8th month Nappyversary

Today is my 8th month Nappyversary! Yay me! This is by far the longest I have ever kept my natural hair. I'm loving it! All of the hair forums, blogs, Fotki.com photos, and Youtube videos have been extremely helpful. Kudos! A year will be here in no time.

Mik

Straightening Experiment

After reviewing my list of hair products, I realized that I had left some things off. I forgot to mention Carol’s Daughter’s Hair Milk, Miss Jessie’s Curly Buttercreme, and Kinky Curly’s gloss pomade. I had stopped using the Hair Milk, but I recently made it work very well for my hair. Yay me!

Today, I attempted something new since I’ve been natural. I attempted to straighten my hair! It really wasn’t so bad, but I think it will be better if my hair were a little longer. I started out the process by washing my hair as always with Dr. Bronner’s magic soap (peppermint), then I proceeded to condition and sit under the dryer with Oyin Handmade’s Honey Hemp Conditioner. This product alone is my new FAVORITE product! My hair is very thick, and after rinsing the conditioner out, I could immediately comb through my hair with absolutely no problems. This was great! I sectioned my hair and blow dried it with Joico Silk Elements blow drying cream, and Chi Silk Infusion. Then I went on to flat iron it with Sally’s Ion Anti-Frizz Ceramic-Tourmaline flat iron. It did a really great job. After I made the decision that it needed to be longer, I dusted my ends. Then I shampooed it very lightly with a diluted natural shampoo, re-conditioned and started over.

I finally got a chance to use the rest of my new Oyin Handmade products. But I still kept it simple by misting my hair with Greg Juice and adding a little Ojon Restorative leave in.I had to go back to my staple product and favorite styler, IC Fantasia Hair polishing styling gel. I mixed it with some Oyin Handmade Shine and Define, and that’s it! The perfect wash-n-go curly fro! Until next time.

Mik

I'm a Product Junkie!

Ok, i'm officially a product junkie. I was actually a product junkie before I decided to go natural, but the 'j' in me has taken a turn for the worse. During my springbreak I decided I would rid myself of unnecessary products and things I don't use. Well, as I sit here and gaze at the myriad of hair, bath, and body products, I realize that I truly have my work cut out for me. I NEED HELP. I think it might help if I categorize my products and then rank them according to their effectiveness on my hair. Then I will have to decide if they're keepers or not. I'll start with shampoo. (The lower the number, the more effective it is for my hair.)

Shampoo

3. Carol's Daughter Tui Herbal Shampoo

4. Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Shampoo

2. Naked Naturals Awapuhi and Lavender shampoo (no sulfates)

1. 1. Dr. Bronner's 18-n-1 Hemp Peppermint Pure Castile Soap

Conditioners (instant and deep)

1. 1. Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment

2. 2. Carol's Daughter Tui Hair Smoothie

5. Tigi Bedhead Moisture Maniac

3. 4. Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Conditioner

4. 3. Cantu Shea Butter Moisturizer Rinse Out Conditioner

**Oyinhandmade Honey Hemp Conditioner (in the mail!)

Leave in conditioners

1. Kinky Curly Knot Today (Best for Wash-n-Go)

2. Ellin Lavar Textures Detangle Mist (Best for Coils and Twists)

**Oyinhandmade Greg Juice (in the mail!)

**Oyinhandmade Juices-n-Berries (in the mail!)

Oils (I mix these so they are all pretty much the same for me.)

Carol's Daughter Tui Oil

Jojoba Oil

Sweet Almond Oil

Coconut Oil (More partial to this one.)

Lavender (eo)

Ylang Ylang (eo)

Vanilla (eo)

Stylers

1. IC fantasia hair polished styling gel

Miss jessie's curly pudding (just don't like)

Miss jessie's curly meringue (just don't like)

Miss jessie's stretch silkening cream (really, really don't like)

2. Kinky curly curling custard

Kinky curly spiral spritz

5. Jamaican mango and lime locking gel

4. Jamaican mango and lime locking gel (resistant formula)

4. Jamaican mango and lime locking wax (I know this is bad for me but my coils and twists are perfect with this!)

3. Organic root simulator lock and twist gel

**Oyinhandmade shine and define (in the mail!)

After this realization, it is time for some purging! Also, with this economy, I should be wiser with my money. Oh well, until next time.

Mik

Pictures of my Journey

The Natural Hair Journey Begins

August 20, 2008 began my final natural hair journey. I say this because I've started this journey before only to fall back into the world of "creamy crack" aka RELAXERS! I remember 8/20/08 like it was yesterday (as if I'm talking about 20 years ago!!). A couple of days before this, I decided that I wanted to dye my hair. Having had allergic reactions to darker hair dyes in the past, I decided that I would go a little lighter. Some lighter colors have actually worked for me without affecting my scalp. But not this time. My scalp was a hot mess...raw! I did the best I could to my hair the next morning before work. I was taking bathroom breaks at work all day just to go to see if my hair was still presentable. What I found was a swollen scalp! We had P.T.O. that night at school so I couldn't get home to take care of my head. But as soon as P.T.O. was over, I headed home to get the scissors! I took a couple of anti-inflammatory pills and commenced to BIG CHOP! It was the chemical hair color this time that led to me deciding to become natural. Well, I had to really be gentle with my scalp for the next few days so that it would heal, but in the meantime, my natural journey had started!