Twist Out Pictures!

About two weeks ago, I twisted my hair. Last Saturday night, I moisturized and untwisted my hair to reveal one of my best twist-outs to date. Here are some pictures taken on Monday and today:

from the back and one side

... and from the other  side

my wavy/curly/twisty twist-out

my hair tonight (I don't know why my head looks so flat)

a quick length check.

 

The Natural Choice or Making Your Own

So, since I've really gotten serious about taking care of my hair, I've been toying with making my own haircare mixtures. My very first mix was a random concoction of whipped coconut oil, castor oil, almond oil, and jojoba oil which I used to moisturize my twists. I didn't really like the gritty consistency of the mixture, so the next time I melted the coconut oil and then added the oils. As the mixture began to solidify, I noticed that the consistency was approaching something like petroleum jelly, though the final consistency was harder and smoother. 

In addition to trying to make my own hair moisturizer, I've also found that I have been really disappointed by the ingredients in the body lotions on the shelves in my local stores. On my latest trip to Whole Foods, I saw a brand of un-petroleum jelly and after looking over the ingredients, I realized that I could probably make my own that I could use for hair or body. 

Here's what I mixed up when I got home from work:

• 1 16 oz jar of coconut oil
  
• 5 oz castor oil
• 4 oz sweet almond oil
• 4 oz apricot kernel oil
• 4 oz jojoba oil
• 2 oz aloe vera gel
• 1 oz cocoa butter
• 5 drops rosemary essential oil
• 5 drops tea rose oil

I melted the solid ingredients, whisked all of the ingredients together, and poured them into a jar. I'm not sure how the consistency will turn out since I've just made up this recipe and I didn't add vegetable glycerin which was in the brand I saw in the store. Right now, the mixture has achieved the consistency of a loose petroleum jelly, I think it will probably continue to harden, I'll have to check on it tomorrow to see if I like the consistency. 

The Development of Routine

So, about a week and a half ago, right after I decided to give up on any type of formal protective style challenge, I put my hair in twists. . . the irony of this has not escaped me. 

I decided that my hair needed a bit of TLC, so I gave it the spa treatment. Also, I'm trying to work out a hair regimen, and I needed to figure out how long it takes to do all the things I need to do to my hair.  

 First, I have to say that for some reason, I  had been extremely resistant to an idea that I picked up over on Mane and Chic. I have a lot of very thick hair that tends toward tangling and is starting to get quite long and is really to much to handle all at once. But, I thought that parting my hair in four separate sections would be a lot of work and wouldn't help. I was so wrong. I jump in the shower, throughly wet my hair, make a part down the middle both ways, secure with "Ouchless" hair ties, and I'm good to go. When I part my hair in four sections and deal with each section individually, it makes the whole "hair doing" process SO much quicker and easier. 

Anyway, I shampooed using Carol's Daughter Tui Herbal Shampoo. I thought about diluting the shampoo, but I hadn't actually washed my hair in awhile and I knew I was going to deep condition after, so I just used it straight. After the shampoo, I conditioned and detangled using Nature's Gate Jojoba Conditioner. I then used a completely home made deep conditioner inspired by the ladies over at black girl with long hair. I left the deep conditioner on for 1.5-2 hours, and then rinsed with some varied conditioners I had lying around because I didn't like the way the deep conditioner made my hair smell. 

I took A LOT of care twisting my hair, and it came out looking really great (I failed to take pictures). I used the Giovanni's Direct Leave in Conditioner and my homemade concoction to moisturize. I combed each section and twisted in medium sized sections and then smoothed down flyaways and sealed my ends with some more of my homemade moisturizer. I wore my twists for a week moisturizing every couple of days.

The Inspiration that Is A Follower (or Two)

So, I logged in today to write a post that I thought that no one but maybe a few friends might ever read, and low and behold, I have have followers. People are actually reading my blog! I have definitely not been posting here as often as I had originally intended, nor have I been as dedicated as I would have liked to have been, but knowing that other people have read what I'm writing is such an inspiration to keep on writing. 

. . .

I'm so excited. 

Now to the blogging....

The Highs and Lows of a Protective Style Challenge

Last week, I wrote that I would try to continue with my protective style challenge of keeping my hair in twists. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), I only woke my twists until last Saturday because they were not looking great. Since I was disinclined (read: too lazy) to put my hair in another set of twists, I smoothed out the front of my hair with a scarf and wore my twist-out in a bun for a few days. I then wore a wash-and-go for another two days before conditioning and twisting my hair in much larger that normal twists on Thursday night (I really need to get better about taking pictures). I took  these twists out on Friday morning and they looked good so I wore a twist-out that day. 

Some point this past week I realized that I had basically been keeping a routine that included protective styling the entire time I've been natural. I usually washed and conditioned my hair and then twisted it. I would wear the twists for a week and then wear the twist-out for a week. This routine helped me go from a TWA after my big chop in December 2006 to nearly bra strap length today. Clearly, I was doing something right. So, while I admire all the ladies keeping to their Winter Protective Style Challenge, I just don't think it's right for me at this stage in my natural hair journey.  

The Wonders on Bentonite Clay

Inspired by the ladies over at black girl with long hair I decided to blog about my experiences with Bentonite Clay.

In the winter of 2006, I took a relief trip to New Orleans to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. One of the girls on the trip was stung by a mosquito on her eyelid and her eye swelled shut. One of the other volunteers gave her this clay to put on the bite and within hours her eye was back to normal. I was amazed by this clay and its ability to remove the toxins and impurities from my friend's skin, and I wanted to know where I could get some.

Fast forward three years, and I've finally got my hands on some of this *amazing* clay. I have had troubled, acne prone skin since the onset of puberty, and I've been looking since then for some miraculous product to clear up my skin. I was in my local Whole Foods store a few months ago when I stubbled across this

 

and I knew it had to be the clay that reduced my friends baseball sized eye back to its normal proportions. So, I snatched it up and I've been using this brand of bentonite clay as a weekly mask for a couple of months now, and my skin has never been clearer. I also use it as an overnight spot treatment when I get a blemish, and usually wake up with said blemish noticeably smaller. I mix a few spoonfuls of clay in a bowl with some apple cider vinegar and water to about the consistency of loose pancake batter, rub it into my face, layer it on, and let it dry for about 20 minutes. When left to dry on your face, the mask gets tight and your skin really does pulsate, but in a nice way. To remove, I rinse it off with warm water and rub on my moisturizer of choice. Since it's winter, I have been following up my water based moisturizer with some jojoba, coconut or castor oil, especially on the drier patches of my skin. 

I had seen some really great results on my skin using this product, but I was still skeptical when I saw Curly Nikki and other natural hair bloggers using it in their hair. Still, I decided to give it a chance, and last Saturday I used this special clay on my hair. I pretreated my hair the night before with a mix of almond, coconut, and castor oils and some Suave Naturals coconut conditioner. I braided my hair in two french braids, covered it with a plastic cap and a pair of pantyhose, and went to bed. The next day I unbraided my hair, rinsed it out, and divided it into four parts. I mixed up my clay with water, honey, and oils and applied it to each of my sections using my hands and occasionally dipping my hair into the bowl of clay. I covered my hair with a plastic cap and waited about 30 minutes. I rinsed my hair out really well, co-washed with the Suave, and conditioned using Organix Coconut Milk conditioner. My hair was super smooth, tangle free, and had amazing, great coil definition. A lot of the bloggers have said that the clay left their hair feeling dry which I did not find to be the case, though my hair did feel a bit weird before I conditioned it. 

The short story is, I'll definitely be including this clay in my routine as a treatment every other week.

Keep it happy and healthy 'til next time,

~t

The Virtues of Protective Styling

Inspired by Fleurtzy at Texture Playground  a few weeks ago, I decided to wear my hair in protective styles for the rest of the winter, until my birthday in mid-March. I succeeded in wearing my hair in twists for two weeks before I punked out and wore a twist out for a week and then a wash and go for almost a week. Last night, I decided to get back on the bandwagon.

I clarified my hair with a 2:1 mix of water to apple cider vinegar to which I added a touch of jojoba oil. I conditioned with TRESemmé Deep Moisture Conditioner (not my favorite, but the 32 oz bottle was on sale for about $3). I used the Giovanni 50/50 Balanced Hair Remoisturizing conditioner as a leave in (it was also on sale for about $3.50). I then twisted my hair in relatively large two strand twists using the Wen Sweet Almond Mint styling creme and sealed using my homemade oil concoction (more on this later). Finally, I curled the ends of most of my twists using really small slotted perm rods. I covered my hair with my satin bonnet and went to bed. I'm going to try to wear these twists until maybe next Wednesday, but they are already starting to look pretty fuzzy.

I'm really dedicated to growing my hair out and keeping it protected from the harsh Massachusetts winter, but it's hard for me to stick to protective styling for two major reasons: 

1. I love playing in my hair (though manipulation is not good for growth)
   
2. I have a limited repertoire or protective styles (namely, two strand twists).

My first problem is avoided easily enough, but I don't think my hair is long enough yet to bun, and I definitely need to pick up some new protective styles if I'm going to make it through the winter.

Until next time,

Keep it Happy and Healthy

~t

Twists, Twist Outs, and Protective Styles

As part of my hair growth goal, I wore my hair twisted for one week, untwisted, co-washed, deep conditioned, and re-twisted my hair. 

    

The first twist out

The twists after a week from the top and side.

After wearing my twists for a week, they were starting to look really frizzy and less thann attractive. I spritzed my hair with with Carol's Daughter Tui Leave in conditioner and  moisturized using my homemade concoction of coconut, castor, almond, and jojoba oils and un-twisted my hair. This was definitely my best twist out ever, and even though I had previously decided to only wear protective styles, I wore this twist out for a week.