A Rastafarian Gets Interviewed by a Natural Hair Vlogger 1/2

I'm NOT Ignoring You Guys!!

Ok, so to any of my lovely YT subbies who may occasionally stop by my blog, I am NOT ignoring you.  Right now I'm having technical difficulties in the form of a non functioning laptop.  I can't get it to cut on at all, and it doesn't even recognize that there is a charger plugged in.  I've been wanting to make videos for a while now, but I just don't have any way to upload them unless I do quick videos from my phone and upload directly from there.  It's not an ideal situation, but that's what I'm working with.  I may do a direct upload later today because I've been missing you guys so much!!  I need to update you on everything that has been happening with my hair, school, and life in general.  I'll be posting this to my Blogger blog and Tumblr as well, so I hope that gets the message across.

I miss you guys terribly and I promise to upload like 5 new videos as soon as I'm back up and running.  Till then, HHG!! :-*

Coastal Scents Shea Butter

I Love My Hair

My hair is healthy. My hair is sexy. My hair is beautiful. My hair is alluring. My hair can be challenging. My hair is rewarding. My hair is wondrous. My hair is natural. My hair is a labor of love. My hair is unique.

As you can tell, I could go on and on about my hair. At this point in my hair journey, I've come to have such love, pride, and admiration for my hair. I never knew it was possible. Who knew a little water, sealant, and delicate handling could make such a tremendous difference. I can honestly say going natural indirectly lead me to change my major, setting me on a path I never could have predicted. I've actually sat in the mirror and cried because I was so in awe and thankful for my hair. Yes. I've cried. Compared to some other journeys, my road has been pretty smooth. Thus far I haven't had any major setbacks. I know my hair very well, I don't have any issues retaining length, and people ask me about my hair all the time. I can honestly say I love it.

A few weeks ago I was at work with my hair in a high puff off to the side. I happened to walk past a mirror and stopped for a second when I caught my reflection. I fluffed my hair a little bit and said aloud, "I love my hair." My manager, who happened to be walking with me shook his head and told me I'm conceited. Offended, I asked him exactly how am I conceited and he said, "you just said you love your hair," as if that was all the explanation required. I don't know about you, but I think that was a pretty stupid assessment on his part. How exactly does loving something about one's self make one conceited? In my opinion, it's not an unhealthy love or obsession, more like a passion. I don't denigrate others while lifting myself up. I try to help people as much as I can. I keep a generally upbeat attitude. So I don't see how conceit even could have been perceived from my statement. I can't love a part of myself?

Maybe my manager said that because he's not used to seeing black women who actually have a healthy relationship with their hair. Maybe he thought he might come off as joking. Maybe he's just a tool. Either way, I thought about it and there's no reason for me to feel bad or stuck up because I proudly proclaimed my love for my hair. It's not going to change any time soon and there's nothing wrong with it.

Just thought I'd make that PSA for anyone out there who might be wondering how they come off when talking about your hair. If you truly love it, that will come out when you talk about it whether you say it explicitly or not. And if the people around you don't know how to take it, forget about them. So long as they don't have control over your wash schedule or your product selection, they can go kick rocks. That's just my opinion. :-)

"Some People Need A Relaxer" - My Thoughts

I didn't do any editing just because I didn't really feel like I needed to. Please leave your thoughts and your comments. :)

The High Bun I've Been Rocking

OK, so for the last three days I've been wearing my hair in this big high bun. This serves as a great visual proving how much my hair has grown since my big chop. I love the size of my bun! When I was relaxed, the only way I could get a decent looking bun was to use the sock method and my hair was so short and thin that many times you could see the sock through my hair. But now my bun is way bigger and Fuller than it ever was in that state and no sock is necessary to get it big and beautiful like this. :-)

You guys truly have no idea how proud I am of my hair growth thus far. It's amazing to me that all it took to get my hair to this point was a little knowledge, dedication, and patience. I haven't even reached my goal length yet but I'm loving my hair so much!

16 Months Natural

Looking back, the decision to go natural was not a well thought out one for me. I happened to stumble upon the natural hair YouTube community and decided the best way for me to grow my hair long (something I've always wanted) would be to stop relaxing my hair and let it grow naturally. I mean, it makes sense right? Stop breaking down the chemical bonds in your hair and let it grow the way your genetics dictate it should in order to give it the best chance of making it to long lengths. But I didn't stop to think about whether or not I might be able to continue relaxing my hair and still grow it long. Now I wonder if I had known it was possible to grow long relaxed hair if I would have taken the plunge to go natural.

In some ways I think having really short unhealthy processed hair made it easier for me to do the big chop. I wasn't cutting that much length off and I convinced myself that I couldn't deal with blending the two textures anymore, even though I'd only been doing it for about 4 or 5 months. Initially my "transition" started due to pure laziness and lack of finances. I didn't want to give myself perms anymore and I didn't have the money to have them done professionally on a regular basis. So I invested in a really good flat iron and heated my hair into submission on a weekly basis.

But when I learned about healthy hair practices through YouTube I got really excited thinking about myself being surrounded by big, fluffy, healthy, natural hair and the flat iron was basically left to collect dust. Then, 16 months ago I sprayed my hair down with water, grabbed the brand new pair of hair shears I'd bought a week before and started hacking off my relaxed ends. I asked for help from my family but everyone pretty much refused. Whether their refusal was due to fear or uncertainty, I can't say. But I felt really angry and slighted. Couldn't they see that I needed help and couldn't do it alone? Didn't they care? No matter what the case was, I was on my own.

The final results were not... let's just say they weren't pretty. I was really excited that I would be able to do wash and go styles and convinced myself that my choppy cut would look better once my hair was actually done. And it did help but I knew I was in desperate need of a professional cut to even out the areas I couldn't see and the overall shape of my hair. Four months later I did just that and went to a Deva certified salon in DC to have my hair cut.

Since then my hair has grown out significantly and so had my mind. I no longer blame my relaxer for the poor state of my hair, but to my own lack of knowledge and maintenance. For some reason I thought I shouldn't have to really do anything to my hair for it to grow and be beautiful. Now I know better. And I have a greater sense of pride in who I am as an individual and a black woman. I recognize and celebrate the fact that my hair type is unique to my race and don't let negative opinions affect me anymore. I understand that not everyone can see the beauty in natural Afro-textured hair, and even if they can that doesn't mean natural hair is suitable to their lifestyle. There's nothing wrong with that. I've learned to let others be.

I've learned that "good hair" doesn't only belong to people of mixed race or of Latin or Native American decent. Good hair is any hair that is healthy and well maintained. Even people with loose ringlet curls can have bad hair if they don't know how to take care of it. Trust me, I've seen it for myself.

Those are just some of the things I've learned on my journey thus far. When I decided to embrace my natural hair and learn how to properly care for it I never could have imagined how many other things that decision would expose me to. And I'm so glad I stuck with it. I look forward to the next sixteen months of my journey, retaining more length, and learning more things.

GHE Side Effects

I've been doing the green house effect in my routine fairly regularly since I first found out about it around a year ago. It definitely helps retain moisture, even in the cold winter months. I'm not consistent enough with measuring my hair growth to really attest to whether it increases growth rate or not. But I can say what other side effects I've seen from using this method.

Firstly, since this method is intended to create a warm environment for the scalp and hair, I think it makes sense that the rest of my body would reflect the increase on temperature. Whenever I'm doing the green house effect I notice that I feel hotter than usual. It's probably from my head and maybe therefore my brain being warmer than usual and distributing the excess heat through the rest of my body to avoid overheating. I don't know. Just making educated guesses.

Secondly, I notice I get very very thirsty when doing this routine. So much so that I have to keep a glass of water by my bed during the night. I guess this isn't necessarily a bad thing because water intake is always good but it is something I've consistently noticed. I thought it was something worthy of mentioning here.

Thirdly, this observation doesn't always happen but sometimes the GHE makes my scalp itch something fierce. I don't know if this is because of the heat, excess moisture, or increased sebum production. I just know it does.

I'm sure the heat and moisture do something good for my hair, even if they don't make it grow faster. But it also does some other things too. However, I have no intention of abandoning to green house effect altogether. Stay tuned. :-)

The Word of the Day

The word of the day is genii.
Noun
Pronounced [jee-nee-ahy].

Definition: the plural form of genius.

I felt so out of place standing in a room full of mathematical genii. The convention seemed to go on for days.

Chunky Twist Outs

So, think I may have finally mastered my chunky twist outs. At first, I was using 8 twists to set my hair with four on each side. But the problem with that method was that the two top twists always seemed to be a little too chunky. They would leave the roots a bit too puffy for my liking because there was just too much hair in each section. So now, I've stitched to 10 twists instead. The two top twists that were giving me problems have now become four. This also allows me a little more freedom in how I can part my hair.

I'm still using the shea butter plus conditioner method to set my hair and right now I'm waiting it to dry. I'll update the results once I take my hair down. :-)

Review:: Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus Shampoo

"Natural Hair" Review - Yes To Carrots Shampoo & Conditioner

Twist Out | Length Check | Goal Length

100 Subscribers!!! (Finally)

Twist Out Maintenance

Twist Out Take Down

Controversial Twist Out

Full Length Twist Out Tutorial

Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque Initial Thoughts

Curly Girl Tag!! ^__^

Slicking My Edges Without Gel

Wrapping & Maintaining Mini Twists

Products vs Routine for Healthy Natural Hair

3:16am by Jhene Aiko Teaser

I seriously need this album to drop like ASAP! I loved her mixtape and this definitely has the same vibe, just amplified.  Jhene Aiko is a great artist.  If you love this song just as much as I do, say so in the comments. :)

I May Be Changing My Hair Goal

When I first found out that Black women could, and regularly do, grow exceptionally long hair, I was floored.  No one in my family has really long hair and all the Black female celebrities with long hair use weave or extensions of some kind (In fact, most female celebrities period wear some kind of hair extensions, but that's an altogether different topic.) so you can hardly blame me for buying into the hype.  Add in the fact that my mother never really took the greatest care of our (me and my sisters') hair, I was almost doomed from the start to accept the "fact" that my hair couldn't grow long, doomed to accept that only the select few Black women blessed with "good" or "pretty" hair could grow it long without a problem.

But thank the Creator I've been enlightened and no longer buy into any of that BS.  Now I know that Black women are no different from women of other races.  Some of us have slow growing hair, some have hair that grows very quickly.  Some have an anagen (growth) phase of a few years, and some of us have growth phases that can last up to ten years or even longer.  The one uniting factor between Black women and women of all other ethnicities concerning long hair is that effort must be put in for the results we want to achieve to become a reality.  Whether someone's hair is stick straight or full on nappy, you have to work with what you have in order to grow it long.  The problem is, most Black women don't want to put in the work, or simply don't know what that work should consist of.

How many people do you know that can honestly say they know the difference between the sound of a brush or comb passing safely through their hair, and the sound of individual strands breaking?  How many people know the difference between mechanical (and therefore preventable) hair damage, heat damage, and breakage due to dryness?  My guess is, unless you come from a family that has a strong ethic for hair care, you don't know that many.  I want to change that.  And not just with a few people here and there.  I want to change it on a large scale.  I want it to become the norm for Black women to be seen with long, big, natural hair.

And I think the best way to go about doing that is to lead by example.  You may or may not know that my end goal with my natural hair journey is to grow my hair long enough to touch my waist when stretched.  But recently, I thought, "Why not go longer?"  The fact of the matter is, the distance from the top of my head to my waist is not that long, due to my height.  I'm under five feet tall, so my torso is drastically shorter than those of most other women, so my hair doesn't have to grow as long to reach my natural waist.  Well, 18 inches isn't exactly anything to sneer at, but you catch my drift.

I'm thinking I may change my hair goal to hip length hair, just for the hell of it.  I'm super short, so I think I should be able to manage that.  Unless my growth cycle is set to some abysmally short number of years, I think I can handle having hip length hair, because that means it would probably hang somewhere around my waist when dry, which would be suuuuper hot!!!  What do you think?

Natural Hair Brush Battles | Denamn vs Knock Offs

Did God Make a Mistake on Our Hair???

As always, leave your thoughts.

Word of the Day

The word of the day is prosy.
Pronounced ['pro-ze].
An adjective.
Definition: lacking in qualities that seize the attention or strike the imagination; commonplace; especially tediously dull in speech or manner.

Before I learned how to properly take care of it, my hair was of a very prosy sort. There was nothing special about it.

Pictures of the Day

I wrapped my twists last night using Naptural85's method. They're nice and elongated and I'm totally loving them!

13 months, 1 week, 3 days natural.

Why Can't You Just Comb Your Hair Faster?

So, I just thought I would share a funny conversation that happened between me and my mom a few days ago. I had just got out of the shower and water was leaking into our kitchen from the bathroom and my mother was slightly irritated.  She wasn't mad exactly, but she wasn't pleased either.  After I got dressed, I started cleaning the water up off of the floor and my mother said I needed to start taking shorter showers.  I told her all I did was detangle my hair and I moved as quickly as I could.  Her response was, "Well you'll just have to move faster."

Normally when my mother makes comments about how long it takes me to do my hair, I just shrug them off and keep it moving.  But I'll admit, I was slightly annoyed too.  There was no anger, but I was tired of always being told how I should handle my hair by people who's hair is nothing like mine.  No, my mother isn't relaxed, but she only wears her hair flat ironed, so she never deals with her true texture.  Neither does she have a length goal for her hair.  So rough handling and quick detangling sessions don't phase her because she's happy with her hair's current length.  I (somewhat) jokingly responded to her, "Well, why don't you start wearing your hair in it's natural texture and tell me how fast you can get through combing your hair."

But of course, moms know everything and they can't be told anything different.  She responded, "I have worn my hair natural.  I used to wear it short and curly.  I didn't take forever to comb my hair."

I retorted, "But my hair is longer than yours was when you wore it natural.  The more length there is, the longer detangling is going to take."

"Not necessarily."

Hearing that, I stopped focusing on the water I was cleaning and just stopped and looked at her for a second.  What was she talking about?  Her come back didn't make any sense.  And I tried to make that clear when I said, "Mommy. That doesn't make any sense.  Even if a person's hair is stick straight, if it comes down to their waist, it's going to take them a longer time to detangle their hair than someone with four inches of curly hair."

Unmoved, my mother again said, "No, not necessarily.  It just depends on how fast you go."

At that point I just decided to let the debate go and just said, "Okay, Mommy."

But that little exchange made me realize that my mother will probably never understand why I handle my hair the way I do.  I don't know if it's just that she doesn't understand that speedy detangling sessions result in broken hair, which retards hair growth, which is something I need if I'm going to grow my hair to my waist, or if she just doesn't care.  Honestly, it's probably some combination of the two.  Even though she tries to be as supportive of my natural hair journey as she can, I think my mother is skeptical about me reaching my goal length.  And if she doesn't believe it's possible, all the steps I take to make sure I'm not breaking my hair off just as fast as I'm growing it probably don't make much sense to her.

If she had it her way, I would just comb my hair as fast as she does, with no regard for the tangles I'm ripping through, and therefor, the strands I'm breaking.  But, luckily for me, she's not in charge of my hair care.  I am.  And as long as I'm in full  possession of my faculties, I'll treat my hair the way it deserves to be treated.  Not as a difficult burden that needs brute force and speed to be tamed, but as a delicate and beautiful creation of nature that must be handled with TLC.

So, in answer to her unstated question, no. I can't just comb my hair faster.  Why can't you comb your hair slower?

Newest Updates

Pictures of the Day

Rocking two strand twists for a while.  They give me a lot of freedom to just kind of get up and go with my hair that I don't have when it's out. You like?

13 months, 1 week, 2 days natural.

The Word of the Day

The word of the day is agley.
Pronounced [uh-GLEE].
Adjective.

Definition: off the right line; awry; wrong

This whole day has gone agley. First my car wouldn't start, then I got caught in the rain, and now I'm locked out.

The Word of the Day

The word of the day is iniquitous.

Pronounced [ih-NIK-wi-tuhs]

An adjective.

Definition: Characterized by injustice of wickedness; wicked; sinful.

The iniquitous lies spread to the masses by the hair care industry lead women to believe they can freely damage their hair and instantly "repair" it with miracle products. 

Word of the Day

Today's word is pococurante.
A noun.
Pronounced [poh-koh-koo-RAN-tee].
Definition: caring little; indifferent; nonchalant

If you take a pococurante attitude with your hair's health, it will show.

KONY 2012

If this touched your heart, please share this video and spread the message.

The Word Nappy

I stumbled across a blog post a few days ago that I thought made a very poignant and elegant point.  The focus was on the word "nappy," and its significance in the Black community.  I thought the author did a great job of explaining it and had to share it here.  If you like it, leave a comment. :)

Thoughts On A Word: Nappy

C.O.M. Amendment

Ok, so I thought about it and I need to revise my "back on conditioner only" post that I did a week ago. Right now my hair is in a twist out and the only thing I used was grease (the first day) and my shea butter mix (the second day).  I've decided that I will stick to conditioner only when I want to style my hair in a wash n go, but I'll use other products for "out" styles/wet sets.

I could use just conditioner for wet sets but I like the weight and shine that I get from using oil products.  The synthetic oils in the hair grease tend no to last that long, which is why I switched to my shea butter the second night I retwisted my hair.  So that's my products. Conditioner for wash n gos, oils and/or butters for wet sets.  Just thought I'd clear that up. :)

Pictures of the Day

In my hair: Herbal Essence Hydralicious Reconditioning Conditioner
I finger detangled in three sections, two strand twisted the front, and that's it. :)
You like? 11 months, 3 weeks, 6 days natural.

It's nice and voluminous and defined.  I know my front facing camera sucks, but you can at least see how big it is. :)

Back On Conditioner Only... For The Time Being

So, I know I've said this before only to go back to gels and leave ins, but I think I'm sticking with the Conditioner Only / Tightly Curly Method for a while.  I just finished re-reading Curly Like Me:  How To Grow Tightly Curly Hair Long and Strong (what a mouth full!) by Teri LaFlesh.  Everything in it reminded me why I initially stuck with just leaving conditioner in my hair after my big chop.  It was just so simple, cheap, and logical.  If rinse out conditioners have the same main working ingredients as leave ins, only in higher quantity (which I take to mean more moisturizing), then doesn't it make the most sense to take advantage of that for my naturally dry hair?

The last few days, I've been styling my hair with just Tresemme Naturals Vibrantly Smooth Conditioner.  No oils, no butters, no serums, no nothing.  Just the conditioner.  And it's been great!  My hair has stayed moisturized, my curls were defined, and it was just a good couple of hair days in general.  What I noticed about using just conditioner in my hair is that even though my curls are defined, they're kind of a frizzy defined.  But surprisingly, I liked it!  When I use gel in my hair, it takes a whole lot to get the definition I want, which has the tendency to leave my hair really hard.  Even if it doesn't turn out that crunchy, it's always sort of stiff.  I don't need to tell you how unattractive that is.  With conditioner, the definition is there, but the crunch isn't.

I stopped using the Tightly Curly / Conditioner Only Method mainly because I couldn't stretch my hair days.  But now I know that was because I was always playing in my hair before it finished drying, which didn't allow my curls to properly set.  So, there was no way I could expect my hair to stay all nice and defined when it wasn't even like that from day one.  Plus, I didn't have my night time routine down (I was still trying to make bonnets work for me... which they don't... at all. -__-), and my hair was a lot shorter.  As it's grown, the natural curl has become more defined, and I can get wash an gos to last much longer.  Today I have Herbal Essence's Hydralicious Reconditioning Conditioner in my hair and I love it!  My hair is nicely fluffy, defined, and fragrant.  I think COM will work for quite a while. :)

My Second Deva Cut

Yesterday, after I was done with class, I went to have my hair trimmed at Fiddleheads Salon in Dupont Circle. The last time I went was about eight months ago, on June 28, 2012.  The first time I had my hair cut was on the four month anniversary of my Big Chop.  It was badly needed because my BC was done all by yours truly and was really uneven.  I couldn't have let my hair continue to grow out that way and expected it to look good.  My hair stylist was named Vicki and she took her time cutting my curls, curl by curl and evening my hair out.

The styling however, was not at all what I wanted.  Rather than define my curls, Vicki put all of her energy into separating and fluffing them out.  Not the kind of look I go for at all.  I don't like the afro look.  Some people consider Black hair to be an afro no matter what, but I don't.  To me, an afro is a hairstyle achieved by picking out and separating the hair's natural curls.  Yes, they may look cool but afros are not good for my hair.  Without having my curls defined, my hair loses moisture much quicker and is prone to bad tangles and knots.

Yesterday was a complete repeat of the hair cut I got eight months ago.  I went into Fiddleheads rocking a twist out, so Vicki was able to get through my hair much quicker than the first time, and I was only in the salon for about an hour.  But the fro she gave me wasn't at all what I wanted and I washed it out today.  Lesson learned.  From now on, if I go somewhere that is supposed to cater to curly hair, I won't just assume they'll know how to define my curls.  Or that I even want them defined.  I'll be bringing pictures of my hair in a variety of styles so whoever is doing my hair can have a sense of the kind of definition I like to achieve.

Pictures of the Day

You guys like my puff puffs? :-)

Closing Out My First Year With Natural Hair

If you had asked me two years ago if I'd ever "go natural," I don't really know what I would have said.  Wearing my hair any way other than straight was not something I had ever considered.  "Curls?  What curls?  My hair is nappy," is probably how I would have responded if someone had tried to convince me I had curly hair.  But the little curly, wiggly locks of hair the sprout from my head would argue otherwise.  And the same can be said for a lot of Black women who have never worn their hair in its natural state.  The fact that they actually have curly hair would probably amaze them.

Some people try to argue that there is such a thing as non-curly, plain ole nappy hair.  I disagree.  In the past 11 months since I cut off my relaxed ends, I've learned that the further hair moves from stick straight strands, the more inherent curl there is.  Without the hair curling in some way, there wouldn't be all the glorious texture that Black hair is known for.  They may not be perfectly shaped "S" curls, but they are indeed curls.  What else can you call them?  Certainly not naps, because that would mean short sleeping sessions.  And no one grows short sleeping sessions from their heads.

As I get close and closer to my one year anniversary, I just can't help but feel a little saddened that more women of my race don't try to know and understand their hair without chemically altering it.  I understand that this is something that has be ingrained into our culture for generations now, and isn't likely to change on a mass scale any time soon, but I still wish that wasn't the case.  Our little girls are accepted with their natural hair, but our grown women aren't.  And our women are often discouraged and ostracized for wanting to wear their natural hair.

If I can make a wish for my anniversary, it's for more Black women to stop hating natural hair so much, and instead embrace it.  Natural hair isn't for slaves.  Natural hair isn't for poor people.  Natural hair isn't for overly Afro-centric people.  It's for everyone.  Because it's what you were born with.  It's how you were made.  No matter how many times you slap that chemical on your roots, they will keep growing in with the texture your genetics determine you are supposed to have.  It's just who you are.

Now, there's nothing wrong with switching up your style and wearing your hair straight, blue, purple, or pink.  But to permanently alter your hair to be so is... just a little sad to me.

Curly Car Time Chronicles Ep 3: Black v White Hair Products

School and Life Updates

Eddy - Cheech Presley

This is a music video from my friend OJ. If you like it, support him by subscribing to his channel, loudpresley.  Thanks, loves. :-*

First Impressions: Giovanni Direct Leave In Conditioner

So, Apparently Dr. Miracle Is Getting In On The Natural Hair Game Too

I just found out that Dr. Miracle is going to be coming out with a new hair care line for us curlies out here "free of sodium, sulfates, parabens and phthalates."  The line, called Curl Care, is supposed to come to drug stores in March of this year and will have a total of six (6) products, each being under $10.  They include:

1. Rehydrating Shampoo ($9.49) - Sulfate free, with vitamin A, vitamin E, and panthenol.
2. Nourishing Conditioner ($9.49) - Contains vitamin E, coconut oil, and jojoba oil.
3. Frizz Control Serum ($8.99) - Contains vitamin A and olive oil. Supposed to help smooth, add shine, and help fight shrinkage.
4. Soft Hold Creme ($9.49) - The line's main styler.  Formulated with aloe.
5. Weightless Moisturizing Creme ($8.99) - A lightweight moisturizer with coconut and vitamin E. 
6. Boosting and Defining Leave-In ($8.99) - Also meant to be a detangler. Contains jojoba and proteins.

This news makes me feel good because it goes to show that the natural hair movement must be catching on and gaining some momentum if a brand that I previously only knew to cater to relaxed women is making a line for "curly, kinky and wavy hair."  I'm not sure if I'll actually try any of the products, but then again, I just might.  Lately I've been interested in trying out a serum to see if it helps with frizz control, but I've been hesitant because all of the serums I've come across contain some type of silicone, usually within the first five ingredients.  There was nothing in the Drug Store News articles that suggested the line would be silicone free so that gives me pause.

But, all in all, the line looks like it will probably be a good addition to the options available to the natural hair community and I can't wait to see how it's received when it finally hits the shelves.  Do you plan on buying any of the products?

Drug Store News Article

Bantu Knot Out Fail

Rant and a Small Haul

Random Hair Thoughts

10 months, 1 week, 4 days natural.

I love my hair... I really do.  But I've just become so bored with it the past couple of days.  Even though I look at my reflection and acknowledge all the progress I've made with my hair since my big chop, I'm still impatient for more length.  As cute as I think twist outs look on me, I just can't stop myself from thinking they would be cuter if my hair was longer.  Waist length hair is a lofty goal and an immense amount of patience is required to reach it.

My hair goals and aspirations have grown and developed since I began this "journey."  At first it was just that I wanted long hair.  Then, I wanted long, healthy hair.  And finally, I chose a specific length to go for, one that would be sure to impress any who saw the glory of my crown, waist length hair.  After setting that goal, I clarified what it meant by saying I wanted waist length hair when stretched.  I can't imagine having waist length wash n go curls, but then again, why not?

I am still excited to see what my hair can accomplish with consistent good care and love, but I just wish I could fast forward the next three years to see what my hair will be in that time.  Growing natural hair is a tedious process.  I have never been so meticulous as to measure my hair every month to determine my monthly growth rate, but now I almost feel like I should.  At least that would give me a tangible measurement of my progress that I can look at month to month to determine what it working and what might not be working.

I've decided that I want to have my hair trimmed by the time I reach one year natural because it will have been a full eight months since I had it professionally cut by someone who knows how to approach curly hair.  At first I thought about flat ironing my hair to get at any extremely uneven, split, or knotted ends.  But then I threw that thought out for fear of heat damage.  Yes, having my hair straight would give me a more accurate cut (probably), but supreme accuracy isn't really necessary for someone who exclusively wears their hair in textures styles.  So the risk just doesn't seem worth it to me.  Like I said, I love my hair and I'll be damned if I go in for a simple trim and end up having to cut off more of my hair than I initially thought because I damaged it with extreme heat in the process.

...To some, my obsession with my hair and healthy hair care practices may seem a bit (or a lot) strange.  And I can understand that.  After all, hair, like every other part of the human body, gets worn down with time and can't remain the same after years and years of being on your head.  But growing my hair to my waist is something I have to do for myself.  I told myself that Black women are no different from the women of any other race, and can grow long, healthy, beautiful, natural hair if only they care for it in a way that will allow them to do so.  So I have to prove it with my own hair.

I already know a lot of the people in my life won't believe my hair can grow down to my waist until the day it does.  And I want to see each and every one of their faces when once that happens.  Especially everyone who was anti-natural hair.  That includes family members.  I already know I'm going to be hearing how pretty and "good" my hair is from the very same people that implied it was nothing more than nappy.  So judge me if you will.  Call me vain, shallow, obsessed, whatever you think fits me.  But three years from now, when my hair is longer than most, if not all, of the Black women you know, who will have the last laugh??