Curl Pattern!

Hi all!

Now that I'm a full year into my transition, it's much easier to see my true curl pattern.

So I took a few strands out of my comb and laid them against a sheet of paper.

Here's my curl pattern nice and clear, it looks like a little bed spring! =)

Most of my spirals are around these sizes:

The really tight ones on the left and the ones that are a bit looser on the right.

And here they are with respect to the diameter of a pencil:

I don't know..I'd still say I'm probably a 3C?

It's exciting to see my natural curls for once and not the weighed-down curls that look like waves

or the curls I create with straws to blend the roots with the ends.

I can't wait to cut it!

Well, that's all for now.

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!



1 Year of Growth!!!

Hi all! I'm sorry for the hiatus! I just moved and started the teaching credential at a new school. On top of this, my computer decided to crash and is now out of commission for who knows how long.

Here's a quick hair growth update!

September 20th made it one year since my last relaxer!!! :)

I've got another year to go to hit my time goal. It flies by though, so I'm not too worried (yet.) Here are 2 quick pics of my new growth and of the point it reaches (my fingertips) when stretched!

Happy October! :)

Ethnic Background Does NOT Dictate Hair Type

Hi all!

I definitely frequent YouTube hair Vlogs more than I do hair blogs. After watching a video by MsAriella89 (LOVE her videos,) I found that I agreed with her position; your ethnic/racial makeup doesn't matter when it comes to your hair type. There's not a specific type of "biracial hair." You could be mixed and have the coiliest, kinkiest curls. Likewise, you might be born to two Black parents and have a head full of much looser ones. I decided to share how my sisters and I are a PERFECT example of this. Each of us has very different hair even though we have the same parents and come from the same ethnic background.

Here's the video MsAriella89 posted:

Here's my video response. It includes a very short Q&A session with my sisters:

Another look at our hair and hair types. 

Remember, this is my hair in a straw set. 

My natural curls are close to a 3C/4A.

Sister in the middle has 3B curls.

Sister on the far right has 2B curls/waves.

So again, there's no such thing as "biracial hair!" 

Individuals, regardless of their racial makeup, have different hair.

Finally Took Out my Flat Iron 11 Months Post-Relaxer

The 20th, it marked the 11-months post relaxer mark!
Since I consciously began transitioning to natural hair, I've only flat ironed my hair once.
What I mean by consciously is that after I got my last relaxer, I flat-ironed it for 2 weeks straight because I had not yet decided that relaxer would be my last.

I went to a house party thrown by my coworkers this past weekend and decided to try it again. So, this was my 2nd time flat ironing.

After I straightened everything, I curled my ends in with the same flat iron.

Doing this tends to camouflage any dry or split ends and makes my hair look even healthier.

Plus, I like the added volume/bounce.

I do like the look. A lot actually.
But, I'm not feelin all the time and effort it takes to get it this way.
It took approx. 3 hours from start to finish.
And for all that trouble..it came out in the humid house. -_-
I think I'll definitley rock this look again, but only if I'm spending the day somewhere.
Like at a museum or a park or something.
But I doubt I'll ever flat iron it for any type of party or night out dancing.
I'll just end up sweating it out, and that's not worth all the trouble to me.

In other news, I'm moving this weekend! So I'll be really busy. But I'll update as soon as I can!

Thanks for reading!
Until next time! =)

Feather Extensions For Curly Hair (Part 2)

Hi all!

I promised I'd try curling my feather extensions and share the results. Here's how they turned out:

Here's the same photos in the video for a better view. =)

A sidenote: This hair accessory is not my favorite thing ever, but after searching high and low for pictures and video of feathers for curly hair, I decided I'd give it a shot anyway for any curly-heads out there who might be curious. =)

 That's all for now! =)

CLICK HERE  to see the feathers in their natural, straight form.

4 Easy, Stylish Ways to Bun Your Transitioning Hair

I'm currently 10 1/2 months post relaxer. Woot! When I'm too lazy/tired to set my hair at night, or running short on time to do it in the morning, I don't want to sacrifice my transitioning hair to a boring bun. Here are 4 of my favorite ways to make a bun stylish in 10 minutes or less.

Feather Extensions For Curly Hair (Part 1) + Cute New Tank

Hi all!

It seems like one of the latest hair trends is feather extensions. A variety of different colored and sized feathers can be seen on celebrities from Hilary Duff to Jennifer Love Hewitt to Selena Gomez.

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. 

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. 

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. 

So I wondered...how would they look on curly  hair. And not just Taylor Swift curly, but super-tight, pencil or straw like circumference curls (or even tighter)? I searched and searched for examples online, but couldn't find anything. So I decided to go ahead and buy some on e-bay and give it a shot. These feathers can be washed, blow dried, curled or straightened and otherwise treated like your own hair. The way they're shown in these photos is before I altered them in any way. I intend to show you all how I curled them into tight little curls in a later post and video, but I actually (surprisingly) like how they look straight out of the package too! What do you think?

UPDATE: CLICK HERE to see the feathers after I curled them.

This weekend I also had the chance to debut my new natural hair top.
It was originally a large t-shirt that I modified into a tank. I love the way it came out.
Here's a photo of it on. Bad quality, but you get the idea.

Here's a close-up of the image detail.

I bought the t-shirt from Zazzle.com. They have several style, size and color options. Here's the link to the one I modified: http://www.zazzle.com/afros_are_love_tshirt-235225762294239588

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

That's all for now. =)

7 Tips for Long-Term Transitioners

Here are 7 tips gathered from personal experience that I wanted to share with you all. Enjoy. =)

A Few Henna Color/Tint Before & Afters

This video was made to serve as a resource for people with dark hair who want to know what their hair might look like after a henna treatment in terms of color and tint.  Sometimes the color is not as noticeable, regardless of whether you are outdoors or not, (the first 2 sets of photos) while other times it's much more apparent (the rest of the photos.) There's a wide range of possibility and it all depends on how your hair decides to act that day! haha. So for anyone out there curious to try henna for color, take a look!

PS. At 2:33, the video cuts out for some reason. :/ The part that got cut off was me trying to say "Depending on how much lemon juice you add or don't add, that will determine how much the red tint will pop."

I have a lot more planned for upcoming videos that I will be posting here, including revealing what a full year of my new growth looks like, an attempt at feather hair extensions for transitioners/naturals, and my first try at a "satin scarf" braidout. Will that solve my straggly end problem? Be on the lookout for those!

I hope you're all enjoying your summer! And thanks so much for reading. =)

10-months Post Relaxer

Hi all!

I'm officially a University of California, Riverside alumnus. It feels so strange!

I wore a straw set  to the ceremony (surprise!)  

I had to practice getting the damn mortarboard hat to stay put, but it ended up working out.

I didn't even get "hat hair!" =) 

Click Here For My Straw Set Tutorial

It's been ten months since my last relaxer and my hair has grown a lot.

I gauge it's length by how many "dips" or "waves" I can count.

I'm not ready to lose so much length yet, and I don't really have a plan on when I'm thinking of doing the Big Chop. So for now, I'm just waiting it out, straw setting and getting excited about the progress.

@2 months:

@ 10 months:

@ 4 months:

@ 10 months

In other news: My boyfriend's parents are flying in to CA from Maryland and they have a lot planned for us.

So this coming week, I'll be with them at their time share on a (much needed) mini-vacation!

Look for twitter updates on that. =)

That's all for now!

Happy first week of Summer!

Done.

Sunday I'm walking that stage. =)

Almost 9 months Post & Less Than 2 Months Until...

Hiiiii!

It's MAY! That means:

I am almost done with school. I graduate June 12th. 

It came and went way fast.

It's scary and sad and exciting all at once. 

But this also means I'm going to be super busy 

with finals and graduation and post-grad stuff.

So bear with me if I don't update for a while! 

I'm sorry in advance if I'm highly MIA for the next month or so.

Something else that has come and gone super fast: 

it's been almost nine months since my last relaxer!!!

And the more my hair grows in at the roots, 

the fuller my straw set turns out.

The bigger my hair gets, the more I love it. =)

(I don't know why I formatted this post so poem-like. Haha!)
That's all for now! I'll check in as soon as I can.
Thank you all for reading & keeping up with me! =)


Click Here For My Straw Set Tutorial

Easter Weekend

I hope everyone had as nice an Easter weekend as I did, regardless of whether you celebrate or not! =)

  The weekend started off with a trip to Malibu for my boyfriend's photography class. His assignment was to take 400 total headshots from 2 different "models." 100 indoors and 100 outdoors for each one. So of course, over the course of the weekend he enlisted my help for said assignment! Haha. Here are some photos from that first day on a fresh straw set. I kind of gave my hair more of a shape with some all-around layers and longer pieces in the front. You can sort of tell in these 2 shots:

The following day (Saturday) we headed to Six Flags-Magic Mountain. I LOVE rollercoasters!!! Unfortunately, we picked a bad weekend. I didn't realize it was Spring Break for most schools since I had my Spring Break 3 weeks ago. -_- That meant long lines. Nevertheless, we both had a lot of fun.

You can really see the cut I gave myself in this candid that Ryan (boyfriend) took. You can also see the color in the sunlight from the henna treatment. Look at it against my black top to get a better idea.

 Here are some more shots from Easter Sunday on a 3-day old straw set and after my hair being wind-whipped from riding roller coasters the day before:

I've finally figured out a method of shampooing my hair that doesn't get it all matted and tangled up in the process. I had to find a method ASAP because now that my hair has 7 months of new growth, it's gotten so easy for that to happen. I wouldn't call it a "pre-poo" method, as I understand that to mean applying oils and other products, (I don't want to deal with all that) but it is in a sense that it's something I'm doing before I shampoo. Really, I just add a a whole lot of conditioner to my whole head, detangle the hair that way and then rinse out the conditioner. After that, I braid my hair into two chunky pigtails, and shampoo my scalp with the braids still in it. It keeps the hair from getting all nasty and knotted up, and cleanses it just the same. After I'm done shampooing, I rinse the lather off down the braids and then apply conditioner. While the conditioner is in, I undo the braids, comb out/detangle my hair in the shower and resume my other routine showerly duties. I'll maybe do a short video on that later.

Anywho, that's all for now!

Hello to my new followers & thanks for keeping up with me as I document this thing! 

Have a great week! =)

Click Here For My Straw Set Tutorial

Henna Round 2

Hi there!

So I decided to give henna a try again. This time, I left it in for 3 hours instead of just 45 minutes. I mixed some olive oil and conditioner into the henna for extra conditioning. It worked this time, as I noticed a difference in how soft my hair felt when I washed the stuff out. I'll probably keep doing periodic henna treatments. I also added some lemon juice to bring out the color. I felt like switching it up a bit..and my hair now has an auburn-tint in the sunlight and is a lighter brown indoors.

Indoors:

I flat ironed my hair for the first time in 6 months just because I wanted a little more length than when it's all curled up, and I was craving the sleek look. However, I washed it out after one day because i wasn't really feeling it anymore. I like my hair much better curly now.

Here's my pressed  hair and curly hair outdoors after henna.

I like the new tint. =)

That's all for now! =)

A Few Snips!

Hi all!

This is the first week back to school from Spring Break. I'm off to my FINAL undergraduate semester ever!

I chopped a few pieces of hair throughout my head in random places because I really just wanted to see the curl without the weight of the relaxed ends. It's a lot shorter without them!

It's very curly! Much different from the waves, like the ones in the previous post, that I'm used to seeing now. I want to use these pieces to gauge the ACTUAL length of my hair. When these pieces get to somewhere I'm comfortable with, that's when I'll chop the remaining ends off!

I have also noticed since now I have 6 months of new growth, my roots are really making my straw sets appear much, much fuller than they did when most of my hair was still relaxed. 

I LOVE it though! It's more natural-looking.<3

November 2010

March 2011

That's all for now! Thanks for checking in! Enjoy the rest of the week!


Click Here For My Straw Set Tutorial

Sushi & A Hair Growth Update

Hi all!

This week came and went so fast! I now officially have one quarter left of my undergraduate career! Eek! I wrapped up the quarter with some kayaking in San Diego and by finally satisfying the monster sushi craving I've had for the last month or so. I'm down for sushi any day, any time. <3 LOVE.

It's been six months since my last relaxer. When I used to get relaxers regularly, there were several times that I'd stretch the relaxer for six months. So, next a week, it will officially be the longest I have ever gone without one. Here's another growth update, and a better look at the curl pattern that's coming in. I can finally see a definite "s" pattern. =)

That's all for now! Thanks for reading. =) I'll check in again soon!

Henna!!

Oh my goodness!!! Hi!!! I have been super busy and I've also been without a computer for some time. Finally, I have the time...and the resource to post again!

I'm still doing straw sets, as you can tell from the birthday weekend photos. I've also been bunning a lot because of volleyball and out of sheer laziness to set my hair at night. Haha! It's just so easy to not set my hair at night and just wake up, co-wash, and throw it in a bun. I've been alternating the buns though from high on the crown of my head, to low at the nape of my neck, or low and to the side. I don't want my hair getting used to being in one spot and breaking from the hair ties.

I tried henna! It was a mess! I honestly didn't see much of a difference in the way my hair felt at all. I think though, that may be due to the fact that I was in a hurry and didn't leave it on long enough. I will try it again sometime and hope for better results. Here's a photo of the henna(I mixed it with conditioner for extra moisture and some lemon juice to make the red color pop up in my hair more than it normally would), garbage-bag protective vest I made for myself (Hey, you gotta improvise! haha!) a photo of my hair all henna-d up before rinsing, and an after shot of the results! There is no before shot because I figure you all have seen enough photos of my hair already! ;)

I also bought a bunch of new products! One is the Hello Hydration conditioner that everyone raves about. And I must say, I see more results from it than from the henna! I also bought the 3-minute miracle deep conditioner by Aussie and plan to use that on my hair with a shower cap for about an hour (even though it's supposed to work in just 3 minutes) and see what it does. I will definitely update you all on that!

I want to say hello to my new followers as I have acquired a couple more since I've been gone! Thanks for tagging along on my journey! Be sure to stop by and talk to me every now and then! =) That is all for now! More regular updates, since my computer is no longer out of commission. Have a wonderful weekend!