hair update!

While I still haven't completely given up the flat iron, I am making progress toward my goal! I've only been flat ironing once a month & bunning it up when it's not flat ironed. I've also started taking vitamins again to assist in health hair growth and it seems to be helping! My hair is definitely breaking less and i'm beginning to see length again! I'm getting a cellophane treatment + flat iron later this week so I will be back with pictures in a few days!

Favorite Blogs

Two posts, two days in a row? I'm on a roll! Anyways, I just wanted to take a quick minute to share some of the blogs that I frequent, maybe they will be interesting to some of my readers!

Fashion Blogs

Blushing Ambition

Fresh Influence

Positive Tension

Waiting 'Round to be a Millionaire

Rinny Riot

Megan Catfish (also has great vegan and vegetarian recipes!)

Hair Blogs

Mane and Chic

Keep it Simple Sista (KISS)

and finally, Sincerely Bethany which is my big sister's blog, she writes about anything and everything!

new directions

I think i'm going to expand this blog to other things such as vegetarian recipes (today marks my second month meat free!) and maybe even fashion. Stay tuned!

back again!

So, the last time I blogged on here was over a month ago...not good! I need to get into the habit of updating at least once a week.

I'm kind of stuck in a rut as far as my hair goes right now, i'm not happy with it and it's not happy with me. I've been consistently straightening (with a pressing comb/flat iron) for the past two months and my hair is extremely dry and brittle and is suffering from extreme breakage. While I love the straight look, it is time to get serious again about hair care and give it up for a while. My goal for 2009 was to be at the top of BSL, but with the way things are going, i'll be happy to be at full APL. I'm thinking of either getting a full sew in or braids to give my hair a rest, leaning more toward the sew in though.

Until then, i'm going to revamp my hair routine. I'm going to moisturize with Karen's Body Beautiful hair milk, seal with coconut oil and rotate "oiling" my scalp with coconut and olive oil. I will also be deep conditioning every other week with my Aubrey Organics as well as protein treatments as needed.

I will let you all know how it goes!

FINALLY an update!

It's been a while, and I apologize. I took several trips out of town, celebrated my birthday, and now school has started so my blog has been neglected. I am back though! As I stated previously, I planned on straightening my hair for my birthday, and I'm not sure on how good of an idea that was because i've been wearing it in straight styles since. I'm definitely going to give my hair a much needed break from all of the heat soon though.

My hair is in the healthiest state it's been in since childhood, and I am proud of myself. All of the weekly deep conditioning,protein treatments, and going THREE MONTHS without heat are paying off. My hair is sitting at the top of APL right now, my original goal was full APL but hair anorexia has set it and I no longer see APL as "long" hair. My new goal is BSL. I hope to be there by early next year. Here are some recent pictures

After blowdrying, before flat iron. I thought I looked like a mad woman and wanted to capture the moment! You can see how thick my hair is here.

I know the straight shot isn't the greatest, but it's the best out of the photos I took. I'll take a better one next time.

update!

I just wanted to give an update on the situation from earlier. The tea tree oil/mane and tail detangler did aid a lot in me being able to comb out some of my matted hair. If it weren't for it I probably would have ended up even more frustrated and definitely would have taken scissors to my hair. After thinking about it, I realized what all went wrong.

1. NOT COVERING MY HAIR AT NIGHT

I have learned this is an absolute no no for me. I read on the lovely Curly Nikki's blog that she maintains her curly hair by simply sleeping on a satin pillow case. Out of sheer laziness I attempted this, and let's just say I will never try it again. What works for one may not work for another!

2. Accidentally shampooing my hair

I purchased a new bottle of v05 moisture milks and applied it to my hair to deep condition. I noticedthe consistency was different, but didn't think much about it. An hour or two later I looked at the bottle and realized...I had put shampoo in my hair! The result? DRY DRY DRY hair

3. Going 5+ days without detangling

I'm learning that detangling is a must for naturals, and my dummy self went over a week without doing it!

Needless to say, I have learned my lesson and I hope that none of you will make the mistakes I did.

I am currently deep conditioning my hair with Aubrey Organics Island Naturals conditioner (lovely scent, try it out!) and will then style my hair in a braid out with flexi rods on the ends. Hopefully, everything will turn out okay! I'll try to post pictures of it tomorrow!

I made one of the biggest mistakes a natural can make, going a week without detangling, and my hair is hating me for it right now. It is matted beyond belief, breaking like crazy, and i've already had to cut out several knots. Right now my hair is soaking in tea tree oil and detangler, i'm hoping that it will loosen the matts and and make it easier for me to comb through. After that I may follow with a protein treatment. This is so frustrating. I'm even contemplating flat ironing my hair today, even though I promised myself I wouldn't until my birthday (August 19)