My 2013 Fall/Winter Protective Style - Full Sew In (Selecting the Hair)

Tailgating at NC Central's Homecoming

You may or may not remember but my last professional style was for my birthday last year (November 2012) , when my stylist, Taji, created this amazing soft updo look for my my birthday and UNC Homecoming weekend.

Since then, other than going in for my regular trims, I have been styling my hair.  Needless to say, I And  my hair was in need for a break.  I decided it was time for another sew in.

I definitely wanted a curly look with virgin human hair so it could be reused.  I did not want to have to invest a whole lot into the hair.  One of my friends told me about buying human hair wholesale and so I checked out dhgate.com.  On there I found a store called "wiginchina".  I bought from this company for several reasons:

1. They had 641 transactions which meant to me they had been in business for a while.

2. They were categorized as a top merchant on dhgate.  This is their highest ranking.  

3.  They had 94.4% positive rating.  I read some of their ratings and they were about the quality of the hair and so I decided to buy.

Order:  100% Brazilian curly virgin hair in lengths, (2) 12", (1) 14", and (2) 16"

Shipping:  Quick.  I ordered on a Friday and received the hair on the following Wednesday.

Bundles.  The bundles were packaged in clear plastic sleeves with the lengths marked & each bundle had a thin mesh netting around it.

Here are pictures of the hair before it had been washed. All I did was run my fingers through the 16' bundle so you could see the difference when the hair had been frizzed out some verses how it comes packaged.  You can see here that the hair is a "natural brown" color.  You can also see how curly the ends are.

Then I co-washed the hair.  I used Tressemme Natural's Conditioner & detangled with a wide tooth comb & hung the hair to dry.

After co-washing

See how curly the ends are?  Gorgeous!

The next two pictures are showing the length of a the 16" bundle.  The track was longer on the 12 inch bundles and decreased as the length of the hair increased.  You can also see the density of the hair here as well.

Hair Hanging to Dry

Showing Length of the hair

My stylist used all 4 bundles of the hair in my sew in, creating a very full install. She left a little bit of my hair out so I could do a center part and an invisible part to the left of my crown in case I wanted to do an natural fall to the right.  You can see my center part here.  I have 2 strand twisted my leave out in the front.  The first picture shows the hair with no styling product.   Where I'm pointing on the left shows the side misted with water and styling mousse applied.  The 2nd shows it after the whole head had been completed.

  

 I will share what products I am using on this hair as well as provide a preliminary review of the hair in my next update post.

Don't Be Afraid to Style your Naturally Curly Hair

Hi Fellow Naturalistas,

Now that I'm a little over a year natural,  I realized that I've been way more creative with my hair as a natural than I ever would when I was relaxed.  When I was relaxed, I wore my hair in a bob. Period.  I mainly did this because it really never grew past mid-neck.  My maintenance routine was to keep a reoccurring 2 week appt at the salon, get a relaxer every 6 weeks, and in between my appts, wrap my hair every night.  Repeat.  This led me to years of never really successfully knowing how to do my own hair.

When I went natural, one of the things that was a goal of mine from the beginning was to learn how to "do" my own hair.  That included cleansing, conditioning, and styling.  Since I'd never done this before, it was a daunting goal, but one that was necessary.  Now I'm the first to admit that I'm not a creative genius when it comes to styling hair.  But with all of the natural hair videos & blogs that are available online I don't have to be!  I'll also admit that styling my hair is an investment of time but it's an investment that for "me" returns great dividends. 

I'm happy to report that, I primarily style my own hair (though I do treat myself to a natural hair stylist about once a quarter.  Shout out to Taji!).  I "know" my hair and most importantly I am comfortable with styling my hair.  Can I do all kinds of super complicated styles?  Nope.  But I have found a few go to styles that work for me & look forward to trying many others.  Many naturals often ask me, how did you do that style?  I could never do that!  My response is always, try it!  I direct them to the Youtube links where I've gotten my style inspiration.  Some try them and some don't.  Here are the words of encouragement I share with them and I now share with you:

1.  It's important to "know" your own hair.  Your hair is an extension of your body.  Just as you should know about your other body parts you should know what works for your hair.  Is your hair protein sensitive?  Does it like butters or creams?  Does it respond well to gels?  Is it thick, normal or fine density?

2.  Learning to style your own hair shows you what looks "work" for you.  Though I believe that anyone who desires to wear their hair natural curly/kinky/wavy can, I will say not every style works for everyone. There are styles that will compliment each natural's facial structure better than others.  Some of this is due to not using the correct products on your hair & some of this is due to the style just not working for you.  You'll never know what your options are if you don't experiment with a few styles.

3.What if my hair is not long enough to do the styles that I like? or My rendition of the style doesn't look like what I saw online or in the blog.  Don't distress.  Most styles can be tweaked to the current length of your hair.  Depending on your curl pattern, your style might not look exactly like someone elses. That's ok.  Every head of hair is unique.  This is also part of learning your own hair.  You'll see what your  curls will look like when styled a certain way.

4. I tried a style I found online and followed all the steps perfectly and my hairstyle was a FAIL.  Everyone, and I mean everyone who does their own hair WILL HAVE a hairstyle fail from time to time.    It's ok.  Doing your own hair is trial and error.  Sometimes your styles will not be successful but it's great that there are a number of quick fixes to still have your hair looking fabulous in a few minutes!  If your hairstyle attempt goes awry you can always mist your hair with some water and pull it back with a nice headband, create a bun if it's longer, and there is always the option of a puff!  During your next wash session, go to a trusted style that you've mastered for encouragement, and then when you get up the nerve, try the failed style again with some tweaks!

Failed Roll/Tuck/Pin

Converted to fab side puff with flat twist in front.

Have you ventured out of the box when styling your hair?  If not, what is holding you back?

Being Natural as a Teen - Reed Between the Lines

source

I don’t watch a lot of TV.  In fact, because I know watching TV is a great time waster, I try to be cognizant of the amount of time that I sit in front of it.  I only have 2 must watch tv shows and everyone close to me, knows not to even think about calling me during those shows. 

However, when BET started promoting Reed Between the Lines,I thought, let’s see what it’s about.  It appeared to be a family show (check), that showed a successful black family (check), dealing with real life issues (check).  So far so good.  I just hoped that the writing and acting was good too.

On last night’s episode “Let’s Talk About Hair”, the story line focused on Kaci, the teenage daughter and her internal conflict over whether to wear her hair naturally curly when a boy she has a crush on compliments her when she straightens it for a school play.

Source: BET.com

As the story began to play out, I was intrigued to see how this topic would be addressed.  Let’s be honest, many grown women have expressed concerns over how attractive they would be to men if they let their hair grow in its naturally curly state. Though the part of the show where Kaci is seen trying to put relaxer in her hair (in a totally naturally curly household no less) was a little extreme some of the emotions that she expressed were very realistic for a lot of women (whether the change is hair or other things). 

  

“You should avoid being with anyone who wants you to change.  Once you start loving yourself it all gets easier.”  -Carla Reed

I felt that Carla Reed (played by Tracee Ellis-Ross) did a great job in talking to her daughter and showing her how loving herself was key to drawing people in her circle who would have an interest in her because of who she was, not someone that she had changed herself for to gain their approval.  Many young women need this message and its key to building a woman’s self worth.  Changing your appearance, interests, and style may get people to have an interest in the fabricated you, but will YOU like the person you had to become to get their “friendship”?   To thine ownself be true is a powerful quote and it rings loudly in a situation like this.  Constantly altering your physicality, likes, and personality can wreak havoc on your self esteem.  It eventually creates a state where you feel like you’re never enough.  Honestly, you won’t even know if you are, because you’ve never let your authentic self shine through.  It’s an issue that unfortunately we see with many young women today. By loving yourself and being true to yourself you may not be Ms. Popularity, but you will be at peace with the woman who looks back at you in the mirror every morning. You might also find, as Kaci did in this episode, that being who you are is all you need to be. (Spoiler alert:  The guy liked her just the same with curly hair.  He’d liked her all the time.  He was just too nervous to approach her before and when they both got cast in the school play it was an easy approach.  Awwww!)

So did you see last night's episode?  What were your thoughts?