Wow!  It’s been a months since I updated because I really haven’t been feeling the whole “natural hair thing” much lately.  All the pomp and circumstance and ceremony and making life revolve around products and styling just became too much to want to deal with.  And the energy in some of the “communities” is just draining with the on going debates of what is natural and what isn’t or who is more natural than who and the cult-like following of what celebs are jumping on the natural bandwagon.  We all “go natural” for our own reasons, and I don’t want to be the one to say one person’s motivation is more “worthy” of note than another’s but… Well… I didn’t want to be a part of the superficiality of it all.  My life is about more than just the kinky mop that sits atop my head and I was ready to break out of the box.  In tandem with that, I really wasn’t feeling as if I was paid much attention to anyway, outside of a handful of my nappy peers (yeah I’m looking at you Sistah Chick, Chele, Njemile, Laquita, Dawn and Jaye!) so I figured i wouldn’t “waste” the energy anymore.  Of course those aren’t the only reasons for my “break”.  There were more than a few pressing personal matters that needed my full attention more than this Blog or my Examiner column did, so I had to step away.  And that meant stepping away from all aspects of the phenomenon, including Twitter, the Napturalite Radio Community and Facebook.  Even my Email account was getting the shaft.  I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

But a funny thing seems to always happen when I want to step away.  A random reader contacts me with “news” that makes it all worthwhile again.  I’d gotten a notion to check my Email to see if anything inspiring had floated my way and indeed it had, in the form of a reader writing to let me know that JB2M was featured as one of Spa Beauty Schools’ Top 50 Hair Blogs.  In addition to that, Mireille Liong-A-Kong had contacted me about a paid opportunity to contribute to Going Natural Magazine.  Kinda gave me a Michael Corleone type sensation but both Emails where just the perk-me-up I needed to become motivated again.  Seems the Universe is reminding me that I do have something worthy to contribute amidst the natural hair madness and there are people out there who look forward to it.  Even if I never really see it.  So I guess that means I gotta pick up the virtual pen again and get back in the swing of things, which I will do with pleasure!

So what’s been up with me lately?  Well… As you can tell from the above pic my hair is almost back to pre-BC length, which I would have never realized had I not had the inclination to press it a couple of days ago.  That there is ~5’of new growth from the ~1’ in started with back in September of ‘09, and ~2’ from where I was in February of this year:

All together I’m looking at ~6’ from root to tip all the way around.  This discovery actually shocked me because I had no idea I’d gained that much growth in such a “short” span of time.  On average, hair growth at a rate of 1/4’ per month so the gain proves my hair grows way faster than average.  I’ve had people comment that my hair grows fast, to which I pretty much said “peeshaw”. *lol* But to actually see it with my own eyes is utterly amazing!  And to think, I was on the cusp of performing another BC because my growth had changed the “pattern” of my curls and WNG’s weren’t working as well for me anymore.  As much as I don’t like to do the “heat” thing, I’m glad I gave in to the urge to press my hair or I may have never really known how much was up there. *lol* My routine has stayed pretty much consistent with me alternating avocado-coconut milk conditioner washes with shampoo’ing and conditioning using Kinky-Curly’s Come Clean and Knot Today, spritzing every morning with water and Yonnea’s Natural Beauty’s Honey Hibiscus Leave N Condish and finger styling with a bit of Going-Natural’s Silky Shea Aloe Butter.  Every now and again (maybe once every other week) I’d oil my hair with Yonnea’s Natural Beauty’s GPS Oil (review coming soon) and smooth my edges down with Going-Natural’s Herbal Styling Gel, but other than that I’ve pretty much kept my product usage to a bare minimum.  The only time I applied heat to my hair were on the two occasions documented in the pictures here and my style has been WNG’s.  I really haven’t trimmed my ends very much at all since doing the BC but did so when I pressed my hair both times and I have experienced very little shedding (well, no more than usual) and absolutely NO split ends.  Can’t really say any of this was a magic combination or anything but I can say a key element was keeping my hands out of my hair as much as possible. *lol*

So it’s almost been a year and I can honestly say the whole process was enlightening.  In the past ten and three quarter months I have learned what my hair likes, doesn’t like, how it grows, my curl pattern and what products work as it grows.  I’ve also learned a lot about myself and my perception of beauty which dispelled a lot of myths in the “long hair signifies femininity” department.  So it’s been an experience in self discovery from the inside out and I’m glad I mustered up the courage to undertake it.  It is a leg of the journey I highly recommend if you are so inclined.

What’s on the horizon for my natural hair “career”?  Well along with the features I plan to do, I still need to do a review of Chris-Tia Donaldson’s “Thank God I’m Natural” as well as a review for Lori Johnson’s “A Natural Woman”.  For my Examiner column I have an article featuring Minister Theresa Cloud Eagle’s Divine Essentials® Aromatherapy & Empowerment Tools on deck, will be covering the Nappturally Me Meetup Group’s one year anniversary as well as changing of name (they are now known as Ohio Naturals) format and organizers, can hopefully start an article about the Natural Sistas in Ohio Meetup Group, and just maybe, now that I have a job and can afford to see a stylist, can produce an article about the Synergi Salon experience.  I also may be revamping the Blog’s look and Twitter page as well as the CNHE Facebook Page.  So there’s big things in the works and I hope you all stick around for it all!

Healthy Hair Wishes!