Natural Hair: My first DIY (Do it Yourself) Two-Strand Twist Out

Ok so as you can see from my picture above my first attempt at a Tw0-Strand Twist Out met with success....for the most part. If you've read my previous blogs on my hair then you know I am strictly a wash and go type of gal and then let my hair air dry. I've always been fascinated with the pictures of the sistas with the curly afros that were defying gravity but didn't think I could do it. 

Then this past weekend I hooked up with one of my best friends for her pre-birthday festivities and she was sporting a two strand twist out and I REALLY loved it. I saw her again this past Monday for some food and birthday drinks. She informed of how she did her twist and I decided that on my next hair washing day I was going to attempt the style. I also looked at a few Youtube videos and saw one that made me even more confident on the attempt.

So after watching the video a few times I decided I was going to attempt my first Two-Strand Twist yesterday evening around 7:30pm. So I started off with my regular co-wash/deep conditioning treatment and once I arrived at my phase with my duckbill clips sectioning off my wet and washed of product/detangled hair, I went into my twist attempt.

Now the product I used to help with my twist out was the Design Essentials Curl Stretching Creme. I have used it on and off as my hair has been growing but stopped using it for a while because I didn't see it helping as much when I tried to use it during my wash n go's. I actually had planned on giving it away but glad that I didn't. So it wasn't a coincidence that the "product review/twist out" video above was about this product. I didn't want to have to run out and buy something new. I wanted to use something that I already owned.

The size options are 16 oz and 8 oz. The larger size is available at Sally's Beauty Supply. The smaller size is available at Walgreens. They are available else where but I know for sure that they are available at the mentioned locations.

So what I started to do was take my sections that were in my duckbill clips and spray my Design Essentials HCO leave-in conditioner and comb through each section. Afterwards I split SOME of the sections, applied the Design Essentials Curl Stretching Cream, combed that through and then two stranded the sections. Now they were not all the same size, because this was my first time. Some were big, some were medium size, some were a bit skin-tay:) Sectioning? HA!!....yea I will have to work on it, as you can see my twists were all OVER the place. Was feeling like Whoopi from The Color Purple after I was done..

After this 4 hour ordeal was done (This would include my cowashing/deep conditioning/detangling/twisting up), I went to bed without my regular satin cap on because I wanted my twists to air dry. Well seeing that I officially didn't get to bed until Midnight I was worried that my hair would not dry all the way so I turned on my ceiling fan to help with the process.

6AM rolls around and I get up. I check my twists and notice some are still wet so I wait until 6:30AM to deal with my hair. Before touching my twists I took some Design Essentials Moisturizing Lotion and applied it on my hands so when I began to unravel my twists I wouldn't have a serious fuzz issue. So after I unraveled them all I had the following results:

So I tried to fluff up a bit but could still feel some dampness throughout my hair, so I decided I needed to get my hair dryer with my diffuser and use it throughout my hair to help combat my issue.

So after a few minutes of using my hair dryer I had this:

So after having a few minutes to stretch out with my fingers and fluffing it out a bit I ended up with this:

Overall I am pleased with my first try. I did learn some lessons from it though. 

1. I think in the future I will stick to doing my wash days on the weekend so I will have more time to make sure my style is thoroughly dry. 
2. Make sure to split more sections in my head to make my twists more even around my head, this might help them dry faster. Yet I did like my big jumbo one at the front of my scalp.
3. Not be afraid to try new styles, yet with trying new styles it is also just as important to learn how to MAINTAIN them. So.....that is my next dilemma.. How do I maintain this? Thankfully my girlfriend who is my twist out inspiration let me know her regimen but I also like to know how other people maintain their twist outs as well. Do you retwist every night or every few nights?
4. I find the hair at the front of my scalp area stretches easier than the back of my head, I will need to look into how to fluff out the back area more.
5. Try not to part my hair in the middle to the front of my forehead when doing this look, it is somewhat a pain to fluff my hair back in place once you unravel the twists.
6. Keep my damn fingers out of my head. Keep other people fingers out of my head. LOL
7. Shrinkage is a beee-aaaatch

Also here is a pic from earlier yesterday after I walked 6 miles at Forest Park so you can see how I normally rock my hair in it's wash n go state.

 


So if anyone else has suggestions or tips that they think I might find useful, PLEASE SHARE!! Thank you and I hope you enjoyed reading:)



Until the next episode....

 All That MsJazz

Sista Strut Saint Louis 2013

This past Saturday I went to the 4th Annual Sista Strut held out in Forest Park, Saint Louis. The festivities were great and as usual we had great MC's ( Master of Ceremonies) and guest speakers there to spread the awareness about breast cancer. Two personal favorites were Shawn Stevenson and X Blu Rayne.

 

Tammi Holland and Tony Scott from Majic 100.3

Shawn Stevenson - Nutritionist and Fitness trainer

X Blu Rayne - Spoken Word Artist

 There was the chance that we might be hit with some rain and it held off until we were actually getting ready to do the walk. But man when it started to pour, it really came down and people started to hustle into the History Museum to take shelter. We stayed in there for about 20 minutes and then the finally rain passed over. Once it was clear we did our walk and then I made my way home. Can't wait for next year!


Check the link below to see all the photos I took:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/msjazz79/sets/72157636268887143/

Until the next episode....

 All That MsJazz

Doing it myself - Eyelash Serum

A few nights ago I decided I was going to purse a DIY project that I had been interested in for quite some time. By quite some time I mean about 2 weeks. A few weeks ago I was on Pinterest and came across an interesting Pin about a DIY Eyelash serum. I read the instructions and thought I  might give it a try.  Now of course I was doing some reading because it's not just anything to put a some substance near your eye. So I did read different reviews and didn't see any negative issues people were having related to trying the serum out.

So I decided that I would make a batch of it this past Monday night. The ingredients and instructions for this particular serum are the following:

Wash an old mascara or nail polish container and fill with: 1/4 of the container with castor oil, 1/2 vitamin E oil, 1/4 aloe vera gel. Mix together as well as you can with your mascara wand, and apply a light layer to lashes every night before bed. Castor oil thickens your lashes while aloe vera gel lengthens. Vitamin E accelerates length. After one month, you'll notice stronger, longer, more beautiful eyelashes. (Pinterest)

So I knew that I was not going to be using any old container, especially not an old mascara or nail polish container. So after doing some research I decided that I would buy some NEW and CLEAR mascara tubes from DIYCosmetics.com.

I already had some Castor Oil and Vitamin E that I use for my DIY hair products. What I did not have was some Aloe Vera Gel and I went to Whole Foods to solve that issue.

Keep REFRIGERATED!!

So after reading the measurements again I decided to break out my small measuring spoons and grab one of my plastic droppers (pipettes).

So after getting all my supplies and ingredients together, I read that the clear mascara tubes held 10 ML each. So I decided to start off with the Vitamin E oil since it called for the largest amount. Now what I first did was use the 5.0 ml (1 tsp) measuring cup for the Vitamin E and then used the 2.5 ml (.5 tsp) for the Castor oil and Aloe Vera Gel. Now this is where it was weird....

By the time I had transferred the ingredients from the measuring spoons via the pipette into the mascara tube, and whisked it around a while the ingredients only filled the tube MAYBE a third up and that is with the mascara wand also put back in the tube and twisted back into place. So I thought I might try to double the recipe and get more into the tube.....Bad idea. By the time I got done doubling it was to the top of the tube and of course when I put the mascara wand back into the place the pressure popped the plug-in, so I had to get another mascera tube and transfer some of the mixture into THAT tube. By the time I was done I could tell that the mixture was uneven. There was more aloe vera gel in one tube while the other tube had more of the oils.....So yea I still can whisked it around in each tube and use it but right now, the jury is out to see how well this will do. So I'm using this every night on my lashes and brows and I will see (if I stick to the routine) if there are any changes.

So I think in the future what I will try is instead of using my measuring spoons, I will just gauge from the tube itself and put my ingredients directly into the mascara tube.

So while I was surfing the net for some other recipes, I came across this one from a site called MichellePhan.com. I think I will try this one out next time. I love the lashes that I have already but I'm curious if something like this could work. I'm not a fan of the fake lashes. They look pretty especially if you have make up on, but some people have such long ones that could be mistaken for camels. So if I could do something that could enhance my own naturally and without using glue, I don't mind trying it.

But I just want to make sure that while trying out these serums my eyelashes don't have the following results:

Until the next episode....

 All That MsJazz