It's been a little over one year since my last relaxer and almost one year since I big chopped.  It's been an enlightening journey and one I am happy that I was brave enough to take.  I wish I had not let fear control me all of those years.  I'm glad I found enough courage (through my daughter) and enough faith (through God) to embark on what has been a major acceptance of who I am.  I can finally say I LOVE who I am and who I've become.  God is good!!!  

My current regimen consists of cowashing with Aussie Moist (love this stuff)   .  I was previously using Herbal Essences Hello Hydration (smells delish) but in two weeks it dried my hair out somewhat (has sodium hydroxide which is lye but is stated to be a ph balancer in the conditioner).  No, I think I'll stay away from that.  I had chosen it over the Aussie because of the aloe vera in the Aussie.  Aloe had previously not been my friend (causing allergic reactions).  However, by the grace of God, it's worked wonders for me as a cowash.  

My leave-in is still Tresemme Naturals.  Love it!!!!  I am quite surprised at how our hair changes over time.  In the beginning when I tried to use this with Eco Sytler it flaked something horrible.  Now it is a beautiful combination with my Eco Styler (but then again could have been that Tresemme did not like the clear gel.  I, currently, use Eco Styler with Argan oil and LOVE IT).  

My oil of choice now (to seal in the moisture) is EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).  My hair and skin (cleared up my adult acne) love this stuff!!!  

Finally, as stated above, my styler is Eco Styler gel with Argan oil.  It has a pleasant (not overwhelming scent) and doesn't leave my hair flaky or dry.  

Since switching to Aussie I've been able to achieve 3-day hair which has worked wonders (in saving money spent on products and time) in the mornings.  

I'm looking forward to the continued journey.  

I have been strictly Curly Girl since I big chopped on July 24, 2012 except one brief weekend when I tried the Tightly Curly Method

Tightly Curly Method .  With the one episode of the Tightly Curly Method I had bought some Herbal Essence Hello Hydration   .    I ended up not using it due it containing sodium hydroxide (which I've recently learned neutralizes with water so it's okay to co-wash with; just not ok to use for a leave-in).   So, last Saturday (04/27/13) I decided to step outside of the CG zone and co-wash with the Herbal Essence.  Yes the FEAR was overwhelming but my curosity was stronger.  Herbal Essence contains one silicone: Bis Aminopropyl Dimethicone.  This cone washes out with a low sulfate shampoo or with Cocamidopropyl betaine.  Johnson's baby shampoo contains the Cocamidopropyl betaine.  

I decided I would try this new method for one week to see what effects it would have on my hair.  I was actually quite surprised.  My curls became tighter, my hair was shinier, and I ended up with soft curls with no crunch despite the use of the Eco Styler gel.  No scrunching out the crunch was necessary. The most amazing benefit of all:  my edges are starting to grow in.  I attiribute this to the conditioner.  I have been trying to get my edges to grow in for over 9 months.   I ended up washing out the cone this past Sunday (to avoid build-up) with Johnson Baby Shampoo.  I deep conditioned with Shea Mositure Deep Treatment Masque (with olive oil added in for extra moisture).  So far, so good!!  I give Herbal Essence Hello Hydration two thumbs up!!  

Here is a picture.  These were taken one week apart.  On the left is my hair strictly CG.  On the right is my hair four days after beginning my morning co-wash with HEHH (Herbal Essence Hello Hydration).  I'm psyched!  :)

I just measured the back of my hair which was closely cropped at the time of my big chop.  This month will make 7 months and my hair has grown 5 inches.  

In the beginning and Currently

I am amazed at the difference in the texture (wouldn't have believed it myself if I didn't have pictures).  I LOVE the Curly Girl Method!    

Here's a chart that was found at naturallycurly.com for curly hair:

NaturallyCurly

Well, I know it may appear that I have abandoned my curly hair journey.  However, I have only been on hiatus trying to find winter products that would work with my hair.  I am still not really sure of my hair type….beginning to hate the whole traditional hair typing system.  However, I clipped a piece of my hair and compared it to the Curly Girl hair typing system  (which is easier) and think that I have Botticelli Curls (see my pic below and let me know which curl type you think I have).   My beloved Suave Coconut conditioner started flaking in my hair.  This led to experimenting with other hair products (have to be careful because Eco Styler doesn’t play friendly with a lot of products).  I found Ology (Walgreens brand) Cucumber and White Pear conditioner .  This product worked as a leave-in but the drying time was off the chain (9-10 hours per day).  I am in Kentucky and the winter season here is no joke.  Going out in at 7:30 am with wet hair when the temp most times is in the teens is no joking matter.  I tried sitting under the hair dryer (big mistake….hard hair and this was on low heat for only about 10 minutes).  I tried diffusing….even worse.  I thought I was doomed to the long daily air drying time.  That’s when I came across a product I had brought back in the summer: Shea Moisture Coconut & Hisbiscus Curling Milk .  I had previously used this on dry hair and felt it didn’t do much for my hair.  This time I decided I would use it as my leave-in, after cowashing, on soaking wet hair.  Two quarter sized dollops, followed by my EVOO and Eco Styler Argan Oil gel and I was in love!!!  Bonus: my hair dried in 6 hours!!!!!!  Extra bonus:  It completely eliminated the crunch….no need to scrunch.  My curls were extremely soft and defined.   I will attach pictures below.  Also, during this time (12/15/12 to be exact) I completed one last chop on the scab hair.  Please see my prior posts to see my battle with the scab hair.  This was my fourth and final time cutting my hair since July 2012 and voila’ success!!!!  I am attaching pictures of the hair that I cut off and pictures of my hair now that the scab hair is finally gone.   I’m so happy that I made this move and went natural.  It was the best decision ever and I probably would have never done it had it not been for my daughter (and her want for straight hair) and the last relaxer totally destroying my hair.  As my journey continues my mission is to grow out my hair and keep it as healthy as possible.  My new challenge: grow out my thinning edges in the front of my hair (as a result of the last relaxer).  Last night I decided to massage coconut oil into my hair (100% coconut oil used for cooking).  It’s supposed to penetrate and moisture the hair.  This evening I bought castor oil .  I’m a little worried about using the castor oil because I’m afraid it might weigh my hair down (as grapeseed oil did…..even when used sparingly).  Coconut oil and olive oil seem, so far, to be the only oils that haven’t weighed my hair down and made my curls limp and greasy looking (and this is after co-washing the oils out of my hair….or so I thought I had gotten the oils out of my hair…..ended up shampooing each time with a sulfate-free shampoo).   I purchased the castor oil at Walgreens.  It’s not cold pressed but it is 100% castor oil and that’s all I’m concerned about at this moment.  I plan to massage this into my scalp a minimum of three times each week.  But I'm getting ahead of myself and that’s a discussion for my next blog.  Later!  

Updated pictures of my hair since going curly girl July 2012 (my hair is completely dry):  

These pictures are the back of my hair.

This is the top of my hair.

No more scab hair on the sides of my hair!!!  Hooray!!

The last bits of scab hair that I cut off on the left and right side of my hair on 12/15/12.  The white stuff is conditioner so I could tell where the scab hair was without cutting my other curls (that weren't damaged hair).

This is a piece of my hair that I recently cut.  I think it looks like the Botticelli curls (Curly Girl method of hair typing).  What do you think?  

Botticelli curlCherub curlsCorkicelli curlsCorkscrew curlsFractal or zigzag curlsS/wavy curlsWavy hair

It's kind of hard to tell at a glance between Boticelli, Cherub, and Wavy.  Cherub hair is baby fine and thin (so that rules that out for me).  That leaves Boticelli and Wavy.  A hairdresser years ago told me my natural hair was wavy (when I had gone for a hair consultation).  I blew off what she said thinking she didn't know what she was talking about and that I HAD to have the relaxer.  This was while I was in college.  If only I had listened.  I think I fall more in line with Boticelli though because my hair seems to be a tighter curl pattern than the "wavy" hair but who knows.  Time will tell (as my hair grows).

What is your opinion?  

So, it's been 4 months since I began my natural hair journey.  As you know, I've been doing the Curly Girl Method.  For a while I was following it to a tee.  However, I've learned that each person's hair is different and you have to do what works best for you.  Here's what I've learned:

1. Just because a product works well for someone else does not mean it will work well for me:  In the beginning I was watching many YouTube videos and the sworn testimonies of others about different products.  Garnier Fructis Pure and Clean was one of those products.  My hair looked like a hot mess.  I wanted to give it a chance and stuck with it for about a week.  It just wasn't for me.  Lesson learned:  Just because it makes the YouTube Queen look like Halle Berry doesn't mean I'll be quite as fortunate.
2. If it ain't broke don't fix it:  My staple products are VO5 Champagne Silk as a prepoo, Tresemme Naturals Jojoba and Coconut conditioner as a cowash, Suave Naturals Coconut conditioner as a leave-in, olive oil as a sealant, L'Oreal Frizz Taming Creme Serum, and Eco Styler gel with Argan oil.  However, boredom temporarily makes me lose my sanity and search for a new product that doesn't perform nearly as well thus sending me back to my staples.   Lesson learned:  If something is working well for me, I must stick with it no matter how enticing new products look in their pretty packages.  **Bonus Lesson:  Just because the YouTube gurus told me to avoid protein conditioners did not mean they were right.  My hair LOVES the product and without it...my hair looks a hot mess.  I've learned to follow my own plan!!  
3. Sometimes less is not more:  In the beginning I was scared to use a lot of conditioner as a leave-in as instructed.  Why?  I was scared the white film would not disappear (in the case of the Tresseme Naturals my fears were confirmed but that's a prior story).    Anywho....I learned as I went along that it was okay to douse my hair in Suave Naturals Coconut and as a result my hair started to grow more quickly as a result increased moisture.  Lesson learned:  I need to learn to step past my fear to see the true potential for my natural hair.
4. No I don't have to follow a method to the tee for it to work for me: The Curly Girl Method states to put conditioner on your fingertips, distribute it evenly to the other hand and massage your scalp beginning on the sides, move to the front, continue to the middle and end in the back of your hair.  It also said to rinse your hair by leaning back and letting the water run through your hair so as not to disturb the curl pattern.  Okay, I did this for months until I got tired of it.  What did I do?  I started pouring the conditioner in my hand and slathering it through my hair wherever I wanted to start (usually the front) and then scrubbing my scalp.  I also run my fingers through my hair as I rinsed.  What happened?  No disturbed curl pattern and my hair looks even better.  Lesson learned: Stepping outside of the box helped me see more clearly and develop better hair. 
5. Scab hair sucks: When I started this journey, the parts of my hair had been most damaged by my prior relaxers was growing out wiry....really wiry.  I started researching and found the only thing I could do was moisturize and be patient (up to a year's worth of patience to completely heal my scab hair).  My hair is starting to develop a curl pattern in that area but not as fast I'd like.  Lesson learned:  Patience will have to be my virtue on this one.
   
6. I love wash and go: I never could have fathomed the freedom of wash and go.  No more hours flat ironing or curling my hair.  No more washing my hair and sitting under a hooded dryer for nearly two hours for my hair to dry only to have to follow that up with styling.  No more damage of a relaxer.  Now my hair routine from start to finish takes about 15-20 minutes.  Let FREEDOM ring.  Lesson learned: Letting go of the norm (relaxing my hair) freed me from more than just spending loads of time doing my hair.  It freed me from the bondage of caring what other people think.  I LOVE my natural hair.
7. I am more confident with natural hair: Going natural was the best thing I could have done for myself.  Being a heavy-set woman and going extremely short is not the thing to do for most women.  I knew my confidence level would have to increase and increase quickly.  Don't get me wrong I was very afraid of 1.) going natural and 2) looking like a fat boy.  But going back to my roots and performing the big chop did something in me I could never have realized: my confidence level soared!  I started receiving numerous compliments.  Was that as a result of the new hair....maybe but I think it's more of my increased confidence of finally accepting myself for who I am and what God gave me.  Lesson learned:  I really do love myself.  

So, tomorrow will officially be two months since my Big Chop and 3 months since my last relaxer (down with creamy crack!!).  I'm so psyched.  I've experimented a lot these last two months with products trying to find what works "for me" and what doesn't.  My hopes in posting this blog is that someone else gets the courage to find their "natural" self and hopefully try some of the products I've tried and post their experiences.  NATURAL seems to be a new, but growing, trend.  It's been very liberating and I'm so happy I made the choice to do this.    My fears about looking like a wooly mammoth when I started this have been removed from my mind.  The freedom that comes with a wash-and-go is PRICELESS!  No more worrying about styling tools (I use none....not even a comb....my fingers do the work).  No more heat from the flat irons or curling irons (and I air dry).  No more worrying about having time in the mornings to get myself "together".  No more spending an hour rolling my hair at night.  No more itchy, dry scalp.  No more breakage.  Just healthy hair.  Lorraine Massey rocks with her research into curly hair and providing The Curly Girl Method to the world!  My daughter has even developed love for her hair (which makes me VERY happy).  It's all good.

The routine I have settled on that has worked wonders for my hair is:  VO5 Champagne Silk as a pre poo followed by Tresseme' Naturals Coconut and Jojoba as a co-wash.  I then soak my hair in Suave Naturals Coconut conditioner followed by L'Oreal Eversleek Frizz Taming Serum.  Last, but not least, I apply my Eco Styler Argan Oil gel.  My hair is now moisturized all day and into the next day.  It feels soft and is growing at a healthy rate.  I will never go back to the creamy crack!!  NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!  I'm so happy my daughter never had to endure the pain of being a slave to a hair treatment and never will have to.  

This is the night of my Big Chop (or should I say morning as it was after 1:00 am) on 07/24/12.

This is the morning after my Big Chop.  Love what conditioner and gel does for the hair.  

The back of my hair in the beginnning.  Looked okay but dry.  

My hair now.  More curls and more moisture.  (odd angle, hard to take a pic of the back of your head by yourself.  LOL)

Even the scab hair is better!!  This was when I started.  

This is after.  More curls and less "hard" hair). Pics are blurry because I couldn't get a good angle...my daughter took the other pics.

Overall I'm so happy and looking forward to the rest of my curly journey!  

So,  I decided to switch things up a bit.  As you may recall I was using Suave Naturals Coconut conditioner as my leave-in and Tresseme Naturals as my co-wash because of Tresseme's inability to play friendly with my Eco Styler gel.  However, while out on a shopping trip I discovered there are so many Eco Styler gels (I hit the jackpot).  I decided upon the blue Eco Styler gel with a hold of "5".  My clear Eco Styler gel has a hold of "10".  I decided to give my Tresseme Naturals another try as a leave-in.  So today, I switched it up and used my Suave Naturals Coconut conditioner as my co-wash (must admit it's not as thick as the Tresseme and I missed the Tresseme while washing my hair).  I then applied a generous amount of the Tresseme Naturals followed up by my L'Oreal Frizz Taming Creme Serum  (love, love, love this stuff) and then applied the blue Eco Styler gel .  Even though my hair is still quite short, it takes a while to dry.  It took around four hours for my hair to dry and surprise NO WHITE FLAKES in my hair!  I'm so psyched!  My hair feels super soft...not crunchy like with the firmer hold of the clear gel.  My curls are beautifully defined and I'm one happy curly girl!!  

Bonus: It's for color treated hair so my hair (which I recently colored black after the Bozo the Clown incident) is thanking me!!  

Give it a try and tell me what you think.  

A lot of people find that the curl typing system is controversial.  Most believe it's a way of saying one curl pattern is better than another when, in fact, the reason the curl typing system was created was to show you how to care for your individual hair.  Nothing more.  Once you know your hair type, you're better able to search online for products suited for your hair type and look for hairstyles suitable for your hair type.  Of course, the choice of products will also depend on your hair's porosity, width, and density but at least you'll be headed in a more positive direction once you learn your hair type.  See the chart below to determine what your hair type is.  My hair currently is 3b on the top and back and 3c on the sides.  I'm not sure what the sides will eventually look like (due to the scab hair issue).  But this is where I currently stand and I am better able to deal with the hair that is growing out of my scalp at present.  

The letter a, b, or c after the number tells you how thick the hair strand is.

Type 1 hair is straight with no curl or wave pattern.

Type 2 hair has no real curl but some soft waves are present.

Type 3 hair is "S" shaped and has a more definite curl pattern.  It will either straighten or curl up into ringlets when wet.  Will dry in a tighter curl pattern.  

Type 4 hair has no "S" shape.  It has kinks and twists that form either an "L" or an "O" shape or tight coils.  This curl pattern doesn't change in appearance when wet or dry.  This is the most fragile of all the hair types due to the inability of the hair's natural oil to reach the ends of the hair.

Pictures of the different hair types are as follows:

 1a  1b  1c

2a  2b  2c

3a

 3b

 3c

 4a   4b  4c

So, during the last several years I've colored my hair.  The most usual color has been either dark brown or black even though my natural hair color is light brown.  The darker color has always been more flattering against my skin tone.  Well, I decided it was time to color (and cover up those grays) again.  So, I decided that since I was adventurous enough to cut my hair then maybe a change in color might not be so bad.  So, I did a poll and several people agreed on red.  So off to the store I go.  I'm allergic to aloe (as I've mentioned before) so that made it a little tough to find a semi-permanent color (please remember the color is semi-permanent).  I settled on Dark and Lovely Ravishing Red.  Looked harmful enough....not too bright.  

I proceeded to put this color in the front of my hair and realized I hadn't washed my hair first so I quickly rinsed and washed my hair.  This is when I noticed the color had already taken (in about 2 minutes).  This should have been my first RED flag.  But no, I continued on.  The box said for more VIBRANT color to sit under a hooded dryer for 20 minutes.  So, yes this is what I did.  Quite messy! My daughter had to make several trips to the kitchen sink for wet paper towels to wipe up the side spills flowing from my head which she described as "looking like blood".    At 17 minutes, I could take no more and made a mad dash to the bathroom to rinse it out.  It took about 15 minutes for the water to flow "clear" as the directions stated.  So, I excitedly ran to the mirror only to find .  WTH????????  I wanted to cry!  What was I supposed to do with the Bozo the Clown look?  It looked nothing like the box said it would (you know the side pic with "if your hair color is this....this should be your result).  It had to be a joke.  Bring out the hidden cameras!!  But alas, it wasn't.  Panic set in.  I mean this color is a good look for a boa but NOT the hair.  I'm not good at sporting a Ronald MacDonald look!!!  I had to think quick.  It was already past midnight and I had to get up at 5:30 am for work.  My first thought was "don't go to work" but then I remembered my overtime and realized if I didn't go I wouldn't get paid overtime.  I'm sorry not even Bozo the Clown could make me give up my money this close to Christmas!!  So, on to .  WASH MY HAIR as many times as it would take to get rid of it.  Remember, at the beginning of my blog I said this was semi-permanent color but somehow I think that was a misprint on the box.  

Here's what I did:  

Washed my hair with and then I remembered this was silicone free so it was probably not harsh enough (and the color was still there).    

Second, I washed my hair with and then remembered this was a worse choice because it's sulphate and silicone free.  You see panic makes you do stupid things!!  

Third, being in true panic mode I frantically tried to remember what the harshest shampoo I had in the house was (luckily I hadn't given away my hair products yet).  I had heard Pantene strips perms so why not use it for the color.  So I used and washed my hair TWO more times.  Yep, we're up to four times being washed!  The color was still there and hanging on for dear life!!!  Why?????

Remembering none of this was Curly Girl friendly I washed one last time (up to five times washed) with to remove the silicones.

Exhausted at this point, I decided I would just put conditioner in my hair and call it a night.   However, I just couldn't live with the thought of being Bozo for the whole day so I rinsed this out and lo and behold I noticed that the conditioner made more color come out than the shampoo (go figure).  So I got an idea!!

I decided to use  and cover my hair with a plastic cap for 30 minutes hoping the sea kelp (detoxing ingredient) would draw out the color. I must note that my head felt like it was on FIRE this entire time (I guess numerous washes with non-friendly CG products had really opened up my pores).  But I hung in there.  Yep, more color down the drain.  But my hair was still pink.  UGH!!!!

So, I decided at that point I would repeat the process.  I did another round of  and combined it with .  I then added a plastic cap, tied my hair up with two scarves (so the cap wouldn't slide off) and slept in my combined formula.  I could barely go to sleep due to the intense (what felt like FIRE) on my head.  I am a DETERMINED woman though!!!

Fast forward 3 hours later (yep it was after 2 when I finally went to bed).  I was still panicked at looking like a clown so I had to think of what else I could do.  Vinegar!!  I rinsed my combo out and then I poured white vinegar on my hair, covered with a plastic cap for 20 minutes and then jumped in the shower and cowashed one last time with .  I stepped out of the shower and Praise God the color was at a normal level that I could tolerate.  One day and another cowash later here's my final results.  .

What did I learn from all of this?  Stick to what I know.  I will be going back to the black in two weeks.  Once you go black, you never go back.  

Can men do this program and succeed?  Again....YES!!  My uncle has decided to embark on his own curl journey with much success.  He, like me, was also surprised at his curls.  Take a look.  

See where my little cousin Jamie gets his good looks?  Way to go Uncle James (LOL, he's more like my brother-in-law).