True Life: I Have Natural hair. Period.

I was talking to one of my best friends on the train the other day. He was asking me if I considered myself a “natural girl.” I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by the phrase so I asked him to explain. He then asked me if I was one of those girls obsessed with using only natural hair products, stalking hair blogs and watching Youtube gurus every day. I laughed because I’m definitely guilty of those things (in a very minimal way of course). Then a lady riding behind us said, “Yeah she’s one of those natural girls. She probably listens to neo-soul and has an ankh tattoo on her back, too.”

I was so surprised by her comment, and I thought she was kidding so I laughed while my friend told her that he wouldn’t be surprised if those things were true. Then she continued to tell us what a “natural girl” is. And let me tell you…the conversation showed me that the usual ignorance about “good hair” is now being replaced by the ignorance of defining those who chose to go a certain route with their hair.

Honestly the stereotypes that come when people notice that you have natural hair has always been ridiculous to me. When I first got to my college campus (an HBCU btw) everyone was wearing Indian Remy and pin curls. The only females you saw with natural hair either had dreads and those with fros were automatically classified as the afrocentrics. Even those who had been natural all their lives wore their hair in straight styles so you would have never known… 4 years later when you walked onto the yard if anyone was rocking a sew-in it was because they were using it as a protective style on top of their teeny weeny afro.  Everyone else was rocking twist and braid outs. It seemed like as I matriculated everyone was jumping onto the natural hair bandwagon. As great as it is that so many females were embracing their natural roots and embarking in healthy hair practices, so many people made predetermined notions on what it meant to be natural…

Some of the crazy stereotypes I’ve heard are as follows:

*You must constantly listen to only Neo-soul

*Erykah Badu and Jill Scott are your new idols

*You must dislike white people

*You stop using anything that has sulfates…even in your dish and laundry detergent

*You always have to be part of a “movement”

*You have some type of adinkra or something that symbolizes Africa ,tattooed on you

*You must be a vegetarian or vegan or at least have attempted to be one

*You’re constantly lighting “Black Love” scented incenses

*You criticize everyone with relaxers and preach to them about the dangers of the creamy crack

* Meditation and yoga are now common practices

*You only use 100% natural products on your hair.

*Seeing even a glimpse of anything with the words “Blue Magic” makes you faint

*Walking by the Miss Jessie’s and Shea Moisture section in Target makes you swoon

*The use of the word “sister” and “brother” have replaced people’s first names

Some of these things could most definitely be accurate for SOME folk. Don’t get me wrong, You won’t be seeing me use any blue grease anytime soon. But I’m sure a mass majority of the natural hair population, that have chosen to leave the relaxers for someone else, are just trying to have long, healthy hair. Nothing more or less. Unfortunately even those who are natural and especially some of our “natural veterans” seem to think that there are requirements and restrictions to anyone who decides to go natural, and in the words of some great philosophers, I find that sh*t CRAY.

Some people believe you have to catch the “Mother Africa Syndrome”. And that’s just not the case. If I do decide to try and reconnect to my roots (beyond the ones in my scalp) then so be it. But that does not mean that is the same fate or wish of everyone who decides that crack is wack.

The lady on the train even told me that she didn’t understand how “us natural girls” could be so obsessed with the health of our hair and not of the rest of our body and our mind.  She said and I quote, “The ones who are gun-ho on being natural are always the fattest and most messed up. They need to stop worrying so much about how their fro looks and more about putting down those McDoubles.”

Yeah….she said that. And that’s when the side eyes began. I’m always an advocate for positive mental and physical health. It has definitely been proven that the better your diet is and the less stressed you are, the more likely you’ll have continual healthy hair growth. But that statement was clearly not said in a positive way. She was clearly trying to tell me that I have more important things to consider than how my hair is styled. And of course I had to let her know how her statement and apparent assumptions didn’t apply to me…and shouldn’t apply to anyone else. To put it simply. It’s not that serious. I’m not trying to be a certain type of person because I decided to go natural. If I choose to coat my strands only with coconut oil, hand pressed from the depths of the rainforest in the middle of the Bermuda triangle but I decide to eat 3 KFC’s Double Downs (sorry it was the grossest thing I could think of) everyday for the next year, then I sure can…and I sure WILL! No one should make any type of suppositions about what someone does because they have decided to do something.

It would be like me saying, “You wear weaves so that means because your hair isn’t real and neither should your body.  Get breast implants, butt injections and a nose job. Start trying to be as fake as your hair from head to toe!”

Sorry for my rant but the conversation on the train really had me thinking. Moral of the story; there is no right way to going natural. And there should be no assumptions made when someone chooses to do so. 

This Week's LUUUUST!!!

(Source: Tumblr)

Mmm...Whatcha Say?

Unless you've been living under a rock, without internet connection, I'm sure you've seen at least 1 of the 343751093538094 parodies of S*it Girls Say. If you haven't well you're in luck.  Below is S*it Natural Girls Say and S*it Realxed Girls Say To Natural Girls. Check them out. We may start recanting what we say!

The Low Down on those Pesky Single Strand Knots

So LET me tell you. Everyone has pet peeves with their hair. For me it's single strand knots. I HATE them but I get them so very frequently ALL THE TIME. It's borderline ridiculous. It doesn't matter if I trimmed my hair 2 days ago. Today I'll have them. They are always there. Taunting and haunting me constantly. And it's NEVER just a few of them. It seems as if they are on every strand. I just can't take the pressure!

Unfortunately single strand knots come with the territory of natural hair; specifically when you have tighter, coily-er and kinky-er hair textures. As the hair coils and curls upon it's self the hair, upon movement, tends to make commonly known as "fairy knots" or single strand knots. Why are they so poisonous to us naturals? The knotting creates a point of breakage. If the knot , while beginning to form, traps other strands within it, Not only can the strand with the knot break but the additional "caught up strands" will break as well. split-ends, breakage and lack of length retention are all likely to happen if you don't control those knots!

Although getting them may seem (and maybe are) inevitable, there are ways to help reduce the amount that you have.

1. Stretched styles/ Protective styles
You probably never heard of Single strand knots while you were relaxed. That's because they only frequent highly textured and curly hair. Wearing your hair in stretched and protective styles such as braids, braid outs, twists, and twist outs, and not wash-and-gos will help prevent the hair from curling upon it's self.


2. Shampoo hair in sections
If you decide to shampoo your hair make sure you separate your hair into sections using clips or twists/braids. Shampooing your hair in smaller sections oppose from your entire head allows your head to be less prone to tangles and matting which leads to fairy knots.


3. Oil Rinsing
Adding oil to your regimen will help prevent tangles and knots to your hair. The oil acts as a lubricant allowing your hair to be detangled much easier. The oil also works as an additional moisture agent to condition and add softness to your hair. There are different ways to oil rinse.

• You can do a Pre-poo treatment: where you wet your hair with water then add an ample amount of your favorite oil (I either use coconut or olive oil) leave it on for at least 20 mins and then add shampoo and rinse. Condition and style as you please.  
• Use the oil as a deep conditioner: After you shampoo or co-wash, saturate your hair with your favorite oil, cover your hair with a shower cap and wait for at least 45 min- 1hr and then rinse.

4. Keep hair well moisturized
Moisturized hair is less likely to knot. Use a leave-in or just good old quality H2O to make sure your hair is moisturized daily. Make sure to seal in the moisture in your hair (especially those ends!) with a oil or natural butter.


5. Defeat "Hand-in-Hair" Syndrome
This maybe my biggest problem. I always have my hands in my hair and that's a NO-NO! Although most times it's unconsciously, too much manipulation to your hair will cause the hair to curl upon it's self leading to knots. That's another reason protective styles are great. They help protect your hair from not only the elements but your own hands.


6. Careful Detangle
Make sure you are detangling your hair carefully. Perhaps you should start by finger detangling. It helps prevent harsh handling from tools by getting out large tangles and shed hairs before using a wide-tooth comb or denman brush. While finger detangling make sure you take special care to each strand. If there is a knot make sure you separate each strand out of the knot genitally. Then follow with a comb/brush.


7. Don't towel dry your hair
Stay away from towels especially cotton ones. Cotton towels with long fibers snag the hair. Try wringing out the water after washing your hair with your hands and then using a t-shirt or microfiber cloth to continue drying your hair.


8. Protect your hair while sleeping
Wear a silk scarf or bonnet to bed so your hair will have a smooth /friction-less surface to lay on. Using silk pillowcases will help as well. Wearing a cotton scarf or laying on cotton pillowcases will not only snag the hair but dry out the hair as well. Also remember to wear your hair in protective styles to bed, so your ends will be protected while you sleep.

The Ayurvedic Way: Nupur Mehendi

One of the first ayurvedic treatments I decided to use for my 2012 Healthy Hair Challenge , was this one called Nupur that I found at my local Indian supermarket. This conditioning treatment is  a mixture of Brahmi, Shikakai, Aloe Vera, Methi, Bhringraj, Amla, Neem, Hibiscus, and Jatamansi. Each ingredient helps in the overall strength, condition, nourishment and shine of your hair.

This particular treatment is basically an enriched henna (Mehendi). So the actual processing application and time is just as long as if you were to do an actual henna treatment. I added enough water (no real measurement) to the Nupur powder to make a thick paste. I then added Amla and Vatika oil (which I also found at the Indian Supermarket) for extra softness and conditioning. I allowed the mixture to sit over night so that the properties of the ingredients could release.

 

The next morning. I washed my hair with a castile soap, then applied the treatment evenly from root to tip of my hair. I then twisted my hair in chunky two strand twists and let it sit in my hair for 3 hours. 

I made sure to rinse the product out VERY well. When the product was all removed I could instantly feel a difference in my hair. It was super soft and my twist actually looked...better. For experimentation sake, all I added was a bit more of the Vatika oil to my ends and I let the twists air dry that entire day.

That night I went to a party so I did a half pinned up twist out. Let me tell you! When your hair feels great it will look great too. I was really pleased with the results of the Nupur treatment and will definitely be using it regularly within this 6 month challenge. It was only $2 and definitely worth every penny.

2012 Healthy Hair Challenge

(Isn't she a CUTIE! Source: Tumblr)

Hola Everyone! I hope you all have had a wonderful start to the New Year. Around this time everyone is focused on beginning the year on the right foot. Making sure that we take care of ourselves inside and out. The start of the year is a great calendar marker to

For 2012 i'm focusing on me. Making sure that I take extra care of my body inside and out. And with that, that means extra care of my hair. On the 9th I'll be 1 year and 6 months completely natural. I've loved EVERY moment of this journey and I'm anxious to see how far I can take this. In one of the last post I talked about the healthy hair challenge I will be embarking on from now until my 2 year nappiversary.


2012 Healthy Hair Challenge:

*Develop and mantain a regimen: I plan on incorporating all natural and Ayurvedic ingredients and products in my weekly regimen for the first 6 months of 2012. No sulfates, mineral oil, petroleum, parabens, synthetic ingredients or other chemicals.

• Pre-Poo/Detangle (All natural Conditioners, Coconut milk, Coconut or Olive oil, Amla Oil )

• Cleansing ( Shikaki, castile soap, apple cidar vinegar rinses)

• Conditioning/ Deep Conditioning (Hibiscus petal powder, Mehndi powder, Brahmi Powder, Aloe Vera Juice, Neem, Marshmallow Root Powder)

• Moisturizer/Styler (Shea Butter, Flax seed gel, water, aloe vera gel)

• Sealing Moisture (Vatika oil, Coconut oil, Olive Oil)

*Protect ends:  Protective styles will definitely be a focus of this challenge I'm allowing a total of 2 weeks out of the 6 months for myself to be able to wear my hair "out" (probably a twist or braid out). One of my favorite styles that seems to be doing more damage to my edges than good is the classic "Puff". I won't be wearing one throughout the entire challenge. Also sleeping on a satin pillow/ with a satin scarf to prevent snagging the ends of the hair as well as retaining moisture in the hair.

*Working inside-out: Our moisture balance in our hair comes from how we hydrate our bodies on the inside. Drinking plenty of water we insure that the hair is moisturized well. Vitamins also gives you a great dosage of the nutrients you need to keep not only your hair healthy but your entire body as well.

*Make (realistic) goals: My overall goal is healthy hair. But along with that I'm aiming for length retention. Knowing that hair grows approx. 1/2 an inch every month I'm aiming for Arm pit length  (while stretching) by the end of this challenge.

*Happy Hair Days*