Natural Hair Workshop

When: Saturday September 26, 2011
Where: Windward Passge, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

This workshop featured speakers like:
Black Onyx 77 from You Tube

Felecia Leatherwood  Natural Hair stylist

Overall I thought the atmosphere was wonderful. I enjoyed listening to the questions that interested my fellow curlies and some of the answers. There were giveaways and gift boxes. Also there was products... Oh Gosh!! There was products. I could not tell my head from my tail.


Also I bought a Huetiful Steamer. This just killed my budget. However I did manage to get some good things like henna. Yep, gonna try getting on the Henna band wagon. Wish I had gotten the Amla powder though. I hear it's good for acne.

Here are some photos of the set up:

All in all it was worth me getting up 4 in the morning to travel from one end of the island to the other  to make the 6:45 boat so that I could be at the venue for 2:30 pm. Please keep in mind that I am coming from another island on a 45 minute boat ride that somehow took 3 freaking hours. Yep, I did not arrive on St. Thomas until after 9:00 am.  Aaaannny who... What I loved was how everyone was willing to share styling tips and places to find products. There was really a sense of comrodarie since everyone was just willing to explain to each other how their journey came about. I must say that even the ladies at the tables were so informative and just made the experience worthwile. The only draw back was that everyone could not fit into the room and some had to be turned back. Trust me if you are coming from another island to make the retreat and could not manage to buy a ticket before hand. This has to be very frustrating.

To make a long story short I loved it and the products. Denise did an awesome job :D... Check them out here. I would definetly go to another one.

Also when are we going to do one here on Tola ladies?

Pre-Natural Hair Workshop

Alrighty. I don't know if anyone made it to the natural hair workshop on St. Thomas but it was awesome. If you were there then you had a great time and got a lot of your hair questions answered. However, if you missed it ... Hope that they have one next year.

Any ways below was my look for the evening and hair.

Just can't seem to take a good picture :'(



Will come back with my feedback and pictures of products.

Contradictions

Hiya

So when I started on the hair journey I had a list a reasons why I should and I felt armed after reading 1 little book. Sigh... Yep, I figured I knew what I was doing and if not I would figure it out along the way.

What I have realized is that I love my hair. I love the texture. I love playing in it and I love the freedom of the wash and go. However I do not particularly care for dealing with it. I always get fairy knots and the ends of my hair no matter how much care I feel I am giving it. My ends never seem to get moisture and I always feel that my treatment choices are not the best.

With all those problems I have with my kinks put aside... I love it.


When I was starting out. I had this:

And all my products worked and I thought it was cute. Then I started to grow it out some more

Started to create my funky hairstyles and I loved it. Then... It wasn't holding the styles anymore so I cut off the straight parts and that is when the trouble began. Nothing seems to keep it quenched. Some part of my hair is always thirsty and u have to use a load of products to keep the moisture sealed in.

So I started drinking more water and started back walking (like yesterday...LOL ... wish me luck) so I hope it helps... In the mean time going to have to find someone to baby my twa or I find some nice vegetable glycerin in the BVI.

If anyone has product or natural remedies I am all for it but since I started wearing my hair and not keeping it under my wigs it just always seems a bit dry.

Getting my hair to partially behave

Ok, I think I have a new hair regimen that gets my hair to behave... partially.

I get a spray bottle filled with water and whatever oil is handy.... In my case it is filled with the following:

• Coconut Oil
• Olive Oil
• Jojoba Oil
• Sweet Almond Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Castor Oil

My attempt at coils

After making this list I realized that this is alot of oils. However I never let the spray bottle completely finish so the last mix still gets some of the new mix added to it. Thus all of those oils have to be listed. 

Then I put in my shea mixture and section my hair. Then I attempt to attempt to make finger coils in my hair. At times though it can manage to look like sister locks done on a twa before its time. Well, any who... I tie down my hair with a scarf. In the morning I seperate them into smaller sections and rewet in the morning  tie for the drive to work (too drying). Once I've parked I re-wet if necessary and make circles in my hair with my finger tips and call it a style.

Yep it's alot of work but it's working so far. It keeps most of the moisture in my hair. Will try to post a picture of today's hairstyle, however today was a lazy day so some of the coils are still there.

Virgin Islands Natural Hair Expo

I am so excited. I am attending a natural hair expo in the U. S. V. I.

If you are in the area come out and attend.

I am Officially over it

Ok, I am over it, this obsession with the hair. Yes, I want it to look good. Yes, I would love if it behaved the way I want it to. Yes, acceptance would be nice too.

Most people (including myself) have taken my hair changes a bit too personal and some seem to enjoy it #CantPleasethemAll. The funny part is that I usually cut my hair once a year and then I let it grow out to about shoulder length and cut it again. There is nothing wrong with my hair I just don't really care for too much hair in my face. It's not like I can put it in one (see previous post). That crap gives me a headache for times.

So I am officially over most of the comments and reactions that have been made about my hair. I realize that you don't have to like my hair or it's texture but this is it. This is the way my hair was inteneded to be coming out of my head. And that's "OK!" I understand that it is shocking to see if you have seen me with my hair before. It's not going to look good everyday and all the time but I'm going to try and rock this bad boy regardless :-p

My hair back then

These are the only pics I could find of my natural hair growin up.

Why did I go natural?

Well, I have been pondering this for a while now and it was a combination of things.

1. My hair wasn't as full as it used to be. ( I later came to see this as my own personal perception after viewing some of my before pics.)

2. My hair was breaking at an alarming rate.

3. My scalp became even more sensitive than before after years of putting perm in my hair.(As stated by doctor)

4. My doctor actually told me to stop putting it in a ponytail and to give it a break and wear it down
(a) Due to the advice to wear it down (which I hate by the way) (b) Gave up and decided to just cut the bloody thing off

5. I had no idea what my hair texture was... I never had to deal with it.

6. Wanted a change. I began to see natural hair as beautiful and versatile


Reactions to my hair choice:
Even though I have rocked a Halle Berry hair cut before and had my hair extremely short that the barber, my hair and I had a special relationship… Everyone was so shocked and stated “I just can’t imagine you with short hair.” What kinda crap is that? I have had short hair before… Yes, granted it was relaxed but it was still short. Few reactions:
-“So you are doing this for what exactly?”
- “Why are you going natural?”
- "Don’t ever wear your hair out like that again!!" (When I rocked my hair after my BC)
- “When are you going to perm your hair back?”
- “What the hell is that?”
- “What is wrong with your hair?”

Honestly, wasn’t too sure what to expect but that wasn’t it. Where I live there are a lot of people with natural hair but I never thought that they would take it like that. With that episode where and older lady began taunting in a sing song voice “Nappy head” over and over again (don't worry I will get over it soon). These things are not what I expected so I plopped back on my wig.

Feelings:
Normally I am not that concerned about public opinion but I felt so distraught with the reactions. Honestly I find that I started to obsess about the look, feel and texture of my hair. I became concerned that something was wrong with it. I mean with so many other sporting bald heads, afros and plaits… Why is my twa so offensive? But in the end you just can't please everyone and at some point I'll just have to get over it and try to remember that this is something that I wanted to do. Until then got to get some hater blockers and work on the courage.

At home mixes

Hi Now I know that I may have mentioned that I like to use the apple cider vinegar rinse a previous post but here are some that I like to use:

Honey Hair Leave in
1 tsp honey
4 cups water

Pour the warmed honey into warm water. You can warm it in the microwave for 5 seconds, this makes it easier to dissolve and mix. Use AFTER the shampoo & condition. Dry and style hair as usual. I store the remainder in a bottle in the fridge.

Treatment
1/2 tsp Coconut oil or almond oil
1/4 tsp jojoba oil
mayonnaise
1 tsp honey
1 egg

Mix all ingredients except the mayonnaise together in a plastic bowl. Add mayo a bit at a time until desired thickness is reached. This is a one use option for me. Oh, and don't go under the dryer unless you want to have scrambled egg on your head.

The majority of them came form "Thank God I'm Natural" by Chris-Tia E. Donaldson.

Looking for the One

Yes, I am looking for "the One." The one that will complete me and give me total manageability. Yep, I am looking for the one Hair Product( well I did create this blog for my hair journey). However how to you find it and how come so many of us are still searching for it? Honestly right now I use WEN because it is a no fuss solution and I don't have to condition after and my hair is soft and easy to de-tangle. That being said this junk is expensive... I get 2 huge bottles and the styling cream but u have to use so much of it... but it works. Also note to anyone that has never used it before you have to use it first for a month to see any difference. At first it didn't work to my satisfaction so I kept using my regular products but once I committed to it after about the third week my hair became awesome (also bear in mind my hair was straight then). Now, if this product was so awesome why did I go natural? That is a very long story that I will get into later with pictures.

Like I was saying I use WEN by Chaz Dean. However, I am still looking for that product if my cabinet is any indication. Honestly I have so much products that I have tried giving them away. Some worked when my hair was straight but not since I went natural. Some when I put them on in the morning my hair looks fabulous but somewhere between the car ride and work my hair starts to look dry and hard. Some are recommended for my hair type or by friends but they never work for me.

That being said I have come to a few conclusions. I am a product junkie due to my search for "the One." But aren't we all searching for the one product that will make our hair silky and frizz free? Or that miracle that comes in a jar or a bottle that can just give our hair the look, the feel or the texture we want.

Also I can't look at anyones representation of my hair type because even if you and I have 4a or 4b hair our texture is still not the same. Plus I don't think that everyone has only 1 hair type. The front of my hair if curly, a bit rough and has shrinkage. The sides are the same but they have extra shrinkage. However the back has no manners it is mostly straight with barely any curl but it's soft (bit too soft). Which tends to lead to bad hair days...

Also I have found that the magic solution that works now will not work with the weather change and then there is the whole rush to go and find the next fix. If your like me anything that doesn't work anymore goes in the garbage (Shrug... I hate clutter).

One side note home remedies work. However I tend to be too lazy to keep it up and they don't have a long product life but I enjoy trying them out.

Until next time...