My daughter has been one of my natural hair inspirations, and though we have different textures and she’s a child I regularly find myself adopting some of my haircare practices on her hair. One way I attempt to keep her hair moisturized and healthy is to utilize protective or low-maintenance styling during the week. That includes braids, twists or any other style that does not require daily brushing and combing. Also, I spritz her hair with water and olive oil each night to keep the style moisturized and she sleeps on a satin pillow. I’m not the best braider or stylist in the world, but I do what I can, while trying to avoid rubber bands, tight ponytails and grease. Check out Rea’s latest look: flat twists and two strand twists:
This is Rea after a trip to the pool and shampoo.
I started with three twists hanging down in the front. Sleepy head didn’t last 20 minutes.
One-fourth of the way through.
I had to pull her “bang” back because it was bothering her.
Duration: 2 hours
Products: Giovanni Direct Leave-in Conditioner, Olive Oil, Taliah Waajid Curly Curl Cream
Who says you can’t be fly and sexy with a short natural ‘do? Check out the ways I manage to preserve my “MILF-ness” (just made that word up) with my Teeny Weenie Afro.
I’m so excited to be featured again at Essence.com, inspiring other ladies to take the plunge and chop it all off! I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say they have been considering going natural but are hesitant about cutting off all their relaxed hair either because they don’t want to have short hair or because they are afraid that the texture of their hair won’t be “curly enough.” That last fear bothers me for so many reasons that I will not get into in this post, but I will say that you definitely have to posess confidence to be able to rock a short cut. For me, the fear was not there because I had been rocking short hair for a few years, since 2006.
I had attempted to grow my hair out, but it never failed– whenever my hair reached my shoulders I noticed breakage and damage that prompted me to head back to the salon and cut it all off again. Throw images of Karla of www.karlascloset.com, R&B singer Monica and actress Eva Marcille in the mix and I was constantly craving bold, sassy haircuts. However, I did decide that when I was ready to grow my hair out I would stop relaxing my hair. The fact is that my hair was its longest and healthiest when I was a little girl — when I was relaxer-free.
As it relates to “rocking my TWA,” I have enjoyed getting reacquainted with my hair and learning which products and practices help it look its best. In my next post, I will elaborate on ways I feel I have been able to rock my look with confidence. Have a great day!
I’m in a wedding in one month and when I found out that all the bridesmaids were wearing high buns, I immediately thought, “What the heck am I going to do?”
I didn’t want to straighten my hair and I knew it wasn’t going to reach that length in four weeks, so I was clueless. Thankfully, a friend/natural hair Godmother reminded me of my most trusted advisor, Youtube.
After a quick search for women with natural hair styling their hair in buns I was still a bit disappointed, because most of them had shoulder-length hair (at least.) Then, I found some less-watched, videos that offered some useful advice for women whose hair is still in the Teeny Weenie Afro stage. Below, you’ll find the video that I found most helpful and I’ll also let you know how I went about achieving my high bun.
(My hair isn’t even that long!)
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- Water
- Lots of gel (I used Ecostyler Gel)
- Elastic hair tie
- Stretchy headband that can wrap around your whole head
- Plenty of bobby pins
- Hair pins
- 1 Pack of Marley Braiding Hair
- Satin Scarf
STEPS:
- I shampooed and conditioned my hair in the shower, then applied leave-in conditioner and Olive Oil.
- I packed the front half of my hair with gel and brushed it into a ponytail… (more like a pigtail.)
- Next, I applied an ample amount of gel to the back of my hair, brushed it, and put the large elastic around my head. I wrapped it around twice. OUCH! This is not for the weak.
- I pulled the hair tie up gradually, making sure that my hair was smooth as I went. When I felt that my hair would no longer stretch, I pinned the elastic in place so that it would not slip. I was left with a small poof at the top of my head. Keep in mind that the larger the poof, the bigger your bun will have to be to cover it up.
- I proceeded to smooth my edges with gel, my hands and a brush. Any hair that would not reach my poof were pinned down and gelled like there was no tomorrow!
- Next, I took the braiding hair out of the pack and kept it folded in half. There was a rubber band in the middle, which I kept in place and wrapped around the original pigtail/ponytail that I started with.
- Once the hair was secure, I started twisting the hair into a knot, making sure to cover all the hair that was not in the ponytail, bobby pins and the elastic.
- Hair pins were used to shape the bun.
- I tied the hair down with a satin scarf for about an hour.
I spent today celebrating a family member’s retirement and relaxing. Check out my impromptu photo shoot in one of my favorite dresses purchased from a local boutique a couple years ago.
It was super sunny outside. I didn’t realize I was squinting on each photo until the shoot was over.
I’m headed out of town for the National Association of Black Journalists conference. Rea will be with Daddy for a few days, so in order to prevent days like this:
I got Rea’s hair braided. She actually sat through the whole experience (about an hour long) and here are the results:
For a while, I thought my hair was in a rut. The TWA was just too teeny. But I’m happy to say that I now see that my hair is growing and while I am enjoying my two-toned curls at the care-free length that they are, I look forward to much more growth. Check out the difference from Oct. 2011 to June 2012.
So basically I took down the Senegalese Twists that I had worn for about 6-7 weeks. Because of all the build-up on my scalp, this was so, so necessary:
CLEANSING
I mix apple cider vinegar with water, spray it on my hair and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then I proceed with a shampoo. In current rotation — Giovanni’s Tea Tree Triple Threat Invigorating Shampoo. It’s the first shampoo I purchased after the big chop — er, um, lil’ snip as I like to call my welcome to the natural world, considering that my relaxed hair was in a pixie cut and no longer than a couple centimeters long as it was. I can’t compare the shampoo to any others, considering that I haven’t yet had the need to purchase any more shampoo since going natural. (I do a lot of co-washing.)
DEEP CONDITIONING
When I deep condition I use Matrix Biolage’s Conditioning Balm for Dry, Stressed Hair mixed with olive oil and honey. No particular measurements. Honestly, I just squeeze it all into my hands, rub my hands over my head (to make sure that the products don’t go wasted if any falls,) then distribute. I cover my head with a plastic cap, wrap my hair with a scarf and go to bed for the night.
After waking up the next day, I rinsed before applying Giovanni Direct Leave-in Conditioner, a naturalista’s favorite, and sealing with more olive oil. Later that day I did a twist-out. YES! My little fro can be twisted out! Here’s the result.
Headed to work
Maybe I should get help with the back shot next time. No?
My sister and I took my twists out today. This is just a sneak peek at a future post in which I break down my hair care routine and show off the growth that took place while I was wearing the twists.
