Taking a Break: UPDATE!

(photo taken in May; Hair: two strand twists done on blown out hair, lasted for about 5 weeks!)

Dear Naturally Leslie readers,

So after 7 lovely weeks with my baby boy, I returned to work today. It was tough. People tell you it is hard but you can't know until you experience it. Luckily, my son was being cared for by my husband who decided to take two weeks off. That made the transition back not so bad and I only called home a half a dozen times.

In terms of blog postings, I hope to get back in the swing of things at some point soon but I must request your patience as I get into this new routine. I am not one of those super bloggers who can have a baby, breastfeed, pump, take care of the little tot, and continue to post frequently without missing a beat. I need some time to adjust to this new phase and I am going to take it.

In the meantime, feel free to continue to comment as you wish as I will be able to moderate comments daily. Or, you can sit back and do nothing and just wait until I get back to posting! Either way, I appreciate your readership and support and I hope to return quickly. Also, you can email me topics you would like to see discussed here on Naturally Leslie in the future. I would rather do more posts about things than interest you but I need to know what those are! Send me an email to naturallyleslie@gmail.com.

Ok, off to bed. Take care and we'll see each other soon!

Love always,

Leslie

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UPDATE:

Hey there everybody! I apologize for being MIA for so long. Thank you for all your emails and comments in my absence. School just got out for the summer and I hope to get back to posting really soon. If you sent an email and it went unanswered, please accept my apologies and know that I did receive it. I have been somewhat "unplugged" if you will and have not done much related to the blog. Baby is almost 4 months ( on July 4) and I can say I feel pretty adjusted. We're still nursing about every 2-3 hrs around the clock so that is tough and part of the reason I have not braved adding anything else to my plate! I hope you continue to stick around and hopefully I can star posting again really soon. I appreciate all your support!

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Hair After Braids...

So...I took my box braids out a few weeks ago. They did not make it as long as I would have liked for two reasons. One, they were super heavy and I felt like I kept hitting my baby with them! I was constantly swinging them out of my face, so much so that I felt like vintage Cher. Two, the ends were cut very blunt and straight across. To me they looked like the ends of shoe laces when they lose that plastic tip. Not cute, imo. Alas, I spent the better part of two days undoing braids, in between baby feedings, changings, and naps.

After the take down, I washed my hair, conditioned and detangled. Before I got the braids, my regimen would then have me set my hair in two low buns to stretch and dry. But I decided to do two-strand twists on wet hair for a defined twist out instead.

Because I am dying to try some new products, but vowed to use up the old ones I have first, I pulled out my jar of Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding to set my twists.

I did medium twists all over, applying a generous dollop of product to each damp section. I only used my fingers to part but I used my denman to smooth. After twisting all the hair I poured a small amount of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in my hands and smoothed it over all the twists. I sealed each end with a tiny spot of shea butter.

I air-dried the rest of the day and that night. The next day, I took down each twist and voila!

Here I am a few days later with a bun (and the baby!) I retwisted the front few twists to redefine in case I wanted to wear it down again.

(Baby and I both LOOOOOVE our green Moby wrap)

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What's Your Opinion: What's Next for Naturals?

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I have been thinking about this for a long time and wanted to get your opinions. I don't know about you all but it seems to me that natural hair is becoming more mainstream. Granted, there is still a long way to go before natural becomes the "norm", but compared to even just 10 years ago, there is so much information and awareness out there. More than ever, women are coming to embrace their god-given locks with pride.

It also seems that every day there is another natural hair product business, website, forum, you tuber, blog, etc cropping up to support, promote, and educate about kinky and curly hair. Talk about info overload!

So my questions to you all are these: What is next for natural hair? What do you anticipate will be the big issues of the next 5-10 years in this movement? What do you want to see bloggers and You Tubers tackle on their pages and vids? What do you hope to see in the media? Are we at the point where we no longer need to celebrate ever next person who goes natural or are we still just getting started?

Your thoughts....

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Hair Growth Article

I was surfing the net and landed on this article. I know many of us are determined to grow long, strong tresses but aren't quite sure how to do it. This article dispels some common myths many black women grew up learning about how to care for our hair. Hope it's helpful!

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Obama '09

This election season was no doubt amazing, historical, emotional. I was so lucky to be alive now, in this generation, to witness and participate in electing the nation's first Black president. I am so proud and excited to know that not only did I get to vote, I got to shake the man's hand the night he won North Carolina in the primaries. I went with my mom and a couple of her friends. We were the 3rd people in line a good 4 hours before the doors opened to let people in on NC State's campus. It was such a long wait but so worth it. To be up against that barricade looking up at the podium hearing our future president speak was surreal to say the least. After he finished and came around to shake hands, I was literally trembling with excitement. First Lady Michelle Obama even gave me a hug. Yes, I'm totally bragging!!!! I just feel blessed to have been there, to see that night in history with my own two eyes. What are some feelings you all had during this campaign? Did you have any such close encounters with our new president? What will you remember most about this historic event?

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***My Hair Routine***

My hair routine is pretty simple. Let me start by saying I do not know what my hair "type" is. Personally, I do not like to get into texture-typing simply because it seems limiting to me. That's not a judgment for those who do, it's just not my thing. I will say that I have at least three different textures going on with the front "bang" area being the loosest. Remember this is the part I killed with the flat iron the first time around. The crown is the tightest and tangles very easily. The back and sides are not as loosely curly as the front. When wet, my curls generally are the size of a pen but when dry they almost look like small springs. It is not silky but very soft and of course needs constant moisture.

Weekly: I wash with Carol's Daughter Rosemary Mint shampoo only once. I massage my scalp with the pads of my fingers then rinse well. I use Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner while I shower and then detangle with my Denman brush. While detangling I section my hair into 6 setions and two-strand twist each one once all the tangles are out. When this is all done, I rinse all of the conditioner out, leaving the twists in.


Bi-Weekly: I deep condition under my hooded dryer for 30 minutes to 1 hour using the Herbal Essences conditioner. I sometimes add some extra virgin olive oil to my scalp where I have dryness issues. I put my hair in a plastic cap and let the dryer do its magic! Then I will rinse and style. (Don't do this enough but it is a goal for 2009!)

So....that's really it. I use raw Shea butter to moisturize and I sometimes twist using IC Fantasia Styling gel for two strand twists, coils and braids.

Later I will do a post specifically discussing which products I use and why I like them. I also want to try some new products I have seen on other natural hair blogs so I will keep you posted on those as well!

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Current Styles

Ok so here are a few pictures of styles I currently wear. By current I mean they are all from 2007 to the present. I love twist outs, they are the easiest for me. I do a braid-out every now and then, it just takes so long for me un-braid the darn things! I sometimes do coils and coil outs. Wash and Go's are not my faves, I hate walking around with wet hair, but sometimes I do them. And of course puffs are a staple as well. Oh and one pic is from childhood with virgin hair, gotta love the plaits! What do you guys think? What are some hairstyles you like to rock?

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