Hair Experiment: A Month With No Heat

Now I know going a month without may not be much to you (or most naturals out there), but as someone who wears their hair straight about 98% of the time, it's a lot for me. I can probably count on one hand the number of heat-less hairstyles I've worn since being fully natural. Now that the weather is starting to warm up maintaining a straight look is much more difficult as we all know. That humidity is the devil I tell you!!!! With that being said I'm on the lookout for cute natural and heat free styles I can wear for the summer without worrying about edges, my hair reverting, etc.

At this point I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with my hair other than some flat twists up into a high bun or a ponytail like in my last post. I would do mini twists again but my arms hurt at the thought so I'm not gonna go there this time. I really just want to find something low maintenance that I can easily do myself. I'm also still on the lookout for natural hair salons in my area but there's a few possibilities I just haven't checked out yet. Right now my hair is straightened (as usual) and I'm really not gonna have time to try anything new this week so my month probably won't start until next week sometime (I really hate experimenting with my hair when I have things to do in case it looks crazy and I don't have time to fix it which is why I'm waiting).

I guess that's all for know. I'll let you know how it works out.

Hair Experiment: Flat Twists w/ Two Strand Twists

As I said in my last post I've been wanting to do more natural styles and use less heat so I finally did. I tried this style early during my transition but this time it came out much better. The style was done on freshly washed and conditioned hair and it was still wet/damp when I started twisting. The products I used were 100% coconut oil, Eco Styler Gel and Shea Moisture Curling Souffle. I'm not sure if the Shea Moisture actually did anything but it's been sitting on my dresser neglected so I just wanted to use it for something.

For this style, I made a part across the top of my head from ear to ear to separate the front and back. Then I did two strand flat twists in the front of my head followed by loose two strand twists in the back. I actually like how it came out and I'll probably do this style again because it was really easy. I can't give an accurate time for how long it took because there was a while when I was just staring in the mirror trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to do. I also did a little experimenting with the twists going in different directions before I finally settled on something so I'm sure it took a lot longer than it should have.

In the future, I'll probably try to flat twist the hair up towards the crown of my head instead of down towards my neck. Here are a few pictures of the results.

My flat twists are getting much better if I do say so myself.

Pardon the stuff in the background...lol

View from the back.

Au Naturale

Did I spell that right?

Anyway, it's been almost two years since I decided to go natural (June 2010) and at this point I'm almost fully natural. In fact, why not just go ahead and say I am fully natural. Okay, so technically I still have some relaxed ends here and there that will probably get cut the next time I decide to trim my ends or whenever the mood strikes which could be anytime. Either way it's safe to say that my hair is about 99% natural at this point.

I still wear my hair straight pretty much ALL the time because whenever I try a natural style I hate the way it looks on me. For some reason the styles I try never look how I picture them looking in my head. Maybe it's because I do everything myself. I don't know. I want to start going to a salon but I haven't found one so for now I'll just do what I've been doing. I really want to try doing more natural styles I just need to find ones that suit me but I'm working on it.

That's pretty much all for now, just a little update. Here's a few pictures of the fro just after washing and adding some highlights. Peace out!

Freshly washed hair. I'm not sure if this was before or after adding my leave-in.

See, you barely notice that I still have some relaxed ends in there.

It doesn't seem like it but you can see the highlights better with the hair straight.

Product Review: Tangle Teezer

I've been hearing a lot about the Tangle Teezer for a while and thought briefly about trying it out eventually but it wasn't a big deal. Recently I was in my local beauty supply store and just happened to look over and see the Tangle Teezers so I decided to go ahead and by one to see what all the hype was about. It was only $9.99 which isn't bad if you ask me. Lord knows I've paid more for hair products in the past.

Overall, I'd say it get's the job done. The Tangle Teezer definitely glides through my hair easier than a comb or my imitation Denman brush but otherwise it's not anything spectacular. It's good for what it does but I'm not sure that I would recommend it to others as something they would HAVE to try. The one thing I really don't like is the shape. It's made in such a way that it's comfortable to hold in your hand but you can really only hold it a certain way. I appreciate the freedom of having a handle. Anyway, it's good for what it is and it does make detangling easier but to be honest I haven't used it very often. I'd give it 3.5/5 stars.

Hair Products: Kinky-Curly

It's been a while but I just wanted to share a product that I've just started using that I really like. I'm sure it's nothing new to those of you who have been natural for a while. The product is Kinky-Curly's Knot Today leave in/detangler. I am in love with this stuff! The first time I used it it left my hair feeling super soft and it smells good. Also as an FYI, a little goes a long way with this conditioner. I bought it from Target but I can't remember how much I paid because I've had it for a while now but I'm sure it was reasonable. Definitely give this stuff a try if you haven't already.