It is no secret that my favorite natural hair style to date is the twist out because of its versatility and longevity.  I am always trying to find new ways to style a twist out, whether its fresh or a few days old.  My favorite characteristic of a twist out is its ability to elongate my hair.  The twist out that I am about to share with you gave me the most stretching I have experienced to date!!  My hair looked closer to its true length and it was super defined. Before doing this twist out, I used the LOC (liquid, oil, cream) Method to ensure  that my hair retained the oils and moisture that I put in it.  Check out the video below to see how I achieved this look.

Le Sigh. The last time we talked about this dry hair problem I thought we had settled it ***inserts angry face**.  I started here with determining the porosity of my hair (low), then I went on to determine that the LOC method was the best moisturizing technique for my type of hair.  Case closed right? Wrong.  A lot has changed about my hair since then.  I got my hair colored in April of 2013 and I must admit I began my moisturizing and conditioning attempts zealously, but I am a little ashamed to admit that I became lazy. I had box braids installed in June 2013 for 2.5 months and became comfortable with not doing much to my hair. It literally just dawned on me (right before creating this post lol) that I have not been considering the fact that my hair is colored and that it needs more attention.  I have been floating around haphazardly moisturizing only on co-wash day and expecting some type of moisture miracle.  Crazy right? 

 After giving myself a firm slap  on the hand for neglecting my tresses, I began to research again about moisturizing techniques for natural hair. I stumbled upon a video from Naptural85 about hot oil treatments and decided to give it a try.  I deviated slightly from Naptural85's recipe.

Hot Oil Treatment:
Grapeseed Oil
Olive Oil
Sweet Almond Oil
Castor Oil
Jojoba Oil
Vitamin E Oil

Honestly, I just freestyled the amounts of oils based on my hair type.  I made the majority of my hot oil treatment with the lighter oils because I have low porosity hair (2 ounces jojoba oil, 2 ounces olive oil). I used about 0.5 ounces of the vitamin E oil and 1 ounce each of the remaining oils.  I mixed it all in a bowl with my fingers.  I started with dry hair. Then I massaged the oil from root to tip through my hair, section by section.   After I had oiled each section, I smoothed the oil throughout all the sections collectively.  I also massaged my scalp with the oil. This stimulates the scalp and feels great ; ).  I then put a plastic processing cap on my head.  If you have big hair like mine, you can either use two caps or twist your hair in large sections to make it fit under the cap.  I then sat under a hooded dryer for 30 minutes.   The oil that I had left,  I put in a spray bottle and filled it with water.  This will be my daily moisture mist.

After the dryer, wash and condition your hair as normal.  I used Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat shampoo and Aubrey Organics GPB conditioner.  Curlfriends...let me tell you. My hair was so soft and virtually detangled before I ever put a comb to it or did the LOC method.  I am VERY PLEASED with this treatment. I followed this with the LOC (liquid, oil, cream) method using Giovanni Direct Leave-in/Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-in mixed, the hot oil treatment moisture mist, and Camille Rose Curlade Moisture Butter. I am going to be sure to do this once a month, along with deep conditioning once every week to week and a half. I am anxious to see if this improves the dryness of my hair.

  If you decide to try this treatment, please let me know.  Either email me the pics at [email protected] or tag them on instagram or twitter with #bmycurlfriend.  Good luck!!

 

After doing a two conditioner co-wash (see blog post for details).  I deep conditioned my hair with Eden Bodyworks All Natural Deep Conditioner.  I followed this with the LOC method using Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave-in Conditioner, lavender oil/water (for detangling), jojoba oil and Camille Rose Curlade Moisturizing Butter.  Once my hair was detangled, I followed the steps below to complete a flat twist out.

1.  Divide your freshly co-washed or shampooed and conditioned hair into four sections using clips. Make sure the front section is parted the way you like wearing your hair.

2. Starting from the bottom section take either 1/4 or 1/3 of the section (depending on your hair thickness) and finger detangle, shower comb detangle and denman brush detangle the section. (Feel free to add oil and water to aid in the detangling process. Remember to detangle from the ends to the root.  Be careful!)

3.  Work a generous amount of your favorite curl cream (Curlcare Soft Hold Cream) through the section.

4. Begin your flat twist with a small two-strand twist and continue to add hair to your flat twist all the way to the end of the section.

5.  Either roll the end of the twist around your finger or roll the end of the twist with a flexi rod.

6.  Repeat this process until you are done. Allow your hair to air dry overnight or use a hooded dryer.

7.  Take the twists down VERY slowly using your oil of choice on your fingers.  I used jojoba oil.  It is important to take the twists down slowly to avoid frizziness. Think of taking your twists down as gradually and gently unraveling them.

The flat twist out takes about half the time that it takes me to do a normal twist out! This excites me so much because it normally takes me at least an hour to do a regular twist out. My hair turned out to be a great deal more defined than a regular twist out and the curl pattern was a lot different.  If you love twist outs as much as I do, you will love the flat twist out even more!!  Its a nice change in my usual curl pattern and my hair was more stretched than normal.  The only catch to using this method is that the drying time is considerably longer. Air drying took me about 10-12 hours or overnight. I would do this style the day before I was ready to wear it. You could also consider using a hooded dryer.  Good luck!


***When I took my flat twists down, I decided to do a simple updo.  I will post a tutorial for this later***

I am one of those naturalistas who just loves washing her hair.  Yea, I know about the great benefits of co-washing. (Co-washing is "washing" your hair with a conditioner instead of a shampoo, see my youtube channel for a demo).  I have also read that it is good to co-wash as often as every two days. Co-washing helps prevent natural hair from becoming too dry from frequent washing with shampoo. Knowing all of this, I always choose to wash my hair anyway. I just like starting my styling days off with fresh, clean, non-weighed down hair. My experiences with co-washing my hair have ranged from ok to just plain horrible.  The "plain horrible" experience left my hair feeling like it had a residue on it. This made it difficult to style.  

     Now that I have colored my hair, it's more important than ever that I properly condition my hair so that it will not be damaged.  With that being said, coloring my hair has made me revisit the idea of co-washing my hair more often.  I don't want my hair to break or my color to fade too fast. I set out to co-wash my hair yesterday and I was having a hard time choosing a conditioner.  I absolutely love the As I Am Coconut Co-Wash Cleansing Conditioner but I also love the Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Hydrating-Calming Conditioner. I could not decide which one to use, so I decided to use both of them. My results were amazing! My hair is really soft and shiny. It was also easier to detangle. The moral of the story is that if you have two conditioners that both offer benefits that you desire, don't be afraid to try them both.  You may be surprised at the results.  I will say that a good rule of thumb for selecting your co-wash conditioners is to be sure that they don't contain any sulfates or parabens. Also, stay away from silicones. These ingredients can make your hair heavy and also leave a residue.  Nobody likes weighed down curls. I followed my cowash with a brief deep conditioning using Eden BodyWorks All Natural Deep Conditioner.  When I got ready to style my hair there was no residue.  See my next tutorial to see the results of my first flat twist out!

There's nothing worse than being short on time right before you have somewhere to be.  Natural hairstyles require time.  You're not going to get a twist out done in under an hour.  (If you can, please show me how! lol).  With that being said, it is always good to have some quick, but cute styles under your belt for those times when you still want to look want to make your hair look nice, but as quickly as possible. Check out the video tutorial for this quick freaux-hawk done on a wash and go.  After co-washing my hair, this style took under 15 minutes to do!!

Forever on a quest for the perfect moisturizing regimen for my low porosity hair, I decided to try the LOC method.  LOC is an acronym for liquid, oil and  cream.  You start your hair off with water or a liquid based leave-in conditioner, followed by an oil and finally a cream.  The concept is that the oil will seal in the water (or water based leave-in conditioner) and the cream will seal in the oil into your strands. After repeated usage of this method, you should be left with well moisturized strands. Many naturalistas swear by this method and depending on your hair type you may experience the same success. Below is a list of what products I used for the LOC method.

     L-Giovanni Direct Leave-In Conditioner
     O- Desert Essence Jojoba oil
     C-Eden Bodyworks Jojoba Monoi Hair Milk

 I started by treating my hair that had been rinsed with warm water with a baking soda/water mix to open my cuticles. I dried my hair using the plopping method.  I followed this with deep conditioning with Shea Butter Intense Moisture Masque. I wrapped a towel around my hair and allowed  this to sit on my hair for 30 minutes.  After rinsing my hair with cool water to seal my cuticles, I sprayed it with an aloe vera juice/water mix to balance my hair's pH from the alkaline baking soda mixture.  After detangling, I was ready to begin the LOC method.

 I sectioned my hair into 4 and worked a quarter sized amount of Giovanni Direct Leave-In into one section from root to tip.  I rubbed a few drops of jojoba oil into my palm and rubbed it together.  I also applied it to the section from root to tip.  Finally, I rubbed a quarter size amount of the Eden Bodyworks hair milk into my hand and worked it through the section from root to tip.  Repeat this until you have moisturized all sections.

Verdict so far:  My hair was noticeably shinier and softer.  I will most definitely be trying this method again to see what the long term results are.  I will keep you posted!

One of my worst experiences with being natural has been adding moisturizers and oils to my hair, only for it to look dry by the end of the day. Nobody likes a dry fro, twist out, wash and go, etc. I wondered why my hair did not seem to be retaining moisture no matter how much I added to it.  After some research, I stumbled upon the term porosity.  
     Porosity  is your hair's ability to absorb and hold on to moisture. Your hair can be high, low or normal porosity.  How do you figure out your hair's porosity?  It's simple:

1. Grab a glass and fill it with room temperature water
2. Find some of your shed hairs on a comb or brush, not a broken one (a shed hair will have a white bulb on the end)
3.  Clean the hairs with a little shampoo 
4.  Drop the hairs into the water
    
      Low Porosity-hairs will stay and float on the top
      High Porosity-hairs will sink to the bottom
      Normal Porosity-hairs will slowly and gradually sink to the bottom.

Washing and detangling natural hair can be a headache!!! If you suffer from shrinkage like me, your curls probably clump together when they get wet. Combing through your hair without proper sectioning is just not an option anymore.  Shrinkage and curl clumping make it really hard to properly detangle your hair.  Well, I recently viewed a post by MeechyMonroe (twitter, ig, fb, YouTube) where she washed and detangled her hair with ease.  My washing and detangling method is inspired by that but I did not braid the detangled sections, I twisted them.  Much easier! This method takes a little time, but I assure you, your hair will be well conditioned, softer, more manageable and ready for whatever styles you have in mind for the week.  I hope this video makes your next wash day less of a headache! How do you wash and detangle your natural hair?