I Relaxed My Hair!!!! and Other Updates

In a dream that is lol

Ok, so I finally had the infamous relaxer dream a few nights ago and well it wasn't all that terrifying. In the dream I ended up relaxing my hair myself (which is something I would never do). I texlaxed my entire head and when I was done I wanted to pee my pants because I realized that all of my relaxed hair would probably fall out due to the over-processing. Surprisingly though, I didn't get any burns and I was actually happy with the way it looked. However, in the morning I was even happier to wake up and find that my hair was still in transition mode. Or am I? 

The truth is I am SICK OF TRANSITIONING!! My hair is breaking (a little), it's VERY difficult to detangle and I KNOW it's because of the relaxed portion, no style will last for more than a day and I have to manipulate it all the time to make it look halfway decent. But on the flip side, I love the way my new growth looks, I love the way my hair looks after it's styled and I love my current length. So I just can't seem to decide whether or not it's worth all the trouble to keep transitioning. I know if I BC at my one year mark 1/22/11, I will not be happy. One year's worth of new growth is just too short for me. I guess I'm still pretty hung up on length after all, because the thought of having a TWA is simply unappealing (which is completely nuts, because I love seeing it on other girls). And at the same time, I'm starting to think that it is not possible to transition for very long with my hair texture and thickness, because the relaxed and natural hair are just TOO different to exist at the same time. The youtube channels that I watch and blogs that I visit with long term transitioners with "type 4" hair are very helpful for tips and advice but they all seem to have "4a/3c" hair. I didn't realize that even though our hair looks similar or just because a girl may describe her hair the same way that I do doesn't mean that it will behave the same. I don't think they are experiencing the same type of issues that I am, because only about half of my head has the same "hair type" as theirs and the middle back portion is VERY tightly coiled and always presents problems when I want to detangle and/or style. 

So I guess when I really think about it what I need to do is; stop looking at other's videos for certain tips  (specifically detangling), be more patient and focus on MY hair's needs not necessarily someone else's advice. Many times when I ask for tips on the forums that I visit, people regurgitate the same info, and it simply doesn't do much for me. I've tried almost everything that's out there, so maybe it's time I just sit down patiently and focus on what my hair seems to respond to. I think I'll have to let my PJism come out again and maybe even start mixing again, because the usual way of doing things just isn't working. And maybe the techniques will work but they won't allow me to detangle in 30 minutes, maybe my hair simply takes more time to detangle. Anyway, as a result of all of this, I've decided to take a break from my hair, a real break. I plan to wear a hat to work for the next few weeks and wigs if I plan to go anywhere. No braidouts for a while, I will only try to stretch my new growth and keep my relaxed ends as tangle free as possible (hence my braidout fast). I will also try to bun on dry stretched hair a few times. However, I seriously doubt it will work, I think I can only bun my hair when it's wet but it wouldn't hurt to at least give it a try. Hopefully this break will last until my one year mark when I plan to straighten my hair. I'll keep you posted.

Until next time, deuces ; )

Nail Lacquer Addiction (second only to chocolate)

This week I wore another color that I've worn before, which is very much unlike me. But I think it's because of the season, this is only my second winter since the affair began and I'm so particular about the colors I'll wear that I haven't ventured out much into wearing seasonally appropriate colors. I prefer bright and/or light colors, and so last winter I was not necessarily interested in wearing dark colors just because it was cold outside. In my experience, sometimes looking at a bright nail color can brighten up your day, especially when its dark and dreary for days on end.

ALSO, for some reason I have been getting into darker colors lately. I think this is due to the fact that manufacturers are coming out with different shades of deep colors, so there's more of a range for me to fall in love with. So last winter I mixed it up a little, with dark and bright colors, but mainly I stayed away from the dark ones (mostly because I didn't really own any until this summer). Anyhoo, this week I wore another  OPI color called No Spain, No Gain. This is one of my favorite colors, because I think I can wear it anywhere. It's not so dark as to make anyone wonder if I'm gothic, and not too bright so that anyone wonders why I'm wearing this color to work.

It looks a lot brighter in the pics but I'm neither a lighting nor photography expert so forgive me. In normal lighting (i.e. without flash) it is a very deep berry color. I could imagine myself wearing a lipstick this color and feeling s-e-x-y, if I wore lipstick that is. It is definitely one of my favorites now that I've worn it for a second time because it's so versatile. It isn't too attention grabbing, but it's far from boring The first time I wore it, I was too scared of deep colors, and in my mind's eye it made my hands look old (it's funny how I don't see that anymore). This pic was taken about six days after the initial application and as you can see there's only some tipwear and a small chip on my thumb (and it does look worn down a bit) but very good overall. Gotta love OPI

Until next time, deuces ; )

Awesomeness: Failed Attempt to Salvage a Failed Attempt

So, I decided to try a large, dry flexi rod set this past week. I got the idea from fgrogan on Youtube, she's not transitioning but she did do a year long stretch, so I've been watching some of her videos lately. She did hers at about 7 or 8 months post, so even though I'm a bit further along now that she was when she did it, I thought it might work. Well, I was wrong.

I was expecting that I might be able to sort of hide my new growth with a head band or something and that I would have huge curls but.....I wasn't quite expecting it to be THIS big. I don't think the pics capture just how big my hair was, I'm talking @ least 4 inches high.

BTW I am NOT leaning my head forward in this pic the hair was just that big

I guess it wasn't that bad in retrospect, but I couldn't handle it, how would one even begin to put all of that in a ponytail to bun it. Anyhoo, I decided to try to twist the sections in about 2-3 twists and set them on flexi rods. And I'm not sure why but (as you can see) my hair was pretty dry so I took the opportunity to put some moisturizer on my new growth. I also added some Giovanni mousse because it's the lightest one I have and I didn't want the twists to stick together too much.

This is the result at my attempt to salvage the original failed set. As you can see the height has diminished, but I still don't like it. It isn't horrible, but I don't like my hair to be wavy and curly @ the same time. It needs to be one or the other for me to like it. However, I wore it to work and it really wasn't all that bad, I actually got a compliment on it.
I think I might even just wear it like this all week : O

Why you say? Why would I wear it all week if I think it failed, well I'm a glutton for punishment. But seriously, I wanna give it a chance to grow on me, mainly because it was really easy to do, and it's something that I could do over nightly.

So because of this experience, I decided that I will have to do the one thing that I have been trying to avoid like poison, like the plague, like a perm! I decided a long time ago that I would do everything in my power to get around this one thing. I have been experimenting with different products and styles just to avoid it. But it finally caught up with me, I will do my hair over EVERY NIGHT!!! *passes out dramatically and hits the floor*

I've come to this decision because I'm really liking the freshly done look. And because I don't do my hair over at night I'm forced to bun pretty much everyday and I'm just exceptionally bored with it. I'm going to seek out a style that won't require more than an hour of nightly re-setting, that won't cause too much pulling and tugging and doesn't require combing. But I will still take breaks from the manipulation and bun in between, not sure how often though.

Well until next time, deuces ; )

Transitioning Troubles- The Two Texture Battle

So, I think I figured out why detangling transitioning hair is so difficult. For the last few months, detangling has been a huge obstacle during my transition. I've tried several conditioners and detanglers, with slippery ingredients like silicones and/or behentrimonium methosulfate (trying saying that five times fast) with little improvement. I can hear my hair snapping every time I detangle, and I see little pieces on my clothes. Don't get me wrong when I was frying my hair with heat styling tools there was at least about 10x more (at least being the key term), so I'm not terrified but it's still cause for concern.

Anyway, today as I was detangling I noticed that the more detangling product I put on my new growth, the easier it was to comb through, but the more product I put on my relaxed hair the more difficult it was to comb through. WTH, how is that possible? Well my theory is that relaxed hair really shouldn't be combed wet because the straight strands are more likely to tangle and stick together and because they're a bit weaker than my natural hair, they are easier to break. So while the comb is almost gliding through my saturated coils, it gets caught on my saturated relaxed hair (@ the LOD). And then on the other hand, when I don't saturate my hair with product, my new growth becomes the issue and the tangles from there travel down with the comb into my relaxed hair, slowing down the detangling process and resulting in some snappage also.

Normally, this small amount of breakage wouldn't bother me. But, I know that there are women who are transitioning who experience no breakage at all, and I want to continue my transition as long as possible so I would rather stop the breakage altogether. Now that I've figured out the issue maybe I can take steps to make the process easier. I used to think that when it came to detangling the more product I put all over the better, but I guess that's just not the case. Just like with moisturizing, more product is not required for my relaxed hair. Go figure.

Until next time, Deuces

Bad Hair Week!

This past week, I did my usual plait/cornrow braid out. I wore my hair half up and half down on Monday, and then wore some sort of bun for the rest of the work week. I will have to get used to working an extra day every week now that I'm working full time, and my hair is reflecting that.

I flat twisted the front a few nights before bed in order to keep definition, and because it is easier and faster than braiding. Well ummm, that did not work out very well. For some reason the hair did not want to stay down, so I put on a headband thinking that would help, but it was like putting an ill fitting band aid on a gaping wound. So my hair was sticking up from Tuesday to Thursday, awesome right. Anyway, I gave up on Friday and gelled down my edges and nape with a small hump in the front. It is by far NOT my best bun, but it came out okay considering what it looked like before. I spritzed with water, put on some leave-in and then put on some gel (not too much, maybe just a teaspoon full), and finally put a scarf on to hold everything in place. So here are the results, I think it's really just another band aid, but it seemed to at least be the appropriate size this time.

So, I will be washing my hair today, and trying a new style. Fingers crossed, but if it sucks I'll find a way to just bun it. I'll be sure to post pics, too.

Until next time, Deuces ; )

Nail Lacquer Addiction (second only to chocolate)

Hello all, this week I started a new job (finally *huge cheese* while I pat myself on the back), so I wanted to do a very work safe color for this week's manicure. I think it is important for every woman to have safe colors for work and job interviews. It's okay to use just plain clear polish, but there are definitely colors that are okay for work. It's also important to pay attention to the atmosphere; how lenient management is, and the colors that your new co-workers wear. I decided to wear Dulce de Leche by OPI, which is one of my favorite colors, ever. I gave it away to my aunt (after a brief struggle) and then I went out and bought another one, because I felt like I couldn't live without it.

 I consider it a "white lady nude", because I think it is meant to be a nude, but lets be frank most nudes are not meant for us women of color, hence the above description. Anyway, nudes are definitely on the list of colors that are safe for work, they add sophistication without catching too much attention or being distracting. I have no idea why, but I love these colors against my skin tone, they don't match but they go with my skin color (in my head anyway) so I think they're perfect.

I would describe this color as a nude for a tan woman, with pink undertones. The wear on most OPI polishes is wonderful, and this one did not disappoint. It has been about five or six days and I barely have any tip wear and one tiiiny chip. It took about three coats because it was a bit streaky, but I don't mind doing three coats. It appears more pink on me in the pic than it does in real life and most lighting, but in general it looks more like the color of the inside of my hand. So without further ado, here's this week's manicure right after it was done:

Oh and while at work, I made sure to pay attention to the nails of the ladies around me, and I found a fellow addict who was wearing black polish, so I definitely think I will be taking more color risks (super excited).

Until next time, Deuces

This Week's Regimen

This past wash day, I was feeling pretty lazy so I shortened my process and I must say that I had a positive experience and I might do this from now on. I put plain detangling conditioner onto my hair after doing some dry finger detangling (very little) and sectioned my hair into six braids. I slathered some honey on top and a few minutes later, I rinsed it out. I co-washed with one of my other regular conditioners and then used a T-shirt to dry my hair. When my hair was about 85% dry, I used another conditioner (Aussie Moist) as a leave in sealed with coconut oil, detangled my hair and then put it in braids.

This took less time overall, and I like the idea of only detangling once. Initially I was afraid to only detangle after my hair had been washed because adding water to my hair curls it up (obviously) and that can create tangles. So I would try to detangle about 60% before I let my hair get soaking wet. But the tangles weren't much worse than usual (this may be due to the Aussie Moist being used like a leave in, but I can't be sure). Next wash day I will do a similar process, but I will use my regular DC mixture. So there won't be much of a difference other than I won't detangle before I wash my hair and I will put conditioner in as a leave in on mostly dry hair and then detangle and style from there.

I'll try this regimen for a few weeks and see how it works for me before I make a final decision to change my regimen. It's important to try things out a few times before coming to a final verdict, but the fact of the matter is......I have no patience. In my head if something is good it should work immediately. But despite my impatience, I will continue to try this regimen. However, I would like to try a different style though, my messy braidout bun is getting on my nerves, but we'll see.

Deuces ; )

Nail Lacquer Addiction (second only to chocolate)

Ok so I'm pretty obsessed with nail polish, I visit nail blogs on a daily basis, I can't go into a store without checking out their nail polish selection and there have been times when I spend my last on a color that I've fallen in love with. I am very picky about the colors I am willing to wear though; I'm not a fan of green, blue, red, black, glitter, shimmer or frost. I love cremes and I'm always on the hunt for a new unique color that compliments my skin tone. I do a full manicure once a week and rarely wear the same color twice --- not because I don't want to but because there's always a color that I have been waiting to try and if I'm going to do my manicure over I might as well use a new color. Pedicures are a different story, if my polish isn't chipped I'll go 3-4 weeks without changing it. Pedis are a lot of work so I normally do them bi-weekly if I have the time. Right now I currently have 96 colors that I've been collecting since last summer (and I've given a few away too), yeah it's kind of a problem.

So anyway, here's this week's manicure, Revlon Hot for Chocolate a very very deep dark brown. It looks like the ultimate chocolate brown in the bottle but unfortunately it looks pretty black once it's on. However, I was surprised to find that I actually still liked it. I wasn't quite devoid of ummmmm light (?) like black nail polish is, it doesn't look anywhere near as harsh against my skin. Revlon is one of my favorite brands because you get great wear and they have a pretty good range of colors for the price. I don't have a single chip even after wearing it for 6 days, I only have some tip wear. Anyway here's a pic of the manicure right after I did it.

Henna Time! (MC Hammer Style)

I finally did a henna treatment last weekend (yay me right?). I used green tea, coconut milk, and conditioner to mix my henna, let it sit over night for dye release. Then the next day I put it on my hair and let it sit for a little over 4 hours. It was weird, my hair was still dripping orange water after several co-washes and a shampoo. I would rinse my hair out until the water ran clear, but then I would add conditioner and try to rinse again and the water would be orange again, so I assume that the dye was still releasing (Idk, maybe I should research that more, too late now lol). 

Anyway, my hair is a really dark brown, but most people might think it's black from a far. For visual reference, 1B hair (weave) tends to be a bit too dark for me. Anyway, I thought the henna would replace my brown with a deep and dark red, but it didn't. My hair just looks almost black now, and the ends (the lightest part) look like they just barely got a red tint and still have some of its original brown. I did take pics but you can't see the difference (good luck guessing which is before and which is after). 

I did not experience easier detangling nor a feeling of increased strength. Not cool. But there is hope yet, many have said that the more you use henna the better it works on your hair, so I will definitely use it again, probably early January before I decide that it simply doesn't work for me. ALSO, I used the Jamila Henna 2010 crop (http://www.butters-n-bars.com/index.html), and I read that different crops will give you a slightly different effect, so I may consider trying a different crop next time, perhaps the 2009 or something other than the Jamila. AND I can always try not adding conditioner, which is said to dilute the effects (less dye uptake, less positive effects). Eh, we'll see. 

Oh, and by the way, I am also considering altering my weekly regimen. I know I just posted it, but I'm learning that as my hair gets longer I have to switch things up to keep me from hacking away at the stuff, and I really am leaning towards holding on to some length for a while.

Anyway, I'm outta here.

Homemade Recipes

In the beginning of my hair journey, I had aspirations of becoming a mixtress but they were soon dispelled.  I was too lazy to bother with the research and work it would take to find the right recipes. However, I do have a shea butter whip recipe and I add extra ingredients to my deep conditioner. There are a few recipes that I have tried and others that I still intend to try though.


Shea Butter Whip:
8 oz shea butter (softened but not melted)
2 TBSP aloe vera gel
1/2 cup coconut oil (use 1 cup to stretch the batch)
20 drops of favorite EO (I use tangerine oil for the scent)
Put all ingredients in a bowl and use hand mixer to blend, the more you mix the fluffier it will get, and the less lumps you'll have. My mixture comes out like really fluffy frosting.

Deep Conditioner:
I don't measure the amount of each ingredient I put in this mixture, I eyeball it. First, I put the amount  of conditioner I think I will need into a small bowl, I add about a tablespoon of honey and then add about an ounce or so of olive and coconut oil, mix everything up and apply. First I detangle with a watered down sprayable version of my DC, and then I apply the undiluted remnants to my hair, focusing on the line of demarcation as well as my ends. Finally, I apply a handful of honey to all of my hair and sit under  a hooded dryer for 15-30 minutes (depending on my mood). The honey makes my hair super soft, but I find that if I put too much in my DC mix, my hair is difficult to detangle. So I decided to add the honey as a last step and I get great results.

I've made my own DC from scratch as well, I blended an avocado, 1/2 can of coconut milk, 1Tbsp honey, and a few ounces of olive/coconut oil. This was just as good as any other store bought conditioner but not better, so I don't use it anymore. Honestly, I thought it would make my hair easier to detangle, but it did no such thing, so I decided it wasn't worth the process of blending, etc. But if one has the patience/time then its a good DC.


Overall mixing is ok, but I don't like it enough to look for the proper emollients, preservatives, etc to make my own products. I'll leave it mainly to the professionals and only mix things that I can't find in a store for a reasonable price.

Sometimes You Just Have to Say "I Don't Give a DAMN"

OMG, I love this video. I recently discovered her channel on YouTube and immediately fell in love. I agree with her in so many ways, I just had to post it. Her accent and her attitude are just plain old fab and just adds to the message (sorry I just love me a New York accent).

You have to set your own standard of beauty!!!! I have been saying this for years and this is not just for black women but women in general. We let society dictate our lives and opinions way too much. We need to recognize that beauty does not come in one shade, shape or texture. And this is especially problematic when our ideal looks nothing like us. Is it not problematic for a milk chocolate sista with "type 4" hair to believe that a white woman with straight hair down to her bum is the ultimate beauty? We need to get it together ladies.

Anyway here's the vid (you can skip to 4:26 to skip the bit on shrinkage):

BC, LBC, NoBC?????

I've had hair that is at least shoulder length for most of my life (except when my hair broke off from my first round with the relaxer when I was 5). I actually started my hair journey with the intention to do a relaxed hair journey and grow my hair as long as I could. After a few weeks I scrapped the idea for several reasons:
1) The thought of allowing myself to get more relaxer burns didn't seem to be worth the length, and I hadn't seen any tips on how to reduce burning (that I hadn't already tried) from my research
2) My relaxed hair is super thick and has never been very easy to tame, so big hair is actually inevitable for me relaxed or natural
3) With a relaxer my hair would perpetually be in limbo, I would always have two textures to deal with except for maybe 2-3 weeks after each relaxer
And
4) I knew that eventually I would stop relaxing, and I didn't want to get attached a lot of length w/relaxed hair only to cut it off and start over with natural hair.

So tomorrow will make 10 months since my last relaxer. The most recent plan was to straighten and  chop my hair to about shoulder length with layers at my one year mark in January. And then do a full BC by July, ending my transition at 18 months. But right now my hair is grazing BSL and I'm thinking that by January it will be at full BSL. I'm really starting to lean towards no BC and just continue to allow my hair to grow out. I don't think my hair has ever been this long, and I like the way my braidouts look with this hair length, so I'm thinking I will grow my hair out to BSL and then try to maintain it there. I will still do a trim and layers in January, I just won't take off much length.

HOWEVER, I'm really torn, because transitioning is getting more difficult due to detangling the two different textures plus the fact that braidouts are not concealing the different textures as well as it used to. I do plan to do a henna treatment soon and that should help with my detangling issue. But I just don't know which is the best option right now. *sigh*

Weekly Regimen

I only wash my hair once a week, because my hair is past APL and really thick, even the relaxed ends. When my hair is dry it's pretty difficult to tell the difference (from a distance anyway) and I refuse to detangle all of it more than once a week. 

(APL=arm pit length: I wonder who came up w/the idea behind body part hair measuring, I mean really why would I want to measure my hair by my arm pit, and when you think about it, that's not the same length for everyone. So if I have a long neck and Keisha has a no neck our lengths will be different. But then again I doubt I'll be whipping out a ruler or some measuring tape sooo... anyway I digress)

Anyhoo :

I DC on dry or dampened hair

Detangle and section into braids

Shampoo (rarely co-wash)

Re-Condition and leave most of the conditioner in

Then I use a T-shirt (two actually) to suck out most of the moisture (and then I usually go to bed, if so then I seal in the moisture/conditioner with coconut oil and cover my hair with two satin scarves/bonnets). I unbraid each section and then apply detangling product, seal w/ my own personal shea butter whip and cornbraid/cornrow/canerow or plait accordingly.

Lately, I've been cornbraiding the front and plaiting the back and then wearing my hair in a bun for the work week. I'm really not doing it because I want to protect my ends, I'm just tired of my hair right now. I can't seem to retain enough definition to wear my hair out for more than one day, so I don't bother cornbraiding all of my hair. BUT if I'm going out I will cornbraid all of my hair the night before because I don't like the way a plait braidout looks down (on me anyway). Also I use satin strips for my braidouts, I got this idea from ninapruitt on YouTube who got the idea from ZanAndRob on YouTube. I actually saw the ZanAndRob video before ninapruitt, but I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but I decided to give it a try after seeing Nina's video (well that was a mouthful).

View Tutorials Below (sidenote: I don't do my braidouts exactly like these ladies, and you can tweak the method as much as you like to get the look you want):

Deuces, and Happy Braiding

Bad Hair Day Band Aid

So today, my hair looked a straight mess. I did a plait/cornrow braid out combo, and bunned my hair all week using a sock (I refer to this as my circle bun, I don't care about the proper term, I've been calling it this since I was in middle school lol). I re-braided the front on Monday night for an interview, but haven't re-braided since, so this morning all definition was gone.

Usually in order to tame the frizz halo, I wet or dampen my hair and plaster on the gel. This time I didn't wan to do that because my braid out buns are lumpy and messy (which is fine, they're supposed to be), but a slick bun should be smooth so Ecostyler was out of the question. So I decided to try an experiment, I put a handful of mousse in the front section of my hair, a big headband and put on my scarf. I took it off when I got to work and to my surprise my hair was laying pretty flat, the frizz halo was greatly reduced and I still had what was left of the definition from my braid out.

I won't make this a habit, but it's an emergency solution. It definitely reduced my roughness factor.

So now I'm off to re-braid the front again

More to Come

Sooooooo, I plan to post my hair care regimen soon along with the products I use. I may post some hair pics, but thats a bit iffy, because I don't have my own camera so I'll be forced to borrow *gasp*

But anyway, I'm outta here.
Deuces

My Hair Story

So, my hair story is pretty much the same as many other black women, I received a relaxer at about 4 or 5 years old because I would BAWL every time my mother put a comb to my head, and not only because it hurt to have it combed but because she actually popped me with it (not cool lady). So I was in kindergarten with a perm, and trust me I wasn't the only one. However, my mom still did my hair like a little girl with thousands of barrettes and bubbles (as we Jamaicans call the elastic hair holders with the balls @ each end). It was time for my first touch up after the initial process and thats where the trouble started. 

The fool who did my hair put relaxer on all of my hair, not just the new growth which lead to breakage, of course. And that's when I first experienced the infamous relaxer burn, I remember crying and feeling like I was gonna die. Anyway, the breakage was pretty bad, I lost quite a few inches of hair so my mother transitioned me out of a relaxer. She would roller set my hair for the most part, and I had braids once as well. Anyway, eventually my hair was natural again and as I got older my mom decided to press my hair (can you say torture, ARGH). 

About 5 years of burned ears, scorched scalp, and rivers of tears later, and my mother finally gave up and let a friend with experience relax my hair. It took two boxes of relaxer and I was so happy but my fears were still there. I associated relaxers with pain and hair loss, every time I got a touch up I would all I could to avoid burns, no scratching, lots of grease, no water for weeks. But it was like Russian Roulette, I never knew what would happen. Mostly it would burn the hell out of me and I'd retrace my steps for the past week trying to figure out what I did wrong to no avail. It seemed like no matter what I did there would be burns and tears. And when I didn't get burned I would do the same thing retrace my steps for the past week and try to figure out what I did right.

I had always thought natural hair could look really good, but until a girl I actually knew decided to take the plunge, I never thought I could do it. Anyway, her decision piqued my interest and I decided to do some research, but I never went through with it because I thought I had no choice but to do the BC (big chop). Anyhoo, fast forward to January 22, 2010 and me at 22 years old, the day I got my last relaxer. I thought I had found a stylist who knew what to do to keep my scalp from burning. But alas, that wasn't the case, I got burned again and I feared that my hair would fall out for the last time. Finally, after the last burn I said to hell with it, I'm done. And here I am now, 9 months into my transition and I couldn't be happier.

Introduction

Hello World, I am MissFenty and this is The Crown and Glory Journal.

This blog will be about my experiences and opinions as a black woman. Pretty broad huh? So you are probably thinking what does that have to do with the Crown and Glory thing, well at this point in my life I am transitioning from relaxed to natural hair. Yes another one : ) So for now many of my posts will be regarding my transition.  

However, I want to keep the general description broad, because I will not strictly focus on hair all the time. I would also like to discuss other things of significance or relevance to black women or just me personally. Your Crown and Glory is not strictly limited to hair, it's what you make it, it's what makes you proud, gives you confidence, etc. For example, my ability to think intellectually is also my Crown and Glory, because I am proud of my analytical mind, blah blah blah, you get the picture, lol.

Also, I am completely new to this blogging thing, so forgive any mishaps on my part, I'm trying ;  )