Showing posts with label big hair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label big hair. Show all posts

Monday, November 7, 2011

HairSpirations

There are many naturals whose hair I admire.

Usually, it's of the fluffy, thick variety, with banging and defined twisouts/braidouts/fros.

Many times, I love their hair because it's a look that my hair hasn't quite been able to accomplish yet; I'm just really getting the hang of flat twists, or their hair is longer than mine or lusher (is that a word, lol)?

I call them hair idols. Yeah, I know my curls are unique and I won't ever rock their curls, but dammit, I sometimes want their hair, if only for a day.

Here are a few HairSpirations from NaturalHair.tumblr.com.


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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Holiday Hair?

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The first week of November usually gets me in holiday mode.

After all, Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, then Christmas, and finally, New Year's.

Let's face it, sometimes family + natural hair don't mix.

Depending upon your family and how much you care about others' opinions, you've got to have some thick skin to wear natural hair. Some families, as long as your hair isn't unkept, could care less; generally, they'll only call you out if your hair is a HOT MESS -- and that's whether it's natural or relaxed.

Now, a HOT MESS can be very subjective, but you get my drift.

And then you have those "special" families who think that all curls, kinks, waves, naps or what have you must be beaten out of your hair; they're not happy until you do "something" with that, that hair. Soon, your hair and what you will do with it, becomes the topic of the discussion. And, don't let you have recently done  a big chop -- either you are sick with cancer or are crazy in the head for "cutting all that pretty hair off" because you dared to rock a short style.

Families are special. And special families need to get told from time to time. Sorry. If you aren't asking your Momma/Daddy for money to get your hair done, no matter how much you love them, they really can't tell you what to do with your hair. They may have given you the hair you were blessed with, but that's it.

Really, if you are grown, how you decide to wear your hair is your business. Who cares what anyone else thinks, as long as you are happy with your hair. Put your big girl panties on, rock that TWA, braidout/twistout/fro/natural style of your choice and keep it movin'!

Will your natural hair be the topic of discussion or snide remarks at the holiday table? If so, how will you deal with it? Would you avoid a family function because of how you wear your hair?

Monday, October 31, 2011

The Hair Goes On ...

After a few weeks of wearing the La Jay wig, I'm back to wearing, *drum roll, please* my own hair.

No particular reason, just wanted a change. That, and I missed the feel of my own hair. The reactions to my wig have been great. Got lots of, "I like your hair," "awesome hair," and "love your hair like that," but it still took some getting used to.

My hair was so "big" that a lot of times, it would get stuck in branches and other stuff because since it wasn't my hair, I don't think I really knew how big it was. Was almost like it was another object slapped on top of my head. One day last week on a crowded elevator a white dude said, "Wow, that is some hair!" Wasn't sure what the hell he meant by that, but I took it as a compliment and said, "Yes, it is, thank you! and kept it moving.

Meh.

Went clubbin' with the hubs to celebrate our 16th anniversary and he told me the next morning that I kept hitting him all night with my hair, LOL! Girls were laughing at us, but I was having a good time and didn't notice, nor did I care.

Today, I did a new wash-and-go technique and I'm proud to say I achieved 2nd day hair for, like, the first time EVA!

Here's what I did:

  1. Co-washed with Herbal Essence Hydration
  2. Sealed wet hair with Dax (yes, I said, Dax, HairNistas!)
  3. Applied Eco Styler with Argan oil
  4. At night, I put my hair in five or six stretchable hair bands and twisted with no product.
  5. Fluffed the next morning
This is big for me, because I've never, ever had 2nd day wash and gos. The Dax made my hair super soft and moisturized, an idea I got after reading it on CurlyNikki.com. I've used Vaseline to seal before, but I'm heavy handed at times and my hair can look dull if I'm not careful and apply too much.

Overall, I like it. Seems like the Dax stretched my hair a bit and I got less shrinkage. This morning. doing my hair was easy. I put a little gel on my bang, since I like it curly, fluffed, and I was done in less than 5 minutes.



I've never used Dax on my hair, so I was a bit skeptical. As a kid, my grandmother always used Ultra Sheen and Bergamont grease. My favorite conditioner is Silicon Mix -- which is chock full of mineral oil. And it does wonders on my hair. I figure my hair will tell me if grease is bad -- despite the doomsday warnings about crispy, dry, crunch hair from those in the anti-grease movement.

The real test will be using it on my daughters' hair, because it's only been a few years since I completely stopped using grease on their hair, in favor of moisturizers. You know, I'm all all about doing me and doing what works for me.

So far, so good. Think I'll see how many days I can wear it like this.

Oh, and about the wig. I'll probably still wear it _- heck, I may put it on tomorrow if it's a bad hair day -- but I'll probably only wear it for a week or so at a time. I'm due for a trim, so I'll probably get it professionally straightened in the next week or so.

Am I the only one who's scared to let a stylist go near my hair? I don't have a regular stylist, and to be quite honest with you, the only person who I trust 100% with my strands is the woman who did my hair for 15 years, since I was 12, back at home in Detroit. Unfortunately, I lost touch with her and don't know if she's even still in the business.

If you're out there, Dorothy, I miss you. She labored with me through all my hair iterations -- relaxed, natural, damaged from relaxers, cried with me when I lost a good 4-5 inches of hair when I didn't detangle it and wore it in a gelled ponytail for months when my kids were babies, refused to cut all of my hair off when I wanted to wear it short, asked me what the hell I was doing when I tried to get the curly look by wearing Creme of Nature shampoo (don't ask, but I didn't know about co-washing in the early 1990s, LOL)... You get the idea.

You were a "natural" stylist before natural stylists were in.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Big Hurr E'ry Day

I finally got the La Jay wig by Vanessa!

Now that I got it, umm... I don't know if I'm feeling it. I heard -- and saw-- on YouTube that it was big. But I don't think I was prepared for how big it was until I got it yesterday. I'm on some 80s Diana Ross and Chaka Khan ish, lol!

It's similar to my natural texture, but it's longer and fuller -- which is the look I'm going for. But the thing is so. damn. BIG!

Takes a bit of getting used to. I wore it right out of the beauty supply shop to the Goodwill next door (came home empty handed, unfortunately). Maybe it was my imagination, but I felt like everybody was staring at me.

Then, when I got home, my hubby and kids clowned me. My son said, "Mom, it looks like you  have fake hair, but I know it's not."

My daughters were not fans, and my hubby teased me about it all night. Didn't know it could be this hard to wear a wig! Despite what they say, I think I'm going to stick it out a little bit more. I wouldn't mind cutting it to shoulder length.

Hopefully, I'll grow to like it a bit more once I style it a bit more.

I didn't wear it today because I'm wearing a curly fro (plus, I figure it'll be easier to transition to the La
Jay after a day of wearing my own "big" hair, instead of my usual wash and go) and I needed a bit more time to work with it.

This morning, I went straight to YouTube to see how people style it. Seems like it looks the best when the front is left out, but it's a half wig that can also be worn as a full wig. I like the way this blogger styled it.



Here are a few pics. Let me know what you think.

Yay or nay?



Stylin and profilin the La Jay wig at Goodwill




Not so sure if I'm feelin' La Jay!