Sunday, June 10, 2012

Dry Hair...

Well, I guess this isn't an issue as much in the summer as it is in the winter, but I've had a several naturals from work ask me what I do to keep hair moisturerized. So we compared notes, and here were some things we discussed and shared with each other.

1. Humidifier -  one of the girls at work uses a humidifier at night, because he apt is dry period, however, her hair texture doesn't necessarily need anything past humidifying at night, and misting in the morning.

2. Leave hair out while in the shower, or even drench hair in shower -  after getting out of the shower, gently remove excess water with an old t-shirt or hair towel, then seal with oil.

3. Use plastic hair caps - after misting, or drenching, etc, seal hair with oil and wear a plastic cap for a few hours to help keep hair moist.

4. Enjoy humidity - sunmmer is great for natural hair, because of the humidity. twists and comb twists will help lock in moisture as well, also if your hair likes it, use glycerin products during the summer months.

 Hope this help!

:D

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Summer concerts...

The one thing I love about summer, are the concerts that are going on all over the city. The first concert for the summer for was Victor Wooten at the Beachland Ballroom last night. I went with my Dad and brother.

 For those of you that don't know Victor Wooten, here's his website: http://www.victorwooten.com/


 My Dad is an amateur bass player and so going to see acts like Victor Wooten are right up his alley. Dad insisted on taking his Nikon Digital SLR camera, an I have to say, that he actually got quite a few good shots, considering that the floor was pretty crowded (standing room only), and that there was a three hundred pound, six foot four guy trying to edge his way directly in the front of the crowd, as if he were made of glass and we could see right through him.... but I digress.

 The show was very nice. I was pleasantly surprised, as I have never seen Victor Wooten in concert before. His band consisted of Krytal Peterson, Singer. JD Blair, Drummer, Steve Bailey, Bass player - he played a six string bass... I had never seen one, until last night, Anthony Wellington, bass player, Dave Welsch, Trumpet player and Derico Watson, Drummer.

 The show started forty-five minutes late, yeah I know artists can be a bit weird about concert start times, but I felt this was a bit much.

 Krystal Peterson has a great voice, nice renditions of classic funk and R&B songs, however I don't feel she has the voice to sing Deniece Williams. The attempt at "Let's Hear it for the Boy" left much to be desired. However her version of "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder was very well done.

 I thoroughly enjoyed the solos by Victor Wooten himself and Steve Bailey. The song sung by Dave Welsch was very good, and its driving me crazy that I cannot remember the name of the song. On the whole, the concert was very good. Too bad I can't say much about some of the audience members.

 This concert was also my first time at the Beachland Ballroom venue. Its a small venue, but I thought it was nice. A typical concert dive sort of feel. I would definitely return.

 One the way out, as we were walking back to the car, we noticed that the bar side of the venue had another show going on. The band playing in there was called "She's my sister, he's my brother". We peeked in on one of their songs, and we were pleasantly surprised. We definitely agreed we would look them up and try to catch them the next time they were in Cleveland

 until next time!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

 So my comb twists are holding up well, and I have to say that they still look really good. Speaking of my comb twists, I went to a dance party tonight, where I saw an old family friend. One of her hands casually found my twists and proceeded to stretch some of them in order to assess how long my hair is. Once she realized my hair was shoulder length, she let them go, and didn't say anything.

  Now, I know that individuals can get curious about hair length, but why not just ask? I was rather annoyed and so I just made an escape afterward and didn't go back over to speak. I did tell my mom, who was at the same party (yeah I know, but sometimes telling mom makes me feel better), and she shook her head in disgust.

 I cannot understand for the like of me, why anyone would want to just put their hands in someone's hair, just to see how long their hair is. There are just somethings I will never understand about how people view Black women that have decided to go natural.

 On a high note, the dance party was a lot of fun, unfortunately I had to cut it short, because I have to be at work tomorrow morning (time and half pay rate :D ). So, until the next episode...

Friday, May 25, 2012

Summertime recipe # 2

I was out today enjoying the 90 degree weather were I live... The humidity can be unreal here and so I put my a/c on to cool my apartment (which is on the third floor). Interestingly enough, the one thing I couldn't get out of my mind on a day like this, is my taste for a summertime dessert that I make occasionally. Its called Million Dollar Pie and its delicious

 Million Dollar Pie

 This recipe will make two pies (when my mom makes it, she usually give me one and vice versa) and its easy to remember as it basically one of every ingredient

 1 container of Cool Whip
 1 Cup of crushed or chopped Walnuts
 1 Can of Sweeten Condensed Milk
 1 Tblsp of Lemon Juice
 1 can of crushed pineapples
 1 1/4 cup of coconut
 2 baked pie crust

 Bake up the pie crust and let cool. Then mix all the other ingredients in aone bowl. Once mixed well, divy out the mixture between both pie crusts. refrigerate for at least 4 -6 hr and served chilled.

 Enjoy!

:D


                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  As far as my hair, I think this summer, I will be trying out lots of styles with scarves. I got the inspiration to do this from Naptural85's youtube channel, so I went down to the beauty supply store to pick up a few scarves, and the store I went to had a nice selection of satiny scarves. I purchased three and will probably go back to purchase a few more next week.  Also once I get my new camera, I will attempt to post pictures... we'll see how that goes.


Thursday, May 24, 2012

natural hair care books...

 Rummaging around my closet, I found the book  "Good Hair: For Colored Girls who've Considered Weaves when the Chemicals Became too Rough", by Lonnice Brittenum Bonner.

 I stopped what I was doing and started to reread this book. There's not much to the books, really brief and to the point and hilarious. I forgot how funny this book was, and how it has helped me laugh at myself with some of the issue about having natural hair. The author tells her hair horror stories and how she learned to love her natural hair and of course she included styling tips that I've tried and really liked.  This book is one of the first I've ever read of its kind and I thoroughly enjoyed it. i definitely suggest swinging by your local library and checking it out.

                                                                    ~~~~~~~~

  summertime recipe #1

  The Avocado Sandwich

 I personally love this recipe, and I'm not afraid to say, this may be a hit or miss with people, but here goes.

 lightly toasted wheat or multigrain bread
 3-4 avocado slices
 2 slices of tomato
 alfalfa sprouts
 romain lettuce
 mustard (optional. I know a few people that prefer mayo...)
    this recipe is supposed to be vegetarian, but for those that quiver and shake at the idea od a veggie sandwich, I've tried this with thinly sliced turkey breast or even bacon. I've enjoyed both results. ENJOY!

:)

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Going to the salon as a natural..

Ok, so yesterday was the first time I went to a beauty salon to have my hair styled. Not the regular press and curl, but to get twists... well specifically small hand rolls. You the know, the little mini sized shirley temple curls that people considering locks get to start their locks?

 I have to say, my experience was very pleasant. The stylist that did my hair was a very nice girl that is a natural herself. She wears her hair in a soft bun, has a good sense of humor and excellent technique. The number one thing I loved about this stylist, is that she doesn't tear through your hair. She takes her time. She doesn't pull and tug on you strands. She takes time to detangle and she very detailed so my hand rolls looked perfect. Interestingly, the shop owner is also a natural, that wore her hair in a medium sized soft afro. Noth women were very encouraging, as far as maintaining my natural hair. Before leaving, my stylist reminds me to wash out my hair before a few weeks, so my hair won't lock.

 I have to say the results were great. People were pulling me aside, asking where I got my hair done and who did it, and how much did the style cost. I think she'll be surprised to have a few new clients so quickly after doing my hair. The style itself was inexpensive. $40 isn't bad, well at least for me, considering that relaxers, braids and weaves usually cost much more. I'm very happy to have found a stylist knows how to care for natural hair. Also its nice to have a stylist on hand, for the times when I simply need a break from doing my own hair.  So Pro-Style on Euclid gets an A+ as far as service and excellent hair care.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Hello and welcome

 Hey ladies,

 I've decided to start this blog to share natural hair stories and to encourage women of color with curly, kinky or coily hair, to wear it in its natural state.

 I'll start with my story.

I remember being a little girl and feeling jealousy over the other little (Black) girls in my classes at school that had those long thick twists and braids. I never really felt envy over the Asian or White girls with long hair, because I knew that that's what the norm was for them.  However I noticed that with Black girls, its seemed to be a hit or miss thing with the long hair.

 My own hair wasn't that great, due to having severe dandruff that required treatments prescribed by a dermatologist, and not to mention a mom who didn't know how to care for natural hair, except to just put mhy hair in cornrows. So between sessions of getting my scalp scritched and removing large dandruff flakes, a medium tooth comb being raked and torn through my hair, to finally having pretty cornrows (with occasional beads), my hair didn't see too much on length retention.

 This excersize went on for several years, until I was about 9 years old, when I had the brilliant idea to get a gheri curl. Yes, that's right ladies, I had a gheri curl. Boy did I ever have a time coacing and convincing my mother to let me get one. Finally she relented, and so she made an appointment and we went to the beauty salon. The process took forever, and to be honest I remember both my mother and I hating all the oil and curl juice that had to be used. However, there was one good thing that happened with that curl. To this day, me and my mother have no idea why, but after getting that curl, my severe dandruff ceased to exist. There was an episode a few days after getting my curl that all these sizable  dandruff flakes started showing, and my mom removed them, but after that. No more severe dandruff. I get mild cases from time to time, but nothing like when I was a little girl.

 So after a few weeks, we started letting my gheri curl grow out. Well after the gheri curl episode, I switched between press and curls and conrows, without much length retention. So I was about ten of eleven when I started getting relaxers. I thought I had no length retention before, but this was a whole new ball game. Not only did I not retain length, but my regularly broke off in certain areas, even to the new growth in one specific spot. This went on for about four years, until I turned fifteen.

 A certain trip to Disney World was coming up and me and my mom were at a loss at to what to do with my hair, since I was going with friends. Well, the answer came in one of my teen magazine subscriptions. The defunked magazine "Sassy" held the answer to my prayers. Braids. Sassy had featured and expose on Black young women and braids. I was fascinated and I knew that I could do this while away in Florida. I showed my mom and we quickly set about finding a braider.

 This was the time when braiders were making a killing at charging anywhere from $300 to $600 dollars a pop in a shop. Then there are the braiders that braid from their homes and charge not quite so much.  The first woman to braid my hair, was a small, petite loud woman, that missed her calling as a comedian. I went that first time and was hooked. I experienced length rentention for the first time in my life. My hair had reached shoulder length, so you know what happened after two years in braids? I got another relaxer. Again, my hair experienced breakage, so I went back to braids again, and never got another relaxer. I was in braids about ninety percent of the time over the next eighteen years. I went to about 6 braiders by the time I was twenty-four years old. By twenty-five, I found a braider that was almost perfect. So over the next ten years, I went to her.

 Throughout all this time, I've wanted to go completely natural, but I had problems finding information on just how to care for my natural hair. There were a few sites, but very few pictures and even with that bit of information, there were women that weren't willing to be forth coming with their techniques and tips, so much so, that there were women that would get a bit fiesty and downright beligerant if asked about what they did to their hair. I guess it went back to the whole competition between women thing, so I stayed in braids.

 About 4 or 5 years ago, I started noticing more information being available and new black-owned hair care products that actually work. So finally after eighteen years, I came out of my braids, and started experimented with different hairstyles, studying up on youtube, researching recipes for homemade shampoo and condidtioners and checking out what hair care companies cater to women of colors choosing to where their hair natural.

 So since really interecting with my natural hair is still rather new, I'm now getting to know what my hair does and doesn't like. Enter the product junkie phase... although I am not completely there, because I haven't gone crazy with shopping for products just yet. However I have a a list of small companies that I want to try and I will write reviews about their products as I try them

 I also hope to share traveling experiences, anicdotes, recipes, and product reviews.


 sincerely, intlgrrl