Natural is as natural does?

So my hair is getting longer and as it grows I find that I'm having a harder time with my staple wash and go. I HEART my wash and go. I really do. I love getting out of the shower, raking in leave-in conditioner with a spritz of vegetable glycerin and water, choosing a headband and poof (literally, POOF!) ready to go! It's the best feeling in the world to leave the house looking one way and come home looking absolutely fab with a different look that pretty much had little to do with me. I love it. The thing is, it's starting to take it's toll. Yes, dreaded fairy knots, loads of tangles, and a new awkward length that has me hiding my scissors to keep from returning to my pixie cut (I'm not fond of the term TWA, it sounds like a rap group from the 90's). So what's a girl to do?

Twists of course! I've been experimenting with twists for about two weeks now, trying to find the right mix of moisture, size, and "pin-up" styles that will see me through this ugly duckling phase. I also starting working (YAY!) again so a low maintenance style like twists allows me to go to work sans drippy hair every morning. My current routine is to wash, deep condition, and twist my hair on Sunday night. Monday-Thursday I pin my twists up, spritz moisturizer as needed, and put on a headband for work. After work I take the pins out and tie the twists back with a silk scarf. On Friday (off-day) I take my twists down and wear my beloved wash-n-go for the weekend.

While this works for me, it does not provide me with a glam/sexy/undeniably feminine option during the week. My twists look neat and sort of interesting but that's all. They are not yet long enough to frame my face or do really fun styles yet. Basically, I only have two pin-up styles that look decent enough. I'm a girly girl and I love to "feel pretty" as often as possible and try as I might I'm just not "into" these twists as much as I would like to be. Soooooooooo, I've been toying with the idea of getting kinky twists again. I have done them 2x so far, but having learned so much in the last few months about being natural and what it means...I just don't know if it's the right decision for me. Part of me thinks that it's a good solution that would provide a quick fix to my temporary hair woes while another part of me whispers about the unnaturalness of adding synthetic hair to my own. So, I keep my patient man up at night while I talk to myself weighing the pros and cons of kinky twists vs. boring twists.

It all comes down to being a role model. Perhaps the most unexpected part of being natural is that you become a role model/example for other Black women whether you want to be or not. You are a role model for those thinking about trying it for themselves AND you can become an example of the reasons why Black women should hide their natural texture if you sport the unintentionally unkempt look. I didn't feel this way the first two times I went natural, but later found out that one of my teen nieces (may she rest in peace) changed her diet to try to go vegetarian to achieve hair like my own (I was vegetarian at the time). When I learned this I was so touched and began to wonder if maybe others were looking at me as a role model as well back then. Now that I am more aware I see it more often. From the relaxed and/or weaved Black women who compliment me and ask what I did to achieve my look to my man who now knows what most Black women have to go through to make their hair straight (when we first met, he assumed that all Black women had straight hair because that's all he ever saw!). I don't know about you, but I take this role sort-of-seriously. I would love to be a true source of inspiration that inspires even one person to go after a healthier option in any area of life. For that reason, I'm now a little hesitant about kinky twists. I want to present myself and only myself at all times and I want it to be 100% me that receives both compliments and criticism. I want to love my hair in every stage of growth and learn how to work with it no matter what. BUT, I also want to bring sexy back into my life :D I don't know. Maybe I need to think about this for another week or so before I make my final decision...

Twisting again this Sunday, must remember to post pics of my boring twists next week.

6 Months!!!

I cut my hair down to 2-3 inches on July 4th and today, after 6 months, I have 5-6 inches of crazy, kinky, curly hair all over my head :)





Oh yeah! Here is my hair on July 4, 2009 :)



I have to say, I miss my little pixie cut. I'm happy that my hair is growing, but I'm not digging the in-between stage. I like my hair to be either really short or reasonably long. Sooooooo, I'm off to join the grow challenge over on naturallycurly.com to see what I can accomplish in this year. Woohoo!

Update, Update, Update!

So I've kind of been loving my hair for the past three weeks and I think I'm finally starting to figure out what works for me. First, I bought a steamer!!!



The lovely ladies of naturallycurly.com gave such rave reviews and my hair has been so dry that I was willing to try ANYTHING. First, I tried the homemade stream method, but it didn't do much. Or maybe I was just not patient enough. I don't know. In any case, I gave in and ordered the steamer from salonsrus.com. I heart it! I've been using it twice a week and it finally feels like my hair is actually responding to products.

I also bought a jar of bentonite clay. I was skeptical about this at first, but I heard it was great as a facial mask so I figured if it didn't work out on my hair, then I would just use it as a weekly mask. I mixed it with apple cider vinegar and lathered my face, neck and hair for about 20 minutes. When I rinsed it out I could FEEL the definition in my hair. Seriously, I was like I feel each and every single curl. Unfortunately, we are experiencing a bit of a cold front here in Sunny California so I decided to twist my hair immediately after conditioning and I didn't get a chance to see how my hair would have dried. I think I'll do it again in a few weeks and try a wash and go.



Last, but not least I finally figured out how to apply the Kinky Curly Knot Today and Curling Custard to get second day hair! Woohoo!




Oh yeah! I feel like such a grown-up curly because I now have an official winter regimen :)

Here's what I'm doing:
*Steam treatment with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner for one hour 2x a week.
*Henna every 3 weeks
*Bentonite clay treatment once a month.
*Protective style every other week.
*Vitamitaregimen: GNC Ultra Nourish Hair, MSM, Biotin, and Multi

That's all for now! Here is a pic of my recent second day hair :)

YouTube Addict

So it's 2AM and guess what I'm doing??? Looking at natural hair videos on YouTube! Yes, I just recently discovered this online community and I'm such an addict :D I'm so addicted that I'm thinking about posting some videos of my own. We'll see. Something to think about...

Anyhow, I went out with the boy over the weekend rocking the kinky twists and as we were leaving the "club" I spot two natural beauties and I'm so in awe of their hair that I cannot hear my monkey talking to me. Then one of them turns around, looks at me and says "I love your hair!" How great is that?!

Yeah. I'm happy about it. Anyhow, here is a pic of my hair today.



I've had the kinky twists (did them myself!) for almost 3 weeks now and I'm so ready to take them out but I know I should wait until the full month is over to keep myself from playing in my hair. Patience dear grasshopper!

-Me

Sammy Sosa Screwed My Update!

I'm baaccckkk! Wow, I had this whole update thing planned, but then Sammy Sosa had to come along and ruin my day. Have you seen the latest of pictures of him?!



Okay, clearly there has been a significant change to the color of his skin and people are going crazy about it. It doesn't help that he is Dominican and there seems to be quite a bit of back and forth in the world of internet forums on whether or not darker skinned Dominicans with "typical" African features are black or not. It's so tiring. Here's a thought. Why don't we just let him be whatever he wants to be? If the man prefers to have lighter skin, I say allow him to bathe in buckets of his "skin softening" cream in private.

Oh yeah, and when does the guy ever say that he identifies as any one race at all? As far as I can tell, he simply identifies as Dominican. Still, let's pretend that Mr. Sosa really is, without a doubt Black. Seriously, lets pretend that there is a concrete measure of Blackness and Sam turns out to be 100% Black. After the measure is complete, we find that Sammy, a fully functioning guy who has gained significant success wakes up in the morning and decides he hates being Black. He thinks it's ugly and decides to attempt to remove all physical evidence of his Blackness. In doing so, does he really hurt you? You might say that he is setting a bad example for Black kids who look up to him and for kids of other ethnic groups in how they form opinions about Blacks in general. But really, can't this be used as a teachable moment for kids who look up to him. You could talk about insecurities, self-hate, and use the picture to show that there are sometimes very ugly results to trying to change who you are.

In other words: SO WHAT?!

I personally don't need the Sammy Sosa's of the world to make me feel good about being Black and I really don't want my people to waste anytime trying to "educate" or "save" others who are beyond saving when it comes to this issue. If someone who appears to be Black does not identify as Black I ask you...no, I BEG you my fellow Black and Proud people to let them go!
Let them all go! It will make life so much easier. It's kind of like breaking up with someone. Or rather, having someone dump you. I mean, how many times has trying to force somebody to love you worked? It's best to just move on and wish him well. Make a mental note to cross them off of the list of people to admire during Black History Month and do you.

Rant over. Updates coming :)

-Me