Mane Fatigue

Hello fellow naturales and lovers of all things hair!

So I have been going through a rough patch lately with Fro. Don't get me wrong. I still love her. I do. But she can be so demanding of my attention and tender love and care. It has never crossed my mind to break up with her. Noooo. But I have thought about trimming her back down to a teeny weeny fro. Maybe a length which I could just roll out the house without having to mess with her and the ton of products that litter my bathroom. But will I not regret it the minute the pair of shears finishes its sentence? Will my heart not break for the many wasted hours of care I have invested in Fro?

I am so tired! Mane fatigue. It has been my main fatigue lately LOL! I guess what brought it on was a duped hair appointment. African lady said she could do this one particular style I sent her a picture of....flat twist mohawk kind of do. My Kenyan behind trusted that a Senegalese hairdresser surely is a good hairdresser right? Wrong!

Courtesy of Google Images.

Cute right? Yeah! I thought I could rock that do and would really love it.
So I get there and I have the Expressions hair she said I would need. All 4 of them. Then she asks to see the picture again as she parted my hair. Then again, Then again. She is nervous! Her hands are shaking and I can hear the panic in her voice when she says it is harder than she thought. Breath. Just breath Dama!! I readjust my expectations and I still give her a chance. What about Senegalese twists? I showed her my FB pics of what size and length I like them. Says that is easy.

                                                                      My expectation

That is not what I got at all. Instead, pardon me for this horrible do that quickly came down due to how ashamed I was to be caught like that....

Girl! Here is the reality.

Imagine!! What's with all that space?

I freaking told her I always use up 4-4.5 bags of Expressions on every one of my Senegalese twist hair-dos!!! Why did she hand me TWO BAGS of leftover hair? I looked like a kanyuru! You know that bald chicken your mom used to have? Mine did. We had a couple of those funny looking chickens. The outcome of my hair reminded me of them. From now on, I will take breaks and look at a mirror every 5 minutes see what the hell is happening on my head. I was too trusting!Nkt!

I could very well have flushed money down the toilet. I was so upset at myself more than anything.

 I went to Supercuts after I took it down but the white boy wanted to charge me 25 to straighten and 40 to cut. Someone please explain why?? The white people get a 12 dollar haircut and mine will cost how much? What's the guy's name that is loud about black rights? Let's call him. Nope, never mind, his jerry curl is easy to maintain and he might be getting 12 dollar cuts.Shit!

Wait. I have trimmed my ends before in front of the mirror. Turned out just fine. I swear the short patch of hair at the crown of my head is unexplainable! :-)The mister has a Philips trimmer that has the attachments I could just trim my own hair. I am so tired!!

Days turn into weeks and I am still wallowing in indecision and frustration. We have a vacation coming up and there will probably be lots of swimming and water activities. Should I find someone else to do braids to make for easy maintenance? But do I want sand and all that in my braids? Maybe wait till I return. I might feel better about my mane. I might rekindle that love affair that used to have me giddy and excited with Fro. I will shampoo and condition daily to get all that salt and chlorine out while on vacay.

I have learnt the hard way and yet I still keep falling into the trap of hoping cheap will be hot this time. In trying to save money, (100 bucks was not too shabby for small senegalese right?) I lost money, time, and excitement for my mane. I see why one would rather pay 200 or 250 at Fina's and be assured she will love her hair-do. I have also gotten to discover more African hair stores with decent prices and hairdressers here in town. Driving to Dallas used to be an option hubby was more than happy to do to get me what I was happy about. Dallas is not off the list.

My point is, I am not always smiles about my hair. It drives me loca at times. I want to trim it, I desire a sew-in sometimes yet I know I can never keep it up more than two or three weeks. I want braids but I know I seldom keep them past 4 weeks. I freakin' don't know! My mane fatigue however, is temporary I know. I want to see my hair long, but then again a tapered cut just appeals to me so much at times. I am in the middle of indecision. So just like Khloé is sticking by Lamar's side at this tumultuous time in his life, I won't make any rash decisions regarding Fro's future. Shoot, they might just get back together; Khloé and Lamar. I will wait it out and see what tomorrow brings. Meanwhile, I still moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Fro is a hot mess now but it's all good.

Fro love never really dies does it. It is just a rough patch.

It's your mane, Love it.

Mrs. Roulette

My hair needs keep changing....

At one point in my naturale life, Kinky Curly hair custard (weird but mustard sounded more right for a sec) was all I needed and my Fro and I were happy. Then a few years later my hair hated it! Mucousy, (I am British-influenced you see), and plain too heavy for my mane! Enter kinky curly leave in. Absolutely love that stuff! Fro decided she outgrew that too..... Dang!

Oh Cantu! Cantu made the leave in conditioner just for me! A little goes a loooong way!! I can still use it for my twists but not a quick leave in for a wash n go. Yucky mess. 

Shea moisture's curl enhancing smoothie is almost edible. That stuff is amazing! I have to be careful not to use too much anymore or my hair remains heavy for days. A dolop for the whole head. That's it! Used to be I needed to use it section by section. Not anymore. Fro ain't so greedy anymore I guess. 

It's been a journey of discovery and having to go along with Fro's needs and demands. At this juncture, seems like my good ole spritz still works its magic on Fro. I know moisture, temperatures, wind etc all factor in when it comes to what your hair needs. Different seasons, different needs.

Don't know if I'm the only one who has experienced issues with product rejection but I will sure Google to find out! 

One of these days I will figure out my winter/fall stash, spring stash, and  summer stash. Maybe even have a grey basket for the winter, green for spring, and yellow for summer. Orange for fall? I live in Texas. All I have is one barrel of stash.... Oak wood blinged with turquoise and a touch of leather. 😆. jk. Getting country-fied (country fried? lol!) here. Kidding. Sometimes I feel like a nut.... 😎sometimes I don't!

It's your mane, love it!

Mrs. Roulette

Crochet Braids with Marley hair.

I don't even know why they call it crochet braids. I mean, it's a weave don't you think? 

I was going through a spell, and I was super tired of Fro driving me nuts. The mister knew it was coming..... Another failed attempt at a different do. And I was bent on it too! So I lived on YouTube. Lawd I did! 

Then I started having visions of myself as a hair pro. Pst! Then I decided to go at it.

So I tried and succeeded! This monster of a marley crochet braid was the ish! That night I mean. Then I woke up. Poof! Hair everywhere! My head was as big as my pillow. I could tell mister was not fond of it but he kept mum. Smart fella. 

See, the vision was for it to look like so,

On the wedding day that is, not after lol! 

I absolutely had not time the night before or morning of the wedding to re-dip the hair to create the look I was going for. So I bravely befriended the giant Fro. Next day was a dear friend's wedding. This naturale was going to rock it! 

The pic above was after I re-dipped the mess to tame it a little bit (days after the weddo). It wasn't that bad on the big day actually, except I think my head took more mega pixels than necessary in the pictures. 😛

There we are! Fro and I taking center! Looks fab though don't you think? The bride was stunning, and her girls? Well, we were super hot! Loved our dresses! 

Back to the hair story. 

Few days later, I had to do something different with my crochet weave. Ahem! Braid. 

Then another day...

Creativity fixes lots of messes. 

Would I do marley hair again? Prolly as twists, not crochet. Hubby later admitted texture was too rough and he didn't like it. Well, I didn't much care for it either! But those are truths we naturales take to the grave.... Lol!

I think I got my money's worth. But may be a loooong time before I considered crochet braids again. Maybe a curly type of hair. I have done that before but I didn't keep it long at all. 

So this caps off a metamorphosis story of the crochet braid/weave. Have you tried it before? Do you live on YouTube every time before you change styles? Or Google? 

Naturally,

Mrs. Roulette 

Flat twists..... I'm actually getting better at it!

So, Fro is growing and sometimes she is a hot mess to deal with. Can't believe I even toyed with the idea of locking the darn mane to keep them in check! But hubby would never let me go through that coz he knows it's my shortcut to a second big chop! 😛😛😛. 

So here she is now, grown and thinks she runs the show.....

She looks a lil shrunken but that's coz she was straight from a wash. 

Next day after this wash I tried a flat twist to the front.

Not too shabby! 

Last night I was catching up on Sleepy Hollow. Decided to try some flat twists while watching TV. All I used was the shea moisture curl enhancing smoothie. Not even spritz. This cream is superb.

It makes my hair feel so soft!

I think my hot oil treatment did make a huge difference this time around. As I flat twisted, I didn't notice or hear any hair breaking or snapping as I went. So it must be stronger. Will try to do the oil treatments once a month or so. 

I'm impressed by my own work. Seems like after so many attempts, the angle and hand direction comes a little easier. 

I untwisted them this morning, with my hands laced with a dab of olive oil to prevent creation of frizz.

Not super crazy about the results but it's aaaight. 

When my hair grows longer maybe the strands will fall better. Moknowshair is my hair crush. Doubt my hair will ever be that long or full but a sister can only dream. You should check out her flat twists!! Hair porn. Seriously. 

What's your go-to style? 

The Crown of my Glory - The Afro Puff

Looking for a quick do that never fails in delivering elegance, class and grace? I love my afro puffs. And boy have the regenerated! From the TWA (teeny weeny afro) to my now grand puff, I have never been disappointed by this style.
My puffs have been the crown of my womanly glory.

With my newest bestest products, Shea Moisture, my crown is loving it and to have so many compliments at work about how soft my hair feels and how great it smells, I am sold for a looooong time on this line of products. Found them on sale at Sally's Beauty for 7.99 each (shampoo and conditioner). CVS had them for 14 bucks or so. Really? Think I have a dollar tree in my backyard? SMH.

Anywho, I had shampooed and conditioned my hair a couple of days prior but on a daily basis, I do some sort of moiturizing. For this particular day, I used the Shea Moisture restorative conditioner after touching my hair up with a little water in my hands. I combed through with my fingers to evenly distribute the conditioner (it's great as a leave in for dry hair but I had also used it as rinse-out after I shampooed). A wee bit goes a loooong way. Then I followed with a little bit of curl enhancing smoothie. These products smell aaaaaaamazing!!!

And I didn't want to stop touching my hair.... silky smooth!!! With my hair so baby soft, I even felt guilty using any edge tamer. So I didn't. Simply let the baby hairs be.Then I used a hair band that has loosened up enough that I could double up without giving myself a migraine. You know what I'm talking about. the bands that are so tight you get a face lift and a banging headache. For real!

With the doubled band at the edges of my hairline, I gently pushed it up slowly, less on the front end and more on the back to get the high top puff. I secured the band with three pins evenly set apart and finished with my flower. BAM! Done!

Awww, look at my puff all big and about the size of my head!!!!!!!!!
Dressed down, dressed up, doesn't matter. This is one easy go-to do when you do not feel like doing too much with your mane without sacrificing classy appearance.

Do you have any questions regarding any of the products I use on my styles? Simply comment and I will be sure to respond promptly.
It's your mane. Love it, live it, rock it.
Blessings.

Flexi rods - There is always a first time!

Ever hit a snag in your hair journey where you have no idea what to do with your hair? Yep, me too!!! So I was sitting surfing Amazon (I am an addict). Stumbled upon this supposed soft flexi rods that are easy to sleep in and you get defined curls..... hmmm. Alright......

Next thing I was watching out for the mail man and wondering why the P.O. seldom delivers to the door anymore. Finally got them but it was one of those weeks where work kicked my butt to near death and it wasn't until much later that I tried them.

I chose to use them on my dry hair since I did not have forever to wait for it to air dry. I was prepared for 8 hrs or so but that was it. Sista gotta go to work! and looking like Methuselah is by no means therapeutic to the patients. LOL!

Time frame, about 8 hrs. I slept in them and I think I may have rolled them too tight but otherwise, cushy enough that my scalp was cool with it.

Took them down and boy the volume it seemed to give my hair! I did not want to separate the curls for the fro I had planned for. So I just left it like that. 

Even went to the trail for a 3 mile run with it. Yeah, sexy and sweaty go together, agree? :-)

Girls don't sweat, they perspire. Just had to throw that in there. 😜

It took a lot of time for me to get the rods in place. But with more practice (and youtube videos) I think I will perfect the skill. I am sure placing them on someone else's hair would be a breeze just like the flat twists....Man, do I have a time with doing those on my own cabeza!!!!!

Have you ever used flexi rods? What is your opinion on them?

Thanks my dears and God bless you!

Two Strand Flat Twist Natural Hair Pompadour Updo