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!!!

Long Hair Only Lovers, Please Speak Out!

Okay, those of you long hair only lovers out there, young or old, black or white, please, speak out!!
My question to you is: What's the deal with long hair that you can only have long hair? What are you so attached to, or hiding, or afraid of?
This is a question I have always wondered and could never understand...
As a hairstylist, I've learned to be sensitive to people's individual feelings concerning their hair, but I've seen one too many women with long hair FREAK OUT over getting something as menial as a trim. I mean literally, grown women, throwing tantrums, crying, screaming and cursing, rolling on the floor, the list goes on (I'M SERIOUSLY NOT JOKING)... Spiral into depressions even over a hairstylist trimming an inch or 2 of stringy, see through ends... And I'm talking about trimming an inch or two off of at least waist length hair.  
Now of course this is not every woman with long hair, as I know there are people who grow their hair to their butt and chop it off every 5 years, or just decided one day to chop their beautiful long hair to a short cut and never turn back, but for the others, I find something kind of disturbing about someone with a good amount of years on their life who's never had hair shorter than their arm pits or shoulders (the one's who consider bra strap length short and would never get a haircut)... If you notice, she's the one who always wears her hair down. When it's time to take a photo, she's the one who brings all her hair to the front on both sides, covering most of her face and body. She's the one who never wears her hair pulled back away from her face... Her Security Blanket. 
I especially can't stand when people have long hair who really shouldn't, like people whose hair is like 10 strands strands thick... the Bad kind of "Hippie hair"... Please let that go! Your hair will look fuller shorter anyway! 
(Sorry for yelling. I just really can't stand that.. when keeping it real goes wrong, lol) 


I'm currently feigning for length, wanting to finally grow my hair really long for the first time (just to like hip length stretched..) but I've never felt like I couldn't have short hair or was afraid of short hair.... It seems like women who are attached to long hair are afraid of short hair... they act like they would die with a haircut, even if it's a trim of an inch that will grow back in a month or two... I just don't get it...
My Theory is:  Let's just say you live on average 80 yrs... If you get a haircut once in your life, it would take you a year or 2 to grow your hair back, maybe 4 if you're growing it pretty long... but that still gives you about 76 years with long hair... 
Like seriously, would it kill you to try and embrace a short haircut once? Please, Speak Out!!!

(If it has anything to do with Religion or Tradition of course I'm not talking to you in this case :)

Reader Question: What Twist Pattern Do I Use For My Twist-Outs?

This post is an answer to reader Melyssa's questions: was that a twist or braidout? Do you think you could post a picture of the placement of your flat twists?
Hey Melyssa & all other readers who have been wondering the same thing, here is a link to photos of how I generally place my flat twists to achieve my twist out looks. I generally always use this same pattern when flat twisting my hair for a twist out, but I only part perfect lines when I'm planning to wear the twists for a few days. Otherwise, when I do flat twists just to twist-out in the next day or two, I 'll just separate my hair with my fingers in those same sections and flat twist my hair like this, because trying to hide those perfect parts is really hard. If I want to wear my twist out with a part the next day, I will only use a comb to make a straight part, and then separate the rest with my fingers. I sometimes switch the placement up a little, lately by adding just one single strand twist right at the crown of my head so it won't be flat on top, but for the most part it's just a variation of the same thing... a little trial and error =)
I guess I should also mention that from time to time I do single two strand twists, randomly placed to hang the way I like by twisting my hair in the direction I want my hair to hang
She also asked if I do braid- outs... I did one, and I liked it, but I much prefer twist outs because they resemble the natural curl of my hair


I plan to do a video of how I twist & twist-out my hair and also how to pic a perfectly rounded fro'... 


Thanks for asking, I'm happy to answer
SP

Sisterly Advice: Keeping Natural Hair Moisturized in the Winter

One of my sisters, who's in college in Boston, called me not to long ago telling me that she wanted to deviate from her "box-braids routine" and wear her hair "out" for a little while and wanted to know what products she could use to keep her hair moisturized. I'm always excited when one of my sisters or cousins (and even my fiance's relatives) call to ask me what they should do or use on their hair, makes me feel like I may be doing something right with my haircare. I especially feel pleased when this particular sister calls me about hair stuff because I'm the one who convinced her not to ever relax it and promised I'd show her how to "rock what she got"-which is how I became interested in blogging about hair in the first place!

Anyway, I texted her a basic answer so that she could refer back to it later and then I thought I should also post about it, because it might help other inquiring minds. So again, the question is: How Can I keep My Hair Moisturized in the Winter? What Products Should I Use?
My Answer: To keep your hair from drying out, it's not just having the right product but the art of sealing your hair. This basically involves using a water-based product (ex. conditioner), and locking in the moisture with an oil (ex. coconut) or butter (ex. shea).

My sister also expressed not wanting to have to wet her hair everyday for moisture - after all it's winter time and no one wants to walk outside with wet hair. I recommended that she spritz her hair as needed with a home made mixture (in her case, she's always been good with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and water) or buying a spritz. I personally swear by Oyin's Frank Juice, but she may want something she can buy locally.

At this point, I turn it over to you folks. Any product recommendations for my sister or tips you want to share for winter hair care? She'll be watching this post!

Henna, Cassia & Bentonite Clay-What's the difference?

Reader email from Tamara:

Hello,

I am new to your blog, as I just found it today.  But you have a lot of useful information, thank you.

I have a question about the difference between Henna, Cassia and Bentonite...As in what they do for your hair and or the pros/cons of each one.  Also I have hair that is just beyond twa length and im not sure when to start adding any of those that I named to my hair because all the people who seem to be doing it already have longer hair.

Thanks for reading out blog Tamara! Glad you find it useful. And for folks who have been checking us out for a while, you know that both SP and I are henna users (although I haven't in a while) and I love Bentonite Clay. Neither of us have used Cassia yet but I actually have been interested in trying it. So here's what we know:

Henna: is said to strengthen and condition hair. It has a reddish dye content, but if you have dark hair the color may show up more like a rinse.  These posts will bring you to SP and I's henna experiences as well as information about henna. We both love it and have very different hair types. 

Pros: shiny hair, some color deposit, strengthens your strands

Cons: may curls to loosen (temporary), hard to rinse out, can be drying

Bentonite Clay: great for hair and skin. It removes build up and acts as a clarifier and there is no dye content. See these posts about my experiences and results

Pros: removes build-up

Cons: perhaps drying. I don't really have any complaints

Cassia: Is yet another conditioning treatment like henna. It's referred to as 'neutral henna' and has a golden-yellow dye content (so again, makes no difference on dark hair). As I mentioned, neither of us have used it yet but feel free to check out info from Mehandi.com. I'm actually interested in using it as well. 

To address the second part of the question about length, it doesn't seem to matter. SP has shorter hair and did henna treatments and other naturals use these treatments on their TWA. And while we both love these treatments, please remember that we all have different hair and what works for some may not work for others. Experiment if you'd like, and research!

Good luck Tamara! Let us know your outcome!

Have questions/comments? email us at yais(dot)nyc (at) gmail(dot)com. (yais.nyc@gmail.com)

You asked, i answered!

So i stopped in the BSS yesterday, as i have been on the Hunt for a large enough bottle to mix my new batch of Aloe Grow in (A mixture of Aloe Gel, water, and EO's which i will make and explain for you later :)

While in there i came across the headbands i buy and thought i might snap a few quick flicks for those of you who'd like to know, Here ya go! =D

*Make sure that whatever kind you buy, they won't snag your hair!

Reader Comment

This comment came from an anonymous transitioner on an old post about products I used a few months ago. 


Thank you for sharing your product lineup. I have been transitioning for a year this month and I am planning to do the big chop before the new semester begins mid-January so I have been researching a lotttt of natural hair products. Aside from the Giovanni are there any other shampoos that you like or recommend? I have heard and read that the Oyin shampoo bar is really good and I noticed that you have a few Oyin products in your arsenal, any thoughts? Also, have you tried the Giovanni leave-in? I know some naturals use it in lieu of the KCKT. Any thoughts? Thanks. I really appreciate your opinion and Happy Holidays!


First off, congrats on making a decision to go natural! As far as shampoos, I have posted that my new favorites are Jessicurl Cleansing Cream and Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream. SPStyles was just telling me yesterday about how she likes YES to Carrots Nourishing Shampoo (which she was kind enough to give me some of to try). It's considerably less expensive and more attainable to get--you can get it from Duane Reade so maybe you want to try that. I've also used Organix shampoos at one point which seemed fine--and again less than $10 and can get at a drugstore. I haven't tried Oyin shampoo bars, I'm not sure why really other than I haven't gotten around to it but I probably will one day. As far as Giovanni products, other than the Tea Tree Shampoo, I haven't had the chance. To be honest, their conditioners are not on my list of "must tries" for me. SP does use one of the conditioners...


Anyways Anonymous, hope this was helpful and feel free to let us know when you do your BC! You can email us at yais.nyc@gmail.com if you have any other questions/comments and that goes for all of our audience.


Happy New Years!