CHI Deep Brilliance Blow Dryer Review + Hairstyle Video

I made this video a few weeks ago to review this new blow dryer I got that I'm head over heels with! It's lightweight, not too loud, all the parts are secure and smooth, and it's hot so you can work fast!

Looking back at this video was hilarious though I must say, I did laugh at myself. Lol 

Making videos for this blog has been lots of fun and I am surprisingly thoroughly enjoying... Okay... on to the video!

My Mom actually brought the CHI Deep Brilliance Digital Titanium Flat Iron which she has been raving about! I got her to go natural a little over a year ago through weaving as her transition period and now that she has been fully natural she's only been wearing her hair in buns. FINALLY this flatiron got her to take her hair out and it's looking gorgeous! I have to get her hair up on this blog in this next week or so....  and get my hands on that flatiron so I can review that too!

So far, I've tried the Blow dryer and the Moisture Binding Shampoo and Conditioner from the Deep Brilliance line and I will say, I always liked CHI products but they really seem to be hitting the nail on the head with the Deep Brilliance line. Stay tuned for my reviews on the rest of the Deep Brilliance line (well whatever else I get my hands on... and no, no one has endorsed me to say any of this).

{and yes, I said "a lot, a little bit"}

Does Hair Length Matter?

The other day I was admiring my younger sister's hair and commenting on how well she's taking care of it while busy with college. She keeps her hair in box braids with the occasional braid-out or flat-ironed style. Her hair stretched is probably shoulder length, and she mentioned to me that she's going to cut it again to keep it at her desired length in braids, which hang at neck-length. She insists on keeping it short because long hair is "a lot to deal with." Even though her and I do not have the same curl pattern or texture, she still has massive amounts of it like I do, and while in college I too didn't like my hair past shoulder length because of how time-consuming it seemed.

I then thought about my older cousin who insists on having a TWA because she enjoys the fact that she can rinse her hair everyday, comb it and keep it moving. As my hair is approaching bra-strap length, I'm continuing to face the fact that besides the length, I have a massive amount of fiber on my head. I'm trying to grow my hair at least until the end of summer 2012 (where I have something huge planned) and SP and I have concluded that my hair stretched would be about mid-back length - which scares the crap out of me. I know a lot of naturals have length goals, but there are also some who are happy enough to rock shorter hair.

So, we've set up another poll about hair length goals on the upper corner of our blog. Tell us, does length matter to you? Is there a goal you have in mind? What is your ideal length? Let us know!

Weaves

With the fall and winter here in New York and me back to working, I've been intending to give myself a weave some time soon so I can protective style and give my hair a break. With all of these thoughts in mind about giving myself a weave, what kind of hair to use, what color, what length and haircut do I want... I decided to go back and look at a few weaves I've given myself over the years..
On my personal blog, I decided to do a Weave- Timeline of sorts and thought I'd share it with all of you natural ladies who are thinking of what protective style they want or  are wondering who to go to.
Check it out and let me know what you think and if any of you are going to be protective styling in a weave soon, I hope this helps =)

SP's Weaves

Natural @ Wilhelmina Deux

I hate when my life gets so busy that I have to do one of these where the heck has SP been? type of posts... but I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes... Tis the season for back-posting!

 So... I'm loving Wilhelmina! Strolling into the office, it's all white and refreshing, the perfect temperature, carpeted walkways for Diva's like me who wants to walk every runway in heels and comfort, and my favorite, the free coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and on Fridays, bagels and muffins! lol (I know, there's a hungry woman in this little body)

Having freelanced for the last four years, with the last three in Fashion, it's natural that I'm loving every aspect of Wilhelmina. I work in the Women's division, and as a hair and makeup artist I am usually working with agency models, but it's amazing to be able to see all of the girls come in on a regular basis. It feels like getting a private showing of the girls available for me to shoot! I'm learning more and more about the fashion industry and so many doors and opportunities are coming my way...  I'm super psyched and I can't wait to watch this journey of my life and career unfold.

Now while that's been unfolding, I've been doing Galaxy Knows What! with my hair, lol. For some reason, it seems as though whenever I hit busy moments in my life, It's like I forget everything I ever knew, everything I get on this blog and share with you all, and suddenly Her Majesty (My hair that is) becomes this beautiful foreign creature that I stare at and want to touch and understand, but somehow feel lost. I know a lot of it is due in part to my crazy mental hairstylist problems where I have issues with wearing the same hairstyle 2 or 3 days in a row sometimes... but a lot of protective styles just aren't me, especially at my current length and job location. I know I could have retained way more length by now, and my hair is definitely healthy and not breaking off, but without a lot of protective styling, I do need to trim a little more when the time comes. I do plan to protective style soon... I want to give myself a weave when I have the time and money to do so, just to switch up my look and not feel like I have to look the same everyday.

Experiment, Test, Conclusion: My Straightened TWA

Straightened Hair on 09.26.11

 In this first winter of having a little length with my natural hair, I've tried straightening my hair a few times in the last couple of months, just to see what my hair would be like and if wearing it straight would be a possibility. I've learned that I definitely can wear my hair straight, but at this short length with my hair being so light and fine, I need some type of product to weigh it down a little so it's not so light and fluffy/puffy.                                        Being that I have been trimming and shaping my hair for the past year as it's been growing out, I have my longest lengths at the top of my head where I've been trimming less to let the layers grow out, and the shortest lengths around my edges where my textures are finer, tighter, and drier, therefore succeptible to more rapidly occuring split ends and single strand knots.

I also cut the back a little more blunty to avoid the afro-mullet affect I had going on. My longest lengths show my maximum length potential at 6.75", my shortest at 4". So far I haven't worn my hair down and out when straight, only in updo's or a bun; Whenever I've straightened I've gone back to curly fast because I miss my curls and my hair isn't at my ideal length, especially after trimming any split ends so my straight hair can look good. I do plan to protective style sometime soon with a weave when I figure out what kind of hair I want and allocate the money to buy it. In the meantime, I'm going to stick to twist outs and save my next straightening experience for December 24th, since I'll have time off and I can trim with the New Moon. I am just going to see how much length I can retain between now and X-mas Eve with twist outs, moisturizing and massaging, and taking my vitamins and drinking water. 

I haven't been on any special regimen or anything, I've actually been a little neglectful if anything  but my hair is still thriving and I've been making sure to overload on Jamaican Black Castor Oil which is super moisturizing and deep conditioning. With my next straightening I will make a video of the process and products I use when straightening hair if any are interested :)

The Young, Curly and Fabulous - Hair Care in a New City

Please join us in welcoming our newest contributor to YAIS, Ariel. She is a college student hailing from NYC and currently studying Fine Arts in San Francisco. She was featured as a Style Icon at Black Girl Long Hair and between studying and creating her art she will be contributing to the blog a couple of times a month; show her some love!

My first semester here in San Francisco, I made the mistake of putting my hair care system on my shopping list with toothpaste and razors. I was thrown into a panic when I went to the Walgreens and saw the smallest black hair care section I had ever seen. Imagine your hair greeting to a brand new city are choices  of Pink Hair Lotion and some obviously misplaced bottle that says "for difficult hair.” I'm spoiled; I grew up in NYC where beauty supply stores are like Walmarts and Sephora is giving you her best come hither look. I was clicking my massive Chuck Tailors crying "there's no place like Fordham road.” 

I ended up settling with Mane n' Tail which, when now thinking about it, isn't really settling at all. Should we talk about the benefits? The jumbo bottle is relatively cheap, its super moisturizing, and I've noticed when I use it as a leave in (multi-uses yay) my hair comes out super shiny and I'm less likely to see split ends. (Where do the split ends go? Maybe they got abducted by aliens the world may never know.)

But let's say one day you’re completely tapped out. You can't “five finger discount”

some Cantu or IC Fantasia Gel, not because it's super bad to steal and you'd totally be breaking the law. Believe me, no one has sympathy for your dandruff and broken edges sob story. But your pockets are really tight at the moment, and your scalp is crying out in need. The Vaseline for your knees is tempting you right? Well let's try something else you use for your especially dry spots: Shea butter. I did this when I was a little hard up for cash. I borrowed some olive oil from a neighbor and whipped them together into a really smooth consistency. I dressed my hair like normal focused mostly on my scalp and ends while my hair was damp. I'm assuming this is really great for really dry hair. This will hold you by until you get to your old routine, or maybe you can make it part of a new one if you like it enough.

 Have you ever gone some place new and had to adjust your hair care? Let us know how you did it!

Greasing Natural Hair: Poll Results

Happy Monday!

Thanks to all those who participated in our poll about going old school and using grease on your hair. The results are as follows:

65% Do not use grease at all

19% Use grease sometimes

15% Use it all the time to seal your ends/hair

0% Use it for you scalp

This is interesting because enough naturals do use grease to a certain extent (34% of those who voted). I'm assuming no one uses it for their scalps for the same reason I stopped using grease--it clogs the pores. I don't know of many who admit including grease in their regimens for fear of being a "bad" natural, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

What are some other practices included in your regimens that may be viewed as "wrong" like using a fine tooth comb or sulfates in your shampoo? Let us know!

Hair Crush: The Huxtable Family!

First and Foremost, I have to say how much I respect Mr. Cosby, If not for being an educated smart black man who still keeps it real, for showing it through his work and especially this show. This was and still is one of my favorite sitcoms of all time, as it shows black people in a beautiful light, for the smart, funny, quirky, humans that we are, not always fitting negative sterotypes. Another thing was also all of the numerous guests they had on the show on a regular basis, I mean amazing and legendary artists, actors, musicians and so on and so forth! Claire was so well versed with her perfect diction, knowledge of spanish, portuguese, the poise and sophistication of a Queen, and the realness and strength of a black woman. All of the characters were so real to their age and sex and the issues that came along with it and just life in general. With hardworking, succeful parents, children who were taught manners and that education was key, it's no wonder why this show spanned the years it did and embraced a wide audience. 

And of course, it was so awesome to watch all the stages of growing up, older, and wiser, and of course the hairstyles!! I would say no one went through more hairstyles than Vanessa, Denise always rocked the cool BoHo looks or my Favorite the pixie cut she had on the show ( I don't know if you guys remember that)... Theo went through a few little hair phases himself, Rudy with her beautiful long thick hair and of course, the only mullet I could say I would ever approve on Claire, lol.

Check out these pics of them then and now! I love it! Gorgeous and ALL NATURAL!

How many of you still watch the Cosby show? I can't lie, I do! Still love it!

Protective Styling For Natural Hair: The Case for Buns

I'm one of those naturals who has just discovered how great buns are; I seriously didn't know how to bun until recently, and I'm still experimenting. It's pretty much my go to style when my hair is loose and I don't want to do much to it.  I'm rocking a messy bun today which was done after a curl former set. All I need is a hair-tie and some bobby pins and I'm good to go on those mornings when I'm too groggy to care. I've done them on loose hair, wet, dry, twisted hair and braids.

The Pros: Buns are great for protecting your ends from ware and tare and stretching your curls/coils to lessen the chances of the dreadful single-strand knots. This style is also very versatile, relatively easy and great for any occasion. You can rock a sleek look for a formal event or a messy one for when you're heading to the store. You can have fun with the position of the bun--on the side, on top, or straight back, and let's not forget to play with parts! You don't need any "special" hair products to achieve this style either. Check out these posts for some buns SP and I have done.

Cons: If you aren't careful when creating a bun, you can pull at your edges a little too tight, or even unnecessarily rip out some hair. It's important to find a way to slick down edges in a gentle way. Also, it's important to continue to moisturize your hair if it's prone to drying out easily, so take down the bun for that purpose! Also, not all of us have hair long enough for a bun, but using a donut or a sock could help at creating an illusion of a fuller bun.

Tips on Upkeep: If you're rocking loose hair with your bun, make sure your hair is de-tangled well. Be sure to seal your hair with an oil or butter in preparation for creating the style, even if you have twists or braids. 

How do you folks feel about buns? Is it your favorite protective style? What are some of your bunning tips?