My Two Strand Twists! Herbal Essences Hello Hydration, Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding and Curly Buttercreme Review

"Jesus Christ had dreads, so shake 'em.  I ain't got none, but I'm plannin' on growin' some."

It's been awhile since I've taken pictures of my 'do these days, so here we are!  I am loving everything except for the fact that my bosom looks like I have two watermelons stuck inside of my shirt!  UGH!  Pregnancy!

So last weekend I was consumed with the need to watch YouTube videos of natural hair, so I got some ideas.  I FINALLY bought myself a diffuser to go with my new order of Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding and Curly Buttercreme.   So I decided after seeing several posts on YouTube and Black Girl Long Hair, to try two strand twists, but on blow dried hair and with smaller twists. 

I first conditioned with my new baby, Herbal Essences Hello Hydration, then used my Suave Clarifying Shampoo (Naturals line).  I changed my hair washing routine, and it's been much more pleasurable.  I absolutely needed to be conditioned before washing.  After rinsing the shampoo out, I would condition again, leaving it in my hair while I showered, and then rinsing out.  I would then add the Miss Jessie's Curly Buttercreme in while wet and diffuse (which worked wonderfully) or like I did on Saturday, put into sections, blow dry each to stretch and do small twists.  This is one year and six months worth of growth.  I slept on the back so my back part is kind of curling upwards as opposed to downwards, but I my back section goes a little past my shoulders, towards my clavicle.  Not bad.  It's getting there. 

It is EVIDENT I need to get my tips trimmed.  I was reluctant because I actually liked the effect of the red in my hair, but yeah... It's time to cut them off.

I have loved BOTH the Curly Pudding and Curly Buttercreme.  The Buttercreme is my favorite because it makes my scalp feel refreshed.  Curly Pudding smells divine.  I just want to put it all over my body as a lotion.  The ingredients are not natural. For that, I recommend Kinky Curly (which I will try again with the diffuser, as air drying was NOT the business).  With that said, the Curly Pudding and Curly Buttercreme were great for my twists, and were super moisturizing for me.  I found that my hair had a nice sheen to it as the day progressed.  I would definitely keep buying them both.  My twists looks nice and shiny, as I would rub some Buttercreme on the section of hair I was about to twist.  If I take them out this week, I can't wait to see with that twistout is going to look like.

Hello Hydration, in my opinion, earns its reputation as a great conditioner.   I loved Suave Naturals Coconut Conditioner, but I really love this Hello Hydration.  I mean, it's just divine and smells DELISH.

Now, I have heard that it can start off good, and then end in a blaze, so we will see if it continues to give me results.  I only use it twice a weak, so....

Also, here's a great video I used for reference on how to diffuse my hair.  LOVE IT!
Diffuse Natural Hair

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Reason #5007 Why You Should Stay Away From Creamy Crack (Relaxers)

*SMDH*

I have so many QUESTIONS and CONCERNS about this story. One of them being, WHY in the HELL did she use Sheenique? Were they out of Cream of Nature or Revlon Realistic? Did they run out of Dark and Lovely? Not to say that those are any better.

While many sisters are starting to appreciate the hair they were blessed with, some of us are still rushing to get that relaxer come hell or high water.

I know the feeling. As a young Private First Class in the Army, I did not always have the money to get a relaxer done at a salon (and they damned sure weren't doing them at the AAFES on post). I used to relax my hair on the weekends, and most parts of my hair were cool. There were other parts that were cooked to all hell. But I worked with it, because I just HAD to have that straight hair.

When I finally saw someone at a professional salon, they told me I was seriously damaging my hair, and cut the bad parts off. Ah, lessons in life!

The worst that can happen using natural products on natural hair is a bad hair day. My hair may be dry to all hell, face the usual split ends, etc. I stay away from color (for the time being; I like the halo effect I get with my color growing out), so I don't have to worry about that. My hair falling out? Well, I'd only have to worry about that (in my experience) dealing with a relaxer.

My advice to this sister is this: Rock a low boy, grow out your hair and stay natural. Problem solved.

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The Epitome of Happy Nappy Head

I have some SERIOUS afro envy right now... She is absolutely awesome!  I'm not one for being gangly, but it works for her!  Loves it! 

This is MOTIVATION to stay and go natural.

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The Problem With Cornrows....On Men.

In the latest installment of "cornrow Jim Crow," a white Philadelphia police officer has been denied hairstyle rights enjoyed by his fellow black officers. When officer Thomas Strain showed up for duty wearing the traditionally African American hairstyle (Bo Derek notwithstanding) his bosses reacted fast:

"They pulled him out of roll call and took him right up to the inspector's office," said an officer who asked to remain anonymous.

Reached last week, Strain declined to comment about the hair hubbub. [ ]

"It's absolutely discriminatory," said one officer. Strain's cornrows 'do "was neat. It was above his collar. It's not like he shaved a Nazi sign or something anti-black or anti-Hispanic on his head. It's just cornrows. I don't know what the problem is."

(Okay. I don't get how cornrows are on the same continuum as the swastika or any other hateful symbol. That comment in and of itself warrants a post at a later time, but I digress.)

The problem, police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said, is that Strain's superior didn't feel his cornrows were "professional." Ordering Strain to chop them off had nothing to do with discrimination, added Vanore, who spoke with Inspector Aaron Horne about the incident.

I spotted this over at The Field Negro but didn't say anything because I needed time to think. Quite frankly, I'm writing about this now because it irks me.

My opinion is that he absolutely should've been pulled from roll call. If it was discriminatory, as in, only black cops get to wear the cornrows (male cops), then that needs to change because they need to be pulled.

I don't think this is discriminatory because it looks sloppy. When I was in the military, I was allowed to wear my cornrows in a variety of styles. It didn't matter because as long as the hair was x amount of inches above the collar, you were good. I even wore an afro. Males were not allowed to sport any kind of creative hairstyle, and if it was too long, they'd get shit for it.

I remember seeing some of the Air Force guys, and some brazen Army guys, walking around with long hair (by military standards) and thinking how OFF it looked in the uniform. This is the same thing. He's a cop. When he took his oath, and decided to don his uniform, he gave up quite a few privileges and rights. One of them, was to be able to wear his hair any which way. We may be more disciplined in the military, but we have much in common with police, one of them being in that uniform.

This is not the sequel to Who's The Man. This is real life. He's not supposed to look like an around the way guy, he's supposed to look like a cop and he should follow that standard. I personally would not stop without raising hell and calling 911 if he came up to me for anything. I'd think he was one of those guys fronting in a uniform with the sole goal of raping me then chopping me into little pieces.

To be fair, I don't like cornrows on men, period. I think it's a cultural thing. When I was growing up, the little girls, myself being one of them, would wear cornrows, while boys were not permitted to sport long hair, or cornrows. That was a girl's hairstyle where I came from. Apparently, it's the same in Nigeria, where it's a sign of effemininity. To this day when I see a guy wearing them, I think of the little girls I grew up with, and can't quite help thinking that it looks off, and not very masculine.

Besides, doesn't anyone question whether or not he is really "qualified" to wear this hairstyle? Cornrows have a deep historical meaning for blacks, and I'm not sure if he's wearing this just to look "hip" on his beat, or if he genuinely likes and appreciates the style.

If he likes it, I love it... Just not in uniform.

(source)

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Finale to Natural Hair Week: My Top 10 Natural Hair Styles EVER

1)I love the wash and go. It's easy, always cute in my opinion and hardly ever fails you.



2)The Afro puff is QUINTESSENTIAL! It's the natural sister's ponytail, except it's spunkier and has way more attitude. It does not hang limp, it's out and forms a halo around that gorgeous head. I LOVE my puffs. Main reason why I have not done my lowboy again (though I really want to). I also notice I look way younger with an Afro puff (something I don't always like lol).




3)Vintage upsweeps are kind of new to the stage, but they're so vintage and awesome. I also like that it's another way to prove that natural hair is indeed versatile, even more so than relaxed hair.



4)The frohawk has gotten even more popular, and I can see why. I LOVE the frohawk. It's punk and it's natural. My next twist move...



5) Locs are classic and timeless. Here's Chanel from Junkprints! She's rocking them live and in living color. Check out Junkprints for some bad ass swag and Matilda! She's the natural girl's Hello Kitty!



6) The tapered Afro is also new this year, but it's actually been around for some time. The indomitable Grace Jones killed it back in the 80s. Glad to see sisters are bringing it back.



7) The twistout is a fave. Want to play with a different texture? Try the twistout.



8) The Afro Blowout for ME is the holy grail of afrodom. My goal this go round is to grow the BADDEST Afro in my entire life. I just want a big old head of Afro.



9) Twists! Twists are my favorite because they are cute and they are like two hairstyles in one. When you twist them out, you've got another hairstyle.



10) Last but CERTAINLY not least, is the lowboy or teenie weenie Afro (TWA). I don't care what your hair texture is, I LOVE the lowboy. When a sister rocks that baby, I'm captivated. I like Solange's take on it with the part. That will be my next move as it is so Josephine Baker/1920s glam-ish.

This is my top ten list! I've had fun doing Natural Hair Week. Remember that it's every day, of every year, but it's good to celebrate, right?

If you have a site that features natural hair that I've overlooked, please add it in comments so I can add you to the blog roll too!

What are your favorite natural hair styles?

Some photos courtesy of http://crunktastical.net and http://lecoil.tumblr.com

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