The Natural Hair Diaries

My Press 12.22.11

2011-12-22T21:18:00.000-08:00

Whenever it's time for a trim, I go and get it done by my trusted favorite stylist who will also press my hair afterwards. I usually have my hair pressed 2 times a year as I am not a fan of heat styling. It's also good to see how long your hair has gotten for growth purposes. So I asked my stylist to take a couple of pics of me and here I am at the top and I am pretty pleased! The back looks nice too :)

The Natural Hair Diaries...

7 years Natural and still growing... :)

My Latest Headband...

2011-12-22T20:55:00.000-08:00

Check me out! This was a cool headband that I found at Tysons Mall in Fairfax. I got it at a kiosk but I can't remember the name of it. I plan to go back there again for sure so I'll have to post it when I do. It's sort of like a hat, but not really. It's actually a knitted headband and neck warmer. The back is out but it covered most of my head. I love this band. It was pretty cold this weekend and perfect for it. Can't wait for it to get cold again so I can show it off again.

New Hair Regimen

2011-12-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, I'm back with my latest update on my blog and I wanted to share what I'm doing now with my hair. This weekend I decided to try a honey conditioning prepoo treatment. I like to do prepoos (sounds funny I know) because it cuts down on the in and out of the shower routine. You can also call this dry conditioning, where you are basically putting a conditioning treatment on your hair prior to washing. So for my treatment this weekend I did a Rosemary Honey Moisturizing treatment. I always wanted to use honey as a treatment in my hair so I decided to give it a try. This recipe was one I found at http://www.motowngirl.com/ site. The ingredients are...

1/2 cup of honey

2 teaspoons of warmed olive oil

4-5 drops of Rosemary essential oil.

Mix together and apply on hair prior to washing.

Leave on for 30 mins under dryer and longer with out the dryer.

(Rosemary is good to help hair grow and honey adds shine and softness to natural hair. )

In fact, check out this site I found that talks about the benefits of honey on hair as well as for your whole body at http://honeyfanatic.com/honey-facts/honey-good-hair/

Next I warmed a towel in the microwave and paced that along with a plastic cap over my head for about an hour. I was watching the Kings of Comedy on Comedy central and got sidetracked but it was cool 'cause the longer the better for my hair.

I realized that 1/2 cup of honey is alot of honey to use for a treatment. I only needed about half of that for my hair so I am saving the rest in the fridge for the next time. (Note to self, remind hubby not to throw out my treatment in the fridge,lol...)

Afterwards, I washed my hair in the shower with Curls Creamy Curl Cleanser (from Target).

I liked this cleanser because it doesn't contain sodium Lauryl sulfate, which is a drying agent in many shampoos. Smells great too.

Afterwards, I applied my leave in (mixture of olive oil, aloe Vera juice, Kemi Oyl (old school), and Knot Today's Leave in Conditioner). I liked this mix and I started using it after I heard about it from Kim Love's YouTube site over a month ago. You can check out the recipe for her Leave in on there. Just type in Kim Love on YouTube and look it up. She doesn't use Kemi Oyl but you can use what ever oil you'd like.

Next, I twisted my hair in two strand twists all over. I am doing more protective styling this Winter vs. wearing my hair out. It's time for a trim so I will probably break my routine to go in for a trim and press and curl this month. I'll post pics of this as well.

Results...the pic below shows it.

I liked it! My hair felt soft and moisturized. I am definitely going to do this more often.

Next hair blogs to look for...

Trim and press at the Salon

Protien Treatment

Henna Gloss (Really excited about this one)

More to come later...until then, be blessed and stay natural.

I'm baaaaack!...Did you miss me? :)

2011-11-09T18:28:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a while...since Jan. 2011. But the bug has hit me again to write about my hair journey. So much has happened since the last time I've written on here, but now that I'm back to a regular schedule (somewhat), I wanted to update my site. So since last January, I've gotten married. In fact, November 19 will make it 3 months...YAY!. Wedding preparations can take on a life of it's own. That will be a blog for another day though,lol. So we are here and I wanted to post up some pics of my hair recently. I'm going to try really hard to update this blog at least once a month. If I can do it more than that, that will be even more exciting.

I'm working on trying something new for the fall/winter season...Protective styling. Whooohooo!,lol...Apparently, after researching some hair blogs, it's all the rave to retain hair length. I had somewhat done this in the past. But I would eventually wear my hair out more often, which during the colder months, tends to dry out my hair. Wearing natural hair out during the colder months will dry out natural hair so protective styling is key to retain moisture and length. So the picture above is an example of one of my protective styles. I am rusty as I am having trouble moving my pics on here,lol...so that means I'll be doing this more often as I have forgotten how to strategically place pictures on here.

I supplement with a cute Goody Ouchless barrette and a headband in the 2nd pic and I actually am going old school, using a banana clip in the first one. I like to try different types of headbands and hair accessories when I wear my hair like this. Plus it saves time for me in the morning. You can see the back in these pics. I'm still tweaking how I want the front to look so you will see that later :) I like to take pictures in general, especially hair pics. I am working on my fall/winter hair regimen and I will post those later. Until then, enjoy and as always, there's more to come...soon.

The Natural Hair Diaries

7 Years and still growing :)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Well it's been a while, (actually a little over a year) but that's fine because I will have lots to talk about in this new year. I have a wedding to plan for, I will be talking about my hair, stuff that goes on from time to time, and new hair products that I will try. I am excited and ready to get back into my blogging. So I thought I'd start off with showing off my latest style...I had it done in Raleigh, NC. It is a blown out, two-strand twisted, up do. I love this style and get it done when I can get an appointment down at my fave stylist in the NC. Leave a message if you'd like the stylist's info. Anyways, here's my latest style. I tried to put some cool new background on my pic using my photo software but it couldn't come up so maybe next time for the dramatics. I have the front and the back as I took the pic on my phone right after it was done. That way you see it in it's newness. Well that is all for now...I will have more info up as I talk more about hair and other interesting topics that come to mind. Until then, I leave you with a question...

What is your favorite natural style or style period to wear during the winter months? I'd love to hear about it as I may try them myself...Talk with you soon...

The Natural Hair Diaries

6 years Natural and Still Growing...

2009-12-19T07:27:00.001-08:00

Well I haven't figured out how to turn these pics around yet but here is what the snow looked like this morning...There is much more out there now.

the snow outside my window
Veronica

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My Pressed Hair...

2009-12-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

Okay so I figured now was just as good of time as any to write about this,lol...my students are taking a pre-test and so I thought about blogging about my hair. I got my hair pressed on Friday, Dec. 4 and I really love it. It has grown so much and I realized that it has been 5 years since I went natural. My hair is better for it. I would post up some pics now but that would require me to smile and pose in front of my students and well, it's just not appropriate,lol. So I will post some up later on today so that you can see. One day I will be able to do it myself, but until then, there is always Harmony Salon. Thank God for people who know how to do natural hair. Do you know, stylists today can't even do relaxed hair? They mess that up. It's true. So many women have cried many a night 'cause their hair was messed up by some un-knowledgeable stylist. More to come on that later as I feel like ranting would only make me upset, and I don't want to do that right now. So instead I will just say that my current motto for my natural journey is...5 Years and Still Growing...yes it's true...More pics to come on this later...I promise.

11,894 views...hey that's not bad...

2009-09-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

I know I need to go to bed but here it goes,lol...I am wasting time and I figured why not view my blog to see something new. So I did and I saw that 11,894 folks have visited my site. How cool! I need to type on this thing more often then,lol. Well tommorrow is Fall and I guess whether I am ready for it or not, here it comes. I had a great summer and I am looking forward to an even better fall and winter. More play info coming soon and pics too...well eventually...one day...okay sometime this year,lol...how is that? More to come later...

Peace.

Great Pic taken by phone...

2009-08-03T23:08:00.001-07:00

This pic was taken back in May 09 in DC on a beautiful Sunday afternoon over the Potomac River. The beauty the God creates is simply amazing! More to come later...

My love of writing...

2009-08-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

Has caused me to create my second skit about relationships. I am excited and I love to write. Infact, I want to one day do writing such as screen plays, skits, novels, short stories, and plays as a full time gig. I currently work as a teacher in elementary grades but I have always wanted to write. Even as far back as being in the 5th Grade, I remembered writing a play for my 5th Grade class back in Manhattan. I believe the school was P.S. 76 and the students were really into it until the boy character had to kiss the girl...and then everyone was like "ill",lol...and that was pretty much it for my early Broadway debut. Fast forward to 2009...and I have finally arrived. Oh sure, it's a short play now, but there will be more hit plays to come and it will be a great way to reach others. It's my ministry and it makes me happy to say so. To minister to others in a realistic way about Christ is something I've wanted to do for a while now and thanks to God, I finally can. Now I know this is a hair blog but I figured why not also use this to write about my love of writing as well. You never know who is reading this and for them, it could mean something. So as I close, I look forward to writing more things and sharing them with as many people as possible. I know that many aren't going to look on here to see date and times for my events right away but if you are curious and want to know more about where this play is headed...send me a note and I will forward to the Evite. More to come later...

Hair pic of the week...

2008-08-14T18:55:00.001-07:00

This was a style I wore a couple of summers ago. It was a nice look that looked very close to a relaxed hair style. It was a braided up bun and it was done by my stylist. I loved this style because it was a low maintenance type of style where I could just get up and go. It lasted about 3 weeks I think. It's a great style to wear to work too as it's professional. Definitely one of my favorite summer styles.

Catching up...

2008-08-14T18:46:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been a while and I have been quite busy this summer. I wanted to type something as it's been a couple of weeks almost since my last post. I have just finished two big projects...putting putting new living room and bed room furniture in my home. I even had my room painted to give it a fresh look. I had been planning on getting this all together since January of this year and finally had the chance to move forward with it in August. I am quite happy with my search for furniture and I will be posting pics up soon showing it. It's been a great summer and it's almost time to go back to my real job, teaching little ones and molding young minds...oh what fun,lol. It is very rewarding at the end of the year, but in the beginning, teaching young 5 year olds new skills is exhausting. But on to the hair stuff...what's next, hair pic of the week of course,lol.

Hair Pic of the week...

2008-07-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm on vacation right now but I wanted to put up some new pics for this week's hair pic of the week. These are pics of my friend who so kindly allowed me to capture her wonderful hair. She even shared her regimen with me. This style is so simple and is a quick favorite for most naturals. She uses the conditioner wash method where she washes her hair every 3 days with a cheap conditioner (suave or V05). She rinses in between washes in the shower with plain water. Next, she detangles with a wide tooth comb. She likes to mix 1 part conditioner, 1 part coconut/olive oil, and 4 parts water. She uses this mix as a daily conditioning. Since she has switched from using shampoo to only conditioner washes, she has seen a great improvement in her curl definition and texture. Once a month she uses a baking soda and water mixture to clarify any product build up. I think it looks really nice, what do you think?

My New Clean Closet...

2008-07-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I finally had a handy man to come in and put up a new closet organization unit in my closet. I was sooooo happy to finally have this done as it took a week in a half to get someone at a good price. My first guy wanted to charge me $500 for putting up some wooden racks,lol. I was like nope, I have to find someone who is reputable and cost efficient for my dollar. So I ended up finding someone who was just that. He patched up the holes in my drywall (due to one of my racks falling down and scaring me out of my sleep), put up the new racks, and secured the old one on the right for all of $200. Thank God! But man afterwards, I had to sort through things that I forgot about like books from grad school and old clothes from undergrad. I was shocked to find old school stuff from my students when I first started teaching. It was a trip down memory lane, but the memories had to stop at some point because I kept asking myself..."Why did I keep this stuff?" I couldn't remember the answer and I knew right away that I needed to pitch it in order to keep the closet looking like the pic you see. I donated my old clothes to a near by homeless shelter and threw away the old school things. That part was kind of hard, I kind of got attatched to the old stuff and didn't want to see it go, but it had to. So now that I have a clean closet, I moved on to cleaning up everything else. I am getting some new furniture put in this summer so I am working on getting my house together for just that. I am excited! Looking for new furniture and carpet is fun. I have always had a contemporary style to my taste in furniture so I am working on creating that look. Well, that's all for now, I will continue to post my progress as I get things moved in.

Meditate on Him...

2008-07-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

For some reason this morning, this song was on my heart to listen to. I had heard this song on a MySpace page last month and thought it was really beautiful. You know we lead such busy lives and we get involved with all of the things that we have to do to feel productive. But sometimes,we just need to sit down, rest, and meditate on God for minute to put things into perspective. If you sit for a few minutes and listen to this cllip of Shekinah Glory Ministries song "How Deeply I need you" You will do just that. Enjoy!

Hair Pic of the Week...

2008-07-23T19:08:00.001-07:00

This was something that I thought about earlier today. Showcasing great pics of natural hair styles. I will put up a hair pic per week and speak a little about it. So I thought I'd start off with one of my favorites created by my stylist...this pic above was taken on my camera phone a few days before my birthday this year and is a great hair style to wear during the winter time. The front is flat twisted and the back was set on rods. I sat under the dryer for a while on this one, but the result was really beautiful. What do you think?

This Blogging Thing...

2008-07-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's getting easier the more I tinker on this new thing called "blogging". It's kind of cool, yesterday I added a music play list which is actually pretty good. I listened to it this morning and thought, mmm... I could just listen to my own music player on my blog page. I don't know if people do that but I think it's cool. Today, I just added a counter on my page to see who has visited me. Thanks to the blogger site, I have found some really user friendly things to add to my site to make it unique. This "blogging thing" that I've really just started has been very freeing in that it allows me to let my creativity flow. I love to write and it gives me a way to just practice writing as I go. Thank God for the summer, I don't know how I'm gonna keep this going while I work during the school year, but I will try and find a way. But for right now, it is serving it's purpose.

Another cute accessory...

2008-07-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

This accessory was bought at Sally's Beauty Supply for like $2.99. A great way to "cute up" your hairstyle is to use this piece to showcase your creativity and extend the life your style between washings. I like to call these "Chinese sticks", I don't know what you would call them usually but that's the term I use. Anyway, use the same approach as below, where you twist up your loose hair, but the trick is to use one or two bobby pins. Secure your hair first w/ the pins so you can easily slide the sticks in. Once you've done this, you are done...Instant Style!

How to "cute up" your hairstyle...

2008-07-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

As a natural, you try and find ways to make your hair styles last as long as possible between washings. I normally try to wash my hair every 2 weeks but when I am lazy, it could be as long as almost a month (which isn't good because the scalp needs to be cleaned and to prevent tangles, it's best to wash 1 to 2 weeks). But this was a picture of me extending my style in the 3rd week. I bought this brown hair piece that you see in my hair at Sally's Beauty Supply for like $2.99 and it's really cute. I had gotten compliments on this. My hair was originally in a twist-up do so I loosened the back out and left my front & side flat twists in. Then, I pulled up my my hair in the back, twisted it, and put in my hair accessory. It comes in 2 pieces (an oval piece and a stick to slide it through). You press the oval piece over the back of your hair then you use the stick and slide it through the holes and hair and that's it. Instant Style!