Product Junkie

I am turning into a product junkie and I've only been transitioning for 4 months..lol I keep telling myself that I just want to be prepared for when I finally do the big chop in May and that if i buy a little bit each month it's better than buying all the stuff all once...yeah right.

At this point I'm about to put hair spending on ICE!!! I am about to limit myself. I don't want to end up with a bunch of stuff and having the products not work on my hair. So this is what I've purchased so far...hee hee

Komaza Care -coconut hair care kit (sample size)
Shea Moisture Leave-In Conditioner
Giovanni Direct Leave-In Conditioner
Miss Jessie's Value Pack
Aloe Vera Gel
Shea Butter & African Honey
Fantasia IC Gel
Coconut Oil
Bomba-Deep Conditioning Treatment (Dominican hair product)
Trader Joe's Nourishing Spa Conditioner

I have been getting sample sizes of products when possible, so that I can test them out on my hair to see if they really work without committing to full size items with a full size price tag. My plan is to stick to a product line for at least a month before giving up on it an moving on to another. I am sure something in a line will work and some wont, but I want to give them a fair shake.

There are still a few more things I want in my natural hair arsenal:
Knot Today and Kinky Curly Curling Custard
Elasta OP-Mango Butter Moisturizer
Oyin Handmade -4 piece hair care sampler
Vegetable Glycerin

For the most part 99.9% of the products I have and want are "natural". Once I pickup the other things, I swear I ain't buying shit else until I use up the crap and have...who knows I may find what works for my hair right off the bat...LOL (could that be wishful thinking)

Damaged Edges

When I took my last set of braids out my edges didn't fair so well. My usual braiders sister braided my hair and obviously braided my edges to tight. Word to the wise that braids done to tightly can wreck your hair!! Check out my edges....they will grow back, but what a pain to have to deal with in the first place.

Kinky Twist

I got Kinky twist about a week ago. I have to say this is NOT my favorite braid style but I paid for it and sat in that chair for 4 hours so I will live with it for 6 weeks. I will say one thing though, kinky twist are very light, putting less stress on your hair and scalp. Here are a few pictures.

Tie that Head Up Gurl!!!

There is NO WAY I can comb through my hair when it's dry at this point, and combing through it wet is definatley a chore!!! Finger combing is the only option at this point, and it works well as long as I take my time. Anyway, so after rocking the braidout today, I realized there is no way I can sleep on my hair now when it's "out." This time instead of braiding it and rolling the ends with perm rods I just braided it and tucked the braids in themselves....basically kinda like Dr. Akbari's "Curly Fro" Lord knows I look like I should be pick'in cotton about now..lol I'm also going to spritz a little coconut oil on my hair too for added moisture. I will take pictures of the results and post them tomorrow.

Braid Out

This is my first attempt at a braid-out...not to bad. I put a headband on and off I went. I'm sure I can rock this look for a week until I get braids again. I can tell already that a braid out is not a good idea in cold weather though. Even thought I put perm rods on the ends of my hair to make sure that they were not straight, they were still a bit frizzy. I think I will put castor oil or olive oil on the ends next time...maybe that will help.

Check Out the New Growth Miss Celie

Now I understand why people who plan to transition for several months just give up and chop that mess off. What a tangled, nappy mess...LOL My last relaxer was nearly 4months ago and trying to detangle the two textures after taking out braids was no joke.

BTW....I also cut the braids to low in the crown of my head which resulted in me cutting my "own" hair. It wasn't really a big deal since I'm going to eventually chop this mess off any way.

After putting in a leave in conditioner (Aphogee), I sectioned off my hair with my fingers and added coconut oil and aloe vera gel to each section, combing through each section before braiding. I put perm rods at the end of each braid (because the ends are straight. This is my attempt at a braid out...we will see how it goes..I will take pictures.

The goal is to leave my hair down for one week before rebraiding it. I'm thinking of doing kinky twist, or maybe just getting corn rows. Braid can wreak havoc on your hair as well at times so maybe I should just do corn rows (getting them redone every 3 weeks) for the next 6 weeks. Who knows....

Nappy Goes To the White House

Check out Miss Malia rocking her kinky twist....CUTE!

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.

Time To Say Goodbye To My Little BOB

Here are a few pictures of my hair. As you can see it's pretty healthy. The close up shot was taken on September 8, 2008. Most of y'all know it's hard living in a cold weather state and trying to grow healthy hair...damn near impossible.

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