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

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 

My Natural Hair/Transition Story

Hello Lovelies!

Sooo, I thought it would be important to share my Pre-Journey story. 

Phase 1: The PUFF Era

Back in the day Hair Bobbles where the best!

I was like most little girls with my hair type, HUGE puffs, fun clips, hair bubbles, bows, scrunchies - I had a BOX dedicated to hair accessories. Of course, I experienced mommy and aunty pulling my kinky hair with the fine toothed comb; I experienced the grease, the flat iron, the hot comb, just everything lol. Sometimes my older sister would cornrow my hair too. 

Phase 2: Home Grown Hair

Remember this anyone? Used to come with a free glow-in-the dark comb too!

When I was 10, my mom decided I was growing up, and that I'd look cute and mature with relaxed hair. So, in fifth grade, I got my first relaxer. And many of you know how the story goes as a child with boxed relaxers every two months. Mom would apply the relaxer, it would burn, she'd wash it out, then would come the over head dryer, blow dryer and flat iron. (we'll talk about the dangers of direct heat on hair later).  I have to say, mom did a good job - my hair was a little longer than shoulder length by the time I was 13 years old. 

Phase 3: The Hair Salon Era/Transition Attempt 1

The dreaded hours under the overhead dryers on Saturday mornings!

This is when I began to become displeased with my hair. I started to go to the hair salon when I was a sophomore (around that time) in high school, because I thought that it would be "healthier" than when I did it at home. Looking back, that wasn't the case. My hair was over-processed as a result of relaxers, was damaged as a  result of too much direct heat, and that led to a stagnation in growth. By the time I was a senior, I got really frustrated and started to experiment. I started researching natural hair. I had always thought my new growth felt nice so I started to let it grow. I even started using flexirods. However I couldn't let go of my relaxer, so instead of transitioning I stretched* my hair. 

Phase 4: College!!! And Transition Attempt 2

My Hair on November 6, 2010 - Transition life was REAL lol

Okay, College really tripped up my hair care routine. My college campus is about 7 hours (driving) away from home. So I didn't have my hair stylist anymore, which for me, was a problem. The area where I go to school is very suburban, so a hair/beauty store was not near by. Also, the hair salons near by are EXPENSIVE. I would only pay those prices one time lol. Where I live I only pay $55 for a relaxer, and so paying 3x that amount sounded ridiculous to me. Freshman year was transition attempt two. I would wait 10 or more weeks to relax my hair, then I would relax my hair myself. If not, I would let my mom do it like when I was little. Transition attempt two came to an end because my mom and I had numerous debates about whether or not I should relax my hair. All the commentary about "naps," "good hair," "looking professional," or looking "nappy," or "unkept" came up. So again, I gave in to the relaxer.

Phase 5: Successful Transition and the Hair Journey

A woman of strength and personal empowerment is who I strive to be!

Summer after Freshman year I had enough of the back and forth. I wanted my natural curls and that was it. Summer was the best time to transition because I was able to take the time to care for my hair: doing protective styles (we'll discuss later) adding moisture and NOT using heat. I started Sophomore year and I was well on my way. By December I was sick of dealing with the two hair textures (relaxed and 4b/c) so, I went to my dorm room and did the BIG CHOP! It was December 10th 2010 to be exact. I was SOOO scared, I wore a hat out my room! I had a TWA (teeny weeny afro) and I didn't know if my friends would think it was ugly. To my relief - it was well received! Since then, I haven't looked back. It's been a great 9 1/2 months of being natural! :)

Solange Knowles & her son :)

Be Big & Beautiful!
xoxo

My Stats/Hair Personality

Hey Wonderfuls!

What I commonly notice in a lot of hair care forums, YouTube channels related to natural hair, and hair blogs is that people are always curious about hair type*. So, since I am in the early stages of chronicling my hair journey, I thought I'd just put my hair stats out there for any of you who are interested

HAIR TYPE: basically, the texture of one's hair. Can vary from bone straight to kinky-coily. The best explanation for hair type/texture/classification can be found here: http://www.naturallycurly.com/hair-types

MY HAIR PERSONALITY:

I have multi-textured hair. For the most part, I am 4b, with a bit of 4c hair on my left and right temples. This means I have some very small "S" curls and a lot of kinks.  The nape of my head has 4a hair, which means pencil width "S" curls. As of now, my longest hairs are 5 1/2 inches, and my shortest hairs are 2 inches.

My hair shrinks to about half its length when air-dried, and dries very easily, which means it can break easily. (Combine that with HMHS, "Hands in My Hair Syndrome" lol - and hair just snaps off!)

Further Info: For any of you who would find this relevant, my hair is brown and black, but mostly brown haha. (I always get asked if I dye my hair - and I don't). Also, I am 3/4 black and 1/4 white.

So, here it is. Now that you've gotten to know my hair we can really dive into the "Hair Journey" together - it should be fun!

More To Come!

xoxo