Hair Challenge~ Protective Style # 1

so as I mentioned in a previous post I participating in a Hair Challenge: The 1in3, where the goal is to retain 1 inch of growth within 3 months.
The main component of this challenge is that you have to wear your hair in protective style, minimizing the amount of manipulation to your hair to almost none. As well as this will hide (hence protect) your ends also.

~So I spent the first week of the challenge using one of my (2) free weeks where I mostly just wore trusty dusty puff. but on Saturday I had said I was going to dedicate that entire day to nourishing and putting in my protective style.

So I started with a semi- pre poo, where I applied a little more than normal amount of Castor Oil to my hair. then I did a Bentonite Clay treatment. now what I did differently in this Bentonite clay treatment was I added some other Ayurvedic herbs I had to the treatment simply because i did not have enough bentonite clay to do my whole head. I mixed the herbs with Aloe Vera Juice, Apple Cider Vinegar, honey and a little condish (to aid in the consistency of it). now once i applied it to my hair completely saturating it I covered with Saran Wrap, a plastic cap, a scarf, a beanie cap and then a winter cap. I then left the house (had some errands to run of course). but of course the errands ran over and I end up leaving the stuff on my head for a total of about 4-5 hours. my only concern at that time was that bentonite clay can dry fairly quick and fairly dry. but for the most part it rinsed out without a bunch of issues.

After rinsing out my bentonite clay treatment i then commenced to mixing my DC (Deep Conditioner): I used the Shea Moisture Anti Breakage Masque which contains Biotin, Queen Helene Cholesterol hair conditioning creme, honey, wild hair growth oil mix, grape seed oil and Castor oil. I allowed this to sit on my hair on my hair while I took a mini nap/went to bed (it was actually bedtime anyway).

Woke up about 3:00 something that next morning and decided that I was going to make the flat twist into a faux bun my protective style since it was too late/impossible for me to do the other option of crochet braids at that point :-/

I was actually inspired for this particular style by watching the following ladies on YT: Joi Kene, Natural Chocolate and 4UsNaturals.

 


Of course I struggled a little on how exactly to do the flat twist in the front (and I think that I will have fun experimenting with different designs as I go). I also was unsure if i wanted to do my faux bun with the Marley braid hair or the synthetic braid hair. I decided to go ahead with the Marley braid hair and did more of a hawk kind of thingy instead of the ordinary just round bun.

Overall it turn out kinda cute.

So the good thing about this PS is that all my hair is twisted up and covered of course it also allows so many other advantages/opportunities:
~I could reshape the current bun, even including the faux bang
~I can take the Marley hair off and use the synthetic hair to create another bun
~I can get me a curly hair piece (like a half wig or ponytail) and attached it

Of course there is the fact that unlike if I had braided my hair (which I am not good at AT ALL) these flat twist may not hold up the entire time or they becomes too frizzy .

but back to some other good advantages to this style also is that I can get to my hair/scalp to cleanse & moisturize as needed also.
my desired style duration is going to be 2-3 weeks at best before having to redo the twists (lets see how this goes :-/ )


anywhoo my future Protective Style plans still include Crochet Braids and possibly a sew-in (partially; just saw a cute YT video that's inspiring me :-D)

Oh-Tay then Luvs, until next time HairPeace!!!!

~Hair Challenge~

So once gain I am participating in my 2nd Hair Challenge:

The 3in6 Length Retention Challenge Mini Challenge The 1in3~(Click Here)

    ~so in this challenge the goal is retain your length my eliminating a lot of manipulating of your hair for the most part as well as improving your inner health by increasing your water intake, your fruits and vegetables intake and encouraging it all with a vitamin. 

I am excited for both the retaining length part (cause even though its heard that i should be more concerned about health instead of length, right now I want LENGTH, sorry) as well as the health part.

As of today the challenge has started and unfortunately my natural is not in a Protective Style :-( . Prior to yesterday i had not had the time to really breathe for 5 seconds let alone do any one of the protective styles on my list, i have been so swamped. so in the challenge we have (2) one week of any styling allowance so i am just gonna chalk this up to one of those allowances while striving toward saving the other for my birthday week.

All in all this is going to be a challenge for me when it comes to leaving a style in my head for more than 1-2 weeks. i think the most i have left a style in my head is a faint over two weeks which was the last set of crochet braids that i put in. other than that a week tops is my limit. i mean i do suffer from HIH (hand in head/hair) syndrome so i start missing my coils. but anywhoo i shall press on.

this is coming just in time since i have decided to that my Birthday hair plans is to get my natural tresses flat ironed (professionally of course), so thus that shall be my motivation to follow thru on this challenge!!!

so my protective styles list consist of:

~~flat twist upped in to a Faux bun using the Marley braid and then another time using the synthetic braid hair

~~crochet braids using the Model Model Brazilian hair (i already got)

~~(possibly)Kinky Twist w/ added hair (the last time i did this i took them right down, looked to scaly)

~~(possibly) a sew-in (been kinda feenin for my "long hair don't care" look for a second :-D )

Sooo I'll be back through to post my various PS i come up with , so until then HairPeace Luvs!

~~Hair Fumbling & *Bun~Fun**

 On Saturday morning after an overnight moisturizing DC treatment i did my very first heat application to my natural, i blew dry my hair. i sectioned it into about 6 parts after detangling and applying the Giovanni Direct Leave-in. then at each part i applied the Shea Moisture Growth Milk to the whole section and then grab smaller sections applied grape seed oil to it prior to blow drying on low heat. after blow drying the smaller section i then clipped about 1/2 inch of my ends. i applied my mango butter directly to my ends and twisted the section.

After completing my entire head i simply divided each section into half, applied a dollop of Eco Styler gel to it and twisted.
Now my whole purpose of blow drying my  hair was to see if more definition of a twist-out would come out better in oppose to doing it on wet un-stretched hair......uhhmmm..... NO!!!!
sooo anywhoo, on Saturday evening i decided to try the other things i been wanting to try, the f aux bun with the f aux bang using the Marley braid. i had watched YT videos for about 2 weeks and was finally ready to attempt it.

For the most part it turned out ok, was not completely happy with the particular brand of Marley hair i had it was a much duller, dryer looking brand than what i had been seeing, but for the most part it turned out ok.

Check out my Bun-Fun!!~


i did  pretty good, its been close to a week i have kept this PS up. it has truly served its purpose and i will definitely be revisiting this style agian, maybe using the Kankaleon hair, saw a few vids on another variation of the this bun using that hair, so cool here are a few links to the faux bun tutorials i watched to acheive this look:
 ~MissGlamourGirl1992  Natural Hair (Protective Style): Faux bun and Faux bang tutorial :)

~NapturalGlamour   Marley Braid Natural Hair Updo

~WomanInTheJungle  (18) Faux BANG! BANG! BANG! Bun & bang/fringe styles

and this is the one i want to try next:
~ ImmaDstarra  Fake It Til You Make It



Until next time~HairPeace!

Betta Hair Day ~Hair Rant

So today is a new day, and a new hair day at that ...((i guess)). anywhoo, guess what came just in time to get me excited about my hair again.......my Henna!! yep pick up my package from Butters_-N-Bars for which i ordered the Jamila Henna and some Mango Butter.

Mango Butter is suppose to be just a little softer in texture as Shea Butter but basically serve the same purposes. and Henna is looked at as a strengthener of the hair as well as a natural hair dye. 

so no choir rehearsal tonight, so definitely thinking a henna treatment is in the work for tonight and tomorrow night i might try my hand at actually blow drying my hair and attempting a Twist-out on my henna-ed-blown-dry hair for Sunday!!! 

so i will come and update you on what's the happenings with my hair endeavors :-D 

~~Hair Peace Luvs~~

UUUGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! ~Hair Rant

 

Okay, so this morning i just felt like i have reached  my point. i tired, finished, done!!!! I am feeling like I am soooo OVER my hair right now.......I know I know I know , I am suppose to LOVE my hair and be proud and then some of you might be saying Natalie you don't know what you want to do, one day you miss/love your natural hair then others you giving up on it". well o h w e l l, say what you want I am very frustrated with my hair. I mean yes it has some growth to it but no hang time and technically i have been natural for a year + now and still NOOOOO hang time.

okay lets talk about how I spend literally hours twisting, braiding or whatever setting  my hair at night no matter how tired i am only to wake up in the morning to no definition, no curl no nothing but a cottony-looking bush of a mess. okay so then i say ok let me do some two-strand twists, thats a good low-manipulation style right.....WRONG, my thin, fine, sparsely  looking hair, every time be all scalp-y, meaning not full at all you can see ALL my scalp. and OMG shrinkage like really come on now and OH i know i am gonna get shunned by the natural hair police about this but~

I DON'T LIKE SHRINKAGE,  nah there i said it!!! .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................**sigh**

as stated in the title this is just a rant.....me and Jazmine will live to see another day, another style.


no, so seriously there are only a couple of things i want to try before completely throwing in the towel. and even in that please understand, throwing in the towel does not mean getting a perm because honestly my hair did nothing with a perm , i mean nothing wouldn't hold a curl or style to save your life soooooo, no perm..........so what does it mean........**ponders**.......uhmm I'll get back to yall on that.

But  anyway i am currently contemplating blow drying my hair ( which i have NEVER done since being natural) and trying my twist-outs, braid-outs on  blowned out hair and seeing what kind of results i get from there. also my sister is wanting to try out some products she got for straightening hair on my hair, still praying about that one.the crazy thing about it is i am more so afraid that it'll be all straight and THIN and FRAIL looking . 

already in fear that my hair is already damaged and i just cant recognize it, thus leading me to my other thought of going to a professional natural hair stylist, i have at least two in mind if and when i ever come up with the money :-/


soooo anywhooo that's that, if you have any comments, tips or anything on successfully blow drying and/or straightening my hair please feel free to leave a comment below!!!

~~Hair Peace Luvs~

#Confessions of a Product Junkie : ~My Mini-Haul

On  yesterday i picked up a few things since i had (really didn't) a lil change in my pocket. 

** At Dollar General**

  ~ i picked up the "Hello Hydration" conditioner for my co-washes, just to see what all the talk is about it. It was around $3.50, not really sure if that's a good deal or  not.
   ~then i picked up the Organics Olive Oil Deep Conditioner since i remembered i had ran out of my Organics hair mayonnaise which i usually use in my DC treatments.
  ~And because i was saying i  needed to pick up another thing of mascara and my friend told me about how she had the "Falsies" and it worked good i decided why not, at Dollar General this ran me $6.99, once again not completely sure if this was good or not.
  ~and lastly i grabbed another bottle of Biotin for the $5.49. At one point i was taking these regularly and then i kinda stopped and then losted the bottle so hopefully i can get back on it!.

* *At Walgreens**

  ~ i purposedly stop in because i came across a YouTube vid by BlakIzBeautyful where she was doing a review on her favorite product line Shea Moisture and she was going on to just say in a "matter-of-fact" way that one of the main reason she choose that type~ The Yucca & Baobab kind for fine, thin hair was that it had biotin in, and i thought well "DUH" exactly, why not use the brand that has the very stuff that i'm taking religiously in order for my hair to grow, this should just double the benefits right!!!
Well fortunately my sister gave me her bottle of the Volumizing Conditioner and the Thickening Moisture Mist so i was wanting to another product in this  line cause i am now convinced that this is what my tresses needed to boost volume as well as length. so i had to choose between the Thickening Shampoo, Thickening Growth Milk or the Anit-Breakage Masque. so i decided to get the masque because
         ~ 1) as far as shampoo goes i have decided to use Bentonite Clay as my cleanser and continue to just co-wash in between, 
           ~2)as far as the growth milk, i am currently using the Cantu Hair Lotion as my cream styler and so far its been cool. and 
           ~3) the most consistent, frequent thing i do to my hair is a DC treatment and in my DC treatment i usually combine a number of things in there which includes a "deep conditioner" as a base then i build on that so needless to say i can never have too many DC products.
So i started with the Anti-Breakage Masque and plan to finish the brand collection one product at a time (i am thinking the next product will be the Growth Milk).
  ~although i should have left the hair aisle at that moment , i looked down and saw sale tickets on the "As I Am" product. now so far i have only tried the Coconut Cowash of this line but off that alone i fell in love with this line and since then have been wanting to try other products in the line, but sometimes the prices weren't very friendly to me so i hadn't, but seeing how they were on sale i thought why not. i really was looking for the Coconut Cowash again but they were out and seeing how the other products were in categories i already had covered (condish, DC ,etc) i decided to get the Smoothing Gel because as i thought about i really didn't have a gel since i let my sister take my Eco Styler Argan Oil Gel.
  ~and on my way to the checkout  line they had a bin of hair accessories for a $1 and thus i was tempted to get the wide hand bands hoping they would one day come in handy. not being able to decided which polka dots i wanted i got all three; White/Black dots, Black/White dots and Cream/Brown dots.

also not pictured but i am soo excited about was my shipment form VitaCost which included my most wanted product since i became natural ~ the Giovanni Direct Leave-in (i also ordered some more CastorOil & Aloe Vera Juice)

~~Well until next time, Keep It Greasy (or not :-D )

Hair Randoms~ L.O.C. Method Get Thumbs Up

Soooo, just kinda wanted to share what i am currently doing to my hair now that i am wearing it out a minute. lately i have been wearing my hair for about a week or two then i'll do a protective style for about two weeks or so. i started doing that for 2 reasons: 1) when i was working out the extreme heat/sun (since i was working out outside at 5:00 in the evening the sun was beaming down) and the sun was literally making my hair crunchy every evening & 2) i mastered crochet braids and LOVE them!!!!

So anywhoo, i am in my non-PS week and i am trying something specific this go round. i am starting the LOC method, the LOC method is a method i have ran across several times since starting this journey. its basically a method where  you use a Liquid to moisturize, seal the liquid with an Oil, then seal the oil with a Cream. (For more information checkout Curly Nikki's post on it). Prior to my last crochet install i was doing the Kimmaytube Leave-in, and at first i was loving it but the last time i was not satisfied for some reason, but nevertheless i just thought why not try something else, i mean you will only know what best by trial & error sometimes. soo after cleansing my hair with the Knot Today Come Clean (since my hair had been up for three weeks wanted to be sure to truly cleanse my hair) mixed with my oil mix, i then DC with my routinely used ingredients: Queen Helene's Cholesterol, Organic's Hair Mayonnaise, V05 condish, honey, carrot oil, jojoba oil, castor oil, and ev olive oil. i actually let this set in my head over night because when taking down my hair i felt how overly dehydrated my hair was (due to the way i installed my crochet braids it was easy to get to my scalp), so i wanted to make sure that my hair got all it needed. so upon rinsing my hair i then applied as my Liquid the Taliah Waajid The Great Detangler to my head;

(the first five ingredients in this product are: deoinized water (aqua), vitamin E, olive oil, PEG-75, Shea Butter (Butyrospermum Parkii), Silk protein, Cocoa Butter oil extract

 My sister actually talked me into getting this product, i think on the whim of me not liking it she was going to get it( ...hhhmmmmm she might be out of luck) so then i commenced to combining my castor oil and jojoba oil together and use this as my Oil. both of these oils are high on my list of oils due to all of there great benefits i have heard/learned about throughout my journey (Click here for more information on the different oils and their benefits).

then lastly for for my Cream i used the Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Creamy Hair Lotion;

 ~i actually just  picked this up on a whim one day, not really sure if i was going to like it not considering i had been using the Cantu Shea Butter Leave -In and it had not been working on my hair, but i though oh i just need some kind of cream/moisturizer type of stuff to use instead of re-wetting my hair all the time (wetting it created extreme shrinkage at times when extreme shrinkage is not wanted). 

at this point i proceeded to section, detangle and twist my hair. upon taking my twist out the next day i must say i LOVED the way my hair felt, soft and fluffy like (kind of). i was very satisfied. that following night i set my hair by again sectioning, applying some more of the Creamy Hair Lotion mixed with the Castor oil and then flat twisting my  hair, and the following morning (this morning) again hair stills feel soft, fluffly (a tad bit on the oily side but i think that's partially due to the added Castor Oil). 

Overall, it seems like me and the L.O.C. method going to be cool!!!

until the next Hair Matter, i am out!!

Happy Belated 1 Year Natural~versary Jazmine

soooo decided to take my crochet braids out my head for 1) i am currently participating the Castor Oil Hair Challenge by KinkyCurlyCoilyMe and this was the final week and needed to do a length check for the final check-in and 2) i simply missed playing in my curly coils :-D ,( even right now sitting here with my hair in twist i want to take them down and just play in my hair).

so technically, when i go back and actually do a check i have been natural for over a year, according to my many photos on FB i realized that in my possible last relaxer was around May 2011. in June 2011 is when i did my 1st own quickweave, which resulted from me saying that in actuality my hair never did right with a perm so why not see what my hair does without one. so annywhoo i continued doing my own quickweaves all the way up til January or February of this year, when due to taking out  a quickweave and not having the money to actually go buy any hair at the time, i bite the bullet, took the plunge and wore my own hair. and we (Jazmine-my natural & me) have been journeying together every since.


unfortunately prior to my 2012 debut much care and attention wasn't given to my natural which is the reason why i feel my hair is no where close to the length it should be at a 1 year mark and thus the reason i didn't go all overboard with the 1 year nappiversary, but technically ~ HAPPY BELATED 1 YEAR NATURAL-VERSARY JAZMINE!!

1st day at work as a Natural

Jazmine's debut

June 2012 ~pre-1 year

August 2012 ~ a year & some change length check

 

1 year(&sum change) Puff 

Crunchy Hair Blues.....

soo after washing out my DC treatment i commenced to mixing my Leave-in up so that i could get to this brief detangling and then proceed to this braiding for my Crochet Braids install, sooo anywhooo... i have been doing the Kimmaytube Leave-In  lately so the other night during a trip to Walgreens i was in search of something and due to the advice of my lovely sister (a proud natural also) i got the ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner& Taliah Waajid The Great Detangler, sooo when mixing up my Leave-in i decided to use the TW Conditioner instead of my usual Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in (especially i was all out). while applying the leave-in i realized my hair felt different and it had a sound,kinda like a crispy sound, thats when it dawned on me that something wasn't right. so my guess it that either 1) my DC treatment was too protein heavy or 2) the Taliah Waajid Great Detangler  didn't go well in my kimmaytube leave-in, of course further investigation is going to have to be done.
~ but needless to say i am not happy right now with the crispy sounding hair, but i am going to proceed to this braiding for this protective style install, just going to make sure i load it my tresses down with oils and keep it moisturized even in the PS by spritzing my scalp with my water and oil mix.

~~I'll try and get back on my crochet braid install!! until then HairPeace&Grease!!!

Hair Matter Randomness ~1

So decided to join Blogger to try and keep up with my Hair Matters, Tumblr has evolved into something that it wasn't at first. anyhow, so in my first blog post i will share one of my DC (deep conditioner) treatment.
~so just a little catch up, my hair is currently about 4-41/2 inches, due to my busy schedule i do a lot of Protective Styling, for which i would say helps my hair grow as well as keep my hands out of my head. anywhoo while i am currently recovering form a minor surgery a week ago i took out my 2nd set of crochet braids and have been letting my hair just hang out. on today i decided to do a wash, with a quick pre-poo and followed by my deep conditioner treatment because i plan on doing yet another set of Crochet Braids between today and tomorrow. so currently sitting here with my DC in my plastic cap, my conditioner cap, and a regular cap and a winter cap. my DC consist of the following:

• Queen Helene Cholesterol Conditioning Creme
• Organics Hair Mayonnaise 
• NGR Deep Soulutions Deep Conditioner
• V05 Moisture Milk Conditioner
• yogurt
• honey
• tea tree oil
• carrot oil
• vitamin e oil

so once i rinse this out i guess i will then start braiding my hair for my Crochet Braids install. 

~ok til next time HairLuv to you all.