I LOVE MY HAIR!!!

This was too cute not to share!

4 Months!!!

HE HE HE...yes, today is 4 months post BC. I am a little excited and a little bummed out at the same time. I am glad that my hair is growing but I am at the weird stage where nothing looks right. A wash and go is just not where it's at. I do not have the patience to do twist correctly and neatly for a twist out and I have no idea how to do flat twist. Oh, on top of that I feel like the back is growing at twice the rate of the front. My bangs are almost imaginary (okay, I am exaggerating). Maybe it is just that the curl pattern is different. I have been stalking youtube for ideas and I have found a few. Also I got a curly wig and I have been rocking that. I find that I do like the wigs for protective styles instead of the braids. I like the idea of being able to still get to my hair and wear my hair if I want to. Oh, I can make a miniature ponytail...he he he...so I can go and by an afro puff pony tail and rock that now too I guess.


Anyhow, to celebrate I am giving myself a deep conditioning treatment. I am using 30ml (2 tablespoons) of olive oil, one egg and garnier fructis deep conditioner. You can use whatever conditioner you like, I am just trying to use all of the garnier up. I have had it on for about and hour now so I am going to rinse it out, apply a leave in, maybe Infusium 23 or the Giovanni, not sure yet, add my grapeseed oil and coconut oil and let it get mostly dry. I will then use my whipped shea butter mixture and but some twist all over. I am not trying to do them neat since I plan to protect my hair this week with my curly wig.


Until next time...

P.S. I am so NOT a fan of Miss. Jessie’s. Maybe it’s me but I found her products greasy and overpriced. Like I said, I do love the smell but some of her products have mineral oil and petroleum as the first or second ingredient so why are they so high priced? We shall save that discussion for another day okay.


Peace, Love and Wigs
~GNH~

DEEP THOUGHTS

None But Ourselves Can Free Our Minds

Hey y'all. I came across an article the other day and I had to share it with you. It explains better than I ever could why I am able to wear my natural hair with pride. I tell people all the time that I didn't go natural because of political or social reasons. I just didn't want to get relaxers anymore. It just felt like the right thing to do. Over the months, things got a little bit more personal. Wearing my hair natural became a statement. Here's a concise explanation: I relaxed my hair because I wanted to look like everyone else. I went natural because I wanted to look like me. Period. Check out the article below on an issue written by a brilliant woman whose name I cannot seem to find! Her blog is named "Womanist Musings." What a Muse, indeed! She touches on a lot of issues that many naturals deal with. The article makes some excellent points and it's quite a good read.

The name of the article is Can I Touch Your Hair? Black Women and The Petting Zoo
Link to article
If you don't read the whole thing, at least read this quote from the article:

"Natural hair equals revolutionary because it says I do not covet whiteness. It says I have decolonized my mind and no longer seek to embrace the qualities of my oppressor. It flies in the face of beauty traditions that seek to create black women as unfeminine and thereby undesirable. My natural hair is one of the truest expressions of the ways in which I love myself because I have made the conscious choice to say that I am beautiful, without artifice or device. It further states that I will not be judged by the yardstick of white womanhood. My beauty is a gift from my foremothers who knew on a more instinctual level than we know today, that 'woman' is as beautiful as she believes herself to be."

Until next time, be blessed.  Now get out there and enjoy your day.

Peace, Love and Blackness,

~GNH~

Yep, that black soap is da bomb!  I will be using that to shampoo my hair weekly or biweekly but will continue my cowashes daily to every other day.  Oh and I tried that hello hydration herbal essence that folks are talking bout, uhm, yeah, not sure about that one.  I have only used it once and if the results don't get better I WILL NOT be repurchasing.

Okay, now that my hair is making it's debut I don't want to get in the wash-n-go rut so I have been thinking of styles that I can experiment with in order to switch it up so I don't get bored.  I was thinking bantu knot outs and maybe even rods sets.  I have enough hair to do twist.  Oh, speaking of that (I know I am all over the place) they sell Miss Jessie's at Target now so I decided to give it a try.  I did some twist on my hair with the baby buttercream.  Not sure about the product but since everone else swears by it I thought that I would give it a try.  I am not a fan of beeswax and mineral oil being on the list but whatever, I can just clarify right?  Anyhow, I do LOVE the smell.  LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!  It smells just like cake batter to me.  YUM!  I do like the moisture that I get.  I haven't taken them down (did them last night) to see the results but that is the plan tomorrow.  I have 4a hair so most people with that hair type love them some baby buttercream.  What do you all think?

My Twist are Down!

I was trying to wait until Easter to take my twist out and rock my natural fro but last night while waiting for Lost to come on I got bored and we all know what bordem leads to.  Anyhow, I had some serious hand in head going on and before I new it I had a lap full of twist extentions.  I was like oh well, might as well take them all out now.  So 2 hours later they were all down and my hair was detangled.  I used my fake denman and suave conditioner to detangle. I had them in for like 6 weeks so just image all of the shed hair that I had.  I know, YUCK!  I put on some deep conditioner spiced up with olive oil and left it in overnight.  I am about to shower and shampoo with my black soap so I will let you know how it turns out.

Peace, Love and TWAs
~GNH~

I'm Back and 3 months natural YALL!!!

I know, I know, it's been a minute. But honestly, I have been busy. Plus, I have been using this time to learn more about my hair.


Let's see......what's been going on? Oh, after I did the BC I wore my hair out until, uhm, about January 10th or something. It was chilly chill here in NC for the first time since I have been living here so I went and got my hair twisted. I still shampooed and conditioned my hair once a week and used leave in conditioner. Each morning I would spray on a braid spray that I made up with some different oils (olive, vitamin E, grapeseed & castor), StaSof-Fro, glycerin and peppermint essential oil. OOOOO LA LA. It felt so good. I rocked that until right before Valentine's Day, the Friday before to be exact. Then I took them down and did a deep condition etc. I had some pretty good growth and I was happy. I was able to pull the sides down and it came to my earlobe.

My hair is super soft and I will tell you this. When I first did the BC I really couldn't tell what my hair type was. I mean I thought that I knew but since it has grown out some I can really tell. I have some straight COILY hair. I mean it just looks like little springs all over my head except for the back and that stuff is like wavy or something. It does its own thing that's for sure. I am diggin my coils. They are so cute and so springy. I have some serious HIH (hand in head) so I don't know if I can ever just wear my hair out exclusively. I will destroy any style.

Then on February 20th I got the twist put back in. It was too darn cold to be doing a wash and go. I still have them in right now. But let me tell you, my hair is growing F-A-S-T and they are looking tore up but I am trying to work with it. I will probably take them down either this weekend or next. Depends. The weather is so much warmer now so I might just rock my TWA for a month or so and then get the twist redone.

I am still a fan of V05 and Suave. That clarifying shampoo and clarifying conditioner is THE TRUTH! Seriously, I am still looking for an excellent leave in. I am telling you, stuff that worked when I was relaxed, transitioning and even when I first did the BC just ain't cutting the mustard anymore. I still like garnier fructis conditioner but I haven't tried the deep conditioner or leave in.

Any thoughts?

Peace, Love & Twist
~GNH~

Day 10 - Best thing about being natural!

Okay, so it has been a little over a week and let me tell ya....I seriously thought that the women on the message boards and youtube were joking when they say that your hair grows faster once you cut it. But I am a WITNESS. Yes, it really does. It has only been a week and I can tell that it is growing, especially in the back and at the crown of my head. No complaints. I am still getting use to how it looks on me. I am getting a lot of compliments from random people so that always helps so I guess it is growing on me and I must say, my hair has never been so soft, manageable and healthy.

Now, people have all of these list and countdowns about reasons to go natural or the best thing about being natural but let me just tell you this, in my mind there is only one reason I will never go back to a relaxer (outside of the painful a$$ scalp burns). The best thing about having my hair natural is that I can go workout as hard as I want to and get as sweaty as I want to and get into the shower and put my WHOLE BODY, HEAD AND ALL under the water. There is no feeling like this in the entire world. I feel so much cleaner after a shower and I have no idea how I lived without doing this for so long. It is the #1 best feeling in the world AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! For those of you who don't know what it is like there is no way for me to describe it. It is not the same as getting in the shower to shampoo your hair. No sir! It is....I just can't describe it. I am sorry. Anyhow, lovin my hair and as soon as I find the camera chord I will post the pictures of my new do.


Peace, Love and Showers
~GNH~

Day 6 - New Regimen & Hair Pledge

For the past two weeks I have been trying something new. I noticed that my hair was abnormally dry and it felt hard.  You know, crunchy.  I thought that it was because of the weather. I consulted the forums, google and youtube.  Then I started to take a good LONG hard look at the products that I was using. Protiens and silicons are not a friend to my natural hair.  I think that I have found what works for me. I now cowash everyday (every other day before the BC) with Suave Naturals. I do a cold (cool) water rinse and leave my hair SUPER DUPER wet and in the palm of my hand I mix some coconut oil, grapeseed oil, aloe vera gel and garnier fructis sleek and shine cream conditioner. I do not use a lot of any of these since it all has to fit in the palm of my hand. I then rub my hands together (over my head) and apply all over massaging into my hair using the pads of my fingers.  I then try not to touch my hair until it dries to minimize frizz.  My dry, hard hair is now a thing of the past.  Yippee!!! Also, once my hair dries I spritz with my vegetable glycerin/water mix. This helps my hair retain moisture all day in this has cold and dry weather. I love my new soft hair but I am still trying to get use to how I look with this short hair. It is defiantly shocking. I do not regret doing it at all I just need time to take the "kinks" out of my mind. I have to realize that I need to just do me and not worry about what other people will think or say because what other people think about me is none of my business.

My hair pledge:

From this day forward I will ACCEPT you for who you are.

I will not get mad when you frizz or don't coil the way that I want.
I will let you do you.

I will stop comparing you to others.

I will do my part and keep you clean & moisturized.

When you tell me to, I will do a protective style so that you can have a rest.

We are a team.

No matter what each day brings I will let you do your thing.

Below are pictures of the conditioners I now use.

For my cowash.  This stuff works for me and is super cheap.  I got it from Walgreens for like 87 or 97 cents.  These are the two smells that I like.

For my "leave in" and styling

The Aloe Vera Gel and Glycerin

It is amazing that the products that I started off using I no longer use.  The cantu shea butter leave in no longer works for me.  Other than the essential oils and coconut oil I do not use any of the products that I originally started with.  However, I do moisturize at night with the raw unrefined shea butter.

Peace, Love and Accepting the Kinks

~GNH~

Hair Inspiration

This is so beautiful....just beautiful...

Day 1 - YEP, I CUT IT ALL OFF

I JUST CUT OFF ALL OF MY HAIR!!!!  I'll take a picture once I stop freaking out.
Oh goodness.  I guess it is what it is right?  My hubbie seems to be cool with it but you never know with men.  I am gonna have to get use to looking at this.  Super short is all I have to say about it.  I really don't care what other people think or have to say anymore.  If they don't like it then they ain't gotta look at it.

Merry CHRISTmas to my hair.

Peace, Love & BC
~GNH~

Day 100 - Whoops, I got a little scissor happy

Yeah...I know!!!! I will explain the title in a second because you must understand what happened to lead me there. I met with the woman on Friday about getting gypsy twist. They are soooooooo cute. I made an appointment for Dec. 29th. While is was sitting there waiting for my consult I was looking around her salon at the 2 ladies (and one 8 year old) who were there for appointments. Their hair was FIERCE!!! Do you hear me?!?! FIERCE! I mean the stylist had some banging curls too. The little girl had the most beautiful hair I had seen in a long time. She was sportin twist on her 4B hair and rockin it. So I met with the stylist (who only does natural hair and uses natural products) and told her my hair story and my hair goals. When I left I could not stop thinking about how beautiful their hair was. I was thinking...what in the HELL am I afraid of? What someone else will think or what I will think?

So I went to the gym and got my workout on (still thinking these same thoughts). When I got home I deep conditioned my hair. then, as I was putting in the leave in conditioner I thought about cutting it off, but I didn't. I went all day yesterday obsessing over my hair. Should I or shouldn't I??? Well, my husband and I were lying on the couch last night watching a movie and I have some serious hand in head going on. I am pulling at the curls behind my ear and I realize that there is not much relaxer left in that section. I start thinking...what if I just cut this part of to see what it would look like? Well, you know what happened next, I cut that section off. I liked what I saw. So then I did from ear to ear across the entire back of my head. I sprayed it with leave-in conditioner/oil mixture and used some shea butter to put the area into two strand twist. I took the twist down this morning and LOVED IT!!!

So now I am trying to gather enough nerve to cut the rest of it. I am sure I will. I just think of it this way, if I don't like it that is fine because I will get the twist put in next week anyway.  See the picture below.

Peace, Love and Scissors
~GNH~

Day 95 - To braid or not to braid? That is the question.

I am at that point where if I don't either chop it off or get braids or twist or something then I might just go crazy. I am not one for getting the standard weaves (tracks, sew-ins etc.) so I already know that isn't an option. I have been toying with the idea of getting some twist with extensions. I found some cute cute cute pictures and I think I might give it a try. I am looking for a salon that specializes not just in natural hair styles but products as well. Also, I need a salon that understands transition hair and how to do the braids correctly so that they are not too tight and won't damage the hair line. I just don't want to ruin all of my hard work. I have a consult appointment with a salon in downtown Raleigh on Friday. The salon information is
https://www.sophiasunflower.com/Home_Page.php

Now, if I go through with this I will need some help on how to care for the braids as well as my own hair. So if anyone has a clue let me know. I am not ABOUT to pay someone to shampoo/condition/moisturize. I ain't made of money.


Peace, Love and Braids
~GNH~

Day 89 - Conditioners

I was surfing youtube and saw this video.  I found it helpful cause I have a WHOLE LOTTA natural hair now and I am looking for that "perfect" conditioner.  I knew all about silicone and what it does to your hair (didn't really care at first cause I had more relaxed than natural hair) but I didn't know which conditioners to use/get.  I could have gone to the store and read every bottle but why do that?

Any - who check it out below.



Peace, Love & Silicone Free Conditioners
~GNH~

Day 82 - I am really feeling my hair!!!

Whooooo-wee!!! For the past 3 days I have really been liking my hair.  I don't know what it is but i'll take it!!  I haven't done anything different.  I am not sure if it is because it is growing out more so I cut off more of the relaxed ends therefore it looks fuller or what.  But honey chile I am really vibing this.  I have been getting mad compliments too.  Two complete strangers stopped me in the grocery store on Monday and said "Your hair looks so nice!".

I will tell you that I did start using grapeseed oil on my hair and not only do I like the smell, I think that it is going to be my new go to oil.  My hair seems to like it more than the carrott and other oils that I have tried.  So for me it is coconut oil, grapeseed oil and shea butter baby!!!  Below are a couple of pictures of my hair. I didn't take one on Monday.  I mean it WAS Monday.

This was on Tuesday.  Excuse the facial expression.  I didn't know that Matt was about to take the picture.

This was today.  Cute Cute Cute.  Well, at least I thought I was looking cute.

I did a simple bantu knotout and used coconut oil when I took them down.  Not sure why but the second picture is day two of the same curls and they still look good.  I do plan to redo them tonight since I got caught in the rain like 10 times today so a few of them started to fall plus today is my co-wash day.

Peace, Love & Cute Hair

~GNH~

Day 76 - Hair and Working out. Interesting.

Anyone who really knows me knows that I love to get my workout on. I mean my husband and I are at the gym so much that the people there know us by name and actually get concerned if they don't see us. If I miss a day or heaven forbid, 2-3 days in a row the first thing they say, hey have you guys been on vacation? Sick?

Now, I have never in my life let my hair dictate my ability to exercise. I have been known to go to the salon and then head to the gym. The fact that people let their hair come before their health amazes me.

Day 75 - Tryin sumpin new

Whew!!! I had an awesome workout today. I really got my sweat on. Yes, I normally don't workout on Wednesday's but tomorrow IS turkey day so I had to prepare for all of the yummy things off of the bad food list that I plan to consume.

Today is co-wash day. I did a co-wash with Pantene Relaxed & Natural Conditioner. I loved it on my hair before my hair journey and it is still one of my favorites.Now, while I was in the shower I was reflecting upon some styles that I had seen on YouTube. I was thinking maybe with having these next few days off work I would experiment with some.  Once I was done I put in the Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in Conditioner. Normally, I sit under the dryer on low for 20-30 minutes or at least until my hair is just damp. Then I roll it or do whatever style I am going to do. But today after applying the leave-in conditioner I decided to air dry my hair. Then I am thinking that maybe I will try a braid out. I saw a bunch of those on YouTube and actually there was a lady at the gym today who had one and it was THE TRUTH!!!! Once my hair dries more, I am going to braid it up and put rods on the ends. I have no plans to do anything tomorrow or Friday so when I take it down I will take some pics and tell ya how my many braids I did etc. Stay tuned.

Peace, Love & Experimentation
~GNH~

Day 74 - Pics of my new fav style.

Well, yesterday was a rainy mess and I had a really hard workout so of course my head was near disaster status.  Which was fine because that allowed me to be able to do my favorite new style today.  Pics are below.   I will be rockin it tomorrow as well. Today was casual day at work, otherwise, I would have had on a much fancier head wrap :-)

Front/Top

Back

side

other side

I like it.  Easy, quick and not a lot of manipulation.  Since my hair is short and I have a lot of poofiness from all of my new growth, I balled up a satin scrunchie and "stuffed" my french twist to give it volume.  When I wear a low bun I do the same thing.

Peace, Love & Quick Styles

~GNH~

Day 72 - Got me a new style YALL!!!

Yep, it's been a week since my last post and I do apologize. Last week was one hell of a week. You may think that you know but you have NO IDEA!!! I am telling you, last week was one for the record books in terms of the abundance of immaturity and stupidly that I had to endure. Anyhow, in the midst of the craziness I let me hair regimen slip a tad....I know, I know, but in the process I found me a fly a$$ hair style to rock. Yes, I forgot to take a pic but I will do it this week when I slap together the style again.

So this is what happened. I started with week off right. I was rockin' my rod set both Monday and Tuesday. Now, since Wednesday is normally my co-wash day on Tuesday night I used my big 'ol detangling comb and a boars hair brush to pull my hair back into a loose bun. On Wednesday I wore my hair in the bun with a scarf tied around to hold the edges and to give me a little poof. Now, when I got home on Wednesday I was so freakin mentally drained that I just couldn't do it. I just put on the satin bonnet and went to bed. When I got up on Thursday I was like ...HMMMMM... what to do? What to do? I took a satin scrunchie and used it to "stuff" my hair into a messy french twist with a little poofiness at the top. It was so cute. I got mad compliments on my hair too. I got so many compliments I rocked it like that on Friday too.

It is a pretty simple style and took me like 5 minutes to do and requires no curling, heat or any other manipulation. It is a great style for just about any occasion and since it requires very little manipulation I will be doing this one a lot more.

I will do it like this again on Wednesday so that I can take a picture.


Peace, Love & Transistion Styles
~GNH~

Hair pics from the wedding

Sorry that it took so long but I finally got around to finding a picture of how I did my hair for the wedding that I was in.  It is a side view but this is the only one that I have until the professional shots come in.  You get the idea!!!

Day 65 But it's a LOT of work!!!!

Anything worth having at all is worth working for and waiting for. So quit your whining!!!!! I have met some interesting people since I have started my natural hair journey. Some are fellow transitioners and some are already natural. From those who are transitioning I am constantly hearing this, “Girl, I don’t know how much longer I can take this? My hair is a lot of work.” Of course transitioning is a lot of work. You are working with two different textures of hair and trying to hide one while providing the proper care for the other. Yes it gets frustrating at times and of course there are days when you just want to slap it in a ponytail but ya can't.

To maintain the proper mindset about my hair I just think about it this way. I compare HAIR care to HEALTH care. Yes, it is sooooo much easier to just go out to eat, head for the drive through or do a grab an go. However, it is so much BETTER for you to go grocery shopping and cook at the house. Is the later concept more work? HELL YES!!! I know this all too well because I grocery shop for my produce and essential items once a week. I do the HEAVY duty grocery shopping once a month. My husband and I sit down plan out my meals, yes all three and 2 snacks, and head to the store. When we get home we separate all of the meat, trim the fat, season and place in freezer bags and label which meal it is for. We then clean all of the produce and herbs that we bought and store them properly. Does this take a long time? Uhm, yeah it does. How long? Well, excluding the trips to the store it takes me about 2 hours to put it all away, organize the meals, clean, season and store it all. Is it worth it? YES. I know what I am eating everyday for a month!!!! I don't have to come home after working all day and figure it out. I don't have the urge to stop and get some UNHEALTHY meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner because I have already figured all of that out.

I have applied this same “no think” philosophy to going to the gym. I have figured out a routine that works for me. On Sunday I only do cardio and core workouts, no weights. While on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday I do cardio and weight training. On Saturday's it depends. Sometimes Saturday is like Sunday and other times, I go twice a day. Once for cardio and core training and if I choose to return later in the day it is for weight training. Wednesdays are my day to come home from work and do NOTHING (also it is my co-wash day). Now, this works for me and my lifestyle. Now, am I dog tired after working all day? Yep, but maintaining could health is important to me so I make the time.

Now, let's apply these same principles to maintaining your hair when transitioning. Once I started transitioning I picked 2-3 styles that I knew I could do quickly. DO NOT VARY or try to be "interesting" and change it up. It will just lead to heartache and pain. Yes, I do get tired of the same ol THANG but that is why I do one of the styles for 2-3 weeks and then switch it up. I have also found a routine that works for me with maintaining my hair just like I have found one for eating healthy and working out. When I come home from work/working out, I shower and do whatever it is that I need to do to my hair. If I am just maintaining a style, I will re-roll or bantu knot any places that need help and put on my satin bonnet. If it needs a co-wash I do that, sit under the dryer (low setting) for 20 minutes and then bantu knot the whole head or rod set the whole head. I save all of the heavy duty stuff for the weekends when I not only have more time but I am also less tired so I can take my time and not damage my hair. Honestly, it really isn't taking me anymore time than it did when it was relaxed. Yes, the night ritual was less time consuming because all I had to do was wrap it. However, in the morning it was a 20 minute process. Now I spend like 10 minutes at night if I am just doing a touch up curl here or there each evening. So it is a matter or where am I spending the time. Personally, I would rather sleep 20 more minutes in the morning. On the midweek co-wash, yes, it is more time but while I am under the dryer I catch up on emails and all of that kind of stuff. This routine works for me. Since most of my life was pretty much regimented, when I started to transition finding s routine was not that difficult.

The trick is to find a routine that works for your lifestyle. All things healthy are a lifestyle change and must be treated as such.


Peace, Love and Healthy Routines

~GNH~