Men Like it Loose....

 The other day I noticed something...although I think that my hair looks good when it is in an updo (and women give me compliments on them), men seem to like it much better when my hair is loose. Anyway, it doesn't matter if it is all of my hair that is out or just some of my hair. Doesn't matter if my twists are curled and bouncy, in a braid out, or just pushed back with a headband...men prefer it out, preferably stretched (in some way) and out, out, out. I won't get into issues related to whether loose hair has to equal straight hair or how the dominant culture has influenced our standards of beauty. I will simply take it at face value. Men find loose hair appealing. One of my Facebook friends said that men want their women's hair to look like they can stick their fingers in it, play in it, or at least imagine themselves doing so. I agree.

I know that my various updo's are easy to do, and that they look professional, tasteful, and sophisticated. I, however, need to remember that those are not the top three adjectives that men choose when being asked about their preferred hairstyles. Men prefer sexy hair. And loose hair is sexy hair. Why wouldn't men prefer sexy over tasteful? Don't they always?

So despite my belief that updos are appropriate for every occasion and every situation, when the objective is to be appealing, remember that men prefer it loose.  

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Bantus - on three textures

 


Twists - Loose bantus

Quick post on Bantu Knots. I really like the texture and curl pattern that Bantus can add to my hair. I have several styles in One Hairstyle, Thirty-one Ways that are based on Bantu Knots, but I have found that hair curled with rollers, curl formers, or flexirods can produce similar results.  In any event, I've done Bantus on my relaxed hair, on my loose natural hair, on my twisted hair, and now on my straightened natural hair.  I liked the results for each, and I now know that if I am going to do Bantus on my hair certain rules will always apply....



Loose bantus



1) The size of the Bantus will determine the curl pattern. The smaller the Bantu, the tighter the curl.

2) Always dampen your hair before forming the Bantus. Without dampening the hair - usually with a light mist of refreshing spray or leave-in conditioner, the curls will not hold.

3) Make sure that your hair has fully dried before taking the Bantus out. If your has not fully dried your curls may only turn out to be waves, or the curls will not hold as they otherwise would.

4) Bantus will always be cute! Even if your hair doesn't form perfect ringlets or even waves, the added texture will give you many styling options. 

 

Loose bantus



It turned out that I didn't love the results of Bantus on my straightened natural hair because I did not leave my Bantus in long enough. I only kept them in for about 4 hours, and I know that 6-7 hours or overnight would have resulted in more defined curls or waves. Additionally I realized that it is a little more difficult to form Bantus on straight hair because they are more prone to unraveling during the process. I made accomodations by twisting each piece of hair 2-3 inches at a time until it turned on itself (beginning to form the knot) then twisting the next 2-3 inches of hair into the knot, and continuing in that manner until I finished the whole knot.

Straight - Bantus

Straight - Loosened bantus



I don't think that my straightened hair can hold the texture of Bantus as well as twisted or loose natural hair, but as I said it could have been because I didn't let the hair set long enough. It could have also been because I didn't dampen my straight hair as much as I would my loose or twisted hair (because I was concerned about changing the texture).



Straight - Bantus pinned to the side

Straight - Pinned to the side (earlier version)

In any event, although I didn't love the results, I did really love the side pin up thing that I ended up with, so I will deem my experiment a success!

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Giving my hair a rest - Part II

So I did do a coil-out on my hair after my coils dried.  I sprayed it with some oils and tried to uncoil it as carefully as possible.  It ended up looking MUCH better than I anticipated.  It was full, moisturized and pretty cute. 



Coil-out

 

Coils







I really liked the coil-out.  I haven't attempted to put coils in my hair since it was about ear length, but nowI have learned that I can have a successful coil-out on longer hair!  I think that it is a nice style that gives a completely different look than a twist-out, and I am going to try to do it again....maybe as coiled cornrows, or some other coiled style that I would enjoy rocking for a few days. 

Next - back to the two-strand twists! Check out my site, Naturally Twisted Hairstyles, for updates on my new book - One Hairstyle, Thirty-One Ways which is all about giving you different styling options with your twists.

Follow me on Twitter to see new Twitpics every day with new two-strand twist styles. 



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