Loose Twists Styles and Regimen - 4C Natural Hair

I've had these twists in my hair for almost two weeks now. I would like to keep them in a little longer, but I really want to do a Henna/Indigo treatment and my hair needs to be loose for that.

I don't do much in terms of styling. I really like to french roll the back of the twists and keep the front pushed to the right side. Because I like that style so much, I jazz it up with some hair jewelry, beads and a shell. I have also been wearing a lot of scarves and "loc socs".

Here is a collage of some of the ways I style the twists.

Loose Twists on 4C Natural Hair

Well, these are more like loose-ish twists
French-rolled in the back and pinned to the side 

Those who have been reading this blog for a while know that I love twists. I faithfully wore twists when I was relaxed, transitioning and newly natural. Wearing twists helped me retain length and thickness, but for some reason I stopped doing them often. I guess I got to the point in my journey where I just enjoyed wearing my hair loose 85% of the time. Because of that(and other factors such as trimming a lot), I haven't gained much length. 

While I'm okay with the current length of my hair, I want to see more. So I have decided to get back to the basics and wear twists religiously. 

I trimmed these set of twists so I can start off fresh, but I plan to cut down on the trimming drastically. An updated twists regimen will be posted shortly. 

Anyway, on to the "loose twists".

Quick Natural Hairstyle- Jeweled Afro Puff

I was looking to step my "same ole' puff" up and give my edges a break. Constantly pulling our hair back(especially tightly) can not only cause breakage, but weaken the hair strands.

6 Ways to Style an Afro Puff - 4C Natural Hair

It's pretty obvious that the puff is my favorite natural hair style. It's so easy to do, can be worn in any occasion and it can be styled in many ways.

Here are 6 different ways that I've styled my puff:



Puff Style #1: The picked-out puff :  This was originally a picked-out afro that was turned into a puff. I was looking to have big hair that night and the only way to achieve it was by picking out my hair.                                                                                                                                                                                      

Puff Style #2: The Vacation Puff-  I love flower accessories, especially in the Summer. Now, it

Hair Crush: Kelly Rowland

Has anyone seen how beautiful Kelly Rowland looked at Beyoncé's push party?! If not, take a look below. She looked absolutely gorgeous which inspired me to make this post. Gone are the days of Kelly's signature short cut and she now switches up her hair regularly.

Here are some of my favorite looks:

Kelly Rowland turning heads at Beyoncé's push party rocking a cute braided bun.

I Like Big Buns - 4C Natural Hair

Now that my hair is a little longer and because I want to protect my ends, I have been doing a lot more buns. I do all types of buns, but my favorite are high buns.

Here are some photos and the steps to how I created my favorite bun looks.

The "Twisted Bun"

To get create this "Twisted Bun", I:

Top Knot Bun with Afro - 4C Natural Hair

The top knot bun has been a staple style for many years now. A simple top knot is classic, but there are many different ways to jazz it up. One way to do so is to wear half of your hair up in a bun then leave the rest down. This is nothing new, right? But how often do you see it with a fro? In my opinion, not often.  I typically see it on stretched hair(braid/twist out, blow dried, etc), straight hair or wavy hair. Because of that, I didn't think I could pull off the style because I prefer my shrunken natural hair. Well that was until I tried it.

Typically when I travel, I like to switch up my hair. So when I went to St. Lucia, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try the Top Knot with a Fro. 

Here's how it came out: 

Cute Summer Hair Looks

Summer is right around the corner or it has already started for some.

Here are some cute, simple(well most) summer looks that you could try out. 

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When the weather get's too hot, it can be uncomfortable to have your hair down, on your back or on your face. So why not pull it all back? A simple braid can also add some flavor! If your hair isn't long enough you can just wrap some kanekalon hair to your ponytail and braid. 

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Slight curls, pulled up and framing the face is always a cute look! You can get these curls by using a curl wand, caruso or hot rollers, or simply roller-setting your hair. A nice bow or flower accessory takes the style up a notch! 

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Not only does a hat protect your skin from the sun, but they are also very stylish! 

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Scarfs aren't JUST for wrapping your hair. They can also add some color to your look or conceal a bad hair day! 

For more summer looks, check out this post I did on vacation hair. 

** this for natural and relaxed folks..but I will do a post specifically for the natural ladies at another time. 

Spice It Up With a Braid or Two

Are you having difficulties spicing up your buns or ponytails? One or two simple braids can do the trick. If you can't braid, I have seen a lot of realistic, cute braided-headbands that could be used! 

This was the "trend" in 2010 & 2011, but for most of us Black Women braids were never and will never be a trend.

Here are a few styles I came across.

Jada Pinkett Smith

Tika Sumpter

Tika Sumpter

Sharon Leal

5 Styles I Can't Wait to Do......

.....when I'm fully natural!

Twists

I have done these with my relaxed hair, but my hair looked so thin!  I know once I'm natural, my twists will look thick and juicy like I want!

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Twisted up-do's

I just think these look elegant and are great protective stlyes!

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Fluffed out braid-outs

I used to be scared of big hair because being 6 ft tall, I thought I stood out enough! But I am prepared and excited to rock some big a** hair!

I doubt I will do many wash-n-go's because of the horror stories I hear about ssk's. There's a 99% chance I will keep my hair stretched at all times.

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Twist-Outs

This is something I never tried with my relaxed hair. Well actually I have, but it was an oily failed mess.

I will try it again with my relaxed/transitioning hair, but I can't wait to do them as a natural. I can already picture some of the styles in my head.

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Slicked back buns

You're probably saying, "You do those all the time, Ms. D". And it's true, I do! lol. But I LOVE the waves my new-growth is currently giving. I CAN NOT WAIT until my new-growth gets longer and longer until I only see waves when I look at the top of my head(in the mirror.)  I presume this will happen by the time I'm 9 months post. But I'll be even more excited when I'm fully natural

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* I am not expecting my hair to look exactly like the above photos. My hair will look like MY hair and I'm excited to work with what I have to achieve the styles I desire.

Vacation Hair

Going on a Vacation soon? Then keep on reading...

I was inspired to do this post  by MrsT @ Relaxed Redefined. She had a question regarding the right time to put in braids(before or after a relaxer) for a trip she has coming up. Check out this post for the answer to that. But what stood out the most was this part of the question:

I have a question for you about getting braids. I'm going on vacation next month and as much as I don't want to, I know in order to have maintenance free, beach ready hair, I need to get braids. I don't want to because 1) I don't want to pay for them (don't have the skills to do them myself) and 2) I won't want to keep them in long after I get home.

Now, not every woman wants to get some braids like Stella..

So, I decided to look up some cheaper/easier alternatives to plain single braids for a trip. We all know that braids are the style of choice if we plan on hitting the water because they won't get messed up quickly and are very easy to maintain. But there are other styles to choose from.

Let me first start off with those that DON'T plan on swimming, jet skiing and so-forth:

For Quicker Styles, other then wearing braid-outs (straight hair may not work due to the humidity),

half wigs

 full/ lace front wigs

or even sew-ins can be done.  

If you choose sew-in's or half wigs, you can always put small braids in the front, similar to Beyonce in the below pic, using similar hair to the weave or half wig.

For those that plan on swimming/hitting the water:

 Cornrows braided up in a pony with a ponytail.
It could be a cute curly or wavy pony
and before hitting the water you would just but the pony in a braid to avoid damage.

Senegalese Twists, for those with longer hair.
These probably take a hour/hour &half less then regular single braids to do and can be maintained the same way as braids.  

Kinky Twists for those with short or medium length hair

Or you could just get some really cute corn-rows

Hope this helps anyone going on a trip.
Remember, if you have braids..before hitting the water, coat braids with some conditioner and after getting out, rinse hair with conditioner again. The after part is most important.

*I do not own rights to any of these images...all were found on Google Images

Bangs

I'm thinking about switching up my style a bit by getting bangs.
I used to have bangs a looong time ago and I liked the look, but once they grew out, I never went back.
The great thing about bangs is that once they grow out a little, you have a whole new hairstyle without even trying.
If anyone else is thinking about getting bangs, here are a few styles to choose from.

Short Hair Styles

No, I'm not planning on cutting my hair anytime soon...but for those who are planning to do so, here are a few cute short hairstyles to choose from. I know a lot of our goals are to grow our hair long, but so many short cuts look so beautiful that I have to share :-D If you look closely..I added myself in there...haha

Natural Hairstyles

This is for my natural hair readers.
Other than single braids, cornrows, half wigs, braid-outs and bantu-knots, I was having a hard time thinking of different natural hairstyles for a friend that asked for suggestions. So, I decided to look around and see what I can come up with.
This is what my search for Natural Hairstyles came up with:
                                             

                                            This looks like it could be a twist out and just pulled to the side. Jill Scott looks so gorgeous here!

I'm not even sure how to achieve this look, but it looks gorgeous!

                                                       You can't go wrong with some twists!

                                                 This is too cute. Just use some Aloe Vera, IC or Ecostyler Gel to slick the edges down and pick out your hair!

This looks like a twist out...pretty!

Twist out with braids on the side

More to Come....

Buns

I love buns. They are a great protective style. Now, some people think they look boring, but there are so many ways to dress up a bun. I also think a plain ol' regular bun looks good at times. I wanted to dig up some bun styles that I may try in the future.  I would prefer to try them with my real hair, but I wouldn't mind putting a piece on for special occasions.

A few pointers about Bunning:

• Don't make the buns too tight
• Try to use bobby pins or elastics without metal
• Make sure to moisturize ends (shoot, I moisturize my ends and roots)
• To lay edges down- put a little moisturizer(or water) and alcohol free gel on edges then tie down with silk/satin scarf for 15-30 min.
• Do not sleep in your bun- if you do, make sure it's very loose