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?

What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do With Your TWA

1. Try accessorizing! Jazz your hair up with a cute accesory like a headband or decorative clip... don't go too crazy if you're over 18 so you won't end up looking 12, lol
2. If that fails, Jazz up yourself! It could be the perfect day for effortless messy hair, a red lip, and your favorite ghetto girl hoops, lol
3. Hats, Scarves & Turbans, oh my! Slouchy Beanie's are my ultimate favorite for my natural hair, and I can easily wear my satin bonnet underneath, but turbans and any head wrap of your choice can also be a beautiful alternative
4. Wigs! If you're going natural, a natural wig might be one of the easiest things to keep on hand... Just throw on ya fro' and walk out the do'! (door... tryna rhyme... sorry, lol) Just think of it as a hairy hat if you're not a wig person :)
5. Wash and Go! Sometimes we try styling or re-styling and it doesn't work... when all else fails I just wash my hair and wear it in it's natural state... it' a lot easier than fighting with it. Get those diffusers out for the winter so you dont have to walk out with a wet head.

I hope these tips were helpful and you all continue to employ them along your journey!

My New Curly Weave + Blending

I know, I know, I just said I was going to do a wavy bob weave... but do I ever do what I say I'm going to do with my hair?! lol I actually realized that regardless of anything, with that wavy/straight weave, I'd definitely be using more heat than I really want to right now (which is none), so I opted for a curly weave again instead.

I needed a break from doing my hair, and my hair definitely needed a break from me, so I figured I needed a style where I'd have to manipulate my own hair as little as possible and I think I've finally found it! The hair I used:

How/ Where I found out about this weave?

My little cousin found in it her local BSS in BK and decided to give it a try, so naturally when she came to me with this hair to get her weave done, I fell in love with it. I bought the 10'' and 12'' because I originally wanted it to be a little longer and with minimal layers, but that ended up being a waste of money because I chopped it up for it to look more realistic anyway. One thing I also learned, was that the curl of the 8" vs the 10" and 12", is a lot more of tight curl that resembles my hair almost perfectly, the 10" and 12" is a much looser, silkier curl, but still very beautiful. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos during the process, but I saw her a few days later at my Grandmother's house with the weave piked out; Here's the outcome of my cousin's weave to you can see the difference:

I love the curly look so I'm not mad that I didn't get the 8 inches, but I will definitely be trying the 8" as well. To see some of the steps I took to install and how I blend my hair with the weave, click the jump :)

Your TWA, Your Ends, and Styling

People would look at me like I was crazy whenever I told them I needed to trim. They looked at me like it was bogus to trim my hair because I'm trying to grow my hair out... doesn't mean I shouldn't still keep my ends as healthy as possible. 

One thing I definitely have learned while in these 2 years having a TWA, especially one that is styled and worn out regularly, is that keeping your ends fresh and healthy makes a big difference when you're styling.

On longer hair, we are able to see more of the hair strand's length, with the ends being at the bottom of the hair. On our short TWA's, the hair is sticking out from our heads so the first thing we see are the ends. 

Over time, if my ends would look dry and frazzled I would try re-wetting the ends only or twirling them around my finger with a little curling cream to try and make them look better. Once it got a little longer, I would just try to put my hair up somehow or go into a protective style until the next trim, so my horrible ends wouldn't be making my hair look dry and frazzled.

I'm not afraid to trim my hair as needed, and I never do huge trims, just a dusting of hardly even a quarter inch at times, usually anywhere from every 2 - 4 months. Though I may retain an inch or two less a year than other girls, I have healthy ends which makes detangling easier and prevents further splitting, not to mention my ends aren't thin and stringy as I reach my goals. As my hair gets longer and I can wear styles like buns that keep my ends protected, I'm sure I will need to trim my hair less. 

Lesson learned: Keep your ends healthy. Keeping split ends and single strand knots at bay keeps the problem from exacerbating any further, and your styles will also look, and hold better.

Do you feel like having fresh ends makes your TWA styling look better? How often do you trim your TWA?

2 Strand In-Be-TWA Twists

About 3 weeks ago I decided to play around with twisting my hair... didn't really like the outcome since my hair is so fine and I was looking very scalpy... so to get something out of the time I wasted (lol), I decided I was going to put them up somehow... and this is the how:

I did these twists on hair that was stretched from a rollerset and only wore them for two days (It was in a low side bun in the back). I will say I'm really happy I took the twists out so soon, because I was actually having a lot of trouble taking them down. With my dry ends snagging at each other, had I left them in I might have suffered from a set back!!
:::wipes sweat from brow:::

I wish my hair was fuller because I would definitely rock twists more often, not to mention i'd love to just wear them down... but I guess we'll see as time, fullness, and length progesses :)

 My mom used to do box braids or twists on my hair all the time when I was a little kid, and apparently I had the same scalpy, fine twist/braid problem. She always did my hair wet, so I always had major shrinkage, as I do remember being the girl in class with the "boingy hair," but I never retained any length really so apparently my hair wasn't in it's best health.
That still doesn't take away from the true nature of my hair, very fine and not at all dense. Until my hair gets much longer and hopefully fuller, I don't think single braids and twists are going to work for me. At least when my hair gets longer I can do big twists on wet hair so they can be really puffy and look fuller, without being shrunken to my ears or making me look like I'm balding. lol

Twists, ladies and Gents? Do they work well for you?
We would also love to start a throwback thursday segment so
SEND IN YOUR THROWBACK THURSDAY PICS TO YAIS.NYC@GMAIL.COM
"I'M NOT SCREAMING, THAT'S JUST THE WAY I TALK." lol.

Quick TWA & Up Updo!

I did an updo on a failed braidout this morning in preparation to go to an event this morning. I thought it was really cute when I did it but got over it and put my hair in my trusty two buns before I left the house. Luckily for you all, I snapped a few pics before the style went bye bye, lol

I didn't plan to do this, i just had a few bobby pins by my side, my soft bristle brush and some Murrays Cream beeswax... started by separating out the front section (as you can see I did not part anything), doing a roll going backwards and pinning.
I then french rolled up the back while pinning, and at the top, folded it back towards the french roll and tucking it under, creating another hump. Tighten, pin, loosen to your liking, leave out a few curls if it tickles your fancy, and Voila!

This should work if your hair is at least 5 inches or longer, you may just need to tweak everything a little :) This is also a great protective style because your ends are all tucked away.

 Even great for transitioners to tuck away those straight ends.
Here's a link to another rendition of this same style I did a few months ago on my shorter hair.

 Good luck and have fun styling!

   

(excuse the messy room : )

Would anyone wear this style?!

Last Week's Fashion's Night Out Puff

My friend was snapping pics of me on the low, trying to be funny, but I was really loving how massive my puff was that day. I put moisturizer in it and unfortunately it shrunk up a bit, but was still quite cute.

The puffs are the result of old twist outs just pushed back with a little Murrays Cream Beeswax and a doubled headband... my go to style for recycling my twist outs when I'm in hurry and on the go!

What do you do with your old twist outs?

Fashion Week: Cotte D' Armes Presentation

How adorable is her headpiece?! I was so in love with it... like I wanted to snatch and run! lol

Stopping to take a quick flick with the team.

I came across this super cute chica snapping photos and was in love with her mod style...

Turns out she's an awesome style blogger who shot some amazing images of our show! Here are some awesome images from her blog

I love all the snaps she shot of me!

Don't you just want everything from this line?! I love Unisex clothing!

 

And now back to my crappy iPhone pics and on to the after party, lol

Designers Coco & Breezy  & their super cool mohawks (they're both natural)

I was definitely making sure to snap all the most fashionable naturals for you all!