Last week, all puffed up and jazzed about Operation Cornrow, I decided that my first step towards Cornrow-dom would be to try a set of flat-twists.  Basically, flat twists are similar to a cornrow in that they “attach” to your head, but instead of using three strands to do a braid, you use two strands and do a twist that lays flat therefore creating a FLAT TWIST.

I watch a couple youtube videos on the  Curly Chronicles channel and though “ok, seems easy enough.  I got this.”

Flat twist out--- pretty cute, right!??

Went home and before going to bed, set out on flat twisting my hair.  I was able to get in seven flat twists.  I have to say that doing the one on the direct back of my head was really difficult, but I found that the trick was not to look in the mirror while doing it because the opposite side/reflection thing kept messing me up.

When all was said and done.  I thought they looked pretty good.

Went to bed.  Went to work.  Went to the bathroom to change out of my bike clothes and untwist.

My hair definitely looked like it had been twisted.  Unfortunately, it looked like that twisting had been done by a tornado or something.  But I decided to put in some bobby pins and a flower clip and just rock it.

As I walked into my office, I stopped by my coworker/friend/third eye Fidel’s desk and say good morning.  Instead of returning the morning salutation, he looked at me wide-eyed and exclaimed “GIIIIIIIIIRL!  WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR!?!?!?!?!?”  I casually explained the flat twists and how it was supposed to look and that I was learning yada yada yada.    ”Well maybe you should stop trying to learn on week days…”, he suggested.

I slunk back to my desk, but I could just feel my hair sticking out in a weird, triangular formation. The smooth waves that I had attempted to create resembled more the shape of electrocuted strips of bacon.  Five minutes later, I was back in the bathroom with a spray bottle and more bobby pins getting Lola back to normal.

Flat Twist: FAIL.  BUT!  I will not give up, I think the more that I do this, the steadier my hands will become and the better the twists will be.  It actually is really helpful to master these because they use the same concept of “adding hair” into the twist.  I think the main issue is that did my twists too large for the length of my hair.  Next time I try this out (ON A WEEKEND, I GET IT!) I’ll go for smaller flat twists.  For now, I’m going to let Lola have a break, so that her, my, and Fidelito’s trauma wears off.

Recovered Lola

Well guess who is three months natural and LOVING IT!  Seems like today she is less “Worn Out” and more “Wearin’ it Well”!  I wanted to share with you this letter and photos that this formerly frustrated transitioner turned full-fledged, fellow natural sent over to Natural Selection.

“I am only three months old and feelin’ fine.  I was so desperate when I wrote to the blog but now I am thrilled with how it is looking. And in just three months, all my edges have grown back and everything!  I liked having braids, but they can work a number on your edges.  And look at the back!  A sista’s kitchen had edged into the livingroom!  But now I have my full head of hair back.  I have even had to cut it already, and that is in addition to the “big chop”.  So I have had TWO haircuts in three months!  Amazing.

Thanks for encouraging me to stick with it.  I am thrilled.  And then men…whoa! They have lots to say.  More men comment on my hair now than they ever did when it was relaxed.  More women would tell me it looked nice when it was straight, but now it is all about the brothas…But there are lots of men who do not like it – men who might have approached me before, but that is ok too.  It all evens out in the co-wash.

Just gotta find a good way to go to the gym – don’t want to put product in it to work out, but when i take the sleep cap off, it is sort of matted.  Any suggestions?”

Doesn’t she look great!  It’s truly amazing how much of a difference “figuring out your hair” can make in a person’s attitude and demeanor!

And yes, I do have suggestions about the post-sleep cap helmet hair look: WATER!  Take a spray bottle and just spritz your hair, shake it out and roll!  Make sure to shake not finger fluff, because touching when in this wet state can cause frizz.  No product or a lot of fuss necessary!

Ah…The beauty of an empowered natural…

1. Check out my review of the comb (you know..make sure you want it…)

2. Make sure you’re a subscriber to this blog

3. Post a comment on that review that includes three words that describe your tangled hair

4. “Like” the Ouidad Facebook Page

I’ll be picking one winner at random on MONDAY SEPTEMBER 20th, so be sure to get your entries in before then.  Thank you again to Ouidad for sponsoring this giveaway!

Until then, have a phenomenal weekend!

Recently a couple of white friends with highly textured hair have asked me for product recommendations to help them with dryness and frizz.  One said “I think I should try, you know, some products that are for black people because they always have a lot of moisture.”  And so I made some recommendations of “black products”.

But why do we have this black and white view of the product world and why does it seem so unnatural to break out of it?In a recent post on the Natural Haven, JC, the renowned natural hair scientist, studied white, black, and asian hair and concluded that all three types of hair are more alike than they are different.  Why?  Because we are all part of the human species.  If that is the case, then how do these “white products” and “black products” truly differ?  In a word: marketing.

Just as many of these “white products” typically use Caucasian or Asian models, “black products” similarly employ black models so that when you are shopping for a product, you naturally gravitate towards the ones that have models who most resemble you on the packaging because you assume that those are the ones that will work best for your hair.

If we were to take ALL hair products from their shelves and throw them into a massive bin and resort them by various texture properties and styling desires (i.e. fine, super conditioning, coarse, dry, needs volume, oily, curl enhancing, curl straightening), I think that this new organization and layout of products would be much more efficient and appropriate for our own individual needs.

Historically speaking, whenever I would go into a Target, Walgreens or other large store to check out their hair goods, I used to always bypass the aisles of “white products” and head straight to the significantly smaller section called where one could find Pink Oil Moisturizer, relaxers, spray sheen, and shea butter/olive oil/coconut infused products catered to black folks.

Now that I am natural, I find my desired products about half in the “black aisles” and half in the “white aisles” as I search for conditioners, stylers, and moisturizers.  I use the ingredient list, rather than a hanging sign denoting the aisle name, to guide my product purchasing decisions.

The bottom line is hair is hair is hair is hair.  If something works for you (or looks like it could work for you), no matter what is on the packaging, then by all means USE IT!  I encourage you to take a walk over to the “other aisle” and check out what they have to offer.  I’m confident that you’ll be pleased with what you try out!

It’s been a very interesting process for me to not only to work with hair that is not my own, but also to remember the extremes of joy and pain that come along with being a young girl and having to have your hair done.  In the end, what really matters, though, is that Skya is super happy with her natural hair!

Here’s a little video I put together about our natural journey together!

This was the first entire curl that I’ve ever had to cut from my head and it was really sad to have to do it.  However, after 20 minutes of wrestling and pulling and unwinding, I just had to sacrifice this coil to the duckbill gods.  Let’s just have a moment of e-silence here.

Now when one curl dies,  another is born!  I’ve been in Minnesota the past few days (my home state) where I’ve spent a good chunk of time with my sister Skya’s hair.  She had braids that were uber ready to come out and using my new natural knowledge, I’ve been styling and helping her rock her natural.  It’s been…real.  Really really real.  There’s been tears, smiles, ups and downs throughout the entire process.  Keep your eyes peeled for a post wrapping up this experience.

]]> https://naturalhairselection.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/a-curl-casualty/feed/ 3 868 cassadie Curl Casualty Skysky https://naturalhairselection.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/ouidad-double-detangler-comb-review-giveaway/ https://naturalhairselection.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/ouidad-double-detangler-comb-review-giveaway/#comments Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:00:02 +0000 http://naturalselectionblog.com/?p=836 An expression in French, the most romantic of romance languages, comes to mind when I search for the words to describe my relationship with my new Ouidad Double Detangler Comb: COUP DE FOUDRE.  Translation: love at first sight. After pulling the hulking behemoth of a comb out of its box and feeling its impressive weight in my palm, I knew that I had found a workhorse worthy of taking on my dense thicket of coils.  It had the strength all right, but would it perform?

In a word: YES.  After doing a quick wash with my Chagrin Valley Poo Bar, I lavished my strands with Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner (my go-to condish for slip these days), then picked up the comb.  Starting from my ends, I worked the comb through small 2″ sections of my hair.  OMGosh it was just sliding through my strands like a knife through butter.  And we’re talking the type of butter that has been sitting out on the counter next to the toaster, not the been-in-the-fridge butter that will rip holes in your toast when you try to spread it.

Normally, a full detangling takes me about 45 minutes.  With the Ouidad Double Detangler I was done in under twenty.  The best part: minimal shed hair!  There was no pulling or breaking; just pure, full on, gliiiiiiiide.  Lovez it!

Another fun feature about this comb is that it doubles (hehehe, pun intended) as a comb organizer/holder!

The folks over at Ouidad have are sponsoring a giveaway of one comb to a Natural Selection reader.  That’s right, YOU, yes you, could win your very own Ouidad Double Detangler comb!

Here’s how you can win:

1. Make sure you’re a subscriber to this blog

2. “Like” the Ouidad Facebook Page

3. Write in the comments section of this post three words to describe your tangled hair.  Share yours and win!

Looking forward to hear what your snarly shares are!

Speaking of giveways, I’d like to give a shout out to Ms. Bar B who won our most recent giveaway of a pair of earrings from Fatemeh’s Jewelry and Accessories!  When asked how she would rock these crocheted earrings, she replied “If I won those beautifully fly earrings, I’d throw some Eco Styler Gel in my TWA and define my curls.  Then possibly put on my black slouch hat/tam, pushed slightly to the back revealing the front section of my curls.  Those earrings would bring the RASTA right outta me =)” Can’t wait to see you rockin’ these things rasta style, girl!!!

I had heard stellar reviews of Urbanbella on forums and from other bloggers; I thought that my weekend in the A for the Bronner Brothers show would be the ideal time to visit the salon-shop.  Freshly arrived and glowing from a relaxing and adventurous weekend of white water rafting, Keneesha welcomed me into Urbanbella’s plush seating area where we spent the next couple hours doing one of my favorite things in the world: geeking out about natural hair.

The cozy, plush and elegant Urbanbella waitingroom

In 2002 when Keneesha cut off her relaxed hair and sported a short afro, “transitioning” was not yet a word.  After receiving many compliments and positive feedback about her new natural look as well she was inspired to help others take the great natural leap.  She began emailing product recommendations to interested and natural-curious individuals.  Soon her in-demand services called for a website that offered information about going natural and thus was born Urbanbella.

In 2006, Keneesha moved her consultations out of the home and offline to a new storefront.  Originally Urbanbella was intended to only be a retail resource that focused on helping people find the right products and answer [the zillions of] questions about going natural.  But soon, people were so inspired and motivated by Urbanbella’s expertise that even though they had come to the store just buy a new styler and learn about going natural, they left wanting their big chop too!  So a stylist was hired and Urbanbella became a store AND a salon!

Urbanbella's retail area

Urbanbella Salon

Today Urbanbella offers 13 product lines and a full salon menu exclusively focused on natural hair.  We’re talking no relaxers whatsoever in the shop, a difference you can sense the moment you walk into the store as there is no scent of perms or burning hair wafting through the air.  However, “Urbanbella’s true product is education,” insists Keneesha.  Each Wednesday Urbanbella offers styling workshops through a new program called Urbanbella University.  These workshops range in cost from $10-$60 and offer demonstrations and hands-on experience to learn and practice natural styling techniques.

One of the most unique Urbanbella offerings is their strand test.  Say you walk into their store and you’re overwhelmed by all of the product offerings.  Knowledgeable consultants are available to perform a procedure called a “strand-test”, which will assess your unique curl pattern and strand texture and find the perfect product for your hair by wetting your hair and trying out different products to see which is the best fit.  I underwent the strand test and Sacha, my consultant, listened to my ingredient preferences (no mineral oil, no silicones), as well as my desire to try something new, and came up with two great product recommendations from the Jane Carter Solutions line that I am so excited to try out!

Keneesha assists an Urbanbella customer

In a town that has traditionally sacrificed the health of hair for beauty, Urbanbella is a unique and refreshing resource for those who have questions and anxieties about going natural or simply want top-notch service for their coily strands.

For more on Urbanbella or to get directions visit their website here.

• The first thing is open to ALL readers and that is a G.i.V.e.A.w.A.y.!  It is for a pair of crochet earrings by Fatemeh’s Jewelry and Accessories.  All you have to do is send an email to naturalselectionblog@gmail.com telling me what hairstyle you would wear to rock these earrings.  Thanks to all of you who have already entered!  I’ll be picking a winner THIS FRIDAY so be sure to get your entry in!  Oh and Fatemeh also makes really cute hair candy so be sure to check out the Etsy store!

• This week is Independent Artist’s Week in San Francisco with a lot of fun activities and events going on.  I attended a live art celebration in the Fillmore this past Monday and had a phenomenal time checking out the performers and mingling with other Bay Area Naturals such as photographer Sasha Kelley!  Concerts, networking events, parties and an art walk are all part of IAW.  Check out the full scoop here!

• I am on the Board of Directors of an amazing non-profit arts organization called Precita Eyes Mural Arts Association.  On Saturday September 25th we will be hosting our Annual Gala at the SOMArts Gallery in San Francisco.  This years theme is ¡VIVA MURALISMO! and there will be music by the Gaucho Gypsy Jazz Sextet, participatory live mural painting, and auctions for pieces of authentic mural details.  It’s a really fun party for a really great cause: keeping the mural arts alive.  Visit Precita Eyes’ website for more details on tickets  and to learn about the organization!

• For those ladies in Chicago, BGLH will be hosting its next natural hair meet up on October 9th so mark those calendars!  Natural Selection’s next Bay Area meet up is coming next month as well.  Details to come soon!