Hair Maintenance- Hot Summer Months

Hi Curlies!

I'm back after a much needed rest :) Well, reason I'm here today is to talk about this hot weather. Can we say my hair was parched like the Sahara Desert! Don't get me wrong, I love big hair (aka Diana Ross), but I was looking a half curly, half frizzy mess!

So, I need to find a way to keep my hair well moisturized during the upcoming hot summer months. I've been following the Curly Girl Method for the past two months and have love the results. My hair has grown a lot and have more definition and bounce to the curls. From doing my research (i.e. Google, Lorraine Massey's website and book, Youtube, etc), I will be more consistent in implementing a pre-poo treatment before every co-wash and will need to DC more often. However, I have to be sure to maintain a PH Balance and incorporate more protein treatments to strengthen my strands.

 I would love to use all organic non-sulfate/paraben products, so anyone has any tips or ideas? Anyone else who is following the Curly Girl Method going through the same issues? Would love to hear some feedback!

Stay Curly!

Cassandra

Supreme 90 Challenge

So I'm on a weight loss goal to lose 20 lbs in six months. Sounds easy right, wrong! I've already modified my food intake and started to increase my physical activities to put a dent in my weight loss, but so far I haven't seen a lot of results. I can definitely tell that I have loss some inches just by the way my clothes are fitting, however I haven't loss any weight. My answer to this conundrum: Supreme 90. I love trolling YouTube for inspiration and I came across DivaSlimDown page, which I love. Supreme 90 is all about muscle confusion and healthy eating to lose weight. I think this will really jump start my exercise routine since I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle. Wish me luck!

Natural Hairstyles You Can Wear to Work

Natural Hairstyles You Can Wear to Work

SNL Pantene Commercial

Had to post this....RE-FRIGATOR! Feel the same way when I read the ingredients :)

Pantene Commercial

Grow Out Challenge- Week One

Hi Curlies!

So, I decide to participate in Hairscapades' GOC (Grow Out Challenge) for the next six months so I can focus on regrowing my edges and loosing much needed extra weight. You can check out my post at the following link: http://hairscapades.com/2012/04/16/goc-contender-26-cassandra/. As far as the hair regimen, I'm going to follow my normal routine right now, but I have been thinking about trying the Curly Girl Method (CG Method) to combat the frizz and add moisture to my hair. In May, I plan to purchase the Lorraine Massey's Curly Girl Handbook to read up more on the subject. My favorite hair blogger/YouTuber is MahoganyCurls and she provides very detailed information on both her YouTube page and her hair blog. As the only way I know to regrow my edges is to use Castor Oil, I will be looking for an alternative option since Lorraine explains Castor Oil is not friendly for the CG Method. However, I will do my homework and at least try it for a few months to see if the CG Method will work for me or not.

As far as the Weight Loss, I have hit the pavement running! I have been working out 2x a day and will try to post updates on pounds lost once a month during the challenge. So far, I know I have lost inches just from the way my clothes are fitting, however my weight have remained steady at 257. I'm thinking of investing in the Supreme 90 tapes to get over this apparent plateau and see how it goes from there. Again, thanks for all the support and comments I have received so far! If anyone has any helpful tips on regrowing edges or weight loss tips, please leave a comment.

Thanks!

Cassandra

Update:

Edges are growing in nicely (Look like baby hairs, lol). I will continue to oil my edges using JBCO to see if more growth will occur. However, once I'm done reading the Curly Girl Method (just purchased the handbook from Amazon, yeah!), I might need to modify what I will use in the future. As far as the weight, I am holding steady at 257 so I definitely will be buying the Supreme 90 DVD. I will try to blog about my experiences, good or bad, once a month during the challenge.

Hair Journey

Hi Curlies,

    Here's my long awaited post on why I decided to become natural. A little background first though, I've always had very thick and long hair whether natural as a child and when I was relaxed. However, around 2006 I started to notice my hair was feeling and looking thinner especially around my hairline. I just attribute it to wearing tight buns, ponytails and stress. So I wore my hair in looser styles to compensate, but continued to get relaxers. In 2008, I've moved out of state for a job opportunity and to be closer to family, but the job fell through within a few months. So now I was really stressed and living in another state, my hairline went into hiding (not literally, but that what I felt!) After a few months of unemployment, you could say I started to transition because I couldn't afford any salon trips, but I also couldn't afford to take care of the two textures either so I had a lot of breakage.I finally gained employment and promptly went back to the relaxers, as I felt it provided a more professional look for work ,but I still had breakage around my hairline that was really noticeable.

   So I continued with this self-destructive behavior until October 2010. My college homecoming was coming up and I wanted a fresh relaxer before I drove down. By this time, I had moved again and didn't have a regular stylist so I went to a stylist that a friend recommended. Biggest mistake ever! I'm not going to say it was the stylist fault because I did wash my hair three days before getting the relaxer, but when I say my scalp was burnt from the relaxer, I am not lying! The relaxer had severely burnt my hairline that I could not even get the hair lifted away from my scalp in this area. My hair looked long and straight but I was in pain the entire homecoming weekend and had to wait until my scalp scabbed over for me to comb around my hairline. From that point onward, I said no more relaxers for me ever again! I transitioned from October 2010-June 2011 before chopping off about 6 inches of relaxed ends. My transitioning styles were mainly loose buns, ponytails, braids and Bantu knots to hide the two textures. My hair grows really fast, but the hairline area was still thin in the temple region but it was growing back.

 Overall, this was the best decision for me to combat the breakage around my hairline and give my hair a break from the chemicals.I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of my BC so I'm more focused on continuing to regrow my hairline area as well as grow my hair out. My hair has grown a lot since the BC, so I'm happy, but I still struggle with my hairline area. I thinking it might be a permanently hair loss in this area due to the burnt scalp from my last relaxer so I try to blend it in as much as possible without looking like I have a comb over. My current routine is to try scalp massages with essential oils and hair growth aids such as Castor oil, so I'll see if it will make a difference. Has anyone else experienced similar issues that led to them becoming naturals? I would love to hear others' natural hair story.

Henna Day

Hi Curlies!

So, just finished washing out a Henna Treatment and following up with a Deep Treatment to leave in overnight. I try to Henna at least once a month to give my hair a noticeable shine and reduction in shedding. Since I have thin hair strands, Henna also makes my hair appear fully. Normally, I follow Curly Nikki's recipe of Jamila BAQ Henna, Green Tea and Honey. But lately, I've been adding EVOO, which makes it easier to apply to my hair. Starting in April, I will try to only apply Henna to my roots and edges, since I have noticed some curl loosening.

Hair Progress

Hi Curlies!

So I just had my hair professionally trimmed for the first time since I BC in June 2011. Normally, I would trim any split ends myself, but I had my hair flat ironed and wanted my hair more even. Since I wear my hair 98% curly now, I wasn't too concerned about the uneven layers, but I wanted a even starting point as I enter Hairscapades GOC. Does anyone else go to a professional for haircuts/trims or do you feel more comfortable with doing it yourself?

Pre-Poo Regimen

Hi Curlies!

Well, I decide to incorporate a pre-poo regime in my weekly wash routine. Since the weather is getting warmer and I will more likely be doing more wash and go, I want to ensure my hair has enough moisture to combat any frizzy hair. Even though I have a lot of hair, its mainly  thin strands bunch together so I don't want to deal with single strand knots. My hair doesn't really like heavy oils and butters , so I decided to mix EVOO, Castor and Rosemary oil together as a pre-poo solution. I don't do any measurements, just ensure I have enough to cover all my hair, but I generally use more EVOO than the other two ingredients. I normally rinse my hair of any product build-up using just my hands with warm water and apply the oil mix from scalp to the ends of my hair. Then I wear a shower cap and cover with a heavy scarf. Typically, I add a hair bonnet and wear overnight to let my body heat activate the oils into my hair and scalp. Then depending on how I wish to style my hair for the week, I will just co-wash and style as normal. I'm going to consistently do this for the next month and see if I notice a difference in how my hair feels. Hope this works for others. Let me know what you think :) Until later, See you on the flip-side.