Tuesday, April 19, 2011

NATURAL HAIR UPDATE: 1 MONTH NATURAL

Hey Blossoms,

As I was preparing for my weekly deep conditioning and wash I thought of how quickly a month has gone by and to do this hair update for all of you! I am so excited to bring this update to you all! I am completely IN LOVE with my natural hair. I love how it feels, smells, styles and just goes with my face and outfits of the day. A single hair accessory can turn it from casual, to chic, to elegant. A few bobby bins here and there can take it from pony tail to up do. And I LOVE MY COILS!!!

When I comb my hair now I barely see any broken ends or hair strands and if I do I literally can count each of them that's how little there are. They are so cute too! Little coils!

I can tell my hair has grown simply because I have to detangle more often and now I understand the importance of protective styling to retain length and I have resorted to wearing one.

I am still learning and I see my biggest challenge is keeping my hair moisturized. I'm constantly going to the bathroom to sprinkle a little water on my hair especially the ends which tend to get the brunt of this New York weather..one days it's hot, the next its' raining, then it's freezing cold...my poor hair!!

Despite my few difficulties, the weather and my newness to the whole natural hair world I am doing an awesome job. If you don't believe me just check the photos below!

You all remember I went natural 3/20/2011 and had my hair was 6 inches at its longest point (the front and center of my head). On 3/23/2011 I noticed I still had permed ends :( so I chopped off 3 inches...leaving me with 3 inches all over. I was NOT discouraged as I knew I'd grow it all back and grow it has!



March 20th 2011



April 19th 2011
The nape of my neck was definitely one of my TOP priorities when it came to target areas for hair growth. Keeping this area moisturized and not pulling it up to tightly with daily scalp massages was key in it's growth. Although it's the least dramatic in it's growth you can definitely see improvement. Hair has grown filling in what used to be bald spots. I'm sure in time this area will be just as thick and dense as the rest of my head.



Now on to more dramatic hair growth results. My regime is pretty simple...MOISTURE ! MOISTURE! MOISTURE! I do my absolute best in keeping my hair moisturized and detangled. I usually wear it in 4 afro puffs at night each heavily moisturized (to last through the night especially since it tends to get hot in my home) and one big afro puff during the day. Shea butter is my BEST friend as it keeps the oils I use (EVOO, Almond, Coconut, Jojoba & Castor Oil) locked into my hair during the day.


March 20th 2011








Here's my hair growth at the nape of my neck stretched out for a length check. As you can see in the first picture the hair literally stops at my hairline(2 inches) and in the second picture it's 1in passed my hairline(3 inches in length).

April 20th 2011













March 20th 2011









The next area is the side. They were amongst the longest sections of my hair before I cut off the remaining permed ends. After the BC (big chop) the sides just reached the tip of my earlobe(3 inches). Now it's well past my ear lobe(4 inches) and on it's way past my jawline.


April 19th 2011

Next is the front section of my hair. This was by far the most drastic in length change from 6 inches to 3 inches when I did the BC and now I can see another dramatic length increase. I'm going to showcase my hair BEFORE my BC (6 inches), AFTER my BC (3 inches) and NOW (4 inches).It feels awesome to see that my hair is healthy and grows beautifully. I'm excited to see what the future holds for my tresses.

BEFORE BC (3/20/11)
AFTER BC (3/23/11)
NOW (4/19/11)
Yes I am SHOCKED myself! I never imagined such fast and amazing results. My hair is softer, HEALTHIER , thicker, curlier and well on it's way to being LONGER than it's ever been before !!!

Here are photos showcasing my hair texture






A head full of coils! I call them coils because they are tight and not as loose as regular curls. I have NO IDEA what "type" this would be considered. All I know is these are MY coils and I LOVE THEM!

This is what I'm doing as a protective style. A synthetic hair afro. I make sure to thoroughly moisturize my hair underneath and either have my hair in 2 strand twists, bantu knots or normally 2 afro puffs underneath and a small section of my hair out in the front for blending. I want to try kinky twist extensions but I'm afraid of the damage it may do to my ends so for now this works for me and here's a picture of the style below( pictured here with my BF...affectionately nicknamed "Handsome").



ALL IN ALL..my hair has retained 1 inch of NEW GROWTH in 1 MONTH! At this rate 12 inches of hair for a year is definitely doable!! Can you even imagine?!! There is a Youtube Natural Hair Guru who reached WAIST LENGTH in just 2 YEARS! And her hair was SHORTER than mine after her BC! So I know it's definitely possible. Setting "hair goals" is fun. Its definitely not all about length but getting the length is sort of like a bonus or a present for taking good care of your hair and I'm definitely happy to have received this 1 inch "gift" and I cant wait to "receive more!" The journey has only just begun but it's turning into an amazing experience! One I wish I started years ago but happy that this is one journey that has NO EXPIRATION DATE!



I am addicted to hearing about and seeing photos of others hair journey and if you know of any amazing blogs or youtube channels feel free to share below. I follow quite a bit already but like makeup...you can never have enough!

I hope you all enjoyed and a HUGE thank you to all who have followed my journey thus far and those  you who are so supportive...


Until Next Time,

Later Blossoms


2 comments:

  1. I am really really considering going natural this is just encouraging me even more to do so

    ReplyDelete
  2. I absolutely love it! But there is a DARK SIDE!! The dark side is how people treat/view you...I honestly have people give me the cold shoulder now SIMPLy because of my hair. there are even others bold enough to say "Why did you do THAT to your hair!!?" its crazy but if you do it all for you , 100% for JUST YOU...that will roll off of you (as it rools of me) and in the end your still smile. I will post a blog on the "DARK SIDE" of being natural but as of now I LOVE IT (dark/bright side AND ALL!!) IF you do choose to go natural be sure to let me know I cant wait to read about it!!

    ReplyDelete