Baby it's cold outside

The cold is here.  No more hair being dry the next morning after washing at night.  No more sitting outside in the sun with a warm breeze....with a nice Patron triple citrus margarita to sip on....
Back to the days of washing and twisting my hair on Saturdays in order to be dry by Monday morning for work...Oh well. Bring on the leather boots, suede vests and shearling jackets!
These are some pics from a twistout I did with Devacurl, but I didn't loosen up the front, just sort of twisted it into a modified updo and used a clip...

Protective Styling

The summer is sadly over. The days of my hair being dry by morning are gone away...My hair is really depressed about this, got a bad case of SAD! Back to taking days to dry...
So, I have been protective styling for the last three weeks! I washed, deep conditioned and put my hair in twists and proceed to wear my half caps or a hat/cap EVERY SINGLE DAY for the past three weeks.
My new BHF from hairsisters.com:
FREETRESS CELTIC GIRL

Trying something different....

Trying something completely new for my hair tonight... To give some background on where it came from:
This natural at my job, her hair was just fierce Thursday!!!Big sexy to the utmost!!! I asked her what she did to get it like that, & she said hairspray. 'Hairspray? details girl!!!she gave me details and since i was planning on going out Saturday clubbing, I decide that would be the perfect setting for me to get me some big sexy hair!

•  shampooed with Hair rules
• conditioned with Hair rules
• sectioned hair into 6 sections
• detangled & twisted, here are some progress shots


 
• left alone overnight
• in morning undo one twist at a time
• get Aussie hair spray out & blow dryer
• finger out each twist & hit with hairspray
• blowdry while stretching hair
• continue with each twist
• mine wasn't as big as my coworker, I think the hair needs to still be damp some to get the biggest effect and mine was completely dry in some sections
• here's the outcome:

Living Proof - It might be the truth!

I have been watching Living Proof demonstrations on QVC since it launched, but decided it wasn't for my hair, especially at that price. I have enough products as it is! BUT THEN....it was at the beauty supply store for less than half price! Yes, less than half price! Meaning I could try it for a whopping six dollars...and if I liked it go back & buy all the bottles left!
So I purchased the No Frizz Styling Treatment for thick to coarse hair, which is normally $26!

http://www.livingproof.com/buy/no-frizz-wave-curl-treatment
I shampooed my hair & deep conditioned as normal.  I didn't use anything but the styling treatment on my hair, no leave-in, no oils.  After sectioning in quarters, I applied a generous amount to each section.  I wasn't crazy about the smell, but it didn't linger on my hair after blowdrying.  The comb out had some glide, I had no tangles ( but I don't tend to have tangles anyways).  I proceeded to blowdry the sections & was impressed.  My hair just seemed almost silky, it just released the kinks & curls with little effort.  This was probably the fastest  & easiest blowdry I have done since being all natural.  Afterwards, I twisted my hair with a dab of the treatment. 

This is my twistout the next day:

I really liked the outcome and given our high humidity my hair didn't frizz out like it had been.  This product is a keeper for me....I can't wait to try it with a straighten!
P.S. I did go back & buy another bottle!

Fantasia Olive Styling Gel with Sparkle Lites Twistout

Ladies, do you ever look at your hair stash & think I have too much stuff!!  I have been thinking that when I look into my hair product bin for months.  I haven't purchased any new hair products in months because I always think about my bin full of hair products!  So I decided to start trying out my stuff(..so I can buy new stuff LOL)! 
Decisions, decisions, what shall I try?  The Fantasia Olive Styling Gel with Sparkle Lites!  I bought this because it was alcohol free & enriched with Olive, Aloe & Silk Proteins.

So I had washed my hair last night, put a baggie on & went to bed.  This morning, I dampened my hair ends which were dry & put some Suave Humectant Conditioner & Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Conditioner on it; sat outside in the wonderful morning sun for a natural heat cap. 

• BWC for my leave-in
• Castor oil for sealing
• Fantasia gel for twisting styling

So I did about 16 twists & let it air dry overnight.  Here is a shot during the undo process, I really like my texture:

Other shots after separated a bit:

Closer up texture shots:

Overall review: I did like the gel for twisting, my hair wasn't hard or crunchy, no flaking.  My hair definition held up well given the high humidity levels all week.  My hair did seem drier than usual by Day 4, so even alcohol free gel could not become a weekly go to product.  I definitely will be doing it again though.

The men in your life & your natural hair....

So I know some women who take a lot of heat from their DH, boyfriend, siblings & other important males in their life when they decide to go the natural hair route.  It seems to be even rougher for those of us with hair that is more kinky than curly.  When we really need the support & the positivity, we sometimes just don't get it from the males closest to us.  Oddly enough, strangers provide the positivity.  But now it seems, that maybe, as we continue to proudly rock our hair, our men become accustomed to it...the more resistant men even reach a point of no resistance.....
That being said, my DH never was unsupportive of my hair transition, I knew he preferred my hair straight, but he never said too much negative stuff, just some odd looks here and there.  He didn't like the wash & go look, but other than that the most he would say is "So how do you want your hair to look like when you reach your goal?" .....He would play with my hair sometimes initially, now he's always touching my hair.
Getting to my point now....Saturday was our wedding anniversary and we had dinner reservations.  My hair was right at being a hot mess on Friday, so I had planned to wash, blowdry & twist it Saturday morning instead of my normal Sunday, for a twistout saturday evening.  So I got up Saturday morning, slapped a bunch of conditioner on my hair & put a head band on while I ran errands. When I returned home, DH announces we have to go out for breakfast & then we can hit the Outlet Mall. 
At this point this was my hair:

I was like really? do you see my hair?  He stated my hair was fine. I was really stunned by his response, or I guess lack of a response!  So I pulled out a matching headband & off I went.   Apparently my DH has become accustomed to my natural hair, in even it's shrunken state. 
Guess beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

Blowout Twistout

So I rocked my blowout for one day LOL, then I decided it was just too much.
I decided to do some chunky twists.  I used some castor oil with Devacurl Set It Free.

The humidity has persisted resulting in shrinkage & frizziness as soon as I hit the door.  Anyway here are my results:

A Big Blowout

Since we finally had a few low humidity days in the forecast after weeks of high humidity, I decided to do a blowout.  I pulled out my Conair Tourmaline Ceramic Blowdryer, the straightening attachment gets my hair straighter than my regular blowdryer.
My regimen this week:

• Giovanni 50/50 Shampoo
• Combo of Giovanni Tea Tree Conditioner, Giovanni Smooth As Silk Deeper Conditioner& Rasta Locks Island Oil with heat for 20 minutes
• Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer
• Alba leave-in conditioner( I forgot and left my bottle of BWC at work)
• Detangle
• Avocado Oil for sealing (just a light touch of the ends)
• Giovanni Straight Fast Elixir

....ok, that's a lot of stuff when looking at it all lined up....
anyways here is the outcome...I was really amazed at HOW BIG IT HAS GOTTEN!!

I was definitely doing the hair shaking dance!  It is something how it gets bigger in appearance first instead of longer.

Blood Orange Juice Martini

I wanted to share my recipe for one of my seasonal all-time fav martinis.

Blood Orange Juice Martini

2 1/2 ounces mandarin vodka

1 1/2 ounces blood orange juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup

Dip the rim of your chilled martini glass in orange juice & then in sanding sugar (or the sugar of your choice). 

Place above ingredients in a shaker 1/2 full with ice cubes.  Shake. Shake. Yep Shake it. (I hate it when bartenders don't sufficiently shake a martini to get a thin layer of ice crystals immediately after pouring into the glass).  Pour into prepared glass.  Enjoy!