2020 Ain't It Funny

     In my best Martin voice, what's up, WHAT'S UP, WAZZZZZUUUPPPPPPPP! Corona got all of us popping back out of the wood works aye? LMAO. How you doing? How the baby doing? How ya mama doing? I'm just checking in people. I have came a long way from the 400lb college freshman that started this lovely gem years ago. I am now an almost 30 year old plant-based/vegan dread loc babe who loves culture, art, travel and the essence of life. I am beyond blessed for my evolution over time and I am sure you are happy with your progress too.

    During these times I just want to say, ground yourself. Literally put your BARE feet in the grass and pray. Sit outside, catch some sun and meditate. Thank your god, the universe and life for being so divine in these turbulent times. You still deserve peace and happiness through this. I hope you use this time wisely. Whether you are catching up on sleep, starting a new craft, becoming closer to yourself/family, I wish you the best. I personally have taken some of the time to evolve my business and self. People have asked me for more jewelry, art, and even A COOK BOOK. Whew, a bit overwhelming of an endeavor but one to be executed none the less.

     Weight-loss... Well well, over the last few years I have been yo-yo-ing with my weight, going trough points of splurging too much. I don't eat because I'm sad, nothing triggers it actually, I eat to eat. Food be BANGING lmao. I love the flavors, textures, smells. It is an EXPERIENCE! Anyway after eating all the unhealthy food that I could, I made some discoveries. I eat a lot of low nutrient, high calorie meals. (LMAO so I now y'all think I'm about to sell you something or it is a speech but nah lmao I'm just explaining some ish.) I also realized no matter how hard I start working out or how "dedicated" I was I would always stop. What could I do to allow me to lose weight and smash as much food as I want when I want... Going plant based! (vegan if you nasty) I am very proud to be 5 months in and I love it. My energy levels are wonderful, I sleep well, and I lose 1-2 healthy pounds a week without exercise. I eat lots of raw fruits and veggies. I feel amazing and wish I knew about this lifestyle sooner.

     Yes I am still slanging butter with a few tweaks to the old recipe as well as playing around with natural remedies. NO I AIN'T THAT HITTER WITH THE SEA MOSS YET!! LMAO Sea moss has flooded the health market. I have yet to fully experience the use of all of it. I have not been using too many products on my hair because I have locs and I do not want to increase dirt and product buildup. I don't have many to review. I only retwist once or twice a year. I dip my locs in ocean water every chance I get. I do use Jolie My Gel on my hair to retwist and of course my NaturalGMonet's Shea Butter. You know! Drop a line tel me how you are doing.

      Well that's all I wanted to say. I hope you have a wonderful day! If you have time check out Naturalgmonets! 

My 3 Year Loc Transition

Hey Guys & Gals! I haven't posted to YouTube in forever but I decided to make a Loc Journey video showing my locs from Dec 1, 2013 to it's 3 Year anniversary this Friday Dec 1, 2016. If you are interested check it out! Please share.

Curls: Pipe Cleaner Curls on Locs

       Pipe Cleaner Curls on locs are an awesome hair style. I was able to achieve this look with locs that were short, and my more smedium length locs now. NOTE::: I don't use mousse, curl spray,  curl holding, enhancing, or helping products. My curls are achieved on wet locs only. These results are based on water only applications. Of course using products can help you hold a curl longer, however the issues locs can have from using products is something I am not fond of. 

      
       Take a long pipe cleaner and I bent it in half. About 1/2 inch down on both ends I slightly bent the pipe cleaner to look like the picture on the left.  The softer rounded edge is what is going to be secured at the root of your loc. Pinch the root of your loc with that end and twist your loc down the pipe cleaner like flexi rods. Use the other bent end of the pipe cleaner to secure the ends of the loc to the pipe cleaner. The pipe cleaners would be sticking from my head so I curl them to my head in a c shape. This will give you a nice vintage and short look! After wearing this style for a week I took them out.
   
    
   I noticed two things from doing this style at two lengths in my loc life. For the shorter locs (4" to 6") you can cut the pipe cleaner in half and make a loop at the top of the pipe cleaner and use that to secure the pipe cleaner to your root. If you want to have tight curls try to keep the loc close together as you curl it around & down the pipe cleaner, This will give it a shorter look while elongating the wrap will give you more of dropped straw curls. The two pictures on the side shows how you can wear the style with shorter locs.




         This is a picture of my locs after I took them out. I learned that by not curling my locs tight they created elongated curls. I twisted my hair down the pipe cleaner instead of tightly curling it around my pipe cleaners. I love the look however I was more prepared the next go round of my pipe cleaner install. After wearing this style for two weeks I put some braids over my locs which I will discuss in another post to come. 



        Here is a pic of me this year, about a year later, with this same style. As you can see from the pictures the pipe cleaners were fuller and gave that "finger wave", "flapper", "1950's" look as planned. I really enjoyed how cute and retro this style was. I was able to wear a lot of bold lip colors and popping jewelry. This hairstyle also personally made me appreciate all of the loc growth I've had. (9"-11")



     These were my results! My locs at this point are 2x the size that they were on my first time installing them. These pictures were taken right after I took them out. I moisturized my hair once they were out and I shook them out. They are way tighter and not as bent as my first instillation. The curl in these will last for weeks if you properly care for them. At night I put on my Loc Soc which is made from a satin like material. They keep the curled locs tight to my hair and they also don't take moisture from my hair. In the morning I simply shake my locs loose and GO! Below are my curls after 3 days. 

Thank You for Reading! 

Curls: Bantu Knots On Locs

Bantu Knots are so clutch! They give you that unique ethereal look you were going for while also curling your tresses. 


Curls for the girls! I love curls & I love bantu knots so this is kind of a dual style! Recently I tried two types of curls on my locs. I have 67 locs. After washing and moisturizing my hair I give myself a light rewist as I go. I put three locs in a knot at a time. If your locs cannot stay in a knot then use black rubber bands or bobby pins to hold the ends down. I wore my bantu knots for two - three days. If the bantu knots are worn and heavily slept on for more than a few days your curls will have bends in them and less curls. After I took the knots out I lightly moisturized my hair.  

These are my results. If you bantu knots your hair in smaller knots the curls will be tighter. The larger the knots the looser the curls. 

For Loc Jewelry by me check out: NaturalGMonet.tictail.com

Yarn Braid Do's & Don'ts

      When I was natural I was looking for another style. I was tired of twist outs, fros, mowhawks, all of that. I wanted something fun and different, One thing I did know is that I wanted to loc my hair. I wasn't quite ready to loc my hair so I searched for a style to imitate locs. I came across this photo of yarn locs. They were tiny and beautiful, There were so many of them and her hair was very full. I at the time wanted small locs so I thought this was perfect.

There was general information that I did discover in my search. One of the most important bits of information was... ACRYLIC YARN ONLY. Cotton and wool yarn were once alive, so it will crave moisture and the intricate fibers will loc to your hair.

    Ok, so don't used sheep back or tree poop, got it. I rushed to Micheal's and purchased two 1lb bundles of black yarn and for three days, I went to work. OMG! It was so worth it. 

       Yassss. I gave life in these braids. I felt like I lived through them in a sense. I had gotten a million compliments on the style and the older it got the better it looked. I was in love. So in love that I had these braids in for 6 months. In the six months I discovered several things:

Do Not Let A Style Go To Your Head- That is number one. I knew it looked really good but I should have taken them out. I advised others on how to properly take care of theirs, but I really had a yolo moment. 

IF You Go Swimming Rinse & Condition First- I was working out with this hair in and at times I had to get in the pool. Whether you have permed, natural, locs, weave, whatever, rinse your hair for 5 minutes with pure water first. Then if you can rub a little conditioner in your hair. Chlorine is very damaging. The molecules int he chemical will want to enter your hair shaft, but because your strands are now swollen with water and protected with conditioner, the chlorine will be less penetrating. You will notice a nice condtioning when you get out of the pool. The chlorine's ph would open your hair cuticle and the conditioner would adsorb nicely and before any chlorine. 

Do Not Wet Your Hair Frequently- When you wet your hair frequently the bonds in your hair break and your hair is limp and pliable. When your hair  dries the bonds reform. If you have in yarn braids, you will constantly be breaking and forming bonds around these very fibrous pieces of yarn making it easier for your hair to "loc" around the yarn.

Do Not Use Small Amounts of Hair- Do not install to many. They smaller the braid the less strands their are to support the weight of the yarn as well as the build up. Yarn can be rough to some hair types and can cause breaking over long time wear. 

Moisturize Your Hair Nicely as You Install- The acrylic yarn will not absorb the moisture and it also makes they yarn more slippery and less damaging to your hair, This will keep your hair moisturized for a good 3 weeks into your style. 

Moisturize with Spritz and Minimally- Due to build up at the root as well as they fact that you have a blanket on your head you do not want too much product in your hair it will cause the yarn to mush together with the build up at the base of the braid. 

AND THIS REALLY APPLIES IF YOU HAVE THIN OR WEAK HAIR. This style needs a good amount of strands per braid. I suggest if for people with average hair thickness. Thin hair takes more surface area per braid, so they style may come out thin, if the hair is not strong. You can have thin hair with very strong strand and this style will work for you, however if your hair is weak in anyway this style is not for you. 

Soooooo I have average hair with veeerryyy thin temples. They are my stress points and my father is some sort of caveman with that c thing going around his hairline. After keeping these braids in for 6 MONTHS a lot of them had loced together at the root. It was so tedious and tiring to take them out that in some areas that were the worst, I ripped them out. The ending result was horrifying as you can see. I completely ripped my head to shreads. So I ran to the salon and demanded locs. No more playing around in loose natural hair. It is very delicate and sensitive, quite frankly, I don't have time for that. This is the second time since I've went natural that I had to start over. All I want is long black hair. This was the tipping point for my journey. 

About My Locs pt1

Starter Locs on Average 4b/4c

My main and solo aim is to have long black healthy hair by any means necessary. In June of 2013 I gave myself very small yarn locs. I did not take care of my hair while it was in this style. As someone that does hair as well as knows it down to a science, I often neglect my own hair due to personal laziness. I ended up keeping the tiny braids in for 5 months! Never do that. Some hair types can keep them in that long, but my hair type was definitely not one for it. These braids took huge clumps of hair out of my head and a lot of the natural growth, which I now cannot remember. Lol. I always knew I wanted locs but I wanted to see how large I could get my fro. After I took those braids out, swerve, I went straight to the loctician.  I started my locs in December 2013 with comb coils. I had about 150 locs.

Honestly...

           I did not like my locs what so ever. I thought they were disgusting little worms. On top of the fact that while I was taking out my braids I got annoyed and I literally started ripping the braids out. From me doing that it caused my hair to be thin at the top of my head, I kinda look like I am balding. I did not want to go through the “ugly & bald” stage so I decided to braid my over my starter locs. Braiding my started locs helped me in several ways:

Emotionally
Mentally
Physically (lol)

The braids helped but however at this stage in my loc process They may have paused my loc development. When my locs were in the braids they stayed together and they also tightened up. The braids also gave my hair time to grow back where I had ripped them out. The braids did not allow for my locs to naturally swell and shrink as they would have if they were free.

               

     For the 6 months of my locs I wore braids. 

Natural Hair Style: Revisiting Kinky Curly

Quite some time ago I tried Kinky Curly Curling Custard. I liked this product a lot however when used with its companion the leave in I thought my hair was still dry and lacking moisture. I wanted to give this a try using my own first step moisturizer. The custard does not allow hair to dry in a timely manner either. None the less I tried the product again. To my surprise it was quite a sucess and I came up with two styles using the product.

Products I Used:
Water: I cannot stress this enough. If you have a very tightly coiled curl pattern you need lots of water. Your hair must be soaking wet to achieve the best results... In my opinion.
Cantu Shea Butter Coconut Curling Cream: OMG! I'll tell you about this bad boy in a lovely review.
Kinky Curly Curling Custard

Step 1: Wash Then Section & Condition
This is my hair washed with conditioner on it. This photo is like a slight update as to what my hair looks like and the length that I have gotten. You can see how I can put it in chunky medium plats around my head.

Step 2: Apply Curling Cream & Curling Custard & BRUSH!

In each of my chunky sections I only used about a quarter sized amount of the Curling Cream. That mixed with the water in my hair will provide a nice coat of moisture. After the quarter sized amount of the custard is added add copious amounts of that Curling Custard. The more kinky, curly, and coarse your hair is the more you need. BUT WAIT! If you are trying to do a wet curly jeri curl type thing then yes continue... BUT if not then use the regular amount that you would use with any other product for a twist out. The trick is brushing this product through your hair as about twenty times from root to tip. You want this product to cover your hair.

This pic is also another slight update of my hair growth this far!

And Walah! My Two Styles!

First Day Hair

This was the final product and first day hair. It came out really cute and kind of the way I wanted it. This style still took for ever to dry tho. I thoroughly brushed my hair in the direction I wanted it to go and and I let it dry.

Second Day & Beyond

That night I twisted my hair up for bed. I did about 12 plaits over my entire head. In the morning my hair was dry and the twists had set. I really didn't like what my hair became in the morning so I tucked and rolled my hair in to a back roll. The front I simply plucked out and pulled to the side.

Natural 4b-4c Hair

You are probably wondering what MY shampoos and conditioners do to my hair. Here is a complete photo exhibit of my hair in its different natural states. In the beginning I am going to show your my hair and then I am going to get down to my ends. 


My Hair

This picture is my hair while I was shampooing it. As you see it is not in twists and you can really see how much my hair shrinks up. Yes, this is after 2 years of hair growth. If you look you can also see how I have several different hair types. My tighter hair which is on the top and center of my head is shorter then the hair in the back of my hair. The hair in the back is a loser curl pattern then the top and that is why it hangs more freely then the hair at the top. 

This is my hair after being shampoo-ed and rinsed. This is before conditioner or any products whatsoever. My hair in its natural state. You can see how tightly my hair curls up and how unruly it is. This picture proves how I do not wear my hair in afros because it will curl up into itself causing tangles and knots. You can also see how I have a very tight coily, kinky hair type as well. 

This is a picture of the loser curl pattern I have in the back. I have two different hair types. They both are very tight and coily but one is loser then the other. This type hangs a bit more. 

SHRINKAGE!!!

The first picture is of my hair after I dried it with no product. You can really see how natural hair shrinks up. Even thought you may not think so, this is a good thing. When my hair is healthy it curls up. Lose, limp or hair that won't curl up is weak or damaged. This lets me know that my hair is not damaged. You will see how my ends are the same. of they don't curl up, we have a problem. 


My Ends

This is images of my hair after it has been washed with no product. This is why it is good to pick a nice shampoo that is ph balanced. The shampoo cleans all of the dirt out of my hair while restoring it to its natural curl pattern. It is not longer dull and stretched out or weighed down by products and dirt. 

These pictures are of my hair and what conditioning does for my ends. The first picture is my ends after I towel dry my hair.  The second picture is my ends with conditioner in it. You can see how the conditioner is giving my ends what it lost from the shampoo. It is filling in the gaps where nutrients are missing and my hair is curling up. Its curling up because the conditioner is closing my cuticles. I can tell when a conditioner is great and ph balanced for my hair because it will cause my ends to to this. The last picture is a closer look at the pieces of hair side by side. 

These show how the conditioner closes my cuticles and moisturized my hair. My ends and hair are uniform and well conditioned. 

Make sure you have good shampoos and conditioners. In the next post I will tell you what ph to use for your shampoo and conditioners. :)

How I Achieve Not Cutting My Ends pt2

Natural Hair Realities 

      In order to take care of your hair to the fullest there are some things that you need to know. But before I tell you any of these things I need you to have an open mind. We tend to believe things that were passed down to us and quite frankly alot of the old hair tips are myths and not true. Until you can accept the fact that what we have been learning about hair is flawed, then you will not grown and progress. Period! Now with an open mind that is ready to learn for change here it is:

1. WASH YOUR HAIR FREQUENTLY- As children of color we were taught that washing our hair was bad. We do not want to be caught in pools, rain, the beach, NOTHING! The reality is that your hair needs to be washed more frequently. Why? Your hair grows out of pores. When your face is dirty what happens? The pore is blocked and you get a gross pimple. That is the same concept with hair. You have to keep the scalp clean and your hair washed. A clean scalp will not have blocked pores so the hair can grown and not have resistance. Also keeping your hair clean will remove the protecting moisturizers from our hair so water and needed nutrients can be absorbed. 

2. OIL, RAW SHEA BUTTER, COCO BUTTER ARE NOT MOISTURIZERS- Don't scream. You have probably been watching youtube videos and reading blogs similar to this and some people act like oils and butters are very moisturizing when they actually are not. Oil and RAW Shea Butter are PROTECTING hair products. Oil can not penetrate the hair. The only oil that can penetrate the hair strand is coconut oil because the molecules are like that of sebum the natural oil our scalp produces. If you do not believe me try this out. 

Dip one piece of paper in oil and one piece of paper in water. Now rip the pieces of paper in half. You will notice that the paper dipped in oil rips very crisply as if it was not wet. The paper in water however is mushy because the molecules of water are small enough to penetrate the paper. The oil molecules are not and this is why the paper rips so nicely, because it was protected. 

With this concept in mind think about your hair. If you have been using oil and raw shea butter and wondering why your hair is not "moisturized" it is because your are protecting your hair while it is in its non-moisturized state. Moisturize with pure water or water based products first and then put on the shea butter and oils. This excludes whipped shea butters because those tend to have extra ingredients in them that can penetrate the hair however even a whipped shea butter should still be used to seal in moisture. 


3. TREAT YOUR ENDS DIFFERENTLY- Your ends are the oldest thing on your head. Think about your ends like an old person. You are gentle with old people, nice and caring. So do the same for your ends. When you are braiding or twisting your hair use a different thicker pomade for your ends or use a little extra on the ends. 


How I Treat My Ends: 

• After applying a deep conditioner a put castor oil on the ends and then I put on a conditioning cap and I sit under the dryer to deep condition. 
• When twisting my hair I use Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade because it is thicker and it is also a protecting hair dress. 
• I never let my ends rest on my shoulders or scarves. I don't want to dry them out or cause them to knot. 

These are just a few things that I do but you have to treat your ends better if you want to maintain them correctly. 

4. YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOUR HAIR- I am not saying braids one week, twists the next and corn rolls the next. There are a vast amount of ways to protect your ends. You can wear turbans, wraps, twists, braids, braid outs, twist outs, and even protecting hair products. If you don't want weathering of your ends and hair your have to protect it. If you are someone that wears your hair out everyday then that is not the way to maintain your ends. Wind, sun, acid rain, there are so many things that damage your hair. I am not saying lock your hair away but try different styles where you tuck your ends in. Also try styles that will keep your hair stretched that way it is not curling up into itself. Doing your hair everyday is great but protect the ends. 

5. LET YOUR HAIR DO WHAT IT DOES- This is true to a certain extent. Unless you are free loc-ing your hair, you should not just let it do what it does. Hair is very unruly. It has to be tamed to a certain extent. It has to be washed and de-tangled. Tangled hair knots around other hairs and causes damage. You never want your hairs to fight one another. 

These are just a few things that you should consider when trying to grow your hair to maximum lengths. Do research and get used to the new way of thinking about your hair. 


The Video: 

Curly Two Strand Twists

Check It Out! 

How To Achieve This Look

Items Used: 

   - Spray Bottle

   - Shea Butter Whip

   - Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade

   - Small Flexi Rods

*** Note: This hair style was done on wet washed hair.*** 

Steps: 

   - I parted my hair in medium sized twists. 

   - Before twisting each twist I de-tangled it and put the shea whip then the pomade on the hair. 

   - I made sure my hair stayed wet as I twisted my head. 

   - After the twist were done I rolled my wet hair. 

   - I slept with the rods in overnight and in the morning I had this awesome style!

The Video! 

How I Achieve Not Cutting My Ends pt1

Naive?
   A few years back I was very ignorant when it came to taking care of my hair. I was a product junkie that brought anything hot and I barley read over the labels. I brought things without really thinking. Now I have 100s of dollars worth of... quite frankly useless products for my hair. I was getting so fed up with my hair I was slowly losing its good health. My ends were dry and raggedy. It was horrible. I started watching youtube videos and then I had my natural hair... BING! I am the type of person that wants to always grow and learn more. ;) 


Educating Myself...
    I soon started doing my own research. I mostly used Youtube and books. One day I came across this Kimmaytube Youtube channel. She was talking about the actual science of hair and because of that (and I am a biology major #teambio) that intrigued me. I also discovered books that were recommended by other youtubers. Cathy Howse's Ultra black Hair Growth 2 and Chicoro's Grow It were the first two books I read and may I just say wow. 


Figuring It Out... 
    Ok so I figured out the science behind natural hair. I figured out that it is a ph issue as well as a product issue. I started to learn what MY hair wanted and NOT what the media, other people, or my ignorance suggested. 


What Does All That Have to Do With Ends You Ask? 
   Well simple... these books taught me about hair health and taught me to pay attention to my hair routine and products. It all taught me how to grow and keep healthy hair.  ULTIMATELY however this is MY way of doing my hair and keeping MY hair healthy. You can do your own research and figure out what your hair wants and needs. But I am here to help! :)  


The Last Time I Clipped My Ends... 
    In a blog post on December 21, 2010 I posted about clipping my ends. You can view this post here: 

Horrible Ends & My Last Cut Ever

If I could go back in time I would have still had to clip those ends. They were so horrible. My hair was so tangled you could pull one side of it and feel it on the other!!! Funny now, sad then. I also did not know what products worked for me so I was having a battle to figure out what to do. Within a month I learned how I dont have to clip my ends at all! 

I Do Not Clip My Ends pt 1

Curl Define Medium 4c Hair

Ain't It Cute? My Fro That Is! 

This style took me less than 20 minutes and it is gorgeous! I mean look at my hair glow and those curls pop! Wah-Lah! Man am I starting 2012 off right?! 

How To Achieve This Look

You Will Need:

   - Gel

   - Spray Bottle Of Water

   - Styling Brush or Comb 

   - Conditioner (only if your hair is not pre-moisturized) 

***NOTE: This style was done on DRY , MOISTURIZED , & PRE-STRETCHED HAIR***

Steps: 

1. Part your hair in small workable sections. 
2. Clip the sections up and work on your hair one section at a time. 
3. Take one section and spray it with lots of water. 
4. (optional if your hair has not been pre-moisturized---my hair was pre-moisturized with Shea Moisture Curl Enchanting Smoothie and a shea butter whip)                          Take the conditioner and rub it in your hair smoothing it down.
5. Take a copious amount of gel and smooth is down your hair. 
6. Take a styling brush or comb and comb the gel through your hair. 
7. Shake your hair when you are finished. 

These instructions were merely a crash course, but below is the HOW TO VIDEO!