Throwback to Mamma's Hair Grease: Yay or Nay?

Hey Lovelies!

As you might be able to tell, I am in constant experimentation mode with my hair products/regimen. I've been back to my natural hair texture since December 2010. From that time, I'm pretty sure I've watched hundreds of YouTube hair care videos and read hundreds of natural hair and black hair blogs.

I've faithfully adhered to many of the hair no-no's

1. No Sulfates
2. No Mineral Oil 
3. No Heat

etc, etc.

I've been careful to read the ingredients label on all my hair products, oftentimes buying more costly items because they are more "natural." I even considered investing in the Miss Jessie's line of products, which runs between about $20-70 per product. 

The thing is, I am a twenty-something with rent to pay, loans to pay off, and money to save. With all the delicious smelling, new, "all-natural" hair products available online and in stores, it is quite easy to be tempted into becoming a product junkie. 

With all of my obsession over products and hair length, I've slowly become frustrated and tired. It's not as though my hair went through a drastic growth phase to the length of many of the hair-fashionistas I admire.

Before the transition period and the big chop, even before the hair-dressers and the creamy crack, my hair was in my mother's hands. She did not have a ton of hair products. These are the products I have the most distinct memory of:

Anyone remember this? I just called it "Pink Oil"

Every morning before school I would use some "pink oil" to slick down the edges of my go-to high bun style. One of the old school brushes to hide frizzes or "ballies" and I was set.

My mom and I experimented with shampoo brands, but I remember this one in particular

When I was little I think my mom washed my hair every other week, then when I got older once a week.

This stuff smelled so good to me lol

My mom loves this pre-shampoo treatment for moisturizing my hair, especially in the winter.

This stuff was amazing!

Every Saturday night my mom would smooth globs of this through my shampooed hair with some olive oil and sit me under the drier for a half hour.

Best Leave-In Ever!

This is how the Infusium 23 bottle used to look when I was little. This stuff made de-tangling my hair soo easy!

Definitely was a staple product in our home

This was the standard grease product at my house.... I used to just sit around and smell it... LOL

                                          

My mom brought in these special forces if my hair was too dry or too itchy. They smelled gross to me, especially the Sulfur 8... but they worked!


I took a moment to recollect the products my mom used in my hair because, prior to going to the hairdresser, my hair was a little past collarbone length. Granted, my hair was relaxed, but considering the number of over-processed heads of hair I've seen... I thought my mom did a great job. For the 2-3 years I went to hair-dressers, my hair shrank to chin-length. I realized that my mom put a lot of tender loving care into my hair that neither hairdressers I barely knew nor I was able to give it.

I've decided to give a yay to Mamma's hair grease. With all the talk of which products we should use or not use, I'm deciding to go with what has been working to keep my hair moisturized and and growing. I'm not saying that I'm going to use all the products listed above, but I think I will take the time to be more open to what has been tried and true to my hair.

Right now, I'm re-trying Dr. Miracle's "Feel It" Formula to "grease" my scalp.

Photo Credit

I like to dampen my hair, at least with some oil moisturizer, before using this. I love the tingling feeling, and so far, I enjoy how it makes my hair feel. My mom used to use this on my hair's scalp too. I know this has mineral oil in it... but it has a lot of other great stuff too. I mention mineral oil because I've read and heard that with repeated application in between hair washes, mineral oil essentially blocks moister from entering the hair shaft.

I don't have this problem because I wash my hair weekly and dampen my hair regularly. Also, I now cleanse, message and grease my scalp just like my mom did. I also add a couple drops of castor oil and mix it into with my finger as I add this product to my scalp.

I don't think it's supposed to be extremely costly and hassling to do black hair. Neither do I think that we have to prescribe to a particular set of products. I think what is most important is that we are doing what we think will give us and our hair nourishment and moisture.

I may change my mind again.... who knows, learning about self-care means to you and how to do it changes. I guess I would call this the nostalgic part of my hair care journey. What hair products do you remember from childhood?

xoxo

P.S. I may go back to red hair y'all!!!

5 Hiccups in my "Hair Growth Journey"

Hey Lovelies!

Just as a side-note, my posts are so far and few between because it seems like hair blogs are already a thing. By a thing, I mean this blog is a tiny drop in a huge ocean of very popular hair blogs. I love talking about hair, but I feel like everything about natural/black hair has been said already.

So, what I have decided to do is focus on my personal holistic health journey. My hair will still be the central topic of my blog, but I will be discussing it as it relates to my general health and personal growth.

I will say I am a bit discouraged as fair as my hair growth journey is concerned. I did my "big chop" at around the same time as several of the online hair personalities that I follow on Facebook and YouTube. However, they've surpassed me by FAR in terms of hair length. I've taken their hair-type and ethnic background into account when I compare my hair growth and theirs, however, those who still have similar "hair backgrounds" as me have still "outgrown" me. I began my hair growth journey in December of 2010 and its almost August 2014... this right around the time my big afro should be making its debut...right?

I guess not. I decided to do a bit of self analysis in order to figure out what am I doing to cause the hiccups in my hair growth journey. This is what I found:

1. I have severe Hands-In-Hair Syndrome. Its sooo bad. I play with my hair when I'm stressed, bored, in thought, or not fully focused.... so 90% of the time. Yikes
2. I was dying my hair quite often early on in my hair journey.
3. I was not as gentle as I could be with my quite fragile strands 
4. I wasn't protective styling enough
5. I began living a Vegan lifestyle in 2013 which destabilized my protein and iron levels for a while

What am I doing to improve my hair care habits?

• O July 17, 2014 I decided to start a whole new hair regimen. My hair has been in cornrows. I did crochet braids for almost 2 weeks, washed my hair, and re-did my cornrows. I will be wearing scarves for the rest the week. Every other day I grease with a castor oil.coconut oil mix. I don't plan on wearing my hair "out" for a while. I want to seal in as much moisture as possible and I've found that cornrows are the best way to do it. Also, I don't look cute in cornrows, which pushes me to find ways to keep my hair wrapped up... which meeeans... no more Hands-in-Hair!
• I'm taking my vitamins and minerals and trying to be more careful with my vegan diet. I am doing research and trying to have more well-rounded meals so that I can get all the nutrients my hair needs to grow

These are two quite simple solutions, but I'm very confident in them. For one thing, I've noticed that dudes who wear cornrows always have nice, lengthy hair. That's because they don't mess with their hair... its all braided up, and most times, in a du-rag. The pressure on women to "look cute" all the time, in combination with the natural hair "movement," have made the big hair with a gorgeous twist-out the holy grail of natural hair beauty. Trust, I want my big afro too, but most days, I think its best for me to protect my hair and keep it moist. Having "cute" hair everyday has led me to knots, dryness, and breakage. If I really want to be cute and fabulous, I'll find a nice natural hair wig or weave. 

So, the cure to my hair growth journey hiccups is be simplistic, realistic, and prioritize my hair health above all else.

Love y'all!

Spice Girl Melanie B. aka Scary Spice vs. Blogger Yomi

(Photo Credit)

2013 Regimen!

Hey lovelies.

I haven't been around in SO LONG. Sorry about that. I just wanted to post my new regimen and a couple little hair discoveries.

First discovery:

My hair does NOT like the curly girl method. Basically, the curly girl method is based on co-washing and finger detangling. No tools, no shampoo. See the video below for a better description:

Her hair is most def that 3/4A while mine is 4 to the max.

Second discovery:

That my hair is 4a/b/c. That means it spirals, but is very fine, wiry, and can get matted and tangled easily. it def matted up when I tried the curly girl method.

Third Discovery:

My hair is low porosity. That means I have to apply product when my hair is damp -- no wetter. That also means that I shouldn't apply a lot of product because it will not absorb. To learn about testing hair porosity see here:

Fourth discovery:

My hair loves twists. It stays moist and detangled this way. Everything I do with my hair involves twists, especially washing. I separated my hair into twisted sections when washing, but now I have refined my washing. I do The Breakdown. Watch this video for the breakdown method:

K, so here's my regimen.

Bi-weekly

• shampoo and deep condition
• detangle and stretch

Weekly

• deep condition
• detangle
• protective style

Every other day

• oil scalp with a coconut oil/castor oil mix

My detangling process

1. finger detangle with conditioner
2. comb out with a wide tooth comb
3. Finish out with the Denman brush

I have to have to HAVE to detangle thoroughly. Tangling/ hair that is not thoroughly combed means snapping and snapping means lost ends. NO NO!

My 2013 goal - 5 inches of growth. let's hope!!

Hairspiration!!!

XOXO

One Year (and some) of Happy Nappiness!

Hey Lovelies!

I've been trying to do a better job of document my hair growth and styles, and I just wanted to share some pictures from late 2011 with you.... By the way Happy New Year!!! My goal for this year is to really get some good blogs done (in a timely manner). I'm really hoping to have a HUGE Afro by December 10 2012 (My Natural Anniversary) so part of my good hair care regimen will be documenting what I'm doing. Ok so here are my pics!

So at the moment I consider myself to be a 4A- after washing and conditioning, my curls are very spirally, and are a little smaller than the width of a pencil

OCTOBER

Don't mind the ridic face I was making.. I was being a fool lol... no particular style here 

I loooved how these curls came out so I had to take a pic. This was a Wash-and-Go

NOVEMBER

Big Twist - Twist Out (I'll explain at some point)

Twist-out part 2

My Twisties! I kept these in for like a week and a half.

I tried kinky twists for about 2 weeks. They came out nicely!

After I took out my kinky twists I had a pretty decent  fro.
I'm lookin kinda rough tho... I think I was tired

JANUARY

I did some more twists for the beginning of the year.
They came out pretty wild but I don't really care lol.

Yep! So thats about how my hair has been lookin' for the past couple months. I've been having some protective styling issues, and I'll share them in another post.

TTYL!

Be Big & Beautiful :)

Retaining Moisture

hello lovelies!

Whether relaxed, natural or anything between, the number one priority in your hair care regimen is to add and retain moisture.

MOISTURE
MOISTURE
MOISTURE

Yeah, its so important that I will repeat myself. Your hair NEEDS MOISTURE. Why?

1. Well, your hair will look nice, because moisture brings out your natural shine, and for curly tops - moisture defines curls.
2. It will prevent breakage. Hair snaps easily when dry. Breakage is your mortal enemy, and moisture is your best friend.
3. Moisturizing products will nourish your scalp. A healthy scalp is a happy scalp. And a happy scalp grows more hair.

People with type 4 hair are the most vulnerable to dryness and breakage. This is because its very thin and wiry, and has less cuticle layers to protect it. For all of you with type 4 hair - treat it like silk. Your hair is a precious fabric, and if you want it to last you have to care for it properly!

My links (dispersed below) will direct you to some of the different products I've used. Click away!

I've tried many different moisturizers during my transition. Some of them include:

• "Pantene Pro-V Relaxed & Natural for Women of Color Daily Oil Cream Moisturizer" (description here)
• "BB Hair Moisturizer Lotion Maximum Strength" (description here)
• When I was transitioning I used "BB Foam Wrapping Lotion" (description here)

I intermittently researched natural products during my transition period, and the first one I bought was Raw Shea Butter. Shea Butter is actually the bomb lol. Now, anytime a buy a new product, I usually check if Shea Butter is one of the ingredients. I use it to seal in moisture after I condition my hair, and have also found it to be a great styling product. I will create a separate blog post about the wonders of Shea Butter so you can understand why I like it so much. I would definitely suggest it as a staple for any natural hair regimen. I bought my shea butter in bulk (5 lb.) in the Winter of 2009, and I STILL have some left. I got it cheap from a great website called Shea N More. They offer all kinds of natural products at affordable prices. 

In addition to Shea Butter, I discovered that  Natural Oils, and Cholesterol  are very helpful it adding moisture to my hair. 

Products that will lead to moist hair:

1. A good co-wash* conditioner. It doesn't have to be pricy. VO5 or Suave Hair Conditioners would do the trick.
2. A hair strengthening leave-in conditioner. Right now I am using Infusium 23 diluted with water. I put the Infusium 23 solution in a spray bottle and use it to dampen my hair on a regular basis.
3. A nourishing carrier oil. Carrier Oils seal in moisture and protect the hair follicle & scalp. Right now I am using a mixture of olive oil, with a little bit of Castor Oil (article on carrier oils to come later)
4. A good Deep Conditioner. I like hair cholesterol best as a deep conditioner, because it always makes my hair soft & bouncy. My 2 favorites are Silk Elements Mega Cholesterol Conditioning Treatment and Queen Helene Hair Conditioning Cream
5. A great daily moisturizing cream. BB Hair Moisturizer Lotion Maximum Strength works pretty well, but I just started using Shea Butter Coconut and Hibiscus Curl & Style Conditioning Milk

To summarize, find some way to moisturize your hair every day. It has really helped me to retain the growth I've had so far, and is certain to help me in the future. If you have any moisturizing methods/routines you'd like to share please do!

Be Big & Beautiful, 

xoxo

Indie Arie - one of the Neo-Soul Moguls. Love her!

My Current Natural Hair Regimen

hello there wonderful people,

One of the things that will lead to the growth of Big & Beautiful Hair is developing a hair regimen that you believe you will be able to stick to. I now have over 5 inches of hair, and with hair as thick as mine now is, I've found it a bit more difficult to take care of than when I had a TWA. So, I have decided to outline my weekly hair care plan. This is especially important to me now that I am starting a new semester. I need to know what I'm doing with my hair on a regular basis because with all my commitments during the year, my schedule gets crammed.

Outlining my regimen is a new thing for me, because I usually just go with the flow when it comes to my hair, but my hair growth has been so encouraging that I want to really follow through on a good plan. So if this is new for you, don't worry because its new for me too - we're on this hair journey together :)

This is 90% likely to be my weekly schedule. The 10% of doubt is because I haven't started classes yet so I don't know which days of the week are going to be my busy days.

SUNDAY:

So, Sunday is gonna be my spa day. That is, I will be shampooing and deep conditioning each Sunday night so that I can be fresh for class on Monday morning. I may change my shampoos to every other Sunday in the winter time. Why? Because the air is driest in the winter, and I don't want to over dry my hair by shampooing too often. Conditioners, which I will be using very frequently, have cleaning agents that can take care of the build up that develops in my hair over 2 weeks. However, I don't know what winter has in store for me so I'll decide how often I want to shampoo then.

Sunday night plan:

1. Pre-Poo! (Before Shampooing) Moisturize my scalp with a blend of olive oil & castor oil,  then go through my hair ends with a dime size amount of Shea butter.
2. Poo: Shampoo with a sulfate free shampoo (we'll talk about sulfates later)
3. Deep Conditioning: Using hair cholesterol, or a really good deep conditioner. Allow to soak in hair for about an hour. If you have the time, you can allow your deep condition to stay over night.
4. Leave-In Conditioner: I use a leave in conditioner to comb out my hair while wet. I only comb my hair once a week, using a wide-tooth shower comb. For the rest of the week I finger comb
5. Detangling and Twisting: after I detangle my hair, I do large to medium sized two strand twists. It should take about a half to twist my hair and in the end I should have about 15 twists. The twist out is my favorite style because it's easy and seals in moisture. They styling product I use to make my twist springy and shiny is a Shea butter based styling creme (I'll list the specific products I use in another post). I add a dab of styling creme to each twist I make to get the best results.
6. Sleep with a satin bonnet and a satin pillow case. Both satin bonnets and/or satin pillowcases can be bought at an affordable price at your local beauty store, or online. Cotton absorbs moisture, which is why its important to use a satin bonnet, scarf, or doo-rag to protect your hair.

MONDAY:

1. Untwist and style! (Then go to class)
2. At night - massage an olive oil/castor oil into into my scalp
3. Add a little styling creme to maintain twists
4. Spray to dampen with water
5. Re-twist 

TUESDAY

Same as Monday

WEDNESDAY

Co-Wash Day!

1. By Wednesday I like to give my pores some air buy rinsing out all the product I've used. Using a cheap, but moisturizing conditioner, wet hair while showering, comb through conditioner, leave in for 2-5 minutes, and rinse.
2. Massage in my Olive/Castor Oil Mix
3. Style (another twist out set with conditioning creme)

THURSDAY

Back to Monday's schedule

FRIDAY

Depending on the dryness, I will do another co-wash. If not, I'll do my Monday schedule again. 

SATURDAY

Another Olive Oil/Castor Oil Massage Day! 

I already have all the products I want to use lined up, and I will be doing a post with details on all the products I use!

Be Big & Beautiful!

xoxo

Alicia Keys back in the day! <3 Her

My BC and Hair Growth Through August 2011

hello wonderful people!

I'd like to share my big chop experience with you. I cut off all of my relaxed ends on December 10, 2010.  I must say, I didn't choose the safest and most professional way to cut off 6+ inches of hair. I was tired of dealing with my relaxed ends - so I just took a scissors out of my drawer and chopped it all off. Prior to my BC, I had thought about cutting my hair a couple times, but I never planned a BC day; it was an impromptu decision. Luckily, it turned out ok! It wasn't too lopsided or anything like that lol.

I started snipping away from the back
because it was easiest to sense the texture difference

Halfway done! There was no going back!

Here's a little side angle. I think I had like 1.5 inches of hair

Top of my head. My TWA!

Side profile. I eventually clipped away any leftover relaxed hair

The final product!!!! Nappy & Happy haha

And there you have it!!! As a college student I didn't have the time to really invest in my hair like I have over the past summer, so wash and go* styles where my staple. I LOVED (and still love) bobby pins and head bands. When I had a bit more growth, I began to rely heavily on twists and twist outs. I was struggling with developing a hair regimen that fit my schedule, so I'm not sure I achieved my full growth potential over the past two semesters. In the summer however, when I had the time to really take care of myself, I did see a difference in length. Take a look:

December 11 - first full day natural! My hair after a perm rod set

Side view! My first Frohawk* :)

December 21, 2010 Two-Strand Twist Set 

January 7, 2011. My curly q's a month after BC

January 7,  Side Profile

Top of my head on February 18, 2011. Two Months Natural!
By this point I had no relaxed ends

February 21st: Hair length check!

June 9. Six months natural! In the summer, I began
 nurturing my hair so it could grow

July, 4 (that's a headband if you can't tell)

August 25th. Twist Out!

August 26th. Same twist out from the 25th lol

I've gone from 1.5 inches to 5.5 inches and its been great. I feel like right now my hair is at its healthiest since my BC because I've been taking care of myself - my body and my mind. I hope to see even more progress by my end of my 1st year of being natural.

Right now, I am in the process of developing a routine that will fit into my schedule. I want to maximize both time and results. You're probably as busy as I am, so I know saving time is important to you too. Another one of my major concerns is money. If I can find I way to save money, I'll do it. Hair care does NOT have to be expensive. its just a matter of making smart purchases. Now that you have a general idea of what my hair journey has been, we can dive into the details of Black Hair Care - So much more to come!

Be Big & Beautiful

xoxo

Jill Scott! My favorite song by her: "Golden"

HAIRvolution: My Transition Period

Hello lovelies!


This has been one of my favorite blog posts to make so far. I really hadn't realized how much my hair had changed until I collected all the pictures I had taken of myself!

Changes in my hair: October 2009 - November 2010

October 22, 2009. Relaxed Hair - Chin Length

So, like I mentioned in a previous post, my hair had been chin length for a couple years and I really wanted some growth. 

November 13, 2009. Updo - New Growth!

To retain growth, I stretched my hair, which means I waited longer than 8 weeks to relax my hair. I prevented the breakage that comes with waiting too long for another relaxer by deep conditioning

July 17, 2010. This was my third and successful transition.
I was a hot mess lol

So, until June '10 I had been relaxing, here you can't see much hair growth because I had just started my 3rd transition attempt

October 8, 2010. New Growth!!! I was so excited

Close up on my new growth a couple months later. I believe I was still flat ironing to blend the two textures together, but that was making my hair dry, as you can see in this close up

October 11, 2010. Another Updo!
They really helped during my transition

One of the good things I did during my transition was up-dos. My hair was kept in one place, so I touched it less and the cold, dry, air didn't affect it as much

October 31, 2010. I was so proud of the new growth!

By October 2010, I had gotten the hang of taking hair of my roots - check out those waves haha!

October 31. It was really dry here

The center/back of my head was so much more course than the rest of my head, I loved combing my hair (not good), so I had some breakage in the back.

November 1, 2010. Twist Out on Transitioning hair

My first recorded shea butter twist out!!! look how shiny it is! (we'll talk about the power of shea butter at a later)

November 2, 2010. Flat Twists on Transitioning Hair.
They weren't fresh (at all) but they got the job done!

And this is my flat twist set. Trust me, I've gotten better at flat twisting since then!

Back view of my flat twists

November 6, 2010. Another New Growth Check.
I was getting impatient and wanted it to grow

November 6, 2010. Perm Rod Set!
One of my Favorite Protective Styles

I must say that Perm Rods were the best for me during my transition. I loved it. It held curls for my relaxed ends while protecting my natural roots

November 20, 2010. Flat Ironed Hair (I shouldn't have
used heat). Last pic I took before my Big Chop!!!

Last recorded flat iron! And look - my hair finally grew past chin length :)

All in all my transitioning phase was long and took A LOT of patience. I had to learn to be gentle with my hair instead of treating it like my old Barbie dolls' hair. You know, all that vigorous combing and brushing those of you who had Barbies used to enjoy doing. Nuh-Uh! Any of you in transition must treat your hair like its silk or cashmere, be DELICATE. Your roots will love you for it, and you'll have the cutest fro when you do your Big Chop. My next post will have pics of my Big Chop and a little reflection on the day I went natural.

Be Blessed, Big & Beautiful!

xoxo