Have You Ever Said...

I LOVE MY HAIR! Yes....Since I've been natural I know I've talked about how much I love my hair on more than one occasion.  When I really think about it I don't think that I expressed that same love for my hair when I wore it relaxed. I liked the styles that my hair was in from time to time but I don't ever remember saying I loved my hair.  The love for my hair goes beyond a particular style.  I love my hair's natural state.  I decided to write this post because my mother and I were talking about an oil treatment we used on our hair and we were very unsatisfied with the results and how it made our hair feel.  Then, in the same breath, we expressed how much we loved our hair. As we talked we began listing the reasons why we loved our hair. So....wrote a list about it.... wanna hear? HERE IT GOES!

Why do you love your hair?

• Versatility: My hair does pretty much what I want it to do.  Although I am still in that TWA stage I can still rock various looks (wash-n-go, finger coils, afro, frohawk, etc.).
• Ease of styling:  I can experience what I call the instant hair-do.  When all else fails I can add a little water and my hair curls right up.  I love being able to have curls without chemicals or a curling iron.
• The Feel:  I've developed the hand in hair syndrome.  My hair feels so thick and soft, and I enjoy pulling on my curls and watching them bounce back into place.
• The Adventure:  Learning to take care of your natural hair is an adventurous experience.  I always hope to do what is best for my hair and I enjoy learning from other peoples experiences. I watch a lot of YouTube channels and read various blogs. Not everything I see and try works, but it was fun giving it a shot.
• Added confidence:  When my hair was relaxed I seemed to have cared more about what people thought of my hair.  Now that I am natural I can honestly say I don't care what people think anymore. 

My Hair Today:

Finger coils

Thanks for reading my blog and please subscribe :)

Peace & Blessings....

Natural4Rachel

You Are Not Limited...

As the second month post BC quickly approaches you would think that I'd get bored with rocking my TWA via wash-n-gos or finger coils.  Those who know me know that I like to switch up my look, so it may be a little surprising to find out that I am not in the least bored with my hair.  This is because I love to accessorize. ACCESSORIZE...you know!....to add something to something else to make it more useful, attractive, or effective.  Any accessory is just the little touch needed to help spice up your hair and/or outfit.  I love adorning my hair with bejeweled clips, flowers, hats and headbands.  Now that winter is approaching it is time to pull out my slouchy hats and ear warmer headbands. 

Although accessories give you that little added touch it can be a big subtraction from your pockets.  Accessories are not cheap so to remedy this addition and subtraction problem I've decided to make my own accessories.  As I stated in a previous blog, I am the DIY kind of girl. Check out the winter accessorizes I made. Enjoy!

As always.....Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and please subscribe :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Peace & Blessings...


Natural4Rachel

Slouch Hat

Ear warmer headband

Mushroom slouch hat

Ear warmer headband

Winterizing Your Hair Care

"Experts say harsh winter weather and a change in temperatures can be hair's No. 1 enemy. Here's why -- and what to do."

 

By Colette Bouchez          Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD
 

WebMD Feature

 

"From hat hair to static electricity, split ends to dry frizz, when winter weather hits, a bad hair day can last an entire season. In fact, even if you live in a moderate climate, experts say you're still susceptible to hair-raising changes as the seasons pass."

Read the full article here.

DIY

Last week I was leaving the restroom and a woman I'd never met before stopped me to tell me how great my hair looked.  She was more excited about my hair than I was.  This made me feel good because I was working on Day 5 of my style:  a wash n' go that transformed into finger coils by the end of the week.  She loved it so much and asked if it was professionally done.  I explained to her that I got my BC done professionally but I usually do my own styling.  For the most part I go to a professional for a cut or trim.  I attribute my ability to style my own hair to my mother.  Growing up we rarely went to a salon.  If we did, we'd pay close attention to how the style was done and then we would try to mimic the style when it was time to do our hair again.  My mom was never afraid to try it herself and she transferred that to me.  I'm not afraid of my hair.  I would say that we have that DIY (Do It Yourself) mentality. Beyond hair, my whole family is the DIY family.  

I feel it is important for me to pass this on to the next generation and that would be my son.  If I had a little girl I would do the same, but I think this is equally important for my son.  Although I don't have a lot of hair to deal with I hope to teach my son how to take care of the hair he does rock.  I wash his hair at least once a week or more depending on how hard he plays indoors and out. I wash his hair with Carol's Daughter Tui Moisturizing Shampoo and I condition with the Tui Hair Smoothie.  I oil his hair as needed with the Carol's Daughter Lisa's Hair Elixir and use the Carol's Daughter Marguerite's Magic as his daily hairdress.  Yes, I know Carol's Daughter can be expensive but that is what I use on my hair at times too.  I figure if it is good enough for me and safe for my child then it is good enough for my child too. In the mornings I begin by spraying his hair with plain water or my water mixture (water/Aloe Vera juice/olive oil) and then I will proceed with the oil and hairdress.  My son is young and may not appreciate how I am taking care of his hair now but I hope that this habit/routine will one day be instilled in him.  I want him to take pride in the way he looks and take care of himself.  It really bugs me when I see parents looking dressed to the 9s and their child is looking raggedy.  This goes for hair as well.  I hate seeing the parents hair (mom's in particular) fried, dyed and laid to the side and then her daughter's hair is looking like "who done it."  If you can do your hair you can do your daughter's hair!  If you know you can't do your daughters hair find someone who can do it for you or even teach you how to do it yourself.....OK, that was my personal opinion/rant and I'm not going to apologize for it.  

The point I am trying to make is to take care of your child's hair the way you take care of yours.  If your child sees you appreciating your hair and also taking the necessary steps to help them, then hopefully they will grow to love and appreciate their own hair as well.

Below are pics of the products I use on my hair and my son's hair.  

Carol's Daughter Products

Ingredients for water mixture

Tui Moisturizing Shampoo
8.0 fl oz

regular price: $13.00 

Qty.

Tui Moisturizing Hair Smoothie
8.0 oz

regular price: $20.00

Lisa's Hair Elixir
8.0 fl oz

regular price: $20.00

Marguerite's Magic
8.0 oz

regular price: $17.00

Water

Free

Lily of the Desert Aloe Vera Juice

16.0 oz

suggested retail price: $4.75

Olive Oil

price depends on the brand and amount you choose.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and please follow :)

Peace and Blessings......

Natural4Rachel 

How Many Days Do You Get?...

My Answer:

Well...for the past 2-1/2 weeks I have achieved 5-7 day hair.

Who cares?:

Many naturalists do, and now I do.......

It's funny because I never gave much thought about how long a hair style would last me when I had long, relaxed hair.  If my hair began to act up I would just snatch it back into a ponytail.  I probably wore that ponytail for another week or two or more...(eewwww!).   Now that I think about it, I wore a lot of ponytails and flat twists back into buns/ponytails (low maintenance). 

Now that my hair is short and natural there won't be any more snatch backs for a while.  My ultimate goal is to avoid getting caught up in that routine again. Right now, for ME, 5-7 days out of a style is pretty easy to achieve because my hair is short.  During the first two weeks of styling my hair I barely got 2-1/2 days out of my style (wash-n-go).  Initially my hair was dry after my BC.  I was obsessed about retaining moisture so I added more oils and styling products to my hair throughout the week. By the time day 3 came, and for the rest of the week, my hair was greasy to the touch. 

The hair fairies may have felt my need because they sent me a YouTube video that changed everything... How to Maintain Wash and Go for 5 Days or More "Natural Hair" by Naptural85.    Her description states," This is an easy and quick technique that leaves curls defined, detangled, and separated throughout the week."  Below is what I pretty much I got out of the video and I'm sure you have already clicked on the above link by now...LOL!

• Spritz water into the air and let it fall gently onto the hair. (You don't want to spritz too much water and not directly onto the hair.) 
• Place a cap over your hair.  Depending on how long and thick your hair is will determine how many caps you need to completely cover your curls.
• Follow up with your satin scarf or bonnet over the plastic cap(s). This ensures your plastic cap(s) don't slip off while your are sleeping.
• The next morning when you remove your scarf or bonnet, you will notice extra moisture in your plastic cap. This is the reason why you only want to spritz a little bit of water on your hair at night.  The water under the cap plus the heat from your head makes the moisture multiply as you sleep.
• Depending on how you like to style or manipulate your hair, you already have that little bit of moisture to get you started.

Another benefit of the water, that Naptural85 mentions in the video and that I see when I do this technique, is that my curls are supple and bounce back after sleeping on them.  Without water my hair dries and mattes down to my head.  I do experience a little shrinkage depending on how much water I use.  At this time shrinkage is not an issue for me and I don't mind it. 

Doing this nightly moisturizing technique has given me the moisture I was looking for and thus lessened the need for me to add a lot of extra product throughout the week.  With that said less is more.  The less product that I have built up on my hair adds more days to my style.  I love it when I can say that I am having a good hair week.

For ME, the bottom line is...moisturizing my hair at night with water spritz helps to maintain my style throughout the week. 

Now remember, what works for me may not work for you...

My mother is a prime example.  She feels water spritzing her hair at night does not help her maintain her hair style (wash-n-go).  She told me that the water spritz pulls the curl definition out of her hair and makes it feel like mush.  Mind you, our hair textures are different so this could be a factor. Whatever the case we both tried the same technique.  I like it and she doesn't.  Again, do what works best for you.

So...How many days do you get out of your hair style?  What technique do you feel helps you maintain your style (wash-n-go, twist outs, braid outs, etc.)?  Share your thoughts in the comments. Let's do this together.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post :)

Peace & Blessings.....

Natural4Rachel

So What Happened Next...

In Review:

I got my Big Chop!  ...and the lessons to be learned are "every persons reason for going natural is different just like every persons hair is different" AND "what works for me may not work for you."

LOL!...Ok, so on with the story!

In preparation, prior to my BC, I watched many YouTube videos that included style tutorials and product reviews.  I knew it would be a while before I could style my hair in twist, protective styles and other fabulous coifs of the sort so I payed close attention and took notes on the products of interest being used and the reviews given.  I know taking notes may sound a bit crazy but it helped me organize and remember all these products that were flashing before my eyes. 

.....so my BC is done and I think you know what happened next.....The next day I was in the stores searching for the beginnings of my hair arsenal.  (Also the beginnings of a product junkie in the making...I'm not ashamed...LOL!)

From the videos I watched I was interested in the following products listed below.  Since I am still a natural newbie and haven't used these products enough, I will not be providing any reviews at this time.  I would like to use a product a few times and take notes on my experience before I present my 100% honest opinion of the product.

1. WATER-  I don't really consider this a "product" unless I decide to use store bout water...LOL!  This is a very import part of my arsenal.  If I didn't have anything else I will always have water.  
2. Spray Bottle-  These come in handy for administering the water and any other liquid solutions may concoct to moisturize and condition your hair. 
3. Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque - After washing and conditioning my hair I used this as a deep conditioning treatment.
4. Shea Moisture Curling Enhancing Smoothie - I use this as a leave-in moisturizer before applying the Eco-Styler Olive Oil Gel.  Many naturalists I viewed gave their opinions about the importance of applying a moisturizer under any particular brand of gel you decide to use.
5. Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel  - This is used as my main styler and it also is used to slick back and clean up my edges. 
6. One 'N Only Moraccan Argan Oil Hair Treatment - I purchased this to use as a sealant.  I was interested in using Argan oil.  Apparently this product does not contain as much Argan oil as I would have preferred (realized that after the fact).
7. One 'N Only Argan Oil Styling Cream - I purchased this and still haven't used it...LOL!

All of these products (minus the One 'N Only Argan Oil Styling Cream) were the makings of my go-to TWA (tiny winy afro) style: The Wash-n-Go.  I have taken note to provide a video of how I do my wash-n-go in the future.

Lets go back to the aforementioned product junkie comment.....So What Happened Next, Next.....The next week I was back in the stores purchasing other products to try. I purchased most of the Kinky-Curly hair line.  (I'm still not ashamed!)  I do have a lot of products that I purchased while I was still transitioning and then there were other purchases after Kinky-Curly but I'll save those for other posts.

So as always........

Thank you again for taking the time to read my blog :)

Peace & Blessings...

Natural4Rachel

Here are some pics of the products mentioned:

Water: Free

Spray Bottle: Varies by store. I got this particular bottle from Sally's for between $2 and $3. I could have gotten a cheaper bottle from Walmart.

Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie & Deep Treatment Masque: I got these from Walgreens at $9.99 ea.  Keep your eye out for sales.  You can find them BOGO free and/or BOGO 50% off.

One 'N Only Moraccan Argan Oil Hair Treatment & Argan Oil Styling Cream:  I got these from Sally's for  $9.49 ea/3.4oz Hair Treatment & $9.49ea/10oz Curl Cream.  AGAIN... watch for sales and if you have the Sally's Beauty Club Card you can get it for $8.49ea.

Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel:  I got this from Sally's and it is marked at $4.79 and $4.29 w/Beauty Club Card.  This goes on sale quite often so I did not pay this amount.  I've heard people mention getting their 32oz tub for as little as $2.99 on sale.

Kinky-Curly Knot Today, Curling Custard & Spiral Spritz:  I got mine from a specialty beauty supply called Hair Prosperity.  You can also find  them at your local Whole Foods Market if available. 

                                                                                 Knot Today:  8oz - $12.00

                                                                                 Curling Custard:   8oz - $17.00;  16oz - $29.99

                                                                                 Sprial Spritz: 8oz - $12.00

                         

A Quick Introduction...

It is always polite to introduce yourself so here I go...

I am Natural4Rachel and this is my very first post. (Audience:  Hi Natural4Rachel!....LOL.) Intro sound familiar? Ok, enough with that...

I have been wearing my hair natural for exactly 1 month and 8 days.  I did my Big Chop (BC) on September 30, 2011. I can say that this was the best decision I made for ME regarding MY hair. I absolutely LOVE MY HAIR and I am excited about this new "journey". When you follow the curl you never know which direction it is going to take you. There is no turning back for me. 

So why did I go natural you ask?  Well my story is really simple...I think part of it was born out of pure laziness and the other part was my mother saying, "Let's stop perming our hair."  My simple answer was okay and this turned out to be more of a challenge. It was a good challenge because I didn't feel a need to perm my hair. I just monitored my new growth and became more and more excited with what I was seeing.  I transitioned for 7 months and during this time I discovered the vast natural hair community via YouTube.  I've learned so much watching fellow naturals posting their vlogs, and I am still learning.  Watching these video helped fuel the fire and gave me the confidence to do my BC.  I was also tired of trying to maintain two different hair textures.  So.....it did my BC and I'm not looking back. 

You see, every persons reason for going natural is different just like every persons hair is different. So like countless naturals have said and continue to say "what works for me may not work for you." With that said, the purpose of this blog is to share my natural hair experience with anyone who is interested.  As with my hair journey this blog, and maybe a little vlogging, is a new endeavor. I am by no means a natural hair expert nor am I trying to be. I just hope that what I post can inspire other naturals or soon to be naturals just like I was inspired by others. As a community you learn from each other.  If one little comment, picture, video, or even another persons comments help or inspire someone else, then this blog has served its purpose.

As for a particular format of this blog....I don't have one yet :)  Let's do this together and learn along the way. We will just follow the curl and see where it ends up.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my blog :)

Peace & Blessing...

Natural4Rachel

Here are a few pics of my journey thus far:

Last perm  (Feb 2010)                     Day of Big Chop

Big Chop (Sept. 30, 2011)

1 Month Post Big Chop