Fluffy Braidouts & Smoothing Edges

For the past few months I have been a huge fan of my big, fluffy braid-outs. The fluffier, the better! Here are some pics from today's braid-out. I actually re-did it last night on dry hair, which always yields soft, fluffy, huge hair - YAY :)

The products I use to do a dry braid-out vary. Lately I am lovin' the results that apricot oil has been giving me and my daughter, so I threw that in the mix last night and did a kind of -OC of the LOC method. Taking one section at a time, I applied a little apricot oil, focusing on the ends. Then I topped with SheaMoisture's Curl & Style Milk, also focusing that on my ends so they were smooth. 

After I finished braiding my hair, I applied extra Styling Milk around my front edges and smoothed it down with Puuddy's baby brush. Oh that's right, I never ever ever ever use a bristle brush on my hair other than hers because its bristles are super soft so it's nice and gentle on my baby hairs. Sure, there are quality brushes out there that are safe for my hair; I think I've always heard that boar's head bristle brushes are the best (but don't quote me on that). But I already have this brush and it gets the job done so I'm satisfied :) Anyway, after brushing the Styling Milk into my edges I wrapped my satin scarf around my head and hit the fluffies. When I woke up, this is how smooth my edges looked. I wore another scarf around my edges until it was time to take my hair down to ensure that they stayed smooth.

My hair half-way taken down. 

At first I left the bases of the two front braids secured (my little no-accessory hair pinning technique). But right before I left the house I decided to take them all the way out...

...pulled my hair over to one side, tucked a bobby pin in there and hit the road! :)

First Braid-n-Curl

Yesterday I did my first braid-n-curl. I absolutely love the results! What do you think?!

   

Here's how I did it:

After shampooing and conditioning my hair this past wash day, I set my braids as usual with my modified Kimmaytube leave-in conditioner recipe (see my Product Preferences page for my version). Unfortunately I had to go out that evening so I wasn't able to set my hair until the next day. But since my hair takes forever to dry, it was still quite damp the following morning. I applied a little SheaMoisture Curl & Style Milk to each braid, making sure my ends were thoroughly coated so they would curl and not frizz. Then I rolled each braid onto a large flexirod. I kept them in until the evening when I had to go out. My hair was still a little damp in the back when I took them down, but I didn't care. "The bigger, the better" is how I think now! 

My accessory-free way of keeping my hair
out of my face - keeping the base of the front
braid secured. 

My hair had such nice bounce to it which I really liked (I'm not used to that with my regular braid-outs). I am definitely keeping this style in my arsenal. ;)

A Week of Braid-Outs

Last week I began the week with a slightly different wash day. My goal was to cleanse, condition and detangle my hair using only natural products. Until recently I'd always been skeptical of all-natural regimens. But another blog that I've been reading recently has been leading me to believe that it is possible - and maybe even yields better results.

With that in mind, I cleansed with an ACV rinse using distilled water instead of tap water for the first time. My goodness, the slip was amazing! It was much easier to finger detangle my hair. I could literally feel the difference with the distilled water. It was awesome lol.

Next, I conditioned with a mixture of oils: coconut oil, olive oil, a little castor oil and a little jojoba oil. I had no idea what I was doing but my inner-mixtress was feeling creative! LOL! I finger detangled some more, twisted the four sections then put on a plastic shower cap while I finished showering. After about 5 minutes I rinsed my hair. There was lots of slip due to all the oil and my hair felt very soft. Right before hopping out of the shower I rinsed with a green tea rinse (brewed with distilled water) - I'll post on this later because the results were phenomenal!!
                                     
When I got out of the shower, I was all prepared to braid my hair and seal with my natural oil blend and gel as usual. But when I saw how oily my hair was, I realized I could skip the oil and get away with using only a little gel. I braided it up, slept in it and had to release them before they were dry the next day. However, once my hair was out of the braids I saw how truly oily it was - too oily! So I decided to co-wash again and leave in some conditioner. I once again braided my hair and released them the following day. It wasn't as oily but was still quite moisturized.

The following night I did something that is normal for many naturals but something I'd honestly been avoiding because of laziness and scheduling: I braided my hair up before going to bed, moisturizing with a light, creamy and water-based leave-in which I focused on my ends. The next morning...WHOA!! I was super happy with the results!! Buttery-soft, defined and detangled hair!!
                              
I did this all week. By the end of each day, the definition would fade and my hair would get bigger and fluffier, threatening to take over the entire city LOLOL!!! (Now I understand why some naturals have nicknames for their manes because mine certainly has a personality! And I can't help but wonder what God was up to when He gave a reserved and quiet gal such a big, loud head of hair.... ;)) Sometimes I let it do its thing; other days I attempted to rein it in, lol (that's right, "attempted").

By the end of the week, I began to see and feel lint build-up when I ran my fingers through my hair, so I knew it was time to wash. But aside from the over-oily start of the week, I was really pleased with the results of my braid-outs for the week...and proud of myself for committing to braiding and moisturizing my hair each night. :)

This pic cracked me up! I look like Pinocchio!! LOL!

I did something different: instead of sticking bobbi pins in the front
to keep my hair out of my face, I kept the front braid in at the base at first.
I really like this idea. The simpler the style for me, the better.
I'm definitely going to use this again.

Took the front braid all the way out to see the full results.

I parted my hair on the side at an angle when I sectioned it for braiding.
It had been a while since I'd parted anywhere but dead down the center.
I really like the side part. It gives an entirely different look and feel.

All of the pics capture my hair right after let-down. I meant to take pics of how huge it looked by the end of the day! Maybe I'll post pics of that later ;)

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

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! 

Updo on a Braid-Out

After my awesome 2nd day hair braid-out, it was chilly and rainy, so to preserve my definition I opted to tuck my wavy locks into an updo.

2nd Day Hair ~ Gel Braid-Out

This is going to be a quick n' dirty post, lol. These are the pictures from when I reset my hair, after wearing my natural curl pattern, which I posted about here.

Spritzed and applied my new natural oil blend, focusing on ends. The KCCC was
still very "active," (for lack of a better word) so I didn't have to reapply.
Actually the water seemed to "reactivate" it; I think I could've worn my natural
curl pattern a second time around if I'd wanted to.

Re-braided and then randomly decided to use this stretching technique.
Each braid is stretched and bobby pinned across my head. It's snug but
NOT tight. I didn't wake up with a headache, lol.

The KCCC caked a little in the front, but I just put water on it.

The twisting technique I learned from Teri LaFlesh. Only, I don't tuck
the twisted ends back through the braids.

Ta-da! I was THRILLED with my 2nd day hair!

A Word on Texture

My sister asked me a good question this morning: was it normal for her hair to be two different textures?

You can see that my twists in the front
are looser, while the strands in the back
seem to naturally coil better into each other.

I found myself wondering the same thing when I first transitioned. Why was the crown of my head thick and tightly coiled, the back loose and wavy, and the front semi-straight? As I learned more about our different textures of hair, I found that it is perfectly normal for curlies, and quite common, too.

Now, post-pregnancy, my hair texture might have changed even more due to hormones. I'm not sure because I didn't start my hair growth journey until after I had my daughter last October. In any case, I have heard that hormones (both during and after pregnancy, maybe even while nursing) can affect the texture of your hair. Not exactly sure how much science is behind that though.

Due to my different textures, I've found that I prefer to wear my hair in styles that create a uniform pattern throughout my head, such as twist-outs and braid-outs. Braid-outs yield the best results for me when I'm looking to blend textures. Since my hair has such a loose wave in the front - in fact it's actually straight in some areas, more on that later - I like to set those areas in smaller twists or braids. That way, when I take the twists or braids out, their pattern still matches that of the more coily sections of my hair.

When I do choose to wear my natural texture by using a curl-defining product, I usually end up having to pull back the front because the texture is just so different from my mostly tightly coiled head.

Whether you have two textures or five, no need to fret. Try starting with twist-outs and braid-outs. These are simple protective styles that yield wonderful results.