What's WRONG?!

Soooo ladies,

I decided to go ahead and do something I have been debating for the past few months...I colored my hair again :) I have been going back and forth with my decision b/c when I first did it, I did not have great results. I mean, I loved the color, just not the state of my hair. I think most of the dryness had to do with me not knowing the right products that worked for me at that time. Now that I have tackled my routine and have had the dry-factor defeated for several months now, I decided to try color again. A couple of reasons led to my decision. One, I wanted to try it again to see if I can successfully manage my hair and maintain growth with color (since my hair is still fairly short where cutting it - if need be- would not be so devastating). Two, I wanted something different b/c I was getting bored AGAIN!!


I must say that I am loving the way my hair reacted to the color and is feeling right now...definately moisturized and soft!!! So, I hope this color will last for a while. I like how it's not one color all around. It may be a little difficult to tell the difference...it's more subtle in the front where you can definately tell its lighter. I have 15-30 days to do a free "fix" if I don't like it or if I want it different (lighter). I don't regret doing it and I hope I have not broken any rules of the challenge. I do have a question for you ladies though...should I get it lightened in some areas???









More pics to come with my hair out when I do my twist-out of course!

First Roller Set

So, I decided to go ahead and try my first roller set. I think I'm hooked!!! I'm lovin the results and the way my hair feels. It is moisturized, soft, and LOVELY!! It only took me an hr to put all the rollers in. I let them air dry throughout the day, and ended up sleeping with the rollers in just to protect my curls and make sure they were dry. I took them out this morning and was mesmerized ;-) I separated them using the single-strand twist, curling/twirling method with oiled hands & fingers to minimize frizz. Even though I did the twirl/curl method trying to stretch them, y'all know how our curly locks do...shrink right back up! I look like curly Sue...LOL, but I like it (pics to come soon). Or you can check out my youtube vid: 

Length Check Update

So, it's OFFICIAL...I finally did an exact measurement to obtain my baseline length for later comparison. Without further ado (adue???), here are the results:
~4 in both sides & back
~5.5 in front

I wasn't too far off when I guessed in my original "Length Check" post. There you have it...let's see how much I can retain or how far I grow :) If you would like to see me doing my length check in action, you can check out my youtube vid: 

Say Y.E.S.!!!

Ok...so please tell me why I've been sleepin on this product...YesToCarrots. They have other flavors that you may be more familiar with like YesToCucumbers, tomatoes, and even berries (blueberries). I picked mine up from my local Walgreen's and at the time they only had the cucumbers and carrots, but the cucumbers was for color-treated hair, so I decided not to get it and opted for the carrots. (Today, I saw that Walmart has the whole line...it's where the Giovanni and Burts Bee stuff is). So, glad I chose this product y'all!!!

It has my hair feeling AMAZING!!! I knew from the second I put it on my hair that I was in love...CAN WE SAY LOVE AT FIRST TOUCH???!!! I seriously think I have stumbled upon my stable condish...FINALLY! I really don't know why I kept passing this up on the shelves. I think maybe I had enough conditioners at the time and wanted to use them up or get rid of the ones I already had before I purchased more (trying to refrain from being labeled a PJ...LOL). I told other natural youtubers that it may have been because I saw somthing in the ingredients list that I didn't like (possibly the alcohol, but come to find out its a good alcohol and not one of the drying ones). Irregardless, I'm loving this stuff...so, I say YES, YES, YES!!!

My Protective Style for May

So, have any of you heard of Chicoro and her book Grow It!??? I recently purchased and have been reading it. I sneak in little sections during the little time I have between class readings ;-) It is a quick read, so it shouldn't take me long to finish. I am impressed with the amount of informative explanations she provides. I got through the section where she talks about dry and wet detangling and the process for each. I NEVER thought I would be one to dry detangle, but after reading that section, I decided to give it a try on my twist-out-wash-n-go (I JUST MADE UP MY OWN HAIRSTYLE...LOL). Here is what I did:

I decided to take out week long twists that I had in because they started to look a bit rough for my liking and plus I wanted to do a product review of My HoneyChild's Honeynutt and Jessicurl Weekly Deep Treatment. After I cowashed w/ the twists still in, I used Honeynutt to untwist & semi-detangle while I was in the shower. Once I got them untwisted and out of the shower, I used Jessicurl as my DC for a little over an hour (30 min of low heat w/n that time). I rinsed all that out and used KCKT as my leave-in, pulled my hair up using a knee-high stocking and did the baggie-method overnight (since hair was still wet). So, Thurs morning I ended up rocking my twist-out-wash-n-go (TOWNG) UNTIL I got bored during class and decided to try out Chicoro's advice about dry detangling.

Real quick product review: Honeynutt was ok...I say ok b/c it was very thin and I prefer thicker, creamier conditioners. It did pretty well with detangling. That was the first time I tried it. The next time I use it, it will be as a DC b/c directions say you can use it as both a detangler and bi-weekly DC. I loved the Jessicurl!! I will definately be using it again, but it will be alternatively with my homemade DCs and sparingly b/c it is a bit more pricey than I like to pay.

Anyway, as I sat in class unevitably getting more and more bored, I began to dry detangle and retwist my hair in smaller twists (YES, I did it during class from about 8-3, but I was still paying attention!...of course, there were breaks in between. I didn't completely finish til midnight that night).. I wish I had come across this book a LONG time ago b/c I probably could have retained much more length had I NOT been rippin through my tangles. I NOW know I have to take my time and comfort PRECIOUS and slowly separate and work each strand aloose from the other. It takes a while, but I believe its worth growth retention in the end! I hope this helps the next niave natural :) No since draggin this out, here are the results...




My goal is to try to make these last til the end of the month (hence, the TITLE), but anybody who knows me knows that this is a challenge in & of itself b/c I get bored with styles easily and will be wanting to try something new w/n a wk or so...

Length Check

I've never really done length checks before...don't get me wrong, I have checked in the confines of my own bathroom, but not for documentation or journal purposes. But, I thought - since this is a grow-out challenge, I might as well start or at least have a baseline for future comparison. Being that I'm a rookie at length checks, I have yet to whip out the ruler for an official measurement (but I will update soon!).

I really liked the post added to CN about NOT being discouraged when comparing your curls to others' who have the same or similar BC anniversaries because you don't know what length they actually started their journies nor their particular routines/regimens. I found myself caught up in the comparative dilemma (like SOOO many other natural sistaz!)...BUT my discouragement and disappointment in my growth led me to the point I'm at now. With all that said, the reason for this post is not only to establish myself a baseline comparater, but this is a PERSONAL challenge for myself to see how much growth I can retain over the next few months. SSSOOOOO....LEGGO!!!