Cutesy Coil Out

"they're taking advantage of the fad"-DJ

Around my 2nd month of naturaldom I tried out my very first coil out. I'm not sure I even took a picture of it. And if I did, I have no idea where it is. It wasn't all that great at all. It actually looked like I was starting locs. Wasn't a fan. But now, here I am just a smidge over a year in and I thought I'd give it another try. I recently did the style on my mother's hair and thought it was pretty cute. Using Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding I coiled my hair up and allowed to air dry over night. Here are some pictures of the next day...All the accessories in these pictures were hand made by yours truly and will eventually be for sale right here on the blog via paypal! :)

I'm usually 99% against products such as Miss Jessie's, Kinky Curly, or any other product that I feel is targeted at newly naturals because of their price. I feel like they're taking advantage of the "fad" + lack of knowledge. A lot of women run for those products without any other knowledge of natural hair care and then are upset when the product does not yield miraculous results......but anyway! Miss Jessie's actually did a good job. I DID NOT purchase the product, my sister bought it a while ago, and like most women, was not too impressed and gave it to my mom who then gave it to me. (LOL) I used my Giovanni Direct Leave In and coconut oil underneath it as well. I'll do another coil out without Miss Jessie's to see if the product is really responsible for my results.) Here are some camera phone shots that better display the curl. :) I'll more than likely be doing a tutorial on this style as well.

Straightening 101

"Five Freakin Days!"-DJ

Hey guys! I don't know if you all remember or not, but last December I reached the conclusion that my hair's natural enemy was the blow dryer and vowed never to use it again to dry my hair. Each time I used the blow dryer, my hair needed a serious trim to get rid of all the split ends and dead hair. Well, I also said that I would be straightening my hair for my senior portraits which are now to be taken on tomorrow afternoon! You also know that I've had my hair in mini twists for the past 2-3 weeks. So what did all of this mean for me? A LOT of work! I literally spent 5 days on my hair! Crazy, right? Let me break it down for you. Monday, I decided to take my twists out which consumed my entire day. By the time I had finished unraveling each individual twist toward end of Monday, I knew that washing my hair, and all that that entails would not be possible. Tuesday I shampooed, conditioned and detangled my hair and allowed for it to air dry in bantu knots. The issue with that? I had somewhere to be later that evening and had to take them out before they were fully dried. Once I returned home that evening I braided my hair into individual braids to try and reverse some of the shrinkage and tight curling that had taken place and allowed it to continue to dry overnight. The next morning (Wednesday), I took my hair out of the braids and straightened. Thursday, my plan was to get my first professional trim since I did my big chop, but I chose not to since my ends weren't all that bad. Today, Friday, I added my Sabino Moisture Block! ...Five Freakin Days!

But there is always a silver lining, now isn't there? Because I so rarely straighten my hair, and because the survey you all participated asked for more tutorials, I took this oppourtunity to make a video tutorial on how I straighten my hair. It can be seen below as well as some shots of my hair through the various stages. Check it out!

Pretty Puff

Hey you guys, I found this style tutorial on youtube and wanted to share. I think it's more of a summer style than anything but it's cute! Check it out!

Name That Style

"All I had were the bobby pins in my head!"-DJ

Over the weekend I went to visit my old campus where I spent some time with my sorority sisters and my college friends. While I was there, there was a party on campus that I unexpectedly attended. Unfortunately, I was ill prepared. I really wasn't expecting to do anything extravagant to myself while there and didn't bring any hair supplies! All I had to work with were the bobby pins in my head! Thankfully though, my old roommates helped me out with some extra pins and a ponytail holder and I was able to throw together this style. It's another, more funky version of the muted ponytail. One of my sorority sisters said it was reminiscent of Janelle Monae's spunky, offbeat style; a compliment that I enthusiastically accepted! I really can't think of what to call it so it's really up to you guys. It was simple enough to achieve. Like I said, all I had was a ponytail and some bobby pins. Want a tutorial? Let me know!

(Note: my sides were not yet gelled down in these pictures!)

Twenty Minute Twist Out

Don't you hate the time it takes for your hair to dry in your twists for the next day?! Well, here's a simple and easy trick to get the same result in about twenty to thirty minutes!

First, co-wash your hair and install your twists as you would usually do. Add tension to the front part of your hair by twisting your roots tight and securing with a bobby pin. Lastly, pop on a dryer bonnet with your blow dryer set on HIGH COOL and let it dry for about twenty minutes! Untwist and style as usual! Here's a picture of a dryer bonnet. It's a much easier and more comfortable alternative to sitting under a traditional hooded dryer.

For those of us who don't own a dryer bonnet, you can simply use the concentrator nozzle that came with your blow dryer. Take each twist, stretch and dry individually. This may take a bit longer but not as long as air drying.

Remember, keep your dryer settings on cool to avoid any heat damage! Hope this helped! Until Next Time...Happy Healthy Hair Growing!

Sidenote: if your twists are still wet after the twenty minute period, untwist and sit with the bonnet for an additional 10 minutes/continue to blow dry the untwisted hair.

The Muted Ponytail

Hey guys! Check out this cute natural style! I call it the Muted Ponytail. If you'd like a tutorial, just let me know!

A Classic Twist

Hey guys!!! I am so excited about this post! Why, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you! I have finally made my first tutorial video and I can't wait for you all to see it! In the video below I am giving a tutorial on the style that I accidentally discovered the other night while trying out the other twist style. In the video I used a comb but I don't like the neat look too much and highly recommend using just your fingers!

Ya Live & Ya Learn

So I finally tried out that twisted style that I posted a tutorial on a few weeks back and I'm here with pictures and comments. First of all, I am still absolutely IN LOVE with this style. Just, not so much on myself. It's really quick and easy and I would recommend it highly to anyone looking for a sophisticated style or someone who thinks they look good in up dos. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people who think up dos "dos" me any justice. (cue bad joke sound effects *womp womp*) It took about 10-15 minutes to accomplish this style on a still slightly damp braid out. I left the style in for the entire day, mostly wrapped up, until I finally retired it to try yet another, more fitting style. I have pictures of both below. On the up side though, the twist style provided for a very nice twist out to do my next style on. My hair was elongated and this way I had more hair to work with. Oh, the other thing I wanted to make mention of. The youtuber in the tutorial twisted her back section upward whereas I made individual twists and pinned those up into the top twists. I thought that added a little more jazz to it. Give it a shot and let me know how it came out. Here are the pictures of both styles! Enjoy!

Twist It Up

Here's a hair tutorial that I simply fell in love with! Its from natural hair youtuber SimplYonique who's page you can visit by clicking here. Enjoy!

Take Two

So I gave the Halo Style one more try and I was pleased with the results. The difference? I didn't flat twist it all the way around. I flat twisted it until I got right above my ear and then just I guess "monotwisted"? it to the back. Basically, I only used the hair I had left from the front flat twist without picking up any extra hair from the back. Also, the twist I did was not a two strand twist...hence me calling it a "monotwist". Seriously, what are those called? Anyway, here are the pictures!

Afro Love

Hey there! I know it's been a while! Although I was trying out a new style while I was gone, my phone was broken and thus I was unable to take pictures for YGY. I really do apologize for this and I promise to recreate it and update you all as soon as possible. Until then, I'll do my best to describe it! I do have a couple pictures of my hair when it was straight but the camera on my replacement phone wasn't taking very good pictures of the style that I tried out while it was straightened. Basically what I did was made sure that my hair was bone straight and then bantu knotted it up. This created soft beach waves that fell throughout the day and created a soft alternative to the harsh straight look. I got a lot of compliments on it and I will definitely be returning to this style the next time I straighten. I've come to dislike how flat my hair looks straightened; the perm look. Doing bantu knots allowed for a nice alternative as well as made it easier to maintain my straight style with minimal heat! It was a win/win! Here's a pic of my hair straightened:

More recently, I experimented with my very first afro! Usually, if I'm wearing my natural texture (no gels or defining products) I'll wear it in a puff. This time I decided to be a little more daring. I wore my hair out with a little moisturizer and allowed my curls to fall where they may. Now, I won't lie, I didn't get any compliments on it but when I asked a few close friends what they thought, I got good feedback. Hopefully they weren't just trying to be nice! Here's a few shots for you to decide! The first are from me just being on campus and the last is from last night when I went out for my birthday celebration. I'll be 22 years old on Wednesday, October 13!

Sittin' Sideways

Hello All! So I know I'm slowing down on the posts and it because school just started and I am busy busy busy!! I'm actually glad to be back at school though. I'm enjoying being back with my linesisters and FINE ARTS! Yesterday was the Alpha Kappa Alpha and Alpha Phi Alpha collaboration party called "Phrozen Pearls: Pumps and Ties" hosted by my chapter and the chapter of A Phi A here at my school. So ya'll know I had to get cute! Unfortunately, I woke up with a terrible cold Thursday morning and was completely out of it! I spent the whole entire day in bed on Thursday trying to get better in order help out the next day. So anyway...that didn't work! Friday I woke up feeling worst but trucked it to class anyway. After class I ran around getting things together and such. The day was a blur but around 5 or so I was able to slow down, take some medicine and take a nap. When I got up my first thought was "crap...I gotta look decent" LOL. That entire day I'd walked around in sweats and a hoodie just completely not feeling it. Ironically enough, I was hit on more yesterday than when I look decent on campus. Hm =/...but I digress! So I got up, got my outfit out, threw that sucka on and topped it off with some pumps and a tie! Next was hair and make-up!

So my make up was a subliminal shout out to the Ice Cold Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. with the gold in my inner corners and the shimmer black on the outter lid. It was cute but of course I didn't take any pictures..SMH. For the past week I've had in a micro twist set. As usual, I'm LOVING it! People ask me all the time if I plan to loc up and as much as I love my twists the answer is no! I have the power to get the lovely loc look and still take it out the next day to wear my natural curls or blow dry and flat iron this sucka toWhip My Hair Back And Forth (see the post below)! I'm too in love with the versatility at this point to settle with just one look! Now as you all know, I've been trying to figure out what else to do with my hair when it's twisted up other than just twisting the front. Well last night i did my usual twists but I went a step further to twist it into a side do. I loved it and even got a few compliments for the style! Below are some shots of it. Pictures of the party haven't gone up yet but if I find one that shows my style off a little bit better I will certainly show you guys. Hopefully these get my point across though. Enjoy! And also, if you recreate this style send in your pictures! We wanna see!

(Side Note: pardon the first picture, I was having a full blown conversation LOL)

Doin' It Up

After putting SO much heat on my hair, I thought it deserved not only a break but a protective style. A protective style is basically any style that keeps your ends, which is the oldest and most fragile part of your hair strands, protected from the elements and/or your clothing. Here's something I just threw together. Want a tutorial? Let me know!

One Year

So last Thursday marked my FIRST YEAR POST RELAXER!!! I can honestly say that it went by rather quickly! I didn't do anything special to my hair on that date but last night I decided to put my hair in a micro twist set using just my hair. I did the set on dry hair using my whipped shea butter that I made a couple months back. Between each section, I also applied megatek to my scalp. In total, it took me about 8 hours with about 2-3 5 minutes breaks in between. My arms were killing me but once I finished the first half I had no choice but to do the second. My advice to anyone attempting to do a twist set like this is to allot at least 1 full day to the process. I started my hair at around 3:30 and didn't finish until almost midnight! If it weren't Sunday, I would have just slapped a bonnet on and finished in the morning! I don't know much about how to care for them, but I do know that they make for a great protective style and I plan to keep them for as long as I can! My minimum goal is at least 2 weeks if I can keep them up for that long. So far what I love most about them is the fact that I have so many styling options. Right now I have the front twisted up and the back is out. I played around with two french braids last night and it was lookin kinda cute, maybe I'll give that a go later on this week. Well, enough wrappin...here are some pictures! Enjoy!