Twistouts and Braidouts: REMIXED!

'Twistouts match more of my natural curl pattern.' 'Braidouts result in less shrinkage.' Braidouts give me more single-strand knots.' And on goes the battle between the twistout and the braidout. But who says it has to be a competition? Why can't twisouts and braidouts co-exist...on the same head?

Simply put, they can...

Graduation Fro Life

When you graduated from high school/college/grad school, how did you wear your hair? For me, high school was back in the relaxed days so I went the weave route (recycled from proms, oh how I miss prom season):


For undergrad graduation, I wore my hair straight (ish, sort of poofy from graduation parties the night before):

PhD Hair Phenomenon

To date, 8 of 10 science and engineering African American PhD-holders I know have natural hair. Is this a coincidence, or does this have some higher meaning? Perhaps they got tired of caring for their hair in graduate school? Perhaps they realized the versatility of natural hair during undergrad or grad school? Or maybe it's something else altogether. Any other natural PhDs out there?

the BEST twistouts

Okay world. I'm about to divulge my secret for creating the best twistout. It involves relatively zero work, no drying, and takes about 10 minutes to do. All you need are scissors and a head full of marley twists.

Heatless

After 1 year (April 2012-April 2013) of not applying heat to my hair, I can say that I was able to maintain length, but not grow it. Therefore, this next year's theme will be protective styling. While I did enjoy wearing my hair straight, I would like to see how much I can grow over the next 12 months.

    

Oh! And that whole post-my-regimen-each-week thing was too much work for me. I realized it wasn't much of a regimen and I was just washing/co-washing/deep conditioning whenever I remembered to. But now I will follow a more strict regimen with:

Meetup Montage: What type of meetup goer are you?

Tonight I attended the Natural Beauties Monthly Meet and Greet at my all-time favorite place (Panera!) It was put on by The (DMV) Natural Beauties Group. I met a lot of great ladies and was glad it was informal. Not the typical - let's go around the room and share our hair journey. I've began to notice that certain personalities/characters arise at each meetup. 

• One, of course, is the leader, the person who organized the event. 
• Two is the stylist. There may be more than one but they're always there to give helpful tips. 
• Three is the newbie natural who has tons of questions and keeps the conversation going. 
• Four is the seasoned professional who has tried it ALL and rarely buys products (she might even make them). 
• Five is the product junkie. Gotta love em! They usually come with tons for products they don't want anymore and for free (really gotta love em)! 
• And last but least, there are "the others". 

Which meetup goer are you?

Rhetorical Natural Hair Questions

Have you ever wondered the answers to these questions? Either I find they are so controversial that there is no one answer or it's impossible to find a solution. If you have any answers, please reply w/the solution and your hair type.

1. How can I achieve the perfect wash n' go?
2. Is shrinkage a good thing?
3. Is natural hair for everybody?
4. What's the best shampoo for my hair?
5. How can I make a dry patch grow back? (no seriously, it's been about 2 years without growth)
6. Is the hair typing system that big a deal? They're just numbers, right?
7. How can I part my hair perfectly?
8. Should I go see a dermatologist?
9. Should I take vitamins specifically for my hair's health purposes?
10. What are the quickest and flyest protective styles?
11. Which is better - a satin pillowcase, scarf or bonnet?

Do You Want the Fluff?

An easy way to make a blow-out last?

Day one: Looks amazing!

Day seven: Not so much. Solution? Spritz a little leave-in conditioner, coconut oil and shea butter onto your ends and make 6 chunky twists throughout your hair (depending on the length) and VOILA! My hair was so soft and bouncy with this method!

How do you make your twist-outs last?

Operation Straighten: Before - During - After

after taking out my kinky twists

I call it - "The Pacman"

from this 

to this! Let's see how long this will last... I give it 3 days haha

Fro Finds - pt1

outfits + accessories that will look great with that wash n go fro/puff! I can't wait until the summer!

jacket
bracelet
romper

What Naturals Think

hahaha. **thoughts** we never say this aloud

Viola!

peep Viola Davis's TWA. it's cute!

Updo Day!

Natural Hair by the Numbers

1 sorority - Pi Nappa Kappa;

Quite a controversial subject, are these girls natural hair fanatics? Is it too much? This sorority is based out of Houston and the girls must make the pledge. Read more here.

4 (or more) types -

I don't particularly mind the hair typing system. It makes it easy to describe your hair to others and they'll know what you're talking about. If you're wondering, I consider myself mostly 4B with some 4A in the back.

5 is the ideal pH level -
Hair thrives when it's pH level is a 4.5-5.5 on the pH scale. Thus, healthy hair is all about a protein-moisture balance to maintain this pH level. Good luck though, it's harder than it sounds.

16,200,000 blogs - This the number that Google returns when I search for "natural hair blogs". Some of my favorites are Hair Gets Kinky, For the Fabulous and Frugal, and The Good Hair Blog. Keep it up ladies! You can never have too much information!

And Another!

Hilarity Ensues

Random but..

Do more females have natural hair on the east coast than the west coast? Because it sure seems like it to me :\

Scratching Backs?

I've come up with the perfect natural hair product line. I call it:

empHatically natural

where each product in the line would have a label on the front with the pH level

of the product. Since it is particularly important for those with natural hair to keep a balanced pH level, AND since it's way too much work to do that on your own, this would be a hit! Thoughts?

p.s. if you take this idea, I want free hair products for life... just sayin

Conflicted

(2 posts in one day! I must be sick! But..)

I've had something on my mind. While my last post may reveal a tiny desire to perm my hair, I find myself getting angry when other naturals get their hair permed! I know most of you have heard about the perm comments from Oprah's stylist BUT I recently watched a re-run of What Not to Wear. A woman was natural for 5 years and hair stylist Nick Arrojo revealed to the world that he had permed her hair the night before.

5 years of hard work down the drain! And it was done to make his job easier. Frankly if you don't know how to style natural hair, how can you call yourself a hair stylist!?

ah well. America.

p.s. maybe I continue to stay natural because I've invested too much time into my hair..or maybe I'm just having a bad day

Day One

So I've decided to take part in Alex's Protective Style Challenge. This blog will serve as a place to document frustrations, slip-ups, protective styles - whatever. So let's get to it!

Yesterday I took out my kinky twists and now my twist out looks amazing! However I know it won't last all week. I haven't even washed my hair since I put them in on July 3rd! (way overdue, I know). Currently I have between 8.25 and 8.5 inches of length.. will probably give myself a light trim on Thursday when I wash it...

Anywho I went to the beauty supply store around the corner today. The fact that it was brand new should have been a warning. It was a little pricey and the "customer service" representative seemed like she didn't want to be there, but I did get this wig for about 17 bucks (20% off). Looks natural right?

p.s. follow me @nine_oneOHbday