5 Tips for Protecting Your Hair This Winter

If the winter season brings cold weather where you live, then you'll want to prepare to give your hair a little extra TLC. Here are 5 steps to help you keep your strands healthy and growing through the winter months.

Deep Condition I'm not the best at this step, but it's important. You know how in the summer months you can get away with using a thin lotion to keep your skin moisturized and in the winter you need to switch over to a heavier, creamier moisturizer so your skin doesn't dry out? Well much like your skin moisturizer, deep conditioning gives your hair the extra boost of moisture that it needs. Let's face it - with the harsh, cold air, the winter months can wreak havoc on our curls, kinks and coils, making them dry and brittle. And what does dry, brittle hair lead to? Tangles and breakage. No thank you! Overwhelmed by all the products out there and not sure where to start? Check out my video on my easy, inexpensive deep conditioner. Also, if your hair has permanent color in it, then deep conditioning isn't optional for you at any time of the year - it's always a must.

Puuddy's tightly coiled hair

Moisturizer There's no way around it - having a good quality moisturizer in your product arsenal is imperative to the health of your hair. Now, the type of moisturizer will largely depend on your curl pattern. Moisturizers come in a range of formulas, because no two curl patterns are alike. The tighter the curls, the more difficult it is for the natural moisturizer our scalps make - sebum - to make its way down our strands. This type of curl pattern will benefit from a heavier, creamier moisturizer (I like SheaMoisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie - beware: a little goes a loooong way). The looser the curls, the easier it is for sebum to moisturize the whole strand of hair, so this curl pattern only needs a light moisturizer, maybe one that comes in spray form. 

Seal Sealing is a step that is really important, especially for those of us with tighter, kinkier curls and coils. There are two ways you can seal: 1) with pH, and 2) with oils or butters. Back when I was setting my hair in a bijillion two-strand twists, I'd seal using the famous "Kimmaytube leave-in conditioner" (note that the original recipe calls for 2 tbsp of aloe vera leaf juice, not green tea). This conditioner acts as a sealant due to the pH of aloe vera leaf juice, one of its main ingredients. This juice is all natural and has a pH that is very close to the natural pH of the scalp and hair - between 4.5 and 5.5. Without getting too deep (let's face it, chemistry wasn't my best subject anyway) when a product falling into that pH range touches our hair, it closes the cuticles of the hair strand, locking in moisture and protecting the strand from tangling and mechanical (comb/brush) damage. So if you think about it, when you apply the Kimmaytube conditioner to your wet hair, you're sealing in the moisture from the water. The result? Soft, shiny, healthy and moisturized hair! The second way to seal is to use oil. Your curl pattern, moisture needs and personal preferences will dictate whether you use a light or heavy oil. My coils are looser than my oldest daughter's coils, so I can get away with using a lighter oil - such as jojoba - to seal. But her hair requires a heavier oil - such as extra virgin olive oil - to effectively lock in moisture, soften her hair and keep it tangle-free.

My curls in the front and back are
loose and wavy

Puuddy's hair with the yarn twist
extensions I installed this summer

Protective Styling This is a term that is talked about a lot in the natural hair community, but what does it actually mean? Protective styling is any style that requires as little manipulation as possible. Less manipulation = less opportunity to damage your strands. In my mind there are two categories of protective styles: with and without the addition of faux/human hair or yarn. But whether you're setting your hair in mini twists or Senegalese twists, you STILL need to SHAMPOO and MOISTURIZE regularly, especially if you're keeping the style in for weeks at a time. Protective styling doesn't mean set-it-and-forget-it. This is really important if you've added hair or yarn to your hair. If you don't keep your hair and scalp clean then lint and dirt will cause build-up that you'll be removing for DAYS maybe even WEEKS after you've taken down the style. Plus, dirt and product build-up on your scalp hinders growth. And if you don't moisturize, then the faux/human hair and yarn will draw all the moisture out of your hair, which can lead to breakage. 

Puuddy's hat that I lined two
winters ago

Lined Hats Lastly, if you're going to wear a hat then make sure it is lined with satin or a satin-like material such as a polyester blend. If your hat isn't lined then I wouldn't wear it at all. Seriously. You can find vendors on Etsy that sell handmade, good quality lined hats (if you need a hat for your baby then I'd recommend this Etsy shop). But it doesn't stop at hats. One winter I learned a hard lesson when I discovered that my wool coat and scarf were causing terrible tangles and matting at the nape of my neck. But should we really freeze for the sake of preserving a few strands? No worries - you don't have to choose. Here's what I do: I still wear my wool coat BUT I make sure I wear a silk/polyester scarf so that it acts as a buffer between my hair and coat. Voilà! You get to stay warm and protect your strands!



Work these tips into your regimen and wardrobe and you'll enjoy healthy, moisturized strands this winter!

~ How do you keep your hair healthy in the wintertime? ~

Stretching, Parting & Qoileez!

I was really tickled by how well I did Puuddy's hair this past weekend! You see, I never thought I'd be able to pull of a style like this, let alone on my busy 2-year-old, lol. But lo' and behold, I did it! :) Since my flat rope twisting skills are improving, I think her Qoileez! look even better! This little awesome hair accessory is quickly becoming my favorite for Puuddy's protective styles. I love how the Qoileez! stay in place without harming her hair while staying out of the way of her busy toddler activities!

This styling session was different in that I realized Puuddy's hair is now long enough that it needs to be stretched prior to installing a protective style. The three pictures above on the left capture how I stretched her hair using the banding technique. The middle picture shows how I protected her ends by tucking them in the elastic (these are Goody elastics that have no metal band - I think they're called "ouchless" - they're gentle on natural hair). The bottom picture is night 2 of banding because neither of us felt like styling her hair on day 1, lol.

I did the two front twists on the first day. At first I was nervous because this was my first time parting this way and without the other twists in, the parts looked off. So I was thrilled when I was almost done and discovered that I'd done an awesome job parting! This styling session definitely made me realize the importance of parting; it can certainly make or break a protective style.

What new style have you tried on your daughter's natural hair?

Senegalese Twists: Tips for Keeping Your Hair Healthy

I always say that your natural hair journey will take you to places within yourself that you never knew existed. 


Today marks a new level of growth in my hair journey - not physical growth, but spiritual. For the past couple weeks I'd found myself admiring (drooling over, really) Senegalese twists. Up until that point this was not a style that I was comfortable wearing. I'd been kind of skeptical of protective hairstyles with extensions because I wasn't convinced that they were effective at protecting the hair while also keeping it healthy. And to be completely transparent, I didn't think it was "me," just like before I started wearing my hair curly I didn't think twists were for me. But what I came to learn through my research on Senegalese twists over the past two weeks (and I'm still learning) is that this style, microbraids and similar styles are okay for your hair as long as you follow a few simple guidelines. I'll go into detail on these guidelines and probably add to them in upcoming posts, but in brief, here they are:

1. Tightness Make sure your hair isn't braided/twisted too tightly, especially around the hairline ("edges"). That is where your hair is the weakest and the most prone to breakage from braids/twists that are installed too tightly.
2. Keep it clean This is key for maintaining and growing a healthy head of hair whether your hair is in a protective style or not. Listen to your scalp. If it is itching constantly then it's time to wash. Many women like to co-wash their twists/braids.
3. Moisturize I've heard of many women who moisturize their hair twice a day when it's in Senegalese twists or microbraids. I think this is sound advice as the synthetic hair and cold weather (if winters are cold where you live) can drain the moisture out of your hair. 

I'm sure there are more tips for keeping your hair healthy while in Senegalese twists, but as I said this is my first time with them and I'm still learning. If you have any tips you'd like to add, please do so in the comment box at the bottom. I can't wait to hear from you. :)

Unlike the pictures indicate, I am THRILLED with how they turned out and I absolutely love them! I'm making those faces because I was dog TIRED after getting them in! LOL! We literally stayed up through the night into the following afternoon to finish them!

I have a lot of styling ideas in the works for my Senegalese twists, so stay tuned! ;)

"Protective" Styling Redefined?

One of the most well-known protective styles is the two-strand twist. My hair has thrived over the past 9 months, and I believe that can be largely attributed to wearing my hair in twists. But apparently this isn't the case for everyone.

A twist-out

Yesterday I read a post by a guest blogger on A Curl's Best Friend about protective styling. She mentioned how a friend of hers shared that her hair doesn't hold twists or twist-outs well, so she ended up having to re-twist her hair several times a week, therefore making twists a high manipulation style. The guest blogger shared that she experiences the same challenge as well.


When I first started my personal hair growth challenge last April, all I kept hearing was that protective styles such as braids and twists help you retain length by protecting your ends and the rest of your strands. But it never occurred to me that these styling options not only don't work for everyone, but they also might not be protective for everyone either. The guest blogger who wrote the post asked if the classic "protective" styles were high manipulation for other fine-haired naturals as well. Her theory is that, for those naturals with finer hair, the typical "protective" styles actually end up doing more harm than good. Since their hair can't hold the styles for long, they end up having to re-twist or re-braid several times a week, which is more manipulation. So, since the whole point of protective hairstyling is to minimize manipulation, their protective hairstyling tends to lean towards WnGs and puffs. 

A braid-out

Now, when I wear my hair in a puff, it ends up in a tangled, frizzy mess before the day is through! LOL!! And I cannot wet (soaking wet) my hair without having to detangle it - it is SO THICK, which is why I only wet it on wash day. Yet my hair thrives in twists. 


So if this woman's theory is correct - which I believe it is - then "protective" styling is a relative term. For finer-haired naturals, "protective" styling may mean wetting the hair several times a week to achieve a WnG or puff, while for thicker-haired naturals, wetting the hair multiple times a week might be a complete nightmare, but wearing the hair twisted for a week may be a much more desired style.

What's your take on this?? 

Do you have fine hair? What style(s) make(s) your hair thrive??

Winter Twisting Regimen

I gave my hair extra "insulation" from the cold this twisting session. Here's what I did after co-washing and finger detangling. Taking my hair by sections, I...

1. Spritzed with water then smoothed a lot of coconut oil through my strands, focusing it on my ends.* 

2. Applied Kimmaytube leave-in, re-spritzing my ends with water if they got a bit dry/frizzy.

3. Applied Shea Moisture CE Smoothie, again, focusing on my ends.

4. After I finished twisting all my hair, I put a nickel-sized amount of my Vitamin oil blend in my hands, rubbed them together, then grabbed sections of twists and smoothed the oils from about mid-strand down to my ends, sealing all that yummy moisture into my thirsty strands.*

I've been finger detangling much more lately and I have to say that it's not as bad as I previously thought. I actually like it a lot. I did some light combing and brushing with my Denman while moisturizing, but for the most part my hair was already pretty well detangled.

*These were steps that are new to my twisting regimen. I love how my hair feels afterwards - sooo soft, shiny and healthy - so I think I may adopt this as my winter wet-twisting regimen (this will be my first winter wearing my hair curly, so everything is improv and experimental!). I'm really excited about getting to master me and my daughter's hair. When I do, I'm gonna shout it from the rooftops because Lord knows I've been wanting to master my hair and now her hair, too for a looooong time! LOL!

Twists are Back!

Ok so I couldn't help myself - I HAD to have my twists back!! After almost a week of a failed stretching experience, I could not WAIT to see the soft, shiny twists that I'd fallen in love with!

We had our family Christmas portraits taken today by my AH-mazing photographer, Rhian, of {foralways}photography! I opted for a quick, fun updo for the occasion. I'm describing it as "fun" because I let the ends "pop" out at the top of my head, instead of tucking them in for a more sleek, elegant look. First I pulled my hair into a ponytail with a nylon ponytail holder. Then I held the twists in place with my trusty Goody barrette (LOVE those things!!). I was planning to tuck my ends in with bobby pins, but then loved how my twists looked "popping" out from the top of my head. :)

I think next time I'll just twist it up instead of
using the ponytail holder. But I liked the style anyway :)

I'd put some flexirods in the front twists to curl them, but
forgot to untuck the twists from behind my ears for the pic :(
But they were cute and a lil curly though :)

Happy twisting!!!

What's your go-to protective style that you just can't live without?? What's your winter regimen?

"Donut" Bun Step-by-Step

For those of you who are new to the donut bun thingy, here are some step-by-step pics of the bun I did today. 


I started off by moisturizing my hair in sections. I spritzed each section with water (water=moisture), focusing on the ends. I then applied coconut oil (this is an excellent moisturizer and from what I've read, one of the few oils that can actually penetrate the hair shaft), finger-combing as I went. I sealed my ends with EVOO.

Moisturized my hair in sections prior to bunning.

The new sock bun thingy I made today is on the left.
(Read my post "Quick Bun" to see tutorial.)
It's bigger & has nylon on the outside to protect my hair.
I also rubbed some olive oil on it for added moisture.

In case you were wondering...
I have a LOT of hair! LOL!

One of my trusty hair ties made of nylons. Gentle on my
hair and very stretchy. I put my hair in a ponytail with this.

Put the sock donut thingy around my ponytail.

Find the center of my hair, take another
ponytail holder and put it over my hair so it's
covering the sock bun thingy.

Twist & tuck my hair around the bun,
securing it with bobby pins.

Spritz the rest of my hair with water, slap on
some gel and smooth it down with my hands
(I do not use brushes as they can cause damage).

Cover with a scarf for 20-30 minutes to smooth
it down some more. Makes it look sleek
sans the damage caused by a brush.

Voilà!
(My ear was still red from the scarf, lol.)

Quick Bun

Since my TnC didn't have time to dry, I decided to put it in a bun. Fortunately for me, I'd just done a ton of research on the benefits of bunning, so I was quite excited to go with this style. Everything I read touted this style to be one of the best protective styles for long hair. I used my old "donut" thing to make the bun (click here for a tutorial on how to make one, it's really easy). I wet my hair and slicked it back with some KCCC.

Do you like to bun your hair? What's your favorite bun style?