Candice's Hair Diary: One Step Backward, Two Steps Forward

Yes. I took one step backward. I had the rest of my hair cut. Technically, it is a step backward from reaching my hair goals. Amber removed the rest of my colored ends. She said they didn't look too damaged, but they were dry. And that's the part that I just could not get jiggy with. The constant dryness was so annoying. (Not all color is bad or really drying. If you are new to my hair story, you can see what happened, then come back.)

I have tried several different deep conditioning methods. I've used condiments, oils, natural store-bought products, unnatural chemical products, and I've done them with and without heat. I've done the most I could for my hair and I was still hard pressed to get the bottom of my twists to hold together. My colored ends just refused to not be brittle and dry. They had to go. My hair works a lot better now. When I make a twist and try to seal the ends, they actually twist together!! And I could never get my hair to be all the way shiny and moisturized anymore before this final cut. But check out this shot.

I can't remember the last time my hair had so much shine.
This was the 2nd day wearing my bun, with no additional product.

So I'm back to my natural color now. I was a red head and then I rocked the "ombre" black and brown (The red color faded to a nice brown. I liked it so I kept it.) and I haven't had colorless hair for almost 3 years. It felt weird to realize that my hair color wasn't my real color. Completely dark hair has taken some getting used to. Besides, anyone who really knows me will tell you that I'm a much more "colorful" personality than I am dark. I'm already planning on getting color in my hair sometime in the future. And not because I hate my hair or have any self-esteem or self-loathing issues*. I just think color fits my personality a lot more.

My boyfriend and I... being colorful.
Love this twist-out. It happened after keeping my hair in twists for 4 days.

But you know what doesn't fit my personality? This bald spot in my head. Yes, it's still there. I'm going to pray that it's not permanent. I was made aware of it again this week when I put my hair in a bun and literally had to manipulate my hair to cover up the shiny scalp in the front left side of my head. *sigh* I just want my edges back.

In the front is a middle part. But on the side... there used to be hair there.

And finally, I made a wig!!! I'm not going to get too detailed because this post has already been so long. I'm going to put the details in a separate post. But it was SO EASY! I just watched a few YouTube videos and got the gist of the wig-making process. I already had the hair for vacation. The additional products only cost $10. I still have some adjustments to make on it, but I've already worn it in public and I got more compliments.  But here is the wig after it was sewn, but before I cut it. You'll just have to come back to see the final product, along with instructions the steps I followed and photos of the process.

So that's it. I've had quite a month of hair fun. I'm back to the point of loving experimenting with my hair and actually enjoying it. I think we all go through hair phases, and I just needed some space. But absence really does make the heart grow fonder. I'm loving my hair lately. How about you?

*Is is weird that in 2013 it's still necessary to put a disclaimer on your self-awareness because of a hair choice? Let me know when this ends.