Busy/Lazy Lady...

Hello all,

I haven't blogged in about two weeks, but I've been really busy with life stuff, but I am still sorry I haven't kept in touch. Because I've been busy I've also been really lazy with my hair. Well, except for the fact that one wknd. I got it braided into a faux-hawk (pics in my fotki). So, for the past week I've been doing the nappy lazy girl hairstlye...a puff! I'm loving it though, the only issue is it tangles like the bejeezmus, so when detangle time comes there's a lot of detangling to do. I also henna'd my hair last week. I got my henna from Mehandi.com and I got their Henna for African Hair. Here's a description: This henna has the finest sift for easy rinsing from fragile, damaged, chemically processed hair. This henna is produced for us in the Indus Bhera and Mailsi henna growing regions. This henna is ideal for relaxed, damaged, and fragile hair (whether or not you have African hair). It is the only henna I recommend for locks because it is so easy to rinse out. This henna has good gray coverage, leaves shimmering red highlights on dark hair.
And it was true to it's word, easy to rinse out and a lovely red tint to my hair. Pics to come of the process and my hair. But before I leave, let me tell you one thing, DO NOT USE PLASTIC BAGS in the place of plastic gloves when henna-ing your hair! LOL!

TTYL!

A Little History Lesson: Afro-American

The origin of Afro-American is NOT based on the hairstyle. I've "seen" many blacks on the net have issues with the term Afro-American because they said they didn't want to be named after a "hairstyle". Now, Afro-American is a passe term for most for whatever reason, but don't get offended because you believe it's a name derived from a hairstyle rather the opposite can be surmised.

In the year 1890, Afro-American was the term of choice in the African-American publication Advance, which advocated "obtaining for the Afro-American an equal chance."

Afro-American was prominent along with related terms such as Afro-American studies (1970), Afroism (1971), the hair style known as the Afro (1968), and music known as Afro-beat (1974) and Afro-rock (1977).

Afro-American was first used as an adjective in 1853 in a publication in Windsor, Ontario, Voice of the Fugitive. The OED2 lists examples of Afro-American and Aframerican from 1890, 1898, 1910, 1934, 1939, and 1944, the last being a use of Aframerican from an article by H.L. Mencken.

New Do Coming...

I will be getting this hairstyle (hopefully this weekend) I peeped on Goapele from Natural Belle's blog. I've also been inspired by BGLH's blog and her series on African hairstyles this week; I've been told that the Goapele hairstyle is a Nigerian hairstyle called "clap". I'm guessing because it looks like two hands coming together, you see the fingers are the cornrows...oh this is my interpretation of the name, so if anyone knows the real one please feel free to drop a line. I've been trying to google it for more info, but to no avail.










Here's some more Goapele pics:

Shea Butter, Lustrasilk Shea Butter Cholesterol, and Carol's Daughter

Shea butter is an excellent moisturizer for my hair. I currently purchase mine from a natural/vegetarian restaurant near my house, called Everlasting Life. I get a 16oz. tub for only $10.00. It is unrefined and I am inclined to believe that this has an effect on it's moizturizing qualities. I've bought refined shea butter before, but never felt like this about it. The only downside is that their is a shea butter odor, my son said it was "stinky" (he's 2), but the you can't smell it on your hair (or skin) when it melts in, so it doesn't bother me. Another thing I like about it is the fact that I can also use it as a skin moisturizer.

HOW I USE:

After I've washed/conditioned/sectioned my hair, I apply about a pea/dime size amount to my palm, rub it in to melt, and apply to the section of damp hair. I then apply a pea size amount to every section in halfs (halve each section when I am about to style). I do not apply any other product to my hair after this.

I'm not a bandwagon jumper, but one of the natural blogs I frequent mentioned Lustrasilk Shea Butter Cholesterol conditioner and I decided to try it. Although, the blogger has a different hair texture than me I thought I couldn't really go wrong as I've used cholesterol conditioners in the past with good results. I had also been searching for a new thick deep conditioner and figured this would be a good one to try. I actually bought a HUGE 64oz. tub for $10 at my local beauty supply.

I feel that it does what it is supposed to do, condtion the hair, gives me adequate slippage, and smells nice, what more could you ask for.

I am still using Carol's Daughter's Black Vanilla leave-in as an everyday moisture spray and I love it. The hair milk is still almost full and sadly a dud for me. :( This pic is my hair with the Black Vanilla spray in it, look at that shine. :)

Hair Updates...

Last weekend hair:



Alvin Ailey hair:

State of the Nappy Union…

My BC was May 27, 2008 and today is my 8th month of nappiness! I am very excited and proud of myself, if I recall correctly, the 8 month mark is where I’ve usually faltered, but I have no desire to relax or otherwise chemically alter my hair! I will say that I pretty much have a comfortable routine down and I am not deluding myself into thinking my hair can do things which it cannot, nor am I measuring my hair for growth every other day, which I think definitely helps with staying on the nappy wagon. Too many times we get frustrated out of hair envy, growth chasing, and unfortunately lack of support from our friends and family members.

This time on my journey I find myself seeking out hair inspirations that have hair types/textures similar to my own; this helps with seeing exactly what my hair CAN DO versus being hung up on what it CANNOT DO. I think this is a good tip for newbies and vets alike, in embracing your own texture it helps to have idols that look like you. As for growth, I believe my hair is growing very well because of my decision to wear mainly protective styles in the form of twists. I know for some the word protective styles can equal boring, but I find ways to rock my twists differently and add accessories to spice it up. I wore my hair out when it was too short to twist, but since I’ve been able to twist I have been doing that on a consistent basis. I think I can count on my fingers the number of times I’ve worn it in a puff since then. It also helps that it’s winter and in the winter I like to protect my hair as much as possible anyway because of the harsh conditions. Lastly, I am happy to say that my husband loves me whether my hair is straight or nappy. In fact, at work he was talking to some women at his job about his own hair (which is loc’d) and they asked him if his wife was natural, too. When he replied, yes, they then go on to say, well she wasn’t natural when you all got married was she, he says no, but I am happy that she is the type of woman that can go natural and isn’t afraid of her natural hair. I am sure you can guess as to what their responses were on why they could not go natural, I’ll give you a hint, their response had the word NAPPY in it! LOL! My family I guess is used to me doing different things with my hair now, so it’s basically business as usual.

In the coming months as I approach my one year mark, I hope to master some new styles/techniques…cornrows maybe? I also plan on having a nappiversary party for myself because it will be a very happy milestone for me; I have never made it to the one year mark being natural, but I feel that this is the year that I will!

My Hair Regimen: Washing & Conditioning

Hello ladies!

I always wonder what people do to their hair on a daily basis; I mean like the littlest things because sometimes I feel so inept until I know what someone did to get their hair exactly like that! LOL! So, I'm going to practice what I preach and be more detailed in my blog and fotki. So, here goes:

Wash Routine:
I usually wash my hair only once a week and I only do it when I am going to do a totally new style. I do this because #1 nappy hair should not be washed a lot because it leeches the natural oils out, #2 I like to manipulate my hair when it is wet or damp to reduce frustration and breakage. When I wash I was using Elucence Moisture Acidifying shampoo (mainly because I have a 32oz. bottle and I'm only half way through it), but I will now limit that to once a month washing. I just started using baking soda as my "shampoo" and so far I like it, in fact just last night I used it on my son's hair and I liked it for him as well. After washing my hair, mainly focusing on cleansing my scalp, I rinse well and under the shower stream and detangle using my Jilbere shower comb. I then add my conditioner (currently using: TRESemmé vitamin E moisture rich conditioner) to my damp hair *see damp hair on right.

I then step out the shower and section my hair for my "detangling puffs". To do this I use a wide tooth comb to part my hair, I like to part my hair according to my hair types as well, i.e. the sides of my hair are tighter than the front and middle, so I make two sections for the sides. I grasp the ends of the hair and use my Goody (fake Denman) brush to detangle, making sure to detangle the ends first and then brushing from the scalp to the ends. After I detangle a section I put on a Goody ouchless rubber band on the section to make a puff. *see pic to the right
I will ALWAYS section my hair like this when washing/conditioning/styling my hair. Here is why:
#1: It stretches my hair a bit. *see diff. in puff pic length and washed hair length pic at beginning of post
#2: My hair is freshly detangled and separated this way.
#3: Easier to moisturize this way.
#4: Keeps unstyled hair out the way.

After this is done, I lightly rinse my hair under my sink to get out any globs of conditioner, my goal is not to rinse all the conditioner out, but to rinse enough so it's not noticeable in my hair. I then move on to moisturizing my hair. I moisturize my hair by adding whatever moisturizer to each puff section as I style my hair. My favorite moisturizer right now is raw shea butter that I get from a health food store near my son's school, but I also use Qhemet's Heavy Cream, and Carol's Daughter's Hair Milk.

I will post more details on my styling methods in a later post!