Twist Outs on Curlformed Hair

 I wanted to post a few pics of how I had been wearing my hair over the past few days, in this time between setting my hair on curlformers and installing my new curly weave (yes, curly... I'll explain later). Aside from sharing with all of you lovely readers, It always helps when I have photos to look back on as I achieve my goals.

What's in that black bag I'm holding? Yup, My Weave is in that bag, lol.
I left my house that day with a beautiful twist out and the weather laughed at me and asked "How dare I try to look cute?", and thanks to the windy, rainy, weather, I ended up coming home with a curly fro. Twas cute, and I played in it while reading my book all the way home... terrible case of hands in hair syndrome.. lol

1st Curlformer Set On My TWA

I FINALLY got the chance to borrow Curly Film Chick's Curlformers so I can try them out! 

Okay, I'm just going to get down to the nitty gritty:

The Install - I did not enjoy any part of installing these, at all! lol I know it was my first time doing it on myself, as I had done them for CFC when she first got them over a year ago, but for some reason, things were just not working for me.
It took me three hours, 2 snacks and few arm stretches to get through this set. I felt and heard my hair snagging at different times and I didn't like that, and everything just wasn't as easy for me as it was made to seem... I know, I just need to do it a few times to get the hang of it, but if I don't like it somewhat by the third try, Never Again!

I didn't want to try sleeping on the Curlformers just yet, so under the dryer I went to also get in my mani time :) 

I didn't calculate the time I was under the dryer, but I think 45 mins to an hour later, Curls! I did not enjoy the Curlformer take down either. My Verdict on the curls? 
Curls - Loved the curls! I definitely like it better for long hair, but in the meantime it's a cute little look for my TWA when I need a change from twist outs, roller sets, and even my own curls. As CFC had mentioned to me, they don't really get all of your ends straight if you have really curly hair like us, I could see that from the time my hair was in the roller, but I still love the outcome and they got my roots extremely straight... reminds of when I had a relaxer and would get those roller sets like this, lol. It was definitely cute and I'd like to see how I can manipulate it more in the future... and get the set to last! *Note to self, find good holding product to use with Curlformers!

I knew the set wasn't gonna last so I just threw my hair in a ponytail to sleep, and brushed it out the next day and wore my hair in 2 loose flat twists. 

Quick crazy story: I had on sunglasses while walking down a shady block, so naturally I did not see that I was walking through a swarm of gnats, until I felt the need to swat profusely. When I got to my destination I realized I had like 2 dead gnats in my hair (EEWW!!! FREAKED OUT) and realized they probably drowned in the oils in my hair, did some more freaking out while ripping the twists out and whipping my hair back and forth like a mad woman... which resulted in this look, lmfao. And I'm pretty sure I got all the gnats out too.

Have you used Curl Formers on your TWA? I also wouldn't mind hearing a few crazy natural hair stories! Send 'em in to Yais.nyc@gmail.com!

Band Out Puff + Hair Plans

Traveling home last week, my hair had been in my usual 2 buns, which I left a load of conditioner in and oil in. When I got back home, I got so used to my tanning rituals on the West Coast, that I was naturally compelled to go up to my roof and tan. I took out my buns just to give my hair a breather, but I guess the little bit of banding I had done to stretch the night before had really helped because I thought my curls were actually looking pretty good. Because I had to go out that evening, I decided a puff was going to be the way to go, because I didn't want any hair around my face or neck, or to have to fuss with it not falling the way I wanted if I had left it out. I even went for a more carefree look and didn't put any holding product on my edges or any of my hair going back into the ponytail. I really loved my hair that night, though it shrunk quite a lot, but I'm really happy to see the difference in my puff, it's so much bigger without all the extra fluffing and/or blowing out the roots!

  I was searching back through our blog yesterday and assessing my hair over time. I've learned when I have my greatest setbacks... always when I'm extremely busy.... both mentally and/or physically. With Fashion Week quickly approaching (an extremely hectic time for me) I've been trying to think ahead to the approaching madness, and what will I do with this hair of mine. I really do not want to deal with another setback, as my hair grows incredibly slow and is also incredibly fragile. From all my researching, my fashion week options so far are:

1. Twists & Twist Outs! I love Twist outs, as regardless of anything, they keep my hair stretched and smooth, and if I don't love the outcome, it always has a beautiful texture I can manipulate into another style.
2. Banding! Though I'd love to imagine that if I do wear a twist out I'd have the time to retwist, but in case it's all in my head, banding is an easy and much faster way to keep my hair stretched and hold on to whatever curl pattern I can.
3. Buns! After looking at a few tutorials and photos of beautiful natural hair in buns, I think aside from putting my own hair up, I want to try adding some Marley Braid Hair for a different effect. 

I don't think I'd have time to do much else... plus that's the other thing I've learned: Keeping it simple is the way to go. I'll definitely be applying that to my Fashion Week makeup regimen as well, with a little tinted moisturizer, whatever color lip, my cat eye and mascara. A little blush if I'm feeling fancy. Done.

I've also been thinking ahead to the approaching fall and winter, thinking of what I will do with my hair to continue retaining as much length as I possibly can, especially in a cold climate like NY where we definitely need to pile on the layers! Scarfs, hats, and coats can snag and dry the hair out, so it's so hard to wear my hair out in the winter without being afraid of life! lol I definitely plan on getting a long, straight weave once I no longer have to worry about humidity, just for fun!

How has your hair been lately? Any Special Plans?

My Last Straightening Before Summer... (+OOTD)

 On May 3rd I got the itch to straighten my hair for the last time before the summer hits... I figured "Hey... Cinco de Mayo is coming up..plus I have the itch to see what my color looks like straightened." I had just gotten back from LA too, with their beautiful, even weather so I was still getting used to the fact that the weather was still $h!tty here in NYC! I thought I would leave for a week at the end of April and come back to sunny skies... it was actually colder when I got back -__-
Anyways, A roller set and flatiron later (notice: I can use bigger cap less rollers now!!!), I got invited to a friend's surprise birthday so I set out to join the fun. Without watching the weather. #nobueno
Though I was only going about 5 blocks from my house and it was only drizzling, my hair went from looking like this right after I finished it:

To looking like this by the time I got there, ending up in a little bun on the top of my head so I could look half decent just tipsy going home:

 I wore my hair in a little tightly wrapped bun to keep my ends moisturized for the next day, and went with my trusty 2 buns for Cinco de Mayo. I'm really a big advocate of only straightening once, so once my hair goes puffy on me, that's it for the bone straight look...
 I hope you enjoy my Cinco de Mayo look, I tried to play on the 2 buns and basically go for the cute Asian girl look, lol (I dig cute Harajuku Kawaii Asians!) Looks like I was feeling stripey for the start of May... I guess you could also say I did a little light protective styling, lol

 I will be posting a part 2 to this hair straightening post to show you  my straight hair length check for before summer! I don't plan to straighten again until its not humid anymore... so that'll probably be some time in late September, that should be a great comparison as long as I keep up with the hair care.

After I got tired of the buns, I returned to my regular 2-strand flat twist pattern to achieve a silky, stretched, twist out. Unfortunately my camera died before i could take a shot of how I fluffed and styled, but I promise there will be a lot more fluffing and styling to come =)

Don't judge me! I know y'all were all out there trying get your last straightening in before the summer too! Were you? lol 

**I used the same products for this style as I used in my Rollersetting and Flatironing Natural Hair Video.

Great Day @ the MOMA

An old friend of mine randomly hit me up this morning and invited me out to the MOMA! I was so psyched when I got there because it had totally slipped my mind that the Diego Rivera display was on now! His work is so real and truthful, he's definitely one of my favorite artists. You're not supposed to take pictures... but I managed to sneak one..

Circa 1932

I had a great day walking around the museum, taking pics and staring at whatever I so pleased, but one of the most awesome things was my hair! My friend kept touching it and making the comment that my afro looked so "Juicy." Lol I think it's time for a nick name change. My mane is now Her Majesty aka Juicy..... I think my hair has a stripper name now, lol ... Anyhoo, I have been getting many compliments or people staring and smiling, while wearing my fro'. Some white guy even thought I was a black supremecist last week as he whispered a political statement to me while getting on the train (I'm automatically Angela Davis now). Funny thing is, for the most part, I like wearing my hair curly more but I get way more compliments and attention when I wear my fro. #grassisalwaysgreener 

All in all I had a great day and even in all of this NYC wind right now, a great fro'.

Some gratuitous shots of today's fro':

Would you call that Juicy? lol 

Extension Braid Pompadour Updo

So as i was saying in my Feeling a Little Frustrated post, i finally had a little time so i went ahead and braided my own hair. I would have loved to go to the salon but being tight for cash, and knowing that i need to wait a little while longer before getting the larger braids again, i decided to braid my hair myself for the first time again since i had been in high school! I used to put my hair in microbraids all the time, no problem,  but i had never done bigger braids before so my backup plan was to just do cornrows if the box braids hadn't worked out. Luckily, they did, and i'd say they turned out pretty good! My mom actually almost got upset with me cuz she thought i went and spent money on getting my hair done... i'll take that as a compliment! lol
I did these braids on day old hair (it was spur of the moment) using regular Kanekalon synthetic hair. I started in the front, did the side edges, the back and then worked my way up to finish the middle, all the while just parting long rows, and sectioning the rest of the hair out of the way. From there i would say i just sliced 1inched cubed sections, fully detangled and added some Eco Styler Olive Oil gel before starting to braid. Non stop i would say this took my about 6 hours total, but since i did have a few distractions, it took me about 12 hours. Finished result?

Not too bad if i must say so myself :) You know the deal, I've been wearing my high buns and ponytails, lol. I went out last night and decided to try something new, an updo of sorts and it came out so beautiful! I got a million compliments on my hair last night so if you ladies love it just as much, let me know and i will do a video tutorial of how i did this updo. Here goes:

1st step ~ Trying to figure out exactly how i was going to wear my hair. I was loving the Pompadour but not sure about the ponytail so i decided to try doing one of my trusty buns and that was all i needed!

 The Girl next to me is my cousin and she has beautiful curly hair as well... and another who's been through it all with her hair... Stay tuned to hear a little more about her too =)