ORS Olive Oil Edge Control

I saw this when I was browsing the very limited Afro-textured hair section in my local boots. It cost me £2.99 and is a little cheaper than the hair shop. It says on the box

• Contains no alcohol
• Gives superior hold
• No flaking
• Great for relaxed and natural hair!

The directions say all you have to do is smooth on with your fingertips to get the desired hold. My hair is 100% natural. I would say its fine in texture and not all gels can tame it when it needs to be. This gel is amazing. It really does hold down my edges. However I would say you need more than your fingertips. As it can appear very shiny. I find using my pocket size bristle brush slicks the edges down perfectly with this product. It does remind me of QP Elasta glaze but is definitely more tacky which I believe is why it hold the edges down so well.

Ors Edge control on edges smooth down with slick brush

In the picture above my edges look almost straight and yet my hair is 100% natural. This is good stuff.

If you use any other product for your edges please let me know? I love buying products and trying out new things.

Black Beauty Natural Hair feature

I bought this magazine well over a month ago. It is published bi-monthly and is one of the best known UK Black hair magazines. I am more of an occasional reader as my obessesion with hair magazines was not good. It was not like I was trying to achieve any of those styles in there. Plus as my hair is natural they no longer really cater for me the way the blogs and YouTube does.

To my surprise this edition contained pages of articles about natural hair care. As usual you get the hairstyles that no one would wear outside of a hair show or photoshoot. Such as the edgy afro pics. Afro's with sharp chunks cut in/out. Then the feature contains a 2 page spread about bloggers and v-loggers who share their tips and tricks tried and tested routines for styling their natural hair. 

The article could have included more wearable natural hairstyles. If someone skimming the pics for hair inspiration I do not think they would be inspired. They would be amazed how beautiful natural hair looks and what you can achieve but little on style. The articles make up for this. It would have been nice to see two makeovers. As they chose to use a model whose hair is about a 3a/b/c very loose curls as opposed to someone with Kinky curly curls in the range of 4a/b/c. Overall a good natural hair feature

Top 5 sites suggested in the magazine to visit are:

Curly Nikki

Hairlista

Nappturality

Pretty Dimples YouTube channel

Kawright1005 YouTube channel

Pretty Dimples mentions me one of her videos as I sent her a copy of the magazine all the way from the UK.

Sometimes I just feel so inspired and appreciate what these ladies do. I will be checking out the other sites which I do not frequent as much.

My Grey strand

I have had this one grey strand of hair for years. Since I was a teenager in my last days at school. So it has seen relaxers, canerows, extensions, weaves and more. Now it's just a curly bit of colour less hair. My grey strand does feel stronger than the rest of my hair strands. I have no idea why that is. Just thought I would share my grey.

My curl pattern

I do not really do much to my hair . This pic is my hair freshly washed and somewhat air dried. So this is what my curls look like. The picture was taken a few months ago and I have since checked my curl pattern again and it looks pretty much the same like this.

Oh and as you can see the redhead that I was is all gone. Now its this brownish colour. As crazy as it may sound I just might go and get some highlights done professionally a little colour correction. I tried a full head weave recently and my head was so tender I removed it after 2 weeks. I will try to post pics soon.

I always think of my hair as a 4a/b. It always looks deceivingly thick but its quite fine in texture just very dense. What would you class my hair as? What products would you suggest?

Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner

I have been hearing about the wonders of Herbal Essences Shampoos for ages. So when I was in Sainsbury's I thought I would give it a go at a only £3.97 and buy 1 get 1 free. So I bought the set for dry hair in the blue bottle. I was so surprised at how little I needed and how lather rich the shampoo was. My hair felt amazing and the conditioner was so perfect. I will definitely make a point of using this shampoo and conditioner regularly and I have since discovered I can buy it cheaper elsewhere too.

Red Hot Rhythm - what !

I bought 2 boxes of Dark and Lovely's Red Hot Rhythm permanant hair dye. I actually bought the dye to late because I was supposed to dye my hair at the start of summer and then wear some nice styles showing it off. I have many friends who are hairdressers who did not want to dye my hair as I do wear pieces too. So anyway I just dyed it. check out the pictures and have a look. The only thing is the colour did not come out even so next time I will start from my ends then my roots or something. I might even get a different shade all together. Do you have any tips on doing your own hair dye? What products should I use. I might even go for a more of a mahogany brown/red or something next time. How do I get the colour to take on the ends better?

YouTube Hair bloggers

Just saw this over at AOL Blackvoices. The beautiful Patrice aka Afrobella compiled a list of YouTube hair bloggers. They are definitley worth a look. I have shared a video or two by them on here.

Black Voices top YouTube bloggers

As for my hair. I think I will try to do Kinky twists again or Senegalese twist. Looking for more tips.

My gorgeous fro

Just look at that hairline. It looks atrocious. I think it is because I wear a lot of pieces and my hair is always pulled back. Having said that though. My fro looks gorgeous in this pic. I often think my hair does not look nice when indeed it does. In this pic my hair is freshly washed and blow dried. It is just doing what it does. I now need to get serious about taking care of my hair.

Though I wonder if I should purchase a membership on Long Hair Care forum or make use of the many blogs and Youtubers out there. I need a routine that is simple and consists of no more than 4 products though they can be varied.

Johnson Products back to black

Johnson Products has gone back to black ownership. Read more in the link below

Johnson Products Black hair care line

Crunchy hair

When you go into the bargain stores, some products are worth a try. I bought two Tony&Guy products. One being the Jamelia model me conditioner and the other high gloss blow dry lotion. These were selling very cheap in Home Bargains so I thought I would give it a go. The conditioner is lovely and I will continue to use it untill it finishes.

However the High gloss blow dry lotion is horrible. It made my hands sticky and also caused my 100% natural hair to feel crunchy. I am certain some residue is there because I can see something falling like dust out of my hair when I comb it. Now I will need to wait to wash my hair for at least one weak. Now I know not everything is worth trying.

Hair Wrap

I am so addicted to YouTube and subscribe to a few people. Although I have a Youtube account I have no videos as I am working on getting a camcorder. However I will eventually begin doing still picture videos

Anyway I so wish my hair looked so lush after wrapping like this



She has beautiful hair, clearly a different texture to my own. So I do know that I cannot get the same results. It looks gorgeous. There a couple of other videos where she does roller set and shows you her technique on a doing a silk wrap

Check out ItsMsHeatherNicole's YouTube Page
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Kinky twist no

I so want some self styled Kinky Twist. The dvd is ok. It is a very simple dvd. My problem was that no matter how I twist tight etc. The hair would look loose and not together. I mean where my hair was the twist was loose but the extension looked good.

Practice sister. I have not given up yet. I have a suitcase full of hair to play with

Braids by Breslin kinky twists

I have known abot Marqueta Breslin's DVD's for years. My friend bought some where as I procrastinate. I have always wanted to buy at least one. So just on a whim I have purchased the above DVD which says is for beginners and experts alike. What is even more useful it states that you will learn both the braid in and the twist in method.

So now I will wait to get the DVD and see if it will teach me the skills I need. Whereas I will not be doing other people's hair I will be doing my own. Will give a review when I get it.

Find out more on what she offers at the Baids By Breslin website.

Kinky Twists Tutorials

I think I need to do more for myself in 2009. My hair being one thing I need to do more of myself. To be honest I do love my instant weaves for versatility but I love Kinky twist extensions even more. If I could teach myself and perfect this skill then I could do my hair whenever I want it done. Back in 2004 I was making myself proud and doing my hair. I can do it. I just need to apply myself better. I have quite a few bags of Marley braid to use.

So for 2009 I am setting one of my hair challenges as being able to do kinky twist extensions all by myself. I have been watching YouTube videos constantly. Afterall I improved my makeup techn
iques this way.

Check out these tutorials.

2009 - ya see mi

Well 2009 is here. What can I say about my hair. My edges need tender loving care and I am over due for a trim. I do bad things to my hair like gel it down for the week when I just cannot be bothered.

But there is hope. One of my favourite hair bloggers is back with a new blog showcasing her talents and her beautiful hair. Her old site www.roshini.net can now be found here http://www.glamazini.com/ and get this....she has a YouTube channel. I do too but no videoes as I have no video camera. So go check her out.

It is my birthday this month, so I am just trying to figure out what to do with my day or the weekend before. I must treat my hair to some TLC. I need to try new products too. I am getting bored of my Instant Afro weaves etc etc. It is just the styling that is the problem for me. For some reason I went from being able to say yes to twist outs to nah they aint for me.

Lets see if my attitude changes. Maybe some hair dye might help.

wash and blow dry

Okay I think I am okay with my hair. Whilst I was having my hair canerowed. My friend suggested I leave the back out. I didn't but it looked so fab. Now I feel it is too cold for my hair to be out over here. So when it gets warmer look out for my new colour and bravery. I do need to let my head of hair breath.

Anyway here are some pics of my hair freshly washed and towel dried. The second picture is blow dried but not salon blow dried. All this hair and I still cant think what suits me. I guess I am stuck in how I see others as opposed to what suits me.

Any style suggestions please leave a comment.

My hair my blog

I think I have been brainwashed or shamed into believing that I can only wear my hair one way. In its unaltered natural state. But is that me. Is it really who I am. No it's not. I like the fact that my hair is 100% natural and I am no longer limited in what I can do. But........I like change. Don't panic. I will not be relaxing my hair again. Decided that because of the constant style changes twists braids extensions canerows weaves you name it. Such a move would be unhealthy. 

I do intend to try harder to get to grips with natural style more often. However if I want to put on a curly or straight hairpiece that is what I am going to do. I love single braid extensions but I can not stand them after a month. Nor can I afford to get them done so often.

What may be best for me to do. Is to use this blog more effectively. I will develop it so it is not just my hair journey and more a place to find out what can be done with natural hair. Showcasing my love hate relationship with my hair, and inspirational folk. My fave YouTube videos and blogs etc.

Yeah I think I will take it there. Once that is in motion properly I might need to tweak my blog name.

Now if only I could create an html worthy banner for all my blogs

Urban Therapy

I am indeed a bit of a product junkie. But I am trying to slow down on that. So far I have not bought anymore hair grease and wil just use what I got for now.

Anyway I was in a store called Home Bargains. They sell branded goods really cheap. I came across a few products by Urban Therapy, their twisted sister range. One of those products was a relaxing straightening creme. I also bought their curl activator and 30 second curl spray.

I have only tried the straightening creme. It feels nice in my hair and smells nice too. I just used it to blow dry my hair and then flat ironed using my FHI ceramics. I didn't add any further products and I am pleased with the results. But we have torrential rain and I am not going outside.

I went out the other day and everyone thought I had styled my hair out. I will be styling my own hair for daily wear but as you may have gathered I do not seem to be doing too well on the DIY hair styles. Even more so the hair magazines are not catering to me. Plus my young gifted hair braider is at college so I will struggle to get my hair did.

Might end having to get twist extensions for winter but will see. Any style suggestions please let me know. My hair when blow dried is shoulder length or just below.

My lush braids

Just a short post to show off my braids. This is the best picture I could get hold of. I used synthetic hair called Bulk Ultimo by Aftress.

Why oh why

I really do love my braids. They are longer than what I generally like but they look so good on me. H0wever I am going to have to take them out. Those white bulbs are showing on my hair line. So I guess they got to go. I really wanted to keep my hair in braids for a while. But I will have to give my hair a break.

Then again I might change my mind in a few weeks.