'm parched (and wordy...and possibly drunk)

FINALLY!

I have managed to upload the video that was supposed to accompany the last post. After asking every computer person I know, contemplating making a $30 video editing software purchase, and going through many many additional changes...I have a 2 part video that I hope you will enjoy.

It's extremely long (which is the reason for all of the nonsense) so I won't bore you with tons more commentary. I just gotta say that one of the things I had to do was download a free trial of a software that would convert the video format from .MOV to .WMV....so there's a pesky thing that covers the screen throughout the video. It couldn't be helped.


PART 1


PART 2