HAIR UPDATE - JANUARY 2011

Hi Beautifuls!

You know... ever since I post on my future hair plans, I've been reevaluating my time frame for all that I want to do with my hair. I promise you, I'm a bit capricious (Look mommy! I learned a new word. Haha!) about my hair. It's just so much that I want to try out. I suppose being a bit bored with the usual plays a part in it as well. I'm certainly not interested in getting waist-length hair. Too much work. So length is not an issue for me. I'm just feeling my "do-whatever-the-hell-I-want-to-cause-I'm-doin-me" attitude to the fullest. And right now, it's moving my desire to rock some fierce locs a bit sooner than 5 years from now. I'm thinking more like 2. And believe me, all things are subject to change. Haha.

Btw, just a little loc inspiration that I've come across:


source



source

Had to put a lil' Lauren Hill in here. ;)

*Shout out to all the sexy men sporting those medium-long locs!*

*Ahem.* Excuse me.
We now return to regularly scheduled programing....

After sporting my bun, I washed/deep conditioned and then did some twists. As "mini" as I could stand to do them. And as you can probably see, again they are not that mini. Lol.

Back view.

I often wish for thicker hair. Hate the open spots.

Front view of pony-bun'ish style.



My little half-hazard bun that I think looks cool. ;) So much better in person. Lol.


I've since gone into a twist-out which I will try and make last for a week. Crosses fingers. This may be wishful thinking for me but I want to try out a organic shampoo of sorts, Pure Earth Hair Wash. I watched the review by youtube's Naptral85 (Love her channel!) and was totally intrigued (and impressed) by her review and the ingredients.

During my next wash/dc, I plan on doing a henna treatment. Which, by the way, I've been itchin' to get a henna tattoo. Almost did, a couple of weeks ago on the fly but I didn't have enough time. But whenever I do, I'll definitely post pics of it. I just love their beauty & intricate detail. Anyhoo, the henna for hair treatment is long overdue. And how I'll style it until I get my hair straightened & trimmed next month is anybody's guess.

If you all have any suggestions for a style to try, I'm open to them. It may be something that I've never considered or forgotten about.

Ttyl,

Post Title → HAIR UPDATE - JANUARY 2011

BACK TO HENNA

Hi Gorgeous,

On last Friday, I finally hennaed my hair after it seemed like ages. In reality is was only a month or so. Henna is another type of ayurvedic herb. Henna, also known as Lawsonia inermis, which comes from a plant is a green powder that have a red-orange dye molecule. It stains the hair red-orange but it is a translucent stain that combines with your natural hair color. Body art quality henna , which I use, has a much higher dye content than the henna sold for hair. I personally prefer Yemen henna as it is touted as having the highest concentration of natural dye in it. Aside from the fact that henna is a natural colorant, it's also an awesome conditioner. For more information on the henna dying process, click here.

So let me get back to what I did.


I pre-pooed overnight with that fabulous Hairveda Vatika Frosting. I'm so gonna have to dedicate a post to "the Frosting". Loves this stuff. Anyhoo, I cleaned my hair with some of a sample of Mixed Chicks Shampoo that I had. It was a little harsh on my hair so I only used a drop w/a lot of water on each quadrant of hair. Note: I do wash/condition my hair using the quadrant sectioning method. It's simply dividing your hair into the four quadrants on your head. Front right, back right, back left and front left. It makes handling my hair so much easier.

After the cleaning, I applied the henna to my hair. CurlyNikki has a great and simple pictorial on henna. I used a mix of Chamomile tea and Green tea to make mine w/a lot of honey. Similiar to how a relaxer is applied to the hair, my application started from the back and moved to the front. I basically smooshed/stroked it into sections of hair from the root to the ends. After all sections were done, I put a plastic cap on to cover my hair. Actually, I used two caps cause it definitely can be messy. Then I used my heatcap for about an hour and a half. After that, I was out and about with chores and errands. What?! But of course, I broke out the tam to cover up all that. Lol. Btw, I've generally purchased my henna from Mehandi.com or Mehndiskinart.com. If I'm in a pinch then I'll hit up the local Indian grocery or an Indian salon.

After about 5 hours or so, I washed the henna out. First, I literally dunked my head into a water-filled bucket. Yes, I did. Then I continued washing the rest out with my fave henna rinse-out condish, V05 Moisture Milks. I may have used close to a full bottle to get all of the henna which is okay because it's very cheap. They typically run around a dollar a bottle. After all the henna was rinsed out, I did a 30 minute deep steam treatment with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Moisturizing condish topped with Laquita's Bobeam Oil that she sent me to try. Woo Hoo!!

The next step was to cool rinse the conditioner out. I finished with a final cool tea rinse. Another something I hadn't done in ages. My tea du jour consisted of equal parts of rosemary leaf, horsetail, burdock root, chamomile, lavender and half of Tablespoon of ACV. You can check out the goodness of ACV or Apple Cider Vinegar at Zainab1's blog Au Naturale. Zainab1 has a really straight-forward informative blog. You should check it out. You can also find some info on ACV over at another fav blog of mine, Mane and Chic. Oh, back to my hair tea. I used about 20 oz of distilled water with maybe a T of each herb. A very small amount of ACV and 5 drops each of lavender essential oil & lemongrass essential oil.

My leave-in of choice was MOP leave-in conditioner. I then twisted my hair with Jane Carter Solutions Twist and Lock while sealing my ends with her Nourish and Shine. I know it sounds like a lot but keep in mind that I still enjoy playing with my hair. And yes, it was a hair day. I guess I did a hair spa day, like Fleurtzy over at Texture Playground.

I'm quite pleased with how my hair feels and looks. As I stated in a previous post, my shed hairs are down to small numbers and I haven't had much of an issue, if any, with tangles. I'm still contemplating getting my hair blown straight before spring just for a check-up trim. Not sure on that one yet.

Any of you had a "hair day" lately? Do share...

Post Title → BACK TO HENNA

AYURVEDIC MIX, pt deux

Hola Good People!

I hope you're keeping warm wherever you are. It's 24 "balmy" degrees in the ATL. And I won't even mention what the windchill is. Anyhoo, remember the post that I did on my first ayurvedic mix for my hair?... Well, I finally thawed it out to use once again. It went a lot better this time. Although, I believe I should have been more thorough in the application.


It's okay. I still have another application's worth left. Yeah. Really. I made that much. The mix consisted of amla, bhringraj (also known as maka) and brahmi ayurvedic powders along with some grapeseed oil & avocado oil. As stated in the older post, I used WAY too much. Instead of dumping the entire boxes of ingredients in the bowl, I should have used amounts in the size of a tablespoon or two. Learned from my mistake though.

AYURVEDIC POWDERS

Amla - promotes hair growth, controls hair fall, cures scalp infection, controls premature graying

Brahmi - cools the scalp and induces sound sleep, Controls dandruff, Makes hair long, dark, Dense & lustrous , strengthens hair roots

Bhringraj (or maka) - makes hair dense, promotes hair growth, cures Alopecia, removes scurf, prevents premature balding, helps with sun-damaged or color-treated hair

Now between the Brahmi and the Bhringraj(maka), one of these was the culprit of putting some dark, hard to clean grit under my nails. Just fair warning, if and when you use one of these powders be prepared to have to work on your nails. It took forever for me to get them free of the dark powder.

Other than that, this application was a success. I followed it with a steam oil treatment. Woot woot! I used a mix of Bhringraj oil and an oil mix that I had on hand. I'm really digging the steam oil treatments right now. I think they're really benefiting my hair during this cold season.

My hair feels great,detangles very easily, has a nice sheen and seems to hang better. Or maybe it's just growing. I'll take that too!! I've also noticed that my hair hasn't been shedding as much. Usually, I shed a small rugs worth of hair when I do my weekly washes. This amount seems to have been cut in half, maybe more. I think its a combination of the use of the steamer and the oil and ayurvedic treatments. Either way, I will continue to do these things.

Have you done or tried an ayurvedic mix lately? If so, what was your mix?..

Post Title → AYURVEDIC MIX, pt deux