!i$@ bee™: Hair

Showing posts with label Hair. Show all posts

9/13/11

Hottest Couple of All Time*: Lisa Bonet & Jason Momoa

At the Conan the Barbarian premiere last month

UNFH. So much sexiness here. I really look up to Lisa Bonet, not only as a fellow Lisa B. but THOSE LOCS. So luscious. She also has a track record of pulling only the most hottest of dudes:

What is there not to admire?

At the beach this month. Sun & fun with your bun = ♥

Lisa seems to be aging well; she's 43 and Jason is 32. Just for comparison, here's a contemporary of Lisa's, Jasmine Guy, who's 49--and looks it:

Oof

What happened Whitley Gilbert?! Yeesh. Anyways, back to positivity and sexiness:

Looking sexy at the airport

Looking sexy while walking with child (I think this is their son together, Nakoa-Wolf Momoa)

Looking sexy chilling carside with Zoe Kravitz

One big sexy family

*Besides me & my man. Duh.

3/1/11

Drumroll please: Loc update post!

These are my locs at just over a year and a half.
My babies turn 2 in June

I know I'm long overdue for an update on how my luscious locs have been coming in... as one reader reminds me, I haven't done a post on them since last year. Atrocious! The reason loc posts have been so sporadic is that I haven't really switched up my routine in taking care of them. Just lettin' em grow long and luxurious as nature intended. But I know there's a lot of loc'd up lovelies out there looking for a little guidance and advice on how to care for their own manes, which I'm more than happy to offer. There's also a lot of curious folks who just wanna revel in the awesomeness of my hair... I'll happily oblige you guys, too. On to the post!

This is my hair right after washing. I try and wash my hair every two weeks (some might wash even less than that... because loc'd hair has different needs than loose hair, it's best not to wash it too often), but since I've been exercising every weekday, I might bump that up to once a week. Now that my hair is longer and heavier, it stays down instead of pointing every which way like it used to.

THE LENGTH. I love it. I honestly don't know what I'm gonna do with my hair once its past boob-length, and it's definitely getting there faster than I thought it would. I could cut them but then the ends would be straight; I like how each loc curls into its own unique pattern at the tips.

Getting long(er)

One-of-a-kind tips

These are the products I rotate between using on my hair. The Nexxus products I've had since my 'fro days... I find they work well with my hair type, but because they make my hair so soft, I don't use them as often as when my hair was loose. At this point, I'm just trying to use up the economy size bottles of product I have, then I'll probably switch to a brand that's more focused on my current hair needs.

Nexxus. Saved me from many a bad 'fro day

I also use Oyin handmade products on my locs. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll remember when my homegirl Erin and I went to one of the store's bottling parties and got a boatload (well, raftload is more like it I guess) of Oyin products, including these gems right here:

The Honey Wash I love for my locs, because it cleanses them without weighing them down with product. It's a light, almond milk-scented formula and though it's kinda on the thin side in terms of consistency, it definitely gets the job done. The Honey Hemp Conditioner has a creamy, whipped consistency and it also doesn't weigh my hair down. A little of each of these products goes a long way.

This is what I use to retwist after washing. I picked this up on my most recent jaunt to the beauty supply store because it seems they've discontinued my fave shea butter solid, Queen Helene's

Queen Helene's formula was more like a shea butter pomade, whereas Jamaican Mango & Lime's formula is more like a hair grease... I know grease is bad for your hair in general, especially if you have locs--it attracts lint and adds to buildup--but since this was formulated specifically FOR locs and I trust the brand name (and, not gonna lie, the smell reminds me of my beloved Queen Helene's) I picked it up.

This is only my first time using it, but I'm not disappointed with the results. JM&L's Conditioning Shine kept my twists in order and delivered the "brilliant shine" as advertised. I like that it doesn't leave my hair greasy either, just shiny and lush

Aerial view. Ignore those fuzzy locs on the left... they just HAD to be different, smh

It takes me about an hour to retwist my locs now. It used to take almost two! I will forever be grateful that I consulted a loctician (big ups to Amanda at Bang Salon!) to install my locs because they are the perfect size for my lifestyle and hair type. I did NOT want to be stuck doing my hair for hours or be forced to pay someone to do them for me because they were so small.

Now that my hair is longer, it seems to have naturally grown into layers. Shorter upfront (which falls into "bangs" when I pull my hair into a ponytail), and longer in the back.

If you only went by this shot, you'd think I had a bob or something...

But as you gradually make your way around my head, you'll see the natural layers start to stand out.

There's still some minor issues I have with my locs, namely lint buildup in the back locs and what to keep my hair covered with a night to further keep lint at bay. I have solutions for both, but they require $$$ I just don't have at the moment: dying the locs that I can't get embedded lint out of (I'm leaning toward a vibrant orangish-red on just the back locs), which may run about $75 or more cuz I'm certainly not doing it myself, and these things called Loc Pockets, which retail for $15-$20. Worse comes to worse, I suppose I could simply dye the linty locs black myself, but I'm not sure how well a store-bought dye will work on dreadlocks. Have any of you tried this with good results?

Anyhoo, hope this satiated your thirst for a loc update! Seriously though, I will try and knock out more of these on the reg. I forgot how fun and informative they can be

Don't forget to share your loc tips, suggestions, and experiences in the comments!

9/8/10

Business in the front, party in the back

So remember that red/pink hat party I attended? I said in that post that I love any excuse to get *fancy* and I was ready to go all out pink with some matching hairspray. Didn't get around to actually using the spray til today though, and I'm totally digging the effect.

Here's what I did:

Draped my shoulders & neck with a towel
Shook the hairspray, as per the directions
Sprayed five of my back locs liberally
Entered into a pink haired wonderland

If you've been reading this blog for a minute, you'll remember me trying to decide between dying my back locs red, purple or pink. Color hairspray lets me have all three at once if I want, plus it washes right out--no commitment. Waaaay cheaper than a dye job, too.

Why didn't I think of this sooner?!

6/29/10

Disappearing act: Naomi Campbell's hairline

YIKES.

I guess all those chicks that took a cell phone to the dome from this broad are having a field day. Makes me glad I never ventured into weave territory...

6/22/10

My One Year Hairiversary!!!

Don't think I've forgotten to celebrate/memorialize my one year hairiversary (June 17), because I haven't! That's right folks, I've been loc'd up for a full year It seems like only yesterday I had little coils that barely reached the ends of my ears, and now my hair's past my shoulders. They grow up so fast, don't they?

This is me a couple weeks after I got locs:

And in December of last year, the 6-month mark:

And a year later, still going skrong:

I still want to dye the back part of my hair. I'm thinking either orange/red, purple, or hot pink. It'll be business in the front and a party in the back... a dye job mullet! And I'll still be employable because who looks at the back of your head? Anyways, I'm giving myself some more time to think about that and get my money up; most things I'm more than willing to do myself when it comes to my hair... a dye job isn't one of them.

In other hair news, I've finally found a solution to that pesky lint problem I had goin' on in the back. While I'm good at keeping my hair covered at night to keep lint out, some managed to still get enmeshed in there thanks to my favorite robe (a chenille job that pills like a mutha@#$%er). No amount of picking, plucking, or apple cider vinegar rinses would get rid of that mess, so I tried something I'd never done before: I colored in the linty parts with a black permanent marker. Amazing! I should have tried this earlier, for reals. It's like the lint was never there, and the ink stays in through washing as well*. Cheaper than a dye job too, for my money saving hunnies out there.

As for length, I'm happy with my shoulder length dreads. I don't know what I'm gonna do once it gets crazy long. Obviously I could cut my hair (or start wearing intricate updos), but with locs, I'm scurred the ends will be too straight and look all... like I cut it. When the time comes I guess I'll just hit up my loctician and see if she knows a way to cut my hair while still preserving the rounded tips.

Remember when I wrote about the 5 stages of loc growth? I can proudly attest to the fact that I've reached stage 4: Maturity. Stage 4 is described as follows:

Each individual lock is firmly meshed or tightly interwoven. Some loosely coiled hair textures may retain a small curl or coil at the end of the locks, but most will probably be closed at the ends. You will begin to see consistent growth because each lock has intertwined and contracted into a cylindrical shape. Think of each individual lock as a hair strand in itself. The new growth is contained in the loose hair at the base or root of each individual lock, and regular grooming encourages it to spin into an intertwined coil that will be integrated with the lock.

Awesome. Anyways, all of this is to say:

Happy 1st Birthday, Hair!

Mommy wuvs you.

P.S. Don't forget you can catch the rest of my hair updates from the past year by clicking on About Me (up top, underneath the header).

*I wouldn't recommend coloring your hair with markers as a replacement for dye if your hair isn't loc'd though. The reason this works so well for my hair is because the ink is absorbed by the lint, thus camoflaging it. Actual hair strands don't absorb ink like that permanently, and if you don't have locs, using a marker can be drying and damaging to your hair. FYI!

5/17/10

Month 11: Dyeing to dye it

It's been almost a full year and I'm still loving my dreadies. The countdown has begun to next month, when it's officially safe for me to dye my hair. I've mentioned in previous hair posts how stylists recommend waiting at least a year before dying locs, as the process is somewhat damaging. Lightening the your loc color prior to a year can straighten your natural hair texture, making it harder for the hair to properly loc up.

Purple locs! iLove

Some things I've noticed lately about my hair:

I can feel my soft, silky natural texture at the roots of my dreads, but about 1.5" down the shaft of the loc (lmao) is where the party starts. This part of my dreads is firm but still pliable, kind of like rope. The texture and weight change here is helping keep my new growth growing downward instead of up and out like it would normally do. Thank Jeebus, 'cause I was tired of the wayward dreads thing.
It takes me 30 min. longer to do my hair now than when I was rockin' the fro, but I have the option to wash it less often than when I had the fro. I don't know if this is good or bad.
I've been using my fro era shampoo and conditioner (Nexxus Therappe shampoo & Humectress conditioner) for my past few washes instead of the Oyin Handmade products I'd been using, just to switch things up. Now that my hair is more mature I can be a little more experimental with shampoos & stuff. I LOVED Nexxus for my fro needs, but I don't notice much difference between using that or Oyin on my tresses now; they both get my hair squeaky clean and leave it soft & sumptuous. Yes, I have sumptuous locs, y'all.
LENGTH! I'm actually loving my collar-bone length now, I think I'll miss it once my hair is past my boobs (the motto being "Boob-Length Dreads by 2011!" fyi).
The one extremely lint filled loc I have is still hangin' in there. Despite all the plucking with a tweezer and apple cider vinegar rinses, that bish will not budge. I'm hoping the dye job I get takes care of that.

Now on to the pictures:

The roots of my hair. Shiny & soft

Close-up of the roots

Texture shot

The back

'Nother close-up

The pic is a little fuzzy, but you can still get an idea of how long my hair is getting

Very, very long hair has always been annoying to me. Not only does it take longer to style, you're always sweeping it out of your face. I saw a lady on the bus once with hair to her thigh; all I could think was "Gross, I wonder how she keeps it from touching the bus." Seriously, I barely want to touch the seat on public transportation much less the bars. Anyways, my hair hasn't reached the point of annoyance yet (I just put it in a half or full ponytail to get it out of my face), though I am looking for something other than rubberbands to keep it that way. Headbands? Cloth-covered ponytail holders? Braids? Oh the options... I'd love to hear from other dreadheads about what they did with their hair when it was this length

3/20/10

Month 10: Behold, a ponytail

It's been almost a year with my dreadies and I've finally ventured into ponytail territory I didn't try a full ponytail sooner because I thought my hair was still too short and thick to fit into one. But after weeks of washing and retwisting--plus two impending job interviews (wish me luck!!!) for which my infamous mophead simply would not do--the constant hair hanging in my face had to go. So I grabbed a rubberband and made that mess happen!

This is *awesome* and a total milestone for me. What the ponytail represents--for me at least--is my being able to achieve even more styling options with my locs. The great thing is, the rubberband doesn't pull or catch on my hair, so I can wear this style just like any other ponytail.