How I care for my Kinky Twists

When I put these in I began to get a ton of dandruff. Not cool. So I made a product that will help to eliminate itching and dandruff and I have to say it has done a very good job.

I used MSM powder in my scalp spray because it is water soluble and will not clog up the spray bottle, nor will it create buildup on the hair.

I have found in the past that Sulfur has been good at reducing dandruff and itching, this along with the other moisturizing ingredients have improved my scalp a great deal.

Enjoy!

My first grey hair!!

Omg the other day when I was putting in my kinky twists I noticed a grey hair.

I am getting OLDDDDD!!!!!

Ok, I'm being a little melodramatic.

I have to say that as soon as I saw this grey strand I immediately freaked out and thought about hair color.
I do not dye my natural hair at all, aside from the occasional henna treatment. But even then I do not let the dye release and therefore not much of the henna deposits into the cuticle.

I wonder how I will handle hair color once it gets to that point. Will I keep it dark? Will I add some highlights? Will I just let the grey develop?

Decisions, decisions...

I plucked it and then it was gone... I wonder when will I receive another visit.

Kinky twists - Protective Style Challenge

I just finished a new set of kinky twists. I did them a little bigger than I usually do mostly because I dont know how long I want to wear them. I am thinking I am going to keep them in for at least a month and take them out in the beginning of March just before my birthday.

I used this kind of hair:

#2 on the bottom and #30 on the top.

This is the typical way I wear my kinky twists. I like the light color on top and dark on the bottom. But right now I am actually thinking I should have went dark all over. Oh well, too late to change it now. :/

My scalp has been a little dry so my reggie while I have these in is going to focus on moisture. 

I plan to rinse the scalp once a week or so and massage castor oil into the scalp at least  2-3 times each week. The rest of the hair I will just spray with my stasoffro or scurl just to keep it moisturized every few days.

I feel like Im the only person that still uses that stuff! lol

But hey! If its not broke dont fix it!

I have been sick for the past week. Hope I feel better in the next few days. :(

HHG!

Protecting your hair after Straightening.

I did 2 quick videos showing how I protect my hair at night when I straighten my hair.

Here is the simple wrap:




And here is what I do to give the ends that much needed boost! :

My first Brazilian Keratin Treatment

I did my very first BKT the other day and can I say I immediately fell in love!

My hair came out great! Very soft, silky, and shiny with that perfect weight to it that makes it blow in the wind. Amazing!

Heres the video.





Being that this was my first time doing this I didnt spend any time looking at any of the other videos out there. I just followed the directions that were on the box. However the next time I try this out I will do it much more differently than I did the first time.

Next time I will make sure that after detangling each section I braid it back up so that it does not re tangle onto itself. I will also wear a shower cap for that 30 min it needs to set in so that it does not dry out as much before I blow dry.

I will also use the tension method to blow dry the hair so that I do not have to spend so much time detangling the hair after it has dried completely.

Other than that it was great! When applying the product I noticed how much easier it was to comb through the hair. It smelled nice and had a nice consistency. I used about a dime sized amount on each 2" section so I didnt over saturate the hair.

You are supposed to leave it straight for 2 days, but I did revert a small section in the back and I currently have not washed this out just yet.

It has been 4 days.

My hair still feels great. It still has that flow even though I have been using my castor oil which can weigh the hair down a bit.

I love it and I probably will not ever straighten my hair again without using this product.

I kind of want to try it out on my baby girl to see how it works out for her... hmmm...

My love of Mohawks

I love Mohawks!

When done correctly they can be edgy, classy, unique, and fun to wear.

For New Years I used the hair that I colored a few posts back and created an awesome style. Something like that would probably not be a good idea if you have a conservative job. I am editing the tutorial for that and will post this week.

Today I am rocking my natural hair in a hawk style and I loves it mucho!

This style was very easy to create.
I braided My hair wet in 2 right down the middle. Make sure the hair is brushed and smoothed upwards. I applied a little Eco Style gel to the sides and let it dry overnight with a scarf wrapped around.

When I unraveled the braids I had nice soft waves right down the middle. I used bobby pins to make sure the style stayed in place and Voila!

Please excuse the bland look on my face.. ;)

Its the first of the month!

So its the first of December and I am excited about everything that will be going on this month!

Christmas is going to be amazing. I went to toys r us for black Friday and did some serious damage. I had the babies each pick out presents for eachother. They couldn't grab anything for themselves and we left with an overflown cart.

It was a lot of fun & then we went home & wrapped them all in toy story gift wrap. They are stacked up waiting for the tree to be put up.

I want to take them to see the tree at the rockafeller center sometime this weekend. They just had the tree lighting event last night, with the Beiber. I wanted to go but I had other things going on. :(

I did get to witness the Obama drive-by. Talk about security! It was crazy. Streets blocked off all over Manhattan, even to pedestrians! I had to walk 2 streets over just to cross Park ave!

New years, I am really excited for. Times Square is always crazy so that's most likely where I will be!

The hair situation.

Right now I am in the middle of some mini twists which are taking forever. I started the other day and have been so busy yesterday and today that I'm still only half way done. Hopefully I will finish them by tomorrow night or so.

I am going to wear these until the end of the year. So a good 30 days.

For new years my style will be a pink & purple mowhawk!!

The color job that I did below..

It's going to look awesome and ill keep it till I'm tired of seeing it. After that I will probably put it up in my kinky twists.

I am excited about my 2012 challenges and am mentally preparing myself for success. I know that I am good for starting something and not completely following through, but I'm sure I can do it without any short cuts... Or maybe just a few? Lol

Here's a shot of the twists. I'm in Subway with a chicken, bacon, & ranch on honey oat and a caramel frappuccino waiting on me. Yum!

Gotta go!!

Color Adventures!!

I was on BHM reading up in the lace front section. I came across a post where this girl posted pics of her FAB custom made lace mowhawk piece. She lightened the ends and dyed it pink. It looked great on her!!

It has been a very long time since I've worn a mowhawk and I have been dying to bust out a crazy fab hairstyle for a while. I posted a video of my last hawk hairstyle.

Anyways, I had some hair left that I was unable to use. I bought a weft and a closure piece which was supposed to be custom made. But the Chinese vendor obviously forgot about it and when I inquired about it he sent me whatever they had in stock laying around. Of course I was pissed and was never able to use the pieces that were sent. If you would like to know the vendor just let me know. I will never use him again.

I am glad to have finally come up with a good use for these pieces. I hate letting expensive hair go to waste. I stopped by Sally's to grab the supplies needed to achieve the look I was going for.

This is what the weft looks like. I was supposed to be a deep wave but obviously its more in between and closer to being a body wave. I did wear this a few times as a ponytail and it did look really good.

 This is the closure. I was never able to use this piece.

 Here I measured out the powder and the developer. I just eyeballed the amounts. I used slightly more developer than the powder.

 Here it is mixed together. You want to form a paste, not too liquidy, but not too thick. It should be easy to spread onto the hair.

I sectioned the hair into pieces and basically painted the mixture onto it with plastic separating each section. I made the highlighted sections very chunky.

 I use plastic wrap to color the hair. I do not like tin foil and with the plastic you can actually see what you are doing. You can see if it has proccessed enough.

 Here is the closure after it was lightened. This was exactly what I was going for. Very nice highlights, even though it could have gone lighter. I didnt time how long it was left on and I applied heat to help the process.

 Here is the weft after it was lightened. you cant really see the color so...

 Here is a closer shot.

 I then applied the semi permanent, wrapped with plastic, and then applied heat.

 This pic isnt great but you get the idea. There are hot pink and purple streakes throughout the piece.

 This pic kind of gives you a better idea of what it looks like. I combed all the hair out here. Very frizzy, and getting ready to be conditioned.

I really like it, cant stop playing with it. I have been extremely bored with my hair and decided it was time to switch it up. I may not actually do this style for a few more weeks, but stay tuned. I will post when I do.



Challenges for 2012

Here are the challenges I am doing for the year 2012 in an attempt to air it from APL to MBL. MBL is my goal lenght and I am giving myself 16 months to grow and keep the 8" needed to make it there. Hopefully I will make it there in less time. Cross your fingers!

Protective styles challenge for the entire year of 2012

This is simply a hide your hair challenge. I plan to wear my hair in protective styles for the entire year. I am going to start the year off with a set of kinky twists that i will wear for at least 2 months. My aim is to wear them for till April. After that I will probably do sew ins or whatever for the rest of the year.

Crown & Glory challenge

This is what I am doing while in the kinky twists. My own modified version. Will update later.

Baggy challenge

When I am in between long term protective styles I am going to wear the ponytail baggy consistently. This keep the ends of my hair protected and moisturized.

Deep condiotioning challenge

When not in long term protective styles I plan to deep condition 2x a week. When I do this I notice my hair is in tip top condition.

APL, BSL, MBL challenges

Obviously. These are my goal length challenges. I'm giving myself till Apr to make full APL. Giving till Aug to make BSL. And finally giving till Feb 2013 to make past MBL with layers.

Vitamin challenge

Last but not least. My vitamin challenge. I am really bad with keeping up with taking my vits. But when I do I seriously notice a difference with my hair, my skin, and how I feel.

I want to start off with a 3 month vitamin challenge. It takes time to develop a habit, and 3 months should do it for me.

However, I do want to begin the vit challenge now along with a cleanse. So I am going to make the vit a 6 month challenge. I am going to make another post about that.

I will be checking in to report how each challenge is going on the 13th of each month... Because 13 is my favorite number.

The protective style challenge will be done in 3 month intervals, with progress pictures at the end of each interval. Jan 1, Apr 13, Jul 13, Oct 13, Dec 31.

If you are doing any challenges for 2012, I'd love to know and we could join eachother and be kind of like a support group. Make sure we follow through.

Rules

1. Check in each month to give updates.
2. Post progress pics at each interval.
3. Post measurements from root to tip and from crown at each interval.

Any slacking off will be punished!! Lol

Has my hair stopped growing??

After being in the hair game for so long, attempting to grow your hair to a certain length, you may come to a point where you feel your hair has "stopped growing".

This is actually very common. I have gone through this phase myself. I have noticed that it is common when you are between goals, such as SL - APL, or APL - BSL.

First thing I have to say is that, hair never just stops growing. There are other factors at play here.

There are 3 growth phases that each strand of hair goes through. The Anagen, Catagen, and the Telogen phases. Each phase marks a significant point in the growth cycle of the hair.

The Anagen phase is the growth phase. During this phase the hair grows at a rate around 1cm every 28 days, or 1/2" each month. During this phase each strand will grow from the scalp to whatever lenght it can. The lenght of time it takes to complete this phase is genetically predetermined and will be the determining factor to how long your hair can actually grow. This is the longest phase, lasting for years.

Now say your growth phase only lasts for 3 years. Your hair will grow under perfect conditions to about 18". On me this is a little more than MBL, I am 5'7". If you're shorter it will be longer and if you're taller it may be a bit shorter. For the majority of people the growth phase is much more than 3 years. You should be able to at least be able to make it to the hip, I would like to think.

The Catagen phase, lasts only a few weeks and is the point at which the hair stops growing.

Finally, the Telogen phase, is when the hair sheds and the follicle prepares for the development of a new hair. This phase lasts for a few months.

Each hair on the scalp follows this cycle at different points. There is never a point when all the hair on your head follows this cycle at the exact same time. If it did then every few years we would shed all of our hair at once, we would be bald for a few months, and then the hair would grow back...

Therefore, based on this the hair as a whole does seem like it never "stops" growing, in a perfect world. If you cut it, it will grow back. As long as its taken care of it will grow to whatever length you want.

If you reach a point in you hair growth journey where it seems as if the hair has "stopped" growing there are most likely other things at play.

You should look at your regimen and assess your strong and weak points. Have you reached SL and you are wearing your hair down a lot? Do you keep a satin scarf on at night? Are you deep conditioning at least weekly?

Has anything in your regimen changed? Have you recently began to take any medication that may be making your hair shed? Are you taking vitamins for growth and health? Have you been using heat regularly? Are you trimming too often?

There are so many questions one could ask. But basically if your hair has reached a goal and you can not seem to make it to the next maybe something you are doing is causing the ends to break off.

But then again it may not be so complicated. The texture of natural hair causes it to shrink up and it may seem much shorter than it really is. Have you been checking you hair too often to see if it has grown. A watched pot never boils you know..

Take a picture of your hair and wait 2-4 months to take another. Compare the pictures. Do you see a difference? It might not feel any different but you might just see a significant difference in either the lenght or fullness of the hair.

If you have not straightened you hair in a few months or so, maybe go ahead and pull out that ceramic flat iron. I'm sure you will see a difference if you have been taking great care of your hair.

This is why its good to keep a hair journal. If you keep pics of your progress there will be no question as to if your hair is growing or not. If you become frustrated, think its too much, or want to quit you can always take a look at where you started and how far you've come.

You can be you own inspiration to keep pushing forward. This is actually how this blog started out along with my fotki album. Link in the sidebar.

In summary, we have all been there. Don't let it get to you, because you can and will make your goal. Treat your hair like fine silk and it will grow. I hope this makes sense. I'm posting form the EVO so please ignore any typos..

HTH & HHG