Review: Rollersetting with Eco Styler Gel

 I don't remember who or where I saw the idea of roller setting with Eco Styler gel, but I wanted to roller set my hair, and was hoping that Eco styler gel would be the answer to a smoother set... boy was I right!!!


After washing, I used Lasio Lasio Leave - in conditioner, and proceeded to roller set my hair, adding Eco-styler gel to each detangled and smoothed section, before placing my hair on the roller. I used my usual roller set placement, and sat under the dryer for at least an hour while doing my little mani. 


I was surprised by how straight and unbelievably soft my hair was, no crunch, just silky smooth and straight. I ran a little CHI Silk Infusion over my hair for a little shine, softness, and to lock in the moisture.



 Of course my roots were a little wavy, as with any roller set, but they might even have been the least wavy of any set I've done before. 


When I took the set out, I had no plans to go anywhere, so I just decided to pincurl and go to sleep. The next day I was supposed to be having an interview, but due to hurricane Sandy here in NYC, those plans were shut down. So to avoid cabin fever, I decided I would take some time and play in my hair. 


Taking down my pin curls resulted in an absolutely adorable  
 curly look. I decided to further experiment with a few quick up dos and my banana clip, and even came up with a super cute look that I didn't use a banana clip for, but would have needed Bobbi pins or hair combs instead.


I'd say my hair came out amazing, and I love the silky straight results! I don't think I will ever be roller setting without Eco Styler again, not to mention I didn't even have to use end wraps
 and my ends are straighter than usual.


I would say the only downside, and only to my own fault, that I might have used a little too much gel in some areas, as I did end up with a little residue but I was able to slide it off the strands with ease.



My hair is twisted up right now, in preparation for a twist out from this glorious set, which I imagine will come out even better because of the Eco Styler gel.

Hurricane Sandy definitely ruined my Halloween 2012, but at least she couldn't ruin my good hair life! lol


 Have any of you ladies done a roller set with Eco-Styler Gel? How'd that work out for you?! I love it!!

My heart is going out to NYC right now, all of those hit hard by Sandy, stay strong, this is NYC and we will fight through it!

Putting Together My Hair Looks for the Fall/Winter Season

 With all of this cool weather coming in NYC, my mind has been so preoccupied with what I'm going to do with my hair for this upcoming fall/winter season. My hair is about shoulder length when straight, and doesn't even pass my ears when fully shrunken, so I plan to live in roller sets and twist outs to be able to easily manipulate my hair into different styles.

With the idea of keeping my natural hair freedom, protective styling, and the look I would like to have for myself in mind, I took some time to google a few cool styles I can definitely see myself pulling off this fall/winter season. I know my hair is much shorter, and a lot more textured than a lot of these photos, but of course I will be tweaking them to my needs and liking (The In Be-TWA version).
I will also be trying using a curling iron on my natural curls and plan to buy some curlformers for some different sets. I don't think I would enjoy flexirods... they've never interested me really... and the flexirod tutorials I've enjoyed have all been on longer hair with huge flexirods... so I think I'll just wait to experiment with those on own my hair when it's longer.
I'm really liking the a little messy, carefree look a lot of these updo's have and with beautiful sets I can also create these controlled messy looks.
I really want to try to keep my hair up as much as I can this fall/winter because I'm scared of the breakage that ensues when fragile hair like mine rubs against the harsh fabrics of coats, hats, and scarves. I do my best to buy silk scarves and wear my bonnet under hats, but even then my hair gets caught in all the layers of fabric and snags, tangles, and/or gets dried out. If I am wearing my hair down, I will combat the damage by putting the back of my hair up to go outside with either pincurls and bobby pins or a quick ponytail or bun.
I'm pretty sure these are looks I'm going to love even as my hair grows longer so this will be a great post to refer back to when I need a little inspiration with styling my hair. A few easy, classy, and timeless looks that I will also enjoy translating for us TWA ladies as well.
Have you started forecasting your fall/winter hairstyles? Any of these spark your interest?

Looking Forward To Trying a New Fall/Winter Regimen

Me & My Hair Dec 2011

Fall seems to be approaching really fast here in NYC this year, as August is nearly over and the weather has already cooled down. This Fall going into the winter season is going to be sooo different for me, now that I have a little more length to my hair! I was thinking I should try rollersetting every week to week in a half... and then doing twist outs when the hair no longer looks good as a rollerset. Idk... I just definitely want to be able to retain more length while wearing my hair out, and still keep a stretched look. I realized, I don't think I wore a wash n go once this summer because I'm sooo over the shrunken look. I was wearing a short haircut for like 6 years before I decided to go natural and grow out my hair, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it too.

Anyhoo... I realized in all these years (2) I still haven't created a solidified regimen for myself... but could I? I've had an inch of hair, virgin hair, bleached hair, dyed hair, curly weave, straight weave, extension braids, lol... Yes, I find it hard to keep up with myself! lol So now that I'm 2 years in, with a color that I love, doing my best to retain as much length as possible, I'm really going to try putting myself on a strict regimen and seeing if it makes a difference in my length retention this year.

Day 1 ~ Wash Day! Start with a hair and scalp oil treatment (either the same day or baggied the night before). According to how the hair feels I will either shampoo (Roux Porosity Control) and condition or just cowash and finger detangle my hair in 4 sections. My favorite condish for detangling is Hello Hydration. :)
Rollerset w/ end wraps & Sit under dryer, pincurl and sleep w/ Satin Scarf and bonnet. (Sitting under the dryer also makes me take time out for posting, reading or doing my nails)

Day 2 ~ Wear amazing hair... and if amazing hair fails, wear a banana clip or bun! Moisturize at night using Elasta QP Olive Oil and Mango butter  and morocan oil on the ends before sleeping, re-pincurl and zzzzzz.

Days 4 - 7 ~ Hair will probably get larger or flatter... go with the flow and either continue to pincurl or 2 strand twist for twist outs using Elasta QP Olive Oil and Mango butter and Shea Moisture's Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Hold Smoothie, sealing my ends with Jamaican Black Castor Oil.

Back to wash day for a new hair week!

I really enjoy the outcome of rollersets and twist outs on my hair, which create beautiful textures I can always manipulate into other styles. One thing I did learn in the previous Fall and Winter seasons with all the cold weather accessories is to keep my hair in the back up! There will be no scarves and coats eating up my hair this year! I do need to do a little fall/winter accessory shopping so we'll see how that goes! lol

I plan to start this regimen as soon as I take out my extension braids and trim my hair!

 I plan to try trimming with the moon cycles for the next year as well, so I will be trimming on Friday August 31st with the full moon. I need a really good trim too... 1/4 inch, maybe like almost 1/2 inch to have all fresh ends. At the slow rate my hair grows I don't want to trim that much but after the pool and dry heat on the west coast, I think I definitely need it. Styling and detangling has been rough :/
(another reason I put these braids in... been trying to prolong this trim, lol)

Any of you ladies already thinking forward to your fall/winter regimen?

Summer Natural Hair Routine

Thanks for those who voted in our poll about having a hair routine!

57% have one
28 % don't
14% are still trying to find one

I posted this question out of curiosity: I was having trouble with a set summer hair routine because I'm often not sure what to do with my hair, especially since this time around I have more hair then I have ever had to work with, which is both a blessing and problematic for me. I want to wear it loose all summer (as in no twists or braided styles), but there will be days of high humidity and stormy rain, bbqs, picnics, baby showers, and work-related events. I don't want to use a lot of product and I don't want to spend hours prepping and priming because frankly, I don't have time for that.


For the last couple of weeks I've been washing my hair up to 3 times a week, deep conditioning once a week, and using a combo of water/oil/gel or conditioner/oil as my leave in. Sometimes I set my hair with bantu-knots, most times I let my hair airdry in a bun or two braids, and my go-to styles have been pulling my hair back with a banana clip, or buns. I've been pretty busy with work, wedding planning, and a film project and this routine has been pretty low maintenance. My hair seems to be doing well. Now the issue I have is I actually want to do other things to my hair that are a bit more creative and interesting for the summer, but of course, time won't allow. I express myself through my appearance and since I can't indulge too much (because I have an "office" job) my hair is the main thing I have. I don't want to end up being the girl with long hair and a ponytail, it's just not me.

Anyway, here are the list of products I've been using which will probably be my summer staples:

Ouidad Climate Control Defrizzing Shampoo
Herbal Essence Hello Hydration - Leave in
Aubrey Organics Glycogen Protein Balancing Conditioner - DC
Vatika Oil - Leave-in, seal
Eco Styler Gel - styler
Ouidad Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel
Aveda Anti-Humectant Pomade - only a little for some of my hair

And here is today's second day hair, after going through my routine Monday night and throwing my hair into a couple of braids to dry in:

What are your summer routines?

Quick Post: It's Just Too Hot Today

When it's really hot out, it means my natural hair:

- Will not be in my face
- Will be pulled back
- Will be sealed with products meant to combat humidity
- Will not be styled eloborately
- Will not take more than 5 minutes to do in the mornings

There you have it, back to the pompadour and banana clip! I washed my hair last night, used vatika oil as my leave in and smoothed in a little Ouidad Climate Control Heat & Humidty Gel and tossed my hair into a couple of braids. This morning I fluffed them out and this was the result. How have you styled your hair on really hot days?

Momma SP's Natural Hair

My mom came over yesterday for a little moment to chill and I was surpised to see her with her hair in it's natural state. I always thought my mom had some of the most beautiful hair, so of course I got her to go natural too. The last time she had seen her hair all natural she had to be in her early teens... 30 sum' years later, I helped her transition for a year by weaving her hair up, having to chop a little earlier than she inteded because of a matting incident (Lady didn't listen to me, washed her hair, didn't condition or detangle or anything and just threw a hat on. -_- NO.) My mother works a lot and ponytails are easy for her, so since the matting only occured in the back, all of the relaxed ends were cut from the back, but she still has a few relaxed ends at the top/front to be able to pull her hair back into a ponytail.

She came over with a ponytail, that I switched out for a banana clip, picked her curls out, and proceeded to resmooth her curls with a little Eco Styler Olive Oil gel to prolong her style.

Before:

After:
I really love her beautiful, full curly wavy hair, and I can't wait to chop those stringy ends off. My mom has very strong, healthy, full hair and I'm soooooo jealous, but also so proud of her for letting go of the relaxer... it was about damn time. She is in her second year of being natural and nearing APL soon, the longest her has been since she was a teenager... She's always had a full head of shoulder length hair, but I think that's saying something about the creamy crack! lol

 Love you momma... And all that hair!!!

When you started your natural hair journey, who did you take with you?!

This Week Should Have Been: Banana Clip Week!

 Earlier this week, I posted an easy little Banana clip w/ pompadour up do I had done a few months ago, and Curly Film Chick was inspired and also made her own, super cute banana clipped style. I too had been inspired and decided to wear my hair up in a banana clip!

I did the two braids in the front to give my thin/fine/fragile edges a break (minimal protective styling), as I can leave them in as a headband and style around them, not having to constantly manipulate the hair in my hairline/edges. The braids in the front are also great at keeping the front of your hair looking neat and frizz free with out having to manipulate the hair with brushing and pulling to to slick it back.
I was rocking a twist out I had done on hair that had been twisted and banded to stretch after washing, and decided to put it up with a Banana Clip. Using a banana clip is always a favorite and easy go to because they fit all of my hair, aren't too tight, and won't completely ruin whatever "set" I had done to my hair. Wearing a twist out with braids in the front, I was able to easily go from the banana clipped hair style, to this:

Think of options like these for all of you ladies who need the ease of changing your hair from day to night in a cinch. Also for you ladies who feel stuck with limited options, think of little, low manipulation ways to be able to easily switch your style up for the week. In one week we've shown you 3 different Banana clipped hair styles at 3 different lengths, and all are totally adaptable!

Any of you try rocking a Banana Clip this week? Have a super versatile style you like to share? We'd love to see it too... Please send any style ideas to yais.nyc@gmail.com so we can share them too!

Today's Style: My Own Pompadour!

I know I said this would probably be a boring hair week for me, but after seeing my fellow co-blogger/bestie show off her updo with a pompadour I got inspired to do something similar. I have an event to attend tonight and I want to look cute without having to manipulate my curls too much, and a style that wouldn't take so much time. So this morning I got in front of the mirror and in about five minutes I had this style:

This is my version of a pompadour with banana clip, just like SP's in yesterday's post. Basically I just took some hair in the front and gathered it to one side with a little "hump" secured with a bobby-pin. Then I secured the rest of my hair with a banana clip. I'm very pleased with the results! I'm sure anyone who does this style can make it a little sleeker with some gel or something on the edges, I'm just really not the "sleek" type so the fuzzy hairs don't bother me.

Who says that natural hair blogs and youtube videos aren't needed anymore for inspiration? And in this case, your very own blog can help you out!

Long TWA Style: Banana Clip Up-do with Twisted Pompadour

In my latest efforts to make sure to hold my TWA ladies down, I decided to look back through my computer to see what I hadn't posted over these pasts TWA months when I came across and remembered this super cute style.
I wore this to work when I was still interning at Wilhelmina and they were in love with my hair that day!
How did I achieve this style?

• My hair was banded overnight in 2 ponytails after washing, to dry and stretch my curls. 
• In the morning, I unbanded my hair, parted and separated out the section I wanted to use as a pompadour, and proceeded to apply Eco Styler gel and brush the edges and the sides back.
• Next, I put in my banana clip. The easiest way to get all your hair in, is to gather and hold all of your hair as if you were going to use a scrunchie to put it in a ponytail, then put in one side, then bring around the other and snap closed.
• I then took my pompadour section, added a little eco styler gel for shine and to tame frizz. I stretched the section of hair to the side and proceeded to to do a loose 2-strand flat twist.
• I tucked the end of it under and inside of the pompadour, pinned to my liking, and voila! Style! lol
•  It's also a style I really love because you can always easily wear it again, Just remove the banana clip when you come home, tie it down to sleep, and replace your banana clip the next day! Simple as Pie!

This style is perfect for going out, formal or not. You can embellish the sides of your banana clip puff or add an accent to your pomadour for a formal occasion. You can rock a smooth look to the office or go to your job interview in style.
This style can be worn to the club for a fuss free night, or (as it kind of was in high school for me) an easy every day go to style.
I would say it takes about 5-7 minutes to achieve this style and it's a great way to fake it until you make it for us short haired ladies, as a banana clip always makes my hair seem fuller and longer. I use the Goody banana clips (large ones) and they haven't failed me through out the years, plus they don't break easily.

So Long TWA Ladies, would you rock this style? Would you say this would be a Formal, Casual, or Go- to style for you?

I hope this helps!
(My hair was between 4 and 6 inches long for this style)

CHI Deep Brilliance Blow Dryer Review + Hairstyle Video

I made this video a few weeks ago to review this new blow dryer I got that I'm head over heels with! It's lightweight, not too loud, all the parts are secure and smooth, and it's hot so you can work fast!

Looking back at this video was hilarious though I must say, I did laugh at myself. Lol 

Making videos for this blog has been lots of fun and I am surprisingly thoroughly enjoying... Okay... on to the video!

My Mom actually brought the CHI Deep Brilliance Digital Titanium Flat Iron which she has been raving about! I got her to go natural a little over a year ago through weaving as her transition period and now that she has been fully natural she's only been wearing her hair in buns. FINALLY this flatiron got her to take her hair out and it's looking gorgeous! I have to get her hair up on this blog in this next week or so....  and get my hands on that flatiron so I can review that too!

So far, I've tried the Blow dryer and the Moisture Binding Shampoo and Conditioner from the Deep Brilliance line and I will say, I always liked CHI products but they really seem to be hitting the nail on the head with the Deep Brilliance line. Stay tuned for my reviews on the rest of the Deep Brilliance line (well whatever else I get my hands on... and no, no one has endorsed me to say any of this).

{and yes, I said "a lot, a little bit"}

Natural @ Wilhelmina Deux

I hate when my life gets so busy that I have to do one of these where the heck has SP been? type of posts... but I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes... Tis the season for back-posting!

 So... I'm loving Wilhelmina! Strolling into the office, it's all white and refreshing, the perfect temperature, carpeted walkways for Diva's like me who wants to walk every runway in heels and comfort, and my favorite, the free coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and on Fridays, bagels and muffins! lol (I know, there's a hungry woman in this little body)

Having freelanced for the last four years, with the last three in Fashion, it's natural that I'm loving every aspect of Wilhelmina. I work in the Women's division, and as a hair and makeup artist I am usually working with agency models, but it's amazing to be able to see all of the girls come in on a regular basis. It feels like getting a private showing of the girls available for me to shoot! I'm learning more and more about the fashion industry and so many doors and opportunities are coming my way...  I'm super psyched and I can't wait to watch this journey of my life and career unfold.

Now while that's been unfolding, I've been doing Galaxy Knows What! with my hair, lol. For some reason, it seems as though whenever I hit busy moments in my life, It's like I forget everything I ever knew, everything I get on this blog and share with you all, and suddenly Her Majesty (My hair that is) becomes this beautiful foreign creature that I stare at and want to touch and understand, but somehow feel lost. I know a lot of it is due in part to my crazy mental hairstylist problems where I have issues with wearing the same hairstyle 2 or 3 days in a row sometimes... but a lot of protective styles just aren't me, especially at my current length and job location. I know I could have retained way more length by now, and my hair is definitely healthy and not breaking off, but without a lot of protective styling, I do need to trim a little more when the time comes. I do plan to protective style soon... I want to give myself a weave when I have the time and money to do so, just to switch up my look and not feel like I have to look the same everyday.

STR8.

This past weekend, using my CHI 44 Iron Guard and Silk Infusion Heat protector spray and serum, I blowdryed and flatironed my hair. I then lightly dusted the ends (even though i can still stand to dust a little more) and took off about an inch at the nape to avoid the afro-mullet look that I refuse to let my hair grow into, which also made my top layers appear a little longer.

 I silk-wrapped (wrapping dry hair with Saran wrap and sitting under dryer) for about 5 mins, bumped my hair, and then finished with Aveda's Air Control Hairspray for a light hold.

 By the end of the night, thanks to the bus making the wrong turn and me having to walk like 10 blocks in windy weather, this is what my hair looked like:

So the next day, to avoid adding any extra heat,  I wore it like this:

 Im happy my hair has grown so much and it can almost go all into one ponytail!!! The next time I straighten my hair will probably be some time in October so i will definitely length check then!