Hi all. Yes I am still alive!

Hey guys, it has been MONTHS! yes I know months since my last post, the reason being I was finishing up at school : ). I think I did pretty good this semester but not as great as I would like, but such is life ;). So! Time for some updates!

~~Hair~~
Well  it is now about 6 months since I started my locks and I have an average of 2 inches length now. that is of all natural hair. i think i have a few curled ends lurking about the place but they are few and far between so I am not too bothered.

I recently took the micro braids off and gave my hair a good washing. It was nice to have only my hair on my head, but I am sticking to my promise to myself for now and waiting a full year before I wear them. Here are some pics of my lil twiggies!

Before I took the braids completely off I did a little experiment. I opened the braids up until the point where the plait began and just let them fly loose. I know this is no masterful invention but i really liked it, though I am glad I only had to deal with de-tangling it for a week lol! Here are some styles I concocted while rocking that look.

Now I have my hair back in micro braids, though to be honest I don't think they look as good as the last set.
Well that's all i can think about for hair.... so onto other updates.

~~Fashion~~
So now that I have completed my Fashion Design course I want to add a section to my blog that will kinda show case some of the stuff I make as I make it : 3 So there will be more updates coming of that, but as a sneak peek here are some bags I made!

~Weight loss~

During exam time I did put on some weight, and aside from that i have been saying i want to loose some weight for a LONG time. So I figured, the time is now. So this is something i want to add to my blog as well and as time goes along I will show you my progress.

~~Miscellaneous Updated~~

I have gotten a flute from a friend and I've started teaching myself to play, some people think i can't self teach myself to play, but we will all see. lol you never know, I may end up playing for the Queen! LOL 

Well other than that i can't really think of much else to talk about in this post, so I hope you enjoyed reading my random nonsense and I hope in the future it would be more interesting for you :P

~~ BYE ;)

My Sugar Scrub

It is about a week since I braided my hair. I have not had much itching other than when I tie it down (and my scalp can’t breathe.) But all in all everything is going well :). Today I decided to try a sugar scrub so I thought it would be great to share it with you ;).

What I used

About 10 drops of eucalyptus oil, and peppermint oil.

About a table spoon of brown sugar and about two table spoons of conditioner...

The reason I say 'about is because I am not a stickler for measurements, I found a little measuring cup thing and I used that as my guide :).So I basically dumped everything into a small bowl and mixed it all together.

To prepare my hair, I divided it into four big chunks, two at the top and two at the back and put hair bands on the braids so they won’t get in my way. 

Then I took some of my mixture up in my finger tips and massaged it into my scalp. I then used an old toothbrush to gently scrub my scalp, believe you me, it felt GOOOOOOD!!!!!

I let it stay in for about 20 minutes (I didn’t put on a shower cap, but I guess you could) while I did some cleaning and then got in the shower and rinsed just the roots first with an old soap liquid bottle. When I was satisfied that I had gotten the majority of the scrub out, I then took down the sections and rinsed it thoroughly. I did it this way because I didn’t want all the conditioner to get into the braids at first, and I still rinsed everything to be sure I got all out, the last thing I want it gunky build up in my locs...

To finish up, after it had dried abit, I spritsed the roots with a mixture of water, vitamin E oil, almond oil and eucalyptus oil, and sprayed the braids with olive oil sheen spray.

My scalp feels nice now ^_^ I hope you try it, if u do let me know ; D!

~Krissy Jay~


{Update! It has been three days since I did this scrub and the itching really has diminished!!!}

Braids and clipped ends

After washing and re-latching my hair I decided to braid it so my locs could be left undisturbed to mat happily :). This also gave me the opportunity to try some looks I have never had the chance to do before. For one I put in a reddish brown colour I never had used on my head before and I also got to experiment with some styles my natural hair had never reached the length for me to do.

Adding braids after re-latching. I put two or more locs to a braid so there wouldn't be too much stress on the roots.

My Updo

This style was inspired by JRenneaC , if you click her name you will see the video I watched. It is basically the same style but i just added some basket weaving at the back ;).

The last thing I want to show you in this entry is my curled ends. After i was finished braiding the locs the curled ends were sticking out so I snipped those suckers off!!!

May they rest in peace *solemn face* : P

~Krissy Jay~

Hot oil treatment numero uno!!!

Well as I said before my scalp is very sensitive, and the chemicals from perming had began to really irritate it, making it very itchy and dry. I had heard about hot oil treatments in passing for years, but I had never tried one, so I did me some research on essential oils and hot oil treatments and came up with a recipe just for me.

What I used:

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp of almond oil

1 tbsp of vitamin E oil

20 drops of eucalyptus oil

15 drops of peppermint oil

I mixed them together in a jar, and then poured the moisture into a plastic bag, which I then submerged in hot water until it was nice and warm. I then poured the mixture over my scalp and hair massaging it into my roots (the thing is my hair is so short, roots = entire hair shaft anyway! : \ )

I then donned a plastic bag (since I haven’t gotten plastic bath caps yet) and sat under a warm dryer for about 25 minutes. I then allowed my head to cool for about 5 minutes, then washed it out with warm water and then shampooed and conditioned as usual.

Results

*You can still see some curled ends... I'll get rid of those soon ; )

My scalp itches much less and my hair feels soft and moisturised!! I’d recommend this for anyone with an itchy scalp, it really helped me

Why I Used What I Used

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

When it comes to carrier oils, you can’t get much better than EVOO. I choose to use this because it is famous for its moisturising qualities and I figured any itchy scalp couldn’t help but yearn for such a rich hydrating oil.

Almond Oil

This oil in not only good for the scalp, but has been said to nourish the hair shaft by smoothing the hair cuticle, which by extension strengthens and thickens the hair and controls hair fall. It also adds that nice shine we all aspire to have ;).

Vitamin E Oil

This is yet another carrier oil that is famous for strengthening and thickening the hair shaft, so I thought ‘hey why not throw it in there!’

Eucalyptus Oil

Eucalyptus Oil has been proven to help with dandruff and dry scalp, so I figured this oil was perfect for me! It is also said to stimulate hair growth and blood circulation in the scalp.

Peppermint Oil

We all love the tingly feeling and fresh scent of peppermint, but apart from that this oil is also great for encouraging hair growth, because it promoted blood circulation in the scalp.

Okie dokie, well this in my mouth full on my first hot oil treatment since the big cut. If you try you let me know how it turns out for you!!!

The first few weeks

As soon as I was finished installing my locs I had a friend braid them for me, not as extensions, just ordinary braids. I wanted some length because I was heading to NY for Christmas and since I had just cut my hair, I didn’t want to shock my scalp with the cold air.

I know I said I wanted ‘some length’ buuuuttt I maybe got a little carried away and went all out...

BAM butt length braids FTW!!!

This was the first time I ever had braids this long. LOL! It was fun! I got to whip my hair back and forth and all lol.

But all good thing must come to an end. The thing about long braids is that they touch everything, and the thought of that alone made me feel they were dirty. ( Lol paranoid I kno!)When I got back home, I lugged in the suite cases and headed straight for the scissors!! Them there braids had to be coming off!!! I like to wash my hair often and I hadn't in over two weeks. So, off with the braids!

Why I decided to go back natural.

Well in my last post it sounded like it was all sunshine and peaches with the curls. The truth is, though I did in fact love them, my scalp really could not handle the process to get them. I have extremely sensitive skin and by extension a very sensitive scalp, so whenever I got the curl done over it was like torture. The last few times I got it done, I was literally shaking in the hairdresser’s chair. I began to dread salon visits and this along with other things pushed me to go back natural.

This big chop meant something else though. This time I would be getting locs for sure. I had wanted them for years, but two things in particular were stopping me from getting them. For one, the cost of sister locs and also my mother still didn’t quite approve. Now don’t go thinking I just rebelled and did what I felt like, she eventually relented this time and said it was my choice, but I would have to fund it. So off I went to my trusty laptop, and did my research. There I found several instructional videos on youtube for the interlocked method and there is no word that could describe my excitement.

Within a matter of weeks I was installing my microlocs! I initially installed them under my curled hair, but the curl activator made them walk out so I said to myself, ‘if I am going to do this, let me commit fully,’ and so, the curls fell to the bathroom floor!

Introduction

I finally did it! I have started the locs I always wanted. Before I start documenting them let me tell you a bit of my story. As a kid I had natural hair up until age eleven.

Here I am rocking a fro as a baby!

Here I am at the service after my baptism. (Wish I had that length now!! Lol)

I remember I used to get it hot combed and obsess about how I could comb it with the small side of the comb lol! I would also watch those Pantine Pro V adds and wish I had hair like that, oh how naieve I was!

Good times. But yea, back to when I got it straightened, I was graduating from primary school, so off I went to the hair dresser to get it all ‘did up’ for Graduation... Sadly that ‘wonderful’ lady not only burned my scalp but she also over processed my hair, so I spent the next three years, trimming off damaged ends, but at least I had a good hairdresser this time, that actually nursed my hair back to health.

Then came my first big chop. I was three years into straightening, and I just began to hate it. It burned too much every time, my hair was not big the way I liked it and it seemed to be thinning to me (though it may not have been) so I waited until I had about two inches of growth and got my sister to chop it off! I can’t even describe the reaction of my classmates when I went to school the next day LOL! That was epic! 

So I started wearing my twiggles from then, I’d just take the hair in between my fingers and twiggle it like comb twists ;). This is when I discovered Loc and Twist gel, I love it up till this date.

As it grew I graduated from twiggles to twists to plaits and then to cornrows. 

It was fun while it lasted, but the truth was that after it got long, I couldn’t manage it on my own anymore, so I had to make a decision. I wanted to start locs but my parents were against it and I didn’t want to straighten again so I turned to curls. And so  the curled chapter of my hair story began.

So yea, three years of natural bliss finally ended in a perm. I loved them though, after they started to fill out I was in love, I had the big hair I liked, but I still had the ‘ease of non-natural hair’. So I had a ball! The curls really worked with my face. 

I experimented with all sorts of styles with an assortment of hair ornaments. The only things I didn’t get to try were highlights and cuts. In a way I regret that, but I truly enjoyed my curled hair.This chapter lasted just over two years and brings us to the present.

So now you know my hair history :P let’s get this show on the road!!!