Update in Hair Regimen

Hello people!

I know I haven't blogged about anything in months and that's because I don't feel I have much to blog about because, as you know, I'm still dealing with damaged hair. Also, I don't have that much time to blog, as you must have noticed, with the months-long delay with blog posts on all my blogs.

However, I thought that I should put up something new for the lot of you who still check out my blog. Also, I will try to upload a few things within the next month.

Okay! So here's an update on my hair regimen. Lately, I have been cowashing biweekly instead of weekly and I've been tucking all my hair away. This is not just to make life a bit easier for me, but also because I feel like I should go a bit longer with combing and washing (if my hair/scalp's not dirty). I haven't used heat on my hair in about a month or so too and I took a break from heat because I have been working from home more often, which means I don't need to worry about stepping out with wet hair and I also thought that my hair would thrive well/better taking a bit of a break from heat drying if it wasn't needed.

I have been moisturising more using my Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Conditioner, water-only washing if my hair is not dirty, but needs refreshing, mud washing more (with a mixture of Amla, Terressentials Citrus Mud Wash, an oil mixture, Midas Naturals Conditioner, Shea Moisture's Restorative Conditioner, rose water and Shea Moisture's Coconut & Hibiscus Conditioner), shampoo washing with my hair in twists to ensure I clean my scalp well and sealing in the moisture using a homemade oil mixture of pure castor oil, extra virgin olive oil, almond oil and Jamaican Black Castor Oil with Ylang Ylang.

My hair L.O.V.E.S the mud wash. However, I get a bit annoyed if I get out of the shower and start getting dressed just to find a bit of mud left in my hair (some times when my hair's almost dry) although I spent like 10mins rinsing out my hair. I must say that the look and feel of my hair after a mud wash is amazing, though.

Lastly, I have been going longer with my use of the comb. I chose to use a comb to detangle my hair just once a week, but now, I've been pushing it further and going weeks  (and maybe a whole month) between using a comb.

I still choose not to wear my hair out in a big afro because it's pretty humid here in England so my hair will shrink and tangle up a lot, I don't want to have to comb my hair to maintain and afro, I might get annoyed about having hair everywhere, and, let's face it, people's hands will be in my hair and I'm not a huge fan of that as I don't like feeling like a dog (due to the stroking way some people touch my hair).

I'm growing out the length that I cut off. However, I doubt I'll be cutting my hair again in April.

I am considering getting extension before the summer, but because I'm home (Southampton) less often, I think I'll stick with my plan of going one year extension-free and then get extension in during the summer or just after the summer as I feel like extensions are beneficial to growing out the hair as long as they're maintained well and installed properly.

I may or may not get crochet braids again (I feel like I might get a wig instead), but what I've had in mind lately are large box braids or Marley twists (I'll probably go with the twists).

So, yeah, that's an update on my hair, hair regimen and plans for the future!

Journey from Damaged to Healthy: First Trim + Hair Update.

Heyo!

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from this, but I got my hair trimmed on Saturday! I took off about an inch everywhere.

My hair is still at various lengths, but I have no intentions of ever big chopping so, I'm just trimming off the damage every few months and then when the shortest parts of my hair get to a particular length, I'll probably get my entire head of hair to that length.

Most of my hair is still relatively long, I guess. The hair at the back of my head is growing out and my hair is thickening up everywhere now so that's awesome.

My regimen still consists of cowashing/mud washing weekly and shampoo washing during the first week of every month, sealing moisture with castor oil, taking out shed hair using extra virgin olive oil followed by conditioner and combing once a week (in the shower with conditioner and water in hair and when stretching out hair).

I think I'm going to stick with not getting crochet braids or twists with extensions till around next summer. I'm actually loving having just my hair out and it is helping with my recovery process. When I do get crochet braids/twists with extensions done, I plan on only keeping them in for 2-4 weeks and not as long as I did for the past two years. I also plan on going longer between protective styling with extensions. Instead of just a few days to 2 weeks (*cringe*) I'll probably go a month, especially depending on how long I protective styled for.

I can't wait till my hair is completely healthy and even!!
Oh my!
That will be awesome!

Reason for no recent blog entries

Hallo!

I miss talking to you guys. I really do.

You see, the reason for my absence is that I recently moved to London (yup! the big ol' city!). I'm still getting used to living here and being at uni. Uni's great, if you're wondering. However, I'm not used to getting home late because I'm working and voluntarily going to school on the weekends, but that's okay. What has to be done has to be done.

I am getting more accustomed to where I live and being at uni here in London so, expect some new posts soon. I might pre-write them if I have a few minutes/hours free and just upload them every few days. Here's what to expect (in no particular order):

• A reveal - y'all have been wondering what I look like. If you've checked out my Facebook page, you know what I look like. If not, you could either go check out and 'Like' my page or wait till I upload the blog post that is 'My Big Reveal.'
• Rocking a....not day 1, or day 2, but day 5 bantu knot out. I have perfected preserving bantu knot out without having to completely reset your hair every day. Trust me, every morning, my hair looks much better than the night before and I don't have to redo the bantu knots daily.
• I can also make advice videos for freshers especially those studying architecture as that is the course I'm taking, in case you didn't know what I was doing at uni.
• Quick hair styles for people in uni is also something I'm considering posting.

And more.

My big reveal will probably come up before the others. I don't know when I'll do it, but I will some day soon. Just hang in there and please be patient with me, okay? Danke.

~SammyWithTheBigHair

My Hair :)

Hello people!

So, I have taken down my 5 month long protective style. Oh me, oh my! I have never kept a protective style in for that long before!

The shed hair has been pretty crazy. I'm surprised I still have hair on my head! Actually, it's not been that bad for 5 months. I used to get more shed hair than this in a week back when my natural hair journey started.

Anyways, I am blogging from the comfort of my bathroom. I just finished washing my hair and decided to just not leave here while my hair is deep conditioning  because I feel too lazy to. I mean, to leave, I have to open the door, make myself busy in my room, walk back in here.... too much work. Haha! Jokes.

So, what products have I used on my hair this fine day? What are my plans for my hair?
Okay! So, after taking down my crochet braids, I went heavy with the coconut oil and detangled my hair a bit, putting it up in bantu knots as I worked section by section then I donned on two plastic bags and an old T-shirt tied over as a turban as I went down to the kitchen to make my first batch of flaxseed gel EVER and to stuff my face with some fruits too :)

About 2 or so hours later, I went back up to wash my hair. I started off by taking down each bantu knot and giving my hair a really good rinse (by the way, I wash my hair every now and then while protective styling especially because I work out often and sweat when I do). Next, I used some of my BeeMine Botanicals Shampoo on my hair (I divided my hair into 4 sections while doing this) and after rinsing it all out. I possibly would have needed to go over one more time, but instead of using the BeeMine Shampoo, this time, I used the Terressential Mud Wash in the Cool Mint version on my scalp and the Lavender version on my hair itself and let it sit for a few minutes while I took a nice shower and body brushed. After rinding out all this wonderful smelling mud, I worked some of my Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner into each of the 4 sections, but didn't go heavy with it as I wanted to use some of the Shine Conditioner I got from Midas Natural. So, I used the Restorative Conditioner and then over it, the Shine Conditioner and then donned on a silver Conditioner Cap my mum got for me about a year ago (but I never used till today). And well, here am I, blogging with a silver cap on my head.

Anyways, I'm going to rinse this out any time soon and after that, I will seal in the moisture with some extra virgin coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil or both and maybe some shea butter too and then working in small sections and using my flaxseed gel (ohmigosh! I made flaxseed gel!), I will try to define my curls and I'll totally work some short hair today as it seems like although my hair is past armpit length, my shrinkage is still SO REAL that my shrunken hair is around neck level (yeeeeaah).

So, today will be short hair day and because my friend's wedding is on Saturday, I am probably going to thread my hair to stretch it out and I may or may not rock a twist out or a bantu knot out to the wedding.....or I could rock a braid out. I haven't done that in years.

Anyways, those are my immediate plans for my hair and what I've done with it so far. I am going to get a protective style done again soon (next month), but I will be taking it out in July as I have protective styled A WHOLE LOT for the past two years and I just want to spend more time to my hair and take this glorious birds nest of mine to uni :)

So, that's it for now! Expect more blog posts from me soon. I'll start blogging more frequently.

~Sammy

p.s My tools are my fingers. That's what I've been using to detangle my hair so far. :)

Update on My Hair and Crochet Braids and Plans for my hair

Hi! Privet! Pryvit! Salut! Hallo! Vahām̐! Hola!

In case you didn't know, I love languages! Whether spoken or signed (I sign in ASL).

Anyways, here's just an update on my hair:

So....I cut my hair. I just trimmed off about an inch of my hair, don't worry :) and I believe I've grown all that I cut off back. I haven't taken down my latest crochet braids yet because I have a ball to attend in early July and I plan on reinstalling my crochet braids so....since I'm going to be back home in May, I decided to wait till then so my crochet braids are at their neatest during the ball and so it's easier to manipulate it if I need to. I miss my hair, I should add.

When it comes to washing my hair, I water-only wash most of the time, and usually just my edges (which have been growing pretty well and becoming thicker). When I use shampoo (sulphate-free), I prefer to dilute it a bit and I keep washing until the water runs really really clear and my scalp feels awesome. I don't wash my hair as often as I should because of the drying time and because the weather just mere weeks ago was still on the cold-side. Also, I just didn't have the time to wash my hair often. Anyways, I condition my hair afterwards, but I don't care that much about rinsing out all the conditioner.

To keep my crochet braids looking good, I cut out the tangles daily (not daily when I'm at home and not leaving the house, though). Cutting out the tangles retains that fresh/near-fresh look and it lets you wear your crochet braids for as long as you wish to.

My plans when I take this protective style down is to give my hair a lovely treatment/treatment. Wash it out thoroughly, detangle and wear a wash and go if my hair hangs long enough (and my curls are defined without the need of a gel) for about a day and then stretch out my hair using African threading for a few days before letting it out and just retaining a stretched look (I will wear a puff or bantu knot out/twist out/braid out at times, though). I probably will condition my hair more often or just leave in some conditioner whenever I'm refreshing my hair, but that's pretty much going to be it. I AM GOING TO DO A LENGTH CHECK TOO!!!! :)

I hope that this year, I am as close to waist length as possible. Like, I want to be below bra-strap length before the end of this year! :)

~Sammy

p.s I'm looking into new DIY protein treatments as I'm not keen on putting eggs in my hair anymore and in case you didn't know, mayonnaise contains 0% protein (check the back of your jar/bottle).

My hair since my last post

This is my actual curl pattern :)

Heyo!

So, yeah, I have done quite a bit with my hair since my last blog post.

By the way, from the picture above, do you think my hair's a type 4a or 4b? I have a few actual spirals, but not as big as someone who has type 3 hair.

• Okay! So, I've pretty much had my hair stretching since my last post. However, on New Year's eve at around 4pm, I took my hair out of it's stretching state in African threading and bantu knotted it because I had a party starting at 9pm and I pretty much didn't want to be at it with my hair in African threads.
• At around 9pm, I took out the bantu knots and lifted my roots a bit with a comb. I didn't fully comb out my hair neither did I separate it. I decided to wear a bantu knot out because my hair was pretty much straight from the African threading and I love big, curly hair and I prefer to wear my hair curly than straight.
• So, after the party (at like 3am on New Year's day), I finger combed and braided my hair in for sections and went to bed like that.
• Later on New Year's day, I African threaded my hair again 'cause I wanted to ensure it was stretched for my cousin's birthday party the next day as my roots had reverted a bit from working out. However, I African threaded my braided hair as I couldn't be bothered to rethread my hair in smaller sections or loose like I had done before.
• The next day, honestly, I couldn't really be bothered to take out my hair so and my cousin is family isn't he? Also, I'm cool with everyone who was going to be at his house so....yes, you guessed it, I went to his house with my hair in African threaded braids and people actually like it :) Haha :)
• The next day, after working out, I prepooed (with extra virgin olive oil), washed, conditioned and deep conditioned my hair with it still being in braids because I knew my scalp was what mainly needed the cleaning and I knew my hair would be fine washing it and conditioning it that way.
• After I got out of the shower, I took down each section and worked on them one after each other.
• First, I worked some aloe very gel into it (fresh out of the leaf). Unfortunately, my hair felt horrifyingly dry after this so I got out my spray bottle, spritz my hair, worked some of my BeeMine BeeLovely Daily Moisturising Conditioner into it followed by some extra virgin olive oil, spritzed my hair again and followed with some shea butter.
• Next, I African threaded my hair. I didn't take down and redo the African threading like I did in my last post because I didn't really care if my hair was straight-ish.
• The next morning, I combed my hair out just to ensure it was still fully detangled (which it was) and held it up in a puff with some bangs on the side and I went to church like that.
• After church, I went to my aunt's house where I.....wait for it......wait for iiiiit.....CUT MY HAIR! Yes! I cut about an inch of my hair off! (So, it's back at APL). Why? Well, I did want to trim or cut my hair during the summer however I was too nervous to and went back in a protective style, but this time, I felt like I just had to do it because my ends were starting to look weirdish, my hair was already past a good landmark, I had a few single strand knots and although I didn't really notice any this time, during the summer, I noticed a few split ends. Also, I thought losing my ends will make my hair look better. So, yeah, I did it!
• Still at my aunt's house, I got my hair braided and went along to reinstall my crochet braids, but with a different type of extensions as my signature ones (my usuals) were unfortunately, out of stock. My new extensions look almost dreadlock-y and will take some time to get used to as they're very very different, but I'm sure I can keep these in for as long as I keep in my....usuals ;)

And that's pretty much it! I've just had my crochet braids held up in a gigantic messy bun all day and I sleep with them in a pineapple.

See y'all later!

~Samantha

p.s I'm heading back to school on Wednesday so, new posts are going to be pretty much going to be inexistent till around mid-February when you should expect one or two new posts (I doubt you'll get more than that as I'll be really busy).

Update on my hair

Picture from De Piramide

Heyo!

Sorry for totally being M.I.A on this blog. I'm here now, so.....UPDATE TIME!

Yeah, so, my hair is actually past APL (ArmPit Length) now. It's not quite ate BSL (Bra-Strap Length) yet. I'm so excited by it's length, though! Eeep!

I am currently stretching out my hair with some African threading which is awesome. I started stretching out after washing out my deep conditioner and showering and then before going to bed, I undid some of the threaded hair, separated it and rethreaded it for that 'super stretched' effect. My hair looks practically straight and like, y'all know I love big curly hair to bits so, I guess I probably will add a bit more texture to it before the New Year's party tomorrow (it's now the 30th in England) by bantu knotting it or something. Maybe I might even try out a new hairstyle.

So, yeah, here's what I've done with my hair post-take down (in case you forgot, I had crochet braids in and I normally would keep them in for about 4 months before I redo them):

• I took down my hair yesterday (day before yesterday) and it like took less than an hour to get all the extensions out and my hair down which was awesome. If you need tips on this, let me know 'cause like it took 30mins, if not less to take down my hair and it usually would take me over an hour to do that.
• I worked some Extra Virgin Olive Oil into my hair as I detangled it using a wide toothed comb straight after taking down my extensions. I still had my spray bottle of coconut oil and water nearby, but I didn't use that because, I experience A LOT of shrinkage when my hair gets wet (like my hair can shrink up to my ears) and, well, it's easier to detangle my hair when it's stretched out although I could easily hand-stretch it while combing or melt the tangles away with the water as my tangles melt away easily. However, I had a little it of dirt in parts of my hair from not washing it out as often as I should've with the extensions in (got way too busy with school and work and stuff) and I didn't want dirty water dripping everywhere.
• I put my hair in random twists, donned on a plastic bag covered by my satin scarf and went to bed. So, basically, I prepooed. I did this for three reasons. 1) I was lazy and didn't want to bother with my hair anymore that night so I decided not to wash it then, 2) My hair takes almost a full 24hrs to dry especially if I decide to wear it in a wash and go (which is rare for me, but....) and 3) I felt that prepooing will help melt away any tangles that might still be in there and make the washing process easier.
• This morning (yesterday morning), I woke up and went straight to my bathroom where I washed my hair with my BeeMine Botanical Shampoo (sulfate-free, 100% natural and organic ingredients) twist section by twist section. This made washing my hair much easier, faster and ensure that every inch of my scalp and hair was clean 'cause as y'all know, some times, people wash their hair and don't wash it properly so there are like a few random parts that have lint in them or something or parts that can make your finger feel sticky or your nail get dirty ("I ain't about that life").
• Next, I conditioned my hair with three different conditioners. Yup! I did. I first used my BeeMine BeeLovely Conditioner followed by some of the VitaNourish conditioner that was sent to me (to review) by Midas Naturals. I worked this in my entire hair and then rinsed it out. Why did I do this? No reason, really. I like MidasNaturals' products and I liked the results I got from them when I initially used them (for the review) so I wanted to use that HOWEVER, I was sent a small bottle of the product and I have a lot of hair so....yeah. With the BeeMine conditioner, I brought a practically empty bottle home with me and I hadn't used that product in a while so I decided to just use it too combined with the MidasNaturals conditioner. Moving on....
• After rinsing out the conditioner combo going on in my hair, I used some of my SheaMoisture Restorative Conditioner to finger detangle, further soften and condition my hair (I just felt that my hair needed some tender loving care). I worked in the conditioner and finger detangled twist section by twist section and then I rinsed it out without taking out the twists to rinse then retwisting. Why? 1) Too much work and 2) I'm not so big on thoroughly rinsing out conditioners from my hair especially when the conditioner contains just natural ingredients.
• After the whole process my hair had undergone so far, I decided to treat it to one of my favourite products and the only deep conditioner I have ever used on my entire head of hair since I went natural (y'all know my and my 100% natural ingredients thing so, yeah, I always made my own deep conditioners prior to trying this one (for the review) and I only used this on my entire head of hair back then because I liked its ingredients list (normally, I'll use <1x1cm section of my hair to try out DCs or products I'm sceptical about)). I used the MidasNaturals Shine Conditioner. I absolutely love this product! Its consistency is on point, its smell is on point and its results are ON POINT. A little goes a long way with this product. I don't have a lot of it left as I got a small jar sent to me (looking forward to purchasing a larger jar of it) and like I've said before, I have a lot of hair so, yeah, I was glad that I could still get awesome results from just using a little of it.
• I left the conditioner in for a little over an hour before rinsing it out. This was because I wasn't in the mood to get back to the bathroom to rinse it out as my head had been feeling weird and I had woken up feeling terrible (I think I had my scarf on a little too tight when I slept or the heat going on up in the plastic bag combined by temperatures rising here while I was asleep and under a thick quilt (aka continental quilt, duvet, doona or comforter) messed up with my body). So, yeah, I got some breakfast (at around 3:11pm), chilled on a teddy bear that's almost my height (and I am much taller than the average height for women here in England), listened to a friend and my cousin play the drums (at first, I couldn't stand it because of how I was feeling and then when I started feeling better, it became more appealing to me), texted a friend and then I went to rinse out the DC and have a proper shower (and change out of the weird clothes I had been in (disappointing combination)).
• After rinsing out the DC, showering and changing into sweatpants and a comfortable top, I began to take down the twist (I forgot to mention, I rinsed out the DC with my hair still being in twists (I applied the DC taking down the twists first, though)) and African thread my hair to stretch it out because like I said before, my hair shrinks A LOT and up to my ears. I'm not a fan of horridly shrunken hair on me, neither was I up for wearing a wash and go or having to detangle my hair again any time soon. So, yeah, I threaded my hair.
• Before heading to bed, I took down the threads individually and separated my hair using just my fingers before rethreading to get my hair from collarbone length to almost APL without being 100% straight.

So, yeah, that's it.

I probably will leave my hair in the threads all tomorrow and in the morning of the day after to avoid manipulating my hair often and to retain this stretch for as long as possible (also, I need to be able to study and not worry about my hair).

I will be reinstalling my crochet braids (with new extensions identical to the old ones) before I head back to the west country (basically, back to college) and my aunt will be reinstalling them for me which is a process that makes me rather nervous haha (the pain!). I probably will go over to her place with my hair threaded to minimise the pain when she combs with a fine toothed comb (don't know why she does that) and does whatever she needs to do to install the extensions.

Anyways, it's really late now.

Gotta sleep.

Adios!

~Sammy

Being real with you

Hey,

Sorry for not posting in a while.

Okay, so I am going to be real with you guys. I am not going to give the impression that I have everything under control and that my hair is 100% healthy and moisturised because honestly, it's not. Well, I can get it there though. You see, I haven't really bothered with my hair in a while. I have been focussing more on work and working out and well, those are important especially the work bit as I teach a class at a prep school starting from 8am on Thursdays and Fridays, I've been made a charity representative so I plan a lot of charity events and host many of them, I have tonnes of school work as this is my last year of college, I recently took up a job in a place not so far from my school, I perform often, I have rehearsals twice a week till night for a musical I auditioned for a while back, I have rehearsals for other things too and my vocal coach recently signed me up for 3/4 competitions. I'm also ensuring my health stays up as for once, I am healthy. So, yeah, I've been neglecting my hair a little too much.

My hair is dry, I snap knots I feel in it some times, I fiddle with it a little too much at times and well it is growing, I have about an inch of new growth, but the health of my hair has deteriorated as I only have time for it during the holidays now.

So, this is me telling you all that I don't always have everything under control. I am not some superhuman natural hair blogger. I'm just like you, sometimes, I have everything down, other times, I don't.

I am going to nurse my hair back to health once everything settles down a bit (and I take down my protective style) and yeah, I will be happy with the condition of my hair once again.

I don't like neglecting my hair, but I'm not going to lie to you all or  deceive you and make you think that I never neglect my hair because I do at times.

This is me being real.
~Sammy

My hair post-crochet braids takedown

Picture gotten from HerCampus

So, I took my hair down a week ago, on Monday, and got too lazy to wash it so I detangled it the next morning finger detangling first then spritzing with apple cider vinegar, working some coconut oil in and running a comb through working in small sections and holding my hair in a stretched position. It was a pretty easy detangle. I've never had a detangling experience that good! I washed it immediately after using my BeeMine Botanicals Shampoo and then conditioned it with my BeeMine BeeLovely Conditioner followed by my Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner then I deep conditioned with my Terressentials Mud Wash (hehe ;) ) and worked out while deep conditioning to ensure some "steam" goes on in that plastic bag. I rinsed out the mud and reconditioned using a little of my Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner. I worked in small sections throughout and always retwisted and bantu knotted after working on each section to keep my hair stretched and make it easier to work with my hair.

Okay! So my mum African threaded my hair that night and I was too lazy to take out the threads the next day or to redo it for a "super-stretched" look so I left the threads in for two days and then took them down on Saturday, combed out my hair which was hanging down my back already and left it like that. However, my hair got big, like REALLY BIG and looked like a gigantic afro within a few hours. It looked pretty awesome and pretty cool and I'm pretty glad it retained its stretch even after doing that.

That night, I put my hair in random braids to retain the stretch, donned on a satin scarf and went to bed. This morning, I combed it out and held it up in a puff with some bangs and tried slicking down my edges. My puff looked pretty good. It was HUGE!

I love my hair!! :)
Gaah! :)

~Sammy

p.s Going to try out the product sent to me by Midas Naturals this coming weekend! :) SO EXCITED!!!! :)

After Insanity

Heyo!

So, y'all know I did the Insanity workout ("DID" I SAID, "DID!" I ACTUALLY DID IT AND FINISHED IT THIS TIME! OHMIGOSH!!). So, in this blog post, I am going to talk about my results and my future plans because I feel totally useless every night just sitting in my room or what ever. I need to continue working out daily.

Okay! So, Insanity started off well, and then we did plyometrics and I was like, "heeeeeeeeck no!" But I did it and kept up with the other workouts in month one always craving a Cardio Recovery, the day off, and looking foreword to the Recovery Week. So, Recovery Week came and that was a joke. Recovery, aye, Shaun T.? Stuff was still intense! But I didn't give up. Month 2 started with Shaun T's attempt to get me killed - Fit Test AND Max Cardio Circuit. I did it though, and kept craving Max Cardio Recovery, Core Cardio & Balance and the day off. Eventually, I finished the entire Insanity programme and I was as happy as.......ohmigosh!

I took pictures on my first day, at the start (I think) of month 2 and I am yet to take an after Insanity photo (that's bad, I know). In the first 2 set of pictures, I could see a difference. My body was WAY more toned! Looked really good. I was proud of it.

So, anyways, Insanity's over now and it ended with me having a bad knee. Yay! Fun! Not! It's painful! About a week or so after I was done with Insanity, my joints in me shoulders, elbows, wrists, both knees and my ankles started hurting. Like hurting enough to make me cry and spend most of my time in bed because it hurt to move. I don't think the joints issue has to do with Insanity, but hey! I have Nigerians in my family! Blame it on the I..I..I..I..Insanity, blame it on the I..I...I...I..I..I..I..I..I..I..Insanity! If they're reading this, they won't get the whole "Blame it on the Insanity" thing I just did. Hehe. Hey, family! :)

Anyways, so, I've decided that a week after ALL my joints are fine, I'm going to start a new BeachBody workout and it's going to be Shaun T's Rockin' Body! I couldn't decide between HipHop Abs and that, at first, but then I heard the soundtrack for Rockin' Body and I was like, "old school music! MY JAAAAAAM!!" and knew I'll have LOADS of fun burning 1,500 calories a day while jamming out to my favourite tunes. Gotta do what you love if it's of benefit to you!

So, yeah, that's all for now! :)
Stay natural! :)

~Sammy

Journey to a lil past APL

Picture Courtesy of ACurlyGirlAllTheDaysOfMyLife

Heyo!

So, first things first! Some people say, "don't count your transitioning days in how long you've been natural!" So, what does that make me? Two years natural? Dunno!

I transitioned for about 12 months. During that time, I got heat damage which I transitioned out of during those 12 months that I transitioned out of a relaxer. Two years? Is that right? So, I've been natural for 2-3 years? Okay!

So, anyways, y'all know my story! But I'll say it anyway:

SKIPPING THE BEGINNING OFCOURSE (the whole story about having a relaxer for most of my life, not being born with a hair manual, yada yada).

Okay! So, being natural wasn't the easiest thing and I guess I put my hair before other things in my life which was a terrible decision, of course, but my hair benefitted from it, I guess (though it would still have benefitted even if it wasn't the main physical thing in my life).  It took a while for me to decide what products I actually needed and how to work with them and it took a while for me to learn to work with my hair well and embrace the annoying things of being curly like shrinkage (the #1 annoying thing. The #2 is having your hair get stuck in things you walk past).

So, y'all know my goal had been BSL by the end of last year and unfortunately, I didn't get that. That was a bit of a downer. However, I've been on this protective styling journey that has helped in retaining quite a lot of length! You see, I'm a first-year college student (sixth form) and my mum thought it would be a lil stressful trying to take care of and style my hair while trying to get used to a new environment, teaching system, a bigger amount of workload and all so she had me decide to protective style. So, I was like, "okay, I'll get crochet braids done" and she installed them for me (I had mini twists in prior to that, but they were WAY too frizzy I had to take them down). I had my crochet braids in for about 4 months before I took them down, rocked my hair for about a week or two and then went back to them for about 3 months, took them down again, rocked my hair for a couple of weeks then put them back in. The second time I took them down, I had a lil past APL length hair! Oh me, oh my!

Okay! So, anyways, for 63 days, I did the Insanity Workout. Now, y'all might be like, "sixty-three??" Yup! the Insanity workout is advertised as a 60 days workout, but honey, it ain't! Count the days on the workout calendar! Stuff is 63 days long! They lied to me!! I finished this workout last month which means that I started it in March? I think? Can't remember? Too lazy to calculate? I believe the working out helped stimulate blood circulation in my scalp which in turn helped stimulate growth because I had quite a lot of new growth under my crochet braids before I took them down and noticed all that length. I have been off working out for a while now. I mean, I did Zumba once a week after Insanity, but I had a bad knee during the last week or so of Insanity and it got worse then about 3 weeks ago, my joints in my shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees (both) and ankles started hurting, I had to go for physiotherapy (been to it for about 4 weeks now) and I've had to see a doctor twice now so I've been off all workouts for a while now! I am going to pick up another workout that I'll do everyday a week after all this pain stops 'cause honey, it hurts to move.

Anyways, so that helped with my hair growth. Another thing that helped was that I started drinking more water which is really good. It's like watering grass. Water's gon' help those grass blades grow! Your hair's gon' grow if you water it and if you keep the soil (which is your scalp) hydrated! 

I also started eating WAY healthier! Although my guilty pleasure was popcorn and now it's ice cream. I'm not really a fan of ice cream (the only one I kinda actually like is Strawberry Cornetto), but if you live in Somerset or near Somerset, you would know that that place is HOT! Oh my gosh! It's like Nigeria all over again! (minus the perpetual smell of outside, the brown and grey skies (not blue!), the constant fighting, shouting, honking of horns, et cetera) I was sweating every night! You can't blame me for reaching out for some ice cream! I actually left where I live over there, walked for how many minutes, just to buy one Cornetto! Anyways, I felt sick afterwards. My punishment. With the popcorn, I ate it at night, which was bad, but that was just because that was when I had time to watch my series (Arrow, Vampire Diaries, The Originals and 24 (shout out to my fellow fans!)). Besides those guilty pleasures, I'm a healthy eater. I mean, I eat "grass" (a friend of mine calls my green, leafy salads, "grass"), I drink green juices (I have a bottle of it right beside me), I eat a bowl of fruits and/or veggies every night, when I make pasta, there's veggies in it, I cook clean (I avoid processed foods). When I eat what the school makes, I'm not sure what's in the food, but the food's not really unhealthy, I have one liquid meal a day (soups for lunch), I don't eat actual/cooked food after 5pm! And I have tried cutting off the popcorn, I actually deprived myself of it for a while (IT WAS TORTURE!! 'Cause I had a bag that stared me in the face whenever I opened up the cupboard to get some food ingredients). My popcorn was Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn which doesn't have that many calories, doesn't have all that flavouring, preservatives and nasty stuff added into other popcorns. I did indulge in some toffee popcorns, but they make me feel sick, make my teeth feel weird and my fingers sticky and I hate sticky and dirty fingers (I've helped a friend teach a clay club for about 2 weeks now and I was like, "uugh! my fingers are dirty!" when the clay messed it up. I'm girly when it comes to dirt!). Anyways, the healthy eating benefitted my hair as it is stronger, shinier and longer (I eat loads of protein (eggs) for breakfast, which helps).

What else?

When I take down my crochet braids, I have my hair out on some days, especially when leaving my house, and then, I prefer to rock a bantu-knot out. If I'm staying indoors, psh! Ain't nobody got time to detangle, style or simply just manipulate my hair (no touching!)! I just leave it up in a satin scarf, how I slept. That helps retain length :)

Anything else?

Aah! My fingers don't get into my hair (new growth under my crochet braids), and if I have a bobby pin in, it stays in (as long as it's not in a position it can get tangled in my hair in while sleeping) and if I have my satin headband/hair ribbon in, it stays in because the more I put it in and take it out, the more my hair weakens. I mean, it's like bending and straightening out a piece of metal or plastic or something. It's gon' weaken and break!

Oh! oh! I drink green tea daily too! Had about 10 cups in one day to my best and closest guy friend's utter disgust. :) I drink it just 'cause I love it and well, in return of that love, it boosts my metabolism, which I read recently, could stimulate hair growth and it stimulates my hair follicles according to some university's research.

There's already quite a bit of new growth under these new crochet braids which I've had in for about a month or a little over that now. This could be as a result of the new green tea addiction and also because I cleanse my scalp with apple cider vinegar instead of washing it often with a sulfate free shampoo then conditioning. This prevents abrasion which can lead to breakage.

Anyways, this is longer than I planned for it to be so I'm going to stop here!

Gotta study!

~Sammy

My Protective Styling Update

Hey y'all,

So, sometime during the third week of December, I took my crotchet braids down and used all the products I reviewed between December and January. Some, I might use again. Others, never again. I liked my hair, but I seemed to miss the longer hair. Also, I didn't reach my goal of BSL, but I believe I'll get it this year.
I kinda wasn't used to having to stretch my hair overnight and prep it for bed so that was a bit of a nuisance, but it wasn't so bad.
My family (not my parents, though) saw my hair once again and said they preferred it to my extensions, loved it and thought I didn't need extensions. One my first weekend extension-free, I rocked a bantu-knot out to church and that was what I call 'my short style' because it looked like I had rather short hair, but the curls looked cute. That night or the morning after, I faked a blow-out and it looked pretty good.
On the 29th of December, I went over to my Aunt's house and reinstalled my crotchet braids (new extensions, by the way). I happened to have a scalp issue then, but it's pretty much gone now.
With my crotchet braids now, I have been more versatile than before. I recently combed out all the curls and I'm rocking a fake blow-out and the hair looks HUGE! Unfortunately, if you've been reading the paper or watching the news, you'll know that there have been storms in Somerset (where my school is) and school's still in session so, I end up looking like a freak with hair in my face, struggling to move in one direction when the wind is pushing me and my hair in a different direction and having parts of my hair revert to being curly while others are relatively straight in the process of walking (or running) to my next class.
The weather here, at home, is much better than in Somerset so all's good. Lovin' my big hair!
I wonder how long I'll protective style this time....

Talk to y'all later!
~SammyWithTheBigHair

Update / Letter to Readers

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Hey Readers,

I know I've been away for quite a long time. Sorry 'bout that. There are so many restrictions on the internet where I am now. Even Google is blocked! So, I'm going to post a couple of things between now and the 3rd of November (while I'm at home) and then I'll post some more in December (when I' back at home).

For about 2 or 3 weeks in August, I had mini twists in. Since then, I've had crochet braids (I've had them in for almost 2 months now) and I'm loving them. I can see loads of new growth under my cornrows. My cornrows aren't even as close to my scalp as they were on the first few weeks anymore. I'm sure there's a little over an inch of new growth under there.

I've washed my scalp once and rinsed it out once since I installed the crochet braids. The rinse was because of a workout that got me all so sweaty that I was bothered about the state of my scalp and the wash was because I hadn't washed my hair in almost a month.

Right now, the weather where I am is pretty unstable. The other day, it was 14 degrees (Celcius) then 12 degrees then 3 degrees then at night it was so warm I was sweating then it got cooler at day and got hotter at night again and now, it's about 13 degrees and expected to get to 18 degrees later today (the humidity is about 94% at the moment, too!). I noticed my scalp and parts of my hair were pretty dry last night so I added some conditioners and rosemary oil to the water in my spray bottle, shook it up a bit, spritzed my scalp and massaged in the mixture. My scalp doesn't feel so bad this morning. I'm due for a serious DC, but I'm not sure about that with the crochet braids still on, but I might give it a try during my time at home.

By the way, I'm not typing this from home. It's going to be posted when I'm at home, though. Today is the 17th of October (a new episode of Vampire Diaries S5 is out today! yay!) and i'm pretty sure this will be uploaded on the 23rd.

Anyways, so, crochet braids is my fav. protective style. If you've been following my Twitter page, you'll know that many people have thought the crochet braids are actually my real hair, people love it, I love it and it's just so……big and wonderful!

I miss my hair, though, but it drizzles and rains practically everyday and I can't be bothered to stretch my hair out more than once a day or every single day. I also haven't really mastered the wash 'n' go yet. Maybe when I do, I'll stretch out over night and if it drizzles or rains, wear a wash and go for the rest of the day, dunno.

Anyways, who's enjoying the autumn/fall?

I am!

Lemme know how your autumn's been so far.

~Sam

My (sorta) New Routine + Update

Hey everyone,

So, I know it's been almost a month since my last post on here. I have an excuse. Yes! And it's a good one. I've been laptop deprived. Yup! And my iPhone, for some reason, won't let me post anything on here. *sad face* :(

Anyways, so I'm here now and yes, I have graduated. :) Oh! yeah! so, I said I was going to tell you guys what I'll do with my hair for my graduation and prom. So, I had my hair up in a cinnabun for graduation and then for prom, I picked my hair out into an afro and pinned off part of the front-left-side. The prom do shrunk so bad at my prom, but it shrunk beautifully, people were still going, "I love your hair!" even after it had shrunk till it could shrink no more.

So....back when I was still in high school (which was like 12 days ago, I know, it's been so long since i graduated), I was so busy with exams and stuff (exams started in February and ended on the 12th of June - an almost daily thing) so I started to deep condition less and take care of my hair less. Fortunately, due to my previous regimen, my hair still remained moisturised and soft even without being deep conditioned weekly, it did need a protein treatment real-bad, though, my ends, those babies suffered :( Another thing is that I started to wash my hair less. Like I normally would wash my hair once a week and during really dry weeks, a sulfate-free shampoo wash during the weekend and a co-wash mid-week. Well, the shampoo and co-wash, both were out of my equation. Don't get me wrong, I didn't become a smelly-haired, dirty girl, my hair looked and smelt fine. I just didn't have the time to wash it and like I was always so tired so even at night, I wasn't really up for washing my hair and I didn't have enough time to do it in the morning. And please don't being up the weekend 'cause I was at school on Saturdays AND SUNDAYS too doing exams. During that period of washing less, I noticed something, umm.... dirt is good. Okay! let's just put that as "washing less is good" 'cause the whole dirt is good thing gives me the image of a dustbin, trash can, rubbish bin, dumpster, whatever you want to call it. My hair actually felt better without being washed as often and it stayed stretched longer. I guess it's because it's retaining nutrients longer and losing its oil less. I'm getting this vibe that some of you might be thinking up something rather nasty right now, so I'll just set things straight with y'all, I didn't go without washing my hair from February till June! Okay! so it's out there! I washed my hair a couple of times, just not as often as I usually did. Like I could go 3 weeks without a wash. But hey! I only washed my hair with a shampoo once every 4 weeks while I was transitioning (but I believe I co-washed between that, so it's still different, hmm..... but anyways!)

Right now, I'm out of high school (yup! :) ) and well....I've been sleeping so much. I'm still not washing my hair as often as I used to, but it's not as bad as while I had exams. Right now, I'm just letting my hair be unless I need to step out of my house. Like I had messy bantu-knots in for almost a week and even stepped out with them (under a satin scarf with a cotton scarf over the satin scarf).

It's been raining practically every day and when I'm rocking a short style (rocking some shrunken hair), that's a bit of a rinse for me. I would wash my hair this week, but I've got rehearsals for a fundraiser (concert I'm performing at on Sunday) and I'm heading out to the beach with a bunch of friends (something I haven't done in quite a long time) on Saturday I guess I can try squeezing in a wash after the beach 'cause of the salty water and stuff, but it takes a day for my hair to dry nowadays so, I'm not guaranteed it'll be dry by the time I'm heading out to church and I need it to be sorta stretched out so I can easily style it for the fundraiser.

Okay! So, I'm going to force myself to wrap up this post now. I'll just put up my sorta new routine:

• Wash whenever time is found, but don't go longer than two and a half weeks before a wash.
• Alternate between amla and BeeMine Botanical Shampoo (sulfate-free) or make an alma-shampoo mixture to wash with (weird....this just came to mind....."alma-poo")
• Co-wash more often and with a conditioner and oil mixture.
• Condition after every alma or shampoo wash with a conditioner and coconut oil mixture.
• Twirl hair in random, but medium-small sections with fingers or twirl/roll and bantu knot (to secure) hair immediately after washing till it dries to aid the clumping (my hair doesn't clump everywhere and it usually loses it clumps especially when manipulated or it gets frizzy)
• Finger detangle and style rather than comb-detangle and style,
• Spray hair with a mixture of water, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil every morning and every night (ensure every night before bed incase the one in the morning doesn't work out) and seal it in with a 1p coin (never more than a 50p coin) amount of coconut oil (I'm sorry, but I don't know what size the different cent coins come in). This helps to keep the hair moisturised and soft. Oh! yeah and I have to caps of a bottle of Heinz ACV (poured the ACV in the bottle top/cap twice and poured it into a very large spray bottle that's half full with water).
• Deep condition before every wash, with a moisturiser, with coconut oil, with damp hair, with a mixture of honey, mayo and an egg (preferably egg yolks) and deep condition with coconut milk (mixed with coconut oil, honey and cornstarch (cornstarch for thickness)) only when I don't mind getting myself and my bathroom messy.
• Don't manipulate hair unless leaving the house and going for something quite important (that is not the grocery store/supermarket).
• Rock twist-outs (flat and two-strand), bantu-knot-outs or a flat twist going through the ends of my hair whenever leaving the house. Avoid rocking puffs often (even though it's your signature style). Rock puff only when you have concert. Save 'em edges! (and ends)
• Shower without hair covered (I usually left my hair with a satin-scarf on when showering to prevent frizz due to the humidity 'caused by the hot water, but right now, the steam gives my curls a wake-up call and helps keep it moisturised).

That's basically it!

Toodles!

(can't believe I just said that!)

It's been a while..... (must read update)

I know I've neglected this for a while and I'm sorry, but.......I've got to do that again. I will try to get on once a week or once every two weeks, but I doubt I'll post something new on here any time sooner than that. Don't worry, those things in the 'Coming Soon' post are still coming. Once I get the time to type up all the reviews and I get back to England in Nov. (had to send the BeeMine stuff over to my aunt's 'cause they were too heavy at that point in time to bring over here with me. Last to arrive, first to go, as dad likes to put it (with my stuff)).

Anyways, I finally took my extensions (twists) down (on the 30th of Aug) and I doubt I'll ever put them back in. Why? Well, it  pulled out my hair. Like it took off over an inch of my nape her at the left corner  (finally grew out my nape hair and now, I have to start over on that side). Took off over and inch in front. I actually had to take down all the extensions around that area, twist up my own hair and hold it up with the rest of the twisted extensions. However, I didn't have any lint in my hair when I took them down (unlike my mum lol). I made sure to wash my hair (even though I did that just once) in a certain way: get everything in a bottle, quite diluted, shake up the bottle and wash your scalp with it's contents then rinse out thoroughly (oh! and be sure to braid up your twists in sections and hold the ends of each section with a rubber band and please, DON'T let that rubber band come into contact with your actual hair). I also moisturised every now and then so, my hair wasn't really dry when I took down the twists. I had been told that the synthetic extensions I used would dry out my hair thoroughly, but I guess, I was able to figure out a way to prevent that. I also always slept with my satin bonnet on. But I'm not going back to twists or braids with extensions. I'm going to stick to my own hair or crotchet braids. I might revisit the extensions some time, but well, really lose ones or something....I don't know.

My hair everywhere else grew quite a bit (about an inch or a bit more:) ) during the time I had my twists in (low manipulation). I got to school for some stuff (before school got back in) and like the few other students that had to be there exclaimed, "ohmigosh! your hair's grown so much!" and well, you know me, I can't just let that comment pass. I even had someone put his hands in my hair just to feel it (without my permission, ofcourse), but it was okay 'cause he's one of my closest guy friends, but I totally felt like joking around and going, "you don't touch a black woman's hair!" (or a part black, in my case, but, anyways!). My hair's been shrinking a whole lot, I should add. Over 75% I believe (I know). I have to keep it stretched 24/7. I'm actually back to my weekly protective styling, but during the weekend when I DC, wash, etc, my hair shrinks and gets tangled whenever even after a thorough detangling session (and the shrinkage makes it worse). This week, I decided to just take out the ends of my flat braids (cornrows). On Friday, I did my shortest DC ever  (which means I didn't sleep with the DC on - oh! and the DC was with coconut oil). Before I slept, I co-washed my hair and scalp (still with the braids in) then I wrapped my hair up in a t-shirt, secured the t-shirt on by tying a scarf over it then my satin bonnet thingy. By morning, it was all dry so I took all those things off my head then I started taking out my ends (every part that wasn't flat braided/the ends of every flat braid) then I banded them (using Goody Ouchless Bands) to keep them stretched and to retain the whole braid-out look (and add a lil "band-out" action to it :) ). I still have my hair like that right now, but I'm taking everything down before I head out to church tomorrow, but I can't decide what to do with my hair.....my signature puff that everyone loves, or an afro which would most likely shrink to my scalp in this humidity (or possible rain). *sigh* My dilemma. But I sure do know that I'm rocking my signature puff to a formal dinning event I'm attending on Friday. It's going to be full of teens aged 15-17, we have it every year. We get all dressed up in gorgeous evening gowns, tuxedos/suits, get our hair done, and act like grown ups (well, some of us don't really need to act if you know what I'm saying *wink* *wink*). I believe that my puff would look great with my dress. Oh my is it gorgeous! Note to self: make sure to pack an afro pick, bobby pin and elastic head band.

Okay! So here's the really important part:
(If you've read everything so far, thank you so much, I truly appreciate it! :) )


I've been thinking for some time now about writing a book and well, early this year, I used to think about making my own natural hair product line since I'm already such a mixtress.
As for the book, I was talking about it with my mum and I was like, "you know those books that have 2 cover/front pages?" and she was like, "yes," and I was like, "I want my book to be like that, wanna know what the titles would be on the different cover pages?" and she was like, "sure," and I was like, "on one side, it'll be 'SammyWithTheBigHair,' for naturalistas and on the other side, 'Stubborn Like My Mother' for people who are like you and choose to remain relaxed when they've got beautiful curls!" Can't you just imagine that book right now? A total best-seller, don't you think? We gon' be famous! *Sammy does some cool (scary) happy dance* :)
About the products. I know it'll be hard to advertise and all, but I think I might go into this sometime. When I'm older ofcourse (even if just by a year) and when I done with this school year (graduating by the end of this school year). I'm thinking bout calling my brand of products, 'Sammy's Little Bowls.' What do you think about that name?
Oh! and I came up with some really good hair moisturiser some days back, modified it a little today, put it in a bottle and it is epic! I totally love it! Made my hair feel so soft, moisturised and totally G.O.O.D *Sammy dances again* This moisturiser makes life easier for me. Instead of having to reach for the bottled water to get on my hair then the coconut oil/cond-mix then the butter, I have this. Saves time. I'm thinking of making this one of my first products. I might actually start selling it now because some people have requested for some of the things I make for my hair. I'll see what I can do, but nothing major. I would put the recipe on here, but for now, it's going to be my secret, my secret moisturiser, 'my precioussss, myyyyyy' 'It came to me, my own, my love... my... preciousssss'. *said in a gollum of Lord of the Rings voice* :) I mean, it's totally amazing! But I guess I should stop talking about it now since I'm not putting it up here yet (oh! but for you guys, my first fans, just send me a message (details on the contacts page on here) and I'll send you my recipe, but you have got to modify it a bit to fit you. What works for me may not work for you.


Okay! So here are some new things about my hair:

1. She totally loves coconut oil now
2. She's starting to like olive oil
3. She loves her shea butter even though it doesn't smell very appealing to Sammy and her parents.
4. She has the perfect puff now when she detangles her hair and combs it into an afro using a pick before holding it up in the puff
5. She totally wants a trim (but the stylists refuses to give it for the next 3 months)
6. She totally loves water
7. She shrinks so bad she makes Sammy look like she has a TWA when she doesn't .
8. She hates extensions
9. She loves Sammy's tender loving care :)

Anyways, I still can't decide what exactly to do with my hair for my prom and graduation. By then, I should, hopefully, be around or a little less than bra-strap length when my hair's been stretched out (which I'll do using african threading).

I'm thinking about getting my first blow-out in over a year, but I'm looking for a blow drier which has a cool/cold setting on it. That's what I'll use. No heat is going on this hair (even with a heat protectant on). Sammy's gon' rock a massive 'fro when she gets her hair blown out! *dance* Wait! why am I talking in third person?

Anyways, I'll talk to you all later,

~SammyWithTheBigHair

Concert Photo + Update

Sorry, no photos of me in this post.

ANYWAYS, I saw a picture of me taken by someone while I was performing at my last concert and I was like, "ohmydays, that puff is cute!" My puff was so perfect (well, really close to perfect). It was AMAZING!
So excited. Didn't know my puff looked that good and even the side bangs looked good too. Oh.my.days!

.....


1. I've tried out Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) on my hair. I actually used it last week and it made my hair feel so soft and good. Unfortunately, the ACV smells. It has such a terrible smell. OH.MY.DAYS!

2. How many times have I said 'oh my days' now? If you're answer's 3 times, you are....SO WRONG! I've said it 4 times! (included the one in the question)

3. Jamming out to some Bollywood songs right now. I actually want to go dancing in India right now. hehe Baajo Baanta Baaraa

4. My ABRSM voice exam was quite scary before I walked in for the exam because it turned out my voice trainer had given me 1 song in list A, none in list B, and 2 in list C and I was supposed to have 1 in list A, 1 in list B and 1 in List C so, I had to start memorising a new song a few minutes before I walked in for the exam. Scary!

5. A fellow curly girl and I were talking about hair salons and getting our hair done at them. She mentioned something REALLY disgusting that the hair stylist was doing while working on her hair (I won't mention it on here. It's too disgusting). Then we were talking about what hair stylists say when they have to work with our hair and how they complain. The fellow curly girl said that a hairstylist in Nigeria asked her, "why are you keeping your hair natural, is it for juju?" By the way, juju's like possessed charms, black magic, all those basically, but African sorta usually conducted by people known as Baba Alaos which are also known as witch doctors, native doctors, etc. But can you believe what she was asked? Just because she decided to leave her hair natural? Nadie debe preguntar esa pregunta! *sigh* *shakes head*

6. I want to jam out to more Bollywood songs!

7. I should so start taking down my braids!

8. I'm performing at a recital concert tomorrow.

9. Might perform at a music contest thingy.

10. Watching CNN, wait!  nope! watching my laptop screen, but CNN's on. Practically downed a whole carton of OJ. Sammay loooves her O(h)J(aay) (OJ). Thinking of shooting an orange juice commercial.

Talk to y'all curlies later,
~Sammay! Woohoo!

(shaking my pompoms in the air like a cheerleader)

Update + Concert (featured) + Whatever comes to mind...

(I know, I know, this could be quite distracting)

Hey everyone!

So, I just got back from a concert about 4 and a half hours ago. It was a blast! I performed at it and well, sometime after my performance, a lady came up to my mum to let her know that they would love for me to perform at their next IB Concert in November. WOOHOO! While she was talking to my mum, the Head of School (at my school, who happened to be at the concert) came up to me and was like, "YOU WERE AMAZING!" I was so happy! Also, my mum's friend wants me to come sing at some program her church might be hosting! Gaah! :)

Okay! now, time to talk...hair :) I totally rocked a puff today! Yes! I finally did it! :) I had my hair up in an elegant puff with a bit of hair out at the front and held to the side. I looked g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s.e! :) People were talking about my hair and someone actually asked me to tutor her daughter on natural hair and right now, her daughter's planning on a one-year long transition :) I believe that apart from a baby, I was the only female with naturally curly hair at the concert and I wore my hair curly and luckily, it didn't shrink too much.
..............................

Update:
1. I was sick for about a week. Caught the flu. I'm on some meds now and I'm recovering.
2. I've got a literature exam starting tomorrow. Wait! It's 12:32am. Oh my... make that, today. I have a literature exam today.
3. Ever since a few days after that Natures Gentle Touch thing (where the 'Tricky' put that mouse camera thing on my scalp and hair without cleaning it first x_X), I've been battling with dandruff. Luckily, my scalp's not too itchy, but I need to take care of the dandruff ASAP. What I'm going to do is to make a fresh batch of rosemary oil (that worked before, so, hopefully, it'll work now).
4. Did a "length check" yesterday and totally WOWed my parents. My hair's like already going down my back and they never realised that till I let my hair down yesterday and finger stretched the hair at the back then at the front (which is at chin level now) then the sides (which are below my collar bone). :)
5. I'm getting my hair cut next month (I believe this must be the umpteenth time I'm mentioning that).
6. I just realised how much a dislike people staring so much like I'm some weird creature. I guess it was because of my hair because, ever so often, their eyes kept drifting up to my hair and would stay locked on my hair for a long time, but seriously, not only is staring rude, but it is sooo so annoying! (But I have to admit, it does make me feel special and so so pretty sometimes :) hehe)
7. I went to a wedding yesterday with my hair out and like when I saw a photo of me during the wedding, after the wedding, my hair was huge, but looked SO GOOD! Gaaaaah!
8. I seem to be an expert at hiding things like dandruff. Just looking at me, people don't guess that I'm having to deal with that problem right now.
9. I reacted to some body lotion (on my face) and like I have bumps practically everywhere. Anyways, today, at church (before I left for the concert), a guy came over to me and was like, "what happened to your face?" I explained to him that I was reacting to something and he shocked me by saying, "I used to look at your face so much and admire it, you used to have such smooth, flawless skin, like a kid who's never had to deal with zits. You know what, just leave your face alone, the bumps'll go soon and you'll have your smooth face back," I was like, "okay," and I was smiling. I mean, I've never liked seeing these bumps on my face. They're pretty, no, very annoying, but that someone would come up to me and say all that :) Especially that he admired my face and always looked at my face :) aaawe :)
10. OHMIGOSH! PHILLIP PHILLIPS WON! OHMIGOSH!! I SOOO L.O.V.E HIM (not in a romantic way. I mean, I don't even know him....though I feel like I do :)) I just want to hug him and tell him how proud I am of him. And Jessica, she was good, great, as a matter of fact. And Joshua too, but I'm so happy Phillip won.
11. O.M.G did you guys check out DeAndre's hair! (#AmericanIdolFinals) It was all bouncy and beautiful and natural. He's so cute! :)
12. Missing a really close friend. She's enrolling in the army and just got shipped out on Tuesday.
13. My dog's blind. Her name's Holly. She hurt herself when she got restless because someone put her on a leash (I wasn't there). She had to be rushed in for a surgery, survived it, but ended up blind on her left eye, but my lil Holly's still as active as a chihuahua high on sugar and caffeine.
14. I'm considering making and selling hair products or starting a natural hair/transitioning course thingy.
15. I've been volunteering and working with kids at my church's sunday school and today, the kids gave a performance shortly before I had to head out for rehearsals (for the concert) and oh my, they were AMAZING! They were so good. At some point, I thought they were going to flop, but when we got out there and they started their performance, they were GOOOOOOOOD! :)
16. Chaka Khan is amazing and her hair's so amazing too (#AmericanIdolFinals) :)

hmmm....it's late x_X
Gotta go now
Talk to you later,
~Sam :)