I turned 40 today! The Calvary did not show up. Nor the band of gypsies to cart me away. It was a rather peaceful and quiet day. With the way life is now, I am excited to have reached 40. Every year after this will be celebratory. I am grateful. Grateful to be alive to still have an opportunity to pursue my passion: writing and creating.
Oh yeah, this is s'posed to be about hair! Well, I DC'd my hair overnight with Taliah Waajid's conditioner. When I rinsed it out, my hair was so soft and spiral-y. I just did a wash n go since I was thinking about twisting later.
My hair is just like a child. I've realized that it has to be trained. Back in the day when my aunt Laura used to wear that Farrah Fawcett bouncy hair, she was wearing a press and curl. When she went to the beauty shop, the man would use the Marcel barrel irons on it and curl it in the same pattern every time. He would not comb the curls out and it would be tight. But in a few days, her hair would be bouncy and Farrah-like. She would roll her hair in the same pattern every night and do that thing where you comb your hair all to the back with a wide tooth comb and push up! One would think that she was combing all the curls out but she wouldn't! I have to find a pix to post it later.
When she finally relaxed her hair, it was just a straight and stringy mess! Who knew it would turn out like that since her hair always looked so full and voluminous. We have the same kind of hair.
I've realized that I cannot regularly wear a wash and go because my ends will be a HAM! All tangled up. I have to comb my hair out to the ends. I am guess that it's because I have fine hair and strands must wrap around each other. My hair shrinks like nobody's business.
Weird but back when I was permed, my hair accepted the oil/grease products better than the creams. Even now, some creams like Miss Jessie's just "sits" on my hair unless I emulsify first! New word. Emulsify = rub the product in my hands first to warm it up. I have had much better hair results using this technique. And for my fine hair, I've learned the hard way NOT to be heavy handed because it doesn't take that much product.
Something else that I have discovered. If I don't detangle my hair, I will not be a happy camper when it is dry. It is best when my hair is wet or still damp. After that, forget about it!
Last week, I was a total hair bum and just did a wash and go. While my hair was cute in those puffs and was big and fluffy when dry, on wash day, I had a tangled bird's nest on my head. I wanted to cut it off. No lie. Luckily, I could only find my dressmaker shears and not my hair shears. I took my time and used lots and lots of conditioner and finally got the tangles out. I had to break out the big guns. I used a combo of Taliah Waajid's conditioner that gives me great slip AND KCCC's Knot Today. I thought I wasn't going to make it but I finally got the tangles out and surprisingly, still had some hair on my head. Whew!
In the next few days, I will be checking on my new hair revelations and report the progress. I will continue to sleep on my satin pillow case. This is about the most consistent thing I do every night. I will also twist my hair. Though I'm sleeping on satin and don't tie my hair up every night, I think my hair still has to be in some kind of "training" pattern in order to look styled. When my hair was shorter, I could get away with just sleeping on the satin pillowcase but now that it is growing longer, I need to protect the ends from tangles.
Styling has been my biggest downfall since being natural. I can co-wash and deep condition and henna my hair and all the good stuff. But when it comes to styling, I fall flat. I never learned to braid but I'm learning. My parts always look jacked up. I get frustrated and end up with a puff. A cute puff but still just a puff. Hmmm. . . I really think that nightly twists will help me in that department.
I do not proclaim to be an expert. I'm still learning my hair and how to care for it in it's natural state.
Stay Tuned!
