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!

Twists with extensions tips, care and stuff

Hey,

So, I don't know if I told you guys this, but I had a bad experience with those twists with extensions,so, I'm never using extensions again. However, I learnt a couple of things from them.

What was my bad experience?
I lost over an inch of hear in front 'cause of the twists. They suddenly fell out, I took out the extensions that fell out, undid them and voila! my hair was in them. I hand-stretched the hair in front that had been below my lips and they were like nose-length. Not funny. I also lost quite a lot of my nape hair which I had managed to grow out till it had started going down my back I had like just stubble or what left when I hand-stretched it to see its new length.

What type of extensions did you use?
Synthetic ones

Aaaah, must be why. You should've used human hair extensions.
I would never use those

Why?
'Cause the hair....like....where did it come from? Either:
1. The heads of dead people, or
2. Temples (used for sacrifices)

I can't use hair from any of those on mine and like none of us really know where those human hair extensions came from by just looking at the pack-thingies they come in. All we'll see is something like,"Malaysia" or "Thailand," "India,"or something. We won't know that someone died, their hair got scraped off and sold or some person went to a temple for tonsure or something, their hair got shaved off, some person went over to the temple, took the sacrificed hair and sold it.

Oh.... that makes a lot of sense, but quick question: didn't the extensions dry out your hair?
No, they didn't. I was extra careful with taking care of my hair while I still had the extensions in to prevent them from drying out my hair.

So, you knew there was a possibility of them drying out your hair?
Yes, I did. I actually just found out about it a few days before I got the extensions 'cause I was chatting with Chris-Tia Donaldson (founder of ThankGodI'mNatural) and she mentioned it.

Okay! So, please, please, dish on the care, tips, and need to knows. I need to know them.
Here we go, then!

1. Installation: When getting your twists done, make sure your hair and scalp are clean and moisturised and work some combing conditioner into your hair prior to installation. Make sure the twists aren't done too tight especially around the name area and edges. Don't use a lot of extensions on a tiny portion of your hair. If you do, it'll weigh down your hair giving it a reason to fall off. *Ensure you start the twists from your roots and you don't start them by braiding at your roots first. Also, hot water isn't needed and you don't need to trim the hair down the length of the twists after installation. Hot water's not good for your hair and the trim's just going to unevenly cut your hair off.

2. Washing: You don't need to wash your hair or scalp every single week. I washed mine only once and I had my twists in for 2 months. I guess because your scalp isn't as exposed to the air and all the pollution in it, it doesn't get as dirty as fast. Anyways, to wash your hair, all you need is a bottle, some water, some shampoo, some conditioner and some extra virgin olive oil (or whichever oil you prefer). Pour about a teaspoon of shampoo into the bottle, followed by about a tablespoon of conditioner. Add a teaspoon of the oil to it, shake the bottle up a bit then fill up about 3/4 of the bottle with water. Shake it really well till the shamconoil (don't ask why I suddenly made up that word) has totally dissolved. get your hair into about 6 sections and braid each of them securing them at their ends with either hair bands or rubber bands. Wash your scalp well getting some of the washamconoil on your hands and working it into your scalp. Leave the washamconoil in for about 2-5 minutes then thoroughly rinse it out using warm water. In a scrunching motion, squeeze out the water from the braids you made then leave your hair in those braids till it dries or is 70-90% dry before you let it out. Some people might just let it out after washing, but that's just going to get everything, including you, wet.

3. Night Routine: All I'll say is, Satin bonnet or scarf. Remember your hair's still there, it didn't magically disappear when you installed those twists. So, ensure you always sleep with a silk or satin bonnet or scarf on. Also, ensure your hair's held up in at least a loose ponytail before doing so..

4. Care: Every few days or once a week, work some extra virgin olive oil into your scalp and hair (about a 50p coin size in total). Never pull at your hair. Don't fiddle with it much. If it hurts anyways, you take it down. After about 3-4 weeks, take down the hair at the edges and at the napes. Detangle and twist your own hair (alone) and style it whichever way you want with the other twists. If your hair is shorter than the other twists, you hold you hair up then tuck your own hair sorta behind the other twists in a way that it still blends in if you know what I mean. You don't want the hair around those places falling out.

5. Take Down: Below where the ends of your actual hair, turn the twist in the opposite direction of how they were installed or get your finger through it. When you have an opening, gently pull the extensions apart then gently finish up the take down.

6. After Take Down: Get your hands wet work them around sections of your hair at the roots to make sure any possible lint has been dissolved (I didn't have lint, by the way). Detangle your hair starting from the ends with a wide toothed comb (your hair should be sorta damp during this). If you can, run a tangle teezer through it then wash it out how your normally would on a wash day and leave it to air dry whichever way suits you best. For at least a week, do not braid or twist your hair, even if just alone as a hair style. Let your hair and scalp rest, okay?

That's all I have for now.

Wow! That's a long list!
No, not really

I guess. It looks long, but it's pretty simple.
Exactly

So, with this, you are guaranteed healthy, soft hair?
Well, like I always say, what works for one person just might or might not work for another. This worked for me and I hope it works for a lot of other people.

It was nice to talk to you about this.
You too.

I hope all you've said helps someone out, Sammy.
I hope so too, Sammy.

Bye, for now.
You too.

ZBogem
ZBogem.

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

Hair cut

Okay! So, it didn't happen and I'm pretty upset (so wasn't my fault). My mum spoke with the stylist on the phone and she was supposed to be there to get my hair cut (by the way, she's also the owner of the hair salon). Anyways, we got there and she wasn't there neither was another lady there that I might have let do it instead. There were 2 ladies and the salon owner's sister there. She then told us that her sis had gone down to London for the Olympics. So, I eventually just got my hair put in twists with extensions and I'm having them like this till the end of the summer.
I got to the salon at around 3pm and left at almost 9pm. At some point, 3 people (a lady and 2 guys) were working on my hair at the same time and it still took forever to finish even though one of the guys was SUPER fast! Never seen a guy twist that fast. I've never seen a guy twist, period!
The guy walked in, looked at my hair and started touching it (the lady working on my hair originally had stepped away for a second) I seriously felt like saying something like, "you don't touch a black woman's hair!  But 1. I'm only part black and 2. I was curious to know what this guy was up to. Next thing I knew, he was sectioning out my hair and then he picked up some of the extensions and about a minute later, this guy was twisting my hair perfectly, pain-free and so fast! The lady who was originally working on my hair was fast, yeah, but if I can still make out your fingers, you're not fast enough. Anyways, the twists she did hurt and when I asked her if she could stop making them so tight, she said, "no!" (and she calls herself a pro-braider/twister).
Anyways, totally lovin' my twists (can't wait till my hair's as long as they are lol)
By the way, my twists aren't tiny.




So...I'll talk to you guys later. Maybe when I get my BeeMine products :)
~Sam






p.s I want to stumble into some BritishCurlies members this summer :)