Hello blossoms! Here are some photos from the beginning of April. How is it Spring already?? This week I visited my boyfriend's family in another area of North Carolina and got my hair cut. I also did the normal college classes grind, and then went to my Senior spring college formal. The formal was hosted by my eating house, which is kind of like a sorority but not really.
My new filming set up and decorations
Soooo in love with this Steve Madden bag I got off Poshmark.com for spring. <3
Visiting my boyfriend's family and all the dogwoods were in bloom.
I chopped off all my hair!!
I got the cut done at Scott Musgrave Hair Artistry in Cary, NC.
Back at school I snapped this photo on my college campus, but didn't notice the bee and almost got killed. lol
My homemade fried rice. Yums!
All my girlfriends and I at our Senior spring college formal
Me and the BF <3
Overall, this was a really awesome week. I got to see lots of fun people and I love my new hair! Thanks for reading along!
Hey lovelies! Here's another week of photos for Februrary 15th-23rd!
I had a lot of fun making a "hair science" video on hair porosity last weekend.
My girlfriends and I went into the city for a girls night last weekend.
On Wednesday I had a job interview, and asked you guys what I should wear. (I went with the leftmost outfit.) And I got the job! I'm not quite ready to announce what I'll be doing next year, but stay tuned...
A really yummy orange, raspberry, strawberry smoothie. Smoothies make me feel so healthy and energized!
Since my boyfriend was out of town, Jessie and I had a blast together at a college semi formal. We took a lot of selfies...
All in all this was a bit of a crazy week with lots of partying, job interviews, and homework on top of it all! I'm trying to make the most of my last semester of college, and I think I'm accomplishing that. Thanks for reading blog curlies!
Hello curlies! Today I wanted to write a post about hair porosity; porosity is something that is a little more complicated than curl pattern but very helpful for understanding how to care for your hair. Porosity has to do with how the cuticle of the hair lies and how this affects moisture and nutrients entering the hair strand. Hair can be anywhere on a spectrum from low, medium, to high porosity.
Here are three ways to test your hair's porosity, and some tendencies of low and high porosity hair. Remember that your hair doesn't need to neatly fall into one category, and different parts of your hair may have different porosities. This isn't an exact science unless you send your hair off the be analyzed (which you can do at Live Curly, Live Free) but it's usually pretty accurate.
Water test: Take a piece of your hair and place it into a glass of water. If the hair sinks before one minute, this indicates high porosity hair. If the hair floats for a minute or longer, this indicates low porosity normally. Try testing the ends of your hair separately from the newer lengths of your hair. You may find like me that the ends are more porous and damaged, so they sink.
Strand test: Run your fingers down the hair from the root to the end of a single piece of hair. (Tip: The root of the hair has a small bulb, aka the follicle where the hair grows out of the scalp.) Low porosity or normal porosity hair feels smooth to the touch. If you feel bumpiness this is a sign of high porosity.
Squeak test: This test is from the forums on CurlTalk. Run your fingers up the hair from the end to the root. If you hear squeaking this is and indicator of low porosity. Normal or high porosity hair should not squeak.
Properties of low, medium, and high porosity hair:
Low: dries slowly (4-6 hours), resistant to heat, resistant to chemicals & dyes, products sit on top of hair instead of absorbing
Medium: dries in an average amount of time (2-3 hours), healthy, absorbs and retains moisture well
High: dries very fast (1-2 hours), can be caused by heat or chemical damage, absorbs moisture well but loses it immediately when rinsed, easily heat styled, easily over processed, loves protein and protein treatments
For low porosity hair the cuticle lies flat and products and water have a hard time entering the hair. For normal porosity hair the cuticle lies slightly open, allowing the hair to retain and absorb moisture. For high porosity hair, the cuticle shingles lie very open so that moisture enters and leaves very easily; the hair does not retain moisture well.
So now that you know how porous your hair is, here are some curly hair care tips. For low porosity hair, try using a blowdryer and diffuser or plopping to speed up the drying process. You can also use a cotton or microfiber cloth to scrunch out some water before or after applying your styling products. Try using steam (i.e. Huetiful hair steamer) or heat (i.e. Hair therapy heat wrap) when deep conditioning your hair so the moisture can penetrate. Use warm to hot water in the shower before you apply conditioner so the conditioner can sink in. Heat and steam help open the hair cuticle so moisture can enter low porosity hair. My hair is low porosity and I love: As I Am Naturally leave in, Kinky curly leave in, Sally's Beauty Generic Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm, and Curl Junkie Curl Rehab Deep Treatment.
Formedium or normal porosity hair, you need only to maintain the health of your hair and prevent it from becoming damaged. This hair is easy to care for and absorbs moisture readily.
For high porosity hair, protein treatments are essential. These help fill in the holes of the cuticle so the hair lies more flat. High porosity hair can occur naturally, but it can also occur after damage, so protein is essential as well for rebuilding damaged hair. The Liquid-Oil-Cream (LOC) method for sealing in moisture can help prevent moisturizing goodness from evaporating from the hair. For my looser texture I only like this for braid outs and roller sets, but I do apply a water based leave in, jojoba oil, and then Karens Body Beautiful Super Duper Cream. You can also try a L-O-G (G: gel) method for wash and go days. Another thing you can do are acidic rinses to help seal the cuticle with apple cider vinegar or citrus juices which also add shine to the hair. (Or you can just run cold water over your hair.)
I hope you found this helpful! Comment below whether your hair is low, normal, or high porosity!
For perhaps a better explanation, watch the video about this.
Hey curlies! So I am soon going to post a vlog and haul from the Natural Star Expo that I attended in Charlotte, but I also wanted to type out some of my thoughts on the event here. I didn't want to add all this to the vlog because 1) I lost the cord to my mike for voice overs and 2) the vlog was already long anyways! :)
lil ol me
So this was the first year that this event occurred. I was fortunate enough to meet the founder of the event when my friend and myself were just walking around, and she was super nice! Overall I had fun networking- I met lots of people at the event and I need to bring business cards if I go to another one of these.
my friend Tyler
The event ran from the morning into the afternoon, but my friend and I arrived about noon. The event was very organized; we were handed a schedule when we arrived. The venue was gorgeous and so was the set up for the event, which you can see more of in the vlog. There were lots of stands from what seemed like local vendors and small businesses with a handful "bigger names" mixed in. For that reason I didn't go crazy and buy a bunch of products, since I hadn't heard of any before.
During the event there was always a supplementary activity going on besides the general shopping. While I was there there was a singer, keynote speaker, a makeup demo, and a natural hair lesson. I went to "Natural Hair 101." I wont say much, but let's just say the stylist arrived kind of late. She had some good stuff to say, but I wish she had focused less on heat styles and "taming natural hair" as she put it. She did show some interesting styles for type 4 hair with pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks. Also I was probably just bored because it was "Natural Hair 101"; I'd love to see a hairstylist do a lesson on a more advanced topic.
As a side note, I found myself to be one of a handful of other Caucasian women at the expo. Now this doesn't bother me, but it makes me think about what the phrase "natural hair" means. Because for me personally, I think that includes all women that wear their hair without using heat or chemicals to change the hair texture.
So should companies in the natural hair market try to appeal to a broader spectrum of not just type 4 girls (kinky coily), but also type 3 and 2 (curly and wavy)? Are they losing business or should they stay in more of a niche market? I started this debate with a few online friends of mine, and we came to the conclusion that companies should be more inclusive in advertising to other races and hair textures. But also the consumers would have to make this change too, by creating their own meetups appealing to a wider range of women, contacting the companies, etc. What do you think? Let me know down below in the comments.
Overall this was a really fun event and if I'm in the Charlotte area and this happens again I will definitely go back. I feel like Charlotte deserves an expo or a convention with more "big" name vendors though, since it definitely has the population for that event to be successful. And I would love to see a hairstylist like April Couse Walker or Joy from JoyfullyCurly.com, who have a different approach to natural hair, at the expo.
Sarah @:-)
*Photos in this post were taken by my friend Tyler (@color_character on instagram).
Hello curlies! It's that time again where I have a lot of information to share a long with a video. I am going to try to blog more often because 1) this blog doesn't have very many posts 2) I like writing and 3) it's a nice medium and reference for you guys when you want to read instead of watching a video. Anywhoodles, this post will concern my experience with henna.
My First Henna Experience - Dying my Whole Head of Hair
In the beginning/middle of November I used henna to dye my medium brown hair to a reddish brown (aka auburn) color. It's orange-ier in insight lighting, and the beautiful auburn shade I love in the sunlight. I am so happy with the results of the henna, and I'm going to keep my hair this way for awhile. It leaves my hair feeling very strong and most importantly a vibrant red shade. I <3 being a henna-head.
This video explains the entire henna process IN DETAIL. From strand tests all the way to washing out the henna.
Recipe I used:
300g henna
100g amla
~4-5 cups of very diluted lemon juice
I added amla because I wanted a very auburn color, and it's supposed to enchance curls, while henna makes them wavy. The lemon juice is acidic and is necessary so the mixture oxidizes. I mixed this up, let it sit overnight, added more water the next day, and then applied the henna to my hair. I left it in for about 3 1/2 hours, before rinsing it out.
All the estimates online told me to mix 500g; I went down to 400g which was still too much. I probably could have mixed up half or less of the amount of dye powder I bought. It was way too much henna for my hair which is thick, but layered and has the longest pieces at my waist. The good thing is that you can freeze the henna mixture and use it for up to 6 months. I guestimate that I could have mixed 150g of henna and 50g of amla.
Rinsing out the henna is a messy, long process. I used these products:
Suave naturals coconut conditioner (to scrub the scalp)
Shea Moisture Thickening Shampoo (for adding cleansing)
GVP Matrix Biolage conditioning balm - I should have skipped this and gone straight to a deep treatment
Curl Junkie Banana Hibiscus Deep Treatment - this took away the dry, tangled feel of my hair (henna acts like a protein treatment)
Tangle Teezer Brush
Styled my hair with these afterwards :)
Kinky curly knot today leave in
Curly hair solutions curl keeper
Aussie instant freeze gel
I learned a few things from my first henna experience:
*add spices or essential oils next time to cover the henna smell (grassy, fishfoody, herbal, yuck)
*add conditioner to mixture to help avoid dry hair
*deep condition immediately after rinsing out henna
*mix 150g probably for my hair length
*nix the amla next time. It left my hair very curly, but I want a redder auburn.
Overall I really love henna and think it is a great natural alternative to chemical dyes. Here's a list of its pros and cons:
Pros
Cons
*Natural look
*Vibrant color that does not fade
*Can be mixed with cassia or indigo for brown or black colors
*Healthy for the hair (like a protein treatment)
*Permanent
*Smelly
*Messy
*Long process (henna has to oxidize night before dying)
*Usually must order BAQ henna online
*Hard to remove color from hair
After about two months my roots had grow out noticeably, but it still was not bad with my hair down. People I have known for ages continued to assume that my hair had just gotten darker (lol) and people I met for the first time told me my hair color didn't look dyed. So, henna is a very natural change. :) The video below contains more information about henna as well as an update on how I am feeling about the color--still awesome! @:-)
Keeping it Up - Henna Root Touch Ups
After the video above I henna'd my whole head again. Then after being abroad in Spain and not hennaing my hair for 5 months, I finally got around to doing it. Since I was just doing my roots, which involves a different technique, I recorded the process and my reaction:
It was a lot less messier to just do my roots than my whole head, and I really enjoyed using the "icing" method (a ziploc bag full of henna with a corner snipped) for the front of my head, but I just resorted to smoothing it on in the back because I couldn't see properly to do that. The color seemed to come out really even, which was great! And I mixed up the perfect amount of henna. You could say I'm a bit of a henn expert now. :)
Henna mixture (root touch up):
50 grams or 1/2 cup body art quality henna powder (Body Art Quality Ancient Sunrise® Henna for Hair Kit: Red)
Water
Lime juice (any other pure citrus juice may be used such as lemon, grapefruit, etc. or other acidic liquids)
Other supplies:
Bowl (plastic, ceramic, or glass is best - no wood)
Mixing utensil (this touches the henna for so little time it doesn't matter)
Plastic wrap
Scissors
Ziploc bag
Old towel
Old clothing
Newspaper for floor
Parting comb (mine is from Sally's Beauty Supply)
Hair tie
Gloves
Vaseline
Update 7.8.15 - No More Henna
Hello everyone! At this point I have completely grown out all of the henna from my hair. I just did this naturally quite awhile ago, and opted for a short style eventually. I didn't mind the red in my ends though, as it was like a subtle ombre. Honestly the color difference is not huge between my natural hair and henna unless I was in bright sunlight, so it was fine to grow out. Obviously if you have lighter hair it may make a bigger difference!
Overall I really loved the color henna gave my hair, and how strong and healthy it felt, but I just wasn't up to the maintenance. If I could go to a salon and get my hair hennaed regularly I would keep it up! Also over time I started to worry that the henna had loosened my curls a little bit. I wanted to get them back to being as stringy as possible.
Some day when my hair starts to grey I think I'll go back to henna, or try henna and indigo for chocolatey brown hair. But for now I am done with henna, and might strart experimenting with commercial dyes.
I hope you have found this blog post helpful. I know 2,000 people have read it- WOW! Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments as always.
Hi curlies! I hope everyone had a good new year. I made this video to show y'all how I dust for single strand knots. This is also known as "search and destroy." It's a good thing to do every few weeks or so for curly hair. The SSKs can make curls feel coarse and frizzy, so it's good to get rid of them. A lot will get cut off at a trim, but this way, you lose less length. My hair is still slowing inching towards my goal length of my waist (and then hopefully my hips). Good luck with all your hair goal lengths!
