Meet My Natural Hair | Keyda Update

I cannot believe it has been this long since I have posted! It has been so much going on that sometimes I'm not sure if I have time to just BE! I am sure ALL of you know where I am coming from! #queenin #blackgirlmagic So, many hats, so many super women!

Well, I have realized that I have not received a touch-up since July 2014!!!!!! And it was a journey through a long year. In fact, prior to my wedding day, I had a ...

BIG CHOP! Yes, this is not a typo! I cut off the rest of my relaxed ends and am officially all natural! It has been AMAZING! I LOVE MY CURLS and have grown to love my "fro". Honestly, I was very timid about wearing my curls out as I have not seen my hair in curls since middle school. Of course, I  make that face the moment someone goes for my hair (you know which one!) and try to bite my tongue when asked how does my hair curl (normal response.."wash it"). *le sigh* I have learned to own it and walk confidently in my natural hair, so who knows when, if ever, I will get another perm. I still love a good blow out! Although, my last one was for my wedding!

Positives:

• My hair is manageable.. surprisingly.. like really. While the tangles are not always fun, I am definitely more pleased taking them out compared to before. 
• My scalp can breath! It has not been as itchy or irritated in-between my washes. 
• I can literally just ... GO! Like, it's amazing that I can simply fluff and go! :) 
• Confidence. This is not something about my "hair" but what has grown in me since going natural. I have always been a fierce one hehe but now I just feel so much more confident in any style I wear and feel no judgement. 

Negatives:

• Laziness due to the fluffiness. Honestly, I have difficulty changing up my styles and remembering to wash at least 2 times a week. I hope to co-wash more often in-between my full-on wash days. (I need to do better)
• Trimming. I really need to find a method so I will definitely be exploring some of the ways KLP was discussing here. 

I have grown to have a few "go-to" styles that are easy and manageable with my hair. However, as my hair grows, I try to mix it up and I definitely plan on trying Curlformers that KLP raves about! I cannot wait to give them a try! :)

Let me know what you think and how your journey is going!

xoxo
Keyda

The Best of 2015: My Hair's Hits & Misses

2015 was a really great year for my hair. I wasn't concerned with length, I didn't use heat, and I lived for deep conditioning. I still made a TON of mistakes along the way. Here's a recap of the best things (and the worse things) that happened to my hair.

Hits: Protective Styling

If you haven't read about my LOVE AFFAIR with Kurly Klips---then---idk where you've been chile! It's all that I talked about for the last 6 months! So here's your chance to catch up on why I think that

KURLY KLIPS ARE THE WORLD'S MOST VERSATILE PROTECTIVE STYLE EVER!!!!

Hits: Trimming

I've trimmed and dusted my hair several times this year (Like here, here, here, and here). Way more than I ever have in my healthy hair journey. And while frequent trimming would have been a miss for me in past years---this year it was a hit. My hair is as healthy as it's ever been. My curls look fantastic when wet and my ends are perfectly blunt---and y'all know that I LIVE for healthy blunt ends!

Hits: Curlformers, Perm Rods, and Twist Outs
When my hair wasn't in a protective style---I styled using (most recently) curlformers, perm rods and twist outs. I can't say that I've masted any one of them, but I can say that y'all will definitely see more of them next year.

Hits: My New Staple Products Bentonite Clay Hair Mask Treatment
When I first chopped my hair, I cut it whilst it was straight---which was a total mistake because I was still left with some bits of straight hair on my bangs. It was nearly impossible to tell the difference between my texlaxed hair and my natural curl so I turned to Bentonite Clay! It's amazingness in a jar. It's moisturizing, detoxifying, a shine enhancer, frizz eliminator----just curl defining goodness. Here's how I mix it up and get my curls poppin!

Misses: Wash and Gos
I mean---wash and NOsss!  After about a month of experimenting with wash and gos---I realized that my hair behaves better when it's stretched. It's less tangled, it stays moisturized, my end are far less prone to breakage. Maybe one day, I'll revisit wash and gos, but for now---I'm staying far far away from them.

Misses: High Puffs
My staple natural hair style! Omgosh---how I love this style. It's effortless. And that's the problem. It's so effortless that I'll rock this style for days without moisturizing or sealing my hair. My ends dry out and the curls tangle. Whilst, I'm not vowing to never wear a high puff again, I am going to wear them less and make sure that I moisturize my hair better. Plus, my hair is long enough now, that I can rock a high bun instead! Which is far more kind to my ends!

What were the best (and not so wonderful) moments of your #washdayexperience this year? Share the dets below!

Besitos!
KLP

An InLinkz Link-up

Mini Chop + It's My Birthday! | #WashDayExperience

This week's #washdayexperience was super simple because #1--I didn't have a lot of time and #2 I knew that we were going to be traveling to celebrate my birthday! It all started with a:

Overnight Deep Condition- Matrix Biolage Hydrasource Conditioner + Almond Oil (Wondering why I deep condition overnight? Click here)
Leave ins: Jessicurl Too Shea + My DIY Hair Butter


Per the usual, I banded my hair then pulled it up into a top knot to finish drying. Once it was dry, I tossed in a couple small Caruso steam rollers, let them sit for about an hour, and then removed the rollers. To my surprise, my curls looked and felt FANTASTIC! I new that it was going to be super windy so, I sprayed the curls with a little Chi Enviro Flex Hold Hair Spray. for a light hold. I love love love this spray because it doesn't leave a residue or that crunchy hold that typical hair spray is famous for. Plus a little goes a lllloonnnggg way.

I actually wore my hair down! I've worn my hair down probably 3 times since I straightened it then chopped. It felt great to have carefree hair. Especially since the hubster had a great birthday weekend planned for me.

We started the weekend by taking the minions to the circus. It was their first time and I'll never forget the look on my daughter's face once the show began.  #priceless

Then we went to the Cherry Blossom Beer and Wine festival (without the kiddos obviously...). MOST. FUN. EVER. Yeah...I was kinda in love with my hair....This had to have been selfie #87926303! Haha!

Because I literally passed out the night before, the next day I pulled my hair up into a high bun and left the few curls that made it though down to frame my face. I didn't think much of the style until I got weave checked by our server at breakfast! She was super sweet and obviously just curious so I wasn't offended or anything like that at all. After we left, my hubby told me that my hair was just too unbeliweavable to be real. He's such a dork! Ha-ha!

The weekend was a blast and it reminded me of how much I love my curls. As I started to pre-shampoo my hair last night...I randomly grabbed my scissors and snipped off the last bits of texlaxed hair on my bangs! My sister-in-law has threatened to hide my scissors because obviously I'm addicted!

I'll share all the dets of my mini chop in a few days. But so far---I LOVE IT! Since today is my actual birthday, I'm celebrating with a pedi spa day with the girl minion then dinner with the family. Yay for another year of love and laughs!

How was your #washdayexperience?

Besitos!
KLP

An InLinkz Link-up

Big Chop!

I fell in love with mi cuñada (sister-in-law) the very first time that I met her. She was about to celebrate her quince (15th birthday), independent, opinionated, and truthfully authentic. I loved her sass. I even loved her defiant teenaged angst. The first real conversation that we had was about hair. (go figure!) She was intrigued at how I was able to keep my hair straight and smooth even with the heat/humidity of the summer. But back then, I lived for my flat iron and texture softener. Eventually, she'd ask me to texlax her then BSL hair and of course I obliged. I'd texlax her hair every 3-4 months. I taught her to deep condition weekly. It grew to MBL. We tested out new products together. We learned how to moisturize and seal together. It grew to WL. I styled her hair for proms, homecomings, and graduations. 

Fast forward 6 years---and I get a text: "Can you bring your shears. I'm ready to cut off my straight ends." My heart skipped a beat. I felt proud and petrified at the same time. 

Her last texlax was over 2 years ago. During that time, I taught her to do fabulous braid-outs (You know the ones that I CAN'T get right on my own hair...smh) and big bantu knot curls. We perfected her big bun swag. She faithfully moisturized with Herbal Essence Touchably Smooth Split End Protector (say that mess 10x fast!) and sealed her ends with hair butter to keep them strong and healthy. And now she was ready to let 5-6 inches go. We started her big chop on freshly washed and deep conditioned hair. Because I've been caring for her hair for years, I knew exactly where her curly roots met her relaxed ends. I detanlged and whipped out the scissors. I showed her where I had to cut and she squeezed her eyes closed then told me to just do it. 15 minutes later---her WL hair was APL. Full. Thick. Healthy. APL. Honestly, I've never seen her hair so friggin healthy.

She was in UTTER shock at the shortness; I was too. So to make the length easier to deal with, we immediately blew it out and evened up the hemline. I promised her that it would be back to WL with some TLC before she knew it but that we'd have to trim a little more in a few months to get rid of some heat damage. I'm so proud that she's in love with her curls for the first time in her life. I'm proud that we have been able to share your healthy hair journeys together. But most of all I'm proud that she trusted me with her hair. 

So, I've hidden my scissors for now because I'm totally afraid that my drooling over her blunt ends will result in my relaxed ends in pile on the floor. 

Gracias Felicia por confiar en mí con su pelo chcia! Te amo a la luna!

Besitos!
KLP

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