Swimming and Natural Hair

So this twist out is the result of the two strand twist in the post below. I rocked the two strand twist in various styles for a week, which included going swimming twice this week. each time I went swimming I rinsed my hair out with a mixture of olive oil and VO5's Kiwi clarifying conditioner. On Thursday I unraveled the twist and this is what I got...not bad and my hair felt nice and moisturised.
Notice how my ends arent frizzy...I'm really happy with the results.

Something New....

I think I'm going to try something a little different..at least for the next 2 months. I'm going to try and keep my hair in protected style during the week, and set if free on the weekend. Plus I'm adding swimming to my exercise routine 2 times a week and we know that chlorine can kill a FRO! this is how I'm currently rock'in my hair...two stand twist rolled around my head..lol You get the idea ;)

My Favorite Oils

Let me start off by saying that my hair prefers light, quick absorbing oils...especially during the summer months. For the most part I only use heavy oils like Castor oil on my ends.

Oil #1...Jojoba Oil. Jojoba oil is great for your skin and hair. It is light weight and penetrates the hair shaft without weighing down your hair and leaving it feeling greasy.

Oil #2...Camellia Oil. Camellia oil is a carrier oil. It provided moisture and elasticity to soften the hair. Again Camellia oil is light and absorbs quickly.

Oil #3...Macadamia Oil. Macadamia oil reduces dryness. It is a natural moisturizer and emollient (emollients attract and trap moisture from the air). Macadamia oil is light and non-greasy so it is easily absorbed into the hair shaft.

I use the above oils by making my own little oil mixture consisting of 2 ounces of Jojoba oil, 1 ounce of Camilla oil, and 1 ounce of Macadamia oil. It's that simple. The 4 ounce brew last me nearly 6 months and provides my hair with much needed moisture without being greasy or weighting my hair down.

Free Fro'in!!!

I LOVE this picture...hair out and Free Fro'in...I like to wear my hair OUT!!!!!!! I wore a protective style of cornrows once this winter for about 4 weeks and most recently I wore two strand twist for 2 weeks, but damn it I like my fro to be FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Some would say that wearing your hair "out" all the time is not good, especially during the winter months. I think I have had great growth in the 10 months that I've been natural but would I have even more growth if I wore my hair in protective styles more often???that's the question.

As summer approaches in the Twin cities I can't wait to flaunt my kinks in the glistening sun. I think i will pay particular attention to my hairs growth this summer. When I was relaxed my hair grew more in summer months than it did in the winter and I think the same will hold true now that I'm natural.

I plan to keep a close eye on my hairs growth from April to September...who knows I may have to reevaluate the benefits of protective styling this coming winter, but for now I am looking forward to summer and the growth that I hope the heat and humidity bring my hair.

Oh yeah...I plan on doing some kind color in the next few months (April or May) in the form of a rinse. I don't want to deal with the drying effects that come along with permanent color...at least now. I do love me some summer hi-lights so I may have to revisit the issue of permanent hair color next summer.

Hair Steamer

I did it..I fianlly ordered a hair steamer and got a GREAT deal on it too!! After doing my research I found that a lot of folks were getting them for about $140, but I managed to snag one on ebay for $119 and free shipping...GO ME!! I'll give a full report after I have used it a few times.

Here is an article about the benefits of using a hair steamer.

My First Henna Treatment

I'm a little late with this post,but I did my first henna treatment about 3 weeks ago. To be honest I was doing it to cover the few strands of gray hair that I had peaking through my fro.
I co-washed first with Aussie Moist (I LOVE this stuff) then i decided to also wash my hair after the co-wash. A lot of people only co-wash before doing a henna treatment but I thought it would be better to have clean hair so that there was no barrier between my hair and the henna. I washed my hair with this shampoo bar I purchased from an Indian store(i'll do a seperate post about this shampoo bar later).
After shampooing I applied the henna. I purchased my henna from Mehandi they make a finely sifted henna just for "African Hair." I mixed my henna with lemon juice until it became the consistency of lumpy mashed potatoes, covered it and let it sit over night. The next day before applying my henna I added 2 tablespoons of raw honey and brewed a cup of green tea which i added to the henna until it became the consistency of yogurt(next time I will go for the consistency of cake frosting). I applied the henna to my hair and covered it in a plastic shower cap and went to bed.

The next morning I filled my bath tub with water and bent over the tub dunking my head in the water to loosen the henna until most of it was out. Then i hopped in the shower and rinsed the rest of the henna out. I applied Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose Conditioner to my hair and covered with a plastic cap for an hour to achieve a good deep conditioning. And that was it...i rinsed it out and my gray was covered perfectly. I plan on doing henna every month.

By the way, I used the henna with the auburn stain, and it only took 100g to cover my hair.

Braids

Here are a few pictures of the braid style I'm wearing right now...it's nothing special (I can't stand the texture of the unbraided ends...I think I will use human hair with braid styles that have free ends from now on) but it will do until it's time to get them redone. I'm thinking about getting kinky twist the next time, and maybe a full sew in weave this spring. Check out Tori's blog....she is rocking a great full sew in while she transitions.

Bring on the Kinks!

I am so DONE with relaxers...the idea of sitting in Ben's chair again and getting my hair plastered with the creamy crack is unconscionable. It's not that my hair was in bad shape but the winter months are approaching and I just wasn't up for another Minnesota winter with dry brittle tresses....so just like that I AM DONE!

My last relaxer was on August 13, 2008. It's time to grow this mess out and whatever comes out of my scalp is the hair I will learn to love and take care of. I'm actually looking forward to rocking a twist out or a Afro puff.

The delima now is how long to transition. Right now I have braids in and have had them since September 4, 2008. I'm either thinking of doing the big chop in May of 2009 for my b-day which would give me 9 months of transition time, or to transition for a full year. At this point I am just playing it by ear, but I certainly will not transition for more than a year.

So join me for what will prove to be an interesting ride. I have no idea at what age I started getting a relaxer, but I was rocking the press and curl before that and during the summer months the "Cathy Girls" would braid my hair, so I really don't have any memory of my childhood naps...LOL Guess it's time to rediscover myself...hee hee