Unpredictable hair for formal events

I have two Sunday weddings this month....which OF COURSE is greatly affected by MY HAIR!!! I know my hair is not running anything....but it is !! I have been running to check the weather forecast for humidity & rain 2-3 times a day.  If you know anything about the Chi, you know July & August is hot as hell with temps ranging in the upper 90s not at all usual.  And on top of the norm, this year in addition to the 90s, we have been blessed with FREQUENT RAIN!!! Great for my garden, not so great for straightened hairstyling LOL!
The first wedding was 8/8 & DH, not so kindly requested " Can we not do the big fro?" Me trying to be accommodating, said OK & planned to straighten my hair for an updo with a really cute hair flower.....WHY DID IT RAIN SAT EVENING? :(  Needless to say with the humidity at 95%, NO WAY was my hair any wear near not reverting with just the thought of stepping outside.  I had started straightening when I realized it was fruitless & would not last 24 hours.
Instead I just decided I would wear a 4a curly half-cap and blend my front in, after a rodset.  This worked out beautifully....I got mucho hair complements.
For the second wedding this coming Sunday, I pretty much plan on a half cap also, since the weather has been unusually humid in addition to the heat...and as much as I love my natural hair, I want a more predictable look for these weddings.
I also want to say Sunday evening weddings are detrimental to my hair styling options for the upcoming work week :(
If I take any half cap pics I will post them.

Pics of My Bun Updo

Some pics of straightened bun updo

Conair Infiniti Blow Dryer Review

Can I just say I really like this blow dryer!  OK, onto to the review. 
In order to see the true unadulterated effects on my hair, I did not use anything on my hair but my leave-in & sealant, Giovanni Direct, Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructizer & Castor oil.
It took time to get accustomed to the movement necessary, it is somewhat different than regular blowdrying.
Your hair must be held taut with one hand while passing dryer through.  Of course, you must thoroughly detangle before use (although it is advertised to detangle).  I had a harder time getting my ends straight in some places because you have to hold the dryer at a certain angle for the optimum straightening effect; the rotating head is really great with assisting that.
Regular blow dryers don't really straighten my hair, they just stretch it out.   With this, my hair was straight & dare I say it silky! which was amazing considering I didn't use any heat aids.  I also love not having to worry about bent/broken teeth when blow drying!  This is definitely a keeper...in fact, I am considering going to buy another to replace this one whenever it may stop working.
Here are my results:
My hair after deep conditioning:

Half done yea!! Shrinkage is so AMAZING!!

Finished!!

My split bun updo

Tired of twisting time requirement

I don't know how you all feel, but sometimes I SIMPLY DREAD HAIR DAY! I know it is a necessity, but I sometimes don't want to be spend hours on my hair, yes I know it is worth it later....but that just doesn't help my thought process at the time.

Today is one of those days! I washed & conditioned(and NO I didn't even deep condition!) and thought what can I do, as I am not feeling spending hours twisting my hair and I had a short workweek this week......

So I decided to just blow dry & see how it looks from there, maybe a updo, pony, puff, I'll just see what happens.

I used Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer, BWC leave-in conditioner, sealed with Castor oil and blow dried my hair. Blow drying took 40 minutes. This is the outcome...not too shabby!

I've been a bad girl!

Ok ladies, I have been a bad girl with my hair! I straightened my hair & IT WAS NOT CLEAN. I know it was wrong...that didn't stop me :(

I should have been washing & deep conditioning my hair, treating it with love...but what was I doing? Straightening it with my electric comb & Ultrasheen creme press. What can I say for myself? Sadly, not much....I was sitting there looking in the mirror at my myself, contemplating what style did I want for the upcoming week. Suddenly, I wanted it straight. Right that moment. Not in a few hours, RIGHT THAT MOMENT. The next thing I knew, I was turning on the hot comb my sister had just returned to me and pressing away.

I don't regret it either, although I may later. I pressed it straight, but not bone straight. I plan to wear my hair in a high bun all week. So sorry no pics, my camera is broken.

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 & updo

I am undecided what to do with my hair this week, but I am off on Monday, so I have an extra day to figure it out. I did decide to do the coconut lime treatment again today.

I refrigerated my can of coconut milk overnight, so the good stuff would solidify & it would be uberthick. I added a tsp of lime juice, stirred it up & let it come back to room temperature before applying. This stuff is so rich & creamy, I started to think of what else it would be for, maybe some kind of leave in(without the lime juice of course). I sat under my hair dryer for 30 minutes with this on.

I shampooed with hair rules cleansing cream & DC with Joico Moisture Balm(one of my absolute favs!) with heat for 20 minutes.

I used Giovanni Direct leave-in & sealed with Castor oil, I just a plastic bag until I decided what I wanted to do. I finally decided to blow dry about 75% with it stretched out, completely avoiding my ends. I then, placed rollers in air dry the rest of the way overnight.


I decided to do updos this week.....Day 1 french roll.

Straightened my hair....

So I don't what happened but I got this electric straightening comb from Sally's & I decided to try it out on my hair. And NO! My hair was not prepped for a straightening episode, I was in twists with castor oil. I initially intended to just do a few of my twists to satisfy my curiosity...I put some Ultrasheen Creme press on the sections as I went....the process was so simple, the comb glided thru my hair, my hair was so silky, I had done half of my head before I knew it.



So I did my whole head & here are my results. I was pleasantly surprised by the thickness & length. Had to do the ponytails for fun!