Wash N' Go Video

A new video showing my Wash n' Go process. Enjoy!

Karen's Body Beautiful - Sweet Ambrosia Leave-In Conditioner

Reaction: I'm not a fan of products that label themselves as "leave-in conditioners". Especially considering that my current leave-in conditioner is actually a regular conditioner (Tresemme Naturals Conditioner). But this product right here. Wow. I haven't done twistouts/braidouts on a regular in almost a year (way too much breakage and manipulation for my fine hair strands). Once in a while I like to switch it up from wearing my hair in wash-n-gos or buns. And this is the go-to product these days for when I want to do the big switch-er-roo. The results when using this product are soft, bouncy, very defined (and long lasting definition) hair. It also smells pretty damn good too. 

I have tried this product with my wash-n-gos (actually this is the first way that I tried the product). I absolutely do not like the product as a leave-in for wash n gos. I am convinced that this product has to "set" in order for it to work correctly. If I want to stretch my wash n go's I use this product and put my hair in two braids the night before. I then dampen my hair and prepare it for a wash n go. I get good results this way as well.

How I Use This Product: I use this product on wet hair. Soaking wet hair. The product is very watery so I make sure that I divide my hair into about 8 sections and distribute the product evenly throughout those sections. I then add a little oil or use my shea butter concoction. I braid or twist the sections down to the end, spiral the ends a bit for a curl, and put on my satin bonnet. My hair dries in about 8 hours depending on how big the braids are. I've even used this product on four braids and another time on two braids and had equally amazing results.

My Score: I give this product an A. It would've been an A+ but I'm not a big fan of the price (16.99 at Target). And for the amount you get that could put a hole in my pockets fast. Yet I haven't found a product yet that leaves my hair the way that this one does. 

Natural Summer Hairstyles 2013

Hearts, Love, and All That Mushy Stuff

Happy Valentines Day! 

Xoxo, Elle 

Second Day(dream) Hair

I finally did it ya'll! I achieved second day hair that I actually like! And it was cake!

All I did was dampen my hair in the shower, and reapply my products in larger sections (Tresemme Naturals, Miss Jessie's Pillow Soft Curls, and Shea Butter mix ).

It cut my drying time in half. My hair was almost completely dry in about 15 minutes (versus the 45 minutes that it usually takes).

Back to Normal

My definition of normal that is...

Currently using:
Tresemme Naturals Conditioner (as leave in)
Miss Jessies Pillow Soft Curls (as styler)
Raw Shea Butter and oils combo (as "sealer")

Natural Hair Styles Video - Remixing the Wash n' Go

Hey loves, I posted my newest Natural Hair Video where I show you how to achieve the following hair styles:

1) The Side Swoop

2) The Twist-n-Curl

3)  The Fro-Hawk

Thanks!!

Cantu Shea Butter Coconut Curling Cream Review

Last week I picked up a jar of Cantu Shea Butter's Coconut Curling Cream. I was impressed by Melshary's results with the product on YouTube and couldn't wait to try it out on my own hair.

You know the saying: "Everything is not for everyone"...?

That saying rang true with this product.

I tried this product three days in a row, here's what I have to say about it:

The good: Extremely soft hair, even when dry. 

The bad: Dry and dull looking hair when dry.

The ugly: Couldn't get second day hair to save my life. And it left white residue when mixed with EcoStyler Gel. Big no-no!

The results below are when my hair was dried. 

It took a lot to get rid of the white residue just for these pictures alone. 

 

Paul Mitchell's "The Conditioner" Review

Two Saturdays ago I purchased a travel sized bottle of Paul Mitchell's Leave-In Conditioner "The Conditioner" from Ulta. I was impressed with Mahogany Curls (can you tell I'm obsessed with her hair?) results and thought I would be able to achieve great results with this product as well.

Boy was I wrong.

Have you ever been so convinced that something would work for you, and you tried and tried, but it just didn't work. That's how this conditioner was for me. I tried using this conditioner three times with three different wash n' gos. and I was turned all the way off by the third and final time.

It made my hair very stiff. Even after *scrunching* my hair once it dried, it was still unbelievably stiff. Nothing like the results I have gotten from using Tresemme Naturals.

I guess if it's not broke, why fix it?

Product Grade: D-

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!

Maybe I Should Reconsider...

At one time I thought that Wash N' Gos were a thing of the summer.

But Curly Nikki and Mahogany Curls have me thinking otherwise!

I am reaching true milestones in my wash n' go journey. I have learned a lot this year:
a) How to do a wash n' go without it turning into a wash n' no-no.
b) What product combination works best for my wash n' gos.
c) How to achieve second, third, and forth day wash n go's.

A lot of this has been trial and error. And of course much thanks to the natural hair gods of YouTube!

Now that I am becoming more attached to my wash n' gos rather than to my twist outs...I'm thinking about doing them throughout the winter as a low-manipulation style (along with rollersets!).

I'll explain my pros and cons of the twist out vs. the wash n' go in another post.

(these pictures are from a day three wash n go)

The Fro-Hawk

Old wash n go + banana clip + hair combs + bobby pins...and a rock star was born.

Revisiting Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie

Lately I have been all ra-ra about my newest love of the Wash n' Go. I thought I had a staple product, but my bottle of Tresemmé Naturals has been replaced! I have found that I get more moisture from using SheaMoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. This product gives me "cotton candy" curls all day long. I'm even able to stretch my wash n' go out for an extra day or two (with a pony tail or banana clip).

Rock Star Dreams

This weekend I attended the Curls Gone Wild event held by some of my favorite hair idols over at Around the Way Curls. Let me just say the event was amazing. I have been waiting forever and a day for a hair event to come to the city of Philadelphia. I was blown away by the beautiful natural hair that I saw at this event. I wish that I would've taken my camera with me. Of course I was being cautious and thought they would've camera-checked me at the door.

I do have some pictures of my hair style for the event. This was created with a banana clip, bobby pins, and hair combs (for the section of hair in the back of my head that the banana clip did not cover). This is my go-to inner-wild-child hair style. I'm only a rock star in my dreams...

As you can see I have been dibbling and dabbling in makeup. Just getting my feet wet. Here I'm rocking:

Eyeshadow: Coastal Scents Palette and Revlon Nude Shades

Lips: MAC High Tea Lipstick and Chestnut Lipliner (worn off a bit in this photo)

And some of my goodies. I love samples. Damn that, I love free stuff. Period.

Loc Soc Review

(product details are at the bottom highlighted in pink, just incase you want to skip my long drawn out story lol)

Have you ever lost something, whether in your house, apartment, office, or even your car...and search and search and search and still can't find it? Well, welcome to the story of my life!

Lost item #45327: Loc Soc

In June of this year, I went to an annual African Festival in my city. I love attending this festival. The music, the food, the crowd...amazing. I usually purchase my whipped Shea butter tub and check out the other booths that sell jewelry, clothes, artwork, etc. I found a booth ran by a company called "Shades of Color". They were selling a product called the LocSoc. It seemed like an interesting concept, especially with my newfound interest in wash n gos. I figured that I could use it to pineapple my hair. I picked up a black LocSoc and used it that same night.

I have been using it since then!

Unfortunately three nights ago I misplaced it with no idea of where it could've "ran" off to. I searched for bout about 20 minutes with pictures in my mind of where it ought to be....but no luck.

I had an idea. I figured I could cut a stocking and make my own LocSoc.

Bad idea.

Not only was it cutting off my circulation because it was so tight around my fivehead, but it kept rolling further up and up. I pulled it, yanked it, held it...wouldn't stay in place. Finally I said "what the hell" threw my satin bonnet on and went to sleep.

Of course it popped up the next day. Like I was never searching for it.

Now onto why i love this product:

The LocSoc is a hair accessory made of Lycra (very stretchy material. It is very versatile and I have used it to protect my natural hair styles. I have also used it as a headband and as a scarf to lay down my hair after applying gel. It is comfortable, which is important for me especially for sleeping in overnight. I purchased my LocSoc in the color black, but the company has a wide variety of colors, styles, and prints for customers to chose from. My biggest rave about this product is that I have been able to stretch out the amount of days I can wear a wash n go or twist out by using the LocSoc. 

The product is currently sold online: LocSoc Online Store and also at select stores. 

Wash N Go...Updated

The wash n go has become my ultimate summer style. I cannot describe how it feels to finally be satisfied with the results of my wash n go after attempting to perfect it for YEARS! (and I'm talking about since being about 12 or 13 years old. From the days where I thought Carefree Curl Activator -- the juice -- would give my hair some "Coming to America" Soul Glo curls...)

I have finally figured out how to achieve this style. And I'm finally sticking to this ingredient list :

For starters: My hair must be freshly co-washed and dripping wet. Also, my hair has to be in sections before distributing the product to each section.

1. Tresemme Naturals Conditioner
2. Shea Butter (this was what my hair was missing! major moisture!)
3. Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel

And there it is!!

And I leave you with a throw back...where the wash n go phenomenon developed (I'm clearly making this up...)

Summer Style

I have always wanted to achieve a wash n go that would 

a. Look as good dry as it is when it's wet

b. Have definition

c. Allow me to leave my house shamelessly

I think I've found the perfect product combination for my hair to achieve this look.

I have learned to stop being lazy and to apply the product to my hair in sections. My hair is too thick to do anything other than this.

I used Tresemme Naturals, African Pride Oil, and Eco Styler Argan Oil Gel. In sections. And air dried.

This is my hair 12 hours later:

Wash n (Wait n) Go...

I have been bunning almost all week but have been looking for a different hair style to give myself a little break. I have never been too fond of wash n gos because my curl pattern in the front is way looser than in the back. But I had an idea...

I co-washed my hair, used my kinky curly knot today leave in to detangle and then followed up with a small amount of kinky curly curling custard. I then sectioned my hair with my fingers and did about 8 twists throughout my head. I put rods on the front parts that especially don't curl. I left the twists/rods in for about 20 min. This was just enough time to give me a hint of definition in the front. I let it air dry and voila.

Yes, its not truly a wash n go but its not quite a twist out either, especially since my hair was no where near dry when I took it out.

It only lasted a day. I'm sure I could've rewet it to get another day but eh...I was being lazy. Plus, I plan on hennaing this weekend.

(and yes, I know I look rather tired in these pictures...it was past my bed time and I had a long drive ahead of me...) ;-)