I'm feelin

December 1st, 2004....its all gone!
Well I went in for a small trim...but I decided to go ahead with the BC! At first I noticed that she was taking off more than I wanted her to...then I thought to myself...why should I stop her? I went ahead and told her to do the BC! I still have an inch or less of relaxed ends the front...but the rest of my hair...about 99.9% Is all natural baby! When I saw the pile of hair on the floor...I dunno...I felt kind of vindicated! Before going to her for my trim..I saw that my natural hair started to split in places where I was having the breakage...so I said...NO WAY! The whole point of me going natural is to have a healthy head of hair...so I went ahead and did it! Now as for finding a style that I can wear on daily basis...that is another story! My stylist was very supportive in my decision. My mom has been pretty supportive up until the time when she saw my *new* hair cut lol. She has always had shoulder length - mid back length hair...so she has a lot of hang ups when it comes to short hair. All in all I am happy that I went ahead and did it! Thanks for all of your support from my family @ LHCF...and my Nappturality family! xox!

November 23rd, 2004. To BC...or not to BC?
I made an appointment to see my stylist December 1st to have more of my relaxed ends cut off. I am really thinking about going ahead and doing the BC...but I'm not sure yet. The problem...I want my hair to be natural...NOW...but I want at least 10 inches of hair so that I can pull my hair back into a bun. Right now I have gained about 5.5 inches for this year. What to do? What to do?. I guess it will depend on what type of mood I'm in on that day! I might just go ahead and do it!

November 7th, 2004...New Pictures!
Well I finally added new pictures of my hair to my fotki account! Only one transitioning picture came out though! I am so upset about that. I can't wait until I get my digital camera...and won't have to deal with thinking hey are going to be clear...only to have them not come out. Anyway...the ones that came out came out ok. I won't be taking anymore self pictures though...I'm going to leave it up to someone else. ;) I don't know if I get too close to the mirror or what but they just don't come out.

November 1st, 2004...my unhealthy obsession pays off!
On 10/28/04 I got my hair flat ironed by my stylist for a good trim. I can't believe how much length I've gained! A full 5 inches! Yay! I achieved my first hair goal! I know that these relaxed ends are going to get chopped off in a few months Aanyway (I'm currently chopping a little at a time)...but my goodness how it has grown since my last March trim! I'm really happy about that. :) My stylist complimented me on how healthy my hair is...and told me that I'm doing all the right things. You can bet that I was grinning from ear to ear that day. :) My unhealthy obsession with my tresses is finally paying off! I'm all natural/organic with my hair products now. No more product hopping...no more bandwagons. It's official now. I know that I've said this many times before...but that is because it seemed like a conditioner would work for me at first...but it would eventually end up drying my hair out. This time I found the perfect conditioner for my hair! Aubrey Organics Jojoba and Aloe Desert Herb Revitalizing Conditioner. It is super moisturizing. I have absolutely no complaints! I also ordered 5 bottles of their Honey Suckle Rose Moisturizing Conditioner. It was also recommended...and said to be more moisturizing than the Jojoba/Aloe conditioner. I can't even imagine! Hopefully...it will be a keeper as well! Aubrey Organics is more costly than a lot of drugstore and salon brands...but their products are well worth the money! I also went back to Carol's Daughter Hair Milk. I haven't found a hair lotion yet that works as good. Oh well...so much for a cheaper alternative!

October 17th, 2004...The Plastic Cap Method!
Den1's positive update on her hair progress inspired me to give this plastic cap method a try. For the past couple of days...I have been wearing a plastic cap to bed after my conditioner wash...and each time I have woken up to super soft moisturized hair. There was a post about this method back in the Summer...but as usual...I waited...and then forgot all about it. I wish that I would have went to Sally's and picked up a few packages of them then. I could only imagine where my hair would be right now. Procrastination always gets the better of me! Oh well...could've...should've...would've!

October 11th, 1004...Well I did it...I conditioned with henna!
Everything turned out well. The color change is not dramatic...but I like it! I have my brown an burgundy hi-lights which I am lovin right now! I read that over time when you use the henna on a regular basis...the color can become deeper and lighter. I plan on using this as my monthly protein treatment...so I'm saying so long to Aubrey Organics GPB! I heard that this was a messy process...but it was relatively easy! I am very happy with the end result: stronger, healthier hair with a little color added! Now as for what I did... I mixed the henna up in a bowl with half a cup of lemon juice...half a cup of water and a little coconut oil (about a table spoon). I stirred the henna until the majority of the lumps were mashed out. I let the bowl sit on a heating pad (on low) covered for about 6 hours. 8 hours is maximum dye release...but I was too excited to wait...I only left it on about six. I applied the henna (with gloves) to my hair making sure that all parts were covered. The paste kind of reminds me of pudding...but it's a dark green and smells like spinach and herbs. I covered my head with aluminum foil and a shower cap. I let it mature for 8 hours. I slept for about an hour (can you tell I was excited? lol) and when I woke up...I washed it out with Suave Tropical Kiwi. HUGE MISTAKE. I was weary about using it because 2 dyes are listed in the ingredients. Good thing I was paying attention...because the suds started turning green...I rinsed that stuff out so fast...and used the Tropical coconut which doesn't contain any dye. It took me forever to rinse the henna out of my hair...I mean I'm talking about 6 times of going under the shower head...and conditioning after each time...so thick haired ladies beware! It takes a lot to get it rinsed out. ;) All in all I had a great experience and I plan to use it next month to condition and get a deeper color.

Had to say farewell to Carol's Daughter!
I recently checked out the CD web site and saw that her prices have increased once again. There is no way that I can afford to pay that much for her products...and then almost $10 to have them shipped to me....so I'm switching to Asha's Naturals! I just used her Sunkissed pomade for the first time...and I love it. Compared to Kizzy...Asha's is much lighter...it absorbs better...and the price is very appealing. The scent is also nice and light. It smells like orange flavored bubble gum. The cost of shipping is very economical. I paid $5.90 to have 2 jars of the Sunkissed delivered to me. I received them within two days. If you use CD...and you're low on cash...look into Asha's Naturals!

October 7th, 2004....Humecto Revisited....
Well...when I was a fully relaxed head...my hair LOVED this stuff...but I'm finding that it doesn't work well on my 5 inches of natural hair. It makes it feel pretty rough and stiff. The relaxed ends look great though. Humecto is a moisturizing conditioner...but I'm pretty much finished with it after I henna. Suave conditioners work so well on my hair...they are cheap...and have just as good ingredients. I love the fact that Suave conditioners don't contain any cones. Cones just don't work for my hair...especially when they are near the top of the ingredient list! The Humecto doesn't have much slip on my natural hair either. I had to add honey...and castor oil to get it to smooth on easily. This is a pretty expensive conditioner for me to have to add in things to make it have slip. I would recommend this conditioner to relaxed heads...but it's a no go for my thick natural new growth!

October 5th, 2004...Preparing to henna my hair!
Well...the henna hasn't arrived yet....and it's a good thing because I would have ended up slapping it on my hair without preparing first! Everyday for the entire week...I plan to co wash with Humecto. It has been so long since I used this conditioner...and I forgot how it leaves my hair feeling moisturized. Thank goodness faith's post reminded me about it. The only downside to Humecto is that it doesn't have any slip. It's good for me to use before I henna because it doesn't contain any protein or alcohol! Insha'Allah...my hair will have a lot of burgundy highlights. I don't want to come out looking like little orphan Annie or something. The Vatika Oil that I use contains just a small amount of henna...and it lightened my hair...so I am so curious to see what natural henna does to my hair! This breakage is getting on my nerves. I'm not going to obsess over it though. It's just the relaxed ends breaking. When I go to my stylist...I will ask her to go throughout my layers and clip my ends. She did this before...and it turned out really nice. At first I was only going to tell her to clip a little...but I'm just going to keep quiet...and let her do her thing. The sooner these relaxed ends come off the better! I'm still not going to do the BC though. Chopping little by little is a better option for me.

September 26th, 2004 Back to the Basics!
Well, I have been slacking on my scalp massages and vitamins some what...and the fact that my growth has slowed down a little is making me be more serious about both. I'm going to start doing my scalp massages again once a day for 10 minutes. I had to stop because my new growth was becoming tangled with my relaxed hair. I will be using the Crown And Glory wash method to do them from now on (4 large french braids). I'm also trying to use up conditioners that have just been sitting collecting dust. I have to use up a couple bottles of Suave conditioners...and about 1/4 of Garnier Fructis. I used some of my Suave Coconut conditioner last night...and I had forgotten about how moisturizing it is! Might just have to go back to it. :-) Last night I made the HUGE MISTAKE of combing through my wet hair with conditioner in it...instead of combing under the shower head with the water streaming. I paid dearly for it because I had a dramatic increase in breakage! I won't do anything as stupid as that again! I'm going to color treat my hair with henna in a week or so. I'm excited because I never colored my hair before. I figure coloring it the natural way...is the way to go! I will be purchasing my 100% natural Henna from Every Day Henna and I'll be using the color Kimia.

September 16th, 2004...relaxer free for 9 months!!!!
My hair is coming along well. It's thick...it's growing...and for the most part it's healthy...but I'm in desperate need of a trim! I'm going to make an appointment to get my hair flat ironed and trimmed at the beginning of next month. I think that I have stretched the trim out long enough (maybe too much). Hopefully...she won't need to cut more than an inch off. I have about 4.5 inches of new growth now (yay!). Hopefully by the end of the year...I will have 6 or 7 inches of natural hair. I really want to hold out on doing the BC...and instead trim little by little. I'm telling you though...these snaps are really getting on my nerves though. I keep trying to remind myself about what my natural HB bettydavis told me...("it's only the relaxed ends breaking...don't stress!") So hard to do though! PJitis...well...one of my goals was to limit the amount of products that I use. I've cut down my conditioners to 2 now! I'm saying good bye to Garnier Fructis and Rysell Coconut conditioners...and hello to Skala Aloe Vera Conditioner! I really liked the Rysell Tropical Coconut Treatment...but I wanted something that I could use for co washes...and deep condition with. I am trying to limit my use of proteins...and Rysell has Collagen in it. My main focus is moisture right now. The only other thing that I am going to add to my regimen is Shea Butter. I have my daily moisturizers limited to 2 (kizzy & hair milk)...the others (Vatika, Amla and Coconut Oil) are used for my hot oil treatments. I also liked the Garnier Fructis...but I really need to cut back on expenses...and just use two conditioners (GPB & Skala).

September 2nd, 2004...It's been a long time! A rediscovery! So I decided to try out Carol's Daughter's Hair Milk again! My transitioning hair loves this stuff. My relaxed hair hated it. It just sat on it and made it feel greasy...my ever so thirsty transitioning hair drinks this stuff up! I LOVE IT! I also decided to add Kizzy into the mix...and my ends are loving that too. I did a check for splits about two days ago... and I found little to none...so I am super happy (God bless that water filter!). I have about 4 inches of new growth since I started my regimen. My ends are verry happy now a days! I am still having transitional breakage...but it isn't nearly as bad as it was before....besides it's only my relaxed hair breaking...so I'm no longer stressing about it. My hair is healthy and growing and that's the important thing!