Hot oil treatment

My ears are burning... no, no one is talking about me. I'm sitting under this hooded dryer for a hot oil treatment. I basically grabbed every oil in the house and slathered it on my head..

Actually, the first thing I did was rub my hair lightly with a little baking soda and water mix. I didn't want to soak my hair, but I want to test the theory of this baking soda low porousity thing. I said I was only going to use baking soda twice a month, but I want softer hair NOW.

After I rubbed a bit of the water over my hair (mostly the tips cause that's where my hair is driest), I applied my every oil mix (olive, jojoba, coconut, canola, castor, aloe vera gel), then I took a few medium-large hunks of coconut oil and piled that on my head. I'm talkin soaked.. already my hair felt much softer.

I'm under the dryer now, hence my ears burning, wiping oil off the back of my neck.. atleast its not running down my face. *cringe* I'm going to attempt at minimum one hot oil treatment a week and a deep conditioning treatment once a week. Probably not on the same day, cause I'm lazy lol.

If I don't see any improvement soon, I'm gonna get a wig! Ok, maybe not.. I saw the prices of wigs before I did my big chop.. Uh, yea, no. I'll just rock a hard frizzy fro until my hair grows out enough for twists. A shame too cause I've got some super defined curls.

Actually, on that note, my hair is crazy. The front is wavy, the top is curly, the sides are loosely coiled, and the back and sides above my ears are a mix of frizx and tight, tight coils... this is going to be an interesting thing to see as it gets longer. Feeling like a ragdoll head lol. Bouquet of wildflowers sounds better though. My head though only further proves that hair typing is pointless

Well, I'm hot and greasy. I think its been 30minutes.. time to rinse and shine! Well, I'm hoping for some shine. This dull mix of brown and black is not working.

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New business plan

By trade, my background is medical, but in my heart I am an entrepenuer!

So, my online clothing store didn't go over very well, but I'm not giving up. Last night I got the bright idea for working for myself while I desperately search for a job. Running errands!

Sounds ridiculous, but there are so many elderly and disabled people around here, I'm sure there are atleast one or two out here just needing a little help with grocery shopping, laundry, housekeeping, etc.. then again, everyones broke but I put my add up on craigslist, so hoping for the best. I've already received responses, but not for what I'm offering.... spam

Time to get to class.

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Moisture mission

Last night, in an attempt to actually get moisture into my hair, I did a simple mask containing baking soda. The baking soda temporarily lifts the cuticle of the hair. With my hair open, logically it is more porous, meaning its ability to draw in water is increased.

So, for my mask, I included my usual yogurt, honey, coconut oil, molasses and baking soda. I've been wanting to try molasses for a while now. I didn't add egg mainly because I'm broke since someone decided to help themselves to the cash in my wallet... and right before the electric bill is due. Hmph.

Left the mask on for maybe an hour. When I was cowashing, my hair did feel super soft. I decided to leave my conditioner on for 30min under the hooded dryer..

I read that in order to close the cuticle, use an acidic solution like aloe vera. I used the aussie leave-in cause one of the top ingredients I believe in aloe vera juice and I figured,.my cuticle will close on its own anyway, let me leave it open long enough to absorb more stuff..

Well, I dunno if my hair necessarily feels softer like the girls from the youtube videos, perhaps because I didn't use the apple cider vinegar. I may try that next time. My hair does, however, feel more moisturized. I can't tell if my curls are more defined visually, but I can certainly feel a difference. I mean, they feel more evident on my hand..

Next time, I'll try using a little in my regular conditioner

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Recognition

So, I'm in the bookstore and a girl with a nice, full afro puff stops her conversation with a friend to tell me she liked my hair.. that was the most wonderful compliment.

It was somewhat empowering to receive that from another natural. Honestly, it wasn't until then that I would have considered myself natural. It wasn't until,then that I even felt natural. I've just been feeling like a girl with short hair.

Back in class, another girl stopped to compliment my shoes.. I'm feeling pretty good right now.

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Micah's home!

Micah's home! Micah's home!

Its been a bad day. Apparently, I dropped my wallet last night. Someone found it but all the money was gone.. the last bit of money to my name. Luckily everything else was there, but when you're broke money IS everything.

Micah came home and of course he smells bad.. not like smoke this time, but like an old attic or something. His hair is so dry and knotted up. He has some diarrhea and he's feeling warm.

Ok, why is my son sick and stinkin after every visit with his sperm donor?  That tells me my child isn't getting even a good quality of care when he's not with me. Just hoping he doesn't have a fever tomorrow. Its the first day of class!



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Hair typing.

I so badly want to make a youtube video about this... your hair type, curl type, curl pattern, whatever you want to call it is of little to no importance in regards to hair care. The purpose of categorizing hair is strictly cosmetic and a marketing ploy.

If youre trying to create a hair care regimen, look at your individual hair, not a type. Decide what your hair needs. Is it dry? Is it fine? Is it thinning? Frizzy? Thick? etc.. In my opinion, hair porousity should be placed way before curl patterns. Hair porousity, in my own terms, is the rate at which your hair can hold water.. I'll try to explain. I have low porousity hair. My hair does not easily absorb moisture, but it also does not readily let it go. Many products just seem to sit on top of my hair without moisturizing. Another girl has high porousity hair. Her hair absorbs much faster than mine, but has a much harder time retaining that moisture. Now, let's say she and I have the same hair type. Ideally, we should use the same products? Wrong. Our processes and products will be different simply because our porousity levels are much different. Then you have to take into account the differences of our strands. I have medium-thick high density hair. She has fine, low density hair. Our individual hairs are not going to respond the same way to the same things.

I actually experienced this with a girl that sat next to me in class who was also was transitioning. Coincidently, we both had similar hair patterns: super defined coils, which I think is between 3c and 4a. Irrelevant. She loved Shea Moisture products, but my hair hated it. Her hair felt soft and moisturized, while mine was dry and crunchy..  even for styling purposes, my hair is thicker and more coarse, so mine held styles longer than her fine hair

Curl typing is really only useful during those few months in transitioning when you want to know what your hair is going to look like. Or after you've big chopped and you want to know what your hair will look like lol. Other than cosmetic, it really isn't that important.. If you're like me, your hair seems to fit into all of the categories from 3b all the way to 4c.. so, how would I buy products or care for my hair when it can fit into all the hair types?

It can be fun to learn about curl patterns and finding people with similar hair structures, but don't stress too much if you can't figure it out. If you're transitioning, you really won't know what your hair is like until you cut off the relaxed ends; I can attest to that lol. Also, if you big chopped, your hair will change as it gets longer. I'm not saying don't try to figure out your curl type. Learn everything you can about your hair. Just.don't stress over it and base your product selection and care on the way your hair curls up.

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Task: combat dry hair

Ok, so my hair has been super dry and rough since my big chop Wednesday. Granted, my hair may naturally be rough, its still way too dry.

I found pure coconut oil (not extra virgin..) at kroger last night. A pretty good sized jar by lou ana for 6 bucks. They also had grapeseed oil and some others that I will be going back for later. Ok, so I took a hunk of coconut oil, some olive oil and canola oil then warmed it and spread it all throughout my hair and massaged my scalp for a few minutes. TIP: massaging the scalp will stimulate blood flow which in turn stimulates healthy hair growth. Don't get too rough or you may damage your hair in the process.

I left the oil on wrapped in a plastic bag overnight. When I woke up my hair felt really soft (and greasy lol). I immediately started working on my deep conditioning mask. I prefer using natural products so for my conditioner I used: 1 egg, a jar of squash baby food, lemon juice, olive, canola, coconut and a little sprinkle of sesame seed oil, then I mixed in 3 spoons of yogurt. I warmed it in the microwave because its very cold. If you're going to do that, be careful not to cook the egg! I applied the mix right on top of the oils in my hair, then wrapped it in another plastic bag and a towel to help hold in the heat. Its not a thick mask, like a like it, but I skipped the fenugreek to see if that would make a difference.

I used the squash, in case you're wondering, because it is filled with keratene (spelling? that stuff in carrots) and super infused with vitamin a, which is great for hair growth. I don't know if it'll make your hair grow faster, but atleast it will be healthy, at whatever rate your hair grows. If you are trying to grow your hair faster, I'm sure using this or similar recipes won't hurt as it is all edible lol.

I fell asleep so I left the yogurt mix on my hair for maybe an hour. O dunno cause I fell asleep lol. Anyway, after I rinsed and co-washed my hair felt really soft. I sprayed on the aussie hair insurance then massaged my oil mix onto my scalp and hair... ok, then the problem started. I called myself sealing my hair with the Beautiful Textures curl creme. My hair started feeling hard... maybe I'm not using it in the right order. I dunno.

I made a mix of my own that I'll use. I'm just going to take both products back to sallys. Someone stole all the money from my wallet, so I need that cash back anyway to get diapers for my Micah

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