On my way to Crazy Sexy Curls

Good Evening Ladies, Hope everyone had a happy Monday.
Here's my story.

My dad permed my hair when I was like 10 or 11. My mom told him to take my sister and I to the beauty salon to get our hair taken care of. She meant a wash and blow dry, she thought he meant a perm....Not sure how you confuse the 2, but he was a man (God rest his soul). From that day one I have had my hair relaxed. In HS I think I tried growing out my perm but had no luck. Since HS I have had perms, weaves, braids, twist. You name it I have had it. I was never really satisfied. I had about a week or 2 of hair joy and then I would be bored and want a change. I would also spend upwards of 4 hours at my hairdresser getting my hair done. Who has that kind of time to waste

Then, last Thanksgiving I saw one of my cousins and she had gone natural and I loved the way her hair looked. She looked so carefree and stylish, 2 terms I never associated with natural hair in the past. I had gotten a relaxer a few weeks earlier not knowing it was going to be my last one. That was October 2008 and I have not relaxed since. I did a BC on 7/3/09, 2 days before my 29th B-day.

I am on this big kick to get things in order and start really living life to its fullest as I hit the road to 30. My hair was the first step. I honestly think this is one of the best things I have done.
I love love love the ease of my hair now. I wash and go or something similar. No time wasted at a beauty salon, although I sometimes miss the fun and gossip with the other ladies.

I am still trying to get a routine down and seem to be making progress with each week and each try of a new product. Thanks ladies for all of your suggestions. This site has been such a blessing.

Good Luck to you on your hair journey!!! Reading your story I thought of an essay by Alice Walker called Oppressed Hair http://www.endarkenment.com/hair/essays/walker.htm.

Thank you for sharing your story!!! I think finding a routine can be the most difficult thing ever. So I wish you the best of luck with your jounry

Coarse, I know I keep trying everything to get something that will end up in my holy grail. Right now I think my hair likes shea butter so that is one product that I am going to definitely stick with. Still trying to find the right condishes and oils that my hair likes. Trial and error baby trial and error

Hey Ladies, I am back. Had a hectic week last week so was not able to post and get on the fourm as much as I wanted. I think I was having withdrawal. Anyhow I have been preparing for Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year.

Also decided to try a little henna treament. I'm a little nervous. I did my mix yesterday a.m and still have not used it yet. I refrigerated it overnight and plan on putting it in this afternoon for a few hours while I clean up around the house. Looking forward to the results. I will report back tomorrow on the outcome. Have a great day everyone.

So how did the henna treatment go? I am soooo excited about henna right now. I just did my first treatment about a week and a half ago and a gloss yesterday and already, I think I am addicted. Watch out...

Hey Beautifuleyez, Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for asking.

I was a little disappointed with my Henna. I don't think it was the Henna though, I think it may have been user error. My hair did not come out soft or glossy like I was hoping for. I think I made a few mistakes with it. First I think I mixed it and left it out too long, then I got scared and refrigerated it overnight. Secondly i don't think I used the right Henna. I bought it a local Indian grocery store and it was a brand that also said Dark Brown on the label. From the research I have done I should have know better since true henna only comes in one color .

I am not discouraged I plan on trying again. I found a place that sells Jamila Henna or I am just going to order from online and be better safe than sorry. Where did you get your henna, what brand did you use and what was your mixture if you don't mind me asking.

Hey Ladies, I am looking for something that I can use to define my curls without making my hair hard or dry. Does anyone have any suggestions. Thanks

ohnatural wrote:Hey Beautifuleyez, Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for asking.

I was a little disappointed with my Henna. I don't think it was the Henna though, I think it may have been user error. My hair did not come out soft or glossy like I was hoping for. I think I made a few mistakes with it. First I think I mixed it and left it out too long, then I got scared and refrigerated it overnight. Secondly i don't think I used the right Henna. I bought it a local Indian grocery store and it was a brand that also said Dark Brown on the label. From the research I have done I should have know better since true henna only comes in one color .

I am not discouraged I plan on trying again. I found a place that sells Jamila Henna or I am just going to order from online and be better safe than sorry. Where did you get your henna, what brand did you use and what was your mixture if you don't mind me asking.

I actually made the same mistake the first time I hennaed so don't feel bad! The henna I buy now though is BAQ from Yemen and Punjabi Prime from mehandi.com . I mix them separately with orange juice and let them set over night to get the acidity right. When I apply the henna I mix two parts Yemen w/ one part PP on the back half and 50/50 in the front.
Hope I could help and hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Ohnatural! I was reading your post and i just wanted to tell you that the first time i used henna, i was disappointed too. I had a vision of my hair being so much different than it turned out to be. For one, my hair was very dry. I swore that i would never use it again! Then i read so many stories from other naturals about it being so great and i did some research and found out that it had a lot of great benefits. I also found out that not all henna is created equal. You should use "body art quality" henna. Found a site called Mehandi.com and i ordered henna and indigo (was goin for jet black color). It was a lot better but still had some dryness. Then i was told to add oils to my henna mix and also i mixed it with orange juice not lemon juice. Lemon juice is very harsh! Anyway long story short, i LOVED the results! My hair was soft, moisturized and the color was great. So if you do it again, do order good quality henna (not the ones you can buy in stores, they might be what is called "compound henna") and add a good amount of olive oil, extra virgin. I hope that your next henna experience will be a good one