Workout Friendly Hair Styles

Much To Do About Hair

This is an interesting article about hair straightening, culture and race written in the Miami Herald from 2007. Here are a few quotes from the article:

"Nearly all Dominican women straighten their hair, which experts say is a direct result of a historical learned rejection of all things black."

"I always associated black with ugly. I was too dark and didn't have nice hair," said Catherine de la Rosa, a dark-skinned Dominican-American college student spending a semester here. "With time passing, I see I'm not black. I'm Latina."

"A walk down city streets shows a country where blacks and dark-skinned people vastly outnumber whites, and most estimates say that 90 percent of Dominicans are black or of mixed race. Yet census figures say only 11 percent of the country's nine million people are black. To many Dominicans, to be black is to be Haitian. So dark-skinned Dominicans tend to describe themselves as any of the dozen or so racial categories that date back hundreds of years -- Indian, burned Indian, dirty Indian, washed Indian, dark Indian, cinnamon, moreno or mulatto, but rarely negro."

Read the entire Black Denial article here

Braid Down!!!

I lost one of my kinky twist today..lol My husband was like "what is that on the floor?" Luckily I knew exactly which twist it was because the extension had pulled away from the base of my scalp. Y'all know I moisturized the hair, threw the extension in the garbage and twisted that hair right back up...LMAO Luckily it's in a spot that camouflages well. I'm not taking these bad boys out for another 3 weeks, so I gotta keep it moving ;)

The Perfect Winter Headgear for Naturals

For curly girls looking to protect their tresses from the harsh winter weather, headgear is essential, but wool and acrylic hats can dry out your hair and pull and snag on your ends causing breakage. The answer to protecting your kinky curls is stylish silk and satined lined hats which can be found at HATSOME. I just picked up these two stylish and practical hats to get me through the brutal Minnesota winter.

I will let everyone know about the quality of the hat once they arrive.

Got Locks? From Natural to Locks

Are you thinking about locking your hair? Check out how starter locks are done and the techniques used.




Check out the finished look

Curls Products on Clearance at Target

I was just at Target and found several of the Curls products on clearance. I poked around and didn't see any of the other "Curly Girl" products Target has been carrying recently. Not sure if they are getting rid of the "Curly Girl" products all together or if it was just this location getting rid of the products due to poor performance. Regardless, I snagged the coconut curladda conditioner, the lavish curls moisturizer, and the goddes curls. Interestingly enough these specific products do not appear on the Curls website. What I mean is, the specific names mentioned above do not appear on the Curls site. Products with "similar" names appear but not the products I purchased at Target specifically. Feels a little suspect, but I got all 3 products for around $16 and read the ingredients list before purchasing and they are all free of parabens, mineral oil and petroleum. I'll give a product review once I have used the products which make take awhile since I'm keeping my hair in protective styles during the winter months.

A Natural Hair Music Spoof

Transisitoning Tips

Diane Decosta author of Texture Tresses talks transitioning from relaxed to natural. She provided a very "PC" answer when asked about hair texturizers.

Essence.com Tips for Flat Ironing Natural Hair

For you curlies who like to mix up your hair game and rock a straight style from time to time, here are a few tips. I have to admit I find it a bit suspect that ol'boy didn't say a word about using a heat protectant or the dangers of heat damage when flat ironing natural hair.



The process..start to finish.

Time to Wash My Extensions (kinky twist)

Time to wash my twist. Though I miss wearing my hair "out" I'm sticking to the winter hair challenge...1 month down, 5 more to go...YIKES!! Here's a helpful video on washing your hair while it's in a braided style.

Natural Hair Hits The News

Interesting way for the news station to introduce the "new look" of their reporter.

I Miss My FRO

For the record I have to say that I miss my Free-FROing hair :( I've had kinky twist in for exactly 2 weeks now and I miss wearing my hair "out!" No worries though, I will stick with my winter hair care challenge. I'll be hitting the ski slopes in about a month and a chocolate bunny shooting down the slopes with her fro blowing in the wind (though I would look fierce)would end up with nothing but knots and tangles.
I never thought keep this 'wig" protected for a few short months would be hard, but i was mistaken. I actually miss my hair, but I know if i stick to this challenge that I will love the end reslut more than I miss my hair right now...and I will glistening in the sun with a head full of healthy, longer kinky curls.

Winter Hair Challenge-Pre Challenge Stats

As promised here is a pre length check before putting my hair into a protective style for the winter,

I'm Twisted-up and Protected!

The winter hair care challenge has begun! Protective style #1 a set of kinky twist. Hopefully keeping my hair in braided styles from November 1-April 30 will result in the retention of length, growth and healthy hair for summer 2011. I should mention that in between protective styles, I will give my hair a "break" wearing it out by either twisting my own hair and rocking those twist or a twist out for at least a week before heading back to my braider.

Let the Winter Hair Games Begin!!

It's time to protect my FRO. True to plan, I am moving forward with my "Winter Hair Challenge." On Friday, October 29 I will be heading to my braider to get my first of several protective styles this winter. I am thinking I will start off with a set of fluffy/kinky twist. Here'sa picture of the look I will be going for.

I'll share a picture of my own results after I get them done. To get my hair in the best condition possible prior to getting the twist, I plan on doing a pre poo with Vatika Oil, washing with Jessicurls Cleansing Cream, doing a deep conditioning treatment using my hair steamer and Jessicurls Too Shea Extra Moisturizing Conditioner, follwed with a tea rinse and kimmaytubes leave in conditioner.
I'll do a length check after I wash and conditon my hair and post pictures of that so we have something to compare my growth to when spring rolls around and I set my hiar FREE! My goal here is to retain as much length as possible over the winter months and emerge with a lush fabulous healthy fro that's hopefully 3-4 inches longer. Wish me LUCK!

I Love My Hair!

Loving My FRO!

I was in Atlanta about a month ago and I was loving the size of my FRO!

Cute Style

I LOVE this hair style...think I'm going to give it a try the next time I co-wash.
I think I should be able to reproduce this look by simply adding a little part and sweeping a section of "bangs" to the side and laying it down. Sounds simple but y'all know sometime our hair has a mind of its own. Wish me luck!

KOTD

A Puff....The perfect way to look cool..even when you are melting!

KOTD-Kink of the Day

Styling my hair as it gets longer can be a challenge. Right now the top is a lot longer than the rest, so I decided to try doing that little "hump" thing in the front..LOL The jury is till out on this look.

Rachel Stewart Jewelry....come to mama!

I am in LOVE with this necklace...DAMN, it's sold out! Trust me...the minute that it is back in stock I will snatch up one of these lovelies. In the meantime I will order a few of her other pieces of jewelry to curb my Rachel Stewart appetite. Oh and check out the fierceness that is her FRO....gorgeous!

Winter Hair Challenge

I feel a hair challenge coming on. As summer draws to a close, I have decided that I will wear my hair in protective styles for most of the cold weather months. My goal is to rock a protective style from December 1, 2010 until May 1, 2011...that's 5 months of wearing twist, braids, cornrows or something like that...y'all know what I'm talking about.

Here's my plan....I will not wear a braided style for more than 2 months straight, at which point I will take down my braids and wear my hair out for a week or two (but no more than 2 weeks) before putting it back in a protective style. I'm pretty sure I will end up getting kinky twist for 2 months, rock corn rows for 3-4 weeks, put my own hair in two-strand twist for 2 weeks, and then a final set of kinky twist.

I'll do a length check at the beginning of the challenge and again each time I take my hair down. I'm curious to see how much length I will be able to retain and just how much growth I will be able to achieve. Looking ahead to summer 2011, I will be ready for massive FREE FRO'IN!!

Moisturising in a Arid Climate???

I'm heading to an arid climate for 5 days in about 2 months...that means hot and dry weather, and I have no idea how my hair will react. My hair thrives in hot humid weather, but hot and dry maybe another story. Any naturals out there with product or styling advice when traveling to places like Las Vegas of Phoenix??

It is what it is...but I'm FIT!

I LOVE this ad..cuz no matter how much I run my butt ain't going nowhere...LMAO

KOTD-Kink of the Day

Wasn't the best hair day but I just let it do what it's gonna do

An Observation...

I'm sitting at work typing away and I catch a glimpse of my reflection in a print that sits on my desk. There it is...my fro in all its glory looking back at me in the glass of the print along with part of the skyline of downtown St.Paul. Here I sit, as nappy as I want to be...wearing my hair the way I want with no worries in corporate America with my overpriced JD hanging on the wall behind me...LMAO

Go ahead and look fear in the face and say "I just don't care!!"

This is your hair...and this is your hair on KCCC!

This is my hair (picture taken 7/24/10)...

I don't have any product in my hair besides Giovanni Direct Leave-In Conditioner. I did a really chunky two-strand twist and took them out to rock this look...that's it.

and this is my hair on Kinky Curly Curling Custard(KCCC)taken 7/23/10!


Let me first say that this is my third time using this product and I just don't think that KCCC and I can be friends. To be fair the first time I used it was when I first big chopped and honestly my hair was simply to short to reap the benefits of KCCC.

The second time i used it was maybe 6 months ago after watching several youtube videos on the correct way to apply the product. My gripe after the second use was how it made my hair feel..it had a tacky feeling to it. I couldn't get past the feeling of my hair to notice the shrinkage that was taking place.

I decided to give KCCC one more try...my hair is longer, and I've watched even more youtube videos on applying the product. While watching those videos I also saw naturals with hair much longer than mine have their hair draw up so bad. I was literally able to watch my hair shrink right in front of my eyes. Were my curls popping...YES!! The product does provide curl definition but hell you could barely see my curl because my fro had done a disappearing act on a sista and shrunk up..lol

No harm no foul..just another example of what works for one persons hair does not work for anther's. The members of Kinky and Curly in the Twin Cities Meetup group will reap the benefits of my misfortune since I will be bringing the product to our next meetup for those who want to try it.

Twin Cities Natural Hair Meetup

I played host to the first ever natural hair Meetup in the Twin Cities this past weekend. I was so pleased with the turnout or group had and can't wait to plan another event. If you want to start a natural hair Meetup group in your area GO FOR IT!!! Meetup.com made it easy...check 'em out!! Here are a few pictures from the Kinky and Curly in the Twin Cities Meetup Group...say cheese!

Fierce Hair Fierce Dress!

I just want to say that I LOVE this sundress in the picture below...and oh girls hair ain't to shabby either...lol If anyone knows where I can get this dress let me know...gorgeous!

Kinky & Curly in the Twin Cities

I’m sorry if it seems that I have been neglecting this blog lately but summer is upon us and I am trying to take advantage of every minute!! When I haven’t been sitting on a rooftop having drinks someplace, I have been organizing a natural hair Meetup group for naturals, aspiring natural and folks who want to learn to take better care of their hair…GO ME!!! I had gone to Meetup.com nearly a year ago in hopes of finding such a group to join in the Twin Cities and nothing ever materialized, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and start the damn group myself…LMAO

The group is called Kinky & Curly in the Twin Cities and our first Meetup is schedule for July 17. I am so excited by the number of folks who have joined the group and are planning to come to the Meetup, and y’all know I will blog about the experience and share the wealth of knowledge including do’s and don’ts that fellow curlies will testify to.

A Few Moore Shots of My Two-Strand Twist

Rockin a Two-Strand Twist

Here is a video of my two-strand twist. i will post a picture below of twist I had in my hair about a year ago so you can see the growth.



I know I look a hot MESS in this picture by the way...but lets remember it's about the HAIR...lol

Random Hair Pictures

A couple of random hair pictures of questionable hair days...lol

Happy to be Nappy...1 Year! Natural!

I've been natural for an entire year now...WOW! I just realized it sitting here today that a year ago yesterday I chopped of my lovely bob, but I haven't looked back since. Since my nappiversary creeped up on me, I don't have any pictures of my hair presently, but I will be sure to take a few this week so you guys can see the great progress I've had over the past year.

Accessorize Your Fro

Since going natural nearly a year ago, I have fallen in LOVE with hair accessories. Headbands, flowers, crochet hats, scarves...you name it and I have rocked it in or on my hair. The perfect hair accessory can set off an outfit or kick a look up a notch, and the best thing about hair accessories is that you can get them on the cheap, I'm talking 2 or 3 bucks for headbands and flowers, or splurge and drop 30 to 40 bucks on a beautiful beaded or silk flower. Check out pics of my very own hair accessory stash and the place I shop to dress up my Fro!



My go to spot for cheap hair accessories is FOREVER21. You can load up on everything from barretts, to bows, headbands and flowers. The array of hair accessories at Forever21 is endless and the prices are unbeatable!! You can shop Forever 21 online of hit up the store the next time you are in the mall.
Another mall spot with lovely and unique hair accessories is Banana Republic.
When I want something a little more spendy and ultra unique I head over to Ododo Originals, where the owner makes beautiful handmade beaded flowers. You can even custom order from her and tell exactly what color or color combinations you would like....FABULOUS
Last but not least is Andrea's Beau, their accessories are simply lovely in a classic kind of way.

Coconut Oil...Good For One Thing When It Comes To My Hair

Me and Coconut oil...I will have to be honest and say that coconut oil is really only good for one thing when it comes to my hair and that's taking down twist for a twist out. Coconut oil is the only thing I will use to unravel my twist. It smooths the hair shaft, provides some moisture, a bit of shine and most importantly it prevents my twist from getting frizzy!! For me coconut oil is a FRIZZ BUSTER.

Some naturals LOVE coconut oil, but it doesn't do much for my hair except in the very specific circumstance mentioned above. Trust me, I will continue to use it to take down twist...no other product compares to it for that purpose.

My Favorite Oils

Let me start off by saying that my hair prefers light, quick absorbing oils...especially during the summer months. For the most part I only use heavy oils like Castor oil on my ends.

Oil #1...Jojoba Oil. Jojoba oil is great for your skin and hair. It is light weight and penetrates the hair shaft without weighing down your hair and leaving it feeling greasy.

Oil #2...Camellia Oil. Camellia oil is a carrier oil. It provided moisture and elasticity to soften the hair. Again Camellia oil is light and absorbs quickly.

Oil #3...Macadamia Oil. Macadamia oil reduces dryness. It is a natural moisturizer and emollient (emollients attract and trap moisture from the air). Macadamia oil is light and non-greasy so it is easily absorbed into the hair shaft.

I use the above oils by making my own little oil mixture consisting of 2 ounces of Jojoba oil, 1 ounce of Camilla oil, and 1 ounce of Macadamia oil. It's that simple. The 4 ounce brew last me nearly 6 months and provides my hair with much needed moisture without being greasy or weighting my hair down.