Leah here... Just wanted to show a few pics of my straight front that I have described in previous posts. The front right section of my hair has been straight for a while. I honestly think it was due to wrapping or pulling my hair. There are a few reasons i believe this is the main cause. Firstly, if the heat was the main reason my hair was straight, i believe more sections of my hair would have had this same issue. While I do believe heat has a factor in the health of your hair, I do not believe this was the sole reason for my hair to become so straight in this one section. Secondly, the direction I wrapped my hair in led me to believe that i was pulling this one side more than the other. Because i wrapped my hair counter clockwise, the front right side was being pulled the most. During January i decided i would no longer wrap my hair to see if this would have an effect on that section. Here is a picture of my hair as of July 2010.
In the first picture you can see how the right side is much straighter than the left. In the second picture, you can see that I have at least 3 inches of growth that is curly, while the rest remains straight.
So from the looks of it, it will take me a least two years to re-transition this portion of my hair. I'm willing to wait, but what do I do in the mean time?? This brings me back to an earlier post, where I stated that I usually wear my hair pinned back for this very reason. Here is what it looks like then:
You can probably see the straight piece in the middle, because you know its there. But i think by pulling the front back, it camouflages its lack of curl. It also is pulled up to the length of the rest of my hair, instead of one long strand sticking out like a sore thumb.
So for now, I will be "straight fronting" and hiding my non-curly hair, until it returns to it's natural state. I don't have any other solutions at the time, but if you know of any, I may be willing to try it out. I also will continue to study this section and possibly post new theories as I generate them.
Lastly, before i go, this week I straightened my hair for the first time in six months. I had tuns of growth, and my hair looks better than ever. So if you want to grow long strong and healthy hair, i suggest a six month experiment. I'll post pics of it soon.
So...I went to New Orleans this past weekend for Delta Sigma Theta's national convention (Ooo-oop!) and was quite concerned with how I should wear my hair. I started last week with a really nice blowout, but it did NOT last. And with finals, papers, and presentations (oh yeah, and work) filling my days, there was no time to wash and start a new style from scratch. I could have tried to make it with the blowout, but 80% humidity quickly changed my mind! After very short consideration, I decided to do a braid out from the dry straightened hair.
Products
Ultra Sheen setting lotion
Shea butter/gel mixture
Process
I did about 12 plaits all over, dampening them with the setting lotion and smoothing the gel-butter mixture on each section before plaiting. I only braided the sections about 3/4 of the way down, and then rolled the ends with red flexi-rods. The next morning, I took it all down and here are the results:
Did I love it? Yep, I sure did! It only took about 40 minutes to do and the products used are simple and inexpensive. I think I may have found a new signature style.
Well, 3 girls tackled bootcamp this month. Today is actually our last day. Z and myself will be attending today's last session, while Lauren catches up on schoolwork. We have pushed ourselves to the limit, worked on our eating habits, and hopefully, gotten a head start on our beach bodies.
Just wanted to say a few words before heading out to my last session. I can not count how many times I have heard someone say, "I can't work out, I just did my hair!" or "I don't work out because I will sweat my hair out." Well people, if hair is more important than your health, then you may want to think about cutting it all off. LOLAdmit it, we have to just get over it sometimes. OK OK, I've probably said it a few times, but I have recently realized it's just a part of life and something I must learn to deal with.
So what to do about the hair, when you are getting your sweat on??? For me, it helps to wear a hat. I pull my hair through the back in a bun or a pony tail. This not only keeps the sun out of my face, but also keeps my hair up and back, and catches some of the sweat.
If i'm working out indoors, I don't wear a hat. I just pull my hair back into a high pony tail. An elastic head band controls the front and keeps my hair from getting on my forehead. If your hair is shorter I would suggest a thicker band to hold it back and up. A few pins could help too. It seems as though I usually perspire most on my neck and forehead. I've heard some people say they sweat in their scalp, but I have never experienced such a thing. Sometimes I wonder if they are being honest about that too. :)
When pulling your hair back, you don't have to pull it so tight. If you make a loose pony, or just pin back, you shouldn't loose your curls or current style. Once you take it down, you should be good to go. Just think of it as taking a shower without a shower cap.
Lastly, I know we all care about our hair and virtually how we look. Lets continue that care from our heads to our entire body. So for now, take care of your hair, and......take care of your body.
I’ve admitted I always love my hair but that I’m not so sure it always loves me back. One of the most frustrating things about my hair is the fact I can do different styles such as two-strand twists outs, braid outs, or bantu knots and after about two or three days of wearing the particular style my hair has reverted into a somewhat frizzy and poofy fro. I would love for the styles to linger a little longer but three days seem to be the life span of most styles. People who think we grow relaxers out because they are too high maintenance have it all wrong. I don’t consider re-doing your hair every two to three days low maintenance at all.
My hair woes aren’t all hair related. Some of my frustration lies with my own limitations. I can’t braid in rows…heck I can’t even part straight to even begin to braid in rows. I find myself having to resort to my old faithful styles or enlisting someone to help me with a new style or one that is difficult for me to pull off on my own. Also, I sleep on my right side and I believe that has a lot to do with me expereincing less cooperation and more frizz on that side.
I can't say my hair fits into just one box but according to www.NaturallyCurly.com my hair is mostly Type 4 which is described as kinky hair. I snatched the following from the website:
• Type 4 is kinky, or very tightly curled, with a clearly visible curl pattern
• Circumference: Crochet needle or even smaller
• The hair is very wiry, very tightly coiled and very, very fragile
• Type 4 hair can range from fine/thin to wiry/coarse with lots and lots of strands densely packed together
• Type 4 hair has fewer cuticle layers than any other hair type, which means that it has less natural protection from the damage you inflict by combing, brushing, curling, blow-drying and straightening it
• Type 4 hair is known to shrink up to 75% of the actual hair length
In this pic the light catches several pencil sized curls in my puff
• There are two Type 4 subtypes:
4a: Tightly coiled hair that, when stretched, has an "S" pattern, much like curly hair. It tends to have more moisture than 4b; has a definite curl pattern
4b: Has a "Z" pattern, less of a defined curl pattern. Instead of curling or coiling, the hair bends in sharp angles like the letter "Z"; has a cotton-like feel
My wash and go's show my true texture
It draws up pretty tightly because it's shoulder length straightened
Another angle
My hair definitely has the shrinkage of Type 4 hair and it can be fragile. It looks thick but it is actually very fine, fluffy and soft as cotton. My hair is very thirsty and needs moisture at the very least every other day. If I’m wearing my hair in a puff aka a bunny tail I will go capless when taking a shower so the steam can caress my tresses. My hair spirals into fantastic little curls after shampooing. The cute little spirals are most prominent in my puff and my wash and go’s.
Just wanted to put a few words in about my hair type, just in case you all were wondering.
We hope that you all will benefit from all three of us, but we also understand everyone has a different hair type. It was kinda the whole purpose of our blog, to be able to share stories, tips, etc. from different hair type perspectives. There's a lot of styles and products that all three of us use, and then there may be a few things that is more "type" specific. So with that said, here's my spill.
I have no idea what my hair type is!! :) With that said, if i had to look at a chart or something, I would guess I ranged from 3c to 4a.
The back (which i like to call curly baby hairs) is my favorite part of my head. This would probably be reason number 3 that I normally wear my hair "half up." This area tends to curl very pretty, in a perfect 's' shape. If i had to guess, id say its probably 3c in these parts. This area also stays moisturized. It would look good with no product all at! If i could transplant this hair to the rest of my head, I definitely would. I'll probably do a study on this one day (just kidding), but I'm going to say this area is the best because it has less exposure to products (we usually miss the area), sunlight (swear it causes damage), and less frying! We usually don't care about how the curly baby hair area looks if we have our hair down. No one is going to see it!
Wash and go day 2 randomness eating brunch on Peachtree
On to the middle... The middle of my head is a mess! For some reason, this area is sooo frizzy. No matter what I do, it frizzes. Or is that just fuzz??? I dunno, but i hate this area of my head. I'm going to call this area 4a. But wait! No offense to the 4a folks out there!! I think the culprit of the frizz is definitely head related, mixed with a little "can't figure out what to do with it." I usually have to put lots of product in this area, and if I'm going for the twist out, i have to put smaller twists here. If I'm doing the wash and go, this area won't dry for a day at least. And when it does, it may not look like the rest of my head. This is reason number 2 I usually go for the "half up" style.
So what is reason number one you ask.....????
Let me first say, i really like the left side of my hair. It has really nice curls, probably a mixture of 3c and 4a. It holds moisture very well. I don't need to do a lot of manipulation in this area.
OK, yes i was trying to "hit em with the flex" But check out those left side curls! Bangin!
However, the right side of my hair is by far my least favorite and number 1 reason why I usually wear my hair half up. This part of my hair does not curl. If i do a wash and go, you may notice this side to be hanging a little longer than anywhere else. If i do a twist out, this side usually gets pinned back because it didn't work. This side is probably at the 3a range do to the lack of curl. However, I think i may have discovered the reason behind this and would like you to check back for my post called "straight front."
Me and niece Maia. Look at the lack of curl on my right side. Pitiful!
So in summary, my hair as most, is a mixture of different types. I call them 3c and 4a, but could be completely wrong about this. My hair doesn't really look dry unless I just got out of a pool or shampooed and didn't use conditioner. It has a pretty natural sheen. My hair grows pretty fast, and is a nice thickness. I'm not tender headed and I don't tend to have much breakage. I've only had long hair, so I'm not sure how my curls would look with a cut, but we may find out one of these day. I have lots of shrinkage, (bra strap to shoulders) when curly.
With this type of hair, I think the sky is the limit. You can pretty much try anything.
…with my hair, that is. This head of hair has proved itself to be more wishy-washy than a pubescent seventh grade girl. To gain control, I decided to start with typing my hair. The front, right side is thick and curly…I’ll call it 4A. The front left side is dry and coarse but will curl with the right products, so I’ll still call it 4A. The middle is thick, tough, coarse, frizzy, annoying, etc. so I’ll call it 4B. The back curls nicely and is softer than the front, so I’ll label it 3C (if that is even a category). With this potpourri of hair types I have going on, it’s no surprise that I have a difficult time finding just the right products and styles to work for me. Not only do I have to think about products, but also I must pay strict attention to a one, Mr. Al Roker, to make sure the weather won’t wreak havoc on the hard work I put into styling…I reside in the Heart of Dixie where the humidity is enough to make one seek out her fix for the creamy crack. This is the root of the love/hate relationship I have with my tresses.
What do I love? Not a hard question to answer at all. I love the dark/almost black color of my hair that causes people to regularly ask if I “got a rinse.” I also love its thickness! Now that my hair is in much better health, as opposed to when I relaxed, my hair is fancy and full in any style I try. From my blow-outs to my braid-outs, the full hair (paired with bold earrings) brings me to life on my dullest days. Lastly, I am most impressed with the strength of my hair. Fried, dyed, or laid to the side, these strands can stand up to any styling product or tool and not whither or break. I attribute this to good genes (thanks folks!) and deep conditioning.
Last blowout (bberry pic, sorry for the blur)
This is one of my best braid-n-curls to date!
What (you may ask) is there to hate? Hmmm…I really hate my hair’s inconsistency. Just because a braid-out was whippin’ last week does NOT mean that this week’s styling session will yield similar results. I can use exactly the same products in exactly the same way three sessions in a row and have three different looks. Incredibly frustrating? Yes, yes it is. I also cannot STAND my creepy-crawlies. My mom called it “roly-poly” hair when we were growing up. This occurs when I try to rock a curly pony…the pulled back part that should be smooth does not remain as such. This prevents me from pulling off some really cute puff, pony, or bun styles. Bad times…
Braid-n-Curl 1
Braid-n-Curl 2
Braid-n-Curl 3
How to deal? Because my hair reacts mostly to the weather, I must pay strict attention to the 5-day forecast before styling. I’ve discovered three different washing/conditioning/styling techniques to get me through the main three stages of weather here in the “dirty-dirty.” For really dry days, I cleanse (only once) with Suave clarifying shampoo and condition with a combo of Aubrey’s Honeysuckle Rose and Organix Coconut Milk conditioners. I oil my scalp with pure castor oil and style with unrefined shea; I also coat my ends with the castor oil to protect them from the harsh, dry air. For those hot, sticky, humid southern days, I cleanse once with the Suave and condition with Yes to Cucumbers…the Cucumbers is thick and creamy and provides just the right slip to soften and detangle. To style, I use a shea butter based concoction invented by the Lovely Leah. It provides shine, definition, and hold while keeping my hair oh-so-soft so I don’t mind when (familiar) hands reach out to touch. And for the days that are beautiful and clear with just slight humidity, I cleanse with the Suave and condition simply with Aussie Moist. For styling I spray a little setting lotion and style with the unrefined shea butter. Oh how I love those days…
Welcome to our site! I'm Zarinah one of the three girls with curls and I too hope this blog helps other women along the way of their natural hair journey. My personal story: I had relaxed hair as early as age six up to the age of eighteen. This was about eight or nine years ago so I guess you can say I went natural before it was en vogue to do so. Around the age of seventeen and eighteen I always admired the beauty of natural hair and how it was unique to each individual. I would stop people and ask them how they acheived a certain style and probe them for information on how long it took for them to grow their relaxed hair out and what kind of products they used. After I felt like I had enough information I kicked the creamy crap cold turkey and never looked back. It took a full year to completely grow the relaxed hair out. During the growing out proccess I relied on braids and sew-ins. After graduating from high school I started my freshman year of college with a little afro. I was so excited. I dyed it blond and you couldn't tell me nothing :)
For my early college years it was styles and colors galore! Coils, Two Strand Twists, Twist Outs, Braids, Bantu Knots...you name it I did it. Somewhere along the way I started alternating between natural styles and presses. Eventually some of my hair lost it's curl pattern. Now I find myself dealing with a different texture than what I had when I originally grew it out. It's not the end of the world but I realize for me to get that old thing back I will have to grow my hair out again from root to tip or cut it off and start anew :) We will see what I do.
Throughout my nautral hair journey I'm sure there have been people who would just rather I get a perm and be done with it. But I've always had the attitude that those people who think so don't matter, and the people who do matter in my life don't mind. I'm always going to do me to the fulless.
Currently, I still go back and forth between straight and curly hair. I do wash-and-go styles and twist outs and Dominician blow outs. I love my hair even when it doesn't seem to love me back sometimes. There's nothing like the feeling of those precious strands between my fingers. I commend all the brave ladies ready to take the plunge into the wonderful world of natural hair. Have fun and much luck to you!!
My first attempt at going natural began in March 2006, two weeks after relaxing for Mardi Gras. I attempted to transition after Leah made her natural announcement but was incredibly discouraged by comments suggesting that my hair wasn't “good” enough to wear in its natural state. That, coupled with every new stylist telling me to cut my hair, became too much and I gave in to the goodness of the Affirm no-lye relaxer. After months of wraps and roller sets, I became more and more bored with my hair. I got sick of seeing the same person in the mirror each day; sick of no variety in my look. Plus, the relaxers started making my hair limp and lifeless. No matter how large the rollers, I couldn't achieve the body and fullness I craved.
In 2007, I gave it another go; my official last relaxer was in January 2007! I put the Chi irons to use and started my long journey to naturalness. By May, I'd gotten plain old sick of all the new growth and got my hair cut into a neat bob. This was around the time Rihanna started cutting, so it made me feel all trendy and whatnot. Lame, I know...but my bob was cute!
I continued getting my hair trimmed in that bob throughout the summer. I would faithfully wash and restyle my hair each week which was becoming tedious, not to mention all that heat was bad for my hair. Once I got enough hair for a decent bun; it became my everyday style. I went from doing my hair weekly, to once every two and a half to three weeks. Somewhere around Spring of 2008, I went in for a simple trim and ended up with another cut; however all of my relaxed ends were GONE! That had me so giddy and excited, I just had to start wearing my hair all natural. Zarinah introduced me to the famous Curly Meringue by Miss Jessie's, and I did my first twist out in March. It was something like a hot mess. I was too scared to wear my new style to work, but I had no choice...deadlines prevented me from calling in. My boss walked by my cube three times before stopping to see who was sitting at my desk. She didn't recognize me in all my natural glory. Those kinks and curls threw everyone for a loop that day. That awful style was probably the best thing I could have done because I could only get better in my styling.
Back then, I didn't know anything about regimens and what my hair liked and didn't like. I would just wash it with whatever shampoo I had under the sink, and condition likewise. I'd snap my hair trying to detangle and would even blow dry and flat iron without a proper deep conditioner. My poor strands were thirsty, and my ends would split with the change of the wind.
After lots of online research, I hit pay dirt and discovered the wonders of unrefined shea butter. It made my twists fat and shiny, and my twist outs held for days. I could get two weeks of wear by switching up one style.
A nice lady at Aveda, also named Lauren, helped me find the best products to help protect when I would straighten. While I still switch my products all the time (I'm a fly by night PJ), I make sure they provide as much moisture as possible. I am now on a new kind of natural hair journey...maximizing health and maintaining length.
My last relaxer was December 27th 2005, two days before my birthday. I will never forget it. My cousin Jeslin put it in, Olive Oil kit. It hurt like hell. I was moving to Birmingham, Al from Anguilla B.W.I. I had never lived in Birmingham before, and was going for school. I moved in with my friend Lauren on New Years Eve.
Since I was new to the city I depended heavily on Zarinah and Lauren, who had lived there for at least a year by now. Later that January, we all went to the hair dresser together to get our do’s done. I didn’t need a relaxer yet, so I just got a wash and a trim. The guy charged me 65 dollars, and I was floored! I had no job, just started school, and was living off one years savings. I thought to myself, if a wash and trim costs 65, I can’t imagine having to pay for a relaxer!! What am I going to do!.
My last relaxer…
A few weeks later, Lauren introduced me to her flat irons. She straightened my hair so well, I was convinced I would never need a relaxer again.
Mardi Gras 2006: Me and Lauren
While growing my hair out, I never really thought about “being natural” or being a “curly girl”. The only thing that concerned me was, It was cheap, and it wasn’t that hard once I got the hang of the flat iron. I wore my hair straight most of the time actually. During the growing out stage I had a strict routine. I used Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner (pink bottles). Not too heavy on the conditioner, just enough to comb out. Then I used half of an Olive Oil replenishing pak. I would put on a shower cap and leave it on for about 15 mins. Then rinse. If I wanted curls in my hair, I would use the Olive Oil moisturizer lotion, if not, I would just use Oil Sheen by Olive Oil. I used the flat irons to curl, just like in the first picture above. Either way, I only straightened every two weeks.
December 2006
I had pretty long hair so it was taking a while to grow out. It was healthy most of the time. My ends were a little fragile in this pic, and you can’t really see the length. It was probably bra strap length. I never really cut my hair before, so I decided to try something new. Got up a little nerves and this is how low I went…
March 2007: Me and my Sis-in-Law Karon
I know it wasn’t that short, but it was about at least a 3 inch chop. A HUGE deal for me. I think it was kina cute though, may need to consider it again J.
The summer of 2007 started off rough….I went to Notre Dame and forgot my flat iron!! My mom said she would mail it, but I had no clue what to do without it. I thought, hey, my hair is almost natural, I can rock it….DISSATER!! I tried moose….looked CRAZY!! After that experience, I ran to walmart and bought a pair of con-air flat irons for 20 bucks! Got back to the dorm and did my thang, and I was back in the game. The only reason why I’m saying this is because, I still use those same pair of 20 dollar flat irons today. It was my best investment yet. Don’t think you need the most expensive pair of irons to get the job done. Its all in the wrist, and patience my dear!
I wore my hair straight all summer….
In September 2007, I was waiting to start working, and had no place really to be, so Idecided to do what I had done a long time ago when I swam all the time, braid out!! Here was the result:
It was so cute! However, I had a hard time combing it out afterwards. I think I used Garnier products too. I think I fell in love with this style, but was startinga new job, and didn’t think it would be “professional” to wear my hair like that. So I didn’t do it again until……
Spring 2008…I went to Anguilla with my cousins, to visit my dad for easter. Did lots of swimming, so you know I was not straightening.
Pretty much rocked the pony tail until my step-sister did my hair one day.
Shout out to Farrah…another curly girl.
I love this style and rock it frequently. Products: any shampoo and conditioner, and bees wax for the twists. I wore my h air like this one day to work after returning, and someone told me “you must think you are still on vacation.” ----ignorance.
Since I wasn’t really good at doing this myself, I ended up wearing my hair straight most of the next summer. A few days I rockedthe pony with a scarf.
Chippendales Vegas! July 2008: Me and Courtney
In 2009, I was getting married. I wanted my hair straight at the wedding, so I made sure to grow it out long. I got my sister to do this twist style for me for the week of the wedding. So I had low maintenance.
bridal portraits/welcome dinner with curly cousins
I didn’t trust any hair dresser to do my hair for my wedding. I flat ironed it myself (yes, same 20 dollar iron) and my cousin’s curled it for me the morning of.
I later found out that my husband wanted me to wear my hair natural for the wedding. Oh well! The honeymoon was rough with the hair. I had no idea what to do. I ended up twisting it a few time, and just wearing a pony tail and scarf usually.
When I returned I was fed up with my job and didn’t care what they thought. I practiced my natural styles every week. Wore my hair curly for the remainder of the year….and I got laid off. LMBO!!!. Don’t think it was the hair. I was kinda happy about the lay off in one way, got me out of a contract. When I started my new job, I was afraid to wear my hair natural. I waited two months before I tried it. My boss loved it, and said I should not wear my hair straight any more. That was in march, and it’s June, and I haven’t straightened since.
This blog is about three friends, Lauren, Leah, and Zarinah, natural hair journey. We will each share our stories, hair techniques, and favorite products.
3 girls is most unique because we will provide 3 different prospectives on 3 different hair types. We each like different products, wear different styles, and had different journeys.
We will also probably get into more details about ourselves and our lives.
We hope you enjoy our blog, and look forward to chatting!
