Hair Blog Quickie: Relaxer Chemicals and my skin

I know I have posted anything on here in a good lil minute, but I will get back into the swing of things soon.

Anyhoo... I am no doctor but I think the chemials in relaxers is why I had bad skin...

Since breaking away from my creamy crack addiction, my skin has cleared up very well. I used to used everything from Noxzema, Ambi, and Proactive. Proactive actullay worked good for about 6-8 month then my skin started rejecting it. I kept using Proactive for about a 2 years, because eventhought it worked off and on, it was the only thing that ever worked.

Since going au natural... I may get a bad blemish, maybe once a month. The only thing I use is Pamlers Cocoa Butter soap to cleanse my face, once in the morning and once at night. I drink alot of water as well.

 I will do a better investagation into this.

IT'S TOO HOT FOR THIS WIG!!! My first day at the office rocking my afro.

I remember the morning I decided I wasn't going to wear a wig, or weave to work. It was July, and it was hot. I remember looking in the mirror and thinking I can't do this today. I put the wig down and put some moisturizer in my hair, and that was that. Boy did the air feel good on my scalp...lol. My head wasn't hot, my forehead didn't itch from the bangs my wig had, and I felt great! I didn't get nervous until I got closer to work.

The first person I see when I enter the building, was this short housekeeper guy...sigh. He said good morning, and I did the same, then he turned back around, says "boom shocka locka, girl I almost didn't recognize you, oh I like that, I like the natural thing!" All I could think while he was talking to me was "did he really just say boom shocka locka!!!!" I just walked away, I mean what could I do? Really?

The first person that sees me is my manager and one of his clients, they tell me that my hair is soooooo cute. Awwww thanks (((cocoablushes))). I then thought people you work with will tell you anything, so I put in a phone call to the at work gay guy, and tell him to come tell me how he likes my hair. The gay guy tells my flat out me doesn't like it. ***whomp, whomp, whomp*** Insert Sad face here______. LOL! So I see a few of my "at work friends" they tell me they like it. 1 out of 5... not bad.

I have heard that natural hair is frowned upon in the work place, especially when dealing to office politics. That may very well be true. I can honestly say I don't care. I love me, more than a job. I am happy with my "hair appearance".

My sister and the Brown Gel... 80's Baby

If you are a black woman reading this, then you know just by reading to title what this brown gel I am speaking of is:

This brown concoction has destroyed many women’s hair line, included my very own… here is my story…lol.


THEN:

Growing up in the 80’s the gelled down baby hair was the “IT” thing. You would try the gelled down snake pattern, and lets not forget the finger waves... now that I think about it finger waves keep trying to come back on the scene...lol.

My mother was one of those women who as a workaholic, so this left my older sister in charge of me and my hair. My sister and my hair hated each other. My sister would braid my hair so tight I couldn’t blink. The only thing my sister wasn’t allowed to do was press my hair “THANK YOU GOD!”

You know with that pressing comb you couldn’t really get close enough to your hair line without burning your face, so you did the best you could...lol.

I remember being with my sister at her friends house (Jody Watley’s cousin) and her mother was going on and on about how she couldn’t walk around with her hair line looking nappy, and she pulled out this jar out brown stuff and proceeded to put it and around like hairline and brush it down. I remember thinking to myself “wow, her ponytail looks like a white woman’s!” I guess my sister thought the same thing, because as soon as we left there we headed straight to the beauty supply store…lol.

It was about a week later when my sister started using the brown gel to my hair. My hair was so hard, then those nasty brown flakes were everywhere! As the brown flakes would fall so did the hair from me hair line L …sigh.

It took my mother about two months to notice my hair line was slowly fading away. She asked my sister what she had been doing to my hair, and my sister showed her the brown gel… my mother was LIVIDED! My mother told her to stop using that mess in my hair, but you couldn’t tell my sister anything back then….lol.

By the time I was old enough to start doing my own hair, that brown gel was still apart of my life. I was trying to do the whole gelling my baby hair down. I must admit I have never had my hair done in finger waves, and just didn't seem like it would be ... I guess it word I should use is comfortable. My friends that wore finger waves, where always picking a scratching trying to get to their scalp and brown flakes were everywhere... I felt bad for them...lol.

NOW:

When I started going natural, I wore wigs, and I shaved my hairline completely off. I needed to see if the hair line would grow back "better", or even grow back at all...lol. Was it drastic? Yes! Had I lost my mind? Maybe ... lol. I just had to know the outcome. When I saw my freshly shaven hairline, I was shocked, I mean I looked crazy, I felt soooo ugly!!! I applied Vitamin E to my scalp everyday. I made sure when I slept I had my stain scarf on my head (a habit I still do). Each week I notice my hair texture was coming in very curly. Two months later my hair line was back, and brought two new gray hairs with it...lol. My left temple area is still very thin, the right temple area came in very nice, as did the front of my hair line.

Ladies we really have to protect our hairline, that area is very sensitive. You should never let that area of the head go without being moisturized. Even when getting braids in our hair causes a lot of damage to that area of the head.

Hair Line Care Article

I hope this helps, and gave you a good laugh...

My Fro-spiration

This is my best friend Aahtahbah (Ah-ta-bah), not only is she my best friend she is also my "Fro-Spiration"
(and that is really her hair in the pic, and not a wig)

I remember when all the girl in my hood were talking around with fresh relaxers and touch ups, but not Aahtahbah...lol. She had her thick flowing strong mane of hair in either; a bun, french braided, or was rocking braids/extensions. I loved her for it too...lol.

I remember I was at the park hanging out with friends (which was the norm) I saw Aahtahbah, and she had a relaxer!!! ***SHOCK*** Don't get me wrong her hair looked nice, but it "different". Aahtahbah's hair seemed less fuller, and it looked shorter?

Shortly after that Aahtahbah chalked up the deuces at the relaxer and started cutting it out of hair...lol. One year later my mother came home from work, "I just saw that damn Aahtahbah... with this big ass afro lookin like one of those Bone Thugs rappers."LMBO!!! I couldn't wait it see it for myself!lol. I ran down all the way to Sheridan Rd. I could see her fro from about 4 blocks away ... lol. Once I finally reached her I just stared at Aahtahbah's fro and all of it glory, thinking just how AWESOME IT WAS...lol.

Looking at it today it still is awesome, and strong, just like her!

Products I like and dislike so far.... Part 1

Going natural is a tough job... but it can be a fun process as well. One thing you must do it read what you are putting in your hair, just like you would do with the things you eat (well at least I hope you do... lol). Find what works and doesn't work on your hair is long process, just be patient. Read hair blogs, different sites, do your homework. There are some awesome YouTube natural hair vlog floating around as well. Please remember not everyone's hair type is the same, and what works for you won't work for everyone and vice versa.

I will only discuss 4 items per products post... because I have gone through a lot of them... lol.

This is a quick run through of hair care products I like and dislike:

Likes: Carol's Daughter Hair Milk

It's not that great of a moisturizer, but it awesome on fizzy hair. Has a slight lemon scent... but its cool. My co-work said my hair smells like lemon tea... lol.


 Dislike: Carol's Daughter Health Hair Butter

It's not that I don't like this item... it smells horrible, it smells like that Blue Magic Hair Grease

 I wouldn't recommend using this directly on your hair, it made my hair feel very hard. I do use this directly on my scalp to keep it moisturize. I'll rate it just "OKAY" for that use.




Likes: Carol's Daughter Lisa's Hair Elixer

This is a awesome product for a Hot Oil Treatment tool. It makes a my hair so soft. I wouldn't use it for anything else. This product has a strong, and I do mean strong lemon scent. The sales person told me it promotes hair growth for trouble spots. I  have been applying it to my temple areas, which are very thin. Two months in I haven't seen much of a difference to the rejuvenation of the hair growth to that area.

Likes: ElastaQP Mango Butter

I looooooovvvveeee this product. It is a great moisturizer, smells great, and it makes my hair feels so soft and manageable.

My mother and my hair...

Seeing that I brought up the picture my mother showed me of how my hair use to look, a flood of memories about my mother, my hair and I came rushing back. I thought that it is only fitting that one of these stories be my next blog topic.


I remember when I was 18 (and still living at home), and this was my first attempt at going natural. My mother sooooo wasn’t having it…lol. My yearning for the natural life was brought on by that saaaammmmeeee picture I spoke about it the "R.I.P. Relaxer" blog post …lol. I remember I was going strong for about 2 ½ months until she just looked at me one day, and was like… “What’s wrong with your head???” I told her my plans to go natural, she just looked at me, shook her head and walked away. That next day she came home from the store with a relaxer in tow with my name on it. I lived under her roof, so there was no need to fight a losing battle with her. She is applied the creamy crack to my head, I started crying on the inside. She scolded me about walking around with my hair looking “crazy”. She told me to never do this to my hair again! Boy was she pissed…lol.


I think a lot of women that grew up around the time my mother did have this thing against “nappy hair”. I can recall another time I was at my grandmother house with my mother, and there was a picture of my cousin Traci and my older sister, and it appeared like they were outside playing. My cousin Traci had this cute little dress on with her hair pressed out and put in two perfect pony tails, and then you look at my sister head…lol, it was nappy and then somebody had the nerve to put a headband on it…lol!!! I remember my other looking at the picture in shame…lol, and then she said “who let her leave out the house with her head looking like that???” My mother was pretty disgusted with my sister’s appearance in that picture…lol.


I have heard many women discuss how their mothers did not agree with there decision to go natural… especial in the beginning stages…lol. I have to admit my mother has not seen my hair yet…lol. Now that I think about it I don’t think any of my family members have seen my hair yet… well I guess they will on Thanksgiving. This outta be interesting.

R.I.P Relaxed Hair

I remember the day I decided to go natural, my hair had gone from looking fab to frumpy ... I had no idea what was going on with it. I would go to the Dominica salon on Georgia Ave. I got my hair done every two weeks, even though they were rude as all getup I still went back, because I walked out the salon looking and feeling like a new woman.

 Cute right!?!?!?!!

Then something happened, my hair started falling flat. I would relaxed it and three days later it look like I had done nothing to it...lol. It was like the body and shine my hair once had was gone like the wind. I don't know if it was stress from my job that killed my hair or what, but it was dead.


So I went to the beauty supply store, and bought me some cute half wigs and a straightening comb, I even picked up a Doctor Miracle Relaxer. I got home and stared at the relaxer I had purchase, and thought to myself... I just wasted some money. So I stored it in my linen closet next to the other countless hair products I no longer used. I washed, conditioned, and blow dried my hair it looked at the mess on the top of my hair known as my hair and was like I can't do this anymore, I really can't. I thought back to when my mother showed me a picture of my hair when I was little it was so long, thick, healthy, and chemical free. From that moment on I have set out to get my hair back to that state (.).


I parted my hair started to trim my hair, corn rowed the back and left out the front, touched up the front with my newly purchased electric hot comb, threw on my new half wig named the “Sophia”…lol. This was the day my journey to have natural hair started.

When it rains it pours…

So I am coming up on my one year "Natural Hair" Anniversary aka My Nappyversary. To mark my up and coming 1 year of sobriety from the "Creamy Crack", and "Beauty Shop Horrors" I have decided to start this blog, to reminise about the good, the bad, and the down right horrid hair, disaters that have brought me to this point... of hair freedom.. well sort of...lol. I hope you all enjoy.


When it rains it pours… I remember one day it was raining out side while I was on my way to work. When I left the house my hair was fine, but by the time I got to work I my hair has took on a life of its own. I went into the bathroom with comb and brush in tow, in a failed attempt to brush down my poof, in other words tame the mane…lol. My co worker was in there talking to me I really wasn’t listening to her, because I was in shock about the fact I had woke up at 4AM to do my hair, and it looked a mess!!! So after realizing my defeat I took the walk of shame back to my desk. I found a rubber band in my desk, and two stray bobbie pins in the bottom of my purse and did the ponytail look…smh.


I was sitting at my desk doing my work, and my manager calls me in her office, and she tells me it was brought to her attention that I was doing my hair in the bathroom ***blank stare***. I was floored at this point I couldn't believe someone snitched on me without knowing the whole story! I sat there as both managers went on, and on, about how that made them look, and how I am a reflection of them. This was the last thing I wanted to hear after the hair ordeal I was going through. I tried to explain to them that the only reason I was brushing my hair was because the humidity had made my hair look crazy, I could see if I had grease, gel…and all that stuff in the bathroom with me, or maybe even if I was in there for more than 5 wrestling with my hair… but I gave up, they had already formed their opinion of me away.. so I decided not to even bother wasting my breathe…smh.

Anywho..

I ended up getting braids that weekend… smh. Eight hours of sitting in one spot while getting, my scalp tugged so tightly I couldn’t blink. I did this all in the name of beauty…lol.