Happy New Year - I'm Back for 2014

Hello Everyone, and Happy New Year!!! I hope the past few months found everyone well and everyone had a good Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Holiday, and New Years Eve!

If you read my last post (months and months ago) then you know that I had some computer trouble. All of a sudden I couldn't even get to my desk top page on my computer. I tried using the blogger app, but typing long blogs as I do was made worse by typos from using my phone, plus the photo placement wouldn't have been what I wanted. I tried using my father in law's laptop that was on loan to us, but Blogger website wouldn't work properly. Yes, these may sound like excuses, but they were true. My wonderful hubby got my computer working again, even though it is literally falling apart thanks to my little girl, and I thought what better way to start my blog again but to start fresh in 2014.

Even though I haven't been posting in my blog for a few months, it doesn't mean I have just been sitting around. My daughter, Lola, turned 2 and with that even more of her rambunctious personality came through. Halloween at my job is always a big event, with departments competing against each other for a company paid lunch (and Lola was Run DMC for Halloween, though she looked more like LL Cool J.) My holidays were good with the family, even though we had to work. Lola just became really aware of Christmas and was excited about everything associated with it. Work has been going well and I became a nail polish addict.

Hair wise, I feel I have been slacking off. There were so many things I wanted to try and do but life got in the way. I still have ideas that I want to make happen and goals I want to obtain, but it may take a bit longer than I imagined. Don't worry, there will be more details in a future blog I have planned. I also discovered two hair products that I absolutely adored and was about to blog about one when the whole computer fiasco happened. I still plan on writing about them in upcoming blogs, but unfortunately there may not be pictures from when I used it. I may have to do some digging.

One thing I have come to realize is blogging about my hair kept me honest. I made sure that I washed, deep conditioned, and moisturized my hair on a regular basis. Even if I wore it in a small fro pushed back with a scarf, I still made sure I moisturize my hair. Not so much since I stopped blogging. This started as a way for me to document my journey and it will continue to be that. I have to look at myself (and my hair) and figure out what I have been doing wrong, what I need to do to fix it, and keep doing it. I have a personal goal to be serious about getting healthy in 2014 and I need to keep that same mindset to get my hair to a healthy place as well. I was off to a good start, now I need to continue. I still keep thinking to myself, "You have been natural for 10 years. How is your hair not longer and healthier?" It is a question I asked myself when I started, and I continue to do so. My goal is to have a definitive answer and make sure I am not asking my self the same question in another 10 years.

On that note, I want to say thank you for bearing with me during my absence, and I hope you all will continue to read as I continue to write.

Here's to 2014. CHEERS!

~Millah Sirhea

Falling Off the Hair Care Wagon - Briefly

Hello Everyone! I hope the days are finding you all well. 

I'm sorry to say, I've fallen off the wagon a little when it comes to taking care of my hair the past couple of weeks. The week before last, I didn't set my hair for five days. In a row. Now, most people would think, "Okay, so what is wrong with not doing anything to your hair for a few days?" When it comes to naturally kinky hair, the best way I have found to manage it is to prepare it the night before. For example, when I would wear my hair in an afro, I would braid my hair into sections so it retains length and is easier to comb out the next day. The same thing goes for achieving a twist out. It helps to twist your hair the night before so when you untwist the next day, you have maximum definition and you can style your hair. Well, because I did not do anything to my hair the night before, if I had somewhere to be, I had to take the extra time to make it look decent. I decided to keep my hair in a small afro. Instead of picking out my fro, I left the curls tightly coiled. I spritzed my hair with water, used Dr. Miracle's Leave-In Conditioner, and I used the Jamaican black castor oil (JCBO) last. My hair was still feeling soft and moisturized. That week I still washed and deep conditioned my hair, and I know the deep conditioning had a lot to do with how my hair felt. How do I know?

 Last week is how I know. Friends coming in from out of town, mixed with working on what would normally be my day off, plus having dinner with friends in the middle of the week put a wrench in my hair care plans. I washed and conditioned my hair with Entwine Naturalle Couture's The Clique Shampoo and Conditioner, which can be found here. I have used it before, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I did. I didn't like the way my hair felt, and it certainly didn't feel soft after using. That being said, I realize two things: I've only used it a few times, and maybe it is something I need to try a little more before forming a proper opinion; I really like how it works on my daughter's hair (who's hair type is waaaayyyyy different from mine.) I had just gone swimming that day, got home at almost 9p and had to be at work by 8a the next day. There was no way I was washing, deep conditioning and setting my hair for twists. After I washed it, I used the Dr. Miracle's Leave-In conditioner and JBCO, braided it in sections and wore a fro to work. Simple enough. Well, that's pretty much how I wore my hair all week. My hair did not have that same soft, moisturized feeling. The up side? At least I know what I did (or rather didn't do) and how that affects my hair. I didn't have a chance to start my weekly hair care regimen back up this week, so I will be resuming it next week. I will be happy to have my soft moisturized hair back!

Happy Healthy Hair, 

~Millah Sirhea

Castor Oil Challenge via Kinky Curly Coily Me - Week 5: Length Check (Part II)

In case you are wondering why I am posting this again, I realized I accidentally deleted the original post. Oops. Of course things are never as good as the first time, but I would like to try to recreate some of that previous blog magic.

Kinky Curly Coily Me, a website that I frequent is doing a summer castor oil challenge. Use any type of castor oil on your hair a minimum of three days a week for three months. Every week we check in, and June 29th happened to be a length check. I decided to use Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO) to help retain moisture, help re-grow my edges (as they have been disappearing over the years), and of course length. How did I do, you ask? Well, take a look:

Yay! My hair grew! It went from being at the tip of my nose to the top of my lip. I have to say, in conjunction with my weekly hair care regimen, the JBCO has helped. Unfortunately, I can't tell with my edges. I am assuming since my hair itself grew, then my edges did a bit too. Sounds good, right? I did take a picture of my edges the day I did my length check, so I will compare at the end of July. As far as retaining moisture, I think it has helped. My hair has remained soft. Even on my lazy days when I don't set my hair for bed, it isn't dried out the next day. Before I started taking care of my hair, I would notice that even though I oiled my hair, it still felt crunchy or dry. With the JBCO, my hair doesn't feel oily either. Definitely a big difference, and I am very happy with my results so far.

If you are reading this for a second time, thanks for hanging in there while I repeated my self. To everyone, thank you very much for reading, it is very much appreciated.

Happy Healthy Hair,
~Millah Sirhea

Independence Day Twist Out

It is officially July 5th. I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July celebration and I hope everyone made it home safely.

I had planned to go to my sister's house for a BBQ and to watch the fireworks, and I wanted my hair to look good. My goal was to wash, deep condition, and set my hair for a twist out. Due to a toddler who refused to go to bed in her crib, my plan was a bust. I hadn't done anything to my hair. I didn't braid it, I didn't oil it, and I certainly didn't put my satin cap on before trying to get my daughter to go to bed. I knew I didn't want to put my hair back with a scarf, nor did I want to attempt an up-do for the day's festivities. When I finally did wake, it was next to a snoring toddler and 3:45 am. Not the ideal time for someone to be up trying to figure out what to do with her hair, but I did it anyway.

I knew what ever I did with my hair, I wanted it to hold it's definition and not be dried out. Most articles or blogs I have read state that your hair needs moisture, and nothing adds moisture better than water. The trick is to seal it in, and there are several ways in which to do this. I wanted to do a twist on the LOC method to set my hair for the night, however instead of doing it in the order of Liquid Oil Cream, I wanted to do LCO - Liquid Cream Oil. I have found this works best for my hair. Unfortunately I could not find my go-to cream. So, I did the next best thing. I got a spray bottle with water, Dr. Miracle's leave-in conditioner, Sunny Isle Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO), and Curly Kinks Twist Whip.

 Here is what I did:

I first wet my hair with water, then I put a generous amount of the leave in conditioner through out my hair. Next, I used the JBCO and worked that into my hair. Last, I twisted my hair using the twist whip, and made sure I had some on each section. I let my hair air dry while I did other things that morning, and when I finally got into the bed this morning (about 7:50 am) I put my satin scarf on. In the afternoon, when I took my twists out, I made sure I had the JBCO on my finger tips to help smooth and polish my hair. I was very happy with my results!

First off, The three with the time stamp - well, you see how late it is, so sorry for the unhappy look. Second, I know these aren't great pictures of the hair style. I really wanted a close up of the definition, but it just didn't happen. My apologies. Still, I hope you can see the style I achieved. 

Why am I so happy with the results? 

• My twists and the twist out actually fell naturally on my head. Usually they are sticking up all over the place. I was starting to think it was because my hair is not as long as other women I see who rock the twist out. Theirs seem to lay down or fall naturally and not stick out at every angle on their head - unless that is how they meant it. Now, I think it has to do with how I set my hair
• My hair held it's definition! Generally when I take out the twists, most strands seem to revert back to it's natural pattern instead of holding the crimped look of the twist-out, especially when it comes to larger sections. As I separated them, they would lose their definition. Not today!

I was in such awe at how my hair turned out, that I kept saying to my husband, "Look babe! It never looks like this." He laughed. By the end of the day my hair didn't frizz nor did it revert back to it's normal pattern. It held. The only thing I complained about is that my hair felt drier than it has been since I started taking care of it. Not sure if I need a moisture spritzer or if I should have done something differently when twisting, but that is something I can play around with. When I do, I will share my results. 

Well, I am off to bed. All I am doing is putting my satin cap on. I think I might have decent second day hair. We will see. 

As always please feel free to comment below or email me directly, and you can also subscribe to my blog via email.

Thank You for reading, and have a wonderful night.

Happy Healthy Hair,

~Millah Sirhea