#TBT: The Awkward Stage 2014 Hair Edition

Happy Thursday lovelies!!

I'm just stopping by with a quick post. Even though I wasn't blogging regularly last year (or really focused on my hair like I should have been), that doesn't mean that I didn't have my hair in different styles. Last year I did everything from wigging it up to kinky twists to straight hair and back again--I just didn't document it on here. So,since #tbt is a thing, I figure today would be the perfect time to go ahead and post all the ways I had my hair. So, without further ado, her is my #tbt contribution:

Top left to right: December 2014-- wearing Outre Tammy Half wig (my ride or die wig!); November 2014-- straightened with Thermasmooth after kinky twists; September 2014-- Gibson tuck with twists (not 2 strand twists but those easy ones everyone knows how to do).

Bottom left to right: November 2014-- Flat twist w/ side ponytail (style I did after I got tired of wearing my hair straight); October 2014-- kinky twists in a side ponytail, May 2014-- fresh Dominican blowout


And of course there's more.......

Top left to right: October 2014-- side bun w/ kinky twists (this bun was really, really heavy by the way); February 2014--wearing Bali girl wig to my bff's b-day celebration

Bottom left to right: March 2014--messy bun for lounging around the house; February 2014 my first try at invisible Senegalese twists. They lasted a whopping 2 weeks.

There you have it! Any other posts would be of me wearing my Outre Tammy half wig and really, how many pictures do you need of that (although, there is a difference in how it looks at the beginning of my stretch vs. the end of my stretch)? You can see the majority of my styles were just ways for me to leave my hair alone--which was the mode I was in last year.

What do you think of my hair choices last year? Let me know in the comments below!

I Stand Corrected: Starting Length Check For 2015

Happy Monday lovelies!

I'm just stopping by with a quick snap of where my hair is as of right now. For comparison's sake, I posted a picture of where my hair was in March of last year.

Upon looking at the pictures, I saw that I did lose a little bit of length from this year to last. I don't have that super pronounced 'tail' anymore. Again, I can attribute this to my lazy @** hair care last year smh. Oh well...I guess when you know better, you do better. This year, I plan to do better.

At any rate, I now know what my starting point is and I can begin to test if the changes I'm adding to my regimen are beneficial. Only time will tell....

Have a great evening and ciao for now!

February 2-6, 2015 Look of the Week (LOTW?): Halo Braid

This past week, I did not feel like doing too much to my hair. I just wanted a simple style where I could remove my scarf in the morning and go! Enter the halo braid. It was pretty easy to do. Following my wash session last Sunday, I blow dried my hair and got to braiding! Braiding tends to take a while for me because I braid so hard and my hands tend to get tired mid-way so I took more than one break! However, once the braid was set and pinned, I was good to go! In the mornings, I would put a little Hicks Transformation Edges down and would be done with my hair for the day.

Take a look!

1st Relaxer Update of the Year and More!

Well....I fell off the map, didn't I?

See what had happened was.... This winter has been an uphill climb for my hair (and my skin!). I guess after living in Alabama for 6 years, I had taken the year round humidity for granted. I move back to VA and it was like my hair couldn't hold onto moisture for anything! It was frustrating! So in the end, I wound up just braiding then wigging my hair and leaving it alone until I could figure out what to do with my hair. I didn't want to risk a setback trying to figure out what was wrong.

In the midst of that wigging, I realized that I was way overdue for a relaxer. Then I realized that I don't have a stylist in VA that I trust. I swear, this is the sucky part about moving---having to find a stylist. Part of me wanted to find a good stylist in this area but I'll have to repeat the process AGAIN when I move to NC this summer. :sigh: Ain't nobody got time for that.

So last weekend (March 8th to be exact), I relaxed my own hair (which I have done many times before). I used Mizani Butter Blends, neutralized with Silk Elements Neutralizing Shampoo, DCed with Darcy Botanicals Pumpkin Seed Conditioner, did a final rinse with Roux Porosity Control and then proceeded to straighten my hair. This made for a very long evening.

However, at the end of all of that, I was very pleased. I found that my hair is repeating a pattern: the longest length will reach my goal length, the rest of my hair will play catch up, and then all of my hair will be where I want it to be. Right now, my hair is playing catch up. I think I'm ok with that....as long as I have no setbacks, I'm good. Anyway, take a look at my progress!

The pic on the left was taken last week while the pic on the right was taken in October.


To see where I was last May and October, check out this post.

I've come a might long way with still some ways to go before WL. I swear, folks say APL was the hardest length to get to? Pssh. BSL and beyond have been a struggle for me!

October 2, 2013 Relaxer Day and Hair Update

Happy Thursday lovelies!

Yesterday, after the longest stretch ever, I got my hair relaxed!! Yay! As with any relaxer day, I am absolutely thrilled that I can see my scalp again and to see what progress my hair has made since May. I also get to share my experience with you guys!

Last week, I prepped my hair for the relaxer by washing may hair, doing a protein treatment, and DCing with a moisturizing deep conditioner to ensure that my hair had some strength and moisture going into my relaxer day. Yesterday morning, I walked into my scheduled appointment with my stylist, LaToya. I have to say, LaToya is a stylist who I absolutely trust with my hair. She is really concerned about hair health, which I absolutely love. She also does both relaxed and natural hair. So for all you naturals who keep asking me if I know of any natural salons in B'ham, this is your answer! She does silk presses, twist outs,whatever you want! Annnnnnd...you can be assured that she won't rip through your hair. If you are in Birmingham, you should go to her! Now that I'm done with that PSA, let me continue with my relaxer day lol. I walked into the salon and after a brief wait, LaToya got to work on my hair. She based my scalp, then applied Mizani Butter Blends relaxer to my hair in sections, saving the nape for last. After neutralizing my hair and all that, I decided that I wanted to have my hair straight so that I can do a length check. So, LaToya sprayed some leave in conditioner in my hair (from her own product line: Silk Hydration), detangled my hair, and then sat me under the dryer so that my hair could dry a bit. After about 15 minutes, LaToya finished up by blow drying my hair and then flat ironing it. Since I got a trim with my last relaxer (and I have pretty much been in braids/twists since then), I declined a trim this go 'round but will probably need one my next relaxer.

ETA(10/7/13): Check this pic that shows where I was back in May after a fresh relaxer and a trim!

All in all, I am pleased with the results. Please believe me when I say that I was flinging and slinging my hair all day yesterday lol! As far as length goes, I think that some pieces of my hair are MBL-ish, with the rest of my hair needing to play catch up (SN: Times like this I wish that my hair would grow at the same rate!). So, by the end of this year, I hope to be full MBL. Anyway, check out the pics snapped by LaToya and check out her blog while you're at it!

The Awkward Stage's 3 Tips to Healthy Relaxed Hair

Happy Wednesday lovelies!

In my day to day comings and goings, my hair is often looked at as an anomaly. Outside of this hair blog/ hair forum world, a lot of AA women look at long, relaxed hair as something that is impossible for most. Something only achieved if you have 'good hair.'

And that makes me sad.

In my experience, growing relaxed hair to great lengths isn't impossible. With a little bit of knowledge and a little bit of care, achieving long hair becomes possible.

In my opinion, meeting that goal is pretty easy, especially if you follow these 3 tips that I tend to follow in my own hair care practices.

1) Relax less frequently. Trust me. You aren't doing your hair any favors relaxing your hair at 4, 5, or 6 weeks post. There is barely enough new growth and if anything, you are merely relaxing already relaxed hair (which can ultimately lead to breakage). So do yourself a favor, don't relax until you're at least 8 weeks post. If you can push it to 10 weeks post-great. And 12 weeks post is even better.

1a) Since we're here, when you do your relaxer touch up, don't do it from root to tip. Again, all you are doing is relaxing previously relaxed hair, which is a recipe for breakage. I don't know who spread this lie that relaxers had to be done this way but it needs to stop. Seriously.

2)Limit the heat. Back in the day, before I knew better, I used high heat every day (via curling iron, flat iron...it didn't matter). EVERY FRIGGIN DAY!! And my hair suffered for it. Since I've started my journey, I have learned (and re-learned) that my hair can only handle 1 type of direct heat, once a week at that. So if you are using heat every day, try and cut back to 3 or 4 days a week and see how much better your hair feels.

3) Moisture is key. And moisture is not grease. Moisture can come in the form of a great moisture based DC ( like ORS Hair Repair Nourishing Conditioner) ,an awesome water based moisturizer (ORS Carrot Oil and Qhemet Biologics AOHC are great ones), a great leave in (Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave In and Kinky Curly Knot Today are my faves), or a combination of all 3. It is key to remember that our hair craves moisture and when you relax, even more so. If you do all you can to keep your hair moisturized properly, your hair will thrive.

Those are the three things that I think contribute to healthy, relaxed hair. When I first started my hair journey, those were the first 3 steps I took. Once I got those down, thing like protective styling were easy to understand and conquer.

What do you think contributes to healthy relaxed hair?

When I Get Tired of Wearing My Hair Straight, Option #2: Dutch Braid/Dutch Braid into a Side Bun

Happy Thursday lovelies!

This week, I wore my hair straight for a hot two days before I got tired of wearing it straight (eh). So today, I decided to wear my hair in a messy Dutch braid (call it what you want but it still looks like a cornrow to me). However, that was not to be. The end of my Dutch braid just wouldn't lay right (ain't nobody got time be be fussing over the tail end of a braid)....so I put it in a bun.

Either way, doing a Dutch braid doesn't take too long to do (about 5min max) and I found it pretty easy to do. It's a quick option for your hair should you tire of the straight look.