How I Wash & Go.....

Homemade DC

Air dried hair

Since I've been natural I have been doing wash & Goes, but because of the winter season I do them at night so I could just wash & go sit my behind down somewhere until it dries lol! . I did however take out some box braids I installed and wore for about a month, I took them out almost 2 weeks because I missed my curls too much and because of the texture of my hair, they started to look like I've had them in  for more than a month. Today I did another wash & go, and I used Tresemme' naturals conditioner for a co-wash. I bought it a few days ago, and OMG! I love it. It left my hair feeling really soft, and I must say that I am obsessed with the smell. As soon as I applied it to my hair I felt like I was in heaven, yes it smells that good. I was wondering what all the buzz was about when I've seen most of the natural hair YouTube gurus were using it on their hair, I know why now. I think I've found my first staple product because I would definitely keep purchasing that conditioner. After co-washing, I applied my homemade deep conditioner and let it sit on my head for 30 minutes then rinsed it out. I closed my cuticles with a mixture of whole leaf aloe vera juice and apple cider vinegar. Then I applied my Giovanni direct leave-in conditioner, another product  I've seen being used among other naturals. So I decided to give it a try, it doesn't smell as good as the Tresemme' but it does have a alot of slip, and a little goes a long way. I found it on sale at the vitamin shoppe for about $5.75, the regular price was about $7.94. I am not head over heels in love with it but I would purchase it again. Following the leave-in I applied the Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie and the curl souffle', then sealed my hair with an oil mixture that I keep in an applicator bottle. Then I proceed to let my hair air dry. After my hair is completely dry I apply the oil to my scalp and edges. I sleep in a satin bonnet at night to ensure that my hair holds moisture.

2 Months Post Big Chop.....

So today makes 2 months post BIG CHOP! yay!! Going natural was the best decision I have ever made, my hair is looking and feeling good. I also see some length coming in, I can even put my hair in a "ratchet ponytail" (hair that is so short, it has no business being in a ponytail LoL!). My short term goal for my hair is for it to reach shoulder length by my 6 months post big chop mark , which will be May 11th. But my overall and long term goal is to maintain happy healthy hair.

How I've Accessorized My TWA (Teeny Weeny Afro)

Bow

Headpiece & Coofy

Coofy Hat

Headband

Bare curls

Cutting off our hair can sometimes knock our confidence level down a bit due to the change of seeing ourselves with much less hair than we are used to. For me it took me a few days to show off my new Teeny Weeny Afro, I covered it with a hat . I was a little self-conscious, paranoid that I looked crazy lol! why? I have no idea, guess I wasn't used to the sudden change. I didn't regret my decision on cutting it, just worried about what other people would say. But I got over it quick, growing up I've always had my own way of wearing/ doing things so I was like why the hell would I care now about what someone else would say? I am on a journey to healthy hair and if no one could understand that then OH WELL! To my surprise my co-workers, friends and family supported my decision on doing the Big Chop, some even thought I looked even better with my new found "do". I gained another ounce of confidence thanks to them, I started dressing up my fro with cute accessories and have been care free about my little bitty fro ever since.

Transitioning Days...

High Bun

U-part wig

Few days old Bantu knot out

Flat twist up do

Flat twist-out in a side sweep do

Bantu knot out

Perm rod curls

Individual twist (back) w/ perm rod (front)

These are some of the ways I wore my hair while I was transitioning.

Life after the big chop and why I did it.

The new me

My relaxed hair

I did my Big Chop on November 11, 2012. It was a lot sooner than I had intended to do it, I have been in the transition stage since late June of 2012. December 2011 was the last time I relaxed the back portion of my hair , and June 2012 being the last time I relaxed the front portion of my hair. I had a weave installed and only needed the front relaxed to blend well with the weave hair. I kept the weave installed for about a month, then switched to reusing the hair for added volume for my bun and from there creating a U-part wig that I wore on and off for about a month. After I became tired of wearing the U-part (it became too much, in the hot months) I started focusing on protective styling, so in September 2012 I stopped using heat on my hair. Before than I was only using heat about once a week, using a blow dryer and my Instyler to straighten my hair. I began wearing my hair in Bantu knot-outs, buns (my favorite hair style), flat twist up-dos, and flexi rod-outs. In the past I've tried going natural but never committed, as I look back I have always done some form of protective styling but not really for protection of my hair, just mostly because I really liked the styles. I would also use some type of natural products, and I have always taken hair care supplements (hairfinity vitamins). Whenever I did put in a relaxer I would do them every six to seven months apart. I was never a fan of putting those harsh chemicals in as often as some people would. For me, I had to have at least 3 inches of new growth. Its funny how as I look back and see that I was not as educated about my hair like I just knew I was, and thought that I was doing things to my hair that I now know were not healthy. I didn't properly prepare my hair for heat styles, my buns were always tight and not often rotated, I didn't trim my ends when it desperately needed it, I barely deep conditioned ( well I was using WEN hair care cleanser, so I guess that counts), and I didn't know a thing about high and low porosity hair. The knowledge just was not there! I just thought my hair couldn't grow past my shoulders. As I started researching the proper ways to care for my hair I realized that I have been abusing the crap out of my hair, saying to myself "no wonder it wouldn't grow, or why my edges were so thin". I began watching youtube videos, admiring so many natural gurus (Naptural85 and mahoganycurls to name a few) and their beautiful healthy hair and the steps they have taken to get their hair to all that gorgeousness. I continued to deal with my hair in it's transitioning stage, mentally saying that I would Big Chop in January to start off my journey but I couldn't take it anymore i just wanted the relaxed hair gone. I spent a few days torturing myself because my brain was telling me to cut, cut, cut but I was fighting against waiting it out or just start chopping. So after getting home from work (11:30pm) and jumping into my nightly routine, I got on youtube and started watching videos about the Big Chop. After watching so many of them and seeing how in a years time, these women hair grew so beautifully and wanting the same thing for myself I got my butt up, grabbed my hair scissors, wet my hair, started chopping (it was about 1:30am) and never looked back. So I've said goodbye to thin, damaged and broken hair, and saying Hello Dawlin'!! to beautiful healthy hair.