The Story Behind My Glory.

But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for [her] hair is given her for a covering.
1 Corinthians 11:15 (KJV)

Because I just made two years being natural in November, and because I have so many friends now going natural I have decided to share my journey.
My story starts out very similar to so many naturals. I had natural hair up until the 6th grade when my mom decided that it was just to much to deal with so she put a relaxer on it. I didn’t have any problems with the relaxer ,in fact I loved it. I could wear my hair DOWN…something I wasn’t able to do a lot when my hair was natural. As a natural, my mom pressed my hair…ugh…I hated getting my hair pressed, I never escaped without a burn on my scalp or my ear…PURE TORTURE, my head would be sore for days after getting my hair pressed. Can you imagine and many of you can because you went through this same process, but imagine putting Blue Magic grease on your hair then taking a hot pressing comb to your roots therefore melting the grease, and the grease running down to your scalp, causing you have third degree burns all over your head..LOL. And please don’t forget about the smell of burnt hair that stayed in your head until the next wash day, which meant you were heading for torture all over again. So again, getting a relaxer was a welcomed change. Over the years, my mom got somewhat lazy and didn’t do a great job on maintaining my new found freedom, so by the time I got to highschool I had all kind of breakage. Then by the grace of God, my aunt who is a beautician moved into town and I was able to get my hair back to a healthy state, but not without a price. I had to cut off a lot of my damaged ends but it didn’t really matter, I kept my hair , as my mother would say, “balled up” any way so no one would notice. I spent most of my teenage years walking around looking like Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez…I loved her bangs and “balled up hair..

Fast forward a few years, and I am now on my own to take care of my hair. This required me a tomboy to learn how to apply her own relaxer. This was not fun! I hated doing my own hair and at the time we couldn’t afford to send me to the shop every other week or so to keep it up so I like so many before me resorted to the old stand by..relaxer in a box. My husband and I for years applied the creamy crack to my head to give me that oh so sleek and straight look. This would continue for awhile until I finally decided enough is enough..I hated relaxers and I just wanted to get back to my roots, literally. So in October of 07 I got my last relaxer! Last relaxer

I grew my hair out or transitioned for a year. During this time, I flat ironed my hair straight until I started getting a lot of new growth, then I started wearing braids , I only did the braid thing once, I hated taking out the micros..ugh. So instead of weaves and braids, I just went to the beauty shop every two weeks and got my hair roller set, and once a month I would get a few inches of the straight hair cut off. I did this so it wouldn’t be a such a shock to my husband..LOL..going from long to short hair in one day would have messed him up Lol. I did this for a whole year and then in November 08 I cut off all the straight ends. By the way. A lot of people experience breakage during transitioning but because I went to the shop every other week and keep my hair nice and conditioned I didn’t experience a lot.




roller set

micros

Now it has been two years since I have been completely natural. I don’t count the transitioning period as being natural, I start from the day I did the big chop. My hair has grown a lot. It is longer than it was before I transitioned. I have maintained growth due to a lot protective styling. I don’t wear my hair out a whole lot. During the week, I don’t mess with my hair a lot. I keep it twisted up and pinned up to protect my ends. I usually wear it out or in a cut style on Sundays to church or on special occasions. I will talk about my regimens and the products I use in another post.

Traditions

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

Tra•di•tion
Webster defines tradition as the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction. Christmas and Thanksgiving in many families are filled with traditions, but in our family we don’t really have any, we just sort of “wing it”. We have had brunch with friends, we have watched Christmas movies, we have gone to the movies, and we have even tried the opening one gift on Christmas eve, usually pajamas or something. I guess the one thing that we have done consistently is to cook the traditional Christmas food, which just happens to be the same thing we eat for Thanksgiving and quite frankly I get burned out on dressing, turkey, ham etc and not really looking forward to eating it all again on Christmas.
Well, this year my family and I have been discussing new traditions to start in our family that can be passed down to my grands and great grands and so on. Right now we are sort of thinking about getting a new pair of pajamas on Christmas eve and then watch movies and eat cookies ,milk, eggnog, or hot chocolate, and instead of the traditional dinner we are going to have a BIG breakfast, waffles with different toppings, eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice etc. Then we will go to a movie on that night.
What are your families traditions, are sticking with the old or are you coming up with new ones for you and your family?

Its Not All in Vain!!!

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Cor. 15: 58





Whew....this is how I spent my Saturday!!! Yessss there were times I wanted to give up, I even thought about a relaxer and scissors but through it all I kept the faith knowing that my labor was not in vain. LOL...

Doing this hair is Process and a very tedious tedious journey!! For all those who are "Natural Headed"...lol like my daughter and I you know what I am talking about.

I would just like to share with you guys the 8hr process....lol..

Here are the products I am using at the moment...Pantene Relaxed and Natural for Women of Color Shampoo and Conditioner, Kinky Curly Knot Today Detangler and ofcourse, my detangling comb and brush, and clips to keep the hair under control and sepereated, it doesnt like to play nice with other sections..lol

(step one: get yo supplies)

Here we are detangling in sections..yes sections. I told you the hair doesn't like to play nice with other sections they have to remain seperated...but seriously this will make the detangling process go faster.

I am detangling with a Goody brush that I loooove and with shampoo and kk (kinky kurly). Once I detangle it I take that section and break it down in two parts and make two twist and then put back in clip. Then I finish the other sections.

Once all the sections are done then I shampoo/condition hair regularly while hair is still in twist, I repeat while hair is STILL IN TWIST....this will keep hair from getting tangled again!!!! Important Step dont skip...

(step 2: detangle and wash)

Hair is now put back in clips and ready to blow dry (*note: we dont use a lot of heat on our hair NO FLAT IRONS AT ALL, we air dry mainly but for mini twist I use blow dry to get it straighter and it last longer this way. I only do this (blow drying) every few months if that, maybe only twice a year).

Oh yea..another important step, make sure daughter has all her supplies...netflix, water bottle, snacks etc...or this will drive you crazy..I suggest watching the break up....boom boom..on the kick drum boom boom.loloolool....or Devil Wears Prada ...today we watched Hannah Montana...:(

(step 3: section off in clips again, and start blow drying)

I blow dry with no product in her hair.....its just a great blow dryer I got from Japan..sorry ladies.
(step 4: Blow dry)

Halfway There!!

(step 6: twist till your fingers fall off)

And youuuuuuuuuur done!! Yay..this willl last a month if she doesnt get it wet and keep it oiled, moisturized and tied up.

Thanks for reading , if you have any questions..holla at me. Love ya!!