Protective Style Challenge Week 7: Twist Out Updo

For week 7 of KandyLand Kurls Protective Style Challenge we didn't do too much manipulation to Des' hair for her week 6 style. Des' rope twists had started to come undone and rather than retwist the ones that had began coming undone we do a twist out. While I was taking Des' hair down I used It's Perfectly Natural's Marsh-Aloe Transitioning Creme to moisturize the length of her twist. Once we got all her rope twists undone they looked like the picture below.

From this point I did a variation of a style I had seen on Goldilocks N Me's blog. This style consisted of knotted ponytails formed in a diagonal pattern. I took the top section of hair without manipulating the way the twist out left it and knotted it on the right side of her head. I then took a section a little lower and did the same but more to the center back of her hair. I took the rest of the hair that was left and combined it with all the hair that I had already knotted and formed my last knot at the bottom left of her head. Since Des' hair is long, I was able to take the hair that was hanging down and wrapped it up and behind the hair between the first and second knot. The ends of the hair I tucked into the first knot. I used nothing to hold her hair in this style other than other parts of her hair. In the end, if you look at the pic you can see a figure 8 which the hair formed. I loved how quick and simple this style was and how wonderful it looked.

I hope you enjoyed seeing how we did this style, the style lasted a couple of days and one day it came down while Des was running in PE so she put it up in a ponytail. I was able to recreate the style later that night. At night, Des keep her hair covered with her satin bonnet and we moisturized daily with It's Perfectly Natural Turn Me Loose. Until the next time... Stay Blessed. 

Flat Twists- Twist Out on My New Haircut

So as many of you know I got my haircut a few weeks ago, with that haircut got bangs and lost some of the waviness in my hair. Well I miss my waviness and the bangs drive me crazy sometimes so I decided to try something new.

I washed my hair with Beautiful Curls Shea Butter Shampoo. I used Beautiful Curls Curl Nurturing Shea Butter Leave-in/De-Tangler on my hair when I got out. I applied about a quarter size amount through my hair with my hands and used a modified Denman brush to distribute the product more evenly.

Freshly washed, conditoned, de-tangled (FYI, late at night)

Once I figured out that I was going to attempt a Flat Twist Out on my hair I decided to use Beautiful Curls Curl Activating Cream to help set the style. I just a lil bit to my fingertips and rubbed hands together, I then distributed it over the section of hair I was going to flat twist. I made an attempt to part my hair straight back using my fingers. I was not concerned about how neat these flat twists were since I was doing a twist out the next morning. I did five flat twist total and secured the ends with rubber bands. I borrowed one of Des' satin bonnets to sleep in to help keep the twist intact since they were loose. One observation I made while doing these flat twists, is that doing your own (especially going straight back) is not easy, LOL, but I got it done.

Flat twists

Well I slept for a few hours and when I woke up my hair felt like it had dried completely so I undid the rubber bands and undid the twist. I must admit I was really happy with how the twist out looked. I really like how the Curl Activating Cream felt and looked on my hair, it was soft and did not frizz or get fluffy. I wore this style for two days and the curl pattern stayed the same both days. I thing I am going to attempt smaller twist next time or maybe teach Des how to do them for me.

Side view

Top view

Just a pic

Have you ever done a flat twist on your own hair? Care to share pictures, please do on our FB fan page or FB friend page. Is there something you wanna see me try on my hair or Des' hair, please let me know.

Until the next time, Stay Blessed.

Nutty for Macadamia Nut Oil (Picture Heavy)

So a while back while research oils in general I ran across some information about Macadamia Nut Oil that intrigued me. I learned that it was very rich in Essential Fatty Acids and distinctively resembles Sebum. Macadamia Nut Oil is an ideal enriching and replenishing agent that allows for it to be rapidly absorbed.

Some of the benefits of Macadamia Nut Oil are that it is intensely nourishing. It provides a smooth and long lasting tangle free, frizz free finish on hair with incredible shine. Hair and skin instantly absorbs the lightweight oil. It also provides natural UV protection and is said to extend the life of color treatments while reducing dryness by 40% to 50%.

Well with all that being said I really wanted to try it but I had a hard time finding it. I found it at Natural Grocers, 16 oz. for $12.99 made by NOW Healthy Foods.

The first time we used it was after co washing Des' hair, while it was in box braids, using Yes To Carrots conditioner, love this stuff for Des and I. Since we were going to do Curlformers I just took one box braid down at a time. I detangled and moisturized her hair with Kinky Curly Knot Today and Macadamia Nut Oil mixed together. I then coated each section with Eco Styler and put the Curlformer in. I repeated this process till her whole head was done. With the exception of the one flat twist that I put in across the front of her face.

The next morning we took the Curlformers out and her hair looked great. It was moisturized and the curls were defined and shiny. Des wore her hair like this to church that day and wore it in a pony tail the remainder of school week and we didn't have to reapply any moisturizer to her hair. I did use a small amount to move her ponytail over from the center to the right side of her head.

We decided to rinse her a week after first application with just warm water and detangle her hair again. We were in a rush so we did this fairly quickly with out any issues. Her hair was not tangled except along the nape of her neck where her uniform shirt rubs and even that wasn't hard to detangle. The only thing we used once her hair was rinsed was Macadamia Nut Oil alone. Des' hair was put up in a high ponytail since we were going to Chuck E Cheese for a birthday party. We were there for about 4 hours, she was running around and playing 90% of the time. I was really worried about the frizz especially since the front of her hair was almost dry when I put the MNO in her hair. Well to my pleasant surprise, we had very lil fly aways and her curls were beautifully defined.

Sunday evening, to get ready for school, we sat down and did rolling twists that lead into a ponytail. On Tuesday morning, I put her ponytail in twist for school. On Wednesday morning, I put the twists into a bun.

Wednesday Night we decided to wash her hair with SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Shampoo and conditioned with Yes to Carrots. I put MNO in her hair prior to finger detangling and then using a Denman brush to brush her hair out. I then put in random twists for the night. I did a twist out the next morning but it went into a ponytail at Des' request. They are doing a lot of PE testing in school and it is still hot here. When she got home from school we did take her hair down and separates her from her twist.

I must say we absolutely love Macadamia Nut Oil. It does a wonderful job of keeping her hair moisturized but not greasy feeling. I love how my hands feel when I am done working with Des' hair. We both enjoy the light nutty smell that it has although it does fade pretty quickly so don't worry if that is not your thing. Her hair looks better for longer and feels better as well. I love that I am not constantly needing to apply more moisturizer to her hair throughout the week. I also did not notice any buildup of dirty or oil on her hair since we have started we using it.

Have you ever used Macadamia Nut Oil? If so, what was your experience?

I hope that you enjoy this post. If you decide to give Macadamia Nut Oil please let me know what you think. Until the next time...Stay Blessed.

Flat Twist Faux Hawk...

Des is getting older and with that comes changes in her idea of what is cute and what is not. I do miss using knockers (ballies), barrettes, and beads so when she says she wants to use these things I get excited. In this particular style we did something we had never done before and put beads at her roots as well as on the ends.

I did this style in April so I did not take step by step pictures of how I placed the beads at her roots, I will do my best to explain. I used Silk Elements MegaSilk Leave-In Hair Moisturizing Creme on damp hair. I used to use this when Des was younger cause I could find it locally and the ingredients we not too bad. I wanted to see how it performed on her hair now cause it has been years since I have used it.

I parted a section in the front of her head for a bang, and then I sectioned the rest of her hair straight down the middle from front to back. I then started at the nape of her neck doing horizontal parts, using clips to hold the rest of her hair out of the way.

I parted the hair and took a small section to string the beads onto. Once I got the two beads down by her root I split the section in two and pulled one of the sections between the two beads. I used this section to hold the other bead into place once I started the flat twits. The section of hair I put between the beads held the first bead into place and once I started the flat twist it held the beads in place together. I hope that makes sense.

I continued the flat twist and secured them to the scalp in the middle of her head with rubber bands. Once I finished all her flat twist I did two strand twist on the loose hair in the center of head. I beaded the ends of those twist.

Des picked all the colors of the beads. We enjoyed this style for a good week. At the end of that week, we had a fantastic twist out. 

I thank you for stopping by and hope that everyone is having a wonderful week. Until the next time... Stay blessed.