Yummy Art

 
My nail art skills need to be on this level!

show off your inner animal...

source
...in a fashionable way:))

My Hair Story Part II

With all of my experimenting, I saw very little change. After a rough patch during my senior year when I had little time for anything, including my hair, I decided that I was ready for a change.  I wanted to go natural. This of course came after doing a ton a research and watching the videos of the women who were doing their thing with natural hair on Youtube. With all of this positive inspiration I was ready! I got my last relaxer on May 7th, 2010. I planned on doing a long transition (I had no desire to rock a twa), and at the first sight of any difficulty I would  be ready to turn back to my relaxer. During my graduation and other end of the semester senior events I kept my hair in buns. As my roots grew out during the summer I wore high buns with ribbons to mask the difference in textures.
                                                                                     length before transition 


                                           random senior week                senior formal


                                          senior onyx ceremony       summer day at the beach


                                            transitioning style            half bantu knot-out


From the beginning of September through the end of December I turned to small box braids with extensions as my main transitioning style. I had them done twice for two months spans with a day and a half break in between. By the end of my second time I could feel the hair weighing down on my edges and I knew it was time for a change before I lost any hair. When I took out my braids I experimented with bantu knot outs for about a week- they created a soft, curly fro look above my thick roots. For what became the final month of my transition I had braided cornrows with extensions that were pulled back into a bun. Throughout my transition I watched more and more videos and became increasingly impatient. I also unleashed my product junky habits and began stocking up on popular natural hair care products from Eco-styler Gel to a blow dryer with a diffuser attachment . Finally, on January 23 (so easy to remember- 1/23 lol) after eight and a half months, I built up enough courage to take the final step in my transitioning journey. I took out my braids, washed my hair & drenched it with conditioner. Using a pair of shears that I picked up a few weeks before I started chopping off the last of my relaxed ends. 

                                                                     box braid braid styles


                                             box braid up do                         bantu knot out fro


                                      bantu knot out fro                         chopped dead ends


 After about three hours of snipping piece by piece (I'm definitely not a professional) for the most part, my relaxed ends were gone. I had a small fro, just shy of 9 months and it looked absolutely crazy! I tried to do my first twist out and it came out so bad! I had little sharp hairs poking out everywhere. The problem was that I overlooked a lot of relaxed ends- while I was cutting I was a little startled by the shrinkage and in some sections and I left less than an inch of relaxed ends. This ended up doing more harm than good.

                      bad memories of the worst twist out ever- definitely did not wear this out


As time went on my twist outs got better, and I cut off any relaxed ends that I saw poking out as I went along. My hair has also been growing! I've gone from mid forehead to nose tip length with stretched hair in five months. I love my hair and its many textures, and I especially love the versatility. I've done two and three strand twist outs, coil outs, braid outs and cornbraid styles. I'm currently wearing my first up do using an old cornbraid out and I'm looking forward to trying even more creative stuff with braids. My regimen is far from perfect- I still have a lot to learn, and try out and I can't wait!

        first twist out (senior formal dress w/ different look)           recent twist out

                                        first braid out                          first three strand twist out

*Nicole*