Progress Pics Time !!

I am 3 days shy of January 29, 2009... The 29th makes exactly 6 months since my Big Chop !! Last night I did my second rollerset, it came out really well! (check my previous blog)

After I saran-wrapped my hair, I pulled half of it up with my claw and combed the back down. Here is the result:



Even though the rollerset loosened all the kinks, my hair is still shorter than it's true length. I did a slight tug on the ends to give you idea of how it would look had I used my flat iron to go over that part. I am really happy !! My hair is growing out nicely and I'm glad I can now document the progress here for everyone. Here is my tugged hair, lol :



For those who may not be members on the hair boards, you have probably never seen my hair straightened. Here is my pikistrip comparison I made last night !



The first pic on the left was taken September 9th, the middle pic was taken November 15th, and the right pic was taken last night on January 25th, 2010 !!! I am so happy to have done my big chop, I don't think my hair would have flourished like it has if I transitioned longer than the 7 months I was able to go.

Thank you for reading everyone !! =) Be Blessed

My Second Rollerset on Natural Hair !!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT ... I made a youtube video earlier too ! After the youtube video, I gently ran my flat iron over my bangs on low heat, just to give them a sleeker finish. I didn't overdo the heat at all though ! Here are some picture of the before and afters, ENJOY !!!

.........hair all rolled up .........



.....after the rollers......





....Saran Wrapped & Combed Out....








...Today's Look !....











I am so excited to continue rollersetting my natural hair and getting the hang of things !!! It's not perfectly straight and sleek, but that is not the look I want anyways !! I love the blownout poofy look, it reminds me of Tracee Ellis-Ross (who was another natural hair inspiration!). I definitely can get my hair smoother in the back eventually. Practice & Patience make Perfect! I was on the verge of texlaxing, but with my newfound hobby that will NOT be happening at all !!

Thank you for reading everyone !

My Weekly Routine

Good Morning ! I wanted to make sure that I post the routine I've been using to keep my hair healthy & happy. It's funny, because just as I get the hang of things, I have to switch up my routine because of the weather changing, or just because my hair becomes alittle longer.

Just recently, I did my first rollerset on my natural hair !!! I was so happy and proud. It requires a different strategy with different results, but IT CAN be done !! I definitely will continue rollersetting my hair up until April so that I can see more of my true length.

I really do love my curls, but shrinkage is so irritating when you don't want to have short hair ! My shrinkage hides about 50%-60% of my total length ! It's quite amusing. Uncombed, the hair reaches the bottom of my earlobes. When my hair is blown out/rollerset/flat ironed, the longest layers are past my shoulders! Here are some pics to help illustrate the frustration:









The first 2 pictures were of a flat iron to my nape only. The top picture was from November 09, the middle pic is from the very end of December 09, and the bottom picture is a wash and go from New Year's day.

As promised, here is my most recent hair routine for the winter 2010. It may seem like I do alot, but in actuality it's very simple and extremely nourishing to my hair !

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MY NEW WINTER ROUTINE :

--> Lightly Oil my scalp at least every other day.
--> Apply Castor Oil to my edges everyday.
--> Massage my scalp daily

When Rollersetting:

-Prepoo w/ MillCreek Botanicals Organic Aloe Vera Conditioner mixed with some EVCO, Castor Oil & honey.
-Cowash at least once a week [Organix Coconut Milk or Tresemme Vitamin E]. Twice a month shampoo, using KeraCare Hydrating Detangling Shampoo, or with Cream of Nature (green label).
-Deep Condition under heat for 30-45 mins, using KeraCare Humecto Creme conditioner mixed with EVCO & AtOne Botanical Reconstructor, or with my Elasta QP DPR-11 mixed with EVCO & AtOne Botanical Reconstructor.
-Apply my leave-ins [NTM Silk Touch Leave-In and ApHOGEE Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer]
-Apply my KeraCare Foam Wrap Lotion (5 squirts)
-Rollerset my hair all over using turquoise rollers & orange flexirods !!! lol
-If I decide to flat iron, I'll run a small squirt of Fantasia IC Heat Protecting Serum all over my dry hair evenly
-Pull hair into a loose pony at night, or wrap sometimes. Dare I say pincurl if my hair gets long enough? lol
-Moisturize and Seal with Shea Butter or Mango Butter and seal with EVCO


When Doing Wash & Go's, or Cornrows For My Wigs:

-Prepoo with MillCreek Botanicals Aloe Vera conditioner or Silk Elements MegaCholesterol. Mix either of the 2 with EVCO, honey, and Aloe Vera Gel.
-Cowash with Organix Coconut Milk, Tresemme Moisture Rich, Aussie Moist, or Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship .
-Sometimes after cowashes, I'll deep Condition under heat for 30-45 mins, using KeraCare Humecto Creme conditioner mixed with EVCO & AtOne Botanical Reconstructor, or with my Elasta QP DPR-11 mixed with EVCO & AtOne Botanical Reconstructor. Usually I skip this second DC though.
-Apply my leave-ins [Cantu Shea Butter or NTM Silk Touch Leave-In]
-Airdry completely. Then oil my scalp with EVCO and moisturize and seal. After moisturizing, I do about 12-16 twists all over my hair and tie my hair up for bed. I usually pull it into a puff the next morning. If I don't do twists, I cornrow my hair straight back and wear a wig cap and throw on a wig !! lol

I Also :

--> Take 2 multivitamins everyday.
--> Take 2000 mcg of Biotin at least 3xs a week.
--> Drink 8 full glasses of water each day, or more.
--> Detangle in the shower with my denman or shower comb with cheap conditioner on.
--> Do ApHOGEE 2 min. Reconstructor Protein Treatments about twice a month.
--> Clarify once a month w/ suave Clarifying Shampoo, then follow behind that with moisturizing shampoo.
--> Trim as needed !!! I can't stand ugly ends lol

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I love my new routine, it is very simple (although long when you read it!), easy to follow, and still just as great, if not better than the previous one. I wish everyone continued success on the quest for healthy hair !!! Keep shattering the myths ladies !! :-)

The Big Chop (aka the Dramedy - Emotional & Pretty Funny all in one * lol)

You can find this blog on my social network accounts, as it was originally posted to both K.I.S.S. and Hairlista on Sept. 3, 2009

It just hit me that I never wrote a blog about my Big Chop Experience =( ...

( I have the vids posted on youtube if you want to see me actually cutting all my hair off )

- I braced myself by reading a scripture ( a random one that I landed on when I opened my Bible, I feel bad I don't remember it )
- I said a prayer
- I got scared again, and prayed again
- I recorded a video for youtube, and the power in my house almost went out. It was the hottest, sunniest day ever and all of a sudden it started to storm viciously when I decided I wanted to cut. I almost thought that was a sign not to cut my hair lol
- I got scared, AGAIN, and prayed again.
- I decided I was ready to do it, and applied some ORS mixed with castor oil so that my curls would stand out from the relaxed ends.
- I waited for the curls to come, and then did my first snip !
- It took me almost 4 hours to do my whole head lol
-Afterwards I shampooed my hair clean
- I ended up not being confident enough to wear my TWA out the house for the first 4 days. I wore my wig to work for the rest of that week.
-My Mom was soo hurt that I cut my hair. She supported my decision to go natural, but I don't think she ever believed I would really stick with it. She thought I would relax once my hair got longer, and it didn't help I was about to cut off all the progress that she paid for lol ( she gave me the seed money for all of my products, and anytime I wanted something, she bought it) . I was happy to do the BC for myself, but My Mom is my best friend and I felt bad that I let her down. I walked around my house with my scarf on because I didn't want her or my sisters to see my hair, they already tried to talk me out of cutting it. She didn't talk to me for about a day either, she was sooo hurt that I cut my hair lol.. It's funny now because it's grown on her, but at the time I felt like I had betrayed her lol

- The day after the Big Chop, I felt so good to be free of that relaxer !!! I didn't like the way my hair looked though. I felt like I looked like a man. Even though I was on Cloud 9 from the rush of the BC, the reality that my hair was gone set in. I didn't cry once over that hair, but I had alot of "now what??" moments. I thought about sew-ins or micros as a quick fix so that I wouldn't have to look at my hair... .....Cutting my hair off felt almost like a bad breakup.... After being in a bad relationship for so long, you feel empowered that you take the initiative to rid yourself of the stress, headaches, and drama !! At the same time, you are scared because it's a whole new world to you that you're no longer familiar with and you must take baby steps before you can "run" again.

This is probably the lowest moment on my short lived natural hair journey, I took a picture of myself. It was July 30, the day after chopping. I was sad in this pic, but not because of that relaxer !! I just didn't want short hair at all =(

I was hurtin ya'll !! lol ...

But things got much better after a few days !!!

On a much lighter note,

-Praise God that by day 4 I did a cowash with the conditioner method and I actually liked the way my hair looked. I felt more confident with my hair and started playing around in my makeup for the first time lol.. I ended up wearing my TWA out in public for the first time, and I actually felt GOOD about myself.
-The next workday, my coworkers all said how much they liked my hair. That really made it alittle better, bc the men liked it as well as some of the ladies who have gorgeous relaxed hair and no intentions of going natural lol..
-My students also loved my hair !! That was the BIGGEST surprise of all lol.. I work with 3-5 year olds, so you already know they can only be innocently, but BRUTALLY honest. They will tell you all about yourself and hurt your feelings with their honesty because they don't know how to protect anybody's ego lol...
-The most outspoken girl in my class ( 3 years old) yelled out in a pitch quiet assembly room of about 100 students, "I LIKE YOUR HAIR MISS MICHELE !!! " I was slightly embarrassed that she called me out in front of everyone, but sooo flattered at the same time !!

- And my absolute favorite recap of all, one of my boys has a HUGE crush on me ( you know how little boys are with their teacher lol ) and his mother even told me afer work that her son was "smitten" by me ( I blushed so hard and turned beet red when she told me that) ... Well I went to help another student tie their shoes, and while I knelt down to tie their sneaker, he felt all up in my hair !!! Running his fingers all up in it lmbo... I asked him what he was doing, and was he having fun? ... He looked up at me with the most precious smile and dimples and said loudly , " YOUR HAIR FEELS LIKE FUR ! " .. I had to excuse myself from my class and laugh out loud in the hallway. I came back in a minute later and asked him if that was a good or bad thing. He looked at me with that adorable smile and said, " THAT'S GOOD !!! " ... That is my favorite memory of the whole experience =)

Overall, I enjoyed the experience !! I have photos in my fotki album ( just finished making it yesterdaY !!! ) from the beginning of my HJ up until now as my first month natural, including ones of me with half of my hair cut off like this lol :



I'll be updating it every 2 weeks so I would love some other avid fotki ladies to add me as a friend so I can follow you ! It is becoming very addictive lol.. My username is ShelleyBean729 and the passwords are "runts" .. I would appreciate your comments !!


I'll do a progress blog w/pics on here as well.. It won't be anything miraculous, but hopefully it will inspire others who want to transition or do their BC .. HHJ and thank you for reading everyone !

Welcome To My New Blog !! [with a very BRIEF hair history]

Welcome to my New Blogspot Everyone !!! I just want to thank you for stopping by. I will try to update my blog at least once every 2 weeks with pictures so that you can see and know what's going on with me !!! Some updates for those who may not know anything about me :

I began my Healthy Hair Journey in December of 2008 after my last relaxer left my hair terribly thin and overprocessed. Here is a picture of my hair at the start:



My hair was just too thin for my comfort. I joined several hair forums and started watching Youtube for inspiration. I started rollersetting my hair everyweek (protective styles are WONDERFUL, but I'm not a constant bun/braidout type of person. I like to enjoy my hair!) After a few months, my hair shaped up ! Around 3 months post relaxer, it was about time to do my touch up, but I had fallen in love with how thick my hair was and was NOT willing to go back to thinner hair at all.

Here was my hair one month after I decided to transition, and 4 months after my last relaxer:



It got to a really nice length and thickness ! I wasn't ready to part with the thickness though. 3 months later, I did a flat iron and decided that I no longer wanted to transition. I completed my BIG CHOP on July 29, 2009 and it really felt great !



I did miss my length, and I still do now sometimes. I'm almost 6 months post big chop, and my hair is FINALLY at a comfortable length. 3 days ago, I did my first rollerset on my natural hair ! I am going to continue rollersetting/flexi-rodding my hair for the winter to help keep my hair much more manageable and detangled. Most of all, I LOVE how it stretches my hair !!! Shrinkage is really intense and frustrating sometimes. I'm hoping that rollersetting will also help my ends to stay moist since they can get very dry when you're natural !! Here is a pic of my hair rolled up for the first time. As I get the technique down, I will add pictures ! For now they are safely hidden on my hard drive *smile*.