Quick Co-wash & my new (diy) Crochet Wig!

Hey peeps!

So I did a quick cowash about an hour before doing this post and I must say it was well needed. I have been moisturising daily with my little spritz and sealing with Shea Butter but sometimes you need a little extra moisture.. Hence the quick cowash. Here's how my #WashDayExperience went:

Conditioner: a little Tressemme Naturals conditioner I had left + Hello Hydration conditioner + warm water. I currently have my hair in half canerows (what some call cornrows) and half mini twists (I attempted to do my full head but got lazy half-way).

Leave ins: my diy moisturising spritz  + sealed with Shea Butter.

Now on to this crochet wig I made. Here are some pictures #excitement:

And it was easy to do! 

All I needed was 3 packs of marley hair, a mesh weaving cap, crochet/latch hook needle, wig clips (optional) and a mannequin head (or someone else's lol). It took me a little while to do because (1) I bought 2 packs and had to go back to the store some days after to get another pack,  (2) I took a couple breaks whilst making the wig and (3) I don't even remember why it took me a while lol. All you have to do is crochet the holes of the mesh weave cap! Genius!  

In any case, it turned out great and I don't think I'll ever do another set of crochet braids for now! Crochet braids can sometimes put stress on the edges so this is a GREAT alternative. With this wig, I take it off, I moisturise and wash my hair when I need to.. it's awesome! 

Guys, you will not be disappointed if you try this style. I feel like a hairstylist and I'm telling everybody (even those who didn't ask) that I did it ☺. 

I hope you guys get to try this style because it's soo good. 

Be well peeps

Gibbie. 

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Simple and effective #Wash Day

Hello all, 

So I did my daily moisturising routine while I had my crochet braids in (at least if not every day, every other day) and I got some great results. My hair has grown back to the length it was before the "hair hacking of July" and my spirits are back to normal - lifted even. 

I was rushing to get another protective style in when I realised.. 

I do not know my hair. 

That is, I know what will moisturise my hair while it's in a protective style but, since I usually have in extensions, I never how to handle my hair without it. Sad, I know. 

Which is why I dedicated at this month (September) to take care of my hair without extensions. 

I have been doing cowashes but I did a good and proper #WASH DAY  last week. So here goes:

Deep Condition: Warm DC mix of Creme of Nature Intense Conditioning treatment + Organics mayonnaise + Roux Porosity Control + coconut oil + castor oil

Shampoo: Creme of Nature Moisture & shine sulfate free shampoo

Conditioner: Tressemme Naturals

Rinse with cool water and stretch hair with hair ties and put oils on ends

At the end of the wash day, my hair felt soft and moisturised. When it was fully dry, it started losing moisture but I kep using my new moisturiser, Luster "S-Curl Curl Activator" to keep moisture levels up. 

I will say it hasn't been easy managing my hair and I find that my hair handles moisture better in an unstretched state (I even get so see some curls too ☺). I do however, feel I'm more at risk for breakage when my hair isn't in protective styles because I don't have much styles in my arsenal for my short hair and when I'm flustered I tend to re-comb my hair.. which leads to breakage. Because of this,  I will be getting a protective style done soon. I have not decided if it will be with or without extensions.

To honest, after the 'hacking of July' I have decided to take the hair seriousness down a notch and just live. I still want mid-back/waist/whatever hair but I'm not tying and frustrating myself over how long it will take/why am I not at x-length yet/x-challenge (unless it's about moisture) - any of that. I'm taking it slow, minding my manipulation and minding my breakage as much as I can. I'll still be blogging but work, my contribution to my Rotaract Club and just life really, doesn't allow for me to blog as much as I would like. I tend to read other blogs (I read a lot of them - especially Nigerian-type blogs) more than I blog myself. 

In any case, I hope you all are well. I'm still chillin' (like a villain lol) and hope you all are doing the same. 

Be well, 
Gibbie  

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Protective Style Challenge? Yes Please!

Since I really suck at styling/taking care of my hair while it's at this length like I had anything longer than shoulder length hair and, every time I look at my hair nowadays it highlights my failure at protecting my hair from breakage etc., I'm sooo up for a protective style challenge.

..Which is why I signed up for Relaxed Thairapy's 30 Days of Protective Styling Challenge (see details Here). So here are my plans:

I'm keeping this really simple, because the likelihood of me heading out into some bush about the island is high.. and I'm lazy.

So here goes:

Protective Style: Crochet Braids w/ kinky "Marley" hair

Protective Styling Wash Regimen

Seeing as most of Jamaica is currently undergoing chronic drought conditions, I won't be washing my hair every week. I intend to do (1) a conditioner + water mix wash about every 2-3 weeks. I'll then (2) moisturise thereafter with a mix of aloe water, water, castor oil & VO5 conditioner. Dassit.

Protective Styling Weekly Regimen

I'll be spritzing my hair nightly with said moisturizer. I usually don't apply a sealant to my braids since my hair is covered by..hair lol.

My hair is currently in unraveled chiney bumps (a.k.a bantu-knot out) but I intend to put the abovementioned protective style in on or before the coming weekend.

So..I'm on it. I'll post some updates on how goes it..while I'm going through it.

Be well,
Gibbie

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What's Gibbie Been Up to? Part Deux

So.. what do you say to the person that last had a blog post titled "What's Gibbie Been Up To" months later doing another "What's Gibbie Been Up To"? Don't say much about that. I beg of you. I'm super sorry that I haven't been around in a bit. I thought about doing a post last month ..but after a trim (I often call it a chop) of about 1"-1.5" off due to breakage, I wasn't feeling it. I was so upset with myself for having to hack off that much hair. I'm still not over it to be honest, because I was gaining some length and now it's like I have a twa feeling all over again :(. 

I saw Rosemary Godwin on YouTube discussing her Water Only method update and I decided to "man up" and do this hair update.

Anyway, here are some updates on my hair:

1 year post BC

I big chopped (BC) my hair on June 2014 and my "hair anniversary" was in June 2015. I did a little collage on Instagram of where I started from to where I was on that day. Here's a picture of a length check of it:

..and the trim thereafter..

After a bad taking to the Water Only Washing method and just not listening to my hair, my hair suffered some breakage all over and I had to do a 1"-1.5"trim/chop/hack. The ends were rough, brittle and dry. They just could not stay. I don't have a set way to trim my hair and I basically cut to the point where my hair felt "normal" and where it felt rough. This was a little to my detriment because I'm certain I cut off more than I wanted. Also, my hair shrinkage level has increased..which freaked me out more that I cut off too much of my hair. It's when I did a length check after the trim that I realised that it wasn't as bad as I thought. Here's a picture grid of my length check after my trim:

Water Only Washing Update

As I eluded to above, I was doing the Water Only Washing method. It was a easy peasy method for using water to wash your hair. The idea is to initially clarify your hair, do a little massage, then do a daily wash of your hair by scratching/scritching your scalp and moving sebum (our hair's natural oil) down the hair shaft. I did this method for about 6 weeks and it was going great. My hair was the best it's been for a while, I had sebum coming down my hair shaft, I had BOMB ass twistouts etc. etc. etc...

..and then the niceness stopped. I figured my hair needed clarifying - I did an aloe juice wash. I figured my ends needed to be sealed because the sebum didn't reach down the ends as yet - then I started using shea butter after every wash. Then coconut oil, then I used olive oil - nothing worked. And I went on for about another 3 weeks trying to fix it. Then I said NO. 

And I started cowashing like crazy. 

But by then, it was too late.

I eventually had to cut off what seemed to me like quite a bit off my growth - up to 1.5" and immediately felt like a failure. 

What I've been doing presently is just leaving my hair alone. It's been in crochet braids for the past 2 weeks ..with two failed DIY marley hair installations (I just take the marley hair out and crochet in new hair), and it will continue to be in for at least another 2 weeks with some new synthetic hair.

I'm avoiding combing/touching my hair like the plague. I moisturise then leave it alone.And I'm sticking to that.

Hopefully time will pass by quickly and my hair would've grown back or longer. I'm protective styling and moisturising like crazy.

Otherwise I'm keeping cool. I'll do some updates on protective hairstyles if they turn out well lol.

Be well
Gibbie

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What's Gibbie been up to?!

Lol. Hey guys! How ya been?!

Geez I've been super out of it! Sheesh!

My deepest apologies for the drop off on posts but I've been super busy. For one, I got a job promotion (yay :)) which entailed a not so quick transition from my previous position; I've also started my Masters (one module at a time however), and I recently accepted an offer for a directorship in my Rotaract Club! Turn up! Turn up! Lol.

And my hair..well my hair was just angry with me. I bought more castor oil, more shea butter, moisturised daily with my diy aloe vera mix, sealed with said oil and NOTHING was working - up to the point that my hair started BREAKING.. Breaking by way of feathering/tapering at the ends and had just an overall dry and TUSTY (thirsty) look.

When I saw the breakage, I surprisingly did not freak out. I paused, cut the breaking ends (about 1-2 inches) and tried to figure out what my hair wanted. And a couple weeks after, it would appear that it just wants..water.

Plain ole water.

So so water.

And that's what I've been giving it. A post from Rosemary Godwin-Ese on YouTube peaked my interest on Water Rinsing or Water Only Washing as it is commonly called. And it is just as it states, washing your hair with water only - but on a daily basis. I have since then been doing my own little research, doing the method (but adding oils to my ends) and it seems to be working for my hair. The daily water rinsing would have ordinarily been an issue, but since I'm in the field almost every day and my hair (that is presently in mini-twists) dries quicker than it usually does (scalp first, then ends), I'm quite fine with it.

Now this water rinsing business has been working surprisingly well thus far, but since I just started (about 1.5- 2 weeks in). I'll be able to give a better idea of how well (or not) in the coming months. Here's a picture I posted on Instagram recently in between washes:

When your Water Only Wash method is doing WONDERS for your hair and your camera and face are liking each other 😊 😁 💧 #WaterOnlyHairWash #AfterWorkFace

A photo posted by Gibbie J. (@gibbiegibbie) on Apr 7, 2015 at 8:18pm PDT

Aaand that's it. Again, my deepest apologies and some in advance if I don't get to post as much but I'm trying to bring some normalcy - as soon as I can - around all this (good) chaos around lol.

I hope you all are doing wonderful and you'll hear from me again soon.

Be well!
Gibbie

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Wash Day Prep: Crochet Havana Twists

Hi guys!

I took down my last protective style - which felt very moisturized on the take-down by the way - the crochet braids with afro kinky hair.. Only to install another one! Lol. This time, I installed a crochet braids "Havana Twists" version! All these exclamation marks are because the install turned out well lol! Anyhoo, more of that later. Here's how my #WashDayExperience went:

[1] Applied a 10:1 ratio ACV rinse to my scalp and massaged it in for a bit.

[2] Applied the remaining VO5 Tea Therapy Clarifying Conditioner I had left and some Tresseme Naturals conditioner to further clarify my scalp.

[3] Deep Conditioned with a mixture of Tresseme Naturals conditioner, Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner and Castor oil. After ensuring the mixture was saturated throughout my strands, I put my trusty shiny steam cap on and let it sit for about 35 minutes.

[4] Air dried my hair for about 20 minutes.

[5] Applied my DIY Leave-in, Castor oil and Shea Butter mix. Then, I put my hair in hair ties/bands so it would stretch in preparation for my protective style.

Eventually, it took too long to dry so I took the hair ties out and let it air dry.

Then I went on to my install.

The hair was pre-twisted before the install so, after doing a "two-braids-meet-one" braid pattern, I crocheted the twists in. Here are some pictures of the result:

I think it turned out well. I plan to wear this style for 4 weeks.. But we'll see how that goes. How was your wash day? Let's hear it! 

 

 

In the mean time,

Be well. 

Gibbie 

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Wash Day: Crochet Cowash Quickie

Hi there,

So I've been wearing my crochet braids with afro kinky hair for about 2 weeks now and, because I've been experimenting with styles and such, I've actually changed the curl pattern & texture of the hair. I've manipulated it soo much that it's become super dry. Nonetheless, I've been wearing it and I'll be wearing it til the wheels come off (.. Or until it reaches the 3 week or more mark).. But that's what synthetic hair is for, right? Lol I loved it. Here's a picture of how I've been wearing it EVERY. DAY. :

Anyhoo, on to my #WashDayExperience:

[1] Saturated my hair with a 8:1 ratio of ACV & water and massaged my cornrows and scalp for about 5 mins

[2] After rinsing the ACV mix out, I again saturated my hair with a mixture of Tresseme Naturals (first time trying this - finally) + Castor oil + Aloe Vera juice.

The remainder of the mixture was put on the extensions (because they were DRY and TUSTY). I combed the extensions out, put them in braids and then Rinsed everything out. I let the extensions stay in braids until I'm ready to hot water them again.

[3] After rinsing I let my hair dry for about 15 minutes, then applied my DIY Leave-in (aloe vera juice + boiled water + coconut oil + Castor oil + a tups of conditioner) to every cornrow and re-twisted my leave out using the LOC method.

I must say my hair is steadily coming back to life. I think the "crispy" reaction was due to the imbalance of the moisturising/detangling mix I use and not following up with the LOC method (I keep leaving off the "C"). It's behaving much better now. Next up, the takedown and another protective style install. All in all, all is well. 

Be well, 

Gibbie

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Kinky Hair Frustrations (and what I'm doing about it)

In a bid to keep my hair moisturized (and not having to re-moisturize every day) I have been..

deep conditioning overnight (light protein),

prepoo-ing overnight,

rinsing with warm water,

doing final rinses with cold water

.. And nothing has worked. And of late my ends have been feeling fried, crispy even. And I'm not sure exactly which stage caused it. 

Those are my kinky hair frustrations.

So I'm going back to basics. 

My hair is now in a protective style (Crochet braids).. And I think it's going to stay that way in the foreseeable future - or at least for a couple of months. So I suppose I could say I'm going on a protective style spree..or challenge. 

During my routine blog reads, I've stumbled on Black Hair Information's "Staggered Protective Styling Regimen" (click here for info) that sounds like something I could work with - with one tweak however, I may keep my styles in a little longer than the stated time. 

I feel like my hair grows more when undisturbed and these "trial and error" things I've been trying has not been helping.

So back to protective styling I go. Hope it lifts my kinky hair spirits.

Be well,
Gibbie

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Wash Day: Twist-Out Game on Point!

Hey Peeps! Happy Holidays!

I took my marley twists out and figured my hair needed a good ol' deep conditioning after. So that's what I did (on Friday morning). So here goes my #WashDayExperience:

[1] Deep Conditioned with a warm mixture of Creme of Nature Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment, Roux Porosity Control, a dollop of Organics Hair Mayonnaise and some Castor Oil. I put my hair into 6 sections and applied the product one section at a time. I did this because I was getting worried that the products I've been putting in my hair were not being distributed evenly..But man was it time consuming! And the fact that my hair is very dense did not make it easy on me! Sheesh!

I then used my blow drier to warm each section as best as I could for about 15 minutes. I let it cool then rinsed it out.

[2] Conditioned with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner (HEHH), again section by section. Rinsed it out.

[3] Spritzed Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV).

[4] Air dried for about 20 minutes.

Now on to the BOMB.COM niceness! The twists!

[5] Applied my DIY Leave-in (Aloe Vera juice + conditioner + Coconut oil + Water) then a little more Coconut Oil then my DIY Shea Butter mix and twisted my hair. 

GLOREHH for Aloe Vera juice! Omigoodniss! It was exactly what my hair needed! I put it in my hair and instantly my hair felt softer! Lol you guys don't know how much it means that I've finally found something that softens my strands. Aloe Vera juice (we call it Sinkle Bible here in Jamaica) is easily accessible and I can get it for free from co-workers and colleagues so I am beyond ecstatic lol.

Ok. So I twisted my hair for an event I went to on Friday. The twists turned out wonderful. I didn't get to take pictures of the twists only. Bummer.

The next day they shrunk and resembled chunky twists ...and because I had another event to go to (Rotaract Christmas Dinner - Go Rotary!), I re-did using the same LOC method mentioned above and they came out spectacular - again. I remembered to take some pictures. Here goes: 

Since it's the best twist-out I've ever done last weekend (and from a Wash Day no less!), I now feel empowered to wear my hair out more often :). I'm even considering wearing my natural hair out for the holidays!

Hope you all had a great Wash Day and a great weekend!

Be well,
Gibbie

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Quickies: Marley Twists - Redux

Hi there.

Remember this post about how my Marley Twists were a Protective Style fail? My natural hair was stickng out all over the place and it was just not neat enough to keep in. I was seriously thinking of taking them out when I did a "last look" on YouTube to see if there was anything I could do to salvage the hairstyle.

And it so happened there was.

After looking at a few videos, I started to unravel the twists and re-did them - this time using half (or less) of my natural hair per twist and more of the Marley hair to do the twist. I did this process one twist at a time. Eventually I used two (2) packs of hair (Yah Man brand) to re-do my whole head. Here are the results:

Yay! (in my Rotaract shirt #GoRotary)

I'm glad it turned out well! I feel so accomplished! Lol. So now I have installed (in my whole head) Marley Twists and Crochet Braids! Styles with my own natural hair are next! Woot Woot!

Be well,
Gibbie

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