Lots to Share!

O.K. so, I'm starting to figure my hair out in terms of styling and what to do with it. I've come to the realization that if I spritz it with water and coconut oil (mixture in my spray bottle) and seal with shea butter, then flat twist it and curl the ends tightly (up to my scalp), I end up with a kinda curly "fro" twist out. (duh!). If I leave the curled ends dangling, then it's a smoother, more stretched twist out (Rocket Science, huh?) Also, if I do a dry flat twist, while I'm transitioning, my permed ends don't like this and the curl definition ends up very weak. I've also discovered that when it doesn't turn out exactly the way that I want, I should just let it do what it wants to do instead of trying to make it do what I think it should look like i.e. if it turns out too short or a lot of shrinkage when I take the twists out, instead of trying to stretch it to look longer, and getting all frustrated when it doesn't, ending up with a lot of "frizz" - just go with the curly fro! Or, I can always throw a headband on and do the curly puff or messy bun if all else fails. I guess that's part of listening to your hair and working with it instead of against it - LOL! (By the way, I need to get the book pictured above).

I never realized how many versatle styles you can get with your hair like this. It's kind of exciting to wake up every morning not knowing exactly what you're hair's going to do but waiting to see how it turns out and rocking that style for the day. I'm loving it! Much better than just slicking it back into a straight ponytail or bun or french twist everyday.

I think when I wash and condition my hair this weekend I'll try the flat twists with no rollers at the ends - just put clips on the ends to keep them from unraveling. We'll see. I'll post more pics soon.

I also "co-pooed" for the first time this weekend (no shampoo, just wash scalp with a light conditioner. - I used Suave's Humectant). I then did a deep condition with Pantene's Relaxed and Natural Hair Mask and used Herbal Essence's "Totally Twisted" as my leave in conditioner. I think I like this because my hair seems to be much more soft and moisturized than when I use shampoo. I will still shampoo, maybe once a month, just to make sure I'm getting rid of any build up, but for my terribly dry hair, this seems to be working great so far. I will eventually Big Chop, but I'm not ready for that yet. I'll see where we are at the 6 month stage. I'd like to try and transition for at least a year but we'll see how that goes. I'll also need to start trimming every time I wash my hair, in order to start getting rid of of some of this permed hair. ;)

I also went on the http://www.tightlycurly.com/ website and went through the answer bank and realized that I can't do the curl-defining techniques that she suggests (finger twirling or "doodling" and smoothing) because I still have too much perm in my hair. Those techniques are for totally natural hair. So, the best way for me to define my curls right now is the two strand twist or two strand flat twist or french braids. Actually, one other website said that the two strand flat twist works best for transitioning hair. I can and do still follow all of the other techniques on the tightly curly site, for washing, combing and conditioning my hair.

I've been reading a lot of different sites and posts about the whole "controversy" over the wave of women going natural these days. People keep trying to say it's political. I don't think it is. At least not for me, anyway. I'm not trying to make any type of political statement at all. If people want to be straight, curly, nappy, whatever, I say let them do what they want. Live and let live. I decided to let my natural hair grow out and stop perming because it was destroying my hair and I was tired of doing nothing but pulling my hair back into a ponytail or bun. Where's the fun in that? Now, I'm really getting to know my hair and looking forward to seeing it natural. I'm not pushing my agenda on my daughters (15 and 22), they both have long beautiful permed hair and that works for them. They both also take really good care of their permed hair, go to a hair dresser regularly, etc. I didn't do any of those things when I was perming. I did it myself. I refuse to sit in a beauty shop for hours every other week (as they suggest), wasting my Saturdays and dropping $60 - $100 bucks everytime, then avoiding rain and water like the plague until the next touch up. I'm more of a do-it-youself person. So, the natural thing just works better for me. Not political at all. Just lazy and selfish, really. LOL!

Well, that's all for now.TTYL!