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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6 Month Length Check (6 Months Post BC)

Hey guys!

It's now been six (6) months and one week since I did the big chop. Time seems to be going nicely and my hair has been flourishing since I asked my boyfriend to cut off my relaxed ends in June 2014. There were a little bit of tears. There was a lot of bit of shock lol.

But without further ado, Here are some pictures of my 6 natural hair month progress:

The morning after the Big Chop - June 2014

July 2014 

 

November 2014

December 5, 2014

Aaand there you have it folks. Now that the pictures are up, I can see the difference in growth over the time period..and I'm happy \o/ lol. It would also seem that my regimen is doing okay thus far..so at least technique-wise I won't be changing anything.


Some things to bear in mind (or err..disclaimers? lol)

1. I transitioned for about 7 months before I cut my relaxed ends off (so I had a little over 2" before the big chop)
2. My hair grows a little over 1/4 inch per month (0.375 inches exactly lol)
3. I cut off quite a bit of relaxed ends in about July (apparently I was even cutting off my natural hair with it -_-)
4. I wear protective styles about 85% - 90% of the time

Be well,

Gibbie

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Wash Day: A Thorough Deep Condition & PS fail

I rather, my curl-friend Trudy did a "shingling" or what others would call a "Wash & Go" on my hair on Tuesday. I used water, extra virgin olive oil and Curls Unleashed gel to smooth the hair until ,y curls set. That lasted until thursday. It isn't for me..it was what seemed like a crazy amount of gel to get my hair to form some curls - it was almost like I was forcing my hair into something it's not. I did realise however, that there are at least three (3) textures on my head: curly in the middle and crown, little to no curl definition almost everywhere else and a straight section at the front of my hairline. Crazy. Anyhoo, here goes my #WashDayExperience:

[1] Cowashed with VO5 Tea Therapy Clarifying Conditioner. I did this to get out the crazy amount of gel residue that was in my hair. This conditioner is more moisturising than the VO5 Herbal Escapes Clarifying Conditioner and it's the best VO5 conditioner I've used thus far. After rinsing it out, my hair felt softer than expected and I was happy.

[2] Deep Conditioned with Creme of Nature Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment for about 1 hour. I put my hair into five (5 sections), went through and detangled each section, then added some of the DC at the ends and sealed the sections with some castor oil. I was using this product during my texlax and transitioning period and it worked well then. I was searching for a new DC and I would start with an old faithful.

[3] Cowashed with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner.

[4] Air dried for about 25 minutes.

[5] Added my DIY leave in + castor oil + DIY shea butter mix.

[6] Flat-twisted my hair and left in until the next day. And on Friday night, I twisted my hair with some marley hair extensions. I was inspired by NaturalRose on YouTube (love her voice), where she installed marley hair extensions as a protective style see link here). It was simple and it was easy and I liked it.

I underestimated a couple of things: 1) my hair's density/thickness 2) my technique (still don't know where I went wrong) and 3) how many packs of hair I would need - I had to use 2 packs..and even now my hair is jumbled with hair sticking out under the extensions. I didn't like it. Here's a picture of how it turned out:

The plan was to keep the style in for 2 weeks..but if it stays in any longer I'm going to poke and prod at it, which would defeat the purpose of a protective style. So that's that.

Some observations I've noticed from my wash days of late: 

• I had to readjust my technique for applying product. I am now just noticing that when applying product, I tend to put the product on the top of my hair and "rub it up". Madness. Knowing that now, I've started to section my hair off, go through my hair with the product, applying from root to tip on all strands and a little extra on the ends. I hope no damage has been done. My hair ends have been feeling a little rough so I surmise that has something to do with it. If more deep conditioning doesn't result in better ends, I'll be snipping them off.
• 
  
• I have also noticed that my hair doesn't like "out" styles. It gets soo dry so easily. And, since I'm not really that verse on combing my hair at this length (still waiting on that length for roll, tuck and pin styles lol), I think I'll be doing more protective styles just to be on the safe side.

I hope you all had great wash days as well and I look forward to reading them all.

Be well,
Gibbie

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Hits & Misses: Vixen Crochet Braids

Hello there,

After 5 weeks of having my last protective style in, I took them out and installed another set of crochet braids in - this time using a vixen crochet braid technique. I learned this style from Mary K on YouTube (click here for the technique), where the hair is parted in four sections and canerowed/cornrowed into a beehive style. The hair is then crocheted and can be worn in a series of styles and which makes it more natural looking when parted and styled. Here's a picture of how it looks:

(Source: Goog;e images)

In the link above, Mary K uses Kanekalon "braid" hair, crochets the hair in, blow dries and flat irons the hair, then flat irons her leave out (the section that meets in the middle in the diagram), and everything blends flawlessly. 

So anything nice and simple, mi inna it.

And I attempted it.

Didn't work out so well.

Gibbie wasn't going to flat iron her natural hair . She also cannot canerow/cornrow well. so she asked a friend to do the braid pattern and used a Kanekalon braid hair that has a more natural look to it called "Nappy Annie". 

The results? HORRIBLE.

The leave out was too much.

The hair had too much sheen, would not blend with my natural hair, barely curled and would not maintain that curl.

It was no bueno. It had to go.

I did the style that date mainly because I had an outing to go to and now it didn't turn out well. After panicking and trying every possible way to make the style work, I finally came up with this:

I'm grateful no one did a close up lol.

On Monday, I cut the hair out, bought regular kanekalon hair, crocheted it in, braided the hair into about 6 sections and dipped it in hot water.

By Monday evening, it looked something like this:

and on Friday:

I was unable to fix the middle how I wanted it, but it was fairly decent.

Call me the fixer lol.

I think I've figured out my mistake with this install (my natural hair is not long enough/shrinks too much for a vixen crochet style) so next time around I'll be doing a partial leave out (just the front). 

All in all, I'll be taking this style out shortly. It was originally installed last week but I doubt it will be in for long. It was still good to try something new and I'll be doing another (adjusted) crochet braid style soon.

UPDATE: Today I was feeling a little better about this style. This morning I wore the style out after hot-watering 4 braids and twisting the leave out (my natural hair). I took this picture 5 minutes ago:

Not looking too shabby and the blending of both hair types looks good to me! Lol. I'm redoing this style (with some tweaks here and there) soon and I'm adjusting my previous comment as to how long I'll keep this style in - it's going to be around a little longer than I initially thought. I don't mind it that much anymore! Cheers and have a good one! 

Be well,

Gibbie

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Protective Styling It: Crochet Braids

Fresh off a nine-week-long protective style run and my birthday coming up in the following week, I installed Crotchet Braids in my hair. I chose this style because it seemed like one of the better protective styles to do that wouldn't cause additional stress on my strands (because it didn't much of a break between styles). I wanted low manipulation. Matter of fact, I wanted no manipulation. So here goes it:

Details

Hair: Bijoux Realistic Marley Braid

Price: $570-$600 JMD per pack

Colour: No. 1

Duration: About 3 hours

Number of packs used: 3 (all cut in half)

Installed by: Meeee!! (with cornrows/canerows done by my friend Trudy)

I was a little intimidated to install it myself but hearing the cheapest price to install crotchet braids was $4,000 JMD, I said NERP wid a quickniss!, ventured on to YouTube to reinforce the technique, then  got to work.

I let out my usual area at the back of my nape, twisted it, got the cornrows in and did the install. I separated each "clumped" piece of hair that came in the pack and further separated the hair into more pieces as I got to the front for a more "cleaner" look. After it was done, I didn't comb/brush the hair and wore it as is. When it was done, the hair was Diana Ross big and I absolutely LOVED it! I felt so accomplished! lol. A couple of days later, here are some pictures:

Roll, Tuck & Pin yesterday

Birthday..night (first picture I had since the install - forgive me for the repeat lol)

The (now) usual hair at the nape that I left out, twisted.

There has been no discomfort, nor do I feel any tightness or stress on the scalp. The plan is to moisturize the braids and leave out at least than once a week and moisturize my edges almost everyday, mainly because that's the area that is out and tends to be dry. I intend to do a wash once every 2 weeks and overall I'd like to keep this style in for about 4-6 weeks. When majority of the curls have gone, I'll comb or brush the hair out and do a perm rod set so they'll hold over to 4 or 6 weeks until take-down. I'm very proud of doing this hair style and, among other things, my thrifty cheapskate self is grinning, having saved myself some $$$.

In a few days I'l be doing a wash/semi-wash day and I'll document that to see how goes it. Hope your hair journey is going well in your neck of the woods, as is mine.

Be well (and hair happy!)

Gibbie

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Birthday Hair Tag! Mhm!

Hi all!

I got a Birthday Hair Tag from fellow hair blogger Rachel from Rachie To Waist Length click here for her blog and seeing as how my birthday was this week I was in for it! It's a short post but before I jump in, here's a picture from my birthday shenanigans:

'Twas a great night :)

 Now let's get to it!

1. What's your real name? Thadene (pronounced Tha-deen)
2. When's your birthday? October 8th (last Wednesday :D)
3. Curly or straight hair on your birthday, and would you wear it up or down? Protective Style: Curly - Down || Natural hair - Curly - Out 
4. If you were to receive a hair product for a gift, what would you choose? Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner 
5. Whose hair would you trade places with for a birthnight? My hair at DesiréeVennFrederic's (@xodvf) length. Looking like this:

      

Coo deh

Watch deh <3

6. If you had to use a single brand of products for an entire year, which would it be? I don't use any one brand of product so err..pass?

7. You get a $20 birthday gift card, what 3 (cheapie) products, tools and/or accessories do you buy? Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Conditioner and a pack of large bobby pins.

8. You are getting ready for a fabulous b/day outing, DIY or hair salon? As I did this week, D.I.Y! I can't bear waiting times at a salon.

9. You overslept, your hair isn't done, you've got 30 minutes to do it, what style do you execute? With this Protective Style: Hot water flexi-rod set || Natural Hair: Roll, Tuck & Pin.

10. What wish would you make for your hair? That it be eternally breakage free. Amen.

11. If your hair was a type of birthday cake, what would it be? Potato Pudding-esque. 

12. Finally, what hair-related gift would you give someone for their birthday? All the knowledge I've gleaned on how to take care of black hair. It saves mistakes and setbacks when you know what you're doing and gives you the tools for a successful hair journey.

Aaand that's all folks! This Birthday tag was pretty awesome to do..got me to thinking a bit lol. Hope you have fun reading it as I did doing it :)

Be well,

Gibbie

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Wash Day: Yarn Locs Take-down, Protein Treatment & A Newbie

Hi all,

I finally finally woo-lawd took out my yarn locs on Thursday after having them in for 9 weeks. I didn't miss my hair this time but I was tired of seeing the style in my hair. It was fuzzy and although that added to the "realness" of the style, I was just plain ol' tired of seeing it. Prior to the take-down, I did my regular weekly co-wash and did a tea rinse to reduce the amount of shed hairs I expected to see when it was time to take down the style. To aid with the take-down, I used some of the diluted conditioner mix I used for my co-wash, finger-detangled each section of hair taken out of the loc, then twisted every 2 pieces I took down. It took a little time to complete, after which it looked like this:

Since it was late when I finished, I let the twists stay in, rolled and pinned my hair (word to Rachie) and wore it to work. I also did a little snip of the ends and let the twists stay in for wash day - not about that hours-long detangling life. So without further ado, here goes my #WashDayExperience:

[1] Shampooed with Creme of Nature Sulfate-free Moisture & Shine shampoo thrice. I got a little carried away - but in my defence, my hair hadn't been properly cleansed in over 2 months!

[2] Applied warm Organics Hair Mayonnaise and let it sit for about 6 minutes. This has always felt like a strong protein treatment for me (it would appear I'm a bit protein sensitive) so I limit use of this to when I think I need it.

[3] Followed up with warm Herbal Essences Hello Hydration moisturizing conditioner (HEHH) and some castor oil and let it sit for about the same time as the hair mayonnaise. I have been hearing rave reviews from ev-ry-body about this conditioner, so when I finally found it in the supermarket (and for $597 Jamaican Dollars too!), I grabbed it. By the time I was through lathering up, the twists had started unravelling.

[4] T-shirt dried the excess water and let it air dry for about 15 minutes.

[5] Applied my DIY Leave-in (now with HEHH:)) and DIY Shea Butter mix, finger detangled, then re-twisted my hair.

Results?

The Herbal Essences Hello Hydration moisturizing conditioner gave me a lot of slip and after the conditioner was rinsed out, my hair felt sooo soft! As it started to dry however, it was back to its regular coarse self (my hair is naturally coarse to the touch). Despite my hair texture though, the strands felt (somehow) hydrated. Methinks this conditioner is staying! 

I'm also on the look-out for a good deep conditioner, so pleasee throw your suggestions this way!

Overall, my hair looks a lot fuller and appears to be thriving with protective styling. I plan on putting in another protective style (a loose one since my hair didn't get much of a break between styling) on either Saturday or Sunday (my birthday is in the following week \o/), and let that stay in for at least a month or so.

I hope everyone had a great Wash Day as well. Cheers!

Be well,
Gibbie

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Wash Day - Oldie But Goodie (Or Is It?)

Hello there,

I did a Wash Day about 2 weeks ago but since it was exactly the same as my last post I didn't want to do a repeat. 

This week however, since my Alberto V05 Clarifying Conditioner is finished, I decided to fall back on an oldie but goodie. 

My trusty Tresemme Moisture Rich conditioner. 

In truth, even if I had more of the V05 Clarifying Conditioner, I would've parked it this wash day anyway. That's because although it clarifies my hair well and is a good rinse out conditioner, my hair would feel a bit dry when I took down the "chiney bumps" (bantu knots) I left out at the back of my head. 

The Tresemme Moisture Rich conditioner is one I have used since the start of my hair journey because 1) it's moisturising 2) you can buy a big bottle of it and, 3) it's cheap. Of late however, it fell in the 'trust issues' department because I've been noticing the effects of its "cones". Tresemme Moisture Rich has a number of "cones" (Dimethicone, Amodimethicone) that, no matter how hard I try to wash out the conditioner, there is still some left in and by weekend I would've had enough build-up that I'll have to clarify again (protective style or not). 

That being said, I could bear the "cone" build-up this time around and since I intend to clarify anytime I use it, it was okay by me. So here goes this #WashDayExperience: 

[1] Lifted buildup from my scalp using ACV + Water mix (1:4) with some finger-pad-rubbing. 

[2] Co-washed with Tresemme Moisture Rich Conditioner + Warm Water (50/50) mix + Coconut Oil (to the point where my natural hair ends in the Locs). 

[3] Rinsed with cold water. 

[4] Towel dried for 20 minutes. 

[5] Put in my DIY Leave-in. 

[6] Wrapped Locs with scarf (happening now) and I'll keep it on until the next morning. 

When showering I unconsciously turned in the shower and got the body of one-half of the Locs wet (((scream))). I know it's going to take me a little longer to dry but I plan on changing scarves around my locs to prevent that icky feeling against my skin.

I think I'm getting a little tired of these faux locs, probably since they've been in for 7 weeks now, so I'll be taking them out shortly. 

That's all for Wash Day this time around! 

Be well, 

Gibbie

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