Blown Out Semi-Straight

Hey peeps! Last week I blew my hair out with the blow dryer and followed up with my flat iron to get a semi- straight look. With this Florida humidity there was no point in "trying" to get bone straight hair. To be honest, I don't even think my hair can ever be bone straight.

 So during that week I would put two strand twists or flat twists in my hair with flexirods to get a nice curly look. I could not use any water based products so all I used was my Mango Butter hair grease or Shea Butter! Here are pictures I took from the first day.

Now my hair is not this shiny in real life (I don't think), it's more flash from the camera. This was the first day done with flat twists and flexirods. When I hit the door it got bigger and more frizz. I still have the blown out look for my hair right now because I haven't felt like washing it. As for semi-straight...that is gone! I just wanted to share this look with you guys! Leave comments and let me know what you think.

Unleashing My Curls

I recently purchased the Curl Defining Creme by Organic Root Stimulator. We've all seen and heard about their new line Curls Unleashed. The product says it moisturizes and defines curls without shrinkage, and it can be used for styling or defining your curls. Check out some pictures:

Curls Unleashed

The following pictures were taken on the third day of this style. Now on the first day my hair was pretty wet when I used the creme. When I took the twists out on the first day, my hair wasn't defined as I wanted. So on the second night I spritzed my hair with water and used the creme and got these awesome results for the third day! Honestly, all twists out start to look like same to me regardless, of what product I use.

My hair wasn't stretched to the max, but it wasn't as shrunken as it would have been compared to other products I have used in the past. I got this on sale from Walgreens for $12.99. I love the consistency, I like the clean smell and I like how it left my hair feeling very soft and moisturized.

One of these days I'm going to use this product as a curl definer and share pictures with the results! Have any of you used the Curls Unleashed line? If so, what are your fave products from this line?

Protective Styling

Last month I decided to try a new protective hairstyle because like me, we all get tired of the twist outs, curly fros, and puffs. My hair also needs time to herself lol. I kept this style in for that entire week. Right now I'm thinking about doing mini twists but it takes FOREVER! Then I've been thinking about a sew-in or braids but I'm very apprehensive about spending over $50 on quality hair and that's not including the cost of paying a stylists to do it. So what is a girl to do! I have to make a choice! Well here are the pictures of my hairstyle with details.

The first day I blew my hair out because it's very hard to do neat flat twists on my tightly coiled hair. I used eco styler gel to complete the look. I can't braid to save my life but I can flat twist it up y'all! Now these pictures were taken on like the 4th day when I redid the twists. It was hard as hell to TRY to have straight parts lol. I like how it turned out and got some compliments :) Any easy protective styles that you guys do on your hair? Leave a comment so I can do some experimenting!

Finger Coils

During my daily youtube exploration I came across a video with a girl doing finger coils on her natural hair. The video I watched was this one: Natural Hair Finger Coils Since her hair turned out so pretty I wanted to try it out for myself. The last time I tried finger coils had to be over a year ago. Here are my results:

When I did the coils it was done on freshly washed hair with Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner, Vatika Oil, and Eco Styler gel. After an hour or two of completing the coils my hair was completely dry so I separated them. Final thoughts for myself? I didn't like it -_- Because my hair hasn't started growing down and it's still growing in an outward direction I didn't have the length and fullness like I wanted since my hair isn't thick. So I won't be doing coils any more...I did them really neat if I say so myself! Have you guys ever done finger coils? How did they turn out? I'd love to do them on someone else's hair though!

Marly Braiding Hair

On this week I was inspired to try a different hairstyle with my hair from watching young ladies style their hair on youtube of course. In the video posted at the end, the girl has Marly Braiding Hair that she puts into a huge twists to create a bun. SO I went to my local beauty supply store and bought this hair for like $3.99:

The awesome thing about this hair is that it looks like natural hair! It was dry as shit but it blended perfectly with my hair...

My hair is in the middle and the weave is surrounding my hair so you can not tell the difference :) Great style to do when you don't feel like doing much with your hair. If you can put your hair in a pony tail you can certainly try this style. I just used gel and water to slick my hair back and bobby pins. Here is the video that shows exactly what I did! Let me know if you guys decide to try it out. P.S. Why my waves can't look like her waves! lol

Twists with Flexi- Rods

Thursday night I decided to try something else with my hair. My hair was already stretched out from twists so all I did was wet my hair a little, used my Carols Daughter Hair Butter which I've had for almost 2 years lol (not fond of the smell) and shea butter. I put medium sized two strand twists in followed by Flexi- Rods. Here are the results....

I think it turned out PRETTY AWESOME! lol I didn't sit under the dryer and like I stated before, there was no way possible for me to sleep on those things lol But it turned out pretty nice! I will definitely visit this style again. I'm also learning how my hair works when attempting styles. This look wouldn't look like this on freshly washed hair, only on already stretched out hair so I'll try that more often.

Flexi- Rod Set

I finally bought flexi-rods this past weekend and styled my hair with them. I bought the red and blue rods which were $3.99 for a pack of 6, so I ended up with 4 packs of blue and 2 packs of red.

To set the curl pattern I used olive oil mixed with eco styler gel on freshly washed hair and sat under my hooded dryer for maybe an hour.

I ended up with this nice curl pattern after taking all the rods out. I just hate that my roots were still so fuzzy!

After separating the curls I just pushed my hair back into a loose puff. I didn't like the way my hair looked without the puff. If anyone decides to try the flexi- rods do the set EARLY lol because you do not want to sleep in those things! I got in my bed for 5 minutes and got right back up to take them out! I don't know if I will try them soon because I'm lazy and it's a lot of work. I wish my hair were longer so the curls could just hang. One day that will be possible.

The take down

I finally took my twists out tonight! Yayyy! I did them on the 18th and kept them in until the 30th. That's the longest I have ever kept twists in my hair! Here are some before and after pictures so that you all can see the state of my twists before I took them out and what it looked like after.

This is the back view and as you can see my hair shrunk drastically!

The front of my hair gets messed up so bad! I actually redid the front over once since I had them in. On the last day I just pulled it back with a headband! I felt hopeless over the front.

Yay! It's all out!

I actually LOVE the way my hair looks out so I'm thinking that I may keep it like this until like Sunday. I am way overdue for a wash so we shall see! My plan is to do mini twists again in about 2 weeks but idk. Time will tell.

Mini Twists For The Summer

It's that time again! This Florida summer is going to be HOT and I haven't been into doing much with my hair so mini twists for as long as possible is my go to style!I started around 3:45 pm and finished at 11:30! LONG TIME, with like 2 breaks.  Here are some pictures!

BEFORE (Blown Out)

Twists & Rollers

Last night I decided to blow my hair out on low heat just so I could achieve a different look with the texture of my hair. I blow dried my hair out and on each section I used a little of my Shea Butter and Carol's Daughter Hair Butter (which I've had for over  a year) I hardly use it because the smell is too loud for my liking. Here are a few pictures I'd like to share. Tell me what you all think!

I did two strand twists first

Perm Rods

Unraveling twists! Man I wish it could have looked like this after separating! 

Length check lol 

As the day progressed

Once this gets really bad I may do plaits and take them out! IDK but I will keep you all posted!

Transitioners REPOST

I did a blog dedicated to all my transitioners back in April 2010. I decided to repost those tips and add a few updates. These suggestions and all suggestions on my blog are great for ladies with relaxed hair as well! Again, if you all have any advice for ladies transitioning, or anyone looking for healthier hair, post a comment and I'll update this post with your name and suggestion!

Excuse my facial expression lol But this was a style while transitioning (Done with Flat Twists)

I have some family members and friends who are transitioning right now from relaxers to their natural hair. I'm sure they have many questions and don't even know where to start! So here I am guys! lol  Here are a few tips

~Depending on the type of style you have, deep condition your hair ONCE a week for 30 minutes to an hour with a plastic cap. You can sit under a hooded dryer or wrap a warm towel around head.

~Be tender with your hair & when you get frustrated with it, put it in a protective style & leave it alone! it'll be good for you & your hair. -Cris @ http://international-baby.blogspot.com

~Cater to your hair type ... trying products/styles/regimins& routines for naturals&transitioners with different hair types is NOT really going to help. work with YOUR hair and pay attention to what it likes, wants, needs!! -Cris 

~Never towel dry hair, it leaves your hair frizzy. Microfiber Towels are good to use. You can get these anywhere. 

~Be sure to purchase a satin bonnet, or scarf, or satin pillow case.

~Don't forget to get a wide tooth comb or denman brush to make combing and detangling easier.

~If you don't mind using shampoo, only use it depending the build up of different products on the scalp. Shampoo stripes the moisture from your hair leaving it feeling like a cotton ball. Look up Pre- Poo methods and sulfate free shampoos. 

~Stay away from excessive heat from flat ironing hair. Try not to do it daily. If so, look into getting a heat protectant. 

~If your styling your hair once a week be sure to condition hair before styling so that you can have fresh results. You should also follow up with a leave in conditioner.

~Invest in hair oils like olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, etc. there are tons to choose from! This is critical because the hair is most fragile at this stage. Be sure to oil your scalp and ends.

~Shea Butter is an awesome purchase as well.

~Pay attention to the ingredients in the products you buy. Toxic ingredients could be detrimental to your scalp and hair.

~Research hairstyles! You can wear braids, sew ins, do roller sets, bantu knots, twists, wigs, etc. You don't have to wear pony tails or resort to flat ironing your hair.

~Youtube and hair forums and blogs on transitioning are your friends! 

I really hope I touched basis on the most important things to remember! If I have not PLEASE ask questions so I can address them and if I left anything out please add! I hope this helps somebody! These tips also work for ladies with relaxers!

Thank you Cris over at http://international-baby.blogspot.com for the extra tips!! Make sure you guys check out her awesome blog!

Second Day Hair

In my last post about the pin curls styled with the banana clip I told you all I would fix it up for work. I did that this morning and snapped some pictures so you guys can see how much better it looked for the second day. I loved the finished look! Tell me what you all think.

Look At Me Now!

Guess what? I am 6 days away from the 2 year mark of the day I chopped off my relaxed ends! CRAZY RIGHT! Well I actually found a picture on my camera that shows how my hair looked the day after. When I look at this picture I'm like WOW! Yes I have had quite a few hiccups on this journey but my hair has come a long way from May 26, 2009.

I grew my relaxed ends out for 6 months leading up until that and so that means I've been relaxer free for 2 years and 6 months, and 2 years without any relaxed ends lol. So take a look!

May 2009

May 2010 Twist Out

May 2011 Twist Out

Looking at these pictures really makes me realize my hair is definitely growing! Sometimes I feel like it's not but now I see it for a fact. This is an exciting moment! lol