Protective Style Challenge and Youtube Channel Updates

Here's my latest Youtube Video where I go over a few updates for my channel and natural hair

journey.  I even speak a little bit about what I'm doing with my hair now for moisture during the colder weather.

WATCH MY LATEST HAIR UPDATE ON YOUTUBE

My Protective Style Challenge 

This weekend I posted a video to help keep all of my viewers up to date on my protective style challenge.  I started wearing my natural hair in protective hair styles in hopes to retain more length this year.  I would like to see my hair at least a few inches longer so I thought putting it away would help speed things up.

One Name to Rule Them All

Last month I took the plunge and renamed my Youtube Channel.  It was something that I was contemplating for some time now.  It feels good to have one name across all of my social media platforms as well.  Just makes things so much easier for me.

Winter Hair Routine and New Products

Lately I have been playing around with a couple of moisturizers to help boost my curly styles.  I'm having great success and mention both in my new video.


Be sure to stop by my Youtube Channel for more hair tutorials and curly hair updates!

In Review: Shea Moisture's Purification Masque

This morning I posted a video on my Youtube channel showing my first impression after using the Purification Masque by Shea Moisture.  The product claims to relieve itching from dry scalp caused by conditions like dandruff, eczema and psoriasis.  I suffer from scalp psoriasis which thankfully is a lot better after taking my vitamin supplements and eating healthy.  I still have a little bit of an itchy scalp so I thought I would try this product to see if it would help.  Check out the video to see what I thought!

MY REVIEW ON SHEA MOISTURE'S PURIFICATION MASQUE

Also, be sure to take a look at my recent posts on how I deal with my psoriasis.  It is an autoimmune disease that tends to flare up during the fall and winter.  I talk about how I cleanse my scalp without causing too much stress on my hair and also how diet and supplements help me to get my skin back
to normal.  

My Bali Girl Synthetic Wig by Freetress

I'm wearing Bali Girl,
a synthetic wig by Freetress

I had this brilliant idea this summer that I would give protective styling a try.  It's a great way to retain length while rocking a style that keeps your hair up and out of the way.  I like to change things up though so these styles never last for me.  That's why I figured I would just try a wig so that I could wear my own hair whenever I wanted.  Thing is, the Freetress Bali Girl wig I picked up this summer was only my second ever!  The last wig I bought, I wore a couple times and then put it away.

I was pretty excited with this one though because the front of it looked similar to my hair when I wear it straight.  My husband didn't even realize it was a wig until I told him.  Still, I just had to tweak it a bit here and there.  It was longer than I expected and it also had long bangs.  Check out my video to see how I adjusted it.

Update on My Bali Girl Synthetic Full Cap Wig by Freetress

WATCH MY INITIAL REVIEW ON THE BALI GIRL WIG HERE

My Wash n' Go Routine

Long time no blog!  Hopefully I'll be getting back into the swing of things now that the kids are back in
school.  My hair routine is a little all over the place but lately I'm rockin' my wash n' go.  The weather here in Colorado may not be warm for much longer so I'm trying to take advantage of it.  Once fall hits, I'm thinking I might look into doing some crochet braids or twists under a beanie.

Anywhoo, here is my most recent youtube video which illustrates my current wash n' go routine.  Right now I am experimenting with different moisturizers and will have a review later.  In the meantime, you can watch how I apply my products to achieve this style.

Watch My Wash n' Go Routine

Learning How to French Braid Natural Hair

French Braids on my Natural Hair

Recently I posted a Youtube video on how I french braid my natural hair.  I have been wearing my hair braided up more often recently as part of my No Heat Challenge.  It has made things a little easier for me because the weather is cooler these days.  My hair can get really big and full so the french braids make it possible for me to get a hat on my head whenever I want.  I also use the braids to protect my hair while I'm sleeping at night so I won't have to wake up to tangles in the morning.

I posted the video because I wanted to offer a visual to other naturals of how to do french braids.  I see a lot of comments online from people who have never learned how to braid their hair in this way.  I learned the technique from my mother who braided my hair every week when I was younger.  Sometimes she would do a fancy braided style on my hair but later on she just did one or two french braids with a little bang in front.  When I was about ten years old she taught me how to do it on my own hair.  She also taught me how to do the inverted method which was basically the opposite of french braiding.  I was frustrated with it at first because my braids just didn't look as nice and tight as when she did them.  I eventually got the hang of it though.

CHECK OUT MY VIDEO ON HOW I FRENCH BRAID MY NATURAL HAIR

Having this styling technique in my arsenal made it that much easier when I went natural.  When my hair grew past the TWA stage I knew that I could braid my hair up for a braid out or protective style.  I can see now that I'm also saving money because I've never gone to someone else to have them braid it for me.  Hopefully more people will learn the technique so that they'll have more options when styling natural hair.

What Has My Hair Been Up To?

Whoa!  Blogging for the first time in a loooong time.  I also took a break from my Youtube channel for a little while but I'm feeling motivated so here I am.  This first post back I thought that maybe I would share pictures of some of the styles I've been rockin' while away from the blog.  I pretty much have been going back and forth between curly and straight.  It has really been a learning experience because I have been forced to really pay attention to my hair and watch for damage.  Yes, the dreaded heat damage that I swore I would do my best to avoid!  Oh well, when it comes down to it I just really enjoy variety and my hair is no exception.

CHECK OUT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

During this time I have rediscovered the Aphogee product line that I used in my Transitioning days.  I've been experimenting with the Leave-in (a spray) and the 2 Minute Reconstructor.  I credit both for helping me to retain my curly texture after each heat use.  Now normally you wouldn't think it necessary to use protein based products on natural hair but in my case, it's essential.  I've seen first hand how heat can do major damage to my curls so the protein just helps to strengthen my hair where it needs it.

I haven't forgotten about my henna though.  I still like to use it for covering my greys but may get back to using it in the form of henna glosses for conditioning.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with where my hair is right now.  I would like to see a little bit more length though so we'll see where it ends up; no hurry.

By the way, I'm posting videos more often on my channel on Youtube called, Mitchellzee so check that out for updates on my hair journey, tips and reviews.  Ciao!

1/2 WIGGIN' IT

WASH N' GO WITH A HUMP

1/2 UP 1/2 DOWN

WASH N' GO WITH BANGS PINNED BACK

STRAIGHT

STRAIGHTENED AGAIN

WASH N' GO (WET HAIR)

SLICKED BACK/ BANDED PONYTAIL

DONUT BUN

CURLY BRAID OUT

YouTube Inspiration: Trimming Natural Hair

This is the video that inspired me to trim my hair in January.  Normally I just wait to do trims when my hair is straight.  This showed me that I can still get a nice even cut without using heat first to stretch my hair out.   When I straightened my hair out recently I checked to see if there were any long pieces that I missed but was surprised to find that my hair was pretty even.  This method definitely works so I thought I would share.




Video by  YAISnyc

1400 YouTube Subscribers!

Many of my friends and family are amused when I tell them about my YouTube videos.  Most of the time I don't even want them to watch because I feel a little silly.  All I talk about is hair so I figure they won't really get why I do them anyway.  As for my YouTube family, there is still so much I want to share. 

My first video was just to show others how I transitioned from Relaxed to Natural Hair.  I was so happy to see all of the positive comments and decided to do update videos to show my progress.  With each video, I received questions which ended up leading to another episode. 





The first time I saw that I had subscribers on my YouTube channel I was shocked.  I didn't really think that I had much more to offer than any other Natural on YouTube.  This is what sort of kept me going though.  Ever since those first two subbies, I've been posting more and more content on my hair journey.  I checked to see how many I was up to today and saw that I have a little over 1400 subscribers!  I know that there are "Hair Gurus" out there who have waaay more but I am blown away by that number.  These are all people who for one reason or another genuinely would like to see more content from lil' ole me! 

I wish that I could post more often but my dinosaur of a computer is a real drag when it comes to video editing.  Hopefully I'll be able to push out a couple of vids here soon to feed the masses.  In the meantime, I just hope that my place in YouTubia is a help to someone out there who is looking for more information on how to go natural.


CLICK HERE to see my Channel, "mitchellzee", on YouTube