Gratuitous Big Hair Shot

I snapped this pic a couple of weeks ago...I think I just brushed out my hair. The weather is warming up now and I'm in my big hair mood. This serves as a reminder of what's to come =P

Hope you enjoy!

That 'Aha' Moment When A Style Works Better Then Planned

Last night I put some flat twists in my hair with the intention of doing a twist out. I spritzed my hair with an aloe vera juice/water mixture and used some Oyin Whipped Pudding to seal in the moisture.

I stared at myself in the mirror and saw that an actual style could become of this. I tied my twists into a small bun. This is the result:

This is how I'm wearing my hair today too. This was such a quick and easy style. I'm probably going to rock this for a couple of days too; it's raining and windy out here. Hell, I might even leave this in for my trip. What do you folks think?

Get-Away Hair Decisions

This weekend I'm heading to DC for a tourist-y visit. Of course I'm thinking about  my hair. I'm not sure what to do with it. Part of me wants to straighten it, another part of me wants to wear twists or braids, or even a wash-n-go. I'm hearing that DC weather is slightly warmer than NYC weather so I feel like I have a lot of possibilities which is now making me completely indecisive. Right now my hair is just in a lazy and loose bun.

I washed my hair Friday night in box braids I was wearing then took them out Saturday and just brushed it out. I plan to wash again Wednesday or Thursday night, depending on my ultimate plans for my hair.

Any suggestions?

Quick Banding Results...

Unfortunately it's been super hectic but i wanted to make sure that i gave the outcome of last nights banding... I was so busy and couldnt find my memory card today :( but i did make sure to snap a quick photobooth pic, though it did the true beauty of my hair today no justice.

Outcome? Perfect! My curls were in tact with just a little afroey frizz and i got millions of compliments today from friends and heard adoring comments from passerbys. Gotta say.. I love banding!

Listen To Your Own Hair

I came across this article on Coco & Creme called Five Hair Products Black Women Use That We Should Avoid. The usual suspects are on the list: Mineral Oil, drying alcohols, etc. I read the comments to the article and a lot of folks were saying what I believe is true: do whatever works for you.

I grew up using hair products with mineral oil, hair being wrapped at the ends with beads and rubber bands, slept with cotton bandanas instead of silk scarves and didn't have my hair washed until it was too dirty to handle. I still had a lot hair that was shoulder length and longer. What I know now is that my hair wasn't that healthy, especially my scalp. Avoiding certain products and adhering to natural hair practices like low manipulation and proper use of moisture has made my hair healthier, less drier, and my scalp feeling much better. But I hear some naturals are doing pretty good using those products that I've sworn off. I won't use products with mineral oil at the top of the list because it does not work for my hair. But I also need to shampoo, especially high quality ones and co-washing only doesn't cut it for the sake of my scalp.

I know a lot of naturals who are anti-color because they either feel that the hair is no longer natural or that it will automatically break off or change your curl pattern. I don't really have issues with color in my hair, nor do I think it makes you less natural. I also see no issue with straightening either. Natural hair is versatile and there is not need to feel stigmatized if you want to use heat. If done properly, heat damage can be avoided.

Just remember that when it comes to hair, it's YOUR hair and one size does not fit all. While it's helpful to read blogs and product reviews don't force something that won't work. Remember that part of the journey accepting your natural hair is learning to enjoy it at its various length and stages. So keep out the natural hair police!

Extreme Banding!

LOL... I'm a fool #bbm embarrassed face

But really... this does look sort of extreme... I didn't part or anything, just grabbed sections from a twist out i was sporting today and decided i was going to band to keep my hair stretched. I believe i totaled out at around 12 little ponys banded as far down as they could go. 

I feel like i look like this.

Okay, lemme stop playin' and go to sleep, lol. Putting on my satin scarf now...

 Goodnight... we'll see how this goes in the morning :)

iBananaclipped TWA Style

So i used to wear my hair like this like everyday when i was in high school:

Up and back in a banana clip 

(I was soo in love with my hair! It was lightly texturized and dyed a caramel color)

So i found my banana clips and decided to go for it! I prepepped my hair by co-washing, adding some Vatika Olive Oil, Curls Passion Fruit Curl Control Paste, Olive Oil Eco Styler Gel, and put my hair into 4 little curly puffs to let it dry stretched out a bit. Once dried a little, took out the bands, lifted at the roots and use a little more water and gel to smooth my hair back. Knowing that all of my hair wouldn't fit back into the banana clip, i prepared to do a pompadour with whatever hair i couldnt smooth back into the banana clip.  

Results? 

Click the jump for more!

Attack of the Medusa Hair!

Funny story...

Yesterday I decided that I wanted to wear my hair big. I had brushed out my curls from earlier this week and put big plaits in my hair. I took them out and decided against putting my hair in a ponytail or bun.

I actually fluffed it out a little more because I really just wanted huge hair. So by the afternoon my hair was huge and I'm with the kids and the first thing they shouted at me was WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR? Nothing, I responded. One of the boys snickered and said that I looked like Medusa and I told him, well that's Miss Medusa to you. They thought it was pretty funny and honestly I wasn't offended by the comments. In fact, we had a running joke all day about how I looked like Medusa and if that they didn't listen to me they would turn into stone because I'd give them a dirty look lol. Some of the girls came up to me almost in mourning about why-I-did-I-wear-my-hair-so-poofy-when-I-had-such-nice-hair. I responded in the same way I always do.

My co-workers (well the ones I talk to) were supportive and some of them tried to defend me against the comments from the kids. They really liked my hair and one of them even remarked how much they hated that I could pull off big fluffy hair because whenever they tried it never worked out (another was trying to chase me down because he wanted to touch my hair so bad) I was actually smiling all day because I felt happy with my big hair. I wish I had time to take another picture of my hair at the end of the day so folks could see how huge it was.

As a side note: have a thick skin when working with kids. They don't know any better lol.

1st Braid out!

As usual, there was a small change of plans...
So i was about to get ready to do my cornrows for the braid out when i noticed that my color was looking kind of washed out so i decided to color my hair. I really wanted to try the braid out on my blowdried hair but i figure i'll just do it on my wet hair and re-braid or flat twist the following night (all for the love of color!)

After washing, i detangled and separated section by section (without parting, except for the front part) and did my 8 braids using Curls Passion Fruit Curl Control Paste. For one, I love this stuff!!! Wet or dry, i've been using it for the past 2 or 3 days and i love it! When it says it holds down edges, i mean man, does it hold down those edges!!! And smells soooo good, like i just wanna lick my fingers or something, lol. Okay, no need to review this later. It provides great shine and hold with out any crunchy, greasy or sticky residue. When detangling and applying the product, my curls were loving it too so i can't wait to try this for a wash and go as it seems it may have a lot of products beat in my book... can we say "Please make this stuff in bigger jars please?!" I also want to try doing a roller set using this gel since it holds great but dries soft. Seems like it would be the perfect product for rollersetting and curlforming (when my hair is long enough to do so).
On to the Results!

I'd call it a success. I rebraided the one braid in the front though because it didn't look as good and i know why... i applied the product before detangling on this one particular braid, which made it hard for me to detangle. The hair in this section wasn't fully detangled. The rest of the braids i detangled first, applied product, and then combed through again to evenly distribute in each section. Also, because it wasn't fully detangled, it made it hard for me to braid so it wasn't as tight and secure, therefore left frizzy and not as well defined. I had a feeling i should have tried to start over on that braid last night but i was tired so, oh well... lol. I think throwing the braid back in looked cute anyways.

Because i did the braid out on wet hair instead of blown out hair, it is kind of shrunken and doesn't have the bob look as much... i think tonight if i have the time i may try doing flat twist on it to see if it'll stretch out a little more.

Entering the Bob.

I've had my hair blown out for the past 3 days now since i've taken out my braids and it seems as though i'm noticing something new about this new found bit of length everyday...

The First night after blowing out my hair i put it up in a puff to sleep and picked it out and wore an afro again the next day. That night i discovered i could put my hair into 2 cornrows for the first time in 'forever' and again wore an afro the next day (yesterday). Last night to go to sleep i was feeling lazy to do the 2 cornrows again so i put my hair into 4 cornrows instead; Parted my hair into 4 equal sections, cornrowed the front from crown to the ears on each side, and the back from the crown to the bottom of the nape on both sides. When i took it out this morning, it was soo cute! Like i had a mini Bob! I do have a mini Bob! Woop! Woop! I just joined the Bob club! lol

(Okay. Done Celebrating.)

Reflections of length retention...

So I know this may sound crazy and/or corny, but i've definitely hit a mile stone...You wouldn't believe how excited i was when i realized that my hair could go into 2 cornrows! I immediately imagined myself with Domin lengthed cornrows and was so hype.. my friend looked at me like i was a total dork but i didn't care, lol. I can't remember the last time i've been able to get all my hair into 2 braids?! Making great strides...

 My hair was blown out and the 2 braids were done as a protective style and to keep my hair stretched over night.

On  my current length retention:

Looking back at my December length check pictures until now, i would say i did a pretty good job of retaining  length, aside from my trim in  January. I will say that i noticed that i didnt retain as much length in  the back as i did all over my head and i know exactly why....  

For one, i can see why my hair in the back especially always used to break off... I wore my hair out a lot this winter, either in twist outs or blown out into a big afro puff and i hated the feeling of the fibers of my coat and scarves snagging the back of my hair.  In the begining of the winter i ignored this and just thought it was annoying, until i saw that it was actually doing damage, breaking my hair, leaving it dry, with split ends and single strand knots. This past March 16th was actually my one year anniversay since chopping off the rest of my relaxed ends and wearing my hair natural, so this was also my first natural winter... still learning. Im not upset because i'm not a fan of the afro mullet that goes with a twa sometimes and would have probably trimmed the back a little shorter anyway, as i do want to grow out the layers a bit as i grow out my hair. Next winter, i will definitely be up on the protective styling big time now that i've learned my lesson :)

New Color and Curlform'ed Hair (Full Post)

Alright so if you cared enough to see the teaser post, you'll notice that I did color my hair. My old hi-lights were getting dull and faded and I was ready to try something new. I used Manic Panic Fuchsia and focused on applying it to my hi-lights since that hair is already bleached and the color would show there. This was the first time doing my own color and--well let's just say I made a huge mess. I don't even want to discuss how much I had to clean. But anyway, I put in some curl formers, set my hair with Eco Styler Gel (the clear kind) and here were the results:

I really loved the color, the curl former set and the hold of Eco Styler gel. Many thanks to the little sister for that. Anyway, I decided to do some of the curls over because I wanted really defined curls in the front, especially since I took some of the curl formers out before my hair was fully dry. So I added some more gel and popped some rollers back in. Took them out this morning and decided to do a simple style

I simply put some of my hair in a banana clip and let the rest hang loose. Folks at the office stopped to tell me how much they loved my hair and the kids were excited that I had added color. I talked about hair a lot today with different people of all ages. Hope you like =)

Preview: Look What I Did

Stay tuned for the full execution and style that came after...

Length checks :)

So I haven't done a length check since December and upon taking my braids out i noticed i had some growth! Yippeee! lol I know i said i was going to keep them for a month, like i always say, but i've definitely learned something about myself and my scalp: 2 WEEKS IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR ME!!! lol Since i've gone natural my scalp has been spoiled with being washed at least 2x a week and really does not take kindly to anything less. I tried washing my hair while in the braids for the 1st time (the last 2 times i just went two weeks without washing) and it wasn't terrible, but moreso just like a rinse for my scalp, i can't say i got any real cleansing/cleaning done. I could have fought it and kept the braids in longer but i plan to job hunt and i got some new exciting products i wanted to try! (I will definitely be telling you about them very soon).

As for the braids, i will put them in again very soon and continue to do them myself for 2 week periods at a time because it's hard for me to keep them longer than that... it will also help me get a little practice with doing them faster and neater.

I trimmed my hair 2 months ago in the begining of February (about a half inch) and i do not plan to trim again until at least June, aside from snipping out any SSK's i can find.

I'm thinking Full Neck Length will definitely be attainable by my birthday in June or very soon after... cant wait!

Just some texture shots :)