Today's Braidout

I'm trying to avoid the wrath of Hurricane Irene, staying indoors. Hopefully all of the folks on the East Coast that are in the path of this storm are inside staying safe. 

And here is my braidout....a little curlier than normal, I think because I only braided half way down before setting my hair on the flexi-rods.

New Product Alert: SheaMoisture Curling Souffle

In all natural hair yummy goodness, SheaMoisture (one of my favorite natural hair product lines) has a brand spanking new product:

SheaMoisture released this statement about their new product: 

"Our new Curl Defining Gel Soufflé with Agave Nectar & Flax Seed Oil launches in Target on August 28! A curl gel like no other out there -- it defines curls with agave nectar, sugar cane extract and pectin, not plasticized chemicals such as PVC and polymers that can buildup up in hair, as well as cause dryness and damage! And, it's all-natural!"

The product is said to contain Agave Nectar and Flax Seed Oil. I have been dying to try flax seed but all of the tutorials on YouTube appear so involved...now I have a pre-made concoction to try it with. I'm excited and will be stalking my local Targets and Walgreens this weekend to get my hands on one.

I will be posting a review ASAP for this product. Stay tuned!

The *Easy-Going* Braidout

My hair has multiple personalities. Some days she's a wild child. Other days she's laid back. Then there are times when she is elegant.

Today she's rather calm.

Fall Fashion : Blazers

The Fall is approaching faster than I would prefer. I am a Summer baby, I dream of living on an island where the temperatures only range between 65-100 degrees. But if I had to pick a second favorite season, it would definitely be Fall.

I love that I can wear some of my favorite items like jackets, boots, and of course blazers. Yes, I am admittedly obsessed...I mean OBSESSED with blazers. I love the versatility of them. They can dress up something even as ordinary as tights or jeans. They can be worn with a cute skirt and a pair of heels. I could go on for days....

Here are some of my favorite celebrity fashion looks involving blazers that I am going to try to incorporate for the fall...

What are some of your favorite "loves" or "likes" of the season of Fall?

Red Hawt with a Fourth Day Braid Out

I have been pushing this braidout that I did on Monday...and I'm still loving the results! Each night I rebraid with 8 braids and seal the ends with my Hot 6 Oil. It just gets fuller and fuller each day.

So why is this post red hawt? 

It's my lips that are red hawt (or red hot...lol) of course!

I have been trying to dibble and dabble at makeup lately. I'm a plain jane girl. The most I will put on my face is eye shadow, my Lancome mascara, and some lipgloss. But I've been hearing rave reviews about Covergirl's Outlast Lip Stain. So I picked some up in Wild Berry Wink. It's a sorta bright red (but not lady of the night red). Once putting the lipstain on I put a little bit of lip gloss on my pouter and voila. 

I love the look. Especially for my introduction to makeup 101 phase. Maybe by next year I can step it up to MAC and NARS...we'll see!

How To: The Glam Braidout

Braidouts are my number one style. It's the butter to my bread, the water to my ocean. Ok, maybe that's a bit over-the-top, but I truly love braidouts! They help me to achieve the definition with waves and curls that I wish I could obtain with a wash-n-go. My braidout routine is extremely simple and lasts for a week. I could make it last longer if I decided to or turn it into a bun or other protective style...but I am committed to my weekly deep conditioning treatments.

Here are the steps that help me to achieve my braidout...

The Products: 

This is by far my absolute favorite conditioner.
My braidouts probably wouldn't be the
same without it. It truly gives me moisturized,
cotton-candy-textured hair. Love it! 

Kinky Curly Knot Today

Kinky Curly Curling Custard

Hot 6 Oil

The Process:

After washing my hair, I section it into four sections.
I apply Kinky Curly Knot Today to each section
and detangle it with my wide-toothed comb.

In order to help me keep each section detangled, I
twist the detangled sections of hair as I go along.

My hair dries slightly in the process of
detangling, so before I get ready to apply the
KCCC, I make sure that my hair is drenched.
This helps the product to work more
effectively. I find that if my hair is not
soaking wet when applying it, then
I'm left with a hard, crunchy braidout
the next day.

I apply a smidgen (no, I'm not even kidding...like a pin head sized amount) of
KCCC to my hair. Then I apply a dime sized amount of Hot 6 Oil. For this
braidout I did about 5-6 per section. I find that smaller braids give me
less frizz. 

Getting my sexy braiding on... 

All done...finally!

Ugh, my ends never curl! 

That's why flexi-rods were invented!
I love the small yellow colored flexis.
They give me a tighter, more realistic
coil/curl.

This just adds to my sexy nighttime look...yeah right.
I then cover my head with a satin bonnet. My hair
dries overnight and...

 The Results:

To maintain this style, I simply rebraid nightly.
I put eight braids in my hair and seal my ends
with oil.

Length Check Pictures

I'm itching to claim BSL, but I'm going to wait until I'm actually at the bottom of the bra strap to get excited. My length check comparisons are from the end of May to the middle of August. My SO asked for me to straighten my hair this weekend for his birthday, so I bit the bullet and straightened it. It only lasted for two days though with the humidity and the rain. I'm going to try to stretch my next heat treat to October or November. I'm happy to see that I am slowly but surely making progress in my hair journey! The nice part about these pictures is that both were taken within a day or two of a trim.

(BTW, the reason I am stretching my hair in the picture on the right is because I did not straighten the roots and also because the humidity caused my hair to shrink a bit. The picture on the left is from when I got my hair straightened at the Dominican Salon...it was bone straight, no need for stretching.)

 My curls...before they disappeared :*(

I've Been Featured!

On the fabulous K.D.'s Hair Gurl website! I love her website and I have been watching her hair journey for over a year now. Her posts are always informative and inspiring. I am so glad to have been featured as a Healthy Hair Icon on her website!

Check me out!!!


Healthy Hair Icon: Danielle

Baby...Why Do You Do Me So Wrong?

This weekend I decided enough is enough. I have been dealing with unexplainably straight hair on the bottom 1/4 of the hair on the front of my head. I could wash it, scrunch it, twirl it, zap it...nothing would get this hair to curl. I already have a loose curl pattern in the front, but these straight hairs were just hanging there limp and lifeless. When doing braidouts, I rod set my ends on my entire head. But the front would only last for about half a day before the curl would drop. 

Then I thought about it. 

This has to be heat damage. Well, well, well.

See, I have dropped the flat iron like a bad habit. I only straighten my hair about four or five times a year. But about two years ago, I was straightening my hair daily. 400 degrees on the flat iron. I'm surprised I'm not bald. Though the hair has grown out, the bottom 1/4 left is from the heat damage of these daily flat iron sessions. 

So I said to heck with this. 

Snip, snip, snip. Goodbye heat damage! You can see here clearly, the hair was damp, but where is the curl???

(Please excuse my hanger strap sticking out on the side of
this shirt -- my new fav H&M shirt for 14.50! What a steal!)

I only took one hurried picture this weekend of my braidout, and here it is with my "new look". The hair in the front, which used to be APL, is now to my jaw when stretched. I like it though. (I will take better pictures this week and post them on the blog). This style only lasted for one day. I put about 8 twists in my hair instead of rebraiding....and it was a complete disaster. I couldn't even stand to take a picture of it. It was just that bad (hence, the title of this blog post: "Baby...why do you do me so wrong"). Later!