Blow drying Natural Hair

Hiya!

So I attempted to blowdry my hair this weekend  #sigh. I always hated blow drying my hair when it was permed and this is the first time I have attempted it since my big chop last year.

Here is the result

With half the hair on my head blow dried

End Result

So I used the head protectant from Hydrotherma but it just seems extra thin so I added some grape seed oil to the mix. Things to keep in mind when blow drying your hair:

1. Have a heat protectant
2. Use your heat protectant before you blow dry your hair (not too much though)
3. Do NOT start out on your highest setting for your blow dryer work your way up
4. Do NOT use direct heat on your strands (give like a 3- 6 inch distance)
5. Do seperate your hair into sections (4 sections works for me)
6. Do seperate those sections into smaller sections- make sure that they are small enough for you to comfortably deal with.
7. Do not try to make it super straight. If you are flat ironing after I would recommend that you add heat protectant again especially if it is as light as mine was.

When blow drying I started out with my hair dryer on medium with warm air by the time I was done it was on medium with hot air.

/bye

Today's Style

Hiya!

If you live in the BVI my guess is that you had a blast this festival season. Since I only had 2 days left in the work week I decided to just do a quick style for the 2 days. Here is my style on the second day:

Yep, it's not much but for the past 2 days I've been rocking this style hard. This is what it looks like for the second day using Kinky Curly's Curling custard. I just sprayed a bit of water from my spray bottle after tying it down. Unfortunately my hair in the front does not curl that much. It's extra kinky without a hint of a curl.

/bye

First Attempt making a wig

So, I am participating in a 3 month protective styling challenge here. I tried using a regular wig but I started to get a headache after 12 pm. So I looked into how to create a wig using a stocking cap. I used a 10" bump hair to get this look.

Finished wig

So I wasn't too sure if I liked it but you know I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and figured that when I curled it that it would look better.

Tried to curl the hair out of my face

Done with my old flat iron

I like it and it turned out better than I thought. However now I want to cut it and add some color to the wig but it isn't sewn on. I decided to use glue so I am not too sure how it will turn out. May re-vamp it in the coming weeks.

However do you know what is the funniest part about this... People got offended that I am wearing a wig. So far I have heard things like:

1. Why don't you wear your hair out?
2. Aren't you supposed to be representing for natural hair?
3. I don't like it
4. Just wear your hair... You don't need a wig

Now I understand that people may be concerned however while I am an advocate for team natural I see nothing wrong with wearing a wig as a protective style. The funniest part is that my friends who have known me for years when my hair was permed have seen me with bobs, pixie cuts and seen my hair in just about every color of the rainbow never batted an eye at this wig. I love to change my look and have been known to known to cut my own hair 2 times a year just because I felt like it.

Do you know what is even funnier these are the same people that hated my natural hair when I started to wear it natural and encouraged me to perm it and get a texturizer. So what does this teach us???

You have to remember why you are going/ went natural and don't expect everyone to like it but your FRIENDS that know you (even if they don't understand you) will be as encouraging as they can and won't be so quick to judge

Split Ends!!???!!

So a little after I took out my braids I had some growth and I loved it. Then I tried to comb my hair ... and I really didn't know what to do with it. So as usual I said well let me seek out some split ends which seems to be code for hack off over 2 inches of hair because I'm not ready for this hair length.

Has this type of thing happened to me before? You bet yah.... Back in February I went with a golf ball amount of hair. However this month I decided to up my game and it was tennis ball sized :D.

 So why am I posting this. Well so that I never forget that I tend to have weird moments and that yes my hair will grow back. Because in all honesty was it all split ends...No!! However I did it regardless because the thought of combing all of that deterred me and it was either do that or color it. I'm the type of person that I tend to express myself with my hair from my styles to my hair color to my accessories it normally reflects what  I am going through or how I feel at the moment.

/bye

Yarn Braid Removal- HairTreatment

/Hihi

Sooooo. If you were following under my hairstyles tab you would know that I once again put in yarn braids. Knowing me I probably will not put them in for another 2 months or so because with the hot sun out my scalp was itching like crazy /no.

I scratched ssssoooo bloody much that I think I scratched my scalp raw.

So at about 5 in the morning I put on my bentonite clay, rinsed that out, followed up with my shea butter treatment from Shea Moisture and got under my huetiful steamer (which I have not used in 3 mths).

Decided to do a facial at the same time...LOL

Wow... I actually have hang time it grew

Look at them coils and kinks

For my clay mix I used apple cider vinegar, olive oil, water and bentonite clay of course, Since I had to get ready for work I did not have time to wait for it to dry before rinsing it out. Did my usual conditioning routine and tried kinky curly knot today. Then I tried the kinky curly curling custard for the first time it was slightly sticky but not as sticky and gooey as curl magic from Uncle Funky's Daughter (but I think that their stickiness is due to the marshmallow) and it dried way quicker and did not have as much residue. I will try writing a review on it late next month after I have used it and gotten to see how it really works with my hair.

Kinky Curly- Curling Custard

KCCC- The product on wet hair

My hair after the product dried

Please ignore my awful flat twist

Never realized that my hair had patches of brown

I liked the results but my coils are very firm and there was still some residue from where the product was not fully absorbed. However I was a bit surprised that my hair actually did come out so good because everyone cautioned me that it would not work for my hair type since I have hair in the 4 range /wahaha (insert evil laugh here).

Hope it turns out just as good tomorrow. Gonna have to do something about that awful flat twist that I attempted to do in the front of my hair.

/bye

Yarn Braids Style

Want to see more photos of this style? Click here.

Some Hair Essentials

I know that I have been missing for a while and I am going to try to do better but I have been working on getting some other projects off the ground (more on that later).

Let's talk hair... Well, more like natural hair to be exact. Starting out I wish that someone had told me about some of these items and how effective using them can be

Spray bottle with water
This will never get old. Natural hair needs and craves moisture especially when you live in hot and humid temperatures that can be found here in the Virgin Islands. Hair looking and feeling a little dry? Spray that water gurl!!! While you are at it how about drinking 1 or 2 glasses of crisp, clean aqua.

Also you can place some of your favorite essential oils in with your water. This leads me to the second point...

Hair Oils
Do not underestimate the moisturizing power of hair oils. Now I am not saying take a bottle of EVOO and just pour it all over your head (but it would make a good hot oil treatment) but you can mix it in with your water to provide your hair with moisture and a slight sheen. When using oils in your hair I would recommend that you use more water than oils because you only need one or two drops of oil in your spray bottle  and because no one and I mean NO ONE wants their hair to be leaving oil slicks on furniture pieces.

Twist out- Done using my water and oil mix

Shampoo
While I am not totally against shampoos I do believe that if you are going to use it then that bad boy needs to be sulfate free. Our natural hair does not need to be stripped of its hard won moisture so if after you've washed your and hair it damn near "squeaks" to say it's clean STOP.

Unless you have been using a ton of products and your hair feels laden down DO NOT over clean your strands. On a regular the clean feeling comes from having a clean scalp. So make sure your scalp is clean and let your product of choice and the water pressure help to cleanse away the sweat and build up that may be present.

Silk or Satin Scarf or Pillowcase
Now I must say I am very familiar with this because it was also an essential when my hair was chemically straightened. Our hair can snag and get caught in fabrics when we sleep. Also regular pillow cases soak up all our hair's oil and product that we took so bloody long to put on.

Hair Flowers
Trust me when you have a TWA and that bad boy looking "blah..." Hair flowers help to brighten up your face while draw attention to your hair and its texture. Also when you are misting your hair with your spray bottle a little water will help that flower look more realistic ;-)

I will try and split the Hair Essentials list into 2 or 3 parts. I hope that this little mini series helps others that are a bit overwhelmed and may need help finding a starting point for their hair essentials.

Hopefully while reading you understand my sense of humor. Let me know if there is anything you would like me to talk about.