The End of the Curly Girl Experiment

I mentioned last month I was going to try the 'curly girl' method with my curly/wavy hair.

After 1 month, here's what I've decided:

1) I definitely liked the way my curls look when I follow the steps for curly girl. I can get some really good curls, it's soft, and I was able to get rid of the 'crunchy' look.
2) I didn't follow it 100% - like sorry I'm not buying a silk pillowcase - but I followed it pretty darn closely, and it was easy to follow!
3) Where I struggled was day 2 onward hair - I thought it looked tangled and frizzy after sleeping on it or exercising {maybe I do need a silk pillowcase ha}. It got better if I got my hair re-wet and styled it again, but it didn't look quite as good as day 1.
4) I got a lot of compliments when I saw people, so that was fun!
5) The first couple of times I fixed my hair, it kept getting a little curlier as I figured the method out a little more, but then it got to a pretty standard look of medium curliness.

So what's the verdict?

I've decided there is a time and place for curly hair for me, and after a month of curly hair...I washed, blow dryed, and straightened my hair last night, ha. I really did like how it looked curly and liked that I found a way to wear it that defined my curls better and was still super easy...but the way it looked on days 2 onward and the fact that it just felt super tangly wasn't for me. So I guess I'll just continue to straighten it most days and fight that curl and frizz in the Texas humidity, but I'm glad I tried it!

The Curly Girl Method

Something that often surprises people who haven't known me very long is that my hair isn't straight. I wear it straight 99% of the time, but my hair is naturally wavy/curly. My dad has extremely curly hair {he and his brother both had Afros in the 70s}, and my sister and I both inherited his curls - although my sister's hair is curlier than mine.

My uncle and me - look at how tight his curls are!

I don't often wear it curly because I don't really feel like I know how to style it where it looks good, but I am often frustrated with the time and effort it takes for it to look good straight...only to go outside and the humidity to cause it to frizz or go wavy.

I don't have many pictures with curly hair...not a great picture to see it.

But you can see how it looks more frizzy than anything else.

Well, the other night I was on IG and saw a story from a friend's sister and her curls looked BEAUTIFUL. She mentioned she was using the 'curly girl method', but I had no clue what that was. Fast forward an hour, and I have watched several YouTube videos, added numerous products to my Amazon cart, have heard words I've never heard before {co-washing? low 'poo?}, and am very overwhelmed.

BUT I'm also really intrigued and interested to see what my curls can do.

There's a book you can buy, but so far, I'm not going to get it because the internet has a million resources!

Here's what I know so far:
1) For 30 days: no brushing and no heat tools - easy enough since I already do that when I wear my hair curly
2) I need to alter my hair-washing a little - so most people use shampoos/conditioners with alcohols, sulfates, etc. but I don't. BUT this can lead to build-up, so I actually need to use a shampoo with sulfates to strip off the build-up first and then go back to my natural shampoo. I have felt like my hair can sometimes still feel greasy even after washing it so this makes sense!
3) Leave-in conditioner and product - I need to get leave-in conditioner and a new curl cream. The one I currently have {that I don't love} is chock full of crap ha. I also need to use way more than I have been!
4) Styling - I also learned why my hair often looks 'crunchy' and how to fix that, so I will make some updates to the styling step!

Another thing I had to do was figure out my curl type - 

there are lots of charts out there!

I think I am a 2B/2C, but we'll see what happens to my curls in 30 days.

So I'm embarking on this journey and will report back in 30 days!

Corona Weekend Fun

Our weekends {like everyone else's} consist of constant togetherness and hanging out at home. Here are some fun things we did this weekend!

Saturday is our typical pick-up day. We've gotten into a good routine of picking up and every other Saturday we deep clean. I also do jazzercise and Drew has her zoom tap class.

This past Saturday, though, we decided to tackle Trent's hair. It was out of control long, and I watched a few YouTube tutorials...and we decided to go for it.

Before...

See how he has some wave to it? Makes it hard to control.

No turning back now, eek!

I was so nervous, I was physically shaking for a lot of his haircut.

Sides are done. Now it's time to start on the top. Gulp.

We made a GIANT mess in the bathroom, ha!

So much hair!

DRUM ROLL....

After!!! I was so pleased with how it came out.

Trent was happy, and even Brent thought I did a good job.

It's not perfectly even, and I need to get the back a little better,

but overall I think I did a pretty darn good job!

In the afternoon, Drew and I went on a 5 MILE bike ride! She is killing it on the bike, and I seriously need to get my own because riding Trent's, which is too small for me, is tough! Brent and Paige went with us on the golf cart, and we had so much fun.

Kind of silly but worth noting, we also taught Drew to tie her shoes {finally}! We've been meaning to do this for a while but all her shoes were slip-ons or velcro so it didn't really matter. Another good thing of this time of slowing down! She picked it up SO much faster than Trent.

I ended Saturday night with my socially distant HH with the neighbor ladies, and we had a blast. It was nice enough for the first few hours to sit in the driveway, I love springtime in Texas!

Sunday we picked up our groceries from curbside, and Brent cleaned off all our patio furniture after the oak pollen FINALLY stopped dropping. He recruited Trent to help him while the girls played in the bounce house/slide/pool thing we bought. It was great because I sat outside and read while they played for literally 3 hours. I might have gotten a little bit of a sunburn. Oops!

Slide fun

A picnic lunch with my amazing culinary skills.

Why does she look like she's 12 and modeling?

 And you can't help but love this little ham!

They brought their Barbies to play with them, SO CUTE.

After I got smart and moved into the shade.

Reading Elizabeth the Queen

Brent grilled hamburgers for dinner, and Drew and I biked a little more. There's a lot that is negative about COVID-19, but I am really enjoying all our family time and am so thankful I have a happy marriage and great kids to share this time with.

Black and White

Guys, I'm having a real crisis here. I'm starting to go gray, and I don't know what to do about it. Well, that's not really true. I know what to do about it but am having a hard time accepting reality.

Let me explain.

My hair is dark. Super dark. So dark that Drew won't let me say I have brown hair. I tried to say something about us both having brown hair. 'No, Mom, your hair is black.' 

It used to be a normal brown. A boring, average brown.

See? You'd even maybe say an auburn brown?

And bluebonnets because - duh - Texan. {grin}

But as I get older, it keeps on getting darker. I've even been asked if I dye it to get it so dark. Nope!

BUT...the gray hair is creeping in. And I am dead set against dyeing it. And here's why:

1) It's expensive - hair dye is NOT what I want to use disposable income for

2) You have to get it done a lot - I get my haircut about twice a year, I don't want to be at the salon every 6 weeks

3) I'll hate it - the few times I highlighted my hair in my 20s, I never liked it

4) Eventually, I will have 'see through' hair - you know what I'm talking about - the little old ladies who have black hair but it's so obviously all white hair that you can see through it

5) At the point where I decide to go natural, that will look really bad - half white, half black? Who wants that?

Right now, I'm losing a battle of pulling the white ones out. More and more are creeping in, and I don't really know why I want to pull them out. I'm not afraid to show my age, but it's like they taunt me in the mirror. White hairs against almost black hair? It's SO white.

So I sit here thinking:

1) Give in and start dyeing it? NO!!!!

2) Keep pulling them out? Such a waste of time and energy!

3) Accept it and move on. Obviously the right answer but SO HARD!

What's a girl to do?!?!

The End of the Road

You would think all things associated with me having our last baby would have come to an end...but nope! We still have a few more 'last' firsts in our future. {grin}

To likely end a tradition I started with Trent, yesterday I donated my hair! I don't know why I decided to tie childbirth to hair donation, but I did it after Trent, and then I did it after Drew, so of course I had to do it after Paige.

The before - seriously the longest my hair has EVER been in my life.

I was SOOOOOO sick of it!

Back view - kind of hard to see against the t-shirt

11 inches of hair! {and that's not counting what got cut in the styling process}

And AFTER! I love it! It feels so good and light and wonderful.

I also think I look younger...or maybe that's wishful thinking after starting my day at 3:00 AM due to someone who will remain nameless...ahem...Paige. 

Trying to look less dorky when I take a selfie...don't think I succeeded! 

I imagine this is the last time I'll have the patience to grow my hair out that long again - it was nice having a goal with the kiddos but that was a bit of torture, ha!

Beauty Shop

Drew never lets me play with her hair. Occasionally, she'll let me put in 1 braid or a ponytail, but usually she just wants it down. So depressing when I always wanted to play with my daughter's hair! BUT this weekend I bribed her to let me try out some different styles.

Mom goals complete!

My french braid skills are rusty, and her hair is SO thin, but I love it.

Silly buns - she wasn't a fan of this.

Top knot - she liked this a little because it was how I had my hair 'fixed'.

41 weeks, 2 days - I'm not doing much 'fixing' of my own hair!

Pigtail braids and a silly brother

 Now if she'd only let me fix her hair like this to leave the house! {grin}

Summer 'Dos

I had the kids home Friday and decided it was time for summer haircuts. Drew has never had a real haircut {my sister and I have snipped her rat tail a couple of times} because her hair has been so thin and short, but it has finally gotten long enough where I thought it could use a trim, and Trent's hair isn't curly but it's...something...so it needed to be cut too to keep it under control.

Trent before

The best picture I could get of Miss Sassy Pants...but see? Stringy!

The backs for both kids

Drew was up first. She didn't know what to think of the chair, but once she got a sucker, she was good to go!

The after! A little more even with some baby layers.

The T Bug was up and decided he wanted a mohawk. He hasn't had one since he was 2, and I think that was one of his absolute cutest looks, so I was all for it!.

No turning back!

Throwing shade, ha!

All done! I didn't think he could get cuter, but he up and did it!

And then as a reward for success, ICE CREAM!

I think we knocked the summer hairdos out of the park!

The Highlight of Our Weekend

We had a great weekend, and I have a ton of pictures to share and stories to remember. But it's Sunday night, I'm tired, and I have about 30 pages left in my 824 page book, so I thought I'd share just one of my favorite moments of the weekend.

What's this?

Oh. Riiiiight. Trent's art scissors made their best project to-date.

The result! A new summer 'do!

 He certainly enjoyed his freedoms this weekend, no?

Weekend Picture Overload

Some weekends are really low-key around here and some are cause for lots of picture documentation. This was one of those weekends. {grin}

Friday, I took both kids for Trent to get a haircut. We were there an hour and a half and both kids were excellent! Miracle?

Sporting a new 'do and chomping the celebratory sucker

Saturday, Trent went to a movie with Papa and then had a slumber party with him. He was SO excited waiting for Papa to get to our house to pick him up!

Sister had to get up next to him.

{Yes, T is wearing the same shirt as Friday. Kid loves his robots.}

Um, get my sister out of here so I can get to the movies! I want popcorn!

Peace out, fools! Let the spoiling begin.

Nothing says classy like eating breakfast in the garage in a diaper.

Later in the day, Brent, Drew and I hit up Home Depot. Brent and Drew typically have a Monday date to the HD while I take Trent to therapy. She loves riding around in the car.

More pigtails. I.DIE.

Dinnertime!

I then had a date with Kristen. It was MAGICAL!!

Matching pedis

Margaritas and mojitos

And apparently...it was my birthday. Or not.

Sunday was church, playing with friends {another post to come with the insanely adorable pictures from their shenanigans}, work {boo}...you know, the usual.

Because this is better than EATING a squirty fruit.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!