I decided that there are very many natural hair blogs that are sharing knowledge and inspiration around. Plus, I’ve been rather busy with this and with classes to blog regularly.  So, while I will use this blog one day, for now, check out Afrobella’s natural hair blog, the natural hair community on livejournal, and if you’re at the beginning of your natural hair journey (or still deciding) I highly recommend checking out this article: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Kinks.

Do you, natural beauties, and God Bless.

Currently, I’m trying to figure out a style to rock for a wedding! I’d like it to be fancier that just a simple afropuff. Any Ideas?

Products Used:

Any leave-in Conditioner

Tools Used:

Pick/Comb

Large elastic hair tie

Brush (optional)

This simple afro puff can be done right after washing or pretty much anytime.

First, comb through with your favorite leave in conditioner. Right now I use olive oil hair lotion, an affordable product that is available at Target, CVS, etc. Make sure you comb the front and sides back as if you were making a ponytail.

Next, put on your elastic hair tie, wrapping it around your head twice if need be. For the look to work, it needs to be tight. (but not so tight it cuts off your circulation!)

After that, push the hair tie back on your head until you have a puff of your desired size and location.

You can use a brush to smooth out the front if you want to but I didn’t in this picture.

Another Variation:

I did this puff as a wash and go style. After washing, I styled as described above, also using Hot Six Oil after towel trying my hair to seal in moisture. Next, with my hair still wet I did large twists all over my fro, then took them out. The twists are much softer than they will be for a twistout, but I still liked how it turned out.

Next time: Variations on a Twistout!

Original State:

Just out of braids

Products Used:

African Royal Hot Six Oil

Burt’s Bees More Moisture Raspberry & Brazil Nut Shampoo

Garnier Fructis Length & Strength Cream Conditioner

Garnier Fructis Soft Curl Cream

Garnier Fructis Curl Shaper Spray Gel

Tools Used:

A good old fashioned pick

Wide toothed comb

—

Fresh out of kinky twists, I’m trying to see what products leave my hair soft after washing my hair, ready for a simple “wash and go” style. I’d read about “pre-poo” techniques (treating your hair with conditioner before washing), a friend had also told me about leaving some conditioner in after washing for ringlets when the hair dries. I ended up trying both. I know you’re only supposed to change one variable at a time for an experiment, but after being in braids for 3+ months (don’t do that!) my hair needed all the treatment it could get.

After detangling and combing my hair out, I used the Hot Six Oil as a “pre-poo” treatment. I left it in my hair for about 10 minutes then headed to the shower to shampoo.

I used my favorite Burt’s Bees shampoo, then the Garnier conditioner, not rinsing it completely out so it served as a leave-in.

Afterward, I noticed that my hair was softer than it usually was and easier to work with. After combing it out, I used Garnier’s Soft Curl Cream and Curl Shaper Spray Gel to style and this was the result:

close up on detail:

The texture is pretty good, nice ringlets, and the Soft Curl Cream actually had curls to work with! Usually I have to wear a twist-out to get the style to look like this. I’m pretty sure it’s the oil treatment that helped achieve this result, because I’ve done the leave-in conditioner thing before.

Bottom Line: Using the Hot Six oil as a pre-treatment did help make my hair softer, but I still had to work with it (using the Garnier styling products) to get the look I wanted.

]]> http://afrostyle.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/making-wash-and-go-work-experiment-001/feed/ 0 Miss Maxine Style Experment 001 detailed http://afrostyle.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/hello-world/ http://afrostyle.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/hello-world/#comments Sun, 27 Apr 2008 20:55:39 +0000 City Athena ]]> Just before starting high school, I decided to go natural after some advice from my mother. I didn’t really wear my hair in “out” styles, and just kept in braids, occasionally wearing it in a fro for a week or straightening it for a couple of weeks. In truth, I was just going natural to let my hair “rest” from relaxers and could not wait to perm and get what I thought would be long, healthy hair. I permed my hair in senior year and was amazed by how long my hair was. . .

. . . By the end of senior year my hair was broken, damaged, and back to my pre-high school length. I went back to wearing my hair natural and haven’t gone back since. This summer marks my 3^rd year of wearing my hair natural.

The second time around I’ve done things a little differently. I’ve sought advice, I’ve changed up my hair products, and I don’t just wear braids! My current challenge is figuring out what products to use, and figuring out how to combine them to make my hair do what it wants. Too often I try a combination of things, love the results, and forget what I used and in what proportions.

So, my goal is to keep a record, and hopefully, by sharing this record with you I’ll gain suggestions and help others in their natural hair experiences.