NATURAL HAIR SEW IN!!!!!

Hello!!! Great news! My friend Chaniece let me put a natural hair sew in in her hair! Yay me! And her I guess lol! Anyway, I've recently convinced Chaniece to go natural and she's loving her hair growth but she was getting very apprehensive about how her hair would look once it's fully natural, so I said "let's do a sew in and see if you like it"!!! So I shampooed, deep, conditioned and did a protein treatment prior to braiding it. I oiled her scalp, rubbed a heat protectant on her hair and blow dried her hair, just to make braiding it a little easier because her hair is very tightly coiled. After blow drying, I braided her whole head in a beehive for a full sew in.  Her hair is EXTREMELY THICK and needed NO braid hair added in. I sewed the tracks in going around in the beehive pattern because she wanted a side bang, I then did a closure at the top. After all the tracks were in, I wet her hair to curl it (the hair was a wet and wavy and came straight), scrunched mousse on the hair in sections and BAAM! Luscious "natural" hair lol!

Pinned Back

Loose, wild and free!

PInned back (side view)

Front view, side bang

Style of the Week: Twist Out

Hey Yall! My style of this week is a twist out! This is THE hardest style of my natural hair life simply because my hair does not stay raveled upon itself (sad face lol). I've attempted this style numerous times and every time I take the twist apart, I hate it and put it in a high bun, but I've found the light and now I may make this style my staple! Even though I hardly ever put heat on my hair, in order to achieve my twist out I have to sit under the dryer for about 15 minutes to set the twists. This style is done best on clean hair because it can last me for about 3 days, a plus for me!

1. After freshly washing my hair a DC-ing it, I separate my hair into 2 sections, a left and a right.
2. I apply Giovanni Direct Leave-In to my soaking wet hair and split each section into 3 sections.
3. With each of these mini sections, I form my twists. I simply grab a small piece of hair (my twists work better in a smaller size because the curl pattern is more defined), apply a bit of Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, a bit of coconut oil to seal in the moisture and twist with 2 sections.
4. When I get to the end of the twist, I seal with shea butter. Usually this would hold a person's hair together but not mine, o the next few steps may not apply to you!
5. Being that the back half of my hair is way curlier than the front, which is almost bone straight, I choose to flat twist the front of my hair in extremely small sections, bantu knot the ends of each twists and rubber band them (bad, I know) to mimic the curl pattern of the twist in the back.
6. After all my twists are complete I sit under a hooded dryer for 15 mintues.
7. After my 15 minutes are up I simply tie my hair up with a silk bonnet and sleep. I usually do ALL my styles on my hair right before I go to bed, it's kind of relaxing :)
8. The next morning I rub and bit of coconut oil on each twist, unravel and fluff. BAAM! Gorgeous twist out!

Right Side

Top View

Back View

Style of the Week: Bantu Knot Out!

Hey ya'll! My style of this week is the bantu knot out! I absolutely LOVE the style and it produces beautiful results. The pros are the versatility, the ending result is almost always consistently beautiful once you learn the correct technique and the style lasts for a few days (on me, the max for any style is 3 days). The one and only con is the sacrifice of sleep you make lol, it's soooooo hard to sleep with the knots in your hair but it's worth it!

1. So first I prep my hair by spritzing with my water/leave-in/aloe vera/glycerin mix. This style is best done on stretched and/or old hair. I use this style as a way to stretch the time between shampoos. Since my hair already has product in it, the spray mix is all i need to set my style,
2. I then begin a knot by grabbing a random section of hair (I start in the back, idk why) and twisting the hair around itself until it collapses into a knot. You can do a two strand twist then knot but I find that the single strand works best for me.
3. Continue to do this on all sections of your hair, twist each not to stand straight out from your head. A taller knot makes a more defined curled while a flatter one makes each not a little more "messy", if you like that look. Smaller pieces of hair also makes a more defined curl while large pieces of hair make a more wavy curl pattern.
4. My hair never stays raveled upon itself like some people's does so I secure mine with a rubber band, natural hair TABOO lol but bobby pins don't work either :/
5. I usually let my hair stay in knots for about 2 days....making sure not to go ANYWHERE! I really don't like wearing the knots out in public lol.
6. When it come times to take out the knots, make sure they are completely dry or you'll be sorry, I put a light oil, like coconut oil, on my hands and unravel the knots and fluff!
7. Voila! Beautiful bantu knot out!
8. For maintenance I usually sleep on a satin pillowcase and I really don't ever re-twist unless absolutely needed.

After I complete all the knots.

After I take the knots out and fluff! Day 1 Hair is always gorgeous!

Day 3, after a little coaxing.

Day 5. By day 5 my curls are limp and lifeless so I often spritz with water and pin in the loose curls to create a faux min fro! I embellish with random accessories :)

My Weekly "Regimen"

Hello all! I have a new regimen that I've recent started in order to rebuild my scalp strength after my allergic reaction to the Terresentials Mud Wash. I've used Shea Moisture before but I used their African Black Soap Deep Cleansing shampoo for my dandruff. Now that my dandruff problem is fixed, I've began to use their Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention shampoo for my dryness and let me tell you, my hair is soft even before I apply the conditioner! I usually co-wash one or twice a week and use the shampoo whenever I feel like my hair have heavy buildup. I then apply their Organic Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner, I apply in the shower on soaking wet hair, comb through and pin up while I actually shower lol. I like to get my hair and body done at the same time! After I'm clean, I flip my hair over and rinse the conditioner out with cool water (I actually rinse my body with cool water too). Once I'm out the shower, I apply my Giovanni Direct Leave-In, shea butter or coconut oil to seal in the moisture and place about 6-8 twists in my hair and let air dry. I like to do my styles on damp hair so once my hair is as damp as I want it, I apply a fingertip sized amount of Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie to each section and twist or braid, do whatever style I'm doing. On my hair, it doesn't take a lot of the smoothie, if I apply to much my hair will never dry and it'll feel waxy, so be weary of how much you use. In combination, these products keep my hair soft, moisturized and manageable!