Hair Diary *21* - Frequent Deep Conditioning

Long long ago when I grew my hair from 6" to MBL I found the key to keeping my hair intact and in the magical land of NO Breakage, I needed to deep condition my hair twice a week.

When you have a busy schedule it is pretty difficult to keep to a regimen like that. I found that setting reminders on my calender helps tremendously with keeing everything in order.

After following the calender for so long you get used to doing it and it becomes second nature. I am trying to get back to how I used to do my hair. Cowashes every 1-2 days, deep conditioning twice a week.

That is where my hair does its best.

Add in the protective styles and the protein, moisture balance and you have a recipe for growth.

Everyones hair is different and we all experience setbacks. That is a part of life in general. But once you find what works for your hair you really need to stick with it.

Sometimes the second you try something new or slack off in any way, you are asking for a huge setback. This was the case for me when I thought it would be a good idea to do a Brazillian Keratin Treatment.

My hair was beautiful afterward, but a year later I am starting all over again. I was at BSL when I did the BKT.

So basically this will be my third time growing my hair back out. It takes time to make it to your goals. for me it takes 2 years to grow from the scalp to MBL. Ive done that twice already.

My goal from now on is not to make a certain length, but to prevent future hairloss. It is very difficult and frustrating to make it to a goal and lose it all right away.

I have yet to really ever enjoy my hair at MBL.

I believe I will hit that goal again sometime next year and hopefully at that time I will not experience any setbacks for a very very long time.

Long hair is something I strive for not because I have never had it before, or because my hair wont grow. But I prefer my appearance with long natural curly hair.

We all can and will make our goals. The key is always stay consistent.

Hair diary *20* - Hardcore Protein Maaannnnn...

I was experiencing some serious breakage so it was necessary to do something drastic to stop it in its tracks.

My hair actually really likes protein and I have found it to be important to incorporate it into my regimen regularly. I have to keep up with my hardcore protien treatments every few months or else I experience breakage. In between I like to use Aphogee's reconstructor to cowash with or in my ponytail baggy.

In the video, I did the hardcore Aphogee 2 step, section by section. Rinsed and then deep conditioned with Lekairs, Aussie Moist 3 min miracle, and EVOO.

I let the conditioner sit overnight and rinsed in the morning. Added some suave humectant conditioner and I braided my hair down so that I could wear my lace wig for the next week.

The week after I wore my hair in a ponytail baggy and am actually still wearing it now.

I attempted to do my ponytail baggy a few months ago but because my hair was all over the place lengthwise it really wasnt a good idea. I experienced breakage and because the hair was so uneven I was making my ponytails too tight which would have caused thinning edges if I would have continued.

Now that my hair is pretty even it works out really well. My ends all fit into the baggy nicely and my baby hair syndrome has subsided as my hair grew out.

I decided to do only natural styles until at least July. I wanted to stay away from the weaves for a little while, but still keep up with my protective styles at the same time.

So far my hair is digging it and I am falling in love with my natural hair all over again. :)

Hair Diary *19* - Choppp!!!

So after I took down my Tree Braids I decided that it was time to let my uneven ends go.

I cant stand uneven ends and the fact that my hair does this every few years. For those who may not know I have been battling hormonal hair loss for 9 years now.

My hair used to be super, super thick and dense before all of this. The first time I got on birthcontrol I tried the Depo shot. I had a few complications with this so after the first shot I did not go back. Complications including hairloss.

Next I tried The Ring, which I actually loved but I noticed my hair was falling out like crazy. I thought it was because of the relaxer so I went natural. Later I realized it was The Ring.

A few years later I tried Mirena which caused a long laundry list of problems for me. The biggest one which was hair loss and cervical dysplaysia.

I am going to contribute my recent hair loss to BKT I did twice lase year and also MN which I tried for a month or so last year.

My hair literally purged.....

When new hair grows in the end of the hair is fine and tapered. My head is actually covered with these new hairs. I call new hairs baby hairs when they first grow in, and that initial grow out stage I like to refer to as baby hair syndrome because the baby hairs can be very difficult to control.

After the cut, I have a good 8" of hair, meaning none of my hair is older than a year and 4 months.

I chopped a good 3-6" of hair off depending on the section. It was the best thing to do because I was holding on to the length because I felt some type of way about having short hair again.

I needed to let go of the hair to let go of the fear and I am really happy I did. Now I can actually wear my natural hair out and not flip out about how silly it looks.

After the chop I still experienced a little breakage so I decided to do some hardcore treatments....

More about that in tomorrows post..

Hair Diary *18* - TreeBraid Takedown

I took down my tree braids about 2 weeks ago or so and posted the video on youtube here.

I wore the tree braids for a good 6 weeks and absolutely loved the style!

I kinda didnt want to take it out but it was getting pretty old so it was definitely time. My roots were growing out pretty well and I had between 1/2"-1" of new growth all over.

Taking down tree braids can be a little difficult so after taking out the first 2 braids I decided to cut off the length of the synthetic hair and then take town my braids. This made the takedown much simpler and faster.

I cowashed the roots and towel dried the synthetic hair to make the takedown much easier and faster.

As I unraveled the braids, the synthetic hair and any shed hair that had accumulated came out pretty easily.

After I finished taking them out I shampooed and deep conditioned overnight with a moisturizing deep conditioner. Rinsed and wore a wash and go until I noticed a lot of breakage on my ends....

Dun dun dunnnnn.....

To be continued...

Thinking Out Loud Thursday - TOLT *21*

Im going to switch up my TOLT format. I want to talk more about current news, relationships, and of course Hair! It is getting a bit difficult to keep up with how I was posting before. Its hard to think out loud in a bulleted list. lol

In the News

Its awful and yet amazing to me to see all the different national stories going on in the news today. There have been so many tragic stories seemingly one right after another over the past few weeks, months, and years. From Jodi Arias to Trevon Martin. The Colorado movie theater and Sandy Hook elementary. The Boston Bombing and now the Cleveland kidnapping.

I would really like to know what is wrong with people and how they think that these things are ok and are what they should be doing.

Jodi and her imaginary crime of passion. Why would you go through so much to cover your tracks before hand if you didnt plan this all out well ahead of time. So obvious. Problem I have with her is that she is cute. What is with the sociopathic good looking people. They are always the ones. I think its crazy.

At least with that case the jury had more sense than those in the Casey Anthoney case. Lets hope the people of Florida have learned to put the pieces together for the Trevon Martin's case. Zimmerman needs to be behind bars.

In Life

Recently someone told me that a woman who does not go half on dinner after knowing someone for a good amount of time has no self respect.... He said she needs to "pull her own weight".

I personally find that to be extremely stupid and kind of selfish. In my opinion and in my experience if your are just dating a man and are not in a (key word) serious relationship you should know your worth. You should know and be open about what you are willing and not willing to do for him. In my experience men enjoy paying for dinner, drinks, movies and other things.

I was thrown aback by this comment and I am not sure I would be interested in creating a serious relationship with someone who has a problem with taking care of my needs. Im the type of girl who does not ask a guy for things. If he offers then cool, Im happy. But the fact that I am used to being told "No" by the few people who you would think would always say "Yes", I have grown to not even bother asking.

I like a man who can cherish his woman and in my opinion it shouldnt be 50/50 financially until a ring is put on her finger. The thing some men dont realize is that most of the time they are competing for the affection of a woman. Why should I put my time and energy and money into him when that is not required from someone else, who will treat me better.

Its not that I am not willing to dish out my own money for things. The biggest issue I have with this situation is that if someone offers or invites you out, in my opinion they should pay. That goes for all genders. If I invite you to my house, Im cooking. If I invite you to a restaurant, I will offer to pay.

Pull your own weight... LOL

If you dont live together I wouldnt consider that to have anything to do with the situation.

But the question bodes.... What do you think? Who pays for dinner? When should the woman pay?

The Hair

I totally suck about posting my videos in a timely manner on the blog. So since the last 3 videos or so have been posted on YT I am just going to do a few scheduled daily posts starting tomorrow for each video.

Since I cut my hair I have actually been able to wear my natural hair out and it looked great! During the week I have been wearing my infamous ponytail baggy. I really need to get a few more ponytails and will probably place an order for more in a few weeks. I still have the 3 that I bought last year and they are in good shape but obviously synthetic hair does not last very long.

I should venture into the human hair drawstring ponytails. I have only used the synthetic before because it is my preference but I want to see how long the human will last compared and how the hair feels.

I have become a bit of a snob when it comes to human hair. I wont wear it unless it is top of the line preferrably virgin. My lace wig has spoiled me and I havent been satisfied with less ever since I got her. <333 sigh="">
So thats my TOLT for the week. Hopefully I can find the time and keep up with it. LoL

Hair Diary *17*

Its been a good month since I have had in my tree braids. I love them and got so used to them I havent been wanting to take them out at all!! So I had to really look at how long I have had them in and realize to myself that it is time to take them out.

I usually wear style like this for only a month and no longer.

Caring for this style has been really simple. I wash maybe once a week and let it air dry. I put an oil on my scalp when I remember or when I feel my scalp getting dry. I have slacked a bit on my sulfur oil tho. But thats ok.

I can see that my hair is growing a lot. I have a good half an inch to an inch of new growth all over my scalp, which is awesome!!

I have been really bad about taking my vitamins. I have no clue why. I guess since I have been super busy things like that just get lost. I need to make up for it though and remember to take them every day from now on!

When I take out the tree braids I will do a new current state of affairs video. I think 3-4 months may be the best interval to post these video.

So, yes I will be getting naked for youtube again next week!! LOL

My only issue right now is that I have absolutely no clue how I want to do my hair next!!

I guess I will figure it out when the time comes.

In the mean time my jewelry and products will be taking up much of my time. This should be fun. :)

Working a Craft Show

So over the weekend I did my first public craft show to showcase my jewelry. I thought it would be good to post about my experience.

I decided I wanted to start off with one day of the show so it could be like a learning experience for me, and I am actually glad that I did so.

I did the second day of the show and obviously because I was basically one of the last ones to come in I didnt get a very good spot. I did get moved closer into the crowd because some of the other vendors had left early. So that was good...

After being moved I did notice a HUGE increase in traffic.

I did well for it being my first day and considering everything that was going on.

I want to talk about the problems I encountered.

1st - The Weather

• It was ridiculouslly windy the day of! It was so windy that all of my displays kept blowing over. I couldnt put up my canopy due to the wind. I had to take down my second table because it was just way too much to try to keep 2 tables worth of things from falling over, plus my table cloth kept trying to blow away!!. I basically spent the first few hours of the show trying to control this! I ended up taping everything to the top of the table. A few people's canopies got blown over and broke. Everyones displays were blowing everywhere! It was crazy!

2nd - The distance from the entrance

• Because I was so far from the entrance I did not get as much foot traffic as I would have liked. Once I was moved I saw many, many more people and saw many more sales as well.

Next time I am going to make sure I get there very early so I can make sure to get a good spot. Location  is one of the most important things, so I am going to do some of my set up the night before and then finish the day of.

Next time I also want to get canopy walls so my booth can be more enclosed. Maybe just one or two will work just fine, since I am going to be using two tables.

I made frame displays to hang my earrings and necklaces from. I need to make bracelet displays for the next shows.

Also, I am going to make a bunch of soaps for the next show. I love making soaps and other products and I think it would be great to actually start selling them like I said I wanted to do way back when, but never really did.... lol

So yea, all of this and what I learned from doing my first show will hopefully lead to a much better show in the future and from now on.

Things I made sure to have on hand

• Obviously a wide range of items to be sold and displays
• 2 6' tables - I only used one - Next time just one 6' and one 4' will be fine
• Fitted black table cloths
• Decorative mirrors
• Other decorative elements - people see pretty one the outside the come looking for pretty inside :) I made floral mesh flowers to line the canopy, but used them on the table instead. Also I will be using curling ribbon to hang from the canopy next time. I also have clear glass vases to display some of the bracelets.
• I put out a candy dish, which many people walking by promptly stole from... lol
• Had to have a locking cash box and my chair, which I hardly got a chance to sit in.
• I had organza bags and shopping bags and surprisingly no one even used them...
• I also had some of my tools with me so that I could make some items which I did actually use.
• Made sure to have a receipt book and a sales book to keep track of everything.

There is other stuff I'm sure. All in all I do feel like I was as prepared as I could have been. It was definitely a learning experience for me and next time will be much better.

Hair Diary *16* - Tree Braids!

After my fiasco with the Pink Mohawk I wore my hair in a donut bun for about a week. cowashing every 1-2 days and re-bunning daily, while scarfing at night.

I did tree braids for my cousin which re-kindled my love for them. :)

A few months ago, I did a set of crochet braids and had some of the hair I used left over so I decided to use them for tree braids this time! They came out absolutely fabulous!! I love the way this hair looks on me.

So in the video I give you a quick demo on how I do them. It is very simple.



I start the braid off and braid as far back as I want the braid to show then pull out the first strand, making sure none of my own hair is coming out with it.

I then take a strand of the braiding hair and add it to the braid, then pull out another strand.

Basically every turn something is happening. I do it in a way so that it does not come out too full. I add hair every other turn and pull a strand out every turn.

So its kind of like a rhythm. Add, Pull, Pull, Add, Pull, Pull, Add, Pull, Pull.... all the way till you get to the end of the braid.

The next video I did about 2 weeks after putting the tree braids in. I usually cut into a style immediately but I had zero time to do it. Plus I wanted to do it in front of the camera, so here it is.



I basically cut it into an angled bob. The back shorter than the front, angled and layered.

About 3 weeks later I am still wearing and loving this style! I will probably wear this again very soon after I take it out.