Afro- 5 Months Post

In preparation of my box braids, I washed, conditioned, deep conditioned, and blow dried my hair. I used Grapeseed oil as my heat protectant and my blow dryer on the low setting. I parted my hair into four sections and made those sections even smaller while drying. I used a wide tooth comb to detangle my hair followed by my denman brush and then the wide tooth comb again used by drying my hair.

After my hair was all dried if formed an Afro. Check out the video below to see my Afro at 5 months post big chop (BC).

My hair journey since going natural and my thoughts

On October 7, 2012, to my surprise, I let my boyfriend big chop my hair. I wanted to know what my natural hair looked and felt like. My hair had been chemically processed since I was 5 years old so I was excited to see my hair.

After the Big Chop (BC), my hair did not curl- it did not look like other ladies who had their BC videos up on Youtube. My boyfriend told me this would happen; That my hair would not look like the other ladies because I have thick hair, bla bla bla. But once I seen my natural hair, I knew I had to embrace what I had.

I do not want to get caught up in curl typing- my hair is very tightly coiled in some places, my hair does not clump together and curl, and it shrinks A LOT when wet. I thought it would take forever for my hair to grow and I was growing impatient with my afro from October to December.

I measured my hair length every month from October to present, and my hair has been growing at a steady rate of 1/2 an inch a month. From December to March, I joined the Winter Castor Oil Challenged started by blogger and Youtuber Blakizbeautyful at Kinky Coily Curly Me and I continued with the Spring Castor Oil Challenge which ends in June where I have been applying Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO) to my hair three times a week and most recently started using JBCO as my hot oil treatment.

In January, I found my hair to be long enough for me to braid so I did box braids for a month or so, followed by cornrows and kinky twists, and now I am in box braids again until about May.

In March- I was able to two strand twist my hair and I wore it that way for a week. After taking the twists outs, I was able to put my hair in a puff! My first short term goal for my natural hair. I was so excited. Then I blew out my hair and seen how big my afro was. By keeping my hair in protective styles, I was not focused on its growth- A watched pot doesn't boil right! My length checks were just to figure out my growth rate.

Since going natural, I have realized that since my hair is no longer straight/relaxed, I am more willing to try out different styles with my curl texture. I would never have wanted my hair to be so short and I would never have considered leaving my house with it that short either. But now, I live freely and am eager to try new styles!!

I still have not found the hair products that make my hair stand out- I do not even have a stand out hairstyle yet- so my journey continues.

~Danie~

I BC'd- Yes I Actually Did It!

October 7, 2012 is the day I went natural and did my BIG CHOP

After the mini chop that I did on the 4th, part of me wanted to cut the rest of my relaxed ends off and another part of me wanted to continue to transition. I woke up on the 7th and while waiting for the boyfriend to wake up to wash my hair, I explored youtube's 4C naturals and watched video's of their big chops and how their hair grew in six months to a year. I had already decided that in 2013 I would be natural and my debate with cutting my hair right now was that it is getting cold my head with freeze.

The boyfriend woke up and I expressed my thoughts to him and he told me to transition and cut hair off little by little. That was not the answer I was looking for, I wanted him to say "cut it all off". After I told him that, he said that is what he meant and encouraged me to cut it off..

I figured now would be a good time as I can rock some of the wigs I've made to work this month to give my hair time to grow and my curls time to form. This will also give me a change to play with my hair to see what it likes and what it doesn't like so in six months (April) when it gets warmer, I could rock a puff!

Right now all I have is a dry, coily (in some places), "nappy" as the boyfriend will say, TWA that is really TEENIE.

Mini Chop/ Pre Big Chop

My last relaxer was June 1, 2012 and due to split ends, the hair dresser cut my hair from APL to full SL.

I had synthetic box installed on August 18, 2012 for a summer protective style and vacation as I went to DR for my birthday week.

I started removing my braids on Thursday October 4 from the back of my head ear to ear and I decided to do a mini big chop and cut off my relaxed ends. I was excited to do it and shocked that I did it. I am not sure if I want to get into curl typing but my hair was very tightly coiled and shrunk about 75% (I'll say that I think I am a 4c). After the cut, I slicked down the back of my hair with water and olive oil eco styler and tied it down with a scarf for the night, but my hair would not stay flat.

I removed the rest of my braids between Friday and Saturday and DC'd overnight. I plan on rocking either my bobraz 3/4th wig from early this year, or my Yaya Virgin Hair. I wanted to get micro braids, but I fear that my hair is too short to be braided.

I do not know if I want to cut off the rest of my hair....I know for sure that I am not ready to rock my short hair so If I do cut it, I will leave some length to the front of my hair as a leave out for my wigs.....

I'll keep you all updated. Check out my pictures below:
I could not see the back so great so I had some straight pieces that the boyfriend will cut off after I wash my hair.
Hair from the back of my head. It measured about 7 inches in length.
I was suprisingly happy and I did not cry! Probably because I know I can hide the shortness with my own hair.

Transitioning to Natural

As you can tell from the title of this post, I have made the decision to transitioning to natural hair for several reasons.

1. I have never seen what my real hair looks like: I have had a chemicals in my hair since the age of 5 years old when I had Jheri Curls. As a young child, I remember dressing up in my Sunday Dress for church and having to sit in the kitchen while my mother combed my hair with this metal comb she took off the hot stove. I was burned so many times, I ended up afraid of curling and flat irons if they were not being used by myself. I have looked through several pictures of me as a child and only one picture has my hair in its natural state, and that is in my professional baby picture where I had a small afro. So I am curious to see what my hair was meant to look like.

2. I have been dealing with under processed hair for two years: I transitioned for a whole year from March 2009 to March 2010 but did not have the confidence to cut off the relaxed ends. So I relaxed at home and misjudged how much my hair grew, so there was some under processed parts to my hair. I went twice to get it corrected, most recently in June 2012 and it did not work. I have come to realize that the only way my hair will no longer be process is if I cut off all the relaxed pieces. Then my hair would not be processed at all if I stick with being natural!

3. I am at a point in my life where I need a change: and the easiest change I can make is with my hair. So why not! Right now I have the support of my boyfriend who has been encouraging me to cut my hair off now- at two months post! Not going to happen Buddy. LOL. I've decided to even color or highlight my hair now which I have never done, only so I could actually see growth!

Since my last relaxer was on June 1, 2012, I am thinking that I will be fully natural as of June 1, 2013. This will be a few weeks after graduating from Graduate School- which signifies another change in my life. I have been thinking about keep my hair at shoulder length,which would require that I get my hair washed, blown, and flat ironed at the salon so that they can cut my hair.

If I feel that I have s good enough amount of new growth by January 2013, I may do my big chop then and keep my hair in braids and kinky twists until the summer. There are so many options out there for me and I haven't quite decided on what I want to do. However I am about 80% sure that I will be 100% natural in the year 2013 and I will stick to it for a whole year!

Stay tuned to my future post to see what I have decided.

Air Drying

I am on a summer 2012 challenge on one of the hair care sites I am a member of, and part of the challenge is to do weekly washes, so I have been washing my hair on a weekly basis.

Today, because I had a paper to work on, and my sister's hair to do, I decided to air dry my hair. I did my same wash routine from last week using Organix Coconut Milk shampoo and conditioner, and then I did a protein treatment with Aphogee Keratin 2 Minute Recontructor for about 7 minutes. After that was washed out, I t-shirt dried my hair then I detangled with my wide tooth shower comb and sprayed the Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Reconstructurizer, and applied my leave in conditioner, pulled my hair back, and placed my satin scarf over my edges.

After an hour and a half of air drying, I applied some Coconut Oil to my hair.
After three hours of air drying, the roots of my hair and the back/middle section of my head is still damp.
After air drying for 5 hours, my hair is about 95% dry.

Before going to bed I will pull my hair into a loose ponytail or bun and sleep with my bonet on.

How long does it take you to air dry?

Summer Go To Styles

Since having my hair trimmed on June 1, 2012, I knew that I did not want to style my hair in ways that would cause my ends to split or become damaged, so I told myself that I would try to keep my hair up and off of my shoulders until I reached APL again. Not only does wearing my hair down cause breakage and split ends, but the weather can also add to this. Since it is summer, my hair needs to be well moisturized so that the sun does not dry out my hair and my ends. Here are some pictures of styles that I have been wearing:

 Flexi Rod Set on dry hair

Banana Clip Bun

Flat Twist Out on Damp Hair

Flat Twist Out Dry

Donut Bun

What do you ladies do to your hair in the summer?

My Sister's Sew In

Today my sister asked me to install her sew in. She purchased two packs of hair- Outre Yaki 10 inches, color 1B and Sensational Too Yaki, 10 inches, color 33. I also had some left over Milky Way Hair, 10 inches, color 1b/33 which I used.

She wanted to leave a u-part of her hair out, so she asked me to relax her edges and the hair to be left out. After relaxing, deep conditioning, and blow drying her hair, I applied Cantu Shea Butter and Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship to her hair.

I then proceed to braid her hair. I braided the sides of her hair down (3 cornrows on each side) two braids around the u-part, and the rest of the hair was braided in a circular motion around the back of her head. I applied my  Sweet Almond Oil and Peppermint Oil mix to her scalp.

My sister suffers from breakage at her nape (not sure why), so I had to add a net to that area of her hair, and I added another net to the area where the braid ended so that it would not unravel during the time she is wearing the weave.

I applied half of the 33 to the back of her hair, which covered about half of her head in the back, then I applied the 1B/33 to the top about two rows, and filled in the gap with the 1B. I flat ironed her leave out and curled her hair.

I did not take pictures, but here is the video.

What do you think? Job well done?

Preparation for New Hair Style

Yesterday I broke free from my 3/4th wig (which I am going to miss). I took down my braids last night, detangled my hair and decided to prepoo over night. For my prepoo, I used Youtuber's MrsDoingMe2011 method with the products I had in my home:
Pre Poo:
1 tablespoon of Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon of Sweet Almond Oil
1 tablespoon of Jojoba Oil
10 drops of Peppermint Oil
VO5 Moisture Milks Conditioner

I mixed the products in a paper bowl and then applied it to my hair in four sections (one in the back, two on the sides, one at the top/front). I placed the sectioned hair into two strand twists, put on my shower cap, head scarf, and my bonnet before going to sleep.

This morning, my boyfriend was kind enough to wash and condition my hair:
Products Used:
Shampoo: Aphogee Deep Moisture Shampoo
Conditioner: Aphogee 2 Step Protein Treatment

My boyfriend said that the 2 Step left my hair really soft as he applied it to my hair and when he washed it out!!!

I let my hair air dry for about 45 minutes (my sister wanted her hair done- see separate post) then I applied my leave in's, heat protectant, and blow dried my hair.

Products Used:
Leave In: Cantu Shea Butter
Leave In: Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship
Heat Protectant: Organic Root Stimulator Heat Protectant

I will be bunning or doing updo's this week. On Saturday I plan on getting Micro Braids which I hope will last me two months.


Note: All products mentioned was purchased with my own money. I am in no way affiliated with any company.

Caruso Steam Rollers on Weave

Hello!
So...When I came home from work yesterday I wanted to do something different with my 3/4th wig. Before I installed the hair, I read somewhere, and saved it as a note in my Blackberry,  that the hair (Premium Too) should be kept straight, heat free, and free of products. Did I listen? NO. I totally forgot. After I washed the hair, not only did I use a blow dryer and flat ironed the hair, but I used Heat Protectant. Since I changed my phone last week, I just so happened to stumble across the note I had regarding premium too hair and hoped that I had not messed the hair up.

Anyway, back to yesterday. So when I came home from work, I wanted to add some curls to the hair. So I dug out my Caruso Steam Rollers, which I have had for about 6 months, and only used them once. I set up the base in the bathroom, and gathered about ten large/extra large rollers. I placed the rollers on the steamer for about 10-15 seconds which gave me time to section my hair and detangle. In no particular order, I rolled my hair and the weave in the rollers and also placed the roller cap on the steamer for a few seconds.

I let the rollers stay in my hair for about 30 to 45 minutes (I was playing on the x-box and lost track of time) and then took them out. I pin curled my hair for the night and took them down in the morning.