Stuck

Who hasn't been in that place where you feel stuck?  You know the place, that place where your hair is your best friend growing like weeds and then all of a sudden one day you realize that your hair has been the same length for months!!  Everyone has had this experience at some point or another (and if not, just wait it will come).  I recently went through this and thought that I would share.  I know that for me, when this happens first I get frustrated with my hair, then I get angry with my hair, and then I move into that place of feeling fed up and out of control being a slave to whatever it is that my hair decides to do day in and day out while I fume about the fact that my hair isn't long enough for me to just put in a couple of braids and roll out without looking like Celie.  

When you get to a place of feeling stuck, and you will get there at some point, the first thing that I would like to say is chill out this happens to everyone and that in due time it will pass.  Take a step back and assess the situation.  Is your hair really not growing or is the growth just not evident to you?  I know that personally, until my hair gets to a certain length (about bra strap length) it seems that as my hair grows I get more shrinkage.  So what right?  Well, by having more shrinkage it makes it seem that my hair is staying the same length while in reality my hair is growing but I just can't tell when my hair is styled.  

So maybe that scenario isn't you, well perhaps your hair isn't growing anymore.  Why?  Well, there are several possibilities.  Perhaps you need to trim your ends.  As ends become frayed and split it makes it easier for them to tangle and interfere with the hair that is healthy hindering growth.  So, take a look at your ends and determine if it is time to trim.  Perhaps you need to change up your routine.  Just like pretty much everything else in life your hair gets use to the routine that you are doing and perhaps you need to try something new, at least for a little while, to revive your "bored" hair.  Lately I have been rotating my conditioners and this has been doing my hair well (I keep about 4 around that I like and then when I wash my hair I just pick one).  Lastly, perhaps you are not keeping your hair moisturized enough.  Moisture, moisture, moisture is the key to healthy hair. 

Whichever category you fall into just remember that this is a part of growing your hair and that this is only a phase that too will pass.  

Tootles for now.......

Rain and natural hair

So today I was walking to my car and it started raining lightly.  As the rain was coming down I began thinking about all the natural women out there who eagerly state how happy they are to now be able to go out in the rain and not have to worry about their hair.  Now isn't that a beautiful thought?  Well, as beautiful of a thought as that is I am here to burst that bubble.  When it started raining on my head my first thought was, "my hair is not waterproof."  That's right, going natural does not turn you into "rubber woman prepared to stand up to the rain in all her natural glory with no umbrella."  Honey, when I have a fly twist out working for me, as I do today, I am not even trying to ruin it by getting caught in the beauty of God's rain without my family sized umbrella that is just big enough for me.  Wow, I feel like mythbusters.  Fact or myth, once a woman begins wearing her hair natural she has no concern about being caught in the rain without an umbrella.  MYTH!!!!

Share your thoughts on this.

Tootles for now.......

Hump day happiness.....

Here we are and on time :-)

1. God woke us up this morning

2. Two snow days 

3.  Fun plans for the weekend

4.  Feeling inspired to sew some things

5.  I was able to catch up on some work on my two days off

6.  I didn't lose power

7.  Food to eat

8.  A new book (The Noticer by Andy Andrews)

9.  Miles for company

10.  Blessings that are headed my way

Leave a little happiness in the comments section.

Tootles for now.....

Oh the mishaps of a natural

Image Source

This evening I was at the store purchasing some leave in (my handy dandy Cantu) so that I could wash my hair.  The lovely clerk rings me up and tells me my total.  I pull my wallet out to pay, open it up to get my credit card out and onto the credit card machine flies a bobby pin.  I think that the most interesting thing about this scenario is that it really didn't surprise me that a bobby pin randomly flew out of my belongings.  I have bobby pins EVERYWHERE.  I can't tell you how many times I have begun to wash or style my hair and found an erroneously placed bobby pin hiding in my hair.  I am actually more amazed when I don't find bobby pins in random places around the house, car, office, classroom etc.  

Anyhoo, that gave me a little chuckle tonight as I was checking out.  What are some strange hair related things you either keep with you and/or have had made an appearance at an inappropriate time?

Tootles for now....

I'm turning into a pineapple head

Okay.  So I took this picture with my iPad which doesn't have an awesome camera, but I promise you my hair is cute after a pineapple (I'll work on a better pic)

Me before bed.  This pineapple is a bit tighter than I usually do.  I typically like a twisty that is looser than the one I used that night.  However, I was tired, hence the semi-scary pic taken on the iPad.

Next morning.  You can see that the pineapple is preserved pretty well through the night. 

Hello there lovelies~

Lately I have been doing the pineapple method.  The pineapple method, which I so nicely dismissed in this post, consists of placing your hair into a high ponytail at night.  I have tried the pineapple method before and did not like the results.  However, one night about a month ago I was too tired to braid my hair so I pineappled it.  Oh....my.....goodness......my hair was so cute the next day.  The next day my hair still had definition, but also had body and movement.  I suppose the pineapple method allowed the curls to separate some?  Whatever happened I quite liked the results.  I do still braid my hair at night with my water, but I now alternate that technique with the pineapple method.  Thus far, the longest I have gone doing pineappling is two consecutive nights.  When I pineapple I don't use any type of moisturizer so I don't like to go too long pineappling (y'all know I like my water sprayed on my hair at night).  Sometimes if my twist out isn't as defined as I want it, but I don't want to do my entire normal process I will flat twist the very front (the hair that frames my face) with a little water and then pineapple the rest.  I am so excited that I have begun pineappling my hair.  I still wouldn't recommend this method for anyone whose hair is not at least shoulder length in a twist out (at least the back) and/or whose hair is not well moisturized.  When I do a really high pineapple the back of my hair actually doesn't reach into the pineapple, but I still get great results in the morning.  Also, if I can't find a ponytail holder to use for the pineapple I use a satin ribbon.  I try to use fairly loose ponytail holders for pineappling and also those that have some type of cloth material around the elastic (of course satin or silk is the best material to reduce loss of moisture).  I find that pineappling works best on a good twist out (if your twist out did not come out do not try this at home kids) and hair that is well moisturized.     

So, disregard my total slam of pineappling and give it a whirl.  If anyone does the pineappling method or has tried it let me know about your experiences. 

Tootles for now.....

Hump day happiness.....

Here we go (on time).......

1.  God woke us up this morning!!

2.  I drove through downtown tonight and there were cars, lots of cars, parked.  I know this doesn't sound big but anyone who has been to Florence knows that it is HUGE for there to be people out, downtown, during the week, when it's cold.... I'm still excited

3.  My wonderful parents gave me a Nutribullet for Christmas

4.  A new boutique opened up downtown

5.  Yesterday was the first day of classes and that went well (I would have taken a first day hair pic, but things were wild, big and cute, but wild)

6.  We had our first planning meeting for FMU student research day (we are looking for a good acronym for this event so if you think of one let me know)

7.  Florence has a new minor league basketball team, we are coming up y'all, BIG TIME

8.  I heard from Rima for Christmas

9. I had a wonderful holiday season with my family and friends (December was a wonderful month)

10.  Zoe's in the beginning stages of walking, lookout world, here she comes (and probably in designer shoes knowing her mama, I love you Shunta :-)!

Bonus:  I remembered to do hump day happiness

Double Bonus:  I remembered to do hump day happiness on hump day!!

Tootles for now.....