Swoodward, working on retaining my growth - still working it out

KinkyNappyHappy wrote:Hi Swoodward...

Cracking up over here about your cats. I think your henna results came out great!!! When I henna I usually DC for about 2 to 4 hrs and then again two days later. That seems to help with the dryness....

Just wanted to stop by and say hi!

Oh...even though I prefer dogs I must say that your cats are cute.

Have a good one!!

KNH

Hey KNH, happy to see you! Thanks!!!

My hair is always dry immediately after henna so the moisturizing DT is a must afterwards. I am going to incorporate a second DT the two days after as you suggested in my henna reggie.

I bitterly resent dogs - Why you ask?

My mother got a dog when I was 8. She called him Prince and treated him as such. At home and to the world, Prince was my baby brother. And she babied the hell out of him too. When curlynattie was born she took second place in the hierarchy - with Prince still being first. He never disappointed her, he never back sassed her. He was the ultimate son. AND he was good looking!

Ask curlynattie, she'll tell you! Mom preferred him way over us. I am still so jealous!

(that story is true but our apt complex only recently allowed dogs and I just haven't gotten one yet! I love dogs! But don't tell the

DvaAuNaturel wrote:Hey Swood,
Stopping thru to say hi and check for henna pics. My henna treatment yesterday went extremely well. My hair color looks fantastic! It's black, black. A little dark for me but it looks good IMO. No pics . My camera went out this am when I was trying to take pics in the car.

I'll check back on you later....

Hey Dva, we have to compare notes. I am seriously considering your mix and want to watch the indigo fade factor. When you get you new camera, are you going to keep a weekly record of the color?

poeticlyspkng wrote:Ok, that cat story is BEYOND a mess! LMBO! Whoa! Never get busy next to me in my bed! I'm the only one up in here allowed to get busy right here! LOL! Ok, I gotta move on but it's hard, still laughing. Meowwwww... I mean EEWW!! LMBO!!!

Ok, your henna and twists came out lovely. It really did. I need to restock on the custard. That's still my favorite product for wngs. Still. But I haven't had any in months. Your cats have... but I haven't. OH!? Did that just creep back in? Sorry! LOL! But seriously, love your hair. I feel like the first time I used henna, the hair at my crown lost a little curly and I was a little dry for a few days. The last time though I added some oils to my mix (I have a jar that marinates with a little nettle, hibiscus flowers and other stuff) and that seemed to fix the problem and I think help with the horrible henna smell. My husband thought I smelled like the Swamp Thing... I am going to use the henna gloss for awhile and see how I like that. Probably this weekend. I want to add some more red into mine though. I need to read up on that. Have a great day!

Haaayy lady! Thanks so much! I am really happy with the way my hair is progressing! I have to say though that I would never have done as well without you guys. I have learned so much!

as for the cats, How about that! Lemme tell you if I am in the bed, I'd better be the one gettin' some!!!

Kinky curly products are so unbelievable. I just can't match the moisture and texture I get from the knot today and custard with any other products. love 'em for twists and w&gs.

It's hard to describe but I love the smell and hate the smell of henna - you know what I mean? I liked the smell of the henna gloss I used on my daughter better than the uncut version but there is something about it that reminds me of gardening (maybe the mulch stench) that makes me very relaxed when I smell it. Still, everyone kept cringing when I went in and out of the rooms when I had my mix in. great for getting time alone I bet!

I will say one thing. the more stretched my hair was when I put the henna in, the less curl I had when I rinsed it out. So I think I MAY use it to texturize my hair if I ever decide to go a little straighter.

I am going to check out your house. I have been meaning to get there. See you soon!

TheRYL1 wrote:Swoodward...over here getting busy! :-)

YOUR HENNA & TWIST OUT LOOK LOVELY!!

And...cats need "affection", too! hahahahahaha

Affection my @$$! I tell them all the time they are livestock. Just in case!!!

Thanks for the compliment!!!

Juices-n-Berries wrote:Awwww. Lovely kitties. I'm a cat owner too!

Yay, A kindred spirit!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Your new AVI is cute!

CurlsGalore wrote:Hey Doll! Stopping thru to check out what's new! Bwahahaha @ the cat story! I'm a dog lover, myself.

Thanks for sharing your henna routine! I'm really trying to bring myself to try it, but I'm a scary cat *no pun intended*. I have the henna, but it's just sitting there. I'm starting to get encoraged to try it now. I think I will this upcoming week. Did you use your entire mix or did you have some left over? I'm thinking 100g will cover my whole head. IDK. Nice color! I see the red traces.

Hey Curls! I love dogs too but am dogless at the moment. The orange one is like a dog though!

I love henna. I love the control over my color without using commercial dye and I love the way it shores up my strands. It makes your hair shiny too.

I used about 150 grams (a pack and a half) and I used every last bit of it and still missed a few spots. It may be that I didn't apply it right that I used so much. My hair is fine. I noticed that it is filling in since the last relaxer and I am not really shedding anymore except the way your are supposed to. So density wise it is much thicker than a year ago.

What I am saying is with your length and thickness if you plan on using just henna and an activating agent (tea or lemon juice or coconut milk or yogurt) I think you should use 200 grams. If you plan on using CN's recipe you can use 100 grams because you are doubling the volume with condish. Does that make sense?

Anywho - I would try CN's gloss first and see how you feel.

Always good to see you!

swood; u never seem to disappoint, lol. i was cracking UP at ur dog story. i know im close to my pooch too and im deathly afraid if anything should happen to her. i was laughin cuz i could feel how u felt in ur writing and resentment of a dog gettin more attn than u.

so are u gettin a pit or poodle?

Hey Guys, it's SATURDAY!!! I am about to take my early afternoon nap. This follows my early morning nap and i will of course, have an evening nap!!!

I am exhausted. it was a hellish week at work, I am feeling bad healthwise and I went about three days on 4 hours sleep. Yes, I was listing to the side and yes, I saw things out the corner of my eye!

Still, my hair is FABULOUS! It's so weird because I haven't washed or even co-washed since last Sunday and my hair is just starting to feel but not look as though it needs a wash. I could never do this when it was relaxed. I also noticed that it pretty much looks good regardless. I can use a headband or not but it looks fresh and DONE! When I was relaxed, my hair was only suitable for public consumption on the first wash day and in a nasty bun until the next wash. It was awful. Now - I just walk out, guaranteed I will be pleased when I catch my reflection in a mirror.

So this weeks reggie was as follows:
Tuesday am - took twists down from Sunday's henna, separated and fluffed, headband. ('nother pic) Tuesday night i wasn't feeling well but still sprayed with Devacurl Set it free, applied about a tbl of Devacurl An-gel , then Mist-er right.

Wed am - worked at home left twists in and sprayed with Mist-er right.
Thur am - took out twists - hey my hair was stretched but the curls were still small and there was a lot of definition!!! tried a new style!



as you all may know, when you get a relaxer, it strips your color quite a bit. I would use Jazzing to cover my gray and beef up the color but I had not seen my color in decades. My hair is pretty dark - not jet but with henna , the natural color comes out very dark. The grey is very dark red too. Neat!

Thursday pm- tried to preserve the twistout with chunky, sloppy braids all over to sleep in. tbl of Devacurl one, sprayed with Devacurl Set it free first then Mist-er right. Then ran some sheaaloe over each braid to seal.

Fri - even more stretched - I see a BAA in my future!! Phone pic:


Last night I twisted again using Curls moisturizing spray and the Mist-er right thinking I wasn't going out until Sunday, but I am going to dinner at my friends place and if it still looks good, I'll take another pic...I am experimenting with sprays this week which is why I kept alternating. I am finding that sprays
will likely be part of my reggie. It's what for what I am trying to figure out now...

Happy Saturday!!

NubieNatty wrote:swood; u never seem to disappoint, lol. i was cracking UP at ur dog story. i know im close to my pooch too and im deathly afraid if anything should happen to her. i was laughin cuz i could feel how u felt in ur writing and resentment of a dog gettin more attn than u.

so are u gettin a pit or poodle?

Hey Nubie!!!

Yea, my brother was a trip because he caused more trouble, ran away all the time and broke stuff. He was BAD! The only chore HE had to do was watchdog. How hard is that when you ARE a watch dog! But it was me and curlynattie that got the bad cop face. Grrrr! He ain't have to do homework or dishes or NOTHIN'. He turned over the trash - it was our fault, he ate an extra piece of chicken? Our fault! Plus he enabled curlynattie's crappy kid diet by making her veggies disappear without her eating them. Buther was her "favorite child".

As for what dog? I am getting whoever I see first at the shelter I bet! My favorite is a husky but I think it's cruel to own one when you don't have any space. They are work dogs and need lots of acreage.

I miss my brother. He was funny as hell too. So sweet!

i love the pics and the mugs

ok so on to the Jazz coloring cuz i was contemplating using that rinse a while ago too cuz im not ready for a permanent color, back in the day i used "spicy cognac" lol. i know im gonna have to get some kind of color close to that since i refuse to bleach/highlight my hair to anything lighter!

Love the pics Swoodward! Your hair is really looking good!

swoodward wrote:

CurlsGalore wrote:Hey Doll! Stopping thru to check out what's new! Bwahahaha @ the cat story! I'm a dog lover, myself.

Thanks for sharing your henna routine! I'm really trying to bring myself to try it, but I'm a scary cat *no pun intended*. I have the henna, but it's just sitting there. I'm starting to get encoraged to try it now. I think I will this upcoming week. Did you use your entire mix or did you have some left over? I'm thinking 100g will cover my whole head. IDK. Nice color! I see the red traces.

Hey Curls! I love dogs too but am dogless at the moment. The orange one is like a dog though!

I love henna. I love the control over my color without using commercial dye and I love the way it shores up my strands. It makes your hair shiny too.

I used about 150 grams (a pack and a half) and I used every last bit of it and still missed a few spots. It may be that I didn't apply it right that I used so much. My hair is fine. I noticed that it is filling in since the last relaxer and I am not really shedding anymore except the way your are supposed to. So density wise it is much thicker than a year ago.

What I am saying is with your length and thickness if you plan on using just henna and an activating agent (tea or lemon juice or coconut milk or yogurt) I think you should use 200 grams. If you plan on using CN's recipe you can use 100 grams because you are doubling the volume with condish. Does that make sense?

Anywho - I would try CN's gloss first and see how you feel.

Always good to see you!

Thanks SW and always good to see you, doll! I'm may start simple and try the gloss first. That may be the best way for me to go for now. I may upgrade to full-strength henna if all goes well! Thanks for the info; it was very helpful!

NubieNatty wrote:i love the pics and the mugs

ok so on to the Jazz coloring cuz i was contemplating using that rinse a while ago too cuz im not ready for a permanent color, back in the day i used "spicy cognac" lol. i know im gonna have to get some kind of color close to that since i refuse to bleach/highlight my hair to anything lighter!

Uh, my hairdresser told me Jazzing only works when the cuticle is wide open - as in immediately after a relaxer. Have you tried it before? I need to do more research on that kind of stuff.

CurlsGalore wrote: Thanks SW and always good to see you, doll! I'm may start simple and try the gloss first. That may be the best way for me to go for now. I may upgrade to full-strength henna if all goes well! Thanks for the info; it was very helpful!

Hey CG, sure!! Glad I could return the favor!

krazy coils wrote:Love the pics Swoodward! Your hair is really looking good!

Thanks Krazy coils!!! (secret hair idol)

Hey Lady how is your weekend going?

Hot and uncomfortable. My husband is annoying me. How bout you?

Hey there, I love the fact that you tried the henna. Your new avi looks great. I see a difference in your hair from one we last spoke. And I like what I see . Keep up the good work, chica

Hola IB, thanks!!!

So I went a whole week without even cowashing! Shouldn't have done that because I can feel a psoriais outbreak coming on. Still, I am really pleased because I twisted or braided at night and fluffed the next day. Done. With lip gloss on day 7! You can't really see but I have 2 red clips pulling my hair back in the front.

I wanted to try Juices&Berries banding method (J&B's page 10) My goal was a stretched out afro on the first day and it worked really well. I am going to do a thorough review on DevaCurl but you'll hear my first go with the complete set here. Based on J&B's method, you section the hair and band in two or more places in each section, depending on your hair length, and let your hair air dry. One band is placed close to the scalp like a pony, and one at the end. I think she bands in the middle too but her hair is longer than mine. Your hair should dry more quickly than in twists and should be stretched because the weight and location of the hair bands keep your hair from shrinking while it dries.

To band my hair I used one large clip to keep most of my hair out of the way and 24 or 26 thin hair bands - mostly very thin, smooth and with no metal.

I washed with my new DevaCurl kit- DevaCurl No-poo. I used the DevaCurl One condish, left it in for a minute and detangled. I rinsed the condish out and put about a tablespoon of the same condish back in and I used the same method Muz referred with the One Muz's page 16 up to step 8.

For Muz's method I used DevaCurl An-gel, then ran PrettyNatural's leave in condish though my hair, then sprayed with DevaCurl Set it Free. (this wasn't nearly enough moisture but I was in a rush and knew I was going to wet and re-band tonight anyway.

I banded my hair in sections - J&B was soooo right, I had low manipulation and as soon as I got to the second section I felt the weight of the bands and looked in the mirror - no shrinking. I banded my whole head. I had maybe 13 or 14 sections. I sprayed each section with DevaCurl Mist-er Right, I swear this stuff is a moisturizing gel/curl activator in a bottle. More on that later. Let's just say it had a lot to do with me making it a whole week on my henna treatment without washing or wetting at all.





I noticed that the white stuff dried to a clear shine in about a 1/2 hour - cool, but like a W&G, you can't touch the hair or it frizzes and loses the curls. I also think I could have smoothed the hair more and would have had defined curls at the end. Whatever the state of the hair when it is wet is how it dried. My hair was a bit frizzy and puffy but still curled.

I had to run out so I couldn't let it completely dry and it was not dry by itself so I whipped out the ole bonnet dryer for 10 minutes (still no go - darn my hair & 99% humidity). I gently pulled the bands out - (need to be VERY careful about that) and lightly pulled and fluffed with my fingers into the style, then dried a few more minutes on cool with a diffuser on my $$$ Andis dryer.

here is the result - exactly as J&B said - stretched, soft and full. I think next day, you could just skip a shower cap or spray and shake, and it should come right back. I won't know right away because I am re-banding tonight with more moisture.


I am very pleased with this method and will incorporate into my routine on fro days when I want clean, soft, stretched hair. Thanks Juices&Berries!!!!

I keep forgetting: my last relaxer was June 10, 2009. I am officially one year relaxer free!!!

I am sooooo happy that you tried my method and that it worked for you! Just an FYI, when I band I use only one band per section but just stretch it out from root to tip. (I mayyyyyyy do a YouTube tutorial). But know alot of people do use more than one so that's fine too.

And you are absolutely right. This look gives you soft yet stretched hair and you don't have to use gel. Looks great on you!

Let me know how the re-banding goes for you.

Thanks J&B!!

I didn't realize that you only used one band down the length of the hair. Maybe that's why my hair took longer to dry? Cool! The two bands gave me a bit of control but I want to try one next time.

Anywho - I had to re band because I did NOT use enough moisture and my hair started to collapse in on itself like a black hole!! It curled up too tightly and wrapped around itself. I know I didn't moisturize enough because it was extremely tangled when I re-wet it last night.

I wet my hair and had to detangle again using the same Devacurl products EXCEPT this time I added in a moisturizer Unfortunately, I don't remember what it was except it was a freebie with the curlmart Deva order. I'll find it.

I sealed with my sheaaloe mix and rebanded each section. Here's the pics today!!





Pretty stretched and not a fluke. Thanks so much J&B!

In other hair news - My hair hates straight gel. With the DevaCurl An-gel, that made 4 bad attempts with four types of clear gel (Kiss My Face Upper Management, HH Totally Twisted, Curls Gel-s-c and DevaCurl An-gel). So far, the only one I can use with a W&G is KCCC. Gel-s-c works with twists. So I am going to try a mix like ones with Ecostyler I have seen on CN, but substituting one of my gels, and we'll see what happens.

The second thing is I have to trim my ends again. When my stylist cut my hair straight, the cut was at the absolutely worst place in the curl to cut - just after the bend. The ends get tangled and go in every which direction. After quite of bit of research, including reading Curly Girl (Lorraine Massey) I need to take my time and cut in very small sections using very sharp scissors on dry hair. I am going to use Curly Nikki's S&D method all over my head and I am going to try to learn about how my hair will react. Then maybe I can go out to a professional some time in the future. I love my hairdresser - but I don't trust him not to not straighten my hair to cut it and not to over cut if it's curly at this point in my hair journey.

Trim day will be at the Summer Solstice. I am so weird about that kind of thing!

Day 2 looks awesome! I'd say even better than Day 1. Probably because it's more moisturized. I am glad you are liking the method.

When exactly is summer solstice?