New Love: Jojoba Oil

I mentioned before that I've been trying new products for my hair. One of the things I have been trying is jojoba oil. I picked it up from Whole Foods. All I can say is, I wish I could've tried this sooner! My hair feels so amazing with it. I spent a weekend in Connecticut about 2 weeks ago and all I brought was jojoba oil to braid my hair down at night. I used that and water to seal my hair. Read some of the benefits of this oil here.

Since I've been wearing my hair out all week and experimenting with other products, I've been taking extra care of my ends. I seal with jojoba every night and I've rubbed my scalp with it. My ends and my hair have been looking and feeling great!

My ends

This is pretty much how I wore my hair all week

I think this may be replacing my beloved coconut oil. Although I still love to pre-poo with it =)

Flattered Twa =D

I went out shopping for different things to put my Halloween costume together yesterday and i'm so excited about my costume!!! 

While in an African store (Many random African items) on St. Marks street in SoHo, I found myself kinda staring at how beautiful this girl's natural hair was. It looked shiny and healthy and although she had it pinned up, i loved the way it looked. Upon leaving the store she stopped me and asked my what i had in my hair and she loved the way it looked so curly and full. I felt so flattered that she would ask my about my little TWA when hers was back in a ponytail :::a little long hair envy::: Lol. We got to talking and exchanged info, she was really nice... i love to meet nice new naturals :)

Thanks Najm!

Tomorrow i will do my hair the same way and with the same products i used. Although i had second day hair, i plan to wash in the morning and i should be able to do the same thing... or so i hope, lol. If not, i'll post photos tomorrow and then of my second day hair the next.

Look out for the Curly TWA Fro post!

How Natural Hair Is Percieved

I'm just going to make it plain: having natural hair doesn't make you the best person on the planet. It doesn't make you better then someone who relaxes or texturizes or simply wears their hair straight. It may look nice on you, but it doesn't make you a better person.

I know that people tend to make assumptions about women who sport the natural kinks and curls including the type of music we listen to, how deep and "Afro-centric" we are. Even our eating habits are looked at closely (we're vegetarians or vegans, apparently). While I don't want to get too much into my identity (check out my other blog for that) I will say that as a woman of color who sports her natural hair, my music choices are random, from M.I.A. and Santigold to Michael Jackson and Sting; although I'm college-educated with a broad vocabulary, I can be crude and curse like a sailor; while I do identify with being a black woman, I don't really embrace being afro-centric and man, do I love to eat hamburgers and the steak tacos from Chipotle. Just saying.

I have encountered some nasty women who happen to be natural. It was shocking to me, because I somehow expected more from them. But in the end, the woman with the long beautiful locks doesn't know how to talk to people. And the young lady sporting a TWA rolls her neck when talking to someone. The girl with the beautiful puff in my freshman Anthropologie class is being a smart-alleck to a well respected professor. It's just the way the people are and their beautiful kinks and curls don't hide their ugly attitudes.

Women with natural hair are awesome, don't get me wrong. When I see one of us walking around I wonder about their journey, about how they became confident enough to wear their hair the way it is. But I've let go of thinking that they were somehow more conscious or somehow more enlightened. My fellow co-blogger SP had relaxed hair and I always thought she was fly. And now that she is natural I am amazed at her journey and how she's redefining her awesomeness =)

I'm turning it over to you guys; what are some misconceptions about women with natural hair or relaxed hair? How were you treated when you were relaxed vs. being natural?

I chopped again ....

Well that last install definitely didn't last me too long as i got tired of trying to blend the edges in with the weave. My edges are my biggest problem so i wouldn't want to do something that would cause more harm than help.
Upon taking my install down, i decided it was time for the color to go. With about 2 inches of roots, i saw how silky my completely natural texture was against the colored hair and was tired of dealing with the constant split ends and single strand knots the color damaged hair was causing. So i chopped...
(About half way done... bye bye red hair)

I made some videos of me cutting my hair so once i figure out how to post em i'll get em up there for your viewing pleasure! lol

What was supposed to be my Winter Protective style

I had been experiencing quite a bit of split ends and single strant knots at a rapid pace, due to color damage (and a little of my own neglegence -_- ) so i finally decided to do another protective style! I got so much growth out of my braids after only wearing them for 2 weeks, so i want to challenge myself to keep this install for 3 months!!! I figured i would take this out the week before X-mas and then decide whether i wanted to go back into a weave, some other protective style, or just rock my own hair for New Years...

I bought this hair back in June with intentions to install it for my birthday. 

Because my BF likes my natural hair better than a weave, i decided not to install it. I'm so glad that i'm now finally getting to wear this hair because i love it! I bought the 10" Signature curly from Indianhair.net.

I did this weave myself; cut, color, styling, and texture blending. I hope you like!

I only have these 2 pics up because this is an old post and i only kept this in for about a week. I meant to post this sooner...  about 2 weeks ago sooner, but here's why i took this out so soon:


Athough i have absolutely no complaints about the indian weave hair, as it was beautiful and did everything i wanted it to do and more, i decided to remove this install early because my hair wasn't long enough for optimal texture blending. I do not mind wearing weaves as protective styles, but i refuse to wear a weave that doesn't look like it's mine. With this hair, my hair was obviously not as silky and has a much tighter curl. I thought i could get away with doing twist outs to blend, but at my length, i couldn't get the twist to be big enough to match the curl of the weave. I found myself flatironing and then doing twists on the flatironed hair but considering i didnt want to add too much heat to my hair, and this weave was going to be wet a few times a week, i knew it would all be defeating the purpose. My edges are coming back to life, the last thing i want to do is put unnecesary stress on them and cause them to thin and fall out again. It was fun for the week... i still have the hair and i'm pretty sure i will reuse it when my hair is longer.

Homemade Mixtures

Yesterday I decided to use what I had to whip up some nice stuff for my hair. I've been wearing my hair  loose this past week and probably will again this week. Due to this NYC weather I'm becoming increasingly anal about not having dry hair because I don't want my hair to break.

The first thing I did was pre-poo with Burts Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo treatment and mixed it with Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. I've read from The Natural Haven in this post how beneficial putting coconut oil to hair before washing to prevent the hair from swelling (and swelling can weaken hair!) I mostly pre-poo with just evco but when it's cool out I tend to break out the Avocado Butter

I applied the mixture in sections then braided my hair and left it on for about 30 minutes. Then I washed my hair with a new shampoo I'm testing Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream Organic Shampoo (which I will review later). I then finger-detangled with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration and rinsed my hair thoroughtly. This combo made my hair feel really soft and silky.

I then did a deep conditioning treatment using Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Raw Honey, and a tablespoon of coconut milk. Honey has anti-bacterial properties which is good for someone like me who suffers from scalp issues. I added a little coconut milk because it detangles like a charm and I really did not feel like breaking out the comb. I feel like I put too much EVOO because the mixture was a tad runny for my liking, but it smelled amazing!

Defined curls, "naked" hair

I wrapped my hair for about an hour then rinsed with cold water and my hair was shiny, bouncy and my curls were popping. I'm going to be doing more homemade mixtures for my hair because it can be less expensive and I have a lot of stuff thats beneficial to the hairs anyway...

Some Updates

Ohaithur, hair enthusiasts =)

SP and I (Curly Film Chick) have been so busy! Interestingly enough we are of course trying to incorporate new routines with our hair in order to fit our hectic days.

I restocked on hair essentials and have tried a couple of new products that I will review soon. Also I have some new hair styles I been working on, I'm trying to do more protective styling for this crazy NYC weather, although wearing my hair loose has been pretty good to me lately. I'm trying to get more creative! I have another idea style in mind that I plan to execute this weekend, most likely Sunday when I have my "me" time...lately I been thinking a lot about coloring my hair. I love how dark and silky it is but I also love to change it's color. Since high school I been coloring my hair using the boxed dyes and honestly never had too many issues with it other than my hair gets drier.  I had a head full of brownish red color, gold hi-lights, light brown hi-lights and my last set of orange hi-lights (done by SP herself) are now a deep red thanks to the henna. I haven't colored my hair in about 2 years and want to again. Until of course I start missing my dark hair and let the color grow out and the cycle will continue! I'm still shopping around for a place because I don't want my hair messed up and I know it will add upkeep to it. I'm thinking of a "chocolate" brown. So far I'm all for Aveda but they are pricey! I'm also afraid of going to a salon, because they've always acted afraid of my hair (haha) so we'll see if I actually go through with it.

We'll also be having a giveaway soon. Trying to decide how our followers will win something....be on the look out for that!

Anyway, feel free to drop us a comment about what you've been doing to your hair and if you have any of your own hair blogs or interesting links to share and we'll check them out. Welcome new followers! Shouts out to follower Beauty.Mindset for putting us on her blog roll and basically being awesome! Thanks for reading!

My Henna Process

Last weekend, I henna'd my hair using a different brand from the BAQ (body art quality) Jamila and Dulhan I've used. This one was a store brand and naturally I was hesitant but it turns out that it did my hair well. Henna can be very drying to the hair, but I found that this brand wasn't particularly that way.

Kulustyan's Henna-Indian grocery store in Manhattan

I mixed this henna with green tea and let it sit for a few hours to let the dye release. The henna powder is green but turns brown when the dye releases.

fresh henna

Some time elaspsed, mixed with green tea

I heavily coat sections of my hair with henna and then wrap my head in saran wrap and then cover my head with a scarf or an old t-shirt to keep it moist, or else the henna will dry up and crumble. Turns out this henna colored my old hi-lighted strands a really nice red. I used Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut Conditioner to help with the rinsing of henna (lots of mess and gunk!) and was pleased with the results. Remember henna doesn't "lift" dark color, but in the light the henna shows up hi-lighting dark hair...

Freshly henna'd hair

See the reds?

Henna can be very drying, but mine felt awesome. Even though my hair felt even silky and moisturized, I decided to DC overnight with the last of my Renpure Organics My Hair Is Parched Conditioner just in case and put my hair in four braids. I rinsed out Monday morning (my day off!) and my hair still felt awesome. Then I preceded to style. I'll go into detail with my little experiment in my next post...

My ID came! My ID came!!!

And i'm sooooo happy because it came out perfect and i LOVE my puff!!! 

That's the me i want everyone to see when i hand them my ID!

excuse the orbit wrapper covering my info, lol

Braids Remix

So I decided to co-wash my hair with Oyin's Honey Hemp conditioner (as a side note, I forgot how creamy it is!). My hair felt pretty awesome...I sealed with Coconut oil too.

Sopping wet braids

My curly ends

For some reason, I decided to add flexi rods to my hair to give some "umph" to the braids..

Results! (Please excuse my sleepy face!)

Up Close

I've decided to actually take out my hair this weekend. I want to do a henna treatment and try another hairstyle that's been floating in my head and since this is a holiday weekend I'll actually been able to spend some time doing my hair. I've been so busy lately and once again, thankful for protecting styling.

Ha!

This is how i feel about bad weaves, wigs, hair extensions, and lace fronts...

Just sayin... lol

Hair and the Menz

I'm trying to remember when in my life I realized that hair was an important attribute to getting the attention of males. I remember my hair always receiving a lot of attention in both aggressive and curious ways (is all that real? you don't have a perm?) and I remember the first boy I actually "dated"always wanted to see my hair out and loose but that's about as far as it went. But I always knew who got the boys attention and who didn't; the girls who had long hair straight hair, or with the "acceptable" curls, whether it was truly their texture or not. Even though guys (both friends and interests) have told me my hair was cool and they liked how different it was, it usually came from those who weren't Black. If it did  I was considered the "exception." Like, usually I prefer straight hair but yours is nice (oh, cuz you're doing me a huge favor, *shrugs*)

I'm in a long-term relationship now (4 years) with Mr. Smooth who is Puerto Rican. I hardly consider that inter-racial but I suppose it depends on who you ask. Anyway I do remember wondering if my hair was pretty to him, considering the women in his family had a very different texture than mine. They seemed to have more manageable hair. I was so self-concious about it actually that I admitted to him that he may find lighter skinned, straighter haired women more attractive. (and oddly he in turn thought I'd find a darker skinned male more attractive, just self-esteem issues I guess.) He told me he loved my hair the way it was, and when I almost relaxed it (because I thought my hair was ugly, not because I wanted to try something new!) he convinced me not to. I thought things like that didn't matter to him and I think in the end it doesn't, but it did make me realize that he loved me for who I what I looked like and why on earth couldn't I?

I've only had natural hair so I don't know how it must be for transitioners or those who are newly natural. But I do believe that if you don't like your hair (or yourself for that matter), then how can you expect someone else to? I know I've heard of some stubborn spouses, and you better believe Mr. Smooth doesn't always like the way I style my hair. I prefer a little messiness and he likes things to look neat. I do ask him whether he likes a particular style and unless he can pin point something specific about what he doesn't like, I keep it moving! I do know that I can never go wrong with twists, it's his favorite style. That's about as much people-pleasing I do with that.

Hair enthusiasts, chime in: How does your significant other view your hair?

Comments & Compliments

Natural hair in this day and age is definitely becoming more and more accepted again, but also very controversial. Ive seen and heard so many things about natural hair, and was just thinking of some of the compliments and comments i myself have received. I figured I'd share some with you =D

Best Compliments so far:

Wow, it's so soft. Lol
They all expect Brillo for some reason... hmm...



I walked into an Asian owned bodega and an older Asian man who had to be in at least his 50's goes:
What beautiful hair you have! wow!
I felt so flattered because i was just sporting my little curly TWA and i was especially surprised the compliment came from him.


I want your hair!
From a cute older Spanish woman who's hair actually almost looked like mine except she had a looser curl. How adorable was she!


One day I'm riding the train and i see this young white guy and he's obviously staring at me. I'm trying to avoid him at this point but i can feel him staring and as i get up to exit the train he says: I love your hair, your whole look, everything... and smiles. I said thank you and i felt so good  as i exited the train. I was just glowing all day.


I call the building i live in "The Retirement Home" because so many old people live here but its funny how all the older white people love my natural hair, and have even reached out and touched it on many occasions, telling me it's beautiful and asking me how i got it to stand up like that, lol.


And of course i love every sweet thing my boyfriend says about my hair. He's so sweet and loves playing in it. He always tells me its growing and gets mad at me when i trim it... i have to reassure him it's a good thing, lol. He makes me feel so beautiful everyday and i love the fact that he prefers me with my natural hair over weaves and relaxers. He is definitely one of the reasons why i love my natural hair.


I guess this was a compliment....

So one night while at a bar with one of my girlfriends earlier in the summer, two guys approached us and  bought us drinks. We had cordial conversation as thanks for the drinks, although it was obvious we weren't interested in them. Long story short, the guy who was talking to me thought it was okay to touch my hair during convo, out of the blue, without even asking!!! Of course i flipped on him, moving farther away as quickly as i could and definitely letting him know that what he had done was not okay.
He apologized, saying that he was just so compelled to touch it because it looked so nice and he wondered how i got it that way, also noting that he thought i was unique because not many sistas wear their natural hair. 

Looking back, that was obviously a compliment but at the same time i had to let a brotha know that you can't just be touchin' a sistas Do' like that! lol



I'm going to skip out on talking about the negative because we all see and hear that often enough =)
Its feels so good to know people out there love curly and afro haired women with their natural hair, as more and more curly/afro haired women are starting to love themselves.

Random: I fell in love with my hair all over again!!!

So yesterday, i wore my hair in a wash and go because i didn't really have time for styling it. All i did was co-wash in the shower, proceeding to shake the water out my hair after i got out. I wrapped my microfiber towel around my head while drying off, then removed the towel and added my Care Free Curl Instant Moisturizer, mixed with some CHI Silk Infusion  and Vitamin E oil. I later added a little Shea Moisture's Curl and Hold Smoothie when it was almost dry, to help keep a little more curl and less frizz.

Being so busy yesterday, i know it was gettning all frizzy in the car with me leaning on the headrest. I did have my hands in my hair a little bit so i know that wasn't helping either, but when i got home and looked in the mirror at my frizzy, curly head, i was so in love. My hair is growing so much and i can really see the beautiful curls now with more length to them. They're cute and springy and bouncy and as much as i can't wait to have long hair, looking at my little curls also reminded me to appreciate what i have.

I love her majesty!

My green is so faded! About to go re-do that right now! =D

These Braids (1 Week Later)

I put my hair in box braids a week ago and here's how they're looking:

braids look "looser" My hair almost always unravels!

Hairs are getting fuzzy

Shrinkage!

I didn't wash my scalp yet and so far things are okay. I have some minor itching, but I've found that massaging coconut oil into my scalp helps sooth it. There aren't any flakes so far so that's good. I'm going to leave these in for another week, but I'm trying to decide a couple of things: whether I should co-wash them for an extra boost of moisture and if I should leave them in for a 3rd week. I'm thinking of co-washing because while I've been spritzing my hair I'm not sure it's enough to maintain the "silky" texture of my hair (my hair doesn't appear "naturally dry" in my opinion) Also, I'm wondering if I should leave them in for a 3rd week because I'm getting the itch to try something new but at the same time, I know this is a great protective style. Decisions, decisions. What do you think, hair enthusiasts?

Young Girls and Their Hair

Yesterday at work, I had to handle a little 4th grader called "A" crying because of her hair. The kids were about to start their cooking activity when I noticed the girls clamoring over A, who was literally holding down her loose caramel-colored strands and crying about how she was going to get in trouble because her braids had unraveled. I'll braid it! the girls were yelling at her. At first I was going to let them deal with it, but she was becoming increasingly upset and they were the same girls I have notice that tease her and leave her out of things as she struggles to fit in.  So I took her to the side to try and calm her down.

What's the matter? I asked.

My hair came out of the braids and my mother is going to be upset! A cried. I just hate my hair! I hate it! 

It's okay, I said. Do you want me to re-braid it?

She said yes, so I took her to the bathroom so she could see in herself in the mirror. While braiding I asked her about why she hated her hair. She started telling me how she wanted hair like M (the same young lady who has been begging me to straighten my hair so I can look "pretty.") and that everyone teases her about her hair being ugly and smelling funny except her mom. I told her I thought her hair was very beautiful (I mean that, she has lovely hair) and that her mom wasn't lying and how cool I thought it was that her mom took the time to care about making her hair pretty. I mentioned how both of us had similar hair and let her touch my braids. She smiled and I could tell she was feeling better. I finished re-braiding and reminded her that everyone had different hair and that everyone's hair was just right for themselves. I even shared with her how people teased me when I was her age about my hair and looks. It made me happy that she left the bathroom glowing.

When I brought her back to the group activity, I saw that the same girls were giving her stank looks and attempted to tare her down again. But she ignored them and I moved her away from them. It had to be done. It's not the other girl's fault that they adhere to the beauty standards shoved down their throats but I find myself each day turning into some sort of...role model? I don't know. I'm very cautious with how I carry myself and how my hair looks and I'm feeling very self conscious about straightening my hair because I don't want to show the girls that I want to satisfy anyone but myself.... Anyway, if anyone has children or deals with them on a constant basis, please share if anything like this has happened and how you dealt with it.