Beautiful Hair, Beautiful Me

As I looked at Michael's (from the last post) photo of what I think is him, I realize how much I LOVE hair. I've been a hair freak... wait, let me be kinder with that... I've been into hair since... who knows when. The more naptural, the better as for hairstyles. But I love body hair on men too. I love a well groomed man with a beard, sideburns, a goatee and/or even a simple mustache. Just keep it neat is all I ask. I know razor bumps/acne can have adverse affects on the male skin and I sympathize with those who suffer from this. I'm not one who can recommend anything for someone I don't know but Dudu Osun (African black soap) and/or See Breeze are the absolute best for me. If I could just stop drinking sodas and eating chocolate I'd have the face teens would envy at my age. Annnnnnnnnnd... that won't happen anytime soon, so... bumps away with my 2 recommendations is all I can do for now. Did I say I love chest hair and arm/leg hair on men?? I mean, I don't turn a guy down if he's treating me to dinner if he has no body hair what-so-eveeeeer. But... if he does... let's just say it'll be real hard to get though a meal sitting next to him. (CUL) Now, am I that bad you ask? I don't lie on myself... OK? (snickers in thought)

Back to my hair affliction... I also love long hair on men. My poor nephew is beating me out of his curly long sides. I think he's so adorable right now... when he's sleep. (laughs) Anyhow, my hair is so long, I think if I permed it out I'd have just past shoulder length again. I've always sported lengthy hair for ponytail purposes no doubt. The only time it's been short was when I decided to go BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEACH blonde. I just knew the honey cocoa brown skin was going to look good with white gold hair. This was back in the 90's and not one soul told me how very important moisture was to straw. Yes, it was that light. Soooooooooo... needless to say after a few months, I saw hair just dropping in the sink and filling up the comb. My stylist Edie said, "sorry Di, we've got to cut it down in order for it to grow as I had here and there chunks that were short and then some that were shorter. I was mortified as I'd had long hair past my shoulders or so since I was a lil girl. Chop chop it went and I ended up with a pretty blonde top mix with the black sides and back to the neck. I thought it was so cute... that is until I came home with 4 different sized curling irons. One iron barrel was the size of an ink pen's ink barrel - no lie.

I burned the hell out of my scalp for months as it grew from a 4 barrel do to a one barrel style. Never again was I cutting my hair once it was on my shoulders again. And that lasted til 2001 when I decided I wanted twists. Get to the stylist and she tells me I need to get the perm out in order for it to twist properly and then lock. "Lock"???? WHAT?? So, I had to research this "lock" and when I did I was like OOOOOOOOOOOOOH HELLLLLLLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOOOO. (laughs hard) I decided to stick with twists and go from there. So, she cut ALLLLLLLLLLL my hair off and I had about an inch that was twistable by using a "rats tail comb". After she finished, I had all these lil curls on my head and the air hit it hard. I was sneezing my scalp was so exposed. I've never looked back as I still have twists today. Needless to say, they are done by hand because that original comb would be downright comical to use now. I want someone else to do them to see how they turn out. Me, I'm just grabbing no parting and twisting away. Gives home grown an all new meaning, ya think?

What's my hair care regimen? I started on anything I could afford at first, then Carol's Daughter (thanks to actor Gary Dourdan) products came next. I was enthusiastically hooked even going as far as reading what Jada Pinkett-Smith and Mary J used and then combining their recipes. One bad order gone wrong too many times led me to the ORS products - Organic Root Stimulator. I absolutely LOVE the Hair Mayonnaise (mixed with an egg) after using the Uplift Shampoo. I now and again top it off by using the Replenishing Pack for an hour or more of conditioning and then twist it with either the Olive Oil in the jar or the Carrot Oil Creme (jar). I rotate them when I can afford to buy both as they both are soft on the hair. People always admire how soft my hair is for one who does it at home. I pride myself on attempting to manage it despite the aching arms from the de-tangling process - arrrggggggggggghhhh and the upwards of 4 hours from shampoo to last twist. Mind you, it's still not dry which is a naptural process. I wish ORS people would update their website and be responsive to emails. Still, I love the product and thankfully I can find it on more shelves now that I could when I first started using it. I try to keep it all in the family as you see as it just works better for me when all said and done.

So hair today not gone tomorrow I pray. If I were to ever lose my length again... I dunno. The reason I did not want "locks" (short for dreadlocks) is because to change to a straight style, you have to cut the locks out. Yes, depending on the roots length, I'd be almost bald again. NOOOOOOOOOOT! With twists, I can break out a curling iron (yes, I've tried and failed) and get a semi straight look for oooooooh about an hour. (laughs on the way out)