Protective Style: Yarn Braids

So it's that time of year where the weather is getting cooler/colder and I need to protect my fragile naps. I've decided that I would do kinky twists again since I've done them myself before. I had the kinky twists in about a month before I took those out and tried my hand at yarn braids aka genie locs. I saw a video that Blackonyx77 had done on YouTube a week or so ago and her yarn braids came out really well so I bought the yarn from Michael's which I believe as about $2-3. I only bought two spools of the Red Heart 100% acrylic.


I made sure I moisturized my hair using aloe vera gel but I think next time I'll use a mixture of aloe vera gel and QB heavy cream. Braiding took me a total of 24 hours to which I wasn't all too happy about but I do like the turn out of the yarn braids.


I plan on keeping this set in for at least a month which I'll redo sometime the first week on December. So far I'm enjoying the yarn braids. They're very easy and very light weight. I've already co-washed my hair but I think next wash time I will do the baking soda/apple cider rinse. I've been oiling my scalp with BT (boundless tresses) but I'm switching to my homemade coconut oil/jojoba oil blend. Overall its a nice protective style for the winter months and I highly recommend giving the yarn braids a try.

Kinky~Curly Curling Custard

I love KCCC. I have 4b/a hairtype (or on LOIS... OS Thick Cottony)and the KCCC really made my coils pop nicely!! I did the app in the shower last night which was not smart because if you don't know KCCC takes a very long time to air dry, but it worked out lovely in the morning. I just spritz it with my little mix and shook and it was on and "poppin'". I recommend this product especially for those with my hairtype (type 4) because it really does bring out your curls/coils. It's 100% natural ingredients and pretty pricey (about $ 26 for an 16 oz. tub).


purchased at http://www.kinkycurly.com

I used this with the Knot Today, which is a leave-in designed to go with the Curling Custard. I would suggest to use these two together to get stellar results.



I hear they are now selling Kinky~Curly at local Whole Foods stores so I'll be checking that out :D

Here are my results:


The night applied


Morning after applied

KinkyCoils' Homemade Shealoe!!

Now, I know it's been a long while since I've blogged but I've been fairly busy and to be absolutely honest I forgot about blogging...lol But this blog isn't about that...


I absolutely love love love this stuff. I have to say I love it more than my KBB and my QB. It never ever fails me *smile* I did a video a couple of months ago on how I mix up my homemade shealoe so check it out below when you get a chance. Of course, I've since tweaked my mixture but the main ingridients are still the same. Let me tell you, when your hair is feeling dry and hard try shealoe. I gurantee your hair will be well moisturized and soft. That is the truth!

Shealoe pt. 1 follow link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Gyf2Vfpio&feature=channel_page

Shealoe pt. 2 follow link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcCoEC0_gxQ&feature=channel_page

Now I may do an updated version on how I make my shealoe and reposted on YT as well as here, but for right now I'm still working on this batch so when I'm out I'll make sure I do another video with the tweaked ingridients.

Karen's Body Beautiful

I think I've found my favorite new product. While my hair was out in it's rest period (during my 100-day hair challenge), I decided to test out the Karen's Body Beautiful hair line and I absolutely love it. I haven't tried everything in her hair line but what I have tried so far is the bomb! I am in complete love with her hair milk and her hair cream. My hair just eats it up. It's keeping my hair moisturized, shiny, oh and it smells fantastic! I went to work yesterday with everyone telling me how great I smell...lol (I was wearing her hair milk and hair cream in Cranberry Cocktail). I highly recommend giving her line a try. I ordered the Heavenly Hair sample pack for $25.00 on her site ( http://www.karensbodybeautiful.com/ ), which comes with a hair butter, hair milk, hair cream, and hair oil. Then my sweetie took me to NYC for Valentine's Day weekend and I visited her store which is on Myrtle Ave. (between Clinton and Waverly Aves. )in Brooklyn (use a GPS if you need to know how to get there...lol) and Nyameke helped with her spectacular customer service. I will go back when the weather is not so cold and I will be going to KBB.

Products Products Products

Okay I have serious PJ'ism...lol (PJ means product junkie). I just love to try out new products for my hair. I'm always thinking something else could work better...lol.

So far this month I've ordered from MissJessies.com and KarensBodyBeautiful.com. I've also bought some things at my local Bss (beauty supply store). *Sigh* I can't use any of it right now because my hair is in kinky twists. My plan is to use Miss Jessie's creme de la creme once I take this kinky twist set out. I may or may not use her shampoo, which is said not to have in SLS in it. I don't plan to rate the products I try out here, but if you want to know what I thought of a certain product just check out my Fotki.com album or I may do a YouTube video on it.

I have waaaay too many products. I just threw away a whole bunch of stuff last weekend, but I still have products! Most are still full; some are half full, but none are almost empty.

My Top 5 Products:

* Qhemet Biologics Amla & Olive Heavy Cream
* Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner
* Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Conditioner
* Sheamoisture Shea Butter Leave-in Conditioner
* Fantasia IC Hair Polisher Styling Gel (clear)
**BONUS** Futurebiotics Hair, Skin, Nail Vitamins

Those 5 products stay in rotation, but since getting more than few new products it may change up. I heard Karen's Body Beautiful has great products and I hear great reviews on them. We'll see...

Day 26~ 100 day hair challenge!

Okay, so its been 26 days since I started this challenge. All is going well. In fact I redid the kinky twists a day later because I didn't like how the first set came out (check photo below in last post). I love how the second set came out...










26 days have gone by so fast. My 50 days is coming up real soon (Feb. 11th) and at that time I'll retwist another set and wear until my end date (apr. 1). I've been using my hair growth oil that I got from Blackonyx77 http://public.fotki.com/KinkyCoils/hair_pics/products/blackonyx77hairgrowthoil.html
It seems to be working fine. I bought a bottle of boundless tresses by Growth Specifics so I'm hoping to try that after my first 50 days is up.

I had to take out one twist in the front because it needed to be retightened and at that time I noticed my hair in the front has grown at least an inch!! The real test will be the sides; to see if my sides have grown. I'm noticing growth now because my hair has been in a "resting" state, meaning I have not been manipulating my hair (ex. combing, brushing, styling, etc.), so it's had time to retain a little more length. Yaaaay! Imagine how much length I may have by April. I mean if I've gained at least an inch in 3 weeks then I should be just below my lip or more by time April arrives (HOPEFULLY).

100-Day Hair Challenge

Hi What's good? I know I've been MIA but life has me too busy to blog plus it's the holiday season...lol you know how that goes. Anyway, I wanted to do a quick blog on a hair challenge that I joined. It's called 100-Day Hair Challenge.
BlackOnyx77 started this challenge on Youtube and I think it a GREAT idea plus my hair needed the break. You can also check out her fotki album just search ChellyG and it should come up.

Anyway, I thought this was such a good idea that it inspired me to finally learn how to kinky twist my own hair. I plan to keep these set of twists in at least 2-4 weeks before I take them down; wash and condition my hair and then retwist (with kinky twists).

REASON WHY I JOIN THIS CHALLENGE:

1. Cut down on combing/brushing my hair
2. Strong, Healthy hair
3. Protective style during these cold winter months
4. Hair growth as well as retain length
5. Stay away from hair dyes for awhile; grow out hair dye

Also, during this challenge I plan to drink a lot more H2o as well as take multivitamins and hair vitamins. The soul purpose of the 100-Day Hair Challenge is to give your hair a well needed rest period.

Protective Styles You Can Do:
*Kinky/Seneglease Twists (extensions)
*Individual Braids (extensions)
*Cornrows (w/extensions or without)
*2-strand Twists
*Weaves/Wigs/Quick Weaves

I put Kinky Twists in myself. I wanted to do individuals but I didn't have the dinero to get them done and my fiance's cousin couldn't do them, so I surfed YouTube and found many how-to videos on Kinky Twists. I came across BlackOnyx77, Beautifulbrwnbabydol, and Lyndaespratley and I used techniques from all three to create my twists. Now they are FAR from perfect but I think the second time around they'll be a little better.

YES WE CAN!!!

Barack Obama is our president elect! I cried because this was definitely a part of history that I never thought I would see. If you didn't know now you know. Yes we can!

It's been awhile!

What's good?! I know it's been awhile since I've blog about anything, but I've been fairly busy since my last post. I've been doing wedding stuff, trying to find venues, bridal gowns as well as bridesmaid gowns. It's a lot of work. So I decided to create a new blog just for my wedding talk (BE SURE TO CHECK THAT OUT) and keep this one for my hair/beauty/makeup blogging. I really just wanted to update you guys...

I dyed my hair jet black which was a huge mistake so sometime this weekend I'm going to get some colorfix and try to correct it. Black dye is just too dark for my skin complexion. Other than dying my hair I haven't been doing to much to it because I've been so busy.

Aubrey Organics

Okay, last week I went to my local whole foods market and picked up Aubrey Organics. I'm excited to use these because I've heard such great reviews on them. I picked up Island Naturals (poo & condish), Honeysuckle Rose condish, White Camellia condish, and GPB condish. I've been waiting until I took my twist out, which I did yesterday. Usually I do wash day on Sundays but because I'm so excited about using this product I think I'm going to scratch the twistout and wash my hair tonight.

I'm going to start with the Island Naturals first. I'm not going to do a pre-poo (coconut milk & molasses)... ah I might as well...lol I'll post my results at a later time. I'm going to go ahead and get started...

Castor oil and Aloe vera

I just wanted to say I LOVE LOVE LOVE castor oil. It is by far the best moisturizing oil out there! Just in case you didn't know castor oil is humectant that attracks moisture to your hair/skin. So if your hair is dry or even damaged give castor oil some love I gurantee you'll love it.

You know I've been sleeping on Aloe vera gel. I remember when I started my locs four years ago the loctician used aloe vera plant to palmroll my locs. BUT it wasn't until recently I fell in love with it. Aloe vera is great for moisturizing the hair/skin also. I used it today to finish up my micro twists and my hair feels soooo soft and moisturized. I highly recommend this also.

If didn't know now you know! Bless.

KinkyCoils's homemade whipped shea butter

I didn't think to do a video on how I made this but when I run out (which probably won't be for awhile) I'll definitely do a video. Anyway, today I decided to go ahead and make some whipped shea butter. I had made this a couple of years ago but it wasn't AS whipped as it is today. I have to say it was my favorite four years ago and it's my favorite today! Oh man! It's so fluffy like butter cream. I really put my foot in this...lol

I used (of course) shea butter, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, vit. e oil, honey, castor oil, coconut oil, ylang ylang e.o, rosemary e.o, peppermint e.o, & patchouli e.o I think next time around I'll add couple more oils.




I'm telling you this stuff is HEAVENLY! Anyone can make it :D

My Hair Routine

I just wanted to post about my hair routine for the summer. I'm still testing this routine out but this is what I'm doing so far. I live in a state that has a lot of humidity so I don't have to do as much, but if I feel like my hair is dry I do use a homemade spritz.

~Do a daily conditioner wash (I like to use either Suave or Vo5) or sometimes I'll just rinse with water. Sometimes I skip a day due to laziness...lol

~Apply my leave-in conditoner (I didn't do this before until I realize my hair needs it; I like to use Sheamoisture leave-in) on damp hair.

~Let air dry.

*Use homemade spritz if hair is dry (veggie glycerin/h2o mix)

Other Treatments: Shampoo once a month (I use Creme of Nature but I'm going to try Nasabb's Teawynn poo). I also deep condition bi-weekly (or when my hair needs it).

Once fall rolls around I will post my Fall/Winter rountine. I doubt it'll be the same as last year...lol

Okay, so they're not perfect...

I finally did Bantu knots. I started off parting but then I was thinking, "This shit is for the birds!" So I started grabbing sections of hair. I think I did an okay job, but they're not perfect.

Almost finished...


All done!


Here's the back...

BOCA (Bellydancers of Color Association)

Okay so I'm on "da tube" as usual and I see Nia (aka Niakisali) posted a video about bellydancing (I've always wanted to do bellydancing). Basically, she's doing bellydancing classes as apart of her health/workout regimen. Let me tell you, I was very impressed with this idea because for months I've been wanting to get back in shape and try some bellydancing. Well I have to say Nia has motivated me... a little...lol I used to be real atheletic about 6 years ago but stopped for some reason. When I was in school I ran track, played basketball, and did cheerleading. I've fallen off...lol So Nia has inspired me to loose some of that baby fat that I got after giving birth 8 months ago.

Thanks Nia!

Bantu knots

I just wanted to share real quick that my next protective hairstyle is going to be bantu knots. I haven't done this style in over four years so we'll see how it comes out. I'm not one to part when I do my hairstyle (particularly twists), but I'll try...lol I will definitely post a video on the tube as well as take pictures to add to my fotki album. Just thought I'd share that before I head off to bed... later!

Tired...

Oh man! This has been a long ass week. I am so tired and I guess it didn't help that I was going to bed every night at 12am then waking up every morning at 6:30am (sometimes earlier). I'm sooo glad I'm off work tomorrow. Because I was so busy this week the only thing I was doing to my hair was... nothing but putting a wig on. I still had the "dookey" twists in my hair from Sunday's wash day. At least I was spritzing daily with my h2o/glycerin mix. I think it was Tuesday night I did the "baggying" method (if you want to know what that is just leave a comment). I guess on tomorrow I will take the twists down and do a co-wash then "dookey" twist it back up for the next week or maybe I'll wait til Sunday.

Oh yeah, if you have any time to say a quick prayer for my coworker's daughter who is in the hospital trying to get over the bacterial infection Mrsa. She has been in the hospital all week and it looks like she'll be in another week, but then she's not out of the woods yet. Toodles!

Sorry guys...

Sorry guys I came home from work and I was too tired to do the L'oreal gunmetal tutorial so I'll probably do it on Friday when I'm off.

My next tutorial

Last week I went to Walmart in search of L'oreal H.I.P's metallic duos and with luck I did find them. I bought every color except for sculped (?) because I already have cheeky and to me they look too similar, BUT I'm thinking about going back to get it anyway...lol

Anyway, my next tutorial (if that's what you want to call it) I'm thinking about doing a look using the metallic duo gunmetal. Greens are my favorite colors so it only makes sense to do a look, right? So I'll probably do a look with gunmetal tomorrow afternoon when I get home from work then upload it later that evening.

L'OREAL H.I.P GUNMETAL

Hair It Is...

Well early yesterday I washed my hair. I've been pretty fraustrated with my hair because it's been breaking off and it's been very dry, but of course thats totally my fault. The last few months I haven't been taking very good care of my hair which it now shows. One side of my head (the right side) has broken off badly. I'm also trying to grow the rest of this dye out so I can eventually cut it out. So today I decided enough is enough... I NEED TO TAKE BETTER CARE OF MY HAIR...lol.

I decided to change my routine. My hair needs more moisture and a little more protein, so I'm going start "co-washing" my hair at least three times a week if not everyday. Once a month I'm going to do a protein treatment and bi-weekly I'm going to do deep conditioning treatments. Once a month I'm going to do a "pre-poo" treatment (using coconut milk, molasses/honey, and olive oil) followed by shampooing. I've also decided to do more protective styles. Since I don't know how to cornrow or flat twist, I'll just two strand twist, do individual braids, and/or wig it. Hopefully this will get my hair back on track.