Have a Happy Curl

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Happy Curls courtesy of Knot Today Leave-In and Kinky Curly Curling Custard applied in the shower on soaking wet hair and then air-dry.

Improvement on Bentonite Clay Treatment

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This is a quick post just to rave about my latest homemade treatment because I think it came out well. And I define well by how my hair feels, how my scalp feels - soft, and clean.

I started with a pre-shampoo scalp treatment using a product called Phytopolleine from the Phyto hair products brand. I used this stuff back when I had relaxed hair to improve the condition of my scalp and stimulate hair growth. And it works! It is really just a mixture of essential oils known to stimulate blood circulation and clarify the scalp and I warn you, it smells strongly. But if you can tolerate the strong smell, the best way to use it is as an overnight treatment if you know you're going to shampoo the next day. The scent doesn't fade so shampoo is your only option.
 I have been lazy lately so I  ended up putting it on just about an hour or two before shampooing.  I then shampooed, with Organix Coconut Milk, and applied this homemade conditioning treatment that's just a variation of my previous bentonite clay treatment but  seemed to work so much better at clarifying my hair, removing buildup and making my scalp feel so so clean. Here it is:
A little more than 1/4 cup bentonite clay
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed, grapefruit juice (strain to remove pulp which will get stuck in your hair and make this experience frustrating)
1/2 teaspoon shea butter (melted for better blending)
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 pinch of baking soda
Enough aloe vera juice to make the mixture not too thick. Mixture should be pour-able but thick.

I sectioned my hair and applied the treatment along the hair shaft from the root to the ends making sure to get the treatment on the scalp. I left the treatment on for less than ten minutes (just make sure not to let the treatment dry out in your hair). After washing the treatment out with warm water, I rinsed with vinegar water rinse (about a 1/4 cup vinegar to a jug of water).

My hair felt squeaky (as in squeaky clean) so to get my hair smooth again, I applied my usual Kerastase Oleo-Curl Intense deep conditioner and left for a few minutes while I trimmed my ends.
After I rinsed out the conditioner, I applied a mixture of coconut oil and shea butter to moisturize and let air-dry.

Bentonite Clay Treatment and other Ramblings

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Hi Dear Readers,

I know I have been neglecting posting updates. Partly, I have felt perpetually exhausted the past week or so and on the weekends is my only time to catch up...which I never do because on the weekend I'm just trying to do the things I wasn't able to do during the week. Work is taking up all my energy - mostly my mental energy.
Anyway, yes alot has been going on with my hair. She has grown out alot. I would say she is about 3 inches now. And yes, I did say 'she.' When I first started this blog I vowed to never give my hair a name or a any other silly moniker as I had been reading on other blogs where the bloggers named their hair! I mean how silly is that.....until I started referring to my hair as 'she.'

I don't know what it is, I just feel as though it has a personality, character. I think that is true of all natural hair and maybe I just didn't realize this before because I had 'smoothed' all the character out of her with relaxers. So maybe your next question is does she actually have a name.

Kind of.

I am torn about it and mostly just too embarrassed that I actually gave my hair a name. But really I haven't because I rarely ever use it just because I haven't found a moniker that just feels right to say.
So for now she is still just 'my hair' except my hair is a she. I know your next question is why a 'she.' Well of course because I'm a she, dohhh! I mean how weird would it be for me to be a female and refer to my hair as a he? So you can tell I'm just feeling kind of silly today. And I'm still exhausted.

I have meant to post pictures of my last natural treatment. They are still in my phone and I will post them, really.

So what have my hair and I been up to lately?

Well, I got my Qhemet Biologics products last weekend and I have used a little of it. Not enough to do a review but I plan on doing twists this weekend (yes she has grown enough (barely) for twists, I can't believe it), and I will use the Amla and Olive Heavy Cream to do it so I'll tell you how it turns out.

I also did another natural treatment,  this past weekend. I think I will keep doing the weekend treatments. What I have been doing is co-washing during the week and then do a shampoo wash on the weekend and then a treatment .I like my hair and scalp to be clean and buildup-free before I apply the treatments so I'm not left with gunky hair. My bad though I forgot to take pictures during the treatment so you could see the before, during and after.
Doesn't really matter if I keep forgetting to post them right? But next time, I will. Its just being a blogger is so much work. I didn't realize but I look on other blogging sites and they have pictures of everything and it just looks like they put so much time into it....time I do not have. But I dedicated my self to this and I do like sharing my experiences even if I only have one follower **sniff sniff**
If there are more of you out there who read this, please please send comments of your experiences, ask questions if you want or just say hi, just so I  know you read it. It will motivate me to keep this up long-term.

Anyway so here is a breakdown of my home-made treatment from this past weekend. This one is with bentonite clay and it came out great. Except for the pieces of lemon pulp that got left in my hair. Tip: Juice the lemon separately and make sure you only apply the juice and no pulp (or just get lemon juice)
1/4 cup bentonite clay (you might need more of these ingredients if your hair is longer than 4 inches. Mine is still a twa).
1 teaspoon virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil
1 tablespoon shea butter
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup strong warm jasmine flower tea (two jasmine flower tea bags left to sit in warm water about 10 minutes)
Mix all in blender. If you have problem scalp (dry, itchy) also apply a drop of tea tree or rosemary oil (and I literally mean a drop, the stuff is strong and smells strongly).
Apply the smooth mixture to clean scalp and hair. Apply in sections to make sure it gets unto the scalp. Gently massage scalp as you smooth it in. (I don't recommend massaging the scalp after the initial application as the mixture dries out due to the clay which will make this difficult)
Use a shower cap for about 3-5 minutes then let sit another 3-5 minutes. Try not to let the treatment dry on your scalp.

You can tell when it comes close to drying, because it will get stickier and less liquid-y. Rinse out with lukewarm or cold water. Cold water should seal hair cuticle with all those great oils you put in your treatment.
Your hair will curl or kink, or whatever it does in happiness. Because the treatment makes the hair feel squeaky, I then apply a deep condition for literally 1 minute just to get the slippery, silky feeling back in my hair. Rinse out again and style as usual with your usual oils. After I did this treatment and the deep conditioning, I twisted my hair, single-strand, using just coconut oil and after twisting, re-worked the twists with shea butter to seal them. I left this overnight and loosened the twists after spritzing with water the following day. The twists were ok, My hair is fine (opposite of thick) so you could see the parts like crazy, I had to do some work to cover up the parts and some parts of my hair like the middle, refused to twist, I'm not sure why and I am concerned, I had to seal those twists with aluminum foil (its all I had and it worked).

I did the treatment and twists on Saturday and even though on Sunday it looked aiight, I did not co-wash on Sunday and was surprised that on Monday my hair actually looked better than it did the day before! Its now Wednesday and I have not done a co-wash yet. I don't want to wash out the twists. I just let the hair get some steam when I shower by leaving it out (no shower cap) and moisturize with sweet almond oil and olive oil when I get out of the shower.
I hope I can improve on my twists, maybe do the twists smaller using the Amla and Olive Heavy Cream instead of just coconut oil, to get more definition longer. Its Wednesday though and even with my usual fuzz, it still looks good...at least to me (and that's all that matters).
I plan to co-wash this evening to wash out any buildup as I have been applying a little gel every morning after spritzing with water.
Anyway, that's it for now. Until next time.....peace out.

Homemade Protein Hair Treatment

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 I did a homemade conditioning treatment on Saturday and I think my hair loved it....
I went to whole foods and got the following:
Braggs Liquid Aminos
Unrefined honey
Avocado

Once  I got home, I whipped these up with some aloe vera gel (straight from the leaf but I don't think it matters), a few drops of olive oil and two teaspoons coconut milk. I won't give you the quantities because I think you will need different amounts of the above based on what your hair needs are. For me, I need lots of moisture because my hair tends to be dry so I had to include several drops of olive oil. Just as a starting point, I used only a half of a small avocado.

Warning: This stuff does not smell friendly thanks to the Liquid Aminos, but I read it makes a good protein treatment and is not too harsh on your hair which stronger protein treatments like Infusium is on mine (Infusium makes my hair feel sticky and brittle and staticky). Anyway, I whipped these in a blender and applied to hair after I had shampood with Organix coconut milk shampoo which I was so pleased to find at Wal-mart. I let it sit for about 30 minutes and when I washed it out my hair curls were very defined, I'll post pics later. I then conditioned with a random daily conditioner I bought at whole foods that I plan to use to co-wash (I'd been using the kerastase oleo-curl but I think this is meant to be a deep conditioner and its too expensive for me to be using everyday).

After I got out of the shower, my hair felt and looked so happy like it was curling  up in happiness.

Dating and Natural Hair

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I found this article courtesy of Leave In The Kinks blog site by someone named Alycia(?). I found it so enlightening, I wanted to share.
I have had my own concerns about the impact that going natural would have on my dating life. Mostly because my sister, whom I was on this journey with together to grow out our hairs and then do the Big Chop, chickened out of doing the big chop due to this very concern.
Anyway, here is the article:

Just the Way You Are

A while ago, I was reading one of the posts on this site, “Hair-A Man’s Perspective.” It brought up the much-debated question about whether men are attracted to women with natural hair. After reading that post, I reflected on my earlier thoughts about guys and natural hair.



I remember the anxiety that I had when I was transitioning. I grew up associating long, straight hair with beauty. In movies and on television, the women with the willowy, flowing hair were the ones who always got the man, not the girl with the naps. As the date for my planned big chop grew near, my apprehension increased. With one snip of the scissors, would I be killing my dating life in one fell swoop?



Throwing caution to the wind, I cut my long hair anyway, and gasp!…my social life was not destroyed. In fact, my little kinky afro became the center of attention. The men I encountered showered me with compliments and lauded me for my uniqueness. Five years later, I’m still proudly wearing my natural hair. I now have a wonderful husband who said that one of the first things he noticed about me was my hair.



I know other women who have faced the same anxiousness that I did when deciding to go natural. To satisfy my curiosity and ease their concerns, I decided to do an (unscientific) survey of men to get their thoughts on Black women and natural hair. Here is what they told me:





“There's something about the attitude of a natural-haired woman that is magnetic.”



“I appreciate someone who is courageous enough to show the world who they really are—including wearing the hair they were born with.”



“Women with natural hair are truly comfortable in their own skin.”



“Natural hair on a woman maintains the beauty and integrity of our heritage.”



“I love natural hair on a woman because it is an indelible part of her.”



Men are not attracted to women with natural hair? That is a myth! As all of us wavy, curly, kinky, nappy ladies know, real men honor and appreciate every part of us. They love us just the way we are.