I'm Back....And So Are My Curlies!

I will, once again, like to apologize to my readers for my long absence. I've just finished with my finals and like any college student will tell you, finals time is the busiest and most frustrating time of the whole semester. I am very happy to be finished with them and I'm leaving everything to God!

And yes, my curls are back! I missed them dearly, after almost a month of having them straight.

I washed it with my shampoo, Dr. miracles tingling shampoo and conditioner

I then deep conditioned with Ev olive oil and Herbal Essences hello hydration (My favorite condish) and my electric heating cap.

After an hour or so I washed it out and poured diluted apple cider vinegar (3 cups distilled water and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar) all over my hair.

I believe that I may have hard water, which is water that has a lot of minerals in it, which can have a bad affect on hair and skin. I'm not sure I have it, but I've been dealing with very dry hair even after I deep condition, so I think the water's to be blamed.

I read that diluted apple cider vinegar could really help with that...so I tried it and I love it.

I poured the cider on my hair (didn't wash it out) and my hair came out feeling very soft and moisturized.

Below are some picture. The first is of my hair(still wet) after I washed it. And the remaining few are of a second-day braid and curl.

It looks really frizzy, because although I didn't fluff it much, I was constanly touching it...I really missed the boing-y-ness of my curls :)

Hair Update

A couple of days after I straightened my hair, it starting expanding and I actually contemplated a touch-up, but then decided against it. I gave up on the super straight look and decided to aim for a wavy look. After two nights of wrapping it, I started bunning it. I secured it in a low bun at the nape of my neck. The next morning, it unraveled into soft waves and I actually preferred it over the bone straight look.
On the 5th I got a lovely trim. I loved it because my ends were beyond horrible, because I kept putting off my trims. I've been moisturizing it with a mixture of Shea butter and EV olive oil.
The pictures below are of my hair after I combed it out to put it in bun for the night.

My Birthday Hair!

I straightened my hair for my birthday!
I washed with diluted apple cider vinegar, 'deep' conditioned with olive oil and HE Hello Hydration and a newly- bought electric heating cap. It was not at all what i expected, I think it's because I need a real deep conditioner.
I then dried my hair in braids over night, and the next day I detangled again and Piece by piece I sprayed a heat protectant and used my flat iron.

Before

During

AFTER

I think it pretty plain to see that I am in, once again, a desperate for a trim! My ends are ragged with split ends and knots. I know this is a definite result of the neglect that I've shown towards my hair. I will get a good inch, maybe an inch and a half, trimmed of.

Ready to go Straight...and Hair Updates

First off, I want to apologize to my readers for the lack of post for the past two weeks. I had a lot of work to do, since it's almost the end of the semester and I could find no time to post. I also had my laptop sent in to have a free office program installed on it, until I can afford to download Microsoft office 7 :)
OK, I have to admit that I've, yet again, been neglecting my hair. It's not completely out of laziness, I just couldn't find time to wash and moisturize it at least once a week, which is what it demands to avoid looking like a deformed, tangled, curly mass of hay.

However, I did find time to wash and give a mini hot oil treatment with my EV olive oil. Even after I washed (with Dr. Miracles tingling shampoo and conditioner) and de-tangled with my suave with added olive oil, it still feels dry. I know my hair needs some pampering. It's been breaking at the single strand knots and split ends (which aren't only at the ends).

Like I previously mentioned, I will be straightening next weekend for my birthday on May 2nd. The last time I straightened was November 2009, which will be exactly 6 months. That means I stuck to my plan of straightening only twice in the last 12 months. I want to stick to that plan. When I straighten, which although I hate the process, I love the results, I will also do another trim. Not too much though, probably half an inch and I'll try to do some search and destroy's to get rid of any remaining knots and splits.

The two pictures below are of my hair currently. It's drying in braids with nothing but EV Olive oil, I will add some Hello Hydration later on. It's going to be pretty rainy for the next couple of days, so I'm not going to put much effort into styling.

Wash Day

I washed and de-tangled my hair on saturday, the 10th. It was one of the best wash days I've had in a long time. I washed with diluted apple cider again, and I think that it was what helped with the de-tangling.
I then detangled with suave. I finger combed, then combed with my wide tooth comb. It took less than an hour whereas my usual de-tangling sessions usually take an hour an a half.
I 'deep' conditioned with HE hello hydration and EV olive oil, and sat with my hand held dryer for about an hour. When I washed it out, it was fairly soft. Nothing impressive, but it was decent.
I bout a 12oz bottle of EV olive oil. So I will be adding that to just about everything. :)

Pictures from Wash and Go and Bantu Knots

I took these two pictures to show the differences in curl sizes that I have. On the sides, and the top half of the back of my head, I have the tiny curls and just about everywhere else I have the bigger curls. The sizes vary in between the two examples that are shown. I find it both interesting and annoying.

This is a picture of my first wash and go since last spring. I applied HE hello hydration section by section all over my hair and let in air dry. This wasn't done on freshly washed hair. It was done on an an old twist out. I sprayed water on the ends, which gave me an even length all over.

There are the pictures from my Bantu Knots. My hair really doesn't like bantu knots when it's wet or damp. I will only be doing bantu knots when my hair's straightened.

Bantu Knots and Wash and Go's

Last week was Spring break. I took the extra time to 'experiment' with my hair. After the trim, I needed to style my hair, so section by section I spritz water and rolled my hair into bantu knots. The next day I carefully unrolled the first knot, to reveal a beautiful, shiny curl. As I began to separate it, I remembered why I should never have high expectations for a style, if i didn't properly moisturize and de-tangle. My hair had transformed into this tangled mess.

I had plans to go out that day, and I didn't have time to do any other style except for a wash and go. So for the first time since spring 2009, I grabbed my fantasia gel to do a wash and go. I opened the jar and then I remembered that I can a wash and go with conditioner. So I threw the gel aside and reached for my Herbal Essences hello hydration. Section by section, I applied the conditioner and when I was done I blow dried on cool with a diffuser for about 20-30 minutes.

My hair was soft with nice definition.....but the shape was horrible. I have terribly layered hair, which I have been hiding by doing twist/braid and curls. However, with my hair now in it's natural state it was revealed that the back layer of my hair hung about 3 inches longer than the rest of my hair. I think that the main issue is the fact that the curls at the back of my hair are looser that the other curls. It was not a good look. So, I got my scrunchies and pulled my damp hair up into a puff and walked out the door.

When I got home later that day, I took out my hair out of the puff and saw that it had dried in that shape. I immediately wet it and styled in a braid and curl. It was a pretty interesting day. I learned that: My hair and Bantu knots are not friends (at least not when my hair is damp or wet) and I also learned that I need to get my hair cut into a decent shape :)

I took a few pictures of the ordeal and I will post them soon.