Tag Archives: straight hair

BEAUTY, INSPIRATION, NATURAL HAIR, STRAIGHTENED NATURAL HAIR, UNDERCUT

4 Styles to Level Up Straight Hair

October 18, 2016 writtenintentions 2 Comments

Hey luvs!

If you’re thinking about taking advantage of the versatility of your natural hair this fall by straightening it I’ve got 4 different styles to help you level up your straightened hair. A lot of people often get easily bored with their straight hair. These styles will help bring a little fun and sophistication into your straight hair game.

From a casual side sweep to intricate updos these styles are sure to turn heads. Take a look at these styles!

If you want to see the step by step for each of these updos click here.

XOXO

~TJ

INSPIRATION, NATURAL HAIR, STRAIGHTENED NATURAL HAIR

Why You’re So Bored with Your Straightened Hair

December 14, 2015 writtenintentions 3 Comments

The fall/winter seasons are probably the most common time of year for naturals to straighten their hair, simply because the humidity isn’t as high and there’s more of a chance for straight hair to last. Well, this weekend I decided that I would also take advantage of the season. The result, this awesomeness.

I did video tape the process but that will come later. Today, I want to talk about the real reason so many naturals get bored with their hair when it’s straight and how to overcome that. Most naturals think that straight hair is boring, but the reality is, what they’re doing with their straightened hair is boring!

Although we love the short term change of having straight hair, when you’re used to dealing with highly textured hair it is really easy to be underwhelmed with flat, limp hair. I never have this problem and here’s why:

1. Mindset! Rather than thinking about all the things I can’t do with my hair because it’s straight, I think about all the things I can do because it is!

2. I look at straight hair as an opportunity to achieve a completely different look on a style I’ve already done. A style done on highly textured hair vs. straight hair looks completely different!

3. I don’t straighten my hair just to wear it down! This is where most naturals go wrong. If you straighten your hair just to wear it down of course you’re going to get bored! There are no kinks, curls or texture to keep you entertained. I straighten my hair to open up the opportunities for styling. I almost never wear my straight hair down.

This year, try getting creative with your straight hair. Really embrace the luxury of natural hair versatility. Here are some styles to get you inspired

BEAUTY, NATURAL HAIR, STRAIGHTENED NATURAL HAIR, Tutorials, UNDERCUT

Holiday Hair Hacks for Keeping Updos UP

December 4, 2015 writtenintentions 4 Comments

Happy Friday lovelies!

As you’re getting your ideas together on how you want to style your hair for any upcoming holiday events, I wanted to offer a few tips on how to keep your hair in place. Want to say goodbye to unexpected trips to the bathroom to “fix” your hair? Here are a few hairstyling hacks for you:

1. Place your bobby pins correctly

We’ve all probably been guilty of this at some point but, the truth is you’re going to have a tough time keeping your updo up if you’re not putting your bobby pins in correctly. You want to make sure that the side with the ridges are face down. This helps to provide traction so that the pins are secure and will hold your hair in place all night.

Another thing to note on placing bobby pins, if you’re looking for extra stability try criss crossing two bobby pins. This will reinforce the hold for your style.

2. Tame those edges

If you’re going for a more sleek look you’re going to want to tame those edges. My primary tool for applying edge tamers or gel to my edges is this

Yep! A toothbrush. This is an amazing application tool for really slicking the hair down.

3. Incorporate flat twists or braids

If you’re not crazy about ultra tamed hair and are looking for a softer look, try incorporating a flat twist or braid into your look. This is an easy way to keep your style soft but secure. Here are a few examples:

4. Twist, Pull & Pin
If you follow me then you already know about this super easy styling technique. With this method you just twist various sections of hair, pull the twisted sections in different directions to form a unique look and bobby pin them in place (correctly of course). Having the hair twisted helps to keep it nice and secure. You can check out one of my twist, pull & pin tutorials here.

Wondering if these tips will work for straight hair? Absolutely!

So let’s make sure those updos stay up this holiday season! If you missed the DIY tutorial for my “Flirty But Sturdy” holiday hairstyle click the photo below. And be sure to stay tuned for more tips, tutorials and inspiration as I help get you beauties ready to COME THROUGH your holiday events!

XOXO

~TJ

NATURAL HAIR

Talking Texture

July 20, 2015 writtenintentions 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

Fun Flirty Curls on Straightened Hair

July 10, 2015 writtenintentions Leave a comment

Good morning Luvs!

So last night I decided to try out something I haven’t done with my straightened hair, a flexi rid set. Typically I stick with updos when my hair is straight but I thought I’d give it a try.

When I thought about what product I should use to set my hair I wasn’t quite sure what to go with. I was trying to be really careful about not inadvertently changing the texture of my straightened hair back to its curly state by using a product with too much moisture.

I decided to go with the Carol’s Daughter Sacred Tiare Styling Creme. It is obviously Creme based but also on the thicker side so I thought it would be a good choice. I applied the product on each section of hair before installing the rods. I used my usual 7/8″ and 6/8″ diameter and 10″ long rods. I kept the rods in over night.

In the morning I took the rods out and was very pleasantly surprised with the definition. AND my hair was extremely soft!

Next, I separated each curl about three times. I tried not too over separate so that I didn’t create a lot of frizz.

After that I styled my hair by pulling the back up and securing with bobby pins. I love the look of flexi rod curls in my face. Here’s the final look

I’m not sure if these curls will last for the entire day but they sure are beautiful soft and defined now!

NATURAL HAIR

Stretched Hair vs Straight Hair

June 10, 2015 writtenintentions 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!

NATURAL HAIR

Straight Hair Style Compilation

November 22, 2014 writtenintentions 4 Comments

Happy Saturday!

I hope you all are having a great weekend. I wanted to take some time today to do a recap of my straight hair adventures over the last two weeks. I had way more fun styling my hair than I thought I would. So here are the deets!

It had been quite a while since my last trim and with the frigid Atlanta weather we’ve been having I figured the timing was pretty perfect to straighten my hair, do some maintenance and have some fun.

To straighten my hair I first of course washed and conditioned it. After that I blew it out first prepping my hair using the Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Flat Iron Protector. Then I sectioned my hair starting from the back and started flat ironing. Here’s what I used to flat iron my hair:

I love the Tool Science Titanium flat iron. My hubby bought me a Chi and I still prefer my Tool Science over the Chi. Here are my flat iron results.

Not bad right!? Now for the styles. What I love most about the styles I came up with is that they were all for the most part protective styles, and they took no more than 10 minutes to do! Ok, I’m going to number them out. Let me know which one(s) you like best.

Style 1

Style 2

Style 3

Style 4

Style 5

Style 6

Style 7

I had so much fun getting creative with styles for my straightened hair! I’m already excited about my next straight hair adventure. Comment and let me know which one is your favorite.

NATURAL HAIR

The Almost Infinity Twist

November 14, 2014 writtenintentions Leave a comment

Hello loves!!

I’ve got some major catching up to do on blog posts but I just wanted to show you all my hair of the day.

I straightened my hair earlier this week so that I could trim my ends and so I’ve been playing with some styles . Today I went with this…

It reminds me a lot of an infinity braid or twist which I love but this is nothing more than two flat twists. I separated my hair into two fairly equal sections. For the front section I flat twisted all if the hair to the left side. And for the back I did the same thing. Lastly I tucked the end of the front flat twist inside the flat twist in the back, and I tucked the end of the back flat twist inside the front one. Here are some more pics!

P.S. I get my iPhone 6 Plus next week so videos coming soon!

NATURAL HAIR

Versatile Styles From This Week

September 13, 2014 writtenintentions 3 Comments

Good Morning Beauties!!

I was crazy busy with work but I wanted to catch you all up on my versatile stiles from this week. I have to say I really was into switching it up every day. That’s one of the awesome things about natural hair, the ability for it to be so versatile creates even more opportunity for different styles!

Ok…let’s walk through the week

Monday I did a super high twistout pony, pulled all the hair to the front and swooped it to the side.

On Tuesday I was in the mood for some really high hair so I came up with this creation.

On Wednesday I had a taste for straight hair so I flat ironed a high pony and went with this sleek look.

Thursday the straight hair was over and it was on to this unique twisted up do.

And yesterday I had my first date night with hubby since moving to ATL and I went with this high side pompadour.

And today is a whole new day!! Who knows what I’ll come up with next. Have a great day guys!!

NATURAL HAIR

Flat Ironed Natural Hair – A Look Back

July 30, 2014 writtenintentions Leave a comment

I was going through some old pics and could’t help but feel extremely proud of my natural hair journey. For the past 3 1/2 years I have embraced my natural hair texture and it has truly paid off. My hair is more healthy than it has ever been and the growth has been incredible!

Here’s a look back over the past 3 years at the various times during my journey that I’ve flat ironed my hair to see my growth progression.

10 Months Post Big Chop

1 Year Post Big Chop

1.5 Years Post Big Chop

2 Years Post Big Chop

2.5 Years Post Big Chop

3 Years Post Big Chop (After my first professional trim and color treatment)

TJ Luvs Being Natural

Tag Archives: straight hair

4 Styles to Level Up Straight Hair

Why You’re So Bored with Your Straightened Hair

Holiday Hair Hacks for Keeping Updos UP

Talking Texture

Fun Flirty Curls on Straightened Hair

Stretched Hair vs Straight Hair

Straight Hair Style Compilation

The Almost Infinity Twist

Versatile Styles From This Week

Flat Ironed Natural Hair – A Look Back

Fearlessly Authentic