By |

Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend. I wanted to do a really quick blog post to share my Miss Jessie’s Salon Experience. Miss Jessie’s is a leader in haircare within the natural and curly haired community, but did you know that they also had their own Salon?! I had no idea until I read the book written by Miko branch, one of the co-founders of the brand, entitled “Miss Jessie’s: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch—Naturally.”

I bought this book several years ago after I had recently gone natural and also after the extremely unexpected death of the other co-founder of the brand, Titi Branch. It was just sitting on the bookshelf collecting dust until I grabbed it to read while doing a lot of traveling this past Summer. After I started reading it, I finished it over the span of I think 3 weeks, which is really quick for me! I was so inspired by the story of two sisters grinding it out in NYC to follow their dreams, but was surprised to learn how much I had in common with these women! They’re also of mixed African-American and Japanese heritage with family having the last name Pittman from the same area where my Pittman family members are from! How cool is that?? AND, their grandma, Miss Jessie, lived in Poughkeepsie and would shop at the same grocery store I used to go to in College! Learning more about these sisters and their struggle to create something they believed in made me feel so close to them and by the end of the book I was rooting so hard for them. Needless to say, I was stoked when I found out I’d be able to get a last minute appointment at the Miss Jessie’s Salon my birthday weekend.

It was so crazy to know Miko’s motives and the thought process behind all of her choices in the salon and then experience them first hand. I felt like royalty during my entire experience and all of the staff was SO. NICE. If you’ve been following my natural hair journey at all on any of my platforms, you know I’ve had some difficulty finding a natural hair salon that I trusted and made me feel comfortable (because I’ve been shamed and also had nonsense spewed at me) but I instantly fell in love with the Miss Jessie’s Salon staff. They listened to my concerns and my story and were able to suggest products that would work for me. My visit consisted of a super deep conditioner, end-trim, and two-strand twist (which I neglected to get a picture of. Bummer.) and I loved the results and process of everything. I can say, without a doubt, that this will be the salon that I go to for the entirety of my time in NYC. I’ll share the products they suggested as well as the other products I’m using in my current natural hair regimen with you soon. Do you use Miss Jessie’s products?? Let me know which ones in the comments below!

 

By |


When I decided to embark on my natural hair journey 3 years ago, I didn’t know what to expect. I was really anxious but excited to begin learning about how to take care of my own hair, something I honestly had never been quite invested in up until that point. My natural hair journey thus far has taught me so much about my hair and myself, and has also introduced me to this new community I never knew existed. This blog was actually started to document my hair journey, and although I’m really happy with the current direction of my blog, I am so upset that I have been neglecting to consistently post about what’s going on with my hair. Now that I’m posting stuff on stuf on stuff (if you have no idea what I’m talking about you should watch this vid I just uploaded.) I have literally NO EXCUSE to not be more consistent with sharing. Also, 11/1 was my big chop anniversary! Woo hoo! Hooray! Cue the loud obnoxious DJ airhorn sound effect! Reflecting on my journey for the past three years, I’ve seen a lot of growth and also a lot of breakage (*cries*) but I actually really love my length at the moment and I feel like the tapered look has sort of become my signature style…but you guysss…The Texas girl in me wants hair that is as big as possible, so I’m still on a mission to attain that. I recently went to the Miss Jessie’s Salon in Soho (#treatyoself) and I will be doing a separate post on that and my experience, but I got my ends trimmed and bought some new products and I am excited to see what happens! I recently made a commitment to myself to actually learn how to do some protective styles that don’t involve wigs or weave or crochet so I can bond with my hair and understand it better. Y’all pray for me because I don’t know how this will go, but I’m feeling some similar excitement that I felt when I first went natural. It just seems like another phase or layer within the process that will teach me new ways to love myself and I am ALWAYS down for that. SO. Since I haven’t posted update pictures since 4 months after my big chop a.k.a. an eternity ago, here are some new updated pictures below so you can see where I’m at. You should also take a peek at my hair story here, and I’m pretty sure you can see me fresh after my big chop! So much progress since then wow! Without further ado…

 

 

 

If anyone reading this has some good progress pictures, please share them below!! I would so love to see them and talk about your hair journey!

 

By |

This month marked my 6 months since my big chop and making the decision to go natural. I have learned so many things about my hair and about myself and I am so excited to continue on this wonderful journey; however, as I type this right now, I am back to wearing a weave. There are a lot of people who would argue that I’m regressing or that I caved and went back to “the dark side,” but I completely disagree!

At first, I was really struggling with my choice to go back into a weave because I was sort of halfway listening to all of those comments people were making. I had started on my journey to learn to love my natural hair and learn to take care of it and appreciate it as a part of who I am, and I worried that going back into a weave after all this time would take away from that. My hair had visibly grown since I first started and I was so excited that people I knew and were following me on my journey noticed and pointed it out to me! I was getting a lot of compliments on my progress and how it looked on me in general, which was absolutely incredible to me and super fulfilling. I had finally gotten to a point where I felt pretty confident about working with my hair and really owning it and still feeling feminine and beautiful (which was really huge for me you guys). But..when it came down to it..I was super bored.

Those who have known me for a while, or even those who just follow my blog, if you read my post about my hair journey you can see how often I like to change it up. To me, hair has always been an avenue for creative expression and trying out new things; and, although one of the things I have learned to love most about my natural hair is its versatility, I was really missing having a pony tail and I was craving some color for summer. I’ve come a looong way in learning how to do some different types of things with my hair, but I was absolutely no where near ready to dye or lighten my natural hair. Guys, I’ve just been scared switching up the products I use because I’m terrified of losing all of my hard work! A lot of naturalistas out there are at the point where they’re willing to take risks and try new things because it’s just hair and it will grow back… but I can comfortably say I’m definitely not there yet (one day!). So getting this weave let me play around and do some fun things without potentially damaging my hair.

Another huge thing that a lot of people tend to forget is weaves can be a great protective style. I’m one of those people whose hair grows a lot when it is just tucked away and left to do its own thang without any manipulation by me. I also suffer from a horrible case of HIH syndrome (hands in hair syndrome) where I am constantly touching my hair and detangling and just getting all of those horrible icky oils from my hands onto and into my hair that just dry it out. So for me, weaves let me safely suffer from my disorder.

Lastly and most importantly, weaves make me feel so confident and good about myself. It was hard for me to admit this, because I thought it was a bad thing, but I’ve decided it’s really not. The whole point of the natural hair movement is to encourage women to love themselves and who they are while learning to care for their hair. If wearing a weave makes you feel confident and beautiful then I think you should do it! Everyone’s journey and personal situation is completely different and I think it’s important for people to remember that whilst on your journey, you should do what’s best for you. For me, I can say that this time around I am in a completely different mindset than when I would only wear weaves. Back then it felt like something I had to do to feel beautiful and now I know that that’s just not true at all. Big, bold hair will always always always fit with my personality and who I am, and I dream of the day when I nurse my own hair to get to that point. Until then, I am comfortable with faking it for the time being. Now there are also incredible brands like Runway Curls that create beautiful, 100% authentic human hair extensions that you can blow dry, straighten, dye, and do everything that you would want to do with your real hair without experiencing any of the damage or stress that comes along with styling. I work with this brand because of its dedication to the natural movement and teaching girls to love their natural texture, which I think is super important and is perfect for what I want in my weave right now! A lot of people also are hating on the Brazilian hair look, but I’m gonna be real with y’all and say that I don’t think it’s the most horrible thing. Curly hair takes a lot of work and effort and if your present lifestyle makes that difficult for you, or even if you just want a short vacation from the curly life and want to enjoy the luxury of being able to wake up and throw your hair in a pony and go, I say go for it (although I have found that having hair that matches your natural texture is so much better and easier when it comes to blending in new growth and keeping people guessing about whether you grew that hair or not)! Everyone is different and has different needs, and I think in the end we need to be focusing on encouraging people to do what’s best for them and their hair and makes them feel the best about themselves. Isn’t this movement about love and support anyways?!

Let me know what you think below!

fd65691