Bantu Knot Out Week

Hi everyone. This week I decided to stick to one specific style ans try to see how many days I can work with it without co-washing or the hairstyle looking completely crazy!! lol. The first day, I did a bump n the middle and slicked the sides back to create a kind of fro-haw look. Not my best look, but it worked. The next day I threw on a headband and pinned my hair into a ponytail. I didn't want to use rubber bands or crush my curls. The ponytail gave the illusion of it being longer and fuller. Tuesday night, I redid my bantu knots, about 8 of them in random places so parts won't be apparent, and mixed leave in with water and oil, and sprayed my scalp and hair. Wednesday, I parted my hair on the left side, and twisted the right hair all the way around and stopped an inch away from my ear. I twisted the other side to my ear and left the remaining curls to hang on my left shoulder. It is my favorite look, easy to accomplish, and I get lots of compliments from it. Today, I parted and twisted my hair again but this time i twisted both sides to my ear, and with the back I gathered it up and pinned it upward. I put a cute clip in it, and this can be a protective style to do when your curls get old.  Tomorrow is Friday, and I already decided to just put on a headband and put my hair in a bun. I will pre-poo that night with queen Helen's cholesterol and seal with oil overnight. I saw this on a sight, and wanted to try it out. Saturday I will wash, condition, deep condition, and do a straw set. Now, this will be my first straw set, and I'm really nervous!! It looks easy to do, but my hair is pretty thick, and I will need  A LOT of straws to get the job done. Oh!! I cut a little piece of my hair in the back. My curls are so soft and springy, and they shrink up a lot, but I an easily stretch them and comb through it. I am learning that I am already scissor-happy, and the challenge will not be retaining length, but keeping my hands out of my hair and chopping random sections because I like the curl :)I will put up a video tomorrow with pictures of the different styles and a quick update.

HI guys, just passing through, I haven't posted a blog or video in a while because school is so hectic now that there is only a month left and teachers are trying to cram as much stuff in as they can smh. lol But I did manage to upload an update video yesterday night. Some very good new that I wanted to share with everyone is that 1. I got a paying internship this summer (yay me!!) and 2. my mom seems to be getting on board with me transitioning. My 5 year mark is fast approaching, and the summer will soon be here. She is getting used to seeing my hair thick and curly around my edges and the nape. She expressed that the only things she was really worrying about was how I was going to wear my hair. Now that she sees I'm serious about this and are looking at Youtube videos and doing different hairstyles, she says she thinks I can make it to a year. My dream date to BC is the summer of 2013. It will be a fresh start and a great way to start off my senior year!! I'm very excited about this, and think it's the perfect date. New me, last year in high school. I'm thinking about getting kinky twists in the summer so I don't have to worry about doing my hair during the internship. I know I've brought up getting these a few times before with nothing to show for it, but getting someone to do it at a good price is hard to find nowadays. I like that the first 5 months of my transition has forced me to learn about my hair, how to do it, how to take care of it, what it likes. I have so many products I want to buy. OK, I'll wrap it up here, but thanks for reading and if you are new to my blog check out my Youtube channel!

Incredible!

I will never be able to show my appreciation to Kandee from Kandeelovesya.blogspot.com!!! She has gotten my name out there and I am finally talking to other people who get what I'm feeling and who are going through this with me. I hope that I won't disappoint anyone out there who is checking out my blog and my Youtube channel. I will be sure to post a video on Friday, or Saturday. Depends on which day I wash my hair. Wishing all of you the best, I will see you next time!

Still Straight :l

I have to keep this straight hair for the rest of the week, and I am already sick of it. Really. I feel my roots are curling up a bit because it's been hot lately and I've been sweating. I get excited when I feel them and look forward to the day I get to wash my hair and feel my curly roots again. I got a jar of Queen Helen's Cholesterol and will give it a try on wash day as a deep conditioner. I also got a henna packet that i will use at the end of the month as my protein treatment. I think protein once a month will suffice. I noticed that it is really easy for my hair to get dry, so I will focus more on moisture than protein. I want to go to walgreens to get this other deep conditioner and leave in, by I neither have the time nor money to do it just yet. I'll post the results of the Queen Helen deep condition soon! But not soon enough!! ughhh! Wash day, come quickly!!!!

MY POOR ROOTS!!!

Easter is coming up, yes, I understand this, but why do my roots have to die for Easter?!? My mom made me get my roots hot combed and pressed so my hair could be done for the holiday. I wanted to get kinky twists, but apparently my roots are the devil. :( for the first time in months I wrapped my hair. I'm able to run my fingers easily through my hair and touch my scalp. I hate this. So much heat was put on my poor natural hair. And I was even burned at the root a few times. Not good. I'm worried that my hair won't kink back up, that all my progress and work has been ruined. I'm angry with my mom because she's all happy about how my hair looks permed and the roots are laid down, but all I can think of is the horror I will feel if my hair doesn't curl up after I wash it. The only good thing that came out of this whole ordeal is that my ends got a good trim and the hairdresser confirmed I had 1 and a half to two inches of new growth. My hair is going down my back, and my mom said she hasn't seen my hair this long since I was younger. I just wished I had a choice in all this. And what makes matters worse, it seems that almost everyone I deem important in my life is against me going natural!. The only one so far that hasn't fflipped a shit when I told them is my grandmother. She's supportive of me. I'm really getting tested now. What I want to say and what's respectful are battling in my head. I just want to wash my hair and get back to figuring my curls. There is one curl in the back of my head that is really stubborn and refused to be straightened. Its my only solace now, and I constantly reach to finger it, wishing for the days of a head full of curls. Worst day ever.

Wash Day and 1st Length Check!

Since I'm going out of town, and will not be able to wash my hair until next week, I decided tow as my hair today. Last night I mixed Oil and conditioner together, warmed it, and applied it all over my scalp and on my ends for a pre-poo treatment. This morning I washed it out, shampooed and conditioner, and am currently deep conditioning my hair with Hair Mayonnaise. I'll wait about 20 minutes before washing it out, adding my leave in conditioner, and start detangling. My hair has gotten really thick over the past few months, And I have a whole lot of hair to go through every wash day!
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20 Min. Later
I washed out the deep conditioner in 4 sections, then I put my Cantu Leave In Conditioner, detangled, and twisted my four sections in two strand twists to dry. One thing I've noticed about my wash process is that I find it near impossible to wash my left side as thoroughly as I do my right side because I can't get my head fully under the tap of the tub. I've found that putting the shampoo and conditioner in the four parts, but rinsing in two parts is much easier for me. I used a brush to detangle instead of my usually wide-tooth comb, and  a lot more hair came out with the brush than it usually would with the comb. My curiosity of detangling with a brush is officially over. lol (when I say brush, I mean something like below) Another thing I've noticed is that I'm pampering myself more now. I used to pride myself on my in-and-out bathroom trips, but now, I'm spending more time in the shower, brushing my teeth, cleansing my face, putting on lotion, etc. I'm not doing things like massaging my feet and elbows with baby oil, rubbing my scalp for at least 5 min every other day, and massaging my hands with lotion. I feel like I'm not only changing my hair, but I'm changing my whole body. I'm drinking more water, and making more health-conscious food choices. I feel bad after having sweets or a soda, and immediately needed to have something healthy to "counteract" it. This Hair journey may have been the best thing I could have don for myself. I feel like I'm transforming into a new person.
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First Length Check!
OK before I go straight in, I have new info. My hair dried really fast in these past few months because I was using a regular towel, which I found out strips the moisture from hair and leaves dry. I was wondering why I would towel dry my hair and half my head already be dry. MY hair took like 2+ hours to dry, and this time I used a t-shirt to partially dry my hair. My hair no longer dripped after being dried by the t-shirt, but it was still full of water and moisture. When I researched the towel thing I found out, like a cotton pillowcase, the towel strips hair of moisture and even pulls on it, causing breakage.

Ok, on to the actual length check.
Front: 5 1/4 inches
Side: 8 inches
Back: 7 inches
Top: 8 inches
 Not too shabby ehhh??? lol So after my hair dried, I braided it and tomorrow I will unravel it, twist the front part and tuck my ends under in a kind of princess-y style. Stay beautiful and loveable!!

Beach Day!!!

Yay! I went to Mississippi today and hung out at the beach. Great for relaxation, not so great for my hair. I got loads of sand in my hair from playing volleyball and laying on a towel. My head was so itchy when I got home I had to wash my hair, so I just washed with conditioner, put in a leave-in, sealed with oil, and ran a comb quickly through my hair. Since my hair dries pretty fast, I just left it out an got on the computer. Yeah, I'm really tired now so I'm gonna be signing off now. Bye!