3 Years Newly Natural

Howdy Curl Street!
Well here it goes. My name is Christian and I live in Houston. I got my last relaxer in February of 2007 so I've been completely natural for about a year and a half or so, I'm not really sure. For most of my transition i kept my hair flat ironed or occassionaly curled on rods. I had and still have no clue what to do with my natural hair, but recently I decided that I wanted to embrace my curl. I know my hair is heat damaged because about a quarter of my hair has remained straight through my transition but I know that it's no longer the result of a relaxer. So I took a trip to Uncle Funky's Daughter in the hopes they would give me a jump start to my new curly do and they did. I'll post pics of my current hair later since it's a little late. It's currently twisted into a really cute afro puff. I love it but I don't have the money to keep it this way on a regular. So this week I will attempt to style my hair sans blow dryer, hair dryer, or flat iron. Now after cruising through the boards and reading about the curly girl method I've decided to try a few new things. My hair becomes a dry matted mess after shampooing so I've decided to try a No-Sulfate shampoo, Giovanni Tea Tree for my itchy scalp. I've also read some really good things about Yes To Carrots and I was near a Target so I'm trying that too. Since I've been straightening my hair a leave in was kind of out of the question. It left my hair feeling heavy and usually left a film and sometimes white flakes. I bought some Kinky Curly Knot Today from Whole Foods today as a leave in. I still don't know what style to try first but i'm thinking twist-n-curl. I also got some Coconut oil to seal my ends. I'll let you know if I end up looking crazy or gorgeous. Hopefully the later. LOL Follow me on my wonderful and odd journey to natural naturally curly locks.

Welcome to Curl Street!

Welcome cnicoles6! I look forward to your pics and following your journey!

Welcome!!!

Welcome to curl street

Welcome!

Welcome to Curl Street... Meeting the needs of Naturals... LOL

Welcome to Curl Street!

Thank you for such a warm welcome! So this is my current hair style. I liked it like this but i eventually moved it to one ponytail cause I feel like it looks more professional.

Very pretty pic! Welcome to the Curl Street!

Welcome!!

Howdy all!

Needless to say I was really nervous about doing my natural hair and leaving it that way for the first time. The hardest part was just taking down all of those tiny twists I had. It took almost an hour just for the front! This is what it looked like when I took it down.



Now I thought this was really cute, but it was so itchy I just had to wash it. So I washed with Giovanni Tea Tree Shampoo for my itchy scalp. I loved this shampoo. My hair wasn't all dry and tangled when I finished, plus the tingling effect made my scalp feel so nice. Then I used Yes to Carrots conditioner and sat under the dryer for about 15 minutes. I felt no magic per-se when I used it but I'll give it another shot. I used Kinky Curly Knot Today to detangle, but my hair was still a mess. My mom had to help me remove some of the knots in my hair. After that I put a little coconut oil on my end as a sealant and I used Deva Curl AnGel to define my curls. I decided to do a wash and go, so i put my hair in 6 plaits and put my straighter hair around a flexi rod. I sat under the dryer for a few minutes to help the braid dry, then I put that section in a bantu knot. I tied it up, went to bed and this is what I got this morning.



I sprayed on a little Deva Curl Set it Free, put on a headband, and headed off to work. I really liked my results and i'm excited to try somemore new styles in time. It was a little frizzy but I'll figure it out. Tell me what you think!

Hi Cnicoles6, and welcome to Curl Street.

I am also from Houston. Was UFD's expensive for their services?

I really didn't think so, but I guess it could be what I'm comparing it to. They did a full head of twists with a few rollers for my straighter hair for 65. It lasted two weeks and could have gone longer were it not for my itchy scalp. I used to spend 75 or 80 when I used to get perms and I didn't usually like the way my hair looked when I left. Worth it IMO.

Welcome to Curl Street! Your hair is very pretty. You seem like a pro! You probably don't really need UFD but I'm sure it feels good to let someone else do it sometimes!

I am definitely not a pro but I'm hoping I can learn how to make my hair behave on a regular basis as quickly as possible. I'm a manager so I have to look professional every day. Hopefully my beginners luck will morph into skill. lol

I think you did a good job on your own hair! You will become more comfortable and confident in your hair skills the more you do it yourself.

So last night I retwisted my hair and this morning I'm not loving the results. I'm not sure what to do with it for tomorrow. Any suggestions?

krazy coils wrote:I think you did a good job on your own hair! You will become more comfortable and confident in your hair skills the more you do it yourself.

I agree with KC, the more u do it the sooner you will feel comfortable with it. And its all trial and error.

Yeah the error is what I'm worried about. I have such a wierd work schedule there isn't a lot of time for me to do my hair.

I say if all else fails bun it or do a puff.

Cnicoles6 wrote:Yeah the error is what I'm worried about. I have such a wierd work schedule there isn't a lot of time for me to do my hair.

Well in that case, go to the salon. I have been experimenting with my hair all year-and now I am getting tired. And I need a break. So I will be letting my natural hair stylist do my hair until September. By then I will be ready to try out some more things and use my Oyin and Afroveda products I just recv'd in the mail.

welcome

@CoilyKinks

I started with the stylist but they aren't cheap. I have a vacation coming up so maybe I'll try a little of everything and hopefully by the time I go back to work I'll have at least two styles besides the wash and go that i can count on.

So I did my first co-wash yesterday and I'm not sure what I think. I used VO5 and just massaged my scalp for a while. Then rinsed, co-washed again and put in my KKKT. I'm not sure if the co-washing did it, but my hair was a lot easier to detangle. I'm putting in a picture of what my hair looks like wet to give you an idea of the different curl patters I have. It's pretty dramatic so I've been trying to make all my hair look like the curliest portion, but this also means I have to style my hair every night. Any thoughts on how I might be able to get a second day out my very loose curls on the left?