Making Hard Decisions

I'm halfway through my No Puff Challenge and I've been doing AMAZING!!! I'm using protective styles, washing my hair and trying to keep it moisturized. which brings me to two issues: 1. My hair is like straw and I don't know if I can fix it, and 2. The ends are so damaged that I don't know if I can fix it.

Using the LOC method when I washed my hair the other day really seemed to help. I had only finished the twists in the front when I won't to bed and when I got up the next day, the undone portion of hair was still very soft and moisturized (I also sleep in a satin bonnet). I figure that this is a step in the right direction for fixing problem one of my hair. Which brings me to problem 2. These raggedy, dry, brittle, single strand knot filled ends. They need to be cut. DESPERATELY!! The only problem with that is that I need to cut off at LEAST 2 inches but probably more like 4-5 just because of how uneven my hair is (at it's shortest point that's not from breakage it goes to my earlobes but at it longest point in the back, it's BSL). I feel like I want to BC again now that I know so much more about how to take care of my hair. Plus, having that short hair would feel awesome this summer. But my hubby would have a heart attack if I did that so I'll have to cut the ends, but by but. After I'm done with these twists I'll probably stretch my hair and then straighten it so that I can have my ends cut. Hopefully this will help me along my journey to healthier hair!:-)

<3 Mae

Twist It Up

Things got a little hectic this week. Although I took my hairstyle from last week out on Monday evening, it wasn't until Wednesday evening that I was finally able to wash my hair.

I shampooed with V05, did a DC using Queen Helene Cholesterol under a shower cap and a knit hat (it was about 2 hours. Long enough to eat dinner and do Family Worship), then did an ACV rinse (for the first time), rinsing that out with a blast of COLD water. I then tried the LOC method, that I read about the other day and used water, olive oil, and Hawaiian Silky lotion and begin to style my hair into twists. It took me two days to finish them but it did:-)

My plan is to leave these in for at least a week, touching up as necessary and then rocking a twist out for a few days, just to bring me back to Monday Wash Day. They turned out nicely so I think it'll work.

<3 Mae

Flat Twist to the Side Protective Style

On Tuesday evening I washed my hair and decided to put it into a few large twists to stretch because my sister is graduating on Saturday and I wanted to try the cute roll, tuck, and pin updo I featured the other day. I made about 10-12 individual twists in the front and was planning on doing chunky twists in the back, when I decided that I would try to flat twist it and see how it turned out. So I started from my left ear and went across my hairline. It came out nicely so I tried another one. I figured I'd just keep going and use that to stretch it. Well, I ended up with 5 flat twists all stopping behing my right ear. I decided that it looked cute and I could totally turn it into a protective style so I flat twisted straight down where all the ends were and then tucked it up and under itself and secured with hair pins. I then added 2 cute flowers to accessorize. I LOVE it!!! I also got a really nice compliment when I went out today! I will probably keep this style until next Monday (Wash Day). I wonder what I will come up with next :-)

<3 Mae

Style of the "Day" II

Well, unfortunately I didn't wash and twist my hair the other day. Fortunately, I HAVE been sticking to my challenge:-).

I was gonna do the Roll, Tuck, & Pin from THIS post for the meeting tonight but my hai wasn't stretched out enough. Then I was gonna do a roll twist headband but I wet my hair too much and it poufed up huge! Finally I decided on a flat twist headband. I think it turned out nicely :-)

Until next time,
<3 Mae

Roll, Tuck, & Pin Updo II

On Sunday I saw my friend Teandra and she had the CUTEST roll, tuck, & pin updo that she found in a magazine. She said that it was originally flat twisted but she doesn't know how to flat twist so she did a roll, tuck, & pin instead. She did a rod set on the top but I might try twisting it. I LOVE it and can't wait to try it myself!!

It looks really good on her!

Still on my quest for cute styles and I'm doing well on my "No Puff" challenge. Gonna wash and twist my hair tonight. :-)

Happy tresses!
<3 Mae

No Puff Challenge

In the last 2 years, the "puff":

 has been my go to style. Bad hair day? Puff it. Too tired to twist it? Puff it. Super dirty and tangled and in dire need of a wash? PUFF IT!!

While the puff is a beautiful style, that I think flatters my face, I wear it WAY too often. Like, 90% of the time. As a result, I have noticed breakage in the crown of my head as well as along my edges. I think that the pulling of my edges are worrying me the most because, when I was relaxed, I had a couple spots in the front of my hairline that just wouldn't grow in/very long and I thought it was just the way my hair grew. When I stopped getting relaxers, that hair gradually grew in, evening out my hairline. Now, my puffs are killing my edges again.

So...

I am challenging myself not to wear a puff for 2 months. I had this idea last Saturday and since I twisted my hair last Monday, I'll use the 16th as my start date. No more puffs until June 17th! After then, I will try to only wear a puff 50% of the time. My goal is to stop the breakage in the crown and edges of my hair, and I think with less manipulation into the puff I will be able to achieve that. Since I won't be able to "puff it" as usual, this will also force me to come up with other styles and REGULARLY wash and style my hair. I'm thinking of lots of twist/bantu knot outs, roll, tuck, & pin styles, and my knit cap for those really horrid days. Anyway, we'll see how this works out. I'm excited!!! :-) As always,

<3 Mae

Scream, Shout, and Twist Out!!

Monday evening I decided that I wanted to do a twist out on my hair. I washed it with V05 shampoo and then used my trusty Suave Naturals conditioner.

This is the freshly washed hair:

I sectioned my hair, spritzed with water, and applied my Shea butter/Vitamin E oil mix (need to go to the store soon and replenish my supplies. I'm all out of jojoba oil). I twisted my hair into medium sized twists but then flat twisted two twists going across my hairline. This is the finished result:

I then wore the twists under a grey knit cap for a few days, mostly just because I didn't want to take the twists out until today and also because the last couple days have been really busy so I haven't had time to really do my hair. Here is the style:

I took the twists out today. I sprayed some Curls Lavish Curls Moisturizer into my hands and ran it across my twists and then slowly unraveled and separated. I think it came out nicely!

<3 Mae

I FINALLY DID IT!!

I accomplished an extremely difficult task this weekend (well, for me at least): I learned to flat twist. Yes. ME!! I watched a YouTube video tutorial on how to flat twist by BlakIzBeautyful and tried it out on my hair and these are the results.

The other pic is of my hair combed and stretched MOST of the way out. May 1 I will be 2 years 8 months natural. It could be longer but I've had to cut it a few times. No more mistakes now though. I'm learning and applying the knowledge do I will achieve my hair goals. I'm looking into ways to "straighten" it WITHOUT heat to truly test my length. Last April I was at CBL (straightened) but I had to chop some off afterward (I couldn't get rid of some of the straight ends) so I'm curious as to where I am now. Plus the left side is shorter than the right so I need to even them up. We'll see how that goes!:-)

<3 Mae

Fran’s 3b/3c Styling Regimen | Black Girl with Long Hair

Check her out!!!

Fran’s 3b/3c Styling Regimen | Black Girl with Long Hair

I love her length!!! And this twist out is AMAZING!! I'm going to see if I can recreate it by trying out a few of the products she uses. I also discovered that I need to make more twists so that I don't have to separate so much because I cause a lot of frizz when I separate. So, I will be twisting my hair tomorrow. I plan to take the twists out Wednesday morning. Hopefully it looks awesome :-)

Just Playing Around

As I was getting ready for bed, I was playing around and came up with this cute updo. I just took out the hair and bobby pins from my roll and tuck (the hair was left still kinda rolled back even when it was loose) and gathered it at the back of my head, rolled it over once and then used hair combs to hold it in place. The ends of this old twist out ate on its last leg but I think it's cute. Maybe even Memorial worthy. We'll see :-)

Style of the Day

Well. I'm posting this late but this was my hair for the day.

I saw the style online and decided to try it. It was super easy, just had to secure with bobby pins and added the flowers for flair. Hubby dug it as well which is always a plus :-D.

Still trying to decide how to wear my hair for the Memorial on Thursday. I still have a few days to figure it out tho.

<3 Mae

DIY Flower Headband

So I had about 3 or 4 colored flower headbands that I got from the beauty supply store. The flowers fell off of them and I was so upset because I'm known for my flower accessories. So today I decided to use the colored headband part and clip some other flowers on them. That way I can still use the headband AND I get double use out of my flowers:-). It was super simple and you can change it up for each headband. Hope you like it!:-)

(I got these flowers from Forever 21, 2 for 1.99$)

New Updo

So I decided to try something new for the meeting tonight. I was gonna do a bang and a puff but then I decided that I'd turn it into this asymmetrical puff-esque 'do. I applied EcoStyler gel around the perimeter of my hair and brushed it in well before putting on the headband. Then, I generously sprayed my hair with lukewarm water and finger combed Kinky Curly Curling Custard into the puff to define and hold my coils. Then, I added one small black flower and one small white flower to make the back super cute.

It was heavy and just hung at first but since I kno my hair, I knew it would dry and shrink a little, creating AWESOME volume and curls. I LOVE how this look turned out!!:-)

Roll, Tuck, Pin

Ok. So I got this style from BlakIzBeautyful's YouTube channel and I tried it for the first time yesterday.

I LOVE it!!!

It was really easy to do and probably would have been easier had I combed my hair out first. I just did it straight from the twist out. I know I was supposed to wash my hair today but I have lots of plans for today so I'll wash it either tomorrow or Sunday. Wearing the style again but with a purple flower. So chic! I wish I had a few more flowers to camouflage the Bantu Knots in the front but I don't mind it that much. Forever 21 and H&M have really cute cheap flowers.

One Step at a Time...

So I decided to start with one of the simplest tips that I picked up from Jamila of For the Fabulous and Frugal, which was to PROTECT MY ENDS!! She had the awesomely bright idea to wear her satin bonnet under her knit hat. DUH!!

So smart, and yet oh so simple.

I would like to wash my hair Friday, since hubby is off work. I'm going to a friend's house in the evening so I think I will just twist it and put the hat back on to protect my hair from the "cold" (although we've been having awesome weather here lately, whoo hoo!).

<3 Mae

Here We Go...

Ok, so I'm hoping that posting to this blog will help me take better care of my hair. I've been using excuses like "my hair is too thick, it takes too much time" or "I dont know how to braid, so I cant style my hair" in the past. Well, NO MORE!!! For the past two days I've been looking up new blogs and websites to get more ideas for my hair. I found a few with easy, "simple" styles that someone like me (who can't braid or flat twist to save her life) can do. I will be better and so will my hair.

Until tomorrow!!

*trying to type one handed while feeding a 1 month old is HARD!! thank goodness for spell check*

<3 Mae