Hey, curly mamas! Today I am bringing you a video on Symari's first hair straightening. This is her absolute first time getting this done! If you recall, I already blow dried her hair for the first time earlier this year and it was a success.
For flat ironing, I wanted to wait as long as possible before doing so, because when Syriah was about 2.5 or 3, I'd flat ironed her hair to see how long it was and at the time, I didn't know what I was doing as far as natural hair care yet. Her hair was already damaged prior to this... this was the VERY beginning of the natural hair movement... about 2009-2010ish. I didn't want to do the same to my second daughter, EVEN though when she was born, I'd already been through 2 kids and knew way more about natural hair care than I did with Syriah. There was no reason to flat iron a 3 year old's hair, so I waited till she was 5.
So I hope that you guys enjoyed the video! Comment below or on the video if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks for reading!
Yesterday, I uploaded a video showing that my hubby has no heat damage from his first ever blow drying and flat ironing experience. I did a good job, I believe. Haha!
I didn't really expect for him to have heat damage, but I always put it in the back of my head as a maybe. I didn't put the temperature too high, I used heat protectant AND grapeseed oil, and I took my time, even though it was mega late. But that was the only free time that I had to get his trim done, while all 5 kids were knocked completely out for the night. That was the main reason why I wanted his hair straight to begin with. The trim was really needed. His hair is already kind of choppy and damaged from him previously having locs, so I'm working on getting it back to better health, starting with getting rid of dead, splitends.
I am impressed with this flat iron. It's still fairly new. I just got it this spring, I believe. So far, it's done well. I still have yet to straighten my hair with this thing really well, except for the one rush job I did back when our water heater was broken and I couldn't wash my hair too well. But the cooler weather is coming, so I will definitely be straightening my hair for real soon. I want to see the length and because of less humidity, I usually flat iron during the colder months anyway and don't have to worry so much about my curls reverting back.
Do you have a favorite flat iron? What is it? How often do you straighten your hair with it? Got any recent heat damage? How did you go about repairing it? Let me know!
Hiya,curly mamas!
So, if you follow me on Instagram and Twitter, you already know that I straightened my hair yesterday! I just wanted a change, and ever since I went half blonde in January, I had been dying to see what my blondish hair looked like straight. So I finally went for it, even after a two and a half day mini vacation to NC by PLANE with my mom, sister and baby niece, and all 4 of my kids for my great grandmother's 82nd birthday! O_O
Yeah, talk about tiring. All those babies and bags, fighting through TSA.
Anyway, I rested for two days after that and washed my uber dry hair, deep conditioned, and went for the flat iron the next day when it had dried. I used only my Tresemme heat protectant, the same one I always use and have yet to run out of considering that I barely use heat on my hair.
If you want to see the big reveal, check my Instagram page or wait for the video! I have freaking tons of footage to edit, between the NC vlog clips and the straightening video with trimming and tips, etc. But I will get on it soon! Balancing time being a mommy and video editing can be extremely difficult. That's also why I took a week off from homeschooling this week. It's too much to deal with...
So stay tuned to YouTube for more videos and stuffs. Peace out!
Heya, peeps! I wanted to mention that I washed my straight hair out a few days ago. I couldn't take the itch! It was straight for a week like always, and then my scalp was on fire as it always is when I don't wash my hair every week. I missed my curls, anyway. This is why I can never do protective styles and keep them longer than two weeks, because my scalp starts to feel like needles after about 7 days. -___- Now, I have wet my scalp and added some oil sometimes when my scalp itches, and then gave it a little massage to loosen up whatever is causing my scalp to itch in the first place. But unfortunately, it's only temporary. The relief is there for a little while, about a day and then it's back to Itch City. I don't have any tea tree oil, which I have heard is great for itch.
Soooo, on wash day, I sprayed my hair with aloe vera juice and water that I had in the fridge and watched my hair revert. I added EVOO along with that onto my hair and scalp as a pre-poo and then covered my hair with a plastic bag for two hours. Felt so good using something cold on my scalp! I made a video doing this process that I will edit and upload soon.
I washed my hair with a cheap sulfate shampoo and did an ACV rinse afterward. My hair felt amazing, and not an OUNCE of heat damage. Woo hoo!
Don't get me wrong; I'm going to miss my straight hair. I don't do it often, so when I do, it's wonderful. It looked amazing, too, as you can tell from the pic of me and my hubby lol! But it's all good. No heat damage. Three years natural, almost four. I know my hair now, and I am doing a great job with it. Yay!
Stay tuned to my YouTube channel. I have more videos coming up, including family vlogs! ;) www.youtube.com/curlsofinnocence
Heya, guys! Happy Holidays!I wanted to briefly show my attempt at
straightening my four year old's hair. It came out very well! Her hair is
already so silky, so it's easy to get straight. Her hair is 3A-3B,
sometimes seems more like a type two instead. But either way, it was easy.
It only took a full hour to get her fine strands straightened.
Before
I did anything, her hair was freshly washed two days prior, oiled up,
and put into four braids. When I wanted to straighten it, I cranked up my regular cheap flat iron (400 degrees), put some grapeseed oil on her sections, and
then applied my Tresemme heat protectant on the sections as well. Then I
combed through with my wide toothed comb. I started with smaller
sections. Syriah did so well with being still... she always does.
To
avoid more damage, I only did one pass. A few ends had an extra run
through them, but then I realized how badly she needed a trim. Her last
trim was in July... about a half an inch. I measured her hair after I
was done to get a more accurate length check than the one above, and her hair was actually about 22.5 inches (damn!) instead of 21. But she needed a trim, so I took off about an inch. Her hair was also a little uneven from the last trim as well, so I evened it out. And she looks gorgeous! Her hair is soft and silky, flows well like 'white people hair' LOL!
This is how her hair looked when she went outside the same day (above). Below is the trim.
Here is how she wore her hair when we went to a woman's breakfast at my mom's church.
My little fashionista LOL! I love the waves in her hair due to braids.
Nightly Care:
Every other day, I put a light oil (grapeseed oil or coconut oil) all over her hair, especially the ends. Then I thoroughly comb it after parting it into two sections. Lastly, I braid each section into the same 'Pocahontas' braids showed above, except without the hair band at the top. She wears stocking caps to bed and her hair always looks fresh and un-bothered in the morning.
So, that's my straightening update for Syriah. I wish that my hair was as easy to get just about bone straight like hers sometimes. But I love my curls and my own hair, anyway. ;)
Hope you guys enjoyed. Peace out till later and happy holidays! <3
Heya, curly naturals! It's about that time again... ranting time. LOL!
I just like to write, so I write down my frustrations with natural hair as well as other people's frustrations with natural hair.
I am a bit annoyed at the amount of time that people spend on wash day. It's really not that serious. No, it has nothing to do with hair type because I have several different hair types in my head and I still manage to shrink wash day time down to two hours MAX, and that includes styling.
Here are the basics of wash day:
1. Pre-poo- Lather your hair in conditioner or oil, leave in for desired time. If it's left on overnight, I don't count that as part of wash time. 2. Detangle- Optional... some people do this after washing instead of before. 3. Washing-Honestly, this shouldn't take that long, unless your hair is waist length or you don't wash your hair for a month so it's really grimy (gross) 4. Conditioning/Detangling- This might be where people spend the most time, because some people deep condition at this point instead of doing a five minute condition... 5. Rinsing- shouldn't take that long 6. Drying/Flat Iron- Another way some people go wrong... the use of a blow dryer is not necessary EVERY TIME you wash! I don't use one at all, and if I do, it's for styling purposes and not to dry my hair fast. 7. Styling-Honestly, this should be the longest step, depending on what style you're trying to achieve.
Now, the ranting part comes in where I say... you ain't gotta do all dat! I have heard some naturals dread wash day because it takes literally the entire day, which is ridiculous for the average working woman who doesn't even have the time for all that. They waste their entire weekends tampering with their hair, and the whole day is gone. I don't see how some people take 30 minutes just to WASH their hair, and then another 3-4 hours to deep condition, then they jump back in the shower to rinse it out. No wonder your hair takes up your entire weekend! Then when it's time to style, they use too way too many products for one style. Some swear that it's best to DC right after washing and get it over with, but if you honestly don't have time to do it, I wouldn't stress over it! You're only making wash day more of a chore for yourself.
Wash day for me is therapeutic, not only because I am a SAHM (stay at home mom) and that's one of my only ways of ME time (LOL), but I don't blow dry my hair, I don't take ten years washing and rinsing it out, and I don't flat iron my hair. I have a lot of hair; that would take way too much time to do often. Plus, the best thing for me is that I don't have to go somewhere every day, so I can wear fat twists or braids around the house until God knows when.
Some people have TWAs and they still somehow spend the entire day on their curls... I don't get it. Try to track how much time you're spending on your hair on wash day and see if you can make some improvements. It doesn't have to be soooooo time consuming to be natural. It should be about simplicity. What's the point of being natural if you spent 100% more time on your hair than you did when you were relaxed? That's why some naturals revert back to relaxing, because they think that natural hair is such a chore when it doesn't have to be. Unless your hair is waist length, it should take the average natural no more than TWO HOURS (not including styling or DCing) to get the washing process done. I'm just saying... trying to help some sistas out! Yes, I have UBER thick hair, yes, my hair is past bra strap length, yes, I have to detangle like everyone else, and yes, I have multiple curl patterns, which is sometimes rough to deal with. It's not always a walk in the park here, either. But I can get it done in a timely manner where I don't have to waste an entire day on the washing process. It's just not worth it.
Hope you guys enjoyed this post. Comment and join the Curls of Innocence community!
Until next time. Take care, curlies! ~Epic Realist~
Hiya, curlies! Today I'm displaying my beauty supply haul from two days ago, and the results of me straightening my natural hair for the first time in over a year!
So, here's what I got the other day. The Cantu Shea Butter leave-in cream I have already tried a long time ago and wanted to get it again for the hell of it. There's a Cream of Nature Moisture Extreme conditioner here. I've never tried this before, and I got tired of my Tresemme conditioner. Just wasn't working for me anymore. I don't like it because it has not one natural ingredient in it. I only got it because it was cheap at the time. So I got this new one to use with my Shea Moisture shampoo.
I know that I mentioned in a very old post about 'brand-hopping' hair products not being the best thing to do because if something went wrong with your hair, you wouldn't know what product to blame. But I wanted to try this, anyway.
I also got the Roots of Nature shea butter and green tea deep conditioner simply because I needed one, preferably one with protein and natural ingredients. Re-stocked on my EcoStyler olive oil gel, found a flat iron for ten bucks, and finally found my JBCO in store! Yay, no more ordering!
Spent fifty bucks in there, and it was well worth it.
After I 'doctored' up my hair for a few days, I decided to try the new flat iron. It was cheap, but it has a one year guarantee. As long as it lasts a year and does it's job, I'm not going to spend 50-100 bucks for a flat iron, just to (hope to) get top-notch quality! This one works just fine. The last time I attempted any heat on my hair was November 2011, so it's been over a year. Those results were not good because my hair wasn't that healthy at the time. No, I don't have a picture of that hot mess. Today, the results are great!
The picture speaks for itself, and the process is there, too. I love how my hair came out. I only used a small amount of grape seed oil on each section that I straightened. I had to pass through my hair twice, some areas three times because although I had banded my hair overnight, it was still hard to get as straight as possible. It took almost two hours to complete. But my hair is extremely soft, full of body and moisture. I can whip it back and forth lol!
Hope you guys enjoy this post! Questions, comments, advice? Write meh somewhere! When was your last battle with the flat iron? What did you do?
Hiya, guys! Hope everyone had fun on Thanksgiving yesterday. =)
I just wanted to make a random post about how my hair looks straight out of the shower. It was detangled in the shower with my Tresemme conditioner, and then rinsed out. My hair is still drastically falling out, but I think it may be getting better because of the castor oil. Not sure yet; still in testing phase.
I don't really have much of a set routine as of lately. The only thing that is for sure is that I wash my hair every week, and the shampoo that I use has not changed. I still use my Shea Moisture Curl and Shine shampoo. I haven't really gotten hip to co-washing, mostly because I'm not in love with the Tresemme conditioner and the fact that I don't have much time to co-wash in the middle of the week. I do spritz my hair with distilled water throughout the week, though, and add an oil such as coconut oil or castor oil on top of it.
My hair never feels too oily until the end of the week on wash day, when there is some product build up from other products.
I haven't flat ironed my hair in ages... almost a year, probably. I am dying to see my real length, but recently, when I was going to flat iron it, the darn thing shorted out on me when it was plugged in for five minutes. So it on longer came on at all. I had to throw it away. Cheap thing. I'd only had it for year. it was brand new and it was a gift from someone. It was a Revlon iron, so I thought it was of good quality, but apparently not! Now I have to wait until I can get a new one, a much better quality one.
Right after a shower on wash day, I dry my hair with an old T-shirt and apply castor oil directly to my scalp, and give myself a 5-6 minute scalp massage with my fingers. It feels great and the oil absorbs in well. It doesn't make my scalp itch like everyone else says it does. LOL! It's probably because they put the JBCO on dry hair instead of on wet hair.
Any oil is best used on wet hair, and JBCO doesn't work best at all on a dry scalp.
This is a new thing that I added to my routine, and I'm looking forward to seeing more hair growth.
After I do the massaging, I separate my hair into four or six huge sections and gently detangle with my wide toothed comb, then just twist or braid each section. Then I wrap it into a silk scarf before bed. The next morning, my hair feels soft, fluffy, and amazing, and ready to style into whatever style I want.
Well, that's my little hair wash routine for now. I'll be back with more hair tips/styles. Peace curly mamas!
Virgin hair. This is something that I never imagined I'd have. Even though I had what everyone calls "good hair", I didn't actually know or believe that until I stopped perming completely.
I was always infatuated with hair, period. I played with my hair endlessly in high school especially. As a little girl, my hair was just like any other little black girl's hair... except that my hair was long and super thick. In a previous post, I've established the fact that I am not by any means mixed.
I wasn't tender-headed like my sister, thank God, but I didn't always like getting my hair done. I hated the hairstyles that I wore because I thought they were babyish once I'd gotten to middle school. My signature style was mini twists, but they always looked raggedy after a certain time, and I had so much hair that my mother often didn't know what else to do with it. Childhood Years
I wanted my hair straight in high school like everyone else. Of course, we all know what it's like, being an outcast because of your looks. I wasn't allowed to perm my hair until I was 15, probably because my mom did not want me looking too grown, being 13 and starting 9th grade. I don't think she really knew the full dangers of perming, just like every other mother in those days. But I'd made the decision myself, so when I was 15, I got my first perm. I was thrilled. My hair was now straight and flowing like everyone else's, and I was able to comb it much easier instead of struggling and greasing it down, trying to get it to cooperate.
I don't remember exactly if,how, or when my hair went downhill as far as health, because at the time, I didn't know much about hair health, and neither did anyone else around me. I did get trims when I needed them, and I actually did not get perms very often. My mom did know that perming was bad, and if you were going to get one, you needed to do it sparingly, not like the cliche 'every 6 weeks' that women have been traditionally programmed to do. My sister was extremely tender-headed, so my mom had no choice at the time but to perm her hair when she was nine years old. Our hair was already longer than the average, so when it was straight, we were able to see the length better. A lot of people loved my hair, and everyone thought I was mixed. Rawr.
So I wore my hair straight a lot, and gradually started wanting it curly when I went to college. My perm time had gone way down to every six months, literally. I was totally stretching my perms, and I didn't really realize that I was helping my hair. Me, my mom, and my sister had all started stretching our perms, and that was when we realized that we didn't even need the 'creamy crack' at all! Our hair textures didn't even call for it. 2005-2008
So I wore my hair curly mostly through college, creating my own twist outs with permed hair. I obsessed in the mirror every morning with a full length mirror propped up on the door to see the back of my head, trying to get the perfect twist out. I could never get it. My hair was often stringy-like from using the classic pink oil every night. Between my sister and I, we went through that pink stuff like water. I liked the fact that my roots were flat, but I soon realized that they stayed flat enough on their own without a perm. I had almost gone a year without a perm once. 2009 I got married and got pregnant with our honeymoon baby, which is the little hair model of mine that's all over this blog. (LOL!) During my pregnancy, my hair grew even faster than it usually did, of course, because of hormones and vitamins. This is my hair in 2009, after taking out braids. I did not perm my hair the entire time, because I had heard that it isn't good to have those type of chemicals entering your bloodstream during pregnancy.
After I had Syriah, I permed my hair and had it flat ironed. I felt good because I was able to get my hair done right after having a baby and look good again.
But I was really frustrated with my hair. I had a passion for natural/organic things, as well as overall health and fitness, so why was I perming my hair? I didn't even need it. I had gotten tired of sitting for hours and hours at salons, getting burnt when the damn stylist yapped on the phone and left the crap in my head too long, getting burnt from the flat iron of hellfire, and getting little random scabs in my head after all was said and done. My head had this irritating, itchy sensation, and my scalp had become very sensitive. I could hardly touch my scalp without this creepy, prickly feeling. I no longer had the excitement of going to get my hair done. The perm thrill wascompletely gone. Plus, I had been doing my own hair at home forever anyway, and that was working out better than being straight all the time. So by the time I had Syriah in March 2009, my mom, my sister, and I agreed to stop perms completely and rock what God gave us.
Well, of course, you can't just stop perming and then say, oh, my hair will be fine. I'll figure out what to do with it and it'll be alright. No, you've got to do some research! I began to do research things to do while you transition from a perm, and how to manage the new growth. I began to love my hair. I had heard about 'big chops', and I was way too afraid to do that. No way. My hair was about 16-17 inches at this time, and I was not going to lose all my length just like that. I told myself that I would just grow the perm out, so that's what I began to do. 2009-2010
I learned about protective styling, and then I had a new signature hairstyle... twists. I had always been afraid to wear these out of the house because I thought it made me look younger, and I already looked way younger than 21 at the time. But I wore them, anyway. I began to protect my ends, and trim them when needed. I got pregnant again when Syriah was 8 months old, with our son. My hair was healthier then because I was no longer perming, and it grew like a weed. By 2011, I had transitioned for two years, so I decided to begin chopping off the old permed ends. It started in January. I was having a rough period in my life at this time, anyway, and I needed a change. I cut off about two inches around this time, and in three months, I had gotten the courage to whack off literally about 6-8 inches of my hair. My husband was shocked, but he liked the new short look. It was a new me.
No, I didn't cry at all loosing all that hair. I was so ready to get rid of that old dead hair. It was like getting rid of the old me. I had grown tired of the two textures, and it was irritating, seeing the top of my hair nice and lush and thick, and the rest thin, limp, and broken. I felt very proud of myself, and I had a new look. I had to get used to seeing myself with short hair, but it kind of complemented my 'fatter' face at the time. I'd had back to back pregnancies and still had weight that I hadn't lost yet. So my face was still... round. (LOL!) As you can see, my son looked a lot like me as a baby.
I had even cut myself a bang at home for the first time in my life. For my birthday, I had gone to a Dominican hair salon and got it straightened to see how long it was. I originally wanted to ask then to cut it all the same length, but they would have charged more. Suckers. I was already paying 60 bucks just for a wash and flat iron. Ugh. What a rip-off.
The picture of me and my hubby was when I had tried something new with my curly bang... and I didn't like it much. That was our 3rd anniversary. =) 2011
So, that was my big chop. I had cut my hair a little past my ears by that summer and I didn't care. I just wanted my hair to be healthy. I was going through a whole lot in life during this time, and that was another reason why I didn't care how short my hair looked or how many people were astonished. I had transitioned for two years and it was time for the 'big chop'. How much you decide to cut off your own head is always up to you. Big chopping doesn't mean that you have to be bald, unless you truly want to do that.
By September 2011, I was pregnant with our third baby, and my hair started growing like a weed again. This was around the time when our finances had picked up greatly and I was able to begin experimenting with natural products, I was overjoyed. I was tired of not getting the hair results I wanted with my hair as well as both my kids' hair. I bought EVOO for the first time ever this year, and began to use it on my hair and Syriah's, and also on our skin. I saw major differences already. I ditched the Pantene hair moisturizer I was using and the hair cholesterol from the dollar store and began using EVOO as an overnight conditioner before washings. My hair was silkier than ever, and I didn't even need a wash out conditioner anymore. By November, I had also ordered some unrefined shea butter and began to use that for styling our hair. Totally freakin awesome.
Pink lotion wasn't even an option at all anymore. I researched and I researched hard. That was when I realized that I had a passion for this stuff, and that I might as well start a hair blog to help educate people about natural hair care. However, at the time, I was intimidated because it seemed as if everybody and their mama was doing a hair blog, and frankly, I didn't think that I knew enough about the subject yet. But I kept up the research. I joined every last natural hair care website I could find and bookmarked it. I tried different things and got great results. By the end of the year, I was totally satisfied with the way my hair was acting.
So the next year, 2012, I became totally serious. By February, I was 7 months pregnant and loving my hair growth and the way my curls were popping. In March, I finally got the courage to start this blog, and I couldn't have been more proud. I had found something that I'd LOVED to do. My hair health has only gone uphill since then. I have ditched sulfate and paraben shampoos for good. I purchased some Shea Moisture products for the first time ever, and they were awesome. I also found out about Eco Styler gel, and that's become of my best friends. (LOL!)
2012-present
So, there is is, guys. My long hair journey. I have happily been natural now for 3 years, and every day, I'm loving it more and more. I'm proud to say that my hair is now fully a virgin! (LOL!) I'm learning more and more about what works for my hair. I believe that my hair is 3B-3C with a little of 4A. My hair had several textures in it, which as you may know, can be tricky to deal with. Syriah's hair is 3A-3B only, like my husband's hair. I have no idea how long my hair has gotten now, but pretty soon I will schedule an appointment to get a flat iron and an all-even cut so I can see the length.
You know I'm gonna post that update when I finally do it. Haha! It's been really busy around here with 3 kids, but I somehow manage to do something with my hair to keep it from over-drying and going to the pits. I hope I managed to get everything into this blog that I had done with my hair over the years. If not, I shall come and update it when I remember something. Let me know if you enjoyed this post about my natural hair journey!
Oh, and here is a video that I created after this post about my hair journey. Enjoy!
Peace out, curly mamas!
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