Pictures of the Day

These are the result of my usual, Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, Olive Oil Eco Styler, and a little Garnier Fructis Sleek n Shine conditioner as a leave in for the smell. :) I liked my results.

How I Detangle My Hair

All in all, this took me a little under twenty minutes to do. I think it goes a little bit faster in the shower because my hair is soaking wet, and I can take advantage of the water stream to help me detangle. But I don't think twenty minutes is bad. That just shows that I'm taking my time and preserving my hair. I hope you like it! :)

If you have any additional tips or suggestions, let me know in the comments.

Dealing With Natural Hair Haters

In three days I will be seven months natural. I'm really happy with the progress that my hair has made so far. It's been growing consistently, I haven't had any major setbacks, and I've received a lot of complements from people I know telling me that my natural hair fits me much better than my relaxed hair ever did. I happen to agree with this sentiment. Lol

In my opinion, the Black community has come really far in regards to how natural hair is viewed. It used to be completely taboo to wear your hair in its natural state unless you had "good" hair (which I don't believe exists). Now though, you can rock your hair in all of it's natural glory and not really have to worry about the opinion of the majority. They either don't care, or genuinely like it.

However, there are still people in our community that hold us back as a whole when it comes to accepting our hair as it grows from our heads. Some people have been so conditioned to believe in "good" and "bad" hair, that Blacks naturally have "bad" hair, and that relaxers are necessary to look presentable, that they will show actual anger toward women who choose not to process their hair to change its appearance. 

A few days ago I was on facebook and a friend of mine reposted a link to my YouTube video on determining whether you're being too rough when detangling your hair. Someone (who shall remain nameless) commented on the link to my video and said some very rude and derogatory comments about my hair including calling me "nappy headed" and a "tumbleweed." When I responded the person in question proceeded to contradict herself and look stupid. I just laughed at her and kept it moving.

But I have to admit, it definitely struck a cord with me how someone could be so vicious and cruel to someone they don't even know and try to clean it up by saying it's "just my opinion." Why does our community have to be so quick to judge and put others down because they choose not to follow along with the majority's standard of beauty? Why do people have to constantly resort to saying things like, "Get a perm you nappy headed hoe," when they have no other come back? What is so wrong with accepting my hair as it naturally grows? Is there really anything that makes anyone else's hair better or worse than mine? Isn't it all hair?

The thing I want everyone who is going natural to take away from this is to understand that you will encounter hate from people. Both expected and unexpected. But that should never make you feel like you aren't good enough, or you made a mistake when you decided to go natural. The day all of this went down, I had an absolutely wonderful hair day, and I really think it was because my hair wanted to prove a point. Lol The grass is always greener until you get to the other side. Trust me, someone somewhere wishes they had hair like yours, even if you can't fathom a single reason why they would. Everyone's hair is beautiful in its own unique way. God gave you the hair he did because he wanted you to have it. Love it. 

So brush off anything a hater has to say. Just understand that they've been conditioned to be as ignorant as they are. You are enlightened and above it all. Lol, I'm just kidding but seriously. Just be proud of what you have. I put a link to the convo that took place below so you all can draw your own conclusions. As always, leave any thoughts you have in the comments. Later loves. :-*



   

The World's Largest Gummy Worm... O_o

Just found this video on YouTube... I HAD to share it with you guys. Lol

My Channel/Blog Move Announcement

The Troy Davis Execution

I just wanted to share this clip that I found on YouTube, from my favorite online news show. I'm sure you all have heard about this case and if not, here's a brief overview. I wish I could say I'm surprised by this decision but I'm not at all. Troy Davis was Black, so... You can draw your own conclusions. 

I Think It's Time to Switch it Up

I was browsing YouTube a little while ago and I happened upon a video called "Natural Hair Texture" on OurLovelyLourdes's channel. It made me question whether wash n go's are really as easy as they seem. Tiffany, the vlogger, showed her hair on camera after she washed her hair wish shampoo, conditioned, detangled, rinsed, and air dried with no product in her hair. Her hair was all poof until you got to the ends, where they became pretty little curl units.

In the early stages of my hair journey all I did was "out" styles. Normally it was a bantu knot - out. I loved the way my curls looked! They always turned out so pretty and soft. The picture posted was taken March 30, 2011, making me one month and two days post BC. During this time I was mostly using natural products and occasionally some conditioner. My hairstyles would normally last for about three days but could often be stretched to about five. Shea butter was a regular in my routine because it always made my hair soft.

But even though I loved this routine there was something wrong with it. In the past I've been really lazy when it comes to hair care. That was partially due to ignorance, but due to bad practices of my own as well. So when I first started setting my hair in Bantu knots and twist outs, it was the first time since around sophomore year in high school that I was really dedicated to taking care of my hair. And I didn't like all the time it took to do my hair this way. It made my arms hurt and I was just beginning my hair journey,so I hadn't fully switched my mindset from relaxed to natural hair. Wash n go's seemed so fast and easy and I thought of them as the natural hair style that shows your "real" texture and I wanted to see what that was like. I guess I kind of felt like I was being dishonest about what my "real" texture was.

But I have paid close attention to my hair up to this point and I've learned a lot along the way. In my post talking about my hair curly hair theory I said why I think hair's curl pattern changes as it ages. I tried to explain my thoughts as clearly as possible but I still wished I could have had a visual showing exactly what I was talking about. When I saw her hair I immediately thought it was a perfect example of my theory so I had to repost it. I think this video illustrates the fact that our "real" texture looks nothing like the way it does from wash n go's. Tiffany hit the nail on the head when she said it was all an illusion that we play with hair products to make it look the way we want.

So since we manipulate our hair into looking a way it wouldn't otherwise no matter how we style it, I'm thinking that I want to revisit Bantu Knot Outs. I'd be really excited to see what my hair looks like in that style with an additional five months of growth. I think I can be a little more patient when it comes to my hair and this will give me a style that will probably last longer than a wash n go. Not to mention I won't have to deal with all the single strand knots I've been finding in my hair lately. Ugh!

What do you think about all this? Share your thoughts below. :)

How I Did My Hair Today

So this isn't exactly how I did my hair today, more so how I did it yesterday, lol. I meant to put this post up yesterday but some ugly internet drama had me wanting to stay away from the keyboard for a while, so I'll just share it now.

I wore (and am still wearing) my hair in a fro hawk done on Wash n Go hair. I did my hair in the shower, first detangling with my paddle brush while my hair was loaded with Yes To Cucumbers conditioner and Giovanni 50:50 balance conditioner. I didn't section or anything because I was in a rush to finish my hair, but I should have gone ahead and detangled in sections. :(

But anywho, after my hair was detangled, I just let the conditioners sit in it for a few minutes while I completed the rest of my shower routine. Once I was finished with that, I split my hair in half, one section on top, one on the bottom, and rinsed out most but not all of the conditioner. Then I added a nice fingertip full of Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie to my hair via smoothing and raking, then followed with Olive Oil Eco Styler gel. I then split the top section in two and followed the same process on each of those sections.

To finish off, I put some extra virgin olive oil in my palms and spread it throughout my hair to seal in all the moisture and soften up the gel's hold. I put my head back under the shower stream for just a second to give it one last rinsing of water, then shook my hair out vigorously, while covering my face with my hands. This allowed all of the curls to separate and clump into their own preferred units. The last thing I did before stepping out of the shower was to scrunch my hands all throughout my hair to get rid of the excess water and product.

After that, all I did was pin back the sides, put the front up into a little quiff, and diffuse for a few minutes before stepping out of the house. I had a GREAT hair day, despite people on the internet trying to bring me down and convince me I was a "tumbleweed head, nappy headed hoe" who needs to get a perm. Excuse my french but f**k the haters! My hair is fabulous, and I'm beautiful so if you don't think so, you can go somewhere else. Bye loves! :-*

Preview For OJ's New Mixtape, Coming Soon

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