Autumn Hair Care

Autumn Hair Care

So, summer has ended and your curls are fried, autumn is rolling in and it time to recover.

Here are a few tips to help that recovery process easier!

1)  Clarifying Shampoo: after a summer full of products and sun burnt hair it is a good idea to get a fresh start. Clarifying shampoo will allow you to rid your hair of all build up without stripping your hair of its natural oils. Although, it is always a good idea to follow up with a good deep conditioning afterwards, or a great leave in to restore some moisture balance.

2)  Leave In Conditioner: A good leave in conditioner is crucial for all seasons, but as we move from a hot sweaty summer to a dry cold winter, it is especially important that we maintain moisture in our hair. This can be done using a great product or on your own. If it is done using a product then it is best to use a product with water/aqua listed as one of the first ingredients.

a.  You can also do this on your own by using a number of natural items. You can use raw shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil and/or glycerin to lock moisture in hair. They also assist in prevents breakage and shedding by penetrating the hair shaft and providing moisture throughout.

3)  Protective Styling: Buns, sew ins, wigs, extensions, anything that will hide your hair and give it a break would be a great idea to recover from the sun damage. Since our ends are our oldest and therefore, the most abused, any protective style that will hide your ends would be a good idea. Plus, your warmer fabrics could cause more damage to your ends by rubbing against them on a constant basis and prevent length retention.

4)   Protein Treatments: If you are like me, then you spent a lot of time trying to get the perfect tan to hold you out through the winter, lol. You probably also like to add lots of fun color to your hair, so a good protein treatment is always great to strengthen your hair strands and keep it from feeling like a stack of hay :s You should try to do a good protein treatment at least once a month!

5)  End clipping: as stated earlier, your ends take a lot of crap over time and the summer is pretty harsh with all that constant sun on them. It is a good idea to get your ends clipped as necessary during the fall to remove damage that was caused during summer fun.

6)  The recurring theme of this article, if you haven’t noticed, is moisture, moisture, moisture. So, it should be of no surprise that this tip is also about properly moisturizing. The wash n’ go that you rocked all summer may not cut it as we move into the colder weather. We also need a good moisture method and what better than the L.O.C. method created by Chicoro. Liquid, Oil then Cream is the definition of the loc method. So apply a liquid, then an oil then loc it in with a cream or butter. Simple enough, right?

7)  Heavier oils and creams: it may be necessary to start bringing the castor oil, avocado and shea back out as we move into cooler weather. The lighter oils that worked during the summer may not be as effective or long lasting as the heavier oils that will coat your hair better during these drier months.

8)  Satin scarf or bonnet: I know, we always use our bonnets/scarves/pillowcases and this is an obvious, right? Well. Honestly I don’t, but my goal for autumn/winter is too be more diligent in this process with the goal of, you guessed it, maintaining moisture. Not a scarf person, get a satin pillowcase so that your sheets and pillow cases won’t steal all your oils and moisture and transfer it to your face, it’s a win-win. You can also wear your scarf or bonnet under a beanie as the weather gets colder, but you cannot wear the bonnet like a beanie!

9)  Detangle: my last tip would be to find a great detangler. Dry hair tends to hold on to more tangles. So finding a good detangler will allow the moisture to travel throughout your hair and help you manage it easier.

Those are my tips to maintain those lovely curls as we move to colder weather!

What are your changing hair regimens for the seasonal shift?

Christine's Big Chop

Christine’s Big Chop

Today we will be sharing the big chop of Christine a.k.a. Chicklet. Previously known for her unique lacefront collection, she is now setting new trends with her exclusive haircuts. I am so excited to share her natural journey with you guys. Enjoy!

What motivated you to go natural?

I was motivated by how badly my medicine was damaging my hair.

Before you went natural, you use to have a large variety of hairstyles that you wore. Were you afraid that you would lose options with natural hair?

Oh definitely, I was not planning on wearing my natural hair due to the fact that I was the lace front queen. I was beyond scared!

Do you still feel like you are limited?

Oh no! I found out through your help and my barber, Giddy, I actually have more choices than ever and more variety going forward as my hair grows.

You kept saying you were going to go back to your lace fronts when you were getting your hair cut, do you miss them now?

Lol, yea I did say that because I thought I would not like it when it was cut. But, slowly I began to like. It was a huge change for me!

Do you feel like you have changed as a result of letting your hair go?

In a good way, I changed my wardrobe and all, but, I’m still the same Chicklet with natural hair

What is your favorite haircut that you have gotten so far?

My favorites are the ones my barber does with designs and I use colored eye liner pencils to add a pop of color to the designs.

Do you have any hair goals?

Yea, to get through this middle stage and grow it so I can do some color, and Mohawks, it has become fun!

Do you have any favorite products yet? If so, what are they, and why?

Ummm...no favorite products yes, it’s still short. But, I use Taliah Waajid to make it curly and it works well for the middle area and love the argan oil.

Lastly, what is your advice to any nervous women that are thinking about doing the big chop?

Just take strong liquor shot and do it! I’m happy I did it; I never knew the unlimited options I had. It’s the best decision I ever made for my hair! 

Would you like to share your natural hair journey? Contact me on "Adventures With Dandelions" facebook page or send it to spokenheart_mf@aol.com!

Habitual Offender

Habitual Offender

On July 8^th, I shared a story with you guys about a school that had proposed a new school dress code that would prohibit children from wearing most natural hairstyles claiming that they are distracting, unprofessional and faddish. After much opposition, that school quickly revised the dress code. But, Deborah Brown Community School seemed to be harboring similar feelings and had no intentions of making changes until a 7 year old child was forced to switch schools due to her locs.

It hurt my heart so deeply when I watched the video of this 7 year old girl crying because she had to switch schools due to her hair. Tiana’s father, a barber, stated that he takes pride in his children’s appearance and would never allow his child to leave his home not looking “presentable”. He even attempted to compromise with the school by discussing different styles that Tiana could wear in her hair to make it “less distracting”. But, after not being able to find the middle ground he decided that his daughter was not wanted at the school and it would be best to find another school for her.

While it was in the dress code since 2007 that dreds were considered an inappropriate, Tiana’s father states that she has wore her locs to school in the previous year and met no opposition. Deborah Brown Community School has decided that they will now allow students to wear faddish hairstyles, such as afros and locs, as long as they do not present a hygiene issue.  But, Tiana’s parents said that this does not change the fact that their daughter came home crying after her school made her believe that something was wrong with her.

When Tiana was asked how she felt, she choked back tears and stated “I think that they should let me have my dreds”.

Tiana's response to having to leave school <<--- click here!

Many people at the board meeting to make this change in dress code felt a great relief at this dress code change. A board member stated that there were more important things to tackle than hairstyles and too much energy had been invested in prohibiting this style in the past 10 days.

I have expressed before how important I think it is for our children to learn to love themselves exactly as they are and I am very happy that Tiana’s parents did not succumb to the school’s rules of discrimination. But, I do wonder how many other parents were faced with this dilemma and dimply changed their child’s hair as a way of saying that “this is life”. I do understand that we have to teach children that we are sometimes not able to do what we want, but we also have to know the difference. I could understand if Tiana was coming to school with neon purple and blue locs or something that was actually distracting. But, natural hairstyle such as afros and locs being banned as unprofessional is definitely not a lesson that we want to teach our children.

What is your opinion of the ban of these hairstyles as faddish?

How do you feel about children and natural hairstyles?

Would you have handled this differently?

Go Curly for a Cause

Go Curly for a Cause

Pledge to #wearyourhaircurly August 14th! Fructis Style will help send a girl to rock camp.
I'm rockin' my curls.
If you are too then make the pledge at the following link:

http://bit.ly/14pOPRt

Organix Product Review

Organix Product Review

Anybody that knows me knows that I am an Organix product junkie!

I have even gone so far as to call as to call the Coconut Milk line my hair soul mate.

Today I will be reviewing this amazing product line based on the experiences that I have had with the different products that I have tried.

Coconut Milk

Website description: Coconut milk and ultra whipped egg white proteins along with weightless coconut oil to hydrate and nourish your hair as gentle cleansers wash away impurities.

ShampooI really enjoyed this shampoo. This is definitely my favorite of the different lines that I have tried from Organix. I enjoyed the sudsiness of this shampoo and the amazing smell. It left my hair feeling clean but not stripped.

Conditioner

Once again, this is definitely my favorite conditioner that I have used thus far. It left my hair feeling soft and well moisturized. I honestly do not have any downfalls to using these shampoos and conditioners.

Anti Breakage Serum
 I thoroughly enjoyed the anti breakage serum. It made my hair feel very smooth and look very shiny. The only problem is that it is a little thick so it is not easy to transfer all from your hands to your hair.

Weightless Styling Mousse
This is probably the only product from the Coconut Milk line that I did not enjoy. This left my hair feeling a little stringy.

Brazilian Keratin Therapy

Website description: Transform your hair into silky smooth locks with this exclusive blend of coconut oils, keratin proteins, avocado oil and cocoa butter.

ShampooI did not enjoy this shampoo very much at all. I assumed that with this nice blend of ingredients that this would be to die for, I know I should have known that it wasn’t going to be the best due to it being for Keratin Therapy. But, I do recommend for anyone that does use the Keratin in their hair.

Conditioner
I did find this conditioner to be useful in helping with shrinkage. I do not like to use it alone, but I typically mix it with some of my Coconut Milk conditioner and it really helps with stretching my hair and leaves it feeling great!

Macadamia Oil

Website description: Drench your strands in an ultra-moisturizing luxurious formula infused with nutrient rich macadamia oil to instantly hydrate and smooth parched, dry hair while exotic sugar cane extract and bamboo extract soften and mend split ends for a luscious, vibrant mane with brilliant shine

Sn: You know you natural when you receive hair products in your stocking. (that is how I met Macadamia Oil from Organix)

ShampooI enjoyed this product almost as much as I enjoyed the Coconut Milk line. I definitely found all of the benefits it boasted in the description to be true. It left my hair smelling and feeling great.

Conditioner
The conditioner was just as wonderful, if not better, than the shampoo.

Biotin & Collagen

Website description: A high performance blend of powerful ProVitamin B7 biotin infuses nutrients into every strand, while plumping collagen adds volume and dimension, and hydrolyzed wheat proteins strengthen, for thicker, fuller, healthier looking hair

ShampooThis had to be the most disappointing product that I have tried from this line. I was looking for something to strengthen my hair and after a bad experience with taking biotin pills; I figured that this shampoo would be the perfect alternative. It left my hair feeling stripped and maybe even weaker than before I used it.

ConditionerI also did not enjoy my experience with this conditioner. Although it smells heavenly, it left my hair feeling stringy and tangled. This quickly became shaving cream.

Please note, that depending on your hair type, you may love some of the products that I did not enjoy. I did try the Teatree Mint shampoo and conditioner once, from a friend, but not enough times to write a fair review.

These products are a bit expensive, in my opinion, but typically you can catch them on sale somewhere. Walmart, Walgreens and CVS typically take turns with either buy on get one or 5.99 each. But, since these are pratically the only products that I use in my hair anymore, I think they are defnitely worth it.

My hair does not respond well to argan oil so despite how bad I wanted to try their argan products, I declined. But, if you have tried them or any of the other lines that I haven’t gotten my hands on, feel free to share your experience with us. Or if you have tried any of these and gotten a different result, then please share that as well!

Bass Ackwards Compliments

Bass Ackwards Compliments

Don’t you hate when people start staring at your hair and saying those things that are meant to make you feel good but leave your face twitched and your hands itching?

There is nothing more annoying than the ignorant, backwards natural hair compliment. Well, honestly, any backwards compliment is nerve grinding. But, of all the backwards compliments that one can give me, it is the natural hair ones that get me riled up the most.

So let’s make a list of these backwards compliments and the real responses that we want to give:

·         Do you have a texturizer?

o    No! I have curly hair, as hard as it is to believe, natural hair is not the equivalent of a used rug and if you pulled your head out of your stereotypes then you would be able to see that natural hair is curls!

·         I can’t believe how soft it is!

o    I can’t believe how ignorant you are! (lol) But seriously, don’t you get tired of people acting like afro is a synonym of pot scrapers.

·         I always thought dreds were so dirty?!

o    Did you think that people became allergic to shampoo after locing their hair?

·         Your hair would look so good straightened!

o    But, not as good as it does natural!

·         My daughter/son is mixed; I wish she/he had hair more like yours…

o    Stop reproducing for vain looks, just because you like my hair like doesn’t mean that your kid would like my hair like this! Teach them to love themselves how they appear.

·         Are you from the islands?

o    As if, a regular black woman from Florida couldn’t wear her hair with pride?

·         I wish that I didn’t have to do anything to my hair, like you.

o    (This one makes me want to throw on my exorcist voice and start spinning my head. Okay that was a bit dramatic, but seriously!) What I want to say is: Please don’t confuse this effortless look for ease! It takes a lot of work to wear twist outs, keeping our hair shiny and looking longer than 2 inches after retaining length for the past 3 years!

I know, some people are thinking well zayumn, “what can I say about her hair?” It’s simple, if you like it, say so. Even if it you are surprised that it is so soft you can say that; because I do a lot of work to keep it soft and shiny! But don’t say it like black hair is a curse that I somehow managed to get lucky enough to escape from. Don’t say it like it my hair used to be some myth that you just disproved. Don’t say it like my hair is almost good enough for you. Give me a compliment like you would give any other person a compliment or keep your half hearted words to yourself!

What are the bass ackwards hair compliments that kink your curls?

A Day In The Curls of J. Sheree

 

J. Sheree’s Interview

Question: How long have you been natural?

Answer: 2 years on Feb 21^st

Question: At what age did you start getting relaxers?

Answer: Probably, 10 I would say.

Question: Why did you make the decision to stop getting relaxers?

Answer: I dyed my hair and it left my hair feeling extremely brittle and falling out, so I cut it all off to                  about an inch all over.

Question: How did people react to your decision to go natural?

Answer: A lot of people didn’t agree because I had “so much hair” that I just wasted.

Question: Do you feel that having gone natural has effect you in any way?

Answer: Yes, because thinking about what I put in my hair makes me think about what I put in my body more now. So, I tend to look at labels more, I’m not perfect at it but I’m getting there.

Question: Do you feel that it has affected your art or your music?

Answer: Yes, I don’t know why, but I feel more soulful and I can’t really explain the connection. Embracing my hair naturally makes me want to embrace my natural voice, I naturally have a soulful voice but I tend to try to seeing more poppy even though that is not really me.

Question: Where can we find J. Sheree?

Answer: You can find me probably at work, lol. No, seriously, I will be at Stone Soup in Ybor on Wednesdays and I am also local rapper Jonah’s mixtapes and have plans to feature on a few other local artists’ mixtapes. I am also working on the courage to become a regular at Sacred Grounds Slam and Open Mic at The Roosevelt 2.0.

Question: What can we expect from J. Sheree in 2013?

 Answer:I am working on doing more performances; I would love to do a mixtape if I am able to gain the right connects. Plus, I’m learning the guitar, so I and Lucille will be making a debut.

Question: What are your personal hair goals?

Answer: I want to be more consistent in keeping up with doing and maintaining the healthiness of my hair.

Question: What are your hair “guilty pleasures”?

Answer:  I would say that mine is straightening my hair.

Question: What is your favorite product to use in your hair?

Answer: My favorite product would probably be Shea Butter because it holds in my curls.

Question: Question: What is your signature hairstyle?

Answer: A curly side fro.

Question: What is your advice to other curlies who are working on their stage fright?

Answer: Don’t think too much about it, just do and continue to do.

Secret Life of the Bobby Pin

Secret Life of the Bobby Pin

As, we all know, bobby pins are a natural’s best friend. They are basically the cornerstone for every hairstyle that we create.

Not so very long ago, a friend of mine tagged me in a picture on Facebook that displayed the proper way to use a bobby pin. (displayed on the left.)

I immediately went into denial and/or conspiracy theory mode. I even thought someone made the picture to see how many people would fall for it and change the way they use their bobby pins. I know; crazy!

Anyway, I finally left my state of denial after buying a pack of curved bobby pins and finding that the curve was facing the side that I usually placed outward (displayed on the right) confirmed that my theories were all incorrect.

It turns out that the grooved side is supposed to be facing your scalp. The grooves were made to grasp the hair and secure it into place. While the flat side of it actually helps to move the hair into the grooves of the bobby pin.

Also, did you know why there are called bobby pins? In the 20’s women use to wear their hair in a style referred to as “bobbed” which basically looks like French waves but hanging, and the bobby pins were used to hold this style in place.

Here are a few other tips for your future bobby pin use:

·         Bobby pins are fairly inexpensive but still; do not skim on cost when picking your bobby pins.

·         Try your best to pick bobby pins that compliment your hair color, unless of course you are using them as an accessory.

·         Crossing the bobby pins can create a stronger hold.

·         They say that using your teeth to open the bobby pin compromises the integrity of the bobby pin, opening the bobby pin causes it to become loose. They are meant to just sliiiide into your hair. (I don’t know if I can get with this rule lol)

Well, this has been the secret life of the bobby pin exposed, I hope I wasn’t the only one still doing this wrong.

Genie Locs

Genie Locs

      I recently made the decision to test out Genie Locs aka Yarn Plaits as a protective style for my trip to New Orleans for Southern Fried 2013. I must say that I loved them but they are no easy feat.

      I watched several Youtube videos before I decided which method would be best to use when embarking upon this journey. According to my research I learned the following:

·         On average it takes about 17-22 hours to install

·         You must keep your hair oiled during the process because the yarn will dry it out

·         They can be a bit heavy

·         You must both knot and burn the ends

·         Do not burn the ends too long or it may cause discoloration of the yarn

Things I learned from my own experience:

·         They are extremely heavy when wet

·         It takes almost the same amount of time to take them out as it takes to put them in

·         It is a very cheap hairdo (one ball of yarn typically can cover the whole head)

·         You will need a nice strong gel to keep the ends of your hair contained (yuck)

Now let’s get to the how to’s.

      Things you will need

·         A ball of yarn of your color choice. (it is best to use acrylic yarn)

·         Scissors

·         A lighter

·         An oil of your choice (I used grapeseed and olive)

·         Gel of your choice (I used Gorilla Snot and Gummy)

·         Lots of patience

*You will most likely want to do a deep conditioning before placing this style in your head, whichever deep conditioning you would typically use before installing a protective style or weave. *

1.)  Decide how big and how long you want your genie locs. I did shorter 2 strands on my edges so that I would not weigh them down too much and longer 3 strands on the rest of my hair.

2.)  Cut the yarn into the length that you would like. (I found that it was easiest to cut up as much yarn as possible in one sitting so that the cutting process wouldn’t slow you down later.)

3.)  Oil the strands of yarn that you plan to use for your plait. This will help keep the yarn from drying out your hair as it is wrapped around it.

4.)  Decide the method that you would like to use. A lot of people use the crisscross method to start their plaits, I prefer to just loop it around my hair and start the plait.

5.)  Continue to plait your hair as normal using your real hair as the third strand until you have reached almost the bottom of your real hair.

a.  If you decided on using the 2 strand method then you will want to take one of the strand of yarn and place it with your real hair. (You will want to use gel to smooth down your ends with the yarn.) Then continue plaiting as normal and knot the end of the plait.

b.  If you decided on using the 3 strand method then you will want to take two strands of the yarn and place it with your real hair. (You will want to use gel to smooth down your ends with the yarn.) Then continue plaiting as normal and knot the end of the plait.

6.)  Repeat until whole head is finished.

7.)  Burn the ends of each plait and roll the ends in your fingertips while still warm to help seal them closed.

This is a very long tiresome process, but I did enjoy the look of it and it is a style that can last for quite a while. You will need to make sure that you keep the hair moisturized while in this style. I hope you enjoy!

And…if you do choose to give it a try, don’t forget to share pics by sending them to spokenheart_mf@aol.com.