You know how much I love a glorious super afro! So when I came across Canadian pop singer, Kreesha Turner, I knew I had to put her on our hair lust section. Isn't her hair amazing?
Click HERE to see more pics of Kreesha and her beautiful hair.
I tried to switch my style up this week to prepare for the protective style challenge. So I pulled out my flexi rods (or flex rods, bendy rollers. I've heard so many names for these flexible rollers). I started on a hybrid wash-and-go/twist-out. So I had two different sizes of flexi rods, but my thick hair cancels that difference. Here are a few tips when rolling your hair.
The thicker your hair is, the smaller your sections of hair should be. Thicker sections increase drying time.
After detangling, smooth hair with a brush or with your fingers. This is exactly what it sounds like. Run your fingers down your hair (especially on the ends) to smooth it.
Pull hair to create tension, and start rolling at the very tip of your hair. Smooth the ends around the hair roller and roll to the roots. The section should never lose tension while rolling.
Yes. You do see a couple of regular pink rollers. I ran short on flexi rods. I left these in overnight. The results:
I tried and almost succeeded. My curls came out successful... on 75% of my hair (picture on the left). However, about 25% of my hair did not dry. (picture on the right)
So... I was left wondering how to fix the bottom left quadrant of my hair. And I came up with this.
I pulled it off. A little separation of the curls to add volume, I saved my hair fail. I ended up with this. It doesn't take long, and I have a week of cute, stretched hair. I'm waiting for the curls to drop a little.
*This is my 2nd time failing at this style. Maybe next time I can get a full head of curls. 3rd time is a charm, right? Melissa tried this style a while ago. View her flexi-rod fail. :-)
So, my hair and I were not in agreement. After my photo shoot, my hair decided it was angry and wanted to shed, tangle, and shrink. I'm sure this happened because my routine got all messed up. I wasn't washing my hair as often as it likes (every 5 days) and I wasn't protecting it when I slept. I wanted to get some sort of protective style, but my finances were not on the same page.
One day, I was on Tumblr, and I came across a box-braid tutorial. The Youtuber, Helen, made the technique looks so easy. I figured, I'm pretty good at braiding my hair so why not give it a try. As luck would have it, I had a day off, so I decided to try my own installation.
Ok, so, when I started I didn't have too much faith in the process. My parts aren't too straight and I couldn't reach the back of my head. LOL, but after while, I found my groove. I started on a Sunday night and realized, I could do it.
By the next day, I had it down. I decided to let my parts be a bit more organic, so my braids would fall more naturally. It was at ths point, I realized I had a LOT of hair on my head and my hair is really thick!
Ok, so now, it's like early evening. My arms were so tired, actually aching. I was ready to finish this process. I started to realize I was getting a bit lazy as my arms were tired. So, I ate some dinner, and regained my strength. My perfectionist tendencies were kicking back in.
I added a bit of blond in the back for flare. I couldn't just have brown hair - that's not me! LOL
So, after about 12 hours, I finished the process. I dipped the ends in boliing water to achieve the crinkled look. I'm in LOVE with my braids and so happy I completed the task on my own. I saved money, and learned a new skill.
If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email at naturalnashville@gmail.com
Here's the video/tutorial I watched to get me started:
I'm loving the natural hair movement as it sweeps through Hollywood! Even though Viola didn't win the award, she won high marks for rocking her blond TWA on the red carpet this evening.
Then, Esperanza Spaulding sung, "What a Wonderful World" rocking the most awesome blowout on earth. I mean it's massive and amazing!
Confession: Until D'Angelo hit the scene a little over ten years ago, I was not down with grown men wearing cornrows. Like, at all. However D'Angelo started a trend that not only grew in popularity but eventually grew on me too. I actually don't mind cornrows on grown men now.
Not on you though, David Beckham. No sir.
I think D'Angelo's whole style from the cornrows to the baggy jeans and the Timberlands said that it was cool to be rugged yet sensitive. A little rough around the edges yet romantic. And that's why his songs quickly became such classics. His music reflects all of those qualities.
As of January, D'Angelo is now back on the scene after a long twelve year hiatus. He is rockin' short braids now, looking good and sounding like he never left.
Do you think he'll start another trend with the way he's wearing his hair now? Hopefully he'll bring his tour from overseas to the states and we'll soon find out. In the meantime, check out the remix of his hit "Lady" featuring AZ.
The model is gorgeous and her hair is gorgeous. I love when naturals keep it simple when styling their hair. Sometimes a little bit of styling is more than enough.
I have a goddaughter (above) who ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY hates getting her hair combed.
If it was up to Thalia, she'd be fro'd out everyday! As soon as she sees the spray bottle, hair combs, and barret box, she knows it's about to go down. She cries like someone is killing her and remains angry for about an hour afterward. Actually, the picture above is after we completed a de-tangling session. Clearly, she was not happy with auntie. Problem is, Thalia is 1.5 years old, and her hair is growing like a tree. Her silky coils tangle easily and shed like crazy.
I have my own techniques, but I was happy to see a post on my fave site, www.KisforKinky.com talking about washing and combing little girl's natural hair. It's always good to get another point of view on the process.
Click the link below to get great info on de-tangling, washing, and styling your little princess.
Recently, the folks over at
Thank God I'm Natural sent me a sampler pack of their Shea Butter products. Thank God I'm Natural (from the book that birthed the website) has an online store that sells, bath, body, hair and apparel. The Bath & Body products are named, Thank God IT'S Natural.
You know how I love to try new hair products, so I thought it'd be cool to try some Bath & Body products as well. I was excited to try this brand since is 100% NATURAL.
When I received my package I could smell a strong lemongrass fragrance before I even opened the package. Below, you can see the various textures of the items I received. The sampler sizes were pretty big! I was surprised. Click here to purchase the sampler pack.
First up we have the lip balm. I'm a a fan of a good lip balm that smells good, tastes good, and doesn't leave a residue on your lips overtime. This balm hits all the marks. I'm actually in LOVE with it. I wear it under my lipsticks and the product gives my lips a smooth finish. The smell is not overwhelming, and there's now weird taste. This is definitely a GOOD purchase!
Now, I'll be the first to tell you that I do not own one bar of soap. I don't like soap. I don't like the weird feeling on my skin after I use soap. So, I was reluctant to use this soap. However, what got me to try this soap was the 100% Olive Oil in the soap. When I tell you this soap is the BOMB.COM - I tell you no lie!!
This soap just feels good in your hands. The lather is . . . soft. The smell, although strong in the package, leaves a refreshing scent on your body. In addition to lemongrass, they have Cherry Blossum, Ginger Peach, Sugar Pear, White Tea & Ginger, Mango, and an Unscented versions.
Last on the list is the 100% Organic African Shea Butter. I've tried lots of Shea Butter varieties and this is among the best. The softness of the butter is the deciding factor for me. This unscented butter is great on body and on hair. . This is a great product for someone who may be allergic to scented and treated Shea Butters. However, you could possibly mix some essential oils in and make your own fragrance
I'm so happy I was able to try these products. If you are looking for something NEW, this is a great purchase. Click the official website, below, to purchase. Oh yeah, the price-points will not break the bank!
I didn't use this product with the intention of doing a product review. However, I saw this in my house in my collection of hair products. So I decided use it on my left eyebrow. Sometime after I started getting my eyebrows threaded, my left brow became thinner than the other one. The left brow also stopped before the corners of my eye. Take a look at my eyebrow dilemma:
See how my brow arches are different?
I love my eyebrow lady. She was good at masking the uneven growth.
Also, I was never fond of skinny eyebrows. They don't fit my round face.
I'm not sure why the hair my left brow stopped growing. It could have been due to threading, or maybe it was due to my failed attempts at plucking/shaving them between threading sessions. Either way, my hair stopped growing back. I had to wear my eyebrows thinner to keep them even, although I craved thicker, more natural brows. I applied the Dr. Miracle Follicle Healer Creme to the thin area of my left eyebrow every night for a few nights. The directions suggest twice a day. I did this a few days, but that was too much to remember. Then I forgot about it for a few nights, remembered, and resumed my nightly applications. This went on for a couple of weeks. I usually slept with the cream on my brow. The result: MY EYEBROW HAIRS GREW BACK!
My left brow is still slightly thinner, but I'm happy wearing thicker brows..
I was so excited. I noticed growth after about 10 days of inconsistent use. I'm so happy with my thicker brows and I wholeheartedly recommend this product. I mean, if it works for brows, why would it not for thinning edges? If you decide to try it, be sure to let us know how it works for you.
Pros
It works (for me, anyway)
Nice creamy consistency. Not greasy or runny.
Inexpensive. (Under $4.00)
Cons
That strong Dr. Miracle smell is definitely present
Not good for daytime use (mostly because of the smell.)
**The tingle feeling can be a bit much, but personally I like it, so I won't list it as a con. If you're not a fan of tingly products, you may want to skip this (and most, if not all Dr. Miracle products).
Since today is Valentine's Day, I thought I'd post some cute and easy hair styles for natural hair ladies on Valentine's day. Like the pic above, less is more on this special day, because your outfits wil do the talking. Take a look below as I post some cute and super-easy styles to transform your hair from 'What?' to 'WOW!'
The Faux-Hawk - Now that my hair is longer, this is my new fave style. It's super simple too.
Assemble hair in 10-15 two-strand twists
Let hair set, to achieve twisty textures - a couple hours or overnight.
Release hair from twists, separating to desired fullness.
Pull and secure each side of hair up with side combs
Fluff for fullness.
Single Flat-Twist - I don't know when this style became popular, but everytime I see someone wearing it, I smile. Why? Because it's so effortless and easy - and the outcome is adorable. This works for various lengths too.
Separate hair leaving a desired section for your braid/twist in the front
Flat twist the front area (click link for flat-twist tutorial)
Secure with a bobby-pin
Forward Puff - This is easily my FAVE hairstyle. It's great for special occaisions, and your hair doesn't have to be very long.
If you want, blow your hair out gently with the blow dryer. If not use some gentle tension to elongate any shrunken curls or kinks.
With two hands, push hair forward, securing stray pieces with side combs or bobby pins.
Use a bit of hair gel (aloe vera, am-pro, etc) to smooth edges and nape of neck
Finger comb to achieve desired fullness
SIDE PART - Here's my picture from this morning. This is my Valentine's Day hair. A simple and easy side part - with PIZAZZ!
Braided my hair and let it set overnight
Remove braids in the morning, finger combing and separating for fullness
Separate hair where you want your part, secure with bobby pins.
Hope this helps! Have an awesome Valentine's Day!!
There were lots of standout moments at the Grammy Awards last night, but for natural hair's sake, we have to spotlight Corinne Bailey-Rae and Kelly Rowland for rocking their awesome curls and waves on the Grammy Red Carpet.
Corinne (above) rocked head-to-toe Christian Siriano on the carpet, her lovely hair was assembled in a messy side-swoop with luxe curls cascading down her face - I love the look!
Kelly Rowland is just doing IT these days! She was visibly shaken the day after Whitney Houston's passing, but she pulled it together to walk the carpet for the Grammy award ceremony. These curls are giving me LIFE and I hope she wears this hairstyle for a couple more months. I think Kelly has found her look!
Who were your faves on the show and on the red carpet? Hit us up in the comment box!
Little kids with a halo of natural hair on their heads are some of my favorite pics. This little girl and her wild hair, are giving me everything I need. I love to see a little girl in beads and bows but I love to see their heir all out and free too! So cute!
Picture it: I'm browsing a social media site,
and I come across someone who is posting angrily about naturals. Apparently,
said poster came across an article about 10 reasons to date a girl with natural
hair. This apparently offended her, and led to her posting bitter responses
that insinuated that natural hair was not as pretty as straight hair, and how
happy she is to be relaxed because relaxed hair is prettier and HER man
probably wouldn’t be with her if it wasn’t straight.
I know hair is an issue for women. However, some who aren't natural may not realize the fluctuations of
esteem that some women go through when they decide to go natural. Why are you unhappy because I choose to wear my hair in it's natural state? If you read something positive and feel the need to
make negative comments regarding the said thing, it indicates a lack of self-esteem. Those sneaky areas of low self-esteem may rise
to the surface.
I love Jill Scott and think she's gorgeous, relaxed or natural.
Now that I’m happy and secure with myself and my kinky, curly hair, I do not feel the need to be a #teamnatural vigilante drafter. Also, I don't feel
the need put other people down because they decide to wear their hair in a way that doesn’t look like my hair.
There’s the old saying that ‘Hurt
people hurt people’. Be introspective. If you see others happy about
themselves (whether it is a physical trait or reaching a goal) and you cannot
find it in yourself to be happy for them, fine. But if you feel the need to put
them down, you may have low self-esteem.
Be introspective. If this applies to you, find what makes you happy about your hair (or life, career, etc.) and pursue that. Whether it’s “I love feeling my hair blow in the wind and fall silkily onto my
shoulders” or “I love feeling my hair blow in the wind and how it stays off my
neck in the summer”, go for it. Do what it takes to make you happy with yourself so that you don't get angry at someone else's happy.
My favorite posts of this site have to be the HAIR LUST posts. I just love looking at all the ways ladies style their natural hair. I hope our Hair Lust posts inspire you to tak you hair to new dementions.
Saying all that, today's Hair Lust model is . . . ME . . . the editor! I got this photo done as an update to my head-shots. In my old head-shots I was transitioning (less than a month being natural) and although I love those pictures, I wanted something new and spicy!
I have to thank my favorite Nashville photographer, Ernie Passwaters, for her magnificent eye! The lighting was so perfect! She really captured the texture of by 4b coils. In addition, my make-up artist, Jessica Jones of PhaseOne Image Consulting, did my make-up and she did it well. Make sure to click on their perspective links for services.
In an upcoming post, I'll tell you how I achieved my hair style and all about the cheap details that made this picture work like magic!
I'm loving how more actresses are showing their natural side these days! Recently, Oscar Nominee, Viola Davis posed for LA Times Magazine in all designer and all natural! Her tiny coils danced for the camera as her smooth skin glimmered for the flash bulbs. This shoot is just amazing!
