Bun with a Side of Sass ;)

This is a quick post on how I styled my hair on Thursday night. We had to run to a meeting and I was crunched for styling time. I stretched my hair by lightly wetting it and moisturizing with a creamy leave-in, then setting it in braids for a couple of hours. I released the braids and pulled it into a high ponytail. (I'll do a post later on how I bunned it.) The front, crimped part of my hair was braided several nights before, so it was completely dry and moisturized with shine to boot!

Please excuse the bathroom pics! I was crunched for time lol

Oops! A lil flyaway. Oh well. I spritzed with water and slicked
my hair down with gel.

Love the healthy shine in the front

Soft, Detangled WnG

                                     

I tried something crazy today. I left in my conditioner and put my LEAVE-IN on TOP! I know, sounds silly. But the idea came to me when I needed a quick fix after my run and before going out to dinner. Here's what I did.

I've returned to my ACV rinses and co-washing instead of using my softened shampoo recipe. Since I'm running more now, I want to be sure that I don't strip my hair but also get my scalp and hair clean. So I started there.

I sectioned my hair in half and did my ACV rinse. Then I sectioned it into four and applied Vatika coconut oil, which has henna, coconut oil, lemon extract and other natural oils in it. Then I applied conditioner, followed by a quick finger detangle. Then I topped with my Shea Moisture leave-in. After applying the products to each section, I braided my hair to create a uniform curl pattern and hopefully define the frizz in the front. Well I nailed the back but the front still frizzed, as I suspected it would.

Taking the braids out

Love the definition in the back

Braided the front with two on each side in my attempt to tame the frizz

My hair was sooo soft and incredibly moisturized!

I'll definitely do this again. My favorite part of this style is how well detangled my hair seemed to remain, because usually WnG's equal another detangling session for me!

Conditioning MESS!

In my desperation to find the perfect deep conditioner for my hair, I decided to head to my kitchen and whip something up. I'd often read about an avocado, coconut milk and honey conditioner on various sites, so I gave it a whirl. I didn't measure anything but instead added ingredients so the consistency would be creamy, not runny.

I forgot to take pics of the application process, but my new method for keeping my hair detangled while it gets DC'd is twisting and bantu-knotting each section after applying the conditioner. I donned two disposable shower caps and sat under my bonnet dryer for 15-20 minutes. Then I put on my winter hat to keep the heat in and wore that for a while.

When I rinsed it out, I got a surprise...stiff, not soft hair! Of course, this isn't how your hair should feel after a good DC. I didn't think there was any protein in the coconut milk, but there was protein somewhere in that concoction because my hair felt like I'd just given myself a protein treatment! No problem, I thought. Since my hair is more porous in the front and at the crown, a little more protein was not a bad thing. So I applied a moisturizing conditioner and rinsed before getting out of the shower. (After a protein treatment, always always ALWAYS apply a moisturizing conditioner/deep conditioner, depending on how intensive the protein treatment.)

I thought I was in the clear...until I was in the middle of twisting. What was that?? Tiny, brown little twig-like pieces all over?! But since I was so tired and didn't want to waste the product I'd already applied, I finished twisting, threw on my scarf and hit the fluffies.

Will I try this again? I don't think so. At least not with that same brand of coconut milk! 

Women vs. Women

Source

I recently read about an interesting phenomenon.

You walk into a room full of women. You feel eyes watching you, looking you up and down. Even if nothing is said, you can sense that you're being evaluated - your size, your outfit, your hair, etc. On the flip side, you're sitting in a room full of women and another woman walks in. Now you find yourself evaluating her appearance. Why is that? 

The article where I read this suggested that women tend to do this because we feel the need to determine whether the other woman entering the scene is more attractive/put together/beautiful than us. But I want to probe a bit further. Why do we feel the need to do this? It's almost as if we feel threatened by another woman's beautiful appearance.

What's your take? Do you agree?

Ahh...Henna

After missing my August henna treatment, I was sooo excited to slap that messy stuff back in my hair the other night! Now that I'm back in the henna game, I remember why I started in the first place. With the lapse in treatments, I definitely noticed a decline in the overall health of my hair. I'd like to henna again later this month, but it takes so much time...we'll see. ;)

Post-henna braid-out. This pic was taken after I'd separated and blended the sections.
I set my braids with one of my versions of the KT leave-in and a little Shea Moisture CE Smoothie.

Before separating and blending

Waist Length...?

Now that fall is around the corner, I must admit that I'm excited - and a little nervous - about straightening my hair again. With all my running earlier in the summer and then all that comes with being a stay-at-home mom, I haven't been as attentive to my hair as I was when I started this blog. It's still about the same length - past BSL - but the longest point is probably still about two inches from my waist. 

Then I had this realization a few days ago: in order to get my hair to waist length, which was my original goal, I would probably have to cut back my running (in order to reduce wash days) and go back to wearing my hair in twists all the time (my favorite protective style). Sadly, if I want to get back to running multiple times a week (which I do), then twists aren't a good option for me as I'll have to wash my hair more often. 

The irony of this whole thing is that I started running because of my hair and this blog. Don't ask me how, but sharing my hair journey inspired me to dig deeper. I felt accountable to myself and whoever happened to read my blog to push myself to set goals and achieve them - with excellence. Running became a hunger, an activity that I couldn't live without. A shift occurred within me, and before I realized it, the inspiration that I'd once derived from my hair and this blog now came from running. My hair took a back seat - and honestly, it's still there. 

Do I say all this to say that I don't care about my hair anymore? That I'll stop blogging about it? No. Far from it. My hair is a gift from God and I will always see it as such. But I feel as though God has called me to do more, and running is something I cannot give up for the sake of growing a few more inches of hair. 

My husband and I went through a situation recently, one that was both emotionally and physically challenging. I might post about it at a later date. We are grateful, humbled and honored by what God helped us through. But do you know the first thing I wanted to do while I was recovering? I didn't want to do a DC or a henna treatment, or sit for two hours and twist my hair. I didn't want to blog.

I wanted to run.

Have You Tried This??

I love the definition of my braid-outs! I purposefully don't separate the sections any further
so I can prolong the life of the braid-out and delay the frizz that comes so naturally to my hair.

                                      

I don't know if anyone else has tried this, but this technique always gives me gorgeous, incredibly defined braid-outs.

I call it "gel sealing." 

I've posted about this before but I love it so much that I had to write about it again and post some more pics. I begin with freshly washed, conditioned and detangled hair that is separated into 6 sections. Then I spritz each section with water, making sure the hair is really wet. Several months ago I mixed up a combination of natural oils, and this product works so well for my hair that I started selling it (email me to place your order). Taking one section at a time, I apply this blend to my hair to seal and then smooth a little gel over the hair. Once all the product has been applied, I braid up the hair, twisting my ends on themselves to prevent frizzing. Since my hair is so thick it takes at least 24 hours to dry completely in braids, and since I don't like sitting under the dryer, this is how I wear my hair while the braids are drying. The results? A lovely, super-defined braid-out! The best part is there is no flaking and my hair is actually soft, not crispy. It doesn't even feel like I put any gel in it!

The headband and scarf are pressing down the flyaways,
which are especially noticeable at my crown due to my
"halo" that is still growing in.

Yes, my hair is thick and I have a LOT of it! 

My Natural Curl Pattern

I know, I haven't written in a while. I'm not even sure who is reading this anymore, but it doesn't matter. I feel compelled to write, to do something.

While trying to figure out what to post, I came across this picture and realized that I haven't posted pics of my natural curl pattern. This is the middle section of my hair, where my curls are the tightest and my hair is the thickest. I don't remember what I had in my hair, if anything. Usually this part of my hair takes the most time to detangle.