Back in the Day

Now that ABK is well into her transition to au naturale hair, she has been asking questions about what my hair looked like after I did my big chop. She wants to know how long my hair was and if I could pull it into a puff, etc. So, I thought I'd post pictures from late 2005 when I first went au naturale.


My last relaxer was September 17, 2004. At the time, I had been getting relaxers and a trim every six weeks. When I decided to stop getting relaxers, I still got my ends trimmed every six weeks. That way, my relaxed hair gradually became shorter as my au naturale hair became longer. I cut all of my relaxed ends off in October of 2005. These pictures were taken towards the end of my transition before the "big chop":

You can see the straight ends. I was doing twistouts and setting the ends on perm rods.

The only thing I missed about my relaxed hair was my hair color. Relaxers would turn my hair a pretty golden chestnut "Bena Brown" as my mom called it, especially in the summer (you can see it on the ends). My au naturale hair color is a dull, mousy "Loser Brown" as LKY calls it. :-( (she didn't really say my hair was Loser Brown--I was trying to come up with the words to describe how I felt about it and she summed it up for me pretty well).

These pictures were taken after my big chop:

Most of the straight ends were gone.

I decided to get my hair colored to get rid of the Loser Brown color the same day I got the big chop. The hair colorist talked me out of getting all over color. She said that it would be more maintenance, and that I would have to get the color touched up every eight weeks or my roots would look weird against my colored hair. She said that highlights would grow out naturally and would be less maintenance. I think they looked good, but I regretted not getting the all over color.

As you can see, I was able to pull it into a puff, even back then:

Twistout Puff

The twistout puff is one of the quickest hairstyles I've tried so far.  It only takes about 30 minutes to do.  Just wash and deep condition your hair, apply a leave-in and a product for hold, and pull it into a puff (the same as when you do a coily puff):

I used Kinky-Curly Curling Custard:

Then twist your hair into about 10 big twists (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of that step!).  Sleep on it and let the twists dry, and then take them down the next day (or you can sit under the dryer and wear them the same day).  Here's the result:

This was the hairstyle I wore when we visited Cancun for our friends' destination wedding this summer:

Curlformers Part 2

Here are some pictures from my second attempt at Curlformers.

  

The last time, I used Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue and the style only lasted a day before they got fuzzy.  Click here to read the post from my first attempt.  This time, I used Jane Carter Solution Condition & Sculpt and the style lasted for about a week.

I used triangle parts because they hang better that way.

Curlformers are color-coded so that the curls curve to the right or the left.  Last time I alternated directions so that every other curl on the row went a different way.  This time, I split my head vertically down the middle and had all the curls on either side go toward my face (Green on my right, blue on my left).  I hope that makes sense!  I like the direction on the curls better that way.

The only thing I didn't like was that I coiled the roots too much.  The Curlformer directions tell you to coil the root of the section before applying Curlformer, but I think I got a little carried away.  The next time, I tried to twirl the strand just a couple of times.  Oh, one other thing I don't really like is that they are not very easy to sleep in because they are kind of tight.

Overall, I like the look of Curlformers.  Stay tuned for Part 3!

Shake & Go

Since I haven't had much time lately, I've been experimenting with hairstyles that don't take much time.  I'm still perfecting it, but I finally tried the Shake & Go.  A S&G is about as easy as it gets.  First, wash and deep condition, or conditioner wash/no poo your hair.  While your hair is soaking wet, and I mean soaking wet, apply your favorite moisturizer/leave-in conditioner and curl definer.  Then shake your head up and down and side to side several times like a wet dog.  Then air dry, sit under a hooded dryer, or use a handheld hair dryer with a diffuser.  Read more about conditioner washing/no pooing here.  Read more about S&Gs here.

For my first S&G (pictured here), I pre-treated my hair with castor oil before conditioner washing (To pre-treat my hair, I put some kind of moisturizer on my hair, usually an oil, before shampooing and let it sit for awhile.  It's like a hot oil treatment.  You can use: castor oil, olive oil, jojoba oil (or Jehovah oil as ABK calls it ;-) ), or coconut oil.).  Then I applied Kinky-Curly Curling Custard and aloe vera gel in sections to define my curls and shook my head.  It's very important not to touch your hair too much after you've shaken your head, because this causes frizziness.  You also should not towel-dry your hair by rubbing the towel on your hair.  You should scrunch and blot so you won't disturb your curls.  I used a turbie twist that I bought at Sally's, which worked pretty well (see here).  It's made out of microfiber, which is more absorbent that other materials.

When I wore this style, I was getting ready to go to an outdoor hot tub get-together.  I noticed that it took my hair a really long time to air dry, which is probably not that bad when it's hot outside (and it was).  However, as the weather gets cooler, I think I'll try this with a diffuser so I won't catch the 'monia.  Here are some more pictures:

Then, when the style got old, I pulled it up into my trusty puff (this was at my dad's birthday party):

Wearing a S&G has been quite a milestone for me.  As pro-naturale as I am, I never really felt comfortable wearing my hair out unless it was in a defined style like a twistout or coily puff.  To wear your hair au naturale, it requires not just a physical transition of your hair, but also a mental transition.  I've come quite a long way from needing bone-straight hair, to needing every hair on my hairline to be in place, and now to wearing a S&G.  Next stop, blowout fro!

Congratulations LKY, now Au Naturale!

Sorry for my hiatus, guys.  My new work responsibilities have been taking up my time, but I've finally carved out some time to talk about my favorite subject--au naturale hair!  I'm very proud to announce that LKY has joined the ranks of the au naturale.  She even videotaped her BC ("big chop").  Click here to watch.

My Old Standby: The Coily Puff

One of my favorite and quickest styles to wear is my coily puff (see pictured above--MDR and I were in Nebraska for his cousin's wedding).  I try not to wear puffs too often because they can be hard on the hairline, but they sure are good in a pinch.  If any other hairstyle goes wrong, I can always pull my hair back into a puff.  I'll do this maybe a couple of times a week when my twistout gets puffy.

To achieve this look, I use an ouchless headband or two, bobbi pins, gel, some type of curling cream or gel, a boar bristle brush, and a scarf.  Instead of the ouchless band, you can also use a smaller scarf or piece of fabric.  

First, I start off with freshly washed, conditioned, and towel-dried hair.  Then, I apply a leave-in conditioner and a curling cream throughout my hair.  I normally use Kinky-Curly's Knot Today and Curling Custard.  Next, I smooth my edges with a boar bristle brush.  On the day I actually wear my puff, I smooth the edges with some gel, normally Fantasia IC Hair Polisher Styling Gel with Sparkle Lites.  In this case, I was doing my hair before I went to bed, so I didn't use any gel yet.

I put my ouchless band around my neck:

Then, I double it up by taking it around my neck again:

I put the band up to my hairline:

Then I start pushing the band back:

When I get a few inches back, I put my scarf on to help keep the hair smooth:

I keep inching the band back, then I move the scarf back, keeping everything smooth...

...until I get the puff placed how I want it:

You can adjust the band so the puff is bigger or smaller.  Once I get the band where I want it, I add bobbi pins all around the band to keep the band in place.  I hook the pin through the band, with the open ends pointing into the middle of the puff.  I also use bobbi pins to pin down any lumps outside of the puff.

I could wear the puff just like this, but I like a little more defined look.  So, at this point, I add a few squirts of Kinky-Curly Spiral Spritz to the puff.  Then, I take a small piece of hair, put a little more Curling Custard on the strand, and twirl the strand around my finger.  Starting at the root, I wrap the strand around my pointer finger, using my thumb to smooth the hair, and while working toward the end.  The motion of my finger is like I'm gesturing to say that someone is crazy.  It's kind of hard to explain.

  

I did these a little smaller, but you can use bigger sections, too.

I keep doing this until I have coiled the whole puff.  It only takes me 30-45 minutes.  When my arms get tired, I brace them on the back of whatever I'm sitting on or my knee, and that helps.

I like doing my hair like this in the summer or when I'm somewhere hot because I can wear it wet and it helps keep me cool.  The coils start out longer, and then shrink up as they dry and as the days go by.  Here's what they look like while my hair is still wet:

Here's how they looked the next day after they had dried most of the way:

At night, I take the bobbi pins and ouchless band off and wear a scarf to bed.  The next day, I add a little water, a little moisturizer, and a little gel around the edges, smooth with the boar bristle brush, and put on the ouchless band and scarf as shown above.  I normally wear the scarf in the car on my way to work or wherever I'm going.  By the time I get there, the hair is set and I have little waves on the edges.  This style can last as long as you want it to, but I normally wear for a week or two.

I wish I could say that I came up with this technique myself, but I actually learned it from AFashionSlave on Nappturality.com.  Check out her Fotki: click here (password is "nappyhair").

Another reason why I decided to go naturale: It wasn't fair!  I thought about the fact that so many other races of people could just wear their hair as it grew out of the heads.  I wondered why I had to permanently alter my hair and go through so much (scalp burns and broken off hair) just for it to be straight.  I thought, "I should be able to wash my hair and style it without worrying about my newgrowth coming through and betraying the relaxed hair I'd worked so hard to straighten."  Now, I no longer have "newgrowth," and I can work with my hair just the way it is.  How liberating!

If you found anything interesting or have any questions, please leave a comment or email me at camillerorer@hotmail.com.  Thanks for reading!