Natural Hair Journey

Hello Berries!

So I promised you guys that I would post about my hair journey so far. My hair has come so far and still has much more to go. I am currently “transitioning” again. By transitioning, I mean I am growing out my colored hair and may or may big chop. If I can get my colored hair back healthy, I will not big chop and just let the colored hair grow out over time.

**** This is my hair journey and I love my hair through all its up and down. This is going to be long, because this is my hair journey over the past 4 years.

I got my first relaxer when I was 3 years old and kept getting them until I was 19 years old. When I was 19, I was able to make the decision to transition and go natural. I was one of the first people I knew that went natural and did not have too many other naturals to bounce ideas off of about my natural hair. One of my good friends, Celina, was transitioning with me and big chopped her hair two months before me and that inspired me to big chop my hair in May of 2012.

  

In June 2011, I decided to transition and go natural. When I transitioned there was some information about going natural and being natural, but not much, so I transitioned by straightening my hair. Yes, I straightened my hair every week and did not suffer heat damage. I know my hair very well and I know what it can endure. My hair is fine with heat and I like straightening my hair. The only reason I do not straighten my hair now is because of how long it takes and I prefer my curly hair.

  

I big chopped in May of 2012 and I loved it! I was so happy to finally be completely natural. My hair was so thick and I had curls! I did not know exactly what to do with it and I could not braid it. Because of the fact that I transitioned for so long, I was already in that awkward stage with my hair. I kept my hair in wash ‘n gos and puffs. I was eventually able to braid my hair, and started doing twist-outs and braid-outs, even though they were extra frizzy. Also, I had started dying my hair and I got addicted to it.

  

I decided to start protective styling my hair, because my hair was not growing fast enough for me. So around November 2012, I started wearing beanies and kept my hair in twists/braids underneath. This grew my hair like crazy, and I was so happy to start seeing the length. I was seeing the length and I loved the color and my hair seemed to thrive. I was a redhead, blonde, chestnut brown, bronze, dark brown and everything in between. But with the final dye job, my hair ended up unhappy.

  

I dyed my hair for the last time in September of 2014 and I loved the color. My hair was dyed numerous times and even dyed dark brown. Because I dyed it dark brown, the color didn’t process evenly and my roots where bronze and my previously colored hair was an ashy brown. I started seeing my hair damage around my birthday when I did a wash ‘n go and my hair were not the same. After this I decided to not color my hair anymore and only straighten it twice a year to trim my ends.

  

I am currently on my healthy hair journey and deciding to grow out my colored ends. I have learned my hair does not grow very fast, because I can quickly see changes. I have also learned that my hair loves shea butter and a simple regimen. I shampoo, condition, moisturize, seal, and braid it up. My hair has been thriving off of this regimen and I love it!

  

Question: What was your hair journey like so far?

Thanks for staying beautiful

XOXO

Hair Goals

Hello Berries!

I am excited about starting this healthy hair journey and getting my hair healthy, strong, and long! I have done the natural hair journey, but because I was doing my own hair, I did a lot of damage. I am just trying to repair my color damaged hair. I have already posted my hair regimen and kept it very simple. Here’s the link to that post: https://shuberryharan.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/healthy-hair-journey/

 So with all that being said, I have decided to list my hair goals, because this is the best way to stay on track.

**** These are MY goals! Everyone has different goals that they want to achieve. I am not putting a time period on my goals, because my hair will not go for that. These goals are not in any particular order, I am going to follow my regimen and pay attention to my hair’s needs. I will be making a post about where I am starting at and I will be doing updates every three months or so.

Reach shoulder length in shrunken stage

Reach mid-back length

Clear my seborrheic dermatitis

Repair my curl pattern

Grow out my dyed hair

Use more all natural products

Question: What are your hair goals?

Thanks for staying beautiful

XOXO

Healthy Hair Journey

Hello Berries!

I am going to be honest, my hair is damaged! I don’t have heat damage, but I do have color damage and it is sad. The front of my hair has no curl pattern; it is just a limp wave type pattern. I have decided to start a healthy hair journey to repair my hair and grow it healthy and longer. I also want to clear my scalp issues and calm my seborrheic dermatitis. So on August 1 I will be starting my healthy hair journey!

**** This is what I am doing for my healthy hair journey. You are welcome to participate on the journey with me and make your own adjustments to fit your hair needs.

Basics

Shampoo

2x Week with a dandruff shampoo & moisturizing shampoo

Condition

2x Week after shampoo

Moisturize & Seal

Every 2 Days

Style

Low Maintenance (Braid Outs/Twist Outs)

Protective Styles (Buns/Braids/Twists/Beanies)

Extras

Treatments

Deep Condition (1x Week)

Trims

Whenever Needed

Question: What do you do to keep your hair healthy?

Thanks for staying beautiful

XOXO

Hair Tag: Part Two

Why did you start your hair journey?
I always wanted to go natural, but never really had the courage to go it. So then when I went away to college, I decided I wanted to finally go natural.

How long have you been on your hair journey?
I got my last relaxer June 2011. I big chopped my hair May 2012. I am currently transitioning the color out of my hair currently, so we’ll see how this transition goes.

Are you natural, relaxed or transitioning?
I am natural and currently “transitioning” the color out of my hair.

What is your hair length now?

I am BSL or at least grazing BSL. I trimmed about a month ago, so I am a little shorter than BSL.

What is your goal length?

My goal length is MBL or shoulder length when shrunken.

What is your hair texture?

Confused lol. It is mostly 3c/4a with 4b at my temples. My hair is in between textures. It is kinky-curly, thick, and course.

Health or Length?

Health always! Length will come.

If you could only live with one hair product what would it be?

I would say Tresemme Flawless Curls Conditioner.

What’s the worse product you’ve ever used?

Crème of Nature Argan Oil Conditioner! It was BAD! BAD! BAD!

What is your go to hair style?
Wash & Go, low ponytail, or braid-out. It depends on where I’m going and how much time I have.

Are you a product junkie?
Not anymore.

How often do you trim your ends?
About twice a year.
How often do you use heat?
I diffuse when I wear my hair in a wash & go. I flat iron twice a year.

Do you take supplements?
Nope. I take a multivitamin every night.

Favorite Oil?
Coconut & Tea Tree.

Who is your hair crush?
Moknowshair and Naptural85

How long does it take you on wash day?
About an hour and a half. I let the condition sit until I get tired of the smell.

Worse thing that ever happened to your hair?
Coloring too often

Do you dye your hair if so what color ?
it is currently bronze, dark brown, and brown. I want to dye it red again, but I also want to grow the color out.

Who do you tag ?
I tag everyone reading this. Love you Berries

Thanks for being beautiful!

XOXO

Keeping Hair Simple

Hello Berries!

So I get a lot of questions about what I do to my hair and honestly I can never really tell people, because I really don’t do anything to my hair. I keep it simple and do the bare minimum to keep it from looking crazy. I think that is what people with natural hair or hair in general forget to do. You do not have to do all this extra stuff to your hair to get it to look nice or to grow. If you just love your care and take care of it, then it will grow. One thing that I learned is my hair likes to cleaned and left alone.

So here are some simple steps for any person with hair, whether you are natural, relaxed, texlaxed, transitioning, or whatever.

**** I will not be talking about co-washing, because I do not like to co-wash. This is all my own opinion and the things that I think you should do to your hair.

Cleanse your hair

You can co-wash your hair if you please, but you MUST shampoo your hair at least once a month. If you are using products with chemicals or heavy oils, you must strip all that product out of your hair and scalp or that stuff will sit on your hair and make it look dull or will gunk up your scalp and cause some issues.

Condition your hair

You need to replenish the hair of all the stuff you look out of it when you cleansed your hair. Find something that makes your hair soft and able to detangle easily.

Deep Condition your hair

I do not deep condition my hair. I do not have time for this and have yet to find a deep conditioner that works for me. I do use a protein treatment once a month though. Honestly, this step is optional.

Moisturize your hair

Leave-ins, butters, and oils. You do not have to use the LOC or LCO method in this step, but you do want to use something that moisturizes the hair and seals in that moisture.

Style your hair

Style your hair the way you want your hair to look and leave it alone or not, the choice is yours. Just enjoy YOUR hair.

Question: What is your regimen?

Thanks for being beautiful

XOXO

Three Years Natural

Hello Berries!

I cut my hair on May 2o, 2012. I felt liberated. I told myself that I was not going to cut my hair until my 21^st birthday, but it did not go as planned. I was so tired of my relaxed hair. It was thin, lifeless, and just boring. I was seeing my curl pattern coming through and loving it, but my ends were so bad.

When I went natural there were very few naturals and not a lot of products to try. We had Shea Moisture 3 original lines and Miss Jessie’s, and that was pretty much it. Now every black hair company seems to have a natural hair line. I am glad that they do have this, but natural hair women expect more than a lot of chemicals and some shea butter and coconut oil towards the end of the list.

I have learned a lot about my hair throughout the years. I learned it likes butters more than oils and my scalp likes black soap. I stick with the basics and shampoo, condition, a leave-in, and a butter to seal. I still have yet to find a deep conditioner that does anything for my hair. I also like to make my own products and keep them simple and all natural. I do not focus on using organic products, because it does not really make a different in my opinion. Since I do have seborrheic dermatitis, I have to wash my hair once a week and co-washing does not work for me.

I have seen a lot of growth and health in my hair. My hair likes to put into protective styles and kept that way. I do wear my hair out if I am going somewhere important, but most of the time it is in a bun or under a beanie. I try to keep my hair like this for at least seven days, but when my scalp problem goes into remission, I can go without washing my hair for about ten days.

When my hair is protected I see a lot growth. I have even reached my hair goals, going from neck length to collarbone length to armpit length, finally to bra strap length. My ultimate goal is mid-back length or shoulder length when curly.

So here are some pictures of my journey so fair.

****This was after I trimmed about an inch off. 

Thanks so staying beautiful XOXO

I Flat Ironed my Hair

Hello Berries! On May 20^th, 2015, I celebrated my 3 year natural hair anniversary. I am so excited to be able to be natural for this long and see my growth and development with my hair so far. I decided to lightly press my hair to give myself a trim. I will have another blog post after this one talking more about my hair journey so hair. This one is just about my press and trim.

I used my blow dryer on high heat, high speed for about a minute and a half on each section (about 10 sections total). Then I blow dried on cool heat, high speed all over. I flat ironed my hair at 395 degrees with two passes to lightly straighten my hair. I ended up cutting about an inch off, which isn’t bad at all for not trimming in 6 months. I did not trim it evenly, because I do not wear my hair straight or out very much. Also, I really do not care if it is straight, because my hair grows pretty evenly all over. To me it looks fine and honestly, that is all that matters when it comes to my hair.

****All these pictures are unedited images shot on my phone camera. They are not the best quality, so just bare with me.

This is before I blow dried and pressed my hair. It is in its natural state and is so curly.

This is after I blow dried one side of my head. My ends look raggedy and a hot mess.

The back view after I blow dried both sides of my hair.

Front view of my blow dried hair.

After flat ironing the back sections. This was before I trimmed my ends.

After flat ironing and trimming my ends. It looks so thick, full, and healthy.

Back view of my flat ironed and trimmed hair. You can see it is slightly uneven, but nothing major.

After I flat ironed and trimmed my ends, I put it in two braids and kept it like this. It was not straight enough to wear it out, for me, plus it is very humid here. I really like my hair in this still.

Thanks for being beautiful XOXO

7 Things I Love About My Natural Hair

1. I love my curl pattern.
   • I am a 3c/4a curl and it is just beautiful. Although I have some curl issues going on, when my curls are good, they are very good.
2. I love the length.
   • Although I am not at my ultimate goal, I am very close. I am currently grazing bra strap/neck length when shrunken and my ultimate goal is about mid-back or shoulder length when shrunken.
3. I love the color.
   • My hair is three different shades of messed up. I dyed it in September and it was bad. My roots turned orange and my previously dyed hair turned brown. Now that my roots have grown out my hair is dark brown, orangish-bronze, and brown. Next dyed job will be done professionally.
4. I love the way people ask about my hair.
   • Although I do not my hair to be touched, I do love when people ask about it. I love giving hair tips and people asking can I do their hair.
5. I love making my own products.
   • I have an excuse to buy butter and oils and make all these concoctions and try new products and tell people about them and allow them to try them.
6. I love the thickness.
   • My hair is thick and I mean THICK! That’s all I can say about it.
7. I love that it is my hair.
   • It is mines and I grew it. I hear the craziest questions about my hair and I love it. I love the attention and the way it looks and feels. I just love my natural hair.

Natural Hair 101- Only The Beginning of Natural Hair

Hello! I will be having a miniseries on my natural hair regimen coming soon. This will be a five part series that will be posted every week, or however they seem to play out.i am not the most consistent person when it comes to blogging, but please believe I am try to get better with blogging and my schedule of blog posts.

The series will consist of:

1. Pre-Poo/Prepping Your Hair For Cleansing
2. Shampooing/Cleansing Your Natural Tresses
3. Conditioning/Assistant To Your Shampooing
4. Deep Conditioning/Repairing and Remoisturizing Your Hair
5. LOC/Styling/Extra Care/Pampering Your Hair

Each topic above will have a blog post dedicated to that subject and I will try to make as detailed as possible. I cannot guarantee which day the blogs will be posted, but there will be at least one a week. Well until next time *smooches* Berries!