Day 25 - Today I am 65 days SOBER. LOL!

Ha Ha....guess what? It has been 65 days since my last creamy crack application. Maybe I should go out and buy myself something to celebrate. Hmmmm, I do want a new wide tooth comb. It really does feel good. I just cannot keep my hands out of my head. What is up with that? I am so pleased with the progress. My hair is the softest it has ever been. The last time I was "natural" I did not really know how to truly take care of my hair and I was using all of the wrong products. Chicas, knowledge really is power (thanks Francis Bacon-1597) so go out and get educated about your hair & skin. No two people are alike and what may work for me may not always be the best for you. Try new products, experiment on dry, wet, and damp hair. Also, depending on where you are shopping lots of places offer samples. TAKE THEM!!! But I will tell you this, whatever products you choose to get remember that you need moisture/oils and lots of it. Don't forget about your roots and protect your ends.



Peace, Love and Vitamin E Oil!!!
~GNH~

Day 24

I must say that since changing my hair I have seen a DRASTIC improvement in my skin. Long gone are the days of ten million zits. My clear skin is B-A-C-K!!!! When I moved to NC I had natural hair and for the most part I wore it in braids but there were times when I would straighten it with the blow dryer. Back then I had wonderful skin and I didn't use any products other than body soap and sun screen on my face. Within the last 4 years my skin had started pissing me off and I had no idea why. Everyday there was a new pimple on my face or back. It was ridiculous. I tried product after product and nothing worked. I never consciously thought that the CRAP I was putting on my scalp and hair had any effect on my skin. Yeah I know DUH Erica!!! Since gettin off da creamy crack I have also gotten more complements about how I look and not just about my hair but about my skin too. My husband tells me every day that my skin is just so soft and clear. My friend Karen, who is not easily impressed with anything or anybody, could not stop telling me how beautiful I looked with my hair in curls. She said it brought out all of the features on my face. I was told that "I simply glow!" She said that I should have done this years ago. Yeah, hindsight right. Anyhow, I know it took me some time to do what I needed to do but I am doing it. I am experimenting with products and finding out what my hair likes and doesn't like. It is a fun journey and for someone like me who isn't patient it is a learning experience like no other.

Since my last post I have decided that bantu knots are going to be my everyday style. I like the look of them and they are really easy to do. I will do rod sets when I want to look nice or I am going someplace special.

On Friday morning I co-washed my hair with Pantene conditioner and I used the shea butter leave in that is pictured below (posted last Monday). I did a rod set since me and my cutie hubbie were going out on a date. I sat under the dryer until my hair was about 90% dry. I mixed Infusium 23, water, carrot oil and vitamin E oil in the spray bottle and used that to wet my ends and roots as I rolled my hair. I have the rolling process down to about 22 minutes -- WOOT WOOT--Tho dem hands in the ayer a-ayer ayer a-ayer fo me!

I had a bar mitzvah on Saturday so the style kept for the next day as well. Yesterday I had ZERO plans other than going to the gym so I really didn't care what it looked like. Today I had a dentist appointment and it was starting to look raggedy so I threw on a headband and went on with my day. I worked out and came home and washed my hair with the coconut shampoo (that stuff smells WONDERFUL). Well, let me clarify that, I didn't wash my hair I washed my scalp because it was itching something terrible. I used the Pantene conditioner and detangled in the shower. When I got out I used the shea butter leave in and sprayed my roots with the Infusium 23, water and oil solution that I mentioned above. My hair LOVES this mixture. I have found for me that the bantu knots work better on dry hair more so than on wet hair so I sat under the dryer for about 25 minutes. Before I go to bed tonight I will do about 8 bantu knots.

My Hair LOVES:
Shea butter
Carrot oil
Vitamin E oil
Coconut oil
Infusium 23 ***good lookin out Deidre. i had forgot about this***
Pantene conditioner
Coconut milk shampoo

My hair HATES:
Being styled/rolled/manipulated while wet - must get 90% dry first
Non organic shampoos - yep, this has been the problem all along wish I woulda know this years ago.
Oil Sheen of any kind - again, hindsight
Hair gel
Hair spray

http://www.naturallycurly.com/hair-types

Peace, Love and Coconut Oil!!!
~GNH~

Day 19 - Wednesday Rant!

Ugh!!! Do people NOT work? Traffic was a mess all day long. I am off work right now and I try to run my errands during the day so that I do not take up parking etc. for those who need to run errands after work. Today I had a ton of stuff to do and only got about half of it done. I had to drop my bridesmaid dress to get alterations. I got there when they opened and dang on it, there was a freaking line 4 folks deep. WTH!! So, okay, fine, next stop was Sam's Club and I was like are you serious, I gotta park at the END of the parking lot!!! It is freakin 10am!!! Fine, next stop, post office. Well you already know how that went. So then I swooped by the mall to look at dresses for the Bar Mitzvah and that place was a mess. I hit up one store and lost patience. And no, I didn't find anything. Now, surprisingly the last place that I went was smooooooooooth sailing. You will never guess. Try??? Nope. Guess again. It was Wal-mart. Yeah I know right?!?! I got primo parking and there was NO waiting in line. That only happens like once a year. So I decided to end the day on a high note and save the other errands for tomorrow.

So, speaking of Wal-mart, I did check and they do have that shampoo that I mentioned on Monday. You gotta look down low. The one I went to had the coconut milk one and a tea tree kind. Target has more options but at least now I know I can get it there as well.

Last night I was on YOUTUBE (yeah I know big surprise) and I was watching bantu knot videos because I still want to give it a shot. I found a ton of them. Some people put as few as 4 in their head and they turned out great. So I decided to give it another go. What the heck, it's just hair. I moistened my hair a little with the water, conditioner & oil solution that I have and just grabbed sections of hair (no parting) and did about 10 bantu knots. The trick many people said was to not try and have defined parts, finger comb and make sure that ALL of it gets wrapped around and pay special attention to the ends of your hair when wrapping.

So I did that and I liked the results. I am sure it would be even cuter had I done it BEFORE the twist out that I had to turn into a fro. After I co-wash later this week I will try it again. But I like it. It took me about 4-5 minutes to do 10 of them. I used hair pins to hold mine in place. Next time I think I might do even less; let's say about 8.

Here are the results.

Front - Ain't I cute!!!

Back- I am still cute!!!

Peace, Love and Essential Oils!!!

~GNH~

Day 18 - Reasons why I am glad I'm going natural

Knowledge truly is power. I am so glad that I have taken the time to get educated about my decision to go natural. Relaxers really do chemically alter the state of the hair. I majored in chemistry. I worked in a lab. You would think that by default I would know better. But I was an idiot for many years. Yes, I know that sodium hydroxide is a strong base having a pH in the neighborhood of 12-14 depending on the state it is in (liquid/solid). Yes, I know that substances that have a pH that high can cause chemical burns. However, I still put that crap on my head. Feeding it to my body. Letting it burn my head and damage my crown of hair. WHY!??! I have no idea and that is why I stopped (one of the two reasons). Point being this, if you don't know why you are doing something then you need to stop.

I am enjoying my new hair even in its transitional state. I did try to do twisted bantu knots. I didn't like how it turned out. Well, I did like some of them but I think that I need to wait for more new growth. The top (crown) of my head turned out well, but that is where most of my new growth is located. I will try them again in December. I combed them out so now I am sportin' an ANGELA DAVIS. But it's all good cause I ain't going no place today and tomorrow, Thursday and Friday I will just put on a beanie or floppy hat. I will spray it down and do a rod set Friday when I come home from my doctors appt.

This is the two strand twist bantu knot that I was NOT a fan of so I combed it out.

Angela Davis would be so so so very proud!!  LOL!

Well, here are the 10 things that I excite me about my natural hair journey.

10. I no longer have to spend $70+ every 4-5 weeks. YES that often
      and that much!
9.  No more smelling like chemicals or burning hair. My hair smells
     so yummy all of the time now.
8.  I can ride with the windows down.
7.  NO MORE FLAT IRONS!
6.  No more zits WOO-HOO!
5.  I can sleep and extra 20 minutes in the morning.
4.  I love learning about my hair and skin.
3.  My hair does something new and interesting every day.
     Somedays I am Diana Ross others Angela Davis and
     yesterday I was looking like Freddie from that
     show A Different World.
2.  I can't keep my hands out of my hair. It is already just so soft
     and fluffy.
1.  I can scratch my head WHENEVER I WANT TO!!!

Peace, Love and Shea Butter
~GNH~

Day 17

Someone once told me that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Well, no more. I can't keep using the products that I am using and expecting to have my hair and skin look better. So I just spent the better part of the day in search of hair care products. Let me just say it easier to find a set of black albino identical twins married to identical Korean twins in Bangkok, China than it is to find natural black hair care products. SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!! I am not making this up.


The ingredients that I was trying to avoid in my shampoo were Sodium Lauryl Sulfate & TEA Lauryl Sulfate.

These ingredients are very harsh on the hair and scalp and are not needed to truly clean the hair. These items strip oils from the hair. Sodium lauryl sulfate is an ingredient in household cleaners (why would I put the same stuff on my hair/scalp that I use to clean my toilet???). Also, diethanolamine or more commonly called DEA, is a suspected carcinogen and one of its derivatives, triethanolamine (TEA) has also been shown to be carcinogenic.

Additionally, I would like to avoid mineral oil and petroleum products. Both of these things clog pores, suffocates skin, causes skin/scalp/hair to become dry once the application wears off because it acts as an impenetrable layer that also causes the skin to produce even less moisture than it should (which is why the petroleum product is usually being put on it in the first place, what a vicious cycle!?!) and it is possibly carcinogenic (do to the way it's manufactured), is a non-renewable source, and is a by-product of the petroleum/oil industry. Also, mineral oil is a petroleum by product that coats the skin similar to plastic wrap, clogging the pores. This stuff interferes with the skin's ability to eliminate toxins, promoting acne and other disorders. Slows down skin function and cell development, resulting in premature aging. Honestly, this stuff belongs in your ENGINE, not on your hair or skin.

I was also trying to aviod any products that contain isopropyl alcohol for the obvious reason that it is very drying. This is a solvent and denaturant (poisonous substance that changes another substances natural qualities). This petroleum-derived substance is also used in antifreeze and as a solvent in shellac. Natural hair reacts very badly to isoalcohol and this ingredient should be avoided at ALL costs. It will dry your hair out and break it off.

So this may just be the scientist/chemist in me but I know FO DAMN SURE that I would not eat anything that has this crap on the ingredients list so again, why I am feeding this junk to my skin/hair???

The thing is most of these items were the second or third listed on the ingredients list and in some cases it was the FIRST (petroleum when I was looking for moisturizers).

Now, with all of that being said guess how many hair care products I looked at which contained one of the ingredients listed above as the first or second thing. JUST ABOUT ALL OF THEM!!!!! Just because something says natural or organic please don't be an idiot. Read the label. Most of the moisturizers and conditioners out there (mostly leave ins) have mineral oil or petroleum as its first or second ingredient. BAD BAD BAD!!!! I picked up every shampoo bottle in the beauty supply store and could not find one that met my needs. Similarly I went through tons and tons of hair/scalp moisturizers and leave in conditioners (cream based) before I found one that I was happy with. Eventually, I ended up going to Target and I found a shampoo that I could live with. I know that I could have gone to Whole Foods but I am on a teacher budget and can't quite afford that stuff just yet.

Below are the products that I ended up buying.


My shampoo which is sulfate free (it smells delicious. just like cake!) and the deep conditioner. My mom use to use this on my when I was a kid.  It really works well for me.  The conditioner does have mineral oil but it is WAAAAAAAAAAAY down on the list.  Plus, I have used this before with excellent results.

The twist n' loc was for my bantu knot twist that I am going to do and the shea butter leave in conditioner which I am also pretty darn pleased with. DO NOT GET THE SHAMPOO...it has just about all of the bad ingredients that I mentioned above.

Moisturizers.

I mixed the oils together in a spray bottle.  The tea tree oil and shea butter I already had.  The shea butter I put on my hair at night or every other night.  Depends.  I also put the shea butter (scented with lavendar petals) all over my skin after I shower at night.  My skin feels so soft and silky in the morning.

Peace, Love & Organix

~GNH~

Day 16

BOUT TIME!!!!! I am off work for 3 weeks. I am so happy. That was a grueling 9 weeks. I had 3 new preps and it was killing me. I am going to be more prepared for the next quarter. I will try and get at least 5 weeks worth of lessons done before we start back up, however, that will begin next week. Right now, I am basking in the fact that I've got nothing to do and all day to get it done and that is the way that I like it.

That jet lag was a killer. I am still trying to get adjusted which is why I have not posted. So, let's see...uhm, my hair held up nicely until Saturday. I went to the football game and it was a rainy mess out there. I mean it's all good right cause it's just hair. I came home and used a wide tooth comb and gently combed the curls out. I put a headband on and that was the end of that. Today I oiled my hair with shea butter and parted it into two sections (in the back - no part in the front) made two braids and kinda did a bantu knot situation with them. I added a headband and that was that for today. I have no intentions of doing anything to my hair until Monday night or even Tuesday. I am doing really great. I haven't used heat on my hair since I started this process and I really have no intentions of doing so.

This is what I was looking like....and no I did not give a flip.

I am really enjoying getting to know my hair. I truly feel like this is a different kind of spiritual journey. I am learning things about myself and my surroundings. Such as I am a patient person (when it is required), I am becoming more observant of people and things around me and I am paying more attention to the types of products that I use. Funny thing is my husband and I are very heath conscience people and we are food label stalkers but never once had I considered reading the labels of the prodcuts that I use on my skin and hair. Have you ever really read that list? I mean I would never eat something that has an ingredients list that is a mile long so why in the hell am I putting something on my skin or hair that has a list that long? What goes on your skin and scalp eventually get inside of you just like food. Just something to think about.

Peace, Love & Bantu Knots
~GNH~

Day 12

My hair is still holding up. It is super hot here and I was sweating pretty bad so I am going to conditioner wash tonight and do another rod set. My hair is still really soft. However, I do have a good amount of new growth already which is pretty surprising. I feel like it literally happened overnight. Well, as soon as I get home I will post pictures of what it looks like now and once I put all of the rollers in.

Before - It was an itchy mess. This was in the hotel room.

And this is after I did a conditioner wash and rolled.

Peace, Love & Rod Sets

~GNH~