My Favorite Deep Conditioner

I deep condition once a week after I have shampooed my hair. I find this works better on clean hair.

1 cup of Suave Professionals Almond and Shea Butter Conditioner
1 tablespoon of Honey
1 tablespoon of Castor Oil

Mix. After applied put a plastic cap on and leave it for at least 30 minutes (longer the better) or leave the cap on and sit under a hooded dryer for 15 minutes, then rinse with cold water. Cold water helps close the hair cuticle and trap in the mositure.

-Honey is a humectant. Humectants have the ability to draw moisture from the air.

-Castor oil Stimulant hair growth, thickens, moisturize, stop dandruff, stop hair fungus and strengthens hair. Castor Oil is very thick. Use sparingly.

I like to do this on fresh shampooed or co washed hair that is still dripping wet. Has great slip and sometimes I detangle my hair with it still in after I let the conditioner penetrate. It leaves my hair feeling SUPER fluffy, moisturized, soft and ready to style :0) Try it out and let me know what you think!

Talk soon.

How to gain Self Esteem

For this particular subject I had to REALLY REALLY sit back, pray and meditate about this for a while/years. Many people may not know but I have suffered with low self esteem, especially in my junior high and early college years. Junior high/pre-teen age is the most difficult, awkard stage I think for everybody. There were times where I didn't feel pretty enough, worthy or the ability to do things that "seemed" out of my range. I am not going to sit here and say that I am the most perfect person, big headed or think that I am just DA BOMB.ORG lol (... wellll??.... nah jk!!! hehehe) but these things really help improve to love and appreciate ME... flaws and all! :)

1. GOD.

God has always been my first in EVERYTHING and before EVERYONE my entire life! He has encourage me and given peace through reading his word, prayer time, church sermons and through praise and worship. My mother introduced me to God at a VERY early age. I can still remember sitting in the choir stand when I was about 5 and my mom giving that eye to let me know I need to stay quiet in church or she gon get that belt when I get home! LOL! That had nothing to do with anything lol but it is NOTHING like the love of God!!! : )

2. POSTIVE ENERGY IN! NEGATIVITY OUT!

I think this one is VERY important next to GOD. If there is someone or something in your life that is breaking you down; it can be a boyfriend, family memeber, friends, or even co-workers YOU NEED TO LET THEM GO OR AVOID THEM ASAP. OUCH! Sounds harsh, but if you sat down and talked to them about what you are feeling and how it is tearing you down and they are still not working at it. Then booboo its tim ta GO! lol Serious though. Make friends who are fun, positive, REAL, and uplifting. This part was really hard for me. I had to ex out a lot of friends and had tough ex boyfriend break ups. At this moment I can recall 3 people in my life that I KNOW without a doubt that I can trust, encourage me on a daily basis, tell me the truth when I need to hear it, BUT still come with open arms no matter what. My circle is very small. But the size of the circle doesn't matter, what matters is the peace within.

3. WHO CARES!

One thing in life, you must know is that people will talk about you all day long. Keep in mind, those people that do talk about you... those people are ethier bored with their life, their life SUCKS, or it is something about you that they wish they had but don't. My answer to all those people I heard talking about me (especially my flaws) was: So? and keep it pushing. Gosh, that felt so good to say those times lol!

4. TAKE TIME FOR YOU.

I have soo many things I disliked about myself growing up! I have a big forehead lmao!, I have too much booty, I have a big smile and big lips hahaha and other things too, (but I don't want to say so yall wont be laughing at me! haha!) but I learned to EMBRACE everything about me! And I have a hubby who tells me I am beautiful everyday and actually in LOVE with my flaws. so that really helped too ;) *that goes with POSTIVE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE* Look in the mirror and tell yourself everyday, if you have to "HOW BEAUTIFUL and UNIQUE I AM!".

5. CHANGE IT IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT!

If you don't like your hair change it. If you don't like your wardrobe change it. If you don't like that you are over weight CHANGE IT! Do things to make YOU happy. And remember to do it for YOU, not for anyone else.

I really hope this helped someone in anyway possible. Remember to always know you are beautiful and special! :)

**For those who have more personal questions or even questions about God that I talk about PLEASE feel free to inbox me.**

God Bless you. ; )

My Summer Hair and Mist Spray!

Bonjour! I pray everyone is well! :0) It has been a while and I have been soooo very busy. School, full time job, and planning future things with hubby. I decided to take a moment out of my busy schedule to talk a little about what has been going on with my hair since my last blog!

At the moment, right now my hair is still in that "awkward stage". What I mean by that is, I am now able to grab and twist my hair, but it doesn't have any "hang" still. -_- lol! but hey, I am almost there! whoot whoot! I hate that sooo much though lol. Getting ready for work and everyday all the option I have is doing a curly high puff. I want to rock my curl hair out, but I must admit, I look like toad from Super Mario Bros. hahahahahaha!

I decided to try mini twist. Not only does this give me hair options, but I am creating a protective style which is giving me a chance to stay out of my hair that may cause unnecessary breakage (length retention) and make my hair grow faster. This is my first time rocking them and I must admit, I think I am hooked! they are sooo much more easier to manage in those hot summer morning and last me for the entire week!

Day 6 of my Mini Twist

Summer time is here! And, I realize that I hate heavy creams on my hair in the summer. Every morning with my mini twist I moisture them using my homemade moisture mist spray. it is VERY light yet moisturizing!

1 cup of water
1 cup of aloe vera juice
2 tablespoons of vegetable glycerin
1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I don't really use measuring utensils, I just kinda eyeball it. But the key is not too much vegetable glycerin and you should be fine with everything else.

This moisture mist works well. Gives me great shine and leaves my hair feeling soft ALL DAY LONG. Try it out and let me know what you think! :)

Talk soon !

Hair grease on Natural Hair?

I must admit, I really do miss my big chop super short cut. I miss the attention I would get even if was a negative or positive comment from people and even family members, the "OMG you are sooo Brave" phrases, and the easiness (if that is a word lol) of doing my hair everyday, get up and go, and I wouldn't have to spend 45 minutes just to detangle my hair on wash days now that my hair is longer.... ahhh. BUT I must say that I did become frustrated because as my hair was growing from my cut, to this now, "awkward growth" it can get frustrating on hair products to use, since there are soo many out there to chose from.

Alot of naturals, who stamp themselves as NATURAL only use 100% natural products. But have you notice that most natural hair products are sooooo expensive??

Through all this frustration I was having, I had to take a breather and really take it slow to listen to my hair. I decided to test some of these "NON-natural" hair products I use to use back in my relaxed days to give it a test because this sista right heyre aint got money like that lol. 

I really don't like the hair type system with hair because I have soo many textures going on in the mane, but If I was to categorize it, I would have to say that my hair is in between a 3c-4b. And most naturals in this category suffer with frizzy hair! ugh. That word give me the heebie geebies! lol

Shea butter, natural pomade and oils were NOT taming my frizzes long enough and I decided to use HAIR GREASE. YEAH I DID DAT. :D

Let me just say, hair grease as a sealant after moisturizing hair is the BOMB.GOV lol! I love hair grease. Even though hair grease does has petroleum in it which we were told to "stay away from if you are natural" works way better then these natural $15-$30 hair butters/pomades on the market. And hair grease is only about $1-$5 at any local drugstore or grocery store. Very convenient.

Yes I know, Petroleum is said to not be good for natural hair because it causes a barrier over the hair strand which makes moisture hard to enter your hair cuticle to keep you hair moisturized and causes major build up, but honestly once I add moisture to my hair and then add the grease, my hair is frizz free and moisturized for at least a week, which is perfect for me anyway since my hair wash day is in a week. I have tried Shea Butter as a sealant, but my hair just ended up frizzy and dry to the touch the next day.

Now that my hair is about 5 inches long I am able to achieve the twist out game, but would suffer with super frizzy hair and my twist outs wouldn't last long. NOW that I use hair grease as my sealant, my twist out last twice as long! Here is a vid where I got the idea in the first place to even try hair grease, thanks to ladyT101 a Natural hair Youtuber I will never go back... lol I mean of course I would NEVER use hair grease on my scalp and I will follow up with a clarifying shampoo more often than before..... but what do you think??

The Importance of Protective styling for Natural Hair Growth.

As I type this, I am currently wearing a protective style. I am wearing two strand twist braids with my natural hair, going to leave these twist in for about 2 days, then do a twist out for the next 5 days/until my weekly wash day. This is something new I have added to my hair regimen.

The season has change, and now it is getting hot yall! Go Cali! :D ..... BUT! 8-| the thing about me and summer's humidity with natural hair is that my little frizzes on my head wants to show the world they miss us lol

As I do my hair, I wanted to see, what are some ways I can do to my hair that I can just get up, tame the fizz quickly with a moisturizer, go, and leave it ALONE!! lol well... for at least a week until my next wash day.

Protective styling:

So what is a protective style? The clue’s in the title! It is simply a style that protects your hair, specifically the ends from all the breakage causing dangers we face every day. The point of them is  to keep the moisture in your strands where it belongs by keeping the ends intact.

- All credit from http://www.blackhairinformation.com/

Your hair ends are the most oldest and driest so they are easy to break off. That is way most black women hair doesn't grow a certain length because we don't protect them well enough. << Just corrected this myth. So yes, black women hair GROWS and grows long! And I think I said it well if I might say so myself .*proud face*

There are soooo many..... and I mean SOOOO MANY ways to wear protective styles. Here are a few tutorials on YouTube I thought were great.

The best tips to take with you on your way to beautiful LONG hair (if you are all about length) is protecting those ends by tucking them away, keep them moisturized, and leave them ALONE. No matter if you are all natural, transitioning, or relaxed. You will find out to know you will have long healthy hair in no time! Happy hair growth! :)

My Boyfriend Hates Natural Hair!

I ran across this video and was cracking up! Yet, here are some informative tips on how to encourage him to accept it. enjoy! : )

What is "Co-Washing"?

Being natural, there are days when I feel my hair and look in the mirror and find myself saying.... "UGH" lol. Yes.... I have VERY bad hair days sometimes....

.....and that is normal. You want to have bad hair days so you can know what works for you, that is part of your journey. Most of the times of my "bad hair day sessions" are usually because my hair feels and looks dry, frizzy and tangled. Or, it may feel and look sticky and greasy. Usually this happens when I become lazy with my hair and find it looking a hot mess lol. When I have those hair moments when I just need a refresh start without having to do the shampoo process all over again, I like to co wash my hair.

Co-Washing/Conditioner Wash, is basically washing your hair the same way you would do with shampoo. It is a more moisturizing and refreshing way to restart your hair without having to add drying shampoos. Some naturals substitute shampoo wash all together with co washing and find that they have more softer and manageable, and curly hair. This is called the "no poo" or "curly girl method". I know, you are probably saying... EWWW! No shampoo wash at all.... EVER??! That is gross. It "sounds" gross, but co-washing is cleaning your hair too.... well..... let's just say.... a real low clean.

The way co washing method is the motion of your finger tips rubbing the conditioner on your scalp, which is releasing dirt and oil, at the same time moisturizing your hair with the conditioning elements inside the conditioner. Usually when you are washing your hair, you are using warm water, and warm water helps as well with releasing oils, dirt and bacteria. Now let me just say, even though co washing does NOT completely strip your hair down like a shampoo would, but when you think about it, we need to keep somewhat of the moisture in our hair to keep it moisturized right? Why do you have to strip is down??

Either way it goes, you shouldn't just knock it before you try it. You never know what treat you may be feeding off to your hair. Treat her good girl, she deserve it! :D

**Tip: What I like to do to get a extra boost in co washing is before I shower, I add my conditioner in my hair and work it in my scalp gently. ( I like to use a LOT of conditioner lol. Saturate honey!! :D) I leave the conditioner in my hair and start to do my shower thing for about 8 minutes and THEN rinse it out. The steam from the shower helps penetrate the moisture in my hair.

The Foundation to build a Hair Regimen.

The way God created this world is so unique. How everything is so different and yet, still works together. Every curl on our head is so different from the next lady in some kind of way. Either one has tight coils and kinks, looser curls or just EVERYTHANG just all over the place lol. For instance, myself, I have a more looser curl pattern in the back, front and sides of my hair. And in the crown is the most course and tighter coils. However it goes, every curl is beautiful and you must use hair products that works best for YOU.

Going through trial and error with my natural hair journey, I came across a few things my hair loved and HATED! But, with natural hair, there are a few things we must know to keep our hair healthy and beautiful....

1. Shampoo

In order to have healthy hair, our hair and hair follicles must be clean and not get clogged up with product build up. With natural hair, it is a like job to keep moisture in ALL the time so using a sulphate-free shampoo is great, this is considered as a low-poo. The ingredient sulphate in shampoo's are use to strip the hair clean. It does this by getting rid of all the natural oils and usually leave the hair feeling dry and brittle. This ingredient is used in dish detergent and other household cleaning products. Sounds bad enough right? -_-

If you suffer with extremely dry hair, it my best recommendation to use a moisturizing sulphate-free shampoo. Women who use sulphate free shampoo says that they are happy with the results, it leave their hair feeling clean yet moisturize without that dry, brittle feeling.

Recommendations for shampoo

Shea Moisture's Moisture Retention Shampoo

Shampoo - Giovanni - Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo

Aubrey Organics - Chamomile Luxurious Herbal Shampoo

2. Conditioner

I mean.. it is okay to use a sulphate shampoo. Whatever rocks your boat hehe, but with natural hair you MUST follow up with a conditioner to retain the moisture you lost while shampooing. Especially if you are using a sulphate shampoo. This is also the part where you need to detangle your hair as well. Detangling hair is a much needed learning process, if you do not know how to detangle your hair properly, you can cause serious damage. Conditioners with great slip works best.

Recommend Conditioners with Slip

Yes to Carrots

Yes to Cucumbers

V05 Conditioner

Conditioners are not only for just following up with after a shampoo, but is great for co washing as well. Co washing is basically washing your hair with conditioner the same way you would with shampoo. Many women says it is very moisturizing and is great for women who suffer with really dry hair. With co washing, you can co wash everyday if you wanted to! How cool is that!! :D (ok.... it's not all that exciting.... but still lol) I like to use cheapie conditioners, usually conditioners less than $2, so I can use a lot of it without feeling broke! lol


Click here to know more about co washing.

Recommend Co Washing Conditioners

V05 Conditioner

Suave Naturals Conditioner

3. Deep Conditioner

Some people can go on skipping the deep conditioning method, but for me, I MUST, I MUST, I MUST deep condition hehehe. Deep conditioning is basically having the conditioner or deep conditioner treatment you use to sit it your hair with a plastic cap over and some sort of heat at least for 15 minutes and follow up with a cold water rinse. Most women say, the longer you leave the conditioner in your hair, the better results you have. Leaves hair feeling soft, stronger and moisturized.

Recommend Deep Conditioners

Shea Moisture Raw Shea Restorative Masque

Coconut Milk Conditioner by Organix

4. Leave in Conditioner/ Moisturizer

After you have done the washing process, it is now time to add a leave in conditioner. Leave in conditioners are just that. Leave in a conditioner, without rinsing it out. Leave in conditioners are great because they continue to leave the hair moisturized. Remember to use a water-based leave in or moisturizer. Water, Aqua or H20 must be the first ingredient on the ingredient list. Water is what gives you moisture. Without water, there is NO moisture. Oil based products are not moisturizers. They will just leave the hair dry, but greasy at the same time. Not a pleasant feeling. Dry hair is more easier to break off.

Recommend Leave in Conditioners/ Moisturizers

Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie
Shea Moisture Curl and Style Milk

Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave In Conditioner

KimmayTube Leave in Conditioner Recipe

Giovanni Direct leave in Conditioner

Vegetable Glycerin Diluted with Water in a spray bottle

5. Oil/ Oil based product

After adding your leave in/moisturizer, you must add an oil to help seal in and trap all that moisture you just added. When I say trapped, I mean just that. When you think about it, oil and water do NOT mix. Water (moisture) added to your hair cuticle is what makes it moisturized. Oil sits on top of your hair and acts like a protection over your hair strand you just added moisture in, which help keep your hair moisturized longer.... get it ? : )

Recommend Sealment Oils

Castor Oil

Coconut Oil

Grapeseed Oil

Jojoba Oil

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

6. Hair Styling Gel or Hair Butter

Whew.... that was a long list to cover! This part is the best and fun part. STYLING :) After I have moisturized my hair, I like to make my curls define. By doing that, I like to use a styling gel as a curl definer, or you can do braid outs, twist outs, bantu knots, etc with using a gel or butter or setting lotion. There are tons and tons of women who are natural on YouTube share fun tutorials on how to achieve certain looks and styles.

Be careful with certain styling gels. Make sure you use a alcohol free gel. Some gels can dry out your hair if you are not careful.

Recommend Styling Gels

Eco Styler Gel (all versions *with alcohol free)

Aloe Vera Gel

Flax Seed Gel

Recommmend Hair Butters

Shea and Mango butter

Carol Daughters Hair Butter

My hair in a puff after a chunky twist out using Shea Butter as my styler.

Whatever you do, remember natural hair is sooo versatile.Remember to have fun with your hair, experiment and try new things and use what works for YOU! This is what your journey is all about. Listen to your hair, you will be surprise how much it talks right back. :0)

FAQ: Where can I get natural hair products??

You can go to any Whole Foods Markets, Target, and Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, some beauty supply stores as well. 

I don't want to big chop. What other option do I have?

Arachnephobia: The fear of spiders....., Elurophobia: fear of cats........,  
Sicosnipophobia: fear of scissors. -_-

As women we will do whatever it takes to look good. Our hair is one of the first things EVERYONE notice about us the first time we meet someone. Our hair is our crown of glory, I mean... we love it! And when we love something, we do WHATEVER it takes to show it! When you think, okay, this natural hair thing is so beautiful, how do I get started? People AUTOMATICALLY think, well you have to big chop! .... weelll..... part of that is not always true. Even though you have damaged hair or ends, you can STILL go natural without cutting your hair off. When you decide that you do NOT want to cut all your hair off, but want to grow long natural hair... then you guessed it....... you are Transitioning.

Transitioning natural hair: The moment you stop getting relaxers or your hair flat ironed straight and you instantly treat your hair (damaged and all) as if you are 100% natural. You are now growing out your new growth, taking care of your hair, and slowly little by little cutting your damaged ends off monthly.

Transitioners usually have a more rougher time taking care of their hair than 100% naturals because you are caring for not one but TWO different hair textures. Straight/damaged hair and new growth hair. Most tranistioners get braids, or weaves to grow out their hair for months, even years, until they have enough new growth they feel comfortable with and THEN do the Big Chop.

Transitioning sounds "better" but can get very frustrating because you have to deal with more tangled hair (straight damaged hair intertwining with new growth) which can cause knots and breakage, damaged ends splitting all the way up to the new growth hair and causing breakage and you can't always achieve the best looking natural kinky/curly hairstyles you want.

Everybody have their own take and opinion on starting to go natural, but whatever you do, make sure you ROCK it boo! ;)

6 Tips to grow long, healthy natural hair.

Gosh, I can still remember sitting in between my mom legs every morning before school and feeling her grease up my hair, braid it up and put barrettes, beads, ribbons in my hair. Below are hair grease I grew up on....

I use to HATE the smell of both of these products. My mom was heavy handed to so I would go to school smelling like a hair grease factory lol. ( MOM IF YOU ARE READING THIS...., I LOVE YOU! lol)

Don't get me wrong, my mom took care of my hair. Making sure it was washed every 2 weeks, deep conditioned and stayed away from perms and harsh chemicals. But the ingredients in these products just seemed to just slip our minds.

Natural hair comes in all forms and packages. Very tight coils and kinks, to a more looser and wavier curl pattern. Either way, all curls are BEAUTIFUL, but there are things we must know to keep it healthy and strong and moisturized. In order to have long healthy hair, we MUST keep it moisturized daily.

Have you ever wonder how some sistas with long hair and WHY it is so long? Well, the answer is: They keep what they grow!

Natural hair is naturally dry. Moisture (H20) is very hard for our hair to keep a hold of it because our hair strand is so curly and zig zagy and not straight to where moisture can stick on to. There are things you can do to help achieve soft moisturized hair.... Remember moisturized hair leads to LESS breakage. And less breakage leads to MORE hair.

1. Ingredients to avoid:

ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL

MINERAL OIL & PETROLATUM

PEG

PROPYLENE GLYCOL (PG)

SODIUM LAURYL SUFATE (SLS) & SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE (SLES)

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)

CHLORINE

DEA (diethanolamine) MEA (momoethnanolamine) TEA (triethanolamine)

FD & C Color PIGMENTS

FRAGRANCE

IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA and DMDM HYDANTOIN

If these ingredients are in the first 5 list of ingredients in your hair products, try to keep away from them. These ingredients are known to dry out your hair if you are not careful.

2. Ingredient to ADD (MOISTURE!):

WATER!!!!!! huh?.... wait what? Water?? noooooo. lol YES gurl, back when we were permed and pressed, we thought it HATE water. We would do all in our power to not get it sweated out, can't go swimming with my friends today cause I JUST got mah haur did... lol all that, but actually our hair LOVES it and NEED it! When you are picking moisturizers for your hair, make sure the first ingredient says: Water, Aqua, or H20.... trust me, your natural hair will love it! :D Moisturized hair = LESS breakage.

3. Protective styling/ less combing and manipulation:

Remember in my first blog where I stated... " ...my hair NEVER grew past my shoulders..." the reason being is not enough protecting my ends from elements and hands: ALWAYS combing and brushing my hair hard and roughly, my ends rubbing against my clothes (shoulders) which caused breakage, not keeping them moisturized, not trimming off damaged ends, having them exposed with too much to the sun and cold winter air..... which all of these caused BREAKAGE. And breakage leads to damage, which leads to hair breaking off, which leads to... welll yall get it lol.

There are styles to avoid manipulation and protection from nature elements. Example: braids, updos, weaves (this one is a bit hard to add if you don't take care of your natural hair under them), etc. There are a lot of cute, funky fun protective styling, but we will get to those later.

4. Avoid heat:

Before I went natural, I would get my hair washed and pressed out FAITHFULLY every 2 weeks. Not realizing all this heat was damaging my hair for YEARS. Now I know.... your asking.... being natural SUCKS! You can't straighten out your hair AT ALL. Not necessarily true.... some naturals do straighten out their hair to change up their look sometimes and some have decided NO MORE HEAT... PERIOD, but those who do straighten out their hair time to time, they use heat protectants and use little heat as possible to avoid heat damage. Me personally, I do plan on wearing my hair straight. My goal is to have hair DOWN MAH BACK YALL! WHOOT WHOOT! hahaha but I decided to NOT put any heat to me hair AT ALL at least until I reach my goal. That is "my" goal. But the key in growing long natural hair is LESS heat. Blow dryers, curling irons, pressing combs, flat irons, hot breath.... lol.... nah.... just kidding on that last one. :D

5. Drinking a lot of water, eating healthy and daily exercise:

Dang! I can't have my McDonald's burger and fries and ice cream everyday!? Eating healthy and making sure you drink alot of water really contribute to your hair growth. I mean when you think about it, hair is part of your body and whatever you put in will show on the outside. Our body needs the good vitamins, nutrients and exercise to keep it healthy PERIOD.

6. PATIENCE!

MY HAIR IS TAKING FOREVER TO GROW. HELP! This society thinks: Oh you black?? Your hair NEVER grows past your shoulders! This is a myth that needs to be corrected! Going natural, you have to have patience. All hair grows at about 1/2 an inch to an inch about a month. No matter if you are Caucasian, Asian, Bi-Racial, or African American. Like I said, kinky hair is naturally dry, so WE have to do something about it to keep it moisturized daily. Hair will not grow 12 inches in the next week and there is NO magic potion that will grow your hair 5 inches tomorrow. So patience is a must. Kinkier hair needs a bit more attention so as long as we give your hair TLC it needs, you will see a difference in NO TIME! :)



Thinking of going natural? Hmm... where do I begin?

As I look around, friends, family members and even co workers I know are beginning to wear their hair natural. I know... I know....... WHY THE HELL IS EVERYBODY GOING NATURAL?? LOL Everyday, every minute this society changes as well as the seasons.... the same time fashion changes. It seems that the society is starting to FINALLY accept all of our natural, kinky and curls around the USA.... (well from what I heard :D) So, where do I begin you must ask.... okay.... ahem...... (lol)

Before I went natural, I ran across a few YouTube videos on tutorials on how to wear these KAAYute! hairstyles. These ladies were rocking nappy hair and everything! Being naive thinking, since I am black too hahaha, my hair can do the same thing. ( Not knowing at the time my hair was heat damaged ) I tried a few... as I was doing my hair a few minutes later I kept looking and saw my hair was NOT curling up like the ladies with this beautiful kinky curly hair. I was getting so frustrated. So I had to take it back yall. I researched and found out my hair was HEAT DAMAGED!! AGHH!!! >:(



The line between the relaxed/damaged hair and new growth is called the demarcation line.

I told myself, okay.... how do I convert my damaged ends to get them back to my natural curl state? I tried everything under the sun yall! Protein treatments, curl definers, etc. NOTHING worked. It took me about 2 years to finally come to a conclusion that for me to have healthy, curly hair.... I need to cut off the damaged ends and start over! DON DON DON!!!! *sad face*

Now, if you are scared out of your pants to cut your hair, then you can start transitioning from relaxed hair to natural hair.

Those who are thinking about just going to go ahead and do the Big Chop NOW (Big Chop: cutting on the line between your relaxed and damaged ends. The demarcation line.) Then I say go for it! If I can do it, then you can too! : )


Click here to find out more about Transitioning.

Introduce Yourself..... PLEAASEE.

...."So, tell us about yourself..." I honestly don't know where to begin! um Well............ growing up I am guilty for being envy of the girls in school with long hair! I always had shoulder length hair for the longest. It would never grow past my shoulder. I would be lucky sometimes to see my hair a bit longer... maybe about a inch or two, but for some reason, it would just get shorter and back to the same length it was before. Right back on my shoulders. At this time, I had no idea about my hair. All I knew, once water got on it, it would turn into a hot nappy mess and I would need to get my butt into a chair and get it pressed out fast! I can still smell that hot comb sizzling on the stove top in the kitchen and watching my mom pat it on some tissue paper and how at the end of my pressing session, that tissue paper was always a burnt brown color..... I just thought, that was just what I had to deal with for the rest of my life and I became use to it.

The first time my mom pressed my hair. 5 years old.

Once I turned 20 and things were changing in my life where I had to take care of my OWN hair, I looked in the mirror one morning, examined my hair and told myself, there has GOT to be a better way to grow my hair healthy, longer and shiny. I realize my hair was sooo heat damaged, the only way to get my hair back healthy, curly and new was to start over... and yes... you know what that means.

Time to do some cutting! -_-

My last press. On my Wedding Day August 14, 2011

My mother NEVER put a perm in my hair, but my hair was soo limpy and would not curl into its natural state anylonger. I knew a few girls who are the same ethnicity as myself who always had long hair, so I knew I had a chance and it is possible. I researched about natural hair for about 2 years straight and finally.... at the age of 22, getting the BC (Big Chop) was my beginning to a journey I will hold on to for the rest of my life, and never forget. As I share my journey with you, I hope you are inspired. :)

My Big Chop October 2011