1 Year Natural

July 9 marked my 1 year Nappiversary and I’m so excited to reach this milestone. This past year overall has been a good one in regards to my hair. However, the last couple of months I started to experience some frustration which I talk about in my “Hair Woes” post.

Overall, my hair is the healthiest and longest it’s ever been before which I contribute to improving bad hair habits. Notice I did not say my hair is healthier because I’m natural. You can have healthy long relaxed hair but the natural route is the better option for me. Transitioning to natural forced me to change my mind set and learn my hair’s needs.

Now, have I learned everything I need to know about my hair within one year? No, there is still a lot I need to learn and document throughout my journey. Even though I had a short “thought” of relaxing my hair I’m still happy with my decision. The thought I had was basically out of pure frustration; the frustration built up because I strayed from the basics which I will talk about later in this post.

Within the last year I’ve noticed that my hair is curlier and I love it. Another observation is my hair needs water more than once a week. Since I workout 3-4 times a week my hair needs more water due to sweat. However, since my hair is highly porous I make sure to use a ph balanced conditioner to help close the cuticle and lock in moisture.

As a way to celebrate I’ve included pics from over the past year and list of tips learned for my hair. Please forgive me for the late anniversary post: life happened. Enjoy!!

Tips
1. No matter what stick to the basics!

a. What are the basics (for my hair)? Water and a ph balanced conditioner to seal in moisture by closing the cuticle

2. Low manipulation styles are my friend

3. Since “this” product works for me why try a new one

4. Patience is a virtue!!

Career Update!

In a previous post I mentioned my job promotion and promised to share details but have yet to do so. Big thanks to Deborah Estelle for keeping me on my toes. Well two months ago I was blessed with a promotion to Operations Manager for the claims department. Currently, I work for a title insurance company and within the past four years I’ve been blessed to receive two promotions. I’m very excited about the position and future opportunities with the company.


As I mentioned before, I had to hit the ground running because there were H.R. issues to deal with. It took about a month to get my department on track to becoming better. There is still a lot of work ahead but I’m up for the challenge. Just in case you are wondering, I started with this company as an administrative assistant working my way through Graduate School. In 2006, I graduated with my MBA Global Management and since then been moving up the corporate ladder. God has truly blessed me and I’m very humble about all my blessings.

Well that’s the long of the short ladies and I’m sorry for the late update. Everyone please have a safe and fun weekend!

Make your Voice Heard...

...complete and mail back your 2010 Census Form!

Why the decision to go “Natural”?

This past Saturday, March 13 officially marked the 1 year mark since my last relaxer. Reaching 1 year relaxer free feels oh so good!! This is the perfect time to talk about why I decided to go natural.

Pure Curiosity!! Initially my transition started from a three to six month relaxer stretch. By the third month I was in love with my NG. I loved the volume and thickness in my braid outs and curly styles. Since my new growth seemed manageable I thought what the heck and started to transition from that point. As mentioned in a previous post, I have no idea what my natural looks like. Since as long as I can remember a chemical has been in my hair; the “unknown” also sparked my interest to become natural even more.

The second reason for going natural is because I want healthy long hair. There are plenty of relaxed women with beautiful, beautiful relaxed hair. I’m simply choosing a different route to achieve the same goal: healthy beautiful hair. After watching so many videos on you tube by natural sisters, I’ve concluded that natural hair means less restrictions. Once completely natural, I will have the ability to wash my hair and go without blow drying or flat ironing. The simple thought of a wash-n-go makes me feel so happy.

Lucky for me my mom and sister are both on this journey as well. The journey to natural hair actually started with my sister. My mom and I decided to take the plunge at least a year after my sister started her journey. My brave little, big sister did the big chop but of course at the time we didn’t know that term. My sister has cut her hair short before so this time around was not a surprise. My niece, whose eight years old, is also natural and a relaxer is not in her near future. Having the three of us natural with my niece, my opinion, will only boost her self esteem and love for her natural hair.

My journey to natural hair is a long one but with a little patience I’ll make it through. Hopefully, by July 2011 the fear of BC’ing will subside so I can finally embrace my natural texture. Until then, I plan to continue to tackle and battle with the two textures by experimenting with products and hairstyles that fit my lifestyle.

My neice, my inspiration for natural hair, and her beautiful Crown and Glory.

Hair Journey - Picture Overload

Due to all the heat damage and over processing I had to cut my hair to ear length in 2000.

I was able to gain some growth but not much due to flat ironing every day.

Let's fast forward to 2006 when I finally got some length. However, my ends were fried and I was holding on for dear life.

T

his is a resule of a bad hair cut in 2007.

This is what happens when a at home relaxer goes bad. I literally woke up the next day with no hair due to breakage. April 2008

April 2008

When all else fails I resort to braids. I kept my hair braided May 2008-September 2008. My hair was re-braided every 6 weeks.

This is the result after my braids were taken out and my hair journey began. This marks the first day of my journey September 2008.

Here I'm getting my thickness back. Start of no heat challenge for 1 year. December 2008.

April 2009

My first attempt at a trim. April 2009

My second trim and there is growth and success from my no heat challenge. July 2009

This is the longest my hair has been in my life. I'm so excited and overjoyed. December 1, 2009.

The Journey starts here...

Once my quest for healthy started I immediately faced a road block. I had no idea what to do or how to do it. A couple of years ago I bought, read, and comprehended Cathy Howse’s (Howse) book “Ultra Black Hair Growth II: Another 6“ Longer 1 Year from Now”, but my impatient got the best of me. I only followed her tips for about 1 month before throwing in the towel. Now I’m at a road block and need help. 

My BFF called me one day to tell me about the No Trim/Deep Conditioning Challenge she was starting. This challenge was my first introduction to hair boards, blogs, and sites because this challenged was hosted on Healthy Textures. The site taught me so much information, it was god send. I noticed the women were using a lot of the same techniques Howse talked about in her book. Finally, I was able to see how proper technique, patience, and a little love goes a long way for maintaining healthy hair. I started the challenge in September 2008.

Based on all the knowledge I gained from the site, I started a personal no heat challenge for year starting December 2008. My goal was to learn how to style and care for my hair without heat. My hair suffered from heat damage way to long; plus I needed to break my addiction to daily flat ironing. Yes, you ready right I use to flat iron my hair every day!! Next month I will meet my goal and I’m so proud of myself. Within the last 11 months my hair was flat ironed, professionally, once and only for a length check and trim.

In January 2009, I decided to stretch my retouches from 8 weeks to 12 weeks. Stretching my relaxers helped me hair to thicken greatly. By this time I was learning to master the art of braid outs, roller sets (Mohawk technique), and Bantu knots. Wearing the curly styles became very convenient because styling in the mornings were minimized (somewhat). My hair was thanking me for the break away from heat. During salon visits, rod sets became my friend because the “no heat” challenge applied hairstylists as well.

By March 2009, my new growth was in full effect and I was in love. Remember, my last relaxer at this point was in December 2008. My curly styles were bigger and more beautiful because of my new growth. The thought of getting a relaxer and having bone straight hair was starting to bug me. By the end of the month, I decided to embark on a more natural journey.

...and there were BAD times

An opportunity of a lifetime presented itself which required me to move to Texas. I had high hopes for Texas and was very excited about my new adventure. Surprisingly, it was difficult for me to find a stylist of the same caliber as Keysha (please refer to “There were good times post). Keysha was nice enough to provide me KeraCare hair products to hold me off until I was able to find a stylist. I was so touched by her thoughtful act; it made me miss her even more. She was truly a friend as well as my personal hair stylist!!

The search for the perfect stylist wasn’t an easy one. Let’s just say I ran into my fare share of scissor happy stylist who didn’t know what they were doing. I can not place all the blame with the stylist because I’m to blame as well. Here are a few bad habits that needed correcting in order to see my hair long and healthy.

1. Going more than two weeks without a shampoo.
2. Not d/c on my own
3. Not moisturizing and sealing my hair daily
4. Flat ironing every day without heat protectant
5. Not maintaining moisture/protein balance
6. Using improper blow drying methods
7. Over/under processing my relaxer when done myself
8. Stressing over situations that were beyond my control (major issue that needed conquering)

For the next four years after leaving ATL, my hair never grew past my shoulders and I was frustrated. At one point I found a stylist who is the male equivalent to Keysha. My time with him was short lived because I was soon unemployed again and could no longer afford his services. But wait; there is a bright side to all of this! Once I was settled at permanent employment I finally found a stylist I can trust and loved. With her help I was able to get my hair back on track. This time I tried working with her by changing my “at home” hair habits that stagnated my growth. With this new found determination my quest for healthy hair began.

There were good times....

As stated before, my hair’s health and length will fluctuate constantly. The best hair days were during the periods I had a regular stylist. Like most women, every two weeks I was in the shop on a Friday night or Saturday morning getting my hair laid. In between shop visits I flat ironed every day and moisturized sparingly. I wanted my hair to flow in the wind so moisturizers were not a daily option back then. Bad habits caused my stylist to work harder to keep my hair at its healthiest. While living in Atlanta my best friend, Rose, introduced me to Keysha Gauthier . What I love about Keysha is that she specializes in healthy hair and she educates her clients about their hair.

When I first sat in Keysha’s chair my hair was extremely damaged. I was unemployed at the time and needed a professional hair style for interviewing. Keysha gave me a bob cut that fell right at my ears and I almost wanted to cry. I lost a lot of length because my ends were damaged and split. However, for the first time in a long time my hair had bounce and body and I LOVED it. I told Keysha once I landed a permanent job I will continue to see her on a bi-weekly basis.

As promised, once I landed my permanent gig every 2 weeks I was in Keysha’s chair. She grew out my bob to right above my shoulders and my hair was in its healthiest state ever…until the big move to Houston which caused my hair to revert and journey to start again.

Hair History Facts

For as long as I can remember my hair has been chemically altered. As a child I went from having a Jheri Curl to a relaxer to a Jheri Curl and back to a relaxer well into my adult years. I’m sad to say that I have no idea what my natural hair looks like. Unfortunately, I don’t have any childhood pictures of my hair but I will say my hair never grew past shoulder length.

Throughout my teenage years and well into adulthood I struggled with maintaining my hair. My hair’s health and length constantly fluctuated because of poor maintenance. In high school during my “Poetic Justice” days I had to try braids. Since I had no clue on how to maintain braids at that time I suffered hair loss. My braids were falling out from the roots because my hair lacked the moisture it needed. That’s right ladies, even if you are wearing braids you have to moisturize your hair.

Another hair loss culprit for me is STRESS. Stress is my hair’s worst enemy! A couple of years ago, I was so stressed out due to personal issues that my hair suffered badly. My hair was in its worst state ever: short, dry, brittle and thinning. In order to save my tresses I sought professional help, Hair Club for Men. I was so devastated after leaving my initial consultation. I hate to admit that I signed up for treatment; but I terminated my contract before the trial period expired. One of my bff introduced to me Nioxin to help with my thinning and shedding tresses. I must admit Nioxin was my hair’s savior. However, without the knowledge I possess today and bad styling habits my hair’s overall health only improved slightly.