Hair For the Week

I'm really not sure what's up with this weather! It was a beautiful weekend but now it's all rainy =( Like I mentioned before, my scalp and hair tend to act up when the weather makes unexpected changes, so I'm going to try and combat this the best way possible by wearing box braids for a bit....

I'm just showing off length here =)

*Pre-Poo with Burt's Bees Avocado Butter (1 hr)
*Shampoo with Giovanni Tea Tree Shampoo
*Conditioned with Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut
*Used Knot Today/Water mix as a leave-in
*IC Fantasia Gel to set on curlformers (to stretch my hair, I simply had no patience for magnetic rollers!)
*Sat under dryer for about an hour
*Brushed out my curls with paddle brush; divided my hair into four sections
*parted loosely and braided!

My plan is to leave these braids in two weeks at least! I will still be washing/co-washing once a week for my scalp's sake and moisturizing. Wonder what my 4th graders will be saying about my hair this week LOL.

Results From Teri's Method

So, my camera was mia for a bit so unfortunately I could not post pictures with as much details that I wanted to show. But here's what my hair looked like while my hair was still a little damp....

Up close and personal...look at how those defined curls!

I co-washed my hair with Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut, then used Herbal Essence and coconut oil to seal. My hair dried just like this. I had tons of movement and my hair and it felt super light. You see how my curls are clumped? Loved it. It was really hot yesterday so I pulled my hair into a banana clip and my curls stayed. If you haven't tried this yet and you have some sort of curl pattern, I highly recommend giving this a go. I would like to try this method with another conditioner, because Hello Hydration was a tad too greasy for my liking, but it could be because I'm terribly generous when adding conditioner to my hair.

Natural Hair-Positive Places

I intern in what most would say a "corporate" office in the Flatiron District in Manhattan during the day, and in the late afternoons I'm an after school teacher in Harlem. When I first started interning at this office a year and a half ago, I still had the frame of mind that straight hair = polished and professional. For my interview I remember I straightened my hair, and if it wasn't straight I kept my hair in braids and twists. It was around this time I started reading natural hair blogs and understanding I had options. I wore my hair big and fluffy in all types of styles and no one said anything or gave me a funny look. In fact, every so often I get compliments for my hair and occasionally someone will ask me what I how I did it. Even the three black women who have relaxed hair compliment my me. So I can safely say that this job is "natural hair positive."

As you may recall in this post, I wore my hair natural to my interview with the after school without second thought because as far as I'm concerned, this is how my hair is. There's no fixing it! I've been wearing twists, braid outs, buns, and everything in between. I am currently working with 4th graders and so the other day as I lined up the students to head to their cooking club, the girls inquired about my hair.

Miss, when you gonna get a relaxer?! M asked bluntly.
Get a relaxer? I said. Why should I get one?
Because your hair will be straight and pretty, S added smiling.
Ya'll don't like my hair like this?
No! I'm sorry to say but you would look so pretty if you straightened your hair! M said.
I snickered. I think my hair looks great the way it is. And this is how I was wearing it...

2nd day curls, held back with a banana clip!

Do you straighten it? Even if you don't get a perm, will you straighten it?
Sorry M, I like the way my hair is and I'm not gonna straighten it because you want me to. I'll do it when I feel like it.

As I was having this conversation with these girls, no older than 9 and with relaxed hair I didn't feel insulted. In fact, I was expecting it from the girls because they are at the age where they say what's on their mind and how you answer will be important. It was at that moment I also realized how confident I was with my hair. Even though natural my whole life, getting to a point where I just love myself took a while. What's even funnier about this whole situation is that I've actually been contemplating straightening my hair in the coming weeks, but now I may hold off for a bit longer!

 I now know what my seventh grade teacher felt like when she sported her curly hair and had everyone harassing her about just straightening her hair to look "pretty." I'm not interested in "converting" these girls to the natural side (quite honestly, their hairstyle choices may not be their decision) but they will be seeing a confident young woman in their classroom-curls and all! So both my jobs are natural hair-positive places because that's the environment I'm making it!

Crazy Weather! Hair Switch Up

Is it just me, or is the weather in NYC bonkers? My skin and scalp definitely respond to temperature changes before the weatherman declares anything. Today it's supposed to go up to 80-something degrees which explains why my scalp was on fire yesterday. So when I got home I had to take out my twists =( I put about 8 braids in my hair and washed my scalp with Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Threat shampoo and conditioned with Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut. It feels a lot better now, but I'm still annoyed that I had to take out my twists.

Then on a whim, I decided to try the Tightly Curly Method by Teri. Basically it's a way to define your curls with conditioner only. So I used my Herbal Essence Hello Hydration and worked it into each section of my hair and used my Denman Brush to go over each section. Then I smoothed my strands to lock in the curl. You can see Teri's directions along with a video. She also has a book out where she explains her process in more detail called Curly Like Me. I'm amazed in how well this method worked for my curls. I completely FORGOT to take pictures so I'm going to have to do it again either tonight or tomorrow just so I can show everyone how it worked for me.

Hair For the Week

I washed my hair and did a rollerset yesterday. I then brushed out the curls with a paddle brush and parted my hair in four sections. I flat twisted the front and did single twists in the back. I spritz my Knot Today/water mixture into each section and used Burts Bees Avocado Butter to seal. After I was done with each section I ran coconut oil into each section.

I'm going to be styling these twists in other ways as well so stay tuned...

My Product Stash

While thinking about my cool weather hair regimen, I sifted through my hair products this weekend and realized that I don't really need to buy anything else for a bit. I really should just work with what I have and determine my regimen based on that. Here's what I got:

Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Threat Shampoo

This is what I will be continuing to cleanse with. I've had this bottle probably since June so it's been a great 7 bucks for someone who washes their hair once a week. With the weather still being a little up and down I'm still going to wash with this every 7-10 days.

My collection of conditioners

I love moisturizing conditioners and I love trying new ones. I saw that my old favorite Herbal Essence Hello Hydration was on sale at Rite Aid during the week so I had to pick it up so that bottle is full. I only have a little bit of Renpure Organics left. I can probably deep condition with this two more times. The Kinky Curly Knot Today is my favorite leave in, but as you can see there's only a little left, and that's an $11-$12 bottle. What I've been doing actually is putting it in my spray bottle and adding some water to it and spraying it liberally into sections of my hair when I'm styling. It still works great. I also don't have much Sauve Naturals left either, but I've decided that I'm only going to use that for things like rinsing henna out of my hair because the cooler weather for my hair means thicker and more emollient moisturizing conditioners. While Sauve did wonders for me during the summer, not sure it's going to be my best choice in the winter. And then there's my Oyin conditioner which I will use whenever I feel like it to detangle and condition.

Stylers, ect

My collection of stylers is okay I guess. I don't see myself really using the Kinky Curling Custard because I doubt I will be wearing any wash-and-gos anytime soon. I'm pretty much done trying the Jane Carter Wrap and Roll, I'm not crazy about it. The Garnier Fructis Conditioning Creme I can see myself using for braid-outs and twist outs, most likely alternating with Oyin Shine and Define (sitting on top of the jar of coconut oil). The Burt's Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Treatment I *heart* as a pre-shampoo treatment  as well as a styler. I absolutely love this stuff. I used it last winter to act as a heavy butter for my twists as well and I probably will continue. The IC Fantasia Gel will still be used as I continue to practice with rollersetting. And finally, the Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (which will probably last me for another month, purchased in May) will continue to be used as a pre-treatment and to seal my hair. I might try an oil rinse with this as well.

So there you have it. As I mentioned, I won't be buying anything else for at least the rest of this month if not longer. That way I won't feel guilty when I go shopping for new products that I've been eyeing!

Oyin Products

Oyin Handmade products were used heavily in my summer routine, and I just realized that I didn't properly review or introduce them and how they were working on my hair. Here's a portion about them from their website: We are a family-owned company, named after the Yoruba word for ‘honey’ – one of nature’s most versatile beauty products...Many of our products utilize the power and sweetness of honey, and all are made from scratch, by hand, in small batches to ensure freshness. We never use petroleum, silicones, parabens, or non-nourishing fillers – every ingredient in our mixtures has work to do! In our goodies you can find unrefined shea butter, nutritive sea vegetables, pure aloe vera juice, nourishing vitamins, and herbal infusions carefully chosen for their beneficial and healing properties....

I had heard about them a while ago with great reviews, and finally decided to order their 4-piece sample pack this summer. I should say what I noticed about their samples is that there is a good amount of product to really get a good amount of uses.

Honey Hemp Conditioner: I only used this a couple of times for mid-week co-washing. It has a nice, creamy consistency and added a good boost of moisture and great detangler but I didn't find anything spectacular about it. It does have good ingredients. Would I buy it again? Maybe...
Ingredients: purified water, organic aloe vera gel, behentremonium methosulfate (emulsifier derived from colza oil), honey, virgin hemp oil, , coconut oil, vegetable glycerine, hydrolized silk, citrus essences, fragrance, optiphen (preservative)


Greg Juice: This is a spritz that I really love. I was wearing twists a lot during the summer and would use it twice a day, mostly because I loved the smell of it. Also, when I got my sample pack, the bottle was open and some of it spilled. I contacted Customer Service about it and they sent me another bottle right away. I was pleased. Great moisture boost for protective styles or twist outs and such and yes I will be purchasing this again. Ingredients: purified water infused with horsetail, lavender, nettle, roses, and chamomile; organic flaxseeds; aloe vera juice; vegetable glycerine; essences of lavender, sweet orange, ylang ylang; grapefruit seed extract; citric acid
 
Shine and Define: This is described as a styling serum with some hold. I mostly used this for braid outs and twist outs and it was actually very nice. Besides being wonderfully scented there is light hold and very moisturizing. It's basically like a lotion. It works best for me on damp hair, although the instruction says you can use it on soaken wet strands. Love it and will purchase it again.
Ingredients: purified water, organic flax seeds, organic aloe vera gel, sea vegetable complex, coconut oil, castor oil, unrefined shea butter, raw honey, vegetable glycerine, palm stearic acid, vegetable emulsifying waxes, fruit pectin, xanthan gum, dextrose, optiphen (preservative), citrus essential oils; fragrance.
 
Whipped Pudding: Seriously if your strands like shea butter (or maybe only when it's mixed with other stuff) I don't think you can go wrong with this. I sealed my hair with this every other day and it was pretty awesome. It can also be used on the skin, which I have on ocassion and it works just fine. It's very sweet smelling too, but not overly powerful (I am very sensitve to smells!) I'm definitely grabbing more of this. 
Ingredients:  purified water, shea butter, organic aloe vera gel, cocoa butter, castor oil, coconut oil, sweet almond & olive oils, vegetable emulsifier, beeswax, palm stearic acid, vegetable glycerine, honey, optiphen (preservative), fragrance
 
So that's my two cents on the Oyin. I am interested in trying their other products as well. One thing to note is that because everything is made from scratch, your order may take a while. That is both a downside and an upside. But definitely worth it to me! Has anyone else tried it?