Hey, where did this APL come from all of a sudden?

I realise that this blog is turning out to be mostly my sporadic ramblings to myself, but I kind of like it. I get to rant and rave and obsess over the minute traumas and victories of my natural hair journey, and not that many people are exposed to my monumental self-absorption. (apologies to my five readers!!)

In any case, I've just come off a five-week hair rotation: two weeks of mini-twists, followed by a week of mixed "out" and bunned styles, followed by another two weeks of mini-twists. I'm cutting the 2nd twist rotation two days early because frankly I miss my hair and I needed to wear it loose for a few days.

Mini Twists out and facing a Dilemma

My mini-twists lasted twelve days! I could have made the whole two weeks, and probably even a third, but I told myself that it was time for a DC.

My scalp has hardly itched at all and I put that down 100% to the products I used to twist. I did use HEHH as my leave in, but apart from that there were no commercial products in my hair - I twisted with my shea-cocoa-jojoba mix and spritzed with water, jojoba and lavender oil for scent.

New beginnings

My hair and I continue our love-hate relationship, and over the past few months it's been hate all the way. I've been struggling with my thin, fine strands; anguishing over whether or not to trim, cut or chop it all away. The new year has given me the sense of a clean slate and I've taken a massive deep breath. The journey starts anew...

Water-free Hair Upkeep

Hi all,

2 weeks after the passage of Hurricane Tomas and I still have no pipe-borne water. I've been relying on my tank, and so have had to implement some serious water conservation measures. What does this mean for my hair? NO WASHING, NO DETANGLING!

That's right - my hair hasn't been washed for the past 14 days or so. Surprisingly, it's holding up quite well! It's not stinky, itchy, and my scalp isn't covered in buildup. I attribute that to my decision to switch to natural products as much as possible.

Since my detangling sessions always occur in the shower, with my hair loaded up with conditioner and each section detangled under the shower stream, my two weeks of bucket baths have meant that my hair hasn't seen a wide toothed comb in a loooong time. I haven't even combed out the twistout I was sporting last weekend. So am I a tangled mess?

Embracing The Natural

No, I don't mean my hair. My hair hasn't had a chemical service since February 2008. In the years since, I've been slowly figuring out the natural hair landscape, in terms of my hair care products. First I banned petroleum products from my moisturisers, stylers and gels. Then, I banned 'cones (although I do love me some amodimethicone from time to time now, Herbal Essence Hello Hydration, yeah!!). I'm now taking a hard look at all unpronounceable ingredients in my hair care products.

The Calm After the Storm

I don't even know how to resume my attempts at posting in the face of such an enormous rupture in the little cocoon I've built around my life. October 30th 2010 saw the passage of Hurricane Tomas across my little island in the sun. The death and destruction it's left in its path is unimaginable to my unashamedly sheltered self. It leaves me trembling to imagine the horror of those were consumed by mountains liquefying under their feet. Things hit so much harder when they're closer to, or rather, AT home - for sure.

Weekend Update & The Ressurection of Glycerin

I took down my twists for a twist-out on Friday, feeling quite guilty about leaving in the protective style for only 3 days. My hair felt awesomely soft, albeit a bit dry. I feel like I should have moisturised better when I did them on Tuesday - I'm still looking for the perfect moisturiser. I think I feel a mixing session coming on ... I just thought of the perfect ingredient!