My hair, y'all
Jul. 28th, 2023 06:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee341. Since I last posted about my hair, it has gone from 2A waves to 2B-2C waves/curls. This is so wild.
I went to the hairdresser on Tuesday and got a lot of the length cut off and some waves put in to support the curls and OMG it is so curly now. It's very curly at the roots/crown with lots of genuine ringlets and curls/waves on the sides. It's less so in the back, but my stylist says that since the roots are curly all over, she expects that it will continue to get curlier everywhere over the next couple years. She predicts I am headed for genuine 3A-C hair in the near future.
I am having so much fun playing around with my new curly hair. I finally have a diffuser, so I had a go at styling it myself with heat yesterday, and I think I did alright. I need a stronger hold styling gel which I am picking up today, and then I will have all my curly girl accessories and accoutrement. It's just going to take practice. My stylist was so proud of me, though. She said I was very informed and had done my research and had my facts about how to care for and style my new hair correct. I told her I only know how to do one thing and that's research. LOL
I'm still just in shock that this could even be a thing that happens. So wild.
2. My summer class is over, and it was truly a joy. Poets of color often get left out of courses about nature poetry, so it was important to me that the course included them. One of the poets I included that was new to me is LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs. We read her poem My First Black Nature Poem, which is about the struggle to have positive interactions with nature (in this case, natural bodies of water) when it's the site of generational trauma. The poem references Goree, Senegal, the largest hub of Atlantic slave trading from the 15th-19th centuries, and Lake Champlain, which was part of the route of the Underground Railroad. It evokes the practice of drowning black towns to form lakes (like Lake Lanier in GA), and although the poem suggests that African Americans prefer swimming in pools to swimming in natural bodies of water, it evokes the legacy of racism that prevented them access to public pools after desegregation. Many towns closed public pools or turned the public pool into the country club pool to avoid having to allow African Americans to swim with white people. This happened in the town I live in. There's still not a public swimming pool. This has had serious consequences for public safety in that African Americans are still less likely to know how to swim than white people because of historic lack of access to places to learn how to swim.
3. The graduate class I am constructing is going to be really good I think. I feel so much pressure and responsibility for this class to be good because I didn't get any proper instruction about teaching in graduate school, and I think about how much easier my first years of teaching would have gone if I had. I think once the headache and tedium of constructing the class are over, I am going to be very proud of it. I hope to be finished with it this weekend. *crosses fingers*
I think teaching it will be truly delightful, and I'll be posting about it as I teach it.
I went to the hairdresser on Tuesday and got a lot of the length cut off and some waves put in to support the curls and OMG it is so curly now. It's very curly at the roots/crown with lots of genuine ringlets and curls/waves on the sides. It's less so in the back, but my stylist says that since the roots are curly all over, she expects that it will continue to get curlier everywhere over the next couple years. She predicts I am headed for genuine 3A-C hair in the near future.
I am having so much fun playing around with my new curly hair. I finally have a diffuser, so I had a go at styling it myself with heat yesterday, and I think I did alright. I need a stronger hold styling gel which I am picking up today, and then I will have all my curly girl accessories and accoutrement. It's just going to take practice. My stylist was so proud of me, though. She said I was very informed and had done my research and had my facts about how to care for and style my new hair correct. I told her I only know how to do one thing and that's research. LOL
I'm still just in shock that this could even be a thing that happens. So wild.
2. My summer class is over, and it was truly a joy. Poets of color often get left out of courses about nature poetry, so it was important to me that the course included them. One of the poets I included that was new to me is LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs. We read her poem My First Black Nature Poem, which is about the struggle to have positive interactions with nature (in this case, natural bodies of water) when it's the site of generational trauma. The poem references Goree, Senegal, the largest hub of Atlantic slave trading from the 15th-19th centuries, and Lake Champlain, which was part of the route of the Underground Railroad. It evokes the practice of drowning black towns to form lakes (like Lake Lanier in GA), and although the poem suggests that African Americans prefer swimming in pools to swimming in natural bodies of water, it evokes the legacy of racism that prevented them access to public pools after desegregation. Many towns closed public pools or turned the public pool into the country club pool to avoid having to allow African Americans to swim with white people. This happened in the town I live in. There's still not a public swimming pool. This has had serious consequences for public safety in that African Americans are still less likely to know how to swim than white people because of historic lack of access to places to learn how to swim.
3. The graduate class I am constructing is going to be really good I think. I feel so much pressure and responsibility for this class to be good because I didn't get any proper instruction about teaching in graduate school, and I think about how much easier my first years of teaching would have gone if I had. I think once the headache and tedium of constructing the class are over, I am going to be very proud of it. I hope to be finished with it this weekend. *crosses fingers*
I think teaching it will be truly delightful, and I'll be posting about it as I teach it.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-29 05:39 pm (UTC)My hair was white blonde and completely straight until I was about 4. Then it turned strawberry blonde and developed waves. The curls came with puberty(!) and my hair turned Chestnut and then dark red brown or 'mahogany' as hairstylists like to call it. Welcome to the world of the grab bag of English genetics. :D
The bible of curly hair is "The Curly Girl Method' as it was the pioneering text on the subject of how to take care of curls.
The basic thing to remember though is to avoid hair products with sulphates and phosphates and to resist the temptation to wash your hair more than a couple of times a week - curly hair needs those scalp oils to get the chance to distribute down the hair shaft. If you're sweaty/have worked out, you can always rinse your hair just with water if it's not the time to wash it.
Remember, GENTLE, GENTLE, GENTLE! Concentrate on your scalp when washing and conditioning just dragging it down through the hair strands and squeezing to clean them. Do NOT ever rub your hair with a towel and think twice before wrapping damp hair in one. Pat it dry with an absorbent microfibre towel although you can squeeze it a little if you need to do so. ALL hair product should be applied to still damp hair and gently squished through your hair.
If you have problems with humidity (hello South! Ack!) avoid the 'frizzy hair smoothers' as they contain chemicals you don't want on your curls. Curly hair is semi-porous (more porous than straight hair) which is what forms the curls so you don't want to fill it up with glossers/smoothers. Instead, find a leave-in conditioner suitable for whatever level of thickness your hair is (again, NO sulphates or phosphates - in fact NO ONE should be using shampoo and conditioner with these in it).
You can use mousse if your hair is very thick but really, you'll get the best result with a gel cast. Work the gel lightly through your hair (try not to get too much on your roots) and lightly scrunch to increase curl. If you have a bit/several bits that aren't really curling like the rest, start training it. After you've done the gel & scrunching bit, finger twirl the bits that aren't forming the way you want. At this point, leave it all alone to either air dry or use a diffuser. Do NOT touch/break-up/scrunch your curls at all while doing this. If using the diffuser, concentrate it at your roots. You can turn your head upside down and from side to side (gently) to get at the roots but again, do NOT touch the curls. It's best not to dry your hair all the way - if the ends are still a bit damp they'll dry soon enough on their own.
So now, your hair is dry and this is when you can light scrunch your gel cast to break it up. This is also when you can insert your fingers in your hair at the roots and 'shake' your hair to build volume. You can use a Pick on it if you want but fingers are better. As to brushing your hair, THINK TWICE! The only time I use a brush on my hair is when I use a Tangle Teaser (or a similar detangling curl brush) right before I get in the shower to wash my hair. Otherwise, I never use a brush. Brush = frizz.
Sorry, probably way more than you needed to know or you probably already know it.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 10:02 am (UTC)Awww, what a kind thing to say. *blushes*
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Date: 2023-07-30 10:07 am (UTC)When I still thought my hair was straight, I was really frustrated with it because I was styling it the same way I always had, and it just didn't look as good and I couldn't figure out why. Eventually I realized it was because I was fighting against what it naturally wanted to do. Once I changed the way I treated my hair, I became much happier with the way it looks.
I know you are a hair care minimalist and don't want to spend any time styling your hair, but I think there are a handful of things you can avoid doing and one or two things you could add (I'm talking 30 seconds of time and not styling) that might make your hair look better and thus make you feel better about it. If you're interested, I could elaborate. If not, I will shut up about it.
In any event, I completely understand being upset by change. I typically am myself, and it's really a total fluke that I am embracing this hair change rather than being floored and upset by it.
*a million bajillion hugs*
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Date: 2023-07-30 10:09 am (UTC)My hair color changed drastically from toddler as well. I had gorgeous red hair until I was two and then it turned brown. Now it's greying, but I cover that shit up. LOL
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Date: 2023-07-30 10:15 am (UTC)I don't honestly know what's up with that, but I have some guesses. I had to take one pedagogy class and it was a joke. It was basically a venting session about how the classes we were teaching were going. I did participate in a Summer Institute of the National Writing Project that got me 6 hours of grad credit that was focused on writing across the curriculum, but I was the only graduate student in English to do so; the rest of the participants were K-12 teachers getting their masters in education. That experience was incredibly useful, but it wasn't required or encouraged by the department; I just lucked into finding out about it.
I think it's not required because the scholarship of teaching and learning is not valued at many institutions, so finding professors to teach these courses is hard. There's also the whole assholey hazing aspect at a lot of places--I learned how to do this on the job or I made it through fine so you sink or swim, too attitude. Also, at many R1s, teaching itself just isn't valued (which is bullshit), so I don't think it occurs to the faculty to do the pedagogy training; they're focused on scholarship training because that's what they value.
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Date: 2023-07-30 10:26 am (UTC)You're totally right about devaluing teaching, too. That's one of the reasons I decided early on that I wanted to work at a teaching rather than research institution.
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Date: 2023-07-30 10:30 am (UTC)What I'm struggling with now is how to preserve the curls after wash day. My attempts to refresh them on day 2 have not gone well. I think part of the problem is that my hair isn't uniformly curly yet. I have some silk scrunchies coming today, and I'm going to try pineappling my hair on top of my head and sleeping on a satin pillowcase and see what happens.
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Date: 2023-07-30 10:42 am (UTC)There haven't been RCP programs at any of the institutions where I've learned or taught.
I'm in the unique position of the teaching institution where I was hired slowly morphing into a research institution, but because of our original mission and so many of us being hired under that original mission, we're retaining our teaching focus and original values. It's really nice.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 11:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 11:14 am (UTC)We have a blended access mission still, and our graduate programs are still in their infancy, so it's very, very early days. We are enshrining things in curricula and promotion and tenure policies and annual evaluation so that I think that even as those of us who were part of the original cohort of faculty eventually retire, teaching will remain a priority.
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Date: 2023-07-30 12:50 pm (UTC)I wish I'd had you as a teacher growing up sometimes, I would have remembered my lessons then. You share your joy of learning with everyone, and it lights you up. That's so nice!
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Date: 2023-07-30 12:54 pm (UTC)Thank you for the poem, I have saved it to read. I am trying to widen my poetry readings at the minute (to help me write the stuff!) and we are being encouraged to explore outside our own social and cultural (and national!) boundaries. I will look forward to your posts :)
no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 02:49 pm (UTC)I'm willing to listen to your suggestions. I honestly don't care much about how it looks-- I wear a hat with a brim 100% of the time I'm not at home and need to use the car-windows-down method of air conditioning so it'll never look untousled--but more information is always good.
And thank you for your patience. I genuinely am happy you're enjoying the change so much.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-30 03:46 pm (UTC)Don't take the scrunchy out until after you've showered and are ready to address your hair, skin, teeth, etc. The moisture in the shower helps and this allows it to get to the roots and ends, the most important parts in curly hair.
By all means buy a pillowcase in a colour that will match your decor but if you find you like the results, buy an additional one in a distinctive colour (mainly not white). That second one is because you're going to want to take it on trips with you and if it's a colour that doesn't blend into hotel/friends or family's decor you're far less likely to forget it and leave it behind.
As to curl refresh, you'll need to acquire a spray bottle but a particular type - don't worry, they're not expensive. The key words are 'continuous' or 'ultrafine' mist, something like this. When you press the spray button, it delivers a long shot of mist 'level' spray rather then the type you're used to getting from a spray bottle. This means you can moisten your hair to reactivate your product without getting it really wet again. Then you can very lightly scrunch, VERY lightly, if that doesn't prove to be enough on its own. You can also do a little more of that finger root shake out as necessary but again, lightly and be careful not to drag your fingers out through the hair.
If you have thick hair, you can take some of your leave-in conditioner and add a small amount to the water in your spray bottle. You'll need to experiment to get the right amount. Just remember to shake the bottle a bit before spraying.
You'll read articles that will talk about basically re-gelling it every day and that might work great in non-humid/non-baking hot climates but otherwise it'll lead to build-up that will turn crunchy on you and crunchy is one of the things you're trying to avoid.
I'd like to mention one product specific thing. Do NOT buy Deva Curl, no matter how many times you see it recommended. Yes, it was originally developed by Lorraine Massey, the writer of the Curly Girl Method but it got bought out by another company a few years back and now the reports of product failure/hair damage/hair falling out have sky rocketed.
You'll also see lots of recommendations for 'Ouidad Advanced Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel' and for Ouidad in general. Ouidad products are some of the most pirated of the curly hair products so if you want to try them, you either need to order them from their website, order them from Ulta or buy them in person from an Ulta or a hair salon. If you have thick hair and a lot of frizz problems, the Ouidad climate control gel may work well for you but it can be a bit hit and miss for a lot of people.
Obvious statement is obvious but the most expensive products aren't always the best. The two most beloved products amongst my curly haired mates are Dippity-do, a hair gel that's been around since 1965 and can normally be bought for around $10 a tub and the Bounce Curl range.
Which also reminds me. If you have thick hair, you'll probably want to do a deep condition at least once a week - just pick one of the times you'd be washing your hair anyway. If your hair is thick but not inclined to dryness, skip it or cut it back to maybe once a month.
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Date: 2023-07-31 09:58 am (UTC)*hugs*
I'm blushing.
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Date: 2023-07-31 09:59 am (UTC)I hope you like the poem.
If you go back through my poetry tag, you will find lots of recs. Even when I am reccing a book of poetry, you should be able to google the poet and find poems from him or her online. :)
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Date: 2023-07-31 10:54 am (UTC)HUGGLES!
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Date: 2023-08-01 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-01 10:18 am (UTC)You are so kind. I appreciate your support. <3
My advice for a totally minimalist support of the change would be:
wash your hair as infrequently as possible (if you're washing every day, try every other day)
don't brush it, ever, except with a tangle teaser type brush
use a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner
if you want to see what it looks like if you encourage the curls, get the Odele Air Dry Styler. You can get it from Ulta; it's not expensive. You just wash your hair, put a little bit in, brush it with the tangle teaser, and then leave it alone while it dries
no subject
Date: 2023-08-01 10:26 am (UTC)My MIL gave me a set of satin pillowcases for Christmas a couple of holidays ago, so I'm set there. I slept on them last night! Excitement! LOL And my silk scrunchies arrived from Amazon, so I pineappled last night and that was very comfortable; no trouble sleeping, so I'm good to go there.
My continuous mist sprayer arrived yesterday, but it was defective, so I have to return it. Boo. It sprayed water but also leaked all over my hand from where the cap screwed into the bottle. So I still have to get another one of those.
My hair is not thick. It is thinnish (yay, thyroid!). And it's not uniformly curly yet. It is much curlier on the crown and sides than the back which is super annoying. So I'm finding that I'm in that weird place where I would like a firmer hold, but it makes my hair stringy and even thinner looking. So it ends up looking better with looser hold stuff like the Odele Air Dry Styler even if the back just kinda fall out into wavy.
I haven't bought any Deva Curl or Ouidad products, but I've thought about it, so thanks for the anti-recs.
no subject
Date: 2023-08-01 10:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-01 09:13 pm (UTC)I would suggest trying some finger training in the back though, as I mentioned earlier.
Fine curly hair needs the right product, not more of the wrong product. I would recommend Jessicurl Gelebration Spray, Bounce Curl and Verb Ghost to you as particularly good with fine curls but, then again, what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. It's also okay to use the ones made for thicker hair but you need to use less and/or water them down a bit in your hand.
no subject
Date: 2023-08-01 10:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-02 08:39 am (UTC)