Category Archives: My Albatross

Jan25

Faking the Funk

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Faking the Funk

Oh yeah, I’m faking it. You see, yesterday, I washed my hair in the morning, applied kimmatube leave-in and set my hair in 6 twists for the two hour drive to my Trenton office. I released the twists while my hair was still damp and allowed it to dry the rest of the day. After work, I pulled the front back into the mini-poof (I wore it parted down the middle all day).

It was looking all lion’s mane big (the pictures aren’t doing the volume justice) and I was loving it. I LOVE big hair! It also had a mostly consistent wave pattern, shine and defintion … until … dum dum DUUUUUUM!!!

Well, what the?!?! It’s like a different head of hair! LOL! Actually, this isn’t news to me. If you’ve been around here a while, you’ve “heard” me talk about the four different textures on my head, the coarsest, kinkiest, most delicate, porous, breakage and frizz-prone of which is my crown.

Comparison of front hair to the crown.

I actually love the texture of my crown, as this is where I get the lushest twists. However, that hair definitely presents challenges due to its porosity and delicacy. Also, having a large section in the middle of your head with a more pronounced shrinkage rate than your front and nape produces a “unique” rear view when you’re trying to wear a WnG.

I use the hair that forms the poof to camouflage/blend the two textures, but not much can be done for the gappiness. Don’t get me wrong, the crown is also shorter, which contributes to the appearance of the perimeter (recently read this post on BGLH that indicates shorter hair in the crown causes this “W” shape). But, the shrinkage is also a significant factor … I think … I hope!

So yeah, just wanted to show you all that it’s not all peaches and cream over here. I definitely have my challenges … most recently?  I’ve been struggling with nasty little knots during my last two washes and have had to resort to using a pin to loosen several little buggers … and scissors on a couple of occasions too :( ! I’m really hoping that this recent turn in events is only due to the first post twist wash session and bad bunning of 3 day old hair last week. I think that I had more trapped shed hair than normal (my daily shedding is almost non-existent now). Guess we’ll see on my next wash day. I sealed my hair with a JBCO/EVOO mix and then set it in nine twists with a little Wonder Curl Get Set Jelly to stretch it. I plan to wear it out today and bun the right way the rest of the week. So, keeping my fingers crossed that my next detangling sessions will go a lot more smoothly than the last two!

Anyway, back to the crazy texture difference. Once again, this is Why TnCs Are My Friend ;) !!

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Are you challenged with significantly different textures? How many and where? How do you manage them?

Oct19

I Knew It!!

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I Knew It!!

Okay, if you’ve been around here a while, you know that I have repeatedly indicated that my hair used to be denser and curlier and I think that it has changed a lot. I think it began changing in my mid-thirties and the henna really pushed the loosening over the edge and amla caused crazy shedding (which I’m still not sure is totally under control). Well, I finally have the proof. My sister Shana dug up some old pictures from a couple of years after my BC. She used to have a hair journal on Geocities (remember that?!?) called blakgirl’s nappy journal. She decided to include me in her blogging by creating something she called skill’s mini nappy journal. Well, as you may know, Geocities “foreclosed” many, many moons ago and my sister thought her journals were lost to world wide web purgatory. But yesterday, she pulled them from the void and sent me a link to the archived blog!! It included pics and some pretty funny comments about me being uncooperative with taking pics and helping her document my journey. This is pretty hilarious in light of my obsession now!! Well, without further ado, here are pics of my hair from August 2002, when I was 30 and two years after my BC (I had about 6 inches of hair when I chopped, I guess).

I frickin' had waves back then! And a puff!! A puff y'all!! Seriously, this hurts my feelings.

Twisting my hair. Do you see how full they are and how thick the other side is?

My hair was all twisted. This illustrates the difference in my curl pattern and shrinkage rates. It also illustrates that I was not trying to take pics.

Twist out. Shana said I was being uncooperative and probably watching Friends.

She takes credit for introducing me to the twist out. But, I was doing braid 'n curls in college on relaxed hair.

This was an early style experiment. I made big coils on my damp/wet hair with CD's Healthy Hair Butter and maybe some gel?

Once dry, I began separating the sections into smaller sections, recoiling those sections of hair.

This was the final result. Do you SEE how curly my hair was back then? *sigh* I also was growing out damaging highlights. I tried them on relaxed hair, they were a no go. I tried them on natural hair, still a no go.

I think my curls were very similar to Cree Summers back then and I loved them.

Now, just so you can compare. This pic is from 2008. See how much my curls have loosened? This is 2 years prior to henna, so that has nothing to do with it.

After seeing these pics, I made the following comment on Rece’s blog.

It really makes me a little ill to see how much my hair has changed:(. I know that everyone just sees loose waves and long hair, but I know that my hair was thicker and curlier and seeing the change just forebodes more thinning and straightening:(. I really want to have a child, so my only hope is that the pregnancy hormones might make my hair curly again … but then, the post-partum shedding will probably make me bald!! Ughhh, I fear that I’ll look like the Crypt Keeper!!! You know, this guy!!

*sigh*

Jul25

My Albatross: Irregular Curl Pattern or Why TnCs Are My Friend

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My Albatross: Irregular Curl Pattern or Why TnCs Are My Friend

So, the pics I posted of my WnG yesterday didn’t really tell the whole story of my hair and its multiple curl patterns. You see, I took several photos. One set was for the JessiCurl product review that was posted earlier today. The second set included a full face on shot and multiple detail shots to demonstrate the significant difference in the curl patterns on my left and right side. These differences were camouflaged by the shadows in the video and the angles in the photos I posted. But, face on, it’s hard to deny. The hair in the back of my head is also two different patterns, tightly curly, denser, more fragile, coarse, dry and porous at the crown to about the half way point on the back of my head. Then, almost straight, very shiny, smooth and baby-hair fine at my nape. I have struggled with getting my hair cut into a flattering shape that accounts for all of the textures without having 4 different lengths. Put your hair over one half of my head and then do the same to the other side. Two different heads of hair. I’m sure you didn’t need to do that, but I find it an entertaining exercise. LOL!!

Left side

Right side

Left side detail

Right side detail

(I’ll have to show you the back another time. Though, I must admit, the irregularity in the back has been greatly improved due to henna. Since I don’t henna the nape, it has remained the same, but the repeated henna on the crown area has loosened those curls enough to make them blend more with the nape hair than they ever did in the past. My hair almost … ALMOST … looks even in the back in a WnG.)

And this is why curl uniforming TnCs are my friend.

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Do you have significantly different curl patterns or textures throughout your head of hair? How do you work them? What techniques or style do you use, if any, to create uniformity and/or a balanced style?

Jun28

My Albatross

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My Albatross

I was thinking about how most of us have or have had hair challenges at some point in our journey. Even those with the most FANTABULOUS heads of hair, worthy of the hair envy and hair crushes of the natural masses, have probably struggled with some problem area or hair issue at some point in their natural HairStory (i.e. dryness, breakage, split ends, inconsistent curls, sections of hair that refuse to curl, heat damage, etc.). They had to figure it out and find a way to overcome their problem. Then, there are those who are in the midst of their struggle, madly searching for solutions. So, I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to have a category of HairStories related to hair challenges, past and present? These HairStories could be the platform for those looking for solutions to their most troublesome of hair problems and for others who’d like to share how they solved their worse hair issues in hopes of helping others.

Well then, I had to come up with a name for these HairStories. First I thought, “Challenges” then “Struggles.” But neither had a ring. Then the word albatross popped into my head. I know a few of you are probably saying, “Huh? Alba-waaa?!?!” LOL=). There’s a poem entitled the The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It’s about a mariner who shoots an albatross and is obliged to carry the burden of the bird hung around his neck as a punishment for and reminder of his ill deed. Now, although some may believe going natural is an “ill deed,” I take exception with that idea. However, I do find Merriam-Webster’s definition of albatross apropos for my purposes:

“b : something that greatly hinders accomplishment : encumbrance.”

With that said:

What has hindered the achievement of your hair goals and how did you get Your Albatross off from around your neck?

or

If Your Albatross is still hanging heavy and burdensome, what is it and what have you tried to remove it? Maybe we can help! 

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Send your “My Albatross” HairStory to hairscapades@gmail.com. If you solved or are in the midst of resolving your problem, 2-4 before and after pics would be great. If you are looking for a solution to your problem, a couple of pictures that demonstrate the issue would be helpful too!

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