Umm. . .

So I have been "neglecting: my hair and just doing 2 french twist-braids at night on wet hair and bunning because I've been pretty uninspired on the styling front. So in light of Curly Nikki's Butters-N-Bars challenge I will force myself to be less lazy and try some new styles. My topic page on Curly Nikki's forum is here.

I am addicted to Curly Nikki's forum. It makes my PJ go crazy seeing all the product reviews and suggestions. And seeing all the beautiful natural hair makes me wish I had never gotten a perm in the first place. Ugghh. I feel like my hair would be at least waist length, or a HUGE fro. I would love to have either. But I can't keep dwelling on the past so I just have to worry about keeping my hair healthy.

That's all I got. Ta-ta for now!

Henna Wash-out Method and Results

Three words can sum up my henna experience: I. Love. Henna. My new growth is showing more of the effects of henna, but my relaxed ends are so thick, smooth and healthy. Rinsing it out was , for lack of a better word, a messy experience.

This is the morning after the henna application. I had the henna in from 6pm to 11am.

My method to wash it out took quite a long time, but was very effective.

First, I soaked my head in the tub because some of the henna around my hairline and the nape of my neck had dried. I found that too messy (the water turned completely greenish-brown in 30 seconds) so I stood up to shower only to discover that shower made my hair splatter henna the all over the walls and tub. I advise that, while kneeling, you run your head under the tub faucet until the water leaving your hair is only slightly greenish brown. If you have a detachable shower head you should still stay low or the henna will spray everywhere.

Second, I let the water rinse through my hair for about 5 minutes and then apply two full handfuls of conditioner. I used Aussie Moist and HE Hello Hydration. After the conditioner was applied from root to tip I parted my hair into two sections and ran my hair under the water for a moment than massaged my scalp until the conditioner foamed (it foams light brown, when it's supposed to be white). I made the mistake of not scratching through my scalp (lightly, mind you) the first time so I had to go back and shampoo after I had DCed and co-washed 3-4 times because when I parted my hair after towel drying the henna was still on my scalp.

Third, I DCed with Lustraslik Olive Oil Hair Mayonnaise, and Lustrasilk Cholesterol deep conditioning cream. I saturated my hair with the product and then let it sit on my hair for 2 1/2 hours. I would have let it sit longer, but I was getting impatient and my hair takes FOREVER and a day to dry. When I rinsed out the DC I had to shampoo again, like I said before, so I put HE Hello Hydration on again for about 10 mins in the shower and rinsed with cold water.

At that point my hair was henna free and moisturized. I do agree with others who say henna dries your hair out, cause it did mine.

Finally, I french twist-braided my hair (see the video in the post below) and I can already see the difference in my hair and it's 80% dry. It's so shiny! I will definitely henna again next month.

Until next time: A penguin high five explosion!

My henna arrived!

I am going to be hennaing this weekend for the first time. I'm very excited to see what it does to my hair color. All I need to do is get some plastic/rubber gloves.

I did a twist french braid 2 days in a row. The first day turned out crunchy, flat , and stringy, so I redid it but got the same result so I am going to deep condition soon. Probably when I henna. (is henna a verb? I don't think so, but I'm gonna use it as one) I might add some eggs to my deep conditioner for protein.

Day 1:

Day 2:

I like the Day two twist braids better. I do a flat twist into a braid on each side so that the twists will hold. I think I'll do a video of that after I henna. Here is an old picture of my results (back when my hair was healthier >.<

Until next time, Penguins and friends!