Category: straight natural hair

Finally APL and Holiday Hair Styles

Posted on by Michelle
My Holiday Make-Up Look
with Roller Set hair

The Holidays were fast and furious which left me feeling like I needed another break after it was all over.  Still, it was a lot of fun dressing up and going out with the family.  I especially enjoyed finally getting to see how long my hair was after the two Hair Growth Challenges I participated in over at K.I.S.S. 
last fall.

One of the challenges encouraged participants to start using Hot Oil treatments on a regular basis while the other asked everyone to start using a Growth Aid to help speed up hair growth.  I kinda fell off the bandwagon on the first one because since I sometimes have gel in my hair, I wasn’t too crazy about applying oils on top of that to do the treatments.  However, I do feel like the second challenge introduced me to an interesting growth aid that appears to actually work.  I’ll speak on that later on down the road.

The two challenges ended in December so I was really excited to see if my hair reaped the benefits of all that hard work.  I am happy to announce that I have finally reached my goal of APL length hair!  The top layers are still hovering around my collar bone thanks to that mini big chop I did last year but the back and bottom layers are doing really well.  Since I like to wear my hair in big curls I can see that I won’t be satisfied until my hair is around BSL or longer.  Right now with curls my hair sits just below my shoulders.

   I also needed a trim so I took care of that and decided to wear my hair down for the holidays.  Since I’ve been using roller sets to stretch my hair out I only ended up flat ironing the entire length of my hair once. The rest of the time I was able to enjoy a straight look with the help of my rollers and a little flat ironing at the roots.  My hair has reverted back and is going to be put away for awhile again but it was fun while it lasted.

Roller Set styled in a
Pin-Up Do with Back Down

Flat Ironed hair after
air drying in braids overnight
Flat Ironed Back View

What My Hair Has Been Up To

Posted on by Michelle

I know I haven’t been posting very much lately but I wanted to share some of the styles that I have been rockin’ the last few weeks.  I have actually been wearing my hair straight a little more which I think is coming to an end this week.  At least until I can get my hands on a flat iron that has a heat dial so I can adjust the temperature setting.  My FHI Technique G2 straightens really well but only has one setting…400+ degrees!  I know that a lot of you are thinking why use heat in the first place?  I know, it can be damaging but, I’m one of those Naturals who likes to use it occasionally.  Anywhoo, enough of the straight talk and on to the pics. . . Enjoy!

Corkscrew Braid Out
at the Denver Art Museum
Flat Twist Up Do
My current favorite during the week
to keep my hair protected

Corkscrew Braid Out
with Satin Scarf Headband
with Eco Styler Gel on my edges
Corkscrew Braid Out
Back View
Straight Hair in August just
before Trim
Wash n’ Go at City Park

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Posted on by Michelle
I’m making my list and checking it twice.  We’re having a few family members over on Thanksgiving which means that I have a lot on my to-do list this week.  I can’t forget about my hair though.  In the past I have done curly styles for special occasions like roller sets and twist-outs.  For this Thanksgiving I’m gonna go ahead and wear it straight.  I’ve been participating in a couple of Growth Challenges with the ladies at K.I.S.S. and can finally take this opportunity to check my progress. 

This month I also started doing deep conditioning treatments twice a week.  This is another challenge that was started last year or the year before.   Someone on K.I.S.S. decided to get it going again.  Basically, I’m doing it for the extra moisture my hair needs during the winter months.  This week though, since I’m going to use heat on my hair, I’m probably going to make sure and do something with protein.  I have the Aphogee 2 Minute Reconstructor which works good but the ingredients include Mineral oil and silicones.  While I’m out buying my turkey and veggies for Thursday, I may just pick up the GPB conditioner by Aubrey Organics.  I have always liked their Honeysuckle Rose conditioner for when I need moisture so I’m pretty confident that this one will work for me as well.  Either way, I always like to prepare my hair with a deep treatment so that I won’t end up damaging my curls when using heat.  Hopefully I can find the time for all the cooking and cleaning and still get dinner done on time.  Wish me luck!

Choosing a Ceramic Flat Iron

Posted on by Michelle
My FHI Ceramic Flat Iron
When my first flat iron quit working after only one year of use, I decided that I would definitely look into buying something of better quality the next go ’round.  Little did I know that it would be 7 months before I would finally purchase a new one.  Instead of running out and replacing it right away, I decided to take my time and do some research.  One of the first things I did was start looking into styling options that didn’t require the use of heat.  This started me on my Natural Hair journey which meant that the flat iron of my dreams would have to be able to straighten my natural hair texture, kinks and all.
I looked at Consumer Reports on the subject and found tons of info on the different types of flat irons.  There are a lot of heat styling tools that are ceramic now but the real question is, how ceramic are they?  It turns out that my previous joke of a flat iron was only ceramic coated which would explain the $40 USD price tag.  The material started peeling and would catch my hair.  This exposed the metal plates underneath and caused lots of breakage.  However, professional tools that used full ceramic plates were priced way more than I could afford and were very fragile.  One drop and crack goes the flat iron.  I later read that the mid-range variety ($80-$150) used plates that have multiple layers of ceramic coating and sometimes even added tourmaline. 

 It is the tourmaline that helps the iron produce more negative ions.  No, this is not chemistry class folks, we’re talkin’ hair here!  Apparently the more negative ions the better the heat.  Of course, using direct heat on the hair is never considered a good thing but I found out that there are different types of heat.  This information explained how some flat irons give excellent results and also cause less damage while others burn the hair to a crisp.

Of all the brands out there I finally narrowed it down to the FHI Technique G2.  I found the pink version on sale at Ulta for $79 but still see it at Target for ten dollars more.  It definitely puts my old iron to shame but the sucker gets hot so I have to be extremely careful with it.  I like that it has a beveled edge which makes it really easy to do flips and curls.  If I could do it all over again I would hold out for the FHI Platform which has a dial so you can adjust the heat setting.  Maybe one day…a girl can dream, right?  

**Check out this article for more info on choosing a quality Flat Iron**