I just BC'd last week, and not by choice. My new TWA full of kinky curls is not, however, my first time rocking it natural. I transitioned for 2 yrs in college and then rocked my natural curls for another 7 years!!!!

I know what you're wondering... WHY THE HELL DID I EVER RELAX AGAIN?

I didn't want to. It was some combination of relocating after Katrina to a new place with no stylists (I mean that literally, Santa Cruz, CA black population 1%), taking an ultra conservative corporate job, a pile up of negative comments from family about my "black power phase", and being frustrated with my super long and unmanageable length. You see, my hair had grown out in spite of my ignorance. I stumbled around, no idea what products of processes to use, and basically devised a pattern of twist-outs that I taught myself.

Fast forward to now... it only took 6 months for my hair to fall out once I started relaxing again. I went to a wonderful stylist who put me onto phytospecific lye-free relaxers, and my hair grew back, but it was expensive and my hair was still rather fragile. I was panicked at what to do with my hair because I could no longer afford to get the chemical fire cream or travel to get my hair done. I took out a sew-in weave after 2 months, and based on some bad advice from a well-meaning friend, wound up in the shower with a head full of dreadlocs!!!!! A Dios Mio!

2.5 hrs later, and there was no choice but to lop off the loc'd up parts. I was devastated. I did have 2 1/2 mths worth (about 3-4 in) of extremely healthy new growth because of the braids, but I had no idea that I was unintentionally transitioning! I couldn't stand the sight of my uneven hack job, so I threw it into some cornrows w/ extensions and waited a week. In the meantime, a napturally beautiful friend of mine put me on to all the info, fotkis, products, and tutorials available online.

I'm now so happy this happened! It's the perfect time in my life to get re-acquainted with the best parts of myself. I have no fear that I will ever be pressured into throwing away a long, healthy head of hair again either. There's so much to learn... I'll be spending a lot of time on the message boards.

Just a photo montage of me trying to sustain a "fire cream" regimen. This never worked for me, ever!

I got my first perm (an "ultra gentle"-- yeah right-- kiddie kit) because I was a dancer and my mom got tired of dealing with my press going back everyday from all the sweating. My hair IMMEDIATELY began to fall out. I got my first trendy cut (asymmetrical like T-boz from TLC -- I was so excited!) because of the extreme damage to my hair.
I wore my relaxer until I unintentionally began transitioning when I went to college. I didn't want to deal with finding a stylist and continuing the losing battle with breakage, so I began to wear braids and two strand twists with no breaks. I stopped and did a very anticlimactic big chop my junior year.

Note: There are almost no "real" pics of my hair for 2008 since I pretty much wore sew-in weaves the whole time and ran away from the cameras in between.

These are some pics from my 8 yrs of natural -- 3 yrs transition and 6 yrs rocking 'fros, bantus, twists, cornrows, you name it.

These pics start in 2002 b/c before then I didn't have a digital cam... so no fro pics until I scan... which may never happen.

My sister's home for the holidays... after I showed her my new hair, my fotki, and shared all my new naptural knowledge (alliteration!), she became an instant convert. She is now officially in transition, and all her perms are the in the past! Next mission: getting her a fotki of her own.

We decided to experiment with her first transition look last night, which served my purposes nicely: I've been dying to try some techniques and long hairstyles that I've been seeing from all the lovely ladies online. After watching how tos on the curly fro from MsHeatherNicole, Curly Chronicles, and Dr. Lisa Akbari, we selected the Akbari method.

After a co-wash (her first), we finger combed through some Knot Today leave-in, sealed the ends using amla oil, and twisted in small sections. Some of the parts were so straight, we needed to use bobby pins to hold. We wrapped with a scarf and she went to sleep.

This morning, we simply untwisted and finger combed, scrunched, and patted to remove the lines from sectioning. It looked pretty great! Some of the ends were frizzy, but we'll combat that next time with rollers and a bit of gel for hold. All in all, this was a huge success, and my sister is totally convinced. We expect the style to last 3-5 days.

Monthly pic to record growth during 2009 as a part of Nappturality.com's TWA growth challenge.

Begin date: Dec 31, 2008
End date: Dec 31, 2009

12/5/08 -- 1.5 in
1/31/09 -- 2.25 in
2/28/09 -- 3.25 in

Pics of hairstyles and such for Dec 2008

Month 1 of the TWA Growth Challenge and month 2 of naptural living... ba-da-bap-bap-baaa... I'm lovin' it!

Jan 9- Jan 15 sail from Miami Port to Turks & Caicos, B.W.I. and back!!!

For Mardi Gras this year, my sister and I attended the Zulu Ball at the New Orleans Convention Center. Babyface was the evening's entertainment and the occasion was strictly formal. I designed and made the crystal hair piece myself, and set my hair on magnetic rollers with kinky curly curling custard!

I did my first henna today! Excitement! Came out great...

Regimen:
Co-wash with Suave tropical coconut +baking soda.
Co-wash with He Hello Hydration.
Detangle with Jilbere Shower Comb
ACV/Cold Water Rinse
Apply 100 g of Jamila Henna mixed with 2 cups green tea + honey (let dye release for 7 hours)
Cover with shower Cap overnight.
Wake up, uncover and rinse in tub under full pressure of spigot.
Deep condition with AO Honeysuckle Rose + evoo + honey. Under hood dryer for 20 min.
Rinse.
Apply KC Knot Today leave-in.
Finger Coil with KC Curling Custard.
Voila!