Target's Doing Their Homework...

I've been visiting Target lately and couldn't help but notice that they've been stocking up on curly hair products.
I think they must have noticed the growing number of natural and curly heads and seized the oppurtunity.
I saw salon brands such as: Fekkai & Mazani
As well as others such as SheaMoisture and Bumble and Bumble.
I found it really interesting especially since the only place I've seen these products is online.

Favoring the Two-Strand Twist

It's been five days since I've twisted my hair, but I don't miss my curls...just yet. I've found some ways to style my twist that I like.
It's nothing complicated or really Conservative or really picture worthy (well, it is, but it's so hard to get a good picture with my camera's terrible quality).

I did simple styles like swooping a couple of twist from the front, to the side and securing it with a bobby pin, then gathering the rest in a loose, couple-of-twists-hanging-out low pony tail. I found it cute in a simple, laid back way.

I also did another style where I braided (cornrowed) the left side and gathered the braid and the right side of my loose twist into a low, messy bun. I also found this one to be cute.
I 'created' these styles myself. I've been style- hunting lately and though I found some cute styles they didn't look to good on me.

I used to think that since my hair is twisted...I don't need to moisturize it. Wrong!
So now, I lightly moisturize it. I wet my hands a couple of times and run them down the length of my twist. I then seal in that 'moisture' with extra virgin olive oil.

I think it's going to be fun to create more styles. It'll be great to fall in love with twist, especially since it's a protective style!

Mini Twist!

I've Done 'em again...Mini Two-Strand Twist.

I did them on Thursday the 24th. It took roughly 7 hours to complete!

I always start off my twist by braiding the root.

I braid about half an inch before I start the twist. I think that doing this helps the twist from loosening at the root and it keeps it neater since twist are easier to frizz than braids.

I've been doing 'touch ups' by re-twisting since I put them in, and I'll keep

doing them to keep the twist neat.

I'm hoping to keep these twist in until the weekend.

I've been style hunting for some styles to wear my twist.

The only 'style' I've been wearing is a braid going down one

side of my head and gathered with the rest of my twist into a ponytail.

I had some pictures of it but they were accidentally deleted,

but I think you can get the gist of what I mean.

I'll try to make-up and re-create some styles to make these twist a little more interesting.

:)

Protectively Style Me

I've been reading a lot of blogs, articles and forums...and all of them had something or the other to do with protective styling.
I'm sure that anyone who has decided to grow long, healthy hair has come upon the term 'protective styling' at some point.
Protective styling is the process of styling one's hair in a way that the ends aren't exposed to the elements (sun, wind...) and to keep them from rubbing up against shoulders/clothes.
Some people protectively style their hair by wearing buns and other up-do's where their hair is up and away from their shoulders. Some natural curlies( including myself) wear two-strand twist as their protective style.

If you're a reader of my blog then you know that the last time I wore two-strand twist was in March. I wore them for about a week and a half. I love this style when I need a break from styling my hair and these twist are great because they can be styled easily; as you would style your loose hair.
Mini twists are another way to keep splits and knots away.

My problem though, is getting comfortable with them. I don't feel like my 'big-haired' self with twists and so I tend to sometimes take them out within mere days of putting them in (which takes at least 4 hours).

I will be youtubing to find some videos of women styling their twist...and hopefully I will be able to duplicate them.

Don't be lazy when you have mini twists. I made this horrible mistake earlier this year by leaving my mini twists in for 3 weeks!!
When you think about the fact that hair sheds at an average rate of 100 per day, you can imagine the trouble I had with tangling. Shed hair got all tangled in my twist and created a mess. All because I was being lazy with it.

I'm going to wash my hair tonight and I'm reading for another set of two stand twists...I want to keep them in for a minimum of 1 week and a maximum of 2. And repeat after my next wash...we'll see.

~I'll keep you posted :)

1st Day Of Summer!

Today is the first day of summer. It's hot and the air is dry! For the past week my hair has been extremely dry! And of course that means dry, crispy, hay-like hair. I need to do a real deeeeep treatment. Hot oil treatments are good, but I think they are more for cooler temperatures. For summer temperatures, I need a creamy deep conditioner. I think I will deep condition with my Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. It's not really great as a deep treatment, but it'll do. 

I also think that I need to do more up-do's. Wearing my hair out 99% of the time causes huge amounts of single-strand knots and split ends, especially since I only really moisturize once weekly, when I wash and condition. I apply Shea butter daily, but during hot weather applying Shea butter to my dry hair seems to make it worse. 

~What do you natural curlies use to moisturize dry, summer hair daily?

Hot Oil Treatments and Conditioner Washing

...As known as co-washing in the 'curly community'. Most curlies know what it means to co-wash, but for those who don't...it's basically washing your hair (same exact process; scrubbing, etc.) with conditioner instead of shampoo.

I co-washed today with Suave conditioner that was mixed with a bit of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration and Olive oil after doing a hot oil treatment for about two hours.
My hair was decently soft after the hot oil treatment and it was pretty easy and convenient to do. A hot oil treatment will be my 'default deep treatment'. When ever I don't have much time to deep condition, I can put some Extra Virgin Olive Oil in my hair and sit with a heating cap for 30 minutes to an hour, and be good to go.

Off to a Bad Start

Summer isn't even here yet and I've already been slacking off by doing last minute wash and gos.
Yesterday I had to go out and I had absolutely no time to do anything to my hair. So I scrunched some Hello hydration into my dirty, tangled hair, threw it up into a pony puff and went on my way. It looked decent enough to go out with...but I am not looking forward to de-tangling it!

I also need yet another trim. I was trying to do a search and destroy, and was compeltely overwhelmed. I have a lot of single strand knots and a couple of split ends.
I am not at a loss as to why that is. I know I havent been paying much attention to my tresses.

I might de-tangle add conditioner and braid for church tomorrow. I dont have the time to wash it, because I'm spending the weekend away from home and I left many things at home.

I'm hoping I really have the time to take care of my hair this summer...or i'll have a lot less retention than I did last summer.

Summer Hair

Today I realized that my winter hair is comptely different from my summer hair. My braid and curl looks and feels different in the winter than in the summer.

I'm going to have to come up with a 'summer hair routine'. Maybe more or less conditioner when Im styling or even different ways of styling.

Im also thinking about doing a few wash and go's and regular braid outs and twist outs this summer.