The Diva Chronicles has moved

Hey Curly Peeps!

In case you are looking for my blog or you happened to land on this page through a search online, my blog has moved. I can be found at www.kerygmaword.net or www.thedivachronicles.com. Check me out over there.

Thanks!
The New York Diva

Unkind Treatment

Since my mini celebration last weekend of being chemical-free for one whole year, I must admit that I've been treating my hair rather unkind. I've been so busy this week that I haven't taken the time to do anything more with my hair that what I needed to do in order to look good leaving the house. By Wednesday I realized that my hair felt like a brillo pad and my scalp, an arid desert. I hadn't deep conditioned in forever because my hooded dryer died a few months ago. I was also being cheep and hadn't ordered any Karen's Body Beautiful Luscious Locs in a very long time. The unkind treatment I've shown my hair these last few days doesn't demonstrate thankfulness for one year natural.

So after I stopped being cheap and ordered my KBB Luscious Locs, I decided that for the second year I need a new focus concerning my hair. The first year was all about learning this hair, figuring out what it does and how to live with it, and also educating myself on what effects different products have on my hair. I can't say I've mastered all of that but I know much more than I did a year ago. I've also fully embraced what I've heard Kim Love say, "It's not what products you use, it's what you do with the products." That has helped me keep my PJism under control and money in my pocket.

Now that I know the basics, I think I will focus more on the discipline of caring for my hair- getting my wash routine down and sticking with it, trying out some protective styles I can wear for a number of days, and minimizing manipulation. Right now I end up having to comb through my hair way more than I would like and that is working against some of my greater hair goals. Also with the fall moving in and winter ahead, I need to find some options that will give me longevity and not send me out the door with my hair still wet. While I can only afford to spend a small fraction of my time (and money) caring for my hair, this year I have make the most of that fraction so that my hair will be kind to me as I move through the other areas of my life.

One Whole Year!

It's been a whole year since I ditched the last few strands of my hair altered by the creamy crack and embraced my natural texture for the first time in over 20 years. In this video I share a few pics taken along the journey and reflect on my experience.

Shrinkage is a Beast!

For the last twelve days since my lovely head shot in the last post, I have been feeling my blown out twist-out (and getting lots of compliments too!). Unfortunately I have discovered that this look is not as easy to maintain as I would have liked. I expected that with the humidity, my hair would poof out and get bigger like I described a couple of weeks ago. What I didn't expect- shrinkage! I did not expect my hair to ultimately shrink back to what it would have been had I not blown it out. It definitely leaves me wondering blow if drying is worth the possible heat damage and breakage I could incur, if it's only going to shrink back up in a few days. I guess that is something I will have to consider as I weigh my styling options.

I'm just about 2 days out from my one year nappiversary (yay!). I'm sure I will do the whole musings and reflections on that day, but I do find it interesting that my freshly washed shrunken fro doesn't look much different now than it did back then. I think I was under the impression that as my hair grew, it would look different when it was freshly washed. Nope! My hair when wet still look like Oprah's bad jheri curl from the early 80's all shrunken to my head. The revelation in that factoid is that I will NOT be rockin' any wash-n-go's anytime in the foreseeable future.

Day 3 of My Expanding Hair

Me today taking a breather after baby-sitting for Domestic Chic

This is the third day of my new afro and I am still loving it! If I thought going from relaxed to natural was a big change, then I could never have imagined I'd ever decide to wear my hair really big. It's so big that I definitely need to go buy a bigger set of silver hoops. I've been doing big twists with UBH's Satin Creme Moisturizer to give it some shape and curl definition (most of the time just a few hours before I leave the house). UBH is great a restoring moisture and a huge reason my hair grew so much when I was relaxed. I just recently decided to add this product back into my daily routine now that my hair is longer. It's nice and lightweight but delivers on the job of restoring moisture to my hair. The only drawback is that it works on my hair better when it's dry than when it's wet. I like it because it dries quick enough for me to throw a few twists in, leave them for an hour or two, untwist, and fluff out my 'fro.

Later Peeps, I off to take my new hair out to lunch!

My Incredible Expanding Hair

Originally I had high hopes that this post would be about my incredible results with Blow Out Your Kinks by Hair Rules and my new Willie Morrow comb attachment for my hair dryer. However once you learn what happened with my hair, you'll know why those hopes were slightly altered.

Yesterday morning I loosened my twists after blowing my hair out the night before. The combo of BOYK and the comb attachment left my hair smooth and silky (ideal for flat-ironing). BOYK is a great product although to me it is very similar to No Frizz by Living Proof, which I've purchased in the past to work with my relaxed hair (except Hair Rules is a lot cheaper). My Willie Morrow comb attachment that I had to hunt down on eBay completely revolutionized my blow drying experience. My hair was so straight that for a minute I even contemplated flat-ironing just for the heck of it. Once I loosened my twists and styled my hair I was in love! Even my afro-hating hubby walked by and said, "That's a decent little style you got going on" (his idea of a compliment).

So I'd planned to take pics and post them, but first I had to walk the pup. As I was walking I felt hair in my face that wasn't there when I left the house, but I thought my clip just slipped out of place. Imagine my surprise when I caught my reflection in the window only to find that my hair was puffed out like a poodle! I couldn't believe it. In just under ten minutes, my hair looked nothing like it did when I left the house. 

after sitting out on the deck the first time



after sitting out on the deck the second time


Later that morning my niece Domestic Chic came by, so we sat out on the deck with the kiddies. She was absolutely amazed that my hair continued to get bigger in the time we spent hanging out. At that point I thought my hair had expanded all that it could, but I was so wrong. Later that evening I was back out on the deck with the husband and by the time we came in, I had some kind of crazy 70's Pam Grier thing going on and it was HUGE!


This is how I'm rockin' my new big hair today

The moral of the story ladies- if you leave the house thinking that your hair looks a certain way, check yourself out during the day because you never know what that hair may transform into. I still think BOYK is a great product and I will probably use it from now on to create a dry twist-out. In fact, I really love how my hair looks even with all of the expansion. I had been getting bored and this new big hair really suits me. I just know that when I flat iron, I might face some challenges and although my hair may come straight, it may not stay that way. In the meantime I think I've found a new signature do ;-).

It's Been A Long Time

I cannot believe I have let so much time go by since I last posted. These last few weeks have been very busy and admittedly I have not paid much attention to my hair. I have spent a lot of time in puffs when I need to pull it together and in a curly fro when I'm around the house. Lately I have become bored with my hair because it's not quite long enough for me to achieve the look I would like when I wear it out, yet I'm growing weary of these headbands and elastic bands. I did recently discover a short term solution, in fact just a couple of days ago. Somehow I rigged my elastic band in such a way that the front half of my hair is pulled up and the back is down. The elastic band itself is covered by my hair. I was very pleased with this discovery because it gave me another option.

Something else that I'm really looking forward to trying again is a dry twist-out. I've done it several times before when my hair was a little shorter and I really liked the look because you cold see more of the length. I've since stopped doing them because I didn't have a decent comb attachment for my blow dryer. Without it I think the blow drying experience was infinitely harder on my hair. Last week I ordered an attachment online, so it should be here in the next day or so. When it comes, I plan to try Hair Rules Blow Out Your Kinks. I heard a lot of good reviews and I've been looking for this type of product for a minute.

 With the frustration (albeit minor) I've been feeling concerning my hair, it was nice to receive the sweet compliments that a new natural paid me at church yesterday. She said that every week she admires my hair and thinks to herself that she cannot wait until her hair is as long as mine. That was not only sweet but very encouraging. For so long I have felt that way about so many other natural heads I've seen. I must admit that it feels nice to be that kind of motivation for another natural.