My Hair is a Sponge

So another day in the land of locks and I'm easing on down the yellow-brick road, like the Wiz. No complaints. In 38 days it will be my one year loc-aversary and I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with myself...but that's all the way in Emerald City for now, so I have some time to sit in the poppy fields and figure that one out.

Why the Wizard of Oz references? (Screaming) Because I look like a mother freaking scarecrow! (Awkward pause) That's why!!! (Throws empty beer bottle against wall) Damnit!

I'm sooo joking, lol. Just in a rambling mood today. But onto business. I haven't been moisturizing my hair like I should, henceforth, the scarecrow reference and the handy and very dandy, wool-knit hair net I am wearing today. (I know, I know...'foo on you, NaturallyMe...you should be moisturizing your head!') I'll be honest. My days have been a toss up between being really really busy with work and running errands or really really lazy at home. So last night, right before bed, I made a weak attempt to fix the problem. I smoothed some oil into my hair real quick (knowing good and well that won't do a thing for my hair, except give it sheen) and tied a scarf on.

Which leads me to my next little blurb. My hair is a sponge and unless I moisturize with a thick hair cream or cowash (which for me means, wash with conditioner), oil does absolutely nothing for me, except give me a temporary shine. I think I've been fooling myself for some time, thinking that all I need is more oil and more oil. When truth is, if I don't wash or moisturize with a cream first, it doesn't matter. Before I locked up, my hair would get so dry sometimes it would sound like a crackling fireplace. HEY! You know what? Maybe the scarecrow reference WAS right on. (Straw is a kind of sponge.)

Oil alone works for some people. The "oil and go" crowd, so to speak. But not for me. The longer I wear locks, the more I realize that the hair on my head has the same personality as I do. It's different (not like anybody else), it means well, but it will not conform at all. Sometimes, I wish it would but I'm sure there are people out there that wish that I would conform too. When I wore it in a perm, it broke the permed hair in a subtle way, continually pushing through. There was no mistaking my hair texture. The more I tried to cover it up, the thicker and stronger it became until I had no choice but to let it be.

Since I'm talking about what kind of hair I have, I might as well mention that I looked up Andre Walker's hair types to see what category I fall under a couple weeks ago. I didn't post about it because when I saw that there were only 4 choices that I would be picking from (Straight, wavy, curly and kinky) it was a no brainer. I have thick, nappy hair. Um, no kidding...thanks Andre. But I added the site here and there are a bunch of links to different products (good for kinky hair) at the bottom of the page. I'm not much of a product junky, but I like the names...curly custard and whipped pudding. Makes me hungry, mmm. lol

To tell you the truth, I like the LOIS system, because it shows you how to look at your hair and find out it's exact pattern. I haven't done this yet, but I plan on doing it sometime soon. So check it out if you haven't already tried it.

And for good measure, I will give you the recipe to my little hair concoction that's in the spray bottle these days.

What you'll need:

1 8 oz. spray pump bottle (of course)

1 cup pantene relaxed and natural conditioner (looove how this smells)

1/8 cup olive oil

1 tbs glycerin oil

Mix ingredients, pour (or funnel) into the container. Spray and go. Coat with oil afterwards for shine or to lock in the moisture (if your hair is anything like mine).

That about it! Now, ease on down ease on down the roooad!

Happy 4 Month Anniversary

Hey everybody...I just realized that it's my four month anniversary. Not that it means anything, but I figured I'd do a quick blurb on my hair today. I've taken out the extensions and did a no-poo shampoo yesterday. I used herbal cleanse...I forget the brand name, but I'll post it up here as soon as I remember or see it. I didn't feel like going through the whole hair washing regimen and I figured that this would be a good time to try the no-poo.

My Take On No-Poo

A No-Poo or "dry shampoo" if you want to get technical, is kind of like using an anti-bacterial hand sanitizer on your hair. You squeeze the contents onto your scalp, wait one minute, and then rub it in with a towel. It is a clear gel that smells like alchohol mixed with a sorry excuse for a fragrance (well, mine does.) The boyfriend likes the smell...but what the -bleep- does he know? There's really nothing more to it than this, though. If you want to clean each twist/loc/braid individually, you put the gel onto the towel and rub it down the the hair you are cleansing, from root to tips.

I did this yesterday in sections as well as retwisted each loc with mango lime locking gel. The hair is looking tight (despite the fuzzies...we'll talk about that later), but I think I will have to end up doing a rinse because the problem with this kind of leave-in shampoo is the residue it leaves behind. Just like with anti-bacterial hand sanitizer, you are not rinsing this stuff out and although it dries quickly, it leaves the dead remains of whatever bacteria it has killed...that's right...on your scalp. Soooo, it's more convenient. It definitely gets the hair clean. But if you are meticulous (see: anal) like me, you are probably going to want to rinse and possibly even retwist. If not, you're still good to go. That's it for today.

I'll post up pictures of my frizzy, yet newly retwisted locs when I get a chance.

Hanging in there

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! :-)

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.

A New Day

You see that look on my face? That's me after just washing my hair. It looked and felt like I washed every single twist off of my head. In the picture, I look like I'm wearing a little afro with some twists shooting out here and there. Needless to say, I had a lot of work to do that night.








As for the process, here goes. I have been going to my usual websites. Nappturality.com and just recently Motowngirl.com. Grrreeat website!!! It gives you recipes for homemade concoctions that are great for natural hair. The only problem with this website is that you cannot copy and paste the information, nor can you print the page. I painstakingly typed each hair recipe onto Word and printed it from there so that I could have access to the information at home. The ingredients in these hair recipes are a little strange to me, though. For example the use of honey. Who would think to put honey in their hair...on purpose? Anyways, I'll give you an example of what I did when I washed my hair just recently.

I shampood my hair with a conditioner. Before I did this, I used a recipe off of the Motowngirl website for conditioning. It's called the honey/olive oil conditioner. Basically, you mix 3 teaspoons of honey and one fourth cup of olive oil together and massage it all over your hair. You then cover your head with something (I used a plastic bag) and leave it in for a half hour. Next, you wash it out and voila! Now, I'm not going to lie to you. The concoction was sticky. I did not like putting it into my hair, either. The oil did it's thing...you know, smoothed out the honey a little bit. But there's so much it could do. I felt VERY uncomfortable, gooping that stuff onto my head. And spent a good period of time wondering if everything was going to stick to my hair from that point on. (It didn't)

After the "not quite a shampoo-shampoo," I used something called an apple cider vinegar rinse. This is like a clarifier. It's a mixture of one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and two cups distilled water. You pour it over your head after you shampoo and it completes the hair cleansing process. Now I wasn't all that much impressed with the final result. That's not to say that the recipes that I tried didn't do their jobs, just that I didn't get the earth shattering results that I anticipated. My hair felt a little funny. Like clean, but not very soft. In fact, it wasn't even oily from the olive oil. Nothing, nada!

I got to work retwisting, using the ORS hair locking gel (with some olive oil in it). Clipped on the hair clippy things and blew dry my hair. Unfortunately, I was too tired to take pictures right after (and I had to go to work at 4 in the morning). But here's one I took a day later. Kind of hard to make out my hair, but here goes...

So that was my hair washing adventure. I will be washing my hair more often now that the grace period is up and I'm hoping to be able to see the benefits of these homemade conditioners and clarifiers.

Okay, now for one of the more interesting concoctions that I made this morning. I used the recipe for MotownGirl's Homemade Spritz with my own little additions. I had to buy some essential oils (which are not easy to come by and not very cheap either.) I purchased them from a Whole Foods Store.

The things that you see in this picture are castor oil, vegetable glycerin, jojoba oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil, tea tree oil and peppermint oil. And boy those essential oils are strong! For the Homemade Spritz, I used water, my pantene conditioner, olive oil and some tea tree oil (which I added for kicks-and the 4 little droplets that I used gave the whole concoction a different scent). I put everything into an 8 oz. spray bottle, shook it up and sprayed my hair.

It was then and there, in my bathroom, that I heard my hair let out a deep sigh! My hair literally said, "aaaah."

It felt softer and my twists were springier. My hair smells terrific. The funny thing is that it's not oily at all, just soft. I absolutely love this stuff. I will be using it everyday. Two thumbs up.

I also mixed water and 4 drops peppermint oil to make MotownGirl's Scalp Energizer. I poured this into an 8 oz. spray bottle. A few sprays of that to the head and it stimulates the scalp (which stimulates hair growth). I didn't really feel the tingly sensation that I expected, but I love the smell of peppermint. My boyfriend was calling me Peppermint Patty today. I think he liked the way it smelled too. So two thumbs up for that recipe.

That's me looking like I'm going to blow my brains out with the homemade hair spray.

Well that's the journey this week. I can't wait to mix up more recipes with the rest of my ingredients. If you want to try this stuff too, here's the place to go...

http://www.motowngirl.com/

...happy experimenting!

The Search for Black Owned

Yesterday I decided to take a road trip, which turned into an all out CIA investigation. I was looking for something as simple as hair locking gel. Okay, I know I know I know what you are thinking. You can buy hair locking gel anywhere. But being the radical that I am...I wanted to buy from a Black owned business located in New York or North Jersey. A bit of a trip from Philadelphia...but why not? I like road trips, and both of my sweeties (boyfriend and dog) are willing road companions.

I had my sights set on going to the Carol's Daughter store, being that I frequent the website constantly and not only are they black owned but they also manufacture their goods as well. While talking about it at work that same day, a coworker suggested that I try some of the black owned businesses that are closer to the Philadelphia area. I couldn't give him an argument to the contrary, except to say that I was not familiar with any. Since he couldn't give me a name or exact directions, he suggested I find a local Sally's Beauty Supply and buy the locking gel from a black owned manufacturer instead. That wasn't as appealing to me. No fun, no adventure, no...mystery. I'd never been to a black owned hair supply business, and I wanted to see what it would be like so I grabbed my laptop and googled away. I imagined stores filled with products I'd never seen before. Being serviced by employees that could actually answer my questions, who maybe even had hair like mine and used these products on themselves. Imagine that!

Disclaimer
I am not usually as racially conscious about my buying habits, but this is different for me. The best thing I can compare it to is being an Italian person that is forced to buy authentic Italian food from the Olive Garden and the Olive Garden only. Imagine how frustrating it would be to describe what penne pasta is to the person that is making your food.

The plans to make a road trip to North Jersey were postponed due to my puppy's constipation. Being in a car with him when he is in this condition could make you wish you were never born. My boyfriend and I agreed that we could stand a half hour trip at the most.

There were several websites devoted to finding black owned businesses but the search for a beauty supply store usually ended with zero results in our area. When there were results, we would call the phone number to get a disconnected line or an Asian person who could barely understand our inquiries. It was frustrating to the point of comedy. "You've got to be kidding me!" I laughed out loud. We searched and searched for some places in our area and concluded that the only other option would be to get gassed to death on our road trip to Carol's Daughter in North Jersey/NY or to suck it up and go to a local Sally's Beauty Supply. I googled some black manufacturers of hair products and found a company named Organic Root Stimulator. Fair enough! Sally's it is...or it was...'twas.

I felt very defeated in my CIA investigation, but the result of that search lead me to the conclusion that there aren't enough black owned beauty supply places. Maybe I'll save up some money and look into it. Who knows?

Alright so about the products I bought. I was doing some research and found that you can lock up your hair with gel or wax. The difference can be compared to using a water-based lotion to moisturize your skin or using vaseline to moisturize your skin. One will not last as long at all, being that it is water-based and water evaporates, and the other is thick/gooey, rubs off on everything and is harder to clean off. I decided that I would rather do the gel...what's a little maintenance once a week? There was one bottle of Organic Root Stimulator locking gel left (which to me is a sign that God saved it for me). I snatched that up as well as a bottle of shampoo (the wrong kind) and some scalp moisturizer, specialized for people with locks or braids. I have to take the shampoo back, because the Organice Root Stimulator company says that I should buy their uplift shampoo, rather than the aloe kind that I bought. Needless to say, I will be browsing the web to do more research.

Next task will be finding a day and a person to help me with the actual locking process. Maybe I'll have a locking party. I don't know. I was tempted to go to a salon, but dear reader, I have another confession. I'm cheap. My hair is as thick as it comes and with the kind of texture that I have, the locking process can start after two days of no combing. I have literally woken up looking like Bob Marley some mornings. In my case, it would be silly for me to pay someone $100.00 to do something that I've done by accident on several occasions.

And that about concludes my entry for today. Hopefully the next entry will showcase my new "locked look." See ya soon!


http://www.organicrootstimulator.com/

http://www.bobsaone.org/