Here's another new do!

Last Friday & Saturday I spent most of my day and evening sitting in a chair getting my hair braided in micros! Beautiful job my eldest daughter performed. I say performed because she is an artiste!

I am glad to have such talent available to me and it does my heart good that it is from the same bloodline! Check out the photos below, she is BAAAAD!!! She used a mixed color of braiding hair with "Deep Waves" which gives it that naturally curly look.

It also comes in solid colors and different lengths (shorter and longer.)

I like this look on me because it is natural enough of a style not to look too "processed", but also classy and sexy at the same time!

What would Bob Marley say??? Well check him out singing to me in my basement! LOL!!!

Hair-do of the week

I just got back from Las Vegas this morning and what a blast I had! I enjoyed seeing the sights, lights & action that comes with a place like that - and the hairstyles were very creative, out of control or pretty simple at times. I LOVED IT!

While there, I decided to use one of my favorite 3/4 wigs - which allows me a certain naturally curly look but still on the sexy side! It got me a lot of attention and I felt at home amongst the other beautiful women there...which is a good thing! This is another example of a good transitional look for those of you who struggle with coming gracefully out of a relaxer or other chemical processes. I like it a lot and it's pretty comfortable and easy to manage because you only expose the front of your hairline and the rest is covered by the wig.

My first level of transition to natural

When I first began letting the relaxer grow out of my hair in 2000, I used wigs, ponytails, micro braids, kinky twists and cornrows so that I could still be stylish and neat. Being a corporate professional requires that your hair is always presentable and neat. I've never had a problem with acceptance in terms of choices of color used, textures, length and so forth - in fact my co-workers like seeing all of the varieties of hairstyles I would show up to work with! One of my current co-workers told me straight up "You are so bold and gorgeous with your hairstyles, I can't wait to see you at our meetings, just to see what style you are wearing THIS TIME!" I found that quite funny coming from a 60+ blonde haired white woman. She was in some beauty contests many years ago and would wear wigs, hair pieces and such - so she was identifying with my own creativity! LOVE IT!!!

Anyway, as you can see I have my "Hair of the Month" on and this is what I wore for Easter Sunday service. Folks seem to like it on me and I like it enough to wear it daily at work. The joy of wigs is you are not committed to any particular style, you can have your hair straight, wavy, curly, dyed platinum blonde or jet black the very next day! LOL! I am at an age now where it doesn't make a difference what people think about my hair - as long as it is NEAT AND LOOKS GOOD ON ME! So WHAT! it's not real... SO WHAT! it's not directly attached to my head...I am WORKIN' IT TO MY ADVANTAGE! LOL!

Moving into April, I will be switching to another "Hair of the Month" and ultimately my daughter Lexie will be putting some silky micros in my hair before the end of April. I will post those pictures as well, just to show how easy transitioning can be - for those who don't want to go to the extreme of cutting everything off down to the roots and starting from scratch to get natural. Peace & Blessings, ONE! MMz

To be or not to be naturalle?

While shopping and preparing for Easter tomorrow, I could see some folks had already gotten their hair together for the big day... in years gone by I would've been a part of that movement but not such a priority this year. What will I do with my transitional hair? Well, I could wash, deep condition and slick it down in the front with gel, then use a false ponytail to dress it up... since most of my hair has perm (relaxer in it) I can't do much else with it.

WEEK TWO OF THE JOURNEY...

So here we are a week after I have decided to return my hair to it's kinkier texture of years past. My mom is already natural and gets her hair twisted in "kinky twists" at a salon. When she doesn't wear the twists, she gets her hair pressed or corn-rowed or braided. That would be the same choices I will take after my hair reaches a good length. I even twist my own hair up into bun-like styles and even let them free-flow at times. The last time I had a natural, my hair grew past my shoulders and could be stretched to my back! That is where I desire my hair to grow this time, and possibly even longer.

This is Easter week, so I will probably sport a partial pressed style with a faux-ponytail to dress up my transitioning hair. What most people don't realize is that transitioning from permed to natural is a lot easier than it seems. There are so many DIY styling aides in beauty supply stores, you can practically go your entire life without EVER putting harsh chemicals in your hair again! Let's explore the ponytails for instance: crinkle-curl, super straight, crimps, afro-puff, spiral curls, body waves, streaked, spiked, flipped, whispy, godiva length or shirley temple curled and the list goes on and on...

I will post some pictures of different styles I'll experiment with as I go through this transition as encouragement to all.

ONE!

this is me now...

This is a spiral curl

The Journey Begins...

As of March 10, 2008 I have proclaimed my need to return my hair to it's naturalle state... It was completely relaxer free almost 4 years ago - thick, softly coiled "Flaming Hot" red tinted and beautiful! I met a man who didn't seem to mind my "naturalle-ness" until we got involved on a deeper level. Then he began to make suggestions about ways I could wear my hair (most of those fashions were cover-ups to the naturalle.) So I fell for the hype because I loved him, and as a result I relaxed the red crown of glory right along with my personal standards... (this is what it looked like shortly after----------)

Now it is two years later, and my poor "redylocks" are broken, abused, dry and cracking under too much pressure! LOL! Fortunately for me, I am much too strong of a character to have the same problem - and by the way, that guy is gone! Too many issues with him that had nothing to do with me... So hence, TODAY begins my newest journey if you will...

Return to Au' Naturalle!!!!

In the coming days I will chronicle my journey, the products I find most useful in supporting that journey, the people I encounter for or against my plight, the pain, the joy and the ultimate goal: TO BE COMPLETELY RELAXER AND PERMANENT COLOR FREE; TO REGAIN ANOTHER FULL & LUXURIOUS HEAD OF HAIR; AND TO SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL WITH OTHER FOLKS WANTING TO BE FREE!!!

Please join me as I begin this quest for freedom...I have a feeling it will be very interesting, not to mention a test of wills, patience and triumphs!

Peace & Blessings, ONE!