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.

1st Flexi Rod Set

I am doing a lot of FIRSTS on this journey. First it was the caruso steam rollers, then bantu knots, and now flexi rods! GO ME...GO ME....GO ME...

I have used flexi rods on my weaves and on my hair just for curls or styling purposes, but I never did a whole flexi rod set on my or anyone else's hair, and I wanted to know how it would look on my shoulder length hair. I have several packs of flexi rods but I did not have enough of one kind to make a set so I went to my local beauty supply store and picked up about six (all they had on the shelf) of the blue 9/16 inch flexi rods they had. I had about 4 packs at home.

On Friday night, I used four flexi rods on the front of my hair (bang area) to see which direction I would roll them in (either towards my face or away from my face) and I also wanted approval from the boyfriend to see if this style would work- he told me to go for it.

Today I washed out my overnight pre-poo using organix coconut milk shampoo and conditioner, deep conditioned without heat for five minutes using mixed checks deep conditioner, and then applied my leave ins.

I turned the music up on my ipod and proceeded to roll my hair, using water and lottabody to keep my hair damp. I also used end papers on my hair and rolled up my hair. A TOTAL OF 60 BLUE RODS AND ONE RED ROD (1/2 inch) WAS USED. I stress this because of all of the videos I watched on flexi rods, no one really ever said how many they used. So once again, each flexi rod pack came with six rods and I used a total of ten packs plus one red one.

I then proceeded to stuff my big Medusa head under the dryer for an hour and a half to two hours (after an hour I took out some of the rods in front and they were still wet, while the ones on top of my head were dry so I removed them). Note: My whole head did not fit under the dryer so I just sat under it as best as I could.

Here's a quick video:

1st Bantu Knot Out Ever

This past week I wore my hair in a bantu knot out. I was bold and decided that I wanted to know how the bantu knot out would look on me. I had purchase some children's hair scrunchies and decided that I was going to use them.

I had about ten Bantu knots all over my hair.  I used my ORS hair lotion to moisturize my hair and followed that up with my sweet almond oil to seal. After knotting my hair, I went to bed and took them down in the morning.

At night, I would do the pineapple method (placing the hair on top of my head and securing with a scrunchie), put on my bonet, and go to sleep. The knots lasted for 4 days. By Friday, I had combed down the knots and detangled my hair to prepare for this weekends wash.

I liked the results and would definitely do this style again.

Flat Twist Out

I was reading a blog post on CurlyNikki.com by Shanti who is a natural and did a twist out on her hair. I had the natural or curly head products in my house that I purchased when I thought I was transitioning to natural. Attached is the 3 part youtube clip of the process but I'll just document what I did, pretty much following Shanti's method (check out her blog- acurlsbf.com ).

1. I pre-poo'd hair with VO5 moisture milks conditioner, jojoba oil, coconut oil and sweet almond oil.
2. I washed my hair with Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner.
3. I deep conditioned my hair with Mixed Chicks Deep Conditioner without heat for over an hour
4. After washing out the DC, I sectioned my hair from ear to ear, tucked away the back half, and then did a side part in the front and worked with one section at a time.
5. On the section of hair I was twisting, I applied Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave in conditioner and sealed with Sweet Almond Oil.
6. I parted my hair for the section I was going to flat twist and applied a dime size or so amount of Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie and proceeded to twist. At the end of each twist I applied a snap roller to curl the end.
7. I had four twists on the right side, three twists on the left, and about eleven twists in the back.

I applied my satin scarf and bonet and went to sleep. The next morning I removed my rollers, and I applied Fantasia IC Frizz Buster to my hands and untwisted my hair.

Here are some of the results:

I made this twist out last for 5 days. The first day I just wore it down, but after that, I wore it in updo's and in a messy bun.

Check out my youtube video for step by step details:

Caruso Roller Set

I have a wedding to attend next week and since I am still on the no direct heat challenge, I needed a way to do my hair for the special occasion.

I decided to do a dry roller set using my Caruso steam rollers and I loved the result.

I pre-poo'd over night and then washed and deep conditioned my hair. I then allowed my hair to air dry about 90% before blow drying on cool air. I dusted my ends using my split ender and went to bed with my hair wrapped.

The next morning I proceeded to set my hair with the caruso steam rollers, styled my hair and then went out shopping with the boyfriend.

Like I said, I loved the results. My hair felt so soft and the curls came out nice.

Check out my youtube video to see the roller setting process.

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?