Winter Swimming Hair Regimen{ Maintaining Moisture & Healhty Hair}

Swimming during the Winter is Hard, One, ITS COLD, two you want to find a way to retain moisture in your hair while Not Damaging your hair from the Chlorine or Stripping it Dry.

I want to share my Winter hair Regimen with you on How I maintain my Moisture and Health of my hair.

First Step
Wet your hair THOROUGHLY to allow your hair to absorb normal water Before going into the Pool. By doing this your hair will not absorb the Chlorine water as much because your hair is already saturated with water.

2nd Step Spraying Aloe Vera Juice on my hair before swimming has 2 Benefits.  First it is more Viscous than water so your hair medulla will hold that moisture longer than water and Secondly Aloe Vera has a low pH level 4.5 Which will lower your hair cuticles. Closing your cuticles to help seal and protect your hair from the Chlorine. Place your swim cap on.

NOW swim for an 1hour and get your WORKOUT ON!!

After Swimming its Important that You begin Removing the Chlorine from your hair.

First by Rinsing your hair with Warm or Med Hot water to open your cuticles and Remove chlorine from your Hair.

Then I Pre Poo My hair. I go into the Steam room for 5-10 minutes to Pre poo my hair. This is to help me begin moisturizing my hair before I strip it Clean with a Clarifying Shampoo.
 

I use the Oyin Grand poo bar to wash and Clarify my hair.  I wash my hair and scalp to ensure I have stripped away any remaining Chlorine from my hair.

I then Begin bringing the Moisture Back into my hair. Because I swim 2x a week the first time I only use a regular conditioner on my hair.  I use the 3n1miracle moisture by  Aussie let it sit in my hair for 3-5 minutes. On the second day I  Deep conditioner using Naturally Grow Intense Deep conditioner and sit in the steam room for 30 minutes.


 

I will Then Put my hair in a 100% Cotton T-shirt.  The Cotton T-shirt is better than a Towel.  It absorbs my moisture but there is no Damage to my curls. I lotion up, and get dressed.  This is Important because its SO COLD outside you don't want to go outside in the COLD with Extra Wet hair.  Moisture hair yes WET hair NO GO.

I then do my LAOC Method: Leave in, Aloe Vera. Oil and Cream.  To loc and Seal my moisture in.

I Braid or twist my hair and Put My hair hat on( my Wig LOL).  IF you dont wear wigs you can Twist it , Goddess braid or Have your hair in Mini Braids.  If you do this after moisturizing put a Head rag on and a hat to lay your hair down so its not so Frizzy and I recommend you Braid your Mini Braids to give it  a Wavy Fresh Look. During the warmer months WNG (Wash n Go)

At NIGHT I will do the Green House affect:  Spray my hair with Water lightly, Spray with Aloe Vera juice, Olive oil,castor oil and coconut oil Mixture and Then place a plastic Bag or Cap on my hair, Add a Head Rag and Put  a winter cap on my hair.  This allows my body heat and the moisture from the Aloe Vera and water to Heat moisturize my hair every night. 

  This refreshes my hair, moisturizes it and on Monday I start all over again.

So Yes its a lot of Steps but in the Video I show how my hair has grown so much since following these steps. Because of the Positive Growth I know I'm doing the Right Regiment for me.
 ( All pictures I got form Google :D)

Have you every wondered What these products do for your hair?

Is it just me or do you seat and wonder are these products really good for my hair or is it all hype just  to get me to  purchase the products?

Well Im a person who has to be proven that these products are good for my hair.  I even questioned the DIY products.  Does ACV help with my High Porous hair or the Aloe Vera is it a great moisturizer to my hair?

in this video I test both Aloe Vera and Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) to see how my hair reacts to the products.  The result where astounding and I learned some thing new and hope you do as well.   Comment below and tell your reaction to the test.

Sharing a Piece of myself about Why I went natural

My Natural hair story is a long deep physical and emotional one.

I went natural for two reasons, the most obvious one is I have always loved natural hair.  Really, at the age of 17years old, many many years and years ago lol. I wanted to go natural when I met a young lady my age who was natural but I was not strong enough to fight the cream crack and I relaxed my hair again.  Now jump a couple years later. Now the second is the hardest for me to talk about, in December 2009 I was diagnosed with a life changing and rare syndrome that truly affected my life, personally, socially, mentally, and physically.  I had Spine problems and got Diagnosed with the worst cause scenario CES. Caudia Equina Syndrome effects the nerves in your spinal canal in a damaging way.  I had a herniated disc that was bulging 80% in my spinal canal, one icy snowing day I slipped on some ice and fell.  Before slipping on that ice I was in pain all the time I'm talking on a scale of 1-10 I was a 20 everyday.  When I slipped on the ice,  I had no pain no what so ever.  At first I was like yes, but being in healthcare I realized that was not a good thing.  I called my doctor and after speaking with him I was scheduled for emergency surgery the next day.  It was a roller coaster.  After the surgery I learned I had some sever nerve damage.  I was unable to use the bathroom on my own and I had to learn to cath in order to go to the bathroom.  Among other things Im just not ready to talk about. 

I cant tell you at the age of 32 how dark my life felt, I couldn't believe I was going through this at such an early age.  This was not how my life was suppose to be.  I am a social butterfly, I loved to do things with my friends and family.  I loved playing and be crazy with my girls,but once this happened I pretty much stayed in my room and cried all the time.  Or I would smile with my family because I didn't want them to know how mad, upset, frustrated or how much I hated myself. I felt I was a burden to them and how dare I be a Debbie downer.  It was not  fair to them.  So I hid and I lied so that they wouldn't worry about me.I had more bad days then good, and I felt I had no control of anything in my life.

At the time I was rocking Sew in after sew in for about 3 months.  I realized in February that I had'nt gotten my hair relaxed and transition.  It was then I decided to go natural.  After I was done with the sew ins, I would flex rod, braid and flat iron my hair.  I got the Brazilian Keratin treatment and then I realized that if I wanted to rock my hair natural why was I still wearing it in a relaxed state by way of  the BKT and Flat ironing it.  So I joined natural hair communities, watched a million natural hair videos on youtube and talked with friends and family who were natural and I began learning how to take care of my natural hair and what I needed to do  as a transitioner.  In May 2010 on Mothers day I decided to Big chop my hair.  I had washed my hair and was going to put it in a pony tail but when I saw those beautiful curls I wanted to really see them without those raggedy straight ends.  So I grabbed a pair of scissor and cut my hair!  It was drastic, it was not part of my 1 year transitioning process but at the end when I looked in the mirror All I saw was Beautiful!!  I loved it and I will never got back.  What I saw in that mirror was me in my most natural state they way God made me and I realized that all this time the definition that I had in my head of what I thought was beautiful was not mine. That is what keeps me on my path abd  now what motivates me to stay naturally beautiful.

Soon after that my daughters Jazzy and Rere decided to go natural with me as well.  We have been on this journey for 3 1/2 years and We love it!!

It took an emotional diagnoses to get me where I am now, and even though I still have CES I have more Better days than bad.  I take each day at a time and I know that God only gives you what you can bear!!  I don't share this for sympathy I share this for someone out there that may be in a space that I was in  where you felt lost, alone, weak.  I want you to know you are stronger than you know.  And the one thing that will help you is Pray, patience, love and support.

Layers of acceptance

We all have gone through it. When we put that relaxer in our hair, we choose to not accept our natural nappiness. We thought we were not going to be Beautiful without our hair straight. Or we didn't get to choose our mothers, aunts made the decision for us. Or we thought it was easier to manage our hair with a relaxer. (There is nothing wrong with that. I want you to know I am not a relaxer basher!! If you are happy with your relaxed hair then I am happy with you:) )

Then we decide that we wanted our hair to be natural or because of a bad hair experience via relaxed burned, bad hair dying experience what ever the reason maybe.

But we then face the layers of acceptance. Some still lay under the layer of the unknown, the layer of fear, the layer of concern, the layer of acceptance of ourselves. The layer of our natural beauty!

So we transition

I know I did because I feared how I would look. I feared I would not be beautiful, I feared my husband would not think I was beautiful, I feared that my hair would never grow long that it would always be short. I feared that I would have some nappy coily hair, I feared the unknown.

My youngest transition with me because she was not ready to wear her hair curly. She wanted it flat ironed all the time. Her hair was past her shoulders about top of scapula. Her fear was of having to cut her hair and what her piers might think of her with short hair. She was 10 when she decided to go natural via transition.

There are others like my oldest daughter who made the decision and shaved it like that, but then realize; Wow I look different with a low fade and decide to wear wigs till it grows in some. Her fear was what would her piers think of her and that people would think she was a boy. Mind you she was 15 when she did this and that she is 6 feet tall!

We have so many fears, unknowns, and what ifs.

But once I washed my hair after transitioning for nine months and saw those beautiful coils, the what ifs, the unknowns, the fear seemed quieter that day and I pull my scissors out and cut my relaxer off.

I felt beautiful, I felt free, I felt happy and I felt confident in myself!

Now being almost 3 years natural I have hairstyles I'm still afraid to try. I Bantu knotted my hair early one morning by mid day, I had earns I needed to run and was afraid to go out with them because of my same fears as when I was first transitioning. Because of those layers of acceptance. But then I realized that I could go out with a scarf on and look ghetto or I could put my face on and walk out with my head held high. And that is what I did and to my surprise 3 brothers flirted with me and I got multiple compliments on my hair.

There are still those layers of acceptance that I'm still battling with. But day by day I free myself from a layer and that is all it takes!!!
:)

You could be washing your hair Wrong!!!

 

What Mama???  What in the world are you talking about

Well I can tell from the Shocked look on your face LOL that I will have to go into some detail about this title here.


Lets think back to those days of relaxed hair or even beginning of Transitioning.  We would always wash our hair like this,........................................

Now fast forward to mid transition or natural and you will realize one thing for certain.  That this is no longer going to work.  Why well if you notice our hair is a lot more kinky and coily.  If I even think about scrubbing my hair in all kinds of ways when washing it I am going to be.............

Crying when its time to detangle my hair.  When we where relaxed or early transitioning our hair was a lot straighter and this way of washing was fine but now, Now we have to adjust to our new hair and prep it for the washing, conditioning and detangling processes.

There are 2 ways we can do this... one is to:

•  Detangle the hair before we even let the water touch it.  How You could do a HOT OIL treatment to your hair or even  pre poo your hair before you Wash it.(using either oil, condtioner or both and applying in your hair with either twist or braids) 

• You could also avoid the prep work and just Braid or Twist your hair and go straight to the shower. This helps with breakage because your hair is locked into braids or twist it prevents alot of manipulation to your hair and helps to protect your hair from breakage. It depends on what is comfortable to you and your hair.

For me I usually do Coconut oil and twist my hair in JUMBO two strand twist then jump in shower right after the last twist is done and wash my hair. I  unravel each twist and wash each section massaging my roots to the tip .  I then rinse out the shampoo then I apply Deep Conditioner to my hair and detangling my hair while apply DC to each section re twisting my hair  wait 15-30 minutes before rinsing out. I then  style& moisture my hair.

My Daughter Rere has tight coily hair and to make matters worse she has a head full of hair and is tender headed to boot.  In order for us to smile,love and hug each other daily :)

 I usually put tons of Coconut oil in her hair and then add Hello Hydration Conditioner in her hair and part and braid her hair into 8 Braids.  I let it sit for about 30 minutes to ensure her hair is good and soft.

Then we Co wash her hair with braids still intact and she washes the roots of her hair and uses the downward motion on each braid to ensure that the braid hair is washed as well. After we are done I ACV (apple cider vinegar rinse)  her hair not for porous reasons but to help detangle that hair. (ACV has so many awesome benefits!!!)

This is a great example of how simple the braid can be nothing overly crazy and technical.  You want acess to the roots of hair.

It may take a longer time to wash your hair but when you start to notice less breakage because you arent fighting your hair.  And the more you do it the quicker you Get!

Pictures are not mine but copied them from Google.  :)

Hope this helps someone.  After learning the hard way with my daughter these are ways I adjusted our routine and We find it works best for our Peace of Mind and her Tender Scalp!!!!

Porosity Hair and How to Cure that Bad Boy!!!!

High Porosity :Cuticles in hair shaft are raised due to either being born and naturally having High porosity hair or you can achieve High porosity hair by chemical process such as relaxer or hair dyes or heat damage.  Basically you have taking your hair from either Low or Med porosity and have damaged your natural state of hair and are in need of Protein for strengthening or trimming the damaged hair.




 

Low Porosity: is when the cuticles are closed and moisture is hard to get in to the hair shaft. Your cuticles are tight and it takes Hot DC, washing in above Luke warm water to open your cuticle allowing moisture to go into your hair shaft.




Normal Porosity: when the cuticles to your hair shaft are slightly open and partial closed  Basically they are just Right!!  Moisture goes into your hair shaft and does not come out. 

Now that we got that, I know your like OK Mama what does that got to do with me right

How to Tell if It's Hair Breakage or Just Shedding

Oh I see my Bulb..Thank you its just Shedding!!!

Well moisture, trimming ends and putting hair in protective styles that are low manipulative will help stop breakage.

Protective styling is also great for allowing your hair to grow.  The less we put our hands in our hair the more of a break you are giving your hair and allowing it to grow.

Now when it comes to shedding when you  unravel your protective style there may be lots of hair shedding.

DONT FREAK OUT.......This is expected to happen.   WHY well think about it we loose 50-100 sheds a day.  Now if you have a protective style and hold it for 2 weeks, 3 weeks thats 700 sheds for 2 weeks or 1050 sheds for 3 weeks.  So that big ball you get when you unravel your hair.  Its ok that is just normal.


Now a quick note how to determine breakage from shedding is important  but quick and easy.

Take a Black paper, black clothe anything  and you are going to look for the bud on the end of the hair.  Because it is slightly white but transparent it is easier to find on a black background.

 

If you find the Bulb on the end of the hair like the above diagram congrats its just shedding which again is natural and will occur.

But if you find split ends, broken pieces of hair then its breakage and the amount of breakage is important.  It will let you know if hey I need a trim or OH NO THERE IS SOMETHING VERY SERIOUS GOING ON HERE.

I would recommend you read my following blog post about Hair breakage. If the Matter is just too serious and you alone are unable to fix the issue I recommend you find a well educated Natural hair stylist to help you find a regimen that will put you back on the path of a Healthy hair journey.

Hair Breakage break down

Ok so lets talk Hair Breakage.

There are 3 Zones of Hair Breakage

Zone 1 aka Green Zone: Healthy hair (Balanced)

Breakage usually occurs during intense styling episodes.

5 or less on a non wash day and 10 or less broken hairs on a wash day

Zone 2 aka Yellow Zone: Moderate Breakage 

This is the intermediate stage between healthy, unbroken and severe damage. 
 Zone 2 occurs usually occurs do to neglected or misdiagnosed hair ( meaning if you have over protein your hair or vs have a moisture overload)

less than 10 to 15 breakage occur on a non wash day and less than 15 to 20 breakage on a wash day

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Zone 3 aka Red Zone:  Severe Breakage

Damage has gone unresolved in previous stages, or Chemical treatments such as Permanent Color or relaxing hair can cause a Zone 1 to become a Zone 3 almost overnight.

More than 10-15 breakage occur on a non wash day... Hair is all over sink, back of shirt etc.
More than 15-20 breakage on a wash day.

Ultimately there will be some cutting required to usher the balance back to healthy in Zone 3.

Which Zone are YOU???????

All my information was obtained By "The Science of Black Hair"

Brought that Kinky Back ...YEP

I brought My sexy back!!

Im sure my hubby loved my straight hair but child it was so time to bring my kinky back!!! I missed my curls!!!

I washed and deep conditioned my hair used Herbal essence Hello Hydration (LOVE IT) Then I just separated and flat two strand twisted my hair!  I used my leave in conditioner Shea butter cantu and olive oil to seal that moisture in!!

Keeping Moisture

Okay Natural beauties and Gents, we all know that moisture is KEY for our Curls and coils! Water as you know, that High Quality H2O (lol in my best Waterboy voice) is our best source of moisture.  Now to say additional products such as leave in conditioners or aloe vera are just as good.  But if you would simple add water to your hair before going to bed, in the morning your hair will be refreshed and moisturized having set all night just enjoying that H2O ( of course under and bonnet or scarf) . This method is best know as the Green house effect.  



Now to seal that moisture in so it stays put and doesn't leave too quickly you are going to want to seal that moisture in and to do that we use oils.

Best oils are:
Jojoba oil
Coconut oil
Olive oil
 Argan oil

Why because these oil are small enough to go into the shaft of the hair to seal inside the hair but also seal the outside and protect your hair shaft.  Sebum the oil that our scalp naturally produces Jojoba oil is: non greasy; moisturizing hair oil. This oil is closest to your natural hair oil, sebum that is produced by the sebaceous gland.


Another option would be the Bagging Method.  This will Intel you using just leave in or condtioner on your hair at night and covering your hair with a plastic bag or cap  or Just bagging your ends of your hair if you are noticing slipt ends or dry ends.and then covering the plastic cap or bag with a scarf. 

 Bagging Method on Just the ends of 

your hair

Bagging Method on Your entire Head

Trying for a Healthy me .....weight loss

So I have been doing Weight watchers now for about one year.....I have lost a total of 17.2lbs.  Its so low because all I was doing was learning to change my eating habits and not working out faithfully.  Now I did go walking here and there but not at a rate to help me lose weight.

So I decided to throw my weight number out here and make myself accountable via this blog.  So you all can make me accountable and say....girl where is that weight update lol.

I am also going to take a pic tonight and upload it.  Now I will be nice and not just wear a sports bra....ewww who needs to see my rolls :O.

Im want to state I am not doing this too fit into a size 0 or look good to other people...NO NO NO and I am most certainly not doing this to be accepted as perfect fit in the worlds eyes.  We and I do mean we as in even Super Models are not perfect!!  We are imperfect aka Normal.  I am doing this because I need to, I want to and I must in order to live longer, enjoy your life with my better half and to see my children future.

My family on my mothers side has heart problems. I'm talking in the past 10 years I have lost 4 cousins under of the age of 40 one be 24 years old whom have died because of congestive heart failure..aka the heart attack.  I fear if I continue living my life as such this will be my demise.  And lords will I can stop this with walking, aerobics, kinect (lol don't doubt dance central or zumba LOL).

SO here we go.
2013. Jan 2
Weighted in @........266.8lbs Im 5'10...............................eeewwww  uuugghhh I cant believe I just typed that.  I so want to delete this so Im signing off while I still have the nerve to post this.

Welcome 2013

Goodbye 2012,

It was a great year full of growth, love, challenges and over comings.

Welcome 2013!!!

Happy New Years!!! Be safe and have fun!!!

My 1st blog post

Okay so here I go.......My first blog

I have been Natural now for about 2 1/2 years and I decided to go Natural for two different reasons.

1st I have always thought our natural hair was just so beautiful!!! I remember um some 19 years ago :O...  When I was a senior in High school I wanted to do the transition from relaxed to natural hair.  Now at the time I started dating my boyfriend aka Now Hubby and he did not like natural hair, so then I was weak and went ahead and relaxed my hair.....

Move to 2009 I had a rare back condition and had to have emergency surgery.  The condition left me completely numb from the waist down.  I was able to walk (if that is what it was lol) but it was very minimal!!  I had felt completely lost and Felt I had no control in my life.

With that I decided to go natural again........(2nd I felt I had control of my hair even though I wanted to please my husband I felt ready and decided I wanted to please myself)  .My hubby shared his feelings of disapproval and I shared my thoughts.......(_____)! lol.  In the end I transition out and in May 2010  I went to the bathroom and chopped my hair.

I love it and because of my actions  my two daughters also have become natural as well.

Ps... My husband now loves my hair...lol  (We must not be afraid of the unknown because we may miss something that was great and meant to be)!