Lacesonia

Hello Hello!

To start off I'd like to tell you about where I've come from....

In July of 2008 I decided that I was ready to take on the challenge of growing out my relaxer. Instead of getting my regularly scheduled relaxer I opted for a cut to rid myself of my thin damaged ends. The cut resulted in a bob lengthed cut, the shortest my hair had been since elementary school. Since then I've done about 3 mini chops and I'm all natural in the back but in the front I still have about 3 to 4 inches of relaxed ends.

Why hold on....well, I like the length. Right now the front grows slower than the back and even though I am shoulder length in the back (stretched), in the front, I'm chin length....with the relaxed ends. I dont want to get an even cut which would result in the shortness all around.

Now that I am so far into my transition I'm doing better with styles. I began by continuously straightening my hair and bunning it. As I've progressed I've mastered bantu knots and recently braid outs (my SO loves my briadouts). I think that having more natural hair than relaxed hair has helped in my ability to maintain and style my hair. Atleast in these styles.

I'm loving this journey and am so excited about trying more and more things.
Stay tuned for more madness. Pics to come soon.

Welcome to the Challenge!!

welcome to the challenge, take plenty of pictures of your journey!

welcome to the challenge have fun !

Awww, I feel so welcome! Thanks ladies

Welcome! Looking forward to the pics.

welcome. you gotta tell me how you mastered bantu knots. i'm scared of them.

I have yet to master bantu knots but then again I've only tried once. Maybe a bantu knot tutorial is in your future lol. Welcome sis and I look forward to reading your journey as it continues.

Welcome to the Challenge!!!

Welcome!!!

Thanks again ladies!

Todays style was a simple bun. I've had a ton on my plate this week but hopefully the weekend will be calm and slow. I plan to do a wash and deep condition sometime before Monday. I'll be posting pics of this once I figure out how to attach them here.

Wish me luck and please stay tuned. I promise, more is on the way!

Please please forgive me for missing the past few days. I just recently moved and I spent the weekend painting and running back and forth to Lowes and Ikea. The only time I stopped was to sleep....really.

On Friday I didn't have to work so I got up pretty early to begin painting our basement. We didn't finish until around 11:30pm and I was exhausted but I needed a good wash. I knew it was possible that a few pieces of paint had made it into my hair.

I hopped in the shower and washed my hair with some diluted V05 Clarifying Shampoo. It was much needed because my hair was extremely dirty. I try not to use shampoo very often because it is drying to my hair. I followed the shampoo with a deep condition. I mixed Aussie Moist 3 min Treatment (love this stuff) with a lil honey and aloe vera gel. I found the recipe on longhaircommunity.com and its called, SMT, Snowymoons Moisture Treatment. Here is a link to the recipe and thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128

I let that sit in overnight. Before heading out of the house Saturday morning I needed to clean up the mess from the night before. I rinsed out the SMT and as usual my hair was extremely soft and detangling with my denman was a breeze. You would've never guessed I'd used that shampoo the night before.

Next I sat down to begin braiding. I parted each section with my fingers because I didn't want the parts to be so obvious. Before I began to braid I applied a hair butter that I was given from Ms. Bossay over at http://hair-a-mania.blogspot.com/. The butter I received was called chocolate dreamz. It is very smoothed and much easier to use versus my usual whipped shea butter from my local bss. Followed by the butter I applied coconut oil throughout while concentrating on my ends. I'm beginning to llloooooovveeee coconut oil. When I tried it back in July it made my hair too oily but using it this winter has ended the dry spell I began to have in early November. Anywho, after that I braided the section and continued until I was done. I used black satin roller that I got from CVS to to curl the ends. After cleaning for about 4 hours I was amazed that my hair was completely dry (another reason I love this style, quick drying time). I removed the satin rollers and unbraided my hair. I fluffed by turning my head upside down and shaking out my hair and then using my fingers to disturb any noticeable parts.

Each night after that I've just been rebraiding and following the same routine. Some nights if my hair feels extremely dry, before applying my chocolate dreamz butter I spritz my hair with Garnier Fructis Wonder Waves Wave Enhancing Spray. Along with the butter and coconut oil my moisture level goes back up. If I continue to do the braid out for the week I only use the spritz about 2 or 3 times. I love the way my hair feels with this style. The chocolate dreamz hair butter that I used is amazing. My hair is much softer than it is when I use my whipped shea butter. I dont have much left so I'm trying to alternate between the two each night. If she decided to sell this stuff I'd definitely put my order in.

I'm still trying to figure out how the upload pics on here. If anyone knows please shoot me a message.


Thanks a ton!

Welcome. Can't wait to see your pics.

CN has directions for uploading pics in the General Section.

Here is the link to post a pic.

Welcome back! Looking forward to the pics. And I'm definitely going to try check out the Chocolate Dreams. I love Chocolate lol

Hey Ladies,

I'm exhausted, just got outta the gym. Lastnight I was extremely tired so before I braided I only added some of the chocolate dreamz ( I'm getting low) and I tried scurl. Something told me to stick to the good ole coconut oil. My hair was dry today and more frizzy...I learned my lesson.

Today before the gym I just pulled my hair into a ponytail. I'm sitting in my driveway now...when I finally decide to go in, I'm going to hop in the shower and do a co wash. I'm too tired to do anything else but bun it. I have to get used to getting up early and back in the gym. Anywho, I'll be using Aussie Moist for my cowash. After washing I'll smooth on some sheabutter and then seal with coconut oil and pull my hair into a wet bun. I may add some sheabutter and aloe Vera gel to slick down my sides...put on a scarf and let it dry over night.

Hi Ladies!

I just wanted to give a quick update.

Last night while rummaging through my collection of products I ran across another favorite oil of mine that had gotten lost in my weekend madness. That oil is, WHEAT GERM OIL!

I first purchased wheat germ oil at the beginning of 2009 when I began doing carmel treatments. Its one of the oils I use in my recipe. Back in November I decided to look into the effects of wheat germ oil and did a few searches in google.

Wheat Germ Oil is thick in consistency, dark and contains high concentrations of Vitamin E and essential fatty acids.

Using it on my hair always leaves it soft and shiny. Not only do I use it on my hair but I use it on my skin. I suffer from exzema and since I started using this on my skin I haven't experienced the dry cracking skin that I usually have this time of year. After reading a few articles I'm looking into the benefits of adding a teaspoon to smoothies in the morning.

Here is a pic of the wheat germ oil I use from Vitamin Shoppe

The smell bothers my boyfriend but that's it, lol. On my skin, I either mix it with some Cetaphil or I use it on my wet skin as soon as I get out of the shower and then I dry off.

Hi Ladies!

Today I just rocked a simple bun. I'm going to wake up pretty early in the morning and use some of my ayurvedic powders (will update on the process). I will take pics when I do my next braidout since I now know how to post them.

I cant wait to see your pics!! Do you have a Fotki?