Tag Archives: hair

NATURAL HAIR, Tutorials, UNDERCUT

3 Eye-catching French Rolls

1 Comment

Hi loves!

Today I wanted to share 3 eye-catching French rolls with you along with how-to’s for each look. 

I love French rolls because they are extremely dynamic. You can always find a new way to style a French roll. Here are a few different styles I’ve come up with on both stretched and straightened hair and tutorials for each. And for more styles & tricks and tips to French roll versatility click here. Enjoy!

The Mega Side French Roll

Click here to see how I got this look

 

The French Roll with a Twist

Click here to see how I got this look

  

The Flat Twist Framed French Roll 
Click here to see how I got this look. Tutorial starts at 3:26

  
 

  

NATURAL HAIR

Where I Get My Creative Inspiration

1 Comment

Hi loves!

Coming up with a different style every single day definitely isn’t easy but boy do I love the challenge. As I’m sure you can imagine the inspiration to do something like that has to come from somewhere. Well, today I want to share with you all where I get my creative inspiration.

1. Creative styles by others – so there aren’t a whole lot of naturals that focus on creative updos (at least not that I’ve found). But there are a few Instagram accounts that I do pull inspiration from. The following ladies are always very innovative and unique with their styles which is right up my ally! There looks always get my creative juices flowing.

@simplycre8eve

  
@teyonahparris

  
@janellemonae

 

2. Shapes – Sounds simplye but I’m often inspired by different shapes and how I can incorporate them in my styles. You can learn more about how I do that here.

3. ME – So, I get that it may sound a tad narcissistic when I say that I am my own inspiration but, it’s true! I can’t tell you how often I go through my social feeds looking at old styles that I’ve done and get inspired to do something new. Every day! It’s like an ongoing competition with myself. A healthy competition, but a competition nonetheless :o)

That’s it you guys! These 3 simple sources of inspiration help me create each of my unique styles every day. For more insight on how I come up with my creative styles check out this YouTube video here.

NATURAL HAIR, Tutorials, UNDERCUT

Easy Bun Hawk

Leave a comment

Hello beauties!

Probably one of my favorite all time buns and what I considered to be my go-to bun before I layered my hair is this super easy, edgy but chic bun hawk.

Bun hawk on wet hair 

  

Bun hawk on semi-stretched hair

 

Bun hawk on semi-stretched hair 

Bun hawk on completely stretched hair  

 

The technique to get the look never changes but depending on the texture of your hair (wet, semi-dry/stretched or completely stretched) it can come out a little differently like you see above.

Before I started challenging myself to do something different every single day, this was an easy way to get a protective, creative yet simple style, especially if I was really short on time. 

To see just how easy it is to get this look, click here.

Enjoy!

NATURAL HAIR, Tutorials

The Faux Knot

Leave a comment

Hi beauties!

Faux styles can be a lot of fun to wear. There are two that I especially love. One is the faux bob and the other is the faux knot which I want to talk about today. 

This faux knot style is just that, a style that includes what looks like a knot, but isn’t. Here are a few pics:

  
   
 This look works best for me on straight hair. I have done it on my more textured hair and the result is more of a pompadour, kinda like the last picture above. 

As for how I get the look, below is a super quick how to of how I got the under knot. You can achieve different variations in how tight you do the twist and how you shape and pin the twist once it’s complete. The over knot is achieved just by pulling the hair up and back. 

 

 
I absutely adore this look. Give it a try!

Mmuuahh!

NATURAL HAIR

Talking Texture

Leave a comment

Good Morning luvs!

So, Today I wanted to talk a bit about my hair texture. I don’t talk too much about it mainly because once I learned how to best work with and style my hair it didn’t really matter anymore. According to the typical hair typing scale I’d say that I have between 3c and 4a type hair. 

Truth of the matter is I don’t have much of a curl pattern at all.  Defining my curls was always a bit of a struggle because the back (which is where my 4a type hair is) would curl beautifully with product. But, when I tried to define the front where the 3c type hair is it just never worked out well. You can see here how hard my curls struggle to really get defined in the front.

 
Now, wearing a fro was always a lot more fun although my hair would never “pack” the way that so many other naturals’ would. My fro always looks and feel like cotton! It doesn’t shrink a whole lot either.  This is why I believe it’s so easy for me to stretch my hair and keep it stretched without much of an issue. Here are a few pics of my hair from fro to stretched to straightened hair all around the same time frame of my journey.

   

 
 

The most beneficial thing I’ve learned about my hair over the years is that, it is what it is. I stopped trying to make it do all the things I always wanted it to do and started allowing it to reach its full potential with various styles. I will never have that gorgeous super curly texture or have the ability to truly shape and sculpt my hair into the perfect fro, but man can I slay an updo!  You have to make the most of what you’ve got, and I make it a point to do that every single day!

NATURAL HAIR

My Ideal Curly Fro

6 Comments

Hi Luvs!

I hope everyone had an awesome Independence Day! My long weekend started on Friday with hubby and I spending the first half of the day shopping for the new house. I loved pending time with that guy ❤

When I woke up in the morning I really felt like I wanted to go with a simple wash and go for the day. The only problem was we were completely out of Eco Styler which is generally what I would use. I was a little discouraged until I saw this sitting in my product closet  

 I had used this foaming mousse for a flexirod set and a couple of twist styles but never a wash and go. I decided to give it a shot. I wet my hair in the shower and applied the product using no particular method at all. I just got a hand full of product and ran it through my hair. The results? This BOMB curly fro!  


 
 These are the kind of results I would get from a 3rd or 4th day wash and go, the absolute best days for the style as far as I’m concerned. The bonus with this product is I can achieve those same results on day 1!! Not only that but my hair was incredibly soft! No crunch at all to this wash and go!

 I was so impressed with this look that I attempted to duplicate it on the Saturday.  Instead of just applying the product to wet hair I tried to add some methodology to the process by sectioning my hair and applying the product to each individual section.  The results were nice but I think my no method messy application on Friday yielded better results 

 

Either way I was very pleasantly surprised with my wash and go results using this product. 

NATURAL HAIR, UNDERCUT

5 Extraordinary Crown Braids

1 Comment

Good morning beauties!

This morning as I was styling my hair I had the same thought that I have every morning “How can I take an ordinary style and make it extraordinary?” I am always looking for unique was to take typical styles to the next level.  It’s all part of that whole style innovation that I love. 

Well today I decided to go for another unique rendition of the crown braid. I’ve taken a shot at this a couple of times before and although very different and may not be to everyone’s taste I’ve adored all of them. 

While the standard crown braid focuses on framing your entire head with one single braid or twist I either add some unique aspects to that method or literally try to envision a crown and duplicate that look. Here’s are 5 of my most extraordinary crown braids (twists). 

1.    
 
2.

 
3.

 
4.

    

5.

 
Different right!? So the next time you go to style your hair try to think of a way you can add a little flare to it and make it your own. 

NATURAL HAIR, PRODUCT REVIEW

Hydrate + Repair Aragan Oil Line

Leave a comment

Hi beauties!

This weekend I tried out another product line that OGX Beauty sent me. My last product trial was of their Quenching Coconut Curls line. You can check out that review here if you missed it. This weekend I decided to try out the Hydrate + Repair Aragan Oil line. 



I have to admit that I wasn’t as excited to try these products as I was with the coconut curls line. I’ve tried a slew of aragan oil products so I honestly didn’t expect anything outrageously different. 

I started off with the shampoo which I’m always a bit reluctant about because of the whole sulfate issue. This particular product offered the biggest surprise of the three I tried. Typically after I rinse shampoo out of my hair my hair feels dry. NOT the case with this shampoo! My hair didn’t feel dry at all which was a very pleasant surprise. It felt even better than it did with the coconut curls shampoo. 

I followed it up with the conditioner which was pretty much what I expected. It coated my hair nicely and made my hair feel very soft.  It’s hard to go wrong with an aragan oil based conditioner.

After that I decided to two strand twist my hair with the hair butter. I wondered how this product would differ from the coconut curls hair butter. The consistency is quite different surprisingly. The Aragan oil hair butter has a thicker consistency than the coconut curls hair butter which is much looser and seems to contain more liquid or moisture to it. 



Here’s a look at my twists and my twist out results







Overall I enjoyed the hydrate & repair aragan oil line. The only product I’d say I was especially  surprised with was the shampoo. 

In comparing the coconut curls line with the aragan oil line my preference is definitely with the coconut curls line. These products just seem to house more moisture which is key for me. 



I had a great time trying out these OGX Beauty products! Have you tried these products? What’s your preference. 

NATURAL HAIR, Tutorials, UNDERCUT

Best Style of the Week – DIY Tutorial

Leave a comment

Hey beauties!

Today I’ve got a video tutorial of the best voted style from last week. To recap, here’s a look at all of the styles from last week as well as what the top looks were.


Here are the top two voted styles from last week
Best Style

Second Best Style

Today’s tutorial is for the best voted style. I didn’t have time to do a twist out over the weekend to show you all how I got the second best style which was a twist out updo, but I will try to get that in for you later in the week. 

So, to see how I got the best voted style from last week click here!

NATURAL HAIR

Stretched Hair vs Straight Hair

1 Comment

The majority of the time I style my hair when it’s completely stretched and completely dry. However I do also enjoy styling my hair when it’s straight. Both textures allow for distinct looks that allow me to achieve unique eye catching styles. Today I want to take a look at the major differences between my stretched and straight styles and give you all some insight on what my preference is and why. 

Stretched Hair

First things first, the preparation for my stretched hair takes a bit of time but isn’t necessarily a lot of work. You can find the detailed process in how I stretch my hair heat free here. The photo below is of completely dry completely stretched hair prior to my most recent hair cut.



Stretched hair allows for flexible styling with shapes and dimension. I almost always wear updo’s so although it doesn’t necessarily seem like I’m benefiting from the length I get with stretched hair, I really am in the shapes I’m able to create.





Straight Hair

The straightening process for my hair is quite lengthy and requires a lot of work. I don’t have a video on the process but I’m sure you can imagine what goes into straightening natural hair. Below is a photo of flat ironed hair after my most recent hair cut.



Styling my straight hair can be a lot of fun when I’m playing with flat twists. The styles always appear incredibly intricate and tend to get a lot of attention. I very rarely however wear my hair down when it’s straight. 





Either way, stretched or straight, I always have the ability to try out new creative styles with my hair. Having that opportunity within the versatility of my natural hair is a huge overall b benefit to natural hair.

As for preference, 9 times out of 10 I would take my stretched hair over straight hair. For me personally, it takes too much time to get my hair straight and too much maintenance to keep it that way (especially in the warmer months). Additionally, after 2 or 3 flat twist styles I’m totally bored with my straight hair. At the end of the day I can do so much more with texture!