Vacation Hair Ideas...

Earlier this month, a friend of mine and myself decided that we were in desperate need of a get-away. We booked a four day vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was exactly what we needed! Sun, beach, good food, pool side, night life, etc. 

This is not the first time that I have gone away with the question of: "what will I do with my hair!?!?" Once upon a time I did have the remedy for hair during vacations: weaves and braids. But this time, I said...nix that, I'm going to try something different. I decided that when I was going to the pool or to the beach I would wear braids, and during the rest of my vacation I would maintain my bunning regimen. It worked fantastically! And the best part of it all was that my hair did not get in the way of my fun vacation!!

Deep Conditioning Basics

Every week, once a week, I treat my hair extra special. I take her out, wine and dine her, and show her a good time. Well...I don't do that per se...but I do give her a special treat.

In my hair journey, I have learned to determine what my hair needs. I usually do not stumble upon a protein problem, my main problem is moisture. But I do not forget to occasionally give my hair a light protein treatment.

Today, I made sure I focused on moisture, since that was what my hair was lacking. Ok, let me rewind...three days ago I put a henna treatment in my hair. I have an issue with patience and let me tell you...henna requires a lot of patience. My patience usually spirals downwards toward the end (the washing out 15 minute session). I learned my lesson this time. Apparently I did not wash all of the henna out and boy did it zap the moisture from my braid out. So my goal today is to pump moisture back into my hair with my deep conditioner treatment.

I mixed Cream of Nature Argan Oil Conditioning Treatment and Hot 6 Oil together. 

A really simple mixture of approximately 90% Conditioner and 10% Oil. After washing my hair with Shea Moisture's Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention shampoo...I then divided my hair, with my fingers, into four sections. I do not detangle the hair at all when doing this. After sectioning my hair, I slathered the conditioner and oil mix onto my hair and proceeded to braid each section.

Once done braiding I then slathered the remaining amount of the conditioner and oil mix onto each braid. I'm not a stickler for time today so I will be leaving this on for about an hour or so....

If I wanted to go even deeper I would sit under the hair dryer, but again...with my patience...no, it's not happening. Sorry hair. But the plastic bag does help to keep the hair and products moist and a bit warm (depending on the temperature of the environment you are in of course)!

Buns, Buns and More Buns!!

I recently dug into my photo archive and pulled these out as motivation for my one month bunning challenge. These are some buns that I have done within the past year.

This is what I would like to call the "flop over bun". This is not an actual bun. But the hair is protected. This is usually what I do when I feel to lazy to create a bun. To achieve this look, I pull the hair through the hairband 3/4 of the way.

This is a bigger more full looking top bun. I have to use about 10 bobby pins to achieve this look. I divide the hair in half and loosely twist one side around while adding bobby pins to secure the hair. Then I do the second side in the opposite direction. 

Low Bun. These are easier to achieve than top buns. I do these on soaking wet hair, literally right after I get out of the shower. This allows for the gel to slick my edges down so that I can get the sleek look you see in this picture. I then create a donut bun with my hair or using a sock.

Sock bun. I love these. They make my hair look extremely full. This was done on an old twist out but it can be done on wet hair as well.

Putting the "UMPH!" in Protective Styling

Yesterday I made a decision.

It is time for me to fully commit myself to protective styling. The phrase alone (protective styling) gives me goose bumps. I just always feel like protective styles look amazing on everyone else besides me. For those that have been living under a rock, protective styles are hairstyles that do not involve wearing your hair "loose". It is generally done to protect the ends of the hair, though some protective styles manage to protect all of your hair. Examples of protective styles include: braids, twists, buns, wigs, weaves, extensions, updo's, hair pieces and the list goes on and on.

The protective style that I am going to "work with" this month is bunning/up-do hairstyles. The tricky part about buns as a protective style is that you can still experience breakage, if you are not bunning the correct way. One of the most important tips to remember when bunning is to make sure that your hair is not too tight in the ponytail. Also, make sure that you are using a ponytail holder that is not damaging to your hair. Goody Ouchless Ponytail Holders are a great example! In addition to this tip, you also want to remember while protecting your hair, don't neglect it...so make sure that you are still moisturizing and sealing your hair and especially those ends!

Lastly, beat the "protective styling blues" by adding accessories to your styles. For buns, head bands (especially those cute ones with the flowers on them), colorful bobby pins, and even earrings can add instant glam to a protective 'do. So whatever protective style you choose, have fun with it and cheers to your continued hair health and growth!