Progress

I watched what felt like a million YouTube videos and finally learned how to do two-strand twists. My cornrow game has been on point for a while (I used to hook friends up in undergrad for the low low price of $10 a head), but I was totally new to the two-strand twists. When I rocked my cute little style the other day, proud of it as I was, my two-strand twists were...fuzzy at best and indistinguishable if I want to be really real with myself. Ha ha ha. But, as I stated before, I was quite proud of my experimental style (which I got from a tutorial on YouTube), and I rocked it without a second thought. Can't tell me nothin'. The people that told me it was so cute have no idea what kind of monster they were dealing with. I was feeling myself all day with that hairstyle, and now that I can actually do the twists so that they look good?! Watch out now!

I'm still learning and growing (and hopefully my hair is too) and I am currently excited to be experimenting again. I used the Tea Tree Tingling Conditioner from Trader Joe's night before last, and it worked wonderfully on my hair. My scalp was still tingling long after my shower was over, and it provided enough slip for me to detangle without snagging or hurting my hair at all. I'm still learning to be much more gentle with my curls. Raking away at them is so wrong when they haven't even done any harm to me! Anyhow, that conditioner kept my hair soft the whole time I was twisting and rolling (see above photo for results), and it made my hair smell like peppermint! Two thumbs up.

I got lazy last night and just rinsed my hair a bit and sprayed my leave-in on (my leave-in for now is diluted Suave Tropical Coconut Conditioner--I love the smell) then I moisturized with Elasta QP Mango Butter and sealed with my jojoba oil. I was delighted to find jojoba oil at Trader Joe's, by the way. Back on topic, I put my hair in two plaits, because my roots are thick and my permed ends are super stringy and thin. I wrapped that up in my satin scarf and read a couple chapters before heading to bed. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, that pic on the right is what that hard work got me this morning. I love it!

I'm working on doing a better job of protecting my edges since I am the queen of ponytails and buns, and I know that's a lot of stress on my hairline. I spritzed leave-in conditioner, added more mango butter and sealed up with jojoba oil before finger-combing it up into that braid out ponytail. The result made me smile.

That regimen has been keeping my egdes touchably soft so far, but I'm still having some difficulty quenching the thirst of the curls at my crown and in my middle. I went to GNC today and got some organic coconut oil. I've been daydreaming about using it the entire time I've been at work. We'll see what kind of magic it works when I get off. I've got an idea for a protective style I want to try tonight.