Throwback: Wiggin' It

So this would have to be at least a year ago that I decided to try a wig as a protective style and to change my look since I was getting bored or something.  At this time my hair was still at that awkward length where I couldn't do a whole lot with it.  Now, mind you, I am not a wig person or a weave person... AT ALL!  I'm just weird like that.  Anyway, I decided to open my mind and went to the hair supply store and tried on some wigs.  I decided if I was gonna get a wig it wasn't going to be long straight flowing hair, it would be a cute quirky short hair style and I was gonna rock it.  $50 later and this is what I came out with (see pic below).  It's real human hair and I was hoping it wouldn't look too much like a wig.    As soon as I got home, I had buyer's remorse.  My aversion to wigs and weaves came back super strong.  I hated it. I tried everything to make it look natural.  I even washed it and brushed the shit out it which was a mistake because it meant I couldn't return it.  Did I mention that my boyfriend hates it?  Well, when he saw it, he said it "looks like a wig" but followed it up with saying he's just not used to seeing me with straight hair.  But the look on his face said it all.

I teased it a little for a messier look because the perfectly straight smoothed look wasn't working for me but I still wasn't feeling it :(

Anyway, I never wore it outside the house.  I took a few pictures and I thought it was kinda cute in some kinda way.  The cut is a little quirky, the asymmetrical bangs are a little weird and off but I guess that's what I wanted.  Anyway, needless to say, it sitting in a drawer somewhere.  Hey, I tried!

"Hair" We Go Again

I took my twists out after 5 weeks of having them in. I was getting really antsy to remove them as I tend to do whenever I get my hair braided or twisted. They were also frizzy and starting to look messy. I was originally aiming for 8 weeks. Then, I thought maybe I could go 6 weeks. But, alas, it was time. Well, it was a much needed break. A break I needed from dealing with my hair and the break it needed from dealing with me. I'm kind of excited about my hair again. I'm hitting milestones so I know I'm progressing. My hair is past my shoulders now and can do a decent bun all on its own without the help of headbands and a million hairpins. It should be a little more low maintenance from here. Oh and to address one thing. I had posed the question in a previous post as to whether the trauma and manipulation of installing twists and braids is worth the period of low manipulation. My hair suffered some real trauma, I can see the places where it's broken and frayed from rough handling at the hands of the person who did my hair. What can I say, even I lack the patience sometimes to handle my hair gently so I certainly can't expect someone with nothing invested in keeping my hair healthy to have the patience. It's one of the reasons I choose to have my hair done only once a year at most. That and the fact that I realize I'm really not a fan of long hair. That's why I get so antsy to remove them. All that hair (hair that didn't grow out of my head at that) all over me just makes me cranky sometimes!

Anyway, I'm excited again about my big wild crazy hair. I'm gonna try to take really good care of it so it'll be healthy and strong again.

Protective Styles

I've diverted my attention to my travels for awhile but let come back to the true intention of this blog for a little bit and I will tell you guys a little bit about my protective style: senegalese twists.  It was quite an ordeal finding someone to do my hair but I really really wanted them for my trip so I wouldn't have to fuss with my hair, worry about things like frizz and shrinkage, having to stretch my hair, worry about tangles... you know, all the those great things about having natural hair (sarcasm).

Anyway, I got them done and immediately started to ponder if the trauma and manipulation your hair suffers from having braids/twists put in is really worth it?  Is it possible that it may offset the benefits of having your hair "put away" for a period of time?  Does it do more harm than good?  It's something to think about.

Anyway, I have had these twists in for 3 weeks now.  They were not installed by a "professional" so they're just barely hanging in but it's still a much needed break from dealing with my hair issues.  My boyfriend likes them and I've gotten quite a few compliments.  Best of all, I was able to enjoy my vacation without worrying too much about it.

Now as a far as caring for it, it's been very low maintenance.  Well, for the first 2 weeks, I was so distracted with my vacation that I forgot to or just plain didn't feel like moisturizing and sealing (my bad!).  However, I did get my hair wet with salt water and was forced to wash it.  I basically used the hotel shampoo, massaged it through my scalp and let the water and the runoff from the shampoo run through my hair while I raked my fingers through it to get it clean.  I then squeezed it dry, put in one large braid and immediately wrapped a tight towel around it to prevent frizzing.  I let most of the water soak into the towel for several hours ( I fell asleep), then I tied it down with my satin scarf for the night.   In the morning, it was dry, mostly frizz free and I had nice curls from my braid-out.

Since I returned from my vacation I have been spritzing with water or using my Curl Enhancing Smoothie and sealing with castor oil.  Last night, I filled my water bottle with water and what was supposed to be a few drops of tea tree oil but my hand slipped and I used way too much but I diluted it as best I could.  Tea tree oil is an antibacterial so it's a great way to keep hair and scalp clean and bacteria free.  I parted the hair and made sure to get all parts of my scalp directly and then I spritzed the length of my hair.  I still plan to wash it next weekend and hopefully keep them in an additional 2 weeks for a total of 6 weeks.  I do have to admit that the getting my hair wet and washing did cause quite a bit of frizzing although I took every precaution to prevent that.  But it needed to be done.  

And that's it!

I'm already thinking of what I'll do with my hair once I take these twists out.  I'm thinking henna and/or bentonite clay treatment (review), stretching it and maybe trying out a wash-n-go, something I have not tried in a long time.  I plan to purchase some Carol's Daughter products including the hair milk which I did a review on awhile back.  My "wash and go" is not a traditional wash and go.  It's done on dry stretched hair by adding a moisturizer such as the hair milk and activator gel to where the hair is "wet" enough that it curls a bit but without as much shrinkage.  I haven't done a wash and go since I had a TWA... it's been awhile.  I plan to try this because I'm exasperated with a the time consuming process of twisting my hair and twist outs don't seem to last long on my hair and I need something lower maintenance.  And I would like to wear my hair out more instead of in twists all the time.  This will just be a trial.  I'll let you guys know how this all goes.

Laters Naturalistas!

Work Hair

From time to time, I have and will continue to post pictures of work hairstyles that I come up with that look professional in the workplace and are also low manipulation/low maintenance and attractive.  The reason I do this is to disprove the myth that natural hair cannot be professional.  Yes, it's a challenge in the shorter stages because there really isn't much  to work with.  There is a very limited array of styles you can do with a TWA for instance in regards to up-dos and the like but I made it through that stage unscathed as well.  For those of you with hair long enough to do an updo, this is s style I kind of threw together last minute that I will definitely be trying to recreate in the future.  
This updo is done on a four day twist-out, (actually parts of the front are still twisted).  These pictures are taken from my second day rocking this updo.  I just tied it down the night before and it was still intact the next morning!
I basically left some of the front out to sweep to the side and pin.  The back half of what's left I loosely twisted upward and secured.  Then the top half I twisted downward to meet the bottom half and secured that too.  I tucked loose ends and smoothed the edges and voila!

 As you can see it's secured with bear claw aka butterfly clips. You can use hairpins too but I find hairpins are no match for my hair because it's so thick.  I have an easier time with these clips and it's more likely to stay put.  Also, using a lot of hairpins can break my hair if I'm not extremely cautious.

This is the view from the top.  I found this hairstyle very low maintenance.  As you can see it's very loose.  No pulling at your edges or giving you tension headaches.  And I got loads of compliments on it.  Try it out!

Giant Goddess Bun hairstyle: How To

Pull hair into a puff in the back.  Separate hair at center of puff so hair is all around in a circle.  Start at top with the loose hair and make a large circular flat twist (rolling inward and grabbing more hair as you go until hair is twisted all around) Tuck loose areas and secure with bobby pins.  Tuck the end and secure with bobby pins.  Use headband of your choice to slick hair back and hold in place... and voila!



The back doesn't look perfect, I did this in a hurry on hair that was not detangled but you get the idea.  Good luck!