Category Archives: Hair Styles

Feb13

My love affair with Karen’s Body Beautiful continues….

Next up, the Hold It Hair Gel with Argan Oil! This is one of KBB’s products that I have never tried until I received my gift box from KBB so I was super excited to give it a go. Yup, it will be sold in Target this month! Check out KBB’s Facebook page often to see if they will be sold in your local Target :o) I imagine the price will be the same as it is on their site, $16 for 8 oz. and the same on CurlMart in the Lavender Vanilla scent. Mine is the Vanilla Latte scent which smells yummiful!!

Description
Karen’s Body Beautiful Hold It Hair Gel defines hair and provides flexible hold to maintain styles without hardness or a crunchy after-feel. With Argan, Aloe Vera and Marula Oils and Hydrolyzed Silk Protein. Creates a natural finish with a flexible hold. Works best for kinky, curly or relaxed hair.

Ingredients
Water (Aqua), Argania spinosa (Argan) Oil, Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose (Cellulose Thickener), Panthenol, Aloe barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Oil, Sclerocarya birrea (Marula) Oil, Hydrolyzed Silk Protein, Fragrance (Parfum), Citric Acid, and Silver Citrate.Glycerin Free. Paraben Free. Silicone Free. Sulfate Free

As you may know, I don’t wear my hair in wash-n-go’s much and when I do, I typically use gel products like this, this and this, so I immediately think “wash-n-go” when I see gels BUT I remembered I asked a curlfriend on Instagram how she made her edges look so tailored and pretty…she said gel!! So I was like BINGO!! That’s what I am going to use this for!! She said she uses eco-styler but I have found that if I use that too much it dries out my hair which usually mean breakage for me PLUS I am on a mission to nourish/grow out my edges so I am real cautious about what I do to them BUT I know KBB’s ingredients are all natural and actually nourishing to your hair so I figured this would be great for taming my unruly edges. My edges are not cute and whispy like Chili from TLC lol they are thick, and I feel make my hair look a lil untidy and rough at times lol. But the Hold It gel really helps make them look “cleaner”. My edges are more defined, lay flat and actually follow a pattern rather than make my face look like its being eaten up by a hairy monster lol. I just apply a little as I twist my hair up at night and tie a scarf over my twists. The scarf helps “set” my edges in place. I find that it holds better when you apply it on damp hair. I don’t have any flaky or white residue either! It has a little crunch, but the good kind of crunch…the kind that keeps your hair in place! The Argan oil makes your hair really shiny!

Check out the flicks below. Sorry for the EXTREME close-up of my fivehead lol just focus on the edges….the edges!!

So after I discovered how well this held down my edges, I became bold and put the gel to test……THE PUFF! If a gel can hold my hair in a puff, then it’s official and has won the battle over my hair lol! And guess what? It did!! The only time I can wear my hair in a puff is if I slick it back with a gel like eco-styler (again, I don’t like to use it too much because it dries my hair out at times) but now I can use the Hold It Gel!

On an old twist-out, I spritzed the outer part of my hair to soften and dampen it make my hair easier to work with as well as making the gel “set” better as it dries. I then applied the gel all around and brush my hair back using a boar bristle smoothing brush. Then I use TWO elastic headbands (Goody brand) and wrap it around twice.

Now the ESSENTIAL part for me to achieve a nice slicked back puff is I snuggly tie a scarf around the slicked back part to set my hair in place until the gel is somewhat dry (usually 30 mins or so; the amount of time it takes me to do my makeup, brush my teeth, etc). That’s what works for me because my hair is super thick. I am not sure if anyone else has to do that or if that’s normal lol but I gotta do it otherwise it looks messy and unkept (unless that’s the look I’m going for).

So with all that said, check out the puff below! I’m so excited how big my puff is now :o) It makes me feel regal since it kind of looks like a crown. I really like wearing my hair like this hehe. oh and these pics are actually at the end of the 2nd day after I applied the gel (I forgot to take pics on the first day) so my edges look a teeny bit less slick than they did the first day. At night, I just took out the headbands and snuggly tied the scarf around my head. In the morning, I just put the headbands back in and that’s it! I love this style because it’s easy, cute and it can last for like 2 weeks if you really want to push it :o)

So I have discovered that this gel is multi-use and definitely an essential for me now as I can use it on my edges every time I do twist-outs. LOVE ME SOME KBB!!!

Dec9

Hair Style : : Cornrows and Fro-Hawk…Sort of

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Lauren

Hair Style : : Cornrows and Fro-Hawk…Sort of

There truly are genuine, good people in this world :o)

Some of you may always hear me talk about N Natural Hair Studio in Silver Spring, MD, well the sweet owner, Angela, decided to take the time out to say thank you to the bloggers who have supported her since she first opened up shop earlier this year. She graciously offered do my hair…on the house! It was a PLEASANT surprise and I am more than grateful for her to acknowledge and thank her blogger supporters!

I got my hair trimmed, which I really needed since I hadn’t gotten one in over a year! To my surprise, I only had to trim off about a 1/4″! I think that was a first in many many years! I am telling you, it’s because I seal my ends religiously! Sealing has saved so much of my hair! She also washed and conditioned it which was my fav part, it was like I was getting a scalp massage at a spa! So relaxing after a long day at work. Ahhhh….. I need to do that more often lol

Here’s the final hair style Angela did for me! She cornrowed the back 2/3rds of my head in a freestyle design that she came up with and then I left the top 1/3rd out so I could twist it and make a half-mohawk-sort of thing. Either way, I loved it! I was kind of nervous to wear my hair in such a different style since I pretty much wear it the same every day, so it took a little getting used to. But I got SOOOO many compliments, I was even stopped several times by random people who wanted to know where I got my hair done or just to say they liked it. Made me feel all gushy inside hehe :o)

Check out some pics I posted from my instagram:

When I initially twisted my hair at the top, I did a bantu-knot twist out so that the curls on the top part would be tighter and not so huge (You can see in the first couple of pics above) but as the days went by it got bigger and I actually liked it more that way hehe. When I re-twisted it, I just did a regular twist-out and the front part dangled over my face a big more and had more volume.

At night, I just re-twisted the top part (or not, if I was feeling lazy lol) and then wrapped a scarf around the cornrows and tied it in the front. I rocked this style for a little over a week. I really wish I could have longer but ya’ll know I have a scalp that can’t ack right lol So I had to take them out and give my scalp a good scrub. It was fun while it lasted….

Thanks Angela :o)

Aug18

New Twist-Out Method!

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Lauren

New Twist-Out Method!

….well not really that new, new to my hair routine that is! I started to feel like my twist-outs were looking kind of weird, to me, in the front parts of my hair. It’s probably something only I really noticed but I just feel like they were really chunky and looked too intentional (if that makes sense).

Also, I tend to always part my hair the same and place my twists in the same positions so it was almost like my hair is got used to it. It just made it look…blah. I really would prefer my hair to look more “less intentional” so I was researching on how other naturals do their twist-outs, like how they part their hair or if there was some technique that I wasn’t aware of, something! lol

I started skimming back through Naptural85′s youtube videos, which I love because her texture is similar to mine and her tutorials are always so unique, simple and easy, and there it was…..her Twist-Out Method 101 tutorial video! I had seen it before but didn’t pay much mind to it since my twists weren’t a concern back then.

I embedded the video below so you can watch the pro do it. In short, she sections her hair and then does a re-mix of flat twists to create already separated twists. So in essence, you don’t have to really separate your twisted sections once you untwist them—they’re already separated! This REALLY helps reduce the frizz that can be created when you are separating the twists and helps retain the curl pattern. Less manipulation. It really helps break the monotony I was experiencing with my twists in the front of my head.

So I just adopted her method and adjusted it to my needs, my main concern was the front of my hair so I only do the semi-flat twist thingys in the front. I am no where NEAR a good at doing flat twists in general, I don’t think I could ever attempt to wear mine outside the house (they look that bad lol), I need a LOT more practice to be able to….anyway, for the purpose of a twist-OUT, I can manage because they don’t need to be neat or uniform to achieve a perfectly imperfect twist-out!

I try not to section my hair in the same place (helps reduce hair thinning as well) but in this instance, the pic below shows how my twisted sections look like close up. I started at the top of my head and twist down towards my forehead. This way, my hair falls better than if I were to start from my forehead and twist back.

The pic below shows how I sectioned it from the top. I opted for an off-center side part. I believe there were 3 “flat-twisted” sections in the front and then 2 on the top. I don’t always do each section as “long” I could break these sections in half and still get great results. My thing is to switch it up to break up the monotony and not let my hair get used to how it is sectioned so that it will fall better (I hope I am making sense -.-)

The pic below is of an untwisted section. Each piece of hair added to the “flat-twist” will end up as its own separate piece when you untwist it so you have to be a bit strategic about how big or small you want to pieces to be.

So if any of that made sense….your hair will look something like this!

You can see the curls are more piece-y and don’t look so intentional because they aren’t following the same ole pattern of single twists. It looks more like my hair pattern grows this way.

From now on, I plan on doing my twists like this all the time so you’ll be able to see more pics of this method. I did this in my WonderCurl product experience post in case you missed it and Girl Behind the Curl Jennifer does this for her twists…go figure because her twists look amazing every day.

—-Do any of you swear by this twist out method!?

Aug6

Hair Style :: Dry Bantu Knot Out

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Lauren

Hair Style :: Dry Bantu Knot Out

Hey!

So the other day I posted my last experience blow-drying my hair and if you noticed at the very end of the post, I mentioned a YouTube video I remembered from awhile back. (here’s the link to the video if you missed it).

One of my fav natural hair bloggers, Elle of Quest for the Perfect Curl, made a video tutorial on how she did heatless curls by bantu knotting her hair on blow dried hair! Now, I often bantu knot my hair while it is wet and in two-strand twists (check out this post about that) but I have never done it on dry hair. So since I had just blow-dried my hair, I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to give it a shot….and I love, love, LOVED the results! Why had I NEVER done this before?!

So the process was super easy. I will do my best to briefly walk through what I did and note my observations but I highly recommend you watch Elle’s video for a live, step-by-step version on what she did. She’s always thorough with her videos/tutorials. Here it is below if you wanna watch it right now…

So I started out with clean hair, of course blow dried, and sectioned my hair, like I would for any regular twist-out. I never use a comb to section the parts, I just use my finger and do my best to make it straight lol. But one thing I would say is that for this particular style, using a comb and making the parts neater may make it look more polished. I say that because a regular twist-out can be a bit messier and camouflage the parts more whereas the bantu knot curls need to be a bit more uniform.

So as I made each section, I applied a SHEA-based product (Oyin Handmade Whipped Pudding was the product of choice becase I tend to get great hold with it). I emphasize SHEA because you do not want to use a water-based product because it will revert all the effort of blow drying!

I then twisted each section (not two-strand twist, just simply twist as if you were twirling your hair around your finger) and then wrap the section around itself and secure it by tucking the ends at the base of the knot. I also made sure I applied a sealant to the ends, just because it’s what I always do lol. The knot should stay on its own but if it keeps unraveling, you can secure it with a bobbi pin.

As you are wrapping the knot, you will notice that it gets tighter, which is good because your roots will be smooth but be careful not to make it too tight because you don’t want to pull your hair out due to the tension! Plus it makes it a bit uncomfortable to sleep on! Some people just let the knots set for few hours but I let mine set overnight. I just tied my scarf over the knots. It was a bit uncomfortable at times but nothing unbearable :o)

Here’s what the knots looked like the next morning.

It was so nice to see my roots all smooth and straight! lol

oh, yea my kitchen in the back…you like that huh lol

The next pic below is of the sections untwisted but not yet separated. You can see the curl pattern!

And here are the final results!

(here’s that weird flash hair color again lol my hair is not that color)

The next pics are of my hair at the end of the day. It has been ridiculously HUMID these past few weeks and I discovered that this hair style does not do well with high dew points. As much as I love this style, I think I will have to reserve it for the winter/fall (or if move back to Cali hehe). Check out how my hair got a bit poofier by the end of the day, specifically my roots. The ends stayed defined. I guess because my scalp sweats a lot and creates like a mini steam house on my head lol

The next pics are of 2nd day hair. I did not retwist or anything, I just tied my scarf over it at night. It wasn’t as pretty as the first day, the curls kinda fell.

By end of the 3rd day, my hair was a mess. I retwisted my hair one time over the course of the week and it didn’t look anywhere near as good/fresh as the first day. So this style is sort of a 1-2 day hair-euphoria lol but anything after that, you gotta start all over from the beginning…at least for me.

I will definitely have to try this style out again when the humidity goes away and see how long I can make this style last. I’ll also have to experiment with other products and see if I can get better hold. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

— Have you tried this style? How were your results?!

Jun28

Hair Style : : Bantu Knot Twist-Out

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Lauren

Hair Style : : Bantu Knot Twist-Out

If you’ve been following my blog for some time now, you’ll notice that my hair looks damn near the same in almost every picture lol That’s because I wear a twist-out almost every day BUT on occasion, I like to add a little pizzazz in my life. I do this by…..wearing a bantu knot twist out!! YESS!!! Oh the excitement…

This style is a hybrid of a plain twist-out and a classic bantu knot—you just bantu knot the twists. It’s super easy and a cute way to change up a plain ole twist out. You twist and wrap each twist around itself and tuck in the ends at the base of the knot. The knot should stay by itself but if it keeps coming undone, you can use a bobbi pin to hold it in place. (<—-YouTube “Bantu knot toutorial” and you’ll find a bazillion videos on the technique).

This go round, I used the Shea Radiance Moisture Milk and Curl Defining Cream with my beloved Oyin Handmade Sugar Berries pomade on the ends.

This is what my knots looked like:

This is what my boyfriend says I look like. Nice.

Image via Google

I made the sections way too small for my liking and I also twisted them a bit tighter than normal but it still came out cute. The bigger/looser knots = bigger and looser curls. Smaller sections/tigher knots will give you more of a Shirley Temple/flexi-rod type of curl.

Here’s the knots unraveled but still in the twists. You can see the curl pattern it forms:

Here’s the twists untwisted. This wasn’t my best attempt at this style since I got a lot of frizz. You have to allow enough time for the the knots to dry since the hair is compact and the inner parts of the twists can still be damp. If you are really pressed for time and you’re hair is too damp, you can unravel the knots and blow dry the twists for a lil while until they are dry enough to untwist.

Check out the end results below:

This is 2nd day hair. I did my “Lazy Girl Style Protector” method i.e. tie a scarf over it and call it a night lol:

May10

Hair Style : : Slicked Sides Front Poof

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Lauren

Hair Style : : Slicked Sides Front Poof

You like the post title? lol no clue else how to describe this one haha

Here’s another quick and easy style I like to do at the end of a twist-out (before it gets too rough looking without having to retwist). You can also do this on an old wash-n-go too. It’s a great style when you want your hair out of your face or you want to show off some cute earrings :o) This is also “work-friendly” for those who may be a bit more conservative or nervous about wearing their hair out.

I sectioned my hair in 3 parts with my fingers, leaving that majority of the back out— the two sides and the front.

I clipped the front section out of the way. I spritz the sides bit to soften up the hair then I slicked up the two side sections with my trusty Eco-Styler and then bobbi pinned the two sides at the top my head using about 3-4 pins.

Once I secured the sides, I then released the front section and formed a poof, and then secured it with another bobbi pin. I then fluffed the back to create more volume.

That’s it!

The dope thing about this style is I can make it last like 3-4 days. All I do is tie a triangle shaped scarf around my head, smoothing down the edges, and put a bonnet over the back part (to protect from my pillow). All I have to do in the morning it re-fluff the back and the poof a little bit. I didn’t even have to take out the bobbi pins lol Can we say..LAZY! oh well lol it’s all about improvisation….

NOTE: This is probably the truest picture of my hair color. That flash always makes it appear a bunch of crazy colors lol

Apr18

Wash-N-Go with Aloe Vera Gel — Attempt #1

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Lauren

Wash-N-Go with Aloe Vera Gel — Attempt #1

Heyyy :o)

I went back to experimenting with wash-n-go’s and I tried it with pure 100% organic aloe vera gel. I used the Lily of the Desert brand from Whole Foods (~ $10 for 32 oz.) which is actually a dietary supplement and made for ingestion.

Let me start of by sharing a few of benefits of aloe vera for hair:

Is a humectant so helps moisturize hair
Aides with hair growth and prevents hair loss
Balances pH (acidic) of hair and scalp
In an anti-inflammatory so it can help with dandruff, itchy scalp and Seborrheic Dermatitis
Detangles, reduces frizz and strengthens hair
Gel can be used as a styler and creates curl definition

Here’s a few ways you can use Aloe vera

AV juice can be mixed with water in a spray bottle as a refresher (LOVE doing this, I put a little essential oil in this mix as well)
Mixed with coconut milk and wheat germ oil as a shampoo
If applied directly to scalp regularly, can aide with hair loss and alopecia
Mixed with oils like EVOO or Jojoba as a conditioner or pre-shampoo treatment

Now, I love products with aloe vera in them, I always get good results so it made sense for me to try the actual product in its pure form. I heard about people using it as a styling gel so I picked up some gel (not juice) and gave it a try…

Here’s what it looked like when I first applied on wet hair:

Here is what it looked like completely dry at the end of the day:

People, don’t be deceived! lol The pics make It look like it a great wash-n-go but let me tell you how dry and flaky my hair was! I don’t know what the heck I did wrong! OMG I was so upset. This had to have been an “operator error” because I know aloe is wonderful for hair and gives great results any other time. I did get great curl definition and it was easy to apply (I thought the liquidy consistency would be a mess but it wasn’t) but my hair was just dull and a bit crunchy when it dried. It was no where near shiny or soft….

…being the resilient person that I am, this will not be the end of an aloe vera gel wash-n-go for me!!! lol I am determined to get this right dangit… perhaps I was too heavy handed with the application? or maybe I need to apply a sealant immediately after applying it? I used it by itself which clearly was not enough. I know the properties of aloe make it an astringent so perhaps that had to do with the dryness. I need to go back in to the lab on this one…

Despite the issues, I was able to make this WNG stretch for a few days, on day two, I refreshed it by allowing the steam and droplets from taking a shower, to “re-activate” the gel and fluffed it a little with some oil and a little Shea Moisture Coconut Smoothie. This is what I got on day 2:

*sigh* I just can’t seem to get WNG’s down :o( . There are some naturals who swear by them and can rock them every day but my hair is so thick and super coily that it takes forever to dry. AND to actually get some volume, I have to constantly fluff my hair throughout the day to avoid looking like I have a jheri curl lol. Also, to avoid frizziness and get curl definition, I almost always have to use something that has the hold of a gel but it usually leads to crunchiness and dryness. I will say that Kinky Curly Curling Custard has probably given me the best WNG results so far. I dunno, I think I need to experiment with more products for WNG’s (suggestions please!).

When I try it again, I’ll be sure to post the results. If all else fails with Aloe Vera gel, I’ll just try it the other suggested ways for hair and ingest it for the internal health benefits it has…. #shrugs

—- Help :o(