Max Hydration Method Part 1

Apparently, I have been doing alot so my posts tend to be long. Since I would rather not bore you to tears with my long posts. I split them up so the information is easily absorbed. 

How To Moisturize Box Braids

Hola! Finally, a hair post! LOL. Yes, long overdue. I have actually had this queued up for a few weeks, but wanted to get some other information out to you.


First things first.

If your hair is permed straight or if your hair was in it's most natural state when you had your hair braided, then this method is for you. (stretched natural hair through the banding method is fine as well)

*** Do not use this method if you pressed your hair before you braided it or you braided it on an old press. Adding moisture directly to hair may cause frizzing and that is not hot ***

Here are the steps I use:

1. Spray Leave-in Conditioner directly on hair & gently spread leave in to the tips of box braids
2. Use a sealant oil and apply to braids from root to tip. ( sealant oils I generally use: jojoba oil, sweet almond oil or coconut oil)
3. Clip any frayed ends sticking out of braids
4. Completely cover braids with satin wrap overnight or after moisturizing to minimize frays.

*** In the event you did press your hair, you can moisturize your scalp by spritzing scalp lightly with the Liquid agent and then use the sealant oil that works best for you ***

I have low porosity hair, so I get a lot of build-up on my scalp, but I would rather have moisturized hair that do not break while I wear my box braided style than to have hair coming out in the wads (due to breakage and not normal shedding) when it's time for me to remove the braids. To clean your scalp, use a wet paper towel to wipe away build-up. You would want to do this a few hours after you moisturize your hair to allow for any additional residue to make it to your scalp. This will be done to reduce cleaning your scalp repeatedly during the moisturizing process.

A. Black Spray Bottle - 1/4 part vegetable glycerine, 3.4 water/ few drops of essential oil (rosemary is today;s choice)

B. Wild Growth Hair Oil - use for hair growth (not necessary part of moisturizing process, but what I also used this time around as well)

C. Black Castor Oil - or any carrier oil that moisturizes your natural hair well (I used the castor oil since I have braids.)

My hair/scalp after my moisturizing process. The base of the braids are still in tact and this was after 4 weeks of moisturizing every few days. These braids are out now, but the moisturizing definitely helped especially since I didn't wash the yaki hair before I used it and because the humidity was extremely low with the change of warm to cold weather.

Feel free to leave any questions or messages below. Thanks much! Muah & Ciao!

How Does the Weather Affect Hair?

 How does Weather Affect Hair? We all look at the weather to make decisions about the clothing we will wear as well as to determine how to wear our hair (ladies and men with hair) For instance, if it’s rainy out and you want to wear gel in your hair, you should probably have an umbrella to cover your hair so that the gel does not become more liquefied and drip down your forehead or not use gel at all…or maybe you may wear your hair in a ponytail to avoid frizz from the rainy weather. However, we check the weather and all seems well enough to wear our hair out, but before noon our tresses look like a puffy stress ball. That once curly fro you left home with now resembles tumbleweed.

THAT IS A NO GO!

So, I did some research because I know that there must be a way to use the weather to determine how to style my hair. And it was a success! Well, in theory it’s a success. I found that the Dew Point (which measures the amount of humidity in the air at that moment) is the best way to determine how to style one’s hair. Let’s say the dew point is 50 or below (dry weather)…it is best to style hair in a protective style (ie. Bun, braided updos/other braided styles, twists pinup, flat twist to name a few)

If the dew point is 50-60, you may be able to wear a pressed style and it will remain nice and fresh (for you transitioners and naturalistas that may want to wear the straight look) Curly Fros are also perfect in this weather (refrain from wash n go’s as much as possible, but if you do it, it should be done at or around this dew point).

If the dew point is 60-70 (can be very humid), a curly fro of any sort would work well. Keep in mind though that if the temperature is hot, you may not want to have a muggy fro. (muggy Fro = fro with old curls or old twist outs that may be full of product) Also, wash and go’s for hair type 4a-4c may be a no-go as well (due to curls getting tighter due to humidity and may lead to detangling issues) or hair that has high porosity or low porosity.

Start with well defined twist outs in the morning...

By noon, twists are slowly looking undefined. Hmmm?

Keep in mind that new air can cycle in and the dew point may change throughout the day. So while your flowing curls may bounce past noon, perhaps later in the afternoon/ early evening, it may not be so bouncy and your curls may drop. While you are indoors, your curls are fine, but to help with retention of hair growth, I would suggest checking the Dew Point before you leave your office for the day, or check your phone on the way out. If the dew point is below 50 or above 70, use a ponytail to pull hair up and pin curls loosely around the base of the pony tail to keep your curls secure and allow them to last longer throughout the work week. The 5 minutes you spend on doing this definitely beats the 30-60mins (if not longer) to re-curl your hair before bed. IJS !!!

TWA’s this portion is for you! Yes, I get it, you got a teeny weeny afro and may not be able to pull your hair up into a ponytail if the dew point takes a turn for the worse. HOWEVER, there are ways around it! Try wearing a beanie after your leave the office with a little hair sticking out on the very top OR twist your TWA into a few flat twist and secure with pins for a quick sleek style.

Got locks?! Don’t ruin your beautifully released curls on the first day due to a low or high Dew Point. Pin your hair up, or pull it into a loose ponytail and secure the ends as much as possible with pins.

Be sure to follow me @lofanaturalista for more tips on how to quickly secure/protect hair from disastrous weather.

MuAh & CiAo!

Reading Your Product Labels

Reading your Labels

How do you determine if a product is best for you and if the ingredients are safe for your hair? Well, with the use of a hair oil chart and a few other tools, plus trial and error, you will soon learn more about your hair including what oils and styling manipulation is best in order to preserve the health and length of your hair. Read your Product Labels.

This is my favorite products ATM – Shea Moisture’s Curl Enhancing Smoothie. Learn how to check the label of products by following this example.

Natural Hair Event

Recently, I launched the Black History Month Contest 

in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.

There is an amazing package given to the winner! See previous blog post.

Entry is free and I am excited about what we can all learn this month about the history of black hair and black hair products. It's not too late to begin doing your research and building a timeline. Create your very own timeline that depicts the History of Black Hair. It doesn't have to be perfect, but the more informative, the more points earned towards winning this awesome prize. Read more for details on how to enter.

Winter Regimen

Have dry damaged hair? Is the winter giving your hair the blues? I made a video last night on Winter Regimen. It’s simple and easy to do. Here are the results. Click at the end of this post for the link to the video plus other tips on how to find the right oils/moisturizer to use on your tresses.

This is how I styled my twists. Very simple and yet my hair remains protected from the harsh winter cold.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Finally, I'm able to make the final post about my Birthday weekend. However, before i get to that...In lieu of Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, I just want to pause and reflect on him and announce that there will be a Black History Month contest in honor of Mr. King. There will be more information in future posts which will include details for the contest as well as the prize. This is going to be great!

Meanwhile, I enjoyed my birthday celebrations  and I am so happy that my friends were there to support me me. Every time I think of it, I smile. I think I'm partied out until my 40th birthday or something, if God spares my life. I was so excited, I didn't take a whole bunch of pictures, but I have a few to share. See how more on my birthday party hairstyle.

Hair Essentials - More Marley Twists

I did more Marley Twists over the weekend to a client of mine. You may have remembered I did a braided mohawk style in her hair when she was transitioning. She ended up doing the BC and now her hair is about 3inches in length and she wanted to do something different with her hair besides a fro. So, here's where I come in. I did Marley Twists and I think it fits her face well and gives her a break from rocking a fro.

 

Our Natural is Beautiful! MuAh and CiAo!

Hair Essentials - Natural Braided Updo (Professional Natural Hair)

Morning, Morning, Morning! I am so excited to make this post today featuring my girl, Rachel Boo. she is rocking a recently done braided hairstyle. I took pics of the sides and front, but forgot the back. The back is just braided up toward the donut. It is really simple and a great style to workout out with. Just tie your head and go! The braided top knot is becoming a fad in natural hair styling I see, but it has definitely been done for years. I'm waiting for Marley braids to get stale, so I can put them in in the Fall, tee hee. At any rate, here are the pics I took right after I redid my girls' braids. I think these pics are super cute. :-)

See my IG @Livlyhood for recent natural hairstyles. :-)

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Our Natural is Beautiful 2013. MuAh & CiAo!

Hair Essentials - Natural Hair Updo (4c)

So, I braided and styled my bff's hair. She usually combs and styles her own hair. I can probably count the number of times I've done her hair on my one hand. Anyhoo, here goes:

Prep Time: 1 hr   (includes consulting)
Style time: 2 hrs (includes consulting while styling and catching up on each other's lives)

YOU KNOW HOW THAT GOES! lol

**I also completed her natural hair profile and natural hair goal plan which added an add'l 45 mins to the prep time**

1. She washed and sectioned off her hair in about 10 twists (5 on each side). I took over from there.
2. I untwisted each section and combed each section as I went along.
3. Next, I used Carol's Daughter heat protectant moisturizer and rubbed it into her sectioned hair from root to tip and blow dried each section and re-twist.
4. I repeated steps 2 & 3 until all the twists were completed.
5. Then I moisturized with JCS moisturizer and sealed with jojoba oil
6. Then I sectioned hair into 4 big sections, re-twisting 3 of them and started braids from the untwisted 4th section.
7. With each part, I further moisturized and seal with JCS nourish and shine product (GREAT FOR BRAIDING HAIR)
8. Then repeat step 7 for all other sections, leaving some hair out in the front (as much hair as desired)
9. With loose hair in the front, I moisturized with JCS nourish and shine product and loosely twisted it and rolled the twist under and secured with a pin.
10. I repeated step 10 until it was all twisted and pinned down the way I wanted it to be.

Here are the results:

 

 

 

Two important things! PLEASE COMB AND SECTION HAIR OUT FROM ROOT TO TIP. Do not take any shortcuts, it creates more breakage and tangling when attempting to comb out for styling later. Also, it doesn't allow for product to get to the root properly. And properly combing hair out especially when having type 4c is imperative to maintaining a healthy head of hair.

** Also Important - brush hair on either side of the section parted to braided all the way through so that the parts are more defined. Some hair is more stubborn to braiding and does not seem to hold a defined part. With more training, hair will work just fine **

This was a nice style, no additional hair was used and I think my bff looks gorg!

Our natural is beautiful. MuAh & CiAo! :-)