Wyldhoney - A....P...L!!!!!!

I feel you in on braids. The longest I ever went was about three weeks and I was so itchy I just couldn't stand it any longer. Can't wait to see the pictures from Carnival.

Hello ladies!

*whew* After a whole month and change out, I wonder if anyone remembers me? I have to tell you, I have been having a really rough time at work. We're under a lot of pressure, trying to open our restaurant & boutique hotel in time for Christmas, and top to it off, we had a visit from the Board of Directors of our parent company a couple weeks ago! It got so bad that last week Wednesday, when my car wouldn't start, I had a complete meltdown! I called my boss sobbing, and he kindly took it in stride - 'go back inside and have a cup of tea, and spend the day relaxing.' I was so embarassed when I came in the next day but he shrugged it off and told me that I needed a break anyway.

So I am (slightly) less stressed this week, and I felt the urge to come check in with you guys. Over the weekend I took the time to browse through Curl Street and I am so amazed at the progress everyone is making with their hair! Lynnie's beautiful fro, Sasha's amazing colour, and transformation from curly to straight to curly again, Dva's FIERCE cut and colour - it's just all so incredible. You guys are really doing your thing!

Updates with the hair: I had really been down an out about this hair about the middle of August. It seemed like nothing was happening, I wasn't making any progress and my styling left A LOT to be desired. Last week though it suddenly dawned on me - my hair is growing! It seemed that all that protective styling, attention to moisture and strict DC regimen worked. I believe I may have gotten an inch of growth in the last 2 months! I know that is supposed to be the standard, but after years of breakage and an inability to grow past my shoulders, my hair seems to be finally catching up.

I spent last week when the directors were here with my hair in a lot of 'out' styles, so I was happy over the weekend to DC and throw my hair back into mini-twists. I'll tell you guys how I did them, and give you some pics, in another post. Back to work for now!

Okay so my hair/product news -

I have been on a major castor oil kick, trying to see if I can thicken up my fine, fine, thin, thin hair. I add it to my DC, and I seal my twists with it on the initial styling. It seems to be working at my edges, the temples are thickening up nicely. I just bought a HUGE bottle of it, so I will continue to use it as much as possible, and hope for good results.

I finished my jar of Fantasia IC, so I decided to try the ORS Lock & Twist Gel for this weekends twists. I loved it! Not drying, GREAT hold. I need to ease up on the product though, because my twists were STIFF when they dried. I combatted that by spraying all day yesterday with my aloe/water/glycerin spritz and I'm glad to report that they are a bit plumper and can shake when I move my head. This is how they look this morning.




I'm at a loss with styling...I'm tired of twists, and I want to play and try new styles, but I'm terrified of overmanipulation. My hair is fine, and although it's a LOT stronger with the regular DCs, I don't want to risk any breakage. How can I practice my styles if I don't manipulate my hair?
Need to break this dilemma.

Enough with the rambling...let me go earn my keep! (not really, just going to keep lurking CSJ for a while longer!)

Hey Welcome back!

We missed you, great update and thanks for the love!!

Sweeeeet! I have some serious hair envy, you and Sasha are just doing the damn thing all over the place! Someone should lock you up for being too cute!

Hey there, great update!

You should definitely try the coils as one of your new styles to try.

Hi IB,

You guys are really making me feel down about my hair. Here are all these lovlies with thick, luscious hair. How am I supposed to not have hair envy and learn to appreciate the 2 strands on my head? Not to mention the styles! When I try to do a pinup I just end up looking like those troll dolls they used to have back in the day. smh.

Anyway, I promised Carnival pics, but I only got one. This was taken before I got out on the road and started making my mother ashamed of her child. This is one of the best costumes ever, I like it because it's not the typical loud glittery costume you usually associate with Carnival.



You can't really see my hair in this, but it's flat twists in the front with twists in the back, all beaded up with black beads.

Until later, ladies!

You guys look great! Hope you have better luck with your styling. Don't feel bad about your hair, we are here to show our progress, you'll get there. Keep your head up and your hair too!

Hey Curlstreeters!

What's new with you guys? Nothing much with me really, just having a quiet day at the office so I decided to catch up with everyone's journey.

I can't even update you, as my hair is in twists AGAIN. I used the ORS Lock n Twist for the second time, and I'm really loving the hold. The first time, I used it on wet hair and can you say C R U N C H Y????

This time I washed and dried my hair. I used plaits instead of twists to stretch it out, and it came out great! I don't particularly like plaits but I must say they did a great job of stretching out the hair. I might even try a braidout in the future because even with no gel/styling product, I liked how it looked when I took them down! In fact, I liked it so much I even took a pic!



My question to you ladies (I might actually post a thread on this in the general forum) this week is: How do I keep my twists in order if I go swimming in the sea?

I know that pool water is hard on hair, and we must condition & rinse & protect it from the harsh chemicals, but what about sea water?

I want to start doing some swimming on evenings after work, after all it is a shame to pass the beach every day and not stop to take a dip, especially with the great weather we've been having lately. But I've been afraid to do that because I don't know what will happen to my twists.

I don't want to have to abandon my protective styling (8 inches of hair for the first time in my life!!), but I'd like to get my exercise on at the same time. Nothing beats 30 minutes of swimming up and down in those waves!

Anyway, I'm off now to check out everyone else. Catch you lovelies later!

~~~~~~~TITLE CHANGE~~~~~~~

Hi ladies,

How is everyone doing? I miss you guys, actually. I really need to get going with getting internet at home, now that I've found a worthwhile site to visit! I just don't have enough hours in my workday to squeeze in my precious CN time, and it's a pain trying to post from my Blackberry when I'm at home, so I've reverted to Lurker status mostly.

My hair has been doing quite well! These days I am working on braid outs. I recently had an epiphany about twistouts/braidouts...half the work of getting a great result is braid/twist placement! Yes, I know I might be a little slow, but honestly, sometimes things dawn on me quite suddenly. I have always been frustrated with my hair shape (very long in the back, very short at the temples, a little less short in the front). Last night I sat down in front of my mirror and did something I have never done before - I moved my hair around until I found a great shape that would suit my face and also suit my varying hair lengths. I realised that I need the front to go forward, my temples to also go forward (and not tuck behind my ears as I usually do), my crown to fall to the SIDES, and the back to go back.

So last night I braided my hair into 13 braids following this pattern (6 at the back, 2 on each side, 2 at the temples going foward, and one in the middle of my forehead). When I took them down this morning...perfect shape! Since it was just an experiment, I didn't put in any styling product so it was EXTREMELY fluffy, but now I will know how to braid or twist my hair when I want to wear it out! This little revalation has taken away the frustration I was feeling when my twistouts didn't quite look how I wanted them to.

The next bit of news I've got is...I'm going to England!! I'm going for two weeks on a work trip and I am nervous as hell because
1) As a Caribbean girl, I'm 100% sure I will freeze to death in London in November.
2) What on earth will I do with my hair?!
3) How do I stay warm without looking like an Eskimo and looking cute at the same time?

It's so hot here I can't even try on any outfits since I start to roast as soon as I put on a sweater. But my hair is my main concern. I've read enough to know that I should stay away from the glycerin (which my hair doesn't even like that much anyway), so my plan is as follows:

Mix up a green tea spritz containing aloe vera gel & a little coconut oil
Bring up my cream moisturizer & castor oil
Do a braidout/twistout bun on dry hair for the week

Hopefully I can survive two weeks without washing or my DC, as I'd rather not get involved in all of that hassle in my hotel room. Can you imagine me walking through a hotel with my hair covered in a plastic bag!?

Later ladies, I hope that I will have more time to update you guys and write on everyone's journal while I'm away.

I have started a little blog as I find it easier to post on blogspot from my blackberry, if anyone wants to check it out: http://saleaholic.blogspot.com

Later, curly girls!

Is this thing on? *tapping on the mic*

Ladies,

I have to confess, I am going crazy with my hair. I have fallen off the twisting wagon and I don't know how to act.

I noticed length because of how the braidouts stretched my hair so I rocked fluffy braidout buns Monday through Wednesday. Then yesterday morning I woke up mad early for no reason so decided to WASH N' GO!

I was too lazy to rebraid tuesday night so I just threw my hair into 5 twists and tucked the ends under. Scarfed it up and hit the hay. In the morning I jumped in the shower, cowashed & detangled and twisted back up. After the shower I squeezed the excess water out and untwisted and using HEHH as a leave-in, applied to each twist. Then I applied my ors lock n twist gel to each twist section and raked my fingers through. Finally I shook my head and placed the curls where I wanted them to fall.

I'm not even gonna front, let me tell you it felt GREAT to feel my hair bouncing around and shaking from side to side every time. I stupidly forgot to seal but luckily it was like a monsoon outside so every time I dashed from building to building my hair got a lil rainwater spritz! By the end of today all the gel had washed out of my crown but it did look great and my boss loved it!

Now I got a lil taste of hair freedom I'm running wild! I DON'T want to twist back up for the two weeks in London but then again what other styles can I rock safely?

Ooo England sounds exciting! Don't have envy I love your stretched hair it looks great! Also I came to tell you I LOVE the new avi!

Hi ladies!

Not much traffic around here but that's cool; I simply enjoy ranting and raving about my hair trials.

I was just complaining a few days ago on Curl Galore's page about how much my hair sucks. It always seems that when I'm most despondent, something happens to turn my attitude around.

I attempted a chunky twistout last night - cowashed, DC'd, and twisted into 14 twists. This morning I hated the look (why do I insist on a centre part when all it does is make me look like an alien?), so I threw it into a bun. Now usually I hate buns because the front of my hair is too short to make it inside the scrunchy, so I have to use like a million pins and then the bun part is all scrawny and sad looking because it has no hair in it. This bun was the same, pretty dumb looking like all the rest. I went out feeling and looking foolish:



Buuuuuut! When I came home, I took down the bun in frustration. Because I was too lazy to twist it for the evening, I put it up in a loose high bun...waidamminit! This is actually looking good! I tossed on a headband and realised - I been wearing my bun in the wrong damn position all this time! I can rock a high bun with no need for clips, and it doesn't emphasise my five-head! Look:





Yes I am naked under a sheet in my hotel room, why do you ask?

Please ladies, when you say your prayers at night, just add in two lines for me: 'Heavenly father, help this slow child understand her hair, and stop her looking like a fool. She is hindering the progress of naturalistas around the world. Amen.'

Lol, love the high bun and please stop being so hard on yourself! We learn as we go along...enjoy every phase,

I like the high bun, very cute!

sweetdrk1 wrote:Lol, love the high bun and please stop being so hard on yourself! We learn as we go along...enjoy every phase,

Thanks sweet. I need to let go of my perfectionism and realise that our kind of hair laughs at our attempts to get every strand in place. I'm learning to embrace the controlled chaos!

jlowman1 wrote:I like the high bun, very cute!

Thanks Jlowman! I am the bunning queen these days, my hair is responding quite well.

Today I took a risk and decided to wear my hair loose. I had done some chunky twists the night before, and the twistout in the morning looked shiny and well moisturised. Unfortunately it did not dry completely so I had a lot of frizz, but I made the decision to not flip out and rock it anyway. This was what it looked like this morning:



Sorry, only got this shot right now - when I charge my camera I'll show you the back.

I realise that my hair does MUCH better when it is stretched out. I can throw it in a high, low, or middle bun. When I went out to get some dinner I just did a high poufy messy bun with a headband and it looked AWESOME! No pic but I'll be doing the same style tomorrow.

I hope these good hair days continue when I get back home, and I hope that the increased manipulation doesn't hinder me from attaining my length goals (even shoulder length in the front and back).

Later, ladies!

Hi my fly gurls!

Well it's finally time to head back to my tropical island home. My departure date didn't come a moment too soon; over the last few days it's been cold as hell and I'm not having that! 2 degrees? What is this mess? 36 for all your Fahrenheit people.

Anyway, yesterday I went to a Chocolate Week event, and since it was Saturday, my hair decided that it was tired of buns and wanted to be OUT! So I pinned it all to one side and looked a hot mess but I didn't care. I got a LOT of stares but I felt rebellious so I rocked it:



Hair Plans

When I get home, I plan to do an overnight DC (after I go to the beach and get back my tan!). Then I'm going to air dry my hair in twists, then braid it when it's 80% dry to stretch it. When it's fully dry, I will do some tiny twists as a protective style and keep it for as long as I can. I had a good time playing with my hair every day, but I feel like I can't keep up with all this manipulation. I'll let my tresses rest until I can figure out the next style to try out.

Cheers ladies, see you when I get back home!

Travel safely! Love the red lips sis! Work it!

Hi all!

So I'm back in the heat and humidity and I love it. Honestly, all these countries (US, UK, Canada) just have too many people for this island girl. I don't like the hustle and bustle.

Anyway, I did my much needed DC and put my hair in twists for a little rest. Before I started twisting I had a mini crisis because I'd run out of my usual ORS gel. I decided to try my hand at making flaxseed gel. Here's what I did:

Brought to a boil 1 cup water
tossed in 2 tbsp flaxseeds
lowered the heat and simmered, stirring constantly
when the gel began to thicken and froth up I removed from the heat and strained into a glass container
added 1/4 aloe vera gel to 3/4 flax seed gel by volume
added 2 drops of lavender oil for scent


took me 15 minutes to make and cool down to a really snotty consistency (sorry). I then twisted with this gel and sealed each twist with coconut oil.

The result is super soft twists that still have a bit of hold. This gel is AWESOME!!! I will definitely be making this again and again; next time I will try it on my wash n go.

Later, lovelies!

Hy Wyldhoney

I don't know why I haven't been over here.. Just wanted to say that you are hilarious!! I was ROTFL when you discovered that you were wearing your bun in the wrong position. I love your bun...it is a very cute look on you.

Your hair is really growing, and you have the best out do's with no product. So you made some flaxseed gel? I'm trying to get into mixing a few things...I just don't like cooking and making products equates to cooking in my mind.

Nevertheless....I made a green tea spritz. Got this idea from Chrs, Muz and RYL1. I boiled some water and let the tea bag sit for 5 minutes!! That was it!!! I can use this to spritz my twists as well as a rinse!! I know...I'm silly, but that's a start!!

Love your blog....also love the link to Clumps of Mascara. I'm having the hardest time finding the right mascara right now. Hope I can get a great time from her blog.

Glad you made it back from your trip safely..and I'll be dropping by more often.

Have a great day!!

Hi KNH!

Thank god someone else decided to drop in; it was just me and sweetdrk for a while, I was going to post some nekkid pics next to generate some buzz.

I'm glad I didn't have to inflict that on y'all, it would have been very painful to behold.

Congrats on your green tea spritz! I'll tell ya, I love cooking, and mixing up product IS very much like cooking. I don't cook often because I live alone and I'm too lazy to get myself all worked up just to feed my dog and cat, but as I'm sure you will agree nothing is too much trouble when it comes to my hair!

Thanks for the hair compliments - my hair looks great in 'out' styles; Monday morning I went out in an uncombed crazy afro and got 3 compliments, but I want to do more protective styles because I've been natural for about 3 years now and just this year realised I have to do more about retaining my length.

These fine, thin strands are a trial and a tribulation but I do love them!

Ttyl!

Quick Hair Update

Natural hair products are the BOMB!!

When I made the flaxaloe gel, I twisted my hair with only that and some coconut oil. My hair was soft and shiny. The hold wasn't all that, but I was satisfied with how my hair looked and felt. I didn't have to start spritzing until day 3.

I took the twists down on Friday and wore a twistout Friday and Saturday. Last night I got home late and slept without my SCARF! (horror of horrors) So this morning I decided to get my DC started as soon as possible.

After getting my hair under the water, I started finger combing the clumped curls to loosen them up. Y'all, my fingers just glided through my hair! WITH JUST WATER, NO CONDISH! I was in total shock. I must have spent about 10 mins in the shower just running my fingers through my hair, feeling how soft and smooth it was. My detangling comb is still hanging in the shower dry as a bone, y'all!!

I finally got it together enough to get out the shower and apply my DC and get under my plastic cap (grocery bag). I'm so excited, I can't wait to see what it looks like after it's done.

Let me tell y'all, this has inspired me to try to use more natural products in my hair. I will try to put aside the detangling comb for a month, and see how it goes. Wish me luck!

wylhoney, I loved the pic on 10/17. You looked fab! Ironically, I was just talking to someone here about flax see gel. I have seen many varied recipes, mainly on the long hair forum, I think. Do you use it only on wet hair? IF you use on dry hair, would you compare the holding qualities?

Kinky, tell me a little about this green tea spritz. Whats in the one you make and the ratios. Someone mentioned it about 2 days ago. I have been hearing a bit about green tea in hair and I keep seeing the word "drying" in many comments. Yesterday, I did a green tea rinse after my wash/condition routine and got a few tangles (Not normal for me.) I did rinse it out with cold water.