Natural Hair Growth Journey

How I care for my Kinky Twists

2012-02-11T07:12:00.000-05:00

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!!

2012-02-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

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

2012-02-02T19:17:00.000-05:00

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.

2012-01-09T17:24:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-09T17:18:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-03T22:08:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-12-01T20:51:00.001-05:00

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!!

2011-11-09T15:32:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-08T16:42:00.001-05:00

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??

2011-11-08T15:56:00.001-05:00

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

Goals for 2012

2011-11-06T15:43:00.001-05:00

I realize that when I write down my goals I am much better at keeping them and achieving those goals. So I am going to list my hair goals for the year 2012 here. As well as what I plan to do to achieve those goals. I am going to write out what has worked in the past and how I am going to modify it now.

I am currently right at APL. My final goal will be MBL. I need 16" from root to tip to make it there and 22" from crown to be full MBL with no layers. Since I like layers I am going to aim for 18" from root to tip.

GOALS
Goal. Growth needed. Goal date.

1. Full APL. I need 2-3 more inches. April 2012.
2. BSL. I need a good 4". July/August 2012.
3. MBL. Need about 6-8". December 2012 - February 2013.

Persoanl Challenges to achieve goals
Protective styles challenge for the entire year of 2012.
Baggy challenge
Crown & Glory challenge
Deep condiotioning challenge
APL, BSL, MBL challenges
Vitamin challenge

What has worked in the past
Growth aids- vitamins, MN
Protective styles- ponytail baggy, sewins, twists, ect.
Frequent cowashing & deep conditioning

It may be a little ambicious(*sp) of me to try to grow 8" in 16 months or less. This means that I have no room for setbacks. No room for breakage, trims, slacking off... Lol If I want to try for less than the allotted time then I would have to incorporate growth aids into my regimen and stick with it.

My next post I will go into detail about my personal challenges and the steps I need to complete each challenge.

Stay tuned!

Overdue: Straightening my Natural Hair

2011-11-06T14:32:00.001-05:00

I meant to post this but long since forgot all about it. But here are the pics of my hair after I blowdried and flat ironed it. I wore this for a good 2 weeks or so and washed it out 3 days ago.

To maintain, I kept the hair wrapped when not out. I put castor oil or my Chi Silk Infusion on it whenever it felt like it needed a moisture boost.

I have not worn my hair straight for a good 2 years, I think. I needed a pick me up. My hair is growing back out and growing well. I did a good trim while my hair was straight, because split ends irk the Hell out of me. But I am glad I did starighten it and the next time I do, I will try a brazillian keratin treatment.

I have heard about them for a while but because I just did a protein treatment I figured it would be protein overload and cause my hair to break.

After I shampooed out my hair I deep conditioned for 24 hrs with Lekair Cholesterol plus. And at the moment I have it in a ponytail baggy, contemplating my next hairstyle. I was actually inspired by a young lady on BHM and think I know what I am going to do next before I throw in my kinky twists.

Here are the pics. Taken the day I finished flat ironing.

2 Strand Twists for my Little Lady

2011-11-06T14:13:00.001-05:00

I did my baby girls hair the other day and she loved it so I thought I would post a few pics here.

She most definitely loved the style and was smiling from ear to ear all day and shaking her hair.

These are not French braids. They are flat 2-Strand twists.

Getting ready for straight hair

2011-10-22T21:59:00.001-04:00

I have decided to go ahead and straighten my hair. I have been wearing the ponytail baggy for the last week or so, in order to increase the moisture in the ends of my hair.

I realized that since I have not been as anal about my hair as before I was experiencing breakage way more than I would have liked. So I decided to nip it now than to let it continue.

If I would have done this sooner my hair would be a good 4" longer than it is now.

I have been wearing the baggy with castor oil, suave and aphogee conditioner in it. The baggy has helped a lot and my ends are much smoother and softer. However I was not at that place where my hair is in tip top condition.

I began my process with washing my hair with suave conditioner and rinsed very well. I towel dried my hair and applied the aphogee 2step protein treatment, and blow dried till crunchy. ;)

I then rinsed it all out and marveled at the feel of my hair.

It's been so long since I've done a protein treatment. My hair is greatful.

Finally, I slathered my hair with Silicone Mix conditioner and Queen Helen cholesterol conditioner.

Right now, my hair is under a plastic cap and satin scarf, deep conditioning. I will be back tomorrow to finish up with a blow dry & flat iron, as well as pics of course.

Stay tuned!

A quick update of my hair

2011-10-10T21:19:00.001-04:00

Since chopping off my hair, about a year and a half ago, I have not been as aggressive with taking care of my hair as I have been in the past.

Its been about 20 months since the chop, which would yeild me a good 10" of new growth. I chopped it down to about 4" all over and if I would have had no breakage what so ever I would be at 14" which for me is a little longer than APL.

I just measured my hair and it ranges between 10-11" all over. I measure my hair from root to tip. Right now my hair is at APL with layers, with the shortest layer being chin length.

This means that I have lost about 3-4" due to breakage and trims. Which truthfully is not bad, I was expecting much more. :(

Over the past year or so I have been wearing sewins and curently I have been rocking my two strand twists over the past month or so.

My goal is to get back to MBL with layers.

14" will put me at BSL with layers and full APL.
22" will put me at full MBL, but since I prefer layers I will only need 16" all over.

Therefore, if I take care of my hair and avoid breakage as much as possible I will make my goal in a year give or take.

Let's see if I can do it.

I have a few pics of my current hairstyle on twitter. Its kind of a two strand twist mohawk. I really like it and will be redoing it in a few days because its a little old.

After this style I will probably be going back to my daily cowashes and ponytail baggy.

I will try to update more often.

Caring for a childs slightly relaxed hair

2011-08-08T21:28:00.001-04:00

Since relaxing my baby girls hair it has been much easier to take care of.

However there are a few rules you must not neglect because even with the relaxer her hair is still very textured. Here is a list of do's & dont's when dealing with my lady's hair.

Dont's

Do not shampoo the hair more than once every week or 2. Shampooing the hair too much will strip all the moisture. Being that the hair is relaxed it is already dry and needs as much added moisture as possible.

Do not comb, brush, or style the hair while dry. Relaxed hair is damaged no matter how you look at it and how well you take care of it. Because the hair is still very textured it will break very easily and adding a little water & conditioner will give it the slip it needs in order to prevent further damage when combing.

Do not wash the hair without deep conditioning. This gives the hair the moisture and srength it needs to prevent damage and breakage.

Do not use a regular bristle brush to style the hair, especially on the edges. These brushes are harsh and damaging.

Do not expect the comb or brush to glide through the hair just because it is relaxed.

Do not force the comb through the hair or rip hair out.

Do not use regular ponytail holders or rubberbands to hold the hair.

Do's

If the hair needs to be washed, Do use a light conditioner like Suave or Vo5 to wash. This way you can style and clean the hair as needed without stripping moisture.

Do use a Denman D4 brush or similar to style the hair. These brushes are not harsh and are very good at detangling when used properly. These can be found a sallys and there are cheaper versions by Goody and Conair which do the same.

Do comb or brush from the ends up to the roots.

Do keep the hair tied up with a satin/silk scarf at night to protect the hair from breakage & drying out from cotton pillowcases. Or sleep on satin pillowcases.

Do protect the ends by keeping the hair braided or twisted. Relaxed hair breaks very easily and protective styles such as braids, twists, and buns help to keep the ends intact.

Do use a wide tooth comb to detangle the hair.

Do use Knee Highs cut up as ponytail holders. These are the only holders that do not rip out hair or cause breakage.

Products Used

I like to keep it simple when it comes to my lady's hair. I myself do not use very expensive products and i have found that her hair has done well with very minimal product use.

I use Suave or Vo5 conditioners to wash the hair. I hardly use shampoos because it dries her hair out severely. I deep condition with Motions CPR and Lekairs Cholesterol or Queen Helens cholesterol.

I use Creme of Nature shampoos because they are not as harsh. Shampoos from companies like Pantene are very bad for dry hair. You want a shampoo that does not contail sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates. These products strip the hair very badly.

I use the Suave or Vo5 conditioners as a leave in or Olive oil Moisturizer. My lady's hair has responded very well to using the conditioners as a leave in and i have done so since she was a baby. The cheap condtioners help with detangling the hair and keep moisture in.

When she wears braids sometimes its a little tight which may cause her scalp to itch. I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil on her scalp and hair to help seal in the moisture on wet hair.

I like to keep my lady's hair in french braids or singles with barrettes and knockers. Very pretty and she loves lots of color. She is very girly and a complete diva. She likes to look good and loves to learn about caring for her own hair.

If you would lke to learn more about detangling natural or semi-natural/relaxed/texturized hair i do have a video on my youtube channel called detangling natural hair. The process should not take as much time on texturized/relaxed but doing it this way will reduce or eliminate any breakage that may occur.

I do hope you find this helpful. Natural hair is very different and takes much more time and effort to care for than other textures.

Relaxing

2011-07-31T13:21:00.000-04:00

Me and my daughter have both been contemplating on relaxing our hair for the longest time.

I told myself a few years ago that if I still want to relax after a year passes then I will take the plunge. But if it was just an itch that I may regret later it will pass and after the year is up I will no longer want to relax. Well its been more like 2.5 years... and the itch is still there.

My daughter on the other hand, I love her texture, but I have to admit that it is quite a challenge getting her hair done. We have not had as much free time as we would like to have in order to keep up with our hair the way it should be taken care of.

I asked my lady and explained to her very carefully about relaxing her hair. She said yes. She is very smart being only 6 years old and she definetly knows what she wants.

I did hers first.

Now, when I say relax, I do not mean Straight.. I am relaxing to reduce the amount of shrinkage and lossen the curl only. I am keeping as much texture as possible but leaving the possability for her to wear curls, straight styles, and also for her to be able to do her own hair.

She is a beauty fanatic like myself and loves to do hair. She knows how to braid and twist at her age, which is fascinating because I myself did not teach her! She learned all on her own.

The process we went through was a little tedious but the results were beautiful and exactly what I hoped for.

I started by applying conditioner to her hair and let it sit for a while.

I separated her hair into 3 sections and started with the back. I applied a lye relaxer by optimum to the back section and completely covered every strand while smoothing lightly. I left the relaxer on for less than 5 minutes before rinsing the section clean. I shampooed twice and applied deep conditioner and tied that section out of the way.

I did the same process for each section and shampooed her entire head a few more times. Deep conditioned again leaving in overnight. Rinsed out in the morning and applied leave in conditioner braided her ends up and put it in a bun.

She absolutely LOVES her hair like this!!

She has been shaking her curls and combing her hair like crazy...

It hangs now and she likes that it layes on her back instead of shrinking up.

Here is a pic of her natural texture.

This is the very back section stretched to show the crazy amount of shrinkage she naturally has.

This is the back section after it has been relaxed. As I said I did it one section at a time.

I didnt get a pic of her entire head relaxed but will post that as soon as I rinse the conditioner that she currently has in out.

Her ends are a little thin and I did give her a nice trim. After the relaxer her hair actually resembles my hair. Its so soft and so much easier to comb. It used to take me hours just to get through and detangle her hair now it takes minutes.

Here is what it looks like today. A very simple style. If these twists were done on her hair before the relaxer they would have shriveled up into nothing!

There are no straight pieces and I did a treatment with Motions CPR to give her a little protein. Her texture is very similar to what it was before, just less shrinkage which was our goal! The relaxer was left on for less time in last section on the top right. That section is a little more poofy so next time we will have to spend a little more time there.

Over all, I am happy with my decision and so is she. She still appears to be natural to others so it will be our little secret...

What I hate most!!

2011-06-06T01:27:00.001-04:00

You know what I hate most?

I hate when Bloggers and Youtubers disappear without notice for months and years at a time and come back like its all good....

So here I am pretending it really is and checking in to let you know that I am an unstoppable force to be reckoned with!

Life brings so many obstacles and people who try to bring you down, but I strive for the best. I keep pushing forward. I always have a game plan.

And here I am still standing tall. On my own two feet no matter what others said or did to spite me.

I prefer to surround myself with positive energy, with people who bring out the best in me and I feed off of the energy of those who only know success.

Here I am. At a point in my life where absolutely not one person matters to me aside from my children. Because I do it better by myself.

I am the Definition of an Independent Woman.

I stand alone. With confidence.

Here I am.

________________________________________________________
I will be blogging again and on twitter. Youtube will be in the near future.

My website will be coming soon!

www.MarleynaA.com (yes that is my name)

And here is a pic of my current hairstyle for your pleasure. ;)

Wet & Wavy Indian Remy hair. Janet Collection. 12" Full sew in done my none other than me.

A day with my hair

2010-07-20T12:13:00.001-04:00

I have been wearing my hair in kinky twists for about a month or so and decided it was time to take them out. I cut the ends off and me and my lady began to unravel them one by one. I then hopped in the shower and slathered my hair with suave vanilla floral conditioner. I let that sit for a few minutes and then began to detangle. Section by section, starting from the ends first I worked through my hair.

When all of that was done I shampooed my hair with Creme of Nature shampoo, massaging it into my scalp. I rinsed very well making sure my scalp was very clean. I then added a little more suave conditioner to my hair and let it air dry for just a few minutes so that it was not dripping wet.

I noticed that there was some breakage so I decided to use my ApHogee 2step protein treatment. I made sure that it coated my hair completely while blow drying section by section. When it was all dry I then rinsed it out very well. I then applied Lekairs conditioner and let that sit overnight.

When I rinsed that conditioner out the next morning... It felt like Buttah Baby!! So soft and silky smooth. I wrapped it up and am currently getting ready for my next protective style... Stay tuned! There will be a tutorial!! :)

Mar ♥

Another style

2010-07-14T23:56:00.001-04:00

This style I did a little while ago and am just now getting the chance to put it up. Same chick from before. What I did was I added 27 piece hair around the back and one side. I cut and layered it real nice. I then added longer pieces to the top and other side cut it in a kind of feathered style and curled it away from the face. I loved it!! It looked great in person, I wish I could have gotten more pics.

Enjoy!!

Progress since the BC!!

2010-05-25T09:43:00.001-04:00

I just took my lacewing off. Decided that it was time to let my hair breathe. I took out my braids and this is what my hair looked like.

I believe that I had my hair in this protective style for about 1.5 months. I expected for there to be a lot of shedding when I detangled especially with my use of MegaTek. Here are a few length shots. Now mind you I chopped my hair down to about 3-4" in Feb. Its been 3 months since so I should have around 1.5"of new growth. Right?? Why dont you tell me..

Bangs

Sides

Nape

It looks to me like it has gained at least 2-3"! I am going to attribute that to my topical growth aid that I made and my vista. I actually stopped using my scalp cream about a week or so ago because of my work schedule I seemed to have forgotten it. I have kept consistent with my vista for the most part so its all good!

After the length check I then began to wash my hair. I wet it down then slathered it with suave coconut conditioner. I detangled it with a wide tooth comb in order to remove as much shead hair as I could. I got a large amount of shedding but not too much. Nothing to worry about. I then shampooed my hair with creme of nature twice to remove all the build up I had on my scalp and hair. Then I cowshed with suave coconut to soften the hair back up. I did not rinse it out. When I got out of the shower I smothered my hair with Lekairs cholesterol plus and motions conditioner. Left it on overnight. Since I am letting my hair breath I will be cowashing daily and wearing my hair in a simple protective style.

I have it in a ponytail at the moment when I do something to it I will post it here. I gotta do my lady's hair today also. Lets hope I don't forget. She needs a good cowash! Then I'm going to braid her up and throw on some knockers. Will twitpic!!

Mar

My take on transitioning from relaxed to natural!!- All about the technique

2010-05-20T20:34:00.000-04:00

In my opinion, when dealing with your hair, it is all about the technique. You can use the most expensive products and have the same outcome that you can achieve when using more inexpensive products. It is how you care for your hair that matters.

The most important thing to remember when handling your hair is to always treat it like a piece of fine silk. Never pull and rip a comb or brush through your hair. Especially when transitioning! The difference in the 2 textures make it very easy to break. Always be conscious of the line of demarcation. This is where the relaxed hair ends and the natural hair begins. This is where you may encounter the most damage and breakage when transitioning.

See how I detangle my natural hair in this video.

You want to be just as if not more careful of how you comb out and detangle your hair when transitioning. Do not comb or manipulate your hair when it is dry. That IMO is just asking for trouble and breakage. You may have heard that hair is at its weakest when wet and you should not brush wet hair. For natural hair I believe that it is the other way around.

A comb will never touch my hair without some type of moisture in it. My hair has to be either soaking wet and/or slathered with conditioner in order for a comb to glide through without causing tons of breakage.

Make sure you take your time when dealing with your hair. Never try to do your hair when you are in a rush or frustrated. Just ponytail it and come back to finish it later. You must always have the patience to take care of your hair when transitioning.

As I stated above... Its all about the technique. How you care for your hair will always give you results no matter what products you are using.

27 pieces...

2010-05-18T10:24:00.000-04:00

I myself have never worn a 27 piece. However since I am a hairstylist I do them for others. My best friend wanted her hair done. She wanted something different because she is attempting to switch up her look for the summertime!! Everyone should look their best when the warm weather hits!

So I did her a quick cute 27 piece. I have not seen anyone wear it this way before. So here are the pics!!

She loves it!! I love it!! Im actually thinking of doing one on myself since my hair is shorter I can actually wear these types of styles now. I glued the hair to 3 wig caps to make sure that absolutely no glue touched her hair!

So what do you think??? Yay?? or Nay??

;)

Mar

My lacefront and updates

2010-05-17T19:14:00.001-04:00

Over the past month or so I have been wearing my hair braided underneath my lacefront wig. This is going to be my protective style for a little while longer. I do not glue it down every day when I wear it. I do however glue the front hairline down and tie it with a scarf for a few minutes when I am going to be out or if the wind is blowing to keep it secure. Don't want the wind to blow the hairline up while in the middle of a conversation you know.. lol

I wash my lace wig every other day to keep it looking fresh. I have found that the hair on this wig really needs to be freshly washed sometimes daily or it gets really tangled. I condition with every wash using a deep conditioner once a week.

As for styling the wig.. I mostly just wear it straight. This wig is light yaki chinese hair. And for me it is very hard to curl. I have spent countless hours in front of the mirror trying to get it to curl with my FHI iron. Only to achieve a bump at the ends.. lol Then the bum falls completely by the end of the day.... :/ Oh well.

I redo my braids every other week when they feel loose or too frizzy. I remove my wig every night and put it on my wig head. I tie my hair down with a satin scarf. I shampoo my scalp while my braids are still in every week to keep it nice and clean and itch free.

I have been using my scalp cream that I made every day as my topical growth aid. It contains both sulfur powder and MegaTek, along with a few essential oils.

I am working my way back to getting everything back on track!! I have started back on my vits been consistent for about a month or so. My skin is starting to clear up!! Yess!! I have noticed that I am a bit more energetic also. Yay for me!!

I actually bought this wig about 2 years ago from a chinese vendor. I have old pics in my fotki album HERE and I recently twitpic'd it HERE and HERE

The password to the LF album is ltyaki
All the specs on this particular wig are in the info portion of that album.

I do want to get another lace wig. Next time I will try out Indian hair!! Gotta do some research on the current vendor that are out there now.

Mar

Getting back on track!!

2010-04-14T12:14:00.000-04:00

It can be very easy to lose your way and forget to keep up with your hair regimen. I myself have found that since I cut my hair I have not kept up with the things I used to do with my hair.
I have not been wearing my satin scarf every night, which in my experience is a huge nono...
I have been washing whenever I feel like instead of sticking to a weekly regimen of shampooing and deep conditioning...

Bad Bad Mar!!! Lol

However, I have kept up with my daily cowashing. This I can say makes up for my lack of consistency. My hair remains soft as ever and I do not experience too much breakage.

Don't get me wrong... If I do keep this up then I will not make much progress. I will not make it back to BSL. Therefore, I must nip this in the bud!! My life as a hard working single mom has been absolutely Crazy!! There is not much about myself that I do actually put online. However things are beginning to get a little easier... (I hope lol)

I have now made the decision to get my hair back where it needs to be. I am going to put myself through a personal challenge so that I can be better all around! Hair, health, all together healthy happy lifestyle for all of us in my household... Is that possible??

I recently moved into a new house. Met family members who I never knew existed!! And cut ties with more people who brought negativity to my otherwise happy life. Chopped off all my hair...

Ummm.... Yea I think it's about time to start fresh lol

My laptop is busted for now. I'm posting from my iPod.. :P I will be able to go into greater detail and post more often once I get it fixed.

But right now I am going to start off by shampooing and deep conditoning my hair. I am then going to throw in some French braids as my protective style for the week. By then my laptop should be fixed... I think...
In the mean time I am going to go through all my old posts for old techniques and such so that I can come up with a simple game plan.

That's all for now!!
Ttys!!
Mar

Working with your hair, Not against it!

2010-03-20T13:46:00.000-04:00

Its funny how whenever I spend time with people that I have not been around before, it kinda reminds me of how different peoples perspectives on hair care can be. I have been spending time with new family members that I never knew about before and here is a rundown on the situation.

My daughters hair was in braids with knockers and barrettes. I washed and detangled her hair and put it in 2 ponytails. My aunt says she wants to do my daughters hair... Ummm...

She goes, 'do you have grease?' I say 'We don't use grease.. We use conditioner and moisturizer..' She than says she wants to blow dry her hair so she can braid it up... Ummmm... Not happening!

I left and when I came back they were blowdrying and combing out my lady's hair!! OMG WTF!! My little lady was screaming her head off!! Funny thing is she is the one who asked them to do her hair cause she wanted beads... lol

My aunt comes down and is like does she scream like that when you do it?? 'Ummm... NO!' I tell her how I do not touch her hair with any comb or brush unless her hair is soaking wet and slathered with conditioner. And absolutely NO bristle brushes!!

She did not quite understand why apparently.. So my lady comes down and I am a little ticked off cause you can smell that burt hair smell... It was dry and stiff... And it didn't look any better from being blow dried!!

My aunt kept telling me that her hair needs to be combed out.. 'Ummm... No it doesn't" I say. With the texture of her natural hair detangling will not get you very far.

I told her that with this kind of hair you have to work with it not against it. You are not going to get rid of every coil and tangle, and blowdrying is NOT the solution! You will cause more breakage that way!

When caring for and growing out our hair we will not see any progress with too much breakage. We must avoid it all together!

When I do my lady's hair I detangle each section as I go. I do not detangle her whole head first unless she has a massive amount of tangles, knots, and shed hair. By doing it section by section it causes less pain on my little one's scalp.

I sat down with a spray bottle filled with water and suave humectant conditioner and go to work!

Look at all the screaming she was doing with them. She did not scream once when I did her hair. My sweet little honey told me that she won't let anyone else do her hair ever again.

All this to say, when caring for your hair you can not get frustrated, and you must work WITH you hair. You can not work AGAINST it, it will just cause problems and you will not see any progress.

Mar <333

A remake of my Wash & Go

2010-03-05T22:08:00.000-05:00

Since I chopped my hair down I have found a better way to do my wash and go and have my curls pop every time! This is very simple to do and I absolutely Love the results I get from it. It looks good even into the second and third day!

The Mohawk!!- Finally

2010-03-03T20:27:00.000-05:00

So here it is I finally finished the freeking video! I am a little all over the place in this one. Took me 2 days to finish this hairstyle.

My take on transitioning from relaxed to natural!!- The Big Chop!

2010-03-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

When should you do the big chop!?!

Everyone is different. Everyone has different goals and priorities. It all depends on the person and what they can and are willing to handle when dealing with their hair.

I have never done a BC by cutting away all my hair.. ie. a bald fade. lol By doing it this way you eliminate the hassle and issues involved in transitioning. I like the idea because by cutting away all of your hair you can see how you look with different hair lengths, from very short to long hair. I have never had my hair shorter than 3 inches and I am always curious as to what I would look like completely bald.. lol Don't ask why :P

With short hair you have many different styling options available to you that you would not have with longer hair. When my hair was at its longest and thickest there were sooooo many styles that I wanted to do, but just simply could not do, because I had way too much hair!! lol Is that a good or bad thing!?!? You tell me..

When I transitioned the very first time, I simply stopped relaxing my hair because I thought that continued use of my relaxer was causing my hair to thin out. Which I did later find out that my hair was falling out because of birth control... When I was relaxed, I took very good care of my hair. I stretched for 3-4 months at a time. I never ever did a relaxer sooner than 3 months. That is a mistake that I find many relaxed heads make. If you can not deal with 6 weeks or more of new growth then I think going natural and/or transitioning would be a very drastic and hard step to take. How can you handle 6" of new growth when you can't even handle 1"...

One must be able to handle their hair in its most damaged, dry, tangled state with minimal breakage! IMO If you can't then you should keep your relaxer until you do... :P No offense to anyone..

When transitioning you must always be aware of your line of demarcation. This is the point where your relaxed hair stops and your natural hair begins. Pay extra special attention to this area and try not to put too much stress on it. You may find that this is the point where your hair tends to break off the most. Keep this part well conditioned and moisturized and avoid tight ponytails. Do not pull the comb through this area roughly. Be as gentle as possible!

Transitioning hairstyles

When I transitioned, I wore :

Sew in weaves
kinky twists and braids with extensions
french braids
braid/ twist outs

I did wear ponytails often, but not tight and no phony ponies. When wearing ponytails make sure the hair is well deep conditioned and that you vary the position of the ponytail, as keeping it in one spot can cause breakage. NO TIGHT PONIES!! Can't stress that enough..

My first transition lasted for a year. I did not even realize I was transitioning really. I just decided one day that I did not want to wear a relaxer anymore. It went by very quickly and once I realized I reached my one year mark I took a pair of scissors and CHOP!

My second transition lasted about 2.5 years. I cut little by little till it was all gone. I think by doing this method it is easier if you are texturized/texlaxed as I was. I do not think I would have lasted so long if my relaxer was bone straight. But to each his own..

My suggestion to those who want to go natural but are not sure if they want to BC or not would be to DO YOU! If you know you can handle the difference in textures and/or don't like the look of very short to no hair, then transition for as long as you want. Sometimes jumping into it with a BC can overwhelm some and lead them to return to relaxing because they cannot handle their newfound texture.

When you get that urge and are sick of looking at the mess that transitioning can be, pull out your scissors sistah! Thats how I felt Feb 24th when I recently chopped off almost all my hair! Although I was not transitioning, sometimes a Big Chop just needs to be done! I do not regret it one bit!

Last thing I can say is that only you know what you are comfortable with. Do what you feel like and do NOT let what anyone else says influence your decision or make you feel bad about the choice you make! It is YOUR hair and it will always grow back, so sit back relax and have fun!

You can cut it now, or you can cut it later.... Its your decision. <333

I chopped it down!!

2010-02-26T11:31:00.000-05:00

Why?? This picture tells it all...

I knew it was only a matter of time before I would get tired of looking at this mess. Yes, I did chop off 4 inches a little while ago but the rest was going to go sooner or later.

Everyone will encounter some setbacks when growing out their hair. This has been my first real one. I have been fortunate enough that in the 4 years since I have began to really take care of my hair this is the first time that I have had to cut a significant amount of hair off due to some type of damage.

I do regret getting on Mirena all the time, but since the damage that it has done to my hair and my body is already done there is no reason to keep dwelling on the issue.

A fresh new start is just what I needed!

Heres a pic of my shrunken fro...

This time I cut off about 6"! So I have gotten rid of 10" total in about 2 months. It is going to take me 2 years to get back to where I was before aug 2008. I may be trying some growth aids in between to boost my growth so I may get there a little quicker!

I posted more pics in my fotki album

HERE!

These pics basically tell the story which made my decision. When a set of twists don't look good there is a problem!!

One thing I do want to say!! Do NOT hold on to scraggly, damaged ends for the sake of length. Uneven hair causes tangles. Tangles can lead to BREAKAGE!! Cut it and grow it back out! You will be much happier...

I promise!

OK this is the last time I am posting about this on my blog!! lol

New Beginnings!!

My take on transitioning from relaxed to natural!!- How did you do it??

2010-02-11T11:22:00.000-05:00

Transitioning for many can be a trying experience. For me though, the first time, it was a breeze. What did I do, you ask?

I left it alone...

Plain and simple. I did absolutely nothing to my hair. I kept a very simple regimen which consisted of weekly shampooing and deep conditioning. Most of the time I wore my hair in a simple ponytail. Now I know that a style like that is not really practical for everyone. But at the time I was in my first year of college I just had my daughter so I did not have the time to go all out with crazy hairstyles. Not that I was looking busted all the time, I did occasionally do a sew-in, a set of french braids or a braid out. Those are the only styles that I remember wearing at the time.

When I began transitioning I began to use conditioner as a leave-in. I could not find (and still haven't today!) a good creamy leave-in that I love. I found that my hair needed something more than the usual things that many of the women I knew used in their hair. Everyone around me used grease, Lusters pink lotion, and other crap like that. Hell, I was still using Pantene pro-V shampoo!

I began to experiment with new products and techniques such as cowashing and baggying. I have found a few product staples which I will list below. But I also found a few techniques which are essential to growing out my hair. Without these techniques there is no way that my hair would have reached the length that it did.

Products

Lekair Cholesterol plus conditioner
cheap conditioners such as suave & V05
Creme of nature shampoo
Scurl & Stasoffro
Shea Butter
Oils such as olive, coconut, castor

As far as taking care of and growing out your hair I do not think that the products that you use have that much of an effect on the final outcome. You can use the cheapest products and still come out with the same results as using the higher end, more expensive products. Not to mention all the money you will save. In my opinion, its all about the technique.

My take on transitioning from relaxed to natural!!- The beginning

2010-02-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

So this is kinda long overdue! I have been asked so many questions about transitioning I thought it was about time I posted about it.

Let me give you a little background...
My natural hair journey began right after i had my first child. I was natural for most of my life because my mother refused to let me have any type of freedom with my hair. I gave myself my first relaxer when I was in 6th grade. I then began to experiment and teach myself all different types of hairstyles. By the time I was in high school I was doing styles for my friends also. I then became interested in growing out and caring for my hair.

The first website I was able to find was Growafrohairlong.com. From this website I learned a lot of the basics in haircare. I later found LHCF and all the other hair forums. From here my hair took off. I reached APL by the time I graduated from HS. I had my protective styles and regimen down!

I reached a little obstacle after I gave birth to my second child. I got on Birth control... I was on the depo but quit because of complications. I then began to use the ring.

What does this have to do with transitioning??

This is where my journey began! Because of the BC I began to experience hair loss. Which I attributed to the use of relaxers. So I decided to stop all use. I transitioned for a year and then did the Big Chop!

Pics of my BC can be found in my fotki album HERE.

The Mohawk

2010-01-19T19:16:00.001-05:00

So this is the first time that I am doing a mohawk on my own hair. I love it! I usually add weave to the middle section but I thought I would leave my own hair out. Mostly because a few people have been hounding me to wear my real hair. So I did. I went through so much with this hairstyle..

First I did a henna treatment and deep conditioned. For my henna mix I only used hot water, safflower oil, and henna powder. It actually made my hair really soft. Which is funny cause henna usually makes my hair feel weird unless I add plain yogurt to it.

PS. Always wear gloves when doing anything with henna!! It turns you skin and nails orange.. I didn't and my hands are still a little orange. LOL I don't care though. I love henna!

Heres wear the trouble starts... :P
At first I was planning to wear a braidout. I french braided it going back and let it set overnight... When I took it out.. It was just a little too frizzy for me.

I didn't really like it.. I could have made it work but it just wasn't the look that I was going for.
Heres a pic as I was starting to flat iron the front....

So I took my blow dryer and flat iron and straightened it out... It came out so fab!! Here are a few pics. :)

Now I suck because I was rushing and didn't use any heat protectant. My hair reverted the next day. So I washed the hair and conditioned and twisted my hair up and bantu knotted the twists. It came out nice. I used shea butter as a leave in and the hair is super smooth and soft! Loves it!

Will post a few pics of the twist out soon. Also there will be a video tutorial as soon as I finish editing!!
As well as a tutorial for silk locs which I am going to redo. Didn't like how the first one came out...
So stay tuned to Mar<333!

More on Mega-tek...

2010-01-07T13:39:00.000-05:00

So I used it for the last month or so that I had my twists in. The style I wore after that were silk locs... My ponytail is a little jacked up in this pic. lol

Applying something to your scalp with this type of hairstyle is not happening. So I just started back using the megatek again after almost 3 weeks of not using it. Can I tell you that my scalp is so damn sore!! This mess hurts to even touch it!

Once I cut my hair I will be able to measure it more easily and really see how much growth I am getting from this every month. Last time I used it I got an inch. This time I did notice the shedding again. But it is very little compared to last year when I started Mirena at the same time. This is fine. As long as it stays minimal I am fine with it.

To chop or not to chop...

2010-01-07T13:08:00.001-05:00

That is the question!!

I know that I have been whining about my shedding for a while now. Now that it is gone the aftermath is irking me every time I take down my hair. I am tired of looking at it. I feel like I want to start fresh with every thing. I will be moving within the next month or two. I want every thing to run smoothly after that. New job. New beginnings!

I want to chop it down to about 3-4 inches. We will see how this is going to go. With all the damage I have major split ends, very uneven, knots galore, tangles like crazy! It is so annoying and sometimes keeping damage for the sake of length just causes more damage.

Chop Chop!!!

I will be taking pics of my hair to show the damage done and I would like some input on what you guys think. I will blow out the hair and do comparison pics when I take down my current style. Which is just a set of layered french braids.

Sorry, not very clear pics but the style is very simple. 4 layers and a simple design it the front.

Also, I am trying to think of a style to wear to my grandmothers funeral which is this monday. She died 1/2/2010, 2 days before her 96th birthday. I miss her..

The Ponytail Baggy!

2009-12-20T19:43:00.000-05:00

I redid this video because the sound is all messed up on the first one. So here you go!

I usually keep this in for about a week or so... I cowash daily to every other day when I wear this. At night I do take off the pony and wrap a scarf around my head to keep the ponytail neat.

I love this!! It is the main protective style that I always go back to. And it has helped me to retain more length than any other hairstyle I have worn.

Updates..

2009-12-11T13:13:00.001-05:00

Coming soon...
Taking out the kinky twists tomorrow night!! Yes!

Been using the megatek every other day and whoa!! I have crazy newgrowth!! It doesn't even look like I redid any of my twists.. hence the serious need to take these out.. My friend recently referred to me as poetic justice.. lol
Will post pics here and on twitter..

Do you see this mess!?!? I mean damn! compare to the pics in the other post... crazy newgrowth!!

And I think I will do a set of silk locs when these are out.. Got to do some major deep conditioning and cowashing to build up the moisture in my hair.. Also I will most def be doing a remake of my ponytail baggy video cause youtube fucked up my sound on that one terribly!! Got to get some new phony ponies... and some gel... and some knee highs... and some sandwich bags..

lol
:P

Just a little update... & a little venting...

2009-11-27T14:30:00.000-05:00

So Last post I said I was going to use Mega-Tek everyday. I am going to change that to every other day for now and increase it to daily after about a month. I am also going to use a sulfur oil mix as soon as I get a chance to whip one up along side. Maybe alternate Mega-Tek one day and sulfur oil the next day. I don't think I want to use it daily because sulfur gives me crazy sinus headaches when I use too much or too often....

Gonna have to do some experimenting...

I am taking my deodorized garlic capsules 500mg everyday so I can avoid shedding as much as possible for now. I will be starting back on my vitamin regimen in the future and I HOPE I can stick to it for more than a few weeks....

When I took my vits consistently I remember clear skin, moisturized & fast growing hair!! I need that back in my life cause I'm so stressed out right now. I cant wait for the day I can sit down & relax & not have to worry about anyone besides my kids!!

Its terrible that all the people who are supposed to support me & who call themselves my family, are the only ones causing problems in my life. Then don't take any ownership for the crap that they have done! Instead I am the blame for all of their problems! Lets forget about my own!

Hope everyone had a good holiday cause I really didn't... This is the first thanksgiving that I did not cook!! Now you know there is a problem if I'm not in the kitchen!! Hopefully everything or at least most of this will be settled by next month. Christmas and New Years is going to be fabulous!!! I hope....

Guess thats just how the world works... Try & live a happy & prosperous life & those around you just try to tear you down because their life is never going to amount to anything more than what it is now. Jealousy. Sad but true. :(

Mega-tek?? Again??!!!??!?

2009-11-25T14:16:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I have had my hair in these kinky twists for a little over a month now & I have not used any growth aids what so ever. I was in my room and I spotted my huge gallon bottle of Mega-tek that I bought last year just staring me in the face!

Now I have not used this product for over a year because of all the shedding that I got when I first started on Mirena. I didn't know which one was causing my severe shedding. I later realized that the Mega-tek might have caused some of the shedding but the Mirena was the main culprit!

When I used Mega-tek I think I was using a bit too much. I am used to slathering conditioner all over my head so I kinda slathered it all over my scalp! The thinning that I got around my edges I attribute to that because I always made sure they got the most product. I started using very little of the product and noticed that this did indeed stop. After I stopped using Mega-Tek my edges began to grow back.

The shedding I got from Mirena continued until about last month. Now I have a TON of little short baby hairs growing from my scalp! The hairs that grew back from Mega-Tek are a few inches long and the rest are about 1.5".

This is the same thing that I dealt with a few years ago from transitioning and BC shedding. I won that round & I will win again this time.

My Mega-Tek regimen this round!:

I will be using a very small amount and massaging it all over my head.
I will be using it daily to every 2-3 days as I am forgetful sometimes.
I will be getting back on my garlic supplements to curb any shedding I may get. Just have to keep track.

Hopefully this will all go well! I know that it does increase my growth to an 1" each month. I am over the BC shedding and just can't deal with anymore! I know that for some it does cause shedding initially but does subside... Hopefully I don't experience that too much!

If it still doesn't work for me I will be selling samples!!

This is how much I am going to be using daily....

This is a shot of my twists today. I didn't redo all of them so they are kinda fuzzy...

Can you see all the fuzzies at the roots?? OMG makes it look so old!! I'm soooo tempted to take them out now! But I'm going to wait.... Maybe in Dec. Also when I put them back in I am starting them all with the twist method!! :)

Mar<333

Making plans

2009-11-24T16:33:00.000-05:00

OK, So I decided to put in writing what I was going to be doing as far as my hair goes for the next few months. I decided a little while ago to do an ongoing personal protective style challenge. I plan on keeping it up at least until the summertime so that I can focus on growing back the hair that I lost.

Now my hair loss in my eyes is a HUGE setback because it is much thinner than it was and I haven't really had much growth for this year. I am still at BSL a year later and my ends are thinned out. I need a really good hair cut!

So this is my plan. I want to get my hair back to the way it was a year ago. I have a ton of hair growing back from the roots just as I had a few years ago. I will do comparison pictures as soon as I can to show you. Really short hairs all over my scalp. I don't like the way it looks, just as before thick roots & thin ends.... :( I like for my hair to be even thickness all over. So...

I am going to keep my hair in these kinky twists until mid Dec or mid Jan. I don't want to take them out too close to the holidays because then I wont have time to put it back up.
After I take them out I will be doing some serious deep conditioning for about 2-3 weeks while wearing a ponytail baggy. That way I can keep my ends nicely moisturized and conditioned at all times.
After that I will be putting my hair back up into a protective style, probably going to wear another set of kinky twists or a sew in. Those are my go to protective styles.

My goal for this year is to stay on track with my hair and let it grow out as much as possible. I might get back on my vits if I can seem to keep track of everything.

Personal challenges for 2010

Protective styles for at least 6 months nonstop
Full BSL sometime in 2010 - I dont know where I am exactly I may already be there :P Will know next month or so...
MBL by the end of 2010!!! This has been my ultimate goal since I started out! I will have finally made it hopefully by next Dec. I hope...
I hope to be WL and FULL MBL by the end of 2011 because I know my hair will have to even out all over... I hate thin ends!! Did I say that already??

So...
Do you think I can do it!!?!?!?!?

When I started out this blog I used to measure my hair every month. I think I will be incorporating that into my regimen again, just to make sure that I am making good progress.
When I take these twists out I am going to start off like a newbie with a real professional haircut and a hardcore protein treatment. I am going to dc really well and blowdry my hair well before I go into the salon. Love my hair for a day or two. Wash dc & aphogee it & put it up. :P Lets see how this goes.... :)

Mar<333

Attaching Kinky Twists

2009-11-20T11:04:00.001-05:00

I did 2 quick videos on different ways of applying kinky twists. The first video I did a twist where I started it off with a braid at the base. In the second video I twisted the hair from the root.
Both methods are very simple to do and just require a little practice to master. I do like the second method more because I tend to get less slippage when the twist it started off that way.

Enjoy! :)

Part 1

Part 2

One by one..

2009-11-13T14:50:00.001-05:00

I am currently redoing some of my twists one by one. The main thing that I dont like about wearing styles like this whether its twists or braids or what have you, they always slip down and get frizzy at the roots.

Sometimes people mistake that for growth. I know that my hair grows at 1/2 inch a month. I am not using any growth aids at the moment so I know that I am not getting any extra growth. However looking at what some may mistake as new growth I have between 1-2" of growth. I have only had my twists in for about a month. There has been 1/2" of growth. Therefore I have between 1/2- 1 1/2" of slippage.. :(

I redid the front row and am about to start on the middle to redo all the areas that you can see. Or just the parts that I'm tired of looking at.

I'm in my car most of the time so heres a few pics of how my roots look after a month. I have a little buildup on some of the braids which is not cute, and another reason why I am redoing some of them. It looks tacky when girls walk around with all that buildup at the roots. eww... Me no likey...

My little ladies hair

2009-11-03T12:46:00.001-05:00

I keep my baby girls hair in very simple, quick, and easy hair styles. From braids and beads to twists. Caring for a young childs hair is very simple and can be quite challenging at the same time.

My little girls regimen is very simple. What I usually do is wash her hair with suave conditioner. I don't use shampoo unless she has build up. Her hair is usually in braids when I do this. I then take down the braids while it is still saturated in conditioner. Then I rinse and detangle with a denman brush adding castor and olive oil if I feel it necessary. When the hair is fully detangled and rinsed clean I begin to braid it back up.

With this process my little ladies hair is always very soft to the touch, easily combed, very moisturized and manageable. After her hair is braided up I like to then put beads, knockers, and/or barrettes on her hair. I usually have a pretty color scheme going such as pink and purple, different shades of pink, purple and blue. There are a million and one varieties and colors of knockers and other hair accessories available. I get mine from my local beauty supply stores.

The main difficulty that I have come across when doing a young child's hair is tenderheadedness. My lady is not very tenderheaded, but my sister is extremely tenderheaded. Everything hurts her! I think that's just because she doesn't like her hair done. But my advice to that is to just be gentle and keep going. The more often they get their hair done the more they will get used to it and the 'tougher' their scalp will be to the pain. I mean you cant do a childs hair like once a month and expect it not to hurt. :P

Blow drying natural hair

2009-10-26T19:18:00.003-04:00

So this video I made the day I straightened my hair for the wedding. I just got finished editing and uploading it to youtube. So here is how I blowdry my hair.

I finished my kinky twists!

2009-10-24T16:55:00.004-04:00

I finally finished my kinky twists! Took me a while cause I have been so busy. But yea, here are a few pics.

I used Janet Marley braiding hair in #4 and #30. $4.99 a pack. I used 4 packs.

I used the #4 on the bottom layers and the #30 on the top. I tend to use this color combination a lot when I am wearing fake hair. I love it!

Do you??

<333

Shambles!

2009-10-18T08:45:00.002-04:00

Because I was rushed my hair didnt come out as smooth as I would have liked. That was fine with me because I got to see where i was really at. There is not much damage, however there are a ton of split ends and single strand knots. I bought some scissors and got to work.

The last few inches were so thinned out, I attribute that to the shedding which also lead to breakage.

This is the same thing that I had to deal with a few years ago. Its going to take a lot of hard work to get it back to what it was. I am still at BSL however I am not happy with how it looks. I am going to be doing a ton of protective styles until I get back to where I need to be. Starting with my kinky twists which will be done within the next week or so. :)

For the wedding

2009-10-15T12:26:00.002-04:00

So for the wedding this saturday I decided that I will be straightening my hair out. Its not as rainy as it has been and the temps have dropped. So now i the perfect time! You know, no humidity and no sweating out my hair! Oh yes! lol

So this is what I am going to do!

Shampoo & Deep condition the hair overnight with motions cpr
In the am do a hot oil treatment with olive oil, rinse
Let the hair airdry 90%, then blowdry while holding the hair taught to stretch
Apply CHI Silk Infusion and Flat iron.
Lastly I will do a silk wrap using some shea butter
Leave it wrapped so that it will lay and fall right when taken down!
I will finally either trim myself or go & get a hair cut from supercuts or something.

Its kind of a long process but the end results are always worth it! Since my hair has thinned out I really am wanting to see how it looks and if I can tell how much hair I have lost. I KNOW I need a haircut so I might go in tomorrow or saturday morning before the wedding. I just hope that they don't chop too much off.

I'm going to be taking pictures of my hair of the entire process from beginning to end! From deep condition to haircut! I cant wait! I may actually post the pics on this blog for the first time! :P

My shedding is slowing down more and more and is almost back to normal. Finally! I just really want to see how my hair looks straight cause its so very hard to see where I am as a natural with all this shedding. Its damn near impossible! Hopefully its all good for me.

I do have a few inches of new hair that is growing back in that may make it look a bit awkward. You know thick roots, thin ends. Same problem I had before from birth control while I was transitioning out of my texturizer. Another problem is that I have a TON of those single strand knots. The haircut will take care of that. :)

kinky twists

2009-10-08T21:39:00.003-04:00

I will be going back to the kinky twists soon. I figure I should do one more set of silk locs first so that I can upload that video, but after that I am putting my hair away! The kinky twists will stay in for at least 2 months.

While I have the kinky twists in I will be:

1. shampooing every 2 weeks

2. using whatever growth aid I decide on my scalp every 2 days

3. deep conditioning every week making sure to concentrate on the braids so I dont get too much buildup on the roots.

This style will take care of my hair for the next few months. I wont have to worry about getting my hair done or protecting it.

2009-09-26T17:24:00.002-04:00

For the past few weeks I have been wearing my hair in silk locs. OMG those are a real bitch to take out!! scuse my lang.. I will be doing a tutorial for them the next time I put them in. So don't worry :P They are really easy to do once you get the hang of it. I had to figure out how to do them myself by looking at them on someone else's head.

I wont be doing them too soon because they are a little stressful on the scalp. You have to take time in between those kinds of hairstyles or else you wont have any edges like a lot of people that we all see walking around... Thats another story. lol Just know not to wear your hairstyles so tight and give yourself time in between so that the hair can grow back instead of continuously being pulled out.

Now I am back in my famous ponytail baggy. Which I have missed tremendously!! I haven't worn it in months! wow.. :)

Havent blogged in a while...

2009-09-10T00:45:00.002-04:00

Yea I haven't blogged in a while because life basically hit me like a ton of bricks over the past month even more so than it has before. People, jealousy, complete craziness...

Aside from that I have finally seemed to climb out of the hairstyle rut that I have been in for the past few months. I don't know why but I just felt like everything has been done already. Which it kinda has but there is always room for improvement and creativity, I just was not feeling very creative...

The hairstyles that I have done so far I have posted pics of only on twitter because I have not had internet access for the entire time that I have been away aside from my cell phone. I need to update my fotki which has been terribly neglected. I feel bad about that :,(

lol

But just know that I am back! I did finally get my Macbook Pro which came with a free ipod touch because I am a student. Yay!!

I will be making videos again. Mac makes it so easy to do these things! I did kinda have a hard time figuring out iMovie but I finally got it! & posted my first real tutorial type video in how many months!

When I finally logged onto youtube I had SOOOOO many comments and messages I was a bit overwhelmed.. I also feel weird about answering comments from like 2 months ago... :/

I do want to thank everyone who has stuck with me for their support even though I suck big time at updating and keeping up with everything.... :P

But yea like I said I will be uploading videos as I can and updating the blog more often & also when I can I will take pics of my hair to update the fotki. :D k thx bye!!

Mar <333

I love fake hair!!

2009-07-13T17:31:00.002-04:00

OK so I refuse to let this set back get to me anymore than it has!! I got rid of the source so now I am going to work on fixing it & moving forward!

I put my hair in a sewin almost 2 weeks ago. I have Harlem 125 Italian Body wave hair. It was really cheap about $15 a pack. I used 2 packs. I left a small horseshoe shaped section out in the front kinda to the side for a side part so that my hair will cover over the weave. I sewed the weave onto a net with my hair in french braids underneath.

I just decided I will just call them french braids I still feel weird saying cornrows.. A bit too country for me. lol

Ok so onto my regimen:
It really hasn't changed much from before but I don't expect anyone to really search through 3 yrs of posts to find what I do lol

1. I will be washing every 2 weeks. i mix shampoo with a little suave & make sure to rinse really well so that all the residue it removed.
2. I'm going to be deep conditioning with lekair with every wash to keep the hair nice & soft.
3. I deep condition my own hair that is left out every week or 2x per week depending on how I feel.

That's basically it..
When I take it out I will do a aphogee protein treatment and deep condition like crazy!

Mirena was the cause!

2009-07-12T21:54:00.003-04:00

Ok so I wrote out this entirely too long post about the problems I have been having since I started Mirena. I think it was a bit too personal to post plus it was a huge RANT! So I'm just going to post the short version & tell you guys the major side affects.

1. The most problematic & upsetting- Cervical Dysplasia. I am in the moderate to severe range! Severe cervical dysplasia sometimes can lead to cervical cancer a few years down the line! So thank you Mirena for basically giving me cancer! I may be overreacting but I've never even had an abnormal pap smear before and now I have severe abnormal growth/precancerous cells on my cervix! The stupid lady tried to tell me it was because of my sexual partner. I have been abstinent for quite some time so a sexual partner is in no way the cause. Yet she insisted that mirena was not the cause... dummy

2. HAIRLOSSSS!!!!- Consistent Shedding for an entire year!!

3. slight Depression- I say slight because the way I felt & how I handled stressful situations was far from how I normally am! I tried to keep my self under control and focused but the issues remained..

4. extremely irregular periods- 2 weeks long or more every single month!!!! Seriously!!?!??

There is a 5, 6, 7, & 8 but those are WAY TMI...

But anywayzzzz...
I got it taken out Friday! I am so happy about it & wish I would have done it sooner! The gyn who took it out was a complete IDIOT!! She didn't know wtf she was talking about! I wish I could skip med school cause I could take her place today & do a wayyyyyyyyyy better job! So yea I'm done with bc all together because everything I have been on fucks me up! So I am done!

People! Please don't think that doctors know EVERYTHING! They are people just like u & me. Do your research & don't let anyone talk you into anything that will compromise your health! Always do whats best for you!

The gyn that I saw was not my regular gyn & she basically tried to talk to me like I had no idea what I was talking about! My regular gyn is very concerned about the issues that this lady just blew off as nothing. Said that for some women these problems are normal & kept talking about this mysterious sexual partner that I have! lol Crazy! These problems are not normal FOR ME!! And I have never experienced anything like this until I had Mirena inserted. & now that it is gone two of the issues that I did not mention are now GONE! The depressed feelings I had are going away and I do feel a lot better. That could just be because I had the thing removed but ha! I dought it....

Thoughts???
If your going through a similar situation feel free...

Mar <333

RIP Michael Jackson<33

2009-07-02T12:06:00.004-04:00

I have been listening to nothing but Michael all day everyday since he died. Its so surreal! But this is life. People come and go. :,(

So this weekend is the 4th of july & I have alot of plans so my hair has to look good. :P I have been wearing it in a simple ponytail. So since I have been in such a long rut with my hair I am going to go ahead & put in my sewin. Im still debating on wether or not I want to use curly or straight hair but I will figure that out when I get to the BSS.

I wish I could do a tutorial on it but I dont know how thats going to work. Maybe I could do short video clips & put it all together with pics....

I need a new computer so bad! But I have other bills... Its going to have to wait. :(

Overdue..

2009-06-14T21:59:00.002-04:00

I havent posted in a while so I thought I'd just throw something here tonight. I have been wearing my hair in braids for the past few weeks. Been cowashing every few days. So far so good!

I stopped using my vits for 2 weeks because I was getting those severe sinus headaches! I increased the amount of msm I was taking & I dont think I was drinking enough water. When I take too much msm or use my sulfur oil with too high a concentration I always get those really bad headaches! Hate it!

So I just cut use of everything all together! It took a while for the msm to get out of my system completely. The headaches are now finally gone! Yes! I have now started back on the vits same reg as before. I am just going to take it really slow with the msm. Those sinus headaches are no joke!

Summa Summa Summa tyme!! lol

2009-04-17T23:49:00.002-04:00

I have 2 weeks left until classes end! YES! After that I just have 2 online summer courses which should be a piece of cake! :P I am so happy that this semester is finally almost over! I have to work really hard in these last few weeks and after that I can get to doing other things such as more youtube videos! lol
I have alot of things in mind that I want to do & some that I have already started on so there will be alot more detailed tutorials and things when I am finished.

About my hair, I have been wearing it in a bun clipped with a xl flexi8 clip, which I LOVE!! <33
I have been cowashing and detangling every few days with suave and aussie moist conditioners. I have been moisturizing with my beloved scurl no drip curl activator spray. My hair is so soft & I love it! No problems right now.

I'm trying to keep it in a very simple protective style because a few weeks ago I was stressing and had it in just a puff/ponytail for a few days. I dont know about anyone else but for me a ponytail is a huge nono at this length. I had so many tangles and had to work very hard to get it all out without breaking off all my hair. It took two days... No joke!

My shedding has reduced significantly and so far I am kinda happy about that. Even though the shedding has slowed it is still there & at times it pisses me off because my hair is noticeably thinned out! Note to self: get to making another batch of sulfur oil...

Some people just don't know how much work it takes to reach your goals! To have it taken away by something mediocre just makes you feel like pure shit! For anyone out there who is struggling to meet a goal and it just doesn't seem to be doing any good.. Know that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel! Never underestimate yourself, because when you do is when you begin to see yourself fail! Keep working because the end is always closer and if you quit you will be back to where you started and will have to start all over again! :) That goes for anything! Not just hair! :P

Shedding has been a major issue for me for the past few months and even though it has slowed it has not stopped! Last time it took over a year for the new hairs to even start growing back! I'm going to do a little more research to find what else I can use...
I already know about the garlic supplements, the garlic shampoo/conditioner, some other supplements such as MSM also helps. There probably isn't much more out there but I am going to find as much info as possible!

If anyone who is reading this would like to see a series of videos explaining my steps for creating your own regimen & what I do plz let me know! You just have to sign in to comment.. teehee

Skin Care

2009-04-12T20:19:00.002-04:00

I have ok skin. Its not clear but good enough. My skin is very oily, my face is shiny as all hell by the end of the day. I have large pores on my cheeks close to my nose, on my forehead, and on my chin. My skin is very soft on not just my face but everywhere else as well.
I exfoliate my face at the most every 3 days, and at the least once a week. I have been using the Neutrogena pore refining line for the past few months and I have really liked the products and found them to be somewhat helpful. Recently on a trip to the CCO I decided to look at the clinique section. I found that they had a lot of very interesting products. so I decided to get some things. I tried the foaming face wash, moisturesurge, and eye cream.Oh and the moisturizer. I liked them all & use them everyday.
Truthfully when I first started using it I was impressed because it helped clear up a few blemishes fairly quickly. But after a few weeks of using it I dont really see much of a difference between that and my neutrogena. When it comes to certain things I say the higher priced, higher quality products are always better IMO. But with skincare the higher quality stuff is sometimes just as good or worse than the cheap stuff. It all depends because every person is different. Every person have different skin with different needs.

I just broke out yesterday with a whole bunch of large cystic pimples all over my chin. Its not very noticable because they are under the skin. But I hate it because they hurt a lot!

Also because of the vitamins I now have chin hair! lol When I was consistent with my vitamins before my skin cleared up so much that I dont remember having any pimples during that time period. I wonder how long it is going to take for them to clear up this time. I have been taking them for I think about a month and a half and I have been pretty good about it. I have extra facial hair lmao so I know it has benefited my growth. As far as my skin we will see what happends.

Hair removal
I have tweezed, shaved, waxed, naired, threaded...
I hate shaving & waxing.
I'm ok with nair but I get hair bumps.
Tweezing I'm ok with completely as long as its my eyebrows.
I like threading but can never seem to find my thread when I need it & end up tweezing! lol

I get hair bumps so easily on my bikini line & underarms I looks disgusting!
I have been thinking about getting an epilator but didnt really know where to start.
I'm thinking of getting the braun wet/dry just because it can be used in water.
Or the emjoi emagine cause it has 2 heads & because pursebuzz had it. lol
They both cost the same a little over $100. I want to get it now but I think I will wait till next month.. Even though knowing me I will cave in & end up getting it sooner probably within the next few days lmao! It dosent really matter as long as I get it before summertime, cause I wear a lot of backless, sleaveless, strappy, strapless, tops with shorts & capris. :)

Does anyone use an epilator?? Thoughts please?!?!? :)

Vitamen Regimen! Updated!

2009-04-09T23:49:00.002-04:00

I read a few of my previous posts and I just realized I have not posted my actual vitamin regimen. I am taking quite a few vitamins and I do find them to be very helpful. My shedding has noticeably reduced. Also when I am consistent & drink enough water my face is damn near clear. I get the worst, the biggest, the most painful, cystic type pimples. Especially around that time of the month and for the most part they are smaller and clear up without scarring. Whereas before they world leave a dark mark which would fade over time...
Ramble ramble....

Ok on to the vitamins... I take some in the morning and some at night.

In the am I take a multi vitamin; 500mg vitamin c; 500mg deodorized garlic; 1000mg evening primrose oil; and finally 1mg Biotin.

At night I take a B-50, 1mg biotin, 500mg garlic, 500mg pantothenic acid.
Also throughout the day I try to drink lots of water, & I put some MSM powder in my water.

Really this is nothing new I always go back to the same supplements, have been taking these on and off for the past few years. The only thing that I have added is the garlic capsules.

All my vitamins come from puritans pride as usual because they are so affordable and are always having sales! seriously the sales are constant, right now its buy 1 get 1 free, buy 2 get 3 free! In the summer they usually have buy 1 get 2 free, buy 2 get 4 free. I love buying from them!
However I have not really found a multi that I really liked(by the ingredient list & serving size for lack of a better term, dont really want to say dosage...) I think I will just go ahead & get womens one a day or GNC HSN... Going to have to make a trip

Whats next???

2009-04-07T20:11:00.002-04:00

School School School....
Wok Work Work....

This is all I know this semester and for the first time I am not even full time! I find it funny that I am busier than I have ever been and I am not even taking as many classes as I usually am..
I am damn near full time at work atm. & when I'm not at work I'm at school.
Haven't posted a video in so long its ridiculous!

Well enough about that.... onto the hair! :)

I did the twists and took them out, so I am going to redo them this week I promise! lol and post the video. I need a hair style other than my tired bun that I have been wearing for what seems like forever....
I am thinking thursday will be a good day cause I work that morning & I can just come home & get started. Every other day I'm there till late. I cant wait till summer1 Online classes! & I can switch shifts!

For the sew in I am thinking of ordering some hair dont know where I want to order from yet but the places I have looked at I'm like maybe but I kinda didnt want to pay that much... Maybe I should just get some ok hair from the bss and order later from china when I finally decide to get another lacewig.
Ramble ramble ramble...
I need to go home!!! ttyl!

Stupid people and dumb comments!

2009-03-19T12:34:00.004-04:00

Ever since I started my youtube page I have been getting the most wonderful, nice, lovely, caring, kind, complimentary, all that good shit, comments, Under ALL of my videos! I am making these videos so that I can help other women learn about caring for natural hair, as well as documenting my hair on video instead of just pictures, and I am having fun with it doing what I like to do!

I have met some lovely people and enjoy building relationships with people who are outside of my state! But the haters just ruin it for the rest! I swear, I have gotten the most ignorant people who leave me the stupidest messages! I have gotten racists, stupid people who don't seem to know that what they are saying is inappropriate, sickos sending pics of their dingdongs, and all! I have tons of messages where people make "suggestions" on what I should have done or should use because what I did was not good enough! I don't care about all that mess and I don't really care about what other people think! I'm not going to lose any sleep because of what anyone says or thinks! I don't have time for that crap!!

But the problem is after a while and the more people there are watching and reading the more negativity they bring with them! Most of the time they have no idea what they are talking about! They make assumptions and talk out of their asses & try to make a point when they need to go and do something with themselves and their lives instead of worrying about me and mine.

The post I made previously was not me talking about what mistakes I made because my children are in no way shape or form a mistake! STUPID! I was talking about how all birth control causes health problems for me! Not just hair shedding but other things as well, but since this is a hair blog that is all I stated. Also it was a small tidbit of advice for anyone who has been in that type of situation! Abuse should NOT be tolerated! & being married is not a necessity! I could be married right now if I wanted to but that is not what I want at the moment! That's not where I need to be!

I hate it most when people make comments about others without knowing the whole story! You can have your opinion on something whatever it may be but why do you have to make it known before getting the whole story! I could put my whole life out there but I chose not to and the smallest bit of info I do give someone tries to twist it negatively! Why! it's unnecessary!

Being responsible is what I am about! Otherwise I would not be in my 4th yr of college about to graduate, major- Biology! Otherwise my kids would not be taken care of and the state would have them! Otherwise my kids would be miserable and not have a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs! Otherwise my cabinets and fridge would not be stuffed with food! I am a mother first and foremost and a student second! I hold down 2 jobs at once and still find time to help others and make youtube videos (which are very time consuming!) Those who do not appreciate me & what I do need to move on and unsubscribe!

Here is the comment that was posted by ANONYMOUS:

so you are 22 with not one, not two, but THREE kids and no husband?!?!? hmm...if I were you, that would be birth control enough for me... maybe you should prioritize your kids, and school, and by the time you finish all of that you won't have time for sex!!! :-) Also, remember, it's not just taking birth control so that you don't get pregnant yet again, it's being a responsible mother and woman, and setting a good example, and being a good role model for them, and not just doing any and everything in front of them, or having just any man around them....maybe you can at least try to prevent them from doing what you did...good luck.

It seems that this person may have meant well to a degree (yea right!) but this kind of thing pisses me off because they are saying I am not responsible, I don't prioritize the most important things in my life, and I am not a good role model and am doing all kinds of things in front of my children! WTF!!

You know NOTHING about me or how I'm living except for what I put on youtube! Who the hell are you!! Don't make assumptions about someone that you do not know because it is ignorant and you sound stupid! And thank you for making and ass of u and me (assume-get it lol)!

& I'm 23! & if I was so worried about having a man around I would have been married a long time ago! I did nothing wrong and am a grow woman! I do not condone teenage pregnancy and think its all ok! However I think that if you are in the right mindset, have a good support system, and are able to take care of you priorities it can be done and there is nothing wrong with it! There is nothing wrong with having kids as long as you can take care of them and prepare them for life! Also their is absolutely NOTHING wrong with being a single parent! Half of today's marriages end in divorce, mixed families are more and more common! I don't want to be married because truthfully a man cant do much for me that I cant or wouldn't rather do myself! Is a man going to pass my exams for me? Hell no!

Age is just a number and does not determine what kind of parent you will be! I know people 2x my age who still act like children! Come on! My age is nothing but how many years I have been on this earth! My age does not tell what I have been through, how I think, what I am doing with myself, or where I am going! I don't do drugs, I don't smoke, I don't drink! How would you know that what I am doing is inappropriate and I'm not teaching my kids right from wrong!

I have been on my own for years, and I don't ask anyone for anything! My kids go wanting for nothing! That is more than I can say for a LOT of people who have done it the "right" way! Marriage and all!
I'm 23 and I have way more than many people in their 30s! I am at a good place in my life I am happy and so are my babies! That is all that matters and it will do nothing but get better for us!

I feel like this is completely unnecessary but I just needed to get this out of my system! Not just because of this comment but also because of other people as well!

Don't bring your negativity to me cause like I said before I don't want it! Any stupidity will be deleted! If you want to have a debate on the issue then come correctly!

And thanks to this person there will be no more nameless comments on my blog! If you cant say whatever under your own name then your a coward! Don't come at me like that anonymously!!

Finally the twists are done!

2009-03-13T18:23:00.002-04:00

I have been talking about doing these twists for the longest! But I am finally getting to them. I wanted to have them done for my birthday so I am doing them on my birthday! LOL
The video will be up maybe tuesday when I am finished with everything else.
Ok let me get back to finishing these!!

I love aussie more! & problems that need to be solved...

2009-03-04T10:51:00.004-05:00

Yea so when I went to wash my hair I said I didn't feel like doing the clarifying thing so I just used the Aussie shampoo to wash. I absolutely loved it! Like I said I haven't used the shampoo in years and when I used it yesterday I was in heaven. I then put the Aussie conditioner all over and that made it feel so nice that I just left it on.

So yea, I have been cowashing with suave and Aussie & my hair is feeling nice and is soft again & I am loving it!

However, I am still having this problem with shedding. I hate when I don't comb for a few days because I come back and have SO much hair in my brush! I hate it! & I don't know what to do...
I am still taking my vitamins however I have been slacking on that a little. I need to get a pill box so that I can remember to take them when I am not home.

I have not been wearing my protective style as faithfully as I used to. For the past week I had my hair in a puff & I did not cowash daily, which is a HUGE NO NO!!

I think its because I have been a little stressed out about school. Mostly because I cant seem to find enough study time. Not to mention that when I am trying to study my mind is wandering elsewhere. I am supposed to be doing some research for my professor & sat down to find what I needed a few times but haven't been able to find anything! Yesterday I was looking for a few hrs, my baby girl shut off the computer & I lost everything I was looking up! bad girl! ;)

I need to set a schedule and stick to it. I think that from now on I am going to stay at least an hr after class to get some time in since I cant seem to get anything done school wise at home. Procrastination never pays off! I'm glad that I am off til next week so my job wont get in the way cause I have an exam on Monday. For those of you moms who are student and have jobs also you all know its hard! But I'm just going to keep moving forward because dwelling on my troubles and problems is not going to fix them.

Main points:

Keep the hair in a protective style always!
Cowash! cowash! cowash!
Stick to the vit reg!
Stop the procrastination!
Stay after class to get work done instead of rushing home!
Keep moving forward & working toward the future!!

Another thing I still have not made my sulfur mt mix yet I will do that since sulfur helped with my shedding before. Man I swear I hate Birth control! I would just get rid of it but I am way to fertile! Its not like I do the deed everyday or at all seriously.. But my last baby came from a 1ns w/ bd with a jacket on... I'm afraid that if I do anything again I will be sitting here with 4! lol Which I really have no problem taking care of my babies what so ever its just hard with the ity bity ones and getting my school work done. & for those of you wondering about my marital status... I am single with a few prospective husbands waiting for me to break my shell. But me and the father of my children are not and will never be together. It was my choice to end it & any woman who is in an abusive relationship needs to get out of it as soon as possible. & that's all I will say about that for now.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! I hope you have found my posts to be useful!!
<<333333
Mar

P.S. Ignorant people who like to make anonymous comments keep the shit to yourself!! My life My choices! I made no mistakes and have no regrets! & I am happy where I am in life & am a better person for it!

Reminding myself!

2009-03-02T16:17:00.002-05:00

I think I just reminded myself why I dont straighten my hair very often. I deep conditioned and my hair was not feeling the way that I wanted it to feel. So, it looks like I'm going to have to pull out the aphogee. I love the way my hair looks and feels while straight but after that is all gone its a whole 'notha story! I have to whip my hair back into shape!

So what I am going to do is

shampoo with my suave shampoo to clarify.
shampoo again with aussie moist shampoo mixed with conditioner.
I am then going to cowash with aussie moist.
Do a protein treatment with aphogee 2step.
Finally do a deep dc with lekair mixed with motions cpr.

I just got the aussie moist shampoo & conditioner. 33.8oz for $5.34 each at walmart. I used to use aussie & loved it before so when I saw those huge bottles with pumps & all I had to get them. I do need to go to the BSS also & get some motions conditioner. I love those but have not bought any in a while. the only kindI have left is the motions cpr. I need to restock...
I have been wearing the baggy since I finished washing my hair so hopefully my ends are nice & smooth.

I'll be back to tell how it comes out

2009-02-18T00:21:00.002-05:00

I just realized how out of sync my fotki, youtube, and blog is. I straightened my hair it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. Did it for valentines day cause me and my girls were going out. I did a little too much at the bar, haha but its ok. But I'm glad I did cause I trimmed all the splits that I had; did a mean search & destroy mission and still am...

I blew it out really good with the blowdryer and then flatironed it really good. It is always best to have a ceramic flatiron because with any other I would have had to go over it at least 3 times to get it smooth. I slid down each peice 1 time, at the most twice. the hair was smooth as silk! I love my FHI! I have had it for a few years and am thinking of getting another just to have. One with a temp setting! lol

What I did:

I dc with suave, aphogee reconstructor, and lekair
I washed with suave citrus smoothie shampoo
I dc again with lekair & motions cpr, overnight but with heat for the first hr.
I then rinsed it out and let it airdry with a towel for 10-15 min.
I applied my butter cone blend (which I LOVE!) and CHI silk infusion
Then blew the hair out in sections holding the hair taught.
Then I flatironed each 1/4" section
I did a saran wrap treatment the next day which came out FAB!
Finally I trimmed and have been trimming as I see splits.

I love the way my hair looks when I blowdry then flat iron as opposed to rollersetting and flatironing. Even though blowdrying is not healthy I love the results! Its always so smooth and silky. Why cant I get the same with a rollerset? Maybe its my technique, I dont know. I think I will just do rollersets when I want to wear it curly or pouffy! lol

I dont know what to do as far as music goes in my videos cause there is always so much background noise. Also voice overs are kinda hard cause I'm not very outspoken or as charismatic as some are and I dont always know how to say what I want to say. I am better at writing that speaking, especially when talking to alot of people. My son wanted to say something so I let him, even though I kept butting in... That boy can go on and on for hours telling stories its so cute! He could probably narrate all my videos from now on!! haha wouldnt that be cute! lmao!

Henna love <33

2009-01-27T23:33:00.002-05:00

So, I was going to do a henna treatment and do a video about it. I grabbed everything that I like to use in my henna mix, my lekair, my honey, my acv, my aphogee reconstructor, my suave. Everything except the plain yogurt cause I am out. :(

I'm getting ready to mix & I realize that I don't have the most important ingredient. The Henna!

I begin to look frantically for my henna which was in a clear plastic bag that was in the cabinet behind everything. I could not find it at all.

So I'm asking "has anyone seen my henna." To which they reply "whats that?"
"It was the green powder in the plastic bag." " I don't know what you are talking about"

................. :(

"Ooooooohhhh so that's what that stuff was. Oh I threw that away."

Why would someone do such a thing? To through away my beloved henna. Do you have any idea how devastating that is? To have something that you love & cherish just get thrown away in the garbage like it was some foreign disgusting looking thing that was shoved in the back of the cabinet out of sight so that no one would know about it so that it could grow & fester 7 harbor all kinds of bacteria. It was back there so that light wouldn't get to it, and now its gone....

Now I have to go all the way to the Indian store and buy some more. & we all know I'm lazy and don't like to do things that are completely unnecessary. Such as driving all out of the way to buy more henna when I had a whole big bag of it sitting where I thought no one would bother it. I have better things to waste my gas on.....

LOL

No, but seriously, I love henna! <33333
I do henna glosses & recently the last one that I did I didn't have any yogurt. Which by the way yogurt in henna= the softest most moisturized hair ever! I used salt in the last mix actually, and can I say WOW!! The hair came out ssooooooo soft and lovely it was ridiculous! I know I posted about Henna b4 but so what!

I love henna!!!!
<333 <333 <3333333

Who else loves henna as much as I do?
Henna for hair, henna tattoos all of it! I don't think I posted any of the pics of the henna tattoos I have done.... Don't even know if I have them anymore.... Maybe I will do pics & maybe vids of that if anyone is interested..... Hmmmmm
Can you tell that I like to ramble on and on and on and on & on & on & on...........
lol
OK
bye
for now....

Why.. :P

2009-01-25T20:22:00.002-05:00

Why is it that when I do a hairstyle, I usually say i am going to leave it in for at least 2 months but, I never seem to make it past 3-4 weeks!? haha. I think its funny that whenever I make a plan for my hair to be put away I hardly stick to it.

I guess I just missed my hair that much. When I took it out I couldn't keep my hands off it! My hair grew a little and was so full it was crazy. But when i detangled it I lost sooo much hair!! I had the weave in for exactly 30 days. I cut it a few times, attempting to keep my interest but it didn't work. It was cute and the last cut was too sexy! oh well...

I keep forgetting to order my stuff from puritan. arggg! :P I finally did it tonight though.... Finally.
Hopefully this will reduce my shedding along with the sulfur.

Why is it that every bc I get on makes me shed like crazy?

Why is it that so many people do not understand my reasons for wearing weaves?
"You got hair. Why do you always cover it up?" "I hate when girls wear weave."

Why is it that when people see me with a weave they assume I am one of those bald head girls who have no edges & no sense?

Why is it that when someone sees someone else doing something to their own hair they have to make such a big fuss about it like its happening to them?

Why is it that when people find out that I have 3 kids they then want to act like they feel sorry for me or make some dumb ass comment such as " you need to slow down!"?
Its none of your business & my kids are not a problem other people are.

Why is it that girlfriends always feel the need to fight their battles with the other woman rather than the man who is actually the one causing the problems??
I see this way too often! There is no way you are going to stop your man from cheating by dealing with someone who probably didn't know anything about you. You have to deal with the man who in most cases isn't worthy of your time if he is cheating & lying...

Go figure..

I have more, believe me!

How long?

2009-01-15T19:10:00.002-05:00

I don't know how long I am going to keep my bob in... all I know is right now I am absolutely dying to do another hairstyle! lol
My next hairstyle will be some twists and coils because I have been wanting to do them and also have a request for them soooooo.....
Then a week later I will do another sew in. This one is going to be a long Italian body wave or a spanish wave and I am going to sew it onto a net that will be sewed around the perimeter of my own hair. I am going to leave out very little hair which I will keep rollerset to help it blend into the weave. I will not be flatironing that section or combing it except to rollerset.
The last time I left hair out in front it broke off while the rest grew like crazy. That was before I started really caring for my hair. I was brushing like crazy in order to blend my hair with the weave. Not this time! This time I will not comb or do any major manipulation to the hair that is going to be left out.
I have thought about this for a while and am still hesatant to leave any hair out but I am going to do it this time. I havent worn hair out in a weave since 2005. WOW!
Lets see how this goes....
I just dont know when I will do it yet....

Blackout!

2008-12-19T19:57:00.002-05:00

Youtube has lost their minds! Algorithmically demote videos based on language. Bullshit!! I try not to curse in my videos but seriously language is not a good reason to demote a video. Content is!! All the hate and racism that goes on, on youtube is ridiculous!

I have received quite a few racist and ignorant messages and had to block a few people. If youtube & google doesn't do anything to those people who are making those types of videos then there is no reason for them to take away from those who make vaild points and pass on important messages just because there may be some language used. i have said this before... You cant solve a problem unless you fix the bigger more important issues first.

The way someone talks vs what that person says...

Which is more important??

I am planning on entering scandolous beauty billyb contest those will be uploaded on the 21st b4 midnight I hope...

Sticking to a regimen

2008-12-19T18:48:00.003-05:00

I am a procrastinator to the fullest! I always say i can do that tomorrow. Then alot of the time tomorrow never comes. When it comes to taking my vits I am good for the first few days, most of the time the first few weeks. What happens is I get a bit overwhelmed with other things and I forget them one day. Then I forget them another day. Then I just say I missed too many days I'll just start back up another time. The longest time I have taken my vits on a consistant basis is i believe 5-6 months.

I am going to start a vitamin regimen starting now and I am going to add more things when I get my shippment from puritan. My plan is to decrease the amont of shedding that I have, increase the amount of growth, and start to use my megatek again along with my sulfur oil.

Right now I am going to be taking MSM, Biotin, & vit-c.
I will be adding a multi, a b-complex, garlic oil, and evening primrose oil.
seems like alot but its not. Plus its all in the name of hair growth so its worth it. Plus the things I am taking are also great for overall health. When i was consistent with them before my skin was very clear, I was more energetic, my thoughts were clearer. The only problem I had were the headaches that you get when you take biotin and msm and dont drink enough water.

I will also be attempting to eat a healthier diet. I will eat more eggs, fish, and nuts. And i will drink my 64+oz of water each day.

I will post a video on all this once the youtube blackout is over....

:)

oh and I haven't done my sewin yet. I will do that next week hopefully. The protective styles are going to be part of my self challenge. I think my time frame will be 3-6 months...

No time!

2008-11-23T20:08:00.003-05:00

Man when I tell you that I have no time for anything I really mean anything! If I am not at school I am at work. If I am not at work or school I am trying to study. Its been crazy I haven't been able to do vids or post and catch up on LHCF.....

Did I write about that already? lol Doesn't matter just know that I am super super extremely busy!

I haven't had time to do my hair and have been wearing it in 2 pigtails looking like a cute little girl. Someone told me I look 12yrs old again. lol! I am going to go back to the baggy ponytail for a while maybe 2 more weeks. Then after finals i will do the sewin and post that video.

I finally did my nails. Some gels, they came out good, considering I haven't done my nails in a good 2 months. Gels are hard to work with but I am still learning.

Sewin!

2008-11-14T10:43:00.003-05:00

I am all finished with my exams! Didn't get to the finals yet but almost there... it has been a crazy week work, school, 3 exams and a oral presentation! I cant believe I got through it! Who else is as bad at oral presenting as me!? Me standing up in front of a group of people and talking do not mix! lol it wasn't that bad... ;)

NEwayzzzzzz.... It is that time again. Time to put my hair away. I will be doing a modified sewin weave and I will put a step by step on youtube. Not the full version because that would kinda be impossible...
But yeah, here is the written version of it.

1. Wash & DC and detangle
2. Braid all the hair down
3. Sew the weaving net onto the braids or put on wig net
4. Sew the tracks onto the net in whatever pattern you like. It depends on what you would like the final outcome to be. Horseshoe shape or spiral are the most often used methods for me.

For a visual just check my youtube I will have it on there as soon as I have time to sew in my hair.

Busy Busy Busy!!!

2008-11-12T10:22:00.002-05:00

School is kicking my ass! I'm tripping at how much I'm sitting here reading and not doing the things that I like to do outside of school! Hair, soaps, nails, youtube, LHCF.....
I havent been on LHCF in so long it makes no sense! Only 3 weeks left! cant wait cant wait cant wait................

Slacking!! But workin on it...

2008-10-16T22:37:00.002-04:00

It seems like I am writing a post every few months about me slacking on my hair care! WTF! Yeah, I'm preoccupied with other things in my life and have been wearing my hair in ponytails, not tucked. And I have not worn my phony pony very often. I have a few split ends that need to go so I will be trimming the ends of my twists next time I wash.

Megatek Update!

2008-09-24T22:39:00.002-04:00

It has been a month and a half since I started using megatek. As soon as I started it I also started using something else not hair related. My hair began shedding like crazy! Alot of hair! It was so much that I noticed that my hair line had thinned out. If you watch my pony baggy video you can see that I stop and look at the mirror like, hm strange...
Yea...
So I really don't know which caused the shedding to be so severe but it has subsided now. I am still shedding, yes, but it is way less than it was before. If I had to guess I would say that the megatek caused the shedding. I say that because I was applying alot of it in the beginning, unnecessarily. Once I cut back on the amount that I used on my hair at one time I noticed the shedding decreased. And, the past 2 weeks I have not used it every day, I have noticed that the shedding has decreased more. Finally, when I first started I was using it on the hair line generously. Now I don't apply it to that hairline and whatever excess being rubbed into the scalp will get to the hairline also but it is way less than me applying straight to my hairline. Again, my hairline shedding has decreased.
So to counteract the shedding I was still getting I started using my sulfur oil along with the megatek and that has helped also.
Despite the shedding, my hair has grown alot due to using megatek. Like I said I have not measured it but, I cut and inch and my hair does feel like it is longer than it was before I cut that inch off. So all in all I am very happy with megatek and I am happy that I did not waste my money on the huge gallon for nothing!

Every day or whenever I remember I massage a small amount of megatek and some sulfur oil into my scalp. Thats it!

Update! School Youtube and The Hair

2008-09-24T21:44:00.002-04:00

I havent updated in a while. I just started my 4th year of college and am looking forward to graduating. I havent decided on a few things that I have been thinking about this past year but I will know for sure at the end of this semester what I want to do. I also started working again so I am kind of happy about that. I am happy that I have a job now, I am just a little frustrated that I am not working in the field that I need to be in, so that I can get the experience that I need. And seriously I kind of have no idea who to talk to or where to go to find that kind of job where I live. The only thing I can think of is one of the colleges or hospitals. I dont really know where to start...

I will figure that out when I get to that point.

My laptop that I transfer all my vids to was down for a while so I wasnt able to upload any videos to my youtube. It is back on now and I will be doing videos when I have time. I finally posted the rollersetting video after like a month or so. :( My next video will be some zigzag french braids(cornrows) and obviously more makeup. I have a bunch of ideas for halloween that I will post as I do them.

Ok, on to the hair...
I still have not measured my hair! WTF! But after I did the rollerset I said I was going to trim it. I ended up cutting it. About an inch I cut off. No more split ends! :) I have been forgetting to wear my scarf at night and I know that it is affecting my hair. But I have gotten over the take care of the hair at all costs idea. I just let my hair do its thing. Keep it in a protective style and dont comb it and so far so good. I may regret it later but right now I am not really worrying about it.
When I get like this, whe I start to not care about my hair, I know it is time to put it up into a style where I dont have to think about my hair at all. So I am going to wear french braids for the nest few months or so. I may do a roller set in between after the temps go down more. Right now I am going to keep my hair braided up.

Tommorrow I am going to wash my hair and my baby girls hair and we are both getting braided up. We will keep our hair in braids for a week and redo. I will be rubbing megatek and my sulfur oil on my scalp daily. And we will clarify and DC before the braids are put back in.
What else? Hhmmmm...

My hair and Megatek

2008-08-10T23:15:00.002-04:00

I am in love with this megatek!<3

I have been using it for about 2 weeks or so. I had my hair braided up in my baggy that I demonstrated on youtube. When I took down my hair to Shampoo and DC I could immediately tell that there was significant growth! I did not take any measurements but I could tell there was a big difference!

I am soo tempted to straighten it so I can get a trim ans see where I am. I should be very close to BSL...

I did a clear rinse this past week and did a video on it But WMM(windows movie maker) is acting retarded... But anywayz, I cant believe that I forgot about clear rinses! I made my hair so shiny and I could see that my curls were defined better! I will never forget about rinses ever again.

Two Videos

2008-07-29T11:05:00.003-04:00

I made two videos on youtube about my hair. Total of 8 videos so far. My next video will be a product video, every product that I have and how I use it. I will also do a video on twisting by the end of the week when I redo my twists. Check them out, and subscribe! I have alot more that I want to do, hair, nails, skin, and makeup related!

http://www.youtube.com/user/marand313

My hair today

2008-07-24T20:50:00.002-04:00

I have my hair in cornrows right now. With the baby and everything else I have kind of forgotten about my hair. I am almost ready to take them out and when I do I will do a DEEP DEEP Condition. I did a Aphogee protein treatment last week, which turned out well. I havent measured my hair in a while, will do maybe next month or so.

That is all for now...<3

Ovation Cell Therapy/ Mega Tek

2008-07-24T20:39:00.002-04:00

I finally jumped on the bandwagon! I bought the Mega Tek rebuilder and will start using it as soon as it gets here!
What sucks is every place I went to was out of stock on the 16oz so I ended up buying the gallon size. I just hope it works for me so I didn't waste my money!

I plan on using it daily as a cowash/leave-in...:)

Youtube!

2008-07-10T11:00:00.000-04:00

I created an account on youtube and will be uploading videos as soon as I get my new camera or find my old one. I will have videos demonstrating makeup application, hairstyles and howto's on alot of diferent things.

Hopefully this will be a good experience. Also I will start another blog dedicated to youtube and what ever I am thinking of doing videos on. It will all be coming soon once I et everything together.

I have posted my youtube link on the sidebar and if you have an account friend me!

Twisted!

2008-07-10T10:51:00.002-04:00

I'm am back in my 2strands again. I kind of got tired of the wig and havent worn it since last month. I still love it though and will wear it again eventually when the temps go back down.

I lost my camera! I am so mad because I had a couple of pics that I was going to upload and my sd card was in it, I will have to get a new one if I dont find it. >:(

Anywayzzzz... my next hair style will be some cornrows and then I will rock my phoneypony or a little bit till I figure out what I want to do with my hair. I do need to get a hair cut to get rid of my split ends. I will do that soon, maybe go to the salon, who knows.(yeah right)

TaTtOo

2008-06-18T17:59:00.002-04:00

I got a tattoo yesterday. I have been wanting one for so long and finally did it. I am glad I waited till now to get it, because the guy who ws going to do it before wasnt very good. I got this other guy to do it and I LOVE it.
I go five butterflies. One mommy with purple and light blue wings. A daddy with dark blue in the wings. Then three baby ones with my kids favorite colors, red and blue, purple and pink, and light blue and dark blue.

It is soooo prettttyyyyy!!!!!!!!

Thinking back...

2008-06-16T19:41:00.003-04:00

I have been looking at my past pics of my WnGs and comparing them with my hair now. I love the texture of my hair and I know that the curls will form eventually, but I dont know about when it is dry. I had nice curls when it was wet but once it dried it turned into a complete POOF.
I actually want the curls to be like they were when I was texturized. I think I may do it again. It looks fine but I like more defined curls.

If I decide to texturize I will wait until next summer to do so after I reach my goal of MBL.

WnG a success!

2008-06-15T13:12:00.003-04:00

I finished my Wng today and I am so happy because It looks GOOD! It curled up really nice and I dont have too much shrinkage, about half the length. The gel and the length is weighing it down a good amount. Pics in the fotki.

My hair is so bouncy and even with all the gel it still blows in the wind!

What I did this time:(I know this is repeated)
I poo'ed and DC overnight
rinsed and added suave conditioner
smoothed in some oil and then gel.
I noticed that the curls werent really forming as easy as before so I took out the denman/goody brush I brushed through my entire head and smoothed it all out. I scrunch it a little and let it be till it dried.
My hair curled up so nice and pretty.

Take a break

2008-06-15T00:32:00.002-04:00

I decided to take a short beak from the LF for a few days. I havent worn my hair in so long and I miss it. Plus, I really wanted to try and see how my WnG is going to look now.
I took off the lf and undid my braids. I poo'ed and DC in five big braids like always. I detangled my hair and right now still have the lekair and aphogee 2min reconstructor in under a shower cap. In the morning I plan yo rinse this out, add some suave and oil, and smooth in some gel. I hope it will turn out ok, because I really want to do the WnG again this summer.

I will do this for about a week and then put the wig back on.

Callenges! on LHCF

2008-06-09T00:33:00.002-04:00

Joined two challenges on LHCF. These are the first that I have joined on this forum. Total so far I am in 3 challenges for this and next year.

I am in:
BHM
1. brastrap length 2008
LHCF
2. 12 inches in 12 months challenge
3. mid- back length 2009

1. For the first challenge I am looking to grow my hair to BSL by the end of this year. I am very close to it right now and will hopefully make my goal by then.
2. The second challenge I will be attempting to grow twice my normal growth rate. My hair does grow the average rate of 1/2" per month. So I am looking to obtain about 12" by may/june next year. To make his goal I am taking some vits and using some growth aids.
3. My goal is to grow my hair to MBL and I will hopefully reach that goal in 2009. I am looking to be 2-3 inches past BSL in early 2009.

How will I achieve these goals?
I am taking vitamins to aid in overall health and faster hair growth. Which are 1.5g MSM, 500mg vit-C, B complex, 5mg biotin, 1g EPO. I am and plan on continuing to wear protective styles until the end of this year. Right now I am wearing my LF with my hair braided underneath pics in fotki. I will straighten my hair sometime soon to do a length check. Also I am using sulfur oil and will be adding mn and maybe mega-tek to my reg as growth aids. By doing these things along with my normal reg I hope to retain all length and double my growth rate.

Back on the vits

2008-06-05T00:43:00.003-04:00

Had my son about 5 weeks ago, just recently stopped nursing. So I jumped right back on the wagon. I am taking all the vits I was taking before. I was going to start off slow and increase the dose gradually. But I just jumped right back in where I left off. I am taking:
Bcomplex
biotin 5mg
MSM 1500mg
vitC
EPO 1000mg

The EPO and vitC I take in the morning. The msm is powdered, i put it in water and sip it throughout the day. The biotin and bcomplex I take before bed.
I am trying to drink more water, but thats not going very well. I also drink carrot juice everyday.

I plan on alternating some things such as, the biotin. I want to take it consistently for 1-3 months and see how it grows then either stop or lower the dose for 1 month then start back up again. I may do the same with MSM.
I read that the initial burst of growth that you get when first starting wears off after a while. I think this is true because when I was taking it before I wasnt getting as much growth the whole time as I did when I first started.
Hopefully this will increase my growth rate along with my sulfur oil. I will be doing mn daily for about a month soon.

Lastly, I have been reading up on the mea-tek/oct thingy, and I am debating on whether or not I want to add that to my reg also. Decisions decisions...

To iron or not to iron

2008-06-05T00:09:00.002-04:00

ok, so I have been wearing my LF nonstop for the past month. Took down my braids to wash and I can tell that my hair has grown alot! Then like a nut I decided to do my nails before I finished braiding it back up! I was anxious because I just got my package, had to do them. I have been doing my gel nails but have never done acrylics. thats another story...
It has been like two days I havent gone anywhere, except to pick my son up from school. LOL! I'm a mess let me tell you. Been wearing my scarf.
The thing is, I cant decide if I want to finish braiding it up or take it down wash & DC it and flatiron it. My hair hasnt been straight since xmas and I would love to see the length and post new pics. Also I have a thing to go to this weekend and my ex will be there. I have to look good just for that, so he can be mad he dosent have me. LOL, I love doing that!
But then my LF is long itself and looks good and looks real. And I wouldnt have to go through that much to put it on. I will be done in like 15-20 min vs. almost 2 days of treatments, rollersetting, and flatironing.
I am thinking for my hairs sake i should finish braiding it and put it away. Forget showing it off to someone that I dont want.

First real application pics posted

2008-05-06T01:40:00.002-04:00

I put pics of my first real application. It actually is the third but the first two were like a trial of the glues. I was able to get the unit to fit without pulling. It is not tight anymore and I rebraided my hair so it would lay flatter. First my hair was braided all going back. Now I have the front going back and the back going up withe the ends of the braids sewed down.
I am thinking the next time I will braid it going around in a spiral as small as I possibly can. I dont know how that will work because my hair is extremely thick and getting longer.

I will order another lf within the next few months. I'm thinking either a wavy from jacksun or a curly from rex. I will end up getting both but I dont really know which I want first. I am going to add to my measurements also, about an inch to the ear2ear across forehead and front to nape and .5-1" to the circumference and nape. Need more room as the hair grows, dont know if that will be enough but we shall see.

Did I mention that I love this hair! Its f$*&ing beautiful!

The LF has arrived...

2008-05-03T10:37:00.002-04:00

My lf finally came and it is pretty as hell. very nice hair the only complaint that I have is that the hairline that I requested to be natural is crooked as hell and it is a little too small. The ear to ear
across forehead is too short and I'm pretty sure I measured that big enough. It would fit alot better if I had less or no hair.
I'm working on my app, the first I used safegrip and blueliner and it barely held for five minutes.
The second I used supertape and davlyn waterproof. That was soooo much better but it did pull up on the sides because of the tension from it being too small.
It looks way too wiggy at the moment, I need to get it cut. I want to put some pretty layers into it.
I have everything that I need except the rit dye. I keep forgetting to get it when I go to walmart.
I am definitely going to order another one. A curly from Rex, maybe next month.
I am going to try another braid pattern to see if I can get a better fit. I think I will be able to but I worry about how the wig will look on top. The way I am thinking should take a few inches out and make it look more natural. I HOPE!
We will see...

Baby born!

2008-04-29T12:38:00.002-04:00

My baby boy was born 4/26/08 in the elevator of the hospital. It was quite a scene. I will not go into detail here. He is so cute and looks just like his brother and sister.

Impatiently Waiting

2008-04-20T21:44:00.002-04:00

Still waiting for the LF to arrive. It has been 4 weeks now so it should be done within the next week or so (I hope). I am also waiting on a few other things, such as the birth of my son. I have been contracting and hoping he comes sooner rather than later.

After my baby is born I am going to spend some time beautifying myself. I am practicing some makeup techniques, shopping, buying new clothes, my LFW, my nails, working out. I want to get my B4 baby figure back. This is number three and I'm not out of shape or overweight ( I'm probably a little underweight) I just hate having that pouch of fat in front from the baby. With every pregnancy it gets a little bigger. I'm still not used to it, having an extremely flat stomach all my life.
I want rock hard, well defined abs! I plan on getting the contour after the baby. I also want to get my first tattoo, a little butterfly with my children's names.

On to the hair...
I have been wearing it in two strand twists for the past month or so. Still neglecting it and not wearing a scarf. I have been so stressed it makes no sense and the stupid people around me are not making it any easier. I have been just cowashing every couple of days and retwisting when needed. I trimmed some of the ends off and will cut it down some more when the wig gets here.

March purchases

2008-03-29T11:58:00.003-04:00

I have bought a few things this month. first I finally decided what kind of lace front I wanted to start off with and who I wanted to order from.

My lace wig specifications are as follows:

chinese remy light yaki
length- 22"
color- #2
full french lace with stretch from ear to ear
baby hair around perimeter
bleached knots
freestyle parting
natural hairline
density- light at hairline medium everywhere else

The price of the wig was $240 which included shipping costs. Plus $14 for western union fees it came up to $254. I bought 91% alcohol, acetone, acrylic spray, and fray block. All I really need now is the rit dye, glue, tape, scalp protector. I was thinking of getting safe grip, davlyn waterproof, supertape, blue lace support tape, proflex no shine for my starting adhesives. Then if these don't work (which I'm sure at least some of them will or in combination will) I will get ultra hold and vapon no tape.

I do plan on getting at least 1-2 more lf. I want a curly one and if the chinese yaki refuses to hold a curl for very long I will get a wavy indian remy one.

Also I decided to get back into doing my nails. I bought a gel nail kit and will get an acrylic set also. I used to do my nails all the time and was inspired by some beautiful 3d acrylic art to get back into it. when I decide to do it I will put pics in the fotki.

Finally about my hair, I am now wearing my hair in twists until I get my wig next month. When I get the wig my hair will be put away in braids underneath until the end of the year.

Measurements March 2008

2008-03-14T00:20:00.002-04:00

So I finally measured my hair... here they are nothing spectacular

front 12.5"
back 11.5"
middle 11.5"

so I am right where I thought I was as stated in the fotki. I have 21 months worth of growth since the texturizer. That is 10.5" of natural hair with about 1-2" of texturized ends. I have a little bit left to cut off, so I'm happy about that. I only need about 4" to be BSL so I will make that in about 8 more months, maybe sooner when I go back on the vits.

BSL 2008

2008-02-25T02:57:00.002-05:00

I have finally begun to come out of lurker mode. I officially joined BHM and began posting. I have also joined the BSL 2008 challenge on BHM. Right now I am APL and I need about 3-4" to be BSL. Since I am pregnant I stopped taking my vits except the prenatal. The baby is due early may and that is when I will get back on them. I want to get a good haircut sometime this year, about 2" off. And if everything goes to plan I will grow at least 5", cut 2", and the hair will be at least BSL if not longer by the end of the year.

My plan to get there is:

The first thing I will do is a fast to clear out the system
begin vit reg. in June starting slow and increasing to: 5mg biotin, 1.5g msm, 1g epo, b complex, multi
drink lots of water
increase protein intake- fish, chicken, eggs
start doing yoga and pilates again
nonstop protective styles till Dec.
frequent cowashing, especially during the summer
very minimal heat 2 passes till the end of the year
no manipulation while dry
dc 2x per week
baggie

My protective styles that I will wear till the end of the year:

baggied phony pony
buns
lace front wig
braids and twists
maybe a sew in weave or 27 piece glued to a cap

Rollersetting and flat ironing

2008-02-24T23:44:00.004-05:00

I have been rollersetting every so often for a few years now. Even though I have not done it that often they always come out great, well the more recent ones. I had a bunch of pics of the more recent rollersets that I have done but lost them all in the process of transferring them to my fotki. Here is how I rollerset.
Materials:
comb, denman brush, rollers, clips if using magnetic, pins if using mesh, moisturizer, heat protectant, dryer, flat iron, plastic wrap, spray bottle

My technique is as follows:
1)wash and deep condition hair- I usually like to clarify and use a little protein b4 a rollerset
2)while hair is soaking wet spray heat protectant and add moisturizer and maybe a little setting/wrap lotion
3)section hair- sometimes I do a mohawk w/ three sections on each side, or any way I feel like for the look I want
4)begin rolling small sections clipping or pinning each roller securely- the sections of hair should not be longer or wider than the roller, the hair should be tight on the roller and very wet
5)when finished rolling all the hair sit under dryer
6) when fully dry remove rollers
7) spray a little more heat protectant and flat iron the roots- my hair never turns out the way I like when I blow out the roots
8) if I want it straight I wrap the hair and do a silk wrap- wrap the hair and cover with plastic wrap and sit under the dryer for 10 min. and unwrap.

Any way I would like to take this time to review macherieamour's guide to rollersetting. I enjoyed watching this video, and even though I am pretty good already it does help to see someone else's technique. I knew most of what she said and did and I learned a few new tricks. I do recommend this to anyone who wants to learn how or wants to perfect their method of rollersetting.

Flatironing takes much less time and the results are much smoother. I swear if it was actually healthy for the hair I would do it more often. But, I will say that I have noticed a lot more breakage when flatironing versus rollerseting. Therefore I don't do it very often, perhaps once/twice a year.
My steps to flatironing are:
1) wash and deep condition- always clarify and use moisture and protein
2) spray with heat protectant and moisturize
3) allow to air dry 50%
4) blow dry the hair in sections, braid up when completely dry, or allow to air dry completely in braids
5) take very small sections from each braid, spray more heat protectant, detangle and flat iron while holding the hair taught and running the comb in front if the iron down the entire shaft
6) repeat until entire head is finished
7) do a silk wrap

To maintain the straight styles I wrap the hair when I am not out. I moisturize and seal with castor oil and keep it covered with a silk scarf. When I neglect it and forget to wrap, my roots revert very quickly. When my roots begin to revert I do the ponytail or the scarf method to keep it from looking crazy. Most of the time when it begins to revert I just wash it rather than dealing with that madness.
The curly styles are a bit harder for me to keep up. Pincurls don't work for me so I usually do the scarf method or roll them on solar rollers at night or throw on a bonnet and try not to smash the curls.
The moisturizer that I use is my own blend of butters, oils, and dimethicone. I have never found a better product than this for my straight styles. I used to use fantasia as my heat protectant(the pink one) I will never touch that stuff again. I used to think that the reason my rollersets ect were frizzy was because of my technique. Come to find out it was the fantasia. I now use silk elements and I will never go back.
Finally I always trim when straight and after I wash out the style I usually do a hard protein treatment to stop any breakage before it starts.

Come to think of it I haven't done a protein treatment in a few months. I just removed a set of braids that were left in for a month. My hair is back in the baggied ponytail and I will do a protein sometime this weekend. Then I may do a rollerset next weekend and add a few pics.

Fotki

2008-02-20T10:42:00.003-05:00

I have finally organized my pics in the fotki. I have excluded alot of pics but although they are not much these are the main points. You can see the growth from May 2005-May 2007. Will add more pics soon. The pw is myhair.

Lacefronts

2008-02-15T21:56:00.002-05:00

I have been reading and researching lace wigs for a few years now, and I have decided that since I was going to spend a whole bunch of money on some weave hair I might as well spend it on something that will last a very long time.
I have decided to buy a lace front wig. I have already sent a few vendors my specifications and received a few quotes. I will be buying by the end of this month.
The only thing is I just cant decide if I want my first to be straight or curly, or if I want a full lace with stretch in the middle or just lace in the front. If the funds are in order I think I will just buy both at once so I can save on shipping.
Still in the braids. I will wear these until I get the wig. They are doing pretty good, I have a lot of new growth already. I may straighten some time though if I feel like trying out that carmelization treatment.

stressin'

2008-01-31T11:18:00.000-05:00

I have been stressed out like crazy for the past few months. I have a lot going on in my life right now.The problem is because of everything that I am dealing with, my hair has suffered severely. I lost my favorite scarf and have not been tying up my hair at night.
I decided to do single braids with cornrows in the front. I still have not finished them so I have been wearing them up in a bun all week like a lazy bum.lol. i dont really care about the ends because i still have about 1-3 inches of texturized hair left all over. Im not really trippin about the breakage because I was going to get a haircut at the end of this semester to get rid of the ends.
I am going to wear my braids for a little while and cowash 2-3x per week until i can devote more time to my hair. I may even do a really nice sew in. If I do I am going to buy some good hair, some Outre or something. I need to stop being cheap with my weaves. If i get the good stuff i can use it over again.
Also I have been working on my product line. It will include soaps, shampoos, lotions body and hair, oils body and hair, maybe bath bombs, and a few other things. It is a work in progress and will be up and running as soon as possible. I am going to create a blog specifically for my soaps and other products.

Bye for now!

Happy New Year!!!

2007-12-31T18:09:00.000-05:00

For new years I have decided to straighten my hair out. I washed and DC. Instead of rollersetting, I blowdried it and then flat ironed it. It came out so fabulous! I moisturized it with africas best sheabutter, and used silk elements heat protectent.
I cannot even begin to explain how soft, bouncy and pretty it is. I am moisturizing with my butter, cone blend and I plan to wear it for a good two weeks. when I wash this out I plan on doing an aphogee treatment and DC overnight with eqp dpr and lekair.
Back into the pony I will go.

Also I am two inches past APL! yay!