Bluetopia
New Member
This time last year I had dry, brittle dreads that i was growing increasingly sick of. And now here it is the last day of 2009 and I am rocking texturized APL hair. The whole journey has been my most dramatic physical transformation ever. And as I have learned so much from reading other people's testimonials on here - it only seemed right I pay it forward and share mine as well....
For over 5years i had locs and while i loved the low maintenance and convenience of them, by the end of 08 I had outgrown them.
So on Jan 11th, 2009 I cut my locs in half and started the long, tedious process of combing out the newer, softer locked hair at my roots
5 weeks, and several sleepless nights later i ended up like this with about a 5inch fro of really coily thick hair.
One day while playing with my hair i stumbled across a little thing called "shrinkage" and was shocked to realize that my 5 inch fro was actually really much longer than that
so i attempted my first blow dry in over a decade!
At first it went ok...
but after 2 or 3 hours i was beat!!!!! and my hair still looked a mess
so i decided to go to an Aveda Salon to get it blown out professionally. When the stylist saw my hair she exclaimed "OMG They look like a million tiny Slinkies. I've never seen hair like this" - (below is a texture shot from a masquerade party i went to)
after she called another stylist over to see my "Slinky Hair" she recommended I texturize with this organic product called Phyto
This is my hair on Feb 28th after my first Phyto application and a flat iron.
It looked great but my hair was thin, dry, felt like hay and wouldn't hold a curl for more then 10 minutes. With time i cam to realize that i was protein sensitive and from reading LHCF came to see that the Phyto, Megatek protein products and coconut oil bandwagons that I had jumped on were making matters worse.
These two pics were taken in late March a week after I ended weeks of "lurking" and officially joined LHCF
March 25, 2009
it was so disheartening to find bald spots and thinning edges when I've had thick hair my whole life
buns were my first protective style
my hair was so dry tho, that i fell in love with baggying and moved on to my first full wig....which lasted all of 3 hrs cause it was synthetic, fake looking and just not me (note the forlorn expression on my face
)
tree braids were cute for a while but the hair kept tangling, and i wasn't a fan of the weight of all that hair tugging at my healing strands of hair.
half wigs turned out to be the answer! they're cute, inexpensive, allow me free access to my scalp, and let me baggy all i want without being concerned with appearance
after a 6month stretch to grow out my Phyto and switch to the much more moisture friendly Mizani Butter Blends Mild/Fine. I went to my stylist for a touch up.
As she's finishing the application I say "I've heard such good things about Mizani" and to my alarm she replies "Oh is that what you want to use next time?"
I looked at her like "what do you mean next time. I made an appt for Mizani this time. What are you putting in my head?"
she replied with "Phyto. Cause that's what you always get"
First off - always = 2 times
and secondly...i was explicit with the receptionist that i wanted to switch to Mizani. My stylist just hadn't bothered to look at the appointment sheet before slapping more protein on my head.
My hair (as expected) felt horrible and clumped into dreadlocks even after a dry remedy steam treatment. She tried to tell me it was cause my hair hadn't been detangled properly by me. But I spent an hour detangling it the night before and know that dry clumps are a classic sign of protein overload
So now my hair dryness is back at square one. My stylist is super talented but her nonchalance about my hairs hatred of Phyto and insistance that I'm over reacting has left me a bit unpleased.
On the bright side I made my goal and reached APL!!
Dec 29th, 2009
I'm baggying as I type this and a friend has offered to apply Mizani to my hair at the end of March/beginning of April so I can finally move past the thirsty hair chapter.
My goal is to be BSL/MBL by the end of 2010 and ultimately WSL.
Thank you all for a great year of inspiration, laughter and lessons.
I've shared my healthy hair tips with family and close friends. And during Christmas break 3 generations of women in my family sat in my kitchen (from 13 - 63 yrs old) while I taught them how to moisturize and seal their hair.
When my Auntie said "if you can do this maybe I'm not too old to have pretty hair too" i almost burst into tears.
erplexed
This is more than "just hair" ladies....in our own little way everyday we show people that black women are privy to the same heights of beauty as everyone else and that "Impossible" is nothing more than a myth.
Everytime a sistah looks at my hair and I see it "click" that she can grow hers out too it makes me smile on the inside.
Happy Hair Growing in 2010
ETA: My next appt 7 weeks later
For over 5years i had locs and while i loved the low maintenance and convenience of them, by the end of 08 I had outgrown them.
So on Jan 11th, 2009 I cut my locs in half and started the long, tedious process of combing out the newer, softer locked hair at my roots
5 weeks, and several sleepless nights later i ended up like this with about a 5inch fro of really coily thick hair.
One day while playing with my hair i stumbled across a little thing called "shrinkage" and was shocked to realize that my 5 inch fro was actually really much longer than that
so i attempted my first blow dry in over a decade!
At first it went ok...
but after 2 or 3 hours i was beat!!!!! and my hair still looked a mess
so i decided to go to an Aveda Salon to get it blown out professionally. When the stylist saw my hair she exclaimed "OMG They look like a million tiny Slinkies. I've never seen hair like this" - (below is a texture shot from a masquerade party i went to)
after she called another stylist over to see my "Slinky Hair" she recommended I texturize with this organic product called Phyto
This is my hair on Feb 28th after my first Phyto application and a flat iron.
It looked great but my hair was thin, dry, felt like hay and wouldn't hold a curl for more then 10 minutes. With time i cam to realize that i was protein sensitive and from reading LHCF came to see that the Phyto, Megatek protein products and coconut oil bandwagons that I had jumped on were making matters worse.
These two pics were taken in late March a week after I ended weeks of "lurking" and officially joined LHCF
March 25, 2009
it was so disheartening to find bald spots and thinning edges when I've had thick hair my whole life
buns were my first protective style
my hair was so dry tho, that i fell in love with baggying and moved on to my first full wig....which lasted all of 3 hrs cause it was synthetic, fake looking and just not me (note the forlorn expression on my face
)
tree braids were cute for a while but the hair kept tangling, and i wasn't a fan of the weight of all that hair tugging at my healing strands of hair.
half wigs turned out to be the answer! they're cute, inexpensive, allow me free access to my scalp, and let me baggy all i want without being concerned with appearance
after a 6month stretch to grow out my Phyto and switch to the much more moisture friendly Mizani Butter Blends Mild/Fine. I went to my stylist for a touch up.
As she's finishing the application I say "I've heard such good things about Mizani" and to my alarm she replies "Oh is that what you want to use next time?"
I looked at her like "what do you mean next time. I made an appt for Mizani this time. What are you putting in my head?"
she replied with "Phyto. Cause that's what you always get"
First off - always = 2 times
and secondly...i was explicit with the receptionist that i wanted to switch to Mizani. My stylist just hadn't bothered to look at the appointment sheet before slapping more protein on my head.
My hair (as expected) felt horrible and clumped into dreadlocks even after a dry remedy steam treatment. She tried to tell me it was cause my hair hadn't been detangled properly by me. But I spent an hour detangling it the night before and know that dry clumps are a classic sign of protein overload
So now my hair dryness is back at square one. My stylist is super talented but her nonchalance about my hairs hatred of Phyto and insistance that I'm over reacting has left me a bit unpleased.
On the bright side I made my goal and reached APL!!
Dec 29th, 2009
I'm baggying as I type this and a friend has offered to apply Mizani to my hair at the end of March/beginning of April so I can finally move past the thirsty hair chapter.
My goal is to be BSL/MBL by the end of 2010 and ultimately WSL.
Thank you all for a great year of inspiration, laughter and lessons.
I've shared my healthy hair tips with family and close friends. And during Christmas break 3 generations of women in my family sat in my kitchen (from 13 - 63 yrs old) while I taught them how to moisturize and seal their hair.
When my Auntie said "if you can do this maybe I'm not too old to have pretty hair too" i almost burst into tears.
erplexedThis is more than "just hair" ladies....in our own little way everyday we show people that black women are privy to the same heights of beauty as everyone else and that "Impossible" is nothing more than a myth.
Everytime a sistah looks at my hair and I see it "click" that she can grow hers out too it makes me smile on the inside.
Happy Hair Growing in 2010
ETA: My next appt 7 weeks later
Last edited:
! You have done a great job!!
What an accomplishment! I'm glad the women in your family were open to learning about hair care!
amazing!
