I Love My 4C Hair!!!

Hey blogger familayyyyy! See, told ya I would be back! Haha. Anyways, for those that have been following me for years, you would have known that I last left you guys as being texlaxed. I liked being texlaxed, but I felt like after a while I wasn't getting the look that I was going for. I initially became texlaxed because I wanted my hair to gain some thickness, and it worked in the beginning. I texlaxed every three months like clockwork and it was fairly convenient. During my three month stretches I noticed my curl pattern, and I was so curious about it. I loved how the hair would coil and I loved how much thicker my hair was towards my scalp. I would secretly cut pieces of my hair where I saw my natural curls begin because I was obsessed with seeing how my hair curled up without the texlaxed hair on the ends. When I was relaxed, I rarely wore my real hair out because I felt like it was too thin. I was embarassed at how weak my hair appeared. My hair gained a little more strength when I decided to transition to being texlaxed, but it was still limp when straightened. I talked myself into taking the plunge of going natural.

Ladies, there are two ways of becoming a natural. You could big chop or long term transition to become natural through the use of protective styles. I opted to go natural through the use of protective styles while gradually cutting my hair. I won't lie, the first serious chops I did on my own by using hair sheers that I bought from Walgreens. I felt as if cutting the hair on my own gave me a sense of control and it wasn't as traumatizing. I no longer went to the hair salon once I decided to transition and again, I did this because I wanted control. I stayed away from straightening, I washed my hair weekly, and I gradually cut my more straighter ends off. I used box braids, crochet braids, and buns to transition. I've been transitioning for about two years now and I finally got rid of my texlaxed hair. The pictures currently show where my hair is and I more recently got a professional trim. 

Pros of Long Term Transitioning:

• You get used to working with your hair and understanding what it loves/hates.

• You can wear styles (like flexi rods/perm rods) to blend your different textures.

• You have hair to work with for other protective styles such as box braids/crochet braids/bunning with or without a hairpiece (phonypony).

• You ease yourself into the idea of becoming natural instead of... (chop-pity chop....ALL GONE!)

• You can transition until you get your hair to a length that you are more comfortable with wearing out.

I said all that to say ....I love being natural. People had all kinds of opinions about me going this route. My mom even hinted at my natural hair making me less attractive, but this is MY HAIR. If someone can't love me because of the hair coming out of my scalp then f*ck em. The funny thing is though, as my hair thickened up, my mom began asking for pointers *insert eye roll*

I'll go more into the opinions of others in another post, but ladies love your sh*t. If you don't, then nobody else will. 4A, 4B, 4Q, 4Z.... rock the hell out of your hair and make apologies to not a soul!

Goodbye For Now Weaves!!!

Hi Blogger Family!!!!! 

It's been so long, but I promise it was for a good reason this time around. I have finally graduated from grad school, and boy did those last few months of school get the best of me. I'm officially done with school, and you couldn't pay me to go back because I've had enough...lol. 

Anywho, now that it is summer time I can finally do things that I find enjoyable. In regards to my hair, it had been put away since April (as you guys saw with my cornrows). I got a second set of braids in May.

 I have finally been reunited with my hair this past week, and I'm happy that we are getting reacquainted. 

Earlier this week I tried flexi rods for the first time ever. I liked the results that I got, but of course I need some work. The curls were so bouncy, and I'm excited at how much better they will look when my skills improve.

The flexi rod set didn't last to long because I raked through the curls with my fingers instead of letting them fall naturally. :-( 

Since my curls fell, I had to find SOMETHING to keep my hair looking presentable because I'm 5 months post texlax/relaxer.  Sooooo I created this cool looking updo for the time being. I'm having so much fun jazzing up my real hair. It's so sad at how overly dependent weaves/fake hair makes me. It feels good to embrace what is actually growing out of my scalp. 

What are your hair plans for the summer? I think I'll braid my hair back up at the end of the summer, but for now I'm enjoying my hair. 

They Think I'm Unattractive Because of My Natural Hair

I have a group of three women that I'am best friends with. We have been friends for 5+ years. One woman is relaxed and wears short styled pixie cuts, another always wears weaves (real hair isn't even past shoulder length), and the third is natural (with "good" textured hair). The two relaxed girls alwayssss pick on me and my natural friend. Apparently they have issues with us because we don't have bone straight hair or frequent the hair salon like them. They are slightly rougher on me because my hair is a lot more coarser than our natural friend. I have 4b hair and my natural friend has 3c/4a hair. At one point during our friendship, about 3 years ago, I was going through a breakup and decided to go natural. They tore into me (the two relaxed ladies). They told me I looked like sh*t, and I needed to get a relaxer. I was told I'd never be able to get a man, and that I was dumb for letting myself go after the breakup. I eventually ended up texlaxing my hair to help with manageability, but my real hair is always in a bun/protective style 100% of the time anyway. They also thought my texlaxed hair was nappy, but I didn't give a damn.

Fast forward to Christmas of this year...Somehow we got into it about hair. My natural haired friend straightened her hair for the holidays and the relaxed girls were LOVING it. I chimed in and told my natural haired friend that straight hair was cool, but her natural hair was also beautiful. The other two turned on me. They told me to be quiet with my brillo pad hair. They also told me to stop being cheap and to treat my hair once in a while because my hair is my beauty. I told them that there is more to me than just my hair, and they got a kick out of that. The argument got heated and one relaxed haired girl said her short hair would look way better than mine no matter how long my hair was because I'm too cheap to get my hair done. In reality, I'm not cheap and I choose to do my own hair (which never looks bone straight like theirs). The same relaxed girl also told me that she could mop the floor with my "nappy" hair.

At this point I'm over this group of friends (with the exception of the natural one). They are so judgmental and critical of everything in relation to my appearance/relationships/financial situation. I do have a boyfriend now, and I do wear a natural puff at times (he hasn't left me yet.. lol). I think these ladies are toxic and I'm tired of being the butt of jokes about "nappy" hair. I'm a grown woman in her upper 20's, I should be able to rock whatever I want without being ostracized for it. I know friends are supposed to keep things all the way real with you, but my "nappy" hair is the real me....I can't change that (God played a part in that one). Am I taking things personal? Are friends supposed to tell you your hair is too "nappy"? I'm about ready to kick these friends to the curb for 2015 am I being dramatic? I don't believe real friends are supposed to make you feel crappy and bully you just because you don't look like them.  If you look back into my past posts you will see that I referred to these friends as my frienemies. I'm tired of having friends that secretly hate me and go for my juggular whenever they get the chance. With friends like them who needs enemies....damn. The bottom line is that ALL natural hair is beautiful, its sad that they don't see that.

How To Deal With Super Dry Hair Using The L.O.C Method

So as a Texlaxed Lady I experience heavy periods of having dry, almost straw-like hair. The toughest thing about being texlaxed would have to be trying to achieve an acceptable moisture level. The things that I knew as my "staples" {when I was relaxed} got tossed aside real fast when I realized they were no longer effective.

Lately I have been tinkering with my moisturizing routine. Since being texlaxed I have been using the L.O.C method. The L.O.C method is a super helpful way to get your thirsty strands back to where they need to be. 

L.O.C stands for: 

L- Liquid/Leave-In

O- Oil

C-Cream 

In order for the LOC method to be effective you have to use the liquid, the oil, and lastly top everything off with a cream. The L.O.C method can also be done the L.C.O way (which is liquid, cream, and oil). The main idea is to maintain moisture at every step of the way. Some options to use for the LOC method are: 

Liquid- 

1. Water or.......

Some sort of water based moisturizer

2. Neutrogena's Triple Moisture Leave In

3. Cantu Shea Butter's Moisturizing Leave In Cream

Oil-

1. Jojoba Oil

2. Grape-seed Oil

3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4. Coconut Oil (Not my favorite to use in the Winter because it makes hair feel stiff. This works better if mixed with another oil during the colder months)

Cream

Any moisturizing cream, natural moisturizing butter, or leave-in conditioner

1. Natural whipped Shea butter

2. As Iam Double Butter Cream

3. Carol's Daughter Hair Milk

I just threw a couple ideas out there for some of you guys. I currently use the Cantu Shea Butter Leave In, Castor Oil, and Shea Butter Combo. If anything, definitely tinker with some ingredients to see what works for your hair. Any who, over and out ladies! Hope you found this helpful! Check out my old YouTube video link to see the products that I used to use. 

http://youtu.be/JvjFuEybNjc

The Versatility of Texlaxed Hair

Hey guys, as promised I'm back.This particular post is about Texlaxed hair and the current state of my hair at this moment.

So What In The World Is Texlaxed Hair? 

The common misconception about being texlaxed is the fact that people think you are no longer relaxed, but that my friends is wrong. 

• Having texlaxed hair does not mean that you are natural
• Being texlaxed means that your hair is still chemically processed, but for a shorter amount of time
• You can texlax your hair with a regular relaxer kit by adding conditioner or oil to the mix (this slows down the relaxers processing time)
• You can texlax your hair with a texture softner (this is the route that I chose)
• Being fully texlaxed happens over time....you need to gradually trim away at your bone straight relaxed ends (It took me two years to be fully texlaxed....I had several major cuts)
• The chemicals still break down your hair when you texlax, but not as much because the relaxer isn't left on for as long as a bone straight relaxer

Let me share something with those who are considering texlaxed hair. I initially decided to texlax because I was tired of having fine hair. I did the research and it seemed like the girls with the thickest (relaxed hair) were texlaxed ladies. So I went for the plunge. I thought using a texture softner would automatically give me wavy/curly hair, but THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS! When you start texlaxing ONLY YOUR ROOTS/NEW GROWTH will be texlaxed. Your bone straight relaxed ends must be completely gone for you to be texlaxed, and that will take years if you don't do a big cut/trims.

People claim that texlaxed hair is not a type or that it is the same as relaxed hair. I guarantee you that relaxed hair is NOT texlaxed hair as far as the makeup of one's hair. 

• Texlaxed hair causes me to experience shrinkage
• My hair is no longer bone straight, unless I flat iron
• My edges no longer lay flat without the use of gel and a head scarf
• My hair is soooooooo much thicker than when I was fully relaxed

If you like bone straight hair....TEXLAXED HAIR IS NOT FOR YOU! (If I had known this info I probably wouldn't have texlaxed because I LOVE bone straight hair/freshly relaxed edges, but I'm glad I didn't).

Currently I am probably a little below shoulder length because I had a big chop in March. That cut left me fully texlaxed. Last weekend I did my first wash-n-go and a puff on my texlaxed hair, bone straight relaxed hair can't do that (my hair is a little past my shoulders when not in a puff, thanks to shrinkage). I hate to say texlaxed hair is similar to natural hair, but sometimes I do believe there are similarities in maintenance. Anyway I've gone on too much....To be continued!

IT'S GROWINGGGGGGGG SHAWTY!

When I first texlaxed in October of last year I was soooooo discouraged! I was on a hair journey that was showing absolutely no results. My hair was growing but the ends were thin. I wanted to go natural but it wasn't for me and transitioning was becoming rough. So I used a texture softener after a 5 month stretch. 

I do admit it was hard at first trying to find what moisture routine would work for my newly DRYYYYYYYYYY hair. It was a task. Till this day my hair isn't the softest (I feel more natural than relaxed) but it is thriving. I still have relaxed ends that need to be cut (2-3 inches) but I'm procrastinating. It's finally longer + it has thickness. I no longer crave that bone straight, fresh edges look because I gained thickness in it's place so no complaints here. If you are like I was and can't seem to figure out why your ends won't thicken up...consider texlaxing.

Hi Ya!!!!! YOUTUBER ALERT!

Hey blogger family! Sjones here, and as usual I'm back from some sort of hiatus. Honestly I'm going to get into the habit of blogging at least once a week. A blog is a great way to express yourself and I think I've taken this forum of self expression for granted. Last time I checked in I was on a hair kick, and I've pretty much stuck with it (but not on here) *ashamed face*

BUT *happy face* I'm here to put all of you guys on and let you know about my youtube channel. I honestly did dread the idea of interconnecting my social networks for fear of people that I know in real life finding me....but what the heck! Livin La Vida Loca Right? So If you folks are into hair videos, fashion videos, and vlogs then come on over and subscribe to my youtube channel. I promise my content will only get  better with time......lol. I will definitely insert my most popular video in this post and maybe my channel may hold something worthwhile for someone in my  blogger family.

On another note, I missed talking to you guys so much. Dang it's been a while since I updated you all with anything, and that's only because the blogger app I was using had technical difficulties. I usually blogged on the go so once my app bugged out I got lazy. Alright as promised.....more hair posts very soon. I'll be catching you up with my life, sharing stories, and reading up on some of your blogs. Stay Tuned, MUAH!

Hair, hair over here!

Right now I am currently texturized, and what that means  is  that I no longer get relaxers. I have been using texture softners to tame my new growth. Clearly my hair is still chemically altered, but in my sick mind I think texture softners are a lot less harmful.

Being texturized is no walk in the park. My hair is sooooooo coarse, and  the magic of the texture softner only works for 3 weeks after its applied. I had my first texture softener in October, and my second one in January. Prior to my first texture softner I was relaxed. To be honest with you, if I could go back in time and remain relaxed I would. I hate my texturized hair because its outrageously unmanageable, and it also requires so much attention. As a relaxed sister I could a night or two without moisturizing and sealing,  but nowwwww?!? Ugh!

Now im at  a crossroads of figuring out what can keep my two textures moisturized. I also would like to gradually cut off my relaxed ends. Maybe the more hair I cut off, the easier it will be to tolerate my mane. Anywayz I want to document my hair journey here. I'll be posting protective styles, progress I've made, products I love, and hair related articles. Anywho I included a picture of my updo created by putting bantu knots in my hair, think it came out cute. Lol...toodles yall.