Embracing Your Beautiful, God-Given Locks of Love
I want to take a moment to wish each and every one of you a very happy and prosperous New Year’s beginning to you and your families. Whatever goals, plans or directives you have set for yourself in the New Year, my hopes are that you reach them all with energy, vim, vigor and satisfaction that you will start this new journey with.
Here’s to you and your happiness for the next 365 days!!
My napptural is rocking and rolling today! I’m glad to rock my free-loving style because it lets ME be ME!! Although there are some who are put off by the “naps” (I once was too), all in all, I wouldn’t have it any other way!!
Do you feel free too? How has being natural liberated you?
My hair is dry, incredibly dry. Using moisture versus oil is better for MY hair than anything else. Now, is that going to work for your dry hair? That I can’t answer for you, but I do know that I’ve gotten a lot of good, healthy growth from making sure my hair stays moisturized.
At my local Walgreen’s, I have found this Shea Moisture Curling Souffle
product that adds moisture and sheen. Trust me, I am a professed product junkie, so I’ve been through all kinds of product in my own personal quest to find that good, solid, moisture-based product. The rub is that while I have to use a LOT of it on my incredibly dry hair, it’s also not that cheap so I have to buy it quite often. I have a solution for that though.
Since I work from home all day, I’ve decided that the best way to maximize my products and get my hair moisture-trained is to keep my hair covered up. Yes folks, the good ‘ol plastic conditioning caps
So, on goes a nicely-sized dollop of the product, rub it in and put the cap on. I’ll probably keep it on until I go for a run, exercise, or have to leave the house to run errands. I’ll keep you posted on how things go. I just hope I don’t forget it’s on and leave the house too fast! Nothing like going to the mailbox with a plastic cap on your head.
Not cool!
I’ve been twisting and re-twisting my hair about every three days or so. Since my hair is so thick, it unravels pretty easily, even when I’m doing nothing special like exercising or running. I generally just twist those places that have come unraveled by putting a little of the Eco Styling gel throughout my hair to lightly saturate it, and then twist away. I also rub in a little coconut oil to seal those ends and give it a little glossy look. I can honestly say that NOW I am starting to really enjoy having natural hair.
I’m also enjoying the freedom of being able to get in the shower without having to put on a shower cap or worry about my hair getting wet. The mist from the shower is actually helping my hair stay nice and moist, which is essential for those folks who wear their hair natural. I’d like to eventually invest in one of those Heutiful Hair Steamers that I’ve seen advertised on Facebook, but I’d like to wait until I get more length. Is that crazy? But, but, but, it’s also a facial moisturizer, so I’d be getting twice the value for my money. Maybe as a Christmas gift, you think?
I’m definitely on a Biotin regimen, so maybe that length that I want won’t be too far away from where I want to be. Taking those tabs with drinking a sufficient amount of water daily AND exercising will likely make me healthy AND give me that full head of luscious, natural hair. Only time will tell.
Other Recommendations:
I use the Biotin tabs from the NOW brand, which to me is really good. I take about five of these little tablets daily, and for less than $10/bottle, you can get a supply from my Amazon link.
I have a box of Organic Root Stimulator for sale on my eBay page. Yes, I know that may sound weird, but I’m not going to use it. I’m natural (yes), but my daughter is still relaxed, so this was for her. Now, she has long, LONG hair, and this kit was not nearly enough to cover her hair. I bought it one day while in a hurry shopping, planning to do her hair the upcoming weekend. In my haste, I didn’t pay attention to just how small the box was in relation to how much relaxer it would take to do her entire head. So, since I can’t return it to the store, and it’s a perfectly good product and unopened, I thought “why not sell it?”
Maybe one day I’ll be able to talk my daughter into going au naturale, but until then, perm it is. So, any buyers??
The other night at my son’s football practice, I started talking to another sister who’s doing the natural thing herself. The only thing she’s doing differently is that she’s wearing braids and weave to grow out her hair, and of course, I’ve opted to do the BC and get it over with. While I’m transitioning through the low ‘fro stage, I’m also low on creative styles to wear while my hair gets some “stretch” on it, as they say.
Well, the good sister told me about the Murray’s Beeswax and how it was a good alternative to use for my finger coils/twists style. I only have about 2 inches of hair, so I did need something that’s going to “hold” the hair down and make it tame. I had been using a lot of the Miss Jessie’s products, but I think because my hair is so cottony, it needs more hold than it does anything else right now. Maybe when it grows out some more, I’ll be able to use the Miss Jessie’s for some hanging action.
P.S. I found it at my local Dollar Store here for about $1.50, so the stuff is not all that expensive at all. It’s also at Wal-mart and Target in the ethnic hair care aisle.
My son, Kyle, gave up his hair fight today. He had been wanting to grow dreadlocks for a while – - something about them making him a “better football player” or something like that. No matter how much I’ve tried to convince him that NO dreadlocks do NOT make a person play football any better, he still doesn’t believe me.
So after six grueling weeks of sta-sof, curl activator, wave stocking caps and the soul brotha pick, nothing seemed to make his hair manageable OR grow! It was driving all of us crazy, especially on school mornings when the hair battles ensued. There was a LOT of “ouch”, “eeeww”, and “mooommmm!!” After what seemed like forever, me and dad announced to him one morning that the idea of the dreads had to be retired. Fast.
Since my decision to go natural, I’ve noticed that it takes a wee bit more work and attention with this chemical-free hair if you want it to do the things you need it to do. That means lots of moisturizer, hair lotions and a way to keep the hair satiated so that it can comply. When you’re seven years old, there’s just no way or self-motivation to make that happen. Hence, our decision.
Maybe when he’s a little older, he can make a decision to grow those dreads. Maybe when he can remember to spray his hair and do a twice-a-day soul pickout, he can grow those dreads.
Until then, skin is in.
The journey to begin the natural hair process started years ago for me. I was wearing and always have worn hair extensions of some kind, whether those were braids, weaves or something that either lengthened or changed my own hair textures. Finally, when I had enough of the breakage, damage and all around expense of maintaining this foolishness, I decided to forgo anymore hair drama and just rid myself of the problems. Hence, natural!
I don’t know what this journey will hold for me. Neither do I know what I can and should expect everyday from my hair-scapades. But what I do know is here I am now, rockin’ a low-fro and not regretting any minute of it (although I am working on my self-esteem a little in convincing myself that I DO NOT look like a dude!). At any rate, it’s going to be a very interesting experience to see how and what my hair responds to over time. But because of that quest, I want to share with other Black women who are interested or intrigued like I was. Here’s to them, and here’s to a wonderful pursuit in developing natural, healthy hair that we can rock and be proud of!
Peace!!
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