2 Years Strong!

Jan 2009

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Jan 2011

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Side View

Length Check

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

-M. Angelou

So 2 years ago I built up the courage to rock my little, curly baby 'fro and my face!  There was no more hair to hide behind, it took some getting used to but I am so glad I did it and I have been loving the journey ever since.  I have grown a lot spiritually, mentally, and my hair has grown a lot too!!! (big cheesy smile :D)  From the first post I made it still stands true that I love myself-good bad ugly beautiful-because I am marvelously made, God is my bottom line and he makes no mistakes.  The truth is NATURAL IS BEAUTIFUL and the truth is no lye.

Check out my album: 2 Years Strong

much love!

stay tuned

Big Afro!!!

Afro with the front pinned back

The Afro-- a symbol of true badness!  The bigger the better.  So my natural ladies have you ever wanted to get the super big afro, one bigger than a wash and go could give you?  I have found a method!  Now I am sure people have lots of ways of doing it, but this it my way and it is quick and easy :)


What you need-- blow dryer, heat protector product

How I do it--  I rub in some heat protector over my hair and then blow dry just to stretch my hair.  When I am satisfied with the length I finger part medium to large size sections (I ended up with about 10 or 12 sections) and twist and knot them.  This would be properly called "bantu knots" but if you are Caribbean you may call them "chiney bumps" (lol).  You do not have to leave them in for a long time, maybe an hour or 2.  Then just take them out and separate and go!

*Refreshing-- I would knot my hair back up quickly each night and then take it out again in the morning.  It is very quick!

Protective Styles: Twists

Twists half up and half down

Give your natural hair a rest!!  Protective styles give your hair a break and allow it to grow.  This past summer I started doing mini twists in my hair.  It takes a long time, but I did have noticeable growth and it gave me a break from have to style my hair--everyone wins ;)  I am still trying to figure out ways to make the twists last longer.  The longest I have had them in was about 3 maybe 4 weeks (I can't remember the exact amount of time but I do remember I was disappointed because I thought they would last longer). I tend to have a dry scalp, which can be solved by washing the twists but when they dry they will shrink which changes the look.

Twists flat twisted to a side pony tail (back view)

What you need-- Blow dryer, hair heat protector product, tail comb, and lots of free time ;)

(front view)

How I do it-- First I message a heat protector through my hair, lately I have used 100% shea butter--a natural heat protector and moisturizer.  DO NOT PUT ANYTHING ON YOUR HAIR (besides the heat protector) because next you will blow dry your hair and we don't want to fry our hair!  Now, when I say blow dry I don't mean a Dominican blow out ladies, just blow enough to stretch your hair out not for a style or anything.  I section my hair into four section and I start twisting in the front.  I part witha tail comb and stagger the parts in the front so when the twists are done you don't see much of the parts.  In the back i part the rows with a comb and finger part the individual twists.  You don't have to be as precise in the back.

Twists after washing

*Refreshing-- I rub herbal essence none of your frizzness leave in  or 100% shea butter over my twists about every other day or so and I put oil on my scalp when I feel like it is getting dry.

Faux hawk... Fro'hawk...

 
INFAMOUS FRO'Hawk: I love this style!! Funky, Easy to do, Lasts long (about a week or 2), and it just looks great... The pictures show how my frohawk style has evolved (the first picture to the right is the oldest), when I first tried it I just parted my damp/wet hair to leave a section on top and then pulled the rest into a banana clip and then pinned the top...This was fall, of last year I have come a long way since then ;)

What you need-- banana clip, gel (I use eco styler), leave in conditioner/moisturizer (I use Herbal Essence long term relationship), oil

How I do it-- I part a square section of hair on top of my head and pin it out of the way. Then I slick back the rest of my hair into the banana clip using the gel and conditioner. I finger part the ends into thumb size sections and twist, moisturizing with the conditioner as I go. I twist the top the same way. I leave the twists in overnight, take them out in the morning, and separate and go. Recently, I have starting flat twisting the sides and then adding the banana clip.

Refreshing-- I use oil and water spray that I mix myself, or just some leave conditioner to moisturize and then I pick it out... you can re-twist as much or little as you want and if the curls at the front are looking 'stale' (LOL) you can pin it back and the style still looks nice

Hey! [as of January 2009] I am NOT my HAIR!

"Hey... I am not my hair... I am not this skin... I am the soul that lives within..." -India A.

Cliche, I know! When I look back at these photos I can't help but sing India

Arie songs, play with my hair and want to protest something... (hehe)

So, above are the photos when I first decided to rock the baby curly 'fro....My first time ever letting my natural hair out... I looked at myself in the mirror and said "its now or never" and I took the plunge. I was soo scared, all I could think was OMGeeee its all FACE and FOREHEAD for DAYZ! yikes:/ But I had come to far to turn back so I just ran with it.... The responses I got ranged from "oh wow your hair is beautiful and it fits you" to "oh but i mean you ain't real natural 'cause you're like mixed right?" -_- If I am not "real natural" can someone please tell me what is? I mean we live in America everyone is mixed, lets be honest; Its funny to me because I never really thought of myself that way. Maybe it has to do with my overwhelming Jamaican upbringing or maybe it is because I went to all white schools most of my life and a drop of black is BLACK. But long story short, I LOVE THE NATURAL FREEDOM!

stay tuned for more of the journey...

much love

My Journey [[Transitioning]]

Transitioning is the hardest part of going natural and this is what deters most women that have a desire to go natural. In my own experience, THIS WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART!!! uggghhhhh some days, many days actually I almost decided to get back on the relaxer.... not to mention my jamaican mom in my ear, "why yer hair stay suh?... yuh needa perm man, just perm it nuh, why yuh don jus perm it"

There are those days when you just can't get it into any style... up, down, pinned, then I just ended up with a hat..... Don't be fooled by the pictures, I had many days where I couldn't do anything with my hair and I refused to do the BIG CHOP.... big chop and my big head does not go together... TOO MUCH bigness for me... but that could just be my own insecurities peeking out :/ Above are the highlights of the major styles I did to transition...

Starting from the bottom photo (black n white shirt), this is when I first started growing it out... I would just let my hair grow, get it pressed by the dominicans, and then I would cut it myself... I would take inches off at a time... but I tried to keep it at the length shown...

The next photo up, I got braids for the first time ever!... I really liked it because it was easy and I had come to a point where I didn't know what to do with my hair and pressing it wasn't doing it anymore.... BUT.... when I had to take them out it was HELL!!!! never ever ever ever again will I get braids, I don't have the patience... when I took my braids out my hair was half permed and half natural... basically a HOT MESS....

The next photo up, i twisted my hair into knots (aka chiney bumps haha) and slicked it back with jam into a head band... this style was a saving grace because it looked good and it hid my permed ends

The last two photos are of my FAVORITE transition!!! Thats why I put up two pictures!!! This is a weave and it was great!!!... I actually miss it sometimes... it was Indian wet and wavy human hair.... One cool day in September of 2008 I got fed up with my half permed and half natural hair and just started chopping out the rest of the perm... then after I was done I looked at myself and realized I had no hair... well not none, but not enough!!!.... i said oh Jesus, what am I going to do with this now.. haha... thats when I decided to get the weave ASAP [[shout out to my girl Betty for hooking it upppp!!] I kept re-weaving until January 2009 when I finally let myself be truly free...

stay tuned...

much love

My Journey [[Permed]]

Sooo, to begin, here are some pictures of me with a relaxer aka that CREAMY CRACK!! (hehe)... While on the relaxer, my hair only grew a few inches past my shoulders and any significant growth would eventually be cut off because continuing the perm would always damage my ends. It basically just turned into a vicious cycle that never ended, well until I decided to go natural! My last perm was Decemeber 2007, I spent a year growing it out. I became officially all natural January 2009.

Stayed tuned as I continue the journey....

much love