Are you a Mixtress?

Interested in making your own hair products?
I just found this awesome list of recipes on NaturallyCurly.com

Enjoy!

7/11: 1 week Minitwists+ daily conditioning routine

For the last week I have been wearing mini twists as a protective style. I was hesitant about this style in the beginning, but it has definitely grown on me. For my hair type, they are starting to look like locs even though there are no signs of locking. I love the versatility and the ability to continue to style my hair even with the twists in. Before, I didn't like wearing twists because they were just there...not much flair or pizazz. But now, I am able to pin them to the side, throw on a head band, do flat twists, etc. The possibilities are endless, just like with natural hair.As of now, I plan on keeping the twists in for 3-4 weeks.

For the first few nights I experimented with ways to keep my hair stretched and moisturized overnight.

Night One: I tried Naptural95's (YouTube) hair wrapping method... I had a feeling that it wouldn't work because my twists are not nearly as long as her's are, but I figured it was worth a shot. I ended up using a leave-in conditioner mix to mist my hair and make the twists hang.

Night Two: I did four flat twists going all the way back. This also left my hair poking in random directions leaving me no choice but to spritz and reshape my hair.

Night Three: I followed Keythema's (YouTube) Moisturizing routine which involves making hair damp (not dripping) with a leave-in conditioning spray, followed by Shea butter or a Shea butter mix on the hair, focusing on the ends. I then chose to put the twists into 3 ponytails, banding the ends. The hair is then covered with a clear shower cap, and then reinforced with a hair wrap. This is also referred to as the "Bagging method."

This has become my ritual and I love the way that my hair feels every morning and throughout the day. My hair has remained moisturized and healthy. In the morning I just take out the bands, shake my hair and finger form the hair to fall the way that I desire. Because the hair is still moist, it is easy to rearrange and will dry in that form.

I don't have pictures yet, but plan to take some for the remainder of my mini twist term.

Until next time, stay nappily happy!

Banding

For those who don't know, banding is a non-heat method used to stretch your hair. This has been particularly useful for me because I have classified 4b/4c hair which tends to be fragile so I try to stay away from as much added heat as possible. Banding consists of sectioning off the hair (the number of sections depends of the length and thickness of your hair) and apply little cloth bands (no metal clasps) down each ponytail shaft. This keeps the hair in a semi-straight position as it dries leaving stretched hair. I have read that banding can be done on wet or dry hair, but I prefer to band on wet hair and have received better results this way. Due to may hair structure, I also tend to part my hair into 8 sometimes 9 sections and allow my hair to dry overnight while covered with a bonnet.

It looks crazy, I know, but works wonders for a no heat regimen.

From 6/15/2011 + a quick style

This morning, I took out all of the bands and the results were mediocre. I have gotten better results and a longer stretch from banding wet hair. But, this is a moment that it is great to be natural...there is always a solution. I kind of like the afro look, but since I work with kids, I did not want a bunch of little hands in my clean hair, but I remembered a quick style that I saw online and decided that there is no time like the present. I parted the front section of my hair and did a flat twist with that hair. I then just pulled the rest of my hair up into a puff. Thank goodness for hair growth!

At night, I left the flat twist in, and did large twists in the back to discourage shrinkage; then I covered it all with a bonnet. I would also moisturize my ends with shea butter daily.

I was able to wear this style for about a week.

From 6/14/2011

Today I did a twist out after co-washing out my shingle style. I did not really like the twist out. I think that because my hair is getting longer, twist outs are starting to look a little unruly. But, it may also be due to a lack of moisture, so I need to get my hair back to a happy moisturized state.

To attempt to redeem my hair, I banded my hair on dry hair. This was my first time banding on dry hair, but I read that it is possible. I first detangled my twist out by saturating my hair with shea butter. I proceeded to band my hair in 8 sections. I tend to section my hair by parting one section on each side of my head and then dividing the middle section into four. We'll see how this banding session works in the morning.

Shingling Review

Overall, I was not impressed with this style. It lasted for 3 days, a lot shorter than a regular twist out usually lasts for me. By the end of the third day, I also had a lot of residue in different parts of my hair. This may have been due to product over use, but it was gross and I ended up co-washing out all of the products. For that co-wash, although it is pointless (in my opinion) to deep condition after conditioning the hair, I used a cheap conditioner (VO5) to get rid of all of the product and followed up with Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioner to revive my hair.

Shingling may work better for longer hair or looser curl patterns, but it didn't really do the trick for me. I'll stick to my twist outs!

Shingling

Shingling is when you take the time to rake product through your hair, in sections, to be sure that every stand is covered. This is also a method used to encourage curl definition or make your curl pattern pop. After watching multiple YouTube videos, I decided to attempt shingling for myself. Here are the steps that I took, including pictures.

First, I co-washed my hair with Palmer's Coconut Oil Instant Conditioner. Next, I parted my hair into 8 sections. One section at a time, I raked in IC Fantasia Hair Polisher Styling Gel. As I went from section to section, if one of my sections began to dry, I just misted some water on that section before applying the gel. I also applied raw shea butter to each section after applying the gel to seal in the moisture from the gel. I learned the hard way not to apply too much shea butter or you will be left with a white residue because it doesn't mix well with the gel. The morning that I shingled my hair, I had plans to go out so I just left my hair to air dry. I have also read that some people use a diffuser to help speed up the drying process without manipulating the curls.

At night, I just put on a Satin Bonnet. In the morning I sprayed Carol's Daughter Tui Leave- In Conditioner to liven up the curls and finger fluffed any flat areas. If some spots became frizzy, I would apply a little more gel to that area and it would spring back to life.

This was shortly after I finished applying all of the products. You can see that there is a little bit of white in my hair from the shea butter because my hair is still wet.

This picture was taken on the first night. The hair is completely dry here with curl clumping...

 This is a side view of the dried curls. I put a satin scarf around my edges with a little more of the gel to make my edges lay down like this, and then applied a stretchy headband.

This is my hair on the third day of wearing this style. It has shrunken since the first day and is even more of a curly fro.