Curly Girl Method

I’ve been doing the Curly Girl method for several months now. I think I started in February. Or maybe January. It never occurred to me to mark the date and count the weeks as I see other bloggers and vloggers have done. 

My inspiration was my old jar of Kinky Curly Curling Custard. I was cleaning out my bathroom cupboard when I cam across the jar. Ah, KCCC. The queen of all gels. How come I don’t use this more often? I did a wash-n-go and my hair looked great. 

My second inspiration occurred after I went to a natural hair meet up in Denver. Someone mentioned some local You Tubers doing videos on natural hair. One of them was Mahogany Curls who lives in Colorado Springs. I looked up her channel and learned she was a dedicated Curly Girl. She has been natural for less time than me and had grown her hair from a TWA to shoulder length, gorgeous curls, doing nothing but the Curly Girl method.

Why had I been sleeping on the CGM? I read Lorraine Massey’s first edition of the book not long after it first came out. Ms. Massey got me started on my penchant for natural, organic products without sulfates and silicones. The section in the book on black hair was not as relevant to me as it is in the second edition, the Curly Girl Handbook. Back then I just didn’t think the method would work for kinky hair. But I liked the idea of “botanical” shampoos and conditioners. I have almost always used them since I went perm-free some seven or eight years ago.

What I like about the CGM is the emphasis on moisture. Water is the moisturizer. Since starting it, I co-wash my hair three or four times a week. My hair loves it. I’ve never had such great curl definition. I feel like I’m getting fewer broken and split ends. My hair is color treated and will continue to be color treated for years to come, until I’m ready to finally accept the gray hairs. I ain’t ready yet. So I get the roots treated every six to eight weeks. I know this dries out my hair. But wetting it more often and leaving conditioner in it seems to help. 

I’ve stopped using oils to seal in moisture because I’m of the theory that that oil also locks out any additional moisture. I’ve sealed religiously for years and I just don’t think it did much of anything. Now all those oils I have I combine in a mix to put on my skin after a shower. My skin is very happy. 

I put gel or holding creams to help hold the curls after I do my hair. I’m wetting it and styling it more often, but the whole process is now down to about 30 minutes, rather than the once a week, three-hour production.

I’m loving it. I’ll do another post at some point about how I modified the CGM to fit my hair and my lifestyle.

Makeover,

I had a What Not to Wear moment last week. You know, how makeup artist Carmindy will spin a woman around in her chair so she can't see in the mirror what she's doing. Then, as she's about to spin her back, they cut to a commercial? Back from the commercial, Carmindy does the big spin and the woman is almost always thrilled with her look.

Last week, my stylist, Melissa Vaz  offered to do my make up for my birthday. I was going out to dinner with my family. Melissa used makeup by Denver makeup artist Rhoda Johnson. She had my back to the mirror and when she finished, I got the spun, Loved it. Made my husband take my picture when I got home.

More Than Hair

As I've said before, I'm pretty fortunate to know natural hair care stylists who care about the health of your hair and have the tools and knowledge to help you maintain a natural hair style. 


Two stylists in Denver, Melissa and Tonya have teamed up with Melissa's husband, Jason,  a videographer to create MoreThanHairTV on YouTube. It's a new channel to to promote healthy hair choices as a lifestyle, for women with naturally curly or kinky hair, as well as parents with children who have naturally curly or kinky hair. In addition, they are reaching out to  non-profit organizations and haircare professionals who serve their communities. Often children of color who are in the syst, don't get proper hair care. MoreThanHairTV  helps those service providers help the kids. The channel's goal is also to help multiracial adoptive families.


I'm really proud to know Melissa. (She's also my stylist). 




Here's one of their vids: Check 'em out. 

My Big Brother

My first post of the year was going to be about hair care resolutions, new product favs and lessons learned. But all that has lost it's importance.

My big brother Dean died Jan. 2 from liver cancer. He was 53. He loved me and accepted me for who I am, and I loved, loved, loved him for his individuality, originality, courage, conservatism, sense of humor and the way he cared about his family. He was a light and he will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, Dean.

Impromptu Meet-Up

My earring haul from Akente Express

Long before Target, the only place in Denver to get Miss Jessie’s products was Akente Express on Park Avenue West, just north of downtown. 

Akente has been the one-stop shop for all things African and African-American for the past 20 years  - original artwork, African artifacts, sculptures, prints, jewelry, posters, T-shirts, designer purses, intense, oils, skincare products. Owner Ron Springer is finally calling it quits and selling his business so  he can pack up his bags and finally go visit the Motherland.

Before he could closed the doors for good, I made my annual trek to Akente for the MJ BOGO sale. I was just going to resupply on the Baby Buttercream and maybe try the Curly Meringue, when I got caught up in the moment. 

Two women were already in the shop when I entered. One of them, her hair in braids, looked at my curly fro and exclaimed that’s how she wants to do her natural hair when she takes her braids down. What did I have in it? Kinky-Curly Curling Custard, I said, somewhat sheepishly cuz KCCC isn’t sold at Akente.

What followed was a discussion on natural hair care, the differences among MJ products and how to use KCCC. While we were a talking, another woman with 3c curls came in. What did she use in her hair? KCCC again! Miss 3c admitted that only in the last year had she decided she loved her hair. Growing up she had always fought against the curl. Didn’t we all? 

Swept up in all the hair talk, I bought the Buttercream and the 8oz jar (get one free) of the Curly Meringue and earrings to go with my curly hair. Spent way more than I should have, but loved sharing my knowledge with other curlies. 

Color

I got my hair colored today. It took a lot longer than either I or my stylist Melissa thought it would. she had to lift the darker dye she had done a couple of months ago to get the lighter color to saturate. I love the end result and I know that now more than ever, my hair life will be about moisture, moisture, moisture and the occasional protein treatment.

She styled it with Ouidad Curl Quencher moisturizing styling gel _ finger combed it through and did the Ouidad "rake & shake." When I got home, I added some coconut oil. And got my husband to take my picture.

Good hair day

Having a good hair day today. Not sure what is going on here. For the first time in a long time, I went to sleep without retwisting my hair. Let it get misted in the shower, smoothed some of KC Gloss Pomade and some coconut oil, shook it and left it alone. I put KCCC in it on Sunday.

In other news: I'm watching a What Not to Wear rerun _ the Yorine Series. This is the 24-year-old nutritionist who wears scrubs all the time and a headscarf. She has her hair in braids. When they take them down, her hair is past her shoulders. Then they give her a RELAXER and Nick proceeds to chop off all her hair. I almost cried when I first saw it.

Not a goddess

I bought Curls Goddess Curls styling gel while on a product junkie run to Target to check out the latest natural hair care products.

I've been interested in gels lately since rediscovering Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Saw the Goddess Curls was only $8, so I thought, why not?

Here's my review.

Quick hair style change and new video

I finally filmed a video. I was emboldened after my meeting with a good friend of mine who is also natural. We've been sharing our natural hair challenges for a while now and we want to start a blog and eventually have a meetup here in Denver for Colorado curlies. Unlike our sisters on the East Coast or West Coast, we live in a very dry climate so keeping moisture in our hair is a big challenge. My friend pulled out her camera and filmed me on the spot and then I filmed her.

When I got home, I tried something with my hair. Although my friend had assured me it looked good as it was, I wasn't feeling it. I had to go to a sorority community event on a college campus. I knew I'd be entering the world of weaves and wigs and I needed to represent. My hair was very dry anyway so I pulled out Old Faithful _ Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercream. Slathered it on my hair in sections, twisted them up, rolled the twists with flexirods and sat under the dryer for 30 minutes. It was a quick, down and dirty change up and fortunately it worked!  I was taking pictures of it with the iMac Photo Booth and decided to hit the video record button.......

Unemployment Benefits

So, I didn't get the job. But when I got the bad news, I was having a really good hair day and somehow that made it easier to swallow.

I blame the internet for my hair obsession. There is just so much information at my fingertips. I'm discovering styles and techniques to try that I would have never thought of on my own. Products too.

Maybe unemployment is to blame as well as I have more time on my hands to fool around with my hair.

Being a product junkie has some benefits. Every now and then I rediscover a product in the back of my vanity cabinet. Lately I've returned to KCCC. The first couple of times I've used it, I've been thinking why in the world did I abandon it? My curls were poppin'!  But now I see it's tough for me to get a week's worth out of it. In fact, it's tough for me to get a good five or six days out of any style before I'm back in the shower, running conditioner all over my head.

Here's a shot of my KCCC curls.

Interview Hair

I went on a job interview last week. I spent a week preparing, not just in how to answer questions and sound like I have my act, but of course, being a natural sister, I obsessed about hair, makeup and outfit.

Hair: Oh, those pesky grays. As soon as the interview date was announced, I was on the phone to Melissa, my stylist, making an appointment. When I got in her chair, suddenly I wanted to do something different. What about burgundy highlights and moving away from the browns already in my hair? Melissa got swatches and a mirror. We stood outside and tried to figure out what would work. The color I choose had a lot of purple in it. Melissa, started to worry about me going into an interview with purple hair and toned it down. Considerably. Instead of dark hair with burgundy shimmers, I got super black hair. I wasn’t thrilled but at least the gray was gone. When I go back, we’ll figure out a better look.

For styling, I tried to recreate this look:

But I’ve gotten terrible at blow-drying since I rarely do it, and my hair was much puffier. I had to fly to Chicago for my interview. That night in the hotel I flat twisted my hair after slathering on my go-to hair cream, Miss Jessie’s Baby Buttercream. Worth every dime; I don’t care what anybody says. I brought my foam curlers and curled the ends. It looked better in the morning.

Makeup: Bare Escentuals, of course. The mineral makeup sticks to my face better during those premenopausal face sweats. (TMI?) And Sephora green/brown eye shadow to play off the yellow blouse I was going to wear.

Outfit: I hit every plus size department in a 25-mile radius and even dabbled a bit in regular size departments, searching for a blouse to wear under my black pinstriped suit. The thin strips are yellow. I’ve always wanted a ruffled yellow blouse _ with short sleeves, please _ to wear. But I could not find one. This time I didn’t even come close. I’ve seen some in the past, but never one that was my size. I returned to my own closet, defeated. But wait a minute? What’s this in the back? Oh, yeah. That yellow and white-stripped shirt I got from Chico’s a while back. The last time I tried to wear it, the buttons puckered open at the chest. I tried it on again. No puckers! Could I have lost weight? Really? Could the morning bike rides and smaller portions be working? So I wore that, the suit and my black pumps. Pearl necklace shortened up to peak under the blouse and modest pearl earrings.

Did I get the job? I don’t know. But I felt I looked my best and gave it my best shot. If they couldn’t see my fabulousness, then it wasn’t meant to be.

Leave-In Love

If you are new to #naturalhaircare on YouTube and haven’t made it over to Kimmaytube’s channel, stop reading and head over there now. You specifically want to watch her video about her leave-in conditioner concoction.

This is the second time I’ve done it and I love the soft, moisturized feel of my hair. I also styled it with just the leave-in and no additional curl cream. I put my hair in two-strand twists. So far the hold is great. I’m so impressed. If this works, I can save hundreds of $$ in curl creams and styling gels.

I copied her exact recipe, but she encourages viewers to adapt it to their own hair needs. If they have another conditioner they like better, use that. And you can probably swap out the jojoba oil for olive or coconut. And maybe use aloe vera gel instead of aloe vera juice.

She’ll break it down for you, but here’s what I’m using:
2 tbsp of Kinky Curly Knot Today
2 tbsp of Aloe Vera juice
2 tsp jojoba oil
2 tsp castor oil.

I put it on after I’ve rinsed out my conditioner _ in sections, of course. Twist it up, let it air dry and untwist with fingers dripping coconut oil (or EVOO). Viola. I will twist them back up at night and see how it goes.

Top 10 Natural Ingredients for Your Hair

Top 10 Natural Ingredients for Your Hair

This is a good list to keep.

Curl Evangelism

I was in Sally’s Beauty Supply today, finally breaking down and buying a Denman brush (No. 3). It was the only one they had left. While I was studying the brushes I couldn’t help but over hear a conversation in the aisle between a white woman and one of the sales clerks. The white woman was with a little black girl whose hair was divided into several small Afro puffs. Very cute.  The sales clerk was showing her wide-tooth combs for combing the girl’s hair. When the clerk left her to go get some other product, I heisted, and then I couldn’t help myself. I butted in.

To my credit, I at least asked permission first. Did she want some advice? She said yes so I told her to be sure and wash the girl’s hair in sections, and only comb it when it’s wet, do the detangling while her hair is saturated with conditioner. Was I out of place? It didn’t seem the clerk, with her straightened hair and fake ponytail was going to be much help. I could have gone on and on, but tried not to be too intrusive. I think the woman was a foster mother because she said something about needing to learn to take care of the girl’s hair because it looked like she was going to be with them for a while. My parting advice was for the woman to get on YouTube and search for videos about natural hair care and children. I hope she does it.

This has me thinking too. Career coaches will tell you to have a 2-minute elevator speech about yourself. If you meet a potential employer in an elevator could you quickly describe your skills and attributes before the doors open again? Maybe I should have a two-minute how to take care of kinky hair monologue for the white mothers and other black women I run into who want to know how do I take care of my hair.

It might go something like this: Pick products that stress moisture and are for curls and are preferably sulfate-free. Work with your hair in sections. Detangle and comb (wide-tooth comb) only when it’s wet or damp. Get a good leave-in and a good moisturizer and a satin or silk scarf. Search natural hair care on YouTube or Google.

I hope the woman at Sally’s remembers my advice. Maybe I should get a job there.

12 Steps to Recovery

Hi. I’m Sistercurl and I’m a product junkie.

Hello Sistercurl!

That’s the first step to recovery: admitting you have a problem. I’m also a hair tutorial junkie too. Not a day goes by I’m not on YouTube seeing who is doing what with their hair and what they are using. And why stop with hair? What about makeup and outfits of the day? I could spend hours watching videos and reading beauty blogs while my life passes me by and I still don’t look or dress any better.

I’ve devised a 12-step recovery plan to take back control of my life. The key is repetition and ritual. I want to use the same products, the same way until I run out to see how my hair reacts instead of switching up every week with a different shampoo, conditioner or styling product. I’ll begin with the stuff I have:

1. Pre-poo with virgin coconut oil and Oyin Handmade’s Honey Hemp conditioner.  Jamyla from Oyin has a nice instructional video.

2. Detangle with wide tooth shower comb.

3. Co-wash with Honey Hemp.

4. Deep treatment with MJ’s Rapid Recovery and when all that is gone, the Honey Hemp.

5. Kinky Curly Knot Today as a leave-in.

6. Work in sections. Section my hair as I detangle and put it in four to six twists until I’m ready to style.

7. Style. Here is the only time to vary what I do (flat twists, two-strand twists, finger comb, etc. I’ve got three styling aids I need to use up before I buy more and I plan to use them in this order: MJ’s Curly Pudding, IC Fantasia Gel and Kinky Curly Spiral Spritz.

8. Do more protective hair styles.

9. No heat styling, no matter the temptation.

10. Moisturize dry hair with shea butter and my coconut oil.

11. Retwist hair at night, gently! Bag it and cap it. I’m in Colorado and I’ve found sleeping in a plastic cap helps retain moisture to my hair and the satin cap or scarf is just for ascetics.

12. Keep credit cards and debit card far from the computer.

Natural in Nature

It’s been years since I went hiking in the mountains and never before with my natural hair out _i.e. not braided. Never again. Part of my problem was not planning well. I was in church all day Saturday and tuckered out when I got home. I was just coming off of the flu, so I was still very low on energy. I went to bed without washing my hair and my hair needed it.


But I thought I had a bright idea. I’d do a wash-and-go in the morning with KCCC before we headed up to the mountains that afternoon. All was fine and good when I got in the car. The KCCC, along with the KC Knot Today left my hair nicely defined and moisturized. But the next morning, despite oiling my hair and tying it down with the satin scarf, it was poufy, and dry. I tried to revitalize it with some KC Spiral Spritz, but I don’t think I used enough. I put on a sun visor (which I hate because it has a Velcro clasp that catches hairs no matter how careful I am) for the hike. My hair was just not protected enough. Sweating in the dry mountain hair, my hair seemed to get bigger and bigger. It fell victim to every low hanging tree branch. I got a head full of pine nettles! My hair was a hot mess!

I had to wash it when we got back to the hotel, but I did not pack my wide-tooth comb. I co-washed with the hotel conditioner and detangled with my fingers. Not pretty. I squirted more KCSS in my hair, twisted it up in two big flat twists and used a hair clip to hold the ends. I wore it like that to dinner with my husband.

I felt more presentable in the morning when I untwisted it. But it still feels dry. Definitely doing a deep conditioning treatment tomorrow.


Next mountain adventure I’ll twist my hair up, and wear a scarf and a hat. No more naked natural in nature for me.

Shrinkage

I’m convinced you can’t really love your natural hair until you can embrace the shrinkage, until you love the ’fro. Isn’t that what a lot of us fight when we first go natural? I read blog after blog and watched video after video on ways to keep my curls from tightening up, and how to keep them stretched and defined.

It occurred to me what I was really coveting was that 3b curl, not the tight, fuzzy 4a-4b hair that is on my head. That I was born with. That God gave me.

But I’m getting over it.

Last time I was at the hairdresser, I had her blow-dry and flat iron my hair so I could see how long it has gotten. When she finished, we could both see the frayed and damaged ends, so I let her snip them off. Since it was straighten, the cut didn’t seem dramatic. But a week later when I washed my hair and styled it curly with MJ's Curly Pudding, I could see the difference. Free from those dead ends, my curls sprang up, and up and up.

But rather than grabbing the blow dryer and blasting the roots, I let it just be. It was still soft and the coils still wrapped lovingly around my fingers. A big part of accepting your natural hair is getting used to it.

But as the curl definition got fainter and fainter each day, I succumbed. I didn’t do another co-wash, though. This time I did dry twists with MJ’s Buttercream. I kept the twists in for almost three days. That also was something new for me. I had thought I didn’t look good with my hair in twists, but I liked these.

And now, after taking them out I have a fabulous twist out of stretched, defined curls.

   

      Like I said, I’m still trying to love the ’fro, but I’ not there yet.

Untwisting

It took me 24 hours to take out those kinky twist extensions. They were like micro braids! Never again!

I started on a Saturday night, picked and plucked and untwisted all day Sunday, went to bed exhausted and finished the last dozen Monday morning.

I admit I was trying to be more careful than I used to be in removing braids. This time, I know better than to drag a comb through dry hair. So I spritzed each braid with water, ran conditioner over it, and then once the braid was out, carefully worked out the knot. I think I had a lot less hair loss than I usually do, so thanks to every natural hair care blogger and vlogger out there. YouTube has made me much the wiser.

So after the twists were finally out, I did a hot-oil pretreatment with Oyin Handmade Afterbath, which is a mixture of vegetable oil). I had received a free sample size of Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk shampoo and conditioner, and the Hair Milk Lite for moisturizing, so I was eager to try them out. After shampooing I detangled with the conditioner, rinsed it out and then put in Miss Jessie’s Rapid Recovery Treatment for deep conditioning. I put that on, then a plastic cap and put on a heat camp for 20 minutes or more. After rinsing that out, I tried the Hair Milk Lite and I really liked it.

Then I tried another new thing: virgin coconut oil. I bought a jar from Whole Foods.

And after all that conditioning and care, I went to the salon to have my gray roots colored. I asked my stylist to blow it dry and flatiron it as I was curious about my hair length. But after she did that, we could see I needed to trim my ends.  I walked out with straight hair, but that night, slathered on the Miss Jessie’s Baby Buttercream and flat twisted my hair and put a sponge roller on the ends. I had soft, bouncy hair for a week. 

So I think I have a new routine for the summer: shampoo, or co-wash, deep condition, rinse, leave-in conditioner, flat twist. Once it’s dry, untwist with a moisturizer and coconut oil, and fluff. I try to avoid heat till my next root-cover up.

My Hairstory

Where I’ve been and where I am now:

For years my routine was braids, touch-up relaxer, re-braid.

Then I stopped relaxing so I could color the gray. So then my routine was color, braid, color, braid.

I finally started wearing my curly hair out, but like a lot of natural newbies, freaked as it got longer and more uncontrollable. So I turned to the texturizer. Whew. Some control. 

Got a re-touch. Big mistake. Hair started breaking and it wouldn’t curl anymore.

 Big chop once again.

Still learning to love the fro. Finally mastered the two-strand twist, like the flat twist and even, on occasion the wash & go with finger combing a curl crème through my hair, such as Curly Pudding or Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Every once in a while, I'll blow it dry and wear it straight.

And when I get discouraged, I can still braid it up.

Straight Curls

I tried a new hairstyle today after watching a CurlyChronicles video on big a hair. Queen of Curls, Autumn, showed how she blow-dried her hair and then flat twisted it. In the morning she unravels, and pow! Big curly hair.

I didn’t think I could master the art of flat twist, but I did _ found some additional tutorials on YouTube.  I left the flat twists in _ I had about eight of them _ all day and untwisted in the morning.

I used Miss Jessie’s Baby Buttercream cuz that’s what I had on hand. I had the Design Essentials leave-in in my hair when I blow-dried it. I tried not to get it too dry. The end results was cute, but felt super dry.  With the hair coloring in my hair, I need all the moisture I can get, so I'm not a fan of the heat.

The first night I put my hair in a couple of big loose twists, but in the morning the curl was starting to fall. Last night I did eight flat twists again and put foam rollers on the ends. I bathed my ends in the Buttercream and slept with a plastic cap on my head. That seems to help me retain moisture in my hair.

I was going out to a luncheon today so I took a picture. I like it, but it seems rather contradictory to straighten one’s hair to obtain curls when one’s hair is already naturally curly. Are looser curls considered prettier than tight kinky ones? Am I really just trying to create a 3b curl on my 4b head? Or what's so wrong with wanting a different look? Nothing.

I think for the next washday, I’ll try the flat twists on “un-straightened” hair. I’ll let my hair dry naturally and then flat twist it for the night and see how that works. 

Here's today's look: