So … after owning a set of Curlformers for two years … I’m finally trying them for the first time. I’ve watched Naptural85 and MahoganyCurls tutorials 50 gajillion times and finally successfully and easily installed a Curlformer this past weekend. So, since I have an event to attend this weekend, I decided I’d give them a try!!
22″ Extra Long and Wide Too short?!?! When did my hair get longer than 22″??!?! Shoot, when did it get to be 22″?? I thought it was 19-20″!!!
So, I had to pull most of the curlers down about an inch from the root to make certain my ends were fully covered.
Hopefully my hair will dry overnight and survive my morning workout (I don’t think that I can run with these in my hair, so I may just do some incline walking instead). I’ll be back to report the results tomorrow hopefully (Man of Steel is going down tomorrow night … so I can’t make any promises) … the good, the bad or the ugly. And then I’ll share what I did, what products I used, what I’d do differently next time and what I think of the much lauded and reviewed Curlformers!!
Yeah … this is way overdue. So, a couple of weeks ago, I teased the results of using a new product to style. As you’ve probably already guessed by the title (or know from IG and/or Facebook), that product was Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in Conditioning Repair Cream!! I had been hearing about the awesomeness that is Cantu for a couple of years now, but had repressed my inner PJ and never bought it … that is, until I saw the GORGEOUS braid and twist-out results that the fabulous Shaniece (aka PGneiicey of YouTube) was getting using it!! Now, I know … 90% of those results are due to the fact that her hair is stinkin’ AMAZE-A-BALLS. But, you know, that never stops a PJ.
So, yeah … when Wei and I stopped at Target a couple of weeks ago and were perusing the hair care/body care aisles in search of some Shea Moisture Body Wash for him, I saw the Cantu. And I snagged the Cantu (along with a jar of SM Raw Shea Restorative Mask … had to restock).
Here’s a little information about the Cantu leave-in:
Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream is an intensive deep penetrating leave in cream conditioning treatment that is made with pure shea butter and other natural oils to stop and mend breakage, repair split ends, and add manageability and shine with every application. Product Attributes: moisture, shine, detangling, frizz control, anti-humectant
So, later that night, I decided that I wanted to try a dry twist-out with my newest acquisition. First, I finger detangled my dry, 8 day old twist-out (which was still looking pretty good, if I must do say so myself) …
Then, I set my hair in an 8 twist, dry twist-out with a combo of Cantu leave-in and Eco Styler Olive Oil gel …
The next morning I released to some pretty awesome results!
My hair was shiny, defined, light (not “producty” or greasy at all), and flake-free (seems some have had that problem with Cantu/gel combos). So, I was very pleased with the results!!
Tomorrow … Overnight Maintenance: A New Bedtime Technique and Day 2 hair!
I was going to call this, “Curly ‘Fro: Take Two” (see “take one” here). However, this time it reeeeeally looked nothing like a ‘fro and turned out very similar to my old Twist n’ Curl (TnC) … so, yeah.
I hit Sally’s on Tuesday night for more perm rods. My intent originally was to get more grey rods as I thought that I might not have enough. Instead, when I got to Sally’s, I saw the slightly larger pink ones and decided to get those as I wanted bigger hair than I achieved the last time. And, get this, the perm rods were on sale 2 for $3!!!!
The rods on the right are shorter, although the labeling is no different. I got the shorter ones for my front as they only had 3 bags of the longer rods.
Once I got home, I got to work:
Started with dry hair that had been in twists for a day and a twist-out for a day.
Finger detangled dry hair in about 10 sections with my coconut oil whip. Y’all … this part took FOREVER, mostly because of my nape area which has been knotting and tangling badly . Once I detangled each section, I twisted it.
Starting from the back and moving forward, I applied a dab of Shea Moisture Raw Shea Restorative Conditioner and a dab of Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel to a small sections.
Then, I twisted to about halfway down the length of my hair and set the whole length on a perm rod wrapped in end paper (the end paper prevents my hair from snagging and tearing out when the rods are removed).
I used a total of 28 rods, so only 2 1/3 bags of rods, to set my hair and it took THREE HOURS!! Ughhhh!!
As y’all know, as I was applying the product, my hair was looking soooo stringy. I had a flashback on CurlyNikki’s WnG experience with it. Remember that? If not, see here. F’reals … I was definitely afraid that I would end up looking like Randy Watson!!
Fortunately, all was right with the world when I removed the rollers and released the twists the next day . So, here is the tale in pics and the final results.
(Click pics to enlarge and read full captions.)
Dry hair prior to detangling.
You can see the texture difference in this shot.
The back.
Encountered several of these horrid tangles and knots.
After I finished dry detangling with my coconut oil whip.
All set and concerned … “Please don’t let me look like Soul Glo!!!”
Released from rods, but still twisted.
Another angle.
The back.
That face is one of RELIEF!! Untwisted but not separated further.
WHEW!!!
So, I was very pleased, even though my hair didn’t end up being as big as I would have liked. I was really surprised at how soft of a set the Eco Styler Olive Oil gel provided!! I’ll be trying this again, but on damp hair with the smaller grey rods. But I won’t be doing that for a minute as my hair really needs a break from being worn down. The cold winter and all this friction from rubbing against my coat and clothes has been doing a number on my nape and I ain’t got time for all of that.
Oh, and as to day 2 hair? Well, I twisted it into four big twists on Wednesday night, so those Shirley Temple like curls didn’t last long. I had bigger waves … but, you know, I was feeling it!!
I wasn’t Sexual Chocolate!! LOL!! Just coming on here very quickly to share the results of the set from the other day for my ladies who don’t follow Hairscapades on Facebook or Instagram and were anxiously awaiting an update ! I’ll be posting more pics and details about the set and the Curly Nikki Curl Power event this weekend! So, stay tuned!!
Check out this great video tutorial that Sawah shared on my Facebook page!! Love it!! Reminds me of my My Cinnabun, but this is a great way to modify the style to make it work for shorter hair!! Love the extra little bits of “flare” that she added to finish off the style!!
Working with short hair can be a challenge at times. Here is a simple style that you can try to create a look of fullness to your hair. This style is not only great for work, but also for special occasion. The great thing is that it is a great protective style that takes less than 5 minutes to create.
If you are transitioning, this is also a GREAT style to hide the relaxed ends.
As promised, here are the results from my Late Night Styling session/braid-n-curl set on Sunday night. I used Shea Moisture Raw Shea Restorative Conditioner as my leave-in and my FSCG to style. As my hair was still damp, as expected, on Monday morning, I left the braids in for the day and just used a jaw clip to put them up for work. I released my hair on Tuesday morning with a little coconut oil whip to nicely defined, but flat, hair.
I then massaged my roots to give the braid-n-curl a little more volume.
And, when I got to work, I separated the sections a little more on a bathroom run for the final look above, which my hair at the end of the work day.
Although my hair is a little piecier than I like it, I think that the FSCG is going to give me the hold that I was seeking to allow my braid-outs to last a little longer. Even though there was humidity in the air outside (light snow) and despite the fact that I wore no hair covering, my hair didn’t swell! I’m hoping that my hair will get fuller each day while still maintaining definition and shine. Guess we’ll see!! On another note, I can’t wait to use up this batch of FSCG so that I can experiment some more with the next mix based upon some advice given on the gel post and some YouTube videos that I’ve been watching.
Day two hair has yet to be revealed. But, check in later on my Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram page —————->>>> and you’re likely to find an update .
It’s always a struggle to style hair that is in the mid-length Afro stage (formerly known as the “Awkward Stage”). I finally found a style that creates fullness for fine thin hair and also makes your curls pop!!
Last month, I straightened my hair and, though I was pleased with the length I attained, I was disappointed that my perimeter wasn’t fuller. You see, ever since I entered the Curly Nikki presents Kim Coles’ Grow Out Challenge in early 2011, my goal has been to have waist length hair with a full perimeter. I dreamed of having a “hemline” that looked like that of one of my hair crushes, Courtney Natural Hair.
*le sigh*
Although I’ve surpassed waist length a couple of times since then (I’ve had one trim and two haircuts since January 2012) … my slower growing and more breakage prone crown, low density nape, propensity for search and destroy (S&D) missions, and a layered cut have prevented me from achieving a full thickness perimeter.
December 2012: Prior to 12/16/12 cut.
As I mused over the elusive, full hemline that kept evading my grasp, I happened to end up watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers one evening. It was shortly after I had my hair cut and specifically requested that more length be taken off of my longest layer and less off the shorter layers so that I could thicken up my perimeter. But, as I looked at the women in LOTR and their long, flowing, wavy hair, it struck me that their wavy locks were also not blunt or full at the ends. And, you know what? I kind of liked it!!
I then remembered that this type of perimeter is called “fairytale” ends. I think that I came across the term a couple of years ago on The Long Hair Communityforum in thread like this one here. As I started perusing the pages of the post, I began to think about how many of us equate a thick, full perimeter with healthy hair and a wispy, thinned one with damaged, unhealthy hair. But, as I looked at the pictures on the thread, many of the women appeared to have very healthy, shiny, long hair despite having wispier ends. As I read the comments, I noted that the fairytale ends were attributed to varying hair growth rates and employing S&D trimming versus overall trims/cuts to make the ends even. The thinner ends weren’t frowned upon as unhealthy, damaged, broken or “dead” (I love that one — all hair is dead! *lol*). It really was interesting to see how this type of hemline was celebrated, and even coveted, in this forum as it is viewed as more natural looking and enables easier updos due to the tapered ends. Also, similar to Chicoro’s “Lead Hair” Theory,it is espoused as a way to achieve longer lengths as one is not constantly cutting hair that grows unevenly (due to varying growth rates) even, which results in the loss of healthy hair length.
In contrast, when I attempted to find a similar thread in the Long Hair Care Forums (the black counterpart to The Long Hair Community) I didn’t have much luck. The only thing that I found was this thread: Girl, ur ENDS are JACKED UP. LMBO (I’m sorry, that subject is HEE-larious to me!) In this thread, one young lady references fairytale ends and how she thinks they look nice on longer hair. A couple of others essentially said the same. And a few commenters did state that thin ends did not necessarily mean damaged hair. However, the overall consensus was that thinner ends look wrecked, they need an “aggressive” cutting and “hanging onto thin ends” for the sake of length is pathetic. I think in the black hair community in particular (though this does seem to be a universal view), thin ends are typically seen as a sign of broken, damaged, unhealthy hair and we’ve been conditioned to think that there is no way that wispy ends can be healthy. If someone insists that their thinner ends are healthy and their hair isn’t damaged or excessively breaking, we give them the *side eye*. And, don’t get me wrong, in many instances, thin ends are a sign of damaged hair. But, I’m discovering more and more, that may not always be the case.
As I continued to think on this, I realized that, generally speaking, I had never been too concerned about even hair. Over my 12 1/2 years of being natural, I generally only wear it straight twice a year. As long as it hangs well when curly (which can be a challenge given my multiple curl patterns) and feels healthy, I’m good. And, when I do wear my hair straight, I have never gone for the pin-straight look. I always curl it in some fashion to give it volume, body and bounce as my hair is so fine and would be very flat if I wore it bone straight. Finally, I thought about how even long, wavy or curly weaves or wigs often don’t have a blunt perimeter and usually have fairytale ends to make them look more natural.
So, all this being said, I’ve started re-thinking my two year goal of achieving a full thickness perimeter! I mean, I still love a full hemline and I still want mine to be thicker than it is above (think I’m on the right path with my last cut). And, of course I want my ends to be healthy, which is why I cut off any split ends and SSKs that I feel or see regularly. But, now, I don’t know if I’m worried about my hemline being blunt anymore. I’d like to get to tailbone/hipbone length as my ultimate goal. But now, I think I’ll be happy with, and may even prefer, a healthy fairytale hemline on me versus the elusive blunt one that I’ve been seeking for the last two years. Go figure!
*****
Please feel free to expound upon any of your answers and/or add your thoughts on this topic in the comments below!
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!!
So, I had to pull most of the curlers down about an inch from the root
. Once I detangled each section, I twisted it.
. So, here is the tale in pics and the final results.
! I’ll be posting more pics and details about the set and the Curly Nikki Curl Power event this weekend! So, stay tuned!!
