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

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!

Shea Moisture

So there's this new line I've been hearing about called Shea Moisture, so I've decided to try it! After doing some research, I found out that Shea Moisture products are available at target.com and select Target stores, luckily my nearest Target store supplies the WHOLE line! In my Target, the isle where Shea Moisture and all other natural, 'ethnic' hair products are kept is steadily growing. So after looking at all of their products, I chose the Organic African Black Soap Deep Cleansing Shampoo (because I have an extremely dry scalp due to eczema) and the Organic Raw Shea Butter  Deep Treatment Masque. After just the first use, my scalp felt SO much healthier and didn't itch the whole week! The masque worked wonderfully because of the shea butter, it kept my hair so soft and moveable, even after I applied gel. I highly recommend these products because of how well they work and the fact that every product on the line is just $9.99!!! Cheap AND efficient, could it get any better?!

Homemade Shea Butter Deep Conditioner

After a long and tiring search for a deep conditioner that actually worked and provided my hair with moisture (other than WEN Remoist), I decided to make my own!

Ingredients:
2 tbls raw, unrefined shea butter (google it, surprisingly cheap)
3 tsp Olive Oil
2 tsp Tea Tree Oil
1/2 cup conditioner (I use Cantu Rinse Out Conditioner but you can use your favorite brand!)

1. Pour the conditioner in a bowl and mix in olive oil and tea tree oil.
2. In a separate bowl, melt shea butter completely in microwave (my house is always cold so the shea butter is always hard)
3. Add shea butter to conditioner and mix well, let it cool down.
4. After washing or co-washing your hair, apply mixture soaking wet to hair in sections (I part my hair into quarters and apply) DO NOT COMB!
5. Sit under a hard bonnet dryer for 45 mins to an hour!
6. Allow hair to cool off.
7. Comb with a wide tooth comb.
8. Rinse out, leaving about 5% of the conditioner in.
9. Style as usual
10. Enjoy your moisturized hair!

Ingredients....see! There's the shea butter lol

End result. ENJOY!!!

Staple Products

1. Wen Hair Care (available at wenhaircare.com)
2. Cantu Rinse Out Conditioner- which I use to co-wash
3. Mixed Chicks Leave-in Conditioner (available at mixedchicks.net or some beauty supply stores)
4. Cantu Leave-in Condtioner
5. Oyin Juice and Berries (available at oyinhandmade.com)
6. Homemade Shea Butter Deep Conditioner (Recipe on next post)
7. Kinky Curly Curling Custard (available at kinkycurly.com)
8. Olive Oil Eco Styler Gel
9. Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream (available at curls.biz)
10. Curls Whipped Cream (available at curls.biz)

This is my typical regimen when I to protective hairstyles (bantu knots, twist outs)...I alternate between Curls Whipped Cream and Eco Styler Gel.

When I flat iron my hair, I use this as a heat protectant.

Product Junkie lol

Definitely slimed down my collection

:)