21 Months Post BC: Dry Twistout Results

Hey World and Naturalistas!

Two Days ago I  took out my three week old Crochet Senegalese twists install. I decided to wear my natural hair out for a few weeks to give it the time to breathe. I wanted to do a dry twist out because I have thin natural hair and it makes my hair look thicker. If you're interested in the process, keep reading.

 First I wash my hair with Head and Shoulders Almond Milk Shampoo. Then I rinsed with warm water. I followed that with Vo5 conditioner. I generously distributed the conditioner through my hair, left it in and added olive oil. I put a plastic grocery bag over my head for about 10 minutes. Then rinsed with cool water. 

I separated in four sections and I blow dried my hair out one section at a time.

(I took the ponytail holders out)

Then I separated one side from the next. Usually when I do dry twist outs, I like to have a middle part but I always get a deep part right down the center of my entire head that's difficult to hide. so this time I tried a different technique. 

  Before I twisted I added these two products

- Cantu Shea Butter Argan Oil Leave-In Conditioner

- Shea Moisture Curling Gel Souffle'

I added the Cantu sparingly to the ends of my hair and the gel souffle sparingly to each section. The point is to add just enough moisture to create definition but not too much that will create shrinkage. I used the gel souffle to get a bit of a hold. 

S.B. The Argan Oil Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioner purchase was actually an accident! I meant to purchase the original one instead. If you are interested in a review of the Argan Oil stay tuned, I will post one shortly.

If you have thin hair like me and want your twist outs to look full my advice is, create bigger sections. To avoid the big part down the middle of my hair I did flat twist on the top half and single twists underneath them.

 (Pictured below)

When I was all done twisting I spritz my hair with water from my spray bottle, again, just enough to create definition but not so much that it creates shrinkage. I pinned down the twists so that they wouldn't get displaced from sleeping. (this is to prevent a stubborn piece of hair from sticking out in the morning)

I went to sleep with a satin bonnet. In the morning I carefully took down the twists. I did not use any additional oil on my hands/fingers during the take-down as most Youtube tutorials advise. I separated the twists where they separated naturally and where I needed to separate to create extra volume.  I also used a wide tooth comb in place of hairpick to get rid of any parts.

(Here is the final result)

(Definition Shot)

Looking at how raggedy my ends are. Its definitely time for a trim! I know a lot of people care more about length than health and sometimes wonder if they really need to trim their hair.

If you're interested look out for post that I will write titled

 "When you know its time to trim your hair" .

16 Months Post BC: Flat Iron on Natural Hair

Hey World and Naturalistas !

Sidebar: Some of these are post back because when I did the styles I did not have time to put up a blog post about it.

 In this post I will be showing what i did and explaining what I used in my hair and what I did to complete this style. To warn you it did not turn out as it would if done professionally but it was my BEST attempt to date.

To start off I just want to say that there are a lot of things people say you should or should not do when straightening Natural Hair.

You may hear:
*Condition your hair well so that the flat iron doesn't burn your dry hair
*Don't put oils in your hair because the it will create extra heat
* Do not put any heavy products that could weigh down your hair before you flat iron
*Use a serum heat protecting agent /Use a liquid heat protecting agent / Use a heat protecting agent

And for this style I didn't do any of those things.

As I mentioned in my >>CLAY REVIEW<< post I have/had problems with my hair being weighed down and clay rinsing helps take everything that's weighing my hair down away.

After clay rinsing I added a bit of lightest conditioner I have, leave in Cantu Shea butter, detangled with my Denman brush, and created four separate sections.

To straighten m hair I took VERY small sections. I did this when I had a lot of patience, the process took 7 hours... no LIE, I obviously didn't have much homework to do either.

Anyway, when going through each section I used a very fine tooth comb to go back through the section after the Denman brush to make sure I detangled all of my strands. Then I did "comb-chase method"to straighten each piece.

This was one section of my hair after I complete. I was so excited at how straight it came out and how I long my hair actually was!!!

Here are some pics from when I was all finished:
Can you tell I was feeling myself a bit? yea LOLOL

This style only lasted me a week but I enjoyed having it straight for as long as it lasted. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to make my hair last longer? Please leave me comments!

21 Months Post BC: Updated Natural Hair Regimen!

Hello World and Naturalistas!

It is important that we take the time to cater to the needs of our hair.

I will admit that in the beginning it can be hard to find things that work for you when there are so many different options out there and there is no one size fits all. Finding what works for you is one of the biggest struggles of returning natural.

Being 21 months natural I've learned a lot about my hair with that being said here is my updated Natural Hair regimen:

Lately I've been doing a ton of protective styling for a couple reasons:
1. To grow out my hair
2. For a change
3. So I can be LAZY.... pheww

Protective Styling:

My favorite protective style to do are crochet braids. I've done so many different techniques and so many different styles. It's quick and versatile and I'm able to do them on my own. 

Interested in seeing the style(s) I've done?  

>>CHECK IT OUT HERE<<

I usually do a protective style for 3-4 weeks depending ... usually I wanna switch up but then decide NOT to because I don't feel like doing my hair or don't feel like dealing with my real hair. YEAH I SAID IT! It's very time consuming and sometimes I feel like ...

Knowing what your hair needs:

When I take my hair out I pay attention to how it feels. If it's extra dry I do a moisture pre-poo and wash with sulfate-free shampoos.

If my hair feels soft I do a protein treatment.

If it's stiff I use a clarifying shampoo, silicon conditioner and then proceed to styling.

Also, recently I've been suffering from really bad dry scalp. So I decided to start using head and shoulders.

Products used:

Shampoos I use and their purposes:
Head and Shoulders with Almond Milk 2 in 1 Shampoo & Conditioner (7.26 +Walmart) - For when I have really dry scalp
Organix Argan Oil Shampoo ($5.74 +Walmart) - For when I need moisture
Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus ($9.99 +Walgreens) - For when I need protein

Conditioners I use & their purposes:

Traders Joe's Pepper Tea Tree Tingle ($3.99 +Trader Joe's )- Regular Use
Organix Argan Oil Shampoo ($5.74 +Walmart)- For when I need moisture
Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus ($9.99 +Walgreens)- For when I need protein

Deep Conditioners I use & their purposes:
Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque ($10.99 +Walgreens) - Regular Use
Homemade Mixture for Moisture - Giovanni Leave In conditioner, water, honey, olive oil
Homemade mixture for Protein - egg or banana or yogurt, mayo, coconut oil, water

Products for styling & their purposes:
Coconut & Hibiscus Curl enhancing smoothie ($11.99 +Walgreens) - When I do dry twist outs
Dark N Lovely Non Shrinkage Souffle ($9.99 +Walgreens)- Wet Twist outs
Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel ($2.00+ in local hair stores) - For my puffs
Creme of Nature Edge Control - ($4.56 +Walmart) To sLAY my edges


Products for daily moisture:
Water
Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In ($5.97 +Walmart)
Olive Oil ($5.46 +Walmart)

Interested in seeing how my regimen has changed? 

>>CHECK OUT MY OLD HAIR REGIMEN<<

(You might find something here that can work for you!)

21 Months Post BC: I LOVE CROCHET BRAIDS!

Hey World and Naturalistas!!

So everyone has been raving about these wonderful crochet braids. Little do some people know back in 90's this style was very popular. At the time they only made pre-braided hair that looked like micro braids. As time progressed, so did the minds of others, we have become more creative and innovative. Now almost 15 years later there are now a bunch of different types of hair, hairstyles and techniques to try.

I myself have done them a lot myself here's a sneak peak at them:

Attempt #1

Hair Used:Femi Collection
# of Packs: 5
Styling Method: Two Strand Twist and Hot Water (after installation)
Interested in seeing how my first attempt went? CHECK IT OUT

Attempt #2
Brand of Hair: Femi Collection
# of Packs: 3.5
Styling Method: Orange Perm Rods with Hot Water (after installation)

Attempt #3:
Brand of Hair: Masterpiece
 # of packs: 3
Styling Method: White Perm Rods with Hot Water (before installation)

Attempt #4
Brand of Hair: Masterpiece
# of Packs: 3
Styling Method: Braid Out with Hot Water (after installation)

Attempt #5
Brand of Hair:Unknown
# of Packs: 4 Jumbo Packs
Styling Method: Purple and White Perm Rods with Hot Water (after installation)

Attempt #6

Brand of Hair: Freetress Senegalese Twists Mini and Janet Collection Marley Hair
# Of packs: Freetress: 5 Janet: 1/2
Styling Method: Crochet and Individual Twists

Hopefully you can tell that I got better at installing in general, curling the Marley Hair, and being versatile with the help of Youtube and A LOT of practice.

16 Months Post BC: Clay Rinsing

Hello World and Naturalistas!

Does your hair lack movement? Are twistouts all of a sudden a FAIL? Is your hair weighed down?

Try Clay Rinsing!

I'm not sure how many of you have heard of Clay Rinsing but today I will talk a little bit about it and it's purpose and benefits and the results on my hair. 

Bentonine clay is used on the hair to clarify. Clarify meaning to remove all of the product build up that may be on your hair from using products that contain silicons constantly. Many people rely on cowashing (washing with conditioners) to avoid drying out their hair with sulfate shampoos. A lot of conditioners contain silicons. Non-Soluble silicons stay on our hair strands until washed away with sulfate shampoos but if all you use are conditioners then what happens? Your hair gets product build up. 

In this instance Clay is helpful because it removes all the products that may be on your hair strands. It calcifies so well that your curls will begin to come out.

Here's a photo of my experience:

 
How to use: Apply water to the dry powdered clay and stir (with a plastic spoon) until it is a smooth consistency. If you are having itchy scalp add Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) instead of water to assist with the scalp irritation.

I prefer to apply the product on wet hair because you don't want this stuff drying in your hair, it will be a pain to remove. I don't leave the mix in for more than 10-15 minutes. If it's your first time trying out the clay I recommend less than 10 minutes.

It is important that you make sure you remove all of the clay out of your hair, use a sulfate free shampoo or a light conditioner if necessary.

 After rinsing this product out your hair may feel DRY. You do not have to go and deep condition though. You can simply perform the LOC (Liquid, Oil, Conditioner) method to restore moisture back in your hair.

It is recommended not to use Clay often to clarify because of how drying it can be.

Have you tried it before? Did you hate it or love it? Never tried? ...Will you try it?

 Leave some feedback and let me know what you think of Clay Rinsing! :)

20 Months Post BC: Quick Way to Refresh Your Hair Color !!

Hello World and Naturalistas!!

I always have hair impulses! Meaning: I always get the sudden urge to do something different to my hair. This time it was inspired by ElleeteCreations. She had this beautiful red hair color called "Infrared" by Manic Panic. She had attempted to refresh her color once before using "Jazzing" but it washed out after one wash. At that very moment a light bulb went off in my head. I immediately wanted to go out to the hair store and buy the hair color. But something told me not to.

A few weeks went by and I thought about coloring my hair again, so I did some research. I wanted to know 1. Which dye to buy 2.How long did it last. After my research I decided to get Adore. Second best recommended semi-permanent under 10$.

Breif BackStory: June 2014 I dyed the half front portion of my hair "Magic Plum" by Dark n Lovely. 

Here's what that looked like:

After a while red dyes turn your hair this nasty brownish/orangey color, that has a tendency to make your hair look dry. The color is also really grown out, only the tips of my hair still have color. In order to get a little change without too much damage I decided to pick a red color to bring some spice for the Spring Season.

I chose: Intense Red by Adore

I loved the result and it was VERY noticeable. Quiet a few people even asked if I dyed my hair :)

 If you have an old permanent washed out color in your hair and want a color change, try using a semi-permanent for quick and less hair damaging results !

Here's the video if you want to see her process and end results :)

18-19 Months Post BC: Perm Rod Set Result

Hello WORLD and Naturalistas !!

I remember when I was about one month post BC and I bought the really skinny pink perm rods because I wanted to do a perm rod set. Let me tell you my hair was about 1 inch and would NOT stay on the rod no matter how many bobby pins I used. So I gave up struggling with that and put them away for a while. For next couple months after that I resorted to two strand twist outs and protective styles like Marley Twists.

Now that my hair is longer I decided to bust out the perm rods. I actually saw a tutorial on YouTube and went out and bought white rods forgetting that I already had pink ones. I did this over Spring Break for experimental purposes, just in case it came out bad. lol.

This time around I decided to use the spiraling method, where you spin the rod in a circle so you get spiral curls instead of just rolling it up and getting Shirley temple curls. Personally, I like to start from the top down to get the rod as close to my scalp as possible (to avoid bushy roots) and then smooth the ends down with gel. Many people recommend doing the very opposite to avoid getting frizzy ends. In my opinion, if your ends get that frizzy you may need a trim.

Here's a look at my whole head is filled with rollers. I used the bigger rollers in the middle because my hair is a completely different texture in the back and I wanted it to look fuller.

 For this rod set I just used water and Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioner for a soft hold. I completed this style on old dry hair, Here's the result:

Because I did not use any holding cream or gel on this style it only lasted about 3 days (barely) before it started to look bad. I brushed up the sides and attempted to create a Frohawk with this style.

I loved this style so much that I decided that I wanted it for Easter Sunday. This time using Cantu Shea butter and EcoStyler Argan Oil Gel. Unfortunately, I did have a little bit of flaking. (I never had that issue with the EcoStyler Olive Oil Gel & Cantu Leave-In Mix).

Here's the style on Day Two:

I used Creme of Nature Argan Oil Edge control to SLAY my edges. I also used pink rods,I found that the smaller the rod the longer it lasts, I'm sure the gel helped too. 

Look out for more Natural Hair Styles in Future posts!