Category: natural hair journey

A Brief Natural Hair Journey Story

Posted on by Michelle
big chop, afro textured hair, natural hair, kinky curly hair
My TWA after the Big Chop in Spring 2009

 

I was on Instagram going through my timeline the other day when I realized how many naturalistas I have met since joining in late 2013.  It occurred to me that I haven’t really talked about the beginnings of my natural hair journey which is now going on eight years.  I honestly can’t get over the fact that I have been natural since the spring of 2009.  Prior to that, I had relaxed hair and didn’t even know there was such a thing as, “going natural.”  So I thought that I would share a brief “natural history” with all of my new readers and followers.

Continue reading “A Brief Natural Hair Journey Story” →

Letting Go of Heat Damage

Posted on by Michelle

Naturally curly hair can take some getting used to.  When I first went natural I did all that I could to learn more about how to grow my hair longer and stronger.  Since I hadn’t worn my natural hair  since I was a pre-teen, I was very new to the idea.  Because of this my hair journey began with a lot of trial and error.  Heat damage ended up being on of my biggest mistakes early on.  I created a regimen for myself that included straightening my hair once a month.  Of course, I knew about deep conditioning and heat protectant but still didn’t know hcurlyincolorado.comow MY hair reacted to heat.

At the time I was of the mind that hair of my type required at least 400 degrees or more for straightening.  I later found out that using the right
technique also plays a huge role in how smooth my hair turns out.  Also, I was of the mind that having natural, unprocessed hair meant that my hair would withstand heat and manipulation differently.  This mindset eventually led to my misuse of heat on one occasion that left a section of my hair heat damaged. Continue reading “Letting Go of Heat Damage” →

My Staple Hair Products

Posted on by Michelle

As a follow-up to my No Heat Challenge video, I decided to let everyone know what hair products I’ll be using over the next few months.  It turns out that I feel the most comfortable sticking with what I know.  That brings us to what I would consider my “Staple” products.  These are the things that I keep coming back to after trying other products.  Sure, sometimes I like to change things up a bit, but right now I have this desire to just keep it simple.

MY YOUTUBE VIDEO ABOUT THE HAIR PRODUCTS 
I’LL BE USING FOR THE 
4 MONTH NO HEAT CHALLENGE

One thing I want to mention, that is not shown in the video, are my moisturizers.  I’m still in love with the Hollywood Beauty Olive Creme but I’m also using the Elasta QP Mango and Olive moisturizer.  Otherwise, everything else is in the video.  You can also take a look at what’s listed in the tab above named “Hair Regimen” to see some of the things I do on a weekly basis.

4 Month No Heat Challenge

Posted on by Michelle

Finally!  I’m gonna stop being stubborn and just own up to the fact that using heat on my hair is keeping me from achieving greater lengths.  I had my suspicions of this earlier this year but now I’ve decided to put myself to the test.  Even though I like the look of straight hair, I’m going to go without using my flat iron until February of 2014.  This may sound like a walk in the park to those of you who gave up straight hair a long time ago.  For me though, I’ve actually kept up with wearing my hair straight every other month.  Sometimes I even straighten twice in the same month.

Of course I saw how other naturals who were gaining two to three inches of growth every time they decided to lay of the heat for a 4-6 month break.  Still, I kept up with the same regimen hoping that maybe my light protein treatments would rescue my curls.  After having to trim some loose curls last month I decided that that was the final straw.  Using heat means I’m gonna be up for a trim so the more I use it, the more hair I lose.  I just can’t keep doing it so it’s time for me to step away from the flat iron and just style my hair in other ways.  Here’s a video discussing the, “rules,” for my personal no heat challenge.  Feel free to join in!

4 MONTH NO HEAT CHALLENGE

Natural Hair: Growing it Out In Your Own Time

Posted on by Michelle

This last couple of weeks I’ve been kicking myself for the frequent trimming that has kept my hair journey stuck in neutral.  Right now my hair sits just below APL (arm pit length) in back and layered in front with bangs (when straight).  My main motivation for going natural was to grow my hair longer.  I figured I was on a five year plan but saw how much faster my hair grew (or broke less) during the first year natural.  I was so excited and figured I would see Bra Strap Length hair (BSL) some time around the halfway mark.  When that didn’t happen, I started to get down on myself and wonder what I was doing wrong.  It also didn’t help that I kept seeing progress pics and videos from others who gained length and thickness in what seemed to be much less time.

HAIR GROWTH TALK AND TIPS
INSPIRATION VIDEO BY “MYNATURALSISTAS”
This week though, I watched a very helpful video that reminded me that everyone’s natural hair journey is different.  It’s okay to look to others’ experiences for inspiration.  However, it is unrealistic to compare my hair to someone else’s even though we may have the same hair texture and starting point.  Each hair journey is a very individual experience and there are so many different variables that decide the outcome.  There’s also a lot to learn along the way and we all do this in our own time. 
For now, I’m going to try to not focus so much on what I DON’T have and get back to appreciating what I DO have.  The longer length will come in time so I’m just going to have some fun with my hair as it is right NOW.