Hair Porosity and Products

Hey there!

It’s been quite a while since I posted here. I am still rocking my naturalness the best that I can. It has been since 2009 that I first started this journey, which I would not change for anything in the world. Now, I have even brought my 3 year old daughter into this journey by testing out different hair products with her to see what’s work.

My daughter’s hair is very similar to mine, which is the 4C curl pattern. Our hair seems to do really well with creamy hair products to wash, condition, and moisturize. In the past I had used Adwoa Beauty on my hair, which really took well to it. I even used these products on my daughter, which even did well on her hair. I love Adwoa Beauty.

Over the last year, I have transitioned to using TPH by Taraji. I absolutely love the way these products as well. These products make my hair feel and look clean, conditioned, and cult. Today, I washed my daughter’s hair with these products and loved the way her curls deepened with each wash. 

Currently I only use two particular products, which I will display below. These products did such an amazing job on my daughter’s hair that I went to the website in pursuit of a moisturizer, styling gel, shine, and co-wash.

Amazing products - TPH by Taraji 

I absolutely love this conditioner. It can be used as a deep conditioner.

I have yet to try this co-wash, but just ordered it. I will let you know.

Amazing shampoo. What I love about this is that as you finger comb or comb through your hair, you will notice your curl pattern increase, making your hair vey curl.

Of course most of these products worked well on my hair because of my porosity level. Do you know your hair porosity?

Naturally Me Re-visited (Protective Style)

Happy new year everyone!

Since September, I have been rocking two different types of protective styles. The first one that I wore in September were box braids. I absolutely loved these braids. It had probably been over 10 years since I wore these type of braids in my hair. This protective style allowed me to sleep a little later, avoid putting unnecessary heat on my head, and add time to my daily schedule. I was truly in love.

This past December, I found a new true love and they were twists. At first, I wasn't sure I was loving the twists. It seemed as though the styles were not adhering to what I wanted them to do. That all changed after a week or two later when I washed my hair. Once I washed my hair and I wore the style a little longer, everything started to get better. I was able to style my hair the way I wanted, the twists laid they way I wanted, and I was happy.

My goals for the future is to limit the amount of heat that I place on my hair and wear more protective styles. These styles will consist of, but now limited to: Braids, twists, wigs, naturally curly hair, and other styles.

Join us in the natural hair movement!

A journey to help increase length, strength, self-esteem, and more.

Loving these twists

WWSD- What Would Santa Do?

Strike a pose

The head shot

The back of the book shot

Oh happy day!

See here...

All smiles

Natural Lyricist Liyah Moni

Lyricist Liyah Moni

The natural world has the privilege of having natural beauties, poets, and rappers such as Liyah Moni to be among their ranks of Natural-go-getters. Ms. Liyah Moni is a Columbus, Ohio native who has been rapping and performing poetry for quite some time now. At the tender age of 22, she has already been in the game for over 5 years now.

All the while she is putting down tracks and performing poetry, she is rocking her natural hair styles to let the world know she is #TeamNatural.

Check out some of her natural hair styles below, follow her on twitter, and listen to her songs on soundcloud..  

Success looks like this

All smiles 

A

Her curls "be popping" 

Natural beauty 

Check out Liyah Monie on Soundcloud. Some of my favorites were: Big Spender, Aquarium, I Can't Stop, Royals Remix, and Bad Feelings.

Winter Twists for Little Girls

Winter time can be a very fun-filled time, especially when you are a little girl, such as Dara. Beautiful Dara is 3 years old and is natural. She's sporting these cute Brasil Wool Twists. She is definitely stylin' and profilin'. Check her out.  

Natural girl

Living in a natural world

So precious

Natural Girls Rock!!!

Natural girl

It's a way of life. It sparks a creativeness inside me to live freely. It lets me be who I was intended to be without the constraints society previously placed on me. It allows me to create, respond, and love openly. I am natural and natural is me.

Living No Lye Tour: NYC

All About Natural Hair

Living No Lye Tour: NYC

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the Living No Lye Tour NYC. The event was absolutely amazing. Essence Magazine was there, along with a lot of well known bloggers and YouTubbers. In being a naturalista for over six years now, I never really knew my hair type. I had tested out different products as some natural books had stated I should do. I expected I was a 4 C based on information I read and comparing my hair to the information on different websites. What I did know was that my hair tended to like some moisturizers, it dried very quickly, and it worked well with some products compared to others. I also knew that Co-washing was definitely for me, especially in the warmer months. 

Sister Scientist 

At the event, Audrey Davis-Sivasothy briefly discussed people's hair porosity being either low, high or in the middle. More details about this was presented by Sister Scientist who gave further details. She even showed a simple experiment to determine your hair porosity, which was to soak a piece of your hair in water for about two to four minutes. In some of the characteristics she stated about low porosity hair, I suspected this was my hair type. I tried this experiment at home and found out that I did have low porosity hair. Sister Scientist also discussed finding out how dense your hair was by comparing it to a piece of thread. If your hair is the same thickness of the thread, then you have medium or normal size; however if it is thicker, then you have very thick hair.

Mo Knows Hair

MoKnowsHair did her thang when it came to showing the audience a great style they can do on their hair. She talked about three strand twists, which can be a little difficult to do at first, but she seemed to know all the ins and outs about it. I could definitely relate to Mo in being a Midwest gal who had recently moved to a big city (New Jersey). I laughed as she discussed garbage disposals in Midwest because I too was accustomed to them. 

 Maria Antoinette slayed the hair game with her natural clip on hairpieces. She took a very ordinary hair style and turned it into perfection. Both of her subjects' hair looked beautiful. 

Goodies from the Event

In having V.I.P status, I was provided with a goodie bag full of things I will definitely use. I also made my rounds to various tables and picked up a couple of things. I will definitely use all my products, which consisted of a microfiber towel, The Science of Black Hair, dietary supplements, curl an styling cocktail, conditioner, earrings, and adjustable hair bands.

Great event. I will definitely make sure to attend future events. #LivingNoLyeTourNYC #NaturalHair

Various Natural Styles

Various Natural Hair Styles

To the right, you will notice the various natural hair styles that I have done in the past and present. The majority of the pictures show me with braids, which is a great protective hair style. Braids are great for the summer time, especially when the humidity seems to be disastrous on your hair. They are also easier to manage with all them added responsibilities that you may have due to parties, poetry events, summer vacations, and all that good stuff.

Treat yourself sometimes by getting your hair done by a professional and doing different styles on yourself. It is well worth it.

The Many Styles of Natural

I have been natural since July of 2009, which would make six years in July. I can't believe that it has been that long. Throughout the year, I wear my hair in many different styles. Here are just a few. Enjoy and happy natural-hair-styling!

Natural Curls of Pearl

This is how I am wearing my naturally curly hair.

Natural Curls of Pearl Hairdo 

Step 1: Condition
You should always want to condition your hair prior to washing it. This allows the water and conditioner to soak into your hair and provide a better wash. My hair always tends to turn out a little better when I have let my hair products soak into my hair.

Step 2: Wash
After you have rinsed out your conditioner, washing your hair cleans away prior products you have placed in your hair. It leaves your scalp and hair feeling good.

Step 3: Condition again
Conditioning your hair again allows the water and conditioner to soak into your hair some more. This is a great technique for those who want to straightened out their hair. The second application makes the scalp and hair much more manageable and able to sustain being taken out of its original condition.

Step 4: Moisturize
Moisturizing your hair after you have washed it is a must. The best time to moisturize hair is while it is still wet.

Step 5: Air Dry
Air drying your hair gives you the fullness that some people desire. Whenever I air dry my hair, I do it at night and place it in four ponytails. This allows my hair to dry while I am sleeping. Of course my hair is never completely dry when I wake up, so this makes way for the next step.

Step 6: Blow Dry
In the morning, take your hair out of the ponytails, section by section. This technique allows you to concentrate on certain areas of your hair that may need more attention or heat.

Step 7: Straightened
After your hair is dry, straightened in with a flat iron. I would suggest managing the straight look for a couple of days to allow your hair to get use to fact of being straight. No matter how many times you wash and straighten your hair, your hair seems like it becomes more manageable after a couple of days.

Step 9: Create Natural Curls of Pearl
A mix of flexi rods and rollers will assist with creating the look above. Using a natural hair oil can assist with bring a certain type of shine to your hair when the rollers and flexi rods are taken out.

Step 10: Enjoy
Enjoy your hair style by taking pictures, sharing your experience, and just living it up. Why not? You deserve to look beautiful and show the world your Natural Curls of Pearl.

Naturally Straight Hair

So about a year ago. I straightened out my hair and this is how it turned out. 

Answer me this: How do you rock your natural hair? 

A Natural Moment: Throwback

Good evening everyone. This is definitely a throwback picture. This is around the time that I first went natural. My how things have changed. Now I have been natural for 4.5 years. I am still loving all the versatility of my hair and the things I can do.

~ Be open to try new things

Hypothesis: Hair Growth is Linked to Exercise (Sweating)

Picture from Tumblr.com

While getting dressed for work this morning, I started thinking about hair growth and exercise. My thoughts were sparked by my recent actions to exercise more. In saying recent, I actually mean the past two months. In my attempt to live a healthier life, I noticed that my hair was growing. Not to say that my hair lacked an inability to grow. It just did not grow as fast as I hoped it would.

My hypothesis regarding hair growth and exercise was also formed using some of my past experiences. About seven years ago, I was really into eating health and exercising. I was a size 6 and my hair was longer than it had ever been. This information allowed me to hypothesize that hair growth is linked to exercise and sweating from exercising. 

Let's all sit back and think about working out. When we work out, our heart rate increases and so does our body temperature. Sweat is the body's defense in helping our body cool off from the rise in temperature. When we sweat, it has to come out somewhere, so it comes out of our pores. Pores are located all over our bodies, even in our heads. When we sweat, our pores open up and unclogs. So when we exercise, we sweat and our pores open up and push out salt and other things contained in our bodies. In the process of pushing these items out of our bodies, sweat also pushes out our hair follicles, which constitutes hair growth. 

If I was to conduct the experiment above, I would observe 6 people using the following recommendations:

1. Observe 6 people from different racial groups (Two African-Americans, two Caucasians, and two Asians) 
2. Subjects will participate in the big chop (BC) or go bald
3. All subjects' hair will remain in its natural or naturally curly state (No chemical relaxers or perms)
4. All subjects should work out at at least three times a week for 30 minutes each time 
5. Observer will evaluate hair growth once a month
6. Observer will evaluate hair for six months to one year

Who knows, this hypothesis may become a real experiment soon.

Naturally Me!

Are you a natural girl in an almost natural world? Well, I definitely am. I have been natural for almost four years now. It will be four years this July. My desire to be natural started in my undergraduate work at Otterbein University. I was a little nervous because I did not know what to expect, how I would do my hair, or whether or not I would like it. Needless to say, I went natural for about two months and then reverted back to getting a relaxer. My undergraduate years provided great insight for me to test out whether or not I wanted to be natural.

My journey to be natural started again in 2009. I told myself that I wanted to get to know my hair a little better and try new styles. I knew there was more to my hair than the negative things I had heard about naturally curly and kinky hair. Well, I was right. I found out that my hair has a natural curl pattern that is amplified with certain products and techniques. I identified that straightening my hair or wearing my hair curly requires me to use different techniques and different hair products. I also found out that my hair may be different than other natural hair gurus. The photos above showcase my natural hair techniques used within the last couple of years.    

Great website for natural hair

Hello everyone!

Hope you have been doing great. Today I was on Pinterest.com and found a great blog on natural hair. I am all about linking you to other natural hair bloggers and practitioners. Check out Naturally Obsessed.

A Naturally Curly Girlie

So recently,

I have been wearing the naturally curly look, also known as a wash and go look. The look is very easy to complete. I am very hands on with my hair, which you will notice in the steps below.

Steps:

1. Water Down. Place your head under your shower head for about 5 to 10 minutes. Make sure you run your fingers through your hair to make sure every inch of your hair is wet. Your hair should become very curly when it is time to move on to the next step.

2. Condition. Use a conditioner (Garnier Fructis: Sleek & Shine) to condition your hair. You will not need to use shampoo every time you wash your hair, especially if you wash your hair daily. Shampoo is great to use when you are straightening out your hair. When you want to wear a curly look, a conditioner will suffice.

3. Scalp Massage. Make sure you are very active in conditioning your hair. This means that you will have to use your fingers a lot. The best way I can describe this method is by giving yourself a scalp massage.

4. Let Stand. Let the conditioner stay in your hair for about 5 to 10 minutes after you have deeply massaged your scalp.

5. Profound Curls. Before completely washing out your hair, run some water over your fingers and give yourself another scalp massage. You will move your hands back and forth from the water to your head at least five times. This techniques brings out your curls even more and gives you profound curls.

6. Dip Dry. Use a towel to catch the water that drips from your hair, but do not dry with the towel. This allows your hair to be wet enough for the next product you will put in your hair.

7. Styling Gel. Use an alcohol free styling gel (Eco Styler Styling Gel). Finger part your hair into four sections. Apply a medium sized amount of gel to your hands and rub together. Make sure gel is also applied to the insides of your fingers. Now apply the gel to each section. Right now, you are just doing a quick application because you want to make sure each section of some gel on it. You will now start in the first section by finger-parting smaller portions of the section and applying some more gel to the section. Continue this process until you have moved through all four sections of your hair.

8. Gel It Down. This is great for those you want the front portion of their hair to lay down. You can definitely use a brush or comb for this portion; however I have chosen not to because I am more hands on with my hair. Take a hair scarf and tie the scarf around the front and back part of your head. The middle portion of your hair will be exposed and can air dry.

These helpful tips can definitely be modified to your own preferences. Try this hair style out and let me know what you think about it.