Hair Journey: Twist Out

It has been a while since I have talked about my hair journey. So why not update with a post about the hairstyle I'm currently wearing. Right now, I'm going with the Twist Out. The Twist Out is a simple style that isn't too time intensive and is easy to do. I tried this look once while I was transitioning and I didn't like it. My hair was still straight and the ending result was not to my liking. However, once my hair had a little more texture, I tried it again. Now it is my go to style.

I usually prep my hair by spritzing it with a mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 aloe vera juice. I then put some coconut oil in my hair and finish with a moisturizing cream. I have been using Cantu Shea Butter, which is amazing. After all of that has been put in, I flat twist my entire head of hair. The twists don't have to be exact. Just make them the size you want your curls to be.

After twisting my hair, I roll them up in wave rods. I have rods in several sizes depending on loose or how tight I want the curls to be. Right now, I go with a medium size rod. It has a nice spiral curl effect that isn't too tight. I usually let my hair set over night and take the rods out in the morning.

When untwisting, I but some olive oil on my fingers and gently untwist. If I rush, it makes the resulting curls frizzy. I run my fingers along my roots to get rid of any lines where my hair was part and give my curls a few shakes. Then I am done!

This takes much less time than the Bantu Knot and I still get the curly style that I like wearing. And I don't have to retwist and curl every night. I can usually go for about 3 days before I have to style it again. And I can always change the look by adding a few bobby pins here and there. I am really enjoying the ease and versatility of this style.

Hair Journey: Flat Twists

May marks the one year anniversary of when I last used a relaxer in my hair. I really thought I had my hair management down to science at this point. Nope! Not even close. My hair is showing me that I have absolutely no idea what is it is capable of doing and becoming. My hair has hit it's unruly teen years, where it has no idea what it is or what it wants to do in life. It just knows that it is different and it wants to shout that difference from the roof tops.

My ends are relaxed still, because I just can't bring myself to do the big chop. The roots have grown out beautifully; soft, wavy and healthy. But I don't know what to do with it. I haven't had this kind of texture in my hair since I was 13. This is the point where I am so tempted to put that creamy crack right back on there and forget I ever started this. To fight this urge, I am going to find a hairstyle that is works while my hair gets through this phase in it's life.


 


















I was never the master of cornrows or braiding in general.  I know how to do it, but they weren't the prettiest things one to look at. Recently I was introduced to the Flat Twist, the simpler cousin to the cornrow. The basic principle of between the two styles are the same. The only difference is instead of braiding three strands of hair, you twist two strands of hair. I don't know why that makes it easier, but it just does. Trust me.

It took me some practice with this hairstyle before I managed something that I was okay with wearing out in public. I watched several YouTube videos, Googled tons of images and read so many articles, I felt like I knew everything there was to know. I keep my twisting routine simple. I brush my edges and put aloe vera gel on them to tame some of the unruliness. I divide my hair into sections and decide what pattern I'm going to twist my hair in. I part with a rat tail comb (because it makes the parts cleaner) and add hair lotion to my hair before I start twisting.

While this style is a bit more frustrating to do, I think it is worth it. Once you get the basics down, you can be as creative or as simplistic as you want. And personally, I like styles that are versatile. Is flat twists something you have done before or have wanted to try? Any hairstyles you have wanted to do yourself, but got frustrated with? Keep practicing and one day you might surprise yourself.

Hair Journey - The Bantu Knot

So it has been 9 months since I decided to stop using relaxers in my hair. I can't believe it has been that long. I am 3 months shy of a year. It definitely does not feel like that much time has passed. Everything about taking care of my hair has changed over the past few months, of course. And that includes how I wear it. I have to thank my sister for finding this protective style for me. Well, for us, because she stopped using relaxers too. (Yay!) It is called the Bantu Knot.

Bantu knots after I removed the bobby pins

The simplest explanation I can give of what this style is, you section your hair into multiple twists and then wrap those twists into knots. You  bobby pin the knots into place and leave them in for several hours (usually overnight).

Results with the Smooth and Hold pudding

Then you take the knots down and GENTLY untwist (to reduce the amount of frizz). You don't need to comb anything. You might want to run your fingers through the roots in order to blend in the sections. Especially if you are like me and your sections aren't that perfect. And that's it. You are done.




 I do tend to put some kind of product in my hair before twisting. I tried ORS Smooth and Hold Hair Pudding the first time I did this style. And while it kept my knots really tight (resulting in a short curly style), it left a good amount of build up in my hair that I didn't like. So I switched to the ORS Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion (which I am in love with). It gave me a looser hairstyle without the build up. 

Results with Moisturizing Hair Lotion

Some other things I have tried is aloe vera gel and extra virgin olive oil. I still think the ORS Hair Lotion is the best way to go but if you don't have any, a good moisturizing agent should do the trick. I won't lie, this style takes time. It is not something that you can do in 30 minutes or less. But if you have the time, then it is definitely worth a try.

My Hair #3

Here we are at week 13 and now I am starting to run into problems. Well, not problems per say. Let's just refer to them as obstacles. I started a work out regimen recently and that means sweating. This creates one of my new obstacles. Sweat and my new growth just don't mix. Usually, after I wash my hair, the comb extension on my blow dryer does a pretty good job of keeping my roots and edges straight. But the sweat voids out that entire process. I am not sure what I can do in order to counteract that right now. I am not trying to use more heat, but what else is there?

Also, I haven't really been styling my hair so much as pulling it back and sticking some low key hair piece in it. I really don't have time to do anything involved with my hair in the morning, even I did have a clue what to do with it. I am thinking of going with a curly fro for right now. Yeah, it will be a pain to put in, but it will be a low maintenance hairstyle that I can keep up with for the rest of the week.

And talking about time, I have very little of it to myself nowadays. I have gotten slack with everything except wash days. And even my wash days have had a few steps cut out of them. I'm not using my hair lotion, my hair oil, nothing. I just put my satin cap on my head and go to sleep at night. I suppose this is the time where I have to figure out how to shove everything into my 24 hours. My hair just feels so much healthier now and I don't want to suddenly stop this process that I have started. Plus there are going to be times where my life is busy and I need to figure out to keep everything balanced. Might as well learn it now.

I am trying out a new shampoo and conditioner from Organix. I really liked their Moroccan and Argan Oil, so this time I am trying something with a little more protein in it. I noticed that there wasn't really anything in my hair regimen that had protein in it, just moisturizing. So I am going to try this out for a couple of washes and see how things go.

Well, one more month down and on to another one. Keeping my fingers crossed.

My hair #2

So, it has been 8 weeks (closer to 9 actually) since I put in my last relaxer. Now I suppose the real test of this whole hair journey begins. New growth is starting to become visible and normally around this time I would start thinking about doing a touch up. I can't say that I'm extremely tempted to do so at this point. Let's see how I feeling in a few more weeks.

I am quite proud of myself for keeping up with this hair regiment I started for myself. I wash my hair every week and go through the whole process of hot oil treatments, tea rinses, deep conditioning and keeping the use of heat down to a minimum. With the help of my younger sister, I learned how to do roller sets better. So I will probably be going with the curly look as more of my natural hair grows out.

For some reason, I have never been a fan of hairspray, gel, or stuff like that. But it is humid summer in the south right now, and there was no way I am going to be able to keep a curl that won't fall within 2 seconds of me taking my rollers out if I don't use something. So I buckled and got the Olive Oil setting mousse. I have to say, it wasn't too bad. It did leave my hair feeling a bit dry and crunchy, but I used the Olive Oil moisturizing hair lotion afterwards. My hair returned to being really soft and my curls stayed in place. I really like the Olive Oil line of hair care products. It doesn't leave my hair feeling like it is covered in something slick and greasy.

There are still more things that I want to try and do with my hair, like learning new styles, better ways of taking care of it and what not. So far, I haven't gotten tired of doing this yet. Which is good, because I'm going to be doing it for a while.

A blog about my hair

Girly update! I suppose this post was going to happen sooner or later, right? Those of you following my Twitter saw this coming. Three weeks ago, I declared that I was going to have my final relaxer put in. (I feel like the relaxer was angry about that, because I burned something vicious. And I usually don't burn at all). I have been wanting to go natural for a long time, it's just that I had no idea what I was going to do with my hair once I started down that path. For some reason when I thought about being natural, all I could think about was afros and plats. Then I saw all these girls/women with hairstyles that I loved. And then I was reminded that the press and curl still existed.

Plus, let's be honest, my hair is really just being ridiculous at this point. I have mismanaged this quaff for God knows how long and now it is going on strike. It's breaking, shedding, screaming, throwing tantrums, etc. So I am going to have to take the extra time in order to be nice to it and see if I can't get me some long sexiness out of it. (That sounded very dirty).

I think I have done more research on this going natural thing than I ever did for any project that I had in school. I feel like a lot of this is going to be hit or miss and talking things out with my hair dresser. Maybe I should call her my stylist. It sounds more flashy when I say stylist. Right now, I am able research all this stuff because I am in that lull period between "done with school" and "get a job". I'm a little worried, however, about keeping up a regimen once I start having pulls on my time. But I suppose I will cross that road when I get there.

Another worry I have is the time aspect. It takes over a year to grow a relaxer out. A year!! Closer to a year and half. And most hair journeys (as they are termed) take 3 years. Guess what guys? I don't think I have ever done any kind of beautifying regimen that lasted more than a month or so. Now I'm heading down some 3 year path. When I think about how long it is going to take, I don't even feel like starting. But what if in 3 years I had hair down to my waist? Would that not be amazing? It would my own hair, not hair that is mine because I paid for it.

I think another draw that is counter balancing the whole time issues is making my own hair products. There is something fun about doing kitchen cosmetics and DIY projects. This is definitely where the trial and error comes in. I am starting simple with making pre-poo oil treatments. I will probably add  more later on. I like the fact that I can make something cheaply with things in my kitchen cabinet and not have to spend gobs of money because someone has a fancy name written across the bottle.

I am going to start taking pictures of my hair tomorrow after I wash it. And I should take them monthly. Sometimes seeing a little bit of progress will help with continuing the process. And my stylist (hehe, stylist) did tell me repeatedly that it will be a process. Well, here it goes!