these are pictures of my braid takedown, my henna/indigo tangling disaster, lol, which i thankfully recovered from ... whew ... & the finished twists.

here are pics of my latest set of yarn braids. i did the bottom layer in cerulean (blue) braids -- which i'm loving, lol:) blue is one of my favorite colors. it's also a color i associate with spirit. also i trimmed about 1.5 to 2 in off the ends of my hair in feb. i couldn't take my wispy-ended twists anymore, lol. but it's slowly growing back. i still can't believe my hair still shrinks up to my neck, lol. right now, my hair doesn't hang unless i make it hang (style/products) ... but still i'm convinced there has to be a tipping point when it will at least touch my shoulders, lol ... but either way i'm happy it's still growing & retaining:)

these are my 2010 year-end length check pics! the bottom-most layer is scraping past bsb & the remaing layers/length is thickening up nicely. i figure at this rate it'll be 2-3 more years to full wsl:) as i usually wear my hair in its natural state, or in braids, i don't plan on cutting my hair even until i reach at least waist length. at that length, i'll maintain/thicken my ends up & then let it go again to see just how long it'll grow. i currently do search & destroy/dusting to get rid of single-strand-knots (ssks) & split ends. so thankfully my ends are healthy. as my hair grows the ends appear thin because it grows in layered stages/cycles, and certain parts of my hair will grow faster than others--sprouting first towards your next hair goal. if you are consistent with your regime, you can maintain these hairs and allow them to grow and thicken at a set goal lenth. this is just one approach to growing long hair. basically you can grow then cut, or cut then grow ... or do some of both, lol -- which path you choose is up to you. whichever you choose, just remember to enjoy the journey:)

hair pics from the last several months. i'm currently on a 2 year "no-cut challenge", with a goal of getting to full waistlength by dec 2012. i can do search & detroys to keep ssks (single-strand-knots), & splits at bay -- but no major trims/cuts to "even" my ends:) 'til then i'll keep my hair in yarn braids & twists as it grows out. my bottom-most layer is peeking at npl (nipple-length:)lol) in the front, which is bsb (below-shoulder-blade) length in the back.

took out my braids & put in a set of twists. they're getting a little longer:)! finally skimming the top of my shoulders ... step by step, bit by bit ... my goal is to have waistlength twists, lol, which is going to take a minute ... as these twist are done on a lil' over four years of growth. i figured i need about 40 in. of hair to get twists that hang around waistlength. so i have at least 4 more years to go, lol ... but i'm halfway there & am determind to enjoy getting there, even if i get impatient sometimes, lol. i think that's another reason my i love braids -- instant gratification -- a couple hours of work & i can have a look that would take several years to grow. but when i get to missing my real hair ... out they come, & voila, like magic ... it feels like i have a new head of hair:)

these are pics taken from jan to march consolidated in one album. my hair grew a lil bit, and my fro seems to be getting bigger ... well at least when it's stretched, lol. this is my 4th year since my bc in 06! basically i took out a set of braids, detangled, gave myself a homemade sour sugar treatment/deep conditioning, colored my hair black, and wore my hair out/in a bun for a 'lil bit:)

holiday hair! time for my year-end length check & I gave myself a major cut -- about 3 inches -- just the bottom layers to even it up a little. I'm now back between collar & armpit length. my ends look a whole lot better -- lol -- to say the least. what i lost in length, i definitely gained in thickness:) so overall, i'm happy with my progress.

more twists & yarn braids:) if i'd let it, my hair would probably shrink to a 3-4 in afro, which is not a bad thing in & of itself, because afros are beautiful -- but if you have 3 years worth of hair (14-16 in), & it's left in it's shrunken/compacted state ... day, after day, after day ... that can be a recipe for disaster: multi-strand-knots galore, massive, matted tangles, crazy-long detangling sessions -- a true beast if you aren't prepared ... i've learned when my hair gets this length & longer, i need to keep it moisturized & stretched -- simply to help me manage & retain longer, natural, 4-type hair. now whether you choose to stretch it through, braids, twists, bantus, threading, locs, heat-styling, banding, co-defining, henna/cassia is up to you -- plus it allows you to see more of the length that you've worked hard to grow:) i used to wonder why you never see that many loose, long, natural 4-type heads of hair? why so many choose to loc, or bc/twa it again around this time/length? i think this manageability issue -- for longer, loose, natural 4-type hair -- is part of the reason why ... but those aren't the only options -- now we have a world of options. it may take a whole new skill set, but it's totally do-able:)

pics of a messy henna treatment, my conditoner defining process, a new set of yarn braids!

these pics track taking down & putting in a new set of yarn braids -- of course i had to take some pics & play in my head in the process:) (i'm loving kcc, can't wait to try it on my whole head) now my stretched real hair is just about as long as my yarn braids, which is cool & encouraging. my hair is now apl -- 14-15 in. layered :)

these pics track my first attempts at defining my whole head of nappyfrizzycurls:) ... i've basically combined the process from teri's method, miss jessie's shingling (http://www.missjessies.com/styling.html) & my own experiments. i still need to perfect my technique, & take more time, smaller parts, but over all it came out well:) now the styling definitely needs some more work, but that will come too

This are pics of my year end length check. I straightened the length with my maxiglide & the roots with my fhi platform. My hair lasted a couple of days before the winter snow & wind got the best of it -- but it was fun while it lasted:) My bottom layers were peeking at apl, but I gave myself a much needed trim, and now it's about an inch away from apl. My three year nappiversary is in March, but I couldn't wait til then to take more pics:) My lion's mane is back though, lol, so that makes me happy! I figure I have another year for full apl/ bottom-layer-peeking-at-bsb, and two years for full bsb/bottom-layer-peeking-at-wl. I am very pleased with my progress:)

more pics of me playin' in my head:) i'm just fascinated with defining my texture right now. i'm experimenting with different products & techniques to see which gives the best result -- and documenting my trials with pics. i've found the tips given by teri at http://www.tightlycurly.com/welcome truly insightful. her technique for biracial/3-type hair gave me a starting point to use on my kinkycurlyafro/4-type hair -- but modified using smaller parts, layering products, & then finger smoothing sections/tendrils. once i get a set technique down i'll put a tutorial together of the specific steps, technique, & process i used. but in the meantime i'm just enjoying learning something new with my hair!:)

chunky fro & texture play: nappy hair is curly hair. they may be frizzy, kinky-curly, tiny curls, but curls nonetheless. as my hair is growing out, more & more this conviction is shaping. my hair is a density of curls. i can do the chunky fro with relative ease, but i'm also learning that with the right product my hair can also show more defined, kinkycurls. i really love my hair. these are more pics of me playing with defining the texture. stretched my hair is 12-13 in long in these pics .. shrinkage is a mother:)

henna, twists & cornrows, oh my!

These are pics of my newest attempt with the maxiglide. I can finally say I got the results I wanted. silky, smooth, soft, touchable hair, with plenty of movement & shine. Yay! I knew I'd figure it out sooner or later:). My steps & products used are posted in my journal.

mimiglide experiment