Friends and Fun!

This weekend was lovely 🙂

I worked all week and decided to work Good Friday for some good old fashioned overtime. My student loans aren’t gonna pay for themselves so I may as well.

Friday evening was build your own pita pizza with L and we watched a movie and hit the hay.

Saturday morning I woke up and went home early so I could get started on my hair. I was about halfway done blow drying it when my bf texted asking if I wanted to go for brunch. Now B’s brother is in town and I hadn’t met him yet and both Thursday and Friday he asked me if I wanted to join them for drinks but Thursday I went for a run after work with L and then it was bedtime. And Friday I had already made plans with L so that didn’t happen (he needs to give me a liiiiittle more notice). So I really wanted to make brunch with what I assumed was his whole family.

B: Did you wanna go for brunch?
Me: That sounds good, what time?
B: Right now.
Me: ooh I can’t… I washed my hair early so I wouldn’t have to do it tomorrow and I’m still 20 mins from finishing it 😦
B: We’ll wait half an hour for you
Me: Ok! I can do this!
B: Yay! Let us know when you’re ready

First off… SOME NOTICE WOULD BE NICE! ‘Right now’ is never a good response when you’d like me to be somewhere. But I went on superdrive and finished blow drying my hair and putting it in 6 fat twists. I’m whizzing around thinking I’m holding up his entire family with my hair games.. I released the twists and combed them out and was met with a poof of hair (which I loved!). With a few bobby pins and an elastic I put it in a really simple side pony and I was good to go. I wanted to high five myself I was so impressed with my results in the timeframe I had.

There were no parents at brunch. But I still felt pretty and put together and met his brother and had some good laughs so it was great!

Saturday afternoon included a great bike ride with my guy friend T, pepperoni sticks from the local corner store (soo good!) and some video games with the gang. I met up for coffee with L and P and in the evening was a nice fire. It was such a great day.

It’s crazy though, I feel the need to cram my Saturdays with as much social fun as I can because I really don’t see anyone during the week. And I FINALLY got Hermie on the road. My butt bones are sooo sore after that first bike ride but they’ll just have to toughen up because next weekend L and I are biking to the lake!!! Eeee!!

The local Farmers Market starts up in May and L and I have the perfect routine down! Saturday mornings will include 9 AM yoga and at 10 we’ll walk across the street for some delicious Filipino food at the market. Yaay!! My favourite time of year!!!

Today I had lattes at L’s and we went out to look for a Wii for her ( we didn’t find one) and I found myself a nice light jacket shell which is perfect for biking and light enough that I can wear a hoodie or sweater underneath. It’s also long in the back which is great for biking and I just prefer a long jacket so I’m really happy I found that. I’m going to do my taxes (boo), clean my room (double boo) and prep lunches for this week (yay? I guess…)

L and I are also planning a road trip for May Long weekend so I am preeeeetty excited about that one 🙂

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Two Years Natural

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCCO!

I just want to take a moment to say.. TWO YEARS?! Holy wow. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was getting my hair buzzed off. I wasn’t sad to see my fragile, broken strands swept away but I was sad I didn’t have a scarf to keep the cold air off my newly exposed neck.

There are going to be so many photos in this gig. I need to one-up my one year anniversary post. Plus there’s going to be some cameos from my Big Chop buddy! My momma!

Rocco: The Early Years

I think my hair had better things to do than grow when I was younger. Legit. My hair follicles were unproductive. I rocked a mean TWA until I was like 4… and then I rocked a fluffy ‘fro. My hair took its sweet time to make an appearance and I wasn’t wearing cornrows or braids until I was about 5 or 6. No biggie. My hair had other things to do, I get it.

Throughout school I wore my hair in braids, corn rows, we hot combed my hair *cringe*, I got my hands on a curling iron and I rocked rolled out bangs like nobody’s business. Around 9 I got my first relaxer. One lady in town relaxed my hair, but it was pricey so I didn’t go very often and they didn’t sell boxed relaxers where I lived. In between I mostly flat ironed it and occasionally wore box braids.

When I moved away for college I was loving that I had access to more hair products so I relaxed my hair and then got it cut at salons. I’ve only ever had maybe two good hair cuts and one of them was at a salon in the mall. Michael only charged me $7 as a ‘bangs cut’. I tipped him well. But when I went back for another cut he was gone. *sob*

After a couple of years I realized this life was no longer for me. Now I know I wasn’t taking the best care of it. I didn’t deep condition it and I flat ironed it like crazy. After straightening it I would have a collection of matchstick strands surrounding me. Rocco was not in good shape.

I had a wise idea of trying to get it sorted out at a local hair salon. My hair dresser had no idea what he was doing and decided to wing it (and I foolishly let him). You can bet I wore my hood up leaving that salon. A couple of weeks later I lopped it all off. Two years later, here I am.

Natural Days

I still stand by the fact that my TWA was the most freeing period in all of my hair history. Washing was easy, drying was easy, moisturizing was easy. There was no detangling, no combing, no SSKs, no major bed prep. There was no blow drying, no teasing and no straightening. I barely had to do jack shit. I slept with a satin cap, and for my 6 am runs I whipped it off, suited up and was out the door. It was sooooo eeeeeasy!!! #sospoiled

Why Am I Still Natural?

This hair of mine is versatile. Sure, there are days when my hair is dry, tangled, uncooperative and makes me wanna just put a hat on. This tuft up there is so unique it makes me happy. When someone says, your hair would be so long if you straightened it. Sure, I could straighten it but then what would I do with it? It would just sit there. I feel as though my natural hair allows me to be creative and get funky and have fun with it. I find my hair matching my mood and it gives me that extra kick of funky charm 😉

Not to mention the community. The online support, suggestions, finding your hair twin, making your own hair products, tweet chats, finding a product your hair loves, this is all gold people. The encouragement, the helpful suggestions, the conversation surrounding natural hair can be so positive and so uplifting and so inspiring. You’re never alone on your journey and you’re always learning.

Rocco’s 2 Year Length Check

I find myself forgetting to do length checks. But that’s because this is just my hair now. It’s less of an experiment in hair growing and more, this is my hair. But since it has been a while I’m excited to see how Rocco’s been doing length wise.

Front:

I’m looking at about 8 inches all round. I’m not mad at that. My ends could use some dusting this spring but otherwise. Thanks for reading!! Have a great Friday!

Rocco’s Previous Milestones:

9 months natural
8 months
6 months
My natural hair story

My New Route For Protective Styling

I like protective styles. They save me time on styling and prep. But I have to say I don’t think I’ll be doing protective styles with extensions in the near future (if at all).

Growing up I used to love getting box braids. Used to love swinging my hair around like a boss. Used to have fun with styles and ponytails and buns and all that good stuff.

I bought extensions over a year ago so I could put my hair away and let it rest while wearing some length. I wore twists for a month last March and I recently put them in mid-February.

I lasted two weeks.

It wasn’t that I missed my hair. I just wasn’t a fan of the extra weight. I only wore it in a bun on the top of my head to get it out of the way. I tried to wear it in a bun at ponytail level but it just pulled on my hair and gave me an instant headache. Not cool. My shower caps were plastic bags and hats were no longer an option.

As impromptu as I had put my twists in, after 45 minutes they were out again. It’s never fun to see the shed hair that’s lost but I made sure my hair was well taken care of after that. I steamed my strands, coconut oil pre-poo’d, washed, deep conditioned, lightly blow dried and put in mini twists and I am much happier.

I love that the length I looked for from extensions I’m slowly making my way towards with my own hair. My hair in twists now touches my back. I can swing it around the way I loved to and I can pin it up and style it. I think my protective styles from here will really be just with my own hair. It’s capable of a lot and that makes me happy because you know what? That’s all because of me! I’m the one to thank for my hair’s health and in the nearly 2 years since I’ve gone natural Rocco has come a long way and so have I.

I’m Still Around!

Just wanted to drop a line.

Work
So I’m filling in for a month at the info centre which is just fine. I’m working a contract position and I’ve been offered a couple of other contract positions. I’ve never been one to work contracts, I never thought I would, but I’m intrigued by these opportunities so I need to do some research and line up all my ducks so I know what I’m doing and not missing out on things. Paying my own taxes and keeping track of mileage and expenses.. it’s not something I’m familiar with but it’s something I want to be good at so that I know what to expect.

Life
I finished my quilt! I packed it up and shipped it off. I am so happy!

Friends are coming home for Christmas as well as my brother. Can’t complain about that. I’ve actually been pretty social. I feel like I actually have to check my schedule when making plans. It was funny, I was chatting with my friend at work and he had received a Christmas party invite and wanted to know if I wanted to go and I told him I’d check my schedule. Surprisingly I had an appointment for a family portrait that day so it worked out that I would just show up after that. But it helps to have a schedule.

Hair
I have been good with my washdays but I need to step up my maintenance during the week. I didn’t blow dry my hair straight or really stretch it after my wash last week so my hair has been fairly shrunken. Today I just stuck it in a puff, which I haven’t worn in quite a long time, but I think I’m going to revisit my blown-out twists. They kept maintenance low, my hair tangle free, and they’re a great look. I’ve been tossing around the idea of Havana Twists and I’m just not feeling it quite yet. My scalp hasn’t been the easiest to deal with right now. So I want to be sure I can maintain it, so that it’s flake-free before I install a style that will expose my scalp. But tomorrow I am 21 months natural. It’s great!

Fitness
I’ve been hitting the gym fairly faithfully these past two weeks. It works out well that I can drop my mom off at work in the morning and go to the gym afterwards. I do half an hour on the treadmill, usually doing a 5k, then I spend about 15 doing weights and 15 doing yoga, squats, stretching sort of thing. After the first week I lost 5 lbs. Now this is what I’m assuming was sort of excess, bloat, water retaining. But not actually fat, at least that’s my thinking. I measured myself and my measurements haven’t changed.

What helps me get out of bed in the morning? It helps that I have it in my head how great it is to be part of a routine. I don’t even want to think about it. When my alarm goes off I want to get out of bed, go to the gym, do my stuff, head home and start my day. Going to the gym is my cup of coffee and I want to enjoy the feeling I get after leaving.

As I get going I may extend that time, I plan to extend the distance I run too but I need to keep at it.

I plan to post some tips and tricks when it comes to running. I really enjoy it.

I’m also hoping to explore more of my area while I’m here. Winter kayaking, checking out the lava beds, museums. I’m excited. I feel like I’m settling in more, I’m not searching frantically for a way out the way I was when I first moved here.

Hope you all get time with loved ones this seasons!

Adding Moisture To Your Strands

There are many ways to add moisture to your hair. Water is the ultimate moisturizer and we normally follow that with a sealant to contain the moisture. If I’m not washing my hair and need to add moisture I usually use my spray bottle. Some people steam their hair with steam hoods and such.

If I’m doing a conditioning treatment I will often put a plastic bag on my hair and put a towel on top so it creates a greenhouse effect which traps the warm air in. Only thing with that is that’s only if I plan to deal with my head of wet hair.

How many of you have come across the Q-Redew handheld steamer? I watched a couple of YouTube videos with some ladies using it on their curly hair and I have to say I was impressed. It looks convenient, just add water to the reservoir and you can add moisture to your hair section by section without getting your hair wet.

You can use it to add moisture and revive older hairstyles and as a bonus it stretches your hair,

I love her reaction.

This is a $70 product so you’re gonna wanna know what you’re paying for. I wonder what the life span on these are? Seeing something new and shiny and fun makes me want to jump on board and get it but I know I need to take a sec. I’ve gone 1.5 years with my coily hair without having this steamer and my hair is in good shape so I know it’s not a necessity. More of a handy convenience. I’ve spent quite a bit on hair products I know I haven’t put to optimum use. I’ve only used my Curlformers a handful of times, but I also know I got the long ones so it will be a long while before my hair grows too long for them. I also have bags of Havana hair ready to be installed but I haven’t gotten around to them yet.

So I’ll look into this again in the new year but for now I’m not going to get too crazy about it. But straight up, looking at how soft and pliable their hair was after? I could just feel my hair loving it! Also, I think my scalp would be a fan. I want to say it’s winter, I’m not entirely sure, but my scalp has been flaky and unhappy lately.

More info on their site. Q-Redew

Update: “For delivery outside the US please email us at support@qredew.com for shipping arrangements and cost.”

Some Q’s for you:
Have you tried the Q-Redew handheld steamer? What were your thoughts?
If you haven’t tried it, does it look like a good investment? How many of you are adding this to your Christmas wish list?

Post-Trim Thoughts

It may seem completely ridiculous that I am having a discussion about trimming my hair. But I had a bit of anxiety going in so I think it’s good to talk about my experience. My last post was about trimming my hair and this one covers the after.

I had been looking at trimming natural hair vlogs and blogs and I wasn’t convinced. First off, I wasn’t sure that I needed a trim (wrong). I went through my strands and I legitimately did not find a lot of split ends but I found quite a bit of single strand knots. Now single strand knots don’t mean my hair is damaged really… it means that my hair is curling up on itself. Maybe it’s my method of combing my hair through? I’m not sure. I need to do more research on that. I do think, however, that these SSKs were contributing to my hair getting a little knotty at the ends. Don’t want that.

Vlogs were showing me that if you hair was thinning at the ends you would want to trim. My hair wasn’t thinning. In fact my hair was a thicker bush at the end than it was throughout. What does that mean? From what I could tell it means my hair was probably a bunch of SSKs and because of how the strand changes direction after the knot this thickness was just a bunch of wayward strands. I could definitely afford to lose those. So what I did was two strand twist my whole head. Then I take one twist, twist it solidly while pulling it taught and moving my fingers near the end and taking a sharp scissors and cutting it off. Some people just take a section and spritz it with water and pull it taught and cut. Afterwards they put it in twists. But my hair isn’t long enough that I felt comfortable doing it that way. I liked that I could pull my twist and see the ends fine. But! I did have my friend help me so yeah.

Check out one of the videos I watched here.

So today I took out my twists and normally when I take them out, I’m embarrassed to say, I would have to like.. detangle the ends. The roots and mid part were find when I was separating the individual twists to fluff out my hair but when it got to the end I would sometimes have to pull my hair apart. That should have been my first clue. Now I pull the strands apart for volume and my fingers go right through to the ends. That’s how it should be. My hair feels great.

So trimming was a win for me! I’m not going to add it to my regimen as in 8 weeks from now I’m going to do it again. I’m going to pay closer attention to my hair and trim when needed. This may be 3 months from now or 6. But I’m going to pay closer attention to my ends and make sure they’re in good condition. I also need to do my part in avoiding SSKs. More deep conditioning is in my future as well as pre-pooing.

Boys and Their Curls

I find that natural hair attention usually goes to us ladies. So I’m going to take this opportunity to recognize some beautiful curls and coils on some of the dudes. I’m sure I’ll be adding more as I find them.

Who’s in? Check it out 🙂

**note: these photos are products of a google search and not mine at all

K’Naan

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett

Nyambi Nyambi

Blu

Donald Glover

LMFAO

Wiz Khalifa

Jake Green – Gym Class Heroes

Lenny Kravitz

Morgan Freeman

Echo Kellum

What My Hair Has Taught Me

It’s been a journey of 6 months… but that’s more the portion where I have been really conscious and aware of my hair. My journey has really been my whole life…

My hair has taught me a few things:

Be Patient – afros aren’t built in a day.
Be Content – no use wanting what others have. Be content and grateful in what I possess, what I’ve achieved and what I am capable of
Be Aware – take time to listen to not only to your hair but to your body and to the world around you. If you’re thirsty then drink.
Enjoy! – my hair isn’t a monument. It’s not to be kept behind glass only to be looked at but not touched (at least by me, everyone else can back off haha)

Just some thoughts 🙂

Length Check!!

Alright Rocco, let’s see how you’re doing. I don’t think I’ve done a length check on my blog so why not add one now. It has been 6 months and 13 days since my big chop and Rocco has been doing well. I only have one pic here but my lengths are pretty much 3.25inches all round except for the front of my hair which is a little over 4 inches. At first I was like ‘what is up with that?’ But then I remembered that when she chopped my hair she shaped it so my hair in the front was a wee bit longer. So that’s cool. I don’t mind that.

Today

Clearly I am boooored. Here’s a pic of my twist knots. This was after my ACV rinse and I have to say, detangling felt a loooot easier after that rinse. My wide toothed comb flew through my hair. I have the knots in right now and I’ll add pics when I take them out. I used hair pins to ensure they’d hold their form. I can’t be bothered fighting with them and ensuring they stay in their twists.

Twisted Bantu Knots

Oh! I can successfully wear a fro-hawk. I just use those hair combs to hold up the sides. I really like the look.

Update: I forgot to take pics but it was… an okay result… gotta work on this method.