Braids!

So I had my favorite braider (aside from my sister of course) Mary Bertke braid my hair at a steampunk event we had recently. The Privateer's Promenade at Ace of Cups in Columbus, Oh. This is a dutch classic into buns. Very much inspired by her French Classic to buns on her website.

I absolutely loved it, got a lot of compliments on it and it looked amazing even the next day after drunkenly sleeping on it:

And infact, I kept it in for 4 days before taking it out:

Honestly, I probably could have kept this braid a few more days but my scalp was already itchy and flaky before I even got it put in. I didn't quite exfoliate my scalp well enough beforehand and also had been using some terrible shampoo (curse you Garnier Fructis!) After a few days, I was burning to take it out. But this is yet another example of how you can make a hair style last  a very long time and then have a whole other awesome style to wear for a few more days even after that.

I really recommend braids. I honestly can't braid my own hair at all. Or anyone's hair for that matter. But find a friend, a family member or even a professional to do it. Its great. Braids could easily disguise a bad dye job, a bad hair cut or just a bad hair dye. They're also nice when you are growing your hair color / perm out because again, they disguise the line of demarcation to make it less noticeable. They're also less harsh on your hair than heat styling with flat irons or curling irons!

Some tips so you can keep your braids for as long as possible:
Wash your hair the day before or the day of getting your braid. You should let your hair air dry completely before getting it braided because braiding while it is wet can damage the hair. If you insist on wet-braiding (as I sometimes do), take care that it isn't braided too tight. When it dries, it constricts and can cause breakage. I usually use a leave in conditioner after washing my hair to help eliminate frizzies. My braider friend Mary also uses a clear, lightweight gel when she braids.

To keep your braids nice at night when you sleep, I can't recommend enough the use of a du-rag. They're specifically designed to keep your hairstyle over night. They are a silky material which allows the hair to slip around and breathe unlike a normal cloth bandanna or scarf. I tie mine along my hairline to avoid any weird dents in my hair/skin. Don't tie it too tightly around your head, both to keep from getting dents and it will give you a splitting headache. Here's a quick basic how to put a du rag on.

I do not bother washing my hair the entire time I have my hair in braids. I've sort of trained my scalp to be used to not being washed very often. But if you get dandruff easily, you aren't going to be able to stand wearing braids for long. Because you can't wash and condition your hair, your scalp skin flakes off and doesn't have anywhere to go.There are oils out there made for cornrows that moisturize and also have ingredients to numb the itchiness. I've used Organics Itch Relief , but wasn't too impressed with it. It smelled intense like cloves or something and I had to use it every day or my scalp would start itching again.

I have heard, but not tried, that you can wear your du rag in the shower to wash your braids. The method is to completely saturate your hair with water while its in the du rag. Then you put your shampoo in your palms and uniformly coat the outside of the rag. Then you rinse the shampoo through the rag and onto your scalp. While I think this sounds like a great idea to get smells out of your hair (smoke I guess), it doesn't sound like it'd help you with an itchy scalp because you aren't actually exfoliating your scalp.

Speaking of exfoliating your scalp, you are going to want to do that when you take your braids out. I usually use my long nails to scratch my head and flick out the dead skin under my nails into the trash. This is both gross and cumbersome. But I find it necessary. Especially if you want to wear your hair fluffy for a couple more days. You can't wet it or you'll ruin the wave!

If you want to ruin the wave and get your scalp all polished, I have had great success in the past mixing one part conditioner (not your expensive stuff) and one part brown sugar in a dish and using that on your scalp first. You gently knead it into just your scalp using circular finger motions. Do this thoroughly and all over your entire head before you rinse it out. Be sure to rinse well, then wash your hair as normal! This is pretty nice to do in the winter too, to help your hair and scalp stay moisturized.

This probably won't be my last post saying how much I love braids. But you learn something new each time!

All this hair junk!

I'll give the quick and dirty review of each, going Top Left to Right:

Beyond The Zone Split Mender - leave in conditioner
I use this in wet, just washed hair. It says you can use it in dry hair though. The smell of this stuff is pretty non-offensive. Not strong, not weak. Its sticky when you pump it out. When it dries, it leaves my wavy-ish hair pretty weighed down, mildly crispy & straight. I like to wash and apply this at night, then comb it loose in the morning. Helps for humid days!

Beyond The Zone Waxed Out - mousse wax
Honestly, not sure why I keep this stuff around. I apply it to wet hair as directed. And while it does tame frizzies, it's also too thick. It leaves like a waxy residue on your hair. Duh, must be the wax! I'd imagine this would be great for shorter hair you're looking to give some extra body. Something my hair isn't and doesn't need.

Beyond The Zone Super Sexy - texturizing wave spray
Super easy to apply with this spritz bottle. However, its leaking if I lay it on the side. Grr. Smells kind of nasty. Apply to wet hair and let it dry. If you really saturate your hair, it'll get stiff and crispy when it dries. But I find that combing it out once its all dry, and its good to go. Similar to the Split Mender, but in my opinion, not as nice. Wouldn't buy it again, but again, I'm not actually needing more body to my ridiculously long and thick hair.

Beyond The Zone Last Call - leave in conditioner
I love this stuff hardcore. It smells fabulous, the pump spray is easy to use (and doesn't leak when on its side) and it makes my hair soft. As with the other items, I put this in wet towel dried hair and then let it dry. I've left it as is in the morning after sleeping on it to let it air dry and it looks great. Or you could comb it out. However, doesn't help with frizz as much as the Split Mender or Waxed Out.

Beyond The Zone Super Sexy - styling sauce
Its been awhile since I last used this stuff. It says apply to wet or dry hair. I'm sure I've only applied it wet. It doesn't really smell like anything at all. The consistency is pretty thick and waxy. Bad for curls, great for thinner/shorter hair. 

Just For Me! Hair Milk 
Posted about this previously. The short was: its alright but I probably wouldn't buy it again. It was given to me by my mom.

Pantene Curl Defining Scrunching Mousse
So there was a time in my life when I was trying to culture my curls a little more. My hair isn't curly, not really. It has a good wave in it when it is short (or layered) and not chemically processed. I looked for curly haired products to try to help smooth the waves and not weigh them down. This stuff was ok at that at best. Smelled great but I hated how un-touchably crunchy it made my hair. I haven't used this in ages.

Matrix Curl Life Mousse
I then decided "Maybe its just Pantene's Mousse. I'll try a brand I like more." Still mostly nope. I like the smell better. But the results were mostly the same. Made it pretty and wavy, but un-touchably crunchy! I like to be petted, so this is a deal breaker.

Bottom Left to Right:
Living Proof Prime Style Extender
I used this just this past weekend. I washed and conditioned my hair as normal, towel dried, and used the entire tube on my hair. I think it smoothed out my hair quite nicely. But then I immediately had it braided the next day. The combination of this stuff and the light clear hair gel the braider used wasn't a good combo because I could only wear the braid 4 days instead of my normal 7. My scalp was super itchy and irritated. There's some red itchy spots on the nape of my neck that I'm not sure if it was this stuff or the gel or what. I'll give it another try sometime because I liked how it felt and looked after it dried (which took longer than normal by the way).

Josie Maran Argan Oil Hair Serum 
Straight up haven't tried this yet. I'm eager to give it a try though as it was recommended to me by a hairstylist friend.



For someone who doesn't do their hair a lot or put a lot of product in their hair, I sure have a lot of stuff!

Wear your hair fluffy!

So what do you do the day after you wear your hair wiggly? You can wear it fluffy! In some manner. I recommend pigtails, pony tails, or another round of braids. I usually wear mine in a do-rag to sleep after wearing it wiggly to keep it from getting super matted. Sorry I don't have a photo of that. Though it is pretty funny. But do rags are useful to preserve... your hairdo!

First, brush it out in small sections. Then brush it all together. If you have long or curly hair already, you already know this. But if you don't do it piece by piece, you'll end up with a lot of hair coming out. I hardly had any come out after brushing mine out. Here's how ridiculous it looks all brushed out:

I don't wear it out like this really because the top part is pretty flat still. But there's so much body in it, its a shame to waste!

This next step might gross everyone out. Since this is about day 4 or 5 after washing it, my scalp is pretty flaky and itchy. I meticulously go through my scalp and use my fingernails to scratch out all the dandruff. I just pretend I'm giving a really good head scratch to my kitty cat or something. I periodically empty the gunk out of underneath my fingernails (a good 20 times). You'll know you are almost done when hardly anything is under your nails anymore. Make sure you get all areas of your scalp: forehead to neck, ear to ear and all in betweens. The crown of my head gets pretty gross.

That part was the nasty part. But would you rather have nasty dandruff? Hell no! After that, make sure to brush your scalp oil through your hair as best you can. It's still going to be flatter near the root of your hair no matter what you do, but it is good to get as much residual flakes out as possible and evenly distribute your scalp's natural oil.

Next, find a nice leave in conditioner or oil to put in to moisturize the ends of your hair. This is a product I had never tried before, but my mom got it for me:

 Just For Me Hair Milk. Yes, its an African American hair product for kids. But its a detangler / straightening mist that I figured I might as well give it a shot. The spray bottle was really nice. The smell was okay. Not great, not terrible. I saturated my hair pretty well with it. I alternated spraying with brushing it through. After it dried, here was the result:

Pretty straight. Really thick, had nice body. I wore it in a pony tail, but cute pigtails would have worked. My hair is normally pretty thick, but this seemed fluffier than usual. I liked it.

Braid your hair and wear it Wiggly

I love having my hair braided, wearing it braided for as long as I can stand (up to a week!) and then wearing it wiggly. That's what I call it. I guess some could call it wavy or curly. I washed my hair one day, then had my boyfriend braid it the next day. I first wet it down with this:

Beyond the Zone Last Call Leave in Conditioner. I love this line of products. I think it smells good. I love their Hair Masque (especially after coloring my hair). This smells just like that.

I sectioned it into 4 parts so the braid could be pretty tight. Here's a bad cellphone pic of what it looked like braided into 4 parts:

This is the silly outfit I wore out to the bar that night:

I wore the braid all day before, slept on it, and wore it the whole day before that night I wore it out. When you take the braids out, just use your fingers. DO NOT BRUSH OR COMB! Here's what it looked like after I fluffed it out (and wore it to the bar for several hours):

Pretty fucking amazing right? I recommend people to wear their hair like this all the time!