What do you think?

Howdy All,

 

Just checking in on y’all. And I wanted to provide a brief update. SO I am still wearing my braids, and my hair is very itchy and dry. I tried the baby lotion around the outside of my edges and I do say that I was surprised with the results. I mean my hair was a little wet and adding the lotion was just a plus to get my hair to do what it needed it to do for the moment. Not to mention how my hair was smelling from sweating the week prior from PT……….

Speaking of PT. This is my number one hair issue. Prior to me starting my natural journey, I use to wear a low cut. It was permed and I loved it. The sad part about it is, i didn’t think of how much I would sweat or what it would look like after I sweated. I feel that working out and trying to maintain my low cut caused more damage than promoting healthy hair.

It got to a point where I wouldn’t even dry or curl my hair through the week. I would just brush it down and keep it moving until I got home. I started to hate my cut because not only when I started to sweat my hair got wet but when I was in those in between weeks (you know when you go to the salon every two weeks lol) my hair would grow in the back and it was difficult to maintain and keep that hair down.

Naturally when I have a style that I cannot maintain, I revert back to braids. They are my safe haven. I never go wrong with them and they never fail me. One debate they are having now in the military is natural hair styles. Earlier this year there was a navy women kicked out of the navy because she wanted to wear dread locks and they were not authorized.  Ironically after they kick her out, they authorized the wear of dreadlocks. If you are interested more this this story.. Click on the MORE link below.

Now I can see both parties issues in the matter…For the navy, they put out their regulations a long time ago and for this sailor to take it upon herself to be a martyr for dreadlocks (because her career died over this) only showed that she couldn’t follow the orders or her organization that were set in place before she even decided to join the navy. In every branch of service we all have our own set of rules and regulations and we may not necessarily agree with them, but we have to follow them because that is what we signed up for.

On a positive note, her standing up for what she believed in encouraged change within the navy. It would be her actions that encouraged the navy to authorized the wear of dreadlocks. I hate to see her career have to suffer because she wanted to inspire change but I am a firm believer in do what you are told!

There are many different hair styles that we are authorized to wear and the navy is way more lenient than the Marine Corps when it comes to different rules and regulations regarding the grooming of females. It just upsets me when people are given a list of options and they still choose one that is not on the page. They want to go against the grain and what this does it foster a bad environment within the military organization because when you see one person do it, then everyone tries it!

That brings me to my next point, which I know I am starting to go off on a tangent lol, it annoys me when people try to take rules and regulations to the next level. For example, hair color has to match your skins complexion. To me, blonde hair on black women does not match our skin tone!

I was in a class and I saw this navy woman with DREADS and they were BLONDE! I was like why! At the time they were not authorized, so in my mind I am like not only are these not authorized but you have the nerves to dye them blonde! She could have at least maintained the style. She had so much new growth. She couldn’t even take the time to re-twist them to make them look neat. In my eyes that I three strikes lol!

<<<Leaves soapbox>>> Lol

http://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/2014/08/23/navy-kicks-out-black-woman-because-they-hate-her-natural-hair/
Have a blessed week.

 

 

Natural Hair Problems in the Military

Hey all..

 

Its me again.

So I ran across this post that talked about natural hair techniques. It centered around techniques and products that you could use to keep your hair from being dry throughout the day. I found this information to be very useful!

About 3 months ago, I did the big chop. I had cut my hair many times while I was in the military (well I am still in lol) and never actually thought about doing the big chop until I saw one of my best friends do it! I was scared and worried about how I would look. Now mind you, when I was getting my hair cut before it was in a style. You know shaved in the back. I was fly until PT came and my curls sweated out (angry face lol)

me2

So after my hair grew back.. I started to wear braids. My hair still didn’t grow back the right way and I wasn’t sure if it was because my hair was permed. Long story short..  I decided to cut my hair because I felt like that would give me the start I needed because I had tried everything else.. Trimming my hair! Many different protective styles that did not allow me to wash my hair as often as I would have liked. One down point about being in the military is that your hair care tends to fall to the wayside because regimes that you would normally do… you just don’t have time for especially if you go on a deployment…

Enought of my rambling about the down points of the militay! I could be there all day lol. Back to the story! I big chopped my hair!

 

me and my baby

me and my baby

I cut my hair in June and colored it to feel good about what I did lol! At first I wasn’t feeling the cut. A few headbands later.. I was in love. It is now September and I am wearing braids lol!

Why? You may ask. Well I will tell you. Given the requirements of my job.. and when I say that meaning that I have to workout lol.. I was co washing my hair everyday. I didn’t have a problem with that. The problem that i was having was keeping moisture in my hair. Keep in mind its the middle of the summer! Every time i would go outside my hair would dry up!

A few months past and my hair didn’t really look like it was growing… And I got tired of fighting the moisture issues so I got braids..

This is how I was feeling watching my hair grow or the lack there of lol!

This is how I was feeling watching my hair grow or the lack there of lol!

Anywho… Enough about my troubles lol.. I ran across this article, that I wish I would have ran across before I decided to put braids in my hair. And can i say one more thing! I had tried many things and spent lots of money on products and I was getting frustrated! Thats why this article is a blessing and a curse! Its a blessing because it is everyday items that you have around the house and its a curse because you dont know to try them until someone else experiments on their hair with the product and shares the information with everyone!

One of the items it mentioned was Johnson and Johnson Baby lotion. I would never think to use lotion period in my hair because of the effets it usually leaves on skin meaning it can dry your hair out! The author of this article says

” If the first few ingredients include water, glycerin and cetearyl or cetyl alcohol they’ll definitely provide the moisture your hair needs in this emergency.”

I have heard this before so (as far as if the product contains water) I believe that this is something that I am willing to try on my hair once i remove my braids because it is an inexpensive product.

 

http://blackgirllonghair.com/2014/09/4-unusual-life-hacks-to-keep-natural-hair-moisturized/

http://blackgirllonghair.com/2014/09/4-unusual-life-hacks-to-keep-natural-hair-moisturized/

Another product that it say works really well is mayonnaise. I have tried this and maybe I used it incorrectly, but it made my hair feel dry. Plus I was worried about having that mayonnaise smell in my hair. When i tried it, the directions said to use mayonnaise in conjunction with an egg. So i am not sure if it was the egg or the mayonnaise.

I say all of that to say.. To my fellow ladies in the military. I know that we are short on time and we often tend to slack in the hair care department because there are certain things that we can or cannot do with our hair, using these simple products may be a solution to an everyday problem that you maybe having, such as moisture!

Here is the link if you are interested in the full article..

http://blackgirllonghair.com/2014/09/4-unusual-life-hacks-to-keep-natural-hair-moisturized/

 

Chao

New Blogger!

Hello blog world..

I am new to the whole blogging scene.

A little about myself. I am 26 years old born and raised in Georgia. I live in Virginia, the military brought me here. I have been on active duty for 8 years now. I am a single parent of one and I also attend Old Dominion University. So you can see that I have a lot going on. Outside of my academics.. I am the team mom for my sons football team. The Hampton Hawkeyes! Yay. They are a tiny mite team.

Well enough about me. I want to give you the basis of my blog…

The main purpose is to research, discuss and exploit hair issues within the military organizations. Being an African American women in the military we tend to be limited with our hair. We are subject to rules and regulations and this limits the type of hair styles we can wear. It is important to note that all women have different hair types and textures. What annoys me the most is that some women feel that every hair style should be universal.

I won’t give away everything that I am going to talk about but I wanted to give a general basis about what I am going to talk about. At times it may seem that I am going off on a tangent… But I hate when some people feel that everything should be equal and if it cannot be equally done then it shouldn’t be allowed.

 

I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts regarding this issues within the military community with a focus predominately on african  american women hair style.. As I am a black woman… Lol

Oh one other note! I recently transitioned to natural. When i say transitioned i really mean the big chop lol! I was loving it for a month or two.. but when i couldn’t get my hair to hold moisture.. I got braids. I had a dream that i got a relaxer forgetting that I was trying to be natural. What a nightmare I must say. It was a weird dream I must say. But none the less I am looking forward to my natural journey.

Nice to meet you all.

Hope you enjoy my blog as it is a semester project/requirement!

Side note, I can’t believe that I am a blogger!

Thanks for stopping by my page!

 

Natural Hair

http://www.thekitchensalon.com/2014/04/01/natural-hair-art/

 

Proudly powered by WordPress
Theme: Esquire by Matthew Buchanan.