Loose Versions of Styles from One Hairstyle, Thirty-one Ways

I took my twists out last week, and wore my hair loose for a few days. I decided to experiment a little. I've been telling people that the hairstyles in my book, One Hairstyle, Thirty-one Ways, available on Amazon and Smashwords can be done on hair that is twisted, braided, locd, or loose - and I finally took some pictures to prove it!  Below is a really quick version of the Whadyasay? I hope you like it... leave comments! I'm trying to boost my Facebook Fanpage numbers so PLEASE like the book if you like the picture!

I also did the Conch and Drama With a Twist on both lightly pressed hair and on stretched hair. I realized that some styles just look better with hair that has some texture (Drama With a Twist - looked good on stretched hair, but not as good on straighter hair) and that others really do translate well with straighter hair (Conch and Whadyasay?)

Whadyasay? on loose hair

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Unknown book, hairstyles, straight

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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Unknown bantus, book, hairstyles, loose, straight, twists

I was scared....

After 15 months of being heat free, I straightened my hair! I decided that I wanted to: 1) do a length check; 2) trim my ends, and; 3) see how bad my ends would look with pressed hair.  After my last experience with heat, my hair responded with breakage, stripped ends, and by just being plain old damaged. This time around I wanted to see if staying away from heat, fairly regular trims and my commitment to natural products have made a difference. I was scared, so I tried to do as little as possible.....

Supplies

1. Shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner
2. Jojoba and Coconut Oils
3. 15 large rollers
4. Hooded dryer
5. Clipping shears
6. Ceramic flat iron

Steps

1. I took out my twists. I did not comb through my hair, but I did try to finger detangle as I took them out. I then put my hair in 10 large twists.

2. I washed my hair with a hydrating shampoo, then conditioned with the anti-breakage conditioner that I've been using to co-wash, then mixed a cholesterol based deep conditioner with some hair mayonnaise, covered my hair with a plastic bag, and deep conditioned for several hours.  I think that you could get the same results from deep conditioning under a hooded dryer, but I wanted to use as little heat as possible.

Generally when I wash my loose hair, I put my hair in four sections and wash each section of hair separately, and may even comb through my hair in those sections. This time I was trying something new, and I didn't take my hair out of the twists as I washed and conditioned.

3. After I rinsed out the deep conditioner, I took out each twist and combed through each one and oiled it with jojoba oil.

4. When my hair was loose and oiled, I added a small amount of coconut oil to each section of hair as it was rolled on to the 15 large magnetic rollers. I then sat under the dryer until my roots were nearly dry. I tried to make sure that I kept my roots as stretched as possible while rolling my hair. (It took an hour for my roots to begin to dry - but that was probably because I took such a long time to roll my hair that it had begun to air dry).

Taking out the rollers

5. If I were just trying to straighten my hair, I would have spent more time under the dryer and tried to dry it completely in the rollers, then used my small ceramic flat iron to run over each section of curls. Since I did want to trim my ends, I combed through the curls, then took small sections of hair (about half the amount of hair on each roller) and on medium heat, did 1-2 passes with my flat iron.

Combed out the roller set

6. I trimmed about half an inch of straight hair from each section as I pressed it.   

After the press and trim

Oh and yes - my hair is continuing to grow, but I have been keeping it about the same length as I grow out my heat damage. I could feel the difference between the virgin hair and the heat damaged section, but my ends didn't end up looking as bad as I feared. Please share your tricks for straightening your hair.

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Unknown hairstyles, heat, heat damage, straight, trim

Versatility of the TWA/short natural.....

I know a lot of woman with amazing natural hair! I am able to admire different styles, textures, patterns, twists, twist outs, tucks, braids, and pressed natural hair - everyday. Right now, I am in love with the TWA/Jill Scott/short to shaved sides/back/ some inches of natural hair on top look......

My sister has been rocking that style for about 9 months now, and I still think that it is an amazing TWA/short haircut! It is very short on the sides and back, and the top is about 3 inches when stretched. She does a lot of innovative natural styles, but she can also make her hair look like a short cut by smoothing her edges down with gel and flat ironing the top.  I LOVE it!

I appreciate the versatility of being able to rock your hair as is, or in twists, twist outs, coils, coil outs, and braid outs plus enjoying a style that can go from a Halle Berry to a slicked down Caesar. We went on a trip recently, and I spent a lot of time wondering what she was going to do to it next! While I love my two-strand twists, and all of the options they provide, I have to admit that seeing her hair makes me wonder if I should have spent more time experimenting in my TWA phase.

Do you feel the same way? Have you seen innovative TWA styles recently?

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Unknown heat, straight, twa

Heat damage and two-strand twists

About a year ago I had my hair straightened.  I've had my hair professionally braided a few times but this was the first time in about five years that I'd let someone else DO my hair.  Prior to that point, I've washed, cut, permed, trimmed, pressed, braided, twisted, etc. my hair myself.  I had been two-strand twisting my hair for about six weeks when I decided that since I hadn't had anyone else do my hair in a long time, and since I was going to attend a special event, that I would get it "professionally" straightened....mistake! 

The mistake wasn't letting someone else do it, the mistake was letting a person who seemed surprised that I liked my hair in its natural state be the one that I trusted with the supposed temporary straightening of my happily kinky hair. I got a few suggestions for who to go to, but I waited until the last minute - and I went with the woman that was physically closest and that could do my hair in the middle of the day.  The process consisted of a wash, a deep condition, then a blow dryer being blast at my scalp until my strands succumbed.

I will say that my hair was STRAIGHT.  So straight that its been a year and I still haven't gotten rid of all of the ill effects.  After washing my hair and recognizing that it wasn't snapping back to its previous glory, I washed, conditioned and deep conditioned my hair (several times). The deep conditioning helped, and I started to see my curls come back.  I continued to deep condition, and I went back to my twists, but over the next several weeks my hair began to shred and shed.  I then cut between 1.5 and 2 inches off of the ends of my twists, which got rid of the worst of the heat damage. Then I kicked myself for having done that to my hair.   

To this day, the ends of my hair are still thinner in the middle and front sections of my hair (see above), and I also have 4-5 inches of hair in the middle of some of my twists which is straighter than it should be. (It is residual damage at what was the root of my hair at the time it was pressed.)  My ends have recovered, but I will have to do a series of mini chops in the future.

After I had my hair straightened, I promised myself that I wouldn't use heat on my hair for a year.  My year is up.  I've learned how to trim my hair while it is still in twists instead of from straight as I've done in the past, and I've decided that if I ever go get my hair straightened again, I will go somewhere with a different hair philosophy.  Anyway it was a lesson learned....

Another lesson learned is that two -strand twists are a fantastic protective style. Even if I hadn't suffered the heat damage, I'm glad that I turned to the twists. I've been able to protect my strands from too much manipulation and from any heat during the last year, and I've been able to style my hair in so many ways that I was able to create a book of styles. As you can see from the photo, I've experienced a good amount of growth during the year that I've been doing the twists. I'll continue until the damage is all gone.

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Unknown heat damage, maintenance, straight, trim