Learning About Your Hair: Hair Density

Hello beautiful people! It's finally Fall and i'm super excited. This is my favorite season of the year. the cool weather and the clothing. With this cooler weather approaching it is important to learn specific things about your hair to help you take care of it better.

Hair density may be something pretty easy to tell. but can sometimes be misjudged. Hair density is classified into three levels: Low, Medium, and High. In some studies if someone has thick hair they will more than likely have a high density level, but like DNA it can differ from person to person.

You could go the professional route to discover your hair density and get a phototrichogram. Which is a close up photo of hair strands so that the doctor can count your hair strands to figure out your hairs density "Ain't nobody got time for that". You can easily do it yourself at home, in the car, at work, pretty much anywhere you have a pony tail holder and a tape measure.

Now let's get down to the test.

1. Smooth out your hair as much as you can with your fingers, brush or comb. Then gather it all into a ponytail

2. Measure the circumference of your ponytail

If your hair's circumference measures to be under 2 inches. You have Low density hair. If it measures out between 2 inches and 3 inches than you have Medium density hair. If it measures to be 4 inches or more than you have High density hair.

Why is this important you ask.

Hair density is an important factor to consider when planning your hair regimen and hairstyle. If you have low density hair, consider using light products that won’t weigh down your hair. Use a mousse with a voluminous agent to give the appearance of thicker hair, and consider leave-in conditioners that contain thickening agents. When deciding on your next hairstyle, look for styles that are simple or rounded. You curls will naturally fall into place and give the appearance of more volume.

If your hair density is high, you want to stick to heavier products that will help hold your thick curls together. There is an abundance of curly hair products for styling, including gels, creams, butters,etc. Utilize these to help your curls stay in place.

If you fall into the medium hair density you may be able to use both of these tips. Since everyone's hair is different see which one will work better for you.

I hope this helps you a little bit more. Btw if you're wondering what my hair density is, I have High hair density. 6 inches if that isn't some thick hair I don't know what is lol.

To help with a visual I will post a ponytail of someone with straighter hair so you can see it better. Measure around the area the arrow is pointing to. Until next time..............

What Are Your Hair Goals?

Today I'm coming through really quick to talk about hair goals. Do you have any hair goals? Just like anything else in life I have goals for my hair. I'm not a perfectionist or anything but my number one goal for my hair was to perfect my regimen. This comes with trial and error trying different products. Which ends up finding products your hair doesn't like. This brings me to my number 2 of my short term goal, learning my hair. There's a few products that my hair completely hates. Such as Shea butter, Shea Moisture's Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie just to say a few. That product is weird to me because my hair loves both coconut and hibiscus lol.

  Third on my short term goals was to reach Arm Pit Length(APL), then Bra Strap Length(BSL) and Mid Back Length(MBL). Though I was eager to reach these three goals. MBL took me the longest, for some reason it seemed like everything changed on my hair. Like something over night. Products changed for my hair, my texture even changed towards the back. The front of my hair seemed like it was Spring all year long. I had so much new growth. It was a good thing because it seemed as though it was thinning slightly. Then my edges mostly around my temples started looking a little scarce. Then for 3 long years it seemed like I could not retain my length passed BSL. Wheew!! It was a lot but luckily I didn't lose hair like crazy or ending up with even shorter hair.

 Pretty much this article is so that you will if you haven't already write down your hair goals. Stick to them and make sure you stay motivated and take great care of your hair to reach those goals that you have set. Well that's all for now see you later...............


Short Term Goals:
1. Perfecting my regimen
2. Learning my hair
3.To reach APL- Achieved May 10
4. To reach BSL- Achieved  Oct 10
5. To reach MBL- Achieved Aug 13


Long Term Goals:
1. To have healthy hair
2. Let my hair grow to its full potential
3. My hair to touch my shoulders in it's shrunken state
4. My fro to get bigger than Aevin Dugas

Hair Diary #11 Is Your Hair Experiencing Protein Overload??

Hello everyone! I'm back again and already I'm doing better than the past by keeping my blog updated. So today's hair diary is talking about Protein Sensitivity. I will start with my story first and add some information along the post.

Okay so last year around maybe October-ish or even September. I went on YouTube and watched a lady's video on how to tell if your hair is damaged or not. Now I haven't ever had a situation with damaged hair but I figured you know what I'll give this a try just to see, because I'm on a healthy hair care journey and I want to keep it that way. On her video she shows how you take a strand of your (clean) hair, either from your head or shed hair on your comb or whatever and place it into a (glass) cup almost filled to the top with water.

In the video she says if your hair sinks it is damaged. Later on I figured out she didn't give complete information, because after a while your hair may sink. I didn't think of that at the time though. So when I took a few strands of my hair (not all at once) and placed it in the water. By the time I returned back to the cup my hair was at the bottom. I really didn't know what to do when I saw this. She mentioned that it meant your hair could be weak or it's time for you to get a protein treatment.

So I thought to myself "Dang! I've been natural for 4 years now and I don't ever remember doing protein treatments like that." Maybe just a few times and I actually didn't know they were protein at the time. So I looked up homemade protein treatments and my cousin did avocado hair masks. So I was like okay I will start there. So I get everything I need and I literally did a protein treatment on my hair every week that I washed my hair. It was my deep conditioner for the week.

After about 4- 6 weeks I did the test all over again. This time around my hair didn't sink I left for about 5 mins and it didn't sink so I was like I'll wait for an hour. I came back and my baby was still floating lol. I was so excited I said I will keep doing my protein treatments from now on. I could feel that my hair became stronger so I continued. 2013 came around and I continued down the weekly protein treatment path.

Around March or April I noticed my hair was starting to feel hard. I didn't think anything of it I just figured it's getting stronger. Since it only felt hard after the protein treatment I just shunned it away because it became a little softer after my hair dried. I continued again, until May came around and my hair remained feeling hard even after it dried and just blah!! Felt like a big mess sitting on my head. I just wasn't feeling it so I kept it in twists or covered.

I did some research on protein overload and protein sensitivity. I went to websites like Curly Nikki http://www.curlynikki.com/search?q=protein+sensitive for "protein sensitivity" and http://blackgirllonghair.com/2012/01/10-reasons-your-hair-isnt-soft/ for "10 Reasons Your Hair isn't soft." I kept researching more sites but I can't remember right now. These sites have a good amount of information on them so I won't really go into detail unless you have some questions for me.

After going to these sites I came to the conclusion that my hair IS NOT protein sensitive but I did have protein overload. I realized that my hair produces a normal amount of protein already. My hair has Average porosity (Normal Hair). The protein overload was affecting my hair's porosity which made it High porosity (Overly Porous). This caused my hair not to hold on to moisture and become dry and brittle. Even though I moisturized my hair once a week because that's all it takes for my hair. I did not switch that up during the very frequent protein treatments. I should have been moisturizing a few more times just to combat the protein overload. Curly Nikki has a few good articles on hair porosity, here's the link: http://www.curlynikki.com/search?q=hair+porosity .

So I completely stopped everything protein to my hair for a little while and focused on moisturizing and sealing my hair. Just to be safe sometimes I will add a little extra moisture during the week. That's just a precaution though. As soon as I stopped the protein for a while my hair went back to its nice soft self :). Additionally moisturizing my hair with water and glycerin. I already had some conditioners that are protein free (I'm a conditioner junkie) so once I co-washed my hair, my hair fell in love. It grasped onto that conditioner and water like it was a long lost lover or something lol. It's funny because I just bought that conditioner maybe 2 weeks before. It's definitely going to be a staple of mine now. Pictures below (Herbal Escapes Pomegranate & Grapeseed Extract and Tea Therapy Vanilla Mint Tea

They're cheapies as well VO5 baby!! Now I'm already and fan and lover of the Tea therapy but I ran out and just haven't bought more but the newbie to the team is this Pomegranate. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Now back on the protein treatments. I still do them but now I know I'm good with just using it once every 6-8 weeks and I'm good. I hope this helps anybody that's hair is acting different and they don't know why. Life has now returned back to my hair and I'm all smiles :) Until next time...........

Hair Diary #10

Hello, hello everyone! How is the summer treating your hair? Good I hope, as for me my hair is doing well. Beginning on the end of last year I've mostly had my hair in a protected style with buns or types of updos, instead of braids and twists. Its a little challenge I've given myself and it ends around October. Even though my hair is in a protective style 98% of the time. Sometimes I will allow my hair to be out for a week or less. Either trying new things or just seeing how different or the same my hair is acting or changing opposed to the previous years.

So since it's summer time I told myself I couldn't let the whole summer pass by and not have a wash and go at least once lol. I also had bought a new gel earlier this summer to try out for my wash and go's. So I gave it a try. Since I could only find a pretty small container I didn't use a lot also the fact that I never tried this gel before I didn't want to have flakes all over my head. It's summer not winter.  So I sprayed my homemade leave in conditioner on my head then applied a small amount of gel on some pretty chunky sections.

This time around I didn't feel like spending too much time so I was trying to hurry up and get it over with. I was rushing like I really had somewhere to go smh, but since I wasn't feeling to well I was trying to get it over with A.S.A.P. With my laziness and small amounts of gel my hair came out really nice. I wore my wash and go for 5 days. I could of gone longer but it was time to protect my hair again.
                                                                Day 1- still wet

 Day 2

Day 3

  Day 5- forgot Day 4

                                          - This gel is also protein free for those of you that are protein sensitive. Enjoy! Until next time...............

MOISTURE vs. EMOLLIENTS

Moisture vs. Emollients

Hello you all! I’m back yet again and late smh, but better late than never. So today’s post will be on moisture yet again, but a little different than last time. So I’ve noticed over the years when I was looking for a good moisturizer since my old one is no longer sold. I went online and everybody kept throwing out shea butter, shea butter, shea butter and some very few that threw out oils. First off my hair completely hates that stuff (Shea Butter) and doesn’t want it anywhere near it lol. Well those weren’t correct answers because neither Shea butter nor oils are moisturizers. It took me a little while to learn this with research and a few tries with my Macadamia nut butter (my hairs BFF) alone, with no avail.

The reason why is because butters and oils are in fact emollients. What are emollients you ask? They are sealers to help the hair maintain its moisture.

The definition of emollient is

1.     1.   Making soft or supple; soothing especially to the skin or mucous membrane

2.    2.    Making less intense or harsh:  Mollifying

Resulting in this softer feeling it can have on your hair people confuse it with their hair being moisturized with it alone. Now let’s look at the definition of Moisturizer

1.  

  1.   1. A lotion or cream used to prevent dryness in the skin

Or Moisture:

1.      

        1.  Liquid diffused or condensed in relatively small quantity.

Now we all know what the best moisture for us not just our hair is right? If not I’m telling you lol, WATER!! If you said it you got it right. So with that being said a moisturizer is a liquid or cream with water, and water should be the first ingredient. If you don’t feel like going to search for a moisturizer you can make your own at home. With only 2, YES only 2 ingredients WATER and Vegetable Glycerin. 

 I only use a few drops of Vegetable Glycerin and it still works like a charm. Glycerin is also great because it is a humectant, which means it takes moisture from the air too. So during the hot and very humid summer months don’t use too much of it if you plan on wearing your hair out. Well unless you like frizz. If you do go wild with it! In your spray bottle with ¾ or more water you will be fine. Give it a try and see how your waves, curls, coils and kinks will love you. Well you guys this is the end of this post. Until next time…….

Natural Hair: The battle with SHRINKAGE

Hey you all!! Today I will speak on behalf of what every natural hair lady or man has to go through on mostly daily basis SHRINKAGE!! Even though most of us hate it, or we just want our true length to show. It’s definitely not a bad thing. To be completely honest shrinkage is a GREAT thing. Why is it great you ask? Well for curly, coily and kinky hair shrinkage is a sign that you hair is in a healthy state. The day you should worry is when some pieces hang down lower than normal or when you pull it it doesn’t bounce right back into place.

Healthy hair has a high level of elasticity, this gives it body and curl formation. If it doesn’t bounce back or pieces hang lower than normal more than likely it is damaged. There could be a few reasons why it is damaged either very dry(low in moisture) by not getting enough deep conditioning. More common is heat damage, excess heat can cause your hair to stay straight when you wash it and even when it dries it looks nothing like your original tresses. In another post I will talk more on this subject. Another thing could be dying your hair using dye with chemicals or even henna can loosen your pattern and can end up damaging the hair if over processed.

For now don’t hate your shrinkage it’s a good sign. Also what other hair textures have an automatic “halo” lol. Some hair types will experience way more shrinkage than others. Type 4b hair which is coily crimpy pattern and has a “Z” pattern can shrink up to 75% of it’s actual length.  Ex: Lauryn Hill, Esperanza Spaulding and Yvette Nicole Brown. Type 4c hair which is coily ziggly, tightly kinked pattern and doesn’t have much of a curl pattern or lacks definition can shrink more than 75% of it’s actual length. Ex: Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Aevin Dugas (has the worlds largest afro)

Like I mentioned before don’t hate your shrinkage because somebody can have it far worse than you.

Until next time.....

Hair Diary #9 Jamaican Black Castor Oil

I’m back you guys! This post won’t be that long though. I’m just coming through to tell you about a new product I bought. Now as you saw in the older posts I’ve been using castor oil. I mentioned how I wanted to try Jamaican black castor oil. Well I got it and I’ve been using that in my hair for about a month and a half now. I’m definitely starting to see the difference already. My roots have become a lot fuller in the front. For a little while the front of my hair was becoming a little scarce because of my BC especially in the temple area. My hair was breaking off in the front leaving a lot of short hairs in between my long hairs. I’m so glad it’s starting to grow longer for me so it can start matching my longer and the back of my hair again.

 I’ve been applying it all over my scalp and when I remember I massage it into my scalp as well. I would like to massage it into my scalp at least 3-5 times a week. The only thing is this stuff doesn’t smell too good lol. Like it smells like burnt wood or something. How I’m able to counteract this smell a little is the peppermint oil that I have in my daily spritzer. Overall I really like this product; I’m even using it as a sealant mixed with jojoba oil for my hair after I apply my KCKT. Afterwards I apply a little bit of my macadamia nut butter and my hair is in business.  Have you ever tried Jamaican Black Castor oil? If so what is your thoughts on this product?

                                          

Hair Diary #8 Hair after flat iron

Hello, hello, hello!  Okay before you say anything I know I should be ashamed of myself for being away for so long. I really am too. I’ve planned on coming back a few times but then I got distracted with more things. I will try to do better this time around. So on the last post I talked about how I straightened my hair for the first time. Well I let that style stay in my hair for 2 weeks. A few months before I saw some videos talking about beer rinses and how to wash your hair with a beer rinse once you’re ready to wash your straight hair. I got the non alcoholic kind the cheapest one in Walmart. I don’t really remember the name but I was feeling kind of lazy that day and sarcastically asked my boyfriend could he wash my hair lol. To my surprise he said yes and was willing to wash it for me.  I thought this was a good way he could see all I go through to wash my hair. He knows it takes me hours to my hair on wash days. So he did everything for me but put my DC in (I chose to do this one myself).  After that he washed the DC out for me, I’m so thankful for him helping me out so much wheew!! I wasn’t feeling like dealing with my hair that day.

Results: NO HEAT DAMAGE, YAY!!!  I wasn’t feeling it that day and forgot to take pictures of my hair lol. So after my hair was completely washed and was clean I applied my KCKT(Kinky Curly Knot Today) leave in conditioner to my hair and literally put in like 8 twists in my hair. Two twists in each of the four sections. That was it no moisturizer or oil, I told you guys I was feeling lazy that day lol. I wrapped my hair up and went to sleep, with good intentions to put a better style in the next day. I didn't they stayed in for a few days and I wore a beret  to cover the big parts and look stylish at the same time. After a few days I took those twists out spritz my hair a little just slightly damp and applied my Macadamia nut butter and put my hair in mini twists.

lazy big twists 

my mini twists 

I wore those twists for 2 weeks and co- washed them after the first week trying something new. I don’t normally wash my hair while it’s in mini twists but I didn’t hurt anything. Co washing them did make them look really refreshed. I didn’t have my macadamia nut butter on me so I used some of a friends beautiful textures moisture butter. Ummm…. I didn’t really care for it much, but then again I don’t know if it was completely bad for my hair because I just applied it on top of my twists. I think I still should have had better results but needless to say it didn’t keep my hair moisturized long. So I don’t think I will waste my money on that product. Good to know because I was considering buying it lol. I applied my Macadamia nut butter again and my hair was finally happy and moisturized again. Have you guys ever tried the Beautiful Textures moisture butter before? What was your take on it? Well this is all folks…. Until next time! J

Hair Diary #7 Flat Ironed Hair

Hello, hello….. So as I explained in my last post I straightened my hair for the first time. It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe because so many years of watching other naturals straighten theirs on YouTube. Or simply because I did the roller set first, which made it easy because I already had parts sectioned(I used about 35-40 rollers).  Next time whenever that will be I think I’m going to do a flexi rod set first. My main reason for that is because my roller sets pretty much suck lol and my flexi rod sets come out looking GAWgeous!! Lol. They’re also smaller sections which will be even easier and I don’t have to worry about the roots not being smoothed.

Why did I roller set my hair instead of blow drying my hair you ask? Well I’m not too big on heat with my hair. I want to keep my hair as healthy as I can. Blow drying is a direct heat and all the tugging with the brush or the comb on the flat iron can be a little hard and can cause some breakage and excess shedding if you’re not careful. Roller setting is the healthier alternative it’s not direct heat and you wouldn’t have to worry about the heat damage.  Even though heat damage isn’t a problem with roller setting I still applied a little heat protectant all over my head before rolling just as a precaution.

Now with that being said about heat, once I took the rollers out and sectioned my hair in four big sections to work with.  As I pull sections within the four sections I applied a little more heat protectant (Grapeseed oil). You’re probably thinking that’s a lot huh? Well I would rather be cautious then sad at the end because I have to start all over.  I then passed the flat iron through the sections I only used 1 or 2 passes. Some sections in the back I passed the flat iron through twice but the whole front of my hair only got one pass through. I also used the lowest heat setting possible. When I tell you I’m cautious I am so serious lol. I don’t need a bunch of passes on each section or a lot of heat anyways because I never really cared for bone straight hair on me.

During: Back Finished  I don't know why I had a black shirt on while I was doing this lol

Finished whole head and stretching it to it's full length: (Excuse my face I was tired and you can see by these pictures my hair wasn't bone straight)

I put my hair in a low and loose bun and went to sleep. The next day I took it out the bun put my hair in pin curls for body which is how I normally wear my hair to sleep. I didn't ever learn how to wrap my hair lol Don't judge me! If you don't know what pin curls are here is a video that I did the last time my hair was straight.                                                                 

So I took them out out and this is what I had 

 Can you believe I didn't even comb the curls out yet and it was so pretty. So what do you guys think? Well ladies and gents if their is some reading until next time......

Hair Diary #6 Hair Consultation

So it's been about a week and a half since my last post so I thought I would come check in with you guys and tell you what's been going on lately. So this week I set up an appointment for a consultation with a natural hair stylist.  I went to my appointment and the lady was so nice. I was still wearing my bun from the last post and she takes it out and is like "WHOA!!! you have a lot of hair" lol. I thought she was going to just stop or barely look at my hair because of that, but nope. She felt my hair, looked at my ends, looked for build up etc. Then she tells me that my hair is in great shape. I was glad to hear that as I was hoping their wasn't something I was missing. Then she starts asking me questions about what I use in my hair and what I use as a DC because my hair felt very moisturized as she takes the little bit of it from off her hands and starts to rub on her arms like lotion lol.


From their we talked more about my regimen and she told me a little bit of hers. She said she was suprised how healthy my hair was from only doing it myself with no help and that I gained a lot of length in such a little bit of time. I then told her a little of my natural hair story and how I'm pushing for even longer hair. Is it just me or during the first year or two of your natural hair journey did your hair grow crazy fast? Mine did and even though it's still growing it has slowed down a little. I'm starting to think it was because of my Mirena but I don't know. I still will retain my goal of having WL (Waist length) hair.

Anyways now back to the story so during the rest of my consultation we started talking and it seemed as though we had been friends for a long time that's funny how something just as simple as hair can do that. So to all of you out there that are having problems with your hair or are just curious to know how your hair is doing try setting up a consultation appointment with a natural hair stylist. There really is nothing you can lose from this experience because it's free but you can gain a lot about the state your hair is in or if you're on the right track with your hair. So try it out and see how you like it, I would advise it to be a natural hair stylist as some others may have a biased opinion.

P.S. Before I forget their is also something else I forgot to mention I'm going to straighten my hair for the FIRST time ever......I paid somebody to do it for me when I was relaxed just because I knew nothing about hair whatsoever at the time. So this is a warning so PLEASE DON'T JUDGE ME (Chris Brown) If it comes out looking a horrible mess because i'm trying. I don't really get practice at this because I hardly ever use heat, but i'm sitting under the dryer now as I type. So stay tuned for my next post which will be in the next few days to see the results. Until next time.......

Lazy Hair Day!

Hello again! How is your hair journey going thus far? Good I hope. Well today I’m just popping in for a little to talk about a lazy, low maintenance style. These are for the days you just really don’t feel like doing much for your hair. So as you know before I do a style for my hair I deep condition and co-wash my hair (in that order) but whatever way you choose even if you choose shampoo. Then I apply a leave in conditioner than style it. Sometimes I want something really different then on those many lazy days of dealing with my hair I decide to do a bun.  If you’re a newly natural and have a TWA (Teeny Weenie Afro) this style won’t work for you.  This style is for medium to long length naturals and transitioners with enough hair to fit in a puff or bun. Just simply moisturize your hair making sure to pay close attention to the oldest part of your hair (the ends). There you have it, also for some of you that don’t like to wear braids, twists or weaves a bun is considered a protective style.  As for the puff the ends are still exposed so you would have to cover that to make it a protective style.Until next time…