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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Re: CP about hair
I'm Black and have long dreadlocks. I wash and condition them once or twice a week and I retwist the roots once a week. A retwist takes me 30 mins if I do my whole head, 10 mins if I just do the front.
I don't know the last day I spent an hour or more on my hair. I am contemplating going very short and getting rid of my locks.
this, exactly.
right now it's in a chin length bob. curly, wild, kind of messy. I get it cut periodically (every few months?), and keep considering edgy color.
As for daily maintenance, I'm "no-poo", so I don't wash it. I just let it be. I brush it out every few days, but honestly, the less I do with it the better it looks. Most days, I just run my fingers through it, and that's that.
I am the 99%.
I don't color my hair any more. I used to in college (for fun changes, not for gray coverage), but I don't now. I like my hair color including the gray.
I also have curly hair and I recently stopped straightening it. I take care of the curls and wear it natural every day. For special occasions, I'll have it done professionally, but usually I spend about 20 minutes or less a day doing my hair.
I'm AA with natural hair, no hair color. I first stopped relaxing my hair a little less than 5 years ago when I was pregnant because I figured having that on my scalp was probably not good while pregnant. I've since read that relaxers may cause uterine fibroids in AA women and I had a ton when I gave birth which they removed after my C-section and I'm currently being "monitored" by my doctor. I went back to straightening for a few months months after I stopped breastfeeding but hated the thought of what I was putting in my body. I've been natural 2 1/2 years and LOVE it. I will never go back.
I also did went natural because I live in a place where my daughter rarely sees Black people. Her hair is curly and I don't want her to be the only one she knows with curly hair, nor do I want her thinking I straighten mine because I want to look more like all the White people around. I want her to know that we are all beautiful and over here I need to be a shining example of pride for her because like I said, she won't see many others.
I save soooo much money and time. I wash about every 3-4 days, condition, throw in some Kinky Curly leave-in and custard and I'm off. On the other days I just spritz with water to get a nice curl pattern and done.
I had never seen my natural hair since I was probably 10. I love seeing how it is growing. I wish I'd never straightened it.
I "enhance" my color, but I don't redo it until the roots grow out. I'm lazy. My hair grows slowly, so this is like every 3-4 months. Currently my hair is to my shoulder blades, but needs a cut badly, and I'm going to go above the shoulders/maybe chin length next time.
I wash my hair 3-4 times a week, and I dry and flat iron it when I wash it, and wear it down. On off-days, I just touch it up with the flat iron and usually sweep one side out of my face with a clip. If I'm really lazy and don't wash it all weekend, by day 3 I wear it back, though this doesn't look great on me and is pretty casual for my usual style.
ETA: My hair is really fine, so even when I HAVE to style it, it doesn't take more than 10-15 minutes.
40/112
Enjoy the TWA stage while you can!!!
I still love my hair, but it's a whole new beast now that it's a lot longer. I'm finally starting to get a bit of a routine down, although I'm lazy sometimes. If I wanted my hair to really look great every day I'd re-twist it every night, but that doesn't usually happen lol. Although your hair sounds like it might be a different texture than mine, so maybe you'll have luck with wash n gos for awhile!
I think I'm a special snowflake.
I used to wash it once a week (living in the desert has its perks), blowdry, and flat iron as needed. Now that I'm going to the gym, it has to be washed 2 or 3 times a week.
Once summer hits and we're in the pool daily, I'll wash it almost every day, but only blowdry it when I feel like it. It's usually not worth it to me. When I don't dry it, I spray some curl spray on it and let my natural wave do its thing.
My haircolor has been mostly natural for close to 6 years. I will occasionally do a temp color (12 to 24 washes). I got it professionally done a couple of months ago, because you could really see my roots (the pool/sun combo reddens it up). I'm seeing more gray, though, so frequent dyeing is in my future.
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Oh there is so much. Check out hennaforhair.com. There is a wealth of info there. Also if you read the Curly Nikki blog she has a ton of info on henna. But basically it strengthens and moisturizes your hair at the same time. I am so in love with my hair since I have started using it. It does give your hair a red tint.
Basically I mix my henna with lemon juice and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Then I add honey to it and other things depending on my mood. It is the consistency of mashed potatoes. Then I apply it to my hair, put on a cap and let it sit for 4 hours to overnight. Then I wash it out. Now that part is a b!tch and you will use and entire bottle of conditioner to completely get it out of your hair. But the results are amazing. Please check out the Curly Nikki blog for henna because you will see the process in more detail and different results.
Exactly my hair is shoulder to brastrap length. I have no idea how long it is when straightened. Sometimes I miss my TWA days, but I want to see how long I can grow my hair and keep it healthy. But that is exactly what I did when I had a TWA.
I read Curly Nikki a lot and had considered the henna thing, but was kind of scared of the mess it would make. I'm sure my H would be like wtf are you doing? lol. Exactly what results do you get? I might have to revisit the idea!
Special snowflake here. I inherited the family premature gray, so my color is high-maintenance and $$$. It's naturally fine and curly, with a tendency to frizz if it isn't absolutely bone dry when I walk outside - most days I blow dry it straight, because I don't have three hours to let my hair air dry.
Seriously - one of the items on my bucket list is "make peace with hair".
I am getting this from Curly Nikki, but these are all of the things I have experienced as well.
Benefits
Stronger hair - my hair hates protein, so I can never do a protein treatment or use products with protein. But henna I can use and it helps strengthen my hair.
Shinier hair - My natural hair color is not very shiny. It is a light brown and naturally it looks dull. But when I use henna, I actually have shiny hair. It is amazing.
This is a benefit to me, but not to everyone. It can slightly loosen your curl pattern.
Then you get the reddish color. The more you use it, the more noticeable the color gets. I use a different kind of henna than Curly Nikki and it is more of a burgundy color. The one she uses is more red/orange. I have tried that one before, but I really like the results of the one I am using now.
It is a mess though. You have to wear gloves and put down a towel or newspaper for drips. And it does stain if it gets on something you don't want it to and leave it there.
Here is CN's post on it.
http://www.curlynikki.com/2008/10/im-henna-head.html
I'm thinking that as you all get older those results will switch from not dying to dying...and spending less and less time fussing with it.
Super late to this thread.
I wash my hair every two days now that I'm working out consistently. I used to go 4 days before washing it, sometimes 5. I tried to wear my hair natural, but since I went with a short cut in late 2010 and wore it short and straight, the curl virtually died. I'm hoping that I can grow it enough to chop of those over straightened 2-3 inches and wear it straight and curly.
Right now it's straight, and I have to straighten it and blow dry after every wash. I have to flat iron daily. Sometimes that takes 5 minutes, sometimes much longer.
Zuma Zoom