Summertime Bantu Knots

So after over a month of wet twistouts, I was wanting something less... bulky.  But the humdity today is off the charts, so I knew almost any blowdrying efforts would fruitless unless I did a tight bun & tied my hair down with a scarf.  After some thought, I decided to do Bantu knots after blowdrying as that would keep my hair stretched out...or so I hoped!
My regimen this week:

• Giovanni 50/50 Shampoo
• DC with ORS pack & Motions CPR
• Leave-in BWC
• Sealed with Shea Oil (YES LIQUID SHEA OIL)
• Applied Fantasia Frizz Buster Serum
• Blowdried each section about 75% dry
• Applied just one spritz of Set It Free to each section
• Twisted section in knot.....
• For some reason today, the knots were loosening, so I used a hairpin on each & every one of them.


• Of course, I had to remove the pins for sleep, but my hair was staying in place by then.
• In the morning, I took them down, but a few spots were still not 100% dry, so I went to work like this LOL:


• Pics to come of work fluff out

Bantu Knot Out Revisit

This week, I have decided to try the Bantu Knots again.  I really liked the outcome last time, even though I feel like I need to improve on my technique.  Regimen this week:

• Shampooed with Giovanni 50/50
• DC with Joico Moisturizing Balm with heat for 30 minutes
• BWC for leave -in
• Castor oil for sealing
• Blowdried hair 75% dry
• Applied Devacurl Set It Free to each section before doing knots (at bedtime I decided to sit under dryer for 30 minutes)
  


Undoing them the next morning, not 100% dry in several places:


Ready to go:

Kinky Curly Custard Twist Out

So I have almost a full jar of KCC in my hair supply bin.  I eye it EVERY SINGLE TIME I open the bin.  Today I decided to give it another try.  It is not at all warm enough for wet hair outside of the house...so I decided to do wet twists with the KCC & do a twistout. 
My hair regimen today:

• Shampooed with Giovanni 50/50 shampoo
• DC - Ojon Tawaka Rejuvenating Conditioner with heat for 30 minutes
• Leave-in - BWC Leave-In over entire head
• Detangled & sectioned hair into quarters
• Sealed with Castor Oil
• Sectioned each quarter into 5 sections
• Applied KCC to each section, smooth out & twist each section
• Since I did my hair on Sat evening, my hair had until Mon morning to be completely dry, more than 36 hours...

Results:

This came out OK, still a bit crinkly, but that could be user error...I am not sure how much is enough or not enough with the texture of the KCC.  I will revisit my jar of KCC when the weather is warmer & I can apply it to sopping wet hair.

Simplicity In Twists

This fall, it is taking some transitioning to get re-accustomed to the chill in the air, the mornings being darker, the days being shorter....And a newer experience for me, having to venture outside with still damp hair from twists done the day before.  This same chill that allows me to rock my suede boots, glazed leathers & cashmere scarves is not so nice for damp hair.
My regimen this week:

• Pre-poo overnight with Aubrey
• Shampoo with Giovanni 50/50
• DC with a mix of Na-PCA & Hair Rules Quench Conditioner
• BWC Leave-in Conditioner
• Sealed with Castor Oil & Monoi Tiki Tahiti Oil
• Hair Rules Curly Whip on each section
• Twisted & placed on rollers

I wore my hair in twists all my work week:

I took them down on Saturday & seperated the sections for a wild woman look ;)

Trying a rollerset

While thinking of what & when to do my hair for the upcoming week, I decided I wanted to dry twist my hair, but I didn't want to use any heat.  I had decided to do this on Sunday. 
However, I really wanted to wash my hair Friday night (not really sure where the overcoming need to wash my hair came from)...while running my bath water.  All of a sudden, it was like I JUST HAD TO HAVE A CLEAN HEAD.  I figured I would just dunk my head & shampoo my hair first, before I would put my bath salts and such in the water.
This actually worked out really well for me.  I leaned back and submerged all my hair, then shampooed with Giovanni 50/50, then rinsed with my handheld sprayer.  I was so glad my hair my clean!
Afterwards, I put on an ORS pack & a baggie and left it on overnight.  In the morning, I rinsed it out.  I applied Giovanni Direct for leave-in & castor oil to seal.  I did a quick rollerset (30 minutes) and let it airdry.

After my hair was dry, I decided to do some twists for a twistout.  I misted with aloe vera gel & did about 12 chunky twists.  Here are the results:

Re-evaluation of DevaCurl Set It Free

So this week I decided no heat for my hair. I really wanted to perfect using my new blow dryer, but no heat... Anyways on Saturday

• I shampooed with Giovanni 50/50
• Deep conditioned with Joico Moisture Recovery Balm
• BWC leave in conditioner
• Sealed with Castor Oil
• Sectioned hair into 4 large sections
• Split each large section into 4 sections for twists
• Sprayed DevaCurl Set it Free on each twist before twisting

My hair wasn't dry in the am, so I didn't take out my twists until Tuesday morning.  I hadn't intended to wear these twists to work, so I put a wide scarf on to cover the front & pulled the back in to a high bun.

I like the the texture of my twists, maybe last time I didn't use enough oil underneath the Set It Free; I was even able to seperate it out some without it getting horribly frizzy.

Loving my twistout

So I decided to blowdry my hair & wear a twistout for the week.

Here's my regimen this week:

• Shampooed with Giovanni 50/50
• DC'ed with a ORS pack with heat for 30 minutes
• Leave-in was Giovanni Direct
• Sealed with castor oil
• Aphogee spray for heat protectant
• Sectioned off hair, blowdried section & twisted.

The pics are not the best....it was 7am!!! Here are my results, fluffy & starting to frizz out a bit....BUT I LOVE IT ANYWAYS!!! :)

Continued hair this weekend - twists

So, to continue what I started yesterday.....

• shampooed with Giovanni 50/50 shampoo
• conditioned with Joico K-Pak Moisture
• whipped up some Shea butter, aloe vera gel, lavender & lemon EO for my own shea-aloe
• applied Alba Botanica leave-in conditioner
• sealed with shea-aloe blend while doing medium size twists
  
  

Finally tried my Kinky Curly Custard

After 2 weeks of twists, it was time to shampoo & DC....sometimes I really just don't want to take the time to do my hair. Of course this is nothing new for me, when I was relaxed, I didn't want to be bothered with my hair that much either....

This week I used:

• Giovanni 50/50 shampoo
• DC with Lustrasilk's Shea Butter Cholesterol Plus with heat for 30 minutes
• Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructizer Spray
• Giovanni direct leave in, sealed with Castor oil
• Sectioned into 8 chunky twists to separate & detangle

Pondered what to do with my hair next, blow dry & twist, twist into smaller sections to leave in for a week or just wear a twistout for the rest of the week.....Natural hair has so many options :)

So I decided to try out my KC Custard today! I spritzed with water, split each chunky twist into 2, applied the KCC & twisted and then put them on large rollers. I sat under a dryer for 45 minutes to speed along the drying process, let it dry the remainder of the way overnight & plan to wear a twistout all week.

I must say I do like the KCC effects on my hair, it enhanced my curl pattern quite a bit. When it gets warmer, I can't wait to wear a wash & go with some KCC!

Sadly, my hair was still not 100% dry in the morning, but I took it down anyway. Here are the results, it still came out decent right?

Blowdried my hair

Due to this winter coldness, I am so tired of having a wet/damp head. I decided I would blowdry my hair before twisting this time, to take of wet head & stretch my hair at the same time.

• I washed with Giovanni 50/50 shampoo.
• Followed with a DC combo of ORS packet, Giovanni Smooth as Silk Conditioner & 1/2 tsp salt with heat for 30 minutes.
• Sectioned my hair into 1/2 palm size sections and did 2 strand twists to section off until blown dry.

• For my leave-in, I used Giovanni Direct Leave-in & a touch of Alba Botanica Leave-in http://www.iherb.com/Leave-in-Conditioner-Fragrance-Free-7-oz-198-g/9497?at=0 & sealed with Castor oil. This was my first time trying the Alba, I just love the all natural ingredient list. Since I was planning to blowdry I used a light touch on everything, I didn't want to use a bunch of heavy stuff on my hair.
• After completing the twists, I said to myself, Why should I blow it dry? I could just leave these chunky twists in until Monday morning & wear a twistout this week....BUT THEN MY HEAD STARTED FEELING COLD!
• So back to my original plan of blowdrying my hair...
• I got out my new Remington gemstone ceramic ionic blowdryer http://www.tag8.com/373-d2004adt.html and started my task....
• 1/3 complete...Isn't shrinkage amazing?

• Over 1/2 done....


• Finished! I gotta say natural unpermed hair is amazing! I am quite happy with my growing progress also & on the way to APL this summer!

Hair regimen this week

I am unsure of what I will do with my hair this coming week...I want to try something new, maybe like a chunky twist out puff, if that makes any sense.

Anyways here is what I did:

• Prepoo with NTM Deep Recovery Hair Mask with heat for 15 minutes
• Shampoo with Giovanni 50/50 shampoo
• DC with a mix of 3/4 Lustrasilk Shea Butter Cholesterol Plus, 1/4 Joico Moisture Recovery Balm & 1/2 tsp of salt under heat for 20 minutes

Naked hair pictures:

• Applied Giovanni Direct Leave in
• Applied AV gel & Castor oil to the front, brushed front flat & tied a silk scarf on the front
• Sealed each section with Castor oil, Bantu knots on the rest of my head
• Sat under dryer about 1 hour, so it would be dry by morning
• Still not 100% dry by morning
• In the morning, undid knots anyways, gotta go gotta go, finger combed into presentable
• Found a matching scarf
• 

color & twist!

So I decided I wanted random highlights thru out my hair, predominantly in the front, instead of a solid color (easier to maintain). My sister did it with Joico Vero K-Pak Color.

Afterwards I washed with Giovanni 50/50 shampoo, Dc with Joico moisture balm & Humectress with heat for 40 minutes. Then Giovanni Direct leave in & Dr. Bronners leave in, some Curly whip on top of that & finally sealed with castor oil.