Summer Protection

I am really...really....really ready to braid, cornrow or twist up this hair of mine for a couple of months. With it being so hot and me being the hot-natured person I am (I can sweat walking in snow with just a sweater on), its really hard for me to keep a hold on these two textures of my hair. I'm not ready to chop yet, but its just not appealing for me to start the day with pretty curls or twists and end it with straight ends, a curly middle and tightly corkscrewed roots. I mean, I can pull off a different look or two but that just doesn't look appealing on anyone.

So I think its time for me to put up my hair for the summer. I just don't know what to do with it. I'm a little against doing the cornrows because my hairline is back (LOL) and I don't want to send it away again, but I haven't decided yet what I will do. Hopefully by payday I'll have a plan in mind and a way to execute it.

It would be great if I could do my own braids. That would totally solve the problem.

I'm All Tressed Up Y'all!!!

Just wanted to share an article on a friend of mines website for her business.  She's an awesome woman with an enormous gift and an even bigger heart!  Thanks Kenyada for being of help to me along this journey!!!

http://www.alltressedup.net/makeovers/43-makeovers/403-tatianas-transitioning-journey.html

Searching For Alternatives

My scalp itches like crazy often and needs frequent moisture or lubrication. What I have found is that there are many naturals who are oh so adamantly anti grease and, while I am not, I am open to trying alternatives to see how my head responds to them. Typically, I will use Sulfur 8 regular or light formula on my scalp or the Parvaneu tee tree oil grease formula.  All three of those products would be used 2-3 times a week (not together) to keep my scalp from driving me to digging in it with my nails.

Yesterday, I started using tee tree oil on my scalp. Just the oil. Not a petroleum/petrolatum based product, just oil.  I can already tell that using it will be a daily regimen because I had to use it today as well and I am still having some itching issues. From what I have heard the benefits of tee tree oil are, it may help resolve some of my scalp issues for good. But nothing is instantaneous, so I am willing to dedicate a month to this product and see how my scalp responds to it.

I recently bought the Head & Shoulders Itchy Scalp Care  shampoo & conditioner. Like I said, I'm open to alternatives.  While this is not a product that was recommended to me by any other naturals, I have had great success with using H&S while I was processed and, if it doesn't work for me, I can always give it to my brother because that's all he uses to wash his hair, so that won't be so bad.

Like I said, my search for alternatives will continue. It takes me forever to go through grease & I can honestly say that I haven't purchased any grease in over 3 years, so if either the tee tree oil or the Head & Shoulders work, or even if they don't, I haven't hurt anything by trying.  Honestly, I would dare say that if people were washing their hair as often as they should & co-washing or clarifying on a regular basis (which I have yet to do) the issue that many naturals have regarding greases wouldn't be an issue at all.  Maybe I'm wrong, but grease hasn't done me a bit of wrong in all its years of being used on my head.

I Rocked A Shortie Doo

It was a last minute decision made on an empty stomach desperate for some bits of Chinese food to satisfy its lunch-time craving.  If I hadn't skipped breakfast, I never would have followed through with it, but I had, so I did. I had all these twists in my head that I'd put in a few days ago & put rods on the ends and just hadn't taken them down, but I didn't have time to do a twist out! What was I going to do?

This is what I did: I took out the rods and (after about 6 min of searching for a hat that I just wasn't going to find...I still haven't found it) walked out of the door sporting my, very short, roded twists.  I'm proud of myself for doing it because I have always had an issue with having short hair, or having hair that looked like it was short.  So to elect to come out with short-looking hair was a big step for me.

There are, of course, many things that I can find wrong with this decision, but I dare say those things have more to do with my issues than whether or not my hair was presentable in the way it was set. I didn't run into anyone I knew while I was out, I didn't get any weird looks, so it isn't even about how others saw me or what they thought. I just have to get used to this kind of thing because the fact of the matter is, my hair has been in this protective style all week and has had very little manipulation...which is what my hair needed in the first place.  And this turns what would be one style, into two...that's always a good thing because in the next couple of days I can take out the twists and wear it as a twist out.

Now...if I could only keep my hands out of my head! It feels sooo good!