Hello all! I know I haven't posted in a while...I've been caught up in some mess. "But I'm heah"
Anywho...I must admit to you, I have not been keeping up with my lil' regimens like I should. Thank God for my homemade satin pillow, though. 'Cause due to my schedule lately, a sistah's been hitting the sheets without a head wrap. I created a little oil spray for myself in order to moisturize my hair in the mornings. It's a mixture of jojoba oil and olive oil with water. Have I used it? Sometimes. It's hard to evenly distribute it throughout my hair, though, because the 8 oz. bottle I use is more like a squirt bottle than a spray bottle.
Yeah, yeah, I know...excuses are the tools of the incompetent.
My hair has been kind of dry lately, so yesterday, on a whim I poured some castor oil into the palm of my hands and ran it through my hair (which is something I generally do with olive oil, but I wasn't really paying attention.) It was thicker than I expected and I had to dilute it with some water, which I quickly splashed through my little twists. After this, I sprayed my homemade cleansing concoction through my hair and voila! My hair was the happiest person in the world. (And yes, my hair is a person, because she has her own personality). I let my newly springy, moisturized twists air dry and carried on with my day. Today, my hair is so soft and fragrant. I woke up this morning and it had practically styled itself. Good stuff!
This coming week, I plan on washing my hair. I would say on average, I've been washing it once a week, if that. Maybe more like once every week and a half. I always do the deep conditioning before or after the wash. The twists still unravel big time when I step under the shower (which is unimaginably annoying) but I grit my teeth and grab my locking gel. It's a price I'll pay for this journey.
Random Observation
A couple weeks ago at work, I asked a coworker how many locks he had. Of course he had no clue, so I got to work counting them for him. 106. Now I already knew that I had 140. After going on a website that said every lock should be thicker than a pencil, I felt kind of bad. But that's the thing about the internet, kids. You have to remember not to believe everything you hear. About a hundred pictures later (while looking on a bulletin entitled, "what's your loc count?"on nappturality.com) I saw that there were women with lock counts of 120, 160 and sometimes even 200. Actually, most of the women had higher lock counts than me. After that, I got back to my senses and remembered all of the work I've put in thus far to even consider throwing it all away because of something silly.
So there it is folks! I'll post up some pictures after I retwist my newly washed hair.
Peace unto you all! :-)
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Updates
Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...
Right after writing my last blog, I did some more research and found that tea tree oil is a natural astringent. It cleans the hair, which is great, but it can also dry it out if used too much. So, I will not be using my little conditioning spray everyday (because in fact, it is more of a cleansing spray)...but maybe once a week.
Also, using a no-poo shampoo means using a dry shampoo, rather than a wet, lathering one. I was mistaken earlier and thought that it was using a conditioner as your shampoo (which is something that I generally do). Bear with me, I'm still new to this stuff.
Sidenote: I learned from a hair stylist that using shampoo on (he said "naturally curly" but I'm sure he meant Black) hair is not necessary. There are enough cleansing properties in a store-bought conditioner to suffice (especially if you don't want to dry out your hair.) Just check the label, there is plenty of alcohol in conditioners.
Also, I'd like to apologize about my little freakout concerning sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate. Let me explain...these chemicals are used as the irritant factor in laboratory experiments. But what I didn't know was that they are used on shaved albino rats. <---lol, that just sounds weird (and wrong), doesn't it. Now being that these chemicals are the naturally extracted alcohol from coconuts, if you rub alcohol on anything over and over again (especially a shaved area), it's going to irritate. It has been argued that these chemicals are dangerous, which could very possibly be the case, but the counter argument is that the amount used is not dangerous. Also, the chemicals that it is used with create a kind of balance that has allowed people to use soaps, lotions, shampoos with these ingredients for years with no detriment to their health. Wanna hear the whole story...here's a good reference for ya! http://www.treasuredlocks.com/noname7.html I cannot tell you which side I agree with more, they both have valid points, but I came to my own conclusion after I wrote my "freak out" article a couple weeks ago anyway.
Conclusion: It hasn't killed me yet...
Alright, what else?
My boyfriend saw the longing in my eyes the last time I visited the Whole Foods Store so he picked up the rest of the natural ingredients, I'd been eyeing (but knew my butt couldn't afford). Yay! Thanks stud-muffin...I owe you! Those ingredients were Vitamin E oil, more Jojoba oil and some sweet almond oil. If you checked out http://www.motowngirl.com/ you know what I'm trying to do. If you haven't...click the link and find out, you weirdo! (Go to homemade hair recipes)
Okay, as for my daily hair regimen. I've been busy, so it's quick. I wake up, rub some olive oil and jojoba oil through my twists. Shake and go. Sometimes I pin up the twists, others I just let them hang. I find that they don't stick up as much. I think it's because of the added moisture from these oils I have been using. I definitely feel like my hair is more healthy, less dry. My boyfriend says that he sees some growth already. I don't know about all that, but it makes me feel good to hear.
Last but not least. I bought some satin material a couple months ago. I finally got around to sewing myself a pillow case. What can I say...I had a lot of time on my hands that week. But you have to admit, not too bad for an amateur.
That's it for now. Tomorrow, I warsh (like my grandmom would say) my hair.
Right after writing my last blog, I did some more research and found that tea tree oil is a natural astringent. It cleans the hair, which is great, but it can also dry it out if used too much. So, I will not be using my little conditioning spray everyday (because in fact, it is more of a cleansing spray)...but maybe once a week.
Also, using a no-poo shampoo means using a dry shampoo, rather than a wet, lathering one. I was mistaken earlier and thought that it was using a conditioner as your shampoo (which is something that I generally do). Bear with me, I'm still new to this stuff.
Sidenote: I learned from a hair stylist that using shampoo on (he said "naturally curly" but I'm sure he meant Black) hair is not necessary. There are enough cleansing properties in a store-bought conditioner to suffice (especially if you don't want to dry out your hair.) Just check the label, there is plenty of alcohol in conditioners.
Also, I'd like to apologize about my little freakout concerning sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate. Let me explain...these chemicals are used as the irritant factor in laboratory experiments. But what I didn't know was that they are used on shaved albino rats. <---lol, that just sounds weird (and wrong), doesn't it. Now being that these chemicals are the naturally extracted alcohol from coconuts, if you rub alcohol on anything over and over again (especially a shaved area), it's going to irritate. It has been argued that these chemicals are dangerous, which could very possibly be the case, but the counter argument is that the amount used is not dangerous. Also, the chemicals that it is used with create a kind of balance that has allowed people to use soaps, lotions, shampoos with these ingredients for years with no detriment to their health. Wanna hear the whole story...here's a good reference for ya! http://www.treasuredlocks.com/noname7.html I cannot tell you which side I agree with more, they both have valid points, but I came to my own conclusion after I wrote my "freak out" article a couple weeks ago anyway.
Conclusion: It hasn't killed me yet...
Alright, what else?
My boyfriend saw the longing in my eyes the last time I visited the Whole Foods Store so he picked up the rest of the natural ingredients, I'd been eyeing (but knew my butt couldn't afford). Yay! Thanks stud-muffin...I owe you! Those ingredients were Vitamin E oil, more Jojoba oil and some sweet almond oil. If you checked out http://www.motowngirl.com/ you know what I'm trying to do. If you haven't...click the link and find out, you weirdo! (Go to homemade hair recipes)
Okay, as for my daily hair regimen. I've been busy, so it's quick. I wake up, rub some olive oil and jojoba oil through my twists. Shake and go. Sometimes I pin up the twists, others I just let them hang. I find that they don't stick up as much. I think it's because of the added moisture from these oils I have been using. I definitely feel like my hair is more healthy, less dry. My boyfriend says that he sees some growth already. I don't know about all that, but it makes me feel good to hear.
Last but not least. I bought some satin material a couple months ago. I finally got around to sewing myself a pillow case. What can I say...I had a lot of time on my hands that week. But you have to admit, not too bad for an amateur.
That's it for now. Tomorrow, I warsh (like my grandmom would say) my hair.
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