Hair of the Past, Pt.1

Notice something all of these pictures have in common?

Summer 2009

Fall 2009

Winter 2009

My hair is about the same length (err...width/height) in every picture.

Last spring, I realized that my hair seemed to stay at certain length and my first thought was "my hair has stopped growing". I mean I came into college with a close cut and although I definitely had more hair as of my junior year, the growth was not what I expected after 3 years.

While I have never regretted my decision to cut it all off (I was frustrated with my hair and not terribly interested finding new styles), I became concerned that I had done something irreversible to my hair because it just seemed stuck. My aunt kept telling me that hair follicles can go through periods of rest but this hair limbo-state of felt abnormally long.

At the time, I didn't realize that many factors could be preventing/detracting from my hair length. Two that come to mind are:

1. STRESS--I was juggling a particularly time consuming major that I ended up hating and the management of floundering student organization (as well as an officer position with another org). Then I dropped my major halfway through the school year and ended my organization just before the end of the year...so basically I was in early 20's life crisis mode.

2. ROUGH HANDLING--For starters, my default hairstyle was a short fro that was picked out daily. Yet, I could never get my products quite right (dryness, itchiness), so sometimes I would just end up raking through and pulling out more than what was shed.

I also tended to tug on my ends and twist my hair around my fingers when I got frustrated.

Now, I am trying to grow my hair out (healthily), so sometimes I re-evaluate my past methods of care to see what can be learned from those experiences. When I considered my college hair care, I began to wonder if there was a way to prove that my problems with length were an issue of retention and not actual growth. So, I pulled up a series of pictures from my freshman year and checked out the difference a few relatively stress-free months made.

September 2007

I think it had been about a month since I got a haircut.

(For the record, my friend and I decided to dress up in our male friend's clothes as a joke. So yeah, I am wearing a boy's shirt.)

October 2007

Parent's weekend

Feb 2008

The first time I did two strand twists

March 2008

Shirt making with the feminist organization on campus

July 2008

Holding a makeshift steadicam on the set of independent, low budget film

Senioritis

Dear four followers:

Thanks for checking this project out and please excuse my senioritis. I have less than a year to go (Summer 2011!) and I can't wait to graduate (read: get on with my life). Yet, fall semester has resembled one long finals week. I pretty much had a paper & a test or a paper & presentation due or all three due every week. So, I've been slacking on the posting because I just could not justify taking the time.

Anyway, here's what I've been up to hair-wise:

1. Baking soda/vinegar washes- I have normal shampoo but I'm kind of a non-hippie/not quite anarcho/tree admiring vegan, so I like to avoid buying products (read: commercial shampoo). Baking soda is man made (nahcolite is mined and then sodium bicarbonate comes from a chemical reaction) but I understand what's in it a lot better than the label on my shampoo (despite it being vegan/organic/not tested on animals, etc). Anyway the real reason I started using b.soda is for its clarifying ability.

2. Using coconut oil- It's basically amazing for my hair. Some people on boards are all "do we really need oils or do we just want to put things in our hair because we always have?" For me the answer is yes...my hair definitely needs oils. My somewhat fine strands do not hold moisture all that well. If I actually wet my hair, water stays around for a while in some areas but my ends and scalp air dry pretty fast (ends: 20-30 mins, scalp: an hour/hour and a half). Oils invite the moisture to hang around a little bit longer and coconut oil is a pretty enticing host. (It also smells great!)

While I love coconut oil, it does mess with the aesthetic of my hair a little bit. Although, I've read several people's experiences with coconut oil defrizzing their hair, it seems to do just the opposite on mine. I mean it keeps my hair soft, long after it dries but as soon as I add it to wet/damp hair I notice it starts to frizz. Not sure what's up with that hair reaction but I like coconut oil, so I am sticking with it.

One more warning if you are interested in using coconut oil: be mindful of how much your hair needs. When I go overboard with the oil, I think it contributes to my buildup because it leaves my hair a bit greasy.

3. Gross aloe vera experiment- Google "aloe vera for hair" and you will find lots of people who love to use it. The gel is a tragic mess for my hair and I didn't bother trying the juice (in my hair). The stuff would be awesome if I wanted to style my hair as a mostly dull mohawk, otherwise it just makes things hard and dry. I washed it out within 24 hours of putting the stuff in. Eternal hair mantra: Just because it works for other people's hair does not mean it will wok for mine.

Looks from busy, busy weeks

My styling has gotten considerably less ambitious as I devote more and more time to studying and preparing for finals. Despite spending less time on my hair and falling off with posting here, I continue to document particularly cute styles/length of my hair. So without further ado, here are some styles I've rocked in thus far in November:

Basically, a mini fro with some twists in the front. This actually started out as a twist out (pictured at the bottom of the post) but after I added water to fill the style out, it just went full fro. I'm cool with the look as long as the strands don't get all tangled/dried out.

Back view

Twist out

Return of the Updo

**UPDATED: 11/7/10 (I got my pics off the camera hard drive)

[To the tune of chorus from Outkast's "Return of the G"]

Updo!

(It's the return. It's the return-turn-turn)

Do!

(It's the return, it's the return, it's the return)

Updo!

(It's the return)

I think my point has been made.

I like twists. They are faster than braids (I actually cannot be bothered with three strand activities anymore), they hold up well during sleep and they allow me to have several quick, spritz and go mornings. Yet, between the weather and my attempt to keep stuff moisturized, my twists can get pretty fuzzy in a few days. Sometimes, my twists look like beginner dreads (which they may well become one day) and that annoys me a bit when I need to go into the office. Also, I don't like the idea of always having my ends hanging out, North Florida weather can get pretty random and in those cases my ends need some protection to avoid getting fried/dried out.

Therefore, lately I have developed a renewed interest in updos. First, I feel like updos look classier than twists, they put more emphasis on my face and create a more pulled together look. Second, I can control the fuzz by smoothing down portions of the updo (and if all else fails I can clip/pin down sections). Third, in the styles I'm looking at I'll be able to tuck away my ends to prevent breakage and unnecessary knots.

There are some downsides to updos:

- I'll probably have to style my hair everyday

- The length/thickness of my hair does not offer a lot of versatility in styling, for example the style at the beginning of the post was originally intended to be this funky (in a positive way) dinosaur look but my hair is too short and fine for that, so I opted to style off this look.

D.C.

**NOTE: In the seemingly dormant past month, I started a few posts but never had the time to really sit/think/finish them. This post originally started on October 4th but was posted on October 16.

A couple of weeks ago, I deep conditioned my hair for the first time. It was an interesting experience, I used this method and it took me about 4 hours (yeah, 1-2-3-4 hours). While my hair did in fact feel moisturized this week, I don't think I'll do this every week...twice-a-month is a possibility but with my schedule once a month seems more realistic.

A few words about detangling:

I am pretty sure that detangling took up most of the time because I have fine hair that likes to knot at the ends. Overall, my hair is not tangled, after it's finger combed MOST of it can pass through a wide toothed comb with no problems. Unfortunately, my ends are another story because about 3/4ths down a section I get resistance. Usually the resistance comes in the form of a few small knots, literally bottom of one strand knotted with another. Sometimes I can work through these knots with my fingers but other times thy just need to be snipped out. Eventually, I can get the comb through a previously tangled section of hair but it could take 15 minutes for one fistful of hair. So, unlike the lady in the video I have not found a way to easily run a wide toothed comb all the way through my hair (slowly or carefully). In short, detangling is a project for me with or without conditioner coating my hair. [/end]

Post D.C. rocking twists that unintentionally became my "style" for the (very hectic) week, I originally put them in simply to stretch my hair.

Earlier this week

I love dreads so my faux dread look in the last pics tickled me, but just so people don't think I go around everyday looking "dusty" (as some people call some more free looking hair)- this was my school look on Thursday.

Here you get to see the whole look

This day was actually pretty rough, I had a writing assignment, a test and a presentation in the same day. I also wasn't feeling too great but at least I looked nice.

A closer look at the hair style (the last days of the twist out)

Texture shot (Sort of. My hair has been holding on to twist pattern, so the coils are a little exaggerated.)

Fooling with updos

In the last post, I bemoaned not having time to mess with my hair for the cute, conventional work friendly styles (i.e.: twists) but now I'm sucking it up. I am trying to master some quick updos that will hopefully last the week. The idea is to wash over the weekend, style, spritz/touch up during the week but not really have to fool with my hair in the heat of the work/school week.

On Friday, I tightened things up for a work version of the hair rolls I attempted on Thursday night.

Side view

Sideways front view

On Saturday, I tried to switch my rolls over to bantu knots, the result (that I'm currently wearing) is below...a few of the rolls still remain.

I had kind of a cruddy day*, so trying out this new style took my mind off things a bit. I think with a little more practice this look can be work (internship) ready, hopefully it's sleep friendly.

About today: I got in my first fender bender and ended up not accomplishing too much the rest of the afternoon. I just started driving for real this summer and I drove home (halfway across the state) alone for the first time over Labor Day weekend, so I was a bit in disbelief when I got rear-ended heading home after errands (in the midst of Game Day traffic). Oh well, goes with the theme of my week. Life goes on.

Back to Basics!

This is what the top of my head looks like right now:

It's the result of large twist out that I just rolled into naturally forming sections. I realize it may look unkempt to some but this is probably of one of the looks I've been happiest with as of late...and I just did it.

These rolled sections aren't going to hold because nothing is keeping them rolled up. My hair is slightly damp with a bit castor oil spritzed in and I didn't roll them particularly tight...but it was a quick and easy style.

A view from the side

Quick and easy is what I need right now, I have a lot going on...in fact that's why I haven't posted since August. I'm in my last year of college (junior/senior in credits) and I'm taking 15 hours while doing an internship on Mon/Wed/Fri. My first day on the job was last week and this week has been crazy with first tests and papers of the semester. (I was also sick the week before Labor Day up until the night before I started at the office.) Nevertheless, I'm trying to showcase positive images of natural black hair because I think it's beautiful not usually recognized as so. Still, if some cute hairstyles up 3-4 hours in one day, I just can't do those things.

I keep dreaming of putting in two strand twists again because they're low maintenance, they take me about 3.5 hrs but once they're in that's like 2 weeks worth of wash/condition/spritz/go. I can usually tell what my hair will do in small twists but I don't have time to allot to the project. I can't justify spending the time.

The back of my head. (I love how this almost looks like I have dreads.)

The dilemma for me is that twist outs and big twists are basic but while I, personally don't mind them doing their own thing when morphed by water or the weather, I am concerned about how they are perceived in a professional setting. I don't think there's anything unprofessional about the hair that grows out of my head, but its hard to know if my officemates see a bunch of matted hair or a natural style. I am one of two black women in my office and the only one sporting natural black hair. I've seen a few naturals elsewhere in the building but they had much more reserved styles.

Personally, I love the dread look but the idea of going through the crazy early locking part (in an office setting) makes me nervous. Yet, in a twist out, my hair effectively looks a lot like early dreads. On a natural black hair forum I frequent, the general consensus about trying new natural styles is that it's fine in the workplace as long as it's neat...but are these easier/more freeform styles neat?

Cornrows (sort of), Pt. 2

After my cornrows up top were done, I twisted damp hair up with castor oil, left it in for the night and then did big twistouts during the day.

On the first day, I accessorized with some cute flowers between the cornrows and the twistout on both sides.

(You might notice some Ouchless hair ties at the end of cornrows, they are in there because I used them to band together some ends of the rows, so I could incorporate them into large twists/twistouts. My hair is kind of fine, thicker in the front but in the back parts can look sort of severe, so I try to blend where I can).

Here's a nice view of the cornrow part on Thursday:

I intended to wear the bottom half of my hair out most of the week but things got busy, so I left the bottom part of my hair in large twists for about half the week. My laziness paid off because the crazy weather switches (between crazy humidity/rain and arid heat) probably would have done a number on my strands.

Throughout the week I maintained by rinsing my hair daily and spraying a water/castor oil mixture. It was nice, almost I didn't need a comb the week and when I did it was just to start a part. I could gently comb through my naps with my fingers, castor oil helped me work through many of the rare, small knots.

Today, I finally co-washed and re-twisted the bottom half my hair (smaller)

I ended up taking the hair ties out for washing and then put in some medium sized chunky twists. I think I'll leave it like this into the weekend and then maybe I'll shampoo/condition and then put some styled cornrows...if I do that it will be a first.

Cornrows (or how I wore my hair the first week of school 2010)

After the twistout and its accompanying co-washing, I wasn't quite ready to go back to a bunch of little twists (it's time consuming) but I knew I wasn't going to have time to fool with my hair throughout the first week of school... so, I decided to do cornrows.

I didn't grow up with my hair in cornrows, I don't even think my mom knows how to do them (she stuck to braids) or if she does then she never did them on me. That said, I'm not an expert on doing cornrows and I don't care that much about clean parts but I feel like if I get the basic style down then everyone generally understand what's going on (on my head).

So, Sunday night I started in on my hair...

Halfway done:

Top view of finished cornrows:

Usually people cornrow their hair all the way down but I started these Sunday evening and I didn't have the energy/patience for that. So, I decided to do some chunky twists on the bottom half of my hair...PICS IN NEXT POST.

Scarves = Low maintenance, Pt. 2

I got tired of Blogger's crappy picture management at the end of the last post, so I'm going to share a little bonus in a separate post.

I actually started playing around with scarves back in July and I have some pics of some of my first stylings.

*Heads up, I took these pictures at 2:30 in the morning, so no I'm not 4:20 just tired.*

Scarves = Low maintenance

I was going to say scarves equal no maintenance but that's not really true, everyday I at least moisturize to avoid crunchy hair.

Anyway, scarves are fun if you want to look awesome but don't have time to fiddle with your hair or you wake up needing to run an errand immediately. So, I wanted to share some styles I've been trying out.

**Note: Some people may feel negatively a

bout scarves for various reasons (e.g.: Aunt Jemima), to that I have to things to say: 1) Keep it to yourself, 2) Look up all the many other beautiful ways that scarves have been used across cultures and realize how silly it is to stereotype a piece of headwear.

Onward...

I've been collecting scarves for a few months but rarely got the spirit to wear them out. On Sunday morning/afternoon, I needed to run by CVS really quick and I didn't want to delay things by contemplating what to with the groups of chunky twists that I slept in. So, I decided to debut my scarves.

First, I played around with a regal blue wrap:

(Excuse the sideways picture, Blogger doesn't want to show the pic in its vertical orientation.)

I made it a little more funky by adding in this material that can best be described as appropriate for a drum circle.

Finally, I decided wear this cute rag-scrap looking piece because it's lightweight was perfect for the ridiculous Florida heat.

After: Return from a night out

In these pics, my hair dried after a night outside in the warm, humid Florida night. To me it seems more together (looks more "intentional") than the wet style.