Happy Halloween!

I've always loved Halloween thanks to my mom's creativity and decorating :-) 

We had home-made costumes mostly growing up and it became quite the event to create and wear our monstrosities on the streets.  One year I was a headless man (dad's suit jacket) and one year a treasure troll- (my own natural hair and some colored spray). 

In my adult life I have been, Niobi, Pebbles, Dora the explorer and Jane from Tarzan.  

This year I had my own party and I decorated my house like a haunted forrest. Therefore who was I? none other than a black forrest nymph! 

I wore my hair out and big and assembled my costume from things I had in my closet - plus a pair of $6 fairy wings that a I bent into a sharper shape. All said I had about 30 guests! We had the firepit and smores out back, plenty of zombi punch, jerk wings, meatballs and decorations galore. We even had FOG (so not many pictures came out)! lol  

Yep my bro was in the house from CT with is boy. I had a homegirl here from Boston. About 30 folks!  Good times :-D

 I hope everyone fared well in the storm and my prayers go out to those who suffered losses due to Sandy.  Be careful out there tonight! 

Never stop learning, wash&go coils

My last relaxer was in April of 2001. I've not had any relaxed hair on my head since August of 2001. You would think by now that even something so mundane as a wash and go would be second nature to me.  HOWEVER.... no. lol

Over the years, so many new products have come out, and so many other women have stopped relaxing their hair and trying all these products that the interwebs are now FULL of inspiration and new info.

On my own, I was able to discover a few dozen techniques, processes, tools and products that work on my hair.  Yet using the internet, and inspiration from others I've and perfected or discarded hundreds (yes hundreds) of tips and tricks for kinky/curly/coily hair. But even still, with the assistance of the internet, I sometimes think there is nothing new under the sun, and that everything that can be tried has been tried.

Here was my happy mistake...

I was rushing one morning and gotten sucked into the shower time warp before work, co-washing my hair.  By the time I got out and realized I'd sunk the extra 20 minutes I needed to get dressed, I had a head of soaking wet, product free and rapidly fizzing hair.  I slathered in a generous amount of gel and castor oil but had no time to rake it through! Or even make a sopping wet, dripping bun.  I grabbed the worst offending frizzys and hand coiled them, with one hand, while getting dressed. I left the house with about 7 dingle-coils hanging from the back of my head, that to me, looked decidedly better than the alternative half-fro.  I have no picts to prove my hypothosis lol.

A few hours later I pulled the dingle-coils apart and was pleasantly surprised. They were dry on the ends and damp in the middle, but the frizz was greatly reduced and it looked fine. 

I thought to myself, "self, what if you did shingle or rake through AND dingle-coil (I REALLY need a better name!! lol) I could banish frizz for good!!

So I tried it...

Wet hair:

 Dry:

 Separated:

Stretched:

 3days later!

 

7 days later!!

 

So you see what happened right?  The ends STAYED coiled, even when the insides/roots frizzed, making it wearable for many days.  It also seemed to stay moisturied waaaaay longer than normal without the ends being frizzed out. 

I just did this again today and will post the video I made about it next week! It was only 5 extra minutes of time but I got a huge bang for my effort.

CBC Week, how I wore my hair and a few dresses

It was recently CBC week here in DC (Congressional Black Caucus) which means a full week of workshops, events, parties and networking.  I tried to go hard in the paint lol.  I went out after work from Wed straight through Saturday, and washed the press out of my hair on Friday (and kept right on going!)

Conclusion... I am no longer a spring chicken.  I was SOOO exhausted by Sunday! But I had a great time at most of the events I went to (not all).  Here are some picts from the days I remembered to take them.  I was feeling the two dresses below.  The green one is from ASOS and the black and grey one I got from Filene's Basement before it closed last year.

Pressed hair. It grew!

I gave my homegirl a trim the weekend before last, and she'd pressed her hair for the occasion.  That very night I pressed my own hair out of boredom and curiosity lol. (copycat!)

Here are pictures! It grew quite a bit and I kinda want to let it grow again for once.  I'll keep cutting the bang and shaping but I've got almost all my length back again. Pretty cool.

The Survey Says...

I know I owe the results of the survey- but there is a hitch to tell the truth...

It was super successful! Like, we got almost 180 responses, whereas I thought shooting for 50 was a lot. But I only signed up for the FREE account thus we only get the first 100 responses :-(
At 87 we were here...

But now the tide has changed to much closer to 50/50 overall, plus we have at least 23 interesting and funny custom responses (below).  Once we decide if we want to pay the $25 to give the rest of the answers free we'll let you know!

But our conclusion is that this is definitely a conversation worth having and that we hope to weigh in on via this blog. Thanks so very much for your responses.  I am happily surprised!!!

It's art, it's an extension of yourself, it's creative expression, at times it can be a confidence booster and other times a confidence killer. Some days it's your crown and glory other days you just want to shave it all off. It's way more than just hair.
9/28/2012 3:12 PM

Hair is wrapped up in social, political, and cultural meanings. It's tied to how we have been taught to perceive beauty. Beauty has also been wrapped up in European standards which is why (in my opinion) we see so many black women rocking butt-length, stick straight, Asian hair types. Even natural hair wearers are likely to be chasing a more "acceptable" form of curly hair- perfect ringlets, no frizz, and no naps. It's so much bigger than hair!
9/28/2012 2:47 PM

its a representation of my essence
9/25/2012 1:54 AM

It's more than just hair, but not much more.
9/22/2012 11:09 PM

...and we need to accept that. It is unbelievable that we are so caught up in natural vs. "other" when it comes to our hair. No other culture has so many issues with hair. It IS gorgeous. It's been gorgeous since the beginning of time. Our hair is normal. It's perfect as it is. I am not making some sort of statment just because I'm wearing my hair in its natural state. It's just my hair - as cute, soft and curly as it is. We are blessed to have it, that's it.
9/21/2012 10:46 PM

But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. (1 Corinthians 11:15) Our hair is our glory. If you have not I challenge every woman to read 1 Corinthians 11
9/21/2012 9:37 PM

it's just hair, but we're just people!LOVE your blog:)
9/21/2012 4:07 PM

hair is a form of identity. Its something that sets you apart from everyone. its a window into ones ancestry.
9/19/2012 7:16 PM

Because it carries the burden of our identity
9/19/2012 7:01 PM

It's like a set of brushes used to stroke a piece of art
9/19/2012 6:40 PM

Except when its fur
9/19/2012 5:40 PM

It's in between, half and half - both.
9/19/2012 4:35 PM

It's just hair in the sense that -why do people think one type is better than another? When you really think about it, it's not as if you chose what type of hair you were born with. It's a matter of heredity. Therefore one type is no better or worse than the other-it's just different.-it's just hair!
9/19/2012 3:57 PM

It's a way of life....sort of a rebirth for me!
9/19/2012 1:30 PM

While I have to agree on both standpoints,i do think that it's become more than hair. When you begin to take responsibility for your hair and it's well being, the situation some how morphs into a lifestyle change for most, if not for all. You begin to wonder, "Well hey, if I'm putting all this love and care into my hair, why not do the same for the rest of my body?" Which is the catalyst for it becoming more than just hair. It becomes a lifestyle change that all started with wanting to stop putting in a relaxer. Which is perfectly fine. That's why I think that it's much more than hair. Although there arealso times when it is just hair and it's not that serious. Those times are when people feel the need to police other peoples hair, their ideas/notions and just being a natural hair nazi.
9/19/2012 11:59 AM

Whatever it is it is all mine, belonging to me. Displaying my emotion in real tempo.
9/19/2012 12:31 AM

I think it's important for women in general to embrace natural beauty, but even more so for Black women who have spent years straightening their hair because a historical need to fit in.to white society.
9/18/2012 9:18 PM

Sometimes it's just hair. Other times it's Everything.
9/18/2012 7:59 PM

It's both. Wish it were that simple but for some reason it's not. It's just hair and them some...
9/18/2012 6:54 PM

It's just hair when it comes to my personal style(growing it long or shaving it off)but @ the same time it's so much more than that(power prestige freedom
9/18/2012 6:41 PM

It can be like handlebars too!
9/18/2012 4:42 PM

It's just hair -- until you're bald. Then it's everything.
9/18/2012 4:34 PM

It's what you tell other ethnicities how you feel about your own hair. Do you cover or try To change your curls, do you embrace them?
9/18/2012 3:45 PM