The Art of Blowdrying (It's Really Not That Tricky)

The weekend I had the urge to wear my hair straight for a day or two. Crazy right? What's even crazier is that I decided to straighten my hair...by myself....after being out in the sun for the better part of the day. Can you say tired!?

Anyway, I am learning that there is an art to blowdrying your hair. Back when I was younger and didn't know any better, I would blow dry my hair using a regular blow dryer (not a ceramic/tourmaline one) with a comb attachment that you can pick up at Wally World. I wouldn't detangle my hair beforehand thinking that the comb attachment will do the job and I definitely didn't put any product in my hair. I can't tell you have many comb attachments I have broken using that method.

The end result of all that poor hair styling? Big, poofy blow dried hair. I looked like Alex the Lion from Madgascar.

I never really quite knew what to do with my hair after those blow drying sessions. SMH.

Well thank goodness for knowledge!

I found that proper blowdrying consists of 3 things:

1) the correct tools

2) the correct products

3) the correct technique

On Saturday, after washing and DCing my hair, I applied Kinky Curly Knot Today (moisturizing leave in), Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea Restructrizer (I spray this on my hair whenever I'm using heat), and One N Only Argan Oil (heat protectant) to my hair. I then proceeded to blow dry my hair w/ my FHI blowdryer using the method that Salon Cabelo describes (yes with the Denman brush and everything):





The result? Non poofy, non cottonball like hair. If I wasn't trying to go for a bone straight look, I could have stopped at the blow drying.

The point of this horrendously long post is this: when blow drying your hair it is important to have the right tools. However, it's equally important to use the right products for you hair (I know for me I have to have a great leave in and a great heat protectant. Otherwise you can forget it) as well as a great technique. Once you get those three things in a magical, glitter driven configuration-you will have perfect blow drying results every time! :)

Earrings (and things)

Happy Friday lovelies!!

This week has been so busy for me now I'm back in the swing of things in lab. I just wanted to stop by and just fill you in on what has been going on.

As you know, I have been bunning for the majority of the summer. There's nothing wrong with that right? It's a great protective style and it's low manipulation. Everything should be good, right?

WRONG!!!

I have found that buns have the tendency to make you look like Plain Jane if you aren't careful. And we all know what happens if you look like Plain Jane, right? You get bored with bunning and then you're on the hunt for another protective style. So, I have decided to start accessorizing more to get rid of this bunning boredom. I figured a good place to start would be with earrings. I have 2 piercings in each ear (got my ears pierced as a baby and again at 16) and I barely wear earrings. I need to change that. Although I have just started to really wear earrings on a daily basis, I am finding that they add much needed oomph to basic, boring buns (hooray!).

I just want to show you a few pics of my buns w/ earrings. Keep in mind that my earring collection isn't extensive (yet!) but I plan on adding more earrings as the months go by!

*SN: Sheesh. I need to expand and get some gold earrings, huh?*

I FINALLY Figured It Out!!

Slicking down my edges when I'm wearing a bun (or just wearing my hair back in general) has always been the bane of my (hair) existence.

I have tried every manner of gels, glazes, and pomades and have met minimal success with each. Some would slick my hair down but as soon as I come into contact with the slightest bit of moisture, my edges would pop back up. Grrr. Do you know how frustrating that is!?????Today, however, has marked the end of my frustration. I've pretty much found that the key to keeping your edges slicked down lies on 1 key product: moisturizer.

Yep. That's it. Moisturizer. If your edges are moisturized enough, the easier they are to beat brush into submission. Who freakin' knew?

Now, I can't tell you what moisturizer to use since every head of hair is different but I can tell you what moisturizer worked for me:

Darcy Botanicals Coconut Lemon Transitioning Creme. Oh.Em.Gee. I put some of this on my edges and followed up with the olive oil Ecostyler Gel. Edges are laid down! Even after walking in the sauna that is Birmingham, AL in the summertime, my edges have stayed put!

So there you have it. If your edges seem to laugh at any gel, pomade, or glaze you put in your hair, try moisturizing it first. It may make a world of difference.

Happy Friday ladies!

Look of the Day (7/18/2011): Braidout Ponytail

Happy Monday lovelies!

The weekend went by entirely too fast and now it's time for another work week. Le sigh.

This past weekend, I plaited my hair for a braidout today. Now, I fully intended to wear a braidout today I promise I did. However, my braidout had me looking too much like Ms. Ross the Boss (*starts humming 'It's My House'*). Ordinarily, I like big hair but today, I simply wasn't feeling it. Plus, I don't know about yall but we have been experiencing a heat wave so any style that keeps my hair off of my neck is a good one.

So here is my braidout ponytail. Definitely a good Monday morning look!

Mini Twists: Day 3

At this point I have had my twists in for 3 days and I LOVE them!!! They aren't frizzing up or unraveling at all. I have been keeping them moisturized w/ my Shea Moisture products and sealing w/ One N Only Argan Oil.

I have been doing some research abou twists trying to determine if they are a protective style or low manipulation style. I've found that, depending on who you ask, it can be either or. However, in my humble opinion, twists are a low manipulation style. I say this simply b/c your ends are out and you have to take great care to keep your ends moisturized. Now twists can be made into a protective style if you wear them in a bun or some other style to keep you ends tucked away. However, as it stands, twists are low manipulation.


Today, after an experiment gone wrong (apparently I DO have to set my ends on flexirods every night if I want to have curly ends), I'm wearing my twists in a bun (thus, making them a protective style). I suppose that's a good thing. I had a serious case of hand in hair yesterday and today I'm feeling extremely low key. Also, it has been extremely humid here lately so it just may be better to keep my hair up.

Anyway, here is how my hair is looking today. Still fresh and happy! :)

This Is What Happens When......

.....I have nothing but time on my hands.

Yesterday I had decided to do absolutely nothing. I was gonna lounge around my apartment and like it. Yep that's what I was gonna do. I was doing great on achieving nothing until I went on YouTube and looked up videos for mini twists. That was the wrong move. They looked so cute and low maintenance that I wanted to give them a try. I figured that I have enough texture left in my hair to make twists that actually stay twisted and decided to test that hypothesis. Lo and behold...I actually can do mini twists!! A little over 3 hours later (many thanks to 'Clueless', 'The Wedding Planner', and Keeping Up w/ the Kardashians for keeping me entertained), my twists were complete and I was putting flexirods on the ends of the twists to get them to curl at the end.

I didn't use a lot of product for the twists, just some Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Curl and Style Milk and some EcoStyler Gel (the green one). I plan on keeping these in for a week or two since they took so daggone long to complete.

Well....what do you think?

4th of July Weekend and My Hair

Happy 4th of July everyone!

I hope all of you are having an amazing day, eating lots of yummy food, and watching some amazing fireworks. Currently, I'm laid out on my aunt's couch because I have eaten entirely too much. So, I figure it's best not to move...a lot.

So for the holiday weekend, I drove to SC to my grandparents house. My mom and brother drove down from VA and I met up with them in SC too. Now I love visiting my family, I promise I do. However, every time I come to SC I have to make some serious decisions as to what I'm gonna do with my hair. Let me explain. My grandparents live in Middle-of-Nowhere, SC (read: the country) and I have always had an issue with the water at their house. This is mainly because it's well water. It smells like eggs and even as a little girl, I didn't want that water touching me. Well, I have to shower of course but I refuse to let that well water touch my hair with its contents unknown. Nope, I'll just wait to go back to my good ol' Birmingham water. At least I know what's in that.

Anyway, I decided to keep my hair simple. With my trusty banana clip, I wore 3 styles over the course of my time here.

1) Banana clip bun. I absolutely love this bun and it was perfect for my day at the beach with my family. Besides, SC is so flippin hot and humid, I couldn't picture having my hair just out and about.

2) Braid out bun (please excuse my red teeth. I had just finished a wild cherry Icee. It was delicious.) I tried doing a braid out and it didn't turn out the way that I had planned so I bunned it. It was a good thing I did b/c we spent the day playing Putt Putt golf. In the hot sun......yeah.

3) Bantu knot out ponytail? (I did a bantu knot out and put it back with a banana clip. I'm not sure what you'd call that but that's what it is). It wanted to wear a bantu knot out for the family cookout today but then I went outside and knew I wasn't gonna wear my hair out. At all. What you see it the end result.



All in all, I have enjoyed my time w/ my family, meeting my baby cousins, talking, laughing, and carrying on. Now I'm ready to head back to B'ham to give my hair some much needed TLC.

I am a Braidout Queen!!

...well not really lol

Happy Friday everyone! I can't believe I actually have free time to post something today (I have been incredibly busy-and stressed- trying to get this thesis proposal together)! Anyway, this past week I started doing braidouts. Why it took me so long to do them, I have no idea. All I know is, it dawned on me that my hair is actually long enough to do them. Check it out:

Pretty cool huh? That is actually the second braid out that I have done. The first one was quite tragic. I pretty much learned the hard way that uh....you really shouldn't mess with the braid out too much. Doesn't turn out good. Not at all. Once I figured that out, it has been smooth sailing. Braidouts are a low/lowered manipulation style. I just braid my hair at night and undo in the morning. No combing or anything!

Since I know you're dying to know what products I used and how I did it, I'm gonna go ahead and tell you.

1) I separate my hair into 6 sections.
2) To each section, I apply Shea Moisture Curl and Style Conditioning Milk (just enough to moisturize it but not enough to weigh my hair down).
3) I braid my hair so that I end up with 6 plaits.
4) Place stain rollers at the end so my ends aren't straight
5) Spray Shea Organics Hold and Shine Moisture Mist (just a little).

In the morning, I undo the plaits with a little bit of oil (I mainly place the oil on my ends) adjust my hair so that I can get a headband on and head out the door! Easy peasy! I haven't noticed any breakage (I'm guessing that's because I'm basically moisturizing and sealing every night) and it allows me to enjoy my hair!

My Hair: 4/12/11

Happy Tuesday everyone! I just wanted to stop by with my hairstyle of the day. I actually took the time to do a bantu knot out! Last night, I sectioned my (dry) hair into 8 parts (2 in the front, 2 in the middle, and 4 in the back). I placed a light gel onto each section and proceeded to make my bantu knots, securing them with a bobby pin. I unraveled my bantu knots this morning and voila! Instant cuteness!

If you can't tell, I love wearing curly styles during the spring and summer. It just looks so carefree and relaxed to me.

Well what do you guys think? Yay or nay?

Tree Braids and Other Random Things....

It has been awhile since my last update. It hasn't been because I'm busy though. I was just bored with my hair. I had been straightening and bunning my hair since October and quite frankly I was tired of it. About a week and a half ago I got some tree braids put in. At this stage in my journey, tree braids and cornrows are pretty much the only options for my hair in terms of braids with extensions. My hair is pretty much too long for micros and kinky twists. Anyway, have a look:




Ok, here's the run down on tree braids. I pretty much call them glorified cornrows...which they are. My hair is in small cornrows and has the braider braids about 4 strokes or so then pulls out hair which gives the illusion that I have a weave. So the pattern looks like (- equals braiding > equals hair pull out):

--->-->--->........( and so on and so forth)

It's actually kinda cool when you think about it. Since my hair is in cornrows, I can keep my scalp clean with the ORS Herbal Cleanse Dry Shampoo and I can spray leave in onto my braids. It's pretty low maintenance and I tend to keep the hair that's out in a bun since the hair gets tangled easily. The style takes about 3 to 4 hours to create, lasts between 6 and 8 weeks, and can be done with human or synthetic hair.

My only issue with this style is that the added hair sheds A LOT! I think the shedding is really evident because my hair is in a straight style. I may had to compare what happens when I use wet and wavy hair ( or something with some sort of curl) to make an accurate assessment about that. Also, you have to really be aware how tight the braider is braiding your edges b/c these braids are all up on them.

So far, however, I love tree braids and they are giving me a welcome break from my hair. I'm trying to decide if I should stick with tree braids over the summer or just do cornrows (w/o extensions). Time will tell....

Rockin' the Curls

Yesterday I talked about using flexirods on dry hair to get a nice curly style. Well last night I did just that so that I could wear my hair curly for church today! I have to say that I am absolutely loving the results. My curls are so bouncy and fun! I love them! I definitely gonna keep doing this!

However, one thing I will not do anymore is use 16 flexirods to set my hair. I had the hardest time finding a comfortable position to sleep in--and I likes my sleep so yeah. From here on out, I'm using 4 of these bad boys.


Anyway, without further ado.....my hair

Walmart Got Me Again!!

Damn you Walmart and your reasonably priced services!!!!


Tonight after work, I made a quick run into Walmart to pick up some of that Creme of Nature Argan Oil Conditioner that I wanted to try out. I had noticed that the Smart Style salon was open and stopped in to look at some of the hair products they had on display.

That's when it happened.

I was lured in by all this talk of a basic roller set costing only $14.95 (I'm a sucker for a good deal). Even when the price went up to $24.95 because of my hair length, I was still hooked. Shoot, in a state with no Dominican salons, 25 bucks is a daggone good deal! I walked on over to the shampoo bowl and allowed the magic to happen. I wound up getting a wash, blowout, and flat iron for $26.95 (my hair is thick, we would've been in there all night waiting for my hair to dry and I don't have that kind of time).

Let me tell you, my hair is GORGEOUS!! It's all soft and shiny and straight. I tried to take a pic of it but my camera was acting like a jerk. I say all that to say, I was pleasantly surprised. This stylist may be the stylist I go to when I don't feel like doing my hair...which has been often because it takes a lot of effort to do my hair now that it's longer. I also may go to this stylist for my touch up. This salon uses Mizani relaxers so it may be worth a shot.

Anyway, I dunno about the Walmart salons where you guys are, but I think I may have found a great thing!

Time for Something New....Time for Something Different

I was sitting in my apartment last night, playing in my hair. I had relaxed it on Friday ( 1 week ahead of schedule) and was loving the length. However, I felt like something was missing. Like it was lacking a little....oomph.

Did I want to color it? Nah. I wanted to cut it. But....I've been working so long and so hard for the length I have now, I couldn't bear to part with it. So want did I want to do to my hair? BANGS!!! I want BANGS!!

Now mind you, I have always done the little side swoop thing so getting bangs is stepping out of the box for me. Anyway, today after church, I went to Head Start Hair Care and got my bangs for the grand total of.....$7.00.

Check 'em out:




They make me feel a little more grown...more vampy.....more something. So far I am loving them!!

I'm Such an Alabama Girl....

Well not really lol

I'm just posting about the new phony pony I purchased this weekend. I got it at my local BSS and spent about $10 for it. It's FreeTress Shake N' Go ponytail in Alabama Girl. It looks like this:




As you can see, I am a fan of curly phony ponies. I dunno why...maybe because they give me more leeway as to how straight my real hair has to get. Anyway, I love this pony. It gives such a cute curly style. I should note that I don't wear my pony the way that the model does. When you plop a pony on the top of your head like that, it looks like a pony plopped on the top of your head. I mean I know it's a phony pony but it doesn't have to look like one! Maybe once I figure out this whole posting vids on YouTube thing, I can make a tutorial.

That's all I wanted to update you guys on. It's another phony pony style for those who are interested in them.

Happy Sunday!

The Bun Sessions: Buns for NL/SL Hair

Many people (myself included) think/thought that their hair must be a certain length before they can start bunning. I will say that this partly true. I mean, yeah you can't bun when your hair is ear length but your hair doesn't have to be bra strap length either. I came across this tutorial on edaluv's Youtube page. She explains everything beautifully so that those of you still aiming to reach great lengths can do so.

Just in time for the cooler months!

The Bun Sessions: The Messy Bun

This is the bun that I am wearing currently....minus the bang.....minus the headband thingy. Actually, my current bun is a mix between this and the J-Lo bun (I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that lol). I found this tutorial on mzTyrah's page. I think it is a perfect bun for lazy days, running errands, or anything else you deem it necessary for. Although this is called a messy bun, I find that it is quite polished in it's own way.

....and another one.....

The Bun Sessions: The J-Lo Bun

The J-Lo bun is a nice high bun that doesn't take an incredibly long time to do. I thought this bun was so simple and elegant. Definitely a nice bun for a night out on the town (when paired with some fierce earrings or for day to day. I found it on SugarFreeTV's page. Just as a side note: her vids are awesome. Not only does she give tutorials, she gives random musings about life that are quite entertaining!

Anyway, another bun for the style file.

The Bun Sessions: The Flapper Chignon

Whooooooo!

It has been a minute since I last posted something! School and my volunteer activities have been kicking my butt lately so I haven't had much time to post. My hair has been really low maintenance lately (phony pony) so I haven't really had anything to post.

Anyway, something I have been doing/ have done is bunning. I know from experience, that bunning can get pretty boring from time to time. Soooooo....I have been perusing Youtube to find bunning tutorials that allow you to jazz up the basic bun just a bit.

One bun I saw was the Flapper Chignon on crownofHisGlory's page. I thought it was really cute and it can be jazzed up by adding a flower or something.

Anyway, take a look and post it in your style file! :)

The Never Ending Quest.....

...to smooth down my edges.


SMH! My edges are some stubborn little so n' so's. I've been wearing phony ponies lately because quite frankly I'm too lazy to do much else (I know, sad). However, I've been finding that it has been difficult to keep my edges down. They always seem to want to pop up and say "HEY THERE!" I don't like that.

Now I know that for some people, their edges won't stay down. I get that. I really do. Is it possible that I am one of those people? Perhaps. However, I'm not going down without a fight. Last night I found the trick to keeping my edges down. After I co-washed my hair, I sprayed some Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1 on my hair. I then gathered my hair into a high pony tail and applied some EcoStyler gel to my edges. I then tied my hair down with a satin scarf. Perfection! My hair doesn't look like who did it and why anymore!

So if you're having problems keeping your edges down, you may want to try these products:

-Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1 (or Carefree Curl or whatever you use)
-EcoStyler Gel

...apply to damp hair (I don't do this on sopping wet hair) and voila! You have a nice slicked down style!

What Every Bunning Diva Should Have: Goody Spin Pins

Happy Hump Day everyone!

So as you guys know I have been bunning lately. What you guys don't know is that I was about to give up on it. Yep. I was. It was just so frustrating trying to make the bun....all those bobby pins...dang bun not staying put....UGH! It was just too much. But..something told me that I should try those Goody Spin Pins that I have seen on those commercials. One pin that can do the work of 20 bobby pins!? I definitely had to check them out.

Last night, I swung by my local Wal-mart to pick them up. The come 2 in a pack and come in 2 colors: blonde and brunette. I have to admit, I was kinda skeptical about these pins at first. I stood in the aisle staring these little corkscrew pins down. They look like the kind of pins that can get tangled in your hair and cause all kinds of disaster. Well let me take that back. They look like they would get tangled in my thick mass of hair. Nevertheless, I purchased them anyway. The PJ (product junkie) in me wouldn't let me NOT try them.

I promise you, these pins have been one of the best purchases of the my hair journey. I gathered my hair into a bun, stuck these pins into it (one at the top and one at the bottom), and BAM! Instant chic for less than $6! I haven't tried them on wet hair yet (for wet bunning) but we will see how that goes.

If you haven't gotten these pins already get them today! They will make bunning that much easier for you!