Recent Pics

Here are some pics of my hair today. Not TOO bad:

Probably More for Me

I think this blog is probably more for me than anything else. Somewhere where I can put down my thoughts and collect information and encouragement for my hair transition. This is a link that I found to a "how to" do a curly wet twist out:

Loving it!

I'm really wanting to get some more product for my hair...I think I'm becoming a product junky, right now I'm using the "Motions" line of conditioner, shampoo and hair sheen, and Optimum's creamy hair oil to moisturize. I heard that mineral oil is not good for our hair because it dries our hair out and I know that the Optimum that I'm using has mineral oil in it. I'm also using Organic Root Olive Oil Pudding as a styling gel to set my curls. These products seem to be working just fine but I'd like to try some different ones to see what results I get. I'd like to Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding and other products but found out that they cost WAAAYYY too much...35 - $55 for one tub of curly pudding? When I paid $3.99 for the Organic Root and it does pretty much the same thing? I don't think so. Guess I'll just stick with what I've got for now.

Anyway, I washed and conditioned my hair this weekend and flat twisted it in about 8 braids then rolled the very ends with satin covered foam rollers. I loved the result. Not as uniform as a "twist and curl" like the pic of me that I put on my first post, but the curls are more defined. I was also able to just wear a satin bonnet at night and add moisture cream in the morning and fluff and go (massaging out the part lines at my scalp, of course), I think it looks pretty good. I'm going to rock this look for awhile. I was worried at first that the people at work might be a little "uncomfortable" with my new look, I do like my hair big and kinda wild. Always have. But, I'm discovering that as long as I'm confident about it, I can rock any look I want and dont' care what other folk think. I don't have to hide or apologize for having Nappy hair. (nappy... the other "N" word, LOL!) It's mine and I'm going to roll with it!!

I May try to do the twists in different directions for multiple styling options. We'll see. I still gotta get my husband to take some pics of me so I can post them here. Maybe I'll have some to post by tomorrow. ;)

Also, I just found out what the different hair grades mean (4a, 3c, etc.). I'm not sure about mine because I still have so much relaxer still in my hair but I'm guessing it's probably 4a, the tightest, kinkiest curl. Mabye a bit 3c on top, but for the most part 4a. I'll have a better idea once I grow more of my natural hair out.

I found these great pics of Barbies that look like "us". Love them! I wish they had Barbies like this when I was growing up. Especially lovin the natural hair:

This pic is my new profile pic on Facebook - LOL ;)

Getting Better

Well, I did the flat twists with straws to curl the ends instead of the hard wire rollers. The curls came out tighter which made my hair look "shorter" but I like it better. I did just purchase some satin covered foam rollers that I will try on my ends this weekend to see what results I get from that. Maybe I'll end up with a happy medium curl somewhere in between the larger, hard rollers and the tiny straws. I'd like for my results to look something like the pictures at the right:

Right now it looks more like this:

Still a little too much like a roller set.

I really am going to post some of my own pictures soon. Hopefully I can get it done this weekend ;)

Flat twist out

Well, I tried a "flat" twist out on my hair today. Washed and conditioned it last night and flat twisted it while still wet and coated with conditioner and rolled the ends. I think I left it too wet because some parts in the back were not quite dry this morning when I got up so I left the twists in until I got to work, to give it time to dry, and then ran straight to the bathroom to take them out before anyone could see me! I think I like the flat twist out better because it gives a more uniform, wavy look from scalp to ends - especially in the back where my hair has several different lengths.

I don't like sleeping on rollers, though. I have to put something at the ends of my hair to create a curl because my perm is so stringy at the ends and I don't want the ends sticking out every which way when my hair dries. So, I think I might try using straws on the ends this evening. We'll see how that works. Will post pics soon ;)

My Normal Look

My ususal hairstyle: (That's me in the middle with my two youngest children on each side of me.)

As I said before, with permed hair, I've always just pulled my hair back into a bun or ponytail. I would touch up my hair, blow dry it and use a curling iron and then after about a week to two weeks when the style started to fizzle out (because I didn't want to or have the time to re-curl or wrap my hair) I'd just pull it back in a bun and wear this way for the next 4-6 weeks (or more).

Me with my hair straightened:

Going Natural

My journey from straight to natural hair. I'm 42 years old and have had chemically treated hair all my life (either relaxed or "curly" perm). I'm tired of the whole straightening process for various reasons, mainly because I just don't maintain a perm-style very well - I always end up just pulling my hair back in a bun. I hate going to the beauty shop every 4 - 6 weeks and wasting my whole Saturday afternoon (not to mention the cost). Most importantly, relaxers have ruined my hair and I need to stop the cycle of relaxing, heat styling, pulling back into a bun, etc. So, I've decided to transition into a natural style.

I've been working on the the twist out for about a week. Because so much of my hair is still relaxed, the ends of my twist out tend to look "stringy". So, I've been using rollers at the ends of the twists which gives my hair a kind of wavy, roller set look. I'll keep working on it because I really don't want it to look like a roller set.

Here's me in the 80's with a "curly perm".

In the 90's with a bushy "curly perm"

I will attempt to track my transition on this blog site. More pics to come!