Hair Style of the Week: Update...Kinky Twists!

This hair update is LONG overdue folks, my apologies. The weekend after I returned from Trini I went to my local hair braiding shop and sacrificed hours of my life for these, kinky twists! I needed a break from my hair and I am pretty sure my hair welcomed the break from me. ; 0 )

I went to the hair shop armed with one 3/4"x 3/4" picture of what I wanted my hair to look like and three packs of Marley hair. Honestly looking back I should have known better than to only have that one tiny picture but I was hopeful and blinded by my excitement about changing my look. What I ended up with was the picture above. Not at all like what anticipated and extremely tight. For a week I did everything in my power to loosen the cornrows. I sprayed water, slathered my edges in shea butter and essential oils and by the end of the week I was simply unbraiding the braids and rebraiding them loosely to the best of my ability (sounds like a hot mess...that's because it was!)

Forced Smile..

Just looking at this picture hurts!

Let me address the obvious question. Why would I let anyone braid my hair tightly? Especially when I am trying to preserve my edges. I didn't just sit there passively and let her braid my hair however she felt like. The majority of my time in the hair salon I told her she was braiding too tightly. I stopped her over and over again and despite my warnings she continued to braid the only way she knew how, tight! Yes, I had the good sense to take my braids out a week later but I think about all the children who were also in the shop to get their hair braided that day. What did they do? Traction alopecia- a gradual hair loss that is a direct result of a pulling force being applied to hair- has such a high prevalence in women of color and wearing hair extensions and braids tightly is one of the causes. It's time to stop sacrificing our edges for the sake of "neat" hair.

We all remember this telling picture of Naomi Campbell's edges.

How do we pass on this information to the hair braiders all across New York City?  

A week after my first attempt at kinky twists I went to a braiding salon that I was familiar with (I only took the cornrows out but left the kinky twists in) and explained exactly what I wanted my hair to look like. I also explained that I did not want too much tension on my sensitive edges and asked that the cornrows start with my own hair first and the extension hair gradually added in. Here are the final results:

So much better! Not only is there less tension on my edges but with more individual twists I have more styling options.

Maintenance:

• Although I know that many people wash their hair while in extensions (twists and/or braids) I have decided that I will not wash my hair while I have these twist installed. My rationale? These twists are thick and would take a while to dry once washed. Walking around with wet hair is not an option for me especially since the weather lately has been so unpredictable.
•  I plan on using my Huetiful Steamer to cleanse my scalp and restore moisture back to my strands every two weeks.
•  I use Jane Carter Nourish and Shine on my scalp and edges. I also use Vatika Oil at the base of the Kinky Twists every few days.
•  I still cover my hair nightly with my Satin Cap to keep my twists neat and retain moisture.
• Every night I rub my edges with Rosemary Oil to increase circulation and stimulate hair growth.

I plan on keeping these kinky twist in for about a 5-6 weeks and may even have them installed again before the summer. Have you tried a new protective style lately?

Hair Style of the Week...Vacation Recap

Hi people! Just thought I would share some pictures of my hairstyles that I wore while I was on vacation the past two weeks. I was going to wash my hair today however I haven't had the opporunity to do so all day and now I'm too tired. Maybe posting these pics will inspire me as well. When I washed my hair two weeks ago I had to style my hair quickly. So I opted for two large flat twists in the back with small individual twist in the front.

Sorry, this is not the best pic of the hairstyle but its similar to the way my hair was styled in this post.

After rocking this style for about a week I decided to change it up a bit and wear my go to style, a puff.

Me (rocking a puff with a twist out bang) and my Trini  friend Mannie window shopping at Ikea. I was in love with that table.



Close up shot of my hair. (Puff with a twist out bang.)

 

I wore this style only for one day because I felt guilty for not protecting the ends of my hair. In addition to this I felt the hairstyle made me feel even more juvenile looking than usual. That evening I saturated my hair with my Jane Carter Leave-In Conditioner spray and same Vatika Oil then twisted my hair using my Shealo cream. After my hair was twisted I pinned up the back section and attempted to pin the front as well. However the front of my hair is shorter (since cutting off my heat damaged section) as a result it did not cooperate with me. Most times I wore it without pinning the twists in the front.

At Machel Montano's Back In Brooklyn Fete (Flat twists and individual twist pinned up in the back.)

Showing off! ; ) Please ignore that one twist doing it's own thing. : )

What should I do next?

Hair Style Of The Week--Weekend Edition

This past weekend was a pretty busy one for me. Slightly overwhelmed by a list of events I wanted/needed to attend and the desire to look attempt to look picture perfect I scoured YouTube for hair inspiration. Without a clear vision on exactly how I would style my hair I decided to untwist my twists and attempt an updo. After about 45 minutes of pinning, twisting, rolling, and tucking I succumbed to the fact that the updo was an #EPICFAIL. What does any Naturalista do when she's short on time? You guessed it a puff. (-_-) That's what I rocked this past weekend. In an effort to mix it up a bit I left the shorter strands of my hair (the front of my hair that I recently cut all of the heat damaged ends from)  out of the puff for a side bang. I used Curls Passion Fruit Control Paste on my edges, I love the sleek it leaves me with little effort on my part.

Confession: My hair is OVERDUE for a wash (I'm going on week 3). In an effort to keep my strands moisturized I have been moisturizing my hair with (1)a few spritzes of Jane Carter's Leave-In Conditioner (2) a quarter sized amount of  Jane Carter's Nourish and Shine and (3) a quarter sized amount of Vatika Oil. After this I place a shower cap over my head and then tie my headscarf on.  In the morning when I remove my scarf I am left with slightly damp (which helps with styling) moisturized hair.

Hair Style Of The Week: Puff Remix

IT'S SUMMER!!! Maybe not officially but as I type this right now my tv says it's 85 degrees outside. Did I mention it's 11:00pm? If that's not an indication of the  summer season I am not sure what is. It looks like this summer is going to be a scorcher. What does that mean for me? More time enjoying the great outdoors and less time to spend styling my hair.

Puff with two flat twists in the front

I used my Garnier Fructis Water Based Shine Wax to create these flat twists...I love this stuff!

It's all about keeping it simple this summer. Although my Moptop Maven hair challenge has just about come to a close I would like to continue to  use protective styling as a way to keep my hair healthy. A simple and protective natural hair style sometimes seems like an oxymoron to me (I definitely did not achieve both elements in today's look) but as I find both  elements in a hairstyle I will definitely share them with you all!

In the spirit of sharing: This is unrelated but I HAD to share. I was in Target today (for no particular reason at all) and stumbled across this little gem, One Shea Butter Lip Balm in Honey Cream, for $2.50. I've only owned it for a few hours but I love it. It smells delish, tastes great, glides on smoothly, and is not waxy or sticky at all, what more can you ask for?

It's official my old ( you see the picture) mini jar of Vaseline has lost it's place in my make-up bag. I wish Target had more than just the One lip balms on sale. I think I have found a new product line to add to my arsenal. ;-)

Wedding Edition: Hair Style of the Week

It's wedding season and I have found myself caught smack dab in the middle of it. No, not because I am planning my own but rather I have RSVP'd (and replied yes) to a few invites. Don't get me wrong I love a great wedding, it always reassures me that real love does in fact exist. However, the stress typically comes from deciding what dress will I wear, what gift will I bring, and the most difficult, how will I wear my hair? The dress this time around was simple. After going in a few stores I found the perfect dress in Filene's Basement but my hair proved to be more than a little challenging. The Sunday before the wedding I styled it in my usual combo of twists and flat twists and rocked it pinned up all week. When I untwisted my hair for a twist out on Saturday (the day of the wedding) however my twist out wasn't anything like I had imagined. My hair seemed lifeless, my ends seem ragged (I think I need to get a hair stylist to do a major trim), and the shape (despite various techniques of coaxing) was anything but symmetrical. As a result I took a few bobby pins and pinned it up. Here's the final look: