Stylin': mini twists (update/maintenance)

It's been two weeks and my cute little mini twists are still giving me the business in the best way possible. This has been a very suitable substitution to the braided/twisted extensions that I've been longing for. I've received so many lovely compliments and exclamations from fellow naturals for me to get my hands in their hair lol! Before I big chopped I always wore my hair in a similar cut to where these twists fall. My relaxed hair never really grew past the base of my neck for years. So now that my un-stretched twists have made it to the length I was before the BC, I'm hype!

My night time routine/maintenance is very simple, which I need and appreciate. I lightly spritz the twist with water and then rub either coconut oil or my Shea Butter mix on the twist, focusing on the ends. I throw on a satin bonnet and then it's "Goodnight!" In the mornings I shake my hair a bit and then either pin the front out of my face or just let them "do what they do." And it's as simple as that.

The funny thing about these twists is it makes me long for locs...immediately! I'm just imagining short locs I can play in. Who knows...maybe it will come to be in the future. until then, i'll stick to the mini twists and genie locs.

Stylin': Mini Twists

Dropping by quickly to show you how I've been wearing my hair recently. I've been steadily rocking mini twists.

(I know the picture quality is 5 steps pass HORRID.
I swear I'm working on  getting a legitimate camera ASAP!)

I did them on soaking wet, freshly washed hair. And that is why they are SOOO short. I almost always twist my hair after having a stretched style. Usually right after I do a braid out, so I'll have more length. But I decided to try something different and despite the shrinkage I love them. 

(Shrinkage is CRAY!)

I didn't use any product with "hold" to twist them. I only used Giovanni's Direct Leave- In as a leave in conditioner and after I completed my twists I sealed the ends with coconut oil. I wanted them to be light, bouncy and movable. (so the less product the better!)

 

To my amazement it didn't take very long either. I t only took me three episodes of Misfits to occupy the time.  

Once they start looking unbearable I'll just redo each twist, one at a time, and luckily doing it that way will also help elongate the style the next time around.

Dearest puff...

       
           I miss you favorite style. When every thing else was looking a bit sketch you were always there to make it better. I could always count on you, puff, when the twist-out, braid-out and likes, were playing games with not only my hair but with my emotions. Your presence was always appreciated even in your simplicity.Even in our disagreements when I really wanted to rock a fly up-do (and you got back at me by pulling out my edges), I forgave you and allowed you to continue to occupy my space. I hope you are okay with our break. It's not forever I promise. But I know I won't be able to see you until June. But when we are reunited it will feel SO good.

You are surly missed.

Love Always,


Shay-Shay

(Circa September 2011)

Stylin': V-Day edition

I hope you guys had a love-filled Valentine's Day! I unfortunately had to work the majority of the day but I had a great day none the less! I just wanted to stop by and show you how I wore my hair. I used the tutorial from the last post to pull off this Valentine head wrap. 

 The hair under the wrap are in twist and the hair on top is a twist out that I pinned down because it was way to long and defined for the look. The hair was looking a little Side-Show Bob-ish before I pinned them down. But all my ends are nice and hidden making this a really great protective style!

I used a bright red solid red colored bandanna. In the future I'll have to find some larger scarves because I have a very big head so I was fighting to make it tie in the front. (check out thrift stoes/department stores/ beauty supply stores/ boutiques for some stylish and cheap ones!) 

 

But overall I REALLY like this style. You can safely assume that this style is now a staple. Let me know how you like it!

*Happy Hair Days*

Stylin': Wrap it Up! (revisited)

A few days ago I posted about my new favorite go to style, The Head Wrap. The wraps I usually do are made with long scarves and mostly Pashimas. But after watching this video featuring on of my faves, Keisha, from Ashiek1118 on Youtube, I'll definitely be running to thrift store  tomorrow to find some scarves/shirts/fabrics that will give me these great looks! Check out the video below to see the jazzed up versions of the traditional turban look. 

Stylin': Wrap it up!

(Source: pics  from Google)

This winter has been all over the place.  Here in the district,  it's in the mid sixties one day and the next there's 3inches of snow!The weather has not only affected my immune system (I just got over the flu the other day) but it’s been doing some wear and tear on my hair. Although my hair has been in twists the entire month  of January, I can still feel how dry my hair is left feeling when I come from outside. So to keep my hair away from the harsh, up and down elements I've been wearing one of my signature styles from the summer; “The wrap.” I can tell you one thing. I’m so happy these are acceptable work-wear at my office because until the sun decides to have a consistent presence in my life these will most definitely be worn heavily.

           

I love how intricate you  can make one look yet it only takes about 30 seconds to wrap one. Below is an awesome tutorial on how I usually wrap my head scarves.  Let me know how you end up enjoying it, and if you’ll be incorporating them into your winter styles. 

Stylin': The "PS"

I think I told you guys in the post about the Curl Harmony Deep Conditioner that my hair has been feeling quite shabby as of late. A part of the reason is probably because this has been the longest time my hair had been without a long term protective style. Prior to this summer I KEPT my hair under wraps, all the time. I can definitely say that has been a major help when it comes to length retention and over-all good health of my hair. So now that it's getting cold again I needed to begin my PS once again. On Saturday night I decided to go to my go-to-easy PS. Some crochet type braids.

This is not your old school type crochet braids, where you had over 1000 micro braids on your head (yea...I rocked them hard in middle school!) Instead of using braided hair you can use a curly type bulk weave or Marley braiding hair like I did. This would be the third time I've done this style since I've been natural and I think I like this go around the best. This was the first time I've used marley hair. I was kinda nervous on how this was going to work, but I think it turned out well. I used 3 packs of 1B/30 hair. This brown/blond mix is giving me LIFE!

I actually feel like Mufasa with all of this hair but in the best way possible! The only problem I have is when I decide to wear a part it's pretty obvious that it's crocheted. Lucky for me I'm not trying to convince anyone that it's anything other than that...and you can only really tell if you're looking directly down on top of my head. I'm almost 6 foot tall so not many people will be getting that view!

All in all it's cool and I plan on keeping them in for at least 3 weeks. I'll be seeing how many styles I can pull off, and of course I'll share them with you =D

Check out MissGlamourGirl11992's video on how to actually do the style. She makes it look SO easy and trust me IT IS! She uses curly bulk hair but the application is the same if you decide to use the Marley hair.

Stylin': The Crown

Just stopping by to show you guys how I wore my hair yesterday. I am still working with the braid-out I posted. Since I didn't have time to wash my hair and I wanted to salvage the style until today. I did a quick pin-up style that I saw on Ms. DuchessWright's Youtube Channel. She calls it "The Crown" and it's one of the simplest styles ever. Here's some pics of the style and you can check her video out below.

Stylin': The braid out

One of my favorite go to styles after wash day is the simple braid out. This time around I used Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue to braid up the mane. I started with freshly washed/deep conditioned hair, then used Sofn' free's Gro Healthy Milk Protein & Olive Oil Strengthening Creme as a leave in and sealed my ends with Castor oil. I used a small amount of the MJCM and did between 20 and 25 braids. I kept the braids in the entire next day and when I finally took them down the texture was poppin!

Because I used so many braids and I didn't want to disturb the curl pattern I did little to no fluffing this first day.

I can't seem to avoid shrinkage. But I'm cool with it. I will say that the braids did help stretch my hair a good bit. Much more than if I were to do a wash & go.

That night I braided my hair in 9 large braids by reusing the Milk and Olive strengthing Creme, castor oil and MJCM. Tied my silk scarf on and the next day I was ready to take down the chunk braids.

I like BIG, full hair and curls. So after fluffing out the hair a little the 2nd day hair looked even better than the first day!