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

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.

My Staple Hair Products

As a follow-up to my No Heat Challenge video, I decided to let everyone know what hair products I'll be using over the next few months.  It turns out that I feel the most comfortable sticking with what I know.  That brings us to what I would consider my "Staple" products.  These are the things that I keep coming back to after trying other products.  Sure, sometimes I like to change things up a bit, but right now I have this desire to just keep it simple.

MY YOUTUBE VIDEO ABOUT THE HAIR PRODUCTS 

I'LL BE USING FOR THE 

4 MONTH NO HEAT CHALLENGE

One thing I want to mention, that is not shown in the video, are my moisturizers.  I'm still in love with the Hollywood Beauty Olive Creme but I'm also using the Elasta QP Mango and Olive moisturizer.  Otherwise, everything else is in the video.  You can also take a look at what's listed in the tab above named "Hair Regimen" to see some of the things I do on a weekly basis.

4 Month No Heat Challenge

Finally!  I'm gonna stop being stubborn and just own up to the fact that using heat on my hair is keeping me from achieving greater lengths.  I had my suspicions of this earlier this year but now I've decided to put myself to the test.  Even though I like the look of straight hair, I'm going to go without using my flat iron until February of 2014.  This may sound like a walk in the park to those of you who gave up straight hair a long time ago.  For me though, I've actually kept up with wearing my hair straight every other month.  Sometimes I even straighten twice in the same month.

Of course I saw how other naturals who were gaining two to three inches of growth every time they decided to lay of the heat for a 4-6 month break.  Still, I kept up with the same regimen hoping that maybe my light protein treatments would rescue my curls.  After having to trim some loose curls last month I decided that that was the final straw.  Using heat means I'm gonna be up for a trim so the more I use it, the more hair I lose.  I just can't keep doing it so it's time for me to step away from the flat iron and just style my hair in other ways.  Here's a video discussing the, "rules," for my personal no heat challenge.  Feel free to join in!

4 MONTH NO HEAT CHALLENGE

Gearing Up for Summer

Finally here in Colorado we are getting some warmer weather.  That weekly snow storm business was beginning to drive me crazy!  Every time I saw the cold temps coming I cringed at the idea of wearing a Wash n' Go.  Curly hair is great but, wet hair when the weather is cold is not so great.  As a result, I have been wearing my hair either straight or in stretched styles.

HAVANA TWISTS INSPIRATION VIDEO

Now I'm beginning to wonder what style I want to rock for the summer months.  I'm thinking about maybe taking on Havana Twists.  These are twists done using Marley Braid hair but much larger (and faster) than mini or medium size twists.  It looks like it may be easy to install but I haven't done my own extensions in ages so who knows what I'll get.

I'm also loving the medium size, "Poetic Justice" type box braids.  I would also be doing these myself but I tried to practice recently with some leftover hair from last time and it didn't go so well.  Until I make up my mind and try to tackle a summer protective style, I'll be either straight or curly depending on what activities my family and I have planned.  Since the warm weather is late here I'd better hurry up and decide before it's too late!

BEAUTIFUL BOX BRAIDS INSPIRATION VIDEO