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| I thought I was so cute wit my lil bald head..lmao! |
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Growing up, I always DREADED gettin my hair done cause my mom was BEYOND heavy-handed!!
She would wash and do my hair about once a month [twice if it got REAL nasty], blow dry it, put it in two big twists hangin from lil bow-bows wit my barrettes on the ends of my hair, and that was IT!
Every once in a while somebody (one of her co-workers or one of my aunts) would come cornrow my hair up real nice and that would last the whole month. But once it was time to take it out?? Talk about BAWLIN!!
When I got to middle school, my grandma started pressin my hair wit the hot comb...
The REAL hot comb too!
You know...you gotta sit next to the stove,
put it on the fire, wait for it to get hot, rub it on a piece of paper towel to see if it's too hot, and if it is, you blow on it while you straightenin the hair??
Yeah...
Wit the DAX pressing oil??
Yeah...
The house ALWAYS smelled like burnt hair eveeeryyy other week!
Anyway,
So she showed my mom how to do it so she could keep up the style once we moved from Brooklyn to Jersey.
Now, I didn't know how to do my hair AT ALL...all I knew was to brush it or comb it, grease it & tie it up when i was goin to bed and that was it. But I thought I looked all types of good wit my lil straight hair!
Once H.S came along, I noticed ALOT of hair in my brushes when I'd brush my hair and I didn't really know that it was that much of a bad thing.
cause that's how mommy's brush was too
But what I ALSO noticed was how short my hair had gotten and I did NOT like it >_<
One day I was lookin at TV and I was like, "Why are they showin all these commercials/ tv shows w/ black women havin some curly ass hair. How do they get their hair that way? 0_O"
And back when I noticed this, this was when the CW was still UPN, and they were showin Girlfriends (Tracey Ellis-Ross) and Half & Half (This chick, v)
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| Rachel True |
and I was like... "Only mixed ppl can have hair like that...but I WANT IT TOO!" [ignorant, I know -__- ].
Sooo, I looked up rod sets and stuff and some natural hair care sites came up along w/ it, and I was HOOKED.
The FIRST natural hair care website I was obsessed w/ was Roshini.net..
...I went through ALL of her albums, read EVERY post..and I became SOOOO inspired about something that I always had: natural hair!
I was SO inspired, that I wanted to know MORE!! I wanted to know it ALL!!! So then I stumbled upon fotki.com
[ every hair porn lover's wildest dream]
and met all types of women/girls that I learned SOO much from!!
I learned that I had about 3-4 different textures of hair on my head, loose to coarse from front to back (in that order), and I learned TONS of different styles =))
What I ALSO learned was how to be a product junkie!
*Guiltyyyy *in my Peter Griffin voice*
I had a bag FULL of half-to-barely used products because, of course, EVEEERRRYYY time me and mommy went to the grocery store/pharmacy/beauty supply I HAD to get a new bottle of conditioner, or I HAD to get another leave-in cause somebody on Fotki said that they LIVE by it and I HAVE to try or I'll DIE! Mommy usually gave me the -___- look....
Now it was time to experiment!!
I only did it on weekends though cause I wasn't comfortable goin to school w/ it yet...
One Saturday night during my Sophomore yr, i braided my hair and was like...
" Hmm, I think I might wear my hair in a braidout on Monday"
When I tell you, I was NERVOUS! All day Sunday I was convincing myself that nobody was gonna be clownin on me cause Imma look good no matter what!
So I gathered up my confidence and did what needed to be done.
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| Before braids (tehehe, froggy robe =)) |
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| Braided =)) |
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| Next morning!!! =D |
SOOO, the next morning I went to school and everybody was LOVIN IT!!
They were like,
"OMGOSH! How'd you get your hair like that??I like it"
And I was like,
"Hehe, you know how I do..."
*like a loser =P*
And from that day on??
I was killin the game. lmao
After braidouts, I pretty much graduated to wearin a puff ALL the time.
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| My waves were always SPINNINGGGG ~~~~~~~~~ |
Cause once my braidouts got fuzzy...
*spritz spritz spritz*
{apply headband}
~slick down edges w/ EcoStyler~
BOOM.
A Puff is born!
My friends freakin loved my puff...their hands STAYED in it and I'd be like,
"Dang yo, you messin me up!"
*starts fluffin it back out*
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| Flat twist out Sophomore yr |
After a while, I was looking for some more style ideas, and so I went on YouTube to learn how to flat twist and cornrow, and even though they didn't come out that great...
They were pretty busted at times
..the flattwist/braidouts were always BANGIN. But i didn't do them too much cause since I was SOO great at it *sarcasm* it took HOURS and that joint made my arms hurt =(
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| Dr. Akbari's curly fro!! =) I think this was my Jr. yr... |
Another style I learned on YouTube was the Curly Fro by Dr. Akbari
Remeber that one??
Tried it out, went to school, and AGAIN...everyone LOVED it. And so did I!
Now that I think about it...that was the only time I actually did that style...
*adds to "To-do" list.*
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| Me and one of my best friends Senior year <3 |
Every once in a while I'd straighten my hair...not often though; only about once a yr.
I really didn't like straight hair anymore.
I mean, after being able to achieve such cool styles wit my natural hair, why the HELL would I wanna wear it straight all the time??
[I didn't. lol]
This braidout was my Junior year...but I had to put it down here cause I have to explain to yall HOW much this braidout actually POPPED!
Like...I got a GOOD week and a half outta this braidout! And i didn't want it to end!!
I WISH I could remember what I used...and if I did I'd tell yall, but I don't =((
Since this night, I have NOT. HAD. ANOTHER BRAIDOUT LIKE THIS AND I AM SOOOOOO BLOWN ABOUT IT!!!
<---LOOK AT THIS!!! I still can't believe that this is my hair!!!!
This is how I wore it that night...I just CAREFULLY pulled some of the section apart and clipped my bang outta my face.
Me and my friends were havin our weekly "outing" to Applebees for our 25cent wings
after 10pm EVERY Thursday night. lmao
[They discontinued the 25cent wing special cause...well....you know black ppl and chicken....]
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| My first wash & go! =)) |
During the summer I would do wash & go's w/ Suave Coconut and Fantasia IC gel. Suave coconut has pretty much been a staple for me since BEFORE I started my "journey" [if you can call it that]
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| Wash & go #7084613974639402308963 |
My mom has always used it on my hair...and my hair freakin LOVES it. I still use it to this day! It's just the best freakin cheap conditioner there is! My hair loves coconut period...
Must be the Trini in me ;)
Sooooo FFWD to Senior year [again]...
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| Senior class pic day |
....my best friend had joined me in the natural journey towards the end of our Junior yr, so NOW i had a partner in natural CRIME!
I did her big chop for her...[ yay me!] cause one day her lil crazy behind came to my house and was like, "I'm ready! I'm ready! Just chop it off!!"
So I did! lol
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| Senior trip |
For out class trip, I had gotten braids for the first time in my life...and came to the realization that I'm ALLERGIC to synthetic hair!!
When I tell you, my head was ITCHIN!!! OMGOSH!!
I only had them in for about 2-3 weeks. I couldn't take it anymore....
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| I thought I was so cute. lmao |
After the braids were out, I started experimenting w/ styles I'd never tried before and altering my braidouts and twistouts into new styles..
Like my lil twist out fro-hawk thing I got goin on here -->>
And then there was PROM.
Now, ORGINIALLY, I had wanted to wear my hair natural for prom...I searched high and low for a style that would suit my dress perfectly...but:
1. I couldn't find one
and
2. I couldn't find any REASONABLY PRICED natural hair stylists in my area -__-
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| Who was full of herself that night??? *points to self* |
So one of my OTHER best friends did my hair for me!! I didn't want all of my hair straightened cause you KNOW...
Can't have no heat damage up in here!
So she talked my into getting a cap. She said it was gonna be glued on and I was like,
"OH! WHOA! NO! You aint gluing NOTHIN! I don't want no glue in my hair!!!"
*like a diva*
She explained that the hair would be glued to the cap-not to my hair...I was like,
"....Oh. Okay." LOL
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| He wasn't my date, but he matched so.....lol |
And she did a BANGIN job!! *that's why I lubb her!!!*
She left a small section of hair out in the front to straighten and hide the line from the cap. I SWEAR I had the best hair that night...
The weekend of Prom me and my friends went to Atlantic City...something CRAZY happened,
[won't get into detail]
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| ....that's my loser friend hatin on my beauty. lmao Gotta love him though |
...but ANYWAY, my cap was RUINED sooo, moving on...
Senior Awards Night my hair was back in my signature puff, edges slicked back...lookin all types of good!! Gettin all types of complements!!
..and THEN Graduation *sniffle sniffle*
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| THIS was my hair BEFORE I went outside |
It was rainy on our graduation day...
BOOOOOOO
..so we had to have it in the gym
BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
And when I tell you it was HOT!
Omgosh...so before I left the house, I was in my head like,
"I just straightened my hair and it's about to be a thousand degrees in that gym...lemme grab my half wig...."
So I did!! LOL
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| Me and Daddy <3 |
My hair poofed up wit the QUICKNESS, sooo...once I got to school, I went RIGHT in that bathroom, wig and comb in hand, placed that bad boy on my head, put my cap on and TADOW!
Poofy hair - DEFEATED.
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| The date...is ALL. WRONG. lmao |
That weekend after graduation I had gone to club for the first time EVER..
{Eeeoww!}
and threw my poofed out hair back w/ a banana clip, slicked down my edges w/ some Jam
[yall know what I'm talkin bout]
and proceeded to get on bad w/ my friends and cousins for my Graduation/ Birthday party!
I also had it this way for Father's day
[which was the day after my party...lmao]
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| THIS IS MY BEST THAT DID MY HAIR FOR PROM!!! <3 |
Over the summer, me, my best, and my family went to Myrtle Beach!! I was enjoying my freedom w/ my wash and go's and ROCKIN the MESS outta my fresh-outta-the-sea hair.
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| Fresh-outta-the-sea hair <3 |
Little did I know, my best...
[that's what I call her]
..was a lil jealous of the freedom that i had w/ my hair during vacation and this was when she first considered going natural herself!!
{She's natural now...YAYNESS!]
By this time, I had already mastered the art of wash & go's for myself and had no trouble w/ my hair whatsoever at this point.
No complaints.
No more questions.
Just...freedom!
And I LOVED it.
But as much fun as I had that summer, unfortunately..it had to end. HENCE, a new chapter of my life would begin: COLLEGE.
Now, since I've begun college, I find myself either not having the time or not having the ENERGY to do my hair. Since I'm in Culinary school I have it pretty good since we wear a hat ALL the time [unless we're in our Academic classes.]
Another thing I was iffy about before coming here, was having my coconut oil, shea butter, aloe vera gel, mayo, eggs, etc... in the fridge or in the bathroom and my roommate being on some, " WTF is all this for? You cookin something?" But contrary to my assumption, she was cool about it! She'd be like, "Ooooohhhhh, what's that for?" And I'd tell her for my hair, and she'd ask me what it does to it and i'd tell her and she'd be like, "...Coooooool" lmao. I MISS HER!
Anyway,
I would mostly wear my hair in big ol' braids or twists and if I had an academic class, I'd either take them out or leave them in and throw them back into a ponytail or bun...or have on one of them thick hairnets [my BEST friend]
Most of the time when i was just chillin in the dorms, I'd have on my headscarf or my bonnet. It's not like I was tryna impress anybody, soo...lol
My friends would try and crack on me talkin bout I got my Secret Life of the Bees or my Miss Ceily braids in..lmao!!
They were so wrong! But I didn't care...I didnt feel like doin my hair, so that's how it stayed until I had to go somewhere. So while they were spending HOURS straightening their hair so we could go to the club
[ and sweat it back out]
I'd wait till they were about 3/4 of the way done, went in the bathroom wit them, took my braids out, fluffed, separated, and stuck my tongue out. lmao!
Then they'd be like, "I wish I could do that...I wish that's all I had to do."
And I'd be like, "Well, if you was natural, then you COULD."
And of COURSE that triggers the "OH, NO. I couldn't be natural! That's too much work! My hair's too nappy! I don't have hair like yours Kayla, I got that Kunta hair!"-__- [They was whilin]
And I'd be like, "Aight, whateva." After all, it ain't MY hair bein damaged. lol
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| Me and my "big brother" that I never asked for in Ireland on Thanksgiving |
SPEAKING of damaged...
I had to cut my hair before i went to Ireland because of single strand knots.>_<
I cut off a good 3 inches...but it was fine w/ me!
The less damaged hair on my head, the better. After the trip to Ireland I was finished at this school, so I went back home until graduation
...this was my New Year's Eve hair done by my homegirl Sondriel from Ouidad in Manhattan. I love that girl!!
FFWD to graduation!!!
This---------->>>>>>>>>>>
was what my hair was SUPPOSED to look like at graduation.
I LOVE havin big, fluffy hair and I was SOOO excited to flaunt this style at graduation cause I was lookin TOO classy!!!
<-------THIS is what my hair DECIDED to do.
I mean, GRANTED it was May, but DANG. I can't get a break!
Me + graduation seems to = poofy hair
I think I should make it a trend for my next graduation....
anyway,
At this point I hadn't been in school since December, and I got back the spark to start experimenting w/ my hair again.These were some 3 strand twists I had done...you can't really see them, but...ehh.
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| As you can see, that front one is NOT mini cause i started gettin tired -__- |
Now, I STILL didn't FEEL like doin my hair..
Even though I had all the time in the world.
..but I decided to take a stab at mini twists.
NOT. COOL.
Those joints took ALL FLIPPIN DAY.
And after massaging my poor, cramped lil hands and aching arms I swore to NEVER do them AGAIN!!
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| On some model ish in my window...yall aint ready. lmao |
That is until I saw the twistout.... =)
Since then, I think I've done them about 4-5 times. Cause yet AGAIN, I don't feel like doin my hair. The GOOD thing w/ mini twists is that I can leave them in for about a month...take them down, wear that twistout for about a week and a half, wash it, and do it all over again. Which has BASICALLY been my regimen since I started school again..
<---this was a GOOD mini twist result...since I actually took my time. lmao
Basically, since I've been here, I've been doing twists and twistouts. I've been trying to manipulate my hair as little as possible since I'm trying to reatin length and improve my overall health, both hair AND body!!
<<<----Braidout on blowdried hair
Mini twistout --->>>>
<<<--
----same mini twistout the following week
Sorry it was so lengthy but
Thanks for reading!!
=D
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