I'm not bored, I'm just fickle. I admit it!

I combed my hair out, and I'm loving the length. I'm really thinking that even chin length is possible by December 2010. I'm sick of the orangey-auburn color though. I'm finding comfort in rinses. I went to Target today, and while getting laundry detergent, I saw some Clairol Natural Instints. I picked up the light ash brown color. I know I said I wouldn't do anything else to my hair until April, but my hair was screaming. This is the very reason why I like to keep my hair braided and up under lace wigs. They protect me from myself. I like the results. I'm going to keep rinsing, since they don't seem to last longer than a month. And that resistant gray spot, forget about it!
Here are the befores:



The afters:




Good thing I'm braiding my hair and doing my app tomorrow. The last time I did an app, I parted my hair on my nape, and put the lace in between the part, so it didn't pull on my nape hairs. I'm not shaving my nape anymore, since my hair is growing out. I may lose some strands here and there, but that can be hidden by the hair on the other side of the part. It's not long enough to pull into a ponytail, or pigtail yet.

My Texture Today

I can't help it, I love my texture. I love the color. I didn't necessarily rinse out the Mega-Tek, but I did put my head under the faucet to get my hair wet, then I combed it out, then put Aussie Moist in it, and used my Denman brush to see what it would do. Then I used my wide tooth comb, and left it to air dry. I'm loving it.

I sent the info to Rex, and now I have to play the waiting game. I hope that #4 isn't off looking.

Going to go knit...

Yes Virginia, we have a silver Christmas tree! I have wanted a silver Christmas tree since 1972. My mom's friend had one with the color wheel. I thought it was the most awesome thing. I've been on the hunt ever since then. I love our tree. It's very sparkly, very twinkly.

My haircolor update:






I may have to stock up on the Clairon Honey Brown rinse, since it only lasts one shampoo. Go figure. I stocked up on the Organix Vanilla Silk conditioner tonight (2 bottles). Andrew loves the smell of it.

The selling of the lacefronts is CRAZY. I had 11 emails inquiring about them. Everyone says they want them, but no one's sent me any money yet. I've even offered to ship FREE (me paying for the Priority shipping, of course). I hope sewing my new one on works like I'm hoping it will. It will be no different than a net weave, with my hair braided underneath, and my tan stocking cap. Just NO GLUE and TAPE! I'm going to have to bleach some of the strands like I did the other one, but not as much. Just here and there. Maybe not though. I asked for it to be 1B in the roots, and a 4 on the strands. We'll see. I probably won't get it until January.

I'm supposed to "teach" my lace wig tips and tricks to a young lady that's coming over on Saturday. She's a member of BHM. She lives about an hour away. It should be interesting.

Let there be light...

As I thought, it's lightening up. I'm happy again.

I'm still knitting.

Last night, I did something that I haven't done since moving to California. I put my headphones on, and opened iTunes. I started by practicing "Why" by Annie Lennox. That's definitely going to be a YouTube video. Then I started adding songs I want to do to the list. I miss listening to the music I really like (the Bee Gees, Maxwell, Mint Condition, Julia Fordham, Faith Hill, Alison Krauss, Fleetwood Mac, Olivia Newton-John, etc).

Back to the knitting...

Honey Brown Rinse???/Product Alert: ORS Shea Butter

I woke up this morning and I looked like Bozo the Clown! My hair was orange/red. This won't do. I had to do something about it. I went to Sally's to get a rinse. I want golden brown hair. Why is this so hard to achieve?

This is supposed to be Clairol Beautiful Collection Gentle Semi-Permanent Haircolor in Honey Brown:

This is what my hair looks like after rinsing with it:



Hopefully it will lighten up because this is a rinse. At least the Bozo the Clown copper red is gone. I can see some brown in that second pic. I want golden brown hair... I think it will lighten up (wishful thinking). I didn't rinse the back on purpose, because initially, that was more the color I was going for. I like two tone hair, what can I say? I like the dark front though. I'm quirky that way. The straight ends are killing me. I'm so tempted to cut at the bend where the curl starts, but I need the length for cornrowing.

I got some ORS Shea Butter from Sally's. I haven't used it yet. I used the coconut oil today. I don't want to walk around smelling like a pina colada... I guess there are worst things to walk around smelling like. After I rinsed the color out, I put Nexxus Humectress on it, then followed up with the coconut oil. Once it dries, we'll see what my hair feels like.

Next week, I'm going to braid my hair and put the virgin malaysian straight on. I was thinking about putting on the Hair Fairy unit, but I don't want to curl it. I want bangs on my virgin straight unit, but I'm not going to do it.

No need for another color session!

It dawned on me... I have 2 bottles of UnRed. I don't need to get any more color to tone down the ever increasing copper red hair that I'm waking up to everyday. I put 2 oz of hot water in my clean color applicator bottle, and 10 drops of UnRed, and I'm no longer blazing Bozo the Clown! I don't know what color it is quite yet, because I immediately did a deep condition, with Mega-Tek (protein), and Nexxus Humectress (moisture). I'll co-wash tomorrow, and... I don't know. Probably slather it with the HE Toussle Me Softly. Back to the knitting.

Product Alert: Coconut Oil

We had a great day today (still going on actually). I knew when I woke up that I had to go to Beverly's Crafts to get my Lion Brand Homespun yarn. I don't know why I didn't think of that yesterday, when we went out of our way, to the Wal-Mart (when Beverly's is right around the corner). We first went to Barnes & Noble to look for the Madonna Rolling Stone (2 weeks old at this point; didn't find it). I ended up with Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont (recommended by my writing friend Susanne). Then, we went to Trader Joe's , because Baby wanted to do an "at home wine tasting". He is SO romantic (I'm so lucky). We got wine, cheese, dried green beens (great snack), and crackers. I love smoked gouda! Then we went to Beverly's to get my yarn. I got my colors, and some bracelets clasps for the Rearden bracelet. Then we went to Lucky's for the Shake & Bake (for tonight's baked fried spicy chicken). We ended up at GNC because I became desperate to find some coconut oil for my hair. I just knew Trader Joe's would have it, but they didn't. They RAVE about coconut oil on the BHM, so I'll give it a try in the coming days. What a day!!!

My hair color is brightening by the day. I was thinking about putting a rinse on it, just to tone it down, but I don't know (taken yesterday):


I've got so many knitting irons in the fire. I've decided to make my hunny bunny a knitted apron, since he is THE cook of the household. I'm going to put the Rush starman insignia on the chest, if I can sketch it out. I've got so much knitting to do between now and Xmas. My sweater, his family's socks, and my family's scarves. I saw a Led Zeppelin book that I want to buy him and a Michael Jackson book that I want to get my daughter for Xmas.... I've got to sell some wigs on the BHM. I've had offers before, but I didn't think too much about them. Now it's time to put them to work.

Color Update: Before - Ewww!/After - Ahhh!

It's on my head as I type this. I understand the chemistry involved. There is no way I could have colored my hair light brown. It would have turned green. It's looking like it's a purpley red. I left one little blonde curl out in the back, for fun. The color is still on it though. I'm a little panicky. I have 13 minutes to go...


^^Wet
I'm finished! I like it. I think it's going to be very close to the color on my hair goal picture. That purpley color was toning down the blonde. I miss the blonde. Once my hair grows out (in 2 years), I may put color remover on my ends so some of the blonde can come back. But until then, I'M DONE COLORING MY HAIR. I won't even text until next year, maybe February. I'm not even thinking about it. Lord knows I've done enough in the last 30 days. My curl pattern is still intact, albeit a little looser though. Right now, I'm deep conditioning under a plastic cap (aka curl bag) with a little Mega-Tek, a little Nexxus Humectress, and the new addition, Silk Elements Luxury Moisturizing Conditioner. I think I'm going to baggy all night. I don't feel like washing it out. I'm too tired. Long day. I still haven't opened my yarn bins yet. I love life!

Dry (11-10-2009)




I'm pretty sure the straight ends are from the weight of the curls, a different texture on the sides of my head, and the braiding. They will be cut off once my hair is at shoulder length. I LOVE THE COLOR, especially how it's lighter in the back.

I'm still using Mega-Tek and taking 2 GNC NourishHair caps and 1 B-Complex daily.

***Truth Be Told/Episode 88

Truth be told, I'm loving the blonde curls! I'm in two tone heaven! I love how the dark hair is peeping through the blonde curls. I'm really glad the bleach didn't straighten out my curls. I should have used peroxide or the developer I had all by itself, but my thinking was cloudy. I can't keep this color though (hence me taking all the pictures). It's time to get it cracking! I just removed the hybrid because it was kind of getting on my nerves, so I'm waiting to dye it today. I'm going to mix 1oz of each of the colors, so it's not so light, and not so dark. I had to wash my hair because I always do after removing an app, and I had a buildup of Mega-Tek on my scalp. I washed it (with the Suave Daily Clarifying) and I'm waiting on it to dry. After I color, I may just put the Malaysian straight on... or maybe the Hair Fairy Pretty Girl unit. I love the bangs on that unit, and I'll only curl the bangs.... I hate curling irons.

I'm willing myself to have a job before the year is out.

Week 2 of developing my workout habit has begun. I stepped for 34 minutes, I played Wii tennis for 21 minutes, I boxed for about 2 minutes, and played golf and bowling for about 2 minutes. That Wii is wonderful. Tomorrow is Total Gym day.

The knitting factory is back in effect for this holiday season. I'm making socks for my boyfriend's family and I may do scarves for my family. I collected tons of gorgeous sweater patterns, and I think I may have found my "Carrie" sweater. I was going to design it myself, and made some preliminary sketches, but I found a pattern that I can tweak a bit to get it to look almost like the sweater. I'm going to call it my "Episode 88" sweater. I will post progress pics as I knit.

I got this clip from YouTube. This is the actual "Carrie Episode 88" sweater:


The VS Sweater is close to it, but I don't want to buy it:


The Tango from Berroco.com is close to it, with some tweaking:

Crystal Palace Shawl. I'm going to add this (without the shell motif) to the back of the Tango^^:


I will lengthen the sleeves and the middle part of the Tango. I'm making it out of Lion Brand Homespun, as I have tons of it laying around in the bins.

Just a poncho with sleeves I want to make also (Asars Ponchette from Berroco.com):


Let the knitting begin!

What Else Is There To Say?

I am my own worst enemy! Please learn from me. I am the queen of what not to do. I kept staring at my hair goal picture above, and I thought, "hey, I have some bleach, I have some developer, my hair is healthy, let's try it out!" This is the result. My intent was to have my roots dark (like they still are) and the ends a honey, carmel color. After my hair was dry, I deep, deep conditioned my hair with Mega-Tek and braided my hair up. I put my hybrid on, and I'm keeping it moving. I went to Sally's today and the cool chica that works there (with the coolest hair colors - bleached, red, brown, carmel, and black) helped me. She steered me towards Ion Color Brilliance Permanent Liquid Hair Color in 4R Medium Red Brown and 5RC Light Copper Brown. I'm going to mix the colors or maybe even paint each of them on different sections. I didn't necessarily want red hair, but I'm liking those colors. I'm not going to color it until I remove this application. I'm SMDH at myself. I'm glad I didn't get it on my scalp. As you all know, I'm not afraid of shaving my head, but luckily, I don't have to.

The Weekday Grind

I'm about to start writing (no matter how bad it is, in my mind at least, because it's not flowing). I just wanted to say how orgasmic my new goal picture is. That's the hair I want. I don't care how long it gets (I'm never cutting it so...). I think SOMETIME NEXT YEAR, I'm going to dye it honey blonde (Dark & Lovely). With my hair being as dark as it is, it shouldn't lighten up to a honey blonde. It will probably be darker. I can't wait.

I love my hair journey. In just 5 months, I'll have celebrated my 1 year big chop anniversary. It feels easy, thanks to lace wigs. I could never really do the weave thing. I was embarrassed to wear the BSS wigs because they just didn't sit natural on me. I did the bonding thing a couple of times, because it would lay flatter, but I was still limited with styling choices. Lace wigs kicked the damn door down when I discovered them. I will always wear them when I want my hair to be a little longer than it is. Now that my hair is long enough, I'm thinking about getting a curly wig and sewing it to a perimeter braid and really wearing it for longer periods of time, like a month. Maybe like a 12-14 inch; something that hits on the shoulders. Then I would remove it, clean it, clean my head thoroughly, rebraid my hair, and re-installing it. I could do away with the adhesives and tape. The seed has been planted.

Speaking of lace wigs, I'm putting the hybrid (or the virgin indian) on Wednesday. We're going over to his relatives house, and they've only seen me in wigs, and I don't feel like explaining what my hair is doing.

Here's a special shout out to my FAVORITE natural curly girl, Terri LaFlesh. I stumbled upon her website Tightly Curly. She's the reason why I'm a conditioner junkie and why I purchased a Denman D3 brush. Her blog is fabulous. I just found it. It should have been the first blog I subscribed to. Her hair is AMAZING. She's coming out with a book, and I'm definitely buying it. She's the one that inspired me to grow and love my own hair. She's also a writer, so she's inspiring me in that area also. Please check her out.

Off to write!!!!

Hair Color Day!!!

I missed the season premiere of America's Next Top Model! I'm beyond upset!

On the hair front, I removed the Rex Virgin Malaysian Straight last night, and today, I colored my hair. I know I said I was going to wait, but... well, I have no excuse. I'm impatient, and I want my SL curly hair now. I can't wait to pull it into a messy ponytail. Man, I need a job soon. Anyway, I had to use both boxes that I bought - the D&L Sunkissed Brown and the Loreal Super Preference Light Golden Brown. I know that it didn't lift up to those colors. It's just like a brown color. After I colored it, I slathered Mega-Tek all over it, then I put a little of the conditioner that came with the hair color on top of that, then I decided to put Mane N Tail on it. I saran wrapped it for a couple of hours. I think I should have put Aussie Moist or Nexxus Humectress on it. I will tomorrow.

I'm at 5 months post BC and I'm antsy. I love the curl though. I'm debating if I'm going to put the LF back on tomorrow. I might rock my curlies. I'm at this point now, who cares what my hair looks like? I'm no different a person if my hair is curly or straight, short or long... okay, I do feel sexier with long hair. I hope I have the tenacity and patience that fellow BHMer Zupreme (Zahira) does. I've linked her fotki in my hotlinks. She shaved her head bald, with a shaver and cream. It took her 2 years to go from completely, completely bald to shoulder length. She's my inspiration. She photographed each month's progress. Now I can see (generally) where I should be. Thank you Zahira, you beautiful, talented woman.

Product Alert: Dark & Lovely Permanent Haircolors

I'm mulling over potential haircolors for when my hair is the length I want. Chestnut Blonde #380 and Sunkissed Brown #377. I want to do a 3-tone in horizontal layers, like I bleached the Rex Kinky Curly. I'll leave the bottom layer natural, the middle layer the lightest, and the top layer the darker color... sort of like layering eyeshadows. Or maybe I'll leave the top dark and natural, the middle layer the lightest, and the bottom layer the darker color. I may let Meghann (my daughter) color it for me, since she's the professional.