Can you retain length without doing protective styles (ie. twist, braids, weaves, wigs, cornrows etc)? Can you retain length while wearing your hair in loose styles (puffs, twist-outs, braid-outs) the majority of the time?
From April -December I will rock my hair in a variety of out styles (braid-outs, twist-outs and puffs) I will follow my 3 day cycle regimen and my no comb regimen, I will focus on keeping my hair clean and moisturized and see if I am able to retain length.
Single Day Braid out (medium braids 40min)
Day 1 clean hair and apply leave in. divide hair into 4 sections and braid in medium sized box-braids. (the evening before)In the morning release braid-out and rock it like you love it. (clips, bobby pins, flowers, head bands etc)
Day 2 (the evening before) Divide hair into 4 sections, lightly mist with water and braid hair in medium braids again. (the next morning) release braids and style
Day 3 Optional if hair feels ok, re mist hair and re braid that evening for braid-out the next day. If hair is dry, wash hair and braid it to rock the braid-out.
Afro-Puff (large box-braids 20-30 min)
Day 1 clean hair, apply leave in and braid hair in large box-braids. The next day release braids and fluff into puff, secure with knee high.
Day 2 re wet hair lightly and apply leave in, re braid hair at night, release into puff the next day.
Day 3 Wash hair and braid, release in the morning.
Note: For best results with the afro-puff you may need to rinse the hair with water each night before braiding.
Short and curly twist-out. Follow the same steps as for the braids.
2-day braid-out. (40 min)
Apply gel to freshly washed hair and braid in medium braids, release the next day and apply a light amount of oil to hair, sleep with satin bonnet and finger fluff the next day.
CLM
Saturday, April 23, 2011
In Between Blues!
Do you truly feel like you are going crazy when it comes to your hair? Sure your hair is chemicl free, but it is short. It's no longer a twa (teeny wheeny afro), you can twist it and braid it, but your twist and braided styles are lacking umph. You keep looking for inspiration and what you find is that your hair is to short to do (feel in the blank!) You are frustrated and you just wish you could pull your hair into a pony-tail or a sleek bun and melt your troubles away. Your hair is too short for this though, sure you can fit your hair into 2 or 3 pony-tails, but you feel that style is just too elementry. You keep hearing that if you just hang on and keep your hair in a protective style you will finally get the length you desire. You say how am I supposed to keep twist and braids in my hair when I cant stand looking at the for more than a day. You break down and get a weave, a wig or some fake hair braids, but they itch, the cost, their too tight, you don't want to spend 8 plus hours sitting their getting braids. The fake hair is not your style and wasn't the point of going natural to rock your own natural hair. Your sitting here right now with your head under a wrap or a head scarf asking yourself what in the world am I going to do with my hair?
When your hair was shorter you were forced to just rock that fro, but now you have been warned that you need to keep that hair braided. You have noticed that when you wear twist-outs, or braid-outs you enjoy the style. The problem is these styles only seem to last for one day and isn't it too much manipulation( ie, anti protection ) to style your hair in twist every night only to take them down?
What about the trusty afro-puff? If you wear this style every day will it be bad for your hair? If you can never wear your hair out loose what it the point?
What if your hair is just too short for a quote on quote protective style suits your mood?
You tried to spice it up with cornrows and flat-twist only to discover that just like all Black folk don't have rhythm, they can't all braid.
So What do you do now?
Well I propose that you break the rules! Thats right, break the rules before you break down in tears, tear out your hair, cut it all off, relax it or burn the mess out of it with a flamming hot tool.
Which rules should you break? Which ever rules are necessary to achieve your style. What about the damages you say? Just do your best to care for your hair, moisturize, wash, condition, handle your hair gently and say a prayer and rock the styles that make you happy.
By stepping back from the stress of being ocd and preforming your sacred growth ritual you may notice that your hair just may grow to the level you desire right under your noise. You may just be able to have your cake and eat it too!
CLM
When your hair was shorter you were forced to just rock that fro, but now you have been warned that you need to keep that hair braided. You have noticed that when you wear twist-outs, or braid-outs you enjoy the style. The problem is these styles only seem to last for one day and isn't it too much manipulation( ie, anti protection ) to style your hair in twist every night only to take them down?
What about the trusty afro-puff? If you wear this style every day will it be bad for your hair? If you can never wear your hair out loose what it the point?
What if your hair is just too short for a quote on quote protective style suits your mood?
You tried to spice it up with cornrows and flat-twist only to discover that just like all Black folk don't have rhythm, they can't all braid.
So What do you do now?
Well I propose that you break the rules! Thats right, break the rules before you break down in tears, tear out your hair, cut it all off, relax it or burn the mess out of it with a flamming hot tool.
Which rules should you break? Which ever rules are necessary to achieve your style. What about the damages you say? Just do your best to care for your hair, moisturize, wash, condition, handle your hair gently and say a prayer and rock the styles that make you happy.
By stepping back from the stress of being ocd and preforming your sacred growth ritual you may notice that your hair just may grow to the level you desire right under your noise. You may just be able to have your cake and eat it too!
CLM
Friday, April 22, 2011
My New Favorite Style
Some natural styles are too old, too young, too trendy, too punk and some are just right, it all depends on my mood. I really want hair long enough to just put up in twisted or braided buns, but my hair is not ready for this yet.
So for now I am rocking large flat-twist. Two large twist down the sides and 4 large twist going down the back secured with butter fly clips. This is my new style and I will be rocking it for quite some time!
CLM
So for now I am rocking large flat-twist. Two large twist down the sides and 4 large twist going down the back secured with butter fly clips. This is my new style and I will be rocking it for quite some time!
CLM
Neveau Regimen pour le cheavux!(new routine)
I have changed my routine from a 7 day cycle to a three day cycle. On my 3 day cycles I rotate between three products for my wash regiman.
Cycle 1 wash with Lorel sulfate-free shampoo (Moisture formula)
Condition with Pantene Relaxed and Natural
Leave in condtion with Kimmay Tube Leave in (Knot today, aloe and oil)
Cycle 2 Co-wash with Geovanni Smooth Conditioner
Leave in Geovanni Direct Leave in
Cycle 3 Wash hair with Hair One Cleansing Conditioner
Leave in Mixed Silk Conditioner
Note: I always pre treat my hair with olive oil before any kind of wash.
CLM
Cycle 1 wash with Lorel sulfate-free shampoo (Moisture formula)
Condition with Pantene Relaxed and Natural
Leave in condtion with Kimmay Tube Leave in (Knot today, aloe and oil)
Cycle 2 Co-wash with Geovanni Smooth Conditioner
Leave in Geovanni Direct Leave in
Cycle 3 Wash hair with Hair One Cleansing Conditioner
Leave in Mixed Silk Conditioner
Note: I always pre treat my hair with olive oil before any kind of wash.
CLM
Friday, April 1, 2011
Delayed Gratification
I have studied several different women's hair routine with natural hair and what I have found was that there seem to be few rules or hair laws that seem to apply. Here a few hair laws I have heard that I have seen exceptions to.
1. Do not use blow dryers on natural hair (I have seen this law broken by several people with long natural hair, some use heat weekly while others use it monthly. Some seem to be ok with any altered texture as a result of frequent straightening, others claim to see no difference in their hair texture as a result of heat. I have tried heat and my texture was alterted severly after one proffessional flat-iron and blow dry. Some sections of my hair remained straight and others remained permanentely in a loose texture. I want my natural curls tight so for me I will not be playing around with heat. When it comes to length I have seen long hair that has been heat treated.
2. Do not use flat irons (Same as blow dryers)
3. Do not use sulfate shampoo ( This one is funny, because the majority of shampoos on the markert contain sulfates and even those so called natural shampoos that are sulfate-free still raise the culticle of the hair shaft and make my hair feel stripped. This is why I pretreat with Olive Oil no matter what I am using.
4. Do not use hair grease aka mineral (My hair grew quite long as a child and the only thing used on my hair was grease and water. My hair seems to respond the same way to mineral oil products as it does with shea butter, olive oil and other natural oils. When used dry it just sits on top of my hair. I only use Olive Oil as a pre shampoo treatment and once it is washed out with soap no oils of any kind other than the kind coming from my scalp itself touch my hair until my next wash.
5. Wash your hair weekly ( I have seen and heard it all regarding the frequency of washing your hair, every thing from once a month to every day washing. I think this one is truly up to personal needs. If one is not using lots of products I suspect one could get away with washing less frequently, but it dependeds on the needs of that persons scalp. I have seen long hair on people who wash monthly as well as daily. I think there are multiple factors here such as products used in styling, daily maintenance, hair style itself, whether your hair is loose or braided, activity level, the health of the scalp, the amount of oil produced by the scalp, sweat, dandruff, and products used to clean the hair. I personally like to wash my hair every seven days, because my hair starts to feel limp to me after any longer than that. If my hair is loose I like to wash it nightly. I have gone months when I was younger without washing and my hair did not fall out, nor did I develop any scalp condition. I have also had a bi weekly routine. I think the only real practical reason I could see for not washing my hair every week, but rather once a month is less detangling sessions weekly which would mean less manipulation which would mean less breakage. I would still have to moisturize my hair at least once a week, I cannot stain putting any products on hair that has not been freshy washed so I would probably be likely to apply products only once a month. I am basically a person that does not believe that products really any thing to my hair except dirty it, outside of shampoo and conditioner.
6. Wear protective styles ( I have seen lots of people grow long hair using protective styles, but I think the style you get, whether the braids are too tight, and the length of time you wear them impact whether the style is really working to preserve the hair. If you dont touch your hair much I guess it would have less opportunity to break. Plently people touch their hair once a day and still have long hair so I guess it depends on the person.
CLM
1. Do not use blow dryers on natural hair (I have seen this law broken by several people with long natural hair, some use heat weekly while others use it monthly. Some seem to be ok with any altered texture as a result of frequent straightening, others claim to see no difference in their hair texture as a result of heat. I have tried heat and my texture was alterted severly after one proffessional flat-iron and blow dry. Some sections of my hair remained straight and others remained permanentely in a loose texture. I want my natural curls tight so for me I will not be playing around with heat. When it comes to length I have seen long hair that has been heat treated.
2. Do not use flat irons (Same as blow dryers)
3. Do not use sulfate shampoo ( This one is funny, because the majority of shampoos on the markert contain sulfates and even those so called natural shampoos that are sulfate-free still raise the culticle of the hair shaft and make my hair feel stripped. This is why I pretreat with Olive Oil no matter what I am using.
4. Do not use hair grease aka mineral (My hair grew quite long as a child and the only thing used on my hair was grease and water. My hair seems to respond the same way to mineral oil products as it does with shea butter, olive oil and other natural oils. When used dry it just sits on top of my hair. I only use Olive Oil as a pre shampoo treatment and once it is washed out with soap no oils of any kind other than the kind coming from my scalp itself touch my hair until my next wash.
5. Wash your hair weekly ( I have seen and heard it all regarding the frequency of washing your hair, every thing from once a month to every day washing. I think this one is truly up to personal needs. If one is not using lots of products I suspect one could get away with washing less frequently, but it dependeds on the needs of that persons scalp. I have seen long hair on people who wash monthly as well as daily. I think there are multiple factors here such as products used in styling, daily maintenance, hair style itself, whether your hair is loose or braided, activity level, the health of the scalp, the amount of oil produced by the scalp, sweat, dandruff, and products used to clean the hair. I personally like to wash my hair every seven days, because my hair starts to feel limp to me after any longer than that. If my hair is loose I like to wash it nightly. I have gone months when I was younger without washing and my hair did not fall out, nor did I develop any scalp condition. I have also had a bi weekly routine. I think the only real practical reason I could see for not washing my hair every week, but rather once a month is less detangling sessions weekly which would mean less manipulation which would mean less breakage. I would still have to moisturize my hair at least once a week, I cannot stain putting any products on hair that has not been freshy washed so I would probably be likely to apply products only once a month. I am basically a person that does not believe that products really any thing to my hair except dirty it, outside of shampoo and conditioner.
6. Wear protective styles ( I have seen lots of people grow long hair using protective styles, but I think the style you get, whether the braids are too tight, and the length of time you wear them impact whether the style is really working to preserve the hair. If you dont touch your hair much I guess it would have less opportunity to break. Plently people touch their hair once a day and still have long hair so I guess it depends on the person.
CLM
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