Natural Hair Styles for the Holidays

I'm looking for a special holiday style to wear for Xmas and New Years. Really, these style can really be worn any time of the year. Here are four styles I came up with: finger coils, French braid, half-braid/half-down, coil out. I think most of these can be used on short, medium and long hair.
 
Finger Coils
1. On freshly washed hair, separate hair in 4 sections.
2. Working on each section, take a small to medium amount of hair, two strand twist the root (so it doesn't unravel). Next, gently twirl the hair around your finger in a clockwise fashion.

Note: I got lazy and only did the back of my hair, however, it still turned out fine. I just pinned the top back for a voluminous look.

A helpful video on finger coiling: Finger Coil Video

Messy-Chic French Braid

1. Separate hair into three sections, top, middle and back.
2. Start braiding downward from the top.
3. When you are 3/4 done, add in your middle section and repeat until you reach the bottom section. Attach braid with a hair tie.

Note: This style was done on stretched hair.

I couldn't find a video on single French braid on natural hair. Here is a helpful video by Naptural85, she does it on shrunken hair. I suggest trying it on stretched hair and separating your hair in a mohawk fashion: French Braid How To

Half-Braided

1. Separate the hair into two sections: 1 large bottom section and 1small top portion of your hair, this is the section you will braid.

2. (optional) To add a little dimension, rub a little water on two small front sections, two strand twist them and roller set/flexirod them. This will add volume to the side.

3. French braid the top section, leaving about 1/4 loose. 

4. Pin the braid to hold it in place, release the bottom section, fluff till your liking. 

5. (optional) Add a cute head band.

 

Rhassoul Challenge

I love rhassoul clay! Why did I go astray from beloved rhassoul for so long? This weekend, I revisited rhassoul and I can say with 100% confidence that there is absolutely no conditioner that could ever give me this amount of slip, definition, clumped curls and shine. Thus, I've decided for the next month, I will be doing a rhassoul clay challenge. I will not use any conditioner nor shampoo during the month of December and will see how my hair responds. If it feels as good as it did this weekend after washing it, I just may say goodbye to those products and use only rhassoul. It's natural, it's inexpensive and effective.


Here's my mixture and results:

• Rhassoul clay (4 -6 TBSP)
• Apple cider vinegar (1 TBSP)
• Distilled water (4 - 6 TBSP
• Aloe vera juice (1 TBSP)
• Essential oils (mint and lavender)
• Amla (1 - 2 TBSP)

After rhassoul treatment, freshly washed, no products

freshly washed hair

70% dry hair w/products

70% dry hair w/products

 

Natural Hair: Surviving Cold Weather

Before, I discuss my cold weather regimen, I'd like to take a moment to say my thoughts and prayers are with those back home, who have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Related to weather, now that jack frost is tapping on our front door, I've made some slight adjustments  to my hair routine. Thought it would be a good time to do an update on my routine.

Pre-Cleanse
Pre-pooing is not really my thing. I've heard it's really good for your hair, blame it on my laziness. I'd like to try it in the future, we'll see. For now, I bought Dabur Fall Control Cream, which is supposed to reduce shedding. It contains olive oil and cactus juice. All you have to do is apply it 15 minutes before shampooing. I'll try it out over the next few weeks and report back later...

Cleanse
I wash my hair with diluted shampoo, mixed with glycerin and aloe juice once or twice (if I feel like I have build-up) per month. Alternatively, I do a rhassoul clay cleanse in lieu of a shampoo.

Condition
I condition my hair once per week and every time I wash my hair, I deep condition, with heat. First, I gently detangle with a slippery conditioner and a wide tooth comb, rinse and coat my hair with a moisturizing conditioner, mixed with aloe (and depending on the season honey). I put on two plastic caps and sit under a bonnet dryer for 30 - 45 minutes. I let my hair cool 10 - 15 minutes before rinsing it.

Moisturize
Lately, I've been leaving a small amount of Tresemmé Naturals in my hair. I don't liken this to the curly girl method, because the amount is very small and I only apply it to my ends. This helps my ends stay soft and supple despite harsh elements. This is something I do during cold weather, but not so much in summer.

Seal
I seal with coconut oil, vatika oil or olive oil. I apply this to wet hair and then I put a small amount of leave-in (concentrating on the ends) on my oiled hair. My hair literally feels like butter and I can go 4-5 days without moisturizing again.

Style
I'm keeping it simple now that the cold has kicked in. I usually just wear my hair pulled back. I did a lot of twists in September, but have done them less this month, blame it on laziness. =)

Preserve
At night I tie a satin scarf around my edges, I leave my hair up in the bunny tail (kind of like a pony tail for natural hair). I leave the bunny tail exposed and do not wrap the scarf around it. I do sleep on a satin pillowcase, so my ends aren't rubbing against a drying material. I found that leaving my ends open and not wrapped at night leaves my hair full and also more moisturized. Not sure why, but wrapping my ends tends to make them dryer.

Finally, we can't change the weather, but there are some things we can do to combat it. Next week, I'll be on the lookout for a humidifier. I live in the mountains and it's quite dry in the winter. I'll make sure my hair and skin stay hydrated by using a humidifier at home.

So that's it! Pretty simple, basically, I'm only styling and cleaning once per week. Easy peasy.


What kind of adjustments are you making to adapt to weather changes?

Fewer Posts

Blogging about my natural journey really has helped me catalog my experiences and gain a more solid regimen.  I hope that I was able to help someone out there going natural or debating about going natural or anyone for that matter. However, in the future, there will be fewer posts on this blog. I'll try to get a post at least once per month. The monthly posts will generally be a hair update (growth, regimen, etc), style or product review. I feel like the things I am doing in my routine at this moment have not changed greatly, with the acception of implementing some new products. I still use nautral products such as rhassoul and vinegar rinses, still dc with conditioner mixed with oil and wear pretty much the same styles. Since my goal is pretty much healthy long hair, a monthly update is probably more suitable for this platform.

I'm thrilled to be in the position of having a solid hair routine. In addition, via wearing puffs all summer, I realized I've grown past the awkward stage, yay! Life in natural hair land is pretty good at the moment, but nothing drastic or that exciting to run home and blog about. This whole adjustment to natural hair snuck up on me without me even realizing it and I'm loving it.

This isn't a goodbye for sure, but a see you again soon (i.e. next month).

xoxo

Return from Vacation Updates w/pics

I'm back from vacation. I had a beautiful time with fam and friends. I feel relaxed and rejuvenated, besides being a little jet-lagged. I also feel giddy everytime I open my bathroom closet, as it is are now stocked with products! You'd think I'd won a sweepstakes or something!

Being in the States for vacation made me realize, I would be a total product junky if I were living there. I know in my hair goals post, I discussed finding one or two staple products, however, that's easy to say living in Europe, where options are significantly smaller. So when I got home and hit the aisles of Target, Walgreens and CVS, I kind of went wild--- like literally cray cray! I just started grabbing up products as if they were disappearing. Some of the finds that I am loving at the moment are: Tressemme Naturals and Brahmi Oil. I will try Giovanni "Smooth as Silk" for the first time today, I've heard really good things about so I'm excited!

I know in my "gray hair discovery"post, I mentioned that I would henna my hair. I don't know why but there is just a little voice in the back of my head that is telling me not to henna. I listened to it and decided against it. I guess I'm just not ready. I must have a hair committment issue and the idea of having to retouch and re-henna on regular basis makes me a little weary. I did however, decide to get highlights! I wanted a new look and to brighten things up a bit. I got light brown and honey colored highlights only in my crown and the front of my hair. I really love the look and think it adds great dimension to my hair. The highlights didn't at all loosed my curl pattern and I haven't experienced any unusual dryness. I'll upload pics later of my highlights on flat-ironed and natural hair.

Besides the color, I've just been enjoying an easier more laidback approach to my hair in the summer. Twice a week co-washes and pulling it back into a high puff. This was my vacation approach at least, I'm hoping it carries over to my everyday approach. Simplicity is lovely.

I feel like my hair responded so well to the climate back in the States. It loved humidity and salty, moist, ocean air. Everytime I went to beach, I could not stop caressing my hair. Oh well, a girl, or at least her hair, can't have it all, but can be spoiled from time to time with a nice beach vacation.

How are you liking your summer hair routines?

Xoxo

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My hair highlighted and flatironed in an updo.

My summer to-go-to style wash and puff

My highlighted natural hair

Preserving My Wash and Go

Tonight, I'll twist my hair and leave it in twists for about one week. This week, I decided to wear my hair out and do a wash and go. To preserve my wash and go, at night, I simply put my hair into two low buns. I leave the front of my hair pulled back, as styled below and in the previous post "Hide Your Awkward". The ends of my hair, I moisturize with diluted leave-in. I used to moisturize my hair at night with oil, but I noticed, I still woke up to not-so moisturized hair. This was the result, even after wetting my hair. I think the trick for me is definitely applying leave-in to my ends and then wrapping my hair with a satin scarf. My hair really seems to love leave-in conditioner.

This is day 3 of my wash and go.

On another note, I am heading to the US next week and am really excited to see family and friends. While there, I plan on testing out some products to figure out what to bring back. The goal for me is to select two conditioners (that can serve as a leave-in, deep conditioner and co-wash conditioner), one styling product that lasts a long time (maybe shea moisture or kinky curly) and henna. I hope to stock up and bring these items back with me. On another note, my hair is lighter than usual due to the summer (and maybe my use of honey). I recently wrote about doing henna, however, at this stage, henna will definitely give me red hair near my hairline (see picture). I'm entertaining the idea of adding indigo to my henna for a dark, warm brownish-black color. It would be nice for fall and I think darker hair generally looks more lustrous and shiny than light hair.

Hide Your Awkward,

Hair that is. As I've posted previously, my hair is in the awkward stage. It's chin- to almost shoulder-length, when wet, then shrinks up to ear- to chin-length, when dry. The part of my length that I find most awkward is definitely the front and sides of my hair. They grow significantly slower than the back of my hair and I always end up with a mushroom-do once it dries. Because of this, I usually wear my hair in puffs or buns. However, I really love wearing my hair out and miss it so this week, I decided to wear it out and try to hide my awkward lengths.
To do so, I simply smoothed them back the front and sides of my hair, almost as if I'm putting my hair in a half-up style. I then secured the hair in place with hair pins. I tied a satin scarf around the front of my hair for about 10 minutes to smooth my edges. And voila, a simple solution to wearing my hair out and not feeling like a giant mushroom!

Is your hair in the "awkward" stage, what are some of your favorite styles to get you through it?

Rhassoul Clay Sunday Morning Spa

Saturday night I oiled my hair with a mixture of shea, coconut and neem oil. I placed my puff (only) in a baggy and went to sleep. This morning, I'm having a lazy Sunday and decided to do another rhassoul clay treatment. I bedazzled my recipe a bit and will post results later. Here is the recipe I used:

Rhassoul clay
Apple cider vinegar
Distilled water
Honey
Essential oils (mint and lavender)
Aloe vera juice
Silk protein

I mixed this all up and applied the mixture to damp hair (spritzed my hair with water). I put on a plastic cap and plan on leaving it on my hair for 45 mins to an hour. In addition, I test the PH of my mixture and it was between 5 - 5.5, which is perfect for me.

What are your favorite lazy day hair treatments?
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My new rhassoul clay recipe was okay. I think in the future I will stick with the recipe using only vinegar, water and a little aloe. This mixture didn't leave my hair as soft as usual, however, this could be due to the silk protein I added. Additionally, I will let the clay sit on my hair for the usual 30 minutes without the plastic cap next time as well. I'm happy I tried a new mixture, but my most recent recipe definitely yielded the best results.

L.O.C Method

 Yes, another acronym to add to the natural dictionary! When I first went natural, I have to admit, I didn't see the point in sealing. My hair was in the twa stage and was relatively easy to moisturize. After washing my hair, I'd just slap on a little leave-in and call it a day. Now that my hair has grown out of the twa phase, I realize the importance of keeping my ends well moisturized and protected. Thus, I never skip the process of sealing my ends after washing my hair. However, to be honest, sealing my ends was always sort of a ritual, based on popularity among the natural community. It was almost a rite of passage to wash, add a leave-in and seal my ends. Unfortunately, even taking these measures did not prevent my ends from being brittle and dry. Thus, weekly deep conditioning and/or baggying sessions have helped me combat dry ends.

Well, lately I got to thinking... "maybe my routine of applying my leave-in and sealing is not doing much for my hair." Ever since I saw this article on Curly Nikki on the LOC method, I've been tempted to try it. The idea behind LOC is that you have a liquid, then oil, then cream on your hair. This is supposed to result in sealing each layer with the goal of maintaining moisture. Today, I tried this method for the first time. It's too soon to say whether there is a difference, however, I will provide an update towards the end of the week. So far, what I can say is that my hair has never looked this shiny after moisturizing. That's already a positive!

Tonight I washed my hair, deep conditioned, then applied coconut oil to my hair in sections. Next, I added a generous amount of my leave-in and detangled, then braided it. I'd like to do a braid-out tomorrow and hope the LOC method will result in more defined and moisturized hair.

Do you LOC?

UPDATES: See my September and October posts for more on the LOC method, which I love by the way! 

Two Strand Twists

Tonight I decided to switch things up a bit. I've been a wash n go girl since I've gone natural. What this generally entails is me co-washing my hair twice, sometimes three times per week and wearing my hair out or pulling it back into a low puff. According to some hair specialists, it's not the best practice to wet your hair daily, as this can cause hydral fatigue, as the hair is being submitted to a continual cycle of swelling with water, stretching then shrinking as it dries.

I really want to wash my hair only one time per week, I don't think I can go much longer than that. However, without a protective style, my ends immediately get dry and frizzy, hence the constant rewetting. I've been searching the web for protective styles that might work for my hair. Right now it's in an awkward phase and I can't bun it and I don't like weaves or wigs. So, what did I do? I went to the web to for inspiration. I stumbled across a video on Youtube by HeyFranHey where she does a tutorial on two strand twists. The end results are beautiful and her hair almost looks like it's in a twist in curl, even though she's rocking twists. Then, I found a post on Curly Nikki on the Twist and Turn Two Strand Twist by Shelli of Hairscapades (major hair crush). Well, both of these ladies have long hair, so I wasn't sure if it would work for me.

The only way to find out was to give it a shot. What did I have to lose beside a few hours of my evening. On the bright side if the twists look cute I will save a lot of time. I can twist my hair on Sunday, wear it in twists until Thursday and then rock a twist out Friday and Saturday. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but this could save me loads of time on my morning routine. This week, I did my monthly cassia treatment and my hair felt full, soft but I also had major shrinkage. The idea of wearing twists and stretching my hair a bit didn't sound so bad after all.

So to prepare my hair I shampooed and then deep conditioned with my FAVORITE semi-DIY deep conditioner:

1 TBSP melted shea
1 TBSP argan oil
2 TBSP cheapie non-cone conditioner

I then used my spa steam treatment and sat under my soft-hooded dryer for 1h 30mins. After I rinsed the DC out with a conditioner. This left my hair soft and tangle free.

I did about 30 - 50 small to medium-sized twists (lost count). When I reach the end of the twist, I just twirled it to hold it in place. The final result was really pretty, however, with my hair in the awkward stage my twists began to shrink and helmet head was in full-effect. I tried tension blow-drying the twists for about 2 minutes and lost patience. Then I decided to try to semi-band my twists to stretch them. I plan on leaving them like this over night and look forward to seeing how they look when I remove the bands.

Uuh, my sides are almost chin length but shrinkage is major, thus the helmet head shaped hair.

Banded twists

Next day:

Do you two strand twist, any tips for maintaining them?

xoxo

Customized Baggying

Baggying is a method of deep-conditioning, where the hair is moisturized at night and covered in plastic (e.g. saran wrap, shower cap, plastic bag). The hair remains covered overnight and is then rinsed out the following day. It's a great method to moisturize the hair, as the plastic bag creates a similar effect to steaming. The hair cuticles open up, as the bag traps in heat and this allows moisture to enter the hair shaft. Every time I baggy, my hair is soft, defined and moisturized. However, there can be disadvantages if you baggy too much. If the hair is too soft and "over" moisturized from constant baggying, it can also break easily, as elasticity is reduced. This can be remedied by not over-baggying. I typically baggy 3-4 times per month and this seems to be enough for me. Another option is to introduce protein treatments into your routine to keep the hair strong and reduce breakage.

One particular problem I had with baggying, is that my hair, like many naturals, has many different textures and curl patterns. In the back of my head my hair is tightly coiled, thick, easy to detangle, however the ends are prone to dryness. The curls on crown and sides of my hair are looser, easier to moisturize, however prone to tangling. This part of my hair typically is a bit limp and breaks easily after baggying. On the contrary, the back of my head is soft, shiny and healthier after baggying. Thus to counter this problem, I came up with the solution of customized baggying.

Here's how I do it:

• I moisturize all of my hair with olive oil. 
• On the puff in the back of my hair, I add a little conditioner. 
• I cover my puff in plastic by wrapping a shower cap around it and holding it in place with a hair elastic.
• I then put a satin scarf on my head.

This method is great for me, because when I wake up the sides and front of my hair are shiny and moisturized from the oil and satin scarf and the back of my hair is moisturized from baggying. The next day, I rinse only the puff and style my hair.

Hair goals update

Products/ Goals
I am on a quest to streamline my products and find products where I live (tired of having an overweight suitcase). The other day, while shopping at a new store, I found this:

Garnier mild conditioner with avocado oil and shea butter

I had seen the shampoo in my local grocery store, but never the conditioner. This morning I used it for the first time and let me just say, not only was it creamy and moisturizing but it also gave my hair the perfect slip for detangling. Now that's what I call 2 in 1! The leave-in smells heavenly, it's creamy but not too thick or heavy and leaves my hair feeling super soft. I am not sure whether I prefer Garnier's Triple Moisture leave-in or this one, it's only day 1, so I'll give it some time.

Hair goals/ length
Today, I did a length check and was surprised to see that the back of my hair is just past shoulder length, the sides are collarbone length and the front of my hair is jaw length (guess shrinkage in the front is more intense than the back)! So it looks like I've reached my hair goal, before the end of the year. I hope to get 3 more inches before the end of the year, that would be great!

Thick dandruff
I've never had an issue with dandruff, but the past 2 months I've noticed thick white flakes near my hair line and the center of my hair. I don't think it's related to stress nor diet, I have a healthy diet, exercise and try to keep stress to a minimum. My suspicion is that it may be due to product build-up on my scalp.  I've taken measures to combat it head on and so far so good. Here's what I do, to ensure a healthy moisturized scalp:

• While shampooing (1 x per week), I give myself a head massage (using the tips of my fingers, not nails). I put pressure on my scalp and move my fingers in a circular motion, to break up any dirt or grime.
• Make sure I completely rinse out conditioner and shampoo.
• Do not apply any leave-ins or heavy oils near or on my scalp.
• Lightly rub jojoba infused with peppermint essential oil on my scalp 1 -2 times per week. Jojoba is great because it's light  and mimics the sebum found in human skin). The peppermint tingles and refreshes my scalp. Research shows that it reduces itching and dandruff; it moisturizes the scalp and stimulates growth follicles--- again 2 for 1!

Styling goals
I think at the end of this week, I will do a light blow out, then set my hair on flexi-rods. I'm excited to to try a new style!

Can't believe it's been over a year!

It's been a little over a year since I've been natural and today I managed to put my hair up into a bun/puff with a hair elastic and not a headband.  That's huge for me! I will post pictures later!

I plan on either doing a blow out or flat ironing my hair at the end of May to check the length and trim my hair. I still trim it while it's curly, but it's so dense that I'm sure I miss some areas.

Too Cute?

The other day, my husband and I decided to bring sexy back. We got all dressed up and had reservations at a restaurant. I put on a little black dress and went to the bathroom to check my hair. I had already worn it up earlier in the day and wasn't going to do anything special, because it still looked good. As I pondered which headband to accessorize with, the hubby sees me reaching for one and tells me in his opinion I should go without it.

At first, I was a bit put off, because I always wear headbands...did that mean he had a problem with them. I asked him why he felt I shouldn't wear one. His response, sometimes less is more. He explained that he finds me really cute when I'm dressed casually in jeans and a tee and put on a headband. However, he felt that an outfit, like the one I was wearing didn't need the cute accessories. I appreciated his honesty and in the end agreed. It made me realize, since becoming natural, I always have some sort of cute accessory. Trust me, I love accessories, but maybe I've been hiding behind them a little. So now when I get ready, I assess whether the headband brings anything to my outfit or if it's simply overkill.

As I wrote in a previous post, I've been wearing a lot of puffs lately. Normally I would wear a puff and put on a headband or scarf, but I tried something new recently. Here is a cute style (puff+retro bump) inspired by Simplyounique, if you don't know her, look her up on Youtube! Her videos are honest, to the point and show her journey from big chop to her current length. She is very positive and inspiring!

P.S. - 1 year ago and a day from today was when I last relaxed my hair!! So, I've got 11 months of growth, technically (considering that new growth would normally appear one month post-relaxer).

Reunited and It Feels So Good

Oh yes, sun and warm weather are back in my life! Not sure how long this will last, but I'm cherishing every moment. There's nothing better than warm weather in my opinion. It makes you cherish the simple things in life. It also makes smiling contagious. I've already got the summer bug and we just survived February!

I hope everyone out there is experiencing a little spring weather. If not, I'm sending warm vibes in your direction.

Continuing on this high note, can I just express how happy I am that I decided to go natural. I know, I know this blog is primarily about my natural hair and natural, natural blah, blah, blah. However, I do hope that somehow my journey will help someone (if you're reading) who's on the fence about going natural. Someone who's thought about it a million times, but never was sure if they could commit to it. My advice to you, DO IT!

Anyway, yesterday, my ends felt rough, so I decided to give myself a much needed trim. Since my hair has been really frizzy lately (probably due to split ends) I did an online search for dry, frizzy hair remedies. I got the idea to do a hot oil treatment on livestrong.com (love that website). So I whipped up olive oil, vitamin E, castor, honey and a little mayo and warmed all of the ingredients. I applied this to my hair in sections and twisted each section. I then put on a plastic cap and let it sit for about 2 hours. What hole have I been hiding under and why did I not do a hot oil treatment sooner!? My hair feels like a million bucks now! It's shiny, spring and so soft. Oh and best of all, I've experienced less frizz.

Here's a pic, with a new style (well new to me) that I've sporting lately to tip-toe around my in-between stage issue. I pretty much wear this style 5 days a week and wear my hair out 2 days per week. It works well for my work out routine and saves me a lot of time in the morning. I take down the puff at night, wrap the flat part of my hair and throw a satin cap on. In the morning, I get ready, take off the scarf spritz the puff with water and add some whipped shea butter (if necessary).

And now time for some sun:

The One Thing I Learned from Relaxers about Growth

1. Hair grows =)

My natural hair is super coily. Shrinkage and I are BFFs (sometimes frienemies). My shrinkage makes me feel, at times that my hair isn't growing. Today, I looked at a comparison shot from my transition chop (Dec. 3rd) and was amazed to see how much it has grown. I realize for the first time in my life, I don't have some kind of permanent benchmark that allows measure growth. 

When I was relaxed, I'd hate to see the patches of new growth sprouting up-- my trip to the salon couldn't come soon enough. When I was transitioning, the increasing maintenance it took to blend the two textures allowed me to see growth. Once I even had a permanent color, again this served as a reminder that I needed to touch up my contrastingly dark roots. Now for the first time in my life, it's just me and my curls. 

Each day as I begin styling my hair, I have the urge to pull out a ruler. Sometimes I cave in, but for the most part I don't, because I realize I don't need to subject my hair to some benchmark. The only thing I can do is maintain its health, love it and let it grow. Heck, I know from my relaxer days that it's constantly growing, why else did I have to get that touch up every other 8 weeks!?

 

Mission Destroy Afro-Mullet

In an attempt to coax my hair through its awkward phase, I tried something new last night.

So yesterday's wash-n-go headband combo (see prior post), worked really well. My curls were really defined, moist and shiny. Last night, I thought it would be unfortunate to throw on a satin cap and wake up to flat, matted curl, after having a good hair day. So I revisited a styling method I used during my transition, the bantu knot out. Why didn't I think of this sooner?! The results were much nicer than the twist-out attempt and it calmed down the volume of my hair! My hair is super thick and dense-- so I'm all set with volume. Today, I'm enjoying "flat hair". The bantu knot out was done on a dry wash n go, with conditioner as my leave-in, I just slicked on a small amount of jojoba before styling.