Dr. Bronner's Magic Peppermint Soap

I recently bought this soap to try out on my hair for a change and it's okay. I had to shampoo my hair several times to really get it clean with this soap, but it left my hair nice and soft and my hair didn't feel like it was stripped after the three washings. I used to use to soap to wash my hair when I was younger and decided to give it a try once again. I like to try out new things and am a bit of a PJ or product junkie for those of you who are familiar with hair language. I have so many products that I have tried, some I like and and some I don't. This particular brand also comes in a liquid shampoo also. I was going to try it out, but decided I would try to soap first. Here are the ingredients:

Saponified organic coconut, organic palm & organic olive oil (w/retained glycerin), water, organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, organic peppermint oil, mentha arvensis, salt, citric acid, vitamin E.

My Kitty Leading A Life of Leisure

Will you take a look at this photo of my cat? (Click here to see a funny video of my cat on Youtube)I bet your eyes can't believe what you are seeing. He He. I snapped this photo of my cat because she always does this move and I am perplexed when I see cats do this. I'm thinking I would put a caption on this photo as: This is your brain on drugs! He He. Or how bout this one: Just polished off a six pack of Miller, now I'm chillin. He He He. And to make matters worse this cat has the nerve to always be in your way while you're trying to walk, and if you even brush up against her she hauls off and double whacks you with her paws and then hang onto you and bite you!!!! Ungrateful Puss!!! He He. I keep telling this cat that I'm not gonna have her stuffed when she dies if she keeps biting me like that! Yuck Yuck. She's never gonna get that part in Puss & Boots if she keeps up doing this. Anyway, I still love my kitty. Even though cats seem to generally be mean spirited, ungrateful, sneaky, not giving a damn if you like them or not, people are still bending over backwards for their cats. A dog would never bite you if you accidentally brushed against them. My cat destroyed my brand new living room set by clawing it to pieces, yet I still buy her premium food! What a fool I am. Anyway, to all cat lovers, keep on letting your kitty lounge on your freshly washed clothes, pick fleas on your just changed bed linens and generally being aloof, uncaring and biting you whenever they feel like it cause we all know we still love our kitties.

Suave Sleek Frizz Control Gel

Since I'm on frizzy hair I might as well add this gel to the mix. I bought this gel some time ago and used it a few times. It is a very good gel for when the humidity is high and your hair frizzes up. It has a nice smell and a silky feel to it. When I use this gel it holds my hair nicely and keeps the frizz at bay. As a matter of fact I used it today and it held my hair beautifully. I recommend this gel to all "nappies" and even to people who don't have afro type hair, but hair that frizzes up.

One Hundred Degrees of Hair

The weather for the last few days has been very hot and humid. Today it got to 100 degrees in Philly. Anyway, I decided to post a hair recipe for frizzy hair. I know that my hair frizzes up a lot on humid, hot days. Even when I wash my hair on a humid day, it never seems to dry at all. I envy people who do not sweat in their head and their hair does not shrink. By nature kinky afro type hair has a tendency to shrink roughtly 75% or more when damp or wet. I really hate that about my hair. Cool days don't give me that much of a problem with shrinkage other than when I wash my hair. I am super hot as I type this up because I don't have any air conditioning yet, but am going to get it in a day or two. Well, as I said that I would give a good recipe for a frizzy hair:

Frizz Buster Hair Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup conditioner
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon almond oil

Directions:
Mix ingredients, blend well. Pour mixture over damp hair, work it in....leave on for about 20 minutes for a good deep conditioning. Rinse out. This works for all hair types.

NOTE: I haven't tried this myself, so if anyone tries this out and it works pleas email me or post a comment and let me know. Thanx.

My Strands

I tried to take a photo of a few of my strands, but my digital camera is not that good, but I'm posting the photo just the same. The four strands show the different types of hair on my head. As you can see the top strand bends in the "z" angles, which eqauals 4B or 4C hair. The bottom strand has more of a curl pattern to it, namely 4A I believe. In the middle the strands are little "o's", with the left one a little smaller than the right one, again two different types of hair. When I purchase a better camera I will again take photos of different strands of my hair and hopefully the photos will be a little clearer. The hair samples came from the middle and front of my hair. I did not take any from the nape or sides of my hair which I believe is more of a 3C.

Tightly Coiled & Kinky Hair Information--3C thru 4C Hair

Information regarding type 4A thru 4C hair seems to be the most popular on this page. I have looked at other websites and webpages and have come up with additional information for this type of hair. I took information from naturallycurly.com, which is a good website for all types of hair. They have numerous pages filled with all kinds of information about products that work, in their opinion, and products that don't. I still believe you have to try out products for your own hair, because what may work beautifully for one head may not work on your head. In my opinion, hair can be very unforgiving. Too much shampooing, not enough shampooing, too much conditioning or not enough conditioning can have deleterious effects on your hair. And sometimes you can take what you feel is the best care of your hair, only to still end up with damaged and/or unruly "bad" hair days, weeks & months. To look at type 4 hair, you would be led to believe that it is strong and can withstand whatever you would do to it. But because type 4 hair is so fragile, it needs the most moisture of any other type of hair and needs to be handled with care. So without further adieu, below is some good information I got from the web and I hope you will find it of further help:

Type 4: Kinky hair
If your hair falls into the Type 4 category, then it is kinky, or very tightly curled. Generally, Type 4 hair is very wiry, very tightly coiled and very, very fragile. Like Type 3 hair, Type 4 hair appears to be coarse, but it is actually quite fine, with lots and lots of thin strands densely packed together. Healthy Type 4 hair won't shine, but it will have sheen. It will be soft to the touch and will pass the strand test with ease. It will feel more silky than it will look shiny. Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg and the actress Angela Bassett are all Type 4s.

Type 4 hairs looks tough and durable, but looks can be deceiving. If you have Type 4 hair, you already know that it is the most fragile hair around. Why? Type 4 hair has fewer cuticle layers than any other hair type, which means that it has less natural protection from the damage you inflict by combing, brushing, curling, blow-drying and straightening it. The more cuticle layers in a single strand of hair, the more protection it has from damage. Each time you damage your hair — fire up the curling iron, fry it with chemicals – you break down a cuticle layer, robbing your hair of much-needed moisture. I cannot emphasize this enough. It's like taking a wire and bending it again and again. Eventually, it's going to snap and break.

Many women with Type 4 hair rely on chemical relaxers to make hair easier to control. In its natural states, sometimes Type 4 hair doesn't grow very long because every time you comb it, it breaks. (Of course, if you have dreadlocks and never comb them or keep them braided, your hair can and does grow quite long.)

There are two subtypes of Type 4 hair: Type 4A, tightly coiled hair that, when stretched, has an "S" pattern, much like curly hair; and Type 4B, which has a "Z" pattern, less of a defined curl pattern (instead of curling or coiling, the hair bends in sharp angles like the letter "Z"). Type 4A tends to have more moisture than Type 4B, which will have a wiry texture. But what if your hair has been chemically straightened? How can you tell which subtype you belong to if your hair is relaxed? You'll need at least one inch of new growth to tell. Pull at the roots. If you can see a definite curl pattern, then it's an A, if not, then it's a B.

Type 4 hair can range from fine/thin to wiry/coarse strand texture. Generally, this hair is densely packed to give the appearance of very thick but fragile hair. 4a hair has a clearly visible curl and wave pattern that ranges from pen size curls to pen spring size coils. 4b hair has a tighter wave pattern and kinks of various size. This texture does not exhibit the shine or silkiness of looser type curls, but instead has sheen, and a soft, almost cotton-like feel. As with other types of curly hair, showing the true length can be an extra challenge, as the hair may grow “up” or “out” before starting to hang down. In its unlocked/unbraided state, type 4 hair is known to shrink up to 75% of the actual hair length. With the proper care and technique, type 4 hair is indeed resilient, manageable, durable, growable and easy to control.

NOTE: Here is one of my Youtube videos. Please watch, rate, comment & subscribe!