I AM FREE!

Free of the Creamy Crack! Ok, I've been off the crack for a while now, but the effects of it's use are finally gone. I did the BC (Big Chop) last Friday. At first I was a little scared, not knowing for sure how my hair would react to the change from half natural/half relaxed to all natural. And for the first few days I don't know if it was in my mind or not, but it seemed my hair was a little confused too. But it has seemed to settle in nicely. It's really curly right now. Here's hoping I'll still be this confident as it starts to grow out and lengthen due to the weight of the hair. I'll keep you posted!

It's Been Awhile, I Know...

Ok, it's been a long while since the last time I posted. I've been busy and experimenting with what works and what doesn't and different techniques to use. What I didn't expect is how much fun this would be, figuring out what works for my hair and what doesn't. I'm pretty pleased with my decision to go natural.

I'm washing my hair twice a week or about every 4 days. One big reason being it's not long enough in the back to pony-tail or bun it. So when it starts to get fuzzy the only real choice I have is to re-twist. And since I would rather re-twist with fresh hair I have to wash it.

On the weekends I wash with shampoo, then apply a reconstructor, cover with a plastic cap and sit under a hooded dryer set on low heat for 30 minutes. After that I rinse out the reconstructor, apply my leave-in and follow my usual twist and curl routine. During the week I wash with a rinse out conditioner, apply my leave-in conditioner, and twist and curl. I usually air-dry overnight but depending on what leave-in I use I may have to sit under a dryer for a little bit to make sure my hair is dry through and through before I take down my twists.

Products I am currently using:

Shampoo - Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk

Rinse out Conditioner - Suave Naturals (right now I'm liking the Fresh Mountain Strawberry)

Leave-in Conditioner - Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Fortifying Conditioner

Alternate Leave-In Conditioner - Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner

I can live with this routine for a little bit longer as I wait for my BC. Oh yeah, don't forget to check out CurlyNikki.com and TightlyCurly.com, a couple of my favorite natural hair sites.

And I'll keep you posted...

My Hair Inspirations

Girlfriends was one of my favorite shows! Each of those independent women had their own sense of style. But it was their hair that always drew my attention. I admired Toni's perfectly weaved tresses (except for that awlful wig she began wearing after she married Todd - but I digress). Lynn was a free spirit and so was her hair. Mya's transformation and personal growth over the years was reflected in how the quality of her hair changed with her economic status. And then there was Joan Carol Clayton. When she was in a scene it was her hair that got everybody's attention. I spent many a show wondering what she and her stylist did to get her hair to look like that. If you wondered too follow this link to find out what Tracee Ellis Ross uses in her gorgeous hair: http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip000220.htm

Other curly manes I've envied:

Cree Summer ("Freddie Brooks") of A Different World fame

Rachel True ("Mona Thorn") from Half & Half


If one day I can acheive anything close to any of these results I'll be satisfied. For now, I'll just have to be content waiting for the day that I can do my BC.

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Back in the day, Michael Jackson was the boy! I remember as a young teen dancing and singing to his music, following his every move in Ebony, Jet and all the other teen magazines.

Then came Thriller which changed everything(although I will always say his breakthru album was Off The Wall). Michael was on fire! Everything he touched turned to gold and then platinum. I even remember that being when I decided I wanted a Jeri Curl after seeing the video for Thriller.

Whatever your personal views on Michael the man, it can't be denied that Michael the Artist was a true innovator. His talent is truly missed...

A Very Curly Morning

Just wanted to show how my hair turned out this morning. I was pleased when I left home this morning for work. I loved how the back turned out using the Mixed Chicks conditioner on my curly RH (Relaxerless Hair - I wasn’t able to get a decent pic to upload, cuz I was in a hurry). I do like using the Mixed Chicks leave in on the rest of my hair. However, I think I want to try some other products to see if I can get a smoother, longer lasting finish. This weekend I will be doing some shopping…

My Take on TightlyCurly Primer & CurlyNikki TNC

Monday my hair started looking a little fuzzy so I retwisted it that night without washing it. I'm still doing a lot of online research and mulling over all the things I'm learning. So today I decided to come home after work and re-do my hair from scratch.

Wendi's Technique:

1. In the shower I started by Co-Washing with a Suave moisturizing conditioner. I massaged my scalp but concentrated on squishing the moisturizer through my hair to gently cleanse it.
2. Rinsed thoroughly making sure no conditioner was left.
3. Generously added my leave-in conditioner. At present I'm using Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner. I wet my head again to make sure the conditioner would work it's way through my hair to the ends and then concentrated putting more conditioner on the ends.
4. Detangled my hair with (you guessed right) my brand new Denman Brush. I LUV IT! This also served to further distribute conditioner throughout my hair.
5. No rinse!
6. While still in the shower, separate my hair so that curls can begin to form in the back (the part that I wont be Twisting)
7. After I got out of the shower, for the sides and the top back of my head I did my own take on the CurlyNikki Twist and Curl (http://www.curlynikki.com/2008/10/as-promised-t-n-c-tutorial-is-here-d.html). My hair is currently cut into an Elongated Bob so I still have relaxer on the ends in the front. The back of my head from the top of my ears down is relaxerless and curly so I just let that air dry undisturbed. I'll let the twists dry over night and take them down in the morning.

I followed many of the steps in the Curly Primer found on TightlyCurly.com. I can't wait until my hair has grown enough to do the BC so I can see what my hair really will do following Teri's whole technique.

Thanks to Teri and Nikki here's my look at bedtime:








Sweet Dreams!

The Fabulous Denman Brush

I've been reading about this brush on different natural hair sites so I finally decided to break down and get one today. I found it at Sally's Beauty Supply. When the salesgirl first showed me this flimsy looking brush with white plastic looking bristles I thought she must be mistaken and this must be a knockoff. But the box said Denman, the back of the brush was stamped Denman and the handle was embossed Denman (yeah I tend to be a little skeptical). So I bought it.

Let me tell you it is EVERYTHING they all said it was! This brush is nowhere in the realm of flimsy. Gliding through my tangly curls was no problem. I luv it when I make a hair purchase and the results are so much better than I ever expected.

Sleeping on the Twist n Curl

After such success with my Twist n Curl I was "scurred" to death to go to sleep last night. Then I remembered a tip my best friend gave me some time ago. We both have thin hair and problems with our hair going flat when we sleep on it. She got over hers by going short and when I was totally relaxed I got over mine by wrapping every night (which is supposed to be flat anyway). Well when I was mentioning to her about going natural and being afraid of what I will face each morning when I get up, she suggested sleeping on a travel pillow. Let me tell you this was the BEST THING!

I covered the travel pillow with a satin pillow case and put it side ways between my ear and shoulder and laid down. I then draped my hair over the pillow so that I wasn't laying on it. I woke up this morning with no flat spots! I am LUVIN' this!

Transitioning...

I had been toying with the idea of transitioning out of my relaxer for about 5 years. But I was scared. I didn't know how I would be able to deal with my natural texture. I've had a relaxer since I was 20 and before that it was press and curl every week either by my aunt or at the local beauty salon from the age of 7. Before that it was weekly torture session as my mother yanked thru my hair after it was washed, sat me under a hot hooded dryer, yanked through my hair some more followed by a hot comb session. My one constant was the fear of wind and humidity once my hair was straightened and curled.

Fast forward to 3 years ago when I was sitting in the beauty shop one Friday after work with my head wet and 5 heads away from the stylist's chair knowing I wasn't getting out of there until after 11pm. That's when I decided that there must be a better way. I had been toying with the idea of transitioning back to my natural texture but I wasn't sure if I wanted the hassle of dealing with press and curl (now flat-ironing) and fretting how long I would be able to keep my style before it went poof due to the humidity. It was another year before I finally made up my mind. So in March of 2007 I started my transitioning.

I flat twisted and phony pony-ed my hair for about 9 months and then I found a stylist who said she could work with natural hair. During the transitioning period I had discovered that my natural texture was curly so I felt there was finally someone who could help me learn how to live with this and not be forced into wearing twists and ponys the rest of my natural grown life.

Soon I discovered that her idea of working with natural hair was to blow dry and flat iron the life out of it! When I would ask her how to work with my natural texture she would reply,"You can roller set it, but your roots may be puffy." So, I began to rethink my decision. I mean, in my half natural state I still had to be wary of humidity or my hair would start to revert. It did that with the relaxer too but never as bad as it was doing now. I would try to wet, condition and scrunch but the relaxed hair would never cooperate. When I would ask my stylist to cut the relaxed hair off she said,"No you don't want to do that, it will just get puffy." So after 1 year and 3 months of transitioning I decided to texturize.

I got this cute little inverted bob cut with the long front ending just above the bottom of my ears. My hair was so cute! I figured with this new texturizer (that as I was told only slightly relaxes the curl pattern) now that the majority of the relaxed hair was gone I should be able to wet, condition and scrunch now. WRONG!

It was then that I realized that this would have to be my own personal journey. If I was going to do this, I would have to rely on myself and find the will to stick with it by seeking out the knowledge needed to make it work.

Let me just say the internet is a wonderful thing! I have googled up a wealth of information to help me in my struggle to break free from the relaxer. Curly Nikki, Teri from TightlyCurly.com, so many You Tube videos I couldn't possibly name them all, Wendi and Kim from MixedChicks.net, Naturallycurly.com neighborhood and the list goes on.

I am a year further along now in my transition. Almost ready for the BC as they call it (the Big Chop). Yesterday I did my first Twist n Curl, it came out better than expected but I have no idea how it will look tomorrow after I have slept on it all night (yikes).