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.
Tag Archives: TWA
Oh, hey Me!
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!
Filed under Hair
From TWA (Teeny Weenie Afro) to High Bun
UPDATED WITH PICTURES OF THE PROCESS!
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.
- Done!
What do you think?
Filed under Hair
Sunday Blues
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.
Boy was it hot!
Check out that view of the city!
Heels + Railroad + Pebbles = Danger!
Shoes: Steve Madden Luxe
Au Naturale
In about 2 hours, I went from this:
Hey there!
To this:
Ugh! Please ignore the bare face. PLEASE!
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?
POW! Loving the fro. How about you?
Filed under Hair
Hair today, gone tomorrow
Oh, hair… how I’ve missed thee.
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.
Filed under Hair
