Banana Deep Conditioner Results!

My hair feels really soft!!! I don't have a great amount of curl definition, but I kind of like my hair that way anyway. Conclusion? I'll definately be doing this treatment again!

Natural. Kinky. Curly Hair=...?

the tree is blending perfectly with the afro lol i thought it was kinda cool

I'm tired dorm room curlies. Tired of hearing black people equate natural hair with bad hair. I know. I know. Good hair = Healthy hair, no matter what texture it is. But some people still have the mentality that India Arie talks about: "good hair means curls and waves/bad hair means you look like a slave" (I Am Not My Hair).

I can't count how many times I've heard people say that they can't go natural because they have "bad hair" or that they hope their kids don't have "bad hair" or that I'm lucky because my boyfriend's white so our future children won't have "bad hair".

All of the above typically are using "bad hair" to mean kinky hair. Hair that isn't straight, curly, wavy, but are of the dreaded kink variety.

Personally I WANT my kids to have kinky hair. I have so much versatility with my lovely kinks that I want my daughter or son to have fun experimenting with theirs just like their mommy does.

I don't understand why this "bad hair" thing is still perpetuated even within the natural community. I know people who relentlessly search and research the different hair types (the whole 3a, 3b, 4a etc). They have this dread that their hair will fall under the 4a, 4b category because that is the bad, kinky hair category. Some even deny their own hair, claiming that it is really 3a, 3b, 3c.

ALL hair has the potential to be beautiful hair if you keep it healthy, no matter what the texture, length, color, or curl pattern!

That's why I'm going to add a new feature on my blog dedicated to celebrating all hair types and textures. Because natural hair IS Bad. Super Bad A$$ :)

Yarn Braid Update

It's official! The yarn braids are out after a month and some change.

I didn't take them out for any bad reason. I loved the yarn braids because they were:

• light and easy to style
• kept my hair insanely moisturized all the time
• were a great wake up and go style

The only downside I can think of is that when I washed it (once every week to week and a half) it took ALL DAY to dry, even when I wrung the braids out.

BUT that's not the reason I took them out. I took them out because I missed my curlies soooo badly! There are a lot more natural girls on campus this year and just seeing them out rocking their hair made me miss my lovely curls. So I said buh bye to the yarn braids in a process that took two days (ugh). But I'm happy. She's washed, conditioned, and ready for pics once I figure out what style I want her in.

Stay curlie :)



Yarn Braid Tutorial...Kinda

So I just finished doing my older sister's yarn braids so I thought this time I'd post some pics to show how I did it and what I used.

For this job we used both black and dark brown acrylic yarn.  Some brands of black yarn becomes a dark blue or purple color once its washed. So we used Red Heart Super Saver brand because it's a lot of yarn and other hair blogs say this yarn retains color best after being washed.

We tied a single strong of each color yarn on to a leg of a chair and since she wanted her braids to be long, we wrapped the yarn around all four legs of the chair. If you want shorter braids, you can wrap the yarn over just two or three of the chair legs. Once we  had a good amount of wrapped yarn, we cut the yarn.

Before braiding, I would part her hair and fold two or three strands of the yarn in half. Then I braid it into her hair just like one would do for any type of single strand braid such as box and micro braids. Here is an example of some braids once I did a few.

In this next picture, I'm showing you how much of her hair I'm putting in each braid.

Before braiding the yarn into her hair, I'd spray the yarn with my special leave in conditioning mix. In this bottle is a combination of mostly water, glycerin, dollar conditioner and grape seed oil.

 At the end of each braid, I double knotted the end, and my sister would burn the end with a lighter before cutting the excess yarn off.

And here's the finished product!

Stay Curly!!!! :)

How I Retain Moisture

As curlies, we all know moisture is extremely important for our hair. But in the past I've had major problems with actually keeping the moisture in my hair.

At first, I had the same mentality as many newly naturals have: that water is the enemy. I grew up thinking this for SO long since I dreaded washing my hair once I got a perm because it'd no longer be sleek and straight. But through reading various hair blogs and watching YouTube videos, I realized:

• Water is the only real moisturizer for you hair.

I used to try and pile oil and cream based products on these curls and the results were semi moisture but then it'd be sooooo dry. Then I thought I'd learned a little thing or two about sealing my hair. So I'd wet it and then seal it with some form of oil. Which worked for awhile, and I understand may work for some people. But my hair would STILL be dry after a while. I was beginning to think that I just had freakishly dry hair  before I discovered the best possible way to seal my hair.

• The best way to seal in moisture is to wet the hair with water, apply a cream based moisturizer or leave in conditioner while damp, then seal with oil.

I discovered this method by accident (I was just fooling around with my hair products but when I woke up the next morning with shiny, moisturized locks I KNEW) and a post on another blog I like confirmed that this method is a must, well along with the usual tips such as:

• Sleeping with a silk scarf/pillow so moisture won't get sucked out of out hair.
• Low or no heat styling
• Protective Styling

But I also found another tip that helps my hair stay moisturized: No towel drying. I'm not sure which blog I read this tip from, but instead of using towels that are designed to soak up moisture (and can ultimately make our hair too dry). Naturals and other with dry hair also have the option of using an old t-shirt. It has the same effect (they both soak up access moisture) but the t-shirt method doesn't dry your hair out completely.

Well I've talked entirely too much already!!!

Stay Curly!!

Get it Together!

So I'm at work and the infamous nurse comes in and AGAIN she acts surprised to see my natural hair and AGAIN she asks "What is that?"

I can't believe this woman could honestly be that rude or that forgetful as if we haven't had this conversation already!

But I didn' even worry about her because the people who love my hair far outweigh the people who hate it. And more importantly I love my hair and that's all that matters.

But this whole re-lived conversation really made me wonder: Why can't some people just get it together?

I have yet to receive a negative comment about my hair from any other race than my own. It's as if loving the natural hair God blessed me with is something negative. I'm not a Hair Nazi or anything. I don't think women with perms or weaves are evil or anything because I've had both before. I just feel as if a person's hair is an extension of their own personal style. And just like I would never go up to a person and say: "What in the world are you wearing?" I would also never go up to someone and say: "Why in the world are you wearing your hair like that?"

It's Their Style, Their Hair, Their Business.

So why can't some people get it together and realize that?

Peeves and Positives

Peeves:

 So I'm in line at the store when the lady in front of me suddenly turns around and recognizes me. Turns out it was my school nurse from elementary school. We has a good convo at the start. She asks about my sisters and what school I'm going to and all that jazz. And then she frowns, looks up at my hair and goes: "So you've cut all your hair off. Now what is that supposed to be?"

Um Excusez-moi? RUDE.

I ignored how unbelievably ugly that was and just replied: "It's called a twist out."

She goes: "Oh. Cute." In a way I knew she def did not think it was cute. What ev. I looked supa flyy today.




Positives:

I got a job!!!!!!! I'm soo excited and glad it happened so quickly because I'm so so so so SO broke. God blesses me more and more with every breath!!!

So what up curlies? Have you had any hair peeves/annoyances lately? Feel free to comment :)