CurlCita

OK so I'm jumping in the challenge. Seems like a lot of fun. Today my hair is in a low side bun. It's the remains of an old flat iron style. I'm washing today and returning to curly. I flat ironed it (the stylist did) in order to assess where and how much needed to be cut. Long term transitioner here. Straight hair is just below shoulder length in the back and on the sides. Front is a bit shorter due to a self made bang a few months back. I've been without a relaxer for 7 months and enjoying the journey to natural. No BC for me... simply not interested in having short hair again. Did that twice before and I just like length on me anway. I love all of the TWAs I see around here and on the street but don't want one of my own. Working on finding the perfect product combo for me. Already discovered my favorite hairstyles are:
braid n curl (5 corn rows with flexirods on the ends- plaits don't work for me- comes out too straight)
high bun
low side bun
half wigs (oh yes. I call them my girlfriends. When it gets to be too much, the girlfriends come in very handy)

That's it for now. Off to do more work while my little one naps on my lap... ah the joys of working from home.

Welcome... I'd love to see pictures of your buns (LOL hair buns)! I need to really practice the cornrows and flat twists... I'm not good at all. I'm new too... thinking of joining in on the journals soon!

Welcome CurlCita!!! We would love to see some pictures of your hair
So you're just going to keep allowing your hair to grow and trim off the relaxer until it's all gone? I thought about doing that but I ran out of patience and only lasted a year! lol but you'll get tons of support here so I know you'll be able to do it!!!!

welcome!

welcome!!

bholmes87 wrote:Welcome CurlCita!!! We would love to see some pictures of your hair
So you're just going to keep allowing your hair to grow and trim off the relaxer until it's all gone? I thought about doing that but I ran out of patience and only lasted a year! lol but you'll get tons of support here so I know you'll be able to do it!!!!

That's the plan. One of the things I need to work on in life is patience so this is the perfect exercise.

Thanks for the welcomes ladies. I'm working on an efficient way to post my pics. I take most of my pics almost daily) on my phone. It's a smart phone- Samsung Moment- an android. I can upload to Facbook, picasa, etc with one touch. Trying to figure out how to do that here because I own my own company, work from home while taking care of my 10 month old SOOOOOOO I'm horrible at the download, save, then post. 3 steps is too much for me... ha ha! Anyone have suggestions for that?

welcome

Welcome to the challenge!!

@ Yellagirlcurls - You better jump in now. The challenge is over at the end of April.

welcome and I have a droid too and can't post on here either. Looking forward to seeing your hair. What type of business do you own?

Missed yesterday but learned something new...wore hair in low side bun after wetting. It dried FAST. Did braid and curl with moisturizing lotion cd hair butter and sealed with cocnut oil. Defined soft bouncy curls in 2 hrs...no dryer.

Rebraided last night (5 cornrows) and today great 2nd day hair.

Now I must do the following:
Find a replacement hair. Lotion. This one had parabens and petro
Perfect a few different really cute bun styles.

Welcome CC!

WELCOME

Welcome ... But we need to see some pics (lol)

Welcome!!! How long are you planning to transition??

CurlCita wrote:Missed yesterday but learned something new...wore hair in low side bun after wetting. It dried FAST. Did braid and curl with moisturizing lotion cd hair butter and sealed with cocnut oil. Defined soft bouncy curls in 2 hrs...no dryer.

Rebraided last night (5 cornrows) and today great 2nd day hair.

Now I must do the following:
Find a replacement hair. Lotion. This one had parabens and petro
Perfect a few different really cute bun styles.

Kudos on learning something new. I'm glad you joined the challenge to document and take us along for the ride. Now all we need are some pics.. We lubs us some pics..

OK OK I GET THE MESSAGE LOUD AND CLEAR... GET MY BUTT ON THE COMPUTER AND DO THE DOWNLOAD THANG TO PROVIDE SOME PICS... LOL! You guys are funny.

I plan to transition for as long as it takes to have 100% natural hair while cutting 1-2 inches off every 3 months. My hair grows pretty fast so I think I can transition for about 2 years without a BC. In August 08, I had my hair cut into a chin length bob and by May 09, it was past shoulder length. I was preggo at the time but that is the normal growth rate of my hair. I think the fact that I eat really healthy and exercise a lot helps a heap.

Before I forget, I think someone asked what type of business I own, it's a fitness business. Boot camp fitness for women. You can check out what we do in class on my site: www.GreatShapeFitClub.com

Now for the hair stuff.. I am rocking THIRD DAY HAIR.... YAHOO!

I've learned that my hair LOVES being braided in cornrows at night. It rewards me each morning with bouncy, defined curls for my efforts.

Hair is STILL moisturized from my concoctionon Wednesday and I need to experiement with either making or finding a similar moisturizing lotion that doesn't have petro and parabens in it. The first 3 ingredients in my old one were water, coconut oil, and castor oil. Funny thing is the name is "olive oil moisturizing lotion" lol! oh the marketing! So I'm thinking of just mixing those 3 but am concerned it won't be like a lotion. I have no idea of the ratios. The petro actually may be the ingredient that makes it gunky like lotion... who knows but I'm up for the try. I like hair milk by CD but it's a tad expensive considering the amount I have to use to moisturize my thick hair.

Ok so here are some pics:
Here's my 3rd day hair this am:


Here's my low side bun that I use to let my hair dry:


Now for my wet texture with only conditioner in it:


Finally here's a visual explanation of why I cornrow and curl instead of plait and curl... no definition, stringy relaxed hair:


And for the finale, my natural hair inspiration. My son's hair is sooo cool. It's curly and has 4 tight long spirals right in the center. After looking at him for 3 months, I remembered where he got that hair from... ME. So I decided (for a few other reasons too)to get off the relaxers and allow my hair to be natural.

Yeahhhh for pics!! Bootcamp..Wow! I have to check that out! I need to get up and move!

Ok ... like those pics.

Hi! beautiful baby boy!

Today was one of THOSE hair days. I decided to restyle my hair in a curly fro last night. Woke up with a need to get out quick only to discover WET HAIR...ARGH... not good for the transitioner. So I tried to fit a wig on top of the set by replacing the rollers with bantu knots... RIDICULOUS LOOKIN. Then I tried to salvage the set with some type of puff... NO GO.... I ended up with 2 french braids... middle school style. My hubby then asked "well if you took down the style, why not just wear the wig." After a quick side eye glance, he realized that was the WRONG QUESTION... he just laughed when we got in the car and said kind of mockingly..."darn it I'm going natural and I'm committed to it." We both busting out laughing. It's funny how someone can know you that well. For some reason I was annoyed with every last one of my "girlfriends". One was too straight, the curly one was too shiny (like fake hair shiny), I couldn't be satisfied with any of them this morning. Needless to say while we were out, I bought a few new headbands and earrings and felt much better. Just back from a run and now rocking a bun... why didn't it look right this morning... is this what you guys mean when you say natural hair has 'personality'? Definitely washing and starting over tonight!

Ok so I didn't wash. Just rebraided with a little moisturizer and have continue to rock on. Sunday hair was cute and today I have something a little different. Last night, I added 1 cornrow to my normal 5 and placed them a little bit differently. I also left more out of the braid to set on the rollers. Created a different look. More "fluffy" and less wavy. I like this look too.

I noticed something though as I rebraided last night. There is an area of my hair that feels dryer and more brittle and somewhat "broken off" compared to the other parts. This is tripping me out b/c I just got my hair cut like 10 days ago. I think I may favor the top and sides with conditioner and oil and the way I braid may neglect the back middle a bit. So I'm going to change my braid placement and/or give that part special attention when moisturizing.

Also after reading Tia's challenge thread, I'm considering a bun / cornrow challenge after this week until the end of April. I just love my hair out and am not so much a fan of many of the protective styles BUT I'm in this for the long haul (LT transitioner so I might have to compromise a bit to keep my hair...lol). Any advice for a girl who loves wearing her hair out but wants to maintain health? Could possibly more cowashing do the trick and allow me to still enjoy free tresses? sound in please!

hair today:

Ok so I didn't wash. Just rebraided with a little moisturizer and have continue to rock on. Sunday hair was cute and today I have something a little different. Last night, I added 1 cornrow to my normal 5 and placed them a little bit differently. I also left more out of the braid to set on the rollers. Created a different look. More "fluffy" and less wavy. I like this look too.

I noticed something though as I rebraided last night. There is an area of my hair that feels dryer and more brittle and somewhat "broken off" compared to the other parts. This is tripping me out b/c I just got my hair cut like 10 days ago. I think I may favor the top and sides with conditioner and oil and the way I braid may neglect the back middle a bit. So I'm going to change my braid placement and/or give that part special attention when moisturizing.

Also after reading Tia's challenge thread, I'm considering a bun / cornrow challenge after this week until the end of April. I just love my hair out and am not so much a fan of many of the protective styles BUT I'm in this for the long haul (LT transitioner so I might have to compromise a bit to keep my hair...lol). Any advice for a girl who loves wearing her hair out but wants to maintain health? Could possibly more cowashing do the trick and allow me to still enjoy free tresses? sound in please!

hair today:

Good Morning CurlCita,

Just my two cents. I transitioned for 15 mths, 2 wks. While transitioning I bunned 99% of the time, low manipulation. It worked for me. I was able to maintain the length and health of my hair. Once I understood what my hair needed and how to properly take care of the two textures - it was smooth sailing. Only on occasion would I wear my hair out. Then I got tired and wanted to see my natural hair and I BC'd in February.

I guess you'll have to do what works for you.

BlondeByDesire wrote:Good Morning CurlCita,

Just my two cents. I transitioned for 15 mths, 2 wks. While transitioning I bunned 99% of the time, low manipulation. It worked for me. I was able to maintain the length and health of my hair. Once I understood what my hair needed and how to properly take care of the two textures - it was smooth sailing. Only on occasion would I wear my hair out. Then I got tired and wanted to see my natural hair and I BC'd in February.

I guess you'll have to do what works for you.

I agree. I was a short term transitioner but now that I am natural, I do protective styling about 90-95% of the time.

ok post erased twice. I can't retype anymore...long story short... BAD HAIR DAY.