Back to Blue Black Pompadour Up-do

You know what they say, once you go blue black, you always go back, lol.

It seems every fall, I'm in the mood for Blue Black... I get over what ever lighter color I had been trying for the spring summer season and I feel the urge to go back to dark shiny hair.

For all of my bright vibrant hair color, I've pretty much always used Manic Panic, this time using Manic Panic Amplified in Shocking Blue. I love Manic Panic because it is a Vegan, semi- permanent haircolor. The amplified formula is supposed to be a longer lasting formula, and I let the color sit on for about 2-3 hours while cooking to let the color seep into my follilcles as much as possible. My hair is porous from being over processed earlier this summer, so I'd say that helped it to soak up the color.
I tried taking pictures in a few different types of lighting so I could show you all the blue-ish tint it gave my darker hair, plus how blue my little party patch is.
 I was kind of pissed because I wanted to rollerset my hair for this holiday weekend and I didn't get the chance to... #bathroomtimeintercepted; so with needing to leave the house soon after washing, I ended up having to blow out my hair again. 

For the Holiday, I decided to go with a twisted pompadour up-do (I tried my best to show all angles). I had no plan of any hairstyle aside from the fact that I wanted a high bun without having to worry about my hair falling out everywhere, and my long face goes good with volume on top, so I always love pompadours!

Get this look?

• I simply parted a huge box on top of my head from temple to temple and across the crown of my head, made a twist going diagonally back and pinned in place.
• I then brushed the rest of my hair into a ponytail behind that, twisted the ponytail, and brought it forward and pinned it in with the pompador. 
• I did a little fluffing/lifting of the twist in the front, and Voila! lol 

My lioness looks, lol Rawr!

I actually love this hairstyle and may make it a staple! Any of you realizing you always go back to the same looks for certain seasons? Loving the twists and pompadours?!

It's a Hairflip Friday!

I definitely had a good hair day yesterday, and all of the hair flipping to go along with it!

I just wanted to post some fun happy pictures on this happy friday! I realized, sometimes you just have to whip your hair back and forth, and smile :) 

And just for sh!t$ and giggles, my girlfriends and I used to crack up over this all the time!!! It's a Hairflip!!! You gotta just flip it! lmfao

Happy Friday!!!

LDFH: Working on My Edges

When I first started my healthy hair journey it was back at the end of 2009. I decided I was going to stop getting a relaxer and wear weaves for a year to grow my hair out. 

After fully assessing my hair, I realized I probably shouldn't wear weaves for a year, because I didn't want my already fine, nearly bald edges getting any thinner.

Years of African braiding, and one horrible weave I had done at a salon are what had caused my severely thinning edges. The horrible weave in particular managed to take out a good amount of hair follicles all in one sitting. With my hair already being super fine and fragile, It was easy for my edges to have thinned out with all of the tension that was being caused from these hair styles.

My hair was never long, so I never wore my hair in tight ponytails that would have been pulling my hair, and my mother used to loosely box braid and/or twist my hair as a child, and I never complained of hairstyles being too tight, so I knew it had nothing to do with my own styling, not to mention I would see the difference in my edges after taking down braids from African Hair Braiding. It had gotten to the point that I would only let them braid the back of my hair, and I would braid the front myself because I didn't want them tugging on my edges, using what seemed like one fragile strand per micro braid.

In the photos on the left side, the first 1/2" of my hairline is parted out. In the photos on the right, I parted out 1 inch from my hairline. I did this so you all can see the difference in the density.

My 2nd Braid & Twist Out

 Before I blew my hair out, my last rollerset had gotten pretty stale and my hair needed to be washed, but I had very minimal time.

I co-washed while in the shower with the plethora of conditioners I have been using to keep my over processed hair feeling as good as possible (will make a  post about that soon) and was so ready for bed!

I knew I needed to do something with this hair of mine, and my West Indian side kicked in and said "tro it in some plaits gyal" and that's exactly what I did. I plaited my hair until about 2 inches were left, and turned the rest into a two strand twist, much like when I did my Braid & Twist out the 1st time. I prefer the curls on the ends from twist outs, but like the wavy texture with braid outs.

On my damp hair, I applied Lacio Lacio, Elasta QP's Olive Oil and Mango Butter, JBCO to seal and 8 plaits later I'm in bed. Unraveled in the morning with Vatika oil, fluffed, separated and go! I was super busy and tired last week, so this was optimal for quick styling.
I think I will forever be a twist out girl but I look forward to enjoying more braid outs as my hair gets longer.

Which Do You like Better, Braid Outs, Twist Outs, or a Braid/Twist combo?

My Fall Staple Products

After a some experimenting, I narrowed down the products and somewhat of a routine for this season - which has been temperamental to say the least (hurricanes, snowstorms, and sunny 60-degree days, oh my!). Here are the list of products on rotation for Fall/Winter 2012:

Cleanse

Jessicurl Cleansing Cream

Yes to Cucumbers

Pure Curls Clarifying Shampoo

Conditioners

Aubrey Organics GPB

Aussie Moist 3 Minute Miracle

Herbal Essence Hello Hydration

TreSemme

                                                           La Plancha Deep Heat Reconstructor 

Leave-in/Stylers

Lacio Lacio

Eco-Styler Gel (Green/Olive Oil)

John Frieda Ease Straight Fixation Smooth Creme

Miscellaneous

Apple Cider Vinegar

Bentonite Clay

Champagne & Caviar Curl Elixir

Burt's Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Treatment

Ideally, here is my weekly routine:

- Pre-Poo/Deep condition with Aubrey Organics or Burt's Bees depending on my hair's needs. If I find that it needs a bit more strength/protein or just used heat on my hair, the Aubrey Organics. If I just need to focus just on moisture, Burt's Bees.
- Cleanse with any one of the shampoos listed - the Clarifying shampoo will only be used if there's too much build-up (most likely once every six weeks). Bentonite Clay once a month
- Detangle/Condition with any one of those conditioners. La Plancha will be used if I'm prepping to heat style
- Final Rinse with Apple Cider Vinegar  as needed - when my scalp calls for it
- Use Lacio Lacio as my leave in on freshly washed and detangled hair, seal with Curl Elixer (oil) and Burt's Bee's Avocado Butter for extra protection against dry hair
- Use other other products based on hair styles (straight, rollerset, braid outs, etc)

Cool weather for my hair means protecting my ends, diligently sealing moisture in my hair, and keeping my scalp in order. I plan to try out some more products this season as well, but the products on this list are my tried and true favorites of the moment! See anything on this list you use? Let us know!

LDFH Protective Style: Flat Twist Side Updo

I've been in the market for a new job or two, and not sure of how I should be wearing my hair to go about interviewing. I know the world is still taking in all the naturals, and I don't want my hair to ever be a reason as to why I may not have gotten a job. I love my natural hair and texture and refuse to straighten it unless I want to, so I wanted to experiment with an up do that would look professional enough and still showcase my fun personality!


With my latest post about switching my focus on this blog to styling and haircare for my low density, fine hair (LDFH), I thought of how flat twists can be done loosely to give the illusion of fuller hair, and came up with this style! I had done a flat twist style on my blown out hair a while back, which also came into mind while searching for inspiration.


I wasn't crazy about the twist in the front going from ear to ear, so I decided to do a little tweaking of sorts to add a side part. I then also started to play with the idea of the front twists hanging as another alternative!

Speaking of density, I'm sure you can see here that my crown area has far more density that my edges. My edges are so fine and not at all dense.

This style is only 6 flat twists in total and took me all of 10 minutes to do. I did nothing intricate with the parting, just tried to do straight lines all over to the side, starting with diagonally staggered parts (what gave the sort of zig zag part effect).

 I also tried to do the twists as loose as possible for a voluminous effect, especially to create a pompadour type of effect in the front, then just twisted all of the twists into a little side bun/pin curl of sorts... One more fave thing about this style? The twists are so loose, it literally takes a minute to take them all down! This really helps with being a style chameleon and all, making it quick and easy to switch up my styles.

What do you think of this flat twisted up do? Would you rock it?

Curl Preference - Poll Results

It looks like our Sunday Question about Curl Preference has some interesting results:

64% prefer to have defined curls
5% prefer undefined curls
29% will wear defined or undefined curls depending on their mood

No one has shared their reasoning for their curl preference and we're really curious about it, especially the 29% of you that voted who will wear either or. What occasions call for defined curls or undefined ones? Is it a simple difference on whether you're heading to work/class or going out with friends? Let us know in the comment section below! 

Switching Up My Posting Focus

Beautiful Artwork by Dawn Okoro

So I've been yelled at enough to know that I don't have a TWA anymore! I won't lie, I've had a TWA for so long, there are a few bittersweet feelings, but oh well! lol

I tried making a title for us awkward length, still feeling and looking like a TWA, but not exactly girls... In-Be-TWA... no one embraced it, so moving on...

So now, I've decided to switch up my focus:

Low Density, Fine Hair

If many of you weren't aware, I have low density, fine hair. Curly Film chick has high density, fine hair.
The density refers to the amount of strands we have per square inch on our heads, and fine describes the width of the individual strands, usually categorized by fine, medium, or coarse being the thickest strand.

Any other low density, fine hair chicas out there will understand the struggle... styling to try to make the hair look fuller, bigger, not too thin or bald looking, lol.  Many people always say it looks like i have a lot of hair, but truth is, I just do my best to make my hair look full.
I constantly am fluffing to the maximum, doing natural hair "comb overs"of sorts to hide any thin areas, and staying away from styles that will have me looking scalpy.

I feel like as I'm searching through protective styles especially, there are always a lot of styles for girls with really dense hair, lots of parts and little braids... those styles don't work for me.

So now that I really am out of TWA waters, I will be catering to us Low Density, fine haired girls especially. Creating styles and techniques from this awkward stage and beyond.

Think: Volume, Big, Up-do's, Textures, Flat Twists, French Braids, Whatever else I can come up with, it's going down! lol

Stay Tuned for the Start of my Low Density, Fine hair posts!!! 
I will be labeling them: LDFH

Bashing Justin Timberlake's Curls?

The Article:

Justin's Gone Straight

"Justin Timberlake always had smooth moves, but smooth hair? Not so much. James Feng, stylist at NYC's Cutler/Redken Salon, believes he recently got a Keratin treatment, turning his "unruly and coarse" coif into a "softer, more managable" one. Aha!"

Now of course I had to post this... (this article came out earlier this year, I know i'm late and I dont care!) lol

We are not alone. 

I'm always fascinated by an amazing head of curls, but I'm definitely more fascinated walking by a white person with hair that looks like mine. I assume they go through a lot of the same issues I go through, aside from the fact that they're not looked at as "colored" people. It makes me wonder what walks of life they came from, their outlooks on life, and how their hair makes them view themselves. 

I wonder how JT feels about his hair?

It's possible Justin had just had his hair straightened out for a movie role, or SNL segment, or maybe he did straighten it just for a change... but who's to say he doesn't love his curly hair? 

Personally :::though nobody asked me::: I think JT looks hot with any type of hair, especially with it buzzed down!

Over the years we've seen Justin Timberlake from the Mickey Mouse Club, to N'SYNC, to becoming a Solo artist to becoming an actor, and it seems to me like he's been enjoying, or at least embracing his curly hair. Not to mention, like most curlies, he seems to be well aware of all the hair options he has with his fyne self! lol

I don't know where the stylist, and writer of the article get off using such negative terms to describe JT's hair. The article says "James Feng... believes he got a Keratin treatment," which means he himself did not do JT's hair... how would he know if JT's hair was coarse and unruly? Or how could the writer say his hair isn't smooth? His curls looked pretty smooth, and might I add frizz free to me... Who's to say JT doesn't have soft, silky curls?

I'm sure when JT saw this article, he was like "Really? James F*&%?! How's that for coarse and unruly?!" LMFAO

I'm sure we've all dealt with people just looking at our hair and making negative assumptions without truly having any idea... 

What do you all think of the negative statements made about Justin Timberlake's hair?

Stacked Buns & Pompadour Fun!

My New Fave Style! Stacked Buns!!! About a week ago I posted about trying out some buns and up-do's after roller setting my hair, so naturally, I washed and rollerset my hair again the other night, and decided to again try wearing some buns.

My second set with the Eco styler gel came out even better and straighter, so this will definitely be a staple for rollersetting and straightening my hair. I did do two things differently this time:

I used a little Care Free Curl Instant Moisturizer with my Lacio Lacio Leave- In, and I silk wrapped my hair for about 10 mins after rollersetting, then went to sleep (I took off the Saran wrap and used my silk scarf to sleep of course).

My hair came out what I'd like to call semi-straight, and was nice and easy to pull back into a bun. The silk wrapping helped to straighten out my roots a little more too, so I wore my hair side parted for the day to Vote for my President! Yay Obama!!!

I was supposed to meet up with some friends after voting to watch the verdict so I quickly changed my look into this pompadour and stacked bun updo!  I didn't end up making it (figures, when I'm having a good hair night) but I still made sure to snap some cute flicks for you all ... I was obviously feeling myself a little... lol

Stay tuned for a video on this look and how to easily achieve stacked buns!

How was your election day hair?

Heatless Up-do - Back to Flexirods

After coming back from Puerto Rico, I caught some serious hair boredom. To conquer this, I was considering being a "straight natural" for the fall/winter (my hair was straight up till a week ago) but quickly changed my mind after going back to my flexirods over the weekend. SP's recent post about her roller-set using eco-styler gel reminded me of how I wore my hair last winter, and I decided to revisit, especially since I don't want to put heat in my hair for the entire season.

Winter 2011

Since I wanted my roots to be as smooth as possible, this time around when I took our the flexirods I carefully put my hair into six single-strand bantu-knots securing with hair-ties.

Then I placed my hair in an up-do which I posted to our Instagram. I simply used some bobbypins for a messy up-do, and then a neater version that I wore to work yesterday

 All I did was wash and condition my hair, used Lacio Lacio as a leave-in, Eco-styler gel, and sealed with Champagne & Caviar Curl Elixir. At night I put my hair back into the 6 bantu-knots. Today I left my hair hanging loose, but it's still moisturized and my roots are still smoothed and stretched without any heat! I didn't even sit under a dryer (although next time I might, simply because I won't have all the time in the world). I'll probably still straighten a few times this winter, but since I don't want heat damage it's nice to know I have this option. Next post I'll give my Fall/Winter routine and products!

Taylor Swift Inspired Natural Updo

Remember the post I wrote about putting together my fall looks?

Well I was looking back into that post for inspiration, and decided to do a video for you all of the Taylor Swift Updo Look!

I did this style when my hair was shorter on another video, but I hope this is a much better rendition

 In the past I had been taking the videos with my computer, so this time around I decided to do them with my phone so I hope it's a little clearer for you all! Enjoy!