Reflection- Affirmative Attitude.

Hello Beautiful. 

So in ALL honesty, it's been over SIX months since my last post. I know, I know, what a slacker I am, but never without good reason. I did my last post in May and now its October and as usual me and my hair have gone through changes, we've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. To begin with, let me talk about my Journey a little bit. On February 4th 2012, I decided that enough was enough with my relaxed hair, the thinning, the split ends, the breakage, the dryness, I couldn't handle it anymore. And so without a second thought, I grabbed the scissors and chopped it all off. Now, prior to my big chop, I didn't know anything about natural hair. In fact, I didn't know I could wear my hair natural, it was like I was living in a parallel universe of wigs and weaves, a universe where natural hair is unheard of and unacceptable.  I never thought that I could wear my hair the way God intended for it to be, natural hair was something I never contemplated until my hair reached a breaking point. There is this saying that says "Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle." I'm the type of a person that hates defeat and will always looks for an alternative. At this point, I felt like my hair had completed and utterly defeated me, I din't know what else to do with it. I had no love for it, hated it, despised it, believe it or not, my self esteem was at its lowest point. I didn't want anymore weaves, and I could not, would not go back to the creamy crack. So like a river, I decided to cut a new path, to look for another way out of my wigs and weaves parallel universe. I took to google, and not knowing what I was looking for, stumbled across Curlynikki.com website. At first glance, I couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing and reading. CurlyNikki had beautiful hair, I clicked through her autobiography and my mind failed to accept what my eyes were seeing. You can have beautiful natural hair without a relaxer. All natural. I remember that day I called my mom and my aunt to come and see the gem I had discovered, and we were all in denial! There is no way a black girl can have beautiful curly hair, it just doesn't add up, how? eh? HOW?!! I once took a math class in college that involves deductive reasoning to solve a problem. Geometric proofs. If you've taken proofs, then you probably know that a proof must demonstrate that a statement is always true, it requires logic, not unproven theories. If black women can have naturally beautiful curly hair like Curly Nikki, I was determined to experiment with my own hair and prove that it can be true indeed. My quest for knowledge on natural hair led to me to many hours of researching and youtube-ing. I spent many sleepless nights reading about the "science of black hair". I spent hours in front of the mirror trying out different styles. I learned about co-washing, sealing, moisturizing, protective styling, sulfate free products, porosity, deep treatment, protein treatment. It was like a whole new universe of natural hair knowledge had opened up and swallowed me up whole. My quest for knowledge soon turned into an obsession, and I found myself buying different products, testing each and every one. Of course by this time I had to hide my product junkiesm fixation under the bathroom sink, because I had no way of explaining to my mom why i had three different types of unopened coconut oil bottles, five different types conditioners, three types of deep conditioners, two huge bottles of castor oil, avocado oil, mustard oil, vatikia oil, three bottles of hair gels, two bottles of leave in conditioner, Six packets of Henna, and two jars of mayonese. I became the true definition of a product Junkie, and the more I read about natural hair the more I wanted to go out and buy more products. Well, it's been 8 months now since I went natural, and although I must say that I have cut down on my product consumption, I find myself spending hours reading products labels at the beauty saloon. I tend to buy products based on reviews, but this doesn't always pan out well because what works well for some people doesn't necessarily work well on my hair. It has taken me 8 good months to learn my own hair, and although am still learning, I can most definitely say that the Proof, does indeed exist. Black girls can have naturaly beautiful curly hair, it's not a theory or a fad, it is an authentic validity of which I'm a living proof! 

Later,

Roots4LiA.

Leisurely Composure

Between work and everything else that is Life, I haven't had much time to journal my natural hair progress. It's 3 in the AM and don't know why am still awake but I just am, so I thought why not post something since sleep doesn't seem to want me. After doing my big chop, I decided that the easiest way for me to work with my natural hair as it grows is to braid it. I also decided that I'm NEVER putting a weave on my hair again, I've developed a habit where I constantly want to touch my hair and rub my scalp; and putting a weave on my head would be like death sentence to my hair! Anyways, Wigs and Braids, are my best hair's best friend at the moment.

On February 11th, My wonderful mommy braided my hair. I was going for an "afro look". I bought the Janet collection and really really was going for something like this:

When I saw this pic I fell in love with her hair! I'm a fun of BIG HAIR! I'm used to wearing full head weaves and even wigs! There's something about the "Voluminousity" that really speaks to me. Anyways, my hair came out something similar to hers, and I loved it! :

The first few days; I loved it...After one week, I didn't.

The volume was too much! too much! It became difficult to manage and I could barely fit my satin sleeping cap on. I couldn't do any styles really because well, the hair was just too much. I had to tame it somehow and that's when I decided to twist the ends! The idea was brilliant! I twisted the ends but let the front, which gave me the option to do different styles for a bang. I've been getting so much good compliments!

So... even with braids on, I still wash my hair and condition it every week! I do hot oil treatment with Mustard oil. I love it. It gives a tingling sensation every time I apply it before my co-wash. I usually heat it up on the microwave for about 30 seconds before applying. I leave it on for  the whole night and the next day before washing it off, I skip ahead and just apply deep conditioner to my hair. I wet my hair a bit with water using my spritz bottle. I used eggs once but I didn't like it because even after thoroughly spending an hour in the bathroom rinsing off my hair, the egg kinda of got stuck inside the braid and didn't want to wash off. So no eggs on my hair when it's braided. After deep conditioning, I co wash with my aloe vera conditioner and clarify with some apple cider vinegar. My hair feels amazing afterwards! So soft!

My plan is to have the braids in for a month, then take them out and let my hair breathe for two weeks then put new braids again...so far, so good!


I came across Flax seeds, and to make long story short, I've been incorporating ground flax seed every day to my diet. The benefits of Flax seed is Colossal. It's like killing a thousand birds with one stone...you get the idea.  As for the exercise, I'll keep you updated when I finally join the gym.

In other news again: I've decided to give the Six week lent a try. I've never done it before, so I wanted to try it this time around.

Since you're suppose to give up some things you love for lent, I've decided that for six weeks, am not going to eat chicken or any fast food! It's been week one, and I stumbled and almost fell completely. My brother came home with Mcdonalds and handed me the chicken nuggets, I fought so hard not to even look at it, but my appetite finally caved in and I took a small bite. There are still 5 weeks remaining...I shall not let temptations overcome me!.

Update: The lent was an Epic Fail. Couldn't make it past the first week.