Wyldhoney - A....P...L!!!!!!

So I'm a total bunning failure, it's back to twists for my protective styling.

I have been enjoying wearing my hair out, and now I realise that my hair can look nice without having to wet it every morning, it's like a whole new ballgame now!

So yesterday I did a wash and go, I used my trusty HEHH as a cowash/detangler, along with my usual DC. I have a new hairdress, I need to remember the name of it, that I used after I rinsed out the DC. Then I rubbed in a bit of Fantasia IC gel. It's not the best but it'll work for now. My spiral coils were super defined but shrinkage was a b! No pics because it looked a bit wack, still got compliments though.

When I got home from work I spritzed, put it into some huge twists (about and threw my scarf over it.

This morning I took out the twists, spritzed again, shook it out and put it into a puff. I'm terrible with pics but I did try...

lol, well i see the puff is working well. too bad i dont have enuff to fail at a bun

looking good nonetheless!!

yea yea what Nub said!

Hey wyldhoney!!! thats so funny u asked about my reggie n etc cuz i always like to see what everyone else is using too...its like a curiosity habit

Well, my reggie has pretty much stayed consistent for the past 9 months. i make sure i do the "works" once a week (poo, cond, dc)
i use to co-wash every 2-3 days but now that i pretty much keep it in a protective style, thats been out the window.

ive learned the benefits of pre-pooin becuz it keeps my hair moisturized longer and i dnt have to use as much product for styling. i grease my scalp (my old permie habits die hard) every 2 days w/either oils or pooka butter http://www.pookapureandsimple.com/products/hair_creme.asp

and what else....i cant cornrow or flat twist so my only style i've been perfecting is 2 strands . i like to keep em in for a week but since its been hot i throw em up in an updo'.

dont let me get started on products...im a recovering pj so i got a little of everything and by my 1st year anniversary im gonna dwindle everything down to my TOP 3's!! i will only keep in stock my fav's even tho' im sure i'll try other product lines becuz i have darcy on my wish list !! So i'll let u know so far my top 3:

Poo- Carol's Daughter Herbel poo; kbb cond poo and ???

condish-this is a tuffy becuz i love em all but my main ones i can NEVER live without is HE Hello Hydration, and Aussie moist becuz u get a family size on sale for cheap and i can slather it on to detangle and not worry about preservin it cuz i paid too much for it. i do use hairveda acai berry condish for my protein tho'.

DC-CD tui smoothie, kbb hair mask and MJ rapid recovery (im looking for a cheaper dc to give me the same results)

styler-this is also a toughy cuz i have soooo many of em! so i'll just tell u my favorite lines: Qhemets, Koils by Nature (u HAVE TO...it should be mandatory; for everyone to have her butters in their stash), KBB and hairveda

gels-eco and koils by nature lavendar n eucalyptus gel ; havent found a 3rd but i honestly dont need one

leave-in; again...koilsBN and cd hair milk

oils-i can never pick a top 3 cuz i love ALL my oils but i can never be without afroveda shikakai (too expensive now so i'll re-up on a sale); vatika oil, cocasta (hairveda) and of course the obvious: avocado, coconut and evoo

Whew!!! was that alot?

@Nubs, that was some GREAT info!!!

Living in St. Lucia it's hard for me to do the online ordering thing cuz
a) i'm always broke
b) the exchange rate kills
c) shipping charges kill
d) half the time customs/post office steal your stuff anyway

But i'm DYING to get my hands on one of the butters esp the Koils by Nature, since it's impossible to get a nice butter moisturiser/styler down here (everything has water as the 1st ingredient, if not there's some mineral oil in there somewhere...NO THANKS!)

My reggie is very simple (see brokeness as mentioned above) but I feel like my hair needs more. This is the first time my curls have really looked like how I wanted them to - i think the key is to find a good leave in and good styling butter.

Does your hair like shea? I'm thinking about picking up shea butter but I've heard some curlies talking about their hair not liking it in the summer, and it's summertime ALL the time down here so I'm not sure...

Your July 4th afro was too cute.

Thank you, curlsunfurled! I think I look better with big hair, which explains why I was always so unhappy with my relaxer.

I am up so early on a Saturday because my kids (tiny dog, large cat) don't let me sleep in! At 6 am they're jumping on the bed and playfighting and I just can't sleep through all that commotion! So I'm up, hehehe.

Gonna put the kettle on and think about my hair. Day 3, and still going strong. I'm finally starting to understand the concept of x-day hair! You style it different ways to deal with the increasing frizz/curl destruction and keep it going until you can't anymore. Today might be mohawk day, my final 'out' day before it goes back into protective twists.

Question - how do you guys secure beads to your/your kiddo's hair? I'm thinking about adding a black bead to each twist just for a little weight and to keep them from twisting up like a snake, but I don't know the first thing about beads. My mom used to put some foil on the ends but that's a little ghetto, and I want to wear my twists to work. Any advice for me? I don't want to harm my ends either, so rubber bands and stuff are a no-no.

Hi wyldhoney, this may not help being that you said rubber bands are a no no but I use rubber bands on my daughters beads and as long as you don't pull them off you shouldn't have damage to the ends. I know some ppl just yank them out and I think thats where the hair damage comes in at. Sorry I don't know any other way to secure them.

Hey ladies,

Its been an exhausting couple days for me. I spent the weekend hanging out with my partner and his daughter. For a 5-year old that kid sure has a lot of energy. Hats off to all you parents, and double respect to single parents. I really don't know how you can deal with all the drama that comes with having a kiddo around all the time!

On to hair news...

When did I do my wash n go? It seems so long ago... on Sunday night I twisted my dry hair while watching How to Tame Your Dragon with baby girl. I was tired so just did medium twists, spritzing as I went to soften. These lasted until tonight, yes, all of two days, when I just couldn't take the puffy roots anymore! Puffy roots are the bane of my existence! No matter how hard I try I can't do 2 strand twists without having the roots puff up terribly! Any advice? My hair tangles easily with braids and I want to avoid that if possible.

Anyway, I took down the twists almost crying with frustration and was rewarded with the lovliest twistout I've ever had! Soft yet defined, shiny without being stiff...I'm in twistout heaven. Of course I grabbed my camera! Pics tomorrow when I get a chance to upload.





Pulled back and ready for my night-time scarf:




So I went from despondent to estatic, all in one night. My hair journey continues...

@MellowOne thanks for the tip. I guess if I am careful I can try the rubber bands. I read that soaking them in oil beforehand helps to keep them from snagging.

I won't do the beads until I solve the problem of my puff daddy roots, though. Don't want to spend all that time on them just to take them down two days later.

WOW...you really worked that twist-out!! Single parenting is a journey, and it can be traumatizing as well but it has kept me young at heart!!! LOL

OBTW...love that puff you were rockin last week!!

KNH

I like it all..the puff, the twist out. Get it!

omg YOUR hair texture is beautiful!! And what is that thing that you put on the end of your twistout for bed?? Does it keep your hair stretched out??

Hi Wildhoney. I just dropped in to say hello! But then I saw your hair!

I love the puff! Looked really good!

The twist out looks nice too. Shoot, I wouldn't have taken them out, lol. If I have trouble with puffy roots that I don't want showing on my hairline, I just smooth it with some gel or use a headband if it's past due for me to take them down. But I always have puffy roots with my twists unless....

1) I braid (or plait-whatever people call that anymore) the first half inch or so and then twist till the ends. I just count about three or four finger movements and then twist till the end. If you do it that way, more scalp will show than with puffy roots. But, as long as it's not too tight, it stimulates the scalp nicely. Feels good! It usually stays neater longer too. Plus, I have a better time washing with twists in if I do it this way. Then I can retwist if I choose much more easily. Without braiding the top, if I wash twists in, my roots fuzz out. I can get it retwisted too, but it tangles more easily and I have to separate the hair out sometimes.

2) I use a product like Miracurl Curling Jelly. That seems to take care of puffy roots for me even if I don't braid the top. It says that it helps kinky hair to show it's length. So any product that can do that, that your hair likes, will probably do this for your roots too. I think others like Kinky Kurly Products and a few like Miss Jessie's (not many though). Some of their products lengthen kinks as they dry.

But sometimes I really like the puffy roots! It's a softer look. A fuller, bigger look. When I take that out of the equation, the style lasts longer and at times that's the name of the game.

Kinky hair is pretty versatile though so it's all about what you want at the time.

hi, i have never been to your house before. Your hair is pretty, and it has grown alot from the picture on your avi.

Hey WyldHoney...passing through saying HELLO! Your tag line pulled me in...because I know that feeling...hell, heaven, hell, heaven! LOL

Hey girl!!

Your twist out looks lovely!

@ knh thanks for the kind words! And hang in there, the reward is probably worth it

@ sweetdrk1 thank you! Sasha is inspiring me to try harder!

@Scrug a Licious thanks, I'm blushing! The thing at the end of my hair is a huge soft scrunchie. It doesn't stretch them much, its more to just keep them from getting mashed when I sleep.

@nattyblog thank you for the compliment! I have figured it out. When I want the twists to last, I'll braid the top. For twistout purposes, I won't. I will also investigate some products to see if I can find one to help the situation.

@chrissyq thanks for stopping by!

@theRLY1 its like a rollercoaster...

@QB thanks girl!

Hey y'all,

First let me just thank so many of you for stopping by! After a loooong day at work it was great to find all these sweet messages waiting for me.

My twistout looked okay, although by afternoon it had shrank up tight tight tight. But I live in the tropics so I just have to roll with the shrinkage.

This is how my hair looked when I got home:


Tonight I spritzed it and banded it into 8 sections, twisting the front two sections into their original twists before banding. Hopefully that will give me a little length to start with in the morning, so shrinkage won't be too extreme.

After banding:


Threw my satin scarf over the whole mess and cooked myself a dinner of lamb chops and pan roasted carrots, mushrooms and onions. Deliciously low-carb. I haven't eaten properly in ages; I'd forgotten how good actual food tastes.

This morning I pulled it back with a scarf and i look like this:


Excuse the toilet in the background, my bathroom is tiny:




See ya!

Hey wyldhoney gorgeous puff and love the definition of your twistout!

Loved that twist out and the puff. I feel you on the tropical climate. South Texas is only one step up. LOL

Hello ladies!

This weekend is party weekend! Well, the last few weekends were the build up, but Carnival is here and madness reigns on the street of St. Lucia for two days, starting at 4 am tomorrow!

Last time I chatted with you was Thursday. Well, that night I prepped my hair for the weekend. I baking soda co-washed (HEHH), then deep conditioned (GFSS, Castor & coconut oils). Sat under the heat cap for 20 mins, then detangled and rinsed out. 6 twists to air dry, then about 30 twists with just coconut oil and gel (Fantasia IC).

Woke up, and the twists were better! I realise that I may not have been using enough product before, I made sure the hair was a bit squishy with gel before I twisted, and I got great hold without hardness. I did an updo for work (forgot to take pics ) and when I did the twistout later that evening it was awesome!!! Definition, bounce, shine, the whole shebang! I still need to work on getting my roots down but I was happy with the results!

Saturday I went into town to collect my costume and did something dumb...I was so sick of waiting around doing nothing that I decided to get my hair twisted...I went to my friend's salon (in the same twistout from last night, just put a scarf on it, didn't even retwist) and had her do tiny twists in my dry hair Thank goodness it was well moisturised, even know I know I suffered (what I think is ) significant breakage.

I've learned my lesson: Getting my hair done by someone else is a once in a while experience, and I MUST prepare (moisturise and ) beforehand because many professionals unfortunately don't know enough to prep the hair before styling.

Despite the hair trauma, she didn't use products that are too terrible, and the style came out nicely. I put beads on the end and used rubber bands like MellowOne said, I soaked the bands in oil for 20 mins beforehand and I thought they worked nicely.

Sorry for the long update, I just wanted to check in here and keep everyone posted. Now I'll be peeking in to see how everyone's doing, before I take a nap and get ready for the next 22 hours.

Pas Mele!

wooo hooo carnival!!!!

Ladies!

I have been gone for a minute, work and carnival recovery have held me captive!

Just letting you guys know that nothing much has changed with my hair - I still have the same style from last Saturday (beaded twists, with twist-rolls in the front).

The bands have settled down and stopped pulling, and I think that this could be a great option for long-term protective styling. I think I will have a chat with my friend and tell her what I'd like her to do differently with my hair (don't detangle from the root, work on damp hair that's a little slippery with some leave in, don't over-comb), and we might be able to work out a 'stylist-regimen' with my hair.

My boyfriend told me that I was overreacting (I cried after I left the salon) and that I didn't lose an excessive amount of hair. While it's true that my hair loss is minimal, I am just accustomed treating my hair so delicately (sometimes I'll take 45 minutes to detangle, just to make sure I don't pull out any strands!) that any harsh treatment just makes me feel...violated!

Anyway, I'm spritzing for moisture and my twists are still looking great. The beads are a bit irritating though, I'm not used to having so much bounce to my hair. I might remove them this weekend and just do a pinned up style next week.

I envy you guys who are able to rock twists/braids for weeks on end, because I'm ALREADY dying to let my hair loose, and I know there's no way I'll survive past the 14-day mark. I love my hair too much and I miss playing with it!

Hope that everyone is doing well today, and I'm wishing everyone a FANTASTIC weekend!

Oh yeah - carnival pics are coming soon!