A Random Hair Update
Okay so, I thought I'd bring you up to speed on my hair. As you already know, based on my results for the TBYHC 2011 Edition, my hair is in pretty good condition. However, I am extremely BORED with my hair right now. For one, my color has faded and grown out significantly.
Just look at how dark it is now compared to here.
As far as length goes, my hair is longer than it's been in a while. For one, a lot of the layers have grown out, and because I've been taking better care of my hair (I've been deep conditioning it more often, using less heat, eating my Wheaties, etc.), I have a lot more bulk on the ends than I did in the past:
(Left pic posted to blog on 9.17.09; right pic taken on 6.17.11)
You can see just how much the short, choppy layers in the pic at left have grown out (BTW, my layers only looked that crazy because my hair was windblown and not moisturized, but when moisturized and wrapped, it looked like this).
I got pregnant shortly after the pic at left was taken, and I must say that the pregnancy definitely did my hair some good (i.e. my hair grew quicker and got thicker. To learn more, see Pregnancy & Hair).
Although I've been able to retain a lot of the length and thickness I gained during those 9 (or really 10) months, I'm still not sure how long I want my hair to be. Right now I'm cool with the length, but I don't really have a length goal because I've been so focused on the health of my hair. Plus, it seems that anytime my hair grows I get the urge to cut it, just like I did last December. Take for instance how I'm feeling right now. A part of me wants to grow my hair to waist length (it hasn't been that long since high school) just so I can have something to aspire to, but another part of me wants to cut my hair into a cute, sassy style. It doesn't necessarily have to be short all over, but bangs and layers would be cool.
The last time I straightened my hair was on June 17th. I was crunched for time, so I used a blow dryer for the first time this year. I recently bought a new one (I plan to do a vid on my heat styling tools, so stay tuned...) because my old one, which I had for about 6 years or so finally conked out, and I basically just wanted to see how well the new one worked on my hair. I normally air dry my hair but figured I should get a blow dryer for hair emergencies. Plus, I'm what you call a "kitchen beautician," so I need one to use on my "clients" (and by clients I mean fam and friends ;-)).
The pic at left is of my hair after it was straightened, and the pic at right is of my hair after I put some curls in it (just for body and movement) with my curling iron:
Although I've been able to retain a lot of the length and thickness I gained during those 9 (or really 10) months, I'm still not sure how long I want my hair to be. Right now I'm cool with the length, but I don't really have a length goal because I've been so focused on the health of my hair. Plus, it seems that anytime my hair grows I get the urge to cut it, just like I did last December. Take for instance how I'm feeling right now. A part of me wants to grow my hair to waist length (it hasn't been that long since high school) just so I can have something to aspire to, but another part of me wants to cut my hair into a cute, sassy style. It doesn't necessarily have to be short all over, but bangs and layers would be cool.
The last time I straightened my hair was on June 17th. I was crunched for time, so I used a blow dryer for the first time this year. I recently bought a new one (I plan to do a vid on my heat styling tools, so stay tuned...) because my old one, which I had for about 6 years or so finally conked out, and I basically just wanted to see how well the new one worked on my hair. I normally air dry my hair but figured I should get a blow dryer for hair emergencies. Plus, I'm what you call a "kitchen beautician," so I need one to use on my "clients" (and by clients I mean fam and friends ;-)).
The pic at left is of my hair after it was straightened, and the pic at right is of my hair after I put some curls in it (just for body and movement) with my curling iron:
I'm debating whether or not I'll be straightening my hair this week for an event I plan to attend on Friday. I really don't intend to use heat much, if at all this summer just because a) it's so hot out, and b) I've been exercising hard to lose the last 10 pounds or so of my baby weight. Chances are I'll just sweat it out, so I'll mainly be rocking my natural curls.
Because I've been upping the intensity of my workouts, I've started doing co-washes again, which is something I had eased up on. I had basically replaced co-washes with rinsing my hair in the shower post workout, as I found this to be adequate in removing sweat from my scalp and product buildup from the hair. However, now that I'm doing co-washes and rinsing my hair almost daily, I'm going through my styling products a lot quicker. Since buying jars upon jars of styling aids is not good for my wallet right now, I've decided to just allow my curls to do their thing. Thus, I just focus on sealing in moisture because I can stretch leave-ins and oils a lot further than any styling product. Take for instance what I did to my hair on Thursday after I shampooed and deep conditioned it using ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner:
Here's what my hair looked like post wash with nothing in it:
Because I've been upping the intensity of my workouts, I've started doing co-washes again, which is something I had eased up on. I had basically replaced co-washes with rinsing my hair in the shower post workout, as I found this to be adequate in removing sweat from my scalp and product buildup from the hair. However, now that I'm doing co-washes and rinsing my hair almost daily, I'm going through my styling products a lot quicker. Since buying jars upon jars of styling aids is not good for my wallet right now, I've decided to just allow my curls to do their thing. Thus, I just focus on sealing in moisture because I can stretch leave-ins and oils a lot further than any styling product. Take for instance what I did to my hair on Thursday after I shampooed and deep conditioned it using ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner:
Here's what my hair looked like post wash with nothing in it:
And here's what my hair looked like once dry with just coconut oil:
This was just a little experiment I did to see how my hair would fair with just coconut oil because that's all I put in my son's hair, and his looks great. However, since my hair isn't baby fine, it needs more moisture, so yesterday (Sunday), I rinsed my hair in the shower and applied some of my Bronner Bros. Moisturizing Hair Lotion and sealed with the coconut oil. This gave my hair the moisture it needs, but I still didn't use any styling aids to hold my curls in place.
My hair may be looking wild and wooly without any styling products, but until this heat lets up, and I lose the rest of this baby weight, I figure I may as well leave it alone. In the meantime, I can do some research and decide if I want to color my hair again, what products I want to use, and how I'm going to style it.
So, how are things going with your hair?
XOXO,
DPrincess28
My hair may be looking wild and wooly without any styling products, but until this heat lets up, and I lose the rest of this baby weight, I figure I may as well leave it alone. In the meantime, I can do some research and decide if I want to color my hair again, what products I want to use, and how I'm going to style it.
So, how are things going with your hair?
XOXO,
DPrincess28
11 comments:
This past weekend I discovered the Equate version of the Pantene Conditioner for curly hair. I want to try more wash n go but without using gel or taking 1 hour to prep my curls. So I tried the equate conditioner using the "curly girl" method. Basically I co washed with the conditioner and left a little in my hair and let it air dry. The equate curly conditioner really made my curls pop and my hair was soft and moisturized all day. FYI my curl pattern is 4a/b (for visual) and I live in Texas where the humidity is unbelievable. I experienced no frizz at all, alot of shrinkage, but no frizz. I said all that to say, LOL, try the curly girl method and give the equate conditioner a try. The conditioner is less than $3 at Wal-Mart. Of course you can just use your fav conditioner you already have with the method.
Hope you are having a marvelous Monday!!
"Red" is a nice color on you.
@Ms Harmony: So do you co-wash daily?
@NapturallyObsessed: Thanks!
Don't cut it!! Well, atleast don't cut too much. You'll probably miss it if you do! I say go for the bangs! The swoop bangs you cut for yourself fit your face very nicely =]
Well, I went on a coloring frenzy.....I tried a rinse 1st, and when that didn't work, I went ahead for the permanent color, in front only at first, then all over, then I felt like that wasn't enough of a change, so i dyed the front of my hair with loreal colour rays red rays (which severely dried out and damaged my hair back when I was relaxed!! but was definitely dramatic!) So far so good. today I finished putting in these twists that I started last nite...and I haven't really attempted to style my hair like that since I first chopped off the relaxed ends last august! (Maybe the sudden interest in styling my hair has something to do with the two papers I have yet to do for school :-/ but hey...) Now my hair is in a twisty up-do and I think it looks cute. =]
I currently have a twa so my styles are extremely limited. I to have gotten bored with my wash and go (evco to freshly washed strands) and need a little excitement in my life. I plan on getting either senegalese or kinky twists to last me the rest of summer.
Your hair looks very nice. It looks very full and your ends are thick. Great job on taking care of it!
I workout hard every day as well but, I don't rinse my hair after every workout and I don't co-wash. I find that co-washing leaves a residue on my scalp no matter what kind of conditioner I use. So what I do is rinse after every other workout; and wash/DC twice a week; sometimes once. After rinsing I apply a small amount of leave-in and moisturizer then I seal. I braid my hair in two, three or six braids. In the morning I take it down and instead of wearing my hair down I opt for a messy bun, a loose pony with a banana clip or I do a braid with a side bun. I also live in Texas and it is very dry so its better for me to keep my hair protected instead wearing it out. On days I don't rinse or wash I spritz my scalp with aloe vary or juices and berries. This works for me...
@MzDiimples: Ooh, I bet your hair looks pretty with all that color! But, you're right in that dye can be super drying/damaging. I pray it stays healthy this time around. Oh, and get those papers done, lol!
@KeshaSharee: Well at least you're playing it safe by staying away from heat and experimenting with natural styles. I'm sure your hair will thank you for it!
@Passion: Thanks! I'm glad you've found a way to care for your hair between workouts ;-).
@Dprincess28 - No I do not co-wash daily just a couple of days during the work week because I work out. After my first wash-n-go, that night I put my hair in ponytails to help preserve the curls. This method really helped. My curls were not as defined as the day before BUT I didn't feel the need to re-wet my hair and start the process over.
@Ms. Harmony: Oh okay, thanks for the clarification. If you recall, I tried that method, but it didn't seem to work too well for me. My hair was super dry the following day, but perhaps it was just the condish I used, because as we know, not all are created equal. Thanks again!
I got my papers done & I'm FREEE!!! =] heheheheh <3
@MzDiimples: Congrats ;-)
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