#Hair Journey

[xsugarbeet]

- Which Hazbin Hotel character do you relate to?

- Yes

(I don't usually post pictures of myself here, but I thought this would be fun to share)

[seeminglydark]

Proof I draw Caro too much perhaps, but I made the first round up of them with long hair the other day and thought to myself, ‘self! You should make one for the mullet and short cut too! And bonus hat.’ So here we are. I can’t pick a fave but maybe…

Sunglasses Cheerleader Caro (bottom middle of the first slide)

Looking up arms over head Mullet Caro (middle of second slide)

Concentration sunrise Caro (bottom left third slide)

And keys to the Datsun Caro (top right of the fourth slide!)

Caro is from my webcomics Mil-Liminal and Seemingly Dark and podcast Mil-Liminal as well as clearly been my fave subject to draw for the last several years haha

[lovedovechels]

Natural: A journey of acceptance

In January of this year, when I took down my passion twists, I was shocked by how uncomfortable and ugly I felt in my natural hair. This feeling was, let's be honest, insane. Why was I uncomfortable in the hair that God had blessed me with? The hair that grew from my scalp?  I was being weird and needed to do some introspection! As I began to wonder, I realized I had grown accustomed to seeing myself in everything but my natural hair. I was used to knotless box braids in shades 144, 530, and 613. I flaunted myself in curly wigs that emulated looser textures than my own. I spent hours with wobbly arms and sore fingertips meticulously parting my hair for mini passion twists and faux locs, and the minute these protective styles had run their course I took them out and redid them. No break between styles and certainly no rest for my natural strands.   

Something to note: When I refer to protective styles I am talking about those with added hair. 

I was so seasoned to ‘protective style Chels’ that ‘natural hair Chels’ was a version of me to be hidden away. I borderline idolized myself in ‘protective styles.’ This just wouldn't do. I decided to wear only my natural hair for the first half of 2024- no protective styles (with added hair), no dyeing or straightening, and no blow-drying. It was going to be just me and my coils against the world. This was my journey to self-acceptance.  

The first month was the hardest, I was afraid of people seeing my hair in its natural state after seeing me with protective styles majority of 2023. Also, I had no effective wash day routine. I didn't know how to properly manage my coils. I researched and experimented with different products and techniques that made my hair more manageable and healthier. Slowly I formulated a routine that worked for me. I created my own hair oils using coconut and rosemary oil. I deep conditioned every wash day; I trimmed my ends when needed; instead of blow-drying, I air-dried my hair; I applied my products in an order best-suited for me; and then I styled my hair into mini-twist, braids, or cornrows (all without any added hair). Additionally, I tried different natural hairstyles and found the ones I felt the prettiest and most confident wearing.  

I persevered through these six months and now I love my natural hair and admire myself in the various styles I wear. I also received more compliments on my natural hair than on protective styles. 

As I write this, it is currently July and I have no desire to get a protective style. I`m not saying that I`ll never rock a protective style again but I can confidently say that if I do, it won`t be to hide away my natural hair but just something fun and new. I no longer rely on protective styles as my go-to and can therefore enjoy them whenever I desire. 

I must emphasize that there is nothing wrong with protective styles. These styles are time-saving and convenient. Refraining from these styles was my way of gaining self-acceptance and confidence and becoming in my natural hair. It's all about finding what makes you feel self-assured, confident, and comfortable so do whatever works for you- whether it's your natural hair or protective styles. 

[in-tua-deep]

Update: I have chopped all my hair off and it looks great !!

Further update: I went from looking like my mother to looking like my father

[gaybae1021]

A little while back I realized that how I did Laurance’s hair was crazy inconsistent. So I compiled all my go to hairstyles for Laurance and put them in a proper timeline for myself

[missstarsworldho]

Big chopped and idk how to feel. I’m starting to learn to like it!

[baddiephilosopher]

2020 → 2024 hair growth

[beautyqueenproblems]

The hair is GROWING

[heycarrots]

My entire life, I thought I had straight hair.

You might ask, how do you NOT know your hair is wavy? Doesn’t it wave naturally?

It does, but only if allowed the opportunity and the encouragement to take its natural shape.

Growing up, if you were a girl, you got up early before school, showered, and then gave yourself an EXHAUSTING salon-level blowout every single morning. If you didn’t, if you let it *gasp* NOT be flat and shiny, you were considered dirty, unkempt, not feminine enough. The only exceptions being the CURLY folks, the female identifying goddesses who could NEVER ever be mistaken for straight-haired girls because their hair slingshots back into shape the moment any moisture hits it.

Over the years, I laid on more damage that society demanded, or so I believed. I bleached it to match my Marilyn aesthetic at the time. Platinum blonde, ramrod straight and then, ironically, hot rolled into submission to create the look of artificial pin curls.

All that bleach and all that heat, of course, destroyed the strength of my hair. It was brittle and, while it looked beautiful from the outside observer, I was losing a battle with it.

Growing up in South FL, the heat and humidity were my constant source of struggle. No matter what I did, how much I ironed my hair silky straight, it would fluff up like a chia pet within 15 minutes of going outside.

Looking at other girls around me who did not share this same struggle, I felt defeated. Why can’t my hair just lay flat? I mean, it LOOKS straight in the morning, I’ve always been able to shock it straight since childhood . . . What’s happening to my hair?

Well, motherhood happened. I was too tired to continue my battle with the blow dryer and flat iron every day, so I said fuck it, and just started letting it air dry.

At this point, my strands had been beaten down to the point where they were like, yeah . . . we’re not gonna lie flat and be cooperative, but we also don’t have the proteins and care required to spring back to life. So I got what could best be described as slightly bent frizz. I was very close to accepting this as just my lot in life when someone said, look at all that frizz! It looks like your hair is trying to curl.

My initial response was . . . No way! It’s definitely straight! It’s always been straight. I’ve worked really hard to assure it’s straight because, for me, the alternative was unattainable.

This kind soul turned me onto the curly hair method and assured me that If I put in the work to undo the damage I’d done to it over the course of my entire life, I would see significant change.

The day I finally accepted this was when schools shut down in Japan and I lost my job during the pandemic. I no longer had a reason to conform.

So, over the course of the next few months, I implemented the changes she had suggested and my hair improved dramatically! I won’t say it was always pretty . . . It was super awkward at first and I had to endure cold silent judgement when out and about in ULTRA conservative rural Japan, where any texture in your hair is equated with moral decay (not even exaggerating . . . try going to an onsen with a visible tattoo).

But now . . . my hair is thriving. As soon as water hits it in the shower, it clumps up and beings to curl. I haven’t straightened my hair myself in years.

If you’re thinking this sounds a bit like a metaphor, that’s because it is. Yes, this IS also the truth about my hair journey.

But just like my hair, I went through my entire life assuming I was straight. I’m married. I was married previously. I’ve had some very good relationships with men. I’ve had some REALLY bad relationships with men, but my relationships with my female friends have always felt a bit desperate, a showering of affection I tried to mentally attribute to my being on the spectrum.

Events in my life have recently caused some serious reflection . . . on female friendships I’ve had over the years that felt entirely one-sided, a longing for something deeper that just wasn’t reflected back at me. At a certain point, after losing my dearest friend to cancer in my early 20s, I shut down female friendships. They were too painful for me and I never understood why.

I am not straight. Never have been. I’m bisexual. This doesn’t change my relationship with my husband, any more than the fact that I appreciate most men would cause me to dart off after the nearest alternative. However, accepting this about myself has unlocked a sea of understanding about my past, about my role in those failed friendships, the expectations I was unknowingly placing on these girls which, because they were hidden, even from myself, they were destined to fall short of.

Over the course of the last month, I’ve been reeling with this paradigm shifting revelation and one thing I’ve come to understand is that I’m not my own type. I’m not drawn to girls who look like me (or at least look like I DID, with the pinup makeup and exhausting beauty routine). There’s nothing WRONG with that, but I’m not attracted to it because it holds no mystery for me. I know how hard they are working. I know the art and the artifice. Because I never looked at a woman as beautiful as Max and had FEELINGS, I assumed I had to be straight. If one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen makes me think *meh*, then I guess I must not be attracted to women.

But then, there are those women who simply do not give a fuck. Not a single one. And yet, they glow. They know no shame and have always known who they are and fight for the world as it should be, not as it is. And look at that! It appears I do have a type, after all. I guess you could say they are the Madis of this world, the Mirandas of this world.

To those women, thank you. I intend to approach life brackets emptied. Unredacted.

Love is love.

[depressedandcantrest]

Just found out I've had curly hair all my life but because my mom didn't know how to take care of it, my curl pattern was damaged to the point I legitimately thought I had straight hair till this year. So guess who will have to figure out how to fix another thing my mother's broken

Changing the subject if anyone can give advice that'd be fantastic!!

[bonersniper]

I did this fun blended color mix while I'm on vacation and wanted to document it

[belladoesmakeup]

Hi guys,

Today we are chatting about hair, in particular my hair journey and why I went back to brunette from red.

When I was 17-22 (2010-2015) years old I loved colouring my hair with semi-permanent hair colours, at this time I was in my emo stage and of course had to have red / plum hair. My mum said I shouldn't use permanent dye at the time so I only used L'Oreal Casting Creme glosses and they had this gorgeous red colour I used all the time. Unfortunately they discontinued this shade so I stopped colouring my hair for a while and let my brunette colour come back. Though this took a while the colour eventually washed out and I didn't think about it again.

Skip along to 2020, we all know what happened that year and I was bored of my hair colour. Since I knew I was going to be at home for a while I decided to bite the bullet and go bright red! Unlike last time I committed to permanent hair colour which was scary but I knew I would be keeping the red for a long time. I used a Garnier dye called Warm Red and it was a very Hayley Williams hair colour. I loved the hair colour and felt so myself with this colour. I kept this hair colour for 3 years and during 2022 I decided my hair style needed a change so I added bangs! I blame Taylor Swift bringing out RED TV because this convinced me it was time to relive my bangs and fedora hat phase.

Finally in 2023 I grew out my fringe into a slightly awkward side fringe until it was finally long enough to pass off as (curtain) layers which was really cute for a while. I also decided the red hair was too much maintenance to keep up with so I started dying my hair dark brown. Now obviously what I should of done was strip the colour first and then use the brown hair on top but that's too easy so I coloured over it. Though it coloured most of the red I still had a tint of red coming through.

Since my hair was so dead I also cut a few inches off it and it turned into this cute dark brown long bob which I honestly loved! I also started using only brown hair dyes and tried to not colour my hair as often as I was before. When you have red hair you have to colour your hair every 5-6 weeks because of colour fade. Whereas with brown dye I can get away with it longer so it's every month and half to 2 months I colour my hair now since I have a few grey hairs now to cover. Cutting my hair was the best decision because my hair was much healthier and it also helped I was using hair masks to fix my dry, damaged hair.

Now in 2024 my hair has no more red tints going through it and it is so much healthier! I use a hair mask once a week, I wash my hair with Olaplex Detox shampoo once a week with a deep condition and it has made a drastic difference. So moral of the story by all means colour your hair however you want to but make sure you look after it otherwise you will end up with dried damage hair like me. Luckily I changed my hair habits before it's too late and now I love having more natural hair. I feel like now I'm 30 having dark brown hair feels a little more grown up and honestly kinda boosted my confidence a bit. It's ironic but when you've had funky hair colours for so long, a natural hair colour seems just as exciting to try again and they also cause less damage to your hair in the long run.

I would love to know what products you use to protect your hair so let me know in the comments.

Lot's of love,

Bella x x

[cannibalgh0st]

My hair as of lately! Did a deep conditioning treatment and trim☺️💞

[pixienatthecat]

Since I was in my early teens I was obsessed with 60s hair. Particularly the flips with the teased hair. At the rip old age of 34 I have decided to finally try and get this hair style.

Brush rollers on ebay from some woman's grandmas 60s collection, along with a 60s hair curler wand!!! It comes with 3 attachments of different diameters. (It's called Curler Queen, made by Shane Engineering Company)

Foam rollers

Dipity-Doo hair setting gel

Bought two boxes and a single pack of vintage 60s pin curl clips

70s hot roller set

Tons of scarves (you can by vintage scarf sets on ebay)

Some pdfs of hairstyles from etsy

waterproof cover for hairstyles from the 60s

Hair nets to sleep in curls

I need:

hair spray

a better boar brush

[blackbellybella]

Length check!

[lowkeyremi]

trying my hair journey again. i can't braid lmaooo but I can't keep paying to get it done. if u guys have any 4c hair tips PLEASE share