Starting Over with My Natural Hair :-/

[foxee]

We use the same products and have similar hair types so I'll be following your journey. Best of luck!

 

[lushcoils]

I also never really got the point of detangling with my hair with a comb. lol

Good luck!

 

[greenandchic]

I didn't mean it like that. Not sure how else to explain it. But detangling with combs/brushes can also cause knots and breakage on certain hair types, especially mine which has happened. It disturbs the natural hair pattern.

I hear you. I don't use brushes of any kind for that reason.

 

[KittyMeowMeow]

This sounds like it will be great! Good luck with your new hair and new regi!

I have fine hair too- heat was horrible for me, cones are not my friend. Brushes are the absolute devil for me- tangle teezer & denman gave me midstrand splits. I now only use the magic star rake comb, which glides through my hair easily. I think the combo of getting rid of all the damage, no brushes, and no heat will take you to the next level!

For the shampooing- consider just washing your scalp by putting shampoo & water to dilute in an applicator bottle if needed to keep your scalp clean and healthy. Massage, then rinse. This will clean your scalp, and lightly cleanse the hair. You can lift one of your braided sections up while rinsing if your hair doesn't need any shampoo that wash. If you need to clarify, then wash your hair as normal. Once you get rid of the damage, consider the Terressentials mud wash - these are incredible for natural hair.

Good luck!

 

[Nefertiti0906]

Wish you the best on your new hair journey.

I can't wait to see the results of your Devacut.

I ordered the book over a month ago and have been doing the CG method for about 6 weeks now. In the beginning my hair didn't look so great and that is the time that most folks want to give up because they think it's not working. You have to give yourself time on this method, about 6-8 weeks before you truly notice a difference.

Each week I notice more and more improvement with my hair. It's more shiny, my curls are more clumped together because I no longer use a brush, but my fingers or a wide tooth comb.

I use Suave Coconut Conditioner or Tresemme (no silicones), when I want to use a little more cleanser on my scalp I use a sulfate free shampoo Nature's Gate, and for styling I use hair gels without parabens/silicones.

Hang in there!!

~~HoneyComb~~ what brand gels do you use w/out parabens and silicones?

 

[~~HoneyComb~~]

@ ~~HoneyComb~~ what brand gels do you use w/out parabens and silicones?

nefertiti - I use 2 gels at the moment.

Long Aid Curl Activator gel - it has glycerin and my hair does well with it in the winter.

Uncle Funky's Daughter Curly Magic http://shop.unclefunkysdaughter.com/store/pc/home.asp - no glycerin and I layer it over the Long Aid Curl Activator gel.

The Curly Magic is a little pricey but a little goes a long way. If you do a search on YT you'll see that it's loved by women with all different hairtypes.

 

[Poohbear]

This sounds like it will be great! Good luck with your new hair and new regi!

I have fine hair too- heat was horrible for me, cones are not my friend. Brushes are the absolute devil for me- tangle teezer & denman gave me midstrand splits. I now only use the magic star rake comb, which glides through my hair easily. I think the combo of getting rid of all the damage, no brushes, and no heat will take you to the next level!

For the shampooing- consider just washing your scalp by putting shampoo & water to dilute in an applicator bottle if needed to keep your scalp clean and healthy. Massage, then rinse. This will clean your scalp, and lightly cleanse the hair. You can lift one of your braided sections up while rinsing if your hair doesn't need any shampoo that wash. If you need to clarify, then wash your hair as normal. Once you get rid of the damage, consider the Terressentials mud wash - these are incredible for natural hair.

Good luck!

KittyMeowMeow - I've tried applying diluted shampoo with an applicator bottle.... did not work for me. When it comes to shampooing, I have to get a good lather and scrub going on. But for my new routine, I will be avoiding shampoo.

I looked up the Terressentials Mud Wash online and I see that each type of mud wash has ammonium lauryl sulfate in it.

 

[HairPleezeGrow]

@HairPleezeGrow - If the ingredient ends with -cone, -conol, -col, or -xane, then it is a silicone.

Thanks

 

[thecurlycamshow]

Good luck on your journey!

 

[Victorian]

Hey Poohbear - I remember we chopped within a couple months of each other in 2005
I know at one point you were using grease for straightening -- not sure if you were still doing that, but do you think that could have had a negative effect over time?
Either way good luck on your new journey and can't wait to see the new cut!

 

[KittyMeowMeow]

Aaahhh, I needed to read more carefully to see that you are doing the curly girl method & that's why no shampoo!

(The terressentials site makes their ingredients unnecessarily confusing. The ingredients are the ones on the left- just aloe, mud, and EOs, on the right is "what it doesn't have"- ammonium laureth & all that. They should really take that off there since people could easily see it doesn't have that stuff if they'd just leave that list off of there!)

Anyway, it sounds like you are setting yourself up for an amazing comeback, and I wish you the best!

 

[Poohbear]

Aaahhh, I needed to read more carefully to see that you are doing the curly girl method & that's why no shampoo!

(The terressentials site makes their ingredients unnecessarily confusing. The ingredients are the ones on the left- just aloe, mud, and EOs, on the right is "what it doesn't have"- ammonium laureth & all that. They should really take that off there since people could easily see it doesn't have that stuff if they'd just leave that list off of there!)

Anyway, it sounds like you are setting yourself up for an amazing comeback, and I wish you the best!

KittyMeowMeow

OHHHH!!! Now I see! Thanks for pointing that out! I didn't even pay attention to what's underneath the name of the product. I assumed it was a description instead of the actual ingredients. I'm usually pretty detail-oriented and can't believe I didn't see "You won't find any of this:" right above that list. They should take that off to avoid confusion.

 

[Poohbear]

Hey Poohbear - I remember we chopped within a couple months of each other in 2005
I know at one point you were using grease for straightening -- not sure if you were still doing that, but do you think that could have had a negative effect over time?
Either way good luck on your new journey and can't wait to see the new cut!

Victorian - yes, I believe flat-ironing with grease had a negative effect on my hair. Even though this was the only way I could get my natural hair to stay straight for weeks at a time, it was destroying my ends. I think the flat iron period caused splits. Before going natural, I never used a flat iron and never had splits when I was relaxed. I used curling irons on my relaxed hair but still never had split ends.

If I ever straighten my hair again (which will be a long time from now), I'll have to be more careful and straighten less often. I may have to blowdry and flat iron even smaller sections of hair and be more gentle and take more time in order to avoid splits. I know there were times when I would straighten my hair that I would blowdry roughly and would press down hard on my ends between the plates of the flat iron. I gotta stop doing that.

 

[faithVA]

Wishing you the best Poohbear. I'm glad that you know what direction you want to go in and already have it laid out. I think your hair will look fabulous this weekend. Look forward to seeing the new cut.

 

[Aggie]

I am so sorry to hear about your setback Poohbear, and I know that you will get back to where you were in your hair journey and beyond. We are here for you.

I agree with greenandchic, not detangling properly created more problems for me too - single strand knots. I detangle a little more and better - twice a week at least now when I DC my hair in very small sections at a time.

I first use a large tooth comb, followed by a finer tooth comb to remove the shed hairs. I keep my hair braided up or cornrowed to prevent my ends wrapping themselves around each other immediately after detangling.

I have resolved to get a tiny trim every 4-6 months now as opposed to holding on to them for a whole year at a time. That in itself was crazy to employ with my fine hair. Wash and go's are a for me as well I've discovered, as they exascerbate the ssks and splits for my hair.

Moisturizing and sealing really really helps me to keep my ends but I was lazy and fell down on doing them consistently. Now I'm back to doing them as I should and my ends are super happy it seems.

Eventually I will be able to wear my hair out but not as often as I did before - I know that now, especially since I want to keep my hair on my head. Protective styling really is critical for me in this hair journey.

By the way, I am mildly texlaxed but my curls are still pretty tight and they still wrap themselves around each other, get a lot of splits and ssks if I am not careful.

 

[Aggie]

I am so glad you mentioned the heat styling Poohbear because I was thinking about doing some of that to control the ssks but your posts just changed my mind. I will most likely be be doing them once every 2 months or so. I hope that's not too frequent. Thanks for sharing that bit of info.

 

[nurseN98]

Poohbear Have you tried curlformers or something like that? Maybe that would be a way to stretch it out withoutflat ironing? I'm sorry to hear you've been having issues. I really hope everything (plan, cut) works out for you. Keep us updated

 

[Poohbear]

Poohbear Have you tried curlformers or something like that? Maybe that would be a way to stretch it out withoutflat ironing? I'm sorry to hear you've been having issues. I really hope everything (plan, cut) works out for you. Keep us updated

nurseN98 - No, I haven't tried curlformers. I've seen people use them and how they have to latch their hair onto a hook and pull the section through the curlformer... I'm afraid to use them on my hair texture. My texture is not in the type 2A-3C range. My hair texture are very tightly coiled like the metal spring inside of a pen. If I want curls, I will stick with either rollers, flexirods, or permrods.

 

[baby42]

wow this some thing i should really look in to doing to my hair been all nat for a year now had to bc last may hair just comeing back want to stay a way from prem kind of scared of them now i mess up so bad i HAD TO BC

 

[tashboog]

nurseN98 - No, I haven't tried curlformers. I've seen people use them and how they have to latch their hair onto a hook and pull the section through the curlformer... I'm afraid to use them on my hair texture. My texture is not in the type 2A-3C range. My hair texture are very tightly coiled like the metal spring inside of a pen. If I want curls, I will stick with either rollers, flexirods, or permrods.

Hey Poohbear! Just to ease your mind about the curlformers, they do not pull your hair if you are installing them correctly. I'm a 4a natural and I've been using curlformers to stretch my hair. I air dry my hair with the curlformers and it gets my hair straighter than any flexi rod, perm rod, or roller set. I think you should really give curlformers a try. The curlformers have reduced my SSK's and I have retained length and it gives my out styles more length. I have also found many naturals on youtube that have used the curlformers from type 3a to type 4c with beautiful results .

 

[FemmeCreole]

I also experienced a set back and I think it's as a result of flat ironing, stress and general lack of caring for my hair.

Over the last 4 months I have not cared for my hair as I should. My job stresses me out so much that it ultimately led to medical complications. (Ladies stress can kill... seriously!) I really stopped doing anything with my hair, no DC, no moisturizing, and the only thing I did was flat iron to make it look decent or just pull it back into a pony.

Any ways my nape and the back of my hair broke off. The front half is still intact but I cut off about 2" so that the length would look more uniform.

Three weeks ago I started back DC-ing and moisturizing. I'm also going to stop flat ironing or at least do it less often. I'm not sure about the blow drying. I did an aphogee 2 minute treatment and I seen a considerable decrease in breakage and hairs on the floor.

 

[Poohbear]

reeko43 manter26 drmuffin Whimsy ~~HoneyComb~~ Victorian faithVA

Here's my hair in a flat twistout BEFORE getting it cut:

Below are pictures of my hair after she cut, washed, and conditioned it with Devacurl products. It's not anything spectacular to "ooh" and "ahh" over like the loosely curled ladies on YouTube who've gotten Deva cuts...

Front

Back

Top

Side

I really like how she got it moisturized, but I did not like the Devacurl Arc An-Gel that she used in my hair. It made my hair feel hard as it was drying.

So when I got home, I rinsed my hair out and put my hair in flat twists so I could do a twistout. Once my hair was dry, I also cut more off my bangs to make them thicker, but my bangs are still too long to wear in front of my forehead when stretched. I also looked at different sections of my hair and still have splits. So I decided to cut more hair ends for a fresher start for my journey to longer hair.

Twistout AFTER the cut:

 

[manter26]

Thanks for the tag!

Below are pictures of my hair after she cut, washed, and conditioned it with Devacurl products. It's not anything spectacular to "ooh" and "ahh" over like the loosely curled ladies on YouTube who've gotten Deva cuts...

I beg to differ on the bolded. Your hair looks fantastic! I definitely notice the difference between this wng and the old ones from the "everyday hair" thread. Since your hair is seemingly very fine the heat damage made it look remarkably thinner. The curls and volume now look awesome.

I appreciate the review on the cut as well. I had a consult with a Deva stylist over the phone and one thing I was worried about was not getting all my splits cut off since they are really only concerned with shape. Some of my ends look like tree branches they are split so much, so I'll probably just trim myself.

Good luck with your hair journey from here on out! I'm sure it'll grow back bigger and better!

 

[Poohbear]

Thanks for the tag!



I beg to differ on the bolded. Your hair looks fantastic! I definitely notice the difference between this wng and the old ones from the "everyday hair" thread. Since your hair is seemingly very fine the heat damage made it look remarkably thinner. The curls and volume now look awesome.

I appreciate the review on the cut as well. I had a consult with a Deva stylist over the phone and one thing I was worried about was not getting all my splits cut off since they are really only concerned with shape. Some of my ends look like tree branches they are split so much, so I'll probably just trim myself.

Good luck with your hair journey from here on out! I'm sure it'll grow back bigger and better!

Thanks manter26!

You are right, my ends have been looking thin from the heat, especially in the front. My ends feel so much better now, especially in my bangs since the most was cut off there.

The stylist I went to was more concerned with the shape of my hair in it's naturally coily state as well. I kept telling her I don't wear my hair in it's natural coily state several times. I went in there with my hair in a twistout and wanted to leave without her washing her hair, but she wanted to try to Devacurl products on my hair so bad she convinced me to let her wash and condition my hair. I thought the products were going to elongate my hair but they didn't, the deep conditioner she used just gave my hair a lot of moisture.

She also showed me the Curly Girl Method book by Lorraine Massey. I thought my hair was Corkscrew based on what is shown online and she kept saying my hair was Corkscrew as well, but the book mentioned a nappier type called Fractal/Zig Zig Curls which is what my hair type is like. My hair is no where near as loose as Corkscrew.

I sure hope my hair can grow back bigger and better. I'm also going to start washing my hair in twists or braids and keep my hair from matting and shrinking up when wet.

 

[~~HoneyComb~~]

Poohbear I love your hair and your new cut!!!! Look at how defined your curls are they are beautiful!!!

My curls are Fractal/Zigzag curls according to the book and I actually like that definition, it describes our curls perfectly!

Also, like you, I have committed to washing my hair in twists only because it's just too complicated to wash all loose. I did it the first time last week and it was such a pleasure.

Can't wait to see how you progress with this method Poohbear.

 

[~~HoneyComb~~]

You look beautiful!!

 

[pookaloo83]

Love it.

Sent from my iPhone 4s

 

[Platinum]

Very pretty! I like it!

 

[ChristmasCarol]

It looks beautiful! Poohbear

 

[Kn0ttyByNatur3]

I think your cut turned out really nice. Especially after you twisted it out.