First Bantu Knot Out

First time I did Bantu Knots on my whole head.

Hello everyone!  So, I finally got around to doing Bantu knots for a knot out.  Saturday morning I shampooed and conditioned my hair with Mop Top products and then I used the leave it in conditioner from Mop Top for my wash n go.  In the evening after my hair had dried I sectioned my hair into four sections.  Then I broken down each section into three sections for the knots.  All I used was a little water and my Denman brush to detangle the ends.  I then two strand twisted each section and created a knot.  My hair isn't long enough to hold the knots in place, so I had to pin each knot.  I only did 12 knots on my whole head.  Mostly because I was trying to get my son to use the potty, brush his teeth, and get ready for bed.  This is me trying to be super mom! 

Bantu knot out.

I didn't try to make these knots look pretty.  All the parts I did with my fingers because I had no intention of wearing these knots in public.  If I hadn't of been interrupted so much, I would of gotten these knots installed in about 15 minutes.  With the interruptions it took me 30 minutes.  Not bad considering twisting my hair takes longer.

Now, let me tell you that sleeping on Bantu knots is not comfortable!  I slept as best as I could and when I woke up Sunday morning I started to take the knots out.  I started to pull the knots apart and I watched my hair get bigger and bigger.  The volume of this Bantu knot out is awesome!  I'm talking big hair, but most of the ends aren't frizzy.  I have these cute coils on the ends of my hair and this serious volume everywhere else.

I wore this look to church today.  It rained this morning and I knew it would be humid, so I rolled tucked my bangs and pinned them back with a flower.  I know y'all are shocked that I wore a flower!  Well my lady friends at church kinda gave me strange looks this morning.  One of them is a stylist and I know she was thinking "she needs to comb that hair!".  I told them that this was an intentional look and that I love it!  You know when your with people who don't like your look.  Y'all feeling me!  That fake smile and head nod they give you and then someone quickly changes the subject.  I knew they were all thinking I'm crazy to wear my hair (in public) like this, but I like this look!  I want to wear it to school/work!  The volume is unbelievable and I know that as my hair gets longer this look will evolve.  I'm loving my big hair and I'm comfortable with myself to rock a look that many people wouldn't be caught in public wearing.  This is me embracing my hair and running with a unique look that can only really happen with tightly curly hair.  This is a real journey moment for me.  A year and a half ago I would of been horrified to wear my hair like this in public.  This is me embracing beauty through different lens and not just accepting who I am, but really embracing that person.  The journey continues.  Until next time...
Blessings!

Flowers for hair

Face on tree trunk with flowers for hair.

Hello everyone!  I was out weeding my vegetable garden and looked at what was left of my birch tree.  We had to take it down because it was dying a quick death.  Every time we had a storm large dead branches would litter our yard and driveway and we knew it was just a matter of time before the tree fell onto the fence, garage, or car.  So, down it came.  I didn't want a stump in the yard and I didn't want to grind out the stump because it is so close to my raised vegetable garden.  So, I had the tree guy leave the trunk of the tree up and since we had a face on the tree already, I told him to cut the tree down just above the face.  After looking at this I decided to dress up the face with some flowers.  Every face needs hair and flowers for hair is even better.  We have had a lot of neighbors and strangers stopping by when we are outside and commenting about the face with the flowers for hair.  If they only knew that I wear flowers in my hair almost everyday I think they would really get it.  Hope you get a good laugh.  Enjoy!
Blessings!

Dry Twist Out

My funky dry twists.

Hello everyone!  I said that I would update you all about my twists I installed Tuesday night.  I didn't wear the twists today because they were fuzzy and even though it's summer I still need to look presentable for work.  So, I decided to wear a twist out.  I had some serious big hair going on this morning.  I mean big fro!  I loved it, but knowing it was going to be hot and humid I decided to pin the sides back and wear a flower.  I know all of you are super surprised that I wore a flower!

Anyway, I learned something through this experience.  When I twist my hair wet and then do a twist out I get some serious definition.  When I twist my hair dry and do a twist out I get little to no definition and big hair.  My hair was stretched a little, but big.  So, in the future now I know what kind of look to expect depending on if I twist my hair wet or dry.  I'm actually thinking about trying a Bantu Knot out on dry hair because I love how big my hair got with the two strand twist out.  I think that would be a great look to wear with a headband.  Until next time...
Blessings!

Left side, wet twist out from June 2012.  Right side, dry twist out from July 2012.

Pinned Up Sides

Hello everyone!  I can finally say that my hair is getting long enough that I can pin back the sides to get a different look.  I tucked rolled the sides and pinned them down.  Of course I added a flower!  I wouldn't be me if I didn't wear a flower.  This look was inspired by Naturally Curious Midsummer Romance look.  Now I don't have the length she has to loosely twist the front or to do the pinned curls in the back, but I did my version on the length I have.  It came out nice on me and I do want to give her credit for inspiring me to do something different with my hair.








Below is the same look, but with my quick finger coils.  I used my Denman brush to help me get these curls.

I did get a picture of my niece wearing a twist out.  You may say "how come she couldn't get a better picture?".  Well this darling six year old decided that she didn't want to pose of any more pictures so, I had to sneak pictures of her when she wasn't paying attention.  I liked her twist out, but she wouldn't let me play with her hair any more.  Eating ice cream and playing were at the top of her to do list, so I relented with just a quick shot of her.

Twist out on my niece.

I spent about 40 minutes twisting my hair and I will decide before I go to work if I will wear my twists, do a twist out, or start over and do a wash n go.  Before I go to bed Monday I will try to take some pictures of my twists and if I wear a twist out I will take pictures.  Until next time...
Blessings!

Featuring - Danielle

Hello everyone!  I have finally gotten around to posting my feature on Danielle.  I met Danielle a couple of years ago at the bible conference my family attends every year, but this year was the first time we got to know each other.  Danielle and I have sons that are about one year apart, so with me  being in charge of the nursery I got to know her and her son. 

I love her smile!

Danielle has been natural for over seven years.  She once had relaxed hair that went a little beyond her shoulders.  She got tired of all the maintenance of relaxed hair and one day she cut it all off.  I don't mean like she transitioned for a couple of months and then wore a TWA.  No, she buzzed it all off!  She wore a fade.  The type of hair cut that had her father walk past her because he didn't recognize her.  Some family and friends thought she was crazy, but she stuck to her guns.

When I asked her about her routine the first thing out of her mouth was to say "I use water".  Just the opposite of when she was relaxed.  She also uses organic olive oil and that's it at this point.  Danielle is very much into natural products and that is why she uses water and olive oil.  I suggested to her to try Terressentials because it is mud and you can't get more organic than mud.  Unfortunately, Terressentials doesn't have a store location near her so she would have to order online.  Check it out Danielle I have heard a lot of good things about this mud!

Now, when I touched Danielle's hair it was super thick.  I mean so thick that when she wanted to get it flat ironed she was turned down by multiple Dominican salons.  Hello, the Dominicans turned her down!  She ended up going to several Dominican salons before one of then said that they could straighten her hair.

I love this headband!

While at the conference Danielle wore twists in the front and then a twist out.  I loved her hair accessories!  I had to get a picture of one of her hair styles with the white headband.  Overall, Danielle's best accessory is her smile.  The entire week I observed her laughing and smiling and basically having a great attitude about everything, including the 6 am fire alarm that went off Sunday morning.  Danielle's strong faith in God and her lovely personality just had to be featured.  Much love and thank you Danielle for allowing me to feature you on my blog.  Until next time...
Blessings!

Featuring my niece - WARNING super cute!

My niece, nephew and son playing in the sprinkler.

Hello everyone!  So, my niece, nephew, and grandma (my mom) are spending the week with me.  Grandma drove them down and my son is tickled pink to have them.  Today we made pizza and ran through the sprinkler and I asked my niece if she would allow me to do her hair.  I co-washed with Hello Hydration and then I decided to do some two strand twists.  With the conditioner dripping from her hair, I detangled her hair with a wide tooth comb and she said to me surprisingly that "it doesn't hurt when you comb my hair".  I told her that the key is that I'm detangling her hair with the conditioner still in her hair.  After rinsing the Hello Hydration conditioner out of her hair I smoothed some Mop Top over her entire head and then sectioned her hair into four parts.  Each section I then added 1-2 pumps of Mop Top daily conditioner with some jojoba oil and then some Mop Top medium hold gel.  Using only my fingers, I then started to section her hair for medium twists.  She ended up with about 30 twists.  From start (co-wash) to finish it took 55 minutes and she didn't seem to mind me twisting her hair.

I really like, no scratch that I love these twists!  She has never had her whole head twisted before.  Usually she wears a fro or braids, but this is the first time she has had her whole head two strand twisted.  My mother took pictures and posted to facebook.  The hubby took pictures and sent them to her parents via his phone.  I took pictures because I really wanted to post on my blog.  This poor girl just wanted to watch Dora and every adult in the house was demanding she stop and smile for the camera.  

Picture of the back of her head.  Check out that shine.

Trying to watch Dora with my son.

Tomorrow we are going to the MN Zoo and the zoo has a fountain splash park so I plan to have her wear the twists until Friday if they hold out.  Then if possible I will do a twist out, we'll see.  I parted the front so that she can wear them with a part in the middle or the side.  She really likes them parted in the middle with one or two twists in her face.  Her curls are to die for!  I just pray that my hair will have this kind of look when it gets longer.  

When we went shopping today I got a compliment about how "pretty my daughter" was and I had to correct the nice person that she was my niece.  I'll be honest, I've been wanting to get my hands in her hair since I went natural.  As I was co-washing her hair, I started to educate her about reminding her mama to detangle her hair with the conditioner still in it and that leaving conditioner in her hair will help keep it moisturized.  If possible I will try and take pictures as the week progresses and post later.  Until next time...

Blessings!

11 month anniversary of big chop

Hello everyone!  I have returned from my week long adventure at the bible conference.  The hubby and I were in charge of the nursery and we didn't get out much.  The good news is that my son is pretty much potty trained!  He only had 3 accidents the whole week and he woke up wet only once at night.  The bad news is that I didn't get a chance to hear many sermons or attend many of the studies.  I think I heard two sermons and three bible studies.  Oh well, the nursery was a lot of fun and I got to know the parents of the children my son's age very well.  In fact one of the parents is a natural and new friend of mine that I will be featuring latter this week.

11 months all natural wash n go church hair.

Anyway, today is my 11 month anniversary of my big chop.  I remember battling with myself this time last year about whether I should transition for a year or just cut it all off.  Well, clearly I didn't do a long transition and I'm glad I big chopped.  My hair is now measuring about 7.5 inches in the front and with one whole month of Viviscal I have noticed that I'm shedding less hair when I co-wash and shampoo my hair.  I have noticed that my thinned out spot is not as noticeable as before.  Maybe because my hair is longer now and hiding that spot better, or maybe the Viviscal is starting to work.  I think it is too soon to tell either way.  My hair doesn't feel thicker, but when I do wash/wet my hair my eyes don't see only scalp on my crown.  I have noticed that my nails are growing longer and if you have weak brittle nails I recommend Viviscal.  I plan to do a full update on Viviscal next month and of course a wrap up in September where I will decided if I will continue with this product or not.  Maybe I will need more time to see the full effects.  We'll see.

Ignore my tired look.  I'm trying to hold my hair and work the camera.

I purchased some Mop Top medium hold gel before my trip and I have been using it for about two weeks now.  Since I'm basically a Mop Top girl this gel works great with the other Mop Top products.  I like the hold that this gel has been giving my hair and the humidity is not affecting my curls at all.  I do want to play with my curl formers sometime this month, but my niece, nephew and mother will be visiting and my son turns 3 this month so, we'll see how much free time I will have for basically a one day hair style.  By the way this is post 100 for me!  Until next time...

Blessings!

Conference Hair

Hello everyone!  I'm in PA for a bible conference all this week and I really liked how my hair came out today.  I did my Curly Fro Hawk and used Mop Top Medium gel and really like the results.  The hubby and I are running the nursery and we are staying very busy.  Hope you all have a safe and blessed fourth, I'll write again when I get home next week.  Stay blessed!
Blessings!



Side view because I'm loving my new earrings.