TUESDAY TWIRL

FEATURING: CURL DIVA, -PAJE-

Technically, -Paje- is the winner of the free products. However, she's experimenting with some other things & passed on the products. So they're still available. In the words of -Paje-...

1. How long have you had your curly perm?
I've had my curly perm since July 2008, so about 8 months.

2. What's your hair background - was this your first chemical experience?
Before getting my curly perm I was natural for about four years, and before that I had a relaxer maybe for about 8 years.

3. What type of curly perm do you have & what's your routine?
I have a Care Free Curl. I moisturize daily and wash once a week at the most. At times I wait two weeks because my hair gets really dry after I wash it.

4. What's your favorite style?
I don't like having my hair in my face so I'll wear a headband (I've learned not to wear them too tightly.) or clip up the front of my hair with something. I usually just wear my hair out.

5. Since ladies are always complaining about dryness & shedding, how do you deal with these issues?
To help combat the shedding I don't comb my hair everyday anymore, just on wash days. I fingercomb as needed. As for the dryness, I'm still trying to figure that out. I've recently started moisturizing my hair twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, with a mixture of water, infusium 23, and CFC Instant Moisturizer. My hair is fine when it's not completely dry, but once all of the product has dried up my hair feels dry and sometimes hard. So, I'm still searching to find something that will keep my hair soft and moisturized even when it's completly dry.

6. Have you noticed any difference in your growth/retention rate?
I can definently see my hair growing now. I got a cut in November of '08, and by February '09 my hair was back to its original length. I'm not sure if I'm actually retaining better than when I was natural, or if my growth is just more noticable now because my natural hair shrank a lot.

7. What advice would you give to potential/new curly perm wearers?
Make sure you find someone who knows what they are doing. It only takes one mistake to mess up your hair. Also, be patient while you find what works for your hair. I'm still experimenting.

8. Hair type and Length
I would guess that I'm somewhere in the 4 range and somewhere between shoulder length and armpit length.

The first pic was taken after I got my first curl.


The second pic is a comparison between the cut I got in November and the growth I had by February.


The third is a pic of how I usually wear my hair, with the top clipped away from my face.

Split Endz

I washed my hair today & while it was wet I realized that I have tons of split ends. I've never really had a problem w/split ends before, even as a natural. Knots, yes. Split ends, no.

I started going to Natalie in January & I was getting my hair flat ironed every 2 weeks. She trimmed it for me the very 1st time I went to her. Well I went on vacation the last week in February & I wore my hair in it's natural state, which resulted in a lot of knots.

I didn't get a trim when I got the curl done so now I have knots & splits. I'm getting my hair straightened for a wedding on the 10th so I will definitely get a trim.

What I wanted to hear from my curl divas is whether or not split ends are an issue for you & how often you ladies trim.

Have a great Saturday!

2 Week Anniversary

BY SPECIAL REQUEST...
Today is my 2 week anniversary. Even though I made some mistakes along the way & lost some of my curl, I'm still loving my decision. I haven't washed my hair since last Thursday. I probably won't wash it again until the weekend. I'm trying to stretch my washes a little.

Yesterday I rinsed my hair in the shower with water & put some of the Wave By Design dry moisturizing lotion in & then sprayed some of the Wave By Design finishing spray on.

This morning I simply misted my hair w/distilled water & then I sprayed just a few sprays of the finishing spray.

Feeling much better...

I found out today (hadn't been keeping up with my blog subscriptions) that Dr. Ali Syed (president of Avlon, makers of the Ferm Curly Perm) posted two blog entries about curly perms specifically for me.

In A Quick History of the Permanent Wave (Part 1) Dr. Syed gives a brief history of permanent waving.

In Part 2, he breaks down the chemistry of permanent waving.

I have contacted him to see if he'll do a Q&A for my blog. I will be asking him general questions about the Ferm Perm, his thoughts on proper maintenance & issues that plague curly perm wearers. If you have anything that you would like for him to answer, please submit your questions to me at ckcnakia@gmail.com.

Later!

Feels like Monday...

Y'all I'm in a funk. I really want to get info out there for potential as well as curent curl wearers but I'm getting so discouraged. None of the companies are responding. Well I won't say none. The only one I haven't contacted myself is Design Essentials & that's because I'm letting Natalie handle that for me since she's basically an insider.

Though I have hits, no one comments, no one makes suggestions - it's like - HELLO, ANYBODY OUT THERE?!?!?!?

I thought I was going to be able to do another feature today but I still haven't received any info from any ladies. And for the ladies that agreed to be features, please know I'm not complaining. I appreciate your willingness. I was just hoping that since there was an active curl thread on BHM that there would be more interaction with my Curl Divas. SIGH

I could take pics of me & my hair daily & just post that but I definitely don't represent the entire spectrum of curl wearers & I really didn't want this blog to be just about me.

To my followers - My Faithful Few - I just want to say thanks. I promise, though weary, I will not quit.

Signing off...

Anyone up for some wardrobe consulting...?

Okay so one of my close girlfriends from college is getting married on the 11th & I'm trying to put something together to wear. I would really like to wear all white but of course that is a no-no in the eyes of some.

So in my head I envision me in a fitted suit jacket w/matching skinny leg trousers w/small slits in the hems - can't decide if I should go w/a light-medium weight linen or a matte silk satin. Tell me what you think.

Also...I can't decide if I should go with matching shoes & bag or if I should wear a large bloom live flower on my lapel & match the color of the flower to the color of my handbag.

Well here are some items that I came up with today. The pic of the suit is only for an idea. I will most likely have my mother make mine. I really want to wear a soft pink but I also want to go with an off the beaten path color combination, too - like teal & orange.

SHOES & MATCHING BAG



ORANGE BLOOM & MATCHING BAG



LAVENDER BLOOM & MATCHING BAG




SUIT IDEAS

Like the jacket style/cut on this one


But I'm going for a trouser leg more like this one - maybe not so fitted

Style Saturday

So as a curl wearer, does that mean I'm limited to only one way of wearing my hair? I've been searching for styles that will work with my present hair situation. I think this will be the 1st one that I try. Feedback, please.

Where are my Curl Queens?

So I'm trying to get other ladies with curls to give me some feedback & I even offered to pay with free products. But no one responded. (:-(

Is HoneyA the only one willing to share her story? Please say it ain't so...

On another note, I washed my hair for the 1st time today with DE Moisture Retention Poo & then I conditioned w/the DE Super Moisturizing Conditioner. I left it on for about 5 mins with a plastic cap & rinsed. When I got out of the shower I put some of the lotion moisturizer in & a few squirts of the spray. Sorry peeps, I forget the names. Afterwards I scrunched & simply allowed my hair to airdry. It turned out okay considering all of my recent hair drama. Indeed, LESS IS MORE!!!

However, I have this one issue. When I wake up in the morning my curls are completely gone & just spritzing w/the Wave By Design moisturizer doesn't revive the curls. The only way to revive them is to spritz my hair with water.

I'll have to work up the nerve to call Natalie & ask her is spritzing w/water daily a bad thing.

What do you ladies think? Is anyone else waking up with curl-less hair?

Also I'm thinking that I will go with the smaller rods all over next time. The areas where we rolled with the larger rods are the most curl-less.

Overall I'm still enjoying my hair. Still getting compliments & disbelief that this is a curly perm. I'm definitely NOT regretting my decision.

Well, I know I said I was going to limit my pics but I did get some requests to continue so here's some pics of what my hair looks like at this very moment. Sorry I had to photograph myself. Hubby is up but the Lakers game is on...

COLD BUSTED

So...Natalie has been following the blog & when she read what I've been doing to my hair, she was none too happy to say the least. See, I have serious ADD & a bad case of the heavy hands when it comes to product. I just couldn't leave well enough alone & follow the directions of my stylist & divas, "Natalie don't play that!"

So, she was kind enough (between blessing outs) to inform me that the conditioner from yesterday's co-wash was too heavy for my hair so soon & thus the loss of curls. I didn't have the courage to ask if there's anything I could do to revive them. I decided to let the not knowing be my punishment. Hopefully she'll read this one, too & feel sorry for me. Hint, hint!

Well my bad hair behavior can be someone's gain. I have some (once used) CFC Snap Back as well as some CFC Gold Activator free to the first Curl Diva that is willing to answer the questions from today's feature post & submit pictures to me at ckcnakia@gmail.com - DO YOU STILL LOVE ME, NATALIE?

TUESDAY TWIRL

FEATURING: CURL DIVA, HONEYA

I’m so excited to be featuring my very first Curl Diva. HoneyA is a fellow member of LHCF & was very helpful & informative as I made my decision to get a curly perm. In the words of HoneyA…

1. How long have you had your curly perm?
For about 5 years now

2. What's your hair background - was this your first chemical experience?
No, I've been relaxed, transitioned to natural, had a curly perm, relaxed, transitioned to natural, texturized, then transitioned to natural, now I've got a curly perm again and this is what I prefer other than being natural because of the versatility it offers. I can wear it wavy, straight or play with the moisture level for a texlaxed or testurised look.

3. What type of curly perm do you have & what's your routine?
Wave by Design. I wash 1x every week or two with CON moisturising detangling shampoo. Depends on how my hair feels. I DC with heat at every wash with one of my favourite DCs. I use Elasta QP DPR-11, Lustrasilk shea butter with mango, or Hollywood Beauty Olive Cholesterol. It changes but as long as it is moisturising. I also use protein when needed. I moisturise most days with S-Curl, Wave Nouveau or Wave by Design products and seal with castor oil. I also pre-poo with olive oil and that really helps with the detangling process.

4. What's your favorite style?
Either open or in an updo.

5. Since ladies are always complaining about dryness & shedding, how do you deal with these issues?
I don't have issues with dryness because I moisturise quite well. I've recently had a problem with shedding and I did a tea rinse and that helped tremendously. I've also been taking garlic pills and iron pills.

6. Have you noticed any difference in your growth/retention rate?
I only noticed a difference after joining LHCF two years when I started taking care of my hair properly. Now I retain more length. My growth ranges between 1/2" and 3/4" per month.

7. What advice would you give to potential/new curly perm wearers?
Learn your hair and keep things as simple as possible. Having a perm is easy if you don't do too much. The basics are really all you need. Moisturise really well after washing and before your hair dries. Soft-n-Free lotion is good for putting moisture back in after washing. Don't forget the protein!

8. Hair type and Length
4a/ currently past bottom of BSL (pics are from December 2008 and I don't have any recent ones)







FROM LEMONS TO LEMONADE
Yesterday I was truly feeling down about my hair so I decided to experiment a little. I went to the BSS and purchased some CFC Gold Activator as well as some CFC Snap Back. When I got home I did some flat twists to the back, moisturizing each section with the activator. Then I pinned the twists up in the back & saran wrapped my hair for an overnight moisture boost. Well I just took the twists down & had to get some quick pics before my hubby left for work. I haven’t really styled it but so far me likey. This curl seems to be very versatile!

I Hate Mondays...

Well maybe not as much as I used to when I was a member of the working class. But today has not been good to me thus far. First of all it's raining. Then I'm learning some things about my new hair decision that have me down. After a few days of spraying moisturizer on my hair, it gets somewhat sticky & I don't like how it feels. So I decided to co-wash my hair today. Hey it didn't hurt when I wet it the other day & technically I'm using conditioner, not poo. Right...?

WRONG! My hair is a hot mess & I don't want to call Natalie b/c she's going to scream on me for wetting my hair (not once, but twice) before my week was up. But it turned out so pretty when I wet it the first time, I just don't know what happened. It's curl-less. Lifeless. And I don't know what to do.

The only positive is that it is still full & somewhat resembles a braidout caught in the rain. SIGH

So what's the one thing that makes me feel better when I'm down? SHOE SHOPPING!!!

Here are a few things that I've been lusting over online today. Tell me what you think.


BLAHNIK THONG SANDALS


MIU MIU PYTHON PLATFORMS


GUCCI LUCY PLATFORM - DELISH!!!


YVES SAINT LAURENT PLATFORMS


BURBERRY CRISSCROSS ANKLE WRAP SANDAL

Last Hair Pic 4 a Minute, I Promise

No, the purpose of this blog isn't just about my hair. But...I was loving my hair so much today I just had 2 share. I haven't been this pleased with my hair in a very long time.

But before I start talking about my hair, let me say this. Trying to get information from the major manufacturers of curly perms has not been easy. I contacted Soft Sheen Carson (owned by Loreal - makers of Wave Nouveau & Care Free Curl) before I even launched the blog. Well I finally spoke to a live person with their company today & she has promised me that she will be forwarding my request for info on to the proper person. I've also contacted Mizani to find out if they're even still making their curl line. No response. I contacted Avlon about the Ferm line & was pleasantly surprised when the president of the company responded personally. He has promised to get me some information on their line as well. So please know that these things are in the works. (:-)

Now on to my hair. I'm very heavy handed w/products. If my stylist says use a dime size, I use a quarter size. So I got product happy & I didn't like how my hair was feeling. Well my stylist said I should wait 7 days to wash my hair but she didn't say I couldn't wet it, right...? (I sure hope she isn't keeping up with my blog.)

So I decided to try & rinse some of the product off & I wet my hair in the shower. When I got out I applied about a half dollar amount of lotion and a few squirts of the spray moisturizer in my hair & dried my hair about 80% dry w/a diffuser. I also used my metal afro comb to give the roots volume.

As for the pics, the crazy looking one happened b/c my photographer (a.k.a my 12 year old who thinks I've gone mad w/my hair obsession) decided to take the pic while I was still giving him instructions. However, I liked how my hair looked so I just ran with it. Oh, excuse my junky bathroom.

One last thing before I get out of here. Can the ladies that are reading this & plan to continue following please do me a small favor or two? Number 1, can you please subscribe? And number 2, can you please e-mail me at ckcnakia@gmail.com with topics that you would like to see discussed on here? I really want to get a good idea of what the interest is so that I can provide the best blog possible.

Have a wonderful weekend!

My First 24 Hours

So, of course I'm not going to just blog about my hair everyday but I'll be honest I'm still gathering info to pass on to all of my curl divas out there. Be patient with me. I cannot begin to tell you how many compliments I've gotten on my hair - online as well as in real life. I just left my son's school & I bumped into one of the natural parents that I know. She, too, is having relationship issues with her hair & had twists in with the idea of just locing her hair. Now she's seriously considering going to my stylist & getting a curl.

Then the nice lady that is over the After School Program is trying to figure out how she can grow her relaxer out to get one. I think that most people are simply surprised that this isn't the jheri curl from back in the day.

I cannot begin to express how much I'm loving my hair. Last night I sprayed some product on, put on a bonnet & went to bed. This morning it was flat & mashed b/c that's alot of hair to get in one bonnet so I sprayed some more product, scrunched & went on my way. I am very heavy handed with product so I'm probably using way more than I have to. Midday I sprayed more product & put a little bit of the dry lotion in & scrunched some more. I used my metal afro comb on the roots to give it more volume.

So...even though I've sprayed my hair about 3 times today as well as applied a little moisture lotion, my hair is not greasy. It's not sticky & it's soft. I have naturally dry hair so I think it's just drinking up the moisture.

Routine wise I'm going to K.I.S.S. (keep it simple sisters). I'll moisturize daily, of course & poo/DC weekly. When I finally get my lazy but back in the gym, I will co-wash once between poos.

Here's a few pics of my 2nd day hair. Cya...

The New Me!!!!! - Repost (getting pics back up)

Hi ladies. I'll try to be brief but it seemed that it just wasn't meant for me to get a curl today. My stylist, Natalie, had an emergency late last night & asked to reschedule my appointment from 10:00 to 11:00. Then she woke up late & we had to move it to 12:00. I ended up getting to the salon at 12:30 - only to have the power go out on the entire street for about half an hour. I was so afraid that I wasn't going to be able to get it done today. But here it is:

Here's what my natural hair looked like when I walked in the door:





After a consultation, we decided to use rods that were the size or near the size of my natural curls. Natalie explained that the flexi rods were better than perm rods for a more natural look mainly because she could spiral the hair down the length of the rod to elongate & also she could get closer to the scalp w/the flexi rods:


Natalie did a light shampoo first to remove any product from my hair. Then the first step was to apply the rearranger. This straightened my hair & when she washed it out, it looked like I had just had a fresh relaxer, just not bone straight:


After she washed out the rearranger, she began to rod my hair, applying the booster to each section as she rolled to make sure none of my hair was overprocessed. As you can see, Natalie decided to use a larger rod for the front/middle so that the curls would hang a little longer. Also Natalie alternated the direction of each curl - she said this would also give it a more natural appearance:





Because the back was rodded first, she rinsed that part first & then I had to sit for a few minutes before she rinsed the front. After she rinsed the booster, she then applied neutralizer (not like shampoo - with a curly perm, it is my understanding that the neutralizer somewhat locks the curl in place & strengthens the hair) to the rodded hair. After the neutralizer was on for five minutes she rinsed my hair & then removed the rods. Sorry we didn't take a picture of exactly what it looked like before she shampooed it for the 1st time. It basically looked like a straw set.

After she lightly pooed & conditioned my hair, I will admit, I was terrified. In my opinion it had that dreaded jheri curl look that I didn't want. But I didn't say anything because I knew she wasn't finished. I just held my breath & tried to hide what I was feeling - yeah, Natalie now you know. :-)





So she blowdried me a little - about 50% dry & left it to airdry. When I left the salon I had to take my mother-in-law to run some errands & I'm just now getting home. Here are the pics of what it looks like now & OMG I love it so. This looks so much like my KCCC (Kinky Curly Curling Custard) do that it is amazing. Hubby doesn't know I got a curl today so I asked him what he thought about my hair. LOL - he began fussing that my hair looked exactly the same as when I walked out of the house & why was I paying someone to do to my hair what I could do myself. That was the ultimate compliment. I won't front - there is a smell because when I got close to him, he said, "What is that smell - smells like something is burning." Oh well, can't win them all.

I LOVE MY HAIR. I LOVE MY STYLIST, NATALIE!!!!!!!









So I only expect it to get better as it ages. Per Natalie's recommendation, I will be using Design Essentials maintenance products exclusively. I will definitely review the products at a later date & let you all know how it's coming along. So let's hear it ladies. What do you think?

Some History

Ever wondered exactly where the curly perm as we know it came from? Well, I did & decided to do some research. And of course the information was very limited. It seems that the "jheri" curl had controversial beginnings. Some credit Jheri Rhedding as the father of the Jheri Curl but others give credit to an African American man by the name of Willie Morrow. His creation was called the California Curl. Here's an interesting video clip I found on Willie Morrow. Brings back bittersweet memories of the show "Oh Drama."

Disclaimer: the views of this video are not necessarily the views of this blogger.

Not So Brief Intro

Though I consider myself pretty internet savvy, it never occurred to me, until now, to start my own blog. I'll be honest - the idea of starting a blog came before the idea of what my blog would be about. While I was on vacation recently, a magazine I was reading advised that bloggers should blog about things that they're truly interested in, passionate about even. Seems easy enough, right? Well, not for me. I'm interested in, lets see... weddings, event planning, shoes, hair & home design just to name a few.

Out of these, I find myself talking about hair the most. I laugh to myself because I can just imagine how my hubby would be rolling his eyes if he was reading this. He thinks my hair obsession is way out of control. Maybe he's right. Maybe I missed my calling. Growing up I was what some called a "kitchen-tician" & what my cousin referred to as a "Trudy." I think my last "kitchen-tician" gig was doing my cousin's hair for her wedding back in 2000/2001. In case you're curious, I did a full weave (can't front, they were glued in tracks - I never learned how to do sew-ins), cut & beautiful curls. She loved it & so did her husband.

Anyhoo, on to the point of this all. Even though I've always been into hair, I never really knew much about healthy hair until the last 8-10 years or so. My hair was always really thick (maybe I'll post somewhat of a pictorial timeline later) & I was able to camouflage all of the damage I was doing to it. From hot curling every day with spritz to using Sun-In to lighten my hair to wearing a bleached blonde natural to the weaves & braids, I've prettymuch done everything that you can do to your hair. EXCEPT get a curly perm. No I was probably one of the only females in my family that did not have a curl back in the day. Even my stepdad had one. My mother's hair grew really long. Heck, my stepdad's hair grew really long, too.

So the curl was replaced with the high top fade & seemingly it went out of style. So maybe you're visiting my blog today, not because you have a curly perm, not because you're interested in ever having one but simply because you want to know why I would want to get one in this day & age. Currently I'm natural. I received my last relaxer May 2006. I went natural because I thought that would help me grow really long hair. Boy, was I wrong. I chopped off my relaxed ends August 2007. So basically I've been completely natural a little over a year & a half. Wish I could tell you it's been blissful but if that was the case there would be no need for this blog.

At first I was intrigued with my natural hair & then it seemed the longer it got, the more it turned on me. Let me pause right now & get this off of my chest. Please don't come on my blog preaching to me about loving myself, loving the hair that God gave me, self-hate, the slavemaster, wonk-wonk-wonk-wonk. I don't have any problems with loving me - as a matter of fact, I get along quite well with me. I respect all hair decisions & all I ask is for the same respect. It is my sincerest belief that a curly perm is as legitimate a hair decision as a relaxer or being natural, even. You're entitled to feel like my self-perception is warped. Hey it won't be the first nor the last time that someone feels this way. However, I didn't start this blog to debate with anyone about what I've chosen to do with MY hair. Now where was I? Yeah, me & the natural hair. To be blunt & brief, hated it! But at least I figured out why - I have at least 3 different textures residing on my one head & each one has a mind of its own. Also, it was so hard to get the proper moisture balance to the kinkiest of these textures. So I'd be walking around with moist curls in some spots & dry, tight afro in others.

I contemplated going back to relaxers but decided I just didn't want to do that again & I began to have my natural hair washed/silked (a.k.a. flatironed) every other week. I can admit I love my hair when it's freshly silked. However, it's like a covert operation to shower or wash my face without a hint of moisture getting to my edges, hair in general. The minute my edges smell water, it's over. Then it wasn't just the water avoidance. What about working out? I could stand to lose at least 20 pounds but who the heck wants to sweat their hair out? And no I'm not making excuses for not going to the gym, I'm just being real.

So after some soul searching & internet researching & lengthy talks with my stylist I concluded two things: Number 1, I want wash and go hair (but not my hair in it's natural state) & number 2, my best answer would be a curly perm. I've decided to blog about all things curly perm: the history, the major companies out there that produce them, maintenance, styles, products & anything else I can come up with. I would love to highlight ladies out there who have curls & would like to share their stories. I won't lie - I have a tendancy to go overboard with alot of things. Well this is no different. Just like people have afro tees & are proud of their natural hair, I envision a community of ladies with curls who are proud! Hair technology has advanced & having a curl no longer means walking around with a dripping, greasy hair do.

I have an appointment to get my very first curly perm on Wednesday. I'm excited, as well as nervous. I will post pics of my new hair as soon as I get home.

So without further ado, I give you the CKC - Curly Kit Chronicles.