First blog of the year (I know I'm late!) :)

 I started the year off by measuring my hair, something I hadn't really done in the past. I borrowed the technique from Sistahwithrealhair on youtube. I cut a 1/2 inch off all over in November 2012 my first full trim in almost two years. I only trimmed that much off because I allowed too many single-strand knots and splits to develop after I straightened it. The front is a bit over 12 inches, the sides are 13 inches and the back is about 10 inches. To keep down the stress I chose areas I could measure with ease on my own.

 The next day I got up and made sure the hair was detangled before I washed it. It looks straight but trust me when I tell you that the roots were starting to curl up quite nicely. :)

 Here is my hair after I washed it. Although I co-wash most of the time once per month I use a hard water shampoo because my hair does not like the build up of minerals. There is a picture below of my shampoo of choice. I normally wash my hair in 4 sections but because it had been stretched I didn't need to.

I used Reshma henna that I purchased at my local Halal market. The bowl pictured was too small to hold all of the henna so I switched to a larger one after I took this photo. I don't add a lot of acidity to my henna. As a matter of fact for the two boxes pictured I only used a tablespoon of lemon juice and I've decided to not use any in the future. I mixed the henna and let it sit in a cupboard for 12 hours before I used it.

This is a picture of the supplies I used to henna my hair. I didn't comb my hair with the henna in it, the rat tail was used after I had washed it out to separate the hair for air drying. My shampoo is by Ion, I use an inexpensive cholesterol conditioner and Hot Six Oil to deep condition, and the bottle with the red tip is my Hair Hooch. I got the idea for the formula from a hair forum and tweaked it to make it work for me. The mud-like substance in the purple bowl is the henna after it's sat for 12 hours. If you're going to henna your hair make sure you use gloves as it will stain the skin on your hands and feet.

 My technique for applying the henna is to make a central cinnamon bun shaped mound at the crown of my head. Once I have that going I simply take hair from around my head, paint both sides with henna and wrap it around making sure to smooth all of the hair down. 

 Here is my hair about half way finished with the henna application. Notice that it looks like a beehive. I like this technique because it keeps the hair up and out of the way so that I can do other things while it sits on my hair. I leave the henna in my hair for 2 hours or so. It hardens as it dries so I make sure to drench it with watered down conditioner which I work in before I start rinsing. You can see the pattern/direction of the hair as I was wrapping it in this picture.

When all of the henna has been applied I have a nice tight mound that stays out of my way while the henna does it's magic. The smell of Henna is very earthy. It reminds me of a wooded area after a heavy rain. You can find great information about henna at Mehandi.com

 After I washed all of the henna out and deep conditioned my hair (I sat under my dryer for an hour with my conditioner/oil mix in my hair) I used my Hair Hooch, which is a combination of Coconut Oil, Sublimated Sulfer, Peppermint Oil and Jamaican Black Castor Oil.

 I have a new technique for stretching and air drying my hair. I use a barret clip that I place over satin I've wrapped around my roots. I plan to attach the satin at some point, I just have a lot of projects in front of that one. Once I have the ponytails in I add large rollers to hold the tension while the hair dries. Most of the time I allow it to air dry although I will hop under the dryer if I'm short on time.

I created this hairstyle after being inspired by a look on another blog. I'm still learning to twist, braid and style after wearing my hair relaxed for over 30 years.  The back shot shows a bit of the henna's tint, which on my hair gives it a reddish glow.

Let me know what you think of the process and the style.

Have a groovy day!