Sister Locks

 Hi!
I am currently on the east coast (Maryland) spending the holidays with my boyfriend and his family. I've been pretty busy, hence the hiatus from posting.

In regards to the title: no, I didn't try out the sister locks style. But this is my sister, and these are her locks. Haha!

She's a type 2 curly (wavy) with a few sections of 3 curls sprinkled throughout. Her hair is long and very thick and has the tendency to dry out easily. Because of that, it poofs out a lot, and she wanted me to try something on her hair to tame the poofiness. So, I told her we could try a braidout.

She really liked it. And though it still has a lot of volume here, it's a lot less poofy than normal. She also liked the definition she got because normally, her hair is so dry that her waves aren't very defined.

I will try to update when I have more time! =]

It's Been a Little While

Hi all! 

I've finally finished Fall Quarter of classes and today marks my second day back at home! 

I haven't posted in a while because I haven't been doing anything special with my hair. Just the usual straw set that's been lasting me 4-5 days. Don't mind my thrilled face here. Haha!

I noticed when I did this particular straw set, that I've got a good 4 inches of growth now.  By Christmas, I'll be 4 months into my transition. If i continue at this rate, I'll be at a comfortable enough length to do my mini-chop after 12 months. My goal was 16 months, but let's see how fast my hair grows.
You can see the clear differentiation in textures.

On that same note, does anyone know of any vitamins I can take that promote hair growth? 

Something else I noticed during this straw set, was that using the Cantu Shea Butter and following with the Eco Styler gel are probably going to work well to define my curls when my hair grows out. I say this because I realized my natural curls were really defined when I took the straws out after my hair had dried.

Until next time! =]


Click Here For My Straw Set Tutorial

I Broke Up With my Stylist Today

It's official! She sent me a text message asking me about scheduling a regular relaxer touch-up.
I let her know I was going natural and that was that.
No hard feelings here, she is an awesome person and I hope we DO stay in touch! =)

Happy December! =]

Twist Out Help?

So I'm still rocking the straw set. I'm telling you, it's my favorite! I wore another straw set this Thanksgiving weekend. It lasted me a full 5 days again and I'm still getting compliments and a lot of "this hair is so you." Hmm..a style closer to my natural texture is "so me?" Who'da thunk? Haha! Anyway, the straw set is quickly  becoming my staple transitioning style. =]

Anyway, I really want to try a twist out, but I CANNOT figure out how to twist my hair! The process seems simple enough, but each time I have tried it, The twists just unravel and don't stay put. Does it have to do with the fact that my ends are relaxed? Most tutorials I've seen feature girls with fully natural hair and I'm thinking the natural texture is what helps hold them in place. Does this mean I can't wear a twist out while I'm transitioning? Help!!! Are there any YouTube tutorials that have a good thorough explanation of how to set the ends of twists?  I really want to figure out the twist out!

Salvaging a Braidout Fail

On the previous post, I mentioned that I had my hair in braids and was going to take them out later. I was economical and used the clipped ends from the straws I used to do my straw set at the end of the braids so that I wouldn't have straggly ends.

However... I realized I need to stick to parting my hair down the side, because I don't like the shape of the hair when I part it down the middle. So, I had to figure out something I could do with a middle-parted braidout to salvage the work I put in last night braiding it. I ended up doing some version of a chunky flat twist with a side pony. A new style idea that I've never tried before.

This is the back:

Overall, it's just kind of...meh. I like the back, But I'm not crazy about the front. It's lopsided and uneven. It looks better than the full braidout did though.And with more practice, I think it can be really cute. Oh well, lesson learned-keep my parts off to the side, not down the center.

Another Growth Check - 3 Months

I am 3 months into my transition now, 

so here's another hair growth update on wet hair. 

It looks pretty long! However, I know that's partially because 

the relaxed ends are weighing the natural curls down.

Here's a head-on view.

It's funny how my new growth has a lot of body and volume, 

then when you hit the relaxed ends, it becomes so limp and lifeless.

I'm wearing braids right now.They'll be taken out for a braid-out  for church tonight and school tomorrow. =] Also, I just want to say thank you to my readers again! It's good to know there are people out there who are following my journey that I can network with and share ideas/advice. Thank you!

Straw Set Tutorial

I was listening to my iPod when En Vogue came on
and their album cover popped up on my screen:

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. 

Love the hair! =]

Because a few people have asked, I made a tutorial on how I do my straw set. I also included how I sleep to preserve and maintain the curls overnight. Hope this is helpful! =]

Homemade Hair Accessory - Little Black Bow

I wanted an accessory for my hair today, and decided on a bow. Unfortunately, I didn't have a black one to match my outfit today. So, I opted on making one myself. It came out cute and I took photos so I can easily remember when I want to make more of them, and of course, to share with anyone who wants to try it out too!

                                  I started off with a short piece of black ribbon.                                 

  

Then, I hot glued it into a loop

I took another piece of ribbon. 

This one was thinner than the initial piece.

I tied the thin piece around the center of the initial piece.

                        

This  is what it looked like.

 

Then I took a second piece of the same initial ribbon.

This piece was a little longer than the piece I looped.

I took a hair clip (I actually found that a bobby pin works better,)

opened it up, and placed the ribbon through it.

I then folded the ribbon over like this, 

and hot glued the fold so the bobby pin was secured.

Finally, I took the top half and hot glued it to the base. 

The finishing touch was to cut the edges of the ribbon at an angle.

The whole thing took about 5 minutes 

and it was just the thing I needed to jazz up my 'do.

This is my third day hair. =]

The curls are still hanging in there!

Second Day Hair

Day two of my straw set. I almost like this style better the second day with a little teensy weensy bit of frizz because the curls look more natural and less manufactured. The curls are still nice and defined and it's still got volume and bounce/body. I didn't pin the side of my hair today like I did yesterday. Instead, I just kinda brushed some hair from the front off to the side. It looked really cute though and I got so many compliments on my hair today that I really lost count! haha.

Webcam pics... not as good quality as my iphone photos, but they serve their purpose nonetheless. =]

I'm hoping to make this style last 5 days (until Sunday) and then I think I'm probably going to re-do the straw set. I really, really like it! =]  Until next time!

Click Here For My Straw Set Tutorial

Straw Set Results

After removal of all these straws...

...here are the results of my straw set.

They look sort of like dreads in this blurry photo:

Here's a better one from the side:

After piecing them apart:

After adding a side comb:

Ready to go!

Love! I'm going to try to milk this straw set as long as I possibly can. Stay tuned!

Click Here For My Straw Set Tutorial

New products!

I finally got the chance to go out and buy some new products! I needed a leave in conditioner (I bought the CAntu Shea Butter Leave-In) and something to hold styles and sets so I bought Lottabody Texturizing Setting Lotion and the Eco Styler Gel. I also bought more bobby pins, and some spray bottles for water and leave-in conditioner. Now, a couple days ago, I ran across some videos on youtube that showed tutorials and results for straw sets and flexi rod sets. I LOVED both of the looks, so, of COURSE I also bought 3 packs of flexi rods and 2 packs of straws. Ha! I was really eager to try out the straw set, so I set out to do it last night. It took a LOT of patience.

I put my new products to the test:

I washed and conditioned my hair and blot-dried it with a towel so that it was still about 75% wet. Then I parted my hair into 4 big sections (down the middle and straight across) and clipped three of them away. I sectioned of the chunk of hair into much smaller sections. For each of the tiny sections, I combed through some of the Cantu Shea Butter and then followed with the Eco Styler gel. Then, starting at the bottom of the straw, I wrapped the hair around all the way to the top and secured the straw with a bobby pin.

After much sectioning and wrapping, this is how my head looked.

Then, I wrapped them in a satin scarf and....slept in them. Yes, I slept like this.Why? Haha, because I'm determined to not use any heat on my hair if I can help it (which I can.) It was extremely uncomfortable at first, I had to find a position that would allow me to actually fall asleep - on my stomach with my face almost right in the pillow. Finally, I dozed.

This morning when I woke up, I realized I ended up rolling over onto my back, as the straws at the back of my head weren't sticking out anymore. They had bent to the shape of my head.

I don't have to go out anywhere for another couple hours, so the straws are still in my head and I will update with the results right before I leave the house!

Back to the real world...

...after a weekend at the Happiest Place on Earth! I bought 2-day tickets to Disneyland for me and my boyfriend as his graduation present this past June and we both had a BLAST. It was my first time going in three years and his first time ever, since he's not from California.

We got a chance to see the "World of Color" show...

it's amazing what Disney can do with just water and some lights!!!

As for the hair, I'm so thankful for YouTube and natural hair blogs for introducing me to the co-washing technique! I've been washing my hair with shampoo just once a week and then co-washing the rest of the week whenever my hair needs it. My hair is feeling softer. For Disneyland, I wanted something comfortable that would keep my hair out of my face when I went on rides.

So I wore a low bun or a half-up, half-down wash and go.

I'm still so tired and need more recovery time... haha. So I'll check in with everyone later! =]

Curl Pattern is Poppin! =]

My curl pattern is really starting to take shape. I know it can still change once my hair grows out more, but I LOVE what I'm seeing right now. It looks like it's in the 3c/4a range? It's still hard for me to tell - in another 3 months it will be more pronounced and I can't wait! =] The previous hair growth update I posted was my hair when wet, and these photos are what it looks like dry (with hair lotion and olive oil organic root stimulator in it.)

A little less than two inches of natural growth?

Curl pattern close-up.

Extreme curl pattern close-up.

I am loving my natural texture! I haven't seen it in so long. Its crazy because as soon as there was any sign of curl at my roots, I would run to the salon to get a touch-up relaxer and now I'm dying for more curls to show up! I'm just way anxious to get some more length...

My natural length w/ shrinkage and all!

(This isn't the longest it got either.)

I cannot wait to be there ^^^ again. 

Except this time I'll be armed with knowledge of how to take care of and style it.

I'm so excited! 

A Reminder to Myself

Lately, I've been getting too lazy to set my hair at night, so I've been wearing wash and gos, even with the different textures that are currently in my hair. I've been tempted to pick up the flat iron and press my hair. I have to keep reminding myself of why I temporarily banned them for the transitioning process in the first place: I know that if I fry the hair that's growing in, it won't look great when I want to wear it in certain styles. And that will half-defeat the purpose of going natural anyway. So while I haven't been setting my hair at night for the past couple of days, a wash and go is still better than a press. =]

Hair Envy:

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. 

Happy Halloween!

I had a blast this Halloween Weekend dressing up as Iron Man!

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. 

I've only ever bought a costume once in my life because I figure I can MAKE something for much cheaper and it will come out even cuter than what I can find in a store! The corset was $2 because it was missing a zipper (but I fixed that!) and the patent peep-toe pumps were $6, both from at Charlotte Russe! The most expensive part of my costume was my $20 pair of gold shorts. The gloves, and mask were super cheap on eBay! =] In total, I probably spent around $40 for the complete look. Cheaper than both the two iron man costumes they sell for women in stores. 

The first one retails all the way up to $119 online (WTH!) and the second one retails around $70.

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. 

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. 

I'm glad I stuck to the homemade route again this year.

 Iron Man needed a sidekick to go barhopping for the night...

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. 

and my boyfriend fulfilled that role. Haha!

I wore my hair in a simple wash n go. I figured it was the best style because I didn't want to sweat out a bantu knot out/braid out etc. on the dance floor! Since the mask was hiding my kinky roots, I didn't have to worry about blending the different textures anyway. Here, my hair has dried (it's still wet in the first photo) and now you can really see the straggly, flat, dead ends of my hair, thanks to excessive chemicals and flat ironing. =( 

Thank you to those of you who pushed that "follow" button on my blog and those of you who dropped in to leave me a comment! Thank you for joining me on my journey!

I hope everyone had a great (and safe) weekend! 

Happy November!