New Layout

I just spent probably 5-6 hours working on my layout. I still haven't worked out all the HTML kinks but I'm learning. :)

My henna arrived!

I am going to be hennaing this weekend for the first time. I'm very excited to see what it does to my hair color. All I need to do is get some plastic/rubber gloves.

I did a twist french braid 2 days in a row. The first day turned out crunchy, flat , and stringy, so I redid it but got the same result so I am going to deep condition soon. Probably when I henna. (is henna a verb? I don't think so, but I'm gonna use it as one) I might add some eggs to my deep conditioner for protein.

Day 1:

Day 2:

I like the Day two twist braids better. I do a flat twist into a braid on each side so that the twists will hold. I think I'll do a video of that after I henna. Here is an old picture of my results (back when my hair was healthier >.<

Until next time, Penguins and friends!

Buns and Things

I redid my Curly Nikki bun and wore it out after it had dried the next day. I love the way the bun looks, and it is really easy to do.

I have to wait and see if the result will be similar after all my relaxed hair is grown out. I also tried the aforementioned Mane & Chic Southern tease. I had to improvise cause I don't have any chopsticks or knitting needles (lol). I used a clip, and I had to set it higher because my hair lengths are uneven (perm breakage).

Bun Results

I don't have any pictures of the bun itself (I took it down and forgot). But I do have pics of the style dry and worn down. I wore it down the second half of the day when it was warmer outside.

It looks a lot like a rollerset/braid-n-curl but the hair near my scalp is straighter so it falls differently. I like it though. It is quite frizzy in the places I manipulated it the most, so I used Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in conditioner to smooth it down.

Henna

I just bought some henna from mehandi.com. I bought 100g which I hope will be enough. All I need now is gloves and newspaper.

Side note: I am very curious to see the color my hair turns out because I recently (3+ months ago) had it dyed black, but it all washed out for the most part and my hair has heavily tinted red/orange/light brownish from the summer sun.

Bunning

I am going to try some bunning styles since winter is fast approaching and the weather has been insane here in R,VA. The last couple days have had an average temperature of 40-45 degrees (no joke!) so my hair has been in a hat/scarf frequently. So far I have tried the donut or sock method, the Curly Nikki bun, and what I call the tangle bun [I might to a how to, my first one, for this one. it's really easy] and I will try to wear Mane & Chic's southern tease tomorrow possibly if my hair isn't dry tomorrow morning. I also want to try a bantu knot bun.Here are links for some of the bun styles:

Curly Nikki bun

Mane & Chic's southern tease

Donut/Sock bun 'how to'

My favorite of the ones I have tried is the donut bun. I prefer to use socks instead of store bought donuts, because I can cut them to different sizes.

How to make a sock donut:

1. Take an sock and cut a hole in the toe. You can also cut more than the toe if the sock is angled or if you want a smaller bun. Also you should use a brown or black sock so that if your hair doesn't completely cover the sock it won't show as much. I use a white sock covered by a black sock.
2. put your thumbs on the the inside of the sock (either end, whichever your preference) and roll until you reach the end. You may have to fold end under, or roll from the other side.
3. If you are using a white sock and covering it with a brown or black sock cover the rolled white sock with the black sock and pull the end through the middle. I stretch out the middle a few times during the process to make it easier to get my hair through.

How to do a bantu knot out bun:

1. While my hair is still wet after washing, conditioning, and detangling I either pull my hair into a high or low ponytail and secure using a hair tie (skip this step if you want)
2. I then use Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In conditioner, Aussie Moist, Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum, and Aphogee Leave-in Conditioner to smooth and wet my hair a little more.
3. I put Cantu Shea Butter and Lustrasilk Olive Oil Cholesterol on my ends.
4. I take my hair from where the ponytail starts and twist my hair around itself until I reach the tip of my ponytail. Then I continue to twist until my hair starts to bend. I keep twisting the hair around itself until I reach the end and tuck it under the Bantu Knot and use a pin to hold it in place. It should resemble a bun, but be kind of misshapen.
5. I put on my satin scarf and go to sleep. In the morning I undo the twist, fluff, and either tuck the hair under, wear it as a pontytail or put it into a donut bun.

3 Months

It's been three months since my last perm (July 18), I have 2 or so inches of new growth (SO happy about that). It makes me confident that I will BC soon. I want my hair to be around chin length when I do, so I got probably 3-4 months until I will consider either cutting a lot off or BCing.

I am trying Curly Nikki's bun because the twists weren't staying and my scalp was starting to itch. I am shedding a lot less which I LOVE tremendously. I deep conditioned today before I set my hair for the CN bun with the Lustrasilk Cholesterol and Hair Mayonnaise. I loved the result, My hair detangled very easily and was very soft and healthy afterwards. I had to resort to a showercap and hot towels [2] because I don't have a hood dryer.

It's been so cold in my apartment (avg of 67 degrees brrr*) that I have to go to sleep wearing this:

Consisting of a turtleneck, leggings, fluffy socks, and a hat.

I have to try a bantu knot out soon.

Fall Break!!

Random fact: Today is my mom's birthday. YAY!

Where the Wild Things Are comes out tomorrow. I am so excited so see it. I wanted to go see the movie with my mom, since she read the book to me a million times when I was younger, but the train ticket home is $120 so that can't happen.

My twists turned out good, but it was mist-raining today so the curls fell out, and a few of them unraveled due to my relaxed ends.

Twists and stuff (including PJ; it never ends! lol)

As I said yesterday, I'm going to try and make these twists last for 1 1/2 - 2 weeks. So far so good. it is pretty cold today, so I wore/am wearing a hat today.

I went to Krogers to pick up some prescriptions, and ended up buying 4 products and 2 other things I need to prepare myself to henna. I got Lemon juice, Green tea, South of France Shea Butter Vegetable Soap Bar (I've been wanting to try this), Lustrasilk Moisture Max Olive Oil Hair Mayonnaise, Lustrasilk Olive Oil Cholesterol, and Lustrasilk Herbal Cholesterol Deep Conditioning Cream. I will list the ingredients of each.

Lustrasilk Olive Oil Cholesterol: Water (Aqua), Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Olive (Olea Europaea Fruit) Oil, Cholesterol, Soybean (Glycine Soja) Oil, Safflower (Carthamus Tinctorius) Oil, Wheat Germ (Triticum Vulgare) Oil, Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Extract, Fragrance (Parfum), Vitamin E ( Tocopherol Acetate), Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben, Phosphoric Acid, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium EDTA, Yellow #5 (CI 19140), Blue #1 (CI 42090)

Lustrasilk Herbal Cholesterol Deep Conditioning Cream: Water (Aqua), Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Polysorbate 60, Cetyl Alochol, Cholesterol, Distearyldimonium Chloride, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, DMDM Hydantoin, Yellow #5, Yellow # 6, Fragrance (Perfume)

South of France Shea Butter Vegetable Soap Bar: Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Organic Shea Butter, Mineral Pigments, Natural Oil, Essential Oils, Parfum.

Lustrasilk Moisture Max Olive Oil Hair Mayonnaise Deep Conditioning Treatment: Water (Aqua), Stearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetremonium Bromidem Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Egg Protein, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Peanut (Arachis Hypogaea) Oil, Fragrance (Parfum), DMDM Hydantoin, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben, Polyquatentium-32, Trideceth-6, Disodium EDTA, Yellow #5 (CI 15985), Red # 33 (CI 17200).

The soap bar smells like soap (haha), and out of the conditioners they all smell pretty bad. The Hair Mayonnaise smells like cough syrup, and the other two smell like normal cheap conditioner. I spent a little under $20 and got almost everything I need, so I am happy with my purchases. Now I have to see if they work. I'll try them in a week or so, if my twists last that long.

Walmart

I went to Walmart to get a few essentials (i.e toilet paper, paper towels, fruit, etc.) and I ended up getting:

9 headbands, 2 clips, Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in Conditioning repair cream (I was very

disappointed to find that the Hair Dressing Pomade has petrolatum in it)shower caps (preparing to henna with indigo, but I am missing the main component HENNA!) and my fav purchase *drumroll* HAIR SCISSORS.

I have been skeptical about getting hair scissors because I will go through moods when I want to cut all my hair off and others when I REALLY don't. But I got these for my ends and knots. I'll post pics of how my hair turns out tomorrow. Well it is "tomorrow" so later today.

I have Italian homework, and it feels like 10PM when it's actually 1:30AM yikes! I missed The Mo'Nique Show :( Wendy Williams :( and Chelsea Lately. I am a talk show junky. HAHAHA.

Until next time, some Tuesday superhero penguins.