Sunday Question: How Many Is Too Many

I always hear men wonder aloud why women have so many products; why can't we have one shampoo and just one conditioner like they *allegedly* do? I realize I alternate shampoos, conditioners, stylers and hairstyles all the time, and that's why I need the amount of products I have. I don't think I'm a product junkie - mostly because I'm a bit lazy and indecisive - but I do buy products on a whim. I've made a list of the staple amount of products I feel I should have:

2 Cleansers at a time: a sulfate-free one for frequent use, another for clarifying
2-3 Conditioners: A Deep conditioner, a leave-in, and a rinse-out (most likely a cheapy)
3-4 Stylers: There are creams, gels and serums that fit different hair styling needs.
Total: 6 - 9 Products 

I actually don't think this is a lot. My bathroom does not look like the hair section at a drugstore aisle LOL. Of course, this isn't a dig at PJs, in fact I know of one that many of you know *cough SP cough* but I digress...

What do you guys think? How many is too many hair products?

Big Hair Days - How I Get to 3 Day Hair

So I've decided for the rest of the summer to wear my hair big, which has kept my routine pretty simple for the last couple of weeks. I was stuck in a styling rut after my wedding and since I was tired of buns and the weather has cooled down significantly, I decided to just let my hair "do what it does."

I've been washing my hair twice a week and using either conditioner or Eco-Styler gel as a leave-in, then I put my hair into 4-6 braids. Because I have so much hair, it's usually not dry by the morning so on Day 1, I have a shrunken curly look:

At night, I put my hair back in the 4-6 braids, sometimes with conditioner if I want some definition, and wake up and fluff in the morning so that Day 2 hair looks something like this:

By Day 3, my  hair is pretty stretched out and it's when my hair is at it's largest. Again, I'm braiding the night before then fluffing out my hair to get it as big as I feel like for the day:

Yesterday's Hair

Day 3 (or 4) is when I wash and condition and do the same thing all over again. I love how easy this is for me and I've been getting so many compliments at work from all types of people (I'm one of four black women at my job and the only natural). Of course I do get the "omg did you get a haircut" thing when my hair is wet and appears shorter, and after a while I did get annoyed. I finally decided to tell one of my co-workers who asked, that I have the ability to control the length of my hair using a Jedi Mind Trick - it at least made him laugh and now it's a running joke.

How I Finger De-Tangle My Hair

Hey YAIS readers!

I've finally mustered up the courage to do another video. It's a really quick video of how I de-tangle my hair using my fingers - I said goodbye to the comb a while ago!

Last Saturday I pre-poo'd my hair with Burt's Bees Avocado Butter, shampooed with Yes To Cucumbers, deep conditioned with Ouidad's Climate Control De-Frizzing conditioner, and used TreSemme Naturals Conditioner (the silicon free kind) as my leave in and de-tangler. Enjoy!

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?

"Minnie Mouse" Extension Braid High Double Buns!!

 I braided my hair up two Wednesday's ago, bored of my hair and wanting to take a break from having to do her... and she needed a break from me too! lol

How have I been caring for my braids?

• Spraying scalp and hair in braids with mix of Aloe Vera Juice, Peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, sage oil, JBCO, coconut and avocado oils.
• Baggying roots every other night.
• Tying hair down very night with a satin scarf.

Liking to keep my money in my pocket, i did these braids over about 7 hours (no, not straight. I took the night off and finished on Thursday). Usually I'm ready to rip these things out as soon as I do them but I've actually been enjoying them a little more this time around so I plan to keep them in until the 31st. Saturday night I wore one of my usual High Braided Buns, and yesterday decided to see what 2 would look like, i'm loving it!!! I really love the look of two buns so I can't wait until my hair gets bigger and longer so I can wear two of my own huge buns on top of my head like that! lol
When I was younger my mother used to always give me 2 afro puffs and everyone would call me Minnie Mouse... so maybe it kind of taps into that Nostalgia.

What do you think? Would you wear 2 High buns?!

Sunday Question: Talking Hair With Non-Curlies

We're getting back to normal here with posting, it's been such a busy summer! Lately I've been having fun talking hair with non-naturals and non-curlies and it's a nice bonding experience. One of my closes friends is Mexican-American with thick, jet black straight hair and we've been sharing our hair routines and beauty secrets which has been fun for me. Turns out we both adore TreSemme Conditioners and I've gotten her into flexi-rods. We even made a trip to a beauty supply store exploring hair products! Of course I love talking to other naturals/curlies about hair stuff, but it's nice to share moments with others without being looked at like a weirdo. My friend and I recognize our vast hair differences and embrace it pretty well.

So my question to YAIS: Do you talk hair with non-curlies/non-naturals? Is it a positive experience for you?