Okay, I saved this pic within the first week of joining Instagram for a Style Inspiration feature! I know that I shared it on Facebook, but somehow never managed to post it here!! Well, time to rectify that oversight. How HAUTE is this updo by @karmbaby?!?!
I love the look of undercuts, but would never do it as my hair is not thick enough to sacrifice sections of hair! This is an awesome way to fake the look, without sacrificing the hair!!
Love it!! And her color is FIYAH!!
Want to see and learn more about Karmbaby? Then check out her YouTube Channel here!
I know that my buns have been VERY boring and repetitive over the last two months of the Hairscapades Bunning Challenge. I mean, I’ve been taking the quick and easy route for real … either due to lack of energy, desire and/or time. So, when I came across this next video and channel on YouTube over this past weekend, it was right on time! I finally felt inspired to try something a little different!
I decided to try the first mini bun style yesterday morning since my hair was nicely stretched. I tried to set the front on big aqua perm rods, but didn’t have much time and it ended up being a little frizzy, lopsided and wonky. But, overall, me likey!!
Hey Naturalista’s!!! Transitioning? Don’t know what to do with your hair? Want something new? That will be low manipulation? Nothing is working for you? Ready to relax it? STOP RIGHT THERE IN YOUR TRACKS!! DON’T DO IT!!! Why not put your hair away for a few weeks so you don’t have to bother it? Protective styling is your answer!!!! Protective styling is any hairstyle that helps protect the hair from over-manipulation. Also, protective styles protect your hair from extreme weather, both hot and cold, and it prevents the hair from drying out. When you protective style, you are giving your hair a “break.” Many install a protective style so that they can go days, weeks, or a few months without having to do their hair!
My Instagram and Facebook have been blowing up with many naturalistas tucking their tresses away for the winter. So why not try a protective style? You don’t have to worry about your hair … why not, right? Here are a few protective styles that you can try on your hair. If you don’t want to try them yourself, you can always find a local salon that can do many of these styles.
1. Box Braids
Yes the old school box braids are back and in full effect. They are sooo super cute and easy to do as well.
Check out a tutorial here:
2. Senegalese Twists
I LOVE THIS LOOK … one day I am going to try these on myself . Check out a tutorial on how to do these here:
3. Havana/ Marley Twists
Now I know all of you have probably watched my Marley twist video. LOL. I SOOO am doing my hair next week like this again, so I hope you all don’t get tired of seeing them. LOL! But here is my video on how to do the Marley twists.
4. Kinky Twists
The good old kinky twists are super cute. Here is a video on how to achieve kinky twists:
5. Afro Puffy Twists
LOVE THESE! If my hair was shorter, I would definitely get these in a bob kind of look!! SUPER CUTE!!!
6. Spring Twists
Now I first saw this style on a fellow Instgrammers post. These are super cute too!!!
7. Nubian Twists
Before you install remember to:
1.Wash and deep condition your hair.
2.Moisturize your hair.
3. Detangle your hair.
4. Oil your scalp.
IMPORTANT!!!!!!
Now… Just because your hair is in a protective style, don’t forget you still have to take care of your hair while it’s away.
Daily: You must still remember to moisturize your hair: daily and/or at night. You can use a water-based leave-in, such as Oyin Handmade Juices and Berries, to spritz your hair. Don’t oversaturate it because you don’t want your hair to frizz. Also remember to oil your scalp with coconut oil or the oil of your choice.
Night: Sleep with a satin bonnet or, if you hair can’t all fit in a bonnet, with a satin scarf or on a satin pillowcase. It is important!! You want to keep your protective style looking nice.
These styles can last probably up to 2 months. I wouldn’t suggest leaving them in for longer. Leaving protective styles in for a long time can cause damage. And we don’t want that!!
As you know, this weekend, I decided to try the “Curly ‘Fro” set that I previously shared here. As you also know, I thought that I had finally figured out how to flat-twist properly and screamed it to the heavens here. Yeah … not so much. LOL! But, despite the difficulties that I experienced with the take down of this style, I really do like the results and plan to do the style again, just with regular twists until I can improve my flat-twisting technique.
For those of you who can flat twist well though, like the look of this style and are interested in trying it, here is what I did!
Wash Day Process (Sunday)
Pre-pooed with Vatika Oil (with a little Wild Growth Hair Oil applied to my scalp) for an hour with thermal heat turban (I usually mix Aubrey GPB and/or Honeysuckle Rose conditioner with the Vatika Oil for pre-pooing. But, I forgot!)
Shampooed with Cream & Coco Pumpkin Pie Shampoo Bar.
Detangled with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner in four sections under shower stream.
Deep conditioned with Darcy’s Botanicals Pumpkin Seed Conditioner for an hour with thermal heat turban.
Applied leave-in conditioner (2 tbsp Kinky Curly Knot Today + 2 tbsp Aloe Vera Juice + 1 tsp jojoba oil)
Applied coconut oil whip to seal. YES! My body oil whip is serving dual purposes .
Working from the front, “pie-parted” the front middle section of my hair (as seen above) and flat-twisted the roots. Then, two-strand twisted the length and set it on a small grey perm rod covered with end paper. Don’t underestimate the importance of end paper. (Hair can snag around these types of perm rods if you don’t use it. I know I don’t use it properly. I think you’re supposed to fold it over your ends, then roll your end over the rod. But, I just wrap the paper around the perm rod, then wrap my hair around the roller. Seems to work just fine for me!).
Repeated process until my entire head was set, sometimes applying a little more coconut oil whip to hair as I twisted the ends. I used a total of 23 rods.
Due to the length of my hair, I had to really overlap the twists a lot in order to roll the rod to the roots. So, I knew that it wasn’t going to dry overnight. Therefore, I tied on a hair net sat under my hard bonnet salon dryer for 1 1/2 hours.
Just ignore him .
The Morning After: The Take Down
Now this is where it starts to gets sketchy. LOL.
Removed all of the rods (and my hair was dry! YEA!! Well, the twist at the right temple felt a little damp … I think it might have happened in the shower.).
Emulsified coconut oil whip in my hands and carefully released twists … until I got to the flat-twisted sections. Then … all hell broke loose!! Because I didn’t flat-twist cleanly (meaning, as I pulled sections into the twist), it created a lot of “pieciness” and frizz as the hair tangled on itself as I released the flat-twist. Therefore, There was a lot of twirling, coaxing and coconut oil going on to restore the coils and tame the frizz.
Used a wide tooth comb to “lift” the roots to give more volume (works for a little while, but then my hair “settles.”).
A few curls were not properly coiling or hanging too long, so I employed a little trick that I’ve used over the years. I coiled each offending curl around my finger and pinned with a bobby pin. If placed properly, since my hair was so big and curly, the pins are completely masked in the curls! And there’s a bonus. After a couple of hours, the coils set and I can remove the pins!
At the end of the day, though I wish the takedown wasn’t so rough and I had a little less frizz, the Curly ‘Fro turned out pretty well!! I got a lot of compliments and I love having a different look!!
Morning
Evening
♦
And that’s it! I pineappled my hair last night and I’ll have to give you guys an update on how that worked out another day! Oh, and if you’re interested in seeing even more pics of the set and release, I created this Curly ‘Fro Facebook album !! Enjoy!
Okay, this is for you ladies that aren’t on FB or IG and haven’t seen the results of my Curly Fro set! I will say that, yesterday? I spoke too soon. I have NOT mastered flat-twisting *smh*. The take down was a struggle because my sections weren’t grabbed “clean” as I flat-twisted. So, I had a lot of tangling, separation and frizz. I had to try to coax sections back into curls and was smoothing on the coconut oil to try to soothe the frizz!! However, overall, I really like the results and got a lot of compliments at work today! It’s different and I think cute. But, I will do regular twists next time and until I get my flat-twisting skills up!!
Alright, I’ll give a full run-down of the set, products and take down with additional pics tomorrow. But, right now, have to take that hint Wei just gave in his last post and get some snuggle time !
For the past 2-3 weeks, I have not been wanting to deal with my hair. Since it’s getting longer, it’s becoming harder to manage. So I’ve done twist outs, mini twist, high buns, low buns, you name it. It was after yesterday’s wash that I realized that my hair tends to tangle more while it’s in a twist out than a wash and go (I thought it was the opposite, since the hair is being stretched). o_O
Anywho … The last time I wore my hair in a wash and go was … um … yeah, I can’t remember. Last night, as I was fighting my hair in the shower (It was a TANGLED JUNGLE), I decided that I was going to just wash, apply a leave-in and just go about my day. I then remembered that the last time I did such a simple regimen, I was walking around looking like Don King.
If I was not going to be twisting my hair up, I needed to apply something with hold. But I did not want to have to go through the whole process of applying leave-in, sealing, smooth/shingle gel then diffusing. Just no.
My first initial thought was to air dry, but again my hair is super finicky. When I air dry, I either get limp, thin, anorexic-looking curls or no curl pattern and frizzy … I am telling you, she isn’t easy to deal with.
So, this is what I ended up doing:
I washed with Cream of Nature (CON) Argan Oil Shampoo and detangled with Tresseme Naturals. My leave-in of choice was Curl Junkie (CJ) Curl Rehab because I wanted to hurry up and use it up (did nothing for me as a DC). Sealed with a tiny bit of Jane Carter Nourish & Shine (JC N&S). And, for gel … I smoothed (NOT shingled) a pea-size amount of Kinky Curly Curling Custard (KCCC) on each section. Yessss, a pea size. Usually when I use KCCC, I need to use a nice amount in order not to get any frizz. Also, guess what? I did not diffuse or air-dry. (I can imagine the questioning look on your face. lol.)
I PLOPPED into a cotton t-shirt! A first! Well, not a first try, but a first success. I plopped for about 2 hours. When I let my hair down, most of the products were soaked up and hair was about 85% dry. At night, I pineappled and went to bed.
This morning, when I took the pineapple down and took the pics, my hair was still 90% damp. I fluffed a little and shook. Then brought out the camera.
What did I learn? I learned that I don’t need a TON of gel to get definition and hold and that cotton is not 100% my enemy.
We’ll see how it looks and feel once it’s completely dry. I hope I can get at least 3 days out of this WnG.
I did it!!!! I finally did it! I think I finally figured out how to flat twist properly!! I wanted to try the Curly ‘Fro set that I previously shared here. But, I still had never been able to do a decent flat twist. Well, after completing two lackluster and incorrectly done flat-twists, I decided to check out PGneiicey’s Flat Twist-Out Tutorial again. Zyaran had shared it with me in the comments of a post back in June and I liked it because Shaniece does the twists so large that it is easier for me to see what she is doing.
So, I tried again and … “By Jove, I think she’s got it!!”
The twists in the middle and on the right were done first. The twist on the left was after watching Shaniece do it.
Well, I had to go back to the video several times as I did the first few twists, because I kept forgetting what to do. Finally, I realized that I needed to “pinch” hair from underneath the twist and add it to the hair that is about to go over the section to get the flat twist to look right.
Anywho, I’m so excited that I finally got this down that I had to share. Also, figured it might help someone else out who is struggling with flat-twisting. Remember, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again!!”
Now, as to this Curly ‘Fro, we’ll see how many times I’ll have to try THIS before I get it right. Hopefully, the firs time’s the charm. Stay tuned, because I’ll be sharing the results regardless … the Good, the Bad OR the Ugly .
So, you know, I’m kinda addicted to IG nowadays. And when I saw this HAWT hair pic posted by @PrincessLinz HAWT pic (who I got to meet at the CurlyNikki Meet-up this past summer), I had to ask her for a tutorial! Hope that you like it!!
Okay, okay. I know what you’re thinking. “OMGosh!! Her hair is gorgeous!! How long has she been natural?!? What’s her regimen?!? Where’s her hairstory?!?!” Don’t worry! I got you!! You know I’ve already asked for it. And now that I finally posted this, I’m sure that I’ll get it soon !
How do you do a Bantu Knot-out? Do you prefer styling on wet or dry hair?
My sister sent this to me the other day! A little accessorizing inspiration for my bunning challenge ladies or, you know, those of you who just happen to wear buns !! I particularly LOVE the idea of the hair bow clip!! I’ve seen the hair bow style that some of the ladies have been rocking popping up a lot lately. And, although I think it looks very cute on them, don’t see myself trying that one! But, the hair bow clip is a quick and easy way to get a little of that look!! Now, I just gotta figure out how to make my own with faux hair that looks like my natural hair!! Pretty sure that I have some curly/wavy synthetic hair hanging around that I can use to give it a go! You know that I’ll share if it works out !
I did it!! Remember this Single Flat-Twisted Bun Style Inspiration post from the other day? Well, my girl Rece of A Hair Story tried it after I text her a pic of it. Check out her results here. So pretty right?!?! So, I had to give it a whirl myself on Tuesday night !!
(I flipped my pic so that you could see the twist on the same side as the inspiration photo.)
What do you think? It’s not perfect. I think I should have taken the flat twist further down the middle and then to the opposite side of my neck before making the twirly bun. But I didn’t think it was too bad for my first try, especially since I don’t really know how to flat twist well!! I would really love to try this on straight hair or a light blow-out! Anywho, here are a few other pics of my first attempt at the style!
And after taking these pics and posting a collage on IG … I proceeded to take it down and put it in a simple bun for bedtime!! LOL!!! I know !! Anywho, the next morning I released the bun to do a little scalp massage with a hair thickening product that I’m trying (IF you follow me on FB, IG or Twitter, you probably already know what that is . If you don’t, you’ll have to wait until next week to discover what it is ). And this is what my hair looked like yesterday morning before I promptly and quickly bunned it with a hair fork for work, because I didn’t have time to try to do the style again!
I ♥ ♥ ♥big hair! Too bad I had to put it away! Actually, I can’t stand all this hair around my face during work. It’s too distracting. But, maybe this weekend she can come out and play !
Love it!! And her color is FIYAH!!
. Check out a tutorial on how to do these here:
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♥
