My ORS experience

Okay so as I was saying earlier, I'm using the ORS protein conditioner today. I love the citrus smell. I felt like I needed to add something to it but didn't really want to use the other products I have. So, I took this opportunity to try the salt. After I mixed it, the condish became very runny. MSatch told me this happens with every condish when she adds salt. I added a little more condish straight from the pak because I didn't feel like it was coating my hair well due to it being runny. I let it sit, no heat, for an hour.

I just rinsed it out and I'm on the fence about it. I'm really pleased with the fact that my hair doesn't feel hard and rough. That is why I didn't like protein. My hair feels really soft and my curls popped! I'm very very happy with the way my hair responded to the ORS. The downside, I tried to rinse with lukewarm water but it couldn't get the stuff out of my hair. It felt coated and sticky. I had to rinse again with warmer water to get it all out. Tha't's not really a big deal though. I probably didn't need to follow this up with my moisturizing deep condish mix but I am. I want to keep with my regular routine of protein and moisture deep condish on the same days.

I like it a lot and I'll be using this on a regular basis.

I did it!

I went to Sally's yesterday and got exactly what I wanted. Nothing more, nothing less. Although the temptation was great.

I bought a pak of Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Pak. It's a protein deep condish that is in my hair at this moment. I've had an interesting experience thus far and will tell all later. It smells really good.

I also bought Silk Elements Luxury Moisturizing Conditioner and Silk Elements MegaSilk Moisturizing Treament. Will tell all when I try them over the next couple of weeks.

And I got the Orly Enchanted Forest nail polish. I'm in LOVE. It went on so smooth and creamy. No streaking. It's got a great shine to it. I used two coats of that as well as two coats of Orly Sealon Topcoat. The color is so deep. In some lights, it almost looks blue. Anyway, picture time!


i know it's not the greatest pic but btwn camera phone and old ass digital camera, this is the best i could get.

Renewed Love Affair

A while back, I had a sudden inspiration to paint my nails. I did it and loved it for a few short days. I neglected to do the whole top coat thing, chipped quickly and the affair was over. However, my love has returned in the form of Orly's Once Upon a Time Collection. More specifically the color you see to your right, Enchanted Forest. *you can't hear it but I just sighed with longing*







It's a creamy dark green and I have to have it. I will be making a trip to Sally's asap to retrieve this polish. I have to go anyway to find a protein deep condish. I can't wait to pick this up and try it. I'll be sure to get a great top coat too.







And in case this picture is not doing it any justice, here's another:

I think I'll have painted fingers and toes all fall with this one. There are some other fab colors in the Once Upon a Time Collection that I'll be checking out too. I'll let you know if I buy and and I'll update about the results for all of that.





Side note: still haven't gotten anything for the moisturizer i intend to make. will get on that asap b/c i'm starting to run low on my fav organic moisturizer.

Natural Hair Groupie...

Okay, so I totally felt like a groupie a few minutes ago. I posted before how I've been wanting to color my hair. I was getting nowhere fast so I posted question on the Facebook Natural Hair Group. I checked the replies today and I got a response from a woman who was interviewed on one of the blogs I read. I want to say it was Black Girl Long Hair but I don't really remember. She gave me a few tips. So I replied with "OMG! I feel like a celebrity just replied to my question as I was just reading an interview you did." LOL! But I totally meant that. It was pretty cool. I'm a total groupie! lol!

And now for randomness:

Still don't know what I'll do for color but will be professionally done.

I was at a party on Saturday. I saw at least 5 other naturals, most of us with TWAs. One chick was sporting a real frohawk. She's brave, I can't cut off the side of my hair. I just did my first bc. I'm not ready for another when the style gets old in a few months.

I think it's funny how I used to be so frustrated with the top of my hair. Thinking it was getting straighter and that I must still have permed ends. Then suddenly, my curl pattern changed in the front and I love that part of my hair. It's got deep waves and a lot of spirals. I still have a hard time getting it to hold a style but I love the way it is without manipulation. And I'm noticing spirals in the very back which I didn't think would ever be tightly curls.

Oh yeah, I'm a horrible naturlista because I missed my 3 month bc on the 19th. I remembered a few days later. I took picts the week before but didn't post. May do that later.

And lastly, I used to be really excited about doing styles like braid outs and twist and other styles that require a certain amount of length. Not so much anymore. I want my hair to grow out but I love my texture so much, I don't know if I ever want to do anything to manuipulate it. I'm sure I'll try those styles at least once but I've got a feeling I won't be the girl doing a twist out every Sunday. I am excited about my hair being long enough to do a bunch of small single strand twist and wearing those for a period of time. I'm pretty sure once I have enough hair, that will be my protective style staple for the cold winter months.

To Dye or Not to Dye...

That is the question....well...one of them. I've decided to dye my hair. I've never done it before, with the exception of highlights. I have no idea what color or what brand to use. I have a homegirl whose opinion I asked. She said she would research and get back to me. hmm...not to thrilled about that response. Then I talked to a homeboy who is very fashion forward. He's got an eye for what looks best on people. He immediately started naming colors and suggesting highlights with a particular color. He said he needed to get a good look at my base color since he'd never really checked it out and then we'd go looking for colors. Yay him!

I was caught up at first with not using chemicals or using very little to color my hair. But I've reazlied I cannot get away from it. I'll just have to take really good care of my hair once this is complete. And I read that coloring can loosen curls. I am very worried about this because I'm so in love with the recent texture change. My curls are getting tighter and I have a great deal of spirals. I know it's simply the change as it grows and it could change later but right now, I'm in love.

Ok, update. Just got a response from a forum and a girl said she never had issues with her curl pattern loosening. Makes me less worried about getting color.

OMG!!!!!

I did my protein deep condish yesterday. I put the protein condish on dry hair, letting that sit for about an hour. I rinsed it out with luke warm water. Since protein makes my hair feel rough, I followed that up with a moisturizing condish mix I put together:
Hello Hydration (A little over the normal amount I use to cowash)
Shea butter (partially melted down so it would mix better)
Honey (I think I used about a tbsp. I know it was a lot)
EVOO (Probably abt a tbsp. More than I've ever used)
Coconut & Papaya Hair Butter/CPHB (This was very random. I just added b/c I felt I should add something more to the mix. Only a dime sized amount)

I let this sit on my hair for about and hour also. (No heat or shower cap with either). Once I worked the moisturizing condish into my hair, I immediately noticed that my hair was getting very wavy and curly. The not so defined/practically straight hair in the front was VERY well defined. The spirals that have been forming through out the crown and rest of my hair popped! The ones that were kind of frizzy and not so great were even fabulous. My hair was so curly. I couldn't believe it. I rinsed with luke warm water and the curls were still looking great. I blotted dry with a towel, applied some CPHB to moisturize and a litte bit of shea to seal. My hair loved that mixture! My mother saw me and said, "Wow, it looks like you did something to your hair." (Sounds a bit harsh but was a compliment.) She followed that up with several statements on how my hair has never looked that great. I have to agree, this is the best my hair has looked. She even said something about it this morning and that it was a shame I didn't go out last night so that people could have seen my hair.

My hair got smashed and a little dry over night but my curls are still looking pretty good. Some water and moisturizer should get me looking close to yesterday's perfection. Will definitely continue this treatment on a weekly basis.

Drum roll please

I finished my first product since going natural. Yay me! I don't know but for some reason, I feel the need to somewhat celebrate this. Lol!

It was moisturizer, of course. I'm sure the next thing I finish will be my beloved HEHH conditioner. It'll probably be a year before I finish a sealer.

I still intend to make my own moisturizer but have yet begun the quest on locating the desired ingredients. I've been thinking about using a black cherry scented oil but feeling a bit weary. Will keep you updated.

A black woman is attractive only if...

I was reading a blog today and it touched on two topics that are sensitive to me. Nappy hair and big butts. The blog was touching on how the African features of larger behinds has been accepted but not the African features of nappy hair. click here for the blog.

The subjects are sensitive for me because I just started my natural hair journey. I'm sporting a TWA right now. There is the issue of men finding me attractive because I have not only short hair but it's curly also. I tend to wonder if they immediately dismiss me as being a lesbian or just simply think "she not cute with that short nappy hair." I absolutely love my hair and am not going back to a perm because of this. I love the way I look but I cannot lie and say that at times, I don't feel a bit insecure. These are usually the times when I don't think I've dressed very feminine. Such as if I were wearing jeans and a polo shirt, instead of jeans and a more dressier, non-unisex type of shirt.

As far as the big butt thing goes, I don't have a butt. Never have. I've always felt insecure about it. So many times I have heard, "She would be okay if she had an ass." I hate buying jeans because they have to be really tight so that they aren't baggy around my butt or if I buy them more comfortably, they sag and I look like I have even less of a butt. I've dated guys who have asked why I don't wear clothes to make it look like I have a bigger butt. This lets me know that although they seemed to think I'm cute, they've had issues with my body shape. I actually feel a bit inferior when I'm with friends who have big butts. I feel like they will automatically get all the attention because that is the first thing a guy even bothers to look at. Ass first then face.

So with the combined issues of me not having a butt and now having short, nappy hair, I'm thinking I'm not going to have a man for quite some time. Part of me is laughing at this because of how shallow it seems. The other part of me is sad because I am not so naive as to realize that physical attraction is a big part of any relationship. Especially when first meeting someone. If I have a lack of attractiveness in the two main areas that black men seem to care about, how can I possibly find someone? Please do not misconstrue this as an effort to book a pity party, I'm just stating facts.

Protein issues....

*sigh* This has got to be the hardest thing to figure out. I'm having issues as is MSatch. Mine isn't nearly as complexed as hers. I'm very hair lazy. She works hard to develop and stick to a regmine and I've seen the benefits she gets from it. I on the other hand, just randomly do stuff and my hair is rebelling.

My lazy routine has not consisted of deep conditioning or protein. What I considered deep co was putting HEHH on my hair when I first got into the shower. Letting it sit with the steam as my heat for a few minutes while I did my shower stuff. I realized the other day that I had not done a real dc in over a month and this also means no protein because my dc is the only protein I use. I didn't like using it because it made my hair feel hard and rough. In response, I've notice a lot of shedding and breakage when I wash and detangle. I went from having maybe 3-4 strands shedding to have a lot of breakage. And I mean A LOT.

I talked with MSatch and realized what I was doing. I just really don't like the protein because of how my hair feels afterwards. But clearly it is necessary. So two days ago, I used the dc by it self. Let it sit for 30 min. Then I followed up with a mixture of HEHH, EVOO and shea butter, letting that sit for 30 min. My hair didn't feel as hard but it was still rough. This will be my weekly dc from now on though because I have to get that protein in. I'm considering getting a different protein dc. I'm not sure if my hair likes this one.

Blah

I told a friend that I was feeling rather blah today. I've had the feeling for the past 2-3 days. Don't like it very much but it's one of those situations where I learned something that I didn't want to learn. Truth is, I already knew it but I was trying not to know it. Unfortunately, when something repeatedly smacks you in the face, you have to acknowledge it.

So I go around feeling blah. And I decide to check out a blog I follow. It's written by a chick much younger than I but she has had a lot of life experience so she's spiritually older than me. She posted about this inspirational msg she got and how it made her look at things differently. I have to say, the msg was a great one. However, I am shocked to say that in my state of blahness, it didn't reach me. I read it and said, "hhhmmm." And that was it. On another day, I will read it and it will speak to me. Today, in all my blahness with the people in this world, those words were just words.

What have I learned? The greatest disappoint is expectation. Stop expecting people to be good or even expecting them to be who they say they are/want to be. It won't happen. Expect nothing, therefore, when something happens, you will be pleasantly surprised and appreciative. It will even make you appreciate the little things as you expected absolutely nothing.