Band Out Puff + Hair Plans

Traveling home last week, my hair had been in my usual 2 buns, which I left a load of conditioner in and oil in. When I got back home, I got so used to my tanning rituals on the West Coast, that I was naturally compelled to go up to my roof and tan. I took out my buns just to give my hair a breather, but I guess the little bit of banding I had done to stretch the night before had really helped because I thought my curls were actually looking pretty good. Because I had to go out that evening, I decided a puff was going to be the way to go, because I didn't want any hair around my face or neck, or to have to fuss with it not falling the way I wanted if I had left it out. I even went for a more carefree look and didn't put any holding product on my edges or any of my hair going back into the ponytail. I really loved my hair that night, though it shrunk quite a lot, but I'm really happy to see the difference in my puff, it's so much bigger without all the extra fluffing and/or blowing out the roots!

  I was searching back through our blog yesterday and assessing my hair over time. I've learned when I have my greatest setbacks... always when I'm extremely busy.... both mentally and/or physically. With Fashion Week quickly approaching (an extremely hectic time for me) I've been trying to think ahead to the approaching madness, and what will I do with this hair of mine. I really do not want to deal with another setback, as my hair grows incredibly slow and is also incredibly fragile. From all my researching, my fashion week options so far are:

1. Twists & Twist Outs! I love Twist outs, as regardless of anything, they keep my hair stretched and smooth, and if I don't love the outcome, it always has a beautiful texture I can manipulate into another style.
2. Banding! Though I'd love to imagine that if I do wear a twist out I'd have the time to retwist, but in case it's all in my head, banding is an easy and much faster way to keep my hair stretched and hold on to whatever curl pattern I can.
3. Buns! After looking at a few tutorials and photos of beautiful natural hair in buns, I think aside from putting my own hair up, I want to try adding some Marley Braid Hair for a different effect. 

I don't think I'd have time to do much else... plus that's the other thing I've learned: Keeping it simple is the way to go. I'll definitely be applying that to my Fashion Week makeup regimen as well, with a little tinted moisturizer, whatever color lip, my cat eye and mascara. A little blush if I'm feeling fancy. Done.

I've also been thinking ahead to the approaching fall and winter, thinking of what I will do with my hair to continue retaining as much length as I possibly can, especially in a cold climate like NY where we definitely need to pile on the layers! Scarfs, hats, and coats can snag and dry the hair out, so it's so hard to wear my hair out in the winter without being afraid of life! lol I definitely plan on getting a long, straight weave once I no longer have to worry about humidity, just for fun!

How has your hair been lately? Any Special Plans?

Stretching Your Hair Without Direct Heat

A lot of us who are natural and have very curly/coily hair have to deal with the single-strand knots, shrinkage, tangles, frizz, and even matting. It comes with the territory of having textured tresses. We can minimize tangles, knots and shrinkage by way of "stretching" our hair out.Check the links for some of our favorite ways to stretch out our hair:
Twist outs
Braid Outs
Rollersets
Bantu knots

Before stretching your hair, be sure to de-tangle well. Whether it's with a wide-tooth comb, denman brush, or your fingers be sure to start from bottom to top with water and/or a conditioner.

What's your favorite way to stretch your curls/coils? Let us know!

EDIT: I forgot about a big one: BANDING ! SP has used it quite a few times for her TWA. Have any of you tried?

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!!!

This Week Should Have Been: Banana Clip Week!

 Earlier this week, I posted an easy little Banana clip w/ pompadour up do I had done a few months ago, and Curly Film Chick was inspired and also made her own, super cute banana clipped style. I too had been inspired and decided to wear my hair up in a banana clip!

I did the two braids in the front to give my thin/fine/fragile edges a break (minimal protective styling), as I can leave them in as a headband and style around them, not having to constantly manipulate the hair in my hairline/edges. The braids in the front are also great at keeping the front of your hair looking neat and frizz free with out having to manipulate the hair with brushing and pulling to to slick it back.
I was rocking a twist out I had done on hair that had been twisted and banded to stretch after washing, and decided to put it up with a Banana Clip. Using a banana clip is always a favorite and easy go to because they fit all of my hair, aren't too tight, and won't completely ruin whatever "set" I had done to my hair. Wearing a twist out with braids in the front, I was able to easily go from the banana clipped hair style, to this:

Think of options like these for all of you ladies who need the ease of changing your hair from day to night in a cinch. Also for you ladies who feel stuck with limited options, think of little, low manipulation ways to be able to easily switch your style up for the week. In one week we've shown you 3 different Banana clipped hair styles at 3 different lengths, and all are totally adaptable!

Any of you try rocking a Banana Clip this week? Have a super versatile style you like to share? We'd love to see it too... Please send any style ideas to yais.nyc@gmail.com so we can share them too!

Long TWA Style: Banana Clip Up-do with Twisted Pompadour

In my latest efforts to make sure to hold my TWA ladies down, I decided to look back through my computer to see what I hadn't posted over these pasts TWA months when I came across and remembered this super cute style.
I wore this to work when I was still interning at Wilhelmina and they were in love with my hair that day!
How did I achieve this style?

• My hair was banded overnight in 2 ponytails after washing, to dry and stretch my curls. 
• In the morning, I unbanded my hair, parted and separated out the section I wanted to use as a pompadour, and proceeded to apply Eco Styler gel and brush the edges and the sides back.
• Next, I put in my banana clip. The easiest way to get all your hair in, is to gather and hold all of your hair as if you were going to use a scrunchie to put it in a ponytail, then put in one side, then bring around the other and snap closed.
• I then took my pompadour section, added a little eco styler gel for shine and to tame frizz. I stretched the section of hair to the side and proceeded to to do a loose 2-strand flat twist.
• I tucked the end of it under and inside of the pompadour, pinned to my liking, and voila! Style! lol
•  It's also a style I really love because you can always easily wear it again, Just remove the banana clip when you come home, tie it down to sleep, and replace your banana clip the next day! Simple as Pie!

This style is perfect for going out, formal or not. You can embellish the sides of your banana clip puff or add an accent to your pomadour for a formal occasion. You can rock a smooth look to the office or go to your job interview in style.
This style can be worn to the club for a fuss free night, or (as it kind of was in high school for me) an easy every day go to style.
I would say it takes about 5-7 minutes to achieve this style and it's a great way to fake it until you make it for us short haired ladies, as a banana clip always makes my hair seem fuller and longer. I use the Goody banana clips (large ones) and they haven't failed me through out the years, plus they don't break easily.

So Long TWA Ladies, would you rock this style? Would you say this would be a Formal, Casual, or Go- to style for you?

I hope this helps!
(My hair was between 4 and 6 inches long for this style)

Long TWA Ladies: Do You Ever Feel Stuck Between A Rock And A Twist-Out?

Yes, I said Long TWA, lol. I'm sure anyone who's grown their hair out from a TWA before would understand what it's like when you get to that in between point when your hair is finally not 2 inches long anymore... but still once you let it dry, it kinda still is.    >_< grrrr shrinkage!

I would say my hair is close to being full shoulder length,  definitely full neck length already with my nape already crawling past my shoulders. When I wash my hair, most of my textures shrink up to about 2 - 3  inches. My hair lengths range from 5 to 8 inches. If I was to air dry, I would always have a 1 inch looking shrunken up Afro  -_- 

Now That would be fine if I wanted to rock a 1 inch fro. I would totally just keep my hair cute and cut and easy, but since I'm currently in the process of growing my hair out, it's really frustrating to not immediately be able to see my length, I always have to do some type of stretching process: Banding, Braiding, Twisting, bunning, setting, straightening... uhg... I've learned that it comes with the territory but it's all so frustrating. 

I thought I was out of the TWA park but I'm really realizing I'm not. I just can't wait until my hair gets longer so I can stop feeling like I'm stuck between a rock and a twist out.

All you ladies that have or have had a TWA, have you experienced this feeling? What helped you get through these in-between times?

3 steps to TWA Bob-ery!

SO.... My hair is looking more and more like a bob now... yay!

This Bob style was actually discovered accidentally so these are the steps i took, and will continue to use to re-create this look as my hair grows:


1. Wash hair, add leave in conditioner and gel and smooth hair back into 2 buns for drying and stretching.
I did my buns in the morning before going to work so i wore them for the entire day, about 12-14 hours. When i returned home my hair was still not dry in the middle, which led to the next step...
2. Once buns are mostly dry or dry, take them out, add a favorite moisturizer (I used coconut oil), and without disturbing the smoothness of the front of your hair, separate each ponytail in half and band all the way down so you end up with 4 banded ponys, put a bonnet or scarf to tie them down and go to sleep!
I like to band my pony's to already face in a downward motion so my hair will want to hang instead of stick up...
3. In the morning, take out your banded pony's and fluff and separate your curls with a favorite oil or serum for minimal frizz. 
If you want the front to stay flat like i did, do not disturb it, simply add some moisture for shine and fluff only in the back, lifting with a pic at the roots if desired.


Seem simple enough?! I can't wait to continue to try this as my hair gets longer and longer!

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!

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 :)

TWA Afro + Banding

In the last 2 weeks i had worn my hair blown out... i actually blew my hair out 2 times in 2 weeks (terrible! i know.) because i had to wash my hair because it got wet, but i've been so busy i didn't have any time to do anything but blow it out! (Click the link for a video of how i blowdry my hair)

In between washing I did add a little bit more color to my hair so you will see that too. To moisturize I had been adding my Vatika Coconut oil whenever i felt the need, and if it felt especially dry i would add some Shea butter as well. 

I hadn't tried banding but had seen it done by many, inculding my Co-Blogging pal Curly Film Chick, so with my schedule being so hectic and me being exhausted, it seemed like now was a great time to try banding. I didn't want to cause to much tension to my edges by pulling them into taught pony's so i parted about an inch and a half  from the hairline and did 2 flat twists going to the sides. I then parted the rest of my head into fours, added ouchless elastic bands to pony and then banded all the way down. 

I have to say, i love banding, i just cant wait until my hair gets longer so it will be easier and looser. For now, i love the fact that it's a much faster alternative to keeping my hair stretched, rather than flat twisting it down every night like i usually do. When im coming home late and crashing, i can actually manage to get this done before i pass out! lol

Have you tried banding your TWA yet?