FroStoppa: Ms-gg's natural hair journey and natural hair blog

Hol' Up- a Wash and go wig? A Twist out wig too?

2012-08-02T14:43:00.001-04:00

Looky here ya'll, the day has finally come when someone has finally created a realistic looking natural wig, and from the look of the site, the folks behind this are natural too!

This first image is that of the "Finger Comber" unit:


courtesy of Fingercomber.com

Chile if that thang doesn't look real! I would love to see it in person and on a big ole apple head like my own. It looks cute on her but I can imagine me slapping that thing on and looking all sorts of wrong.

Here is an image of the same wig in a twist out:

courtesy of Fingercomber.com

Is you seeing what I'm seeing? That unit is absolutely beautiful! I am thoroughly impressed at how realistic it is. This would be great as a protective style for the winter or for those days when you want to wear your hair out, but you don't feel like being bothered with your hair. Just slap this bad boy on and you will be good to go!

Now check out this last one, the "Wash n Go" unit:


courtesy of Fingercomber.com

This one looks like it could quite possibly look very "synthetic" looking in person so I would be very interested in seeing some more, less heavily edited photos to get a real opinion of this wig. It is very cute too and reminds me of brwnbarbie24's gorgeous hair (click to see what I'm talking about).

Anyway, if you want either of these wigs, they run for about $78 dollars and from what I understand, the hair is man made. Here is a link to the site: http://fingercomber.com/

Ms-gg

Mini Twists are Back in the House

2012-08-01T10:35:00.002-04:00

I lost my mind again and did another set of mini twists ya'll! If you've been rocking with me for a while, then you will know I have a love hate relationship with mini twists.

I love the look. I absolutely love how versatile mini twists are and how they look on me in general, however (this is a BIG however with a lot of emphasis on the "how"), I HATE the take down from these things!

Usually, it can take me literally up to two days or more to take all this mess down because my hair tangles so bad from them.

I don't know if it is the mini twists itself that cause the tangling, or the fact that I wear these things anywhere from 2-5 weeks at a time which can cause the 4 weeks worth of shed hair to wrap around my twists and cause the tangling. I think it is the latter.

So this go around, since I have SOOOO much free time on my hand since I completed my last class ever as a college student last week and I'm sitting waiting patiently for a callback from a job, I am going to try to take these down after exactly 14 days of wear. Hopefully this will solve my issue. I will definitely keep you all posted.


. I'm trimming my ends soon and I'm so mad I'm deal with breakage in my crown SMH

And also, since I am out of school, with absolutely NOTHING to do, since I am patiently waiting for a job to call me back after I completed my last class ever as a college student last week, expect more frequent updates. Much more frequent.

Like expect a new post tomorrow, maybe even a new video tonight. I'm just saying. 0_o

Here is the low down on the mini twists:

Washed and conditioned my hair using Oyin Honeywash cleanser and Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner
While my hair was still wet, I applied Worlds of Curls curl activator gel to my hair as I twisted up my hair into big jumbo twists.
After my hair was put into twists, I let it air dry for about 12 hours overnight
The next day I broke down each jumbo twist one at a time into mini twists reapplying Worlds of Curls as needed as well as Fruit of the Earth aloe vera gel to the ends
Voila! Tis all I did

Ms-gg

Watch a Live Big Chop on Stage!

2012-07-30T14:50:00.001-04:00

You have to be really brave to do something like this and Courtney who is a young college student who is studying abroad in Rome in less than a month is just that! Courtney did her big chop at this summer's Return of the Curls event this weekend. Watch her amazing transformation in the video below:

Stylist: Daviece of Nirvana Salon located at 1524 West Cary Street in Richmond, Va. She does free consultations before she styles your hair (if I am not mistaken, But don't be going up in there talking about "Ms-gg said that your consultations are free so I ain't paying ish!" lol).
The salon's website: http://www.nirvanava.com/

Also, stay tuned this week for lots and lots of pictures and a video montage of the best of the best at Return of the Curls that went down on July 28th in Richmond, Va. Hopefully if you weren't in the house this weekend, you will definitely be there this winter when Mae of Natural Chica co hosts the next Return of the Curls event!

Well until next time ladies, take care <3

Ms-gg

Win Tickets to Return of the Curls!

2012-07-20T16:02:00.000-04:00

Hey ladies! If you are in Richmond, Virginia or plan to be in Richmond, Va on Saturday July 28th, then you may want to come out to the Return of the Curls hair event going down from 10am-7pm at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Event Website

I am giving away TWO tickets to the event! Yes two tickets! You can win one of them by following the rules posted in this here youtube video:

Good luck! Contest ends tomorrow at 11:59 pm EST

Faux Shaved Side on Natural Hair Video

2012-06-26T09:31:00.000-04:00

Got a new video for ya'll today! I hope you like it!

If you want to see more pictures of this same hairstyle check out this link:

http://www.frostoppa.com/2012/05/faux-shaved-side-on-natural-hair.html

For other looks I did with these flat twists check out these links:

http://www.frostoppa.com/2012/06/third-day-look.html

http://www.frostoppa.com/2012/05/faux-shaved-side-on-natural-hair-look-2.html

Fancy Updo

2012-06-08T14:03:00.000-04:00

If you KNOW me like that, then YOU know that wearing my hair out and wearing it often is something that I do not do. So when I unleashed my fro for the weekend, you knew that hairstyle wasn't going to last long right? This is how my hair looked like for Memorial day:

I didn't add anything to the twists, I just twisted my hair up as is. As for the flat twists, I just used my old friend, my lover and boo, Fruit of the Earth aloe vera gel. I got the beads from a local beauty supply store.

I wrapped the ends of my twists around a hair pin that I straightened out slightly, and slid the beads one by one down the end and fed it onto my twists.

It took about 10 minutes to do it because I had to establish a technique to keep my hair wrapped around the pin as I pushed the bead on my hair. I did this because I was too cheap to by the hair needle at the store that cost $1.

I figured I could come up with a suitable alternative if I tried hard enough. The little roll in the front was created by twisting together about 4 big twists and pinning them down. I shaped and molded the roll into the shape I wanted by patting it down and fluffing it out with my fingers.

If you have any questions, you can leave them down below! Thanks for stopping by!

Ms-gg

Faux Shaved Side on Natural Hair Look #2

2012-05-30T08:16:00.000-04:00

Link to my previous Faux Shaved Side look from yesterday

For this look all I did was swoop the twisted ends of my flat twists over the flat twists and then I braided the ends into one long braid. I then took the braided tail and tucked it into the nape of my neck underneath of my fro. I pinned the braid down using open hair pins.

The main reason I did this was because I was not too crazy about the look of the twisted ends being flat twisted into one long flat twist that I did yesterday. It made the look too bulky looking and did not achieve the faux shaved side look that I was seeking.

Well guess what? Neither does this look but I rocked it anyhow :P

Tomorrow I will be posting my third day look. Ya'll know me, all this loose hair everywhere everyday is getting on my nerves forreal! I'm more of a protective style chick (aka lazy styling).

So many people ask me how I get my hair to "grow so fast"...hunny, it is because I put it up in twists and leave it alone for weeks at a time! Your hair can't break off if you don't mess with it everyday lol.

Thank you everyone for stopping by and commenting! I really appreciate all of the feedback that I receive.

Take care,

Ms-gg

Faux Shaved Side on Natural Hair

2012-05-29T08:49:00.000-04:00

This hairstyle was inspired by the many other natural hair ladies who were daring enough to shave one side of their hair. It didn't quite turn out the way I envisioned it in my head, but I rocked it anyway. I received a lot of compliments for this look too!

I washed and conditioned my hair first, and then I twisted it up using my trusty dusty Worlds of Curls Curl activator gel. I let it air dry overnight and the next evening I took down one side of the twists and then flat twisted my hair. I used Fruit of the Earth aloe vera gel to flat twist my hair with only.

The best advice I can give to anyone trying to master the flat twist is to make sure that the section that you are working with is well detangled before you attempt to try flat twisting.

And yes! I know, I know, I know, I promised a flat twist tutorial (and while we are at it, an updated hair routine video, retro natural hairdo tutorial and a few other videos) in the future, I haven't forgot!

I intentionally wanted my hair to be fluffy and undefined. I got that look by just twisting my hair into the biggest size twists that my hair could hold on its own without having to use a hair tie to hold the ends together.

My Niece and Her Super Dope Fro and a SURPRISE...

2012-05-14T08:31:00.000-04:00

So me and my niece basically grew up together like cousins more so than Aunt and niece-we are only a few years apart. She talked about going natural all the time but like most of us, making that giant leap to cut off all of the permed hair was a challenge.

But she surprised me one day. We were riding in my car and she announced to me that she finally did the big chop! I gave her a skeptical look at first because sometimes people declare that they are natural even though they still have permed ends. Shoot I did it so trust and believe I am not judging anyone. But nonetheless, I assumed that is what she did.

She wore a lot of twist extensions and weaves for the first few months of her naturalness. Then she surprised me again when she posted a picture of a beautiful fro on Facebook! She really did go natural.

Anyway, you probably will be seeing a lot more of my niece, Baby Luv in the future (she just doesn't know it yet 0_o), my road dog. With all that said, here are a few pics of her gorgeous fro. Anybody else have some serious hair envy right about now???

Oh yeah, you know you like how I just snuck that shot in though right :D Tee hee. Be blessed ya'll.

Ms-gg

My Facebook Page

Two Years of Natural Hair Growth Comparison Pictures

2012-05-11T09:31:00.002-04:00

And this right here is a hair growth comparison between May 2010 and May 2012:

I can't wait to see what the next two years bring!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ms-gg

My Most Defined Twist Out on my Natural Hair to Date

2012-05-10T07:36:00.000-04:00

How in the world did I get all of that definition though right? It was hot as crap, humid as ish, and I was sweating like a mug, yet and still my definition is off the chain.

For starters, I didn't use my trusty Worlds of Curls curl activator gel as my moisturizer. Worlds of curls curl activator gel is a humectant based product, and if you use it when it is significantly humid and/or the dew point is relatively high, then your hair will absorb the moisture from the atmosphere and it will cause your hair to POOF!

This was just an experiment for me. I wanted to see if my hair could be defined and moisturized at the same time. I washed my hair with Suave's Rosemary and Mint sulfate shampoo and then conditioned it with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner. After that, I then moisturized my hair with Shea Moisture's Shea Butter Leave in Conditioner. This product is discontinued, but you can still find it in some beauty supply stores and online too.

As I found out with this experiment, it doesn't work to well for me as a moisturizer and is better suited to be used as a supplement to my moisturizer. I also shellacked on some Hairveda Almond Glaze for good measure. Why, I don't know as I already knew it doesn't provide moisture but I just wanted to use it anyway.

Overall, my was dry as a bone. And that is why it kept its definition. The thing is people, you can't have it both ways (at least "I" can't). If I want a super defined twist out, then I will have to sacrifice moisture. If I want moisturized hair then it can't be defined at the same time. It just doesn't work that way for me.

So in the end, I rocked this super defined twist out for that day, and then I immediately spritzed it down with water and drenched it in Worlds of Curls. As I type this, it is currently one week after I added the Worlds of Curls to my hair and it is still soft and moisturized.

So my question to you is-have you been able to achieve super defined AND moisturized hair at the same time? If so how?

Until we meet again ladies, be blessed <3

Ms-gg

My facebook page link

1940's Retro Natural Hairdo

2012-04-27T08:10:00.000-04:00

Finally I have enough hair to play around with so I threw my mini twists up into a simple retro updo. The mini twists were done while my hair was dry using worlds of curls curl activator gel as my moisturizer/leave-in/shine booster.

If your hair is healthy, natural hair will naturally have a slight sheen anyway, but of course you can never have enough shine! Okay, I take that back, you can have too much shine-*cough* Jermaine Jackson anyone?

Anyway, here are my twists completed everywhere except the daggone middle. I swear there is twice the thickness as everywhere else in the crown section of my hair as it takes twice as long as everywhere else to twist this section up!

It is not necessary to do mini twists on dry hair, however, I do them occasionally because I want to "show off" a little length every now and then. As I said in this video, the Worlds of Curls Curl Activator gel really works best on damp or wet hair.

That is why I always apply the product to my freshly washed hair first. On this occasion I then placed my hair in big twists or braids and let it air dry before I took them down to do the mini twists.

It is a bit time consuming, but I like the results that I get so if it ain't broke, I ain't fixing it (ya know?)

And then a week later after slaving over putting these mini twists in (yes a WEEK), I threw my hair into an updo with a hump in the front like so:

And this was day two of the look:

I liked this style a lot and I wore it like this for about a week. Every night I just took it down and redid it in the A.M. I don't like sleeping in hairstyles and updos if I don't have to (too much tension...have you seen my poor edges lately lol).

This style is pretty old (I did it around the second week of March), and I did shoot a tutorial way back then too. The video will be up pretty soon on my youtube channel so be on the lookout for it!

More Hair Growth Progress Pictures

2012-04-23T11:19:00.000-04:00

One Year Hair Growth Progress

2012-04-19T12:38:00.003-04:00

So if anyone ever tells me natural hair can't grow, can I have your permission to haul off and smack em'? Because there is just so much evidence available online that proves otherwise...like this right here (you ready for it?):

BAM!!!! Not bad if I say so myself. Here's to 6 more inches this time next year for you and for me!

Ms-gg

Another Twist Out, Another Day

2012-04-19T06:43:00.001-04:00

Last Friday I did these twists after a disaster take down of the last set of mini twists that I did (um, yeah I think I need to make a post about that *scratches head*):

I shampooed my hair with Suave's Rosemary Mint shampoo and then followed that up with a 20 minuting conditioning session with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner.

Immediately after that while my hair was still soaking wet, I twisted my hair up into the twists above. It took about 1hr 30 minutes to complete. Not bad at all, so expect to see more big twists in the future as right now I really don't have much time for much else.

Fast-forward to today and I unleashed my twists to reveal a twist out that had a lot of hang time.

I smoothed a little of Hairveda's Almond Glaze Pomade on my fingers and used it to take down my twists.

It added a "teeny" bit of shine but I attribute most of the shine to the World of Curls curl activator gel that I put on my hair when I first did my twists last week.

Unfortunately, most of this definition was nonexistent pretty much 30 minutes after I took these pictures (gotta love natural hair!!).

I plan on wearing it out for this one day, shoot a promo video for the Return of the Curls event that is happening in Richmond on Saturday, July 28th, and twist it back up and rock the twists for about another week. Honestly, it is just too much work to keep twisting and untwisting my hair everyday and dealing with the single strand knots and tangles that come from it. It just isn't worth it to me.

Welp, that is pretty much it for now. This week I will try to play catch up and post a few old styles and style tutorials from earlier this year. Check ya later!

Ms-gg

I'm on the cover of Natural Bloom Magazine!

2012-04-05T12:13:00.000-04:00

Okay this is BEYOND late but erh ra um....I'm on the cover of the Natural Bloom Magazine! Shout out to JC of The Natural Haven for the love.

This issue of The Natural Bloom is one that you don't want to miss out on-inside are tons of pictures of beautiful natural hairstyles for those of us with short to medium length hair. I already have my eyes on a few styles that I will be replicating in the future!

That's all for now ya'll, I have to get back these books!

Peace love and nappyness

Link to the Natural Bloom March edition: The Natural Bloom

Link to The Natural Haven short hairstyles series: http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2011/06/short-natural-hair-styles-ms-gg-of-fro.html

Ms-gg

Twist Out on Dry Hair

2012-03-06T07:14:00.002-05:00

It is not often that I wear my hair out, so whenever I do I try my best to get a few shots of it. This twist out was a result of throwing in some big twists after I wore this twist out .

I wore the twists for about 4 days before I unleashed my hair for the twist out.

That is another key element for having a define twist out- let the pattern of the twists "set" by wearing the twists for an extended period of time.

When I put the twists in, I didn't even twist it on wet or damp hair nor did I add anymore product to my hair, I just twisted it. And as you can see, I still have a very defined twist out.

So that just goes to show you that it is not necessarily the products that you use, or whether you twist your hair on wet or damp hair that determines if you have a defined twist out.

You can have a defined twist out without all of that. Not that it doesn't help, because it does, it just isn't "that" necessary.

So keep that in mind the next time you try a twist out. If you can't find a product that defines your hair, try keeping your twists in for a few days or a week and see if you finally get a defined twist out.

If you have any questions for me, you can leave them down below.

Ms-gg

Super Chunky Twist Out

2012-02-28T16:33:00.002-05:00

Hey ya'll! Hope you are having a fabulous 2012 so far! This weekend I unleashed my hair for this bangin' chunky twist out right here:

Alright, let me run down the list of everything I did to achieve this look. So sadly I remember the exact day that I put the twists in that made this twist out possible because it was the day Whitney Houston died :(

That day I shampooed my hair with the Herbal Essence Rosemary and Mint sulfate shampoo. Normally I wash my hair with the Honeywash sulfate free shampoo by Oyin Handmade but my hair was extremely dirty from the build up of all kinds of foolishness on my head (oils, creams, gels...you name it and it probably was on my hair).

After that I conditioned my hair with the Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner for about 20 minutes and then proceeded to twist my hair into big chunky twists using World of Curls curl activator gel.

I wore those twists for almost two weeks and the night before I took them out I decided to "experiment." I put my hair into bantu knots using the Kinky Curly Curling Custard:

And when I took them down I got this right here:

All the humidity in the air killed my curls from the bantu knot out.

That's why I usually try not to get too fancy with it and stick to the basics because my hair is too porous to hold most styles for an extended period of time.

I didn't care for the look that much AND it got rained on.

So I twisted it back up that night while my hair was still wet into more big twists and rocked the twists for a whole day and unleashed them to get this:

now this was a winner!

Every night I just retwist my hair to help preserve the look. If you have any questions about the style, don't be afraid to leave them down below.

My FACEBOOK Page

Twitter

Ms-gg

Sideline Flat Twists and Twists

2012-01-27T22:51:00.001-05:00

I got tired of wearing my braid out and I decided that I wanted something else, something that I haven't done since gawd knows when because I have been so overwhelmed with school-I did a flat twist and twists hairstyle:

....at TWO in the mother freaking morning.

Yes two in the morning.

AND, if that wasn't bad enough, decided to tape the whole event on camera.

Yeah, that wasn't a wise idea.

Products used:

World of Curls Curl Activator Gel (click link to get it on Amazon.com )

Hairveda's Almond Glaze (click to buy this at Hairveda.com)

I did this entire hairstyle on dry, stretched hair. The main reason why is because I just wanted my hair stretched out to the max and if I would have done this on wet hair, it would have shrunk by 50% at least in about an hour. But I am sure you all know how that goes.

So far I have been rocking this hairstyle for about 2 weeks and I CAN NOT wait to take it out! Well I'm going to let you natural hair ladies go...until I see you again!

PEACE

Ms-gg

Best Way to use Worlds of Curls Gel

2012-01-19T15:17:00.002-05:00

Hey ya'll! I made a quick video with a few tips on how to use the Worlds of Curls curl activator gel because I know some of you haven't had good results with it. Hopefully this will help!

Buy Worlds of Curls gel below:

Even Better the Second Time Around + Video

2012-01-09T11:55:00.002-05:00

And I thought the braid out was banging on DAY ONE. Oh my goodness! By the second day, my hair was looking something like this right here:

a little bit like something over there:

and all of this down here:

The products used for the original braid out was:

worlds of curls curl activator gel
kinky curly curling custard
castor oil

All I do every night to preserve the hairstyle is just rebraid it into large braids to keep it stretched out so that I can reduce knots, single strand knots, tangles and all that other nastiness.

Ya'll may know that I don't wear my hair out often at all, but let me tell you: for the past week, I have been loving wearing my fro out! It just feels good every once in awhile to let your hair down, yeah know?

This week I plan to put in a set of mini twists (some people never learn) and I plan (remember I said "plan" which means it ain't going to happen) to wear them for about two weeks (stop lying, it's going to be more like 3-4 weeks and then you are going to be complaining about all the tangles heiffa).

Well, I hope ya'll have a great day! Oh and here is the video of the style:

Braid Out Baby!

2012-01-08T22:46:00.000-05:00

I don't know where all this hurr came from but I like it!

For the past week almost, I have been rocking a braid out and I've been loving it. On Tuesday, it took me FOUR hours to detangle my hair. Yes that's right four. After I regained consciousness I washed my hair with Oyin's Honeywash shampoo and afterwards my hair felt AMAZING! I believe the Honeywash is quickly becoming my new boo!

After that, I deep conditioned with my boo, Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle rose conditioner. After all of that foolishness I immediately braided my hair up using my World of Curls curl activator gel, kinky curly curling custard, and castor oil in that order.

The next day my hair felt sooooo good and looked even better! Here are a few pics for proof of the amazingness (yes, I just made up a new word because it was that fly forreal):

Boom!

Boom!

Hope I didn't hurt ya!

Here is a video displaying more pictures and live video.

Ya'll take care.

Ms-gg

Year end hair growth update video

2011-12-30T15:57:00.000-05:00

Hey ya'll! I hope that everyone is enjoying the the day before the last day of the year! This year went by so fast, I can't believe it!

Well, I just created a video of my hair growth progress for this year. Despite not trimming often and breaking 10,000 other "Natural Hair Commandments," I think I made decent progress. In the near future, I will be creating a 2012 Winter regimen video to let you all know what I plan to do with my hair this winter. Alright ya'll, have a safe and blessed New Year's Eve and Day!

Big Ole Chunky Twist Out

2011-12-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

on a cool winter day. Hey ya'll! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Today I rocked a twist out after I took down some fugly twists I wore for a day.

I wore twists for about 10 days, took them down on Christmas day, put some more big ones in two days ago and took them down today.

rocking purple lipstick since 1998! What you know about that Bonnebell

To re-twist my hair for this twist out I am now currently rocking, I just spritzed it down with a little water mixed with aloe vera juice.

My twist out feels super soft too!

I plan to re-twist my hair again tonight, maybe experiment with a bantu knot or two to see how it will turn out, and rock another twist out tomorrow. After that, I will put my hair back into another protective hairstyle.

Whelp, that's all I have for now ya'll. If I don't talk to you all again before the 31st ya'll have a safe and blessed New Year's Eve!

Ms-gg

Two Days and Some Change

2011-12-15T23:46:00.001-05:00

to take my braids out!!! I put in a set of box braids (sorry, no pics) and wore them for a total (are you ready?) of 4.5 weeks!!

I planned on wearing them a full 5 weeks but I couldn't take it anymore and had to call it quits.

Good News:

My hair grew.

December 2011

Bad News:

My hair broke the heck off! Breakage hasn't been an issue for me since God knows when, with the exception of my edges which are weak permanently do to relaxer damage. But I was weak when I started to notice 4-5 strands of hair all around 1/2 inch long in sections.

Urgh! My edges have never looked this bad!!!

I know hair goes through a growth cycle and a 1/2 inch long hair could be a new hair growing in under any other circumstance, but I know it is breakage because of how many there are.

Why do I believe that this happened? Because of tension. I didn't braid too tight (I wasn't in pain from the braids), whoever, the tension of the braids was enough to jack up my hair anyway. What ticks me off is that I worry about the ends, and then my hair breaks off at the roots! I mean really! Can't win for losing.

Busted and disgusted hairline

No use crying over spilled milk ya'll. All I can do is to learn from this setback. Unfortunately, setbacks are apart of the process of learning your hair. Unfortunately. That's why I always say that if you are new to the natural hair game, it is okay if you stumble or don't get it right on your first try. How many things in life did you succeed at on your first try? Not many probably.

All I know is, I will never do another set of small box braids, and I will keep a close watch on my hair for the next four months and monitor the health of my hair and report back to you all. Alright ya'll, I'm out.

Ms-gg

PS-I'm still hot though. No lie.