Flat Knots

After My Henna Experiment, I decided to do some flat knots based on Trini6root's video cute style for short locks.

With the pins in it.

My poor bald spot

After 3 days, I decided it was time to take the knots out.

As you can tell, I started taking pictures after I started taking the knots out.

My Henna Experiment

 I mixed together:
1 box of Jamila henna
1 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
a 20 second pour of olive oil (approximately 2 tbsp)
1 cap full of apple cider vinegar

I made way too much and ended throwing half of it out.

I put on gloves and applied the henna to each loc and then up on my shower cap.

Before application

After application

I ended up using two - I guess my hair is getting too big.  I let the henna sit on my hair for 1.75 hours while I watched Netflix.

I washed the henna out in the shower.

Look what it did to my nails. Guess I should have kept the gloves on.

I rinsed and rinsed, but my hair still stained my robe.  I'll be washing my hair again this week even though I styled it to make sure I get it all out.

I can't say that my hair was any dryer feeling than usual.  My husband liked the color my hair was with the henna on it, but we'll see if any color actually shows up when I'm in the sun.

Henna Worries

I've been wanting to color my hair with henna for the longest and I thought I did a good amount of research before I purchased to product.  After my purchase, I found this video. In it, Quotidianlight discusses why she doesn't use henna.  She goes on about how henna affected the texture her hair - it didn't loosen her curl like some websites mention.  Instead it left some of her hair permanently  brittle.  Whoa, I did not sign up for that.

She goes on to list other reasons why she doesn't use it consistently to color her hair, but does say that it may be used occasionally as a protein treatment.  Great, I may actually be able to use this box.

Protein strengthens hair.  Too much protein will make hair dry and brittle feeling.  Crap, how do I know if I have enough protein?  I tried to find out online, but I didn't feel like I came away with a great understanding.  The sites I found were referring to loose naturals.  They talked about stand tests and the stretch of your hair. The goal is to see how elastic your hair is - when does it snap?  Right away or after a while.  Um, my hair is locked - how am I going to test it now?

I haven't found a resolution to that question.  For now, I think I will do a henna treatment.  I found a recipe that incorporates coconut milk and left the users hair soft, a rarity based on all the other information I've found.  I don't plan on keeping the concoction on for too long, so hopefully things will turn out well.  We'll see what Lauren thinks.

Oh, here are some of the sites I reviewed to find out about protein:
Protein: Does Your Hair Need It by Nu20 Beauty
Protein Sensitivity in Natural Hair by Derby City Naturals
Hair Breakage 101: Protein and Moisture from The Science of Black Hair website

Being Stuck in Traffic Can Be Beneficial to Your Hair

So as I got tired of waiting for the lights to change, I started playing with my hair:

It started out all down, but I decided to basket weave the side.  I even had time time take the pictures.

Nice Dreads by Lonnice Brittenum Bonner

Nice Dreads is an intro to locked life.  It didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but if I didn't have locs, it would be incredibly useful.  The author, Lonnice Brittenum Bonner, talks about the struggle to do the things that were necessary to loc her hair and the changes to her perception.

If you get a chance, check it out.