Me, My Naps, And I

Indianapolis Napptural Meet-up

2009-05-27T01:55:00.002-04:00

Are you a Napptural (or thinking about becoming one) and live in the Indy area? If so, join me and a few other folks from Nappturality at a meet-up this Saturday, May 30th (time TBA). We'll be downtown at Saffron Cafe. If you're interested, be sure to post a comment below or shoot me an email so I can keep you up to date on the details.

Gardening Diaries: Lessons Learned

2009-05-25T12:29:00.004-04:00

I finally finished working on my big planters and cleaning off my balcony last night. I'm sure my neighbors were looking at me funny as I was working yesterday. We'll see who has the last laugh when it's harvest time, though. I'm still figuring out the best way to plant my herbs and lettuces. To SIP or not to SIP, that is the question...

Anyway, it took me almost 4 hours to build and plant 3 SIPs on Saturday. There was a lot of trial and error going on. Yes, even with directions. I had read them plenty of times before and figured I wouldn't need to reference them again. WRONG! Lots of time wasted, but very important lessons learned. So, maybe it wasn't wasted time after all. By Sunday, I had finally gotten the hang of things and was able to build and plant 6 more SIPs in under 2 hours. Still slow, but it's progress.

Here's what I learned:

Read through all directions thoroughly BEFORE you begin any project. Even if you think you have the particulars down, it never hurts to review them again.

Potting Soil is NOT the same as Potting Mix. I planted my Sweet 100 in a 5-gallon bucket full of potting soil and had to replant it in mix. Potting soil is heavy, sucks up and retains a lot of water, and looks like mud when wet. It is not ideal for container planting - I don't care what the bag claims. The "looks like mud" portion is what alerted me to the fact that I might have been doing something incorrectly. Potting mix, on the other hand, is light, and is less constricting when wet so it allows the roots of plants to breathe. If you're still not sure what you're purchasing when you go to a store, look at the measurements on the bag. Potting soil is measured in pounds. Potting mix is measured in quarts or cubic feet.

If you're using a utility knife to cut out your buckets, letting the blade warm up in the sun might make this a bit easier to do. Or, at least, that was my experience yesterday.

Don't pay for buckets! There are plenty of people willing to give them away for $Free.99. Spend your money on better things like potting mix, seeds, plants, ibuprofen, and a cold beverage (you'll need those last two after all of that work). I found this one out the hard way. After purchasing 8 5-gallon buckets for myself, I decided to go around town asking folks to donate buckets for the community garden. Check out bakeries (stand-alones or those in your local supermarket). Their icing comes in 3.5- and 5-gallon buckets. For 7-gallons, ask your local deli for their empty pickle buckets. Also, your wicking chambers can be made out of recycled soda/pop bottles, plastic cups, or yogurt containers. Wash them out thoroughly before use.

And, lastly, because this is still a hair blog... If you have locs, wrap them up as you work on your garden. My hair was so dusty and smelled like whatever was in the donated buckets I cleaned (dirt, BBQ sauce, garlic, pickles, and icing) because I didn't do this. Save yourself the trouble and tuck your babies away.

Up next on Gardening Diaries... Balcony Garden Video Tour

Gardening Diaries

2009-05-24T00:59:00.005-04:00

I've started my balcony container garden and am really excited about it. Last year, my Mom helped me plant tomatoes, peppers (Yellow Bell and Caribbean Hot), and herbs (mint, basil, & cilantro) and it was a success. I vlogged about it here and will probably do another video when the setup is complete.

I've decided to try something new this year in terms of watering methods. Enter the sub-irrigated planter (SIP). If you've ever seen an Earthbox, then you've pretty much seen this technique. Instead of the traditional method of watering plants from the top down and ~~wasting tons of water~~using tons of drainage holes, SIPs utilize capillary action and water plants from the roots. You can read more about their virtues and stay up to date on everything SIP HERE.

Earthboxes are neat and work wonderfully, but they're also out of my grad student budget. So, I searched the internet for some DIY plans and found the blog of a couple of folks in Chicago who were making their own SIPs out of tote boxes and buckets. Sweet! You know the MacGyver Gal in me was very pleased. A quick email to the Green Roof Growers and a tour was scheduled on my last trip to the Windy City. Bruce, Art and Heidi were kind enough to show me around their lovely gardens and impart some of their SIP wisdom. I was so amazed at their setups and couldn't wait to get started on my own.

The gang's all here... and Heidi is taking the picture :-)

I have a decent sized balcony with measurements of 10' x 12'. On it are my A/C unit, a gas grill, and a small, repurposed Korean BBQ set that I use for dining. That sounds like a lot, but I have plenty of space left over for containers. So far, I'm going the two 5-gallon bucket route to plant my bigger items like tomatoes and eggplants. Peppers will be in smaller buckets or in a one 5-gallon bucket with insert design, and herbs and lettuces will be in window boxes and kitschy containers like melamine bowls and deli containers.

Here's my stash so far...

Store-bought (all but the last 2 came from a local nursery) starters:
1 Sweet 100 Cherry tomato
1 Yellow Pear tomato
1 Big Beef Champion tomato
3 pk La Roma tomatoes
1 Fairy Tale eggplant
3 pk Hungarian Wax pepper
1 Chocolate Beauty pepper
1 Garden Salsa pepper
1 Lemon Basil
1 Sweet Basil
~~1 Sugar Baby watermelon~~ I killed it. RIP, Sugar Baby :-(
1 Peppermint
1 Spearmint

Started from seeds:
2 Black Beauty eggplant
~~4 Sugar Baby watermelon~~ These died too :-(
12 Roma tomatoes (I planted a lot of seeds thinking most of them would die. Boy, was I wrong! Some of these will be Freecycled.)
Lavender (I think I overcrowded them, so they're on their way out.)
Sweet Basil (These are still infants.

Experiment:
I wasn't too pleased with how Cilantro looked in the big box stores or my local nursery. I purchased some from the supermarket today for dinner and will see if I can get some of these cuttings to root. If this works, I won't feel so bad about killing all those watermelon plants.

Gifted:
A friend of mine gave me a "Salad Garden" from our local Farmer's Market. It came in one of those cute, seasonal, plastic ice buckets and contains a Bell Pepper, green onions, radish, spinach, and some type of lettuce. It also came with duplicate seeds and an additional set of carrot seeds.

Speaking of gited items... In addition to growing my own veggies on my balcony, I'm also working with a local community center to grow fresh veggies for their food pantry. Art and Heidi started us off with 2 7-gallon buckets. Thanks, guys! I'll donate the eggplant, and most of the tomatoes, I started from seed to this garden. This is a project that is very dear to my heart, so I will designate special post to it in the upcoming week.

Phew! That was a lot to take in, so I'll have to update you on today's garden shenanigans in a later post.

Up next in the Gardening Diaries... Lessons (somewhat) Learned

Por Fin

2009-05-17T15:03:00.002-04:00

I finally finished my re-ti on the back portion of my hair! Wooohoooo! It took me 3 movies to get it done - Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Notorious. I started off with a quickie baking soda wash, followed by a combo wash of Hugo's Natural Red Tea & Yland Ylang shampoo & Oyin's Honey Hemp Conditioner. I also did a hot oil treatment (using my new hooded dryer) and ended it all with a good old fashioned ACV rinse. Phew! And then I started on re-tightening my hair. Crazy, right?

Nothing else to report. No pictures. Just sweet relief to finally be done. I'll attempt this agin in another 6 weeks.

Loc Lovefest

2009-05-13T00:52:00.003-04:00

I absolutely LOVE my hair!!!! I especially love the way it behaves when I dance. When I was younger, I was taught to use my hair as an extension of myself and my movements. That's probably why I'm also the queen of the hair flip today. Swish. Swoosh. Tussle. Flip! What? You thought only Becky and them could do that? Nerp! My baby locs can flip with the best of them. When I took belly dance class last year, there was a move where the teacher would flip her hair. I did it, but having a Big Ass Afro and all, it didn't have the same effect. Ask me to do this move again now. So seshy!

My rubberband popped tonight in African dance class and it might have been the best thing that happened to me. With my hair now loose, I could flip it as I moved. Man! It's like a whole new dancer came out of me. The routine I'd previously done just seemed to come to life all of a sudden. I was in my element. My hips had a sassier sway to them, I bent down a bit lower on certain steps so my hair would dramatically move whenever I got back up, the jumps and turns I did felt stronger now that my hair was following my body's lead. It was awesome... and I'm sure I'll feel it in the morning.

But, for now, I'm having a love affair with my locs. While the other loced sistas in the class had their long hair pulled back, when I finally released mine, my short babies were shaking around the dance floor. I loved every minute of it. In that moment, I paid no mind to the fro envy I get from time to time. I forgot about the fact that I still need to re-ti the back portion of my head. I gave no thought to how I would probably need to rinse my hair now full of sweat. All of my thoughts were about how lovely it felt to have my tresses accentuate my moves. I felt feminine and free. Ahhh! This is great!

Weekend Update

2009-05-11T09:01:00.003-04:00

Well, I finally bit the bullet and re-ti'd the front portion of my hair. What a difference that made! It looked neater and the back still looked full - I like it like that. I've combined a few more of my babies around the hairline because they were either too little or the braids kept unraveling.

I had a great time in Chicago with my friends, but didn't sport any noteworthy 'dos. You know me, the Queen of Freestyle. *sigh* And, though I didn't get any idiots touching my hair, I did get a few compliments from strangers. One came from a guy at Funky Buddha. He approached me, drink in hand, smiling from ear to ear, and enthusiastically exclaimed, "I LOVE your dreads!" Ummm... Really? How in the world can you see my hair in this dark room? I thanked him and felt a little bit like I had arrived. My babies aren't all sealed yet, but they are now being recognized by others as locs. Sweet!

This weekend was the first time I'd seen many of my friends in a year or more. There were some folks I hadn't seen in 3 years. The first thing they all said to me when they saw me was some variation of, "Wow! You look great!" Of course, me being me, I can't take a compliment very well, so I am now left wondering just how horrible I looked before. I even saw a guy I... had a situationship with and he said I looked great, kept staring, and finding excuses to keep hugging me. Really? I thought I was bumming it with my t-shirt and jeans. *shrug*

On a~~nother~~ totally unrelated note, I'm thinking of including a few posts over here about my balcony container garden. I try to keep Me, My Naps, And I more family-friendly and what's more family-friendly than growing your own veggies and herbs? I know most of you don't read my other, more personal, sometimes inappropriate, hot mess, tell it like it T-I is blog called Random Thoughts, so I'll be posting mini updates over here as well. Stay tuned.

I guess I'll leave you with some pics from this weekend. My camera has been acting a donkey lately, so everything has been looking extra bright for no reason. *sigh*

Celebrating a friend's Birthday at Big Bar

And the celebration continued at Butterfly Lounge

Re-Ti Session Blues

2009-05-09T00:33:00.004-04:00

I'm in the middle of a re-ti session and am already bored with this. Good thing I started with the front portion of my head because I have to finish it now. I can't go out the house ~~anymore~~ looking crazy. So far, I've watched Body of Lies and Not Easily Broken on DVD. Hooray for Redbox. I'm in the middle of watching Alexander and thinking this is the most uninspiring thing I could watch right now. Maybe I'll just catch up on Grey's and Private Practice episodes online. I'm also tempted to listen to an audiobook.

I want my hairline to be a bit neater, so I'm interlocking and twisting it. We'll see if this holds up through me sweating on the dance floor tomorrow night. Bleh! I need to keep going so I can get in the bed by 3am. Still haven't packed and I need to hit the road by 11am tomorrow.

What do you watch when you have a long re-ti or other grooming session ahead of you?

Au Naptural vs The Fuzz

2009-05-08T07:42:00.002-04:00

I really, really, really need to do something with my hair because my roots are getting a bit out of hand. Yes, I know. How about a marathon re-ti session? Bleh! I'm just not in the mood. Sadly, I know that if I do a re-ti in short sessions, I'll never finish. Maybe I'll spend tonight with a few Redbox movies and get to work.

I'm going to Chicago tomorrow to visit some friends and have a great weekend. For many of them, this will be the first time seeing my hair in person since I've begun locing. I can't help but feel like I've got to put my best foot... or is it loc?... forward.

I thought I knew frizz before. Apparently, I had NO idea! My babies are all fuzzy wuzzy along the shaft (is this the appropriate term?) and it's driving me a bit insane. On one hand, the frizz gives my hair a texture that puts me in tactile heaven. On the other hand, the frizz also makes my hair look a bit more uncoiffed than I would like. I know this is all a part of the process, so I will not be deterred. Instead, I'll just bitch and moan about it a bit here on the blog. Ahhhh! Much better.

Randomly, as if this post wasn't random enough, I've noticed that a few men have recently ventured to discover how soft my hair is. I think it has something to do with the fact that my roots are VERRRRRRY loose. Guyfriend A has gotten better, but he used to have his hands all up in my hair when we were at work in the community center. He'd be all up in the roots and pulling on my coils. If I didn't wash my hair so often, I might be bothered by this. And then comes Guyfriend B. The first time I met him he put his hands in my hair. That put me off a bit seeing as how I didn't even know his name yet. Yep, he got a straight sistagirl cussing from me that night. Fast forward a couple of months and we've made nice. Now, he has permission to touch my hair whenever I see him. Why? Because that man gives the. best. scalp massages. EVER.

So, you see, I'm struggling because I want my hair to look a bit less fuzzy, but I also want it to be touchably soft. I'll figure something out soon. Thanks for reading my word salad today, Napturals.

Race Day

2009-05-03T11:31:00.005-04:00

Hopped up on meds and ready to run @ 6:15 AM

I finished my 2nd Half Marathon for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who donated, encouraged, or shared their testimony with me about how cancer has affected their life.

For the first time ever I was able to sport a cute little loc puff ponytail. I was quite excited about this as it meant my hair would be pulled back and I could sport my freebie hat that also had a pocket on the front. I got my hair caught in the velcro strap a few times while I was adjusting it, but no major damage was done.

You know I was looking for some locs whenever I was in the race, right? As soon as I jumped in the corral I saw a lady with the prettiest locs. I thought they were sister locs, but she told me they were very small traditional ones that she maintained by palmrolling. WOW! I also saw a few heads full of locs as I trudged on in the race. I think my count was up to 4. I was tempted to increase my pace to talk to one lady, but I didn't fancy having much chit chat while I tackled 13.1 miles.

I didn't bring my camera on the course and was feeling too ill to pose for many pictures after the race. I did, however manage to document a bit of the experience. So, enjoy my race recap video.

More Frizz & Other Updates

2009-04-29T00:27:00.006-04:00

OK, folks. I know I said at the beginning of this journey that I would embrace the frizz. But... errrrr. ummmm... uhhhh. This stuff is getting out of hand. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if my hair actually appeared to be moisturized. I need to drink more water and do more oil treatments or something.

I've re-incorporated the ACV rinses back into my routine and it's been helping with the itchies. I wonder if the itching I have now can be attributed to stress (I itch and scratch when nervous) or growth.

A strand of my hair came aloose from one of my babies. I stretched it out and it was dang near bra strap length. I'm not big on length checks, but I'm not going to sit here and lie to you fine folks and claim that I don't care about length either. Pshhh! If I'm completely honest, I'll admit that one of the main reasons why I'm growing locs is to see just how long they will get. My favorite hairstyle was to keep my hair in microbraid extensions. I loved the look. Now, I am curious to see how my locs will look when they get that long.

I have serious hand-in-loc disease! Too bad this hasn't extended to me actually re-tightening any of my locs. Well, that's a lie. I did a quickie attempt to tidy up the first two rows over the weekend. It's not that I don't have the time, I'm just not motivated to work on my hair right now. I do wonder, however, how much of a difference the re-ti session would make on how my frizzy ends look. Maybe I'll get started tomorrow so that they are a bit more tidy for my half marathon on Saturday.

I still suck at taking pictures... and trying new styles. Here are a few shots from this past weekend in DC with my cousins.

My cousin was playing paparazzi while I was getting ready.

Filling up our SmartTrip cards

Changing purses before we left for our dinner cruise on the Potomac.

Me and my Boos (cousins) celebrating Boo #1's (middle) birthday.

Buds, Latching, and Curly Qs

2009-04-23T08:15:00.000-04:00

I think I found some buds in my hair. Yipeeee! Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't celebrate and panic within the same breath, right? How do I know that those buds are just tangled hair and not embedded lint? Gross! The first one I found had some lint in it, so I've been kind of paranoid ever since. Have I been paranoid to the point where I'll wrap my hair up at night? Of course not. That would make too much sense. I inspected a few more of them and they just look like a tangled mass of hair, but I'm not sure.

I still haven't done a re-ti on my entire head. At this point, the front is beginning to look a bit fuzzy and my roots in the center and back of my head are amazingly thick. I don't want to wait too long, but I'm loving the fullness of the back of my head right now. Well, that and I'm being uber lazy. Something tells me semi-freeforming might be in my future sooner than I thought. I offered to teach one of my guy friends how to do it so I could enlist his help. Knowing him, this would probably last all of one time before he got uppity and decided he wanted to charge me for his services. Nerp! Not gonna happen, buddy.

Some of the Curly Qs on the ends of my hair are beginning to disappear. I will miss them when they're gone. I wonder if I can pick them out after my locs are completely sealed/formed?

Please Help Me Find A Dress Pattern

2009-04-21T21:47:00.001-04:00

I went to the mall today to get my beloved laptop cosmetically fixed. While Mackee (Yes, she has a name. No, it's not very original) was being serviced I popped into my favorite overpriced bohemian store, Anthro.pologie. I love their style, but cringe at the thought of paying $158 + tax for a COTTON dress. I tried on a dress called Dauntless and fell in love immediately. It had me at bold pattern and pockets! I lurve dresses with pockets!!! Unfortunately, my boobs are more comfortable in a larger dress size than the rest of my body. No, they're not huge. They just decided to shrink a little slower than the rest of me. *shrug*

If I buy the dress, which won't be happening with my anemic bank account, I'll need to get it altered. Someone suggested that I might be better off finding the dress pattern, some fabric, and having it made in Chinatown. Sweet! Too bad I'm no longer in NYC :-( There are so many cute, overpriced dresses on the market right now and I want them all. I need to learn how to sew. This is where you come in, blog family, if you can find me a pattern for the dress (remember it has pockets) I'd be eternally grateful. I've been perusing many of the popular brands online and haven't found anything yet.

I suppose this would be described as a strapless, shift style (or is this A line?) dress with invisible pockets?

Heeeeeeelllllp! Patrice? Adrienne? Carmelle? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? I'll post this on Napptu.rality and my hair blog to enlist the services of some more of you kind folks.

*Bonus points for being able to point me in the direction of some traditional fabric. The bolder the print and brighter the color the better.

Lochawk Success

2009-04-18T09:15:00.003-04:00

Sooooo... About this lochawk. I just went for it and it worked! Too bad I had to take it down last night. Ah well. I used a bunch of tiny black rubber bands that were going to waste in the bottom of my hair supply cabinet. Started by making a small ponytail at the nape, then working my way up to my crown. That's the best description you will get out of me today. I'll do a tut or something if you reaaaaally want to see it. Otherwise, enjoy my foolish fabulousness. Yes, I was feeling myself very much last night. These moments don't come often, so I celebrate them when I can.

Beijos...

Lochawk

2009-04-17T13:58:00.002-04:00

I want one sooooo badly. I'll see if I can pull it off tonight or tomorrow. The weather is so nice out that I want to freshen up my style and change up a bit. Even if it's only for a day. Will update with pics if I do it.

Bleh!

2009-04-14T04:32:00.002-04:00

That's how I'm feeling about my hair these days. I interlocked the front of my hair over 2 weeks because I'm lazy and had more important things to do... like become a Doctoral Candidate. Wahoo! Not sure if I mentioned it on this blog, but I've been stressing out since January about this big paper that determined whether or not I would be allowed to finish my grad program. Anyway, my hair has taken a back burner to my academic life. Perhaps this is one of the many joys of having locs or braidlocs. I haven't had a bad hair day since I started my journey in December.

Where was I? Ah, yes. I interlocked the front part of my hair last week. I'm not in the mood to do the rest of my head and I like playing with the new growth. My roots feel great between my fingers. I'l probably bite the bullet and finish my hair before I leave for DC on the 25th to meet my cousins for our girls' retreat. I adore those ladies!

I've sort of changed up my routine a bit. I've stopped using Oyin's Honey Hemp Conditioner. *Gasp!* I know. I'm not sure, but I feel like my locs were feeling a bit more frizzy and looked duller whenever I used it. Too bad, because it smells great and works wonders on my new growth. I need to figure out how to use the rest of that bottle to benefit my babies. Last weekend I opted for a hot oil treatment with honey, EVOO, and EVCO. I then washed with baking soda and rinsed with ACV. Talk about soft hair??!!! I'd been slipping on my ACV treatments, but I see now that I must go back. I've also been experiencing a horrible case of the itchies, so going back to my weekly ACV treatments should definitely help.

Did I mention that I went into Sally's for a simple, tabletop hooded dryer and was convinced by another loced sista (very rare for this area to see another sista let alone a natural and loced one) to order the semi-professional, free-standing rolling one that was on sale this month. I shelled out $100+ for a damn dryer. Yea. I'll just have to do lots of hot oil treatments and roller sets to compensate for my ridiculousness. Seriously though, what convinced me to get it was the fact that using it didn't require me to sit uncomfortably with my back to a table. So long as it can reach an outlet, I can plug that bad boy up and sit under it anywhere. This means I could probably even ~~blog~~ ~~browse NP~~ ~~play on Face.book~~ work on my dissertation as I dry my hair. Sweet!

That's all I've got. I'm afraid I haven't gotten any better at taking pics either. I'm still rocking the freestyle look because it's cute, no fuss, and works for me. I'll see if I can snag some pics from my friend's camera of my hair this past weekend.

Until next time, Napturals....

Briadloc Rod Set

2009-04-05T22:42:00.005-04:00

I had an event last night and decided to experiment with my hair. A big risk considering I had no clue how the rod set was going to look once it dried. I had very little time and was determined to make it work no matter what it looked like... Or wash out the curls and keep it moving.

Here's the video showing what I did. I'm very aware that I am acting very vain and coquettish in the first half of the video. I guess I was feeling myself just a bit. LOL! Ignore my antics and see the style at the end. I'm washing the curls out soon because my scalp is itching (I was lazy and rinsed my hair before curling instead of washing) and I need to tighten up my roots. Enjoy!

Public

2009-04-05T22:20:00.002-04:00

I was originally going to delete the blog and just add its contents to my personal blog.... Then I decided to put it on private while I re-organized some things... But that was too much work and who really wants to read through all my crazy rants when all you actually want to read about is hair? Soooooooo. The blog is public again. I'll update you on the new style I tried last night in the next entry. Thanks for stopping by :-)

Loc Enemies

2009-03-19T10:06:00.000-04:00

Lint, smoke, and velcro are the enemies! I don't like them one bit.

I've been battling lint for the last few weeks. Nothing major, but I must remember to wrap my hair up when I'm lounging under fuzzy blankets and laying on the carpet. I should probably invest in some microfiber towels as well to keep lint at bay when drying my hair. I pluck out what I can see in the front, but I have this ridiculous(?) fear of having a head full of lint because of what I can't see in the back. I wonder if I can hire a lintpicker? LOL!

Nitpicking monkeys from gawker.com

I'm also very sensitive to smells. So it should come as no surprise that I like my locs to smell refreshing and clean -whatever that means. Smoke, be it from cigarettes, hookah, incense, grilling or frying food, stays in my hair. Now that it's getting warmer, I have no problem washing or rinsing my hair more often to combat this. During the winter, however, this was a problem because I didn't like leaving the house with wet hair. Wet hair + cold temperatures = frozen hair & frozen Timah. No fun! If you ever want to piss me off or make me want to karate chop you in the throat, blow your funky cigar in my freshly washed locs.

Evil cigar smoker from Dailycamera.com

Lastly, I think it's important for me to reiterate that velcro is not your friend. I'd read this on NP before, but I had no idea how painful this could really be. My winter coat has velcro on the collar. Getting my locs caught in that makes me cringe. Ahhhhh! When I hear that crackling sound as I pull my hair out of it, I often think "This can NOT be good." My hair bounces back, but I'd rather not be bothered with the trauma. Good thing it's getting warmer and the coat has been put to rest for the season.

On Frizz and Styling

2009-03-18T02:07:00.001-04:00

To continue the celebration of my 3 months of locdom, I'd like to talk very briefly about my frizz and styling.

Frizz is a part of the locing territory. This is the only place where I embrace my fuziness. Someone told me that my hair looked unkempt. It's not that my hair looks bad (IMHO), I think it's because she has never seen me with a hair too much out of place. Even my wild fros were styled just so. Don't ask how. LOL! Now? I'm happy to let it do it's own thing.

But, I also wonder if I am letting it do its own thing a bit too much. I need to up my styling game. I usually rock a tussled freestyle look.
Occasionally, I might do a mini pony on a side in the front for a change. I did this with my last set of twists, but can't seem to find pics of this style on my locs.
My standard going out style is to pin up one side (I love asymmetry) and create a swoop of layered locs coming forward on the other (see my Blogger profile pic).

I also need to take more pictures of my hair. Then again, I didn't take too many pics as a loose nappy so I don't know why I would expect that to change now.

My goal for this weekend is to curl my babies and take pictures of them. This will also buy me some time before I get to latching again. Should be simple enough.

Three! Three Months of Locs.

2009-03-17T02:26:00.000-04:00

I always loved The Count from Sesame Street! He had the coolest cape and his laugh was pretty wicked. Ah! Ah! Ah!

Anyyyyyway, I'm approching my 3rd month of locdom over here and still loving every bit of it. To celebrate, I'll do 3 posts with random things I've observed or learned so far.

Twisting my new growth is neat and quick, but is a waste of my time. I wash my hair way too much for that. I also don't like having to use products to make that stuff stay put. All those clips and thangs while I wait for my hair to dry? No, thanks! Pass the latching tool, please. Oh, and by the way... When you're latching, if you think you can get in just one more rotation - DON'T! Talk about a sore scalp? Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

Water does a body good. Especially since my hair is dyed (*gasp* That's not natural. Yea. Whatever. Bite me!), it needs all the moisture it can get. Water is cheap and readily available around these parts, so that's what I use. I spritz and rinse in agua. Now if only I could remember to keep drinking it. *shrug* Be sure to check out MsFullroller's post called Moisture, Moisture, Moisture.

Adding water can also cause my hair to shrink as it dries. Shrinkage is a beast. It shall not be tamed by me, though. More shrinkage means that my babies are just hugging themselves a bit tighter. I'm all for that. The curlies at the end of my hair are getting more compact. I will miss them when they're gone.

Musical Fro: Esperanza Spalding

2009-02-25T12:19:00.007-05:00

Photo Credit: Esperanzaspalding.com

Gawd! She's gorgeous! She makes me miss my Fro (just a little bit), wish I played the bass, and never stopped singing. Thanks to the ladies of NP, I have a new musical crush. I've been listening to a few songs from her latest album, Esperanza, for the last few days.

My favorite so far is Precious...

"I'm not gonna sit around and waste my precious, divine energy
Trying to explain and being ashamed of what you think is wrong with me."

I also like I Know You Know

I'm off to stalk her tour and performance dates. Enjoy the tunes!

Its Working, Its Working!

2009-02-20T09:58:00.007-05:00

Ok so yesterday I mentioned that I was on a quest to find a new deep conditioner, and I think I have found it. Let me start by saying, I think I may be the only naptural who is not impressed with Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing Pak. It gives me no slip and my actually feels like I have shampooed it rather than deep conditioned it. So I started researching a little more and I saw that Elasta QP DPR-11 received pretty good reviews, so I went to my local beauty supply store and picked it up.

I took out my braids last night and gave my hair a good shampooing (which I rarely do) so my hair was definately in need of a little TLC. Even after my regular conditioner, my hair was a dry tangled mess. And just when I thought a big chop was in my future, DPR came and saved the day.

I felt like this man:

I applied it generously to my wet hair and 15 mintues later, my Denman brush was gliding through my hair. And to make it even better, this product is only $6! I love when cheap products work. After I detangled my hair, I twisted it in sections and rinsed out the deep conditioner with my twist still in. Afterwards I applied my Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercream and twisted it back up.

Here's a pic of the results

I'm a little out of practice but I am still pleased with the results.

Finally, My First Post!

2009-02-19T11:37:00.006-05:00

Hello All,

MJ here. I apologize for the delay in posting, I have been braided up for the last six weeks so I didn't have much to talk about.

So here is my ~~history~~ hairstory:

My mother started relaxing my hair when I was six years old, thats right I said six. And I lived the lye until middle school. In middle school I started getting braid extensions and kept getting them done for two or three years. I wore my natural hair once, to my sophomore cotillian and after that I got a texturizer... Ughhh. so once my hair dried out and broke off I cut it all off and unfortunately started relaxing again. I kept a steady routine of braiding and relazing until 2006. In June 2006, I got my last perm. I didnt have a dramatic big chop, I just decided I wasn't going to get perms anymore so I transitioned with braids and trimmed aggressively until all the perm was gone. After spending countless hours on you tube, nappturality.com, and various other hair sites, I finally got the courage to take my braids out in September of 2008.

I have 4c type hair. Or if your scale only goes to 4b then I have that. My hair is fine, soft, kinky, cottony, and shrinks a lot. I am always looking for a new products to try that can keep my hair moist, a constant struggle. My current quest is to find a good deep conditioner. I will let you know how that goes. I love using natural products on my natural hair, but I don't exclusively use natural products. My last product purchase was Miss Jessie's Stretch Silkening Creme. Here are the results:

I actually really liked it. I was slow to give in to all the Miss Jessie's hype, because while some people love the products, other find them grossly overrated. But I bit the bullet and purchased the product (during the annual bogo sale) washed my hair, applied generously and twisted my hair in about ten twists. The silkening creme like all of Miss Jessie's products are expensive, but I was pleased with the result, and it smells great.

....and it's done

2009-02-18T23:47:00.001-05:00

(Disregard the date on the photo)

To Dee, J, Meeka, T, Tiff B, Taadie, and all of my other napptural sisters, I would just like to say thanks for the support!

......and the journey begins.........

Choppity Chop Chop...

2009-02-17T22:34:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone, I'm Joia. I'm a natural newbie. I chopped off a good 8 or so inches of relaxer last week and it was probably the coolest thing I've ever done, hair-wise. I'd been wanting to go natural for a while, especially after hairlusting over other girls' elasticity and volume. I just knew my hair could be like that. I'm excited to try new things with my hair and watch it really blossom. I can honestly say that I don't miss my relaxer one bit. While I realize not everyone is ~~crazy enough~~ ready for the big chop, I'm glad I chose to do it this way. I didn't have some "ah-ha" moment while she was cutting my tresses, but it's kinda dawning on me now. Having new natural hair is kinda like having a baby placed on your doorstep - you have no idea what to do with it, but you'll figure it out as you go.

I've been wearing comb coils for the past week. The first few days, my head was cold and I felt a little self-conscious, but people have literally chased me down to ask where I got them done! Such a pleasant surprise...

**before...obviously...and yes, I just walk around in my undies, so sue me!!**

**GOOD RIDDANCE!! just kidding...sorta**

**3 days after the BC**

**1 day after the BC**

As with many things in life, I realized that going natural and cutting off all my hair wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. My top 3 reasons for not doing it sooner were: 1) that I'd look GODAWFUL with short hair (I don't), 2) that I'd never get a date (sounds even dumber when I type it) and 3) that it would be too difficult caring for my natural hair. I'm sure I'll run into some challenges with my hair, but what's new?? I'm mostly happy about the fact that I'll be able to plan trips without calculating the humidity index first. My relaxer, while I enjoyed our time together, really limited my ability to exercise and travel, two things I really love to do. Now I can sweat and jetset as much as I want without fear of "ruining" my hair.

Another strange byproduct of naturalness is this overwhelming need to nourish my hair. Suddenly, I'm eating better and drinking assloads of water. Burger and fries? No, thanks. I'm realizing that what I put into my body directly affects what's going to grow out of my head. **duh** I'm even experimenting with homemade products. This is more because I'm super-broke and can't afford Carol's Daughter or Miss Jessie's Expensive-Ass Puddings. Fortunately, my mother is natural so I can steal her stuff. So, we'll see how it turns out - this vegetable glycerine moisturizing spray I've concocted.

So I'll be blogging about this journey as well and I hope you ladies (or gents) find some courage and wisdom in my story. :)

J

Moisturize Your Situation

2009-02-17T20:00:00.000-05:00

... And preserve your sexy. I still crack up every time I think about Diddy saying this on the skincare infomercial. Funny as it is, it's sooo true. A head full of dull, dry, brittle hair is very much NOT sexy.

Here are some of my favorite products I use to moisturize (and condition) my tresses and scalp:

Castor Oil - That nasty stuff your grandparents used to give you to alleviate constipation has another use. It moisturizes and conditions your hair. It is also a humectant (see Vegetable Glycerine).

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) - Pick some up at your local grocery store on the cheap. I buy it by the gallon now because I cook with it and use it from head to toe. Apply to a freshly washed scalp, add to a spritz (see Water), or use as a hot oil treatment.

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO) - I found this at Wal.mart in the supplement aisle, but I like the NOW brand I find at my local healthfood store much better (it's organic). This oil is wonderful as it smells heavenly and isn't too greasy. I apply a small amount to my body after the shower (before I dry off) and to my hair after a wash or rinse. I also use it in conjunction with other oils and herbs on my scalp (see Loose Herbs entry). Just a note, EVCO should be solid below room temperature and liquid above room temp (75 F).

Honey - Is a natural antibacterial substance. Besides tasting awesome, honey also gives your hair sheen. It can be used in conjunction with oil as a conditioning hot oil treatment.

Vegetable Glycerine - Can be found at your local healthfood store. It's a humectant in that it draws moisture from a humid environment into your hair (the verdict is still out on whether it has reverse effects when the environment is dry). In warm weather I use a spritz of 2 oz glycerine and 6 oz water every other day. You should play with the mixture as too much glycerine can make your hair a drippy, sticky mess. I don't use this in cold weather. Instead, I switch to castor oil.

Shea Butter (Unrefined) - This is a great conditioner and moisturizer although some folks (self included) find it to be a bit heavy on the scalp. I use a small amount on my ends. Sometimes I melt it in a double boiler and add it to my hot oil treatments. I also whipped it (and EVCO) with a hand mixer and used it when I two strand twisted my hair.

Water - Gone are the days when you must shield your relaxed hair from water. From filtered to distilled, water is a Naptural girl's best friend! Keep some in a small spray bottle and mist your hair with it as needed. You may add things to the water such as oil (EVOO, Castor), vegetable glycerine, a small amount of your fave conditioner, or a combination of any of these.

Sweet Almond Oil - This is another gem for me. I use it from head to toe. It's pretty light, gives my skin a nice glow, and isn't too clogging for my pores.

All of the above were used when I was a loose nappy. Now that I'm approaching my 3rd month of pop locing :-) I have streamlined just a bit. Number 1 on my list is water. My locs absolutely lurve it! I spritz my babies with water and a dollop of castor oil every day (when I'm not being lazy). After I finish washing or rinsing my hair I apply EVCO to my ends and apply either my infused oil or sweet almond oil to my scalp.

I no longer use shea butter on my locs for fear of it attracting too much lint. I miss it sooo much. I will try to re-incorporate it somehow. I will slowly begin to add veggie glycerine and honey back into my routine as the weather gets warmer. Perhaps I'll mix something up for a hot oil or deep conditioning treatment within the next month.

Coming up next on Me, My Naps, And I.... Joia's Big Chop

Introducing......MIMI!!!!!

2009-02-15T21:21:00.005-05:00

It's MIMI!!!!! Yep, I know that I'm about 2 months late with this post, but since Timah decided to put me on blast in her last one, then I figured that I might as well get on it. I am just your regular, everyday, "transitioning into natural hair", guest blogger and I'm here to let you all know how my hair is progressing. I've been transitioning for about 2 months now (yeah, I gave in and got a fake box perm sometime in Dec), and I'm sooooo ready to chop it all off!!!! I wash and deep condition once a week, which might seem excessive to some, but I've noticed that my hair feels stronger and 10x's healthier once I deep condition. I've also been doing a simple rod set (shown below) as my transition style because I now despise using flat irons.

Ok, so I'm SUPER excited for my new hair products to come in. I've been using Cream of Nature Organic Kiwi and Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo or Suave Neutralizing Shampoo as well as Suave Humectants cond, Jane Carter Leave In Replenishing Cond, and Cream of nature Sunflower and Coconut detangling cond. I also make my own deep conditioner using olive oil, jojoba oil, almond oil, coconut oil and honey, which I LOVE !!!!

But, let me get back to these new products. I've been hearing rave reviews about the Hairveda product line. So, last Saturday, I went through almost every blog, online review and YouTube video that I could find and decided to just go ahead and give these products a try. I ordered the Methi Sativa Set, CoCasta Shikakai Hair oil, Vatika Frosting, SitiriNillah Deep Conditioner, Amla Shampoo with Shikakai, and a sample size of their Whipped Gelly (yes, it's actually spelled with a "G"). Hopefully, it will come in sometime this week because I'm so ready to try this stuff!

I've also decided to do the big chop very soon. J did hers this week without thinking twice. So, if someone who hadn't even thought of going natural can do it (and her hair came out really cute), then I surely shouldn't be a big chicken. I'm tired of waiting. Yeah, I'm transitioning, but, for what?!?! So, I'm giving myself until mid March, because I really don't want just anyone cutting my hair so I need to find a stylist, but yep, by March 15th, I should be starting my ALL natural journey. Stay Tuned!!!!

Fund-racing to Save Lives!!!

2009-02-10T10:38:00.001-05:00

**This one is NOT hair related and will be the only plea I make on this blog. Thanks for your support**

Dear Napturals,

On May 2nd I will be running my second half marathon, the One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon, in Indianapolis. I had so much fun last year that I decided to do it all over again! While running 13.1 miles will be a personal challenge, there is a bigger reason I am doing this. I am running to raise money to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s fight against blood cancers as a member of their Team in Training. Did you know that Leukemia is the number one killer among children and young adults? For this reason, finding a cure is very important to me.

In addition to running for the Society, I will be running for my local hero Juli. Juli just celebrated her 5 year remission from Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) by participating in her first Team in Training event, the Walt Disney World Half-Marathon (Pretty awesome, huh?). In addition to honoring Juli, I'm also running to honor my friend and teammate, Melissa, who just celebrated 22 years as a survivor of Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

I’ve committed to raising a minimum of $1600 by April 3rd to help fund The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s research in finding a cure for leukemia and other blood-related cancers. Any donation you give to support my efforts would be greatly appreciated, but here’s a list of suggested amounts:

• $13.10 …………………... $1 for every mile I run
• $26.20 …………………... $2 for every mile I run
• $52.40 …………………... Funds someone to become a bone marrow donor
• $100.00 ……………......... The cost of 4 co-pays for chemotherapy treatment
• $500.00 ………………...... Provides financial aid to a patient for an entire year!

You may submit your donation safely and securely on my website using your credit or debit card:

Donation Website

Remember, every little bit you give will bring us one step closer to the ultimate finish line – a cure! I appreciate your help and look forward to receiving your generous contribution soon.

Best,
Timah

It Could All Be So Simple...

2009-02-08T15:18:00.005-05:00

But I was making it rather hard. Let's start from the beginning.

I've seen the videos and read the NP threads about latching or interlocking, but it just wasn't making sense to me. Why go through all of this effort when you could twist those bad boys and keep it moving? So, I twisted the front of my hair sometime around week 4. It looked pretty fresh to death if I do say so myself. That is, until I rinsed my hair. Yea. Not so cute that look. I needed to try an alternate method. The problem? I had no clue how to go about interlocking.

All that talk about 4 point versus 3 point rotations, y pattern warnings, and compass-like directions was a bunch of mumbo jumbo to me. Then, to complicate matters, there are fiftyleven tools that can be used. Some folks use the Nappylocs tool. Others use a crochet hook - and a subpopulation of these folks complain about their hair geting caught on the hook. And then you have the rebels. The DIYers. The folks that said Later for all this purchasing of crap. I'll just make it my damn self! These are the folks that took paperclips, wire, masking tape, or a sewing needle and McGuyvered their own hair tools. Ha! These are my type of peoples.

It's been 7 weeks and my new growth is outta control.
So, off I went to NP and YouTube for a refresher course on interlocking. *Enter msfullroller's vid* I'd seen her video before I was locked and had that squinty-eye-lean-head-to-the-side look going on as I watched it. Your girl wasn't understanding anything that was going on. But last night... EUREKA and Thank God! I got it. I made two tools from a small and a large paper clip and went to work on a small section of my freshly washed hair. I looked in the mirror in disbelief at how simple and effective this method really is.

Paper clips work just fine for me

Can you see the difference? The right side has been re-tightened

Twisting, for me, is a quick fix. I'm thinking interlocking is where it's at. It might take a while to do, but that's what I get for having so much darn hair and then having a bunch of small braidlocs on top of that. I'll keep you posted on how the retightening session goes. Something tells me I'll be at it for a few hours.

Annnnnd We're Back

2009-02-07T02:07:00.002-05:00

Hey Napturals! I'm back and ready to clear the cobwebs off this here blog. Thanks for your patience while I was away.

Here are some upcoming posts:

- Moisturize Your Situation... and preserve your sexy? This one will be all about keeping your tresses from feeling like hay.

- Braidlocs @ 7 weeks... Lessons learned

- Transitioner's corner... I'll have my friend Mimi share some tips on how to cope with two drastically different textures of hair.

Stay tuned....

Still here

2009-01-17T21:52:00.002-05:00

Hey Napturals, I'm still here. I'm pretty swamped with grad school work right now and really need to buckle down to get things done. In the meantime, expect to see some posts from guest contributors. Both of these ladies are loose nappies - one is currently transitioning - and friends of mine. If you're subscribed to my feed, then you'll know when a new post is up. Otherwise, see you in a few weeks.

Spa Party

2009-01-05T21:18:00.004-05:00

A while back I had a Girls' Night In Spa Party. The idea was to use all natural ingredients to pamper ourselves for an evening. When I say all natural, I mean ALL natural - and affordable. Think oatmeal, honey, chocolate, baking soda, epsom salt, sugar, sea salt, and yogurt.

Despite the unexpected snowstorm, there were only 7 of us, but it was perfect. I gathered some recipes from the net, whipped up the goodies, and treated the ladies to a night of facials and manicures. We ate finger food, sipped wine and infused water, laughed, and indulged. Fun times! I promised I would send them links to the recipes so here goes...

Our facial routine was as follows:

1. Cleaned face with a natural cleanser, soap, or cleansing towel (we used the latter).

2. Exfoliated with either Oatmeal Exfoliating Scrub (this was used for sensitive skin) or Sugar & Spice Scrub. Once this was done, the ladies used a Brown Sugar Lip Scrub.

3. To my surprise, everyone tried the Moisturizing Chocolate Face Mask and looooved it. They applied some cucumber slices for the eyes and relaxed for 15 minutes.

4. I had them finish with an Egg White Mask (applied EggBeaters to the face & let it tighten) to even skin tone and reduce pores.

After manicures, I sent each of the ladies off with their very own bag of bath salts and a few ideas for homemade gifts.

Maddie Ruud has some awesome Facial Masks Recipes and Body Scrub and Salt Glow Recipes.

RecipeZaar has some great finds like:

Natural Lemon Astringent and Pore Reducer
Quick Facial Rejuvenator
Simple Sugar Scrub
Brown Sugar Exfoliating Bath Scrub
Lemon (Or Lime) Sugar (Or Salt) Scrub
Gingerbread Body Scrub
Sugar & Spice Milk Bath
Martha Stewart's Foot Soak
Extra Soothing & Aromatic Bath Salts with Milk

More scrub recipes can be found here, foot soak recipes can be found here, and facials can be found here.

Hope this helps you with your next Spa Party or evening of self-indulgence. As usual, drop me a line in the comments if you have some questions or care to share your fave all natural skincare recipe.

Experimenting

2009-01-02T18:03:00.002-05:00

I'm going to a charity ball at the end of the month, so I've been playing around with my braids to see what kind of styling options I can do myself.... I'll keep working at it. But something tells me that I may end up doing some type of curly updo. Here's my latest experiment with perm rods in the back and who the heck knows what was going on in the front of my head. Next time I'll try to use a natural product with more hold and remember to tie the front of my head down with a scarf. If you have any styling ideas, links, or pictures feel free to leave them in the comment box.

Cleansing

2009-01-01T08:48:00.000-05:00

I washed my hair once a week (sometimes more, sometimes less) and rinsed it every few days in the shower. I did this whether my hair was in a loose or in a protective style (i.e., braids, twists, etc.). Contrary to what you were taught as a chemically relaxed chica, water is now your best friend! I stay away from shampoos with sulfates in them as they tend to strip the hair of oil. So, I won't be recommending many regular shampoos with sulfates in them on this here blog.

One tried and true staple for many Napturals is Dr. Bronner's castille soap. I use the peppermint version. It makes my scalp feel all tingly and leaves my tresses pretty clean. Some folks dilute it while others, like me, just super saturate the hair with water in the shower and apply a small amount to the scalp. If you're a lather freak then this might work for you.

I've also used Dr. Woods castille soap with similar results (and a lower price tag).

Another commercial shampoo that I keep on hand is Hugo Naturals' Red Tea & Ylang Ylang (this is the version for dry hair). You can pick this up at any Whole Foods store. It's kinda pricey at $11.99 a bottle, but a little goes a looong way. I like its soft, earthy smell and love that it doesn't strip my hair while cleaning.

If you're plagued by buildup, then you're probably using too much product. To get that gunk out of your hair, I suggest you take it back to your grade school science project (remember that volcano you made?) for answers. Natural clarifying agents such as baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) are inexpensive and widely available. Non-frill, off-brand, or generic versions of these have worked just fine for me.

Baking soda is great for cleansing the scalp, but use too much and your head will surely be feeling like steel wool. A good rule of thumb is to dissolve 1 tablespoon of baking soda in every 1 cup of warm water. You can pour the mixture over your head or apply it with a spray bottle. There won't be much of a lather, but trust that it's definitely putting in work. I used to do this monthly, but I haven't used it in a while because I have since switched to ACV rinses.

ACV is my new love. I use it to keep the itchies at bay as it's acidity will usually get rid of whatever bacteria is causing my head to itch. I stop up my kitchen sink and add 1 part ACV to 10 parts water (sometimes 5 parts water if my scalp is really itchy). I dunk my head in the sink, use a cup to pour the mixture over my head repeatedly, and massage it into my scalp. Talk about relief? An alternate method is to put your ACV mixture in a spray bottle and apply it directly to your scalp. I also infuse my ACV with good scalp healing herbs such as plantain, nettle, horsetail, and hibiscus. You can do a rinse before (like me) or after a shampoo. Just remember that it's vinegar, so it smells. Once your hair is dry the scent should go away.

I recently purchased some raw black soap, so I'll try to incorporate that and let you know how it goes. What do you use to cleanse your hair and/or scalp?

Conditioning should be next, but I've already done that (click here). Yea. I'm out of order. So, next will be... Moisturizing

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T00:00:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

If for nothing more than seeing my braids transform into locs, I'm looking forward to 2009. As usual, this year will be full of new things for me to learn about natural hair (and skincare). You know I'll share with you, so stay tuned.

*For those who are concerned, I auto-posted this one. I am probably clinking glasses of sparkling cider (for the little ones) and homemade wine (for me) with my family.

Listen To Your Hair

2008-12-31T11:54:00.000-05:00

My friend's cousin saw my pics on Facebook and wanted to know how I maintained my natural hair. When I was a loose nappy, I tried to keep my products as natural as possible. That didn't always happen, but I kept it simple and listened to what my hair told me to do. I will still follow those same rules with my soon-to-be braidlocs.

Scalp: Hey, Heffa! I know you see us peeling. And I KNOW you feel us itching up here.

Me: Fine. Fine. *pours Apple Cider Vinegar in sink with warm water and dunks head in it*

Hair: Ummm. Did you forget about us too?

Me: Nope. You're next! *hops in shower with Dr. Bronner's Peppermint castille soap or Hugo Naturals Red Tea & Ylang Ylang shampoo*

Hair: *Singing* Ain't nobody dope as me I'm just so fresh so clean. But ummmm errr uhhh... We're thirsty!

Me: Here! *throws Oyin Honey Hemp Conditioner on them* This should do ya. Now can I get back to shaving my legs, please?

Hair: You've got 10 minutes. Make it snappy.

As you can glean from my somewhat crazy skit above, your hair will tell you what it needs (in much less overt ways I hope). If it's filthy and your scalp is itching, please take care of that situation quickly. Walking around with a dirty head full of flakes is neither natural nor cute! If it's dry and brittle, more than likely it needs moisture. Start with water and some olive oil. You can work your way up from there.

Anyhoooo... Caring for natural hair, or anything new for that matter, takes some trial and error. And, like I've said in my original post on here, what works for me may not necessarily work for you. When I started, I used things I found in my kitchen. I've ventured off to some commercially made products, but I find the kitchen stuff still works just fine. The next few posts will be dedicated to what I have used successfully and not so successfully. Don't be afraid to try new things. If it doesn't work for you, then at least you know what to do differently the next time.

Next up... Cleansing

At Last... My Conditioner Has Come Along

2008-12-28T19:39:00.006-05:00

I think I can say with confidence that I have found a staple conditioner. Before I tell you what it is, I'd like to share with you all what I've tried thus far. Please keep in mind that I made my conditioner do double duty because I co-washed (washed my hair with conditioner only because I was avoiding shampoos with sodium lauryl sulfate) and deep conditioned with it.

The first one I used was Herbal Essence's Hello Hydration because it smelled like a tropical island and was supposed to be... hydrating. I was able to detangle my hair without much difficulty when I used this. My kinks and coils were pretty, shiny, and defined when I got out of the shower. This lasted until my hair dried and shrinkage took place. Talk about a brittle, tangled mess? Eventually, I tried keeping my hair damp and adding a small amount of conditioner to maintain that freshly washed look. I was going through $3 bottles of conditioner like crazy and sometimes had slightly frozen hair if it was too cold outside. Not a good look at all... But at least my hair smelled heavenly. *shrug*

The next culprit was Suave.

I first tried their Naturals line in Cucumber Melon, but the smell made me nauseous. This was odd because I enjoy the same scent from Bath&BodyWorks. No matter. I moved on to the Coconut scent. This did absolutely nothing for my hair but mildly clean it and leave it smelling OK (not as good as the Hello Hydration). The final installment of Suave led me to their Professionals line. First was the Humectant (Nexxus knock-off) and then the Strengthening (Redken knock-off). Again, I found that these smelled fine (have you figured out that I'm big on smells yet?), provided no help when detangling, and left a filmy buildup over time. My curls were popping until I added oil (to combat the dryness) or my hair dried.

What in the heck was going on? After a bit of research I discovered that although I had dodged the sulfate bullet (they still had small amounts in them), I wasn't addressing the issue of "cones". Basically, this was the culprit for the ridiculous buildup I had in my hair. It was also the reason why oils weren't able to fully penetrate my hair shaft. So, I ditched sulfates and cones and moved on to more natural conditioners.

Enter Hugo Naturals Vanilla & Sweet Orange Conditioner.

Smells great! Does nothing. I had to use way too much of it on my thick hair, it had no detangling properties, and didn't really moisturize. I blame myself for the lack of moisturization as the bottle clearly states that it is for NORMAL hair. I should have purchased the Red Tea & Ylang Ylang for DRY hair. Thank goodness for Whole Foods and their 100% guarantee policy. "So long as the bottle is not empty" you can get your money back.

Finally, I found what is now a staple until further notice.

Honey Hemp Conditioner by Oyin Handmade is the TRUTH! It smells awesome, helps me detangle, leaves my hair moisturized, and keeps my curls popping long after my hair has dried. At $9 a bottle plus shipping and handling (and a 2 week turnaround time), this stuff is very much on the pricey side. I still think it's worth every penny and second of your time. As I say with any product, try a sample before you invest in it. If you like it, then I suggest you stock up. In addition to the Oyin website, you can order this great conditioner from CurlMart. I also found a spot in Brooklyn that sells small bottles, but I think their supply is limited (or at least that's the story I'm going to tell you all so I can hit them up once more before I return to Indiana). I've tried this on my braids and they are still loving it.

Using a modified version (because I didn't have any white willow bark) of Mixtress Anita Grant's recipe, I've also had good results using an herbal hair rinse with marshmallow root. When I'm low on Oyin (heaven forbid this day ever comes), I'll use this.

So there you have it. My long-winded (as usual) tale of how I found my current conditioning love. Have a fave condish? Please share in the comments.

Musical Locs

2008-12-24T14:58:00.001-05:00

Photo Credit: Isabel Pinto as seen on worldconnection.com

Thanks to the ladies of NP, I have been introduced to Sara Tavares. Not only is this woman absolutely gorgeous, but her music is soooo soulful. Her voice is like air. I don't speak a lick of Portugese or Kriolo, have lost most of my French, don't remember any of my Italian, and am still struggling to maintain what little Spanish I have left. In spite of my defunct language capabilities, I still understand. Like I said to MiMi last night, I may not consciously understand what she's saying but my spirit definitely knows what it means.

The first song I heard by her was Balancê I think she meshes like 3 or more languages and even more musical styles... and it ALL works. My favorite part of the song is this verse

Somos livres para celevrar
Somos livres para nos libertar
Como crianças brincando
Crianças sorrindo
Crianças sendo crianças... ah!
Como crianças brincando
Crianças sorrindo
Crianças...

The only words I understood were somos livres - we are free. As soon as I heard it my eyes closed, right fist went in the air, and my head and my hips were swaying back and forth. I looked up at the video a few seconds later and saw she was basically doing the same thing. Maybe that's odd to some (*ahem*Mimi*ahem*), but it was in that moment that I truly understood just how powerful good music really can be.

The translation to that verse is roughly...
We are free to celebrate
We are free to be free
Like children playing
Children smiling
Children being children...

Here is a video of her performing One Love live. If this doesn't make you want to get up and dance, then something is definitely wrong with you. Remember my make-believe-nowhere-near-happening-anytime-soon wedding? Yea. I want this song played as my entrance song. Forget that dreadful here comes the bride crap and marching stoicly! By the time I get married (if it ever happens) I'll be so damn happy that I won't be able to contain my joy or my urge to dance towards my soon-to-be hubby. No doubt. There will be lots of dancing at my wedding and throughout my marriage just as there is in my life now. Sorry went on a little tangent there. But you get the point. Take off your shoes and enjoy the music.

Herbal Infusions

2008-12-24T05:48:00.000-05:00

Here's a vid of some of the herbal infusions I've done thus far. The ACV and Oil infusion are my faves. Now that I'm back in the city I'll see what other goodies I can acquire for my infusions. Will update with more soon.

Loose Herbs

2008-12-23T23:30:00.004-05:00

Here's a video showing my stash of loose herbs thus far. I'm so happy to be back in Brooklyn where I'm sure to find a cornucopia of herbs in my little Caribbean neighborhood. *Big Ups to all the (East) Flatbush nappies!*

Banana Hair Smoothie

2008-12-23T13:45:00.001-05:00

Repost from Random Thoughts on 11/10/08

Last weekend I took out my cornrows and treated my tresses to a banana smoothie. I mixed yogurt, mashed banana, honey, coconut oil, olive oil, castor oil, vegetable glycerin, and a little dab of Qhemet Biologics Amla & Olive Heavy Cream (AOHC). Had I not put in the AOHC, it would have been edible. I'd heard about the wonderful benefits provided by bananas and even yogurt, so I decided to try my hand at a recipe. I used nonfat plain yogurt because I needed to finish the container I had on hand. Next time I will use the kind with lots of fat in it. I had a few snags along the way and my bathroom was quite messy, but it all worked out. My hair smelled absolutely yummy and felt very fortified when I was done.

This smoothie can be done as a pre-poo (before shampoo) treatment or be used on freshly washed hair.

Here's my modified recipe:

1 cup of Natural plain yogurt
1/2 cup of Natural plain yogurt
3 tbs Honey
1 medium Banana*
2 tbs Vegetable Glycerin
2 tbs Castor Oil
2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbs Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO)

*You can substitute all natural banana baby food since it is already pureed.

Blend banana and 1/2 cup of yogurt in blender of food processor until pureed. You do NOT want any banana chunks to be present as they will be very difficult to get out of your hair. Ask me how I know. Add remaining ingredients and blend.

Optional Step: Transfer smoothie contents into a microwave safe bowl. Heat in microwave in 30 second intervals until desired warmth. Warming it will ensure that the EVCO does not solidify during application. This also makes your smoothie into a hot oil treatment.

Apply smoothie to your hair in sections. Wrap head with a plastic cap (a plastic bag works just fine and it's FREE). You can sit under the dryer or you can wrap your head in a warm towel (put it in the dryer or wet it a bit and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes). Keep smoothie on for 45 minutes to an hour. You can use this time to clean up the mess you made. Rinse hair and style as usual.

I'm so disturbed

2008-12-22T23:43:00.001-05:00

While browsing the NP boards recently, I came across this thread by a woman whose boyfriend of 6 years refuses to wash his locs. This has gone on for the last year. Yep. Threhunned and sixty six days (2008 is a leap year) have gone by and this man has not so much as put shampoo, water, baking soda, or apple cider vinegar to his head. He works out at the gym 5 days a week and brags to his woman how other women still check him out. He's proud and delusional.

While I'm disgusted by his lack of hygeine, I'm also disturbed by his actions toward his girlfriend. Even more, I'm saddened that she has continued to let this go on. Despite much of the advice she is getting on NP (all 3 pages at the time of this post), sistagirl is still reticent to take action. Phew! I've definitely done some crazy things because I looooooved someone. But this right here? My nose, sensitive stomach, and gag reflex would not allow me to stay. Have a look for yourselves by clicking here.

My HairStory

2008-12-22T11:52:00.011-05:00

I've always loved big kinky, curly Afros. Each summer in college I'd attempt to go natural and then cave in after a few weeks. I just couldn't give up my relaxer. Especially not at Hampton University. I wanted to go natural my Senior year, but was told to keep my hair relaxed until I had finished my interviews for grad school. I was advised against coming across as the militant black woman initially. I complied and secretly vowed that this would be the last time that I would ever do anything like that.

After a major cut and about 2 more relaxers, I had had enough. I kept my hair in braids for a while during my 2nd semester of grad school in Miami with the intention of transitioning into natural hair.

February & March 2006

It would be smooth and painless, I thought. I had already consulted with my stylist and we both agreed that she would straw set my hair when I took out the braids sans relaxer.

In I walked for my appointment with a head full of nappy roots and straight ends... And my stylist freaked out! I sat in that packed salon for what felt like forever going back and forth with her about what she was going to do to it. Frustrated, I told her to just cut it all off. You should have seen the gawks and heard the gasps from all the other women in the salon who were in various stages of getting some type chemical process done. She cut off the straight ends, then looked at my face. "Keep going", I urged her. "It's just hair. It will grow back."

April - June 2006

I've been loving my naps ever since. I've worn my hair cropped close, in wild Afros, in weaves (*gasp* lol yea I have no shame), two strand twists and twist outs, cornrows, extensions (microbraids and kinky twists), bunny tails, and everything in between.

October - November 2006

March 2007

May - August 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

February 2008

May 2008

June - August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

November - December 2008

Tired of de-tangling and re-twisting my hair (a 6 hour job because I like small twists and I'm really slow) every 3 weeks, I finally decided I would loc it up. Since I'm back in Brooklyn for the holidays, I had my old stylist, Lisa, color it (Clairol Textures & Tones Cherrywood).

December 19, 2008

Then I went into a braid shop near my Mom's house and had Amy put my hair in teeny tiny braids.

December 20, 2008

I'm so excited to watch my hair transform. I'm also looking forward to learning many a lesson through my locs like patience, flexibility, optimism, creativity, positivity, and pure unselfish love.

Stay tuned...

Intro Intro Introducing

2008-12-21T22:56:00.006-05:00

*Taps mic* Is this thing on??? *waves* Hey Fam!

I started this here blog because I didn't want to bombard my other one with hair stuff. You'll still get the same Timah - blunt, sarcastic, raw, lovable, and all that other good stuff... but there will be lotsa hair talk over here and maybe a few contributors from time to time. Look out for pics, videos, tuts, and recipes. And, because I'm not in the mood to manage more than the 3 blogs that I already have, you might get some natural skin care stuff on this one too. Wuddayagonnado?

Before I forget... Here are my general disclaimers:

I choose to wear my hair Au Naptural. This is a space to celebrate my naps and by doing so am I in any way, shape, or form bashing those who have not made the same choice as I.
What works for me may not work for you.
I'm not an expert on all things hair. I'll share what I know, and welcome input from others to fill in the gaps for things that I don't know (or to correct any misinformation).
When possible, I try to use all natural products. If that's not your thing... refer to the 2nd bullet. *shrugs*

Still here? Good! Skip to the next post for hair stuff.