Growing Mane

Hi Ladies!

I have been wearing braids as a protective style for a while now and I decided that I wanted to try something different. I decided that I wanted to try a wig that looks natural but I didn't want to spend too much money.

Around December I order some human hair online and then around January I got to actually make my own wig. At first it was a bit difficult to make because I wasn't sure how much space to leave between each row so I found myself having to redo my wig a couple times. I bought Brazilian wavy hair and then straightened it once the wig was done.

I was a bit hesitant about wearing it because I wasn't sure how it would look on me so I didn't wear it until the end of April and I actually liked it.

Here are the results!

Hello Ladies!

So a few weeks ago I did kinky twists for the first time. I really like them and I'm gonna compare kinky twists to box braids in this post. Keep in mind that I braid my hair myself so some of my pros and cons are more beneficial for someone who braids their own hair.

Kinky Twists

Pros
Cons

Box Braids

Overall

Do you prefer box braids or kinky twists?

Hi Ladies,

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while but school has been keeping me very busy.  I had a little break this weekend and I decided to rebraid my hair. I came home for the weekend I didn't think to bring my ecostyler with me. So I went to the beauty supply store and I didn't want to buy another tub of ecostyler since I already have one. I was looking for something cheap and that smelled good and stumbled upon Shine 'n Jam.

It was cheap, smelled really fresh and had a good hold without me having to tie my hair down. Usually when I use ecostyler, tying my hair down is a must. To see my ecostyler results click here. After I started using Shine 'n Jam, I realized that my hair really liked it. My hair felt soft and the hold was simply amazing and this product was "regular hold." It also didn't flake.

I read the back of the container and found out that the product was free of alcohol, parabens, wax, petroleum, and silicones. Basically, it doesn't have a lot of the bad stuff hair products usually have. Also, a little of this product goes a long way. Overall, all I really like it so far.

Have you ever used this gel before? What is your experience with it?

Hello Ladies!

I know I am a bit late but I hope you have a great new year! I especially hope that this will be a great year for your hair!

About 3 weeks ago I did my own box braids for the first time and really loved it! You can read that post here. I decided to take out my braids because I did it big and it was starting to look untidy. Once I was done taking out my braids, I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. To me, my hair looked like blow dried natural hair. It definitely had me thinking about going natural. It felt like natural hair and was very full like natural hair. It didn't feel or look like the traditional braid-out at all.

I was also happy that my hair still appeared to be even since my trim in October. That means that my hair hasn't really been breaking and I may be retaining length. When I took my braids out I had a lot of shed hair but my hair was relatively moisturized. When I took each braid out, I applied some shea butter and combed through each section to get out all the shed hair.

Here are some of the pictures I took after I took my braids out. Sorry about my messy mirror!

Hello Everyone!

This will be a short post on a protective style that I did last week. I decided that I didn't want to use any heat and I didn't want to do a twist out. I experimented with my hair for a bit and finally decided on a style that can be a protective style. A protective style basically hides the ends of your hair or "protects" them from drying out or breaking. Protective styles are perfect for the winter since the temperatures make our hair dry very easily. I did a cane row (braid) down the middle of my head and used a hair tie at the end to keep it from unraveling. To make this a true protective style, you can fold the ends of your hair into the hair tie. I found that this style was very easy to do and lasts effortlessly throughout the day. To add a little something to the look, I decided to wear a head band. Give it a try!

Hi Everyone!

After washing my hair, I sometimes like it to be straight. When I go to the hair dresser she would usually flat iron it or put some setters (rollers) in my hair and then stick me under the dryer.

Last year, I went on a no heat challenge but at that time I was wearing my hair curly so I didn't really need the heat. Now that I'm wearing my hair straight, I have been exploring different options to straightening my hair with no heat or with minimal heat.

I decided to simply wash my hair put some rollers in and air dry it. I'll show you what I did through pictures. If you have any questions please leave a comment!

Step 1:

Wash and condition my hair with the Cantu Shea Butter Shampoo and Cantu Shea Butter Rinse Out Conditioner. When I'm done washing my hair, I add the following things to it:

• Cantu Shea Butter Leave in Repair Cream
• ORS Incredibly Rich Olive Moisturizing Hair Lotion
• Coconut Oil 

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Do you have any special techniques for getting your hair straight without heat?

Thanks for reading!

- Sarah

Hello Everyone!

Here are 10 things that I found have helped me a lot on my hair journey so far (most recent picture below).

1. Vitamins

I usually take 1000 mcg of Biotin, as well as, One a Day Multivitamins for women. I found that these have helped my hair to grow stronger and healthier. They also help with overall wellness! Biotin is said to have lots of benefits, with one being promoting faster hair growth. These can be found in your local drugstore.

2. Fruits and Vegetables

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables have made a great impact on my hair journey. For the past two months, I have noticed that my hair has been growing faster than normal and the only thing that has changed is incorporating lots of fruits and veggies in my diet. Try it, it really works!

3. Going heatless

Going heatless has changed how my hair feels. My hair no longer feels dry and brittle. I used to be very bad and would flat iron my hair every morning before leaving for class ( DO NOT do this!). My hair would just feel very stiff and lifeless, plus it took a lot of time out of my mornings.

4. Moisture, Moisture, Moisture!

I know many people moisturize and seal every night before bed, but I find this is too much for my hair. It would simply weigh it down and make it very oily. Instead, I would moisturize and seal directly after washing my hair, and then again during the week whenever my hair started to feel dry.

Deep conditioning is also something I incorporate in my regime in order to put added moisture in my hair. This makes my hair feel very soft and makes it a lot easier to comb through.

5. Detangle

I have a love-hate relationship with detangling. It takes a ridiculously long time to do buuut it is so amazing in getting rid of knots before washing my hair. It is definitely worth the time but I usually have to mentally prepare myself before doing it. I usually finger detangle and that is probably why it takes so long for me.

6. The Inversion Method

7. Twist Outs

8. Patience

Last but not least, patience! Taking care of your hair takes time. Sometimes I feel tempted to just flat iron it, skip deep conditioning it or stop stretching my relaxers, but I have to just take a step back and keep my eyes on the healthy hair prize! If you are ever feeling discouraged you should do that too! Just take a deep breath and continue taking great care of your hair, because it is worth it!


Thank you for reading!
- Sarah

Do you have any tips to share that help your hair to flourish? I would love to hear them!