Liquid Keratin is a NO GO

I'm going to start by saying that I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that kinky-coily hair is THE MOST FRAGILE HAIR ON THE FACE OF THE UNIVERSE!!!
It may look so tough and strong like a brillo pad but it is as weak and fragile as a spiders web.

I flat-ironed my hair last weekend as planned and used the liquid keratin because I thought adding it would protect my hair from the heat. I think it did the opposite.
Don't know exactly what went wrong but I'm sure it was a combination of all the products that I used that did my hair in, Heat Damage like no other.

I mixed the liquid keratin with another product--maybe I shouldn't have done that. I used another product to blow-dry my hair out--maybe I shouldn't have done that. I used the old school flat iron, the kind that's made out of steel and you have to put into a hot stov--maybe I shouldn't have done that either.

There's definitely a lot of variables in this equation as you can tell, so I guess I can't exactly blame the liquid keratin entirely. I think I'm going to leave the job of flat-ironing my hair to the pros for a while, get the secret ingredients from them, then start doing it myself.

Thank God I know about moisture, moisture, moistured. That's all I've been giving my hair since I washed it out. I spray my concoction of aloe vera gel, safflower oil, water, and magnesium oil on it every night and tie a plastic bag or shower cap on it then tie a scarf on top of that. I think this method actually has an official name called "baggying" or something, I call it deep conditioning for 8hrs. And my hair loves it because it gets Moisture, Moisture, Moisture, which is essential for my kinky-coily!

Transitioning

Its been 5months since I've posted anything on here...who knew transitioning from college to the 'real world' would be so challenging. Graduating in one of the toughest economic times this country has ever seen has definitely taken its toll on me...Ain't even gon' lie..is been rough.

The motivation and means for anything that had to do with my hair pretty much went out the window and only now am I starting to slowly crawl back into the habit of my hair obsession. Its still gloriously nappy but not styled with any products or in any particular way. I pretty much braid it corn-row style or something close to that and ignore it for however many weeks until it starts looking un-kempt.

Its been a year since I've flat-ironed it so I am going to straighten it next week to see just how much its grown.

P.S. jus cuz i ain't bought much products for my hair in the past 5mths don't mean i wasnt makin a list...got a list as long as my arm...LOL....My 'can't hardly wait to purchase' product is Jojoba gel...heard it was just as effective as my all time fave Kinky Curly Curling Custard and a fraction of the price!!!

Trust that I will keep you updated on that...but first, I must straighten this hair out of curiousity and another product that I want to experiment with....Liquid Protein......Stay Tuned.

Coco Swiss: A Reason Why Shaving My Head Wouldn't Be So Bad After All

She went from rocking a mighty afro to a close crop and here's her reason:

Cutting My Good Hair
The reason I decided to cut my big natural hair is because after I seen Chris Rocks movie Good Hair, I realized how far black women are really willing to go to get what society and main stream media has dubbed as Good Hair. Hair should be used as an accessory, to enhance who you are not to define who we are. I want to make a loud bold statement to my African American women and say its time we redefine what beauty is. If I have a big beautiful head of coily curls or a short bald head, I'm still a queen. We spend ridiculous amounts of money and time on something that's not going to help our kids, there future or our culture. Why are we doing this, so that others will be comfortable around us and to fit into what is considered normal? All of our hair is Good Hair. We have to most unique hair on the face or this earth. Learn it and embrace it and others will have to do the same. I AM NOT MY HAIR!
Please email comments and pictures of your Good Hair to:
Coco Swiss
Goodhairproject@gmail.com
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

The point: Whether you're rocking a fro or sporting a close crop, Natural hair is beautiful hair. Say It Loud and Wear It Proud!!!!

Esperanza Spalding: Natural Hair Inspiration

She drew me in with her divalicious afro and captured me with her voice. So I was just walking down the ailes of my local library a couple days ago, waiting to use a computer, when the cover CD of an afrolicious beauty caught my eye, the name - Esperanza.

Of course I immediately picked it up if only to look through the CD booklet to see more pictures of almighty afro, very impressive, but what was even more impressive was her music. It's basically a fusion of latin and jazz which I have never listened to before, at least not on purpose.

Esperanza is definitely an inspiration to me now and should be for the whole natural hair community and I'm pretty much in love with her music. It took me a second to fall for the music, but I did, hard.

My Recipe is Making Me Angry

I know I'm unto something. I just have to find the right balance. Haven't found it yet and its making me angry.
I woke up this morning and felt like shaving all my hair off my head. Ever felt like that? Maybe by lunch time I'll look into the mirror and that feeling will go away.
Just had to vent.

Coily Coils...Oh How I Have Missed Thee!

So, I've been rocking my hair in dry styles for a while now and I really missed seeing my coily coils at their best, when they're wet and coated in good ol' Kinky Curly Curling Custard. The coils pop like nothing else and remind me of my wash and go days when I first started my natural hair journey (December 2007). Can't believe it'll be two years this December! Time flies when you're forever experimenting, and experiencing different things.

They look so cute. I've missed them. Of course, they always look better up than down but I'll take what I can get.

Magnesium Chloride Oil.....Experimentation Still In Progress

I have found yet another all natural product that I will be singing its praises once I find out how to use it properly. My mother actually introduced me to this product because of its plethora of health benefits for the skin. It makes it glow, soft and supple. Also, if you have any aches you can rub some on the area and it relieves it.

Anyhoo, knowing me and my curious butt I decided to go online and do a little digging to see what Magnesium Chloride can do for my HAIR (who cares about the skin...lol). Lo and behold, a whole heckofalot. The biggest thing that I actually saw was that it reverses grey hair back to its natural color, after repeated use, of course.

And it's true, it does revert it back because at the tender age of 22, I had a couple of grey hairs on the sides of my hair. When I say a couple I literally mean a couple. I had 1 grey hair on each side of my hair. I know it weird but I'm not surprised because pre-mature grey hair runs in my family.
Plus I'm pretty much weird by nature so I just chalked it up to yet another one of my weirdness.

I noticed three really ginormous benefits from using Magnesium Chloride Oil. One is that it Enlongates, Holds, and Softens.


On enlongation, I usually hate styling my hair right after I wash it because it shrinks like no mans business. If you looked at my hair right when I get out the shower without combing or brushing it out all you'd see was a bunch of tiny coils that looked like an inch long at most. Which is a big lie because my hair is growing like a weed and is somewhere around chin length if I were to pull it out.

When I spray Magnesium Chloride Oil on it and brush it out the length of my hair is quickly restored and you can see the definition a lot more. I always mix conditioner with anything that has to do with my hair when I first step out of the shower so I am sure that this also helps a lot to elongate it.

The second biggest benefit I noticed while using Magnesium Chloride Oil in my hair is that any style I do has definition, holds and stays in place. I understand how this works to a certain extent because the mixture is nothing but salt and water. And I've experimented with sea salt (but dries out the hair like nothing else) enough in the past to know that it does give hair a lot of hold and definition, of course, water definitely gives my hair a lot of hold but no definition.

The third biggest thing I noticed is that it softens my hair a whole heckofalot. Like I already mentioned, I usually mix conditioner with the Magnesium Chloride Oil so I'm sure the combination of both help to make my hair uber soft. I mostly notice the softness when I first put it on my hair and when I'm washing my hair out.
My hair feels ridiculously silky and soft when I'm washing it out and that's before I do the co-wash. So, I don't have any problems with tangles or any of that mess.

Ok. I just named the top three benefits now here comes the down side. There's only one huge downside to Magnesium Chloride Oil for my hair and its the salt residue that it leaves behind once my hair is dry (I usually notice it the next day). Pure Craziness. Granted, I tend to be heavy handed when it comes to products and rightly so because my hair is too thick for just a couple of sprays.

Anyway, I tried to combat the residue with my trusty Butter Ghee but it doesn't get rid of it all. What I did stumble on yesterday was my left-over bottle of Khoret Amen Leave-in Conditioner from Carol's Daughter. I wanted to put in some rods for spiral curls so I noticed that I still had the Leave-in conditioner (just sitting there feeling lonely and abandoned from my neglect) and I sprayed it on my hair and rolled the rods on it. I took out the rods this morning and to my pleasant surprise the residue was gone. So, you can bet that I'm gona try this mixture again on my entire head and see if it was just a fluke or if it really works.

Another downside of Magnesium Chloride Oil is that if you use too much (like I tend to do with everything that has to do with my hair) your hair gets too oily especially if you mix it with another oil.

My experimentation with Magnesium Chloride Oil is definitely still in progress and won't be fully added unto my trusty list of products until I can get rid of the salt residue it leaves behind on my hair when its dried. Overall, I am a fan because Magnesium Chloride Oil makes my hair styles last longer than one day! I am a fan of any natural product that does this and more.