STILL HERE!

The cornrows are still on my head almost two weeks later! I just figured with all the self quarantine/isolation, social distancing happening at the moment I would just leave them on for as long as I need to. I am indoors 90% of the time only go out for groceries and walks and looks like it’s going to be that way at least until early April. So I just throw on a beanie or have a hoodie on whenever I need to leave the house, I am not exactly a wigs person though lately I have been seriously considering getting one or two. Anyway that’s the short update. For anyone out there caught up in self quarantine/isolation etc keep your head up this too shall pass but we got to be safe first. Oh and my friend’s wedding that I spoke about in the other post has been officially cancelled her country is on lockdown so until the all clear is given there is no tentative date yet so we sit and wait and keep safe while waiting.

OUT IT GOES!!!

 So the hair didn’t even make it to the weekend. Friday afternoon I was hot it felt like a bother on my head I went to the bathroom grabbed my scissors and chopped it all off. I am going to keep the cornrows in over the weekend and take them out Monday morning for a braid out. Felt like a huge load had been lifted off my head. I should have stuck to my plans. What I didn’t mention in the previous post was that I had no intention of buying this hair, I had a particular hair in mind that I was going to buy until I mentioned it to someone and she convinced me to buy a “similar” type of hair for about  1/3^rd less the cost of the original hair I wanted to purchase. Well serves me right lol I shouldn’t have gone chasing waterfalls should have stuck to the rivers and lakes that I am used to. I don’t even know how I let her convince me because I am usually a stick to my decision kind of person. I am actually glad my hair is out I think I need to give it a break because prior to this mess I had been protective styling for 10 weeks (2 different styles) back to back so I am glad at the chance to let my hair breathe for a week or two maybe more. I have a friend’s wedding in April (that we are hoping to still attend considering the spread of the corona virus that is currently going round) so I plan to do a short term protective style for that so I guess my hair can wait it out a little.

OOPS I DID IT AGAIN!!!

The very first time I had my hair taken out the same day it was done was as a child. I must have been about 8 or 9 and had this wonderful African threading design done on my head earlier in the day only that they were done too tight and even putting my head on the softest pillow hurt like crazy. They were taken out that very night. My second time taking my hair down on the very day it was done was maybe a little over a decade ago. I remember going to this salon that I had found quite by chance when I went to pick out an outfit for a friend’s wedding. The stylist was great, the hair not so much. It was a curly weave that looked great on the packet and cover but was a hot mess once on the head the weave came in one of those packets you couldn't open to feel the texture but the cover model looked amazing in it so I took my chances. Big mistake! After my hair was done I looked in the mirror and knew straight away it was not going to last the night so I paid the stylist thanked her and set off on my way. 

This is what the hair looked like in the pack.

Now home at the time was a couple of train journeys and a bus ride away and I swear I could feel people staring at the mess on my head ok maybe I was just being paranoid. I got off at my bus stop at around 6pm, now there was a beauty supply store just across the road from where I got off that opened late I think until 7pm or so.  The decision to go in and look for a replacement weave was made on the spot! This hadn't been the plan at all I was going to take out the mess once I got home not have it redone. But hey if you know me you know I can be spontaneous like that sometimes. So I went in and was extra careful picking out new hair this time in fact I was over careful, got the hair paid for it and crossed over again to the other side. Now this side had a barbershop that also had a lady hairdresser who had a chair there I popped my head in spontaneously just to check if she was in and available to take a last minute walk in. The hair gods were with me that night for she was, I explained my situation that I need the weave on my head cut off and replaced with a new one the cornrows stayed she was fine with it and felt pity on me with her pricing, it was quite a bit of money I had spent that day considering I had a monthly hair budget that I strictly adhered to back then so all this extra money being spent was going to burn a hole in that budget. But then I figured I could always do extra hours and make up for it, it was after all the Christmas season so it didn’t burn as much. 

This is the mess that came out of my head two days after installation!

Did I say the hair gods were with me that night? This new hair turned out to be exactly what I didn't know I needed and then some (I ended up repeating the style several times in the coming years using this new stylist). So what's the point to this very long story you ask? Well turns out that I may be taking down hair again only this one may survive a day or two. Again I bought hair that looked good on the cover models but a bushy mess inside it's one of those kinky curly god knows what crotchet hair styles. I had it done yesterday afternoon and by the time I got home I knew it had to go! It tangles for one and is so thick and hot I can't deal the only reason it's not out today is because I had quite a bit on my plate today and hair was not on top of my priority list. I have to be somewhere quite early tomorrow so I have decided to wrap a turban around the edges to make it look "palatable” but as soon as I get home if I get home early enough it's gone. If not the next day is a Saturday so I definitely have plenty of time to take it out. Moral of the story: choose your hair very well very well hahaha don't end up like me. Hope you guys have been good it's been a minute I had missed this space!

Hair Update And a Touch Up Finally!

Late November 2017…starts blog post…

I finally touched up my hair after God knows how long. This was my longest stretch yet, I believe, I went a year and some months. My last touch up was sometime in 2016 This was a totally unplanned stretch to be honest I have been feeling uninspired to do anything with my hair this year. My side business is partly to blame for that; I crotchet scarves and beanies on the side and I ended up making myself some beanies which would end up on my head almost all the time if I didn’t feel like doing anything to my hair. But on the other hand it ended up actually being a good thing coz my hair was always in a protective style under those beanies so that worked perfectly ok for me. Low manipulation, reduced breakage and all. That was very much needed and good for my hair and length retention.

I used Dark and Lovely Beautiful Beginnings no lye relaxer kit as always.  I touched up like I always do starting at the back coz I long figured out my back hair takes longer to process so it only makes sense to start with the back in order to avoid over processing the front bit. Touch up, shampoo and very thorough rinsing done I deep conditioned with Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen and Grow Treatment Masque with Shea butter, Peppermint and Keratin wow that is a mouthful! This was a free sample (two sachets) I received at a hair event I recently attended, and my hair loved it so much I think I will be purchasing the full-size tub. It made my hair feel so soft I was tempted to do nothing else to it after rinsing until the next day. Which I did save for applying a leave in conditioner and let it air dry and left everything else until the next morning.

image source: Amazon

The next morning I oiled my scalp with this blend of amla oil, see the ingredient list below. It’s called Bio Amla by a company called Vedova. I quite like the way it smells and how lightweight it is. This is my first time using this particular brand of amla I bought a 50ml bottle and I can already see myself repurchasing a bigger size bottle when this one runs out. I had this insane need to use amla or anything along those lines these last few weeks so I went out and got myself a bottle. Scalp done I applied my leave in conditioner and did two jumbo braids. The plan is to do a henna treatment three days later.

Continues typing blog post…February 2018

Day three well more like two thousand years later in February 2018 I finally did the henna treatment! Well what had happened was...lol I don’t even know why I stayed this long well a lot happened the Christmas holidays included but the bottom line is I finally did my henna treatment.

I added a bit of food colour to my henna mix, it gives my hair red highlights which i like. it is temporary so a little bit washes off with every wash

Henna treatment done I had my hair rinsed and applied this leave in conditioner from mega growth and then my cousin blow dried my hair for me at her salon and we were done at least for now. 

I KNOW I need a trim that will be done some time soon if not the next two thousand years hahaha soon I promise those ends look terrible I am currently in buns 90% of the time so they don’t bother me as much but I know the importance of trimming ends etc so I will get it done asap.

NEW IN PRODUCTS!

Yeah I know not the tub you are used to seeing, I almost thought I had been sold a bootleg tub or something and did a quick online search and found similar tubs I guess they rebranded. It says new improved formula on the tub. I love the consistency not too thick and not too runny just perfect.

This leave in I bought after using a sachet sample size that came from a mega growth relaxer kit on my niece’s hair. Now my niece has really coarse and thick hair and detangling it is normally a festival of tears. Not this time though this leave in worked wonders on her hair, I saturated her hair in sections with the leave in and detangling time was a breeze. My hair loves it so far, I have been using it for about a month and I have no regrets plus it smells amazing too. I use it as a daily leave in as I realised early on in my hair journey that my hair leans more towards leave in conditioners as opposed to hair lotions or moisturisers for daily use. This is a product I will definitely be repurchasing.

Next...

 

This I bought just because it was the only alternative at my local grocery store and I needed to shampoo my hair that night.  I don’t mind it, it does a good job of cleansing my hair without leaving it dry only downside for me at least, is that it is a creamy shampoo, I much rather prefer clear shampoos.

last but not least...

 

A girl can never have too many bobby pins:)