Hair Experiment: Mini Twists Take 2

After over a year since the last time, I finally decided to give mini/two strand twists another try. I'm liking it better this time around because I made them smaller and because more of my hair is natural but I'm still not 100% satisfied. The older the style gets the more I like it but I'm only keeping them in for about two weeks and it's been about a week now. The main problem is that the ends look thin compared to the rest of my hair but that's because my ends are still relaxed. Also the hair in the front of my head around the edges is thinner too which is annoying.

Anyway, I did the twists on freshly washed, blown dry hair (to stretch). The only products I used were Tresemme Heat Tamer spray to blow dry, 100% coconut oil, and Eco Styler Gel for hold. I followed this video by naptural85 on YouTube for guidance. I did them over two days (about 20hrs total) because I get easily distracted but a normal person can probably do them in a few hours depending on how small they are and how long your hair is. Here's a few pictures of the results.

Hair Experiment: My First Straw Set

After viewing several YouTube videos for tutorials, I finally decided to try a straw set on my hair. It was pretty time consuming but I liked the results. Also I could have been done faster if I didn't take so many breaks in between but whatever. My only problems are that I wish the curls would have come out longer to show the true length of my hair and I wasn't able to get the straws tight to my roots so they look kind of puffy. Other than that I really don't have any complaints.

I did this on freshly washed and conditioned hair. After washing I detangled and separated it into about 10 sections to work with. I used a total of 58 straws that were in a 100 pack I bought from Wal-Mart and bobby pins to secure the straws. I used more than one bobby pin in a few that felt too loose. It took me from about 12p-7p total to do everything (wash, condition, detangle, input straws). I let my hair air dry overnight which I probably wouldn't recommend. Sleeping on those straws was a challenge so in the future I'll probably sit under my hood dryer so I can take the straws out. The only products I used were Eco Styler Gel, water and Lotta Body setting lotion. I think I used a bit too much gel because the curls were a little hard when I took the straws out. I'm told this style can last up to two weeks but I'm probably gonna wash it out before then. I learned to do this style from YouTube videos by diimpulz and KYSBROWNSUGA so you can look them up for tutorials. Lots of pictures to follow....

As you can see the roots are really puffy.

After separating the curls.

 

I got sick of the curly fro after a few days so I just decided to pull it back into a curly poof. I like this look much better on me.

Hair Experiment: Two Strand Twist Out w/ Perm Rods

Lately I've been straightening my hair every time I wash it and I wanted to give my hair a rest from all the heat so I decided to try another two strand twist out. This time with perm rods on the ends of the twists. At this point my hair is about half natural and half relaxed. I thought that the twist out would look better now than with previous attempts because I have more natural hair but that wasn't the case. To be honest I wasn't too happy with my results.

I did the usual wash and condition before doing my hair and I also did a hot oil treatment with jojoba and tea tree oil. After I detangled and separated my hair into sections and began twisting. I don't really remember how many sections there were but I used about 30 perm rods so that was 30 twists. The only products I used were my Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioner and Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue. I twisted on wet hair and let them air dry overnight. Here are a few pictures....

I used end wraps the help keep the ends smooth and reduce frizz.

After removing the perm rods.

After separating to twists. It looks pretty messy and I couldn't do much with it.

In the end I just pulled my hair back and kept it pinned up until the next time I washed it. I'm not sure if I'll try this style again. It was very easy to do but I didn't care for the results at all.

Product Review: Tresemme Frizz Shield

I didn't realize how much of a problem frizz was until I spent the weekend in Atlanta earlier this year and my hair started looking crazy less than 2 minutes off the plane. The humidity down there is NO JOKE and I basically kept my hair in a bun the entire time because whenever I tried to wear my hair out it swelled up and just looked huge. I'm not a huge fan of big hair on me (in case you were wondering, I had my hair straightened).

More recently I was really excited when I first saw the commercial for the Tresemme Frizz Shield line which, according to the bottles, "lock out frizz and humidity." I thought it would be the perfect solution to my trouble especially with the heat being so crazy but to be honest, I wasn't impressed.

The products I purchased were the Tresemme Frizz Shield finishing spray for so-called 24 hour smoothness and the climate protection mousse "for all hair types." I used each product as the directions state and really saw no difference. I've used these products several times now and have not gotten my desired results. Each time I do my hair and leave the house it gets all big and almost puffy within a few minutes. Not what I wanted, expected or was promised by the product. I'll give them a few more tries just to be sure and so I don't feel like I've wasted my money but I probably won't by these particular Tresemme products again. However, everyone's hair reacts differently so feel free to give them a try on your own hair.

No BC for Me....

Hey, that rhymed!

Anyway, I realize it's been a while since I posted anything but to be honest there really isn't much to talk about as far as my hair is concerned. It's actually been months since I've done a real "transitioning" hairstyle. I've basically been using different techniques to straighten my hair every week. Yes, I know: Heat bad, no heat good. Whatever. Until someone can find a way for me to get a relaxed look with no heat and no relaxer, a flat iron is my best friend. I try to minimize the use of heat as much as possible. I only straighten my hair every 2-3 weeks and rarely, if ever, use heat in between washes.

About the big chop.....I'm tempted to just clip the rest of my relaxed ends because I really want to do another two strand twist or twist out hairstyle and I know it'll look better without those relaxed ends. However, my hair isn't as long as I want it to be right now. I'm really big on length at the moment so I'm not ready to cut yet. It's only a little over a year into my transition so hopefully by the end of this year or early next year I'll have the length I want. I'm also considering a bob type cut but I'd definitely have to wear my hair straight then so I don't know.

Even if I were to try something new with my hair I broke my camera so I couldn't post pictures anyway :(. That's all I really have to say for now. There's a couple of new products I'm trying out so I'll post reviews on those soon.

Peace out.