The Aftermath...updated

I just thought I'd share a picture of how my hair looks now that I have taken out the braids.

Before                                      After

  

I'm gonna wash it, and then flat iron it.  I will come back with a photo.

I'm back...

So this is how it looked once I washed it (yes I had to deal with that tangled mess!)

First Part blow dried 

Fully blow dried (glad that's over, but still to flat iron)

All Done!

 It took me all day long...I will never leave 16 weeks between a relaxer again.  It is just too much tangles and knots to deal with.

Blessings
Naddy x

Shea Butter Mix

My parents visited Ghana a couple of years ago and brought back a big block of the yellow Shea butter for my sister and I to share.  This has been sitting in my room in a paper bag since then.  The other day, I remembered I had it and  remembered that I could mix it up and use it in my hair.  So I went out and bought a hand mixer from Argos for about £5 and decided to make this stuff up.  I remembered that Naptural85 had a video on her mix, so I used the method that she demonstrates in her video.  I didn't have all the oils that she mentioned, but I just made use of what I had.  Anyhow, I used Castor Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Argan Oil, Avocado Oil and Peppermint Oil (for fragrance).

All the additional ingredients I used in the Shea Butter Mix

I had to vary the measures of the ingredients somewhat, as the consistency was a little stiff the first time round. So, I mixed away until it was the consistency I liked and put it into old jars. I gave some to my mum (who likes to think that she is on a hair journey - bless her!) and some to my little sister (who is natural and on a hair journey).

My hair is in braids right now, so I will not be using it until about the beginning of next month. In the meantime, I'm going to make the 'everyday' version that Naptural85 makes in the video.

Blessings
Naddy x

Another Video - Kinky Twists

Yes, another one.  I was on a roll and decided to film again.  As you can probably tell from the title, I have filmed another video, but this time of me doing kinky twists.  The video was a little disorganised, cos I took me soooo long to do it.  I started at 4pm on Saturday and went right through to 3am on Sunday.  Plus I had a couple 'little ones' to look after too, which really did affect my ability to do it.  On Sunday, I put my braids up into a high bun to cover the middle section that was unfinished, just so I could go to church.  Then I spent the next 3 hours with my mum doing the middle portion.

I am planning to keep my hair in for about 6 weeks and then do some other braids.

My first Video - wash day

Hey everyone, I have finally bitten the bullet and gone through the arduous process of recording and editing a video.  This one shows me applying deep conditioner, drying and moisturising my hair.  No heat was used as this is my typical routine for a wash day.  The video is agreeably a little choppy, but I will do better next time.  My hair is 8 weeks post relaxer and I am planning to go 12-16 weeks before I re-touch my new growth.

I was inspired by sistawithrealhair, on youtube to experiment.  On one half of my hari, I applied the conditioner to wet hair and on the other half I applied it to dry hair.  Once rinsed out, my hair felt just a little smoother on the 'dry hair' side, however on airdrying, my hair felt bushier and more wild on the 'dry hair' side, so the jury is still out on that one

Hope you enjoy

Blessings
Naddy x

I'm on Twitter!

So I decided to join the bandwagon and get on twitter!

My twitter name is Textured Strands

Come and join me.

Blessings
Naddy x

I finally dyed my hair!

I have been wanting to dye my hair for such a long time and this morning I finally did it.  YAY!  I used the 'Adore' hair dye in 'Wild Cherry'.  I was a little nervous about the colour, but it turned out really nice IMO.  Please be aware that this post is picture heavy. :D

Apparatus used : Hair dye/applicator bottle, gloves, old t-shirt (for drying hair), old clothes, wide tooth comb, plastic cap, hooded dryer, blow dryer, and  a lot of PATIENCE!

Products used: Adore hair dye in Wild cherry, Hollywood Beauty Castor oil, Aussie 3 minute reconstructer, HE Hello Hydration, Organix Pomegranete Shampoo, aPHogee keratin and green tea reconstructuriser, Virgin Coconut Oil, ORS oil moisturiser, ORS smooth-n-hold pudding.

Firstly I shampooed my hair with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo, I then towel dried my hair and split it into four sections.  I then took the castor oil and applied it around my hairline and ears to protect my skin.

I added the dye to my hair in sections starting with the front two sections.  I added the dye liberally layer by layer, parting my hair and saturating the strands in the dye then rubbing it through.  The bottle did say to comb it through, but I just rubbed it in instead.  I then added the dye to the back two sections but less liberally.  I was running out of dye and wanted to make sure that there was colour all over.  I think next time I will need two bottles.

  

I then covered my hair with a plastic cap and sat under the dryer for about 15 minutes.  This was the recommended maximum processing time for the dye.

I then rinsed out my hair with luke-warm water about three times, shampooed with Organix pomegrane shampoo.  The water was still quite red, but I figured that if I continued to wash my hair, all the colour would come out. Lastly I added Herbal Essenses Hello Hydration conditioner to my saturated hair.  I had no leave in conditioner, so that was my make shift leave in conditioner.    I then t-shirt dryed my hair, and a whole lot of dye came out on the t-shirt!  But this is how my hair looked.

    

Next I added the aPHogee Keratin and Green Tea reconstructer and combed it through.  As a heat protectant, I used Virgin Coconut Oil and I blow dried my hair.  After blow-drying my hair I moisturised with ORS Moisturiser and then gave my hair a well needed trim.  I LOVE IT.  I know it is not a great picture, but I have to use my phone and I have no-one to help me take the pictures.  

I put my hair into flat twists for the night, I used some of the ORS Smooth and hold pudding to help set the curls.  And here is how it turned out:

PS.  Dyeing/colouring your hair is messy - wear gloves old clothes and put down newspaper to avoid messing up your bathroom.

I sometimes wish I was natural

I have said this many times before, but never committed it to paper.  I sometimes wish I was natural.  Both my sisters and my mum is natural, I also have friends who are natural.  When I see bloggers/youtubers like Naputral85, SimplYounique and FusionofCultures, I look at their hair and the styles they do and get a bit of hair envy.  I sometimes wish I could wear a wash and go or do a braid out with volume and lift, but alas, that is not my portion.  I have relaxed hair.  Are we now the minority?  I do believe that the balance is shifting and more and more people are opting to cut off or grow out their chemically processed hair, to embrace their natural curls.

I started my hair journey in 2010, about 6 months after I relaxed my hair.  Prior to that I was natural for about 6 years, and transitioned from relaxed to natural without even realising.  I had just decided to stop relaxing my hair.  Had I known then what I know now, I probably would not have relaxed in 2009/2010 and just stayed natural, learning how to do my hair.  When I was natural, I would go to the hair dressers to get my hair hot-combed every 6 weeks, but found that my hair was thinning, and so I decided to relax to get the straight look without the constant heat.  We live and we learn.

I have now decided, that I am in it for the long haul.  I will try to grow my hair to MBL as a relaxed lady and then, when I become pregnant with my first child, I will transition for about 6 months and then do the big chop. Sounds like a plan to me!

Blessings
Naddy x

Relaxer Day - May 2012

I finally did it on Thursday 24.05.12 I relaxed my hair - whoop whoop!  It was a little unplanned, I called my friend and asked her to do it for me on the spur of the moment.  She was reluctant because she didn't want to do anything wrong - but I took that as a good sign, meaning that she would be even more careful and not be 'gung-ho' about it.  Despite her reluctance I think she did a really good job.

Two weeks before I planned to relax I washed my hair and did the ApHogee 2 step treatment to build up the strength in my hair prior to a chemical service. About 12 days later I was desperate to relax my hair but had no one to do it so I washed and blow dried my hair.  I haven't blow dried in since my last relaxer 4 months ago.

This time I used the Optimum Care Relaxer and I really liked this one.  My hair did get a bit tangled when I put the final thing in, I think it is called the leave-in, but this may be the way it was applied, or because I used too much.  However I am not put off I will try it again on my next relaxer day.  I will relax at 3 months post next time I think (So maybe the end of August), 4 months is just a bit too long of a stretch as my hair becomes unmanageable.

Now my hair is relaxed it is soo much more obvious that I need a trim, but I don't want the hairdresser to be scissor happy and cut off all my hard work.  What do I do?  Anyway, I am closer to my goal, I am grazing BSL and grazing line no. 6 on the hair length t-shirts.

  

My goal is to be full MBL or line no.9 on the length check t-shirt.  I am pleased with my progress because I am on my way there.  I think that I have about 18 months of growing left to get there.  It has taken me 2 years to get from shoulder length to here, so I think that is about right.

In preparation for bed I wrapped my hair to see if I could get some body in the morning, didn't really work for me though.  My hair is so limp when it is freshly relaxed.  I recon that when I wash in a week, I will have the body back.  Not least because I won't be blow drying or flat ironing my hair.  Or I could try a roller set - yeah right, pull the other one.  LOL.

PS.  My sister saw my hair the next day and asked me if I had a piece in my hair - when I proudly declared that it was my own hair, she said it looks like weave.  I quickly retorted - who would get a weave this bad!  IMO the ends look awful and need trimming.  Plus when my mum saw my hair, she said I look like a white girl! I was not offended, I was just shocked. I guess I have got to expect this kind of thing.

Anyway, if you are interested in how I will be styling my hair, please let me know.  Enjoy your day

Blessings x

Update

So I had my hair in braids for about 4 weeks, and it was looking rough so I decided to take 'em all out.  So On Saturday 5/05/12 I took out my braids and washed my hair.  This was a mess, because I had newgrowth and the demakation line was just messing with my emotions!  I waited a week and decided to do the aPHogee 2 step protein treatment on Tuesday 15/05/12 in time for my relaxer at the end of May.  I decided then to blow out my hair in order to make the application process for relaxing a lot more straight forward.  I don't usually blow dry my hair, but my roots were really tangled and craving a blow dry.  Here is a look at my hair blowdried.  I will update you with the relaxer pics and length check when I relax next weekend.

I have been moisturising each night with s-curl and sealing with grapeseed oil (I have run out of my beloved olive oil).  During the day I have been wearing it in buns and that's it really.  I oil my scalp every couple of days or as needed and massage in the oil.

I won't wash my hair again now until I relax, this will mean I have waited 11 days to relax my hair after the last wash.  I will be sure to come back with an update.

Braids, Braids, Long Braids

So, you will probably know that I am bored of my hair now, I have been saying so for quite some time, and I just spontaneously decided to put my hair in extensions.  I had a packet of Khanekelon (not too sure how to spell it) hair left over from some braids that I did some time ago.  On Bank Holiday Monday (09/04/2012), two days after my wash day, I decided to put in braids, waist length braids.  This took quite some time, I started at about 10.30am and was not finished at 7pm, but I had run out of hair.  I knew this would happen so I only left a section in the middle and put my hair into a bun so that I could go to work on Tuesday.  Below you can see a few pics whilst i was installing the braids

Right side braided in progress

Close up of left side braids

Better capture of back braids

So here are a few pics of my hair now that it is done and some styles I have worn too!

One large fat canerow

High Bun braids

High bun - parting pattern visible

To look after my hair, I spray it with a mixture of water, HE conditioner and olive oil - daily, sometimes twice a day, depending on how dry it is.  I also oil the scalp every few days or as needed.  I cover it every night with a scarf, and that's about it.  I'll probably do my first wash after 2-3 weeks.

I am planning on keeping my hair in for about 5-6 weeks, so that should take me to the middle of may.  I'll then do a protein treatment then relax at the end of May, followed by a well needed trim.  I'll be sure to update you.

Till next time
Blessings
Naddy x

Hair Doctor?

So yesterday, my colleague comes up to me and says 'I hear you're the hair doctor'.  I was like 'really? who told you that?'  So it seems that my manager, to whom I gave some haircare advice (when she asked), has told another colleague to come to me for hair care advice.  Now I don't really see myself as the 'hair doctor', but with all this information that is out here that I keep reading, I can say that I know a tiny bit more than some other people.  She was asking how to strengthen her hair as it keeps falling out, which I translated to breakage.  I suggested black tea rinse and castor oil and to keep her hair moisturised.  She says that she doesn't use heat on her hair and for now she has put her hair in braids.  She is a little reluctant to do the BTR.  What can you guys suggest?

Hair for the week - Twists

So I am still getting bored of my hair, and I wasn't too sure what to do with it.  I wanted a protective style that was low manipulation and would last for the week.  I asked my friend and she gave me a load of suggestions: Bun, braid-out, updo, cornrows, twits.  I went with the twists.  My intention was to get my hair done in 1 hour - WRONG! took me the best part of 3.5 hours!  I didn't get to bed until 1.30am today because I was doing my hair, and when the alarm went off at 6am, I really did not want to get up - so I didn't

Anyway - have a look below at the style that I created. 

I think that next time, instead of finding a hairstyle of the week, I will find a hairstyle of the month and just put my hair into braided extensions again.  I have had enough.  Relaxer day is not until 25th May when I will be 16 weeks post, and my hair is getting hard of hearing! 

Blessings

Naddy x

Hair for the week

Well my last post was about how bored I was with my hair.  Yesterday was wash day and today was Church, so I had my hair in a side swept twist out that I turned into a textured side bun with rolled fringe - forgot to take a pic sorry!  But then I thought to myself, what can I do with my hair today so that it will last the week?  and then the answer came - The same hairstyle only in canerows.  Now I am not the greatest at canerowing and I know that I need practice, but after spending the best part of an hour on my hair, it better last me.  See below for some pics that I took close ups and the finished product.

Another view of unfinished style from back

Unfinished style - subject to change

Side with head band

Finished from back with head band

 Below are just a few closeups of the finished style.

And that's it!

Blessings
Naddy x

I'm bored of my hair

I am currently 7 weeks post relaxer (will be on 24th) and I just don't know what to do with my hair.  I need a style that I can keep in my hair for a week, because I still want to wash weekly.  I can't really be bothered to put in extensions right now, but I don't want to manipulate my hair too much by combing though it every day to style it.  My hair is really thick, not least because I have not used heat on my hair after washing, but I have thick hair anyway.

If I do figure out something I will let you know.  Wash day is on Sat, we'll see what I come up with, if anything.

Blessings
Naddy x

Heatless Length Check and Wash day!

My hair length t-shirt arrived! I got it from the shop at justgrowalready.com, I really wanted the green one, but that didn't come in the size I wanted :(  It says 'my hair is my hobby' and that is such a true statement for me.  I also got one for my sis who is natural, her's says 'loving my kinks, coils and curls' and is in red.  She is really pleased with it. My other sister want's one now, but I told her she has to be on a 'hair journey' otherwise it's a no-no.  We'll see whether she's committed!

I washed my hair today too.  This time I decided to omit the PPO to see if that was contributing to my itchy head.  So far - no itching, but I'll see how it goes throughout the week.  To start I mixed up ORS hair mayonnaise and EVOO, put that on my hair and put on a plastic cap, left it on for 30 mins whilst I fumbled around the house.



I washed it out and conditioned with HE Hello Hydration, then did the t-shirt drying method.  This pic on the right is with my hair dripping wet immediately after coming out of the shower.  I let it air-dry all day in a pony tail as I had to run some errands.  When I came home I put on my length check t-shirt to see what line my hair dries out at.  Sorry I didn't think to put on the length check t-shirt when my hair was wet, so this is not a very good comparison.




As you can see in both pics both dripping wet and bone dry, I suffer with very frizzy hair, I don't know what to do to lay down my cuticles.  I did do a black tea rinse last week, maybe I should make that part of my regime and see how that works out.

Till next time...

Blessings
Naddy x

Totally Not Hair Related

The Phone I had for 3 years

YAY!!!! My new phone arrived today :D and I am so excited - yes I am behind with the times, because I am only just getting a smartphone, but I am super satisfied with it.  I got a Samsung Galaxy s2.  My dad called it a brick...but what does he know eh???!!  (TBH it is rather large, but I won't admit that to him!).  I had my old phone a Sony Ericsson W995 for about 3 years, so it was high time I upgraded.  I did actually want the iPhone, but I just can't afford that right now.  Anyways, I'm off to discover the
wonders of the smartphone.

The Phone I received

Blessings
Naddy x

Update 24.03.12

So I sent my phone back, and borrowed my nephew's phone, however, I lost it the day I got it - oops, so I had no phone for about 4 days, then I went to the shop and got a new one - under limited duress (I knew I shouldn't have signed up to the 24 month contract, but did so anyway), and I have found so many things with the phone that I don't like anymore.  I am really regretting my decision and have to live with it for the next 2 years.  I now have the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray.  But I just have to keep telling myself 'it's only a phone, not life or death'

The lesson here is:  Don't make snap decisions and always go with your gut.  I hope I remember this.

Blessings
Naddy x

Why is my head itching?

Itchy Scalp!

My head is itching me like crazy and I don't know why (I washed and deep conditioned on Sat).  Well my hair does usually itch me, but not to this extent. Last night I decided to put my hair in a load of chunky twists, and see if that would last me as a protective style for the rest of the week until my wash-day on Friday/Saturday.  I greased my scalp with Castor Oil mixed with Peppermint Oil.  Don't know if that was the culprit, but I'll keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

Any help or advice that you may have would be greatly appreciated


Blessings
Naddy x