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?!

Reflections: Length Obsessing

Just passing my 2nd year anniversary on this journey has had me doing so much thinking... One of the biggest thoughts being: Why have I been obsessing so much over long natural  hair?

As I have been trying to get out all of my last few TWA posts and now that I'm in the In-Be-Twa stage, it really put this length obsessing into perspective.

 When I was relaxed I hated my hair! It was always thin and stringy, though it helped me blend in with the rest of society for as long as I wanted until I decided to go natural (texturized really) in high school.

Once high school was over, I was over my stagnant hair.

I never remember having any hair that went significantly passed my shoulder, so with having "hair that doesn't grow", I opted for a short cropped cut, and loved it!

 I thought I could keep my hair texturized with this process, but that was too much work for me to keep it straight, so I finally gave in and relaxed it. I loved wearing my cropped cuts for a while, but after a catastrophe, even if I decided to relax my hair again later, I knew that going natural was the way.

All of my natural hair inspiration were long haired girls. I mean, I saw pics of beautiful TWA's, beautiful TWA cuts and hairstyles, but even though I went natural and chopped all my hair off, what I really wanted was natural long hair.

I liked my 2 inch TWA, easy and beautiful, but I won't lie, I've hardly enjoyed the in between time, and I still haven't gotten to a point where I truly love my hair and everything its doing. Don't get me wrong, I've already fallen madly in love with the textures of my hair, but I never wanted or even considered short natural hair, I want to see my curls in inches upon inches! I'm also dying to see my curl pattern as my hair gets a little longer and heavier! lol

So why am I obsessing over length? Because I want what I want! lol I wore my cropped cuts for nearly 4 years, and had nearly shoulder length or only a little past shoulder length (when i was much younger) hair my whole life before that, so I'd say I have every right to be extremely over having short hair...

That being said, I'm calming down on the length obsessing, because unfortunately i don't have play-doh hair that i can just press my scalp down and grow it as long as I want instantly, lol.

I also realize that I am a slow grower, yielding about a 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch a month, so I will not be reaching my goals as fast as the average growers, but instead I may be 6 months to a year behind.

I've also realized how extremely fine and fragile my hair is, and I think I can finally say that I'm ready to let go of color! I will be keeping my little party patch in the front, and i would be lying if I said I might not try some highlights or a little Ombre in the future, but I can say that i will NEVER do a full head of color on my hair again. I realized that my hair is silky and is a lot stronger without the color, which also means more natural slip, less ssk's and split ends for me... more length retention.. woop woop!

Look at how naturally happy, healthy, and silky my virgin hair is! I can't wait!

Funny because at the start of my natural journey, I had did a second big chop to get rid of color damaged hair and go back to virgin hair, and my hair wasn't even as damaged as it is now. One thing's for sure, I won't be making any hasty decisions and chopping my hair off again! lol

So, I'm calming down on the length obsessing and turning up the protective styling and patience, because I have at least 3 or 4 years before I reach my length goals. With my tightly curled hair, I want to grow my hair  until it's shoulder length to arm pit length in a wash and go without any stretching. You know what that means, look forward to at least another 3 to 4 years of growing and styling with me!!! Woo Hoo!!!

What reflections have your hair milestones bought upon you?

Protective Style Fail: A Straight Weave

 I was really loving the look of this weave, but unfortunately it didn't last for me with all of the humidity that's been in NYC thanks to Hurricane Sandy.

I used to use this weave when my hair was relaxed and it matched my hair perfectly... it still does now if my hair is bone straight, but I've learned that I definitely need a weave that will plump up a little when my hair plumps up!

I did not want to have to keep adding heat to my hair so out it came, which is what led to the roller set I posted about yesterday (backwards, I know). I don't think I'll be straightening my hair again until the holidays or maybe even the New Year... until then, I think roller sets and twist outs pulled up into cute updo's is going to be the way to go for me. I'm looking to get another little job so I'm trying to make sure I have a  few go-to looks, which will definitely be including my banana clip!

I also found a YouTuber who's protective styling videos I've fallen in love with! She like me has low density, fine hair so a lot of her styles are very simple and elegant, focusing on making sure to not add too much tension to the hair, and creating styles that help create or give the illusion of fullness. I will definitely be posting and trying a few of her style videos, having to do minor tweaks because my hair is shorter, but I'm sure you all will love the styles!

I'm trying to protective style but i'm not winning here... maybe it really isn't for me... but I won't give up yet! Has protective styling failed for you in the past? What/who helped you?

Teyana Taylor's Ombre Curly Weave

Man, does Teyana Taylor always have great weave! And I live for Turquoise so you know I'm drooling all over that all turqiouse ombre. I really don't have much to say else to say except for the fact I love her weave (I don't really get why she's famous)... All the right colors and shades, beautiful natural textures; Just Beautifully executed. Teyana Taylor coming in at 9.7 on the weave scale! ( Sorry, I've been watching a lot of Olympics lately.)

If I could do this to my real hair ya'll know i would, but i'd likely go bald, lol.

What Do You Think About Teyana's Ombre?!

I Too Summer Straightened!

I colored and straightened my hair literally a month ago for my birthday and I was super surprised with the amount of growth I had! I wore my hair up for the most part, french braided in the back... Originally I had no intentions of straightening, just to rollerset my hair, but then I got the itch to see what the color looked like with straight hair. I decided to keep my little color patch in the front and go with a reversed ombre look. I loove it!!  I can't wait until all  of these layers are grown out but it looks like the new year will be promising for that goal.

I'm not gonna lie, I havent been taking as best care of my hair as i'm supposed to lately, mostly because i've hardly been covering it to sleep and i haven't been doing twist outs... which for me = ssks -_-
But I have been deep conditioning and moisturizing like crazy, wearing wash and go's and buns mostly... yes I said buns!!!


I've been super busy and I'm running to class but i'll be back shortly with more hair and hair stories to come!

My Last Straightening Before Summer... (+OOTD)

 On May 3rd I got the itch to straighten my hair for the last time before the summer hits... I figured "Hey... Cinco de Mayo is coming up..plus I have the itch to see what my color looks like straightened." I had just gotten back from LA too, with their beautiful, even weather so I was still getting used to the fact that the weather was still $h!tty here in NYC! I thought I would leave for a week at the end of April and come back to sunny skies... it was actually colder when I got back -__-
Anyways, A roller set and flatiron later (notice: I can use bigger cap less rollers now!!!), I got invited to a friend's surprise birthday so I set out to join the fun. Without watching the weather. #nobueno
Though I was only going about 5 blocks from my house and it was only drizzling, my hair went from looking like this right after I finished it:

To looking like this by the time I got there, ending up in a little bun on the top of my head so I could look half decent just tipsy going home:

 I wore my hair in a little tightly wrapped bun to keep my ends moisturized for the next day, and went with my trusty 2 buns for Cinco de Mayo. I'm really a big advocate of only straightening once, so once my hair goes puffy on me, that's it for the bone straight look...
 I hope you enjoy my Cinco de Mayo look, I tried to play on the 2 buns and basically go for the cute Asian girl look, lol (I dig cute Harajuku Kawaii Asians!) Looks like I was feeling stripey for the start of May... I guess you could also say I did a little light protective styling, lol

 I will be posting a part 2 to this hair straightening post to show you  my straight hair length check for before summer! I don't plan to straighten again until its not humid anymore... so that'll probably be some time in late September, that should be a great comparison as long as I keep up with the hair care.

After I got tired of the buns, I returned to my regular 2-strand flat twist pattern to achieve a silky, stretched, twist out. Unfortunately my camera died before i could take a shot of how I fluffed and styled, but I promise there will be a lot more fluffing and styling to come =)

Don't judge me! I know y'all were all out there trying get your last straightening in before the summer too! Were you? lol 

**I used the same products for this style as I used in my Rollersetting and Flatironing Natural Hair Video.

Perfect Second Day Hair + OOTD + Product Review

I know this is like an A-D-D post totally but f&%$ it! lol

I just had to post a pic from my hair today because I'm never able to achieve second day hair that looks the same or better and I finally did!!! Again, all I did was moisturize my hair, throw it in 3 loose, tucked under buns to sleep, and then took out and fluffed this morning. I put a few 2 strand twists in the bang area for definition, and same as yesterday, I just put my head band behind my bangs, and pushed it to the left. I figured while I was @ it I would just do a quick little OOTD + my accessories for you all while I looked semi-cute, lol.  Funny thing is I bought those earrings a while ago and hated how they looked on me, but now that my hair's bigger, I like 'em!

Wondering what has my edges held back so beautifully? One product I will quickly review:

Thanks Domin for recommending this because I < 3 it! (Click the link to watch her review 

She is definitely my number one hair inspiration, if she's not everybody's, lol)

I haven't really tried it for twist outs yet, but I will say it's amazing for slicking your hair back in ponytails. I wouldn't say it gives you as much hold and sleekness as a gel per say, but if you don't want that wet super sleek/slick look but still want to be able to control frizz and flyaways this is perfect. 

As you can see my edges and the hair going back into the puff looks well tamed. You know what?  It actually does exactly what it says on the jar: Fights frizz, Adds Shine, and Moisturizes. This cost me about $4 and a little bit goes a long way so you really get your bang for your buck. Plus the smell is divine... everyone loves a product that smells edible right? lol 

Done ranting now... goodnight! = )

New Ombre' Color + Curly Side Puff Updo

 Every year when the spring/summer comes around, I always get that itch for fun, vibrant, bright color! Last year I decided to go with some creative color I referred to as my party patch. This year I decided to lighten a piece of my hair in the front, in the same area where I had placed last years party patch (since it was previously lightened which would make the process a little easier). Being that my roots were virgin, I knew they would lift to blonde, and my end previously being dyed green, i knew would lift to a lighter green. (left)
Once my hair lifted to my desired level using B&W bleach and 40 volume developer, inspired by the oh so trendy Ombre' hair color effect, I decided to use Lie Locks and Shocking Blue from Manic Panic to create my own colored Ombre look. I used a little 10 volume developer on my own hair and then added the manic panic, starting with the Lie Locks and then fading into the Shocking Blue, without disturbing the already light green area. The photos below shows my hair with being highlighted with bleach in foils, then shows my hair immediately after the color was rinsed out.

 And here are some photos of what the color looks like a little damp... while contemplating doing a full head of 2 strand twists... (In the stretched hair photo, you can totally see all the bleach damage on the part of my hair that's green, since it's been bleached a few times :(

And here is my hair, fully dried,with the front twisted out, and everything pushed to the side with a headband. Those twists that didn't make it to a full hair style made a great set of twisted out bangs and my is hair so curly from the 4 braids I did the other night to sleep, after washing my hair...
which I wore yesterday in 2 buns which really helped to stretch out my curls while still keeping them in tact!

I am sooo in love with my hair today and hope I can try to re-visit this style next week when I actually have something to do! lol

How do you like the curly side puff with the heavy bangs? What about the color? Would you Rock it?

International Beauty Show NY

Every year, the IBS comes to NY at the Javits center for 3 days... Since I was in LA I only bought my ticket for the last day...  I love the beauty show though, it's sooo fun!

A very sleepy me @ the International Beauty Show NY after coming in off my flight from LA earlier yesterday morning... I wore a turban for the first time! (I wish I took a better pic for you all but by the time I got home I passed out!)

Loved both the purple and the red hair, also the awesome crimps and curls!

Look at Nick Arrojo from "What Not To Wear!" He's a super cool dude (left)


You know she's getting lip liner tattooed right?
(right)

Check out the hair flippin' Fabios! lol

Loved her updo! (left)


Cool Cuts (right)

One of the most beautiful heads of hair at Ms. Jessie's was actually on a Mr. lol.

Look at this adorable Asian Dreddy man! Damn right I got him to shake those locs for me!

Some of the cool, wild and crazy hair!

Look @ this hairshow cutie Tiara!! Her style is sick and I've never seen orange hair look so good, not to mention she was super cool!

And last but not least ladies (sorry whoever this is for using your head as an example, lol), This is exactly why we can not bleach and relax our hair... See that hole in her hair? And the fact that its all over her shirt? Her hair was breaking in front of my very eyes... I wonder how long before all of that hair is on her shirt?