Loving Lately...

This is a quick post about a product that I have recently discovered and have been loving (hence the title). What I speak of is the Avene Eau Thermale Spring Water for sensitive skin.

Relaxer Day - 3/27

Hey guys, Happy Friday!

Please forgive the erratic posts. Life is hectic right now. I move on Tuesday and I have to get my entire apartment packed up. I'm really excited to be heading to Jamaica soon, so I made time to relax my hair in the midst of all the rush.

Sprung on Bantu-knots - HOTD

The weather has been lovely lately! Spring is that you??

I attended a party yesterday, and I wanted to do something different from my go-to braid-out, so I decided to give bantu knots a shot.

bantu-knots

Preparing for the Big Day - (Pre-relaxer) Washday - 3/20

As I previously mentioned, I will be relaxing sometime next week and so on Thursday, the last day of work, I went ahead and washed my hair and also prepped it for the relaxer process. Here's how:

wash day - mild protein treatment

Are Scalp Massages Overrated?

Ever since I started my hair journey, I've heard that scalp massages will speed up hair growth. The explanation they give is that it stimulates the scalp, encouraging blood-flow and increased nutrients to that area.

I Did it in the Shower - HOTW

This is my final HOTW post :-(! 

I go on spring holiday from work this Thursday and next week I will be relaxing. My hair may very well end up in a protective style after being prepped for the relaxer process, but this post is the last official one of the series. It was fun, I really enjoyed protective styling! You see, things which are good for you can definitely be fun too.

So anyway, as the title of this post suggests, this style was literally done in the shower. As you may (or may not) have read in the previous post, my hair was feeling a bit dry so I refreshed it in the shower and proceeded to style my hair right there. I think it took all of five minutes to do lol.

This is a style that I have resorted to a couple times when I had to style damp or wet hair, and it kinda just happened this time. Certainly not planned.

HOTW - done in the shower

How to:

Getting Steamy - How I Refresh Dry Hair Without Washing

This is just a quick post about how I get my hair uber moisturized without actually washing.

I mini washed on Friday night by Deep conditioning and cowashing. This was done in braids as usual. If you are familiar with my braided-wash process, then you know that after my final rinse I'd rebraid. I was feeling tired that night (I literally fell asleep right out the shower) and so I didn't M&S/ LOC when my hair was nearly dry.

The next day I had somewhere to be so I applied some serum and undid the braids for a braid-out. That night, being tired (AGAIN!!!), I forewent the M&S and just put on the scarf. Needless to say, my hair on Sunday was D.R.Y - dry!!

I had to style my hair for the week and knew that starting with a head full of hay was a no-go. So what'd I do?

refreshing my dry hair with steam

Long and Thick? - How to Thicken Up Relaxed Hair

A lovely friend of BelowtheWaist (hey girl!!) left me a comment the other day:

I LOVE it. your hair is beautifully thick. How do you thicken it up.

What's the secret to your thickness? Its consistent from root to tip. Spill it! lol

 (First of all, thanks dear!) I responded by letting her know that I don't consider my hair 'thick'. That is, my strands are medium - fine in diameter. Additionally the density is in medium range. In terms of it being consistent from root to tip though, I can offer a few suggestions:

1. Limit breakage at every step.

• Wash hair in braids. This will cause a decrease in the amount of tangles you experience and subsequently in the amount of hair lost while detangle. Read more about washing hair in braids here.

Knowing When to End it - My 10 Weeks Post New Growth

This is just a short post documenting my new growth at 10.5 weeks post (taken a few weeks ago, I'm 12 weeks post now). I'd say it's about an inch/ inch and a half when semi-stretched. I think this is the perfect amount to avoid both over-lapping and under-lapping while self-relaxing.

10.5 weeks post new growth

You Make Me Feel Like I am Young Again - HOTW

This week's style is one that I used to rock the shi* out of when I was in high school. My sister (Heyy Racquel!) used to sit me down and do this to the upper 1/2 of my head and then 2 strand flat twist the back for an awesome braid-out, which would last me a week. Of course at that time I cared nothing about retention, I just wanted to look cute for school. Fast forward a couple of years and here I am using the very same style (minus the braid-out) for a protective style to get ahead on my hair journey.

HOTW - Young Again

Trouble in Paradise - Wash Day 3/8

Last week's wash was an interesting one.

I started off by taking down last week's PS (which as you'll see down below, remained moisturized all week)...

trying to capture the moisture & sheen still present at the end of the week

Chilling Time - What I Do with my Hair on Weekends

Hey hey hey! Happy Sunday!

So you guys know I have been doing weekly protective styles since January. Then when I am heading out on the weekend it's probably a braid-out or a bun. But what about when I'm just here chillin' at home? Well, that's what I'm showing today.

after releasing last week's PS

Quickie - How to Use a Hairpin

I recently learnt the 'proper' way to use a hairpin and thought I'd share it with you. (I use quotes because IMO there's no right way to skin the cat, as long as it gets skinned.) Anyway, this may prove helpful for some, so let's get into the how-tos.

how to use a hairpin

You're a Life-Saver - Wash Day in Braids

Wash days up to this point (11+ weeks) have been a joy. And I attribute that to my somewhat new modus operandi of washing my hair in braids. And by that I mean executing the ENTIRE wash day that way. Before I discovered this technique, I would braid my hair in the four sections and loosen and re-braid the sections multiple times during the wash session for the various processes. Not only was that extremely time-consuming, tangles abounded. Of course at that time I viewed the amount of tangling as normal, but now I know better and I want to spread the word so that your wash days can be just as glorious.

braids after a wash day

Is it OK to Condition Relaxed Hair??

I was browsing my blog's stats page and realized that this was searched by someone in recent times:

"Is it OK to Condition Relaxed Hair??"

Yes, please! Please condition your relaxed hair!

At first I was a little shocked. Then I realized that uhmm Abbi, not everyone is on a hair journey, not everyone reads blogs and watches youtube videos about hair, not everyone is in the know, not everyone knows how to take care of their relaxed hair. So to my friend who asked this question via a search engine again I say yes...

Upside-down, Inside-out - HOTW

I feel like I do these posts every other day based on how quickly the weeks go, but hey, no complaints here, gallop away.

I love web-surfing hair info. There is just so much out there to see and learn. Last week I got some inspiration from Dessy and decided it would be my next HOTW style. It's a very simple and fun style that takes about 10 minutes to execute. The only issue is, you have to be inverted to braid the hair going from nape upwards. This is my first time doing this kind of braid and when I returned to upright position, I realized the braid was inside-out (It was late and I was upside-down..don't judge me lol). I decided to let it remain that way, (as I wanted to get to bed and had no desire to start all over) and topped it off with a bun.

So for this week's style, I was literally upside-down while executing it and the cornrow ended up being inside-out. Take a look-see:

HOTW - Upside-down, inside-out cornrow & bun

Steps:

How To: My Perfect Braid-out

Saturday is my day for running errands and my go-to casual styles for these days are either a high bun or a braid-out. Well today it was braid-out day as I'm now 10.5 weeks post. I tend to go for a bun earlier on in the stretch when the edges show a little more cooperation.

HOTD - Braid-out

I think I pretty much have my routine for braid-outs down pat by now and so I'll share it with you.

How to: