Nappy Kitchen

Boooriiiiing

Not much is going on at the moment. The overzealous hair fiddling of the first few weeks is over and I've settled into the TWA groove. I still haven't found my staple products, though. To be honest, I don't think that's ever going to happen simply because I LOVE buying and trying new stuff. Yes I'm an unapologetic product whore!

Last weekend we were at the club and my sister leans over and tells me that some gal's hair smelled like shea butter. I burst out laughing. The irony of a permie pointing that out was not lost on me.

In an effort to help out my weak spots, I decided to try Surge for two weeks. Here are the results:

I've always had a pretty decent growth rate, but I think the Surge definitely helped some.

Oh yeah, here's a lil style that I created the other day in preparation to go out in the skreets. Click:

I flat twisted it in the front and secured the ends with bobby pins with beads attached to them. After a little manipulation and fluffing, it was cuter in real life...trust me. However, the middle part of my hair kept unraveling because it's really soft...arrrgggh! So I ended up wearing my usual wash and go fro when I went out. Better luck next time, I guess. I need to find something to hold that part of my hair posthaste.

Until next time, kiddies...

Green Grease, Anyone?

So I washed and conditioned the mass of curls and tangles that is known as my niece's hair. Then I put some CD HHB on it. Looked mighty sheeny and healthy. My sister looks at it while I'm trying to detangle and says to her, "It looks dry. You need some of that green grease." *sigh* Ignant. I told the niece, "I guess she wants the shine only mineral oil can provide." Well she can glop that mess on there her damn self. I won't be responsible.

In other news, the KMS Curl Quencher conditioner I bought for 60% off works like a charm. My hair was sooo soft! Thumbs up on that one. Also my hair is growing at a pretty good rate. I can tell because the curl naps in the back are starting to look unruly. I'll have to resist the urge to cut them back in submission. Pray for me. :D

I'll be posting growth comparison pics pretty soon, so stay tuned.

Curls, Schmurls

I think the coolest thing I've experienced since I did the big chop is the total lack of itchies I've had with my scalp. I used to have major problems with dry, itchy scalp back when I was permed; at times I would scratch certain parts of my head until I had actual abrasions. Gross I know. Needless to say I went through hell when it was touch up time. I also haven't had to actually "grease" my scalp either. I think this due to the absence of chemicals as well as no-pooing.

The other day I overheard my friend asking my mom if she liked my hair. She said no and asked her if she did. She replied, "Yeah, I think it's real cute." (That's my dog!) Then my mom says, "Yeah it is when she wets it and puts stuff on it." *insert wtf smilie here*

I knew my mom had problems with me chopping my hair. She's made lil comments since I've done it like, "Aren't you afraid of people thinking you're gay?" or "It looks much better when it's curly." My mother has a textbook case of fear of the fro disease. I guess when I have my hair picked out, I look too ethnic or boyish to her, despite this lovely rack I have that denotes otherwise. I know the length bothers her too, as she's always asking how long I think it will take to "grow back." Hell...who says I'm going to let it grow?

I would never have thought that it would bother me that she doesn't like my hair. I guess I had fooled myself into thinking she was a bit more of free thinker and didn't really subscribe to that good hair/bad hair bs. Obviously I was wrong. Oh well...gotta blow that chit off and keep trucking. I shall still be doing me.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Curl definition is GREAT. It looks lovely. Thanks to experimentation and suggestions, I know exactly what to put on my hair to get a curly look. But I'm cool with my picked out fro and have no problem rocking that in public as well. I can't be concerned with what others think and I'll be damned if I slap on globs of gel in order to make people feel comfortable with my hair in its natural state.

It amazes me that OTHERS are more concerned with my curl definition and growth than I am. Don't get me wrong...I think it will be mighty interesting to see how much and how fast my hair grows. But it's not the be all and end all. It's not the driving force in my life. I'm not expecting curl "hang time" anytime soon. It's very important to me that I learn to love and accept my hair at every length and condition. I basically don't give a fux what everyone else thinks.

My friend suggested a new product to me, and of course I couldn't resist plunking down a few dollars for it. It's Wave Nouveau Finishing Lotion. Supposedly it helps the hair retain sheen and moisture. I checked the ingredients, and as I guessed it would, it contains water and glycerine; two things that work wonders for activating my curls. I rinsed my hair with warm water, applied the lotion, and followed with some Proclaim activator gel. Of course it looked smashing while fully wet. But what I was pleasantly surprised by is the fact that it looked pretty durn decent dry. Check it out (click for bigger version):

That's the back, which tends to be a bit more unruly than the top front of my hair (which is a little 3c-ish). This was pretty much 85% dry and it still looked rather sheeny. (Don't worry about the very bottom portion...the hair there is extremely fine, coily, and rather sparse in the middle...always has been). It didn't dry into this big crunchball, which is always a plus. Usually by this time the frizz has taken over. So all in all I think the lotion/gel combo worked very well. I certainly won't do this all the time, since I like the feel of my hair sans heavy products, but it's nice when I want that shrunken curly look.

Welp, that's all for now, folks. I shall return shortly with another update.

Today is a special day...

It's my nappyversary! One month that is. *does chickenhead dance*

Boy, time sure does fly. I've learned a lot about myself and my hair in the short space of one month. I'm sure most people are amused about how much I focus on, and talk about my hair. But really it's all very fascinating to me. I've always been into my hair, even when I was relaxed. One can go into my gallery and look my pics for proof of that. Always buying some new product. Always fiddling in the mirror. My hair is now even more so of a novelty to me and I'm eager to see the way it grows and changes from day to day. I can honestly say I haven't had a bad hair day yet. So yeah I treat my hair like a science project, but I L.O.V.E. my hair. Contrary to some's belief, I won't go back to the relaxer once I get "bored" with playing with it. I've explored the possibilities of the creamy crack, and it pales in comparison to what I know my natural hair is and can be.

Cutting my hair forced me to view myself in an entirely new light. It forced me to redefine my perception of my own physical beauty. It drew attention to the face that I used to hide behind a long bang or layers of weave. I don't just look at myself...I see myself. And what I see is beautiful.

Long before I even made the final decision to stop relaxing, I shifted my mindset. I cannot express to you how important that is. You can't do something like this simply because you think it's cool or you want to please such and such. You cannot do something like this because you think your hair is going to look like so and so's. Sooner or later. You need to know what you are getting into...the up and downsides. I see so many girls on these hair sites that worry about shine, getting their hair to grow down rather than out, and just in general wishing their nappy hair would do something that it just will not do...ever! And it's obvious to me that they didn't do their research. They don't know about most black hair growing east-west and the difference between shine and sheen. So they go looking for some miracle product that's going to have them looking like a Kelis or an Alicia Keys.

Information is everything. I made sure I knew exactly what I was getting into. Even after knowing that I might see some hard times up ahead with the transition as well as the chop, I was ready and I was prepared.

So bottom line I lurve my nappy, coily, curly, kinky, cottony, wooly, sheeny hair!

Let's check out this month's growth comparison pic. Click for a bigger version:

I can see a little even with the trim I got. Pretty cool.

Why So Pressed About Pressing?

Y'all I want to talk about something that's always a hot topic over at NP.com, and that's pressing. *gasp* Yes I said the P word! :D Here's my take on the situation: I think pressing is ok for a style change, but one must realize the potential for damage is there. I myself can't say I will do it, because my hair is fragile as I don't know what and I want to minimize damage as much as I can. That's my stance on pressing for the moment. I'm not a fan of bandwagon jumping. I develop my own opinions based on experience and factual information.

I can not stand when someone comes up in a thread strictly to say, "We already talked about this. It's wrong and I don't understand why it has to be talked about again." It's talked about again and again because it's a live wire topic that people love to run into the ground. Just like discussing the perils of hair grease or the merits no-pooing. Just deal with it and move on to the next topic instead of pointing out the patently obvious. People need to stop being so militant about what other people are doing to their hair. Let them fry it and dye and even lye it if they want...that's on them.

I went with my friend to press and curl a natural sista's hair on Saturday. Y'all she had the most beautiful curls and coils (a year's worth of growth), and had the nerve to say she doesn't like to wear them out. Lawd what's her problem?! Ok yeah I understand some people don't like to draw attention...but damn. It was beaurtiful y'all. Just beaurtiful. (Yeah I meant to spell it like that!)

And I watched that hair get blowdried. And pressed with a HOT ass comb. AND flat ironed! And inhaled that acrid smell of burning metal and hair. And watched the house fill with smoke. My friend didn't even do the paper towel test (you know, if it burns the paper then it's too hot). What??!?! Talking bout it's a trial and error thing and you will know if it's too hot. Ummm...exsqueeze me, but I ain't finna be sacrificing hair strands so that I can tell whether or not I've done some irreparable damage! Especially since I've laid a hot comb on a paper towel and lit that shit on FIRE in the past! *lol* Yeah it happened, and needless to say that comb did not pass through my hair. Her hair turned out beautifully by the way, but look at all the work that had to go into it! No wonder she only gets it done once a month!

I asked my friend to shape up my hair and taper it in the back. Good and fine, right? Umm...why'd she start picking out my hair with a FINE TOOTH COMB! I was like...ouchiieeeee!!!!!!!! That was a big nono.That comb only works on my relaxed fine hair, not nappy hair! That was the last thing it needed. She finally switched to a wide tooth comb to finish the job. I wish to gawd I had brought my pick. I know better next time.

Do y'all think I should refer her to NP.com? *lol*

Anyway she trimmed the mini fro into a nice shape and got rid of some of the back growth. I can't say I'm upset though...it was starting to look way unruly and shag-like, as the hair there grows quicker than any other area. To be perfectly honest, I'm starting to get attached to the look of short hair and the low maintenance. So at this point I'm not even sure if I want to grow it out. Maybe I will just to see how big my fro will get and then hack it off again.

I took some pics of the picked out fro post trim. Here's one with me looking overly happy about my new shape. Click for a larger version of my low quality webcam pic:

It's funny how when I pick my fro out and look in the mirror I always think it doesn't look very flattering. But really it's not so bad...I like that retro vibe that I get from it. I fiddled with one of the webcam pics to make it black and white...trying to capture that feel.

Never mind the headset wire that greatly retracts from the retroicity of this pic! *lol*

Once it gets bigger I will definitely be rocking it in public, heck maybe even now. Can't hide behind the curlies forever! :D

Peace and CD Mimosa Hair Grease!