August CurlKit: TAKEOVER!

The picture speaks a thousand words: Kandy Kurls Takeover Box!

I can't wait to try these products. They look promising. I am excited to try all of them. However, it will be awhile before I try these products out as I have several other lines that I have to give a whirl.

Don't worry, I will be trying them in the next couple of weeks for a first impression as I am about to start doing a lot of first impression reviews on a couple of products lines I have.

Styled! All About last week's style: Asymmetrical Two Strand Twist

As the title and the pic shows, this week's style is an Asymmetrical Two strand twist style. I love these type of styles (Asymmetrical) because if you're like me, I can usually only perfect something on one side.

This week, I decided to clarify my hair by washing with V05 Moisture Milks Strawberry shampoo. I forgot how defined my hair gets with sulfate shampoo. Since I was supposed to be going out the next day, I decided to use the Optimum Rinse out conditioner because I remember how soft it left my hair.

The next day, after plans got canceled due to impending rain (that never showed), I did my regular henna gloss with the Shea Moisture Tahitian Noni & Monoi Masque (I'm not about to repeat that mouthful). As I stated in my "My thoughts on" post, it did nothing for my hair. So I followed up with the TReSemme Flawless Curls and detangled.

I LCO'd my hair with the Ori Essentials Leave-in, followed by the Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, and finished off with the Optimum Amla Legend Oil (I do like the thickness of this oil).

Now here comes the style.

I used the Ori Twisting Butter as my styler with the U R Curly edge control gel as my finisher(?) or styler #2.

I wore the twists from Sat to Wednesday. Thursday I did this style. I was not a fan of it when it was twisted out. I was going to leave the bang out but it's been so hot this week, that would have been the worst thing to do.

And Friday I did this style. I loved my puffs like this. Doing a twisted headband front gives my edges and front hair a breather from being pulled.

Not bad. My hair was soft and moisturized until Tuesday when I refreshed it by lightly spritzing and sealing with with some JBCO. However, because it was so humid all week long, my scalp was wrecked. It was very itchy by the time Tuesday rolled around. I think when it's very humid (& when I sweat a lot), I might have to co-wash midweek.

My thoughts on: Shea Moisture Tahitian Noni & Monoi Smooth & Repair Nourishing Hair Masque

I used this as my base for my henna gloss this week. This was my first time using the actual masque but I had found that I like the conditioner from the same line. It's thick and moisturizing (I use it to detangle before I wash, sometimes). Surely, the masque should be the same if not better.

Boy was I wrong.

The masque is super runny. I mean, no thickness to it at all.

It went on smoothly but I supposed that was because of the texture (similar to  thin yogurt consistency). After applying it, I did notice some coil formation. It showed promise. I sat under the hooded dryer for 30 minutes. Before I rinsed, my hair did feel soft. However, that softness was rinsed down the drain when I rinsed everything out.

My hair wasn't dry or hard. It just felt ok. I was not impressed. For it to feel just ok, that tells me that even with the additives of my henna that it would not do a good job on its own. I had to use a rinse out to add some softness back to my hair (TReSemme Flawless Curls conditioner). After that, my hair was feeling good.

One thing that I did like about the product is that it rinsed clean. So far, my Shea Moisture DCs have not been rinsing clean and have been leaving a film on my hair.

I will not be using this as a base for my henna glosses but I will be using it for a DC next week just to give it another chance to redeem itself. Let's see what happens.

Length Retention Update

Here's the update to my Length Retention challenge.

I did not know that I was supposed to trim my hair before I set the challenge to myself. So obviously, I retained no length because it went to the trim.

However, I am still seeing progress. My trim was a week ago. I trimmed about half an inch off. The front section of my hair is still about 7.75/8 inches. I'm giving myself another month as I will be updating what I do.

I am no longer doing WNGs at the moment. I will be doing twisted styles weekly. My hair will stay in two-strand twists for 4 days (Sat night/Sun-Wednesday) and then Twist out for 2 days (Thurs-Fri).

So let's Reset! This mini challenge will end on August 28th. Same starting length. Hoping for a different ending length.

Special Styled: Before this week's style!

100% Pure Unadulterated 70's Afro!!!

This is my partially shrunken, combed out afro. Yes, you heard me right. COMBED out afro.

This wash day, I did a henna gloss with Shea Moisture Tahitian Noni & Monoi Smooth & Repair Nourishing Hair Masque as a base. It did nothing for my hair. Also, it was time to truly detangle my hair as I have been slacking the last couple of weeks with making sure the knots and tangles were truly out.

Instead of using the shower stream, I opted for my paddle brush. This brush to be exact ~~~>  

The only one I would ever use now-a-days. After rinsing out the henna gloss, in small sections I applied TReSemme Flawless Curls. This conditioner has so much slip and gave my hair life.

If you're looking for a good combing conditioner (a conditioner that has a lot of slip), I recommend this conditioner. As I brushed through my hair, my hair clumped and curled, something it has never done ever! Even my kinkier sections were curling in thick clumps. Of course, the roots were still a bit frizzy.

Each section was then twisted in two strand twists and then rinsed after I completed my entire head.

I then plopped until my hair was about 95% dry. I'm playing around with the wetness vs dryness when applying my leaving in conditioner (details will be in this week's normal Styled! post). After each section was LCO'd, I then unraveled. I took a look in the mirror and said to myself, "why not!"

I took my shower comb and lightly combed out each section. Because my hair was still a bit damp, this partially shrunken afro is what I got. Coffee brown on the outside, dusty black on the inside.

I absolutely love it (but I would never wear this style for one day).

Entrepreneurship and life!

I am the co-founder and co-owner of a mobile game company. Currently, there are only 2 employee; myself and my sister. Together we venture into the world of making mobile games. I haven't always wanted to be in the game industry but video games where a big part of my life ever since I was a kid.

For over 25 years, I was bombarded with all types of video games and systems and I loved it all. It wasn't until my mid twenties that I decided to take that love and turn it into a career. I went to school for 4 years to earn my programming degree and tried for a couple of years after I graduated to get into a Triple A gaming studio.

It was not easy.

I was turned down by a couple of places and that was very discouraging. It made me wonder if this is what I should be doing. The last company I was turned down for couldn't have come at a more worse time. I was being over worked at a retail store, making $8 bucks an hour. My morale was depleted. I questioned whether or not I should just work at a regular job for the rest of my life.

But that rejection was the push that I needed to do it for myself. I decided that I would start my own gaming company. It was a dream of mine to own my own studio one day. Why wait until later in life? Why not start now?

My sister, who also had a passion for video games like I do, had went to school for game art and design. So with one programmer and one artist, we decided to make our first game, Farm Horror Story, and open our own company, Scary Good Studios.

It wasn't easy. The business side and the development side done by 2 people. It can be overwhelming at times. Add in having a regular 9-5, home life, and social life. I just don't have time for anything now-a-days.

But this is working towards something that I wanted for almost 10 years now (& plus, I'm tired of working for other people). And something that you want that badly does not always come easily. I'm learning to budget my time (although not as well as I would like) between work, home, business, and outside projects. Oh, did I mention that we're taking on other development projects and expanding SGS to a T-Shirt line.

So I'm hustling everyday just to get my business out there and have us rise to the top. It's not easy but no one ever said that life was.

My Apologies as I build an empire.

To my friends,
 
I apologize for the lack of time, we hardly speak or see each other.
I'm always busy; work, projects, home life.
You're always wondering, when we will spend time together.
I seem to have a bag full of excuses.

I apologize if I seem uninterested in what you have to say,
that things tend to go over my head.
I'm always thinking of my next moves day after day,
what more can I do, what more could I change.

Please understand, I apologize for building my empire.
I want so much more than what I have.
I want to be more than what I am. I want to build myself higher and higher.

While you may not understand right now, please be patient.
I do think of you and I do miss everything.
But right now, I am not content.

You only get one chance in this life and I'm making mines count.
So many dreams and so many goals but at the cost of everything.
And while I'm faded into my mind right now, you'll soon understand what this is about.

So once again, I apologize for going after what I want in this world, 
the dreams I dream of everyday.
I encourage you to do the same. Just listen to the words of this girl.

We only get one chance at this life, 
don't wait until you wake up and wonder....

#ThinkingOutLoud

The Importance of Trims for healthy hair

"We all want healthy, long hair but..."
Heard this line before? Get tired of hearing it, huh? I know I do. This line is always the start of some natural hair rule that you must follow to get long and healthy hair. I hate rules, especially when it comes to natural hair. I tend to bend some and poke fun at others, but sometimes you have to bite the bullet and actually follow one of these most important natural hair rules.

Trimming!
Some say 6-8 weeks, others say seasonal, and yet there's those who don't. I've tried them all and learned a couple of things about the forbidden world of trimming. I've broke it down to a couple of key points.

Frequency.
How often you trim your hair depends on a couple of factors. Trim too much and you won't see any retention. Trim too little and you risk having the damage spread to the healthy parts of your hair. First things first, understand why you're trimming.

Why?
Trimming is the only way to "reverse" damage on your hair. Split, frayed ends, heat damage, color damage, etc, can only be "reversed" by cutting. For me personally, my hair is prone to split ends no matter what I do, so trimming frequently is the only way to prevent those splits from traveling up the shaft to the healthy hair (something I had happened and something I don't want to live through again). Just look at these splits I had from my color damage a couple of years ago:

Prevention.
This is the best way to prevent your hair from becoming like that^^^  which will lessen the frequency in which you have to trim your hair. Moisturizing and sealing ends with a thick oil or butter, protein treatments, using fingers instead of hair tools, moisturizing products, and low manipulation will all help in reducing the amount of damage done to your hair.

For me, my henna glosses are the reason why I don't have to trim as often (any more). Strengthening the hair helps to keep it from being damage. Henna builds up a layer around the cuticle, protecting it. We all know that all damage is the hair fiber having less cuticle layer or some type of trauma to the cuticle layers.

But how much to trim?
This depends on you and how much you feel comfortable with removing. A good rule of thumb is half a inch. I find that this gets most of the damage off without sacrificing too much. You can even do less if you have a trim schedule. My trim schedule right now is a dusting every 2 months (just to get rid of excess damage from when I bleached my hair and to prevent more damage). Like everything, this will change depending on my hair reacts.

Trim or Dust: Is there a difference?
There is. A trim will usually get rid of several inches of hair. Dusting the hair will get rid of anywhere upwards to an inch (usually a lot less). For each trim session, I opt for more of a dusting of my hair. I never cut more than a half inch. This ensures I get all of the splits I need to trim off with retaining my length.

Added Bonus:
I know I talk about it a lot but my henna gloss actually dictates how much hair I trim. At the end of the month will all my treatments, a healthy coating of brown/red color shows up on my hair. Henna usually coats the hair cuticle in order to show this color. If your cuticle is damaged or you have less layers of the cuticle, the color will show more of a reddish hue. This is how I know what to cut. The more red the hair shows on the ends, the more I know I need to cut.

Final remarks.
I was happy with the length retention I was seeing. Especially because I usually don't see any length retention. This new regimen that I'm on has really helped me see progress with my hair. I was weary when I looked at my reminder to trim. However, after I was done trimming and I saw all the splits in the trimmed hair, I was happy that I did. Hair is hair and it will grow long. But hair is not always healthy and holding on to unhealthy hair will not get you closer to your length goal.

Happy August!

Wow, the summer is almost gone. There's a running, inside joke I sometimes share with people and it goes like this:

"As soon as my birthday is done, the summer is over!"

My birthday is July 13th. So it's mostly true.

Here's what's coming up in the following weeks of the blog:

• Shea Moisture Deep Conditioner reviews
• I know I promised these a couple of weeks ago but I've been noticing something weird happening when I use the Shea Moisture deep conditioners. I want to know if it's consistent all of them or just some. So, review coming soon.
• My life as a programmer/business owner & Chasing the dream!
• Weight Loss Update!
• August CurlKit First Impression!
• Ori Essentials Moisturizing Leave in and Twist Butter Reviews.

That's just a taste of what's to come. I will also be sharing more of my life outside of hair. Hair is a big part of my life that I don't understand (but learning). However, there's a lot more worth blogging about.

Styled! All About this week's Style: So Random!

I puffed my hair the entire week (last week). Nothing special. But I didn't start the wee out like this. I started with a WNG that was done with my Creme of Nature Argan Oil Style & Shine Foam wrap mousse. My hair did get defined and it dried in significantly less time. But...  
I got so much volume that I knew my hair wasn't going to last. So I layered my gel on top. Still had nice defined coils but it started to flake within 2 days. So I co-washed and chunky twisted my hair for a faux WNG/Twist Out. I wore that style the entire week, occasionally twisting my hair up in chunky twists and unraveling in the morning.

I plan on repeating the process for another week to give my hair a rest from gel and heat. After washing and conditioning my hair, I used the Ori Essentials Moisturizing leave-in paired with Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. I used one pump of the Creme of Nature Argan Oil Foam wrap mousse for each twist. I have about 12 chunky twists that I will be unraveling for a twist out in the morning and puffing.

Henna Gloss: Why I do it so frequently?

This is an added tip from my 'Life without Combs' post. This is part of the reason why I was able to give up combs.

If you read my Summer Hair Care regimen, you will see that I henna gloss my hair every wash day and I wash my hair currently weekly. Usually, a henna treatment can mimic the effects of a protein treatment which is why its suggested that a full strength henna treatment (just henna and water, not additives like conditioner) be done on a monthly basis.

My hair tangles with just a henna treatment so I opt for Henna Glosses instead. They're much gentler on my hair and I get the same effects. The henna gloss I apply to my hair is usually 1/4 of the strength of the full treatment as I only use a tablespoon of henna and half a tablespoon of fenugreek and aritha. This is how I am able to get away with doing it weekly.

I apply weekly because my hair is very fine and prone to split ends and damage. This is the main reason why I don't retain length because every time I touch my hair, it breaks or splits. This is another reason why I had to give up combs.

But I chose the ayurvedic powders I use carefully. Actually, that's not completely true. I use Nupur Henna which consists of an array of powders that strengthens and conditioners the hair including Brahmi, Shikakai, Aloe Vera, Methi, Bhringraj, Amla, Neem, Hibiscus, and Jatamansi. I've been using on and off for years before finally settling on it and making it my main henna of choice (I have also used Jamila and still do on occasion).

Fenugreek is a god send as it helps soften the hair. It aids to prevent hair fall and adds natural shine to hair (I can so-sign on this), see:

This is freshly washed hair with nothing in it.

And I chose Aritha because it's the only ayurvedic powder that I'm missing that provides good benefits, too.

Sometimes it takes a hard, rigorous regimen to get you on the right path and kickstart your way past whatever hair hurdle you're facing. That sometimes means stepping out of the boundaries and rules set forth by the natural hair community.

For 3 months, I followed this regimen and can say, it is helping me see retention. Some of my ends are still split, frayed, and brushy, however, with a couple of more trims/dustings, if I stay on this regimen, my hair will grow healthy, strong, and long. My hair is also softer and more manageable which is why I am able to ditch combs.

And since I am seeing some retention, I have started to space out my henna glosses. I will now be doing them bi-weekly alternating it with a moisturizing DC.

My Life without combs

For my hair's health, I've had to give up combs and brushes. It hasn't been an easy road and it took me awhile to get here like with everything else that I do.

Because of my hair's tendency to break with manipulation under any circumstances, I learned quickly that combs was only help facilitate this. It didn't matter what I did. I tried numerous wide tooth combs and denman like brushes, with my hair either drench with oil, drench with conditioner, or deep conditioned. I even switched to a paddle brush which I actually like and doesn't hurt my hair too bad (just makes it frizzy).

I finally gave up on the idea of being able to detangle or smooth my hair with a hair tool after 5 years. Instead, I finger comb my hair and finger detangle. I do this by taking small sections, adding oil and conditioner, and separating the hair either by my coils or by groups of strands. I focus on my ends because that's where I get most of my knots at (because that's where my hair is extra coily). To detangle my ends, I just lightly pull on them to stretch them out and this makes them recoil clumped together. For any knots, if I can't separate the individual hairs from the knot, I either cut it out or snap it (yes, I know that's bad but I don't do this on purpose).

I don't get my hair 100% detangled but this works for the most part. Once in awhile, if I feel up to it, I will detangle my hair in the shower under the water stream (usually with no conditioner or oil added). This allows me to detanlge my roots which I usually don't focus on when I'm finger detangling.

This has helped my hair and while I'm still not as patient as I would like, it's working. Once in a very, bright blue moon, I do get the urge to pass a comb through my hair. As soon as I make the third pass, I quickly regret it and stop. More than likely, I will opt for the paddle brush because it is gentler on my hair. The comb will literally rip out all of my hair and even when I start from the bottom, I can hear the Snap, Crackle, and Pop symphony.

My life without combs hasn't been easy but now-a-days, it's not so bad either. With that being said, if you find that your hair's health is lacking and you're not retaining length, you might have to take the not-so-easy path. But don't fret, there are things that make it easier.

Styled! All about this week's Style: Two Strand Twists

This week I decided to do something different: Two Strand Twists (& a bunch of other different things).

It had been awhile since I wore twists in my hair as a hairstyle. In fact it had been at least 4 months. I stopped wearing the twists because of the unevenness in my hair length as well as the thinning in the top. Any type of twists that I wore just wasn't like it used to be. This is how my twists used to look.

But something in me decided that I didn't want to sit through another wng process (mostly the drying). Plus, the humidity in NYC turned my last wng into a shrunken, half undefined/half undefined TWA. Which I didn't mind but with coils as tight as mine, it would mean detangling would be a nightmare.

I cowashed my hair with the Eden Body Works Coconut Cleansing cream on Friday. By lathering this onto my ends, the tangles glided right out with some light finger detangling (That got me thinking). After that, I went to sleep because it was Friday night.

Saturday morning/afternoon, however, I applied the Shea Moisture *Honey Hydrating Masque, different thing number 2. No henna gloss for me this week. Different thing #3 was no hooded dryer with my DC. I instead trapped in the body heat with a plastic cap/bag (the plastic fruit/vegetable bags from the grocery store work perfectly and I usually rack up while I'm shopping just for this purpose) with a shower cap and a scarf on top.

That marinate for... some time between 1 hour and 1 hour/fifteen minutes. I rinsed it out and my hair felt like... Well, I'll save that for the first impression review that's coming up. Since my hair was still semi-stretched and detangled, I started to twist.

First with no direction of where I wanted to go but then as I got further into it, I got into a groove and each twist was coming out decently good (if that makes sense). As for my products, 

this is what I used and yes, I use an edge control gel in place of a regular gel (repurposing products, yay!). A couple of days later, they're still looking and feeling good. And look at all this definition! I wore the twists for 4 days then untwisted for a frohawk on day 5. Day 6 I'm wearing a puff.

Weigh it in...

It's been awhile since I last talked about my weight. For 2 yer now, I have had the liberty to be able to exercise before and sometimes after work. My routine consisted mostly of walking and cardio dance workouts. Then in the last couple of months, I reintroduced weight lifting (my absolute love). I counted my calories and some days/weeks I did good. But some days/weeks/weekends I did the absolute worst. But I had my balance and always managed to get back on some track.

However, with a new job comes new challenges.

I am up at 6:45 every morning. I am traveling to work anywhere from 8:10 to 9:50. I am at a desk from 10am to 6pm sometimes 6:30pm. Then comes the commute home. By 7:30pm, I am usually home and heading for the shower. At 8pm, I am struggling to stay awake and do other tasks like blogging or coding.

Not much exercise going on there. Oh, and did I mention my job is constantly shoving free food down our throats?

So how do I combat this? I find exercise in other places.

• I hop on my exercise bike for ten minutes every morning. No more, no less.
• I walk up the equivalent of 4 flights of stairs in the train stations that I go to while on my way to work (and when I get my barrings, I will add another 2 flights for a total of 6 flights).
• I walk up to the second floor at my job.
• I try to drink a lot of water. It's a long trek to the bathroom so the more I have to go, the more steps I will take.
• After work, instead of taking the train or bus across town to the main train line that I take home, I walk 10 Blocks (8 of those are your long Manhattan blocks) to my train.
• When I get back home, I walk another 4 blocks.

By the time I get back into my apartment I'm at around 8K steps. If I'm not too tired, I will walk in placed for awhile and try to get upwards to 1k more steps. It doesn't always happen.

So how's this doing for my weight?

After being up from the holiday weekend (4th of July), I am happy to say that I am losing weight. From 248 to 245. But the real test will be in a couple of weeks to see if I continue to lose. The weekends are still an overeating fest and there's just so much food given to us at work. I am keeping an eye on my portion sizes but even that could be deceiving.

First Impression & Review: Optimum Amla Legend Rejuvinating Ritual

Have you ever seen a shampoo do this?

The Smell: This shampoo smells like heaven. There's this sweet, soft smell that's reminiscent of the V05 Shea Cashmere Shampoo and Conditioner. It's very Yummy (but can err on the side of perfumy)!

Consistency/Texture?: This stuff comes out of the bottle like liquid sugar, so be careful as strands of it can get on other stuff. It's not sticky like most shampoos. It's soft and creamy but a thin creamy. A little goes a long way with this product and a pea size amount can lather your entire head. As a matter of fact, the suds alone can lather your entire head.

The Aftermath: I was able to detangle my hair with this shampoo (both comb and finger) but had to make sure that it was very wet (otherwise, the shampoo will just dry up). My hair was clean but soft. It wasn't quite stripped but did have a squeaky clean feeling. A bit of warning, do not leave this product in your hair for over 5 minutes. Not that you should do this with shampoo but the second time I used it, I was not able to rinse my hair immediately so it was in my hair for about 7 minutes. Afterward, my hair felt really stripped and dry.

The Conditioner to the rescue though.

The Smell: Same as the shampoo. I was immediately in love with the smell.

Consistency/Texture?: This conditioner is a bit thick but not as thick as a Deep Conditioner. It has a smooth consistency to it which made it go in my hair and as soon as it when into my hair it melted away like butter. As far as slip, it doesn't have a huge amount of slip but does have some. Most of your detangling will either have to be with the Shampoo or the leave-in conditioner.

The Aftermath: My hair was so incredibly soft when I had this conditioner in my hair. I left it on for about 5 minutes and when I rinsed, my hair was still incredibly soft. As a matter of fact, the first go around my hair was too soft (if that's even a thing) and weightless. I had to follow up with a henna gloss just to get some texture/weight back into it. My hair was still soft afterward.

The second time I used it, I had to do errands immediately after rinsing out. So I sealed with some oil, placed my hair in a puff and left. Several hours later (no more than 3), I came back to my hair and it was still as soft as it was as if I still had the conditioner in my hair or had just rinsed out. A plus for me.

The Leave-in should compliment... shouldn't it?

The smell: Carries the same smell as the shampoo and conditioner. However, once it's in your hair, it dissipates after awhile and you can no longer smell the sweet goodness.

Consistency/Texture: It is creamy. A little thinner than the rinse out conditioner. Like the Shampoo, A little goes a long way. Does provide a decent amount of slip if you're applying it to damp/wet enough hair.

The Aftermath: This is a coating product. You can definitely feel it on your hair once it's here. It does have  good amount of slip to it but it doesn't do much as a leave-in. I might repurpose this to a detangler/pre-poo.

Finishing it off with oil.

What can I say about the oil? It's an oil. The smell is similar to the rest of the line. I used the oil to seal my hair both times. It did give my hair some shine and it didn't dry my hair out (sometimes this can happen with oil). I will continue to use it to see what it does to my hair.

July CurlKit: First Thoughts!

Check it out. This is the July CurlKit. 

Hit: I am excited over the Not You Mother's Kinky Moves Curl Defining Cream. I've been hearing a lot about this brand so I can't wait to try it out. Plus, the smell is on point (Grape seed and Jasmine. It smells like purple with a hint of jasmine). Reminds me of my middle school days with the body mists that I used to wear. It was just seeping out of the tube, enticing me to use it right away.

Next up that I'm excited over is the Creme of Nature Argan Oil Style & Shine foaming Mousse and the Shea Radiance Moisturizing Hair milk. Even playing field for both. I love the Argan Oil line from Creme of Nature. The Shea Radiance, I've heard some things about this company so I'm curious to try it out (might be this week).

Automatic Misses: The Eye Shadow. I'm not big on makeup so this is an automatic miss.

Near Miss: The Perfect Edges from Creme of Nature Agran oil is a near miss for me because it's an edge control and nothing controls my edges. However, I mostly repurpose my edge controllers and use them for Out styles.

That's about it. I will be trying these products in the next couple of weeks.

7 Days of a Wash and go

This week's wng went in a completely different direction from the others. I had already started by doing it on damp hair (as stated in my previous post) and I loved what that did to my hair. So why not continue to venture down the path of the unknown?

My nighttime routine for my wngs consisted of me doing small pineapples all over my head: 1 in the back, 1 in the crown, 1on other side, and the last in the top/front. This kept my coils intact and helped my wng last longer. The one drawback was when I took the pineapples out, my hair was still be in those sections and it would be hard to shape my hair (see the Style Challenge post). I would have to spritz with water and turn my hair near white to shape it properly. Not good when you're trying to get out the door in the morning for work.

Well, why not eliminate the pineapples?

 The main reason why I do the pineapples is because my hair is so coily and shrunken. If I didn't provide some type of order/structure with my hair in this state, I would wake up with coils going every way possible. I was able to get away with it one day the previous wng week only because I was tired and didn't feel like pineappling my hair. It was on its last days so I wasn't worried about saving the style. But how would it work on a fresh style?

After I did my ridiculous hair drying routine, I took a look in the mirror and said to myself, "I hope this works." I placed my bonnet on my head and went to sleep.

The next day, I took my bonnet off and immediately took a look at which why my coils were laying. Still laying down. I did spritz my hair lightly to give shape. Day 2 was good. Day 3 would be the test. Could it do it consistently.

The shocker! Day 3-4, I didn't have to spritz my hair at all. As a matter of fact, I was able to shape my hair with some oil (which is a plus) and my coils were laying down. Okay, this could work. My wng is lasting a good while and I'm pleasantly surprised that I was able to keep my shape (even though I put it in a puff 2 of the days).

I think I will hold off on pineappling my hair until my hair gets longer. I made it through 5 days with this wng intact the entire time. However, I did rinse most of the product out of my hair the morning for the 4th day because the Eco styler was flaking and the 5th day, the humidity made my hair undefined and even more shrunken.

Day 6 and 7, I wore my hair in a stretched puff that I did by putting my hair in chunky twists. So here we are on day 8, wash day. I think I put my hair through a lot this week or maybe not. But at least I did learned from this.... I think!

Styled: All about this week's style.

This week's wng is brought to you by these products.

Left: 90% Dry.
Middle: 70% Dry.
Right: 0% Dry, 100% Wet/Damp (with product).

About the Products: Optimum Alma Legend Rejuvenating Ritual Sulfate Free Shampoo, Conditioner, and Leave-in (review coming soon, I promise). Shea Moisture Sacha Inchi Omega 3-6-9 Rescue + Repair Masque, Dark and Lovely Au Naturale Anti Breakage Super Softening Hair Butter (moisturizer), Pampered Roots Coconut & Honey Hydrating Cocoom Cream (styler), & a mix of 3 Spoons of IC Fantasia Clear Styling gel, 3 Spoons of IC Fantasia Hard hold Styling Gel, and 1 spoon of Olive Oil Eco Styler (Big Mistake).

I decided to do things a little different this wng. My wngs usually last anywhere between 3 and 5 days depending on what I do to it and how I set it. So this week, I decided to give damp styling another go but I worked in smaller sections and shingled a bit.

No, not the shingling where you twirl an individual curl around your finger. My hair don't do that and it doesn't like it. I did separate each individual coil and broke down some of the bigger clumps. That's how I usually end up getting knots is when the clumps of coils aren't broken down into their singular coils. Also, breaking them down into their smallest/truest form allows them to dry... not the fastest but faster than if they were not separated.

It took me this amount of time to do my whole head and then another 2 hours for drying (1 hour to set air drying, 20-40 minutes diffusing with breaks to let the hair set in between and the rest of the time air drying again).

I have to say, I did like the way my hair came out and because each coil was individually defined, my hair lasted a good amount of time (4 Days). On the fourth day, flakes from the gel was kind of bad but on the 5th day, I had to rinse my hair (couldn't do my signature style for my birthday).

The rinse consisted of my completely rinsing all the product out of my hair by squeezing my hair. This was so I did not disturb my curl pattern and could get more days out of the style. After T-Shirt drying for about 5 minutes and squeezing out any excess product/water, I sealed with JBCO and my oil mix (40/40 - Olive Oil & Coconut oil, remaining 10 - JBCO).

After that rinse, my coils became even tighter and are still well defined. 

I loved how it looks and 14 hours later, my hair is still wet. Update to come soon about how this style lasted the rest of the week.

Signature Style: The FrowHawk

I am so in love with this style. Here are some pics of my beloved go-to.

 

Stretched or Shrunken, This is one style I always rock with confidence.

Length Retention & The Struggle

I have always struggled with length retention while keeping my hair out (i.e. not in extensions). On top of my hair growing at a slow rate and being prone to splits, I have suffered with retaining as much length as I would like. No matter what I do, my hair breaks. The things I have tried are:

1.  Mini Twists/2 Strand Twists
2. Updos
3. Mini braids
4. Low manipulation styles (i.e. Twist outs)

I even adopted a high protein regimen but I didn't stick with it long enough to see results. To me, it makes no sense in growing out my hair if all I can do to grow it is hide it with synthetic hair. I want to try to grow my hair without the aid of extensions. Today marks the start of my grow out challenge.

I'll give myself 1 month of low manipulation styles and a high protein regimen (my summer regimen) to see if I can do this without extensions. These are the things I will do:

1. Wash weekly.
2. Wash and go or 2 Strand Twist my hair (out style will be on days I go out).
3. Heavy ayuvedic powder based (I'm henna glossing every wash day and spraying moisturizing with my henna tea 3x a week).
4. Scalp massage everyday/every other day - Only because I love it.
5. Keep my hands out of my hair - especially while wearing a wng. I love to pull on my tiny coils and watch them snapback.

I measured my hair on June 28th. On July 28th, I'm hoping to retain at least a half inch.
  Starting measurements are as follows:

• Left Back (nape): 9.5in
• Middle Back (nape): 10.25in
• Right Back (nape): 9in
• Left Side: 9in
• Right Side: 9in
• Front 7.75-8in
• Crown: 7in

Let's see what this brings.

Dry, Damp, or Wet Setting?

For 2 months now, I have been doing primarily wngs in order to not put tension on my hair strands. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with setting my wngs on Dry, Damp, and Wet hair. For me, it makes a difference in drying time and I’m trying to figure out which will yield the best results and a faster drying time (as if there is such a thing with Low Porosity hair). Here’s what I’ve learned: Something is not adding up.

For the first 3 weeks of my process, I followed the steps in my summer hair regimen and styled on wet hair. The Results: Amazing definition, style longevity of 4 days or more but hours upon hours of wet, white, unset hair.

No matter how early I started or how much diffusing/hooded dryer time, my hair would literally take all day to dry.

After that, I tried damp setting. After conditioning, I would apply my leave in and oil. Then wait until my hair was about 80% dry before spritzing lightly and applying my styling product.

The good: I was able to diffuse for 20-30 minutes and my hair would set.
The bad: Lackluster definition, hard hair, style longevity of 2 days, 3 max.

Lastly, I tried dry setting. Same steps with damp setting except I would wait until my hair was 90-95% dry. The Results: Honestly, I tried it once and the rinsed my hair out the following day.

The Skinny: I’m still torn about damp vs. Wet styling. But I think I will be damp setting more than wet setting and dry setting never.

Weekend Style!

A simple and quick weekend style that wasn't so quick or simple.

I created this style by twisting Marley hair around 4 ponytails and . On wash day (Saturday) I applied the Lottabody Love Me 5-in-1 Miracle Styling Hair Creme in followed by Dark and Lovely Au Naturale Anti Breakage Super Softening Hair Butter. Sealed with my oil mix of coconut oil, olive oil, and JBCO . Then I lightly blew out my hair on cool air, low speed with my Conair 1875 Watt Ionic Technology Hair Dryer (review coming soon).

For an alternate style, I unraveled the 4th twist from its bun and pinned it to along the style.

This style lasted 2 days (it could have lasted at least 2 weeks but my head does not like styles that puts any type of tension on it).

Where have I been?

Sorry about not posting for awhile but I’ve been rather busy. I am in the beginning stages of starting a new job, wrapping up the second game for my indie company, and working on a separate project all while trying to figure out my hair (and weight).

But I have been doing a lot with my hair lately so that means much more encounters, hairstyles, and all that jazz!

Plenty of new things to say so let's get right into it...

Here's what you can expect in the next few days:

• Dry, Damp, or Wet Setting?
• Fruit Fusion Coconut Water Weightless Hair Masque review
• Optimum Salon Haircare Amla Legend System (Shampoo, Conditioner, Leave-in, and oil) First Impression and Review
• Sacha Inchi Rescue & Repair Hair Masque First Impression
• Weight Loss journey update