This is just about hair...

So I've been blogging about my transition to natural on the site naturallycurly.com, mainly because it's one of the only blogging sites that isn't blocked during the day and I have met some awesome women with BEAUTIFUL LONG NATURAL HAIR!! So here's my latest installment:


So I finally brought in pictures of my hair! The power was out in my living area all night all the way until 8AM. So frustrating, it was pitch black in my room, imagine trying to deal with your hair with one hand and a flash light in the other! Good times, lol

Here is my hair wet, this was before I had the TT, so detangling was kind of (very) difficult for me:
I see some new growth, but there's a lot of texlaxed strands mixed in so I still don't know what's going on with it.









Here are some photos of my protective style, simple enough, right? This was the night after my co wash and using the TT for the first time. My hair was so soft and I didn't use any gel either, just water, HS 14 in 1, and coconut oil. I'm loving the waves, lol.
















So ladies tell me what do you think? I think it's a pretty good start. I did order some Eco Styler gel with Moroccan Argan Oil because my hair definitely doesn't look that slick by the end of the 12 hour work day!  But I do keep it from looking absolutely wild by using these mini sprayers from Sally's online:I fill these little bottles with a water, aloe vera gel, and


HS 14 mix, shake them up, and when my hair is getting a little dry and messed up, I spray and smooth with my hands and it's worked pretty well the past couple of days. Especially the back of my hair where it's mostly natural and the edges not protected by my cover.
My male officers have given me funny looks about it but whatever, it's working!

Musings and a Special Request...

So I sit here at least 5 times a day and quietly pray to myself that soon I will hear that I will get to go home soon. I realized a minute ago, well what in the hell am I coming home to?? I don't mean me personally, but there has been a lot of foolishness and chaos going on over there. I feel so terrible for those people in Missouri who has had their lives torn apart by that tornado...these natural disasters are coming crazy at the US isn't it? But wait, we did dodge a bullet--wasn't it supposed to be the end of the world or some shit Saturday?

Uh, no offense Gentlemen, but none of you are who I would like to spend my last day here on Earth with.  -Me saying that to all of my officers at work

Then The Terminator got a kid on the side and Macho Man Randy Savage getting killed?? Oh my goodness.
I feel like I'm on the outside just watching a crazy television show with random plots, twists and turns...then I have to turn it off and focus on my reality here in Afghanistan.

About my hair...well I did decide that I am going to continue to grow out my natural hair and see if I can stand a transition, it's been almost 6 months now so let's see if I can stand another 6...and no, I am absolutely not doing a Big Chop (cutting off all of my relaxed hair). Yeah it's harder to deal with but I will manage...it would be harder to deal with the biased opinions of Marines and me with a short afro...besides, I don't want my hair short, it's at the middle of APL right now...so I'll just trim once a month and let it grow out and once the new growth is at APL I'll get rid of the rest. It's doable I have done PLENTY of research and I'm still not done. Fortunately for me, because of the conditions of this place I had exactly the products I needed to take care of natural hair, lol.

So I am taking college out here and for one of my classes I needed to conduct a survey.

I am currently conducting a survey on the perception of women with tattoos. Tattooing has been accepted for the most part as a social norm in America, however there are still mixed views on women who decides to get tattoos. I personally have tattoos and have received accolades and borderline insults from different people for making the choice to mark my body permanently. I am curious to see the many views on this subject based on gender, age, nationality and religious affiliation (if any).  The results will be calculated and documented in an Inquiry and Argument Essay for my Composition class. All will remain anonymous. Thank you for your participation.

Here's the link: http://kwiksurveys.com?u=WomenwithTattoos 

Please post this on your FBs for others to answer, I still don't have everyday access to that site so please pass the word for me!

That's about it for now, I need to get back to the can, do some reading and get to bed!

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6 Month Stretch Completed!

So I relaxed my hair on Friday, which made it actually 6 months and 2 weeks since my last relaxer. I don't actually do a complete relaxer (letting it sit on my hair forever) I actually Tex-lax, which I basically apply it to my hair and leave it on long enough to straighten the natural out, but there's still a little wave to it.

This is the tutorial that I follow to Tex-Lax my hair!

Now my hair came out really well, I have been very pleased with the results ever since I changed relaxers. I used to use the Pink new growth relaxer kit--I mean it worked when I had really short hair, but when my hair got thicker and more unruly it wouldn't do anything except make my hair really dry and I had to double deep condition to moisturize my scalp afterwards.

My momma was actually the one who put me on the relaxer that I use now:

Olive Oil Built-In Protection No Lye Relaxer Normal

Now I love the heck out of this relaxer, it is easy to use, it mixes flawlessly, and I love all the extras like the wrap creme and the heat protectant that you put on your hair to blow dry and/or flat iron. My hair is so soft and has absolutely no tangles after I go through this relaxing process. The cheapest I found this is only $5.45 at the Post Exchange on base (all afro-american hair products are super cheap on base...good for me!). But for those who can't get on a Military Installation I think it's like 7-something at Wal-Mart.

I will post a pic really soon, I forgot to right after I straightened it (getting ready to go out with my Crown, lol) and my hair as poofed back up kind of.

Question: What in the heck can I do to prevent my ends from poofing back up? It is always the first thing to go after I straighten my hair and a little bit of water gets on it. Thanks!

Hair Products for Deployment: ApHogee Keratin 2 Minute Reconstructor

Well today I need to give my hair a good wash and condition...and I was thinking about what products am I going to bring with me to Afghanistan that will keep my hair in good condition. I intend on sharing on this blog the challenges of keeping all of my hair from falling out while on deployment. I will not lie, I lost so much of my hair on my first deployment because I have never taken care of my own hair myself--I always had a hairstylist. On the second and third one I cut my hair really short and kept it conditioned and was still self relaxing every 8-10 weeks. Well since I am leaving this time with much longer and thicker hair I will admit that I'm a little nervous.

One product I know I will bring with me is the ApHogee Keratin 2 Minute Reconstructor--I learned about this stuff from a YouTube video review last year and I love it. It stopped my hair from breaking off and it is definitely stronger and easier to manage, especially with the new growth during my stretch.

I am thinking of trying all the other ApHogee products, so if I like them then I can just buy in bulk all the same products, which will be easier to ship while out there.