Natural hair.
What’s new!
This is just a quick update about what new things to expect to see from WMHIDT.
How to wear your natural hair on a disney cruise (What to expect.) Pt. 2
Ok its part 2 time. What was previously discussed in part 1 was how to pick a natural style for your Disney Cruise vacation. I talked about picking a long lasting hair style so you won’t have to restyle your hair often. This will ensure your hair won’t be damaged from heavy manipulation. In part 2 I will discuss my second Disney Cruise hair style choices and why.
After my fist Cruise on the Disney Dream I got engaged and when the question of where we would take our honeymoon came up a cruise seemed like a perfect idea. After saving all my tips for a year and my husband put aside money we were able to secure a spot. So, all the reservations and transportations were out of the way. So the next thing to plan was how would I wear my hair?
After my first cruise I liked the turn out of the braids with my own hair, but for my honeymoon I wanted to feel flawless. Plus the amount of sun, heat, and chlorine from the last cruise had left my hair really dry. Factor in the fact that I had blown-out my hair to achieve the style and my hair started to feel a little damaged.
My hair usually spirals into little curls when it’s been left in braids or twist for a considerable amount of time. However; after the fist cruise it wouldn’t and I became concerned. One of the things I did wrong and I warned you about in part 1 is I didn’t use a heat protectant when I blew out my hair. That was a big no no. Then I didn’t feel like lugging my go to hair product with me on vacation so I left them at home. No no number 2. I didn’t moisturize my hair at all after I would leave the beach or the pool, so my hair just kinda dried out.
I learned from these mistakes and I was determined to take good care of my hair this time around. For the second cruise the beautician that did my hair for the wedding cut my hair shorter than I would have liked before the wedding and I couldn’t manipulate it at all to do any of my go to pinup tuck and roll styles. She also informed me after she cut my hair that she could not do the style we previously agreed on because my hair was too short. So to achieve the style I wanted for my wedding she had to add tracks AKA weave in my hair. I’m not against weave. I just didn’t picture that for my wedding day hair. Unfortunately I was backed into a corner because that was the style I wanted so I relented.
After I agreed to the weave it made me wonder once again what will I do with my hair for the honeymoon? Do I keep the curly (not my hair texture) weave in and keep the $250 hair style in my hair the whole honey moon, or do I go out on a limb and try something else?
My hair was too short to do braids on my own hair. I also didn’t want to risk damaging what hair I had left so I decided to put in jumbo kinky twist extensions myself.
Here is my reasoning behind choosing this style. I wanted long flowing hair, and I wanted to be able to bring only one small product to moisturize my scalp, and hair. Keeping my ends protected was a plus.
What really sold me was being able to slap my hair into a pony tail or do a fishtail braided up-do at some of the more elegant restaurants on the ship. My hair was completely put away thus protected.
Now the only question was can I do my hair in time for my honeymoon? My honeymoon was 2 days after my wedding. We got married on a Saturday slept in on Sunday and I had till Tuesday 9 am before our plane left to install butt length kinky twist. So needless to say I was pressed for time.
What I did was plan ahead, and you can do this to if you ever convince yourself to do your hair with very little time. 1) I bought my hair early. I went to the beauty supply at the beginning of the month and got three bags of hair. 2) I bought my hair products early. I went to store all over finding the products I liked on sale a month in advanced. 3) I planed and plotted my free time out to a T. I asked my hubby if he was ok with me ignoring him a little Sunday afternoon so I could get an early start on my hair. I also planned for extra time INCASE something went wrong and I had to try something else. This came in handy when I ran out of hair Monday. 4) I packed my clothes 2 days before the wedding. I did this so all the packing stress would not get in the way. I didn’t want to make my time any shorter because then I might damage my hair trying to rush. When you are in a hurry and you need to detangle your hair, it’s possible you can be too rough and damaged your ends, or roots with pulling and yanking. We didn’t want that.
With everything planed and the wedding behind us I woke the day after my wedding with the task of cutting this weave out of my hair without getting my own hair. I was successful in record time and even managed to do a quick twist out so I still looked good when we left the hotel. When we arrived to our new house it was raining outside and inside out house so some of my time got taken up with moving our furniture and clothes and calling an emergency roofer. Strangely enough I planned for this too. I had seen strange holes in the ceiling and asked my mom/ landlord to check on it she refused and I noticed some of the furniture I had bought months ago was wet and water stained. She didn’t believe me till water was literally pouring down on me and my husband. I saw it coming and I checked the weather and I planned for it which is a strange thing to plan for, but I did.
After we got the bed and computer moved to dry land. I set up my stuff on the bed and gathered my felicity DVDs which somehow make me braid and twist faster.
I started at 5pm Sunday, and was done by 10pm Monday night. I was finished by the end season 2 of Felicity. So I think I made pretty good time.
So my hair was finished and my trip was underway. To add a little glamour I rolled my twist with perm rods and dipped them in microwaved hot water. At the time we didn’t have a range and the only way to heat anything up was with the microwave.
The next morning before we left for our flight I took down the rollers and my twist was curly but still wet. If I had more time, they might have been dry. Also if I had access to a range the water would have been much hotter and my curls may have lasted longer.
Ironically our flight was delayed twice so we didn’t leave till 2 pm. If I had known and was not supper self-conches about it I could have kept my rollers in till we boarded. But I was not raised like that so that would have never gone down like that.
Actually I was a little peeved because I could have stayed home longer with the rollers in. So the lesson I learned from this, and I’m passing this down to you is. If you want to curl your extensions make sure you have enough time to let them dry.
So the twist worked out great. I was able to swim and play without having to restyle my hair twice a day. I think we went on the Aqua Duck 50 times, and it was nice not to be that black chick that’s scared to get her hair wet.
Did I mention Disney Cruise shampoo is awesome? I ran out of the tiny bottles of my Shea moistures that I brought and I ended up using the cruise lines shampoo. It didn’t strip my hair of moisture which I thought it would do. My hair stayed soft which was a surprise. If you don’t want to bring to much hair product with you this is a nice option, and if you prefer your own because of allergies, and certain preferences be sure to take an extra little regulation tiny bottle because you may end up washing your hair a lot. I was in the pool, Jacuzzi, and Aqua Duck at least 3 times a day being romantic with my hubby and I ran out of shampoo quickly.
I know what you are thinking. “Didn’t washing your hair so much strip it of moisture?”It probably did a little so that’s something to keep in mind. Also I let my hair air dry a lot and it started to smell mildewed by the end of the cruise. I covered it up with perfume, but that was spraying alcohol on my hair which could dry it out.
I never found a solution for the smell. The only thing I could have done was use the state room blow dryer but it didn’t have enough power to me, and again would have potentially damaged my hair without a heat protectant.
Another thing to consider if you go the extensions route is bring a lot of large hair ties. I made the mistake of only bringing 1 and it broke before we even boarded the ship in our hotel the night before debarkation. So I had to go to my hotel gift shop and buy a overpriced Minnie Mouse scrunchy that was big like the ones from the 80’s and 90’s and it did not have a lot of give. Don’t end up in this situation.
Not having to worry about my hair was the best part of this style and it made it the best choice for future vacations. When you are on vacation you want to be free and have fun not be that prissy girly girl that fusses over her hair throughout most of the trip. So if you are going on a Disney Cruise or somewhere hot with a lot of water options extensions are the best way to go. Your hair is put away so you won’t mess with it potentially making it weak and unhealthy. Your ends are protected and if you clean it properly you won’t have to worry about mildew and scalp infections from bacteria buildup.
I hope you all have fun this vacation season and keep your hair health in mind when traveling.
How to wear your natural hair on a disney cruise (What to expect.) Pt. 1
I did the Bantu knot method the whole cruise cause I did not want to bring my rollers. It worked pretty well and when I got in the pool, Aqua Duck, or ocean I put it in a pony tail. All in all some type of braids style be it up-do or extensions will work. If you don’t have the money or time like I did to get extensions, and your comfortable wearing your own hair in a braided style I would go for the one I tried. The only draw back is 1) you have to be careful blowing your hair out so you don’t get heat damage. Use a protective product that prevents heat damage, use a low heat setting, and try not to hold the dryer to close to your hair or hold it in one spot to long. 2) you have to be ok with your hair shrinking up a little after it gets wet and from heat. 3) avoid sand in your hair at all cost. I made the mistake of laying my head down some place sandy on the beach in Cast Away Cay and it took a week to get it all out. This ends part one stay tuned for part to where I discuss my experience with extensions.
What’s new!
Hello everyone. It’s been a long time since the last time I came to you. A lot has transpired since my last post so I’m gonna get you all caught up.
The kinky twist extensions are back! This is a serious matter!
There back! I’m tiered of doing my hair again and I’m also trying to retain length so I’m giving this protective style a go for the winter. I’m in the Chi and the weather is not playing. Now that I’m spending less time styling my hair I can focus on more important things like my music, finding a better job, and setting up to start vlogging. Before I put in my twist I learned how to three strand twist. I’m really excited about it. My hair came out so curly and defined. I can’t wait till it gets warmer so I can rock this hair style without worrying will it get destroyed by my hat. I also trimmed my ends. I had a lot of knots on my ends. I couldn’t let that fly. Plus the last time they were clipped was befor my wedding in June. It was needed. I realized something. A while back I was complaining about my curl being gone and how my hair was limp. Well clipping my ends maid my curl return. I have my little ringlets back so I know my hair is healthy. I’m also still doing the castor oil challenge. I’m hoping the twist and the castor oil will help my hair get a little longer. Well that’s it for now. I hope you and your hair is happy. 🙂
Same old hair new year blues
I had to trim my ends yesterday. It had to be done because I had a lot of split ends. It really bumed me out though because I’m doing the castor oil challenge and I feel like I cut off any length I had retained. On the other hand if I neglected to pay attention to my split ends I would probably loose length. I can’t win for losing. I really hope I get a big growth spirt like they say can happen when you trim your ends. You know who they are. The all knowing natural hair association. The group of naturals that are on every social media outlet that seem to be all knowing in everything hair. Well anyway I trimmed my ends and I styled my hair like I use to when I first went natural. I even bought some Sta-Sof-Fro like old time cause despite me using castor oil and other essential oils my hair dried out bad cause of the dry could weather. I just went back to the basics a little or where I started. I really hope I have a significant amout of growth by the summer. I’m thinking about doing twist again if I have time. I just need two days of nothing on my plate and it’s on. Happy New Year. What are some of your hair goals this year?
Hair updates
I shouldn’t care but I do.
So today on my way to work. These two young people was making fun of my hair. They thought I couldn’t here them because I had on headphones, but I had them turned down real low so I could hear the stops being called. I know it should not have hurt me because I know my hair looks good today. However; it did sting a bit. It was a boy and girl. The girl had one of those plastic looking lace front wigs on almost to her eyebrows. I felt like your one to talk. Your hair came from mettle ya broke down Barbie. You look ridiculous and have the nerve to crack on me. My hair grew out my head for free. You payed to look terrible. It hurt as you can see and it resulting in me mentally bashing a person of my race for there hairstyle choice. This is something I try to avoided. I believe in to each his own. If you can’t hang with team natural in the words of shameless Maya do you boo. Today it irked me and hurt me. I really don’t know why. I should be use to it I’ve been natural for so long. As I got off at the train station I saw so many natural sistas with big medium and small curls. I thought I’m not a minority I’m part of the new majority. So why should I care if some people don’t get it they are a small group. I still do sometime though. It’s a weird feeling to be shameless and shamed at the same time. 😦
Random thought. I See You
It’s that feeling you get when you and another natural locks eyes passing in a busy place. It’s like you’re saying hi to an old friend without even saying it. Realistically you don’t know each other from Adam but its like kindred spirits. Basically your just happy to see each other in a sea of lace front wigs and strange looks. No I’m not homeless is usually the look you have to give people. No I’m not crazy. I get the same feeling when I see someone with the same car as me. We have such a unique looking car we can’t help but smile and wave. It’s like having a secret club. 🙂