Part III: So You Wanna Transition?

Braids!


Braids are low maintenance, super cute, but come with many cons, which of course I will address. I tried braids for a few weeks while going natural to do something different. It was refreshing, but a bit...well...boring. As a result of my obvious inability to be neutral, I'll get straight to the facts:

Pros:
-While they're in, you don't have to do anything to them at all. Ever.
-Great for vacations, swimming, working out,etc. because,again,you do nothing to them...lol

Cons:
-Braids are kind of boring...just my opinion
-Oftentimes braids are seen as "unprofessional" in Corporate America. I don't work in Corporate America...but good luck with that battle. I'd really have to tell somebody about themselves though if they said something to me about braids in my hair.
-The hair that looks best for braids is usually synthetic
-They are very frustrating to take out and sometimes hurt like crazy to put in...but hey, they say beauty is pain...I guess

Here are the pics:

Part II: So You Wanna Transition?

Ok ladies so I got super tired of being un-be-weaveable as my stepdad called it. What I loved though is how awesome my hair felt underneath because I wasn't messing with it constantly or using heat. So I came up with a bright idea...get a phony pony!!!

Now I've spoken of this before, but the blog has gotten a bit more popular so I'll tell the story again. I went to the BSS (Beauty Supply Store) and grabbed a curly phony pony since my roots by this point had grown out a lot. I tried a lot of the ponytails,but the hair felt so...FAKE! Remember those My Little Pony things? It felt like the tail. They didn't have any human hair ponytails that I liked so in true Bootleg Queen fashion (a name I earned in college by always making something work)I developed a brilliant idea...I'd make my own.

Here's what I love about the phony pony:
-You can easily access your real hair and treat it with juices and berries lol
-It can be washed over and over. This thing is RIDE OR DIE! Let me tell you when I was in the Bahamas, I went jet skiing and it stayed on. I got it wet and then dried it on the towel rack. Good as NEW! Ha!
-Making your own makes the blending of real vs. fake hair great! It will look so real ;-)


What you need:
-Hair needle and thread -Half pack of your favorite HUMAN hair(I suggest wet n wavy) -A synthetic ponytail on a net with combs

1. I cut off all of the hair from the net
2. I flipped the net inside out and sewed hair around the perimeter (when you examine the ponytail, you'll see what I'm talking about)
3. I flipped the net back outwards and sewed tracks straight across the net. The hair sewed around the perimeter will cover these tracks. I believe I sewed about 12 tracks to make the ponytail look full. You can add/take away depending on the texture of the ponytail.
4. I put the ponytail around the bun and walked out of the house!! lol! This way you can get human hair at any texture that you like! Hope this helps!! I was sooo happy with the results!


Here are pics of my phony pony days (about March-April 2007):

Phony Pony and I at the Club



Phony Pony and I in the Bahamas



Phony Pony and I in the POOL!!! Ride or die! See?!

Part I: So you wanna transition?

As promised, I will be highlighting various ways to transition from relaxed hair to natural. I started transitioning in October of 2006 and I chopped off the relaxed hair in May of 2007. Each post will focus on a different transition style...in depth. I tried a lot of different styles along the way and hopefully one or more of these ideas will be helpful to you :-)



The Sew In...Broke College Student Style :-)

Let me start by saying I've never been a fan of extensions or fake hair of any sort. As I started to transition, however, I began to realize, as stated in an earlier post, that if I continued to put heat on my hair, it would ruin my curl pattern. So I decided after much thought to venture into the exciting world of weave. Dun Dun Duuuun!

The first step of this process was deciding what kind of hair to use. Many people would go for straight hair, but I realized that this would mean straightening the hair on the top...thus defeating my purpose. I also knew I definitely wasn't going for a wig. I finally decided on "wet n' wavy" human hair because it blended better with my new growth. I tried various brands and you'll have to see what type of curl you like. I usually rocked the 12 or 14 inch hair.

Now here's the Broke College Student part :-)

Every 4 weeks, my friend Ashley (Shoutout to Ashley Greene!!) would come over and cornrow my hair. Then I, yes I said I, would sew in my wet n wavy weave. I would leave some out in the front and usually used a headband to let it blend better or I would braid it and undo the braid in the morning so it could be wavy to match the hair.

Things to know:
1. Use a good quality of hair. Human hair isn't too expensive. Synthetic hair will dry out your hair underneath.

2. Take care of the roots! Sometimes with weave we focus so much on the fake stuff that we forget our real goal is to nurture what's underneath. Oil your scalp, moisturize and treat it well.

3. Headbands are a life saver! Even if they are the black stretchy kind, they help your hair blend in so it doesn't look fake.

4. The best part of Wet n Wavy is you can get it wet, but beware of tangling. It happens easily. Also, don't wash it too often...remember it isn't actually growing from your head. LOL!

5. When you first sew in wet n wavy hair, it isn't very curly. After sewing it in, you must wet the hair and use a gel or mouse and scrunch the hair.

6. FYI: A sew in, like other styles that cover your hair, is referred to in natural hair world as "Protective Styling".

7. Last, but not least, if you're not a broke college student, feel free to get your hair done by a certified professional. Hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right ladies?


XOXO

Here are some pics:

If you're thinking about transitioning...Read this now!

So I recently had a conversation with a young lady and she was asking for my advice about going natural. She did the usual steps: 1. Admire possible hair idol's pictures 2. Asked her friends what they thought 3. Thought, "What the hell am I
going to do to transition?" and 4. Called me.

I gave her the best advice I could but here is the number one thing I can tell anyone who is making the transition...

DECIDE WHAT TYPE OF NATURAL YOU WANT TO BE!

Here's what I mean. Of course it is simply just my opinion.

To me there are different types of naturals. One type is what I call the "straight" naturals. These ladies choose to go natural and wear their hair straight the majority of the time. The benefit of being a straight natural is that your hair gets "trained" to "lay down." With this training however, you damage your texture from the heat leading to possible inconsistency with your curl pattern and possible random straight pieces. The thing is, if you are a dedicated straight natural, it doesn't matter much anyway and your hair will have more body and most likely be healthier than when you had a relaxer.

Then you have what I like to call the "curly" naturals. This is obviously the category I fit into. Here's the part though where transitioners must take my advice:

If you do not want to be a straight natural, you MUST lay off of the heat during the transition. Mark my words ladies. I can't tell you how many friends have transitioned and cut the perm only to find straight, raggedy pieces everywhere because of heat damage. You have to think about which route you want to take. There are definitely exceptions who have supernatural, heat damage defying hair, but for most transitioners, this is where they mess up. For the next few days I will feature various methods I used during my transition. Hope this helps!

XOXO

Confessions from a Natural Chick

Everyone goes natural for different reasons. Some of us do it because we have had too much damage with relaxers, others do it because they are curious about texture, and for some, we want to be a part of this movement happening where black chicks are finally being more accepted for who they are...in their natural state. But with the choice of "going natural" comes a lot of side effects, for lack of a better term. For many it's quite emotional because we've been told for so long what looks neat, or right, or professional. Let's just say those words have never been used to describe a big curly fro.

Here are my confessions:
-I went natural because I wondered if my hair could look like Joan's from Girlfriends. Sad, but true.
-SEVERAL close friends and family told me not to do it
-Every time I've been on an interview, I wore a bun because I felt like potential employers wouldn't think my hair was professional
-The one time I didn't wear a bun, I didn't get a job that I really thought I deserved and I, along with others close to me, wondered if my hair was a factor
-Once every few months I want to slap a perm in this baby so bad! It gets crazy
-On the days I feel my hair looks the worst, I get the most compliments
-I feel weird that I'm identified by my hair since it hasn't been this way all my life ex. "You know her...with the big hair?"
-...On the other hand, I think my hair is one of my best features
-I will not go on a 2nd date with a guy if he obsesses over my hair. I think it's shallow and I know it can change at any moment...Don't mind a compliment though. Actually, let me dig deeper, I have had men literally try to touch, smell, downright molest my hair and they didn't even know me. It gets that weird ya'll.
-I am still considering doing a Texlax/Texturizer
-I love giving advice on everything, so giving natural hair advice really makes me happy ;-)

All I've got for today! XOXO!

Naturals who say they went natural and never looked back may be liars...

Beware of the woman who says, "

Product Rave! Curls: Gel-les'c

Loves it!!

I received this product as a sample and I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to use it. I was out of gel and this product seemed lighter, which is what I was looking for so I tried it and LOVED it!

How I used it:

1.Co-washed with Paul Mitchell:The Detangler
2.Applied Paul Mitchell: The Conditioner Leave-In
3.Finger combed in Hair Rules (see below for Product Rave)
4.Finished and smoothed hair with Curls: Gel-les'c

My hair had great FLOW! It was swinging more than usual and felt really light. Also this morning when I woke up, I didn't have to add/do anything to it. Try it out peeps!

XOXO