Saturday, January 23, 2010

New Improved Cover Is Out



I just got the newest version of the cover...the version that I think is going to be the actual, real live cover! It looks pretty similar to the old one, but just a bit more polished, and you can see more detail in my hair. I'm so excited!

I know I haven't been posting nearly as often as I'd like to...but I have been working on the site behind the scenes to add several new pages, as well as beefing up the answer bank with lots more fresh new answers. I do appreciate all the wonderful support I've had through this process! Thank you so much for reading. I truly am humbled.

31 comments:

Mindy said...

Neat! I can't wait to get the book! Congrats!

lovelyrett said...

Congrats!! I'm excited for you.

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

Thank you so much Mindy and lovelyrett!!!

Wendi said...

Teri, just as your site has, your book will help so many of us curly people! I love your answer bank and check it regularly for your answers.

Anonymous said...

Your Tightly Curly website is great! As a black/white woman and researcher who focuses on mixed race in the U.S., I just have to say I love your style, honesty and insight.

Best of luck! -Dr. Kendra R. Wallace

Munchkin said...

I absolutely love your blog and site. I'm transitioning out of a relaxer, and while I may not of immediate mixed race (my ethnic intertwinings go a few generations back), I feel that ANY woman who has African heritage (heck, any woman with tighter coils that most) can benefit from your tips. I look forward to trying them out on myself after I finally hack off my relaxer hair. I've been in this fight with my hair and I'm finally coming to appreciate it and myself. Thanks sooo much =).

Anonymous said...

Hello, Teri. I'm the 19-year Wave Nouveau veteran. The more I browse your website, the more appreciative I become. I've now begun to check out your product ingredients page. You know, I've never cared about what's in those shampoos/conditioners I've used over the years. I got to the point to where I just bought what was always available--in my case, that seems to be Infusium 23. So far, I've noticed 3 ingredients that you've tagged "caution." I'm going to finish reviewing the list and decide if Infusium is a "keeper."

Thank you once again for all your time and caring.

Anonymous said...

I didn't notice this blog before.I'm happy to find it=).Your book has 250 pics of curly hair people or are they pics of you?.I was reading what i'll find in the book but I didn't understnd the part about the pictures.

オテモヤン said...
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Anonymous said...

I stumbled across your site 2 weeks ago and have been using your steps ever since. I have already pre-ordered your book and I am so anxious for it to come out. Thank You so much!

BTW-In two weeks I have referred 4 other curly girls to you. (2 who were friends, 2 who came up to me at random to ask about my curls)I can't thank you enough for giving me curl confidence!

Sharonkay said...

Hi Teri:

I just wanted to congratulate you on getting your book published. I hope that it sells extremely well and earn you a nice fortune. I hope that many women, especially with hair similar to yours, will be able to appreciate their natural texture and wear their hair naturally. Even though my hair is a 4a kinky type, I love all types of natural curls. I wish you much success.

Nita said...

I had hair stylist tell me that the ends of natural hair require more "trimming" than relaxed hair, because "the ends get more frizzy when the hair dries naturally." Something about what she said didn't make sense. It seems to me that natural hair that dries naturally would be healthier than relaxed hair any day. What are your thoughts based on your hair care regimen?

Chichi said...
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Anonymous said...

I am so happy to hear you have a book coming out! I will definately be looking for it! Your websight has been a tremendous help to my doing my daghters hair and now she gets an overload of compliments everytime we go out on how cute her hair is! Thank you! I wish I could show you before and after pics with using your techniqes
! :-)

Thank you again and best of luck with your book! I will definately be reccomending it!

Sincerely,
Deanna

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

The site is such a great help. I love the answer bank. And as Wendi said, I check it regularly for answers.

I was thinking of buying a gel, instead of leaving in conditioner (I have Aussie Moist), but what I realize is that some of the gels contain more harmful chemicals than the conditioner (I used your ingredients dictionary to check). More than ever, I feel comfortable leaving the conditioner in my hair. But as you said in your answer bank, I will alternate between conditioners so there will not be some sort of effect if I were to keep using one conditioner for a long period of time.

But I also wanted to ask a question. When you put the conditioner in, does any get on your scalp?? I wanted to know whether I should be careful about not getting conditioner on my scalp : )

Thank you : )

Shan said...

Love your website and can't wait for the book! I'm a white mother of a biracial daughter with 4A/4B curls and everyone told me that I should just give up and put her hair in braids and relax it when she's old enough. When I refused, they all thought I was crazy and naive.

But she has beautiful hair that is growing fast! I owe it all to the Curls/Curly Q's products. I can't wait to read more about your journey and get great tips. It's important to me to teach my daughter to love her natural hair (which she doesn't always get from everyone in the family) and I hope that one day hers can be as long and beautiful as yours!

Unknown said...

VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!

Everything you have done to help us "naturals" out, I TRULY APPRECIATE IT!!

I have ONE question!!!!!! I have started to EXERCISE EVERYDAY!! And my hair gets damp. I wear my hair in twists to retain length. It's shoulder length hair. Should I rinse the twists with water everyday and apply a little bit of conditioner on them for moisture?????? I was just afraid that the salt from the sweat would do something bad to my hair. What do you suggest!!!!

Anonymous said...

Congrats! I have question for you which I am leaving here since your contact page is not quite up and running just yet.

I was wondering if you've tried/heard about the Wen shampoo line??? They claim to have removed all the harsh chemicals in their products (the chemicals you listed on your site as being bad for your hair). HEre is their link: http://www.wenhaircare.ca/about_wen.php?pactvid=j1sictq9fuvrhmhpjvmsit7n9tdbknnr

Jayla said...

Congrats on your book! You are a godsend, truly.




THE CLUMPING PROCESS




My daughter and sister have been wearing their hair in its natural-state for a little over 5 years and I over 3 years. I haven't quite been able to understand the clumping process, my 5yo daughter's thick and extremely kinky hair just refuses to clump and I follow the steps within your site. She's got extremely thick hair like every pore on her head is producing hair (not complaining). I am able to get my hair and sister's to slightly clump up, but absolutely no where near how your hair clumps.




I'm thinking maybe our hair has to get used to the idea or something because I'm doing exactly what you state to do AND using the Denman brush. The only way to see if your method works for us (my family and I) is to do exactly what you do first and not deviate.




1st TIME RESULTS:




The first time, I put extremely too much on my daughter's and sister's hair. The hair wouldn't clump, so I just finger-straw setted their hair (no heat only air dry). My daughter's hair had a coarse finishing look while my sister's had a smooth finishing look. Afterward, the drying-result was a serious "snow flood". OH MY FREAKIN' GOSH!! They shook their heads slightly and the "snow" would just fall all on their clothes and to the ground. And I'm seriously not exaggerating. And applying water to their hair to help get rid of the visible dry conditioner made it worst (I did what you said to do on your site if the conditioner does this). So, I ended up washing out the conditioner of course; it was awful. This occurred when using the Tressemme Flawless Curl Conditioner (which I took back to the store) and bought the Moisture Conditioner to see how that would work.




2nd TIME RESULTS:




Well, the Tressemme Moisture Conditioner produces the same results and I used a little less conditioner than the first time.




STILL NO CLUMPING THOUGH




I get practically no "snow action" with Aussie Moist and Herbal Essence Bone Straight conditioners, but again our hair is having to get used to the clumping idea I guess.




QUESTION #1:




Am I supposed to let the conditioner set on the saturated wet hair for some minutes BEFORE combing?




I have also tried combing immediately after squeezing 2-3 handfuls of conditioner into our hair and the results created absolutely no clumping all strands wanted to be by themselves. And, I put A LOT of conditioner in.




QUESTION #2-3:




What are your thoughts on Hydratherma Naturals Collection, the conditioners in particular? Would they be good for a combing conditioner?




Thanks a lot! And all the best!




When you get the chance would you email me at jahalian@gmail.com?

Anonymous said...

OOPS! I used the Herbal Essence Dangerously Straight Conditioner.

Jayla

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

First, I want to apologize very much for being away for so long. I've been working on the site and answering questions, and I keep meaning to come back to the blog, but somehow get sidetracked. I do mean to be better with this.

In the meantime, you can always check out what I'm doing on Facebook or at Tightly Curly site updates to see what I've been doing when I'm delinquent from blogging.

Just so you know, I've deleted a few posts, but that was only because they were all spam.

In the next few days I'll work on putting up more posts, and answering some of the thoughtful questions here. Thank you again for your patience with me.

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

Hi Wendi:, thank you so much for your kind message! That makes me really happy if anything on the site has helped, and I appreciate you checking out the Answer Bank!

Dr. Wallace: Oh my gosh, thank you for what you said! You have made my day. I'm honored that you like the site, and I find it very exciting that you specialize in mixed-race studies! I appreciate you taking the time to write to me.

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

Munchkin: Thank you for what you said! When I first started the site, I was only sure my tips could help with hair like mine (mixed hair). Then my mom began growing out her perm, and the tips worked for her, too. And many people who were not mixed let me know it helped with their curls too, which makes me very very happy.

I'm so glad to hear you're growing out your relaxer! It isn't always easy to do it, and it takes courage to allow your own natural hair to do it's thing, especially if you've haven't worked with it before. But I tell you, you will be so happy, and it's worth it. There is something so honest and simple about finally having your own beautiful curls.

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

Anonymous(1): I'm so glad if anything on the site has helped! I'm constantly trying out new products to recommend (I'm trying out one this week, in fact), so that makes me really happy to know you're checking them out. I will look over Infusium 23 again. I tried them a long time ago, but I need to check out their ingredients again.

Anonymous(2):To answer your question, the book has both pictures of curly hair people, and me demonstrating techniques and different hair styles, as well as illustrations on how to do hair styles and other tricks I've found that helps curly hair.



Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

Chrissy: Gosh, thank you so much for your kind message! You are very sweet, and I'm so glad if the site has helped you learn to take care of and love your beautiful hair! And thank you so much for referring others! It's one of my big goals in life to see that we learn how to love and make our curls happy, so you have just played a big part in that.

Sharonkay: Thank you so much for your congratulations on the book! I still can't believe it's real. I totally agree with you. My dream is that anyone with curls will discover (if they haven't already), just how truly gorgeous their natural hair is. The curlier the better, I say.

Nita: Your instincts are correct. Frizz does not equal damage. It's just a byproduct of having very curly hair. When the curls are separated, they have more of a pattern to each hair, so the hairs stand farther apart. This makes them look frizzy, but it's not damage at all. For the most part, relaxed hair is horribly damaged. Because of this damage, instead of frizzing, it often just falls apart instead. My all natural hair grows down to my hips, and this is without trimming it in over 12 years.

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

Deanna: I'm so glad to hear the tips on the site have helped with your daughter's hair! I bet her curls are gorgeous! And I'm always happy to get any before and after pictures (my email is telzeek@gmail.com). Sometimes it takes me a while to get to messages, but I'm always happy to see before and after pictures! And if you are interested in having your daughter's photos on the site, please do let me know. And thank you so much for your kind wishes about the book! I have my fingers crossed for it to do well.

Anonymous: That makes me so happy you are checking out the Answer bank and the ingredients dictionary! You are totally right that many products seem to have hidden bad ingredients in them. Ah! I'm so glad to hear both those features on the site are helping. I try to add more to both of those many times a week when I can.

You ask a great question about getting conditioner on the scalp! I usually start putting conditioner on about an inch or two below my scalp. A bit usually ends up getting on my scalp by the time I'm done combing, but it's often very light. And since I'm sure to wash it off the next time I do my hair, it doesn't build up on my scalp. My research into the literature shows that what is most dangerous is slathering on thick oils like lanolin or petroleum onto the scalp, and then not washing them off. It's that constant smothering that seems to be what can damage follicles.

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

Shan: Thank you so much for checking out the website, and for being excited about the book! I can't believe it will be out so soon! It always surprises me at how quickly people try to bully moms into hurting their child's beautiful curls. I admire so much that you are fighting to keep your daughter's hair natural. That sends the message that her hair is wonderful as it is, and worth figuring out, rather than straightening her hair, which would be sending her the message that her natural hair isn't good enough how it is. It sounds like you are well on the way towards her beautiful curls growing very long so that her natural curls will be the envy of those around her (including the less supportive family members). Hang in there!

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

rinserbear: Hopefully I answered this question okay on your most recent post. It's a great question. And I do worry about salt building up on our hair, so I would suggest rinsing your hair if you do sweat while exercising. After rinsing, like you said, I'd smooth more conditioner over your hair to help cut down on frizzies.

sorsha2: That's a great question! I wrote a big long thing about WEN recently on the recommended combing conditioners page.

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

Jayla: Hi Jayla, it sounds like you are going through quite a bit to get your daughter's hair to clump. I'm not sure of your entire process, but it sounds like you aren't doing anything to define her curls. After washing her hair, and putting in a good conditioner (it is important which ones you use. They will flake if it's the wrong one), comb through her hair with the Denman as you are doing. THEN you need to define her curls by either going section by section and running your fingers through her hair a section at a time, while her hair is still totally wet with conditioner in it. Then clip that section off to the side, and go to another one. If needed, you can shake that section first to help the curl clumps break apart, and then run your fingers through. OR you can do what I do, which is going through and smoothing your hands down each curl you see wanting to form. This takes a bit more to get used to, and you might want to check out the video I have on the site, as well as pictures I have (if you follow the link for "defining". It makes the curls more defined, but running your fingers through her hair several times per little section will do well too. In the next couple days (from the date of this comment), I'll email you this message to make sure you get it. Sorry for taking so long to respond.

Former Mushroom-Haired Child said...

Jayla: Oh, I forgot to say, all the conditioners I've tried and liked are on the site, under "good conditioners" I put in the previous comment I posted. I will check out the products you ask about, but there is already a really nice selection of conditioners of all types on the site now. I'm sure you will find a good one there while I check out the other products. If I like them, I'll put them on the site.

Anonymous said...

I love love LOVE the book! Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge about tightly curly/coily hair. I've been using your method for a year now, and my hair is growing beautifully. P.S. I love the website too! I don't buy a product without consulting the ingredients dictionary first!