What Day Is It Today? It's My BIRTHDAY!

Me in my birthday hat!

Today is my birthday and I had a wonderful birthday weekend. It started on Saturday when my husband  surprised me by having my sister, MsNastassja, fly in from med school to spend the weekend with me. I was so shocked, I started screaming and backed up to the wall. LOL. Then I started crying hysterically because I was so happy to see her. They had a whole weekend of events planned and I enjoyed every minute of it.

A Gentle Way to Dry Curls

 By: MsNastassja

Up until recently, I had either let my hair air dry with a regular towel on my shoulders to catch drips, or used a t-shirt to attempt to dry it. Regular terry cloth towels rough up the hair cuticle and aren't a good idea. I just bought a microfiber towel at Bed Bath and Beyond, made by Aquis. This thing is magical and I was pleasantly surprised by how dry it got my hair without messing with the curl pattern.

How do you cut down on drying time? 

Tension Blow Dry Method

Roots before tension blow dry method

Back in March, my stylist suggested that I stretch my relaxers, and throughly detangle my roots during the stretch. I am 9 weeks post and my roots are a force to be reckoned with at this point. I usually avoid manipulating my new-growth, but Reniece pointed out that doing so would allow my roots to get tangled and potentially break on relaxer day. My next relaxer is scheduled for June 25, and this stretch will be 14 weeks long.

How Much Shedding is Normal?

Shedded hair after 2 weeks

Shedding is a natural part of the hair growth cycle. Everyone sheds between 50 to 100 strands per day. Shedded hair is distinguished by a strand with a white build on the end. The length of the hair can vary depending on where it has shed from. Therefore, not all short pieces of hair are broken pieces, some can be shedded.

Product Review: Neutrogena T/Sal Shampoo

I washed my hair today for the first time in two weeks. You guys know how my scalp "rebels" when I go longer than one week without washing it. Without getting graphic, I had buildup on my scalp that was neither itchy nor flaky. I avoid scratching my scalp to remove debris, because it is not healthy for the scalp. So, I decided to try this shampoo. I went to Target looking for the other Neutrogena shampoo that has coal tar in it. But this bottle was marketed for scalp build-up, which is exactly what I had. 

Good Grief, Charlie Brown

Image Source

Ever had one of those days when you are convinced that it is Friday, but then you come crashing down as you realize that it is actually Thursday?

Well that was me today. I swore today was Thursday, so I made plans according to my usual Thursday schedule, which includes ballet class. I woke up thinking that I would not have time this evening to wash and dry my hair before class.

By the time I realized it was Wednesday, I was very annoyed with myself because I could have used today much more productively. I avoid washing my hair in a state of annoyance and I advise that you do the same. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we can be rougher with our hair when we're upset, sad, tired, etc., and that can quickly cause a setback.

I'll try again tomorrow.

I've Been Bad (and Good)

The past two weeks have been very busy, especially with my hair book. My third draft was due yesterday, so I hunkered down to get it done. Unfortunately, that meant my hair got neglected. I haven't washed my hair in two weeks and you do not want to know what's going on with my scalp at this point. Suffice it to say, it is not happy with me. Oh, the irony.

I have been moisturizing so that alleviates some of my guilt about being neglectful. Tomorrow I'm going to wash my hair and I'm nervous about detangling it. Yep, I haven't detangled it in the past two weeks either. I'm going to do a pre-poo treatment with coconut oil, which should soften up my roots before I detangle. Hopefully it will be an uneventful wash day.

Has anyone else been bad about their regimen recently?

What Lengths Would You Go To For Long Hair?

My all time favorite TV show is "I Love Lucy."  The episodes are currently taking up 80% of the harddrive on my DVR, so I can watch them whenever I want. I was up late last night working on the book, and watched an episode where Lucy gives Ricky scalp treatments because he thinks he is going bald. Lucy's plan was to "torture" Ricky with these scalp treatments, so that he would stop obsessing over his hair. Watch the video to see how her plan panned out.



It got me thinking about some of the growth aids I've used in the past. When I started trying to grow my hair, I used everything that had the word "grow" (or sadly some that misspelled the word as "gro") on the bottle.

Product Review: Target Aloe Vera Gel

So I did this hairstyle on a Friday after a very difficult biochemistry test. Buying things for my hair (or my pets) make me happy, so I figured it was a good idea. I bought a few hair products that day, but I'll review them (and others) in a later post or two. Promise.

For this, I want to focus on the finishing touch - Aloe Vera. Or, as a Jamaican (and maybe other Caribbean islander) would call it - Sinkle Bible. I purchased the Up&Up brand (Target's store brand).

Curls and Coils: Pictures of My Wet Hair

Here are some pictures of my wet hair. I detangled with whatever conditioner was in the shower. Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard to detangle from the twist out. The hardest part was untwisting my hair to make the twist out. I washed with Kinky Curly Come Clean. Left in the Kinky Curly Knot Today.

Riding Update: 6 Months of Lessons

I'm posting this video here for my mom because she's having a hard time finding it on YouTube. This is after 6 months of riding lessons. Enjoy Mommy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Me and my mommy

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, aunties, sisters and pet-mothers (I'm a pet mother myself). I believe it takes a village to raise a child and every woman is a mother to those children, whether they are biologically related or not.

Me, MsNastassja, and our Mommy

Formal 'Fro

The versatility of natural hair is undeniable. You just have to know what works for you and how to achieve different styles. MsNastassja also went to my cousin's wedding (you probably saw her in my last video). 

I initially suggested that she wear a style like the one I featured in this post here, but after a few attempts we were unable to make it work to her liking. 

So she kept the small pompadour and wore an afro in the back. It looked lovely at our cousin's wedding.

Kim K. Inspired Curly Style (Video)

Hair Style Tutorial Preview

I recorded a hairstyle tutorial while getting ready to attend my cousin's wedding. To create this style I used a regular curling iron that I converted into a clamp-less iron by removing the clamp.

I have to edit and upload the video, so until then here is a preview of the final result.

Texture Shot

My natural color in the sun

Hair Texture: Before & After Flat Ironing

Before, with flash

I went to Miami this past weekend for my cousin's wedding. On Saturday, I went to the welcome reception, but didn't have time to thoroughly flat iron my hair. So instead of doing small sections for silkier results, I did large sections to save time. On the day of the event, I did my usual flat ironing routine.

Before, without flash

Somebody, Hide The Scissors

Before

I washed my hair last Friday and after I blow dried it, I decided to trim a little off the ends. So much for my trim schedule LOL. I took about 1/2" off so its not a major trim by any stretch of the imagination.

It was a quick decision, so I was not as methodical as I could have been about cutting. I just combed the hair to the front, held it between my fingers and snipped off about 1/2". Then I repeated the process on the other side.