Overdue! I cut layers and a few inches off sometime in November...

california and sade concert

and we bust out in may with mini twists my friends! took me 7 1/2 hours! But i LOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE it. I'm going to have so much funs with this and am determined to keep them for a month...we'll see how this goes.

got the idea here: http://beadsbraidsbeyond.blogspot.com/2011/02/mini-twists-insprired-by.html

http://beadsbraidsbeyond.blogspot.com/2011/02/mini-twists-more-info-your-questions.html
(peep the style updates there too...look under the february and march tabs i think)

what i did (next time i'll take pics throughout the process):
- i wanted to use dry hair to start so that they would stay longer and have little to no shrinkage.
-washed and deep conditioned for about 20 minutes.
-applied herbal essence hydralicious conditioner and coconut oil and flat twisted and french braided (a flat twist that turns into a braid) in about 7 braids to dry overnight
-took braids out and banded in 6 sections the next afternoon to stretch (hair was still mildly damp)
-braided in four braids after while i ran errands later that day.
(please skip some of those steps!)

-i did one section at a time. i took me roughly an hour and a half per section (a little more in the back)
-i used jane carter solutions scalp serum on my scalp (I like this product a lot but will not repurchase. only because I can make i myself for a fraction of the price and can specify it to my liking. i've already added tea tree and lavender! the dropper makes it sooooo easy to apply), taliah waajid style and shine on the entire length. sealed with: castor oil on the roots and ends, and coconut oil on the lengths.
-i trimmed my ends as i went as necessary (search and destroys via the curly nikki method)

-i only stopped once (at the 6 hr mark) to cook a late late dinner and indulge in tv time.

......................................................................................................................................................

Mini twists lasted a month and a half. not sure if i'll be doing them again soon. i LOVED them, but HATED the take down and detangling that followed. part of that may have been because I washed them the day before I took them out. the area where the the twist started (from a braid at the root) was very tangled

if i do anything new i promise to post! i'm back to co-washing and currently using john frieda to clean my scalp and yes to cucumbers to deep condition and detangle. i want to try mini twists sometime this month but am borderline TERRIFIED! Eek. i'll def post pics if i do!

oh yea...not sure if i ever even mentioned that I was using the tangel teaser but I had to ix nay on that last month. ate up my poor ends which i think is to blame for the shape they were in until very recently. yikes. putting that sucker in the trash. sorry if i recommended that SHREDDER to any of you before thorough investigation. :(. if any of you ladies (or gents) choose to use it anyway, please do so with CAUTION!

ALSO!!!: Garnier Fructis has brought back their soft curl creme disguised as "Survivor Rough it Putty." whatever for the name change! the ingredients (except for a few) and consistency and identical! i'm beyond excited. not let's just hope it works as good as I remember! ha. i've realized that when it comes to soft hold, i like products that go on sort of sticky. they don't dry that way though.

So my hair is been super duper dry lately. ugh! but i saved it just this past weekend and am so in love! (SIDE NOTE: i did a henna gloss with about 75% henna 25% conditioner last week. That was seeming to do very little.) UNTIL...! I revisited aubrey organics honey suckle rose conditioner as a deep treatment (why did I ever leave this???), then i made a mist of the honey suckle rose, yes to cucumbers condish, and water. LOVE! and tracked down some taliah wajiid style and shine because I was crazy about the sample. LOVE! and sealed with apricot oil. i'm so in love with the results. so smooth and ubber soft and and shiny. hopefully this stellar combo will get me through summer. glad to be back to health. gaaaahhh!

oh yea, i've also been washing with a black soap mix that i made and love!

didn't take many "hair pics" this month. i've also tried to include some of my natural friends in this album as well. dec has been all about individual braids (which took my mom and i SEVERAL hours but lasted from thanksgiving through mid december. a little longer than 3 weekends and 2 full weeks i think), a brief braid out, and then I will probably braid it up again just before christmas. we'll see.

I have been (and will be) everywhere this december (atlanta, north florida, orlando, miami, dc) so i'm hoping that all of the weather and climate changes will not take a toll on my tresses. we shall see.

shea butter is a must this season since it's so versatile and can be used in just about every winter climate. and herbal essence hello hydration is in extra heavy rotation underneath as well. i'll be sure to cover up as much as i can stand in dc, but hopefully i will feel like braiding it again once i get up there to protect it and have it be much less of a hassel everyday.

press and trim (made it a strong 3 weeks then my scalp just couldn't take it), individual braids,

braids

a FEW pics of SOME OF the bday festivities, lol

No real pics since my cam broke in Dec. But I do have all of these random bed-head type pics in my phone...here goes it

just thought i'd share...today was pretty much the best hair day ever...hopefully most of that is attributed to method and not to the fact that i henna'd through the night and dt'd this morn...

after rinsing my henna out and after my dt (with aubry organics honey suckle rose) i detangled again with suave humecant (my fave). rinsed and then smoothed with herbal essence hello hydration and my brush in about 5 sections squeezing the section together when done smoothing with the brush. and (didn't rinse that out of course). then while still in the shower i put aloe gel over each of those sections...got out and wrapped my hair in my turbie twist for about 10-15 min. then put on a satin scarf til i was ready to go (about an hour later? maybe less)...fought every urge to touch until it dried. needless to say i'm very happy with the results! not much shrinkage at all. the pics are of completely dry hair. (well maybe the roots were still a little damp. just a little)

hopefully this is not a fluke. lol. hope this will help someone...ANYONE...lol