Natural Hair: Homemade Mix & A Cornrow Twistout Style

A few days ago I decided to combine some of my favorite oils together with some shea butter. In the past I've combined coconut oil with shea butter and used that to seal my ends. This time, I added a few other oils to the mix.

Here's what I did and what you'll need if you want to try:

Ingredients:

Shea Butter (5+ tablespoons)

Vatika Coconut Oil (2 tablespoons)

Grapeseed Oil ( 1 tablespoon)

Castor Oil (2 tablespoons)

Vitamin E Oil (1 tablespoon)

Steps:

1. Heat shea butter so it is slightly, but not totally, melted.

2. Warm the Vatika oil (or any coconut oil) if it is solid. Measure 2 tablespoons and add to the shea butter.

3. Measure 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil and add to the shea butter.

4. Measure 2 tablespoons of castor oil and add to the shea.

5. Add 1 tablespoon of vitamin E oil to the shea.

6. Blend the oils and shea butter together with a hand-held mixer, whipping until everything is evenly combined.

7. Cover and place into the refrigerator for about a half hour or until the mix has cooled and stiffened.

I like this mix because it melts easily into the skin and the hair. It also made my hair super shiny, defined, not weighed down, and it sealed my ends beautifully. The shots below are from a twistout that I just did two days ago on dry, stretched hair. I left the twists in until I unravelled this morning.

For this style I parted my hair horizontally from ear to ear. I twisted the back using water and the shea-oil mix. I tested my braiding skills and cornrowed the front. It is tough to braid your own hair but I think I did ok. I did not braid tightly and I parted in a way that accommodated for my recovering edges. We'll see how long they last before they get frizzy!

The humidity is out of control right now so I will probably have to re-twist at night to maintain definition. To do that, I will simply re-mist with water and twist, adding more of the shea-oil mix only if needed.

And voila, there you have it! What new mixes have you tried lately?

Hair After Braids...

So...I took my box braids out a few weeks ago. They did not make it as long as I would have liked for two reasons. One, they were super heavy and I felt like I kept hitting my baby with them! I was constantly swinging them out of my face, so much so that I felt like vintage Cher. Two, the ends were cut very blunt and straight across. To me they looked like the ends of shoe laces when they lose that plastic tip. Not cute, imo. Alas, I spent the better part of two days undoing braids, in between baby feedings, changings, and naps.

After the take down, I washed my hair, conditioned and detangled. Before I got the braids, my regimen would then have me set my hair in two low buns to stretch and dry. But I decided to do two-strand twists on wet hair for a defined twist out instead.

Because I am dying to try some new products, but vowed to use up the old ones I have first, I pulled out my jar of Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding to set my twists.

I did medium twists all over, applying a generous dollop of product to each damp section. I only used my fingers to part but I used my denman to smooth. After twisting all the hair I poured a small amount of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in my hands and smoothed it over all the twists. I sealed each end with a tiny spot of shea butter.

I air-dried the rest of the day and that night. The next day, I took down each twist and voila!

Here I am a few days later with a bun (and the baby!) I retwisted the front few twists to redefine in case I wanted to wear it down again.

(Baby and I both LOOOOOVE our green Moby wrap)

Current Styles

Ok so here are a few pictures of styles I currently wear. By current I mean they are all from 2007 to the present. I love twist outs, they are the easiest for me. I do a braid-out every now and then, it just takes so long for me un-braid the darn things! I sometimes do coils and coil outs. Wash and Go's are not my faves, I hate walking around with wet hair, but sometimes I do them. And of course puffs are a staple as well. Oh and one pic is from childhood with virgin hair, gotta love the plaits! What do you guys think? What are some hairstyles you like to rock?