Hair For the Week: Straight Natural (With Ponytail Amusement)

Good morning folks! So last week I got my hair straightened by none other then SPStyles (she's the only stylist I can always trust to do my hair). And boy, did she tackle my mane! It was washed, conditioned, blow-dried, flat-ironed and trimmed. I've definitely retained length; my hair is actually crawling to the bra-strap area.

These pictures aren't official "length shots" or anything, and actually I'm pretty sure I took these a day or two after I got it done. Having it straight made me realize how massive my hair is and how much I've been appreciating it--my hair has never been this healthy and long and I've been natural my whole life! I didn't really wear my hair down because this past week was windy and rainy, which was fine because I went straight for the ponytail, which amused me because of how full my hair was in these ponytails. I love wearing big, poofy side ponytails but this was a nice change up...

Todays Hairstyle: Inspired Natural Grecian Updo/Puff

Today, while thinking of what to do with yesterday's twist out, I came across this really cute style and decided to give it a try!

At first I thought the middle part would look funny on me with my long face shape but I actually like it. Cute, quick, and easy style, I'll say it took me all of 5-10 minutes... Thanks Dominique!
On my way to my cousin's dance class now... Peace!

Reflecting on My First Ever "Big Chop"

I was going through some photos on my facebook page and happened to come across a photo from when I did my very first "Big Chop" back when i was still in cosmetology school in 2008. If you're a regular reader then you may know i'm not particularly a fan of the BC term, as to me the term just sounds horrible and scary, but for the sake of 'Laymen's terms', I'll just call it that today -_-
Anyhoo... I realized upon seeing this picture, that I've basically BC'ed every year from 2008-2010, and all for extremely different reasons.

Weave I sported to Brazil

The first time i big chopped was in the fall of 2008. I had went to Brazil to visit my family with that curly red weave I had mentioned a couple of posts ago... You remember... this one:

Haircut I was sporting at the time

So during this particular visit to Brazil, I had shown my family a photo of the haircut I was rocking at the time and they loved it and nearly begged me to take my weave out because most women there all sport long curly or straight hair... so I did.  Since I was wearing the curly weave, I hadn't given myself a touch-up relaxer because I needed the little kinky-ness in the roots for the weave to blend, so naturally upon taking the weave out, and being in Brazil in a warm climate, I figured if I was going to wear my hair out it would be best if I touched up my roots. So, with all of the hair knowledge I thought I had, I went to the beauty supply and bought the relaxer I had applied on my cousin's hair about a week before. 20 minutes later... my hair DIED! I wanted to cry but I didn't because I needed to hold my composure in front of my family. My hair before the Brazilian relaxer was gorgeous, healthy, shiny, bouncy and full of life, but this hair after relaxing felt like straw. Literal Straw... I could have put a broom on my head that felt better! To achieve the beautiful hairstyle I used to wear with my short haircut, I would rollerset my hair and it would have body, shape, movement, and last me about a week. After killing my hair, it wouldn't hold a curl, a set, straightening, nothing I tell ya! I mean I was sooooo in love with my short haircut (The Rihanna before Rihanna people called it or the Kelis, lol) so I was super devastated. Cheap plastic-y  weaves even felt better than my hair.

What exactly went wrong? At the time, I had no idea there were so many different kinds of relaxers out there, I just assumed there was Lye and No Lye, so when i finally looked everything up and realized what had happened, i realized there was a different chemical agent in this Brazilian relaxer, Guanidine Hydroxide! For information on the different types of relaxers out there, I found this great site that really breaks it down, so click HERE to learn about the different chemical relaxing agents.

Long story short, the dead hair wouldn't do ANYTHING. It looked like straw, it felt like straw, it snapped off like straw. So after a month or two of fighting it and wearing a wig, about a month after returning to cosmetology school, i chopped my hair off. Did I love it? NO! But me not being one to mope, or want others to see me feeling insecure, i rocked it. Yes, after about 2 or 3 months I relaxed my hair again; Not that I didn't like my hair, but I just didn't want short natural hair. Had it been longer.... Had I knew then what I know now, I would have started my healthy hair journey and never would have turned back, and I'd have the long natural hair I've been yearning for. I will commend myself for always wanting to go with health over length, which is why most styles generally looked good on me. Now, 3 "Big Chops" later, I can say I've embraced myself with short natural hair. Although I'm over having short hair right now and can't wait to feel my curls cascading down my back, I still want to some day try a ceasar... Someday... lol

Have you "big chopped" more than once? What have your experiences taught you? 

Showing off my magenta hair & Brows
under my foil hat my classmate made for me, lol

The Young, Curly and Fabulous - Another Curly Perspective

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!

Ariel

Art student, poet, visual artist, amateur chef, social commentator, sister, friend, daughter, procrastinator, and full time daydreamer. *Phew*. Oh, and did I forget to mention I'm a 3b, no poo, bleach-blonde (for the moment) curly? I bet you're wondering how I balance pigment stripped hair, two online classes, two studio classes, and a life.

I've been a natural my whole life, and I didn't have my first real roller set at a salon until I was fourteen. I know that's not every little girls story, and some curls are late in life which is totally fine. Hair at the end of the day is hair. I never had a choice; after a lifetime of perms my mother never wanted either of her girls to have one. But as any normal teenage girl, I wanted to rebel. My mother loved my curls so I straightened them in all the wrong ways. I've flat ironed my hair wet, slathered it in Dax, hot combed it, blown it out, colored it black and bleached it to blonde with a 40 volume. In case you didn't know, all those things are bad. I'm not a professional, but I do have a crap load of experience in damage control. I can save me some damaged hair like nobodies business.

Now that I think about it, I use to tell myself I didn't want a perm because it had the potential to damage my hair. Honestly coloring is not that much different. I choose to be curly because I love my hair. I like that I can have a neon yellow bone straight style, a hot pink fro, or have ebony black finger waves. You don't ever really know who you'll be tomorrow. With that being said I feel like just as unknown as the future me is, my hair should reflect that unpredictability.As silly as it may be hair means something to me; as impossible as it is to find a decent black hair salon out here in San Francisco (that doesn't require you to give up your first born child for a wash and set) I would never perm my head. I look at my hair in the mirror an I see potential. I see that it needs attention, care, I see that its wild and romantic, its strong, I see my blackness (or should I say I can see my Africa showing). I see me in my hair every morning. So, if I can depart some words that might
make others feel similar so shall it be.

Questions for Ariel? Send an email to: yais.nyc (at) gmail (dot) com with "Ariel" in the subject line, or just leave a comment below!

Twisted and Braided TWA Updo + Fun Makeup!

Yes, another video, and this one was actually filmed within 6 months of posting, lmfao.
I've been sick for the past couple of days with a cold, and not only have I been physically sick, but i've been sick of detangling, single strand knots and dryness, so with my scratchy throat and runny nose, I decided I couldn't take it anymore and got to styling... 

I had no specific style in mind, although I would say I was inspired by Curly Film Chick's many 2-strand twisted hairstyles which is what had me starting with the twisted bang area. The rest I totally freestyled, keeping in mind that I didnt want any hair hanging, and the back of my hair is soft and would slip out of twists. This updo was done on an old twist out that was picked out. I parted my hair into 5 sections, one for the bang area, and then 4 equal sections, with 4 flat twists in both front sections going inward towards the back/middle of my head. The back sections consist of 4 cornrows on either side, going inwards towards the middle/back of my head. Once all braiding and twisting was done, i twisted all of the braids and twists together, tucked where ever needed, and used booby pins to secure the style. I wasn't crazy about the bang area hanging but i love the way it looks with it pincurled in a pin-up sort of way.  One thing I did think of when doing this style was versatility and i like that I can take the bang area out and wear it as a twist-out or even put in regular 2 strand twists!

I only used 2 products while doing my hair: Shea Moisture Curl Enhacing Smoothie and Herbal Essences Split End Mender (which i quickly flashed in the video). I plan to keep this in for about a week and I'm hoping I actually stick to what I say this time! 

A shot of my makeup before I started doing my hair

Styling My Straightened TWA

So Ladies and Gents, I know this is horrible but I made this video for you all back in February when i straightened and styled my hair and never got to post it... So without any further ado...

Enjoy!

Hair For the week: Curly Twists

So I went from being really lost with how to style my hair to coming up with a style I really like. It's funny- I parted my hair into four sections like usual and started doing two strand twists in the back. When it came to the front half of my hair I had no idea what to do, so I decided to wait till the following morning (Monday) to do something. And here was the outcome:

Not to bad right? Another variation on single twists in the back, and flat-twists in the front. For some reason I still wasn't satisfied, so I went a little further.