Category Archives: Twists and Braids

May21

Pocahontas Braids

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Pocahontas Braids

Ummmm … I meant twists!! LOL! I attempted this style months and months ago after seeing the tutorial on CurlyNikki. But, my hair was just too tangly to get the twists right. It was stretched, but I just couldn’t seem to work with my hair without breaking strands and fighting spiderweb tangles. Now, with the addition of strengthening protein to my regimen and the wonder that is Aubrey Organics conditioners, I decided to give it another go!! My hair was smooth and stretched and I was able to do the loose two-strand twists necessary for this style relatively easily. It’s not perfect. But, I’m sure that I can do it now and can’t wait to rock it on the weekend with a cute little sundress and accessorized with one of the strands of pretty trim that I picked up last year at Michael’s and JoAnn Fabrics!!

Here’s the tutorial and a few more pics!

via whoissugar

♥

Hair stretched by a twist-out.

May11

Interesting Braided “Bun”

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Interesting Braided “Bun”

Saw this style on OkDani’s hair blog, longnaturalhaircare.info, last night and decided to give it a try.

Given that I don’t have a bang, made a slight modification and made the front section of my hair a bump with a big flat pin-curl. Separating and detangling my hair to make the parts and braids was the most difficult part because it  had been bunned all week. It turned out okay, although I’d like to play with the braid “fluffing” and placement a little more. This is one of those styles that I think would work better on shorter hair as I had to wrap the braids back and forth to tuck them.

(Guess who needs a henna treatment?)

HAPPY FRIDAY LADIES!!

May1

Mini Two Strand Twists

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Mini Two Strand Twists

by Dominique of Natural Hair Care Info

With Spring Break right around the corner and lots of cousins coming to visit soon, I wanted to do a hairstyle that would last my little sister several weeks and would be easy enough that she could maintain it herself.

Due to our hectic schedule, Bunny has become quite the queen of chunky twists (wash, condition, twist, and repeat), so this style was a treat for her!

Now that she’s ten, she told me she’d like to help out more with her hair care, so I’ve been trying to include her in that if at all possible. She now washes her hair by herself (as long as it’s in eight-to-ten braids), moisturizes it daily, and helps out with her twists a little. Proud big sister moment!

Products I used:

  • Mixed Chicks Shampoo
  • Mixed Chicks Deep Conditioner
  • Mixed Chicks Leave In Conditioner
  • Beija-Flor Naturals Cream Brulee

I began by washing her hair with some MC shampoo. This was my first time using any of the Mixed Chicks products and they all receive two thumbs up from us! Once her hair was washed, I DC’d, rinsed, applied a generous amount of leave in, and put her hair in twelve Ghana braids to stretch it out for mini twists.

I left her hair like this for about five days (I intended to leave them in for two or three days, but that’s just how it ended up unfolding), so her hair was super stretched out and completely tangle free! I tied up the top eight sections, which left me one row of four Ghana Braids in the back. I took down one Ghana braid at a time, added a little Beija-Flor Naturals to the entire section, combed it through with her Denman and began twisting. I parted her hair on a slight slant, which seemed to help the process go by much faster.

In my head, I saw me knocking her minis out in about three hours; however, we ended up doing them for two hours over the course of three days. By the way, I think I’ve seen my fair share of Disney movies! We watched Aladdin, Toy Story 3, the Princess & the Frog, and the Fox & the Hound.

Here is the end of day one of twisting:


Here I the end of day two of twisting:

And finally, here’s the finished masterpiece:

The first thing I did was give her a good trim (I took off the bottom inch or so) for which she was long overdue. She LOVES her mini twists! They’ve been in for about two weeks and they’re still going strong! Bunny’s goal for her hair is for it to be long enough for her to sit on! She just turned tens year olds, so I hope she will reach her goal before she’s a teen! And of course, we had to do a quick length check.

I think that she can claim waist length now.

Each day I spritz her hair with a little water and moisturize with a water-based moisturizer. We’ve used two different ones – one by Its Perfectly Natural and one by Mixed Chicks. And I think that’s it! You can check out more of our styles on our = Website: natural-hair-care-info.com Blog: natural-hair-care-info.blogspot.com Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Natural.Hair.Care.Info Thank you so much for reading!

Apr6

Versatility

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Versatility

I just love the versatility of natural hair. I was especially aware of it this week when I went from twists to a tame twist-out to a huge twist-out and back to a twisted-bun in less than 24 hours without washing my hair or using any heat and with minimal product, time and effort.

(I used a sock bun in the last two pics)

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Do you find your natural hair versatile? Do you prefer to stick with the tried and true or are you a switch up artist?

Mar15

Cute Twisted Updo

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Cute Twisted Updo

Natasha shared this YouTube tutorial for a sweet twisted updo that would work for medium and longer length hair. I think this style can lean retro or classic depending on the hair accessory. And, as Natasha pointed out, with a little creativity, it could be very versatile depending on how the base style it set!

via mrskw7

Mar8

Another Simple Twisted Updo

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Another Simple Twisted Updo

I came across this video tutorial for a cute and simple twisted style on longhaircareforums.com about a week or two ago. I decided to try it last night!

via LuxyHair

The hardest part was making the sections around my face the right size so that I had enough hair to do three twists on either side. Also, I felt like I had too much hair in the last big twist that was rolled and tucked at the nape in the video. So, instead, I twisted the last two twists to the end and forming small buns that I secured at my nape with additional bobby pins.

I may place the back section into three big twists instead of two to form three mini-buns. I could also make one big bun with one twist or wrapping the two twists around each other. This is definitely a style that I’ll try again in order to play around with variations on the final section. This is another style that I think would work for a variety of lengths, from neck to TBL (with modifications)!

Feb20

Lilith Moon Inspired Braided Updo

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Lilith Moon Inspired Braided Updo


I saw this Lilith Moon tutorial a little while ago and really liked that it looks more complicated than it actually is.

However, when I attempted it on an old TnC or twist out (I think), it wasn’t working out … my hair was just too tangly. So, I decided to revisit yesterday, since my hair is pressed and I figured it would be easier for me to braid. It was, though I did have to think about braiding more than I normally do, since hair is only added from one side and only to a specific section. But, I think it turned out okay. The first two pics are of the braids down and then the next are once they have been folded up to form the “updo.”

This style may work better for medium/shoulder length hair (straight or stretched) like Lilith’s. I also still think that this would look really cute on stretched curls with some wave to them. It would have a lot more texture and body. As I haven’t really perfected it, you may see this one again on a twist out;).

Edited to Add:
Why, after I had released the braids, did I find this almost identical style, with a slight twist?! This YouTuber does a reverse/inverted French or Dutch braid and crosses the braids all the way across the back of her head. That is how I should have placed the braids instead of trying to fold them and tuck them back under the origin braid! So, I think the Lilith Moon technique would work well for medium length hair and this one would work better for my current length. Live and learn;).

Feb17

Mermaid Braid

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Mermaid Braid

Earlier this week, Tai was an enabler and shared several video tutorials with me on the post, Step Away from the Hair. The simplest of the styles, though it looked complicated, was the mermaid braid.

Simple and pretty! Just how I like it! So, I decided to give it a whirl.

It was okay, but I think it could definitely stand to be a little messier to get that mermaid, tousled in the water and seaweed effect! LOL! I actually think my hair is a little too straight for this style right now and could use some, “texturizing.”

That being said, I’m so conflicted! My hair has held up wonderfully (of course, when I’m being lazy and not exercising, I’m not surprised … *womp womp*). But, I have the meet-up this weekend and feel like it should be in a somewhat curly state for the event!! I was contemplating setting it on flexi-rods tonight and spritzing lightly to try to get a curlier set. What do you guys think? Should I do that? Just wear it as is? Do a TnC (though that might be challenging given that we have to travel today and set-up for the 1 pm meet-up tomorrow morning)? WnG (not as challenging as a TnC as I don’t have to worry as much about dry time, but still would have to get a pre-poo and DC in, as well as make my kimmaytube leave-in)?

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So, what say ye? How do you think I should wear my hair to the meet-up?!?! Aggghhhh!!!

Feb7

Two Layer “Magic” Wrap Skirt

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Two Layer “Magic” Wrap Skirt

This is a Kariza “Magic” Wrap Skirt I picked up at a courtyard kiosk in Florida a few years ago for about $35-40. I love this skirt and I got another full length one in NY at an outside flea market a couple of summers ago. The other one may not be Kariza. What makes this skirt “magic” is that you can wear it a variety of ways due to the two layers. Check it out.


(You can find these skirts at a variety of places online, like etrendystore.com. Just google magic wrap skirt.)

Here, I simply tied one side up into the wrap. This is another item that I love to wear in summer and winter. Again, to “winterize,” I just add knee high boots and a long, fitted sweater and I’m good to go. I also accessorized with a brass chain-link belt. I sometimes wear this same belt as a “heavy metal” necklace by looping it multiple times around my neck.

In regard to my hair, I decided to put it into some chunk twists on Sunday night and I bunned it for the day.

It wasn’t the neatest as I didn’t use any product to twists and I haphazardly parted it with my fingers. I really wanted to re-twists it neatly. So, I started … and finished three twists. I knew it was going to take at least two hours that I didn’t have, so I put the rest of my hair into four big chunky twists and bunned it for this little do that I’m wearing to work today. Still could be neater, but it’ll work!

Feb6

Tunics, Leggings and Boots

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Tunics, Leggings and Boots

My job has casual Fridays, so this was my look from last week. I hit my local TJ Maxx on Thursday night in search of nude platform pumps. That search was not successful (didn’t I tell you how that never works out for me? ;) ), but I found these really cute leather, wedge boots by Jessica Simpson on clearance for $39 (orig. price $75)! So, I snagged them and paired with a BCBG soft cotton, drop-waist, patterned tunic, black leggings (over black tights … gotta control stuff;) and a knee-length, short sleeved cardigan by INC. The tunic and leggings are both a few years old from the same TJ Maxx where I got the boots. The cardigan was picked up on sale at Macy’s a few years ago and came with a matching belt that I didn’t wear here (I actually cut the belt loops off of the sweater too as they were too low). I love INC and always get great deals on awesome and quality pieces when I hit their clearance rack at Macy’s.

Here are a few more pics, including some without the cardigan and a close-up of the boots.


Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! I did something a little different with my two braids on Friday. I decided to form them into a figure 8 by circling one braid in a loop towards my crown and the other towards my nape and securing with hair pins. I then threaded my queCraft hair fork through the loops.

I liked it! However, the hair pins kept popping out all day and I had to keep pushing them back into the braids. What’s up with that?! Anyone know how to keep those little buggers secure?! I just need to stick with bobby pins … stop trying to be all fancy and stuff ;) ! *lol*