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.