Haircut Gone ALL THE WAY WRONG

Hey ladies and gents (if you're into this kind of stuff)! So I know I told you all that I got the rest of my relaxed ends cut off back in February and thus started my natural hair journey...but that dreadful day started another journey that I was NOT anticipating.

Here goes the story:

I was looking up natural hair salons in Memphis because I really wanted to try one out. Plus, I figured that a natural hair stylist would be able to properly cut my hair and distinguish natural from relaxed hair. I came across this salon called, A Natural Affair(Hate to put them on blast but it's only fair). I looked them up, heard from a friend of mine that they were cool so I decided to go with them.

I booked my appointment online and their website was absolutely legit! It was nice and pretty, lol, so I was sold! I opted to go with the "curly cut" service they offer which is 35 bucks. All that service entails is them cutting your hair while it's wet basically. They shampoo and condition it, then cut it, and then you're done.

Anywho, a couple of days later I made my way to the salon which was nice. The ladies seemed cheerful so I really liked the environment. The stylist who serviced me was not the owner, but I figured she knew what she was doing because I heard the owner was really good at what she did and I trusted her judgement.

I was wronger than Alicia Keys was when she decided she just gon' keep on singing regardless.

As I was sitting in the chair, watching my hair hit the floor, I felt like it was a bit too much but I thought I was just having "hair cut jitters". Then I thought about it, I was seeing A LOT of curls hit the floor but I only wanted my relaxed ends cut off (which was about an inch in certain places on my head).

Anyway, I decided I wasn't going to worry about it. Like I said, I blew it off as if I was tripping and just decided to chill. She finished cutting my hair, threw me under the dryer, and sent me about my way. Before I paid my money, I noticed my hair was unusually shorter but I thought it was shrinkage.

I was wronger than Mitt Romney is...for just even trying.

I usually wear my hair big so I never need to blow dry it or anything. For a month I wore braid outs and up-dos. It wasn't until March that I decided to do a blow out and OH MY GOODNESS...I was appalled!

Y'all my hair was EXTREMELY choppy on one side! The top of my hair was extra uneven, one side appeared thicker than the other because she didn't cut symmetrically...SHE STRAIGHT UP EDWARD SCISSORHANDED MY HEAD Y'ALL!

I was sad and depressed (not really), but I was upset because I took all that time and good care of my hair only to have my mini big chop experience ruined. I called the owner of the shop the next day to let her know and she was very nice about the situation. She told me to come in the next morning and she would try to fix it for free. I was like...cool!

So I got there the next morning, and she saw my head and agreed that I was doomed. She did what she could to fix it but ultimately it wouldn't be all the way right unless I cut off a good 4-5 inches of my hair...

I definitely wasn't trying to do that.

I decided I would just play the waiting game and allow the choppy parts of my hair to catch up to the rest. It's been 7 months since then and my hair has grown but it's still very uneven...

Peep the pic:



Yep...that's the tragedy that's happening on the left side of my head. The right side doesn't look like that.

I bet you want to know how I plan to deal...right?

Well today, after I got my trim, I decided I'm not going to let the longest part of my hair get any longer than it is until the ruined part catches up. I'll get trims every 6-8 weeks (I usually wait 4 months if I can) just to get things as even as possible as my hair grows.

Also I WILL NOT be straightening my hair. I rarely do it anyway but because I hate how choppy it is, I don't like how it looks. It actually isn't so bad when I wear it in it's natural state or a heat free style.

Here's a wash n go from last week:



So as you can see it's not AS obvious. You can still see that something is fishy, but it's not so bad. So...yeah!

My conclusion: DO NOT LET JUST ANYBODY CUT YOUR HAIR! Even if they claim to be natural hair specialists DO NOT BELIEVE THE HYPE! Oh, I didn't get my money back...which I SHOULD HAVE! I guess the owner assumed her "fixing" but not fixing my jacked up hair was enough compensation...NO MA'AM. She was nice though, and if Jesus Christ (and ONLY JESUS) advised me to go back I would ask Him can I at least sit in her chair.

In the mean time, I'll keep you all posted on my hair growth! :-)

Tell me about a bad salon experience you've had!

Hair Moments: Wedding Edition

This past weekend my lovely line sister got married!!! Shout out to my Ace :-) Although she's clearly the star of the picture...I had to briefly tell you guys about my hair here. It started out like this:




This was one of those days I let it do whatever. This WAS a braid out, but it got ruined by the humidity. All I did was put 2 twists in the front and VOILA...it became a hairstyle!

That's the beauty of natural hair...when one style goes wrong, it can quickly turn into another. Just be sure to keep bobby pins and ponytail holders in your purse AT ALL TIMES.

What's your emergency hair style?

Real Talk: The Super Natural Natural

Transitioning from relaxed hair to natural hair is a lot of fun. It's exciting, something new, brings about some interesting experiences, and over all it becomes a newly met goal! We all know how good it feels when you accomplish something you set out to do...FREAKIN' AWESOME!

HOWEVER...some women kill me when they act like their whole life has changed. I mean they go from lookin' like this:



To THIS:



And I'm talkin' bout baby and all!

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not in any way downing African women or trying to make fun of them...that's the motherland and I have nothing BUT respect for the culture there.

I'm talking about these African American women who ain't never seen a MAP OF AFRICA walking around with dashikis on when last year, before their big chop, they were braggin' on their BeBe logo tees!

They KILL ME!

Then when you ask em why they went natural they hit you with "I was just tired of trying to conform to the white man's world....I needed to feel confident with the strands God gave me...those of sheep's wool"...and so on and so forth. It's like GIVE ME A EXTRA LONG BREAK!

I mean, for some people that may be true...but girl explain your African flag dress and ear rings shaped like the continent! These women have stopped combing their hair and everything...talking bout "see, the comb is a tool of the man..." GIRL if you don't slick that "hurr" back!!

It's like...just because you decided to stop getting relaxers, doesn't mean you instantly transform into a full blooded African. You're still African American and you still grew up down the street! I can imagine that this is insulting to those who were born and raised in Africa. There's so much more to them than natural hair and intricate clothing.

Personally, I considered going natural because I just wanted to see what my true hair texture was. Not because I was tired of relaxing my hair to look "white"...as thick as my hair is...looking white was NEVER an option. I was getting relaxers because I loved my straight hair in high school and majority of college.

It wasn't until I realized I loved to wear my hair big and that natural hair would be better for big hair styles that I was like, okay...let me see what natural talkin' bout. It turned out that I LOVED it! I said to myself that if I didn't like it, I would just go back to relaxers. Luckily, it all worked out for me!

Now, I get the whole "I feel more confident now that I'm natural" thing...it is a BOLD statement. Regardless of how many women decide to go natural, it will always be daring thing to do, because it's still not the norm.

But PLEASE, pretty freakin' please, don't start makin shea butter sandwiches and jamaican black castor oil shakes and trade all your clothes for kente' cloths 'cause you've determined you've got a 4A curl pattern growing out of your scalp...'cause I assure you that AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT. I talked to Sweet Brown the other day and she definitely signed off on that! :-)

Again...I don't mean any disrespect! Just stating my lil ole opinion. African culture is BEAUTIFUL but please, if you didn't grow up over there or NONE of your family is from there...just stop frontin'. Keep calm and do a braid out!

What are your thoughts on the Super Natural Natural? DO TELL!

Product Rave: Organic Roots Stimulator Hair Masque

This week's product rave is all about the ORS Olive Oil Hair Masque: Intense Treatment for Heat and Color Damaged Hair!
I got my hair recolored a couple of weeks ago and after the first shampoo, I was experiencing awful dryness! My hair was frizzy, the braid out I attempted to do on it wasn't defined and it felt like straw...ugh!
I did a hot oil treatmeant with coconut and olive oils, shampooed with a sulfate free shampoo, deep conditioned, and all of that; still my hair was dry and it saddened me!
Needless to say, I went on the hunt for an intense deep conditioner and came across this product. I've always been a fan of the ORS line and they usually never let me down. So when I saw the product in the beauty supply store, I just decided to go ahead and buy it...
This hair masque CHANGED MY WHOLE LIFE!!!
I pre-poo'd with coconut oil and decided to shampoo my hair with Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree Special Shampoo. That particular shampoo has sulfates in it, but my hair had A LOT of product in it and I love how clean my hair and scalp feels when I use it!
After I shampooed, that's when I applied the hair masque. It has a very thick consistency and it smells great! Well, to me it does. Some people may think the scent is overwhelming. Anywho...I parted my hair in 4 sections, applied very generous amounts to each section, put a plastic cap on my head, then sat under a heating cap for about 45 minutes. On the jar it suggests to sit under a warm dryer for 10 minutes, but I always choose to leave the product in for much longer than required.
When I rinsed it out...my God, my hair felt like...I don't even know! Y'all it was softer than anything I can verbally describe right now!
When I was applying my leave-in conditioner and styling products, the comb was just gliding through my hair! It was a beautiful thing...boy I tell ya!
When my hair finally dried, the definition was beautiful, it was shiny and soft, and the smell of the product was still in my hair! I loved it!
This product is a definite MUST HAVE! Especially if you use heat a lot or have had a color treatment done. It does warn that you shouldn't use this product daily because it is an intense conditioning treatment and you don't want to over moisturize!
I probably will use this once a month and do my regular deep conditioning treatments in between that time.
This product costed me $11.99 and was worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY! It will now be a staple product in my collection :-)

Have you tried ORS Hair Masque? If so, what are your thoughts on it?