Johnny, Tell Them What They've Won!

So, I knew there was a reason I chose to put my hair in a low bun this week.  I wanted something that would look great with the new hat I won!!!

B.L.A.C. Detroit Magazine does giveaways every month.  I enter all the time, just for fun, never expecting to win.  Well, they called me a couple of weeks ago, & I won a Stef-N-Ty hat!  I thought they would just send me a hat, but they let me come to their studio loft & pick one out.  The neat thing about this company is that every hat is different--like snowflakes ;-).

I LOVE my hat, especially because it has a pocket on the top.  I also like that it says "Sustainable."  It stands out to me in a spiritual way for some reason...haven't figured it out yet.  Anyway, I REALLY love my hat & am especially thankful to both BLAC & Stef-N-Ty!

4 Hours Later...

ilovemyhair. ilovemyhair. ilovemyhair. ilovemyhair.

This is what you can hear me muttering to myself on days like today when I get frustrated trying to style all this thick, natural hair.  Sure it's a blessing to have healthy hair...but sometimes the amount of work it takes to upkeep it can be exasperating.

I woke up from my Sunday afternoon nap around 4pm.  I wanted to go to night service (started at 6pm), so I thought I had a good 2 hours to co-wash my hair, blow dry it & head to church.  I found this style up on youtube & thought it would be easy & a great protective style.

Well, I forgot how long it takes to blow-dry my hair.  Because it's so thick & curly, I have to do it in small sections & take my time to minimize breakage.  When doing this style, I had to be careful when twisting the front because I have really weak temples.  So I had to take my time to make sure the hair was secure, but that I wasn't pulling too tight.

Four hours later, here's the finished product.  Guess I won't be going to church tonight...

New Year, New Beginnings

My cousin called me a few weeks ago & was like, "I noticed you haven't posted on your blog in awhile...when you gonna write something again?"

Truth be told, November & December of 2011 were pretty much hell on Earth for me.  Each week progressively got worse & worse, pretty much up until New Year's Day.  So, with all the mayhem in my personal life, I haven't had time to post like I wanted to.

Thankfully, all storms come to an end.  I'm still recovering emotionally, spiritually, & mentally from those hectic weeks, but am in a much better place.

So, what a better way to start the year off than with some hairstyles!?!?!?  Here are some photos of recent styles I have rocked.

1. This is a style wear I two-strand twisted my whole head, then rolled up the front twists & made a bun in the back.

 2. This is a twist out after wearing the above style for some time.  I just want to say, I hate twist-outs...they are a last resort for me.  I always get compliments, but I just don't like them.

3. Last week I blowed-dried my hair for the first time in months.  I loved how soft & thick my hair is.  It also allowed me to see some new gray hairs (I blame Nov. & Dec.).  Anyway, I made a bun and then two-strand twisted the front/side & rolled that bad boy up!

Happy New Year, Happy New Beginnings!

Pomp-Pomp-Pomp It Up!

So about a week ago I attended the Kirk Franklin Fearless tour.  It was SO POWERFUL!  The concert started ON TIME (a pet peeve of mine...concerts starting late) and Kirk did a phenomenal job of meshing his old songs with the new.  He had about 4 opening acts, who also respected the time and did great jobs as well.

One of the opening acts was Amber Bullock, winner of this season's Sunday Best.  She's a natural, so I was definitely peeping out her hair during the show.  I loved the pomp in the front, the french roll in the back, & the braids on the sides.

I decided to put my own twist on the style...literally.  I did mostly twists in the back & front of my head, then flat twisted up the sides.  I took the front two-strand twists & made a pompadour, but was quite disappointed with how it seemed to lack volume.

Thankfully, one of the gals from the Naturally Flyy natural hair fashion show I was in, Doyonna, posted a tutorial on how to make a two-strand twist pompadour fuller.  Her suggestion is to use false hair as a filler...it really works!

I found a bag of "afro-kinky" in my closet (one day I need to vent/blog about being a product junkie/hair-monger).  Then I curled the back twists using those tiny, cheap, plastic blue rollers.  Here's the final result!

Pieces of Me

Last nite I went with a couple of friends to see Ledisi in concert.  I absolutely ADORE Ledisi; she's such an amazing singer & performer!  This was the first time I've seen her as a headliner.  Her opening act was Eric Roberson.  I had never heard of him before, but the boy KILT it!  That's right.  I said it.  He. KILT. it.

Anyway, the nice thing about going to a Ledisi concert is that you are sure to see the natural hair community come out and support.  I definitely felt at "home" as I scanned the theatre during intermission & saw locs, twists, twist-outs, knots & 'fros.  I saw a sister a few rows ahead of me sporting a style with her locs & decided to try my own version of it this afternoon.  Here's the results.

So, like the front corner of my head is just individual twists that I rolled up.  The other side is just the beginning of some two strand twists that wrap around my head.

Then I did some horizontal two strand twists in the back.  I can't cornrow, so I can only twist.

I am very pleased with the final product!

It's Meet-Up Time!

Today was another Naturally Flyy Detroit Meet-Up!  Every meet-up feels like Christmas to me; I love the anticipation, surprise, and comfort it brings.

This time, I had the honor of being a model in a mini hair & fashion show.  I have never modeled before, so I was a little nervous.  Since I'm a dancer, I tried to convince myself that it would be like dancing...only slower...yeah...

Anyway, this is what I had on.  I was demonstrating corporate attire.  The outfit included a brown & yellow pencil skirt, brown belt, & brown knee high boots.

As usual, I picked up some great finds.  I purchased two sets of earrings from Shionne Design and some hair jewels from Mo Williams.  I was especially geeked about the earrings b/c I have always wanted peacock earrings AND I now have some Tigers spirit wear the next time my school celebrates the Detroit Tigers!

I don't have much else to say, other than it's always a blessing to be in the company of like-minded people. I just want to share beautiful pix of the event & fantastic, unique styles that stood out to me. Thank God I'm Natural!!! :-)

Something New

So, I've been slacking on the hair-do's recently.  I think I did a bun for two weeks, and then this past week I did an afro simply because I did not feel like trying to conjure up something.

After perusing the Essence Hot Hair special issue & looking through some natural hair blogs, I still came up short...I knew that I wanted the back braided up and a low part on the side, but couldn't figure out the front.  Then I saw one of my friend's new profile pix on facebook, & knew that I wanted to roll the front. (Thx Jay!)

I've never done this before, but I came up with this:

In other news, I won a Roots Only comb from Her Best Hair!  I'm very grateful.  My plan is to use it to oil my scalp.  We'll see how that goes.