Okay, so I’m thinking about cutting my hair. I’m getting ready for the summer (because I don’t deal well with winters and would rather skip over it) and I’m already thinking about my summer style. Although I love my hair length now, whenever it gets kinda lengthy, I start thinking about cutting my hair. So here it is. This is what I want.

Things I’m thinking about for my cut:

- Is it going to be wash and go or can I go overnight? – I’m thinking I want both.

- Will it be long enough on the top to twist? – Yes, it has to be long enough for twists, then if I want it low, I can pat it down.

- Do I have to use gel? – Because I would like *not* to have to do it, but might consider a butter cream with a little hold.

- How long do I plan on maintaining this look? – I’m thinking maybe the summer, then let it grow out for the winter then do it all again!

[Photo: le coil]

Style: I braided after washing, then let it out.

This is me now! It’s been a while, huh?

I’m not good at blogging, especially when I have to take pictures …AND… when I have work and kids and school …AND… offline life stuff. But Conscious Beauty reminded me that I need to get back to it, so here I am.

During my unofficial leave, I was using Qhemet Biologics’ Burdock Root Butter Cream and my hair has never ever been healthier or better. WOW. No split ends. No breakage.

Washing My Hair: What’s Changed

What I’ve also found helpful is that I wash my hair without shampoo. The few times that I’ve washed it with shampoo, it didn’t turn out so great. Okay, it was horrible. Even with SLS-free shampoo. Yes, it took out the dirt, but it also took out all of the natural oils on my hair and made my cuticles stand up. It was hard to get my hair to feel good again and I ended up using waaaaaay too much of the butter cream to try to moisturize it again. So what I now do is wash with just straight aloe vera gel.

At first I tried doing the conditioner wash as some others have done, but it left my hair half clean. So I tried the aloe vera gel, put it on my roots, made sure to rub it in nice and good, then washed each section out well. My scalp was soooooo clean! I remember being at the salon and they would use shampoo two or three times trying to get it that clean (maybe because they kept focusing on getting it sudsy instead of cleaning my scalp). So it seems as if I’ve found something that works for my hair.

Qhemet Biologics

I’m such a fan-girl now. They’re having a sale today and I bought their Amla & Olive Heavy Cream instead of the Burdock Root Butter Cream because my hair is way too thick and tightly coiled. It was drinking the product (plus my shampoo made my hair suck it up even faster) so I’m going to try the heavier cream instead. I also ordered the Amla Oil Nourishing Pomade for my ends and in-between days. The Burdock Root works well though and I’m gonna miss it.

I’m excited and it shouldn’t be long before I get it in the mail. Big thanks to Conscious Beauty for sending it to me across the border (saves me $15 on shipping!!!). YAY!

Update: I still think Live Clean is the best shampoo I’ve tried to date, so I’m not knocking shampoos. I’ll use it if I go swimming and need to get the chlorine out. But through trial and error, I’ve found what works for my hair and I’ll stick to aloe vera gel for now.

My friend at Conscious Beauty brought me some of this Burdock Root Butter Cream to try and at first I wasn’t sure if I needed it. So I tried it on my kids (why not experiment on them, right?). I can see now why the product is sold out!! I took a little dollop of the cream and wet the hair a little, then spread it all around. The baby, who’s hair on the top of his head usually can’t hold a curl, actually looked really nice and curly. And it wasn’t greasy or sticky. The cream is very light and doesn’t flake (which really really irritates me when creams do that).

So then I tried it on myself, but while my hair was dry. And surprisingly, even then, it still did a decent job of moisturizing and taking a little bit of the frizz out. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a frizz hater. Frizz can be really good depending on the kind of style you’re wearing (especially if you want it big) but at the time I had most of my hair curly, and the top part was starting to lose its curl. It did make the top part seem like it was a part of the style and not some separate thing all together, which is what I was trying to achieve.

My next goal is to try using it just after washing instead of the coconut oil I sometimes use now. I love love love coconut oil but it can be a little too greasy for me (and my pillows).

[Image: Newly Natural]

But they’re not of me. There are some wonderful people out there rocking some beautiful natural hair styles and showing us that being gorgeous means you love your hair and work it like a model!

Chestnut Orange gave some link love to le coil, so thanks to her for showing me the way.

Here are some pictures from le coil:

Subscribe to their feed!

Written by Anti-Racist Parent editor Tami Winfrey Harris

- While I believe that hatred for natural hair is bad, I also believe that women have a right to control their own bodies and appearance. Sometimes we want to try a different style or color, just for fun. But I can’t help wondering, as I watch Tyra Banks with her hair cornrowed especially for this episode, what message black women who constantly relax and weave and wig send to black girls. It is disengenuous of Banks to point to her braids to show her young guest that a black supermodel and media mogul is proud of her black hair, when in reality, Tyra would never rock those rows on the red carpet. When Banks is looking “fierce,” she’s usually sporting a long, straight blondish weave or wig. Everyone “tsk tsked” at the little black girl who loves her Hannah Montana wig because she thinks it is prettier than her real hair, but doesn’t grown-up Tyra do pretty much the same thing?

How can black mothers, most of whom, like Tyra, straighten or hide their natural hair, demonstrate to their daughters that curly to kinky hair can be just as beautiful in its natural state as that of other races? I am not asking this to be confrontational. I honestly am interested in hearing from black moms who perm their hair. What are the steps you take to ensure your child does not absorb the belief that straight is better? How do you address what your child may see as a contradiction: “Honey, natural black hair is beautiful, but none of the women in our family wear their hair naturally, because…”

Read the rest here…

Originally posted at Conscious Beauty by Kaye

Check out the video from EmpressRi for her review on Qhemet Biologics.  It was her review that got me motivated enough to go buy this stuff. Back in February, I did a post about my journey to obtain a few Qhemet Biologics products.  We are now at the end of April, meaning that I’ve been using QB for two months now.  I feel comfortable with writing a review that I won’t later regret or have second thoughts on.  As mentioned in the previous post, Qhemet Biologics can be difficult to get your hands on, depending on whether the website has it or not.  I bought four items and have used them ever since, so I feel comfortable sharing my experience with what I’ve been putting in my hair.  Here’s the review:

Egyptian Wheatgrass Cleansing Tea- The lavender scent is the first thing you notice when you open the bottle.  It is a SLS-free, clarifying, gentle shampoo.  I like it, I do, but for $13 per bottle, I’m not completely sold.  I can see myself trying something else after I finish it.

Cocoa Tree Detangling Ghee-I can not see myself without this product.  It works wonderfully at detangling, and it smells like chocolate.  It makes dry combing a breeze, especially if you use a Denman brush.  My hair feels baby soft after adding this product to it. I think it would be great for anyone who doesn’t want to wet their hair just to comb it without pain.  It has definitely helped with combing out my daughter’s tangles.

Olive & Honey Hydrating Balm- It really does feel just like honey.  I am somewhat divided on this product.  It does exactly what it claims:  it moisturizes.  My hair is so shiny and moisturized that it looks like it’s still wet even when it isn’t.  And it does all this without letting my hair look limp.  My small issue with the product is that it really does look, feel and smell like some olive oil and honey whipped together.  It has the consistency of honey, with the hue of olive oil.  I can’t help but look at it and think, “I can make this.”  A jar of it will last forever, but when it runs out, I plan to whip up my own batch.  It is best to use O&HHB when your hair is still wet or damp after washing.  You don’t want to put this stuff in everyday between washes else it will get tacky/gummy.

Amla & Olive Heavy Cream-This product is QB’s best seller.  I bought the Heavy Cream because I didn’t want to keep conditioner in my hair in order to keep my curls weighed down.  I needed something that was as thick as conditioner, but preferably without all the chemicals.  My co-worker, who turned me on to Qhemet, warned me that the Amla & Olive Heavy Cream is very, very thick.  It is.  It is thicker than the richest conditioner you can call to mind.  Not every one can handle the richness of the heavy cream, which is why the company introduced the Burdock Root Butter Cream.  I don’t own that one, but have heard good things about it.

I use the products individually, depending on my hair need of the day.  When I am wearing my hair curly, I use them together.  I take out a portion of the Ghee, Hydrating Balm and Heavy Cream and mix it thoroughly.  Then I take my little mixture into the shower with me and use it in the place of a conditioner.  I leave it in (this stuff is expensive, do not wash it out!) and wrap my hair in my curl-ease towel.  By the time I unwrap, I have perfect curls that stay defined and silky.  Hooray!

http://www.qhemetbiologics.com/

In viewing my stats, most people come here for my review of Curly Pudding or for my use of olive oil in my hair.

I just wanted to update you on a few things. Since I’ve started this blog, I’ve tried a few products, including natural ones, and some of them I still use, some of them I don’t. Here’s what has changed since I’ve started this blog:

• Olive Oil: I found it to be heavy on my hair after a while. I think this was because whatever repair my hair needed, it happened and the olive oil was no longer needed. I now use it as a treatment only, which may be once a year.
• Vinegar: I no longer use it as I found that it was mainly good for getting rid of dandruff and once it did that, I really didn’t need to use it anymore.
• Shampoo (sulfate free): I didn’t use it before but now I do. I shampoo only once, making sure to get my scalp primarily.  It strips my hair of valuable oil so I don’t overdo it. I use Live Clean shampoo.
• Conditioner: I didn’t use it before but now I do. I use Blended Beauty’s Quenching Conditioner.
• Aloe Vera Gel: I didn’t use it before but now I do. I use it to detangle my hair and put the balance back in my pH levels. It’s really great for my hair and makes it so easy to style. Since I’ve been using it, I haven’t had any split ends. NONE. Any regular AV gel will do, online or at the natural food store.
• Hair oil: I don’t use any hair oil anymore. There’s no need. I find all the moisture I need from not using heat, keeping my scalp and hair pH balanced, which would be slightly acidic between 4.5 and 5.5 on the pH scale, and using silk/satin pillows or scarf. Plus oils only coat the hair, they don’t really moisturize.
• Combs: I no longer use. I use a Denman brush instead. If I want to part a straight line, I still have to use a comb, but only after it’s been fully detangled with the brush.
• Curly Pudding: Won’t touch it. Ever. Again. My review was much nicer, but seriously, the ingredients in that product make me run for the hills. So no, after using it that one time and having to spend months to repair my hair (hence use of olive oil), it is NOT for me.
• Blended Beauty’s Butter Creme: Nope. Don’t use that either. It wasn’t as damaging as the ‘Pudding’ but still, I don’t do styles that would support that type of product.
• SOMA Solace Anti-frizz serum: I still use it occasionally when I want to reshape my curls.

So there you have it, some much needed updates to my hair care routine. I’ve had this blog up for a little over 6 months and have had over 10,000 views. To me, that says a lot.

So thanks to all of those who comment and participate here and around the natural hair care community. I have found so much support and tons of resources that would have been too hard to find offline.

So, I did the flat twists as demonstrated by Ms. Curly Chronicles herself, and I have to say that I’m quite surprised by the result. I wore it in the flat twists for two days because I liked the way it looked on me. Then when it was starting to get fuzzy, I let it out. It looks very nice to me. I like it a lot.

This is a style I’ll have to keep in my top faves.

For this style, I did it just like the previous two, but I prepared my hair a little differently. I think that my hair is not as tense as it was before because I’m using products that it likes and because of the way I’ve been treating it. I have a routine now and am very gentle with my hair. Since I’ve read Mixed Girl Curls, I’ve learned how to be more careful with handling my hair. My texture is much more coiled than hers but the principles behind what she’s saying applies to all types of curls, not just loose ones.

Here’s what I do: I wash with SLS-free shampoo once (no rinse and repeat), put conditioner in it and rinse. Then I put aloe vera gel in there as a detangler. I brush out medium sections while in the shower and get rid of excess aloe vera by light rinsing. Then I twist and put in a perm rod. This time I let it air dry for two days (I was sick so I had no energy). Then I let it all out.

So I tried to do the twists and foam rods again, but instead I ended up buying medium sized perm rods. I took the advice over at Curly Chronicles and Mixed Girl Curls to keep the stress on my hair to a minimum.

Here’s what I did:

• I washed my hair using pH 4-5.5 shampoo without Sodium Laureth/Lauryl Sulfate (basically a mild shampoo without harsh soapy chemicals)
• I only put the shampoo on my scalp and shampooed only once
• I put in lots of Aloe Vera gel and allowed it to soak a little
• I took a brush and combed though sections of my hair starting from the ends and worked my way up
• I squeezed the excess aloe vera out then twisted each section to keep it detangled until I got out the shower (don’t rinse the aloe out)

To finish the style, I took each section out that I made in the shower and redid them into the size I wanted, then rolled each twist up with a perm rod. In the morning, I took the twists out.

The aloe vera gel is the best detangler I’ve EVER experienced. I barely had any hair come out on my brush. It was wonderful to have my hair stay on my head. There was no residue left back when it dried, no flaking or beading. The gel just left my hair curly and hydrated.

My suggestion, go read Mixed Girl Curls’ “Curly Primer Section” where she talks about her technique. Then take what you’ve learned and modify it to suit our own hair type and style desired.

I’m still open to suggestions about products that need to be reviewed. I’m willing to do the experimenting, so let me know!