Hair Typing = Confusing.
So here is what I know about hair typing. The number system was created by Andre Walker. He is the guy that does Oprah’s hair. I also know that Andre Walker is a bit of a douchebag and thinks that Curly/Kinky hair should be altered somehow. Insert eye roll here.
I know my hair is in the 4 category. This is when things start to get tricky for me. Most of my hair is what you would consider a 4A pattern. It has the s coil shape, they all sort of clump together, and when well moisturized, you can see the pattern fairly well.
The back of my head… is an entirely different story
I am not sure if you can see it well enough, but my hair back there? Yeah, there is not really a curl pattern. It currently looks as if there is one, but that is because I have had my hair in two strand twists recently. If left to its devices, it is a frizzy/poofy mess. It is not usually a problem, because I normally have a headband in my hair. However, if my hair hasn’t been recently two strand twisted or it isn’t in a headband. I look like I sort of have a mullet.
I read about the 4b pattern. It says that it has a Z pattern and a cotton-like feel. Well, it feels soft and cottony as long as it has been moisturized, but there is absolutely no pattern to it. I don’t get caught up in hair typing simply because of this, but I have no clue what in the world to think.
Do you have hair on your head that baffles you?
Happy Friday!
My hair idol Chary Jay is back with a hilarious video. The girl has amazing style and hair, but she cannot sing! LOL.
I need to get going. I am taking a small break from school work and screaming at the TV. Toddlers and Tiaras is on.
Have a great weekend!
Want to get started making your own earrings?
I am not a craft blog, but I am a crafty girl. I see the businesses like Sarenzo’s beads and wish I had 1/4th of their talent. I dream of someday having the time (and patience!) to make my own earrings.
One of the websites I subscribe to is Pick Your Plum. Each day they have a special deal on crafting supplies. When I got today’s email I squealed in delight (and terrifying my poor dog)
You can get two pairs of these wooden discs and nickel free earring hooks for $3.50. I scooped up three orders, which is 6 pairs for 12 bucks (with shipping)! Check them out if you are interested in making your own stuff. They have a limited supply of their products each day, So you have to hurry before they are sold out. That is why I am trying to type this as fast as my hands can go!
Fros on the 4th/Checking in
I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. In case you did not know, it was also afro day. We didn’t do anything fancy at all. I packed up a picnic dinner and the plan was to go to White River State Park to watch the fireworks. Well, we got down to White River, and parking was blocked off, So we drove a little further, and went to the zoo. The zoo was a good place to see the fireworks, as long as you were in the right spot. We were seated behind the glasshouse, so we only saw half of them. Plus, it took us longer to get out of the zoo than it did to actually see the fireworks! Next year we need a better plan.
Mmm, ice cream!
As far as my hair goes, it is not feeling all crunchy and dry like it was before the henna treatment. I am seriously slacking though. I need to do a conditioning treatment and detangle my mop. What about you? Have you been slacking with the hair care? Lately, if I have anywhere to go I just spray on my Free Your Mane Reviving spray and fluff a bit and go. I will bite the bullet here soon and detangle and whatnot. I’ve been slacking in all areas since last week for some reason. I need to get back to everything.
Hope you guys have a great rest of the week!
Henna- My experience
Editors Note: I really tried to finish this yesterday. I was doing the editing of this blog while I was in class. But there was some interesting topics being presented, so I abandoned finishing this up until today. Enjoy!
So I finally got around to doing a henna treatment. I apologize in advance for the spotty filming 
Yeah
What I Would Do Differently:
1. We have two bathrooms in our house. The main/guest bathroom is tiled. Our master bathroom is set up weird. The sink is outside the bathroom, and doesn’t have a door or anything. The toilet and the shower are within the bedroom, but are separate from the sink. The area where the toilet and shower is has a door, and is tiled. The area where the sink is does not have a door and is carpeted. I laid down an old sheet, and did my henna treatment in there. I think next time I will just use the main/guest bathroom.
2. While I did do some searching on ingredients and products and stuff, I think I will be more thorough in my reading up on products
3. I will actually go out and purchase plain old green tea. I don’t know if it made a difference that I used honey lemon and pomegranate green tea.
My Final Thoughts:
Henna did not make a huge difference for me. Yeah, my hair was softer afterwards, but not any other softer as if I would have done a deep condition. My curl pattern is the same, and there is no change really to anything. The persistent drying that I was dealing with has seemed to clear up a little, but that might have been the same if I would have just done a deep conditioning. I have no color change. Though last night, I had a dream that my curls looked like MsDena610 from YouTube with blondish tips. Ask me about my dreams sometime, I dream crazy!
Anyway, I will probably try this again, taking into consideration the things that I want to do different. If I don’t notice anything spectacular the second time around (Because I do have half a bag of henna left), I probably won’t do it again.
Do you have any treatments that you have been wanting to try? What has been stopping you?
The next thing I want to try is Rassul Clay.
Of Dry hair and henna
So I finally did a henna treatment. I did it yesterday. I took pictures and everything, So sometime this week there will be a slideshow/video of my adventures on that.
Is anyone else really lethargic when they come back from vacation, or is this just me? I thought you were supposed to be energized and rejuvenated! Ready to tackle whatever. All I want to do is sleep.
While I was on vacation, I did discover that I can flat twist! It takes me a while though because my hair is so thick and I have difficulty parting it. Any advice?
After the train, and everything else, my hair was a hot mess. It was dry, and shaped kind of like a cone. I am really hoping the henna treatment helped. I twisted my hair afterwards, but the twists do feel nice.
This is incredibly short, but I will leave you with the best pic from my trip. Me meeting one of the guys from the big gay ice cream truck!
Flat Feet and Chub Rub
I want to talk to you guys today about something other than hair. For those of you that are new to this blog, I live in Indianapolis. We don’t have a really good method of public transportation, so more than likely, you have a car. Yes, we have a bus system, but as an example, they don’t stop anywhere near me. I live within city limits. I don’t think it runs 24 hours a day. It’s not great.
I am currently on vacation in a city that does have great public transportation. You do a lot of walking as well. Because I usually drive everywhere at home, there are certain things I do not think about. Yes, I have heard of chub rub before; I have never experienced it. I wear dresses and skirts all summer long, and have never had an issue with it. Yesterday for the first time in my life I experienced it. DEAR. MOTHER. OF. GOD. by the time we got back to our hotel, I was walking like a bowlegged penguin. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A BOWLEGGED PENGUIN!? It isn’t pretty. We got to our room and I ran to the bed, laid on the bed, lifted up my pretty dress and HOWLED. The hubs looked and gasped “You are so swollen on your thighs!” We looked at each other and said at the same time “Chub Rub” The swelling has since gone down, and I actually wore shorts today, so I am pretty much back to 100%. However, I think I will be wearing shorts the rest of my trip.
Another thing I want to talk about is shoes. I wear a size 10 shoe. I have an incredibly wide foot. I don’t know the exact width, as my foot has not been measured since I was a kid. My feet are also flat. So you have a plus size girl with a flat and wide foot. I cannot find a comfortable and stylish walking shoe. It’s not fair. I shouldn’t have to sacrifice style or comfort for a walking shoe. Don’t believe me? Go to Zappos.com. look for sandals, in a size 10, with a width bigger than just W. A lot of that stuff looks like something my grandmas would wear. Plus there is no telling if they are comfortable. When I get a chance, I am going on a severe hunt for a comfortable, stylish walking shoe, that comes in wide widths. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, do not hesitate to leave a comment or even email me. I shouldn’t have to wear sneakers with my cute dresses just because I am big foot. It is amusing. Big and tall guys do not have as many choices as us girls do when it comes to clothes. A lot of times they have to buy at the “Lane Bryant” of clothing stores, which means they are spending an arm and a leg. However, they can get all different styles of shoes in different widths. Plus size women have more and more choices. They grow with every single day. However, I can’t find the same shoes that are cute, and comfy to walk in to save my life. Everything scrapes the side of my foot (by my big toe) or they just hurt.
Do you have problems with shoes? What is your favorite brand of shoe to combat this? What about chub rub? How do you combat it?
Hair on a trip.
Most people when they travel take one of two modes of transportation; car or plane. While gas prices are steadily going down (at least in my part of the world), they are still pretty high, making an extended car trip possibly as expensive as a plane ticket.
Our solution? The train. You win some and you lose some with the train. The last time we were on, I had a massive headache due to the fact that there were really stinky hippies. Our train last time also was like 5 hours late due to the fact that there was a mudslide in the Pacific Northwest. AKA: Nowhere near where we were, and nowhere near where we were going. Every little thing just went wrong that trip.
We are currently on a train. It is actually going rather well this time, and this leaves me optimistic. We’ve had no issues, except for a rather annoying squeaky voiced child that “loves everyone!”
The last time I was on a train, it was winter time, and my hair was in two strand twists stuffed under a scarf, stuffed under a knitted cap. The knitted cap is no longer an option in the mid west summer (the idea of it in this heat makes me gag a bit). Also, in the interest of not looking like the crazy ass ghetto black lady, I do not have a scarf on my hair. The result? I still look like the crazy ass ghetto black lady.. My hair is just out and looking a wee bit wild. I wanted to learn how to French braid my hair before this excursion, and that just didn’t happen. On long trips how do you protect your hair without looking crazy as hell? There are enough crazies on this trip (Mullet anyone?) I don’t need to add to the atmosphere.
Vidal ain’t got nothing on him.
Around September of last year I attempted my first (and last) braidout. My husband helped to braid my hair, and after showing him one time how to braid, he proceeded to braid better than I could. I should have known it wasn’t a fluke.
Saturday I decided that I needed to go to the bowels of hell (aka Wal-Mart) get get some headbands. I tend to lose mine. He was hungry so we decided to eat while we were out.
My hair was twisted up, and I needed to untwist it. He wasn’t doing anything but watching a bad 1980’s movie, so I enlisted his help. “This will go much faster and get us out of the house sooner if you help.” He asked me what to do. I told him to just untwist them. “Do I untwist them all the way?” I was kind of confused by his question, but told him yes. He sat there and quietly and gently untwisted the back of my hair while I did the front. I got finished before him and just sat there and waited. “I’m finished.” I went to the mirror to go check. Dear God in heaven. He untwisted each twist, and spread the hair evenly over my head so that my afro was freaking adorable!
My husband is a 28 (almost 29) white male who never touched a head of hair on an African American woman before me. I just look at him sometimes, amazed at what he does. He just tells me “I’m just good with my hands.” I keep telling him that if he ever gets sick of being a network engineer, he should go to school to be a beautician. He just rolls his eyes at me and goes back to his movie while I get dressed.
I love this man.
My hair after he got finished with it!
From the bottom of my heart.
I wanted to thank each and every one of you that took my survey last month. You gave me a lot of great insight that I will be able to use to make this blog greater, as well as craft it into an independent study project. I am one of the smaller natural hair blogs on the web, but I am growing with all of your help. I appreciate every single one of you that stops by to read. I am truly humbled by the response that I received.
*group hug!*
Espionage Cosmetics
