FINALLY!

I finally figured out how to get a decent twist out!

I dry detangled my hair last night using KCKT and a little of the Design Essentials Stretching Creme that my cousin gave me. I didn't like the DE the first time I tried it because I thought it felt really tacky, but used sparingly and combined with the KCKT, it's pretty decent.

My hair was already pretty stretched from having it in braids a few days ago and then wearing it in the "tuck and roll" style for a couple more days. The key for a good twist out on me, is to do it dry, after it's stretched out. Also, FLAT two strand twists. Not just twists. flat twists get to the roots better and create a wave all throughout my hair, not just the middle to the ends like just two strand twisting. I LOVE it. And I did a center part instead of a side part. I will still do the two strand twists and roll occassionally if I want a tighter curl or a more frizzy "fro" type style, but for my twist out, the flat twists are the way to go.

I did two rows of 4 flat twists in the back and 3 - 4 on each side of my head with the ones in the front framing both sides of my face. I also rolled the ends of the twists that still have a bit of perm on the ends, with sponge rollers that I removed the sponges from and just used the frame of the rollers. I just rolled the very ends, not all the way up to my scalp, this was to allow the hair to hang a little bit. I then tied my silk scarf on with my twists hanging down, under the scarf, and put on my satin bonnet.

When I woke up this morning, I carefully took down the twists with my hands coated with oil, fluffed and styled a litte bit (not too much) and Voila! Next time, I might do two rows of 4 twists in the back and one more row closer to the the crown of my head to give it a little more "lift" but I am truly loving this twist out! I'm going to need to have hubby take some pics tonight so I can post them because I'm going to wash my hair tonight and put it's back to the braids and protective twists style for next week. I may try to wear my hair out in this twist out, though, once a week. SO HAPPY ;)

Ciao for now!

I'm On Naturallycurly.com!

Hey, Just a quick update and some pics. I am now taking part in the Kim Cole/CurlyNikki Natural Hair Grow Out Challenge. It started in February and ends in July. The challenge is as follows:

*Drink at least 64 oz of water each day (or half your body weight in ounces)

*Eat a healthy, balanced diet

*Take a multi vitamin and other beneficial supplements

*Handle hair gently at all times

*Seal your ends every time you moisturize

*Minimize (direct) heat usage

*Deep treatment at every wash session

*Develop and follow a consistent hair routine, tailored to your specific needs and desired goals

*Document your progress, observations, and frustrations on your personal blog (On the Naturallycurlly.com website)

*Encourage your fellow curlies by sharing tips, advice, and chimin on their blogs

*Have fun and enjoy the journey

So, I started my blog on their site, per the requirements and I'm well on my way! Check it out when you get a chance. It's listed here: www.naturallycurly.com/blogs/view_blog/kim-coles-grow-out-challenge/1090

Any-whoo, I thought I share some current pics (Done just this weekend) of my new favorite protective style and current length. I'm very please with my progress ;)

I also believe that I'm going to change the focus of my "hair mission" from not just my own hair progress and challenges but I'd like to specifically target challenges for the curly over 40. There are many blogs and vloggers out there who are younger and don't have to deal with the same challenges that us older curlies have to. (yet, lol) for instance:

-Dealing with thinning hair and how to style accordingly

-Workplace/professional styles (there are a lot of cute curly styles out there, but some I just don't think are apropriate for many older ladies. Don't get me wrong, I like to rock the wild big hair, but in some situations and venues it's not appropriate for the more mature curly. I'd like to see more styles and tips geared toward the more mature ladyI'd like to start a forum for us.

-Dealing with gray-ing, natural hair

These are just a couple of thoughts for my focus. If you can think of anymore, let me know. And if you'd like to start up a dialog, let me know that as well. Fell free to post, comment your thoughts, etc. on either this blog or my Naturallycurly blog!

Oh, and here is some random texture pic thrown in. (I had just taken my twists down, my hair was dry and I hadn't even attempted to style it yet so its looking pretty "raw" LOL!) I still can't figure out my texture. I know I'm definitel a 4b/c, but in these shots it looks like there may also be a little 4a in there. Tell me what you think?

Ciao for now!!

Hair is Growing!

O.K. Over the last 3 months since my surgery, my hair is really growing. I think I've really figured out the key to my hair! Low manipulation, protective styling, gentle handling and keeping it stretched. (pictured is me at my sister's graduation with my nephew and my "braid-out" half wig ;)

As much as I try, I don't like shampooing in the shower. It just makes me rush through my routine because my hot water starts to run out before I finish my detangling - retwisting! So, I'm going to stick with the following routine. It works best for me and my hair seems to cooperate better this way. Maybe, as my hair grows longer (shoulder length and more), I'll revisit the wash in the shower:

1). Dry detangle with fingers using melted EVOO and Coconut oil. Braid into sections (6-12) with oil mixture. (twist ends instead of braiding so it will be easier to unravel braids).

2). Spritz with Water and baggy for at least 20 minutes (pre-poo)

3). Mix shampoo mixture of EVOO and Jojoba oil or Hot six oil (whatever oils on hand), Condish - Humectant/HEHH, or Suave Coconut, etc. and Creamy Olive Oil shampoo (small dollop).

4).Apply mixture to scalp, massage in. Rinse (in the sink or lean head into shower using shower head attachment)

5). Unbraid section at a time, apply KCKT leave-in (or whatever leave in you're using at the time, Cantu Shea butter leave in, Kimmaytube's leave-in mixture, Giovonni's leave in, KCKT preferred. Make sure whatever you use has lots of slip for detangling).

6). Detangle individual sections with wide-tooth shower comb first then follow up with Denman or paddle brush.

8).2 strand twist each section to stretch. Be sure to put "kitchen" area hair at the nape of the neck either in a single, horizontal flat twist or 4-8 small 2strand twists to protect and grow.

9). Don satin cap and go to sleep ;)

10). Next day, pin up twists or wear twists under wig or half wig as a protective style.

DAY TWO - NEXT EVENING

1). Flat twist into favorite protective style (see, "Simply Younique" video), wear in this style or cover this style with wig or half wig for protective styling. Use some kind of styling cream or oil to for twists, use shea butter or some kind of oil to seal ends.

2). Repeat routine weekly.

3). Daily, if protective styling, spritz hair with water/oil (Aloe Vera Juice) spritz and Hot Six Oil spritz.

ALTERNATE STYLE - Dry braid sections to stretch for a braid-out. Use some kind of styling cream or oil for twists, use shea butter or some kind of oil to seal ends. (braid hair sections but twists ends for reasons stated above. Flexi - rod permed, stringy ends but let braids "hang"). - Refer to braid out tutorial by "Pretty Dimples" for step by step instructions.

This will be my routine for the remainder of winter. We'll see how much longer my hair grows in the next few months ;)

Maintain braid out for a week by re-braiding each night in big braids. flexi-rod permed, stringy ends.

Products in my current rotation that I love (and I'm at the point now where I don't care if they have "cones" or any other so-called "bad" products. As long as it doesn't damage my hair and produces good results - except for mineral oil or petroleum. I still try to stay away from this if at all possible. I don't like how they make my hair feel:

EVOO, Jojoba oil, Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in, Suave Coconut Condish or Suave Humectant, HEHH condish, Pantene R&N Hair Mask, Hot Six Oil, Root Stimulator Cream Olive Oil Shampoo, Aloe Vera Juice, Shea butter, Ecco Styler Gel, B&B Oil Moisturizer.

Ciao for now!

So Many New Things!

Well, It's been a while since I've blogged and I've learned so many new things and got new pictures to share! (see pics above).

First, I've subscribed to Kimmaytube, a natural Youtube site that provides a lot of informative stuff about natural hair care, growth and maintenance. Without going into a whole lot of long, boring detail, I've begun using Kimmaytube's techniques of protective styling (protecting my ends in styles that keep the ends tucked away like two strand twists, braids and protective updos most of the time) using aloe vera juice to help grow and maintain my hair's health and using half wigs and phony ponys as protective styles. I want my hair to get to it's maximum health and length so I'm going into protective mode for awhile to achieve just that. I recently had surgery and have been home from work for 6 weeks during recovery. I've worn my hair in flat twists and two strand twist styles the entire time, only taking it down to wash and condition weekly. I also have been spritzing my hair daily with a mixture of water (because water is the best moisturizer for hair), various oils - EVOO, EVCO and Aloe Vera Juice, and I've also been using Kimmaytube's leave in conditioner mixture as my leave in instead of regular conditioners alone. This mixture I use is a combination of Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, a leave in conditioner like Kinky Curly's Knot Today or Giovanni's Leave In Conditioner and Aloe Vera juice. The key to this mixture is the PH balance of the ingredients. It's important to have a good ph balance to help hair maintain moisture and to close the cuticle after washing to prevent dryness, knots and breakage. I really like this combo. It makes my hair feel really soft and moisturized. And, Aloe Vera is supposed to be particularly good for hair health and stimulating growth.

The couple of times over the last few weeks, when I did where my hair out, I wore it in a two strand twist out and sometimes added a half curly wig to the back to keep most of my own hair protected. I was a little nervous about wearing the "fake" hair, worried that people might know that it's a half wig, but I guess I blended it so well with my own natural hair that you really couldn't tell the difference. Both of my daughters were very complimentary and didn't know that it wasn't all my own hair until I told them! That made me feel pretty goodl I'm really trying to baby my hair right now and hopefully in the weeks and months to come I'll see the results. My hair has been growing and I've noticed that I'm retaining some length in the back. When stretched, the little twists reach all the way down the base of my neck now --ah...progress!

Well, that's the long and short of it. I'll post more details later about my "mixing" and protective styling later. Hope you enjoy the pics ;) I know I do. Oh, the one's with me and my oldest daughter are from her Dean's List Celebration Ceremony at her college. She made the deans list and I couldn't be more proud of her. Aint she purty??!!

Ciao for now!

LOVIN' IT!

My hair is responding so nicely to a few things that I've been doing recently. It's groing nicely in the back and all around in general. I discovered that I can do a wash n' go in a pinch - just co-wash with HH (which I've fallen in love with all over again) -or- rinse really good if I don't have time to co-wash, then add Cantu Shea butter leave in, which is working much better than I orginally thought since I trimmed quite a bit more of my perm off. My natural hair loves things that my chemically processed hair just doesn't. But, the perm is slowly but surely being trimmed away and I'm loving my real curls! They're so healthy and springy and respond well when I give them what they want. Lot's of moisture and COCONUT OIL! This stuff is the business! It keeps my hair moisturized and soft, helps define my curls nicely and just makes my hair respond so much better. I can also "shingle define" my 4b/4c curls when wet with some Cantu leave in and Ecco Styling gel! I didn't want to use the styling gel but once I did, I was hooked. It defines my curls nicely. I load my wet hair up with the gel, section it into smallish sections and brush the gel through - bam! Nicely defined curls. They're not the springy silky curls of a 3 hair type but my hair separates nicely into kinky koils that I then rake my fingers through to further define or twist smaller sections at the back and middle into "doodles" or coils. I absolutely love it!

I've also discovered that if I leave the coils in the back and just separate them into one or two sections once it dries in the morning, I get definition and it lasts for a long time if I leave it alone. But here's what I did last night;
To dry hair I sectioned and used my spray bottle to spritz water on and then applied Cantu shea leave in to each section then the ecco gel. two strand twist (not flat twists) and leave the back where it's pretty much all natural in twists. The top and front where there's still perm, I two strand twist and then add a roller to the ends. In the morning untwist section into just a few sections,(3 or 4) and then fluff just a little bit not disturbing the coils too much. I love the results and the gel helps the curls last a little longer if I don't mess with them too much. Today I co-washed with HH and then conditioned with Totally Twisted (which I don't like as much as the HH but it worked). Let the TT sit on my hair for a bit while in the shower then rinse and blot hair gently with a towel (or preferrably an old t-shirt), then I separate into 5 sections (separating them and finger detangling as I go - because of the coconut oil and the other condishes my hair had lots of slip and detangling was a breeze!) then I add the Cantu Shea leave in and then seal with the coconut oil. I detangle with my shower comb, then detangle the sections which I split each into two smaller sections, with my denaman brush and twist each of those sections loosely to keep them separated. This I do out of the shower at the bathroom sink. I then untwisted each section at at time, starting at the back, split THOSE sections into two and add ecco gel to each section and retwist. The back I section and twist and twirl the ends but don't roller them. The top and sides I do the same but I do roll the ends on rollers because of the straight permed ends. I'm sure it will turn out great in the morning becuase I've been following this routine for a little over a week and it's awesome! I love the little coils that I either leave in the back as twists in the morning or just separate them into two sections - that's all. Gorgeous! I'll probably shampoo this weekend simply because I think I need to do that at least once a month because of the "cone" build up. Need a little sls to neutralize the cone build up but that's really not a big deal as my hair is responding nicely and growing just great! I think I've reached a milestone ;)

Ciao for now!

New Routine - Even BETTER!

So, I've discovered a new routine that works absolutely PERFECT for my hair. It keeps breakage to a minimum and detangles oh, so nicely! I got this routine off of Youtube and I think its a keeper: (I'm journaling this more for myself than anything else so I won't forget it - LOL! Also, I get good results when detangling in the shower with my old routine and the Pantene R&N Hair Mask, but that "ish" is hard to find and I don't want to feel like I have to rely on that for easy detangling when I run out of the supply that I have. Plus, I don't like being in the shower as long as I have to when washing and detangling in the shower. In my complex where I live, the hot water doesn't last for long if you take a 30-45 minute shower and I find myself trying to rush through my washing and detangling session before I'm doused in lukewarm to freezing cold water! With my thick, dense hair, rushing through the routine is a NO NO. You end up yanking and pulling at tangles and knots instead of taking your time and lovlingly detangling with patience - HA! ) SOOOOO.... I found another routine that doesn't even involve that stuff, and it works out even better for my detangling sessions because I'm using some good oils and sectioning my hair into smaller sections - SMILE!)

First - I section my dry hair into four large sections. Mix a pre-poo concoction of EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil), COO (coconut oil - smells oh, so good!) and Cantu shea butter leave in condish, warming up the oil, of course, so the COO will melt. Next I section, clip back the sections and section each large section into smaller sections, apply the pre-poo to each section at a time and finger detangle as I apply the pre-poo to my hair, scalp and ends. When I'm done detangling a section, I braid that section and move on to the next. I do this throughout my hair, making about 16-18 little braids. Then, I spritz a little water all over my hair with my water spritzer bottle and then baggy my hair and cover the baggy with a scarf and leave it on for anywhere from 20 mins to 3 hours, depending on what I'm doing that day. (Today, I covered the baggy with my satin bonnet and rocked a black tam on top of that, cocked to the side. I went downtown to the mall and everything in my tam - made up my face, wore big earrings and applied extra fly eye makeup. I was definitely feeling FIERCE - LOL, no, really!

Next, I unbaggy, mix a concoction of EVOO, Suave Coconut condish and ORS Olive Oil cream shampoo (just a little bit of the shampoo). I apply this mixture in between the parts where the braids are and message this into my scalp. Remember, shampooing is more for the scalp than the hair. My hair is still in braids. I then rinse the shampoo mixture out in the kitchen sink - I don't even have to get in the shower to rinse! Just rinse the "poo" mixture right out of my braids. This takes hardly anytime at all since the mixture rinses out so easily. I then blot my hair with a t-shirt - not a towel!

I then mix up some ORS Hold and Smooth Pudding, a little more EVOO, and a leave in condish like HE Hello Hydration or, like this time, I used Deva Curl One condish. I apply this to each damp braid individually, unbraid that section, apply more mixture, if needed, and detangle with my shower comb first, then my denman brush. The oils and condish soften my hair so that the comb and then the brush virtually glide right through my hair from roots to end (note, this particular time I trimmed my ends but, I won't need to do this every time. My ends really needed trimming. I HATE those raggedy, straight permed ends. Getting rid of them slowly but surely!)

After I detangle a section I either double strand twist it or braid it (I braided the back so that it would hold because it's shorter in the back.). Once done with all sections of my hair, I didn't roll it this time on rollers, just pinned sections back with hair pins. I don't know how the twist out will turn out tomorrow as far as definition goes, since I didn't roll the ends with rollers, but I definitely love this routine. It's probably not faster, but, I get less breakage and shedding by sectioning and my hair loves all of the oils and condish. It feels soft and manageable. We'll see how the twist out turns out without rolling tomorrow. But, like I said, this routine and the products are definitely a keeper. So much easier to work with my "4" hair in sections. LOVE IT!

Ciao, for now ;)

Best Wash Session EVER!!!!

OMG! As disappointed as I was with my last wash session (with the Hair Mayo deep condish) I was equally or even more pleased with this wash session. Here's the lineup:
Pre-poo with Hot Six Oil and Cantu Shea Butter Leave In for 2.5 hours; Hop in shower and rinse out pre-poo concoction - hair felt soft and manageable already; shampoo with ORS Olive Oil Creamy Shampoo-not too drying; Deep condish and detangle with Pantene's R&N Hair Mask - let it marinate while I shower and shave; detangle in 4-6 sections - AWESOME slip and barely any shedding at all! The comb and the Denman Brush practically slipped through my hair from roots to ends with the greatest of ease; rinse detangled clipped and twisted sections (clips in the back where the hair is shorter, twist front two longer sections). Get out of shower and apply Hello Hydration to each section. Wait a few minutes and then begin styling: Blot each section with a towel to rid hair of excess moisture, apply shea butter to each section to seal in moisture and then apply ORS Smoothing and Hold Pudding. Seal ends with more shea butter, twist and curl. My hair is soft, manageable and no tangles, knots or problems at all. Can't wait to do the take down tomorrow. Hope it's not still wet in the morning! LOVE IT! Next time I'll use the same routine but probably just co-wash instead of using the shampoo. Don't want to over shampoo. We'll see how that works!

This was the most incredible washing experience. No fighting with my hair, tugging pulling or problems at all. I actually enjoyed this wash session. It brought a smile to my face ;)

Ciao for now! (Note to self, remember these products in this particular rotation. Your hair loves it! Also, probably should blot hair with the towel before applying the HH condish as a leave in. I felt like I was blotting out alot of the condish along with the water. Just reverse this process next time - lol!)