This time I left off at washing my hair.  I washed my hair, re-did my usual rituals, then began to blow-dry my hair all over again.  No one understands how aggravating it is to have at least 1/4 of hair dried and then have to re-wet the whole thing and start all over again; no fun at all.  The blowdrying process took forever as usual, but I got my hair straight enough to where I could start straightening.  Before I start to straighten my hair, I always put a heat protectant on it to prevent damaging my curls.  I might have to change my heat protectant from a premade one to a natural one: grapeseed oil.  Whenever I straighten my hair I always try to get to the roots, because my hair is super thick and it'll just look really puffy if I dont.  This includes me burning my scalp, burning my hands, and burning everything in sight; okay maybe not that extreme.  Once I finished straightening my hair I always go back over it, to style it.  I always either go all out with curling or I just do a easy swipe-curl through my hair so then it has a little curl at the end.  The end results always leaves me trying to put my hair in some type of awkward style; This time I went with what I like to call "Countdown".  If you know me well enough, then you know that I absolutely, positively, LOVE BEYONCE!  Ever since I saw her "Countdown" video and the hair style she had in it, I've always wanted to try it, but never got the chance to, because my hair was never straight or long enough to accomplish it; until now.  I grabbed the closest scarf I could grab and went to work trying to duplicate this style.  In the end I kind of liked it, but decided to just wear my hair down and keep a big "bang" in the front.  I loved wearing my hair straight, I missed it alot and I found out that it had grown alot as well.

Trial and Error; Straightening Hair Chronicles Pt. 2

Hello, I left off where I was thinking that things were going to go right in my endeavor with this "treatment".  I don't know why I did this, I think it was because I had just had my hair trimmed and it needed some type of treatment. 

The Treatment
After I mixed the concoction together I started to distribute it throughout my hair.  At one point  I noticed that there was more honey than there was olive oil, but I kept going because I didn't feel like measuring; I should've stopped.  Once I was done with that I put a shower cap on my head and let it sit there.  I think I let it stay on my head for more than 1 hour, I was tired, hungry, and I just wanted to relax before I continued with my hair.  Once I finished with my other miscellaneous tasks, I went back to rinse out my hair in the shower. 

Rinsing/Blow-Drying
When it came down to this part, I wasn't so happy.  It still felt like there was something very oily in my hair, but I thought that maybe it could've been the leave-in conditioner I put in my hair afterwards.  After that,  I went back in my room to start blow-drying.  When I started to blow-dry my hair I noticed that alot of things in my room that I touched were greasy, this included: Comb, Brush, Blow-Drying, Clips, etc.  I was confused, so I went into the bathroom to do my hair, so then I can actually see what was going on. 

Realization
After 5-10 minutes of greasyness all over my materials and hair, I finally realized that it was probably the honey that is making everything very greasy.  Trying to figure out how to resolve this, I took a towel and tried to wipe off all of the grease from my materials and hair; that didn't work.  I tried it again; it still didn't work.  There was only one solution and I was actually very devastated to have to do this to myself, wash my hair all over again.  I felt like I took 5 steps forward and 15 steps back; it was ridiculous.  Since, I had nothing else to do, I gave in to washing my hair to continue with my straightening process.  I was highly upset at the time and wanted nothing more to do with my hair, but I had to keep going.

To Be Continued . . .

Trial and Error; The Straightening Chronicles Part 1

Goodmorning,
So this week has been kind of hectic, definitely with my lazy tactics and not wanting to do anything with my life other than: sleep, eat, school, musical, listen to music,eat, and try to find time for sleep.  In the midst of it all my hair was the last thing on my mind.  I despise doing my hair sometimes, definitely on weekdays.  It doesn't take a long time, usually about 45 minutes-1 hour, but I still dont have any motivation, other than "Oh, if you dont do it, your hair will look horrible," and that doesn't do much, except give me the option of having my hair look horrible.  I'll try to get to the point of this post.  There are days when all I want is to go back to having a relaxer, straight hair, the blowing in the wind kind of look.  It was simple to keep up with, all I had to do was wake up, take off my little cap thing and comb it; done!  I know that when it comes to that style (straight hair) I have to take about 3 hours of my life and dedicate it to my hair; A couple of weeks ago I did just that.  The only difference is that this time I did an olive oil/ honey hair treatment.  Of course this concoction comes from "mynaturalsistas" on youtube again.  Since I decided to do this, it took me almost 6-7 hours to complete my hair, including straightening it. 

Olive Oil/Honey Treatment
-1/4 cup of honey
-1/4 cup of olive oil

Directions: Heat up the honey and mix the two substances together.  Once that is done, either use a brush ( like a painter's brush) or hands and distribute it evenly throughout the hair.  Keep it on the hair for about 30 minutes-1 hour (or more).  Rinse the hair and proceed with styling.

Thoughts
I thought that I could manage this, my hair would come out right, it'd be soft, smooth, and a little silky.  Everything was going to go right and when I straightened my hair it would look very nice; I had yet to see the truth.

To Be Continued . . .

Prom Figured Out.

Just giving an update from my last post, I found a hairstyle.  So I came upon it a couple of months ago on youtube, just doing the usual search for tutorials on hairstyles.  When I first saw it I thought that it would be pretty, but it looked like it was meant for someone with long hair and it wouldn't work out for me.  My hair has grown some, but not to the length that was shown in the tutorial.

Video

The video is from the "beauty gurus" on youtube called: mynaturalsistas.  The video is called "Curlformers (No Heat) Wedding/Formal Updo for Natural Hair.

Thoughts

I liked the style because it looked easy to duplicate and was simple, but there was something different about it, anyways.  My hair didn't end up like that, but I was close.  My only problem was how long it took, I made an appointment for 10:30 a.m. and I didn't get out till about 2:30 p.m.  Four hours isn't bad, until your date is saying "Oh, yeah I'm going to pick you up at about 3:00 p.m. so be ready", granted I was not ready at all.  Also, I was reminded of how much I never really liked going to the salon to get my hair done.  The only reason why is because I'm always ending up under a dryer for 1-11/2 hours; it's like hell being under that thing.  Overall, I loved my hair and will sure to purchase those things when I get the chance.

Curlformers

I was done with myself at this point, so excuse the face.

Prom Complications?

Prom is tomorrow and I have yet to finalize a hairstyle.  Most of my other friends know what they want, have already tried it out, and are prepared; I have done nothing.  This is one of my many complications when it comes to natural hair.  It's somewhat difficult to pick out hairstyles because its slightly limited.  There are a lot of creative things that a person can do with their hair, but it all comes down to whether you can actually do it, the hair length, correct supplies and enough patience.  I'm thinking of an updo that I saw on YouTube with these things called curl formers; I'm just hoping I can pull it off.  I'll update either tomorrow or Sunday, so there will be a conclusion to this thought, or you can just see me tomorrow.

Hair Story?

Natural Hair- This term can go from having curly, kinky or wavy hair.  Basically it's the hair you were born with, self-explanatory.




THE BEGINNING

Sunny days in Arizona with my sister (6 or 7)

I never had natural hair all of my life, I had a relaxer once in my life (A relaxer is a process that involves putting chemicals in your hair to get a straighter look).  This happened around the time that I was 11, until then I was sporting what I would like to call "Dookie Twists".  I hated having natural hair so much.  At the time that my hair was natural I was living in Arizona and I went to a predominately caucasian school.  It didn't bother me all that much, until some of my friends would ask me "Cheyenne, will you take out a braid, I want to see it down".  In my mind I thought that this simple act would not cause a lot of trouble, until I thought about all the work my mom had to go through just to do my hair.  I would automatically respond with a calm and silent "no".  I hated the fact that all of my friends had silky, long, and straight hair, while I had this coily stuff that shrunk if one raindrop hit it; it sucked so much.  Of course, I prevailed because I had no choice, but I hated every moment of it.


THE RELAXER

7th Grade 

I got my first relaxer in middle school (I think I was in 7th grade), 6th grade was horrible, because I was still the only girl sporting "dookie twists" while all of my other friends had relaxers or had their hair straightened with a hot comb.  By this time my mom had moved my sister and I to South Carolina where most of my family lives.  It was something new, but I don't think it changed me too much.  This relaxer gave me more confidence then I ever had and I felt complete for time being.

HIGH SCHOOL

9th Grade

One of my Best Friend's, Delaysha & I

Around this time I was more conscious of things.  My confidence level had gone down by 80%; why?  I was never sure, but I think it had something to do with my weight gain.  I didn't have the natural hair anymore, but I was fat instead of phat.  I don't think I was enormously big, but in my mind I wasn't looking so good.  My hair still remained the same and I loved getting relaxers.  I was wearing box braids more often then having my hair straight.  I never realized this fact, but when I had my hair in braids it gave my hair more time to relax and grow instead of being hurt by chemicals.

10th Grade

A beanie on my head, but my hair was straight

Looking back on 10th Grade that's when I can see that I really went through a change.  I became a different person and I finally felt like myself.  I lost weight and that's when I thought about going natural.  It was all because my best friend was natural, her hair had grown a lot, my hair was breaking and I thought that maybe we'd have the same hair texture; I was wrong.  I wore hats/beanies alot and never wore my hair in it's natural state, because I was unsure of it and I knew a lot of people would judge me.  Whenever I told my friends about trying to go natural they would laugh at me and play around saying "Oh, you wouldn't last", "Cheyenne your hair is going to be nappy", "You'll be running back to the creamy crack".  At first I believed them and was going to give up, but for some reason I never felt like going back to the salon and I loved my hair texture.  It was something new and I was excited for every day that there would be more growth.

One of my Best friend's, Jasmine & I (She has natural hair)

11th Grade

The Lord knows that I was not ready for 11th Grade.  This is when I moved to Virginia and I had to leave all my friends of 6 years behind and try to move on.  I've always hated goodbye's and this one was slightly hard.  I was excited because it was a new start, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to meet anyone new.  I was content with South Carolina, palm trees and a cool breeze; that was all I ever wanted.  Two days before 11th grade started I finally got my hair cut, otherwise known as the Big Chop (Big Chop- Getting the relaxer cut out of your hair).  I was content with my hair and proud of myself for finally giving in and cutting my hair, but I was unsure of how people would take it and if I would still like it in the next couple of days.  By this time I had grown my hair for almost a year (Oct. 2010- Sept 2011) and it was still short.  I was still trying to learn my hair when I moved, so it was a lot of trial and error days. I can actually remember one day when I straightened my hair for the first time since I went natural and I was made fun of; my hair looked horrible.  The only reason why I remember that day so vividly was because two people made comments in regards to how I reminded them of Florida Evans off of the 1970s sitcom "Good Times" (If you don't know who she is, google it); Also, it was picture day.

Day Before Big-Chop

Day of Big-Chop

12th Grade

My sister & I; circa 2012

I can't believe I'm a Senior.  I knew this year was coming, but it was almost unreal.  My hair has grown, I've tried new styles and learned many things.  I'm still learning at the moment and hoping to evolve into more than what I am at the moment.  There have been multiple times when I had "Bad Hair Days" or people had something to say about my hair, but I kept moving.  My natural hair isn't a big factor into how I act or my personality, but it is a part of my whole being in a sense.

Excuse the face, I was at Night School & I was tired

Sorry for this long story, but hope y'all enjoyed!

Change of Topic: Natural Hair

Goodmorning!  So I was thinking about some things this weekend and my thoughts wandered to my blog.  I felt like it was "dry" and I wasn't writing about anything that can switch gears at any time and keep interest.  So in favor of talking about something that I know more about, I decided to change the topic of my blog.  I'm hoping that I don't keep changing the topics, but I'm sure that with this topic I will have alot to say.  The topic of this blog will be about natural hair.  I feel like not too many know about it and a lot of people are trying to go natural, but just don't have the background information or know how to start; that's where I come in.  I don't have all the facts, tips and skills down to the "t", but I'm still learning and I feel that I can help out some people as well.  I am very ecstatic about natural hair for some odd reason and I want to share this weird love with everyone, so stay tuned!