Yes!  My hair type!  I love videos that feature people with tightly coiled hair, so I definitely needed to put this on my site.

This video serves as a great instruction for how to twist, and untwist, hair.   The video features Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme & Curly Buttercreme.  To be honest, I was happy at 1:56 of the video where the hair model reveals her twisted hair from underneath the dryer hood.  I personally don't know how people do it... spend hours twisting hair only to untwist it.  Hmp... but both styles looked great on the hair model, wouldn't you say?

So, has anyone taken the plunge and tried Miss Jessie's products yet?   How has it worked for you?  I'm a PJ (product junkie) at heart and plan to do some serious shelf stocking very soon... so, what's the one Miss Jessie's product that I should try?

(2007) Kinky twist extensions with highlights; (2009) Coily full weave; (2010) Pushed back fro

Every year I have my favorites and this year hands down was Damian Marley & NAS... I loved every moment of their performance of their newest hits from their latest collab "Distant Relatives" ... and of course I loved their oldies, but goodies.

Sooo.... if you couldn't make it for whatever reason, here are some pics--natural hair inspirations, really--for you to enjoy (courtesy of FROLAB "Pick Fros, Not Fights")...

African-American hair varies in texture and coarseness, and is able to be styled in many different ways. Many African-American women choose to make their hair straight by using relaxers or a straightening comb, while others choose to keep their hair in its natural state. It's all up to the individual.

Relaxed

Many African-American women choose to straighten their hair with a relaxer. There are a number of different relaxers on the market, which target different preferences and coarseness of the hair. Relaxed hair has been straightened with chemical relaxers, which can make the hair more manageable and easier to style. Relaxed hair can be worn curly or straight, and the versatility of it is endless. The hair has to continually be relaxed at the roots to straighten the new growth. The time between getting a relaxer usually varies from four to eight weeks. However, some people only get relaxers two to three times per year.

Pressed

Pressed hair is straightened with a straightening comb. The high heat of the straightening comb pulls the waves or curls, and straightens the hair. The hair has to continuously be straightened after washing to maintain this type of hair. When hair is pressed over a period of time, it may lose its natural curl or wave due to the excessive amount of heat being used.

Natural

There are a number of African-American women who choose to keep their hair in its natural state. The hair texture can vary from kinky, curly, wavy and sometimes straight. With natural hair, women are able to achieve a number of styles. Many times they wear a variety of styles that may include afros, twists and locs. Natural hair is often times thought of as being more cultural.

So, this Easter I finally decided to leave my two stranded twists in (that I have actually been maintaining since last November) and just wash, condition, and oil them for the Easter holiday.  My plan was also to curl them the night before but I had way too much fun the night before and didn't get home in time to put my hair on my fave jerri curl rods to sleep in.    I went to church "as is" and was still pleased 'enough' to label it my 2010 Easter Hairstyle.  What do you think?  Share your links to your own holiday hairstyle.

:-)

Regimen:

Day Before:

• Rinsed twists under running warm to hot shower water; washed using Dr. Bronner's 18-in-1 Castle Soap.
• Used about 3 handfuls total of the soap to wash my scalp, using the pads of my fingers (focusing on my scalp mostly)
• Squeezing the life out of my Kenra Conditioner to use up the last of it to condition my hair; also added Pantene Moisture Conditioner (the one with the gold label)
• Left conditioner in for at least 10 minutes before rinsing out with medium to cooler water.  I rub my scalp with the pads of my fingers to make sure that all of the residue of the conditioner is rinsed off of it.  I have learned not to leave conditioner sitting on my scalp because it encourages things like flaking, dandruff, and buildup.
• I squeezed the excess water out of my twists in 4 sections:  right, left, middle and back.  I'll repeat until I feel I've squeezed out most of the water that I could squeeze out.  After the shower I just leave the twists to dry 30-50% before I start adding my products.
• I scrunched in my Cantu Shea Butter into my twists and then followed with a tablespoon's worth of my African's Best Ultimate Herbal Oil (not African Pride) and added to it my Avocado Oil and massaged throughout my scalp.  Oil always gives my fine hair strands the weight it needs and gives it 'movement.'  It also does a good job of sealing in moisture.  This took about 5 minutes to do.
• I then rubbed some more oil down the length of my twists.  I know this helps to create frizz in my twists but I do it anyway to ensure proper coverage of oil down my strands.  What  I usually do later is re-twist some of the more visible twists after they dry a bit so that the entire style looks less "ruff."

Morning Of:

• I freshened up the style with my Pantene Leave-In spritz.
• Spritzed my Organic Root Stimulator Nature's Shine Spray and gently massaged into my twists for sheen.

Then I was red' to go :-)

Please vote for Angela for the Miss Africa USA 2009 title!

Click here to vote!

Hey all!  I'm super excited to hear that my twists extensions protégé, and current Miss Kenya 2009, Angela Wambui Muiruri is in the running for the Miss Africa USA 2009 title!

I knew her back when she was still an undergrad at Pepperdine University.  I did her twists back when she was first starting her life of pageantry with  the 2006 Miss Malibu, CA.  She had a love for natural hair and African culture. Please help support her in her efforts to win the Miss Africa USA 2009 title, she will do us proud!  Can I call on my natural hair family to help her out?

Angela Muiruri posting for Miss Malibu 2007 (I did twist extensions on her)

Click here to vote!

I made my first twist video!  This video is a composition of  my digital camera clips and photos of me twisting dried natural hair. Twists are a very common hairstyle usually performed on naturally coily hair. They give your hair a much needed break from damaging hairstyling methods that usually involve the use of direct heat. It may be hard to do twists on your own hair at first, but with practice they become second nature. Twisting dry hair usually takes longer than twisting wet hair.  In this video, I try to emphasize how to detangle hair with a comb or with fingers, how I part hair, and how I twist the hair (I pass the hair strands from "right" to "left".

I am showing just one of many ways to twist hair... the best thing is to develop your own technique that you feel the most comfortable with.  Through these videos, my goal is to show people how versatile and different twists will look depending on what kind of hair texture you have.  Twists on naturally coily hair will look different on twists done on relaxed hair (and yes, relaxed girls can sport natural hairstyles as well).

Model: Nigerian model & jewelry maker, Bunmi Ayo.

Here's the YouTube link... feel free to comment and rate there as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akvPpLvl1Vk

Goapele, who is often known for her hit song "Closer" has released her latest single entitled "Milk & Honey".   Check out her magazine cover photo shoot and her newest music video!

Check out more of Goapele's music at http://www.goapele.com.

Tina's "Twists With Style" & Color Job

Close up of Tina's Twist Style

I wanted to save time and treat myself by getting my hair done by a professional hair stylist.  I decided to visit Tina Trammell @ Rehab Hair Salon in Los Angeles for a good wash, deep condition, and style.  I allowed her to do as she pleased and to  say the least I really loved the style she did on me.

She did two-stranded twists with a half circle of flat twists on my right side.  She also did a permanent color job on two to three rows of my hair since I wanted to play with color.  You can see a few streaks of a lighter brown color throughout my hair.

Overall, I was pleased with my experience.  I appreciated how fast she was--everything was done within 3 hrs.  I appreciate that she is flexible to what time and date that you need her services.  The twists were a bit pricey compared to what I've paid in the past, but considering her salon location and experience and skill working with natural hair, I can understand it.  The things I wasn't too happy with were 1) hair moisturizer that she chose to use while twisting my hair, and 2) how much hair she cut.  I prefer natural products.  The creme she used did not dry completely (it dried white and sticky) and I felt like washing my hair, but that would have messed up the style.  Instead, I opted to scrape some of it off in the morning using a liquid leave-in.  I will most likely bring my own products in next time.   She cut my hair instead of trimming, and therefore I lost a lot of length.  * The plus side to that she got rid of a lot of damaged hair that I'm still slowly growing out (from my last press) so I can also understand why she cut so much.  I'm just not a fan of cuts, I am comfortable with trims.

Tina can be reached at 323-270-9454, or at e-mail.tinatrammell1019@yahoo.com (I am not sure about the "e-mail." part, but take it out if your message bounces back).

So, what do you think?

Please feel free to comment on the individual pictures!

My halloween look :-)  Okay, let me explain... I'm a zombie with "hollywood glam", hence the jewelry and the boa and the gorgeous makeup work.  I was actually a zombie for the "2009 Thrill The World-Los Angeles" event, and we're zombies again today to perform our "Thriller" routine for the L.A. Clipper's game half-time show tonight ;-)  I digress...

Being that I have natural hair, it was really easy to create a wild hairdo that would "stand out" in the crowd.  While the other 'zombies' were in the ladies room teasing their hair with combs and brushes and filling the air with the intoxicating fumes of hairspray, all I did was slide my hairband off and tease the ends with my fingers... DONE.  lol  No need for a wig, my hair will work juuuust fine.  My halloween hairdo was complete and now I'm ready for my closeup ;-)

Happy Halloween!!!

What's your halloween hairstyle?

Kim wanted to give her hair a break from heat styling, so a style she decided to try was a braidout.  A braidout is when you braid bunches of your hair and then unravel the braids for a crinkle/wavy type of texture.  She did this on her previously pressed hair and added a nice twist to it--swept bangs with a black lace scarf.  She also bunned the excess hair at the back (great protective style) and pinned some hair up at the back.   This also makes for a great transitioning style--for those who are growing out their chemically or heat processed hair in order to achieve a head full of their natural hair texture.  I thought she did such a nice job that I'd post it for all to see!  Thanks Kim for letting us share your style :-)