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~