Friday, December 9, 2011

Day 67


please excuse my stank face I am tired. but this is how the hair has progressed through the day/rain. I used Organix Styling Whip on my ends to get more definition and it shows. :D

Day 67


This is a dry braid-n-curl I did after I pulled my hair into a low puff for a few days and it dried that way. Pre-fluff or separating.
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Post fluff and separating
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Day 65


I need to find a gel with more hold and I’m looking for suggestions and reviews. Any suggestions?
I currently use Fantasia IC gel and Garnier Fructis Curl Scuplting Cream-gel, but the 4a sections of my hair don’t hold as well as the 3c sections. 

Day 64


The updo pics have arrived.
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Updo #2
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Day 62

I did a few updos these past couple days so pics of those will be up tonight (possibly after midnight). My singing group’s final concert is tonight so I had to look fresh.

Day 60


My hair is still straight and I’m yearning for some curls. I’m going to try and wash it and do a T-n-C tonight. I also need to DC with oil and heat. It is kinda a plus since I’ve been bunning aka protective styling this past week. 
I hop everyone’s Thanksgiving was wonderful :D.

Day 58


Day 58.
I was supposed to go to the hairdresser this ‘break’ but I’ll probably end up going mid-late December to get my roots touched up. I’m so very tired right now, and I have to get up at 7:30a for church, drive back to Richmond, work the game, take singing group pictures, the second to last rehearsal of the semester before the final concert :O, and group meetings for like 4 of my 5 classes.Tomorrow Today might kill me. 
Good night!

Day 54


I’m really sad cause I did an AMAZING style today and I didn’t have time to take pictures. I got mad compliments :D. I’ll try to recreate it soon. It was done on the flat ironed hair below (I braid at night for waves).
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The black has kind of faded already, but I got more dye for January (when I will dye it again). 
In case I don’t post much this week, have a happy Thanksgiving :)

Day 52


I also tried the funky retro updo last week from A Curl’s Best Friend and these were my results
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Day 52


I used a thermal brush to blowdry my hair and it worked really well for achieving straight ends. I could tell after I had blowdried that it wasn’t going to be the same (of course) as when I got it done at the hairdressers, so I’m going to be wearing it wavy and playing with updos until I go to the hairdresser within the week. When I do go, I’m getting my roots touched up, and my blonde in the front mixed with the red. You can kinda see here how much it’s grown out. The red was to my roots.
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This is after blowdrying.
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The following are my failed attempts as the retro french braid by A Curl’s Best Friend. I attribute it to my inability to cornrow well. 
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Day 52


 I will be straightening my hair tomorrow. I’m going to be trying a new blowdrying method to hopefully achieve straight ends, and not have the burnt hair smell for the week+ that it’ll be straight. I like to switch things up and braid-n-curls/twist outs are not my friends right now.
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Hopefully this will happen.

Day 45


I seem to be posting every 3 days :(. I’m trying to do at least one a day, but life and school are getting in the way. Anyways, I HAVE COMPLETED THE GRADIENT!!!. I used Kiss Express True Black dye to finish it. I dyed the back section of my hair, parted from the top of my ears meeting in the middle.
I have to say I LOVE the results, and especially since it was $3.99 at the beauty supply store. It was A LOT, and I really really stress this, A WHOLE LOT messier than usual dyeing kits I’ve used. The kit was tiny and included a little bottle of the dye powder, a tiny measuring cup, plastic gloves (I usually use my own), an application brush the container for mixing held all these things. The instructions included direction for mixing 1/4th and 1/2 of the powder, but it’s really difficult to measure so I just mixed the whole thing. The instructions said to mix the powder until its consistency is like a paste, but a watery gelatinous glob is as close as you’ll get to paste. I used Vaseline along my hairline, ears, neck, and cheeks (I really did not want any staining). The gloves they provided were good for mixing, but from experience powder-free vinyl exam gloves work best. I’ve used them with perms (when I used to), henna, dyeing, etc. in the past and maybe it’s my aversion to the latex smell, but I like them a lot better. I didn’t want to mess up any of my larger towels so I used a white hand towel (big mistake!), but I should have used a large towel because it really was messy. The little brush applicator added to the mess. The consistency made it plop-n-drop everywhere at times. Whether using fingers or the brush just be careful. I seriously got the mix everywhere; on my cabinets, the door, the wall, my sink, both rugs, the floor, the mirror, the toilet, need I go on?. I would add a picture if I wasn’t ashamed of how much of a terrible mess my bathroom is. The application start to finish time for the section I did was about 10 minutes. The miniature size of the kit/tools made it take so long. I kept it in for 25 minutes after all the hair was saturated with dye. I wanted it to be as dark as possible. To rinse I used the spraying attachment in my sink I didn’t want the dye to run and possibly darken the blonde and red i have further forward. I then co-washed with a little shampoo in the shower, and used Aussie 3-minute deep treatment. This whole process took 2 hours. If I had to rate the dye I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. ***.
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the black vs. dark blonde aka darkest vs. lightest. 
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Day 42


Very sad to say, the twists are coming out. I’ve had them in for about 2 weeks, but my scalp and my ends are suffering. I was always apprehensive about doing the twists after color because to avoid build-up, I don’t use a lot of product. After the first 4 days  my ends were like straw, so I figured I’d be taking them down soon. The question was when. I also partied a lot right after they were done, so they got sweaty, dirty, dry really quickly. During the summer I wasn’t doing much so they lasted longer. Also my scalp has been suffering. I used astringent on the problem spots, but I know that I just need to wash. 
I’m really sad/mad that I didn’t take any pictures right after I finished. Next time I definitely will. 
Blown out hair before starting the twists.
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This is a twisted back pulled back style. I had the ponytail in a donut bun for work. 
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I have to edit the tutorial vids, and they’ll be up…soon.

Day 40

From all the past week’s shenanagins my hair is in a pretty bad state. I’ve only had the twists in for 9 days and I want to wash really badly. I’m going to use astringent on my scalp and redo the messy twists. This will probably take 3 or so hours, but it’ll look good afterwards so I’m game. 

Day 37


Took a little birthday hiatus. I’ve been going out and getting no sleep nonstop. This is the extent of what Tuesday to Today has been. Dancing, fun and friends. :). I will resume my regular daily posting by Monday. 
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Day 32 HAPPY NOVEMBER!!

Done with the twists after about 18 hours. Pictures later. It’s 2 minutes to my birthday!!!! I’ll be 21 and my roomies have something evil planned…

Day 31


Happy Halloween!!
I’ve put in 8 hours today and finished the right half of my head. 
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The twists are a little bit smaller than I wanted to do them, but I’m fine with the size. I’d say I’ve done 170ish so far in about 11 hours. I expect to finish them in 6-7 hours later today. 
I’ve recorded 2 1/2 tutorial vids and they should be done soon. 

Day 30

Day 29

Day 28


I went to a costume party dressed as Janelle Monae. Here’s the hair. 
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I’ll post a pic of my outfit later. 
5 days!!!

Day 27


MY BIRTHDAY IS IN 6 DAYS. That is all. 

Day 24


I ended up washing late last night and did a flat twist braid and curl.
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My ends are exponentially better. Next time I’ll just to a braid and curl.

Day 22


I thought this was cute/funny.

Day 20


This was my hair at the concert I uselessly shamelessly promoted here.
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eww my shirt lol

Day 19


Fun fact: I do search & destroys, term coined by Curly Nikki, (taking shears and going through your ends to find/search and clip/destroy split ends, or single strand knots) quite frequently. I keep shears at my bedside table and try to get out the single strand knots which I get frequently because of my 4a texture in the back of my head. When my hair is straightened (as it is now and will be for a few more days) I do it even more so that is currently happening a lot since I’m doing midterm papers. 
I am anxiously awaiting when my hair is long enough for me to be able to see and trim the ends from the back of my head. I’ve got 6-7 months to go (GAHHHHH!) I have become OBSESSED with doing this because I have only just (with the hair coloring) begun to get my end trimmed regularly just because I don’t trust any hairstylists where I am. Doing this at least keeps them in check. I don’t try to trim anything evenly, I just clip the knot/split end of each hair.
I find that the best way to see them is to put the hair section in front of a white computer screen (an empty word document, I’m supposed to be doing 3 papers lol), or a white wall with a lamp nearby. 
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Day 19


Better pics:
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Please ignore my messy room
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My ends have frizzed up a lot since it’s been humid and warm lately so I will be donut bunning as shown below until I wash again. I know you’re supposed to wash after about a week but I have 2 performances coming up with the singing group and it’s midterm week so I will have no time to do anything. For this donut I’m using a rolled up leg warmer HAHA! It makes a huge bun, and it’s synthetic fabric so I don’t have to worry as much about moisture loss. 
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Side note: I am also pranking my roommate that I got a perm. I think she believed me cause it is bone straight! She pranked me (almost got me) that she shaved the sides of her head when it was actually cornrows so we’re even now