Hearts, Love, and All That Mushy Stuff

Happy Valentines Day! 

Xoxo, Elle 

Still Holding Strong

My wash n' go that is. It's all trial and error baby!

Twist Out vs. Wash N Go

Twist Out/Braid Out: Pros -

Low Manipulation Hair StyleCan be done on wet or dry hairHair is set overnight and is dry by the morningLength of hair can be stretchedSize of twists can determine the outcome (smaller twists = tightly coiled, larger twists = looser curl)Heat is not required

Twist Out: Cons -

Drying time (sometimes) cannot be predicted

Style has to be planned 

Wash N Go: Pros - 

Low Manipulation Hair Style

Quick style, can be completed within ten minutes and you're out the door!

Curl definition is more noticeable

Wash N Go: Cons -

Welcome to: "Shrinkage City"

Dealing with wet hair for at least an hour (unless you use a diffuser to dry hair)

Tangling and Matting of hair

Single Strand Knots

Finding the method that is perfect for you

As you can see, both styles have their ups and downs. It's all about what works for you in the end!

Natural Hair Dilemma...Update

Eureka! I think I've found a solution.

The good ol' fashioned bobby pin!

Dampened my ends, added a teeny weeny bit of Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel. Rolled the bottom of my hair up and secured with a bobby pin.

I managed to get four days out of this style without having to use rollers at again (except for that stubborn piece in the front). I definitely need to find a better solution because I am really trying to protect my ends more...and manipulating/toying around with my ends probably won't help me too much!

Product Review: Shea Moisture Curl and Style Conditioning Milk

I keep winning when it comes to my product junky purchases lately. It at least makes my addiction to buying natural hair products worth it in the end!

I grabbed a bottle of Shea Moisture's Curl and Style Conditioning Milk last weekend. After deep conditioning my hair, I applied my leave in conditioner (currently using lacio lacio leave in conditioner) to damp hair. After applying my leave in to my sectioned hair, I squeezed about a nickel sized amount of the Shea Moisture Curl and Style Conditioning Milk and applied this to the sections. I followed up with my essential oils and twisted the sections. I sealed my ends with the Jane Carter Nourish and Shine  (love this stuff!)

Here's a little snap shot of my results. I will have much better results coming soon from my SLR, these were unfortunately captured with my crappy HTC Evo camera.

Work With What You've Got!

Monday's Hair 

Wednesday's Up-Do

Inspired by the chicas at: Around The Way Curls

Natural Hair and Green Smoothies

Natural Hair this week: The Braid Out vs. The Rollerset 

Health Kick!

For the new year, I am trying to (hint: trying to) change my diet. I am exchanging fried and breaded chicken for grilled chicken. White rice for whole grain rice. Regular Pasta for Multi Grain Pasta. And also trying to drink 36 oz. of water per day. I know this is half of the required amount. But I've come a long way. 0 oz. of water was the norm for me...

Another regular addition to my diet is vegetables. Previously, I would occasionally eat vegetables maybe two or three times a week. I'm bumping it up now. And when I can't steam them or boil them, I'm throwing them in my smoothie!

Currently I am using the Yoplait triple berry smoothie packs and blending in 10-15 leaves of fresh spinach. Yum!

Rollerset, Part Deux

Second time's a charm (in 2012...not mentioning the other failed experience in 2011).

This time I tried the magnetic rollers. This is my second time experimenting with these rollers. Let me tell you about the frustration, increased heart rate, and the incessant thoughts of quitting that enter my head each and every time I try to use these rollers. But I didn't give up!

I found that the more I rolled, the better I became. My problem is just getting the rollers tight. But I am going to continue to work on this. I used the mohawk method, which is shown in the video below. (This video was a huuuuge help!)

Roller setting method with magnetic rollers:

• Washed with Suave Clarifying Shampoo.
• Conditioned with Herbal Essences Conditioner.

• Sectioned hair into three columns (Mohawk style)
• Rolled hair on a 45 degree angle going upwards, pulling taut while rolling up toward the roots

• Blow dried hair for one hour to make sure it was completely dry
• Flat Ironed roots with heat protectant 

And without further ado...pictures! (I apologize for the tired face in the pictures.)

Fresh out the rollers

Combed into place

Flat Ironed Roots

Placed on 4 flexirods over night

Voila!

Fresh Start To The New Year: Roller Setting Challenge!!

I'm so excited, I have signed up for my first "challenge" as a blogger. (I usually sign up for challenges on longhaircareforum.com.) It's so funny that I stumbled across this one. I have recently become interested in roller setting again and was trying to google the 2012 roller setting challenge on lhcf in hopes of getting some tips and tricks. I stumbled across Longing 4 Length's blog and discovered that she (EbonyCPrincess) was starting a 6 month long challenge. I emailed her and here I am today.

I have already tried two rollersets in the past week. The first set was done on orange and purple flexirods. I wasn't particularly satisfied with the set. It was a bit frizzy in the back and didn't hardly have any *swang*. This is when I began to do some research online and discovered the error in my first set.

1. My hair was not drenched during the process. I learned that the hair has to be very wet when it goes on the rollers.

2. I don't think my hair likes LottaBody setting lotion. I diluted the mess out of this stuff and it still gave me a blah set.

3. I was not rolling correctly on the roots.

4. I took down the rollers before they were completely dry. Big no-no.

Here are some pictures of that set:

Ahhhh! Oh nooo!! Fuzzy hair!

After dusting myself off and trying again with my new techniques, tips, tricks, and magic...here is my current rollerset:

Don't mind the junk in the background...lol

This is my best rollerset to date.

The products I used:
Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in
Kinky Curly Spiral Spritz
Coconut Oil
Water

The only problem I have with this set (I know...I know, I'm such a perfectionist) is that I used orange and red flexi rods and the coils came out a bit too tight for me. They are gradually loosening up but next time I will definitely stick with the purple rollers in the back and orange rollers in the front!