Multiple textures

I took this first picture below in January as part of a little self indulgent photo shoot in my house on a sunny day. That one was my fav of the bunch so I only posted that one flick on instagram. BUT I was looking through them again today because every time I press my hair I'm on the hunt for evidence of heat damage. I have this one section of my hair that is perpetually straighter than the rest. It grows out of my head like that and resists curling, product, conformity... lol. The left, top side Arrrgggg! Sometimes I forget how unwieldy it is, so I was looking to remind myself what it looked like before this last press.  These pictures make it super clear that, yes, that part of my head is just like that. Multiple texture gals Unite!

My hair is shingled in a wash and go with KMF mixed with who knows what... and it is uniformly heat stretched on medium using the tension method.

Also I had no makeup on so in the ones that are not overexposed you can see how my acne battle is going. I'm winning the battles, but not yet the war.

 

 

 

  

 

 

Playdough hair

I've talked about this before but it came to light again this week as I discussed my "varying hairstyles" and my pronounced shrinkage with women who have very different hair than mine.

I often find it hard to convey exactly what the differences are when I can't draw comparisons to ordinary things.  Familiar things.

For instance; when we set our natural hair it can hold that set for weeks.  When it gets ruined prematurely its because it shrinks further, frizzes up, or expands.  Yet for very straight hair it "falls." Fast. How on earth do you explain your weekly or 2-3 times a week sets to someone who is only familiar with curls falling??

I struggle for words and resort to 'clay".  Yes.  My hair is like CLAY. When its wet and preparing to dry I can mold it into a variety of styles or sets and it will probably stay that way until some sort of water or moisture hits it again. Thus every time I wet it, I am presented with a very easy way to do something creative. 

A something that must be done to some extent, lest I walk around with a huge shrunken (and dry!) mass on my head once it's any longer that 6".

They wouldn't like or understand that (whatever- it's not fair!). & I wouldn't like that for the health of my hair.  Yes, we have the "wash and go," but is it really that?  a "go"? Not so much.  The clay factor still exists in that we generously apply some sort of sticky or tacky product to hold the curls together as it drys.

I'll get back to wash and go hair in a sec. But for the rest of the styles - twistouts, braid outs, protective updos - They stay. For days. And we can devise one on a whim any time we wet or dampen our hair. In fact, we can use heat to further set it, and even to set it bone straight in a press.

I think that they think that I change it to change it.  That I wet it TO set it. That I feel compelled to make some new thing with my hair, out of boredom primarily.  As in there is no way that they can bet assuredly on how I'll have my hair from day to day.  But in fact, the opposite is more often true.

I had to cleanse it, so I had to re-set it. It got wet, or the humidity got it, so I had to start over. The product was building up, so I had to rinse it out, so I have to do something with it.  For me, that something is highly dependent on how much time I have, the weather, and how close to the weekend it is lol. 

I know some women have a tried and true routine or set, like a braid and curl.  I on the other hand don't like to ever change my schedule for my hair. I definitely work my hair into my schedule.  If I suddenly need to be somewhere in an hour, I WILL figure out something to do with my hair- even if u just caught me with sopping wet naked hair! What that does is cause a chain reaction where I may have to start over again sooner than I wanted to, or change my look to work with it.  But "It's Just Hair."

SO I work with it.  Yes it shrinks, and tangles and poofs and frizzes, and breaks off, and ties itself into tiny fairy knots -_____-

BUT, like clay, I can fix it, change and set it pretty easily.

So here is my point and a picture.  I washed my hair this weekend and ran out of time to fully diffuse it to then stretch it into the look I was going for.  I was already stuck with a wash and go type of deal with little weekend downtime to do more. & now had to run to an event and it was going to be what it was going to be.  And damnit, that meant full shrinkage. So I had to think. I'll let it dry and shrink so I can get there on time, but I'll put a hard part right here, extra gel on top, and then tomorrow I can mold the front into a hump. yesssss. I'm outta here.

So I did that. and then I made the hump the next day. Then I went to work the following day with my hair formed into a cute bob shape...

that came to my chin.  lol. 

Sure enough someone asked if I'd cut it.  And at this point me and my shrinkage were having a good ole time. I never even stretched it in the subsequent days. I just rolled and pinned and tucked and made a few shapes with my shrunken clay hair.  And when fully shrunken the texture is everywhere and super velcrowy I can totally make things that stay put  :-)

I do like it longer recently, as I am growing it out again (I think) and that hang time is different and new for now. But a shrunken week or two, or a frozen week-long bun, or a twistout that won't die just comes with the territory.

And I embrace it.

Even though the shape of my embrace might get stuck in my hair for a few days.

Shrunken. With LOTS of gel. KMF gel mixed with Sheamoisture curling soufflé. Interesting, but crunchy combo.  More to come later on that.

Multiple textures vid

Hey- I just wanted to post this quick vid of me going over the few different sized and shaped "coils" on my head.  It was doing it's own thing- mostly unstreached, so it made for a good show and tell :-)

Big hair picts

I've had a very rough week.  My brother has fallen very ill, suddenly and seemingly without cause.  I am off traveling home and worrying.

Here are some picts I took last week of my hair in various stages of bigness for various evenings of recreation :-)

Pray for my brother ya'll!

That's our kinship for ya lol

How the cars get in the buildings! (and glowing hair)

I know this has nothing to do with anything but I have ALWAYS wondered about this - inspected doorways and pontificated on this phenomenon. lol.  I'm a nerd, I know...


And for the sake of saying something, anything, about my hair... I was driving home from work the other day with the sunroof open and was getting the glowing hair phenomenon and took these shots.  This was a true wash and go using only some curl cream (didn't like- had some left) I had from Garnier I believe.  Not raked through- just scrunched in. Loving this color!

Shampoo, yes?

I mostly stray from the tenants proposed by the curly girl method but it makes sense, just soooo much sense, not to use harsh shampoos on our delicate coils.  I heard this waaaay back in 2003 and tried it then but instantly noticed that my curls were more prone to frizz without the shampoo.  I went back to shampoo.  Then newfangled "shampoos" came out, with better ingredients, less sudsy.  I went for those wholeheartedly and stuck to co-washing as much as possible.  Except for the rare occurrence, such as a 3 week long protective style or a particularly horrible product experience that warranted shampoo, I've been mostly off it for the past 3 years.

I always keep on hand a bottle of Trader Joes Tea tree tingle, or Giovanni's %50/50 balancing shampoo (or similar) for the aforementioned reasons. Most recently I shampooed my hair after wearing it pressed for a little over a week, and contrary to what would be expected after a press, my curls returned yet TIGHTER than they had been.  I thought it may have been the shampoo, but shrugged it off.

So like last week, I again shampooed my hair because I had mixed my flaxseed gel with some horrible product and got a head FULL of flakes.  This time my hair was light and fluffy and blowing in the wind when it dried. I felt it had been similarly light before that, but I blamed the products.  It was curly but light, floofy.

So then yesterday, lol, I decided to shampoo again, because I had not wet my hair in more days than I care to mention, and I was not feeling put off by the shampoo bottle (now sitting comfy IN the shower). Afterward it felt really nice! I diffused, pineappled and went to bed. The product I used will be another post- light hold- I like it and it's not my flaxseed gel- I forgot to refrigerate the rest of the last batch :-(
This morning, my hair is again super tightly coiled, even in the front. It's light and blows in the wind and shiny.

Humph.... Now I feel again like I did way back in 2003! WHY do I keep getting lured back into the co-wash low-poo/no-poo movement when my hair so clearly tells me it's FINE with regular shampooing?!  Mind you it's a milder shampoo than your traditional off the shelf types. But its real shampoo. Not a cream, not a low sudsing stuff. 

Bentonite clay would probably yield a very similar result and adhere to the curly girl way of life, but sometimes.... SOME times you just want to get in the shower and grab something off the shelf.  Shampoo is cheap.  and just there. and non-messy.

I do admit, my hair is squarely on the fine side of the spectrum so the coating/residue I experience may manifest quite differently on courser hair. So NO, I don't condone shampooing as a general rule lol.  BUT my hair is telling me something, and I am going to try harder to listen. And remember.

Shine!

 My bang/front hair, which is normally MUCH looser than the rest. 

Slightly looser, but resolutely coiled today.

Fluffy hair follow up

Remember this post about bigger hair?
So the first pic kinda accurately projects how it feels 2-3 days later :-(
And the rest convey how it looks.

SO I ended up putting it in a puff after the very first day.  It felt DRY and tangled and I did not feel I could wear it down without risking a lot of single strand knots and snags.

Today I wore it like this because even the puff was rubbing my shoulders and I worried about my ends.  It looks ok but the cream of nature leave in is not so much a leave in as it is a sealant.  Great shine, but that's it.  Like for relaxed hair.

But look at my little curlies :-) I love them so. I just have to protect them and this product combo is not the way!

Rebooting with a co-wash tonight!

Bigger hair with lighter product

I talked about hair texture in my last post and subsequently developed a desire to wear my hair bigger this weekend. I was headed out to watch the games and made this video before I left. I used the same smoothing and co-washing methods I usually use, and applied the gel the same way I usually do. But it's a much lighter hold gel so I get very different results.
I used Ouidad Climate Control Gel and Creame of Nature Lemongrass & Rosemary leave in.
Neither of these are favorites of mine, so I am just using what I have left! The leave-in has petroleum as the second ingredient, so I am keeping a close eye on my face/acne and tying it away from my skin at night. The Gel has great slip and gives a shiny light hold. It was expensive but I get much better results with less expensive gels.
Let's consider this operation "don't buy anything else" lol.

Resting in a field of Flowers...I love this stuff on my head.

Blog post interlude...

I washed my hair without shingling it the other day.  While still in the shower and soaking wet I liberally applied Shea moisture milk, then some Hairsickle by Safi Hair, and then my KMF gel.  I never raked it through- I just kinda smooshed it all in.  I wrapped it in a turbie towel for 15 min and I shook it down then left the house.  Later that night when it was all dry I put a layer of castor oil over it.  Today, two days later, I used the Hairveda almond glaze to re-moisturize.  I have been sleeping with it in a high ponytail.

Treating it this way has allowed the curls, and whatever the heck these shapes are, to clump and form on their own as big or as small as they desire. 

Just now I was in a meeting (a standing room only meeting where I was crammed against the back wall) and I leaned back into my hair.  It was like a pillow.  I felt like blissfully twisting my head back and forth like I was in a field of daises lol.  The sounds in the room got muffled and I was in my own little world for a few seconds.

Doesn't hurt that the almond glaze smells divine either. 

I love this stuff on my head!! 

Texture shots:

And, btw, this is just two weeks after successfully pressing my hair!!  Who gon hair type me??