4 Years Strong

4 Year Naturalversary

I celebrated being 4 years natural on this past weekend (January 30th). I can remember making the decision not to get any more relaxers like it was yesterday! It's been a very long journey.There have been many ups and downs, but and I believe that I am just not making my greatest strides. I'm proud of myself for that and I'm proud of everything I've learned up to this point.

For this year's celebration, let's recap my year in hair.

Taking Out A Sew-In

Removing Extensions After The Sew-In

I showed you my latest sew-in then showed how I washed it. Now let's get into this takedown process.

The Last Step

Flat Ironing My Bob

Now let me share this with you.

I washed and conditioned my hair with little to no trouble. It didn't lather up as much as I wanted, but I feel I was able to get it clean enough to last a few weeks. I dried it and it took longer than expected, but I was able to get both my roots and the extensions all dry. Now, my hair was ready to be flat-ironed.

Before I started flat-ironing my hair, I was worried that the prolonged drying for my roots may have dried out the extensions a bit. As I was blow drying I could feel how stiff the hair was, but for some reason I was convinced that flat-ironing would get it back to it's silky state!

Washing My Bob

Washing My Tapered Bob Sew-In At Home

With my last sew-in I shared how I was able to wash and condition it at home with a little help from YouTube. Everything turned out so well the last time, I was encouraged!! I had no doubts that I could wash this sew-in with similar results. I had no reason to think otherwise. This wash has some of the same elements as the last one, but of course it didn't turn out the same way!

Here's what happened.

After re-sewing the extensions, the next step was washing the hair. When I asked around about the best shampoo and conditioner to use for the first wash, I decided to go with the Organix Moroccan Argan Oil brand. When I used it, I thought it did a good job with washing both the extensions and my natural hair. When I finished, the extensions looked very similiar to how they looked when I initially had them installed. I expected the same from these extensions.

The Anchor

Re-sewing My Extensions

Let me start by saying that I've been enjoying my tapered bob sew-in! It's been a little over six weeks since I've gotten it, so I'm halfway through the amount of time I'd like to keep it in! There have been a few hiccups though. A few of which I will discuss today and a few of which will come in a later post!

The Finished Product

Full Sew-In With Lace Closure

I finished washing and stretching my natural hair, drove two hours, and arrived at the salon.

I've never been to a weave salon before, so The Weave Express was a new experience. I went on a Sunday which was by appointment only. There was a "weaver" and a "braider". They worked like an assembly line. A customer comes in and, depending on what kind of sew-in they're getting, the braider braids the hair in a style that suits the kind of sew-in she's getting and the weaver sews the weave. To thicken my braids, the braider added strands of braid hair to thicken and strengthen my braids for the sew-in. It took the braider about 20 to 30 minutes to completely braid my hair.

Oh No She Didn't

Hair Prep for Another Sew-In

Pre sew-in hair was on fleek...lol

Why yes, I did!! Remember this post and this post?! This definitely didn't come out of the blue! I said I was going to do it and that's exactly what I did.

This sew-in was different than the last because I went into it having more knowledge about the process. This time around I felt more comfortable. My original plan was to take Hairfinity for at least a month without a sew-in to measure hair growth from the pills alone, but the opportunity presented itself for me to get this sew-in, so I jumped on it. I didn't want to wait until the end of January. I'm trying to have this hair touching my shoulders before the spring! :-)

My Sew-In Story, Part 4

The Aftermath of My Matted Hair

I know y'all are wondering what happened next, so I'm going to skip the suspense and get right to it.

The way my head looked in Part 3 of my story is exactly how my head looked when I walked into the salon. I'd twisted the hair that had been untangled and left the matted hair as it was. We jumped right on it when I got there. The only parts of my hair that needed detangling now were a few rows in the back half of my head. I told her exactly what I did, and didn't do, and she said: "I knew that's what happened!"

My Sew-In Story, Part 3

Untangling My Matted Natural Hair

We're just coming off Part 1 and Part 2 of my sew-in story. I'm sure you're all wondering what in the world I did with all that matted hair, right?! Well, let me tell you!

It usually takes me no time at all to detangle my hair. I mentally prepared myself because I knew this time would be different. I figured my hair had been braided for months; I was just going to have to put some muscle in! I got set to detangle a small portion of my hair and I kid you not when I tell you it took me about 20 to 30 minutes to detangle one very small piece of hair! It was then I knew I messed up.

My Sew-In Story, Part 2

Washing My Hair After The Sew-In

Last week I started this story; this week it gets a little juicier!!

As the week went on, I got more and more curious about what my hair looked like. I'd done my research on YouTube and convinced myself that I could wash my hair on my own, I didn't need to go to the salon! This was mistake number one!

When I say I did my research on YouTube, that means I found one video tutorial, that's right, only one...this one. I thought it was done so well I just knew I could easily do this myself. I spent a good couple of days running around town trying to make sure I had the products used in the video. I bought Kinky Curly's Knot Today Natural Leave-In Detangler and Shea Moisture's Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo.

My Sew-In Story, Part 1

Taking Out My Sew-In

I thought about this for quite some time. I kept my sew-in in for about 10 weeks. I got over my initial thoughts and prepared my hair well enough each day to get me through the time I kept it in. There were even days when I really loved it and thought it looked great but there were plenty of days when I wished for something completely different.

I Got A Story To Tell

My Sew-In Story

If you guys follow me on Twitter (@allnaturalmi) then you know I've recently taken my sew-in out. 

If you follow me on Instagram (@allnaturalmi) I'm sure you know I would've posted pictures by now

...and the plot thickens!

Sew-In Home Maintenance

Washing My Sew-In

Let's start this post off by giving me a round of applause for making it this far. If you remember this post, then you understand where I'm coming from.

Here's the real. I paid for this hair and it's on my head, so I have to make sure it's maintained properly. I questioned myself about what I wanted to do with it. My thought was, let's get past my birthday without looking crazy first, then I'll make some decisions. Goal Accomplished!

I don't put products in the hair because everyone (knowledgeable about sew-ins) says products will weigh it down. The stylist said natural oil from my hair would eventually spread throughout the sew-in and I'm guessing that's what's happened because it seems the hair has become "weighed down".

I decided against paying money to have someone else wash the hair because I didn't think it was worth it! I asked around to see how other ladies washed their sew-ins and to see what products they used. Then I went to the University of Youtube and got my knowledge up. After that I was pumped!! This is just hair, so what if it's sewn in, I know how to wash hair!! Plus, I'm a visual learner and I found the perfect video to help me feel comfortable enough to wash these extensions. So, here's what I did:

My New 'Do!

Getting a Sew-In

I've talked about this for months on end and the day finally came! And as I write this post, it's not exactly new anymore...but it's new to you guys. So, I'm going to share the happenings of my full sew-in and my honest opinion about how it's gone so far.

The whole purpose of the sew-in is to give my hair a chance to rest and do nothing but grow. I've been having so much trouble with my hair and the split ends I'd created...see here, here, or here to read a few of my gripes! Getting my appointment was a hassle in itself but after 2 canceled appointments and 2 months of waiting during the rescheduling, I was able to get it done before my trip home.

Damaged Hair Options

What to do when you have damaged hair

You guys know about my recent hair dilemma (if not, read this). As time passes, I get more depressed about the state of my hair. My 2 week wash date has come and gone but I haven't touched my hair since my salon visit. I'm just not feeling the whole doing-my-own-hair thing at the moment, so I'm kind of on strike. I know that might not exactly be the healthiest move to make but I've at least been brainstorming different approaches I can take moving forward.

Sew-in

First, I'm seriously considering getting a sew-in. I've had a sew-in twice before. One of the last times my hair started breaking off (before going natural), my stylist at the time suggested I try it. The first time, I got a half sew-in. She braided parts of my hair while leaving other parts of my hair out to blend with the weave. This was a tough feat at the time because my hair was red, so finding hair to match wasn't easy. I must admit that my stylist did a very wonderful job though. I loved that sew-in and it was so natural. The second time I got a full sew-in. I didn't really like the full sew-in because it didn't look as natural as the half sew-in...and why would it?

Why a sew-in?

I'm considering getting a full sew-in for two reasons:

1. My hair would be braided, covered, and protected allowing it the opportunity to grow. My hair would have the opportunity to grow enough so that hopefully I can get all my split ends completely cut off and not even miss the hair that needs to be cut. You guys know me by now so you know I'll miss any hair that's cut off but I'm hoping this will soften the blow a bit. 
2. I don't want to get a half sew-in because any hair that's left out will have to be constantly flat ironed. Having to constantly flat iron my hair could potentially damage the curl pattern of that hair. When you get sew-ins you have them for at least two to three months. You still have to wash the hair (and your hair) so that would be a lot of heat that would need to be applied. I already have one issue with split ends. I don't need another one.

I'm very nervous about getting a sew-in for several reasons. I got my the last full sew-in done by somebody whose work I knew and I didn't like it. I'd seen her do full sew-ins before that didn't look bad but I wasn't happy with the job she did for me. Now that I'm in DC and I haven't been able to find a decent natural hair salon or get decent referrals from people, I'm going to have to put my hair into somebody's hands blindly. Sew-ins are too expensive to trust someone I don't know...especially if I won't like the results. So I'm still in the contemplation stage about this. I've asked around about stylists and I have a couple of options. We'll just have to see what move I make.

Scalp Massages

Secondly, about six months ago, I wrote about Scalp Massages. I was supposed to be making a 30 day challenge out of it. Now that my hair is "damaged", I have a little more incentive behind doing everything I can to help it grow and be healthier. I want to re-encourage myself to do this and not necessarily as a challenge but as an ongoing process. Since the new year came in and my hair is straight, I've been brushing my hair for about 25 strokes a night (which is something my cosmetologist suggested a while back). I've been doing this with no trouble at all and it made me think; if I can do that, I can definitely get on this scalp massage train. I plan to start the massages as soon as I wash my hair, so until then I'm sticking with brushing.

NOVEMBER 2015 UPDATE:

A couple of decisions were made after writing this post. I finally decided upon a DC salon and the initial goal was to slowly trim my hair until all the split ends were gone. If you haven't figured this out on your own, a slow trim defeats the purpose! When that began to be unbearable, I made some more decisions about what to do with my damaged hair. I trimmed all the split ends off and got a full sew-in!

I never got into the scalp massages and I decided that brushing my hair so much wasn't too good for it as it was already shedding like crazy. I did protective styling for the winter of 2014 with two sew-ins. I made some mistakes but learned a lot about how to take care of my hair during protective styling like this.

It's been a very long journey from this post to now. I'm in a different and better place with my hair. I'm still trying out salons and I'm currently protective styling for 2015. Check out all I've learned about my natural hair! I'm sure there are some gems in there for you too!

What other natural or home remedies have you used to stimulate growth?? I'm all ears!

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My First Year Natural

Do You Know What Today Is? It's My Naturalversary!

On January 30, 2012, I was sitting in the salon getting a relaxer and some fresh color put into my hair. A few weeks later, I decided I wanted to give this natural thing a try. My hair story is not much different from other stories, but since it's my Naturalversary, I'll share it.

Historically speaking, I've never had too many problems with my hair; it's been long and healthy MOST of my life. I can't remember being natural as a kid. I have a hand full of pictures, but my hair was always braided or in ponytails, so I don't know what my natural hair looks like at all.