Hubby vs Hair Health

There’s no other way to start this post off than by saying credit is due to my DH (dear hubby) because he doesn’t make a big deal out of my hair obsession; partly because he loves my hair almost as much as I do but… there comes a time when I gotta choose - my boo, or my hurr.  Boo, hurr, boo, hurr, lol. What does one have to do with the other you ask?  Well... extended periods of trying to be cute, chucking protective styling out the window for vanity’s sake, doin ‘the grown up’ sans satin scarf so you don’t wanna kill the mood, allowing him to play in my hair alot (my ends mostly aswell!) does take its toll, usually in the form of an army of SSKs that appear like stealth bombers overnight lol.

Some would say well isn’t the point of growing your hair to to enjoy it and be creative with it and in turn be attractive to your husband?  Well yes, but… I guess it depends what your hair goals are and how close you are to achieving them.  As for me, I definitely want more length (hubby loves how much I have now, but is intrigued with the thought of having more to play with, haha).  So in the interests of maintaining my sexy, do I slap his hands away, wear my satin scarf like a second skin 24/7, protective style alllll the time with no breaks?  Earlier in my journey, it did kinda feel I was trying to walk a tightrope between keeping my goal of longer hair on track, as well as maintaining my sexy/keeping hubby happy, now I am a little more relaxed about it.  Hey, it’s a journey…

Source

Regal Dark Skinned Beauty

Source

I love her skin and the hairstyle!  The model's own hair looks straightened or relaxed, but if you're a long time locked head, or if loose utilise some 'stuffing', some extension (or your own really long) hair, and you could recreate this head-turning look!

My Initial Thoughts on the Tangle Teezer in Comparison with the Denman D41

Thought for the Day...

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centred; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.

Kent M. Keith

Today's Natural Queen: Shevs

Today's natural beauty is a special friend of mine - God-chaser, teacher, famous-fingered hairstylist to moi, and now blogger, Shevs!

How long have you been natural?  What was your reason for transitioning?  Why have you stayed natural?

I have been relaxed twice in my life; once when I was 10, and again at the age of 22. I transitioned because my hair did not like the process, resulting in excessive breaking of my very short strands.

Tell us some of your hair journey and how you transitioned.

After discovering hair care forums, blogs, fotki, etc. I decided that I wanted to take better care of my hair, but with all that information, I would try to jump on to all the bandwagons.  I had a lot of mishaps not realising that each new addition to my regimen was too stressful for my strands.   The result was breakage and not a lot of progress. I found transitioning really easy and I BC’d very quickly after my transition. As I have spent most of my life as a short haired natural the process did not phase me at all.

Does having natural hair hold any special significance for you, or is it ‘not that deep’?

Natural hair does not have any special significance to me, it’s hair not health.  I admire all types of hair.  I prefer natural hair on myself because that’s how it thrives. I also like the carefree nature of it and would encourage everyone to try it.  I am a Christian woman and attend a pretty strict church where chemical processing is not encouraged so that is also part of the reason why I have stayed natural. I can wholeheartedly say that will never chemically alter my hair again.

What are your staple styles?  Are there any natural styles you can’t wait to try? What styles (natural or not) do you detest? 

My staple styles are kinky twists or braid extensions. On the few occasions my hair is not in braids it is in twists.  I am looking forward to a wash and go for the first time this spring J.   I would also like to try a chunky braid out on blow-dried hair when my hair is Mid-back Length. I do not like any hairstyle that involves a lot of glue type gel or styles that can cause the hairline to recede.

Is there anything about your natural texture (or a particular stage in your haircare regimen) that you still struggle with? What product/ technique forever changed your hairstory?

At the moment my biggest problem is split ends; if am honest it’s a pretty big problem. I have read a lot on the topic and decided not to stress over it and let them be - hair is a fibre and fibres are delicate and no matter what you do there will be some damage.

The crown and nape of my hair is 4a from my dad and the remainder is 4b from my mom lol.

Henna has been my hair’s saviour! I get so many compliments from random people on the thickness of my hair. Though it has always been thick, henna has really made it luscious. I have curls wow! My hair is stronger and I enjoy asking my brothers and sisters to try to break a shed hair and seeing my hair stretch and then make a healthy popping sound!

I also love love love Herbal Essences Hello Hydration and Jamaican black castor oil.

What are your hair goals?

My ultimate goal is to be full Bra Strap Length that stretches to Mid-back Length.

Give me (a)   A common misconception about natural hair that you have proved untrue, (b)    A pearl of wisdom to pass onto a transitioner / new natural.

That it doesn’t grow - coz it does, duh!

I would say to a transitioner stay focused and stay out of other people’s journeys or you won’t enjoy your own.

Where can we find you online?

http://members.fotki.com/godbless/about/

http://soldandnews.blogspot.com/

Your ‘tweet’ to naturallovesong readers:

I love seeing an idea take off especially when it’s being done by one of my close friends.  I hope that this blog evolves into something amazing.

God Bless xx

Box Braids!

My favourite and most frequently worn protective style; versatile, long-lasting, allowing almost full access to the scalp, washable at will with no problems... I love my box braids! 

Recently I've discovered that whereas I used to love my braids when they were freshly done (because they showed off more length), nowadays I really don't like the first few days of box braids/pixie braids because it just looks too... well... scalpy.  It didn't used to bother me, but all of a sudden it... well, what can I say... does.

At about 2 weeks, my hair has got enough fuzz to it that my scalp is no longer seems to be screaming 'HELLO!!!' from my scalp.  Also when I'm in box braids I wash my hair at least once a week, sometimes more so the shrinkage begins.  When that advances, there are a whole new range of styling options, twistouts, braidouts, bantu knots... As opposed to always seeking to minimise it, I love shrinkage in my braids because my individual strands are still stretched and confined so they can't lose themselves in a horrendous tangle-fest. 

I'm going to take pictures throughout the life of this set of box braids.  For now... scalpy...

Video on my box braids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfH2aeYDuGM

Peace and love

Pooks

Curls from Wet Set Bantu Knots

Short compact curls one minute, fluffy fro or intricate cornrow style the next.  Don't you just love the versatility of natural hair?  This video shows how I set my hair after washing, to stretch it out.

My Hair Journey Part 1: Young & Natural

I made this video to address questions about being natural when I was younger.

Getting Out Of Your Own Way

Something I read today:

"Dang, this could be a sign that someone else sees my ability and I might not have an excuse any more to sit on [insert talent/gifting here]. Shoot! I hate when something fun now becomes fearful just because someone recognizes it."

This resonated so much with me.  I really need to get outta my own way sometimes.  Do you need to do the same?  God wants to use you; yes you!  /you already have the unique calling He created you with on the inside of you.  You know it.  You feel most alive when you're walking in it, people are blessed, don't sit on it!

Wow.

LORD help me be grown enough to do what your will is, develop thicker skin or selective hearing if necessary. Not my will...

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Another post sharing similar sentiments:  http://www.maneandchic.com/2011/03/getting-in-your-own-way.html

Scalp Exfoliation with Brown Sugar - Take 2

*WARNING: 2nd 'journal entry-ish' post, conclusions to follow*

11/03/11

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup Yes to Cucumbers Colour Care conditioner

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp aloe vera juice

2 tsp Aubrey Organics Green Tea Clarifying shampoo

I pretty much used the same method as the first time, but it was a bit more liquidy this time because I decided to add aloe vera juice this time.

My hair was pre-sectioned into about 5 big plaits.  I mixed the above together, and applied it to my scalp, rubbing vigorously through all sections for about 3 minutes and then twisted each section back up.  No water had touched my hair or scalp.

I rinsed out the micture while my hair still in the twists, and then applied AO GBP to each section, plaited up and deep conditioned using my heat cap for 40 mins. 

I then detangled with the conditioner still in my hair (something unusual for me),  loosely rebraided my hair, and rinsed.  I allowed my hair to airdry in towel for about 20 mins  (I did not manipulate my hair with the towel, just allowed excess water to get soaked into it, and then twisted with a squirt of AVJ/water spritz and KCKT, rewetted whole head then sealed with AOHC and chinee-bumped.

Body Beautiful Update

So... I've not been exercising like everyday, but I have been eating well and keeping sweets to a bare minimum  and no chocolate guys, I'm taking a break off that cocoacrack, that's my kryptonite!  How am I managing this?  Well, I'm starting my day off with my 'Waistlength Cocktail'** (so dubbed by the ladies of LongHairCareForum), snacking on this stuff:

... and eating as many green leafies and raw salads as possible.  At the same time I'm still a foodie, so I am in no wise gonna be eating only salads every day, that just isn't going to happen.  I've been really busy with church events, lots of rehearsals coming up in the next few weeks leading up to more events, but I also want to pick up my exercising.  For a few weeks last year, I was walking to work every morning (about an hour's walk), but the weather is still cold and miserable right now so I'm not feeling so inspired to pick back that up yet.

**Hair Cocktail Recipe from the book “How I Stopped Growing Bald and Started Growing Hair” by Dale Alexander

Ingredients:
¾ cup of whole milk (I sub this with rice/almond milk)
1 raw egg (I've stopped using the egg for the moment)
1 tbs. raw wheat germ oil
2 tbs. raw wheat germ (cannot be toasted)
For flavour you can add in a few strawberries / blueberries or some other fruit

Blend at low speed for thirty to sixty seconds.  Drink this blended mixture promptly.  This drink should serve as your complete breakfast.  Do not eat or drink anything else for two hours after drinking this mixture.  Keep all ingredients refrigerated until use.  Once you notice the changes in your hair you may cut down on the daily intake of the hair cocktail and take it only twice a week.  Of course, since it is a healthful drink, you may prefer to continue taking it indefinitely.

My Twistout Cinnabun is Featured

Just a quick one!

For the second time since I started my hair journey, my hair has been featured again!  This time the request came from kurlybella who wanted to use my hair in an 'I Want Her Hair' post.  She has a fashion & natural hair blog kisforkinky which I love!  Check out the post here.

Currently I don't have a video tutorial for this style, but it's really very similar to the style I demo in the vid below (tutorial starts at 1:37):

Happy styling!

Pooks

I hate US Naturals! (hmph)

OK OK so I don't really hate US naturals, I just hate that I don't have the ability to walk down to Sally's and pick up the latest hottest thing on the hairboards.  I'm mad that I gotta pay through the nose in GBP for my favourite products and possibly get hit by big shipping and sometimes even customs charges on top!  I'm mad because all the hair show and multiple meetups you'll find over there just don't come around as often in the UK.  I'm especially mad at all the Etsy stores with cute hair-friendly accessories with all the vendors based in the States so the UK prices are inflated and then you gotta add shipping again!  I know I shouldn't be, but I am a little jealous...


I wanna ask my fellow UK naturals, where do you go fo fabulous n fly accessories in the UK cause really all I see is bland or expensive most places I look.  I love a gorgeous flower in my fro as much as the next fly natural!  Anybody know of budding hair accessory makers in the UK?  If yes, hit me up in the comments section!