Castor Oil Update

  Hey Guys:) Just wanted to update you all on my castor oil hair challenge! In many ways the challenge was a success but it was also a failure. For example the main reason for me beginning the challenge was to grow the hair on my thin sides back. The castor oil did wonders for my hair as far as retaining moisture,and making my hair grow longer and stronger than ever. But it really didn't do much for my thin spots. The hair surrounding the spots has grown longer and thicker. But the actual spot itself still remains thinly covered with hair.

  I'm beginning to to worry that maybe my sides are too far gone. It's scary thinking that I will never have hair there again. With all the technology and natural hair remedies out there I doubt that's true so i will keep HOPE ALIVE! It's been suggested to me that maybe I should go to a Dermatologist and let them evaluate the problem. But before I go to that extreme I'd like to naturally try and grow my hair back. 

  As far as the castor oil, I think it is any Naturalista's DREAM PRODUCT<3 It works great as a deep conditioner or even applying daily to your ends and problem areas. It made my hair extremely soft while keeping it strong so that it wouldn't break off. My ends were never frizzy while using the oil and my hair was developing a natural sheen. The dryness I use to sometimes see in my hair had disappeared. Castor Oil is not only good for moisturizing but it also seals in moisture! With natural hair MOISTURE is the most important, so if you haven't tried castor oil yet I highly recommend you should I still use it even though my castor oil challenge is over.

  As far as my mission to grow the hair on my thin spots back I will definitely keep you guys posted on what new natural hair remedies I find. But if you think of anything I haven't tried and you think it might work for me please don't hesitate to let me know! I would love your feedback and I'm willing to try anything. Thanks for stopping by and please POST COMMENTS:)

Castor Oil Hair Challenge!

  A lot of people don't know this about me but my hair is really thin on the sides almost to the point that its practically GONE! When I was little my mom made my ponytails SUPER TIGHT!!! My hair was so thin and couldn't take it and slowly began breaking off on the sides. Growing up as a child this made me really self conscious and I did my very best to hide it. I felt as if people would make cruel jokes about my hair and laugh at me. When first starting this blog I knew I would have to share this part of myself but that still doesn't make it any easier. Part of building confidence is not being afraid to freely let your imperfections show and not being ashamed. So this is me letting it all hang out.

                                                                     
 Whewww *sigh of relief* It feels great to talk about my thin sides and not feel ashamed and uncomfortable. Lately I've been hearing a lot of hype about castor oil, Jamaican Black Castor Oil to be specific. Castor Oil has many useful hair benefits such as :

1.Thickening Hair that is beginning to thin

2.Reduce/Prevent hair damage

3.Prevents dry scalp

4.Deeply conditions/moisturizes hair and scalp

Most importantly castor oil INCREASES HAIR GROWTH!!!

  After doing my research I decided to make a natural hair challenge for myself. For the next 8 weeks I will deep condition my hair with castor oil at least once a week I've come up with a weekly regiment that I believe will give me he best resuts.

Weekly Regiment

1. Apply castor oil on edges, all throughout scalp,and on the ends of hair

-Allow Castor oil to sit in hair for at least 5 hours (Longer if possible)

2.Shampoo hair with SULFATE FREE Coconut Milk Organix and apply Coconut Milk Organix Conditioner

-Gently Brush or Comb hair after applying conditioner

3.Apply Coconut Organix Split Ends Mender all throughout hair

4.When styling hair only use Raw Shea Butter

-Be careful not to use too much to avoid causing a build up

5.Before going outside make sure to seal moisture in hair use EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

   I test ran my weekly regiment January 18th. I applied the castor oil to my dry hair and scalp and then put a shower cap on my head. The shower cap helped to prevent getting the castor oil all over my pillows and clothes. I left the oil in my hair overnight. By the time I went to wash the castor oil out, my hair was really soft and some of it had turned into little curls.

 I styled my hair in a twist-out using the raw shea butter. Before applying the shea butter in my hair I put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This just made the butter softer making it easier for me to work it through my hair.

  Even though this is only Week one of my natural hair challenge I'm really loving the results so far. My hair feels a little bit stronger already and has a nice shine to it that I could only get before by loading tons of product in my hair. The ultimate goal of this natural hair challenge is to make my sides grow back in. I'm hoping for the best and will keep you all posted on my progress:)

More about us in partiCURLar. . .

The length of my hair before the BC.

 My natural hair journey has been a life long one. I've been natural my entire life and I never plan on changing that. Growing up, I was hardly ever allowed to wear my hair out so once I was, I WENT CRAZY! I've had long hair, short hair, straight bangs, slanted bangs and now I even have color. I didn't pay attention to things such as heat protectants, deep conditioners etc. and I really didn't realize the damage I was doing to my hair by constantly straightening it. But after seeing other natural's videos and tips on natural hair, I've decided to start over. I'm retiring my flatirons and other heating tools for awhile and I'm embracing my natural hair from this day forward. I used to let little things about becoming completely natural discourage me from just doing it but I finally went along and did the deed!

My hair now after the BC.

I big chopped (if that's what you want to call it) on December 28, 2011. I have a tapered curly 'fro. The back is the shortest part of my hair, the top is the longest part and the length of the sides are somewhere in between the two. I got my hair cut like this so I wouldn't have a simple TWA but I also didn't want something as drastic as a Mohawk or a super short cut. I've now realized that once a person has the right products to keep their hair healthy, anyone can grow long hair but retaining length is where a lot of people go wrong. I've found a lot of products that work for me at the moment so my main goal is preventing breakage or any other type of damage to my hair so that I'll be able to actually see the progress of my hair

My hair permed. It was thin and brittle and stringy.

My natural hair journey began about three-four years ago. I had been getting perms since I was in the fourth grade. I used to have the misconception that all girls were supposed to have perms which in fact is not true at all. It wasn't until my eleventh grade year of high school that I realized how much damage the chemicals from the perm had done to my hair. I was preparing for prom and my sister took me to her hair dresser who specialized in doing natural hair. When she showed me a layer of my hair from the top of my hair you could see it thinning from the middle. My hair was a mess and she informed me that she would need to cut my hair. From that day I vowed to never put another perm in my head again. It took me about a year to transition my hair back to its natural state. I began to slowly grow and cut the perm out of my head. Throughout my transitioning stages, I continued to have my hair straightened. So my transition was not as hard as I assumed it would be.

My natural has more volume and it's less stringy.

 I first began this natural hair journey for the health of my hair but I have gotten so much more from it. I have a new found confidence that I did not have before. I now feel comfortable to wash my hair and go while my natural curls blow in the wind. I too have vowed to put the flat irons down and leave the heat alone. Lets just say when I first learned how to flat iron my own hair I went a little crazy. I want my hair to not only be natural but healthy as well and all the heat from me constantly straightening my hair was preventing that. This is all a learning experience for me and I have learned so much from reading other blogs and watching videos in the natural hair community and I will now wear my hair in its natural state and let my kinks and curls run wild.

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG!

Thanks for stopping by! We're Robbin (Right) and Keon (Left). The main purpose of our blog is to share our natural hair journeys with the rest of the natural hair community. We plan to include tutorials, product reviews, and general updates on the progress of our hair. For months we have been learning about some of your personal natural hair journeys by watching your tutorials and reading your blogs, so now we feel it is our turn to return the favor. We hope our blog will be a place where others in the natural hair community will feel comfortable expressing their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. We also hope to be of some assistance to those of you who are newly natural and provide you with tips and ideas to make your transition as easy as possible. So join us as we embark on this journey and lets learn from one another!