LynValerie +1, A Journal

Hey everyone! After lurking the threads for quite some time, I believe its time for me to come out with my story, in hopes that I gain and give advice, encouragement, and most of all support! Its been an interesting ride with my hair over the years, and now I'm finally trying to get into a routine.

First off, let me tell you ladies- I'm a true Gemini; I change my mind like I do my pants, and am often very instinctual and brash in decisions. I also have a HARD TIME with routine! Knowing this will help you to understand my hair decisions since '04.

So I got my first perm at 9, and had been permed all the way from then to 2004, when I did the big chop and loc'd in my state of mind. After 4 lovely years of being loc'd, here I am:




After having my precious angel in late '08 (now 2 1/2 years young), I went through a lot of hormonal changes and did THIS to my hair in January 2009:



...and a month later I cried and wanted my natural hair back, but was happy not to have the weight of past experiences on my brain, so I dealt with perming for another year and fried the negativity away.

December 2009 was my last perm, and I vowed never to do it again...and I didn't. After watching countless youtube vids, I'd decided to try to transition from permed to natural:



but I became so sick of the stringy perm hair that I wanted a change. In June of 2010 my hair got into two BIG KNOTS one day after washing; the knots were so HUGE that I was left with no choice but to get my hair cut. I whined about my length, but in the end I was relieved that I once again was fully natural.

Because I didn't really know how to tend to my hair but didn't want to do anything destructive to it, I wore half wigs for a long while (and often times still do):





But now I'm determined to get right with my hair, and have the big, obtrusive, in-yo-face 'fro I've always dreamed of. Oh and my daughter will NEVER be permed- I have been taking care of her hair from the start- here's her hair story (meet Aiyanna):








So here I am today- about a year and three months natural, somewhere around like 6-8 inches in length, with a hair texture I can't quite pinpoint yet. I need HELP! My hair is SOOO thick and springy that I don't really know how to style it, so I usually pull it into a fauxhawk or with one side pinned:




This is this morning after a twist out- see what I mean about the super thick hair? No matter how I manipulate at night, it springs back to its puffed-out state (that's why I'm pouting, and excuse the natural face sans makeup- this was first thing in the morning):



Anyway, thanks for reading! This is probably more pic heavy than most but I don't have a blog (and no time to start another to procrastinate on, sorry), so here we go! Nice to meet you all, and thanks in advance for your tips, comments, and other stuffs.

Hello LynV...

I enjoyed reading your journey/hair story, and I must say the picture of you and your daughter is too cute!!!

You will find a lot of answers here, and what I've learned is to keep in mind everyone's hair is different!!

Welcome to CSJ!!

Thank you! I look forward to learning from everyone.

Thanks again for reading!

Hello and welcome ... great advice to be had on here ...

BlondeByDesire wrote:Hello and welcome ... great advice to be had on here ...

Thanks for the welcome! I look forward to learning all that I can for myself and my girlie.

Thanks for joining us! Welcome.

Welcome to curl street

Thanks for the welcome! Its been a long journey so far.

welcome to curlstreet your daughter is soooo cute!

Aww thanks! Look at your hair...good lord your avatar has me supremely jealous this morning!

LynValerie wrote:Aww thanks! Look at your hair...good lord your avatar has me supremely jealous this morning!

Ditto...

How are you doing today? Just stopping by to say hi

Hey! I'm doing great, but with this ATL humidity my hair is not feeling the same way. Thank goodness for hats! Thanks for stopping by.