Tweaking My Routine

After haiving my hair straightened I got a better view of how my individual strands were looking. As a whole, my hair looked and felt great, but as I looked at individual strands I was a little disapointed at my ends. I thought that I was doing a good job at keeping them moisturized and protected, but they still had a lot of splitting. It could have just been the fact that I waited to long for a good trim...I don't know. I made a promise to myself to do a little more to protect my ends from here on out. So I went to MOM's market (local health foods store) and bought some veggie glycerin, a aloe based spray and various oils.
Back in the day when I first went natural I used veggie glycerin on a daily basis by adding a few drops of it to my spray bottle. It's a humectant so it attracts water. I'm going back to using it in hopes of retaining moisture. I have been using it regularly for the past week.
The aloe spray made by Lily of the Desert. It's an aloe vera based product that promises to condition and hydrate your hair. So far I like it. Sometimes it feels greasy if it sprays on my skin, but other than that I like it so far. I can't really determine if it's working yet, but I will keep you all updated.
I am still battling single strand knots...don't really think there's a way to avoid them other than keeping my hair stretched. My problem with that is sometimes I want to wear my natural shrunken curls, but I can deal.

Do any of you have any suggestions for avioding split ends?

Straight Hair Don't Care

I finally got my hair straightened last week because I was long overdue for a trim. My last real trim was in October 2010. My intent was to trim every 4 to 6 months but I ended up waiting 9 months. I knew my hair really needed a trim because my ends were dry no matter what I did to try and keep them moisturized and sealed. Throughout the 9 month period I did a little dusting of my ends here and there but nothing major. After she blow dried my hair it was apparent that my hair had grown uneven and it was in need of a good trim. She ended up cutting almost 2 inches...not bad. I didn't want to part with even that much, but I knew it was needed. Next time I plan on going closer to 4 months depending on how my hair feels. I dont ever want my ends to get to that point again.
Overall, I am pleased with the growth and health of my hair. The growth from the last time I had it straight (Oct. 2010) was not major but still I am pleased. A lot of people seem to think my hair grows fast, but I really don't think so. I think my growth rate is normal but because my hair is so thick it seems like a lot more...IDK. I would consider my hair to be full APL at this point. The back is longer than the front but I see more difference in growth in the front when compared to October.
It's funny that whenever my hair is curly I always wonder what it will look like straight, and then when I straighten it I find it boring and cant wait to wash it out.
TEAM NATURAL all the way!

Below are pics of my hair Oct. 2010 (top) and June 2011 (bottom)

You Are What You Eat

I read an article posted on my MSN homepage the other day about what your hair says about your health. It listed different indicators of common health problems that are evident in your hair. When you are stressed, malnourished,or have hormonal imbalances, your hair can tell that story. If you think about it, even when you get a drug test, some jobs take a small plug of hair. I say all this to say its very important what you eat and how you live. Wellness is a lifestyle. There is no miracle hair product that will grow your hair long while you sit on the couch and eat junk food. Its important to drink plenty of water and exercise in combination with a well balanced diet. Take care of your body and in turn the story your hair will tell will be a good one.
Be Blessed!

Wash N Go Video

May Maddness

Lately I have been so bad about deep conditioning my hair. Ideally, I deep condition my hair every week on wash day. Recently with school, work, and life I just really have not had the time or energy. I have been washing my hair in a mad frenzy and just doing enough to get by from week to week. I have definitely noticed a difference in the look and feel of my hair as a result of my negligence. Last week I decided that I needed to make time to take care of my hair, especially if I want to continue to retain length. I came up with a few time efficient ways to care for your hair when life gets in the way.

1. Deep condition overnight wearing a shower cap and satin bonnet or all day under a fashionable hat.
Last week I took the time to wash my hair before bed and then deep conditioned overnight under my satin bonnet. When I rinsed my hair in the morning it felt amazingly soft. I also noticed my hair had a natural shine throughout the week. If I was able to wear a hat to work or school I would deep condition during the day with a cute hat.

2. Wash your hair in sections and keep it detangled throughout the whole process.
I found that when I make an effort to wash my hair in small sections and not just one big tangled mess styling is much easier. For this reason I find it a little easier to wash my hair in the shower as opposed to the sink.

3. Style your hair the night before and secure it with a scarf.
There have been many mornings that I have had to be up as early as 430am. To cut down on the number of things I have to do in the morning I do my hair the night before (usually a puff, bun, or twisted style) and then secure it with my scarf and then in the morning that's one less thing to do.

April Updates!

UPDATE!

The month of March was hard for me balancing school and life, so I neglected to post very much here. April is also looking real busy as I am about to complete my first semester of nursing school. For those that continue to check back, I truly appreciate the love.I plan to make a return very soon as I have a few projects up my sleeve. Just to give you a snippet of what's to come, a topic I have been researching is hair shedding. So look for more in depth information about how I feel towards this topic and what I have found during my journey. As far as videos, I am in the process of getting a new lap top so I can really produce good quality videos. Again, thanks for stopping through and check back soon for new posts.

Natural Haircare Expo Baltimore 2011

If you live in the DMV area check out the Natural Haircare Expo going on this Saturday, March 26th and also Sunday the 27th. I have never been to an event like this, but I imagine it to be great! Based on the website there are various performers and tons of vendors. If you are in the area and interested in going check out the website of the even for more information.

www.baltimorenaturalhaircareexpo.com

2 Years Natural

Hello there!
I am so excited for the positive responses that I have seen in the past few weeks! Thank you to all the visitors and subbies. You can also find me on youtube my name is DestinyFulfilled07 (different name than blog name because I already had a youtube account)I just uploaded my first video and will also attach the video to this post.
This week makes 2 years that I have been natural woot-woot!
Lastly, if you have any suggestions or requests I am open to recieve them.
~Be blessed!

Protective Syling

As part of my challenge to grow my hair BSL by the end of the year I am really trying to wear protective styles more often than loose styles. By loose styles I mean wearing my hair down. Now that I have enough to make a bun that is my offical go-to style. It's easy, sleek, and quick especially on lazy days. For this upcoming week I washed my hair and left a small bang out in the front and then have the rest of my hair in a high bun. Some may think that its not a true protective style because of the bang out but a majority of my hair is up and thats good enough for me. The point of protective styles is to be low manipulation and this style is just that.
A style like this can get quite boring after a day or so so I plan to jazz it up with earrings, headbands and any other accessory I can find.

ALSO, big news! My 2 year Nappaversary is approaching on March 9th so I will be posting a length check very soon.

My bun:)

Twist Out Style Pictorial

This is a pictorial of how I do my twist out. I tried to make a video but I didnt have much luck, so I decided to show each step through pictures since it's a fairly simple process.
Hope you enjoy!

Products used: Spray bottle of just plain water, Knot Today mixture as developed by Kimmaytube *check out her youtube channel* (aloe vera juice, olive oil, and Knot Today), hair clips, Garnier Fructis Curl Scrunch, and avacado oil
***This was my first time using the Garnier. I usually dont use any kind of gel at all for twist outs, but I heard from a youtuber that its good for hold so I figured I would try it to see if it will make my twist out last longer. I will have to let you know how it works through the week. So far I like the product, but I prefer my twist outs to be soft so I dont plan on using it again.
To maintain this style I will retwist every night. Usually I do the twists larger and larger as the week goes on and I get more volume and elongation.

Consistency is Key: Developing a Hair Regimen that work for YOU!

I believe in having a consistent regimen of how you care for your hair. I try to keep with mine from week to week. There are times that I get lazy but overall I keep things very routine. I chose not to write up my regimen but rather help you develop one that will work best for your hair. Use this as a basis or guideline and tweak it to suit YOUR needs. It’s really important to know YOUR hair and what it like and doesn’t like. Keep a journal or log of what works well and stick with it. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate but just a reminder for future reference.

Main Components of a Regimen

1.       Cleanse- a clean scalp allows the scalp to breath and removes build-up

2.       Condition- restore moisture after cleansing

3.       Deep conditioning- for treatment and repair of your strands

4.       Leave in- adds moisture when conditioner is rinsed out

5.       Oil- locks in moisture

Other things to consider

·         How often to shampoo?

o   Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly

·         Sulfate free?

o   Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is used in many shampoos and has been known to cause scalp irritation and dryness

o   Some people choose not to use products containing SLS and opt for natural cleansers (homemade or SLS free)

·         How often to deep condition?

o   Depends on the needs of your hair

o   I recommend starting bi-weekly and then increasing or decreasing as needed

·         Pre-Poo?

o   Usually a combo of oils and/or conditioner to prevent dryness and stripping of hair when you shampoo

·         Products to use

o   Nobody can tell you what to use, they can give you suggestions and tell you what they use but ultimately its all about trial and error and finding what works best for YOU!

Remember there is no miracle product that will grow your hair, just good technique to preserve your hair as it grows. Be Consistent!

Bantu Knot Out- Failed Attempt

Sooooo....I decided to try bantu knots on my hair last week. I blow dried my hair on a cool setting and then put my hair in about 20 bantu knots all over. A lot of people say that bantu knots are the kind of thing that really take several attempts to master, so I was really taking a chance with doing them because I was going to a wedding the following day. My plan B was to to wet my hair down and wear a bun.

Initially I hated how my hair turned out. It was really soft to the touch (I used olive oil and Knot Today on my hair before blow drying and shea butter after) BUT the curls were all twisted in different directions and I had parts all over from where I separated my hair into the bantu knots. Also, after I began to separate the curls for more fullness my ends were frizzy UGH. I believe this was because I am not that great with the blow dryer and I only used it on a cool setting (I am not using heat on my hair until spring).

The following pics are of how I styled my hair. My goal was to wear all my hair down but all the curls were in different directions and it looked really off so I just pinned up the top portion. When my dad saw me he called me a rooster HAHA!

The end result was decent. Here are a few things I will do differently next time:

• tuck my ends into the knot better so that they come out smoother
• twist the hair in a consistent direction so that curls fall in the same direction
• not dry my hair completely leave it a little damp for a smoother finish
• don't make defined parts just grab sections so there aren't any gaps in the finished look

Give this style a try and see what kind of results you have. I plan on trying this again and hope to have better results. It's all about trial and error...learn from your mistakes and do it better next time. I will show the whole process step by step on the next try!

Fav Products

Shampoo/Conditioner

• Suave Humectant- Great for detangling and as a leave in!
• Tresemme Moisture Rich Shampoo/Conditioner-  This is what I was/condish with on a regular basis
• Aussie 3 Minute Miracle- great deep condish makes my hair feel extra soft!

Styling

• Eco Styler Gel- clear or olive oil both work great on edges!
• Kinky Curly Knot Today- I swear by this as a leave-in! I usually add oil and aloe vera juice to it (kimmytube method) to stretch it so the bottle lasts longer
• Shea butter- used for mini twists mostly because its heavy
• Miss Jessies Curly Pudding
• Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie
• Donna Marie MiraCurl

Oils

• Avocado oil
• Olive oil
• Coconut oil

Check back soon for a style tutorial!

New Year Hair Resolutions

With the new year officially underway I have made a few hair goals.

1. I am joining blogger The Moptop Maven in her Healthy Hair Challenge. Currently my hair is APL (armpit length) and my goal for Dec 31, 2011 is BSL (bra strap length). http://moptopmaven.blogspot.com/
2. Do more protective styling, and by more I mean to start doing protective styles. I seem to have a problem with wearing my hair in the same style for more than a few days. Recently I did mini twists, and after 3 days Im ready to change it. I have learned however that low manipulation encourages retiontion of length so I have to learn to endure for atleast a week.
3. Try Henna. A lot of pros swear by henna for shine, strength, and conditioning. I have wanted to try it for a while but I know that once you use henna you can't use hair color so I didnt want to commit. I used to be on the fence about getting color but have recently decided against it and to go with henna. People always blame color for dryign their hair out and causing breakage whereas with henna you get a nice hair tint and it acutally helps your hair, so I'm going with henna.

I only have 3 goals because I wanted to choose things that I can really commit to and be successful. I plan to update my progress with these goals monthly.

My Journey

I contemplated going natural for several years before I acutally followed through with the idea. I knew that the only way that I would be successful in this would be to go all the way, so on March 9, 2009 I big chopped. My hair was the shortest it had ever been...a little more than a fade. I got mixed reviews from people, but it wasn't about what others thought because I did this for me. The natural community on youtube was (and still is today) my support system. Here is a look at my journey....

Shortly after my big chop

My first style:)

3mths

This was around 5 mths the back of my twistout puff

 Maybe 7 mths here...

 Straightened after 1 yr

 This was summer 2010 twistout

Sorry this pic is so small (it's from my phone)
Straight hair Oct 2010

Present day pics soon to come!