So I finally took down my protective style (genie locs/yarn braids) and it feels so good to touch my scalp giving it a deep wash. Taking it down was an interesting experience because it was my first time putting yarn in my hair. My observations while I had in the braids for a month were as follows: 1.They looked so natural like locs 2.They were very versatile when it came to the different styles I could pull off 3.They retained moisture and I loved it (I could have moisturized more though) 4.I washed them, but they were so heavy after that and took time to dry (Next time I would just wash my scalp with baking soda and avoid the rest of the braids). 5.I noticed if left for a longer period of time i.e 2-3 month my hair would start loc up in the braids. 6.Overall this type of protective style still remains one of my staple styling when it comes to retaining hair length.
Things you will need when taking down your yarn braids are: 1.A pair of scissors 2.A rattail comb 3.Moisturizer of your choice to give slip to braids
Methods used to unravel the braids were: 1.Cutting off some of the yarn due to long length. 2.Grabbing both ends of the yarn and pull them apart. 3.When I couldn't pull apart anymore, I used the rattail comb to loosen the knots.
My hair regimen after I took out my braids was: 1.I washed my hair with Crème of Nature kiwi and citrus ultra moisturizing shampoo with some drops of glycerin. 2.I then used my fingers (you can use a comb if you choose, depending on what detangling method works for you) and started detangling while the shampoo was still sitting in my hair. 3.I rinsed off the shampoo and used the Aussie Moist conditioner to further detangle my hair and remove all the dead hair. 4.After washing my hair, I used my Kids Organics Shea Butter detangling hair lotion on my damp hair. 5.I decided to complete my detangling process by using my Organics Olive Oil leave in conditioner to part my hair and rake through with my fingers while doing a chunky two strand twist at the same time.
My hair is currently in a chunky two strand twist and I use my Shea butter oil to massage my scalp increasing blood circulation to promote hair growth.
Remember use you your fingertips not your nails when it comes to massaging your scalp.
Here are pictures of my yarn braids as I take them down, and hours after I was done with them which was not fun:
Yes I miss my own hair! Currently I have on a protective hairstyle (Genie locs/yarn braids) and I miss having my own hair out, being able to style it and change it up when I want to. Back in my relaxed days, the emotions were different because I always dreaded the moment I was going to take out my braids or weaves. I was fearful of how much natural growth I will have to smear relaxer on to straighten the nappy growth, and that thought alone didn't make me look forward to getting rid of any protective styles I had at that time.
Anyways I am here trying to decide if I should take down my protective hairstyle or leave them in a little longer, and I ran by the most inspiring natural hair video that I had to share with you guys.
This video is compiled so beautifully and it validates my believe that NATURAL IS BEAUTIFUL. Please I hope you watch the video below and share your comments.
I cannot stress how important water is for the body and hair. I always come across people complaining that their hair growth and health is suffering even after gulping 10 or more vitamins here and there. I see it like so, if we want to take fully care of our body and hair we need to take care of our inside, as well as we do the outside. We need to follow a healthier lifestyle from what we eat which include foods that takes care of our immune system, organs, and skin, to what we use on the skin in the form of products. I am no saint when it comes to keeping a strict healthy lifestyle. However, I think the key to healthy living is not just being on a diet and not being able to enjoy all kinds of food, but to be disciplined to know when enough is enough. I mean when you eat healthy, but at the same time enjoy other things to a minimum keeping in mind that too much of those things are doing your body more harm than good, then I think you will be fine. I love chocolates, cakes, sweets, ice cream, and you name them, but I try to distance myself from those things and have them only when I WANT to have them, and not because I NEED to have them due to some constant cravings.
I will nonetheless commend myself for my decision to eliminate as much soda as possible from my daily liquids. I stick strictly to drinking water and I mean for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, even in restaurants I order water (ok I started that at first because drinks are so expensive in these restaurants). Increasing my water intake has helped tremendously when it comes to my skin and hair. I have no breakouts or black heads, and when I do get a pimple or two on rare occasions, I don't go out putting all kinds of facial products but increase my water intake instead. Water is key for my hair type. I try to take in as much of it as I can and at the same time keep in moisture by spraying water in my hair daily. I take my multivitamins and all (well I skip some days here and there), but all those things won't fall into place unless WATER is made part of your daily ritual. We are required to consume 8 to 10 glass of water daily and trust me some days I fail to meet that requirement, and it shouldn’t be so. If you deny the body the required water it needs, your body becomes dehydrated and the cells in your body stop to reproduce; including the cells that drive hair growth. Look at it this way you have to keep taking in water so as to replace the ones lost through urine, sweat, and waste removal.
Remember water is essential because it flushes out toxins from the body and this gives healthy skin and hair. So keep your body hydrated and keep your hair moisturized.
Here are website links to visit for more information:
It’s funny because up until I became natural I always took protective hairstyles for granted on how important they were for the health and growth of our hair. I will say though that I don't do that many protective hairstyles because I always love to see my hair out and be able to rock different styles each day. I try as much as possible anyways to sneak in a few protective styles just to give it a rest.
Protective hairstyles to me shield my ends from breaking off and protect my hair from elements such as sun, rain, snow, etc. It also protects my ends from breaking when rubbed against clothing, linen, etc. I would also advice that while you use protective hairstyles to keep your hair healthier and maintain growth, it is important that you do not braid or twist too tight to avoid stress on the hairline. Minimizing stress on your hairline will reduce the result of breakage and thinning of the hairline.
When and if you do have protective styles on, you should always continue to moisturize your hair, wash your hair to remove build up (videos coming soon to illustrate), and tie your hair every night with satin scarf or sleep with a satin pillowcase.
The following are pictures of various protective hairstyles you can wear:
Two Strand Twists
Braids(cornrows)
Kinky Twists
Sew in Weave
Yarn Braids/Genie Locs
Here are website links to go check out for more on protective hairstyles:
I will say the biggest lesson my natural hair journey has presented to me is the patience to understand my hair and love it for what it is. As I mentioned in my previous posts, natural hair in its entirety is not an easy task, it however, becomes easier when you learn to work with your hair type. I have had to learn how to wash my hair and the products that go with doing that, combing technique, styling, and even how to maintain moisture on a daily basis. I will say though, that I made some mistakes here and there in the past when it came to my hair because of my unfamiliarity with my hair type. I have heard that my hair type which is a 4b/c (kinky, very coily) is the most difficult natural hair type to maintain because of its coarse texture, but after I took the time to do my research on how to care and maintain my hair, I find it more manageable than my relaxed hair. I know those of you out there think natural hair is difficult to maintain compared to relaxed hair, and I will say it’s all in the mind if you think that. It’s all in the mind due to the fear of the unknown and what people have led you to believe. Remember only you can say whether or not you can manage your hair. I had that fear before I became natural, and I use to lye to myself that I would look scruffy because I wouldn’t know how to maintain my hair in its natural form. Having that preconceived notion, I tried to convince myself that relaxing my hair was the best way to tame my kinky tresses and not understanding the damage I was inflicting on my hair back then. You will never know until you try and trust me when you come to understand and love your hair for what it is, everything will fall into place.
Here are some helpful Natural Care tips:
Natural hair combing
First off, unlike relaxed/straight hair, natural hair is NOT to be combed from roots to tip. It should be combed from the ends and gradually move down to the roots; this piece of advice is very important because if hair is combed incorrectly, serious breakage will occur. To make matters worse, you’ll inflict unnecessary pain on yourself. Also, NEVER comb your hair when it’s dry. Combing dry hair can lead to breakage. It’s vital that you only comb your hair when it’s wet and has conditioner in it. If you need to detangle and you’re not in the process of washing your hair, try using a 50/50 mixture of glycerin and water in a spray bottle to help soften up your hair so the comb ( always use a big tooth comb) can easily slide through your hair.
Moisture is Key
Since natural hair, hair type 4 especially, tends to break quite easily, moisturizing your hair is vital to hair growth. As the ends of your hair are the oldest part, it needs to be handled with care in order for it to retain its length. Raw Shea butter is a staple product to retain moisture.
Avoid direct heat
Please try as much as possible to stay away from heat because too much heat can damage your hair. i.e., If you straighten your hair with a flat iron/ blow dry regularly, you may incur some heat damage that might straighten your hair permanently. This means that when you wash or no-poo (absence of shampoo), your natural curls will not revert back to its natural state and you’ll have to cut off the damage ends. A good alternative is air-drying. For example when you wash your hair, you can plait it in a few braids and leave it to dry. When you do blow dry or straighten your hair, use a heat protectant and use a low heat setting on flat iron and/or blow-dryer.
Protective Styling
This method is very important in order to retain your hair length. Leaving your hair in an Afro for long time will damage your hair because loose hair is more prone to the harsh elements (cold winter winds, snow, hot sun etc). Also, if your hair is in a loose state, it can easily rub against sofas, the collars of clothing and cause hair breakage. Two strand twists, weaves, braids, are considered protective styling.
Other basic care tips include:
Condition your hair every week with a moisturizing conditioner or hot oil treatment.
Treat your hair and scalp with a light conditioning oil every day.
Protect your hair when you swim by wearing a cap. If you do not use a cap be sure to shampoo or use a conditioner rinse after every swim session.
Be sure to trim your hair every 4 to 6 weeks.
Make sure you sleep with a silk/ satin bonnet or pillow at night.
Here are some websites to visit to find out the basic care tips to keep your hair healthy:
When I decided to go natural I had no clue what my natural hair texture will be like and that alone made me eager to cut off my relaxed strands. I wanted to find out a lot about my natural hair, how it feels, and its versatility. I will say since been natural I have come to learn a lot about my hair and the type of products it needs. My natural hair is typed a 4 hair type and on the scale of the thickness of the strands it is a C, hence my hair is a 4c hair type due to its kinky and tightly coiled texture. I will further explain these hair types and details on why they are classified as such.
Andre Walker who is a stylist and the owner of Andre Talks Hair, had made it possible for hair to be classified and he ranks hair type 1-4 (referring to the curl or wave in a hair) and letters that follow each number a,b,and c (thickness of each strand). Type 1 for instance is naturally straight and have no curl or wave pattern, type 2 hair has a slight to frizzy wave, and type 3 hair on the other hand is very curly and has a lot of body. Last but not least, type 4 hair is kinky, very tightly coiled, and it appears to be coarse but is quite fine with lots and lots of strands densely packed together. It is also helpful to know that type 4 hair is the most fragile hair of all the hair types and the more you manipulate it the more it breaks off and lessens the growth. Below is an excerpt from Curly Hair Salon.com on type 4 hair category:
Tightly coiled type 4 hair is a lot kinkier than the type 2 and 3 hair types. Although this hair type is much coarser and appears thicker than other curly hair, it is actually quite fine.Type 4A hair has an “S” pattern to it, while type 4B/C hair is more wiry with a zig-zag pattern. Type 4 hair is extremely versatile and holds well on it’s own without the aid of styling products. Some common styles of this hair type are curly fro’s, afro puffs, two-strand twists, braids, straightening, cornrows and so much more.
Here are websites links to go learn more about your hair type:
The biggest problem for those who want to take the natural route with their hair is the question of transitioning from a texture they have become very familiar with which is straight, to an unknown texture be it curly, coily, kinky, or coarse. When I was thinking about going natural I researched and researched day in day out on how to go about it and what styles I could do with my natural texture. I knew I did not want to go another day with relaxed hair so I decided to cut it all off and start from scratch which is referred to as BC (Big Chop). However, other ways to transition without having to do the big chop which can be you wearing braids, weaves, cornrows, and other styles to protect your hair while it changes textures. If you choose not to cut off all your hair at once in going natural, you will have to gradually cut off the relaxed hair because the area the relaxed hair and the natural hair meets will break eventually anyway; so it is advised to evenly cut off the permed parts as your natural texture grows in. Usually when people transitioning get to a comfortable length they cut off all the remaining hair hence their natural hair journey begins.
Here are video clips explaining why women decide to go natural:
Video clips on how to transition to natural hair and hairstyles to wear while transitioning:
On November of 2006 I wanted to do something different to my hair because I had exhausted all the hair cuts and styles I could see myself pulling off, so I decided to cut my hair all off. I rocked my natural hair (mostly short) for about 2-years and during that period I was experimenting with all the hair colors they had on the shelf of Wal-Mart. I will say between November 2006-December of 2008 I had a blast with my hair but I knew I was doing more harm than good due to all the constant coloring. On December of 2008 I decided to relax my hair (the biggest mistake of my life in the most traumatic way ever) and the next couple of weeks I experienced my hair falling out in chunks and I finally went to the barber in January of 2009 and I cut it all off and that will count as my 2nd big chop.
Now I do not have any thing against anyone and whatever they choose to do with their own hair. I will however say that being natural is the way to go because your hair will be much healthier and the versatility you have with your natural hair is beyond words. I will say being natural for me is the most fulfilling, and taking this route with my hair is the best decision I have ever made. My hair is healthier, I feel as if I don't need to conform to what society thinks beautiful hair should be but rather I go by my own perception of beauty and that is what I chose by going natural. The choice is yours to go natural or not, and if you do choose to go natural it is a journey worth taking.
Going natural can be very challenging but rewarding (remember nothing good comes easy) and you will need to do your research first before committing yourself knowing that is something you want to do for you. if you are relaxed and thinking of transitioning out of your relaxed hair to natural hair, this blog will provide information, and guide you to the resources that will make you journey an easier one. In addition, this blog will share profiles and stories of beautiful natural men and women out there to inspire your journey. Remember you are welcome to ask questions and ask for help and advice from other members.
Hey people I am a lil nervous starting this blog on natural care and styling tip but I think it will be an exciting journey because not only will i learn more about my hair i will also be able to research more about resources available for naturals with 4 hair types. It will be difficult being that the resources out there for us is limited but it will be worth it when we start educating people about the beauty of kinky/very tightly coiled hair types. Let the journey begin!
