Moving & Learning

I've been brainstorming all day how I want to continue with my posts on my favorite items.  I think the best way to do it would be to group the products together by shampoos, conditioners, etc.  It might be easier to do it that way than to list them by brands.  I wanted to take the time on this post to discuss two key things that I've learned so far when it comes to dealing with natural hair.

So we made the move from Iowa to Kentucky.  For some reason I thought it would be a breeze being that we didn't have to pack anything or move anything.  All I can say is thank God for my momma.

She talked me to death but all that talking helped me make that 10 hour trip with a 5 month old.  I'm glad my husband let the dog ride with him because I probably would have thrown her out the window.  When we got there, we had to sleep on the floor that night since our furniture didn't come until the next morning.  Those movers threw our stuff in the house so fast.  One of them asked did we want them to unpack for us.  My crazy behind told him yes and he started ripping open boxes and just pouring clothes in the middle of the floor.  I mean he had shoes, pants, shirts, bras, and panties all over the floor.  Now I was really pissed off because they were my good panties.  Ya'll know what I mean by good panties so don't play crazy.  I finally told him to just stop.  I at least thought they would put the clothes in a pile neatly.  But clearly he wasn't about to.  Then there was a mover in the kitchen pouring all my tupperware and mixing bowls and shit all over the kitchen floor.  I told them thank you but they could just get out.  Anyway it took about a week to get most of the house together, so at night I had some free time.  What do I do?  Search for more hair products and accessories!  But in the midst of that I started learning a thing or two.

One of those things being the importance of wrapping my hair with a satin scarf/bonnet and sleeping on a satin pillowcase.  Now this is something I've always done since I was like six but I just did it because my mom told me to.  Hell, she didn't know why she had me doing it when I asked her about it recently.  But cotton tends to dry the hair out and if your hair is dry then it's easy for breakage to occur and that's not what you want.  I prefer a bonnet because my scarf doesn't always stay on at night.  But sometimes it's hard to get my rods under the bonnet so I do have a satin scarf that I've been using since high school probably.  I haven't found another one that works as well as this one.  It's good to have a satin pillowcase because some nights I just don't feel like getting up to do anything to my hair but my hair is still protected since I sleep on a satin pillowcase.  We all have satin pillowcases here.  Yes, my husband and my almost two year old have satin pillowcases.  My husband worried me to death about getting him one.  He said it feels so good to sleep on; plus having his own kept him off of mine.  My daughter has one because she sleeps wild and her bonnet barely stays on.  Yes, she sleeps in a satin bonnet too.

I don't know about you, but I hate having to re-twist or re-roll my hair every single night.  I read a lot about the pineapple method.  It's basically where you pull all your curls up into a high ponytail and then put your scarf or bonnet on.  All the pictures and videos I saw of people doing this had longer hair and different hair types than my hair.  With my hair type (4a/4b), I have about 70% shrinkage (simply put--my hair is way shorter than it really is) so I can't put my hair in a high ponytail (unless I brush it and that would defeat the purpose).  So what do I do to preserve my curls?  I put my hair in three or four loose ponytails with ponytail holders.  No, I don't section them off and make them perfect.  And I definitely don't use rubber bands.  But I just grab a handful of hair and put it in a ponytail and I'll repeat until I have about four loose ponytails.  Then I put my bonnet on and go to bed.  The next morning, I put a little argan oil on my hair, shake it, and go.  Depending on the product I use and depending on how wild I sleep, my curls will usually last for about four or five days.  But even as my curls start falling or getting smushed from laying on them each night, I can always just wear a curly mohawk or a curly ponytail.  These styles keep me from having to spend the time re-twisting or re-rolling my hair before wash day.

Check in with me later because my next few posts will be on my favorite products and how I use them!