Just checking In…finally!!

Hello and Happy New Year errybody!! Just checking in with an update on Skye's hair…finally.

January 2013

As some of you may recall, we have been growing out her texturizer for almost two years now and I am happy to report that she is about 95% natural! As you can see here:

Christmas Day 2012

I straightened her hair yesterday, for the first time in about a year, and I plan to get the rest of the texturized cut off…maybe. Lol. Her hair has grown A LOT over our journey, but since I've been cutting off the texturizer gradually it is still around the same length that it was before. See the comparison below:

January 2012

January 2013

I washed and conditioned with our usual products and banded her hair for about 4 days. In the pic below you can see some of the banded sections, the hair after I removed the bands, and the bottom row that I have already straightened.

To straighten, I used ION Heat Protectant Spray and a super nice CHI flat iron this time around. At night I just put it into 3 loose twists and put her satin bonnet over it, and below are the awesome results:)

Protective Style Challenge Week 1: Mini Twists!

Okay, so I told you guys that we're participating in the Beads, Braids and Beyond Protective Style Challenge and this post is about how I styled her hair this time around. I washed and detangled her hair on Thursday night (4/26), banded the roots, and twisted the rest. This is what her hair looked like when I started styling it on Saturday (4/27):

Here's a closer look at the two different textures that I'm dealing with. I am so proud of all of the new growth coming in and I really can't wait until she's 100% natural!

I initially planned on doing box braids, to try something new...but I didn't like how they were coming out. See below how they're bending and being weird:

 So I started over, and still wanting to try something new, I braided her hair about a half inch down then I started twisting. The result is below:

 I finished the twists on the Sunday night, finally, and I think that since I braided the roots they will last a little longer so we'll leave them in for about 6 weeks! These pics are from Monday, after school:

I've just been using African Royale Braid Spray (same as I use on my hair) to moisturize daily. And I also use a little Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer and coconut oil on her ends every few days, depending on how dry they look/feel.

After Easter style!!

Two posts in one night, this never happens right? Lol, I'm trying to make up for lost time here so I can suck a little less at blogging:)

Since I didn't wash Skye's hair this past weekend, it ended up being really greasy and suffering from a major product overload! I let her wear her Easter style on Monday and then washed it out Monday evening. I used Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curling Control Shampoo to wash and then Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner as a co-wash. I used Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer and sealed with jojoba oil as a leave in conditioner. I detangled her hair, banding the roots and twisting the rest down to the ends; then I let it air dry overnight. To style this morning, I just made two ponytails in the front and took the twists out and I left the back twisted. It came out pretty cute and it should last for the whole week!

 

 

Mini Twists Two Week Update!!

Hi guys, just doing a quick update to let you know how Skye's mini twists are holding up. This time around, I am only washing them every two weeks instead of every week like I did before.  I also put them into five big braids before the shampoo, which I think helped keep them from unravelling.  After I washed with the Creme of Nature Argan Oil Shampoo on Sunday, I used a little Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut Conditioner and rinsed it out after about five minutes.  After lightly drying with a towel, I unbraided/rebraided the twists while applying plenty of Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer to each section.  I let the braids stay in overnight, and when I took them out this morning we ended up with a really nice, moisturized Braid Out on the Mini Twists!! More pics below, thanks so much for reading!

Mini Twists 2012:)

Hello all! Since Skye had a four day weekend, I decided to do our first set of mini twists for 2012. On Friday, I washed her hair using Creme of Nature Argan Oil Shampoo. Then I used Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer as a leave in and banded her hair overnight. Saturday morning I started the mini twists, using Shea Moisture Curl and Style Milk. We took a few breaks throughout the day, and to my surprise we finished Saturday night. Usually it takes a couple of days, but she was a little trooper! I plan to add some coconut oil to the ends to make them curl up a bit more, but I am happy with how it turned out. We'll probably leave them in for at least 4-6 weeks and I will probably wash her hair every two weeks instead of weekly. More photos below, and some close-ups to see how much it has grown! Yay:) Hope you all have a lovely week!

Compare the above photos with the ones below (from 11/26/11) and you can really see the growth (see new growth, where the hair is thicker/healthier)!

Picture Day Hurr:)

Hi! Picture day was this past Tuesday and we went with a simple ponytail with flat twists in the front. I initially wanted a twist out in the back but I added some little rollers to the two strand twists and I didn't like the way the curls came out. I ended up just pulling it up into a high ponytail and it came out pretty cute, so she wore it for the whole week! I used Bee Mine Curly Butter on the flat twists, and Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer on the rest of her hair and sealed with coconut oil. It stayed really soft and moisturized for the whole week! I'll post the Spring Pictures as soon as I get them back, hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Here's one with the tiny rollers that made curls I didn't like! I ended up using flexirods to stretch out the curls more...then I braided the curls to get a more wavy look.

The Science of Black Hair: A Comprehensive Guide to Textured Hair Care by Audrey Davis-Sivasothy – Review

I heard about this book through one of the many hair blogs that I frequent and I couldn't wait to read it because it was so highly recommended! I ordered it through Amazon.com for my Kindle app and it was only $9.99, but I’m sure that I’ll purchase a hard copy later for my personal library.

The book begins with a couple of stories that sound a lot like my own, women speaking of growing up with hair that never quite seemed to grow past shoulder length and thinking that was the norm for our kind of hair. Until I BC’d in Oct 2011, I had had a relaxer since I was five years old. Even though I had to get touch ups every four to six weeks, I could never retain length. I really enjoyed reading these stories as I found them extremely relatable to my own personal hair journey!

I read most of the book (at least 95%), but unfortunately I have the attention span of a gnat and I had to skim over a lot of the technical jargon about hair follicle structure and cuticles and what not. But I’m glad that the information is there as I’m sure I will reread this a few more times so that the information sinks in. I have already implemented some new things into my daughter’s hair care regimen as well as my own, such as protein treatments and deep conditioning moisture treatments. I find it very helpful that the book teaches you how to start a healthy hair care regimen and the author even includes a product list! I also like that there is supportive information for those of us with natural, relaxed, and color treated hair. I would totally recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about how to properly care for their hair or their child’s hair!

Mini Twists - One Week Update!

Hi all and happy Friday! Just a little update on Skye's Mini Twists before I do her weekly wash tomorrow. Tuesday night, I put a little Nutiva Extra Virgin Coconut Oil on her ends and it worked wonders!! As you can see in the pictures below, her ends look so much healthier compared to how scraggly they looked after I first finished her twists.

The first two pictures are before using the coconut oil, the second two were taken today (a couple days after using the coconut oil)

The products I used on her hair this week are pictured below! I only used the coconut oil once this week (on Tuesday) and I only put it on her ends. I used the Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel a couple of days this week to make her edges lay down in the front. And finally, I sprayed her hair with the Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Hold & Shine Moisture Mist every other day.

Today I styled her twists with an ouchless ponytail holder for a little ponytail at the top with the rest hanging down, and topped it off with a pretty black headband with a flower on the side! I bought the headband at Family Dollar of course, for only $2!!