Showing posts with label messages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label messages. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Reader Question: Transitioner Learning how to Style


Sietta (Not Pictured Above) said...


I'm looking to transition from wearing sew-ins to wearing my own natural hair again, but I'm lost about how to go about styling it :( I haven't worn my own hair for more than a week in almost 5 years and I don't have a perm so as you could imagine it is very difficult to work with at this point and I am concerned about styles because of this. Also, my coils are SUPER tight and idk what to do with them at this point because my hair has never been this untrained so I know I have a job ahead of me lol. Do you have any suggestions for styles until I can get my coils to loosen a little?


Hi Sietta
Thanks for asking and we're glad to help =)
For starts, I would say it'll be a little hard without a few extra details (Hair length? What look you would like to achieve? What do you mean by trained hair and coil loosening?)but I will give you the best advice possible for anyone in your situation or anyone who needs help learning their new texture and how to care for it.

Part 1 - Moisturize, Detangle & Stretch!!!
As a professional hair stylist, time and time again I've seen women trying to go natural after wearing weaves for quite some time, but feeling discouraged about their "rough, dry, hard" manes. They think they have this horrible texture of hair because it is usually dry and malnourished, and because of this, their hair may also be a lot more shriveled and shrunked up.

Start with a spritzer bottle with water, get some of your favorite slippery conditioner, take your hair in one section at a time, moisturize, detangle from the ends up, and either braid, twist, bun or band the little section to keep the moisture in and your hair from shrinking up again (You can also do this in the shower if it's easier/faster for you). 

Part 2 - Washing
Don't be afraid, moisture and water are your best friends :)
After detangling and moisturizing it should be much easier to deal with your hair now, and if you have a lot of hair you may want to leave it in those sections during your wash. If/when I wash in sections, I will bring a few hair clips in the shower with me so as I wash one section at a time, I can twist and pin it back up so it stays stretched and detangled and I won't need to comb through my hair again....or at least bring a scrunchie to throw it all in a ponytail.

Part 3 - Styling
When it comes to styling natural hair, it's all about knowing the look you're going for, and understanding what your hair will and won't do. Henna and other natural products like coconut milk have been known to cause a little curl loosening, but usually on looser textures. The way we usually go about loosening our curls usually is by way of chemicals or heat damage, as a lot of hairstylists will call burning your curls out "heat training." Know that this is not an accurate method (not a method at all) ladies.

I love the curly look and my hair is curly but shrinks A LOT so I live in twist outs as it lets me have the look of my own curls, minus all the shrinkage. Doing twist-outs, braid-outs, banding, or any other kind of Set that will stretch the hair, should help with your feeling of wanting to loosen your curls. When I want a curlier, froey-er twist out I will do it on wet hair or re-twist an old twist out, and if I'd like my hair to be a little silkier, I'll first rollerset my hair and do my twist out on that. 

Here are some links to help you along your journey:
Tips For Naturals
Creating Textures
Creating a Regimen

I hope this helped, and please, don't ever feel like your options are limited, And Haircare above all else!!!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Stunning Chocolate Afro Beauty In The GAP campaign

While walking my dog today, I was taken aback by the sight of this beauty on the bus stop GAP poster.
Not only is she a gorgeous chocolate girl but how about that Afro! I love how they didn't photoshop her hair perfectly round, nor did they photoshop the texture. Very seldom do we see a chocolate girl, with actual chocolate skin, rocking a a huge full on fro... it would usually be a twist out or curly set of some type, or just cut low... It's so beautiful to see chocolate faces in fashion places, especially Naturally Beautiful ones.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Some Updates

Ohaithur, hair enthusiasts =)

SP and I (Curly Film Chick) have been so busy! Interestingly enough we are of course trying to incorporate new routines with our hair in order to fit our hectic days.

I restocked on hair essentials and have tried a couple of new products that I will review soon. Also I have some new hair styles I been working on, I'm trying to do more protective styling for this crazy NYC weather, although wearing my hair loose has been pretty good to me lately. I'm trying to get more creative! I have another idea style in mind that I plan to execute this weekend, most likely Sunday when I have my "me" time...lately I been thinking a lot about coloring my hair. I love how dark and silky it is but I also love to change it's color. Since high school I been coloring my hair using the boxed dyes and honestly never had too many issues with it other than my hair gets drier.  I had a head full of brownish red color, gold hi-lights, light brown hi-lights and my last set of orange hi-lights (done by SP herself) are now a deep red thanks to the henna. I haven't colored my hair in about 2 years and want to again. Until of course I start missing my dark hair and let the color grow out and the cycle will continue! I'm still shopping around for a place because I don't want my hair messed up and I know it will add upkeep to it. I'm thinking of a "chocolate" brown. So far I'm all for Aveda but they are pricey! I'm also afraid of going to a salon, because they've always acted afraid of my hair (haha) so we'll see if I actually go through with it.

We'll also be having a giveaway soon. Trying to decide how our followers will win something....be on the look out for that!

Anyway, feel free to drop us a comment about what you've been doing to your hair and if you have any of your own hair blogs or interesting links to share and we'll check them out. Welcome new followers! Shouts out to follower Beauty.Mindset for putting us on her blog roll and basically being awesome! Thanks for reading!