Random Hair Thoughts/Thinking out loud

BronxJazzy said:
@YvetteWithJoy is this the vid you're talking about?
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@BronxJazzy, thanks!!! :kiss:

Tagging @AgeinATL.

This must be it because I've seen this video before but I don't know who this is. I must have made her be NHJ in my recollection. (That's crazy!!!)

At 1:19 or so she starts talking about detangling and how she had to learn not to over detangle. The concept had NEVER occurred to me, that one could possibly "over detangle" one's hair.

I kind of let it marinate, because I was really attached to my "Funnel Method" of detangling which a famous YouTuber with very long hair does faithfully (without calling it that).

I decided that since my hair is not dreading up, I'm fine at the moment with detangling once a week with my KareCo Tangle Buster brush. It scares me a little, but I do NOT take a medium or fine -toothed comb through my strands anymore. I see some natural clumps forming, and I'm *gulp* just rolling with it for now.

Time will tell over the next year whether my hair is okay once I've regained the inches from my last "big" trim. I don't think my hair is looking all that different, and I am still able to brush completely through all of my hair, and it now only takes me 35 minutes MAX to detangle versus ______ hours (I'm almost shame to type the number of hours I used to put into detangling. *sniffle* :smile:)
 
Sharpened said:
I always knew I had a mix of coils and crinkles (s-shaped waves), but not like this. Only 5% are root-to-tip coily, the rest, 6-7" of coil on the ends and crinkles to the roots. What happened? That much of a texture change, really? No wonder my roots keep puffing up. Great, and yet another adaptation...
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That happens with length. Those coils can't support themselves under the weight.
 
krissyhair said:
Link?
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http://thehairpolitics.com/2017/05/no-product-junkies/

She lost me at "I’m about to be brutally honest. Product junkies are really just naturals who show signs of lack of love for their natural hair . . ."

ETA:
It's not that I don't like a lot of what she says in the article, but once you start writing as if you know someone's mind/thoughts/aims/goals . . . deeeeeeep, long sigh. :nono:

EATA (edited again to add):
If you are clueless about what to do with your natural hair because you've only had it for a few years but were relaxed for over 30 years, and folks keep saying, "Once I found the right moisturizer . . . deep conditioner . . . detangler . . ." then you might THINK you need to find the right products for your hair! It might not be that you don't have love for your hair!!!

Also, it takes a WHILE to acclimate to the look and behavior of natural hair after you've worn your hair straight for decades and decades. You may be thinking, "There must be some product+technique combo to reduce the shedding or tangling . . . etc." This does not mean you don't love your hair. You could just be concerned or believing that it should be DIFFERENT (less tangly, better moisturized, shedding less, etc)!

EOATA (edited once again to add):
I can honestly imagine JUST THE OPPOSITE: I can imagine some product junkies being people who just love their hair so much they are having fun, are trying hard without the right info, are desperately trying to stop breakage, are frantically trying to save it, etc., etc.
 
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Another reason she lost me:

Which is it? Should I research products or not? She says we are supposed to know our hair so well that we just KNOW a product will work from reading the ingredients, yet she wrote the last bullet point after writing the former two.
  • "If you don’t research what’s even in the product, you could potentially be buying something that never would’ve worked for your hair anyway. Then you’ll get frustrated because it’s showing horrible results but…you put yourself in that position! Don’t be too lazy to research something that’ll save you time and money in the long run."
  • "When you think about it, the best way to avoid becoming a product junkie is to take all the love and hype away from the products and put it into your natural hair! Once we take the same amount of energy we use to research if a product will work, and put it into getting to know our own hair so we’ll know if it’ll work, hair struggles are going to be a thing of the past!"
  • "She [your hair] may like a certain product one week, and hate it the next."
I didn't feel hopeful after reading the article. I did feel confused a bit.

Regardless, maybe her advice is internally compatible, but I'm too miffed/offended to see it. :smile: That reduces the article's effectiveness for me. But, oh well

The bolded above struck me as not true: I'm always reading posts from very well-informed ladies here . . . ladies who know their hair AND know ingredients . . . and they frequently post a MISS in the Hits/Miss thread despite being careful about ingredients. It happens! It could be the AMOUNTS/PROPORTIONS that made a difference . . .
 
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YvetteWithJoy said:
Another reason she lost me:

Which is it? Should I research products or not? She says we are supposed to know our hair so well that we just KNOW a product will work from reading the ingredients, yet she wrote the last bullet point after writing the former two.
  • "If you don’t research what’s even in the product, you could potentially be buying something that never would’ve worked for your hair anyway. Then you’ll get frustrated because it’s showing horrible results but…you put yourself in that position! Don’t be too lazy to research something that’ll save you time and money in the long run."
  • "When you think about it, the best way to avoid becoming a product junkie is to take all the love and hype away from the products and put it into your natural hair! Once we take the same amount of energy we use to research if a product will work, and put it into getting to know our own hair so we’ll know if it’ll work, hair struggles are going to be a thing of the past!"
  • "She [your hair] may like a certain product one week, and hate it the next."
I didn't feel hopeful after reading the article. I did feel confused a bit.

Regardless, maybe her advice is internally compatible, but I'm too miffed/offended to see it. :smile: That reduces the article's effectiveness for me. But, oh well

The bolded above struck me as not true: I'm always reading posts from very well-informed ladies here . . . ladies who know their hair AND know ingredients . . . and they frequently post a MISS in the Hits/Miss thread despite being careful about ingredients. It happens! It could be the AMOUNTS/PROPORTIONS that made a difference . . .
Click to expand...
I don't know. I guess learning the science of your hair, your body, your skin, and your diet. There are way too many products out here, and most of them are the same. Natural and relaxed I can't use 75%-80% of what people on this board, or YouTube uses. I probably shampoo my hair more than 95% of the people on this board. When I'm being a product junkie, it's just the high of trying something new. What I have in my cabinet pretty much works. I think we keep looking for this awesome experience with all of these hair products. We still can't get on track with drinking enough water and having a proper diet, but we will search all over the world for a magical product.
 
Washed and blow dried/flat ironed my hair again today. Took 30 mins to blow dry and then ~30 mins to flat iron! Not too bad considering how long it used to take (2 hrs +). All of my curls had fully reverted in the shower (thank You Lord!) and my hair felt/feels really good.

I am really loving the Ion keratin smooth masque. I just use it as my rinse out condish and it has been making my curls feel so buttery soft. I like the hard water shampoo, too. I'm glad I gave them a try. In a happy place with my hair :)
 
I've had these braids in for barely two weeks and i'm ready to take them out. i'm trying to wait until after my son's bday party at the water park that way i can take them out and go back to wearing my wigs.
 
@YvetteWithJoy I agree with you. She is generalizing too much. There are some PJ's who simply love the experience of shopping or of obtaining a new treat (that is the hair product); they love experiencing the fragrance, the color, the drawings on the bottle, the yummy ingredients list, how buttery and smooth the product is to touch, and the excitement of discovering how it acts on their hair and how their hair reacts to it specially if the hair loves it. It's just like not wanting to miss out on trying a new nail polish or lipstick. It doesn't necessarily mean that you hate your nails or your lips.

Moreover it does indeed take some trial and error to find out the best products for our hair. That'd the whole point of researching. Some of us have met their HGs after years of trial and error. And many of us have found HGs and started swearing by them only for these products to be later replaced by new HGs that perform even better and more fabulously. In fact you can never learn what ingredients your hair likes or dislikes until you have tried them on multiple products because it's not possible to magically know which exact ingredient is the one that your hair loves in a bottle of a product with 30 ingredients listed on the side if it is the only product that you have ever tried. And often times two products with very similar ingredient lists act totally differently on our hair

She describes PJs that are constantly frustrated with their hair when there are many PJs around here who are perfectly happy with their hair and with the way a lot of the products in their current stash perform.
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
@BronxJazzy, thanks!!! :kiss:

Tagging @AgeinATL.

This must be it because I've seen this video before but I don't know who this is. I must have made her be NHJ in my recollection. (That's crazy!!!)

At 1:19 or so she starts talking about detangling and how she had to learn not to over detangle. The concept had NEVER occurred to me, that one could possibly "over detangle" one's hair.

I kind of let it marinate, because I was really attached to my "Funnel Method" of detangling which a famous YouTuber with very long hair does faithfully (without calling it that).

I decided that since my hair is not dreading up, I'm fine at the moment with detangling once a week with my KareCo Tangle Buster brush. It scares me a little, but I do NOT take a medium or fine -toothed comb through my strands anymore. I see some natural clumps forming, and I'm *gulp* just rolling with it for now.

Time will tell over the next year whether my hair is okay once I've regained the inches from my last "big" trim. I don't think my hair is looking all that different, and I am still able to brush completely through all of my hair, and it now only takes me 35 minutes MAX to detangle versus ______ hours (I'm almost shame to type the number of hours I used to put into detangling. *sniffle* :smile:)
Click to expand...

Combing with a wide tooth comb does detangle my hair but it invariably disrupts my curl pattern. It takes a second wash and a lot of coaxing to get the clumps to form again. What are some solutions for this problem that you guys have come up with?
 
ClassyJSP said:
I've had these braids in for barely two weeks and i'm ready to take them out. i'm trying to wait until after my son's bday party at the water park that way i can take them out and go back to wearing my wigs.
Click to expand...
I've had my braids for about 10 days and I'm r ready to go back to my wash N goes. I'm going to try to hold out until the end of the month.
 
Coilystep said:
Isn't it just a brand of black soap?
Click to expand...

I don't know. There's a thread that got bumped about "REAL black soap for clarifying," and it mentioned it in terms of being fake black soap.

That piqued my curiosity, because Natty Naturals sells a shampoo with the name in the title. "Fake" doesn't sound like this company. I have zero knowledge about African black soap or Dudu Osum.
 
Alma Petra said:
Combing with a wide tooth comb does detangle my hair but it invariably disrupts my curl pattern. It takes a second wash and a lot of coaxing to get the clumps to form again. What are some solutions for this problem that you guys have come up with?
Click to expand...

I can't say because: The only time I have problem with curl definition loss is when my hair lacks proper protein. Otherwise, my hair is SUPER coily, even if I brush through it over and over and over. It just springs right back.
 
Alma Petra said:
@YvetteWithJoy I agree with you. She is generalizing too much. There are some PJ's who simply love the experience of shopping or of obtaining a new treat (that is the hair product); they love experiencing the fragrance, the color, the drawings on the bottle, the yummy ingredients list, how buttery and smooth the product is to touch, and the excitement of discovering how it acts on their hair and how their hair reacts to it specially if the hair loves it. It's just like not wanting to miss out on trying a new nail polish or lipstick. It doesn't necessarily mean that you hate your nails or your lips.

Moreover it does indeed take some trial and error to find out the best products for our hair. That'd the whole point of researching. Some of us have met their HGs after years of trial and error. And many of us have found HGs and started swearing by them only for these products to be later replaced by new HGs that perform even better and more fabulously. In fact you can never learn what ingredients your hair likes or dislikes until you have tried them on multiple products because it's not possible to magically know which exact ingredient is the one that your hair loves in a bottle of a product with 30 ingredients listed on the side if it is the only product that you have ever tried. And often times two products with very similar ingredient lists act totally differently on our hair

She describes PJs that are constantly frustrated with their hair when there are many PJs around here who are perfectly happy with their hair and with the way a lot of the products in their current stash perform.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this post and affirmation, @Alma Petra.

AGREED!

I'm feeling quite miffed and sensitive about that article upon that second read! :lol: Too miffed for someone who doesn't know the blogger. LOL!

Probably because: I think her term "hate" in the article really bothered me because I struggle with the behavior of my very tight coils in a way I don't with my looser coils and a way I never did with my straight hair. That doesn't mean I "hate" my hair, but it did contribute to me making some purchases I probably would not have . . . yes, because I was trying to affect my tighter coils. I am working to just embrace it for what it is, and I strongly feel that if we accuse everyone who has to change their thinking about their tight coils as "hating" their hair . . . :nono: Mmmmm. I don't like it, and such a strong accusation sucks the fun out of experimenting to make progress.

Anyhoo, your words have helped me put it aside. I'm over it. I'll probably always purchase a product here or there to see how it affects my regimen and the manageability of my hair. I love my natural hair, and it's fun finding new products that take my hair to even newer levels.
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
Thanks for this post and affirmation, @Alma Petra.

AGREED!

I'm feeling quite miffed and sensitive about that article upon that second read! :lol: Too miffed for someone who doesn't know the blogger. LOL!

Probably because: I think her term "hate" in the article really bothered me because I struggle with the behavior of my very tight coils in a way I don't with my looser coils and a way I never did with my straight hair. That doesn't mean I "hate" my hair, but it did contribute to me making some purchases I probably would not have . . . yes, because I was trying to affect my tighter coils. I am working to just embrace it for what it is, and I strongly feel that if we accuse everyone who has to change their thinking about their tight coils as "hating" their hair . . . :nono: Mmmmm. I don't like it, and such a strong accusation sucks the fun out of experimenting to make progress.

Anyhoo, your words have helped me put it aside. I'm over it. I'll probably always purchase a product here or there to see how it affects my regimen and the manageability of my hair. I love my natural hair, and it's fun finding new products that take my hair to even newer levels.
Click to expand...
If they invent a relaxer that sort of loosens your curls and wears off completely with the next wash, would you use it?
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
Thanks for this post and affirmation, @Alma Petra.

AGREED!

I'm feeling quite miffed and sensitive about that article upon that second read! :lol: Too miffed for someone who doesn't know the blogger. LOL!

Probably because: I think her term "hate" in the article really bothered me because I struggle with the behavior of my very tight coils in a way I don't with my looser coils and a way I never did with my straight hair. That doesn't mean I "hate" my hair, but it did contribute to me making some purchases I probably would not have . . . yes, because I was trying to affect my tighter coils. I am working to just embrace it for what it is, and I strongly feel that if we accuse everyone who has to change their thinking about their tight coils as "hating" their hair . . . :nono: Mmmmm. I don't like it, and such a strong accusation sucks the fun out of experimenting to make progress.

Anyhoo, your words have helped me put it aside. I'm over it. I'll probably always purchase a product here or there to see how it affects my regimen and the manageability of my hair. I love my natural hair, and it's fun finding new products that take my hair to even newer levels.
Click to expand...
You are right. We are always striving to become better versions of ourselves on all different aspects. There is no final authority that can dictate to us what aspects of ourselves we are obliged to accept as is, what aspects we are allowed to want to improve on or what aspects we are never allowed to dislike or to seek to change.
Some people around me can simply wash and proceed to go out with perfectly silky moisturized hair. I used to do the same and I would end up with dry brittle hair which I thought was the ultimate nature of my hair and I did NOT like that. Turns out I didn't have to like or accept it. Now I know how to condition and moisturize my hair. And guess how I do it? I use PRODUCTS! Hell I didn't even know that my hair can curl. Guess what it took to bring out the curls in my hair? Products again. Products are not a part of my genetic make-up but I'm glad I didn't force myself to like and accept my dry messy hair of before. I love my newly discovered coils. And I'm now searching for the perfect products to define them and keep them always moisturized. I may or may not find these but it's always fun and worth it to try. Many others have been successful. Even my own hair has come a long way and it is now not recognizable for its old self. I used to be texlaxed and I'm now transitioning to fully natural in search of more coiling action. I'm considering getting a shaping hair cut to achieve more "fro-ness"

To be honest that's the way of things and she should just get over it. We use things like body lotion, deodorants, mouth rinses, lip balm, teeth whitening kits, etc lol. We simply work with what we have to achieve the best results possible.
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
Does anyone know what Dudu Osum is and how it differs from black soap? TIA.
Click to expand...

Dudu Osum is a brand that's probably a bit more processed for commercial use. Black soap is harsh imo. I'm not exactly sure why she said is was fake (though I can guess). If you look at the ingredients and texture, you can see for yourself.

I wouldn't cast DO off to the dungeons, but it's worth it to try both to determine which you like better.

I don't like either.

IMG_1545.JPG

IMG_1546.JPG

IMG_1547.JPG
 
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