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My Bali Girl Synthetic Wig by Freetress

Posted on by Michelle

curlyincolorado.com bali girl synthetic wig by freetress

I’m wearing Bali Girl,
a synthetic wig by Freetress

I had this brilliant idea this summer that I would give protective styling a try. It’s a great way to retain length while rocking a style that keeps your hair up and out of the way. I like to change things up though so these styles never last for me. That’s why I figured I would just try a wig so that I could wear my own hair whenever I wanted. Thing is, the Freetress Bali Girl wig I picked up this summer was only my second ever! The last wig I bought, I wore a couple times and then put it away.

I was pretty excited with this one though because the front of it looked similar to my hair when I wear it straight. My husband didn’t even realize it was a wig until I told him. Still, I just had to tweak it a bit here and there. It was longer than I expected and it also had long bangs. Check out my video to see how I adjusted it.

Update on My Bali Girl Synthetic Full Cap Wig by Freetress

WATCH MY INITIAL REVIEW ON THE BALI GIRL WIG HERE

Getting Too Cold for My Wash n’ Go

Posted on by Michelle

It is nearly the middle of September and I’m already shopping for knit beanies to wear over my hair in the snow. Welcome to Colorado! Home of the mild summers and early winters. This would be fine by me if I wasn’t having so much fun with my wash n’ go style. Yes, recently I’ve been rocking my curls and enjoying my curly afro. However, last night it was forecast to drop down to good ole thirty two degrees or freezing as I like to call it.

To prepare for the cold, my family and I quickly harvested our large, unripe tomatoes from our community garden plot. We hated to do it but we just didn’t want to risk losing them. While standing in the drizzling rain and feeling my fingers go numb, I decided it was time to start wearing braid outs. The style works for me during the colder weather because I don’t have to revive the look by rewetting my hair in the morning. Also, my hair will usually lay flat enough for me to wear a warm knit beanie hat over it. Braid outs for the win!

My High Puff
I might be making a warm headband
for when I wear this style during the winter

I like to knit and crochet so I may possibly construct a new hat for myself. I might even look into making a warm head band for those days when I want to wear a puff or high bun. Another option would be to head over to Natural Born Hats and order a couple of their satin lined beanies. Either way, I’m not about that dripping wet hair life when it comes to the colder temps. Sure, we still may have a couple of sunny days coming up but as for me and my curls, it’s braid out season.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM FOR A LOOK AT MY DAILY HAIR ROUTINE

My Wash n’ Go Routine

Posted on by Michelle

Long time no blog! Hopefully I’ll be getting back into the swing of things now that the kids are back in
school. My hair routine is a little all over the place but lately I’m rockin’ my wash n’ go. The weather here in Colorado may not be warm for much longer so I’m trying to take advantage of it. Once fall hits, I’m thinking I might look into doing some crochet braids or twists under a beanie.

Anywhoo, here is my most recent youtube video which illustrates my current wash n’ go routine. Right now I am experimenting with different moisturizers and will have a review later. In the meantime, you can watch how I apply my products to achieve this style.

Watch My Wash n’ Go Routine

Straight Natural Hair Talk: Thoughts on the Texture Manageability System (TMS) by Beautiful Textures

Posted on by Michelle

curlyincolorado.com straight natural hair reversion tms beautiful textures

My straight natural hair

After spending several months wearing heat free styles, I decided to wear my hair straight for a few weeks. A couple of months ago, straightening my hair seemed silly because I would only get to wear the style for a short period of time. My psoriasis was in high gear so my scalp needed attention every couple of days. This meant cleansing my hair and scalp multiple times each week. At the time, it seemed necessary because my scalp was sometimes unbearable and had to be dealt with. Once my psoriasis calmed down, I decided that I would finally straighten my hair.

Wearing my hair straight during the summer heat may also sound silly but I can get away with it here. In Colorado we have a very dry climate so there is little to no humidity on most days. Still, reversion is always possible with straight natural hair. I have been hearing about the Beautiful Textures Texture Manageability System or TMS. This product claims that you can use it on natural hair to help with straight styles over a 4-6 week period. After a few weeks and multiple washes, the hair will supposedly return to its natural state. Well, after reading this article by The Natural Haven blog I’m not so sure.

Half up half down style
on my straight natural hair

The article gives a breakdown of what happens to the hair structure when using the product. It appears as though the hair bonds are effected but not permanently broken. So yes, the hair does return to a textured state after using the product. However, the product also seems to slightly change the protein bonds. This makes me wonder what would happen after using it multiple times.

Back to curly after wearing it straight

It would be nice to have straight natural hair that lasts longer but I think I’ll stick to my current routine. I use several heat protectants including grapeseed oil, IC Fantasia’s Heat Protectant serum and Tresemme’s Heat Tamer Spray. The serum helps to combat reversion while the spray and grapeseed oil protect my hair from heat damage. While it’s straight I use things like Herbal Essences Split End Protector to moisturize and grapeseed oil to seal. I also do either pin curls or wrap my hair at night to preserve the style. When I’m ready to go back to curly, I use Aphogee’s 2 Minute Reconstructor to give my hair a light protein treatment. My curls seem to always bounce back just fine with this routine so why change now?

What are your thoughts on the TMS system by Beautiful Textures? Please share below in the comments section.

Denver Natural Hair Care Expo 2014 Recap

Posted on by Michelle

curlyincolorado.com Denver Natural hair care expo

Michaela Sanders and I
getting caught up

If you follow me on Instagram then you already know about the fun I had last weekend at the First Annual Denver Natural Hair Care Expo. The event was one of many on the Evolution Tour which was founded by Malaika-Tamu Cooper, who was a special guest speaker. Colorado Urban Naturals was the local group organizing the event with Phaedra High as the head coordinator. The event was in the planning stages for 9 months and was received positively by many. There were classes offered throughout the day on health, wellness, haircare and coaching for entrepreneurs in the hair field.

My mother, who is also natural, attended the event along with me. We both enjoyed a Qi-Gong demonstration by Ronnie Ql and Pos from The Apprentice of Peace Wellness Studio in Denver. I also caught up with an old friend, Michaela Sanders, who was an instructor for one of the classes.

Natural men and women in attendance
at this year’s Denver Natural Hair Care Expo

Vendors selling jewelry, books and food

Natural hair blogger, Sabrina Perkins (left)
with Sister, Author Dormaine G.

There were many vendors present including, Melissa Vas from More Than Curly salon, Ron Springer from Akente Express and Dormaine G, an independently published author. Also, I was glad to have the chance to reconnect with fellow natural hair blogger, Sabrina Perkins who writes for her blog, Seriously Natural.

Pictured left; Melissa Vas discussing curly hair with an attendee, top right; Earrings from Akente Express, bottom right; Ron Springer, Owner of Akente Express.

Chatting with Facebook follower (and
future blogger 😉 ) Keisha

Originally, I was invited to participate as a presenter on one of the discussion panels along with other bloggers and stylists. Unfortunately, the heavy rain brought all of the outdoor activities inside which eventually led to a cancellation of our panel. Still, the event kept on, regardless of the weather and concluded with an upbeat hair show that celebrated the beauty of natural hair.

Myself with Pos (left) and
Ronnie Ql of
The Apprentice of Peace
Wellness Studio

I worked for several years as an event coordinator and realize that an event of this size is a huge undertaking. There are always hiccups here and there in the first year and I know that this took a lot of man hours and planning. However, it would be nice to see more publicity next time because it sounds like there were a lot of naturals out there who didn’t find out about it in time. It also looks like a larger venue may be necessary so that all of the vendors, classes, presentations and shows can be held under one roof. This would help streamline the event schedule and shelter everyone from bad weather conditions. Overall, the event was given a huge thumbs up by the naturals who came out.

Hopefully, there will be even more support for next year’s event. It will take all of us to help make it bigger and better! My thanks goes out to Phaedra High who had a vision for a Natural Hair event in Denver and saw it through. Congrats!

I had a lot of fun meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends at the Denver Natural Hair Care Expo. For updates on future events follow my blog and check out Colorado Urban Naturals on Facebook.