New Feature - AfricanHairBlog

The day in 2006 when I cut my locs off in Cape Town, South Africa

I was asked by Tendayi over at AfricanHairBlog to share my hair story with her readers after she  stumbled across this blog. Tendayi lives in South Africa and is on a personal mission to grow strong healthy African hair and help other African and diasporic sisters in the process. Check out the feature and her great work on her blog! Thanks again Tendayi for giving me the opportunity to share!

Blessings

Straight hair regimen

My usual protective style. I wrap my hair in a loose bun, secure it with a scrunchie and tie with a scarf for 10-15 minutes to smooth my edges. Keeps my ends nice and tucked away and helps maintain the straight without tangling and frizzing.

My straight hair regimen is pretty simple. I do as little with it as possible to maintain the style for as long as possible. After all it did take 3 people 2.5 hrs to do. I usually wear my hair in a bun, wrapping my hair and tying with a satin scarf at night. I try to change the direction of my wrap often so as not to have pressure on the same areas constantly. As the style gets older, I may braid or twist it. I don't add anymore product to my hair except to lightly oil my scalp as needed (probably once a week or every two weeks) and to apply some coconut oil to my hair once a week. That's it. I'm trying to make this last a month, hopefully I don't get caught unprepared in a wintry mix. lol

Product Review: Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1

I've been trying this product for 2-3 weeks now and I must say I am liking it a lot. The first time I used it, I was re-twisting two week old 2 strand twists on dry unwashed hair. I used this as my leave in and Ms Jessie's Curly Pudding as my styling aid. That experience left me skeptical because of the resulting greasiness! But later on I figured out it was the Ms Jessie's that was so greasy (and also left my scalp flaky! I'm guessing this combo is a no go because I haven't had this much greasiness and any flakiness previously with Ms Jessie's). 

The 14 in 1 kept my hair moisturized for 2 weeks. I must admit I haven't been paying my hair much attention lately as I've been so busy with school so all that moisturizing and baggying has kind of gone to the wayside lol but the hawaiian silky and protective styling kept my hair in good condition. I also used it as my leave in during my blowdry/ flat iron process and my hair feels nicely moisturized, is nice and shiny and smells oh so good! I gave some of this to my gf A to try and she says it definitely relieves her itchy scalp so for $5 I say you can't go wrong with this one.

Straight hair length check - 9 month comparison

Here are some comparison pics. Pictures on the left are from June 2010, pictures on the right from today, March 2011. Looks like good progress! And the hairdressers all thought my hair was really healthy and my ends were in excellent condition. My only problem area is the breakage in the hairline, which is not alarming but quite annoying. 

Guess what I did today?

On a whim I got my hair straightened. I went to JCP and it took three wonderful ladies almost three hours to blowdry and flat iron my hair. I dunno but I think I might be done with straightening my hair for good after this. LMAO unless it's the Dominicans maybe. This was a lot of work! 

The before picture

Before going in I untwisted my hair that had been in 2-strand twists for the last two weeks, shampooed, did a protein treatment, conditioned, deep conditioned with my steamer and ACV rinsed. All in 1.5 hrs. I then went over to JCP where S started working on my hair. She wasn't too sure how to tackle it but with a few pointers from yours truly she jumped right in. We had a tag team thing going in with me detangling my hair and she blowdrying it.

My detangled twists up top surrounded by blowdried loveliness

nice shine going on.

I want to take a moment to say praise the Lord for the tangle teezer! OMG I had some horrible knots but thanks to the TT I was able to detangle in a timely fashion (less than an hour). Trust me I tried my comb, my hair wasn't having it. lol. About an hour in, S's colleague J came over to help blowdry my hair. Once blowdrying was complete, it was time to flat iron and with closing time drawing near B joined the party, helping to flat iron.

J, B and S hard at work on my hair

Well after 2.5-3 hrs, here was the final result. Drum Roll Please!!!!

I would call that waist length proper

Today's regimen

Shampoo - Herbal Essence Hello Hydration

Protein Treatment - Nexxus Emergencee Strengthening Polymeric Reconstructor

Conditioner - Suave Tropical Coconut

Deepconditioner - ORS Hair Mayo & ORS Replenishing Pack

Detangler - Infusium 23

Leave in - Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1

Heat Protectant - Paul Mitchell Super Skinny, Chi Silk Infusion

Glosser - Biosilk Silk therapy

Sealant - Jojoba oil

Tangle Teezer: It's da BUSINESS! >>> WINNING!!!

----------UPDATE: PLEASE CHECK THIS LINK FOR MY LATEST REVIEW ON THE TANGLE TEEZER: HINT - IT'S NOT GOOD.----------------

My very own purple tangle teezer. Yay!

Yup. I've been trying it for 2 weeks now. I used it on freshly washed hair as well as on unwashed dry/damp hair and the consensus is: this thing is amazing! I was skeptical when I saw it in the box but when I took it out and felt the bristles they were way softer and more pliable than they looked. I used it immediately on a small section of my dry hair and detangling was a breeze. I then did my coconut prepoo, cowashed, deep contioned and acv rinse and used it to detangle my entire head: amazing! it is so smoothing and the tangles just seem to melt away. Then yesterday I used it on my unwashed hair, dampened with infusium 23 and Hawaiian silky 14 in 1and again, detangling was thorough and so easy it's crazy.

left - average shedding pre mini twist disaster
right - shedding 2 weeks post, with tangle teezer

left - months worth of hair
right - first detangling session with tangle teezer. I think my hair was thoroughly detangled and smooth after this. Good platform to start the post setback recovery. lol

2 weeks worth of hair after 2nd tangle teezer session

I think my hair is back to pre-mini twist detangling disaster bliss. I'm trying to go a month without washing, detangling and re-twisting my hair every two weeks. I started out with my regular big twists but this week I did some medium sized ones which will hopefully last me till the end of the month.

Rocking my twists today

PS how cute are my nails right now

Accent nail basecoat is Sally Hansen Xtreme wear Lacey Lilac. Black Ruffian nail accent, highlighted with So Easy Stripe Rite shimmery silver. Other nails, basecoat Sally Hansen Teflon Tuff in Bliss Frost with animal print highlights in same colors as accent nail.

Nude is Forever 21 Love and Beauty in Peach. Accent nail base coat is Savvy Ebony Black, top coat China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Broken Hearted. Loving the crackle these days. My toes are rocking them too, basecoat  is Sally Hansen Xtreme wear Blue Me Away

IT'S CARNIVAL!

Lord knows I'm too busy to be writing blog posts right now but it would be remiss of me MzNappyTRINI to not have a carnival post! LMAO unfortch, I'm not in Trini for carnival this year but I have been living vicariously via live internet streaming. LMAO 

Soca Monarch was BACCHANAL! Errrbody knows (Phaedra voice) Iwer win that clear but say what, what is carnival without bacchanal eh?!! Congrats to Kes and Benjai, loved their performances. 

Panorama oh my lord! Panorama was such a joy. I have to give props to the folks at www.carnivaltv.net for a WONDERFUL online viewing experience. The people at C can definitely learn from you guys. Professional, HD, educational experience. I'm looking forward to their broadcasts tonight for the Dimanche Gras show as well as Tuesday mas.

Check out my facebook for links of my favorite soca monarch and panorama performances. If we aren't friends already, go ahead and add me, I won't bite! promise lol

Friend me!

In closing here are my 20 favorite tunes this year (I started with 5 and couldn't stop. LMAO) In no particular order:

Benjai - Trini

Kes-Wotless

Cassi - Tong Ting

Bunji - Obeah

Denise Belfon - Dance and Dingolay

Iwer - come to meh

Destra - Welcome Back

Allison Hinds - Makelele

Michelle Xavier - Feting for days

Kerwin Dubois - Heaven in You

Buffy - Soak it

Bunji - Me Alone

Terry Lyons - Ah Feel tuh

Shal Marshall - Doh Drag De Flag

Faye Ann - Consider It Done

All Rounder - Body Wine

Blaxx - Carnival Jumbie

Machel - Illegal

Devon Matthews - Old Time Something

Nebula 868 + Hypa - Jouvert Jam

My Trini ppl have a safe and fun carnival! Don't drink and drive, buckle up and protect yourself because HIV IS REAL!

Blessings