#TBT: The Awkward Stage 2014 Hair Edition

Happy Thursday lovelies!!

I'm just stopping by with a quick post. Even though I wasn't blogging regularly last year (or really focused on my hair like I should have been), that doesn't mean that I didn't have my hair in different styles. Last year I did everything from wigging it up to kinky twists to straight hair and back again--I just didn't document it on here. So,since #tbt is a thing, I figure today would be the perfect time to go ahead and post all the ways I had my hair. So, without further ado, her is my #tbt contribution:

Top left to right: December 2014-- wearing Outre Tammy Half wig (my ride or die wig!); November 2014-- straightened with Thermasmooth after kinky twists; September 2014-- Gibson tuck with twists (not 2 strand twists but those easy ones everyone knows how to do).

Bottom left to right: November 2014-- Flat twist w/ side ponytail (style I did after I got tired of wearing my hair straight); October 2014-- kinky twists in a side ponytail, May 2014-- fresh Dominican blowout


And of course there's more.......

Top left to right: October 2014-- side bun w/ kinky twists (this bun was really, really heavy by the way); February 2014--wearing Bali girl wig to my bff's b-day celebration

Bottom left to right: March 2014--messy bun for lounging around the house; February 2014 my first try at invisible Senegalese twists. They lasted a whopping 2 weeks.

There you have it! Any other posts would be of me wearing my Outre Tammy half wig and really, how many pictures do you need of that (although, there is a difference in how it looks at the beginning of my stretch vs. the end of my stretch)? You can see the majority of my styles were just ways for me to leave my hair alone--which was the mode I was in last year.

What do you think of my hair choices last year? Let me know in the comments below!

Wash Day: April 15, 2013

Or the "How I Wash at 13 weeks post and beyond"

I know this wash day post is a little late this week...I simply wasn't in a posting mood at the beginning of this week. But now, I finally got myself together and am back to posting.

I've recently realized that it has been 13 weeks (well 14 weeks come Friday), since my last relaxer! I really hadn't paid attention to my last relaxer date but when I realized that my new growth had become more prominent, I had to figure out how many weeks post I was and when to schedule my next relaxer day. Since I am so far gone into this stretching thing, I realized that now is the time to cut down on the manipulation to my hair until my next relaxer day. In my own hair care journey, I have seen that decreasing the amount of manipulation to your hair during a stretch helps soooooo much in decreasing any breakage. Notice I said I decrease the manipulation, I don't eliminate it completely. Nowadays, all the manipulation to my hair occurs only on wash day. The rest of the week, I put my hair in Celie plaits, pin them down, and wig it up. I will continue to do this until the first week in May-when I will get my next relaxer.

This wash day, I washed my hair with Shea Moisture Moisture Retention shampoo. I then DCed with Aubrey Organics GPB since I had used a moisturizing DC on my last wash day. Re-incoporating a protein DC into my reggie has been the best thing I could have done for my hair. Seriously. My hair has a certain strength to it that has been missing for awhile. Anyway, following the DC, I detangled my hair with my bone comb and moisturized my hair with Hairveda Whipped Ends. My hair absolutely LOVES this stuff (and you should see a review here soon)! I finished up by making six plaits, leaving out a small section to blend with my half wig, and pinning them down as flat as I can. I tied my hair up and was done with it.

How I keep my hair under a wig cap. No cornrowing..I'm not very good at it and I'm lazy. I also leave out a small braided section to blend into my half wig

My detangling bone comb. I love being able to comb my hair without my ends popping off.
In the morning, I woke up and put on my Outre Tammy half wig (I ordered a new one since that I had was about 2 yrs old....yeah). I absolutely love it. The week before, I wore Model Model Super Mingo- which is another great wig (check it out below!). I will be continuing this wig thing until my next relaxer.

Look of the Day: 5/3/11

Good afternoon everyone!

I decided to give Tammy a break today and wear my Outre Monica half wig. So far I love it! The style reminds me of a loose bantu knot out. Like Tammy, I purchased Monica in 1B from blackhairspray.com for $17.99. I did my blending using 2 headbands (didn't have time this morning to mess with blending my actual hair with the wig).

So..would you wear this wig? Is Monica a yay or a nay?

That Relaxer Itch, Half Wigs, and Overall Rambling

Happy Friday everyone!


I was thisclose to relaxing this weekend. I'm about 14 weeks and 4 days post, trying to stretch to 16 weeks. I wound up not relaxing because I got 2 new half wigs so I figure that will keep me from relaxing for another week or so (which is exactly what I need!). However, after washing and DCing my hair last night, I know I cannot go past 16 weeks. My hair has so much new growth, it's starting to look like a lion's mane lol. So, I can't relax now but it's gonna happen soon.

On to the half wigs...

Last weekend, I ordered 2 half wigs from blackhairspray.com (awesome site to order from by the way!): Outre Tammy and Outre Monica (color 1B). They are synthetic, fairly inexpensive and they run about $17.99 each. Right now, I'm trying out Tammy and I *LOVE* her! The hair is very soft for it to be synthetic and the style of the hair reminds me of a braidout. It has 2 combs (one in the front and one in the back) and fits securely on my head. There is also a drawstring in the back so there is no excuse as to why this bad boy can't be secured. I had a hard time blending it (that's more b/c of my hair, it's a COMPLETELY different texture than that of the wig right now....I really really need a relaxer). I'm basically wearing Tammy with a headband right now but, I think you relaxed ladies should have no problems with blending. It's definitely perfect for half wig newbies. Check Tammy out (please excuse my makeupless face! lol)!






I think Tammy is a perfect everyday half wig. It's divatastic but not too divatastic! As you can see, I'm becoming a big fan of half wigs. As someone who doesn't like to manipulate her hair too much or use a lot of heat, half wigs are perfect. I can still get to my hair too-which is awesome. I also think this would be a good transitioning hairstyle for those ladies who are considering that.

I have yet to try out Monica..it seems more like a going out half wig than anything. Trust me though, as soon as I try her out..you guys are gonna hear about it!

What do you guys think? Would you try Tammy out?

Freetress Drawstring Full Cap Creta Girl (and Me)

I have to admit it. I have been a little full of myself lately. I've been wearing my hair out, flinging it all about..you know basically enjoying my hair. Well, in all that enjoyment I forgot that I am still trying to reach length goals. I also forgot that it was about to get here and I'm really not gonna be in the mood to do anything to my hair. I didn't want to bun and I needed a new protective style.

Enter the half wig.

I spent half the night last night looking up half wig tutorials on YouTube and looking for recommendations for half wigs that are universally flattering and easy to work with. I ordered Outre Tammy and Outre Monica from blackhairspray.com then proceeded to pick up Creta Girl (number 2) from my local BSS.

I paid about $23 plus tax for Creta Girl. Creta is a synthetic half wig that can also be worn as a ponytail. Surprisingly, the hair is very soft. It's also very very curly and very very big (which I love!). Like most half wigs, there is a long comb in the front of the wig and 2 smalled combs in the back. There is also a drawstring (again, this is if you want to wear it as a ponytail).

What's my verdict? I LOVE IT!!! I have gotten so many compliments on it so far and it doesn't look like an obvious wig. I don't know why I didn't try half wigs before but I am so glad I did!

Tell me what you think...is Creta Girl a yay or a nay?

What To Do When.......

...it seems like your hair is too short to do ANYTHING!

Trust me. I've been here. As a matter of fact, I'm still here. It can be frustrating, especially when you hear of all these different styles that require slightly longer hair. Well here is a list of things that I do when I can't do certain hairstyles.

What to do when you can't...

-Rollerset: I love rollersetting. I do. It gives beautiful curls. The only down side to rollersetting is that it is incredibly time consuming. Well my short hair divas, now is the time to count you blessings. I have found that wet wraps are incredibly easy to do when your hair is short. Add some foam wrap lotion ( I prefer Jane Carter Solution Wrap and Roll), wrap hair, and put on a wrap strip. You can then air dry or still under a hooded dryer and flat iron if you so desire. That's it. It doesn't get any easier than that!

-Braidout, Twistout, or any kind of other "-out": I frequent hair care forums and during the course of the summer so many of the ladies in the forums talked about doing braidout and twistouts. I'll admit that I was a little jealous. Why? I can't do them, that's why. Unfortunately my hair was too short to do either one. However, I found flexi-rod sets to be an alternative for us short-haired chicks. You can buy the appropriate sized rods and create a curly do that lasts for days!

-Rock the oh-so-famous bun: Yeah I don't have enough hair to put into a bun yet. But I do like the option of having a low maintenance style. Sometimes, doing your hair everyday gets old fast! This boredom with my hair eventually lead me to the wonderful world of wigs. Wigs offer a new style and the option of low maintenance. The same can be said for phony ponies ( if your hair is long enough to get into a ponytail), weaves (sew-in of course), and braids (be careful with the micros though).

So you see, short hair doesn't necessarily lock you into one style. With a bit of imagination and creativity, you can find styles to get you through the awkward stage.

Wiggin It Up

Welp..it's been a while. My internet is kinda touch and go at my new place until Monday so I will do what I can. Anyway, tomorrow will mark the end of my 13 week stretch. I'm getting my hair relaxed baby!!! I have to admit, getting through this stretch was tough but it became so much easier through wigs. This was my first time wearing a wig and I had some things I had to consider before purchasing one. For that reason, I thought it would be helpful to anyone else who is considering wearing a wig to list the things I thought about before walking out the door in my hair hat.

1) Synthetic or Human? Before you buy a wig you have to know if you want a human hair one or a synthetic one. Typically, synthetic wigs are cheaper that human and tend to be really glossy/high sheen (which can be fixed by sprinkling a bit of baby powder on it). A plus of a synthetic wig is that it will hold its style after you wash it so you won't have to reshape it. On the other hand, human hair wigs are more versatile. You can use heat on these wigs and pretty much treat them as your own hair. However, these wigs can get a bit pricy. Knowing what type of wig you want helps to narrow down the field a bit.

2) Are you trying to fool anyone? Ok let me explain this. Some women wear wigs with no shame. They are wearing a wig and don't care who knows it. I am not one of those women. Before I even purchased a wig, I had to make sure to zero in on styles that are similar to the cut of my natural hair. I mean, it would be pretty suspect if I had chin length hair one day and shoulder length hair the next. So I say all that to say, know what goal you want to achieve with that wig.

3) Try, Try Again. This is self explanatory. Don't walk into a wig shop/ BSS , eyeball some wigs that catch your eye and proceed to purchase them. Try them on!! What may look good on the mannequin might not look good on you. Make sure to bring your own wig cap for the trying on process!

4) How are you going to take care of your hair underneath the wig? It is tempting to get a wig and just slap it onto your head. However, this can be detrimental to your hair health. Believe it or not, you have to take care of that hair underneath the wig. Your hair still needs to be washed, conditioned, and moisturized. When I wore my wig, I would wash and deep condition weekly. I would then flat twist my hair. I usually wore 6 flat twists that probably weren't the neatest twists ever. I would spray those twists with leave in daily. You may decide to keep your hair in cornrows or french braids. Whatever you do, DON"T NEGLECT YOUR HAIR!

That's pretty much it. I know that when you first wear a wig and may feel awkward wearing it. I guarantee that if you have done a good job of picking out a wig, a lot of people won't be able to tell the difference. Either way, it is a great stretching style and is extremely low maintenance. It is also an excellent way of keeping heat off your hair.

Short Hair+ Stretching=???

Happy Sunday!

As promised, I am writing a blog about how I stretch my relaxers 13 weeks. I know it sounds impossible, but trust me it can be done. This blog might be a little lengthy but I do different things at different stages of my stretch.

Weeks 1-8: My hair is pretty easy to deal with at this point. I basically do the following:

1) Wash hair and DC hair 1x/week

2) Wet wrap my hair and sit under hooded dryer for 1.5 hours

3) Flat iron

4) Wrap and cover with silk bonnet at night/ moisturize when necessary

Weeks 9-13: Between weeks 8 and 9 my new growth decides to really make itself known. It is really thick and impossible to deal with while it is dry. For that reason I have 2 options.

Option 1: Flexirod set (this can be really time consuming!)

1) Wash and DC hair 1x/week

2) Set my hair on flexirods using Kinky Curly spiral spritz (takes about an hour)

3) Sit under hooded dryer for 2 hours

4) Remove flexirods and style hair

5) Cover with bonnet at night/ moisturize when necessary

**Note: I love flexirod sets, I really do. They take so much time though! However, once you have your curls in, you can do a fro-hawk, a puff, or even a fro. I love the versatility of it!**

Option 2: Wig it up!! ( Yes what you see is a wig)

1) Wash and DC hair as needed

2) Oil scalp with Wild Growth Oil ( helps me get through the new growth)

3) Flat twist my hair (I usually make 6 really sloppy twists)

4) Place wig cap on top of twists

5) Put on wig and go!

**Note: I love this option! You are able to take care of your hair but not necessarily be worried about your hair looking a mess. Believe it or not, wigs can look really natural and are a perfect stretching style*

That is pretty much how I stretch. As a matter of fact, my most current stretch will end Aug.1. Next blog, I will write about wigs--what wig to chose, how to wear them...everything!