Cornrows and Twists

In this video, I decided to give the puff a rest for a week or so. I cornrowed my hair and twisted the front, middle, and ends of the cornrows. I LOVED this style on me and I will definitely continue doing this style especially to see how it looks as my hair continues to grow!!!

What do you think? 

Twists: Flat and Two Strand

Once Again I am twisting my hair as a protective style for the week. I cannot say much about this style because I really wasn't feeling it. I thought I looked like a boy with my hair braiding back like that. I won't do this exact style again, but I will try different variations- of course. I just love playing in my hair!!!!

My hair is growing so much and I am happy that I can do different styles with my hair other than the Puff- Don't get me wrong, I love being able to puff my hair, as you will see in more posts/videos, but I feel that my hair dries out faster and tangles a lot when it is in a puff.

Thanks

~Danie~

Protective Style Box Braids

I decided to get my hair braided on a protective style mainly because I was traveling to London to attend my cousins wedding in addition to vacationing. I did not want to have my hair out for fear that I would not have been able to style my natural hair for the wedding.

I plan on keeping my braids in for two months- so by the end of May I will be taking them down.

Check out my video below of the braids.

My hair journey since going natural and my thoughts

On October 7, 2012, to my surprise, I let my boyfriend big chop my hair. I wanted to know what my natural hair looked and felt like. My hair had been chemically processed since I was 5 years old so I was excited to see my hair.

After the Big Chop (BC), my hair did not curl- it did not look like other ladies who had their BC videos up on Youtube. My boyfriend told me this would happen; That my hair would not look like the other ladies because I have thick hair, bla bla bla. But once I seen my natural hair, I knew I had to embrace what I had.

I do not want to get caught up in curl typing- my hair is very tightly coiled in some places, my hair does not clump together and curl, and it shrinks A LOT when wet. I thought it would take forever for my hair to grow and I was growing impatient with my afro from October to December.

I measured my hair length every month from October to present, and my hair has been growing at a steady rate of 1/2 an inch a month. From December to March, I joined the Winter Castor Oil Challenged started by blogger and Youtuber Blakizbeautyful at Kinky Coily Curly Me and I continued with the Spring Castor Oil Challenge which ends in June where I have been applying Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO) to my hair three times a week and most recently started using JBCO as my hot oil treatment.

In January, I found my hair to be long enough for me to braid so I did box braids for a month or so, followed by cornrows and kinky twists, and now I am in box braids again until about May.

In March- I was able to two strand twist my hair and I wore it that way for a week. After taking the twists outs, I was able to put my hair in a puff! My first short term goal for my natural hair. I was so excited. Then I blew out my hair and seen how big my afro was. By keeping my hair in protective styles, I was not focused on its growth- A watched pot doesn't boil right! My length checks were just to figure out my growth rate.

Since going natural, I have realized that since my hair is no longer straight/relaxed, I am more willing to try out different styles with my curl texture. I would never have wanted my hair to be so short and I would never have considered leaving my house with it that short either. But now, I live freely and am eager to try new styles!!

I still have not found the hair products that make my hair stand out- I do not even have a stand out hairstyle yet- so my journey continues.

~Danie~

Cornrows and Kinky Twists Style

It was time for me to take down my braids and I wanted to do another protective style, so I chose to do cornrows and Kinky Twists. Check out the video below:

Summer Go To Styles

Since having my hair trimmed on June 1, 2012, I knew that I did not want to style my hair in ways that would cause my ends to split or become damaged, so I told myself that I would try to keep my hair up and off of my shoulders until I reached APL again. Not only does wearing my hair down cause breakage and split ends, but the weather can also add to this. Since it is summer, my hair needs to be well moisturized so that the sun does not dry out my hair and my ends. Here are some pictures of styles that I have been wearing:

 Flexi Rod Set on dry hair

Banana Clip Bun

Flat Twist Out on Damp Hair

Flat Twist Out Dry

Donut Bun

What do you ladies do to your hair in the summer?

No Direct Heat Challenge (June 1st -September 1st)

Relaxer and Trim- June 2012

Micro Braids and Sew In- 6 wk update

So it has been 6 weeks since my micro braids and sew in was installed with the Janet Indi Remy wet and wavy hair and it is about that time to take down the style. The box braids in the front of my head held up well, however, my hair has grown about an inch so my hair looks old when I pull it back to style it. The box braids at the back of my head are a different story. They do not look well at all and I think it is because of all the rubbing on my shirt it has done. The braids look old and fuzzy.

The Sew In: It is clear to me that my hair has grown as I can lift my braids from my scalp. I would love to keep this hair in for another two weeks, but it will interfere with my up coming busy weekend schedules for the month of June. The weave however is a tangled mess and I have to blame myself. Initially that hair was so soft and silky that it would not stay in a ponytail. I continued to roll my hair nightly with flexi rods and one night I wrapped my hair. At night, I would use my tangle teezer or denman brush to detangle my hair before using the flexi rods.

My scalp continued to irritate me as it does when I wear a weave so I used an applicator bottle with Sweet Almond Oil and Peppermint Oil to get in between my tracks. I was careful not to have the oil land on the weave, but I noticed a few days later that the weave was oily as if the oils from my scalp were running down the length of the weave which caused the hair to tangle and knot- in my opinion.

I used Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner about a week ago to wash out the oil. I let the hair air dry about 90% and then I blow dried the hair on a low setting. It did not help the situation. My hair would look nice when I left the house for work, but my the end of the day I had a birds nest. I even tried to use steam rollers which came out nice but once again, the end of the night was a nightmare.

The hair shed so much that there was always clumps of hair in the bathroom after detangling. I would love to try this style again, but I will use a more reliable brand of hair.

So for my last week with this style, I will be bunning it up!

My next style may be a 3/4th wig until I relax on or around June 2nd.

Micro Braids and Sew In

I had a promotional job interview and was lured into taking down my micro braids about two weeks earlier then I had planned. This is what my hair looked like after all the braids were removed.

This photo was taken on April 1, 2012. I had about an inch of new growth, but I did not see any change in my hair length. I had a religious event to go to on April 5th, so I decided wash and blow dry my hair for the week and on the 5th I flat ironed my hair (didn't take a pic sorry). My hair remained flat ironed and on April 12th I got it braided

Before getting my hair braided, I searched high and low for some Zury Indian Remy hair in either loose deep or French. I had used this Zury brand before in French and had a pack left over. I also had a pack of loose deep so I needed about two more packs to complete my head. Needless to say, I couldn't find it in stores.

So the week I was going to do my hair, I went to the beauty supply store and informed the lady that I needed 16 inches of a wet to wavy weaving hair that was good. She gave me the Janet Collection Indian Remy Wet and Wavy Hair.


Hair cost me about $60.00 a pack and I got 3 packs in 16 inches, color 2. I then came home and watched some youtube videos but the ladies did not give this hair positive reviews based on the shedding and tangling, especially if used with products- OH WELL.

On April 12th, I went to the hair braiding shop where I had my micro's done. 3 women worked on my hair and after four hours I was all done. The hair was cut off the tracks for my braids and the lady cut the weft for the tracks (SHEDDING I KNOW).

I went to the NYC Auto Show with the family and used flexi rods to create curls with the hair two days after the install.