New Protective hairstyle: Crochet Braids

Hey there ladies and gents. I have been doing some research lately, in an attempt to discover a better way to pack way my hair without taking two entire days to install Senegalese or kinky twists into my hair. So I will be trying ... Crochet Braids.

Above is the type of hair that I have decided to try using for my first ever install of Crochet Braids. Now I just have to decide on which braid pattern I want to go with!!!

The two patterns above are the same, and should be able to give me maximum flexibility!!!

But, I also like this pattern!!!

Well, anyway, I plan on doing the crochet braids with the curly hair within the next week or so!!! I will keep you all posted, and will update my hair growth very soon ( It has been growing like wildfire since I cut all the straight hair off i.e. big chop style back in July!!! )

Until then, 

Xudafiz(^_^)

Purple and Violet Senegalese Twists: Tailbone/ Butt Length

Hiya love bugs!!! <3 I am not even going to waist time with introductions!!! Let's get going !!!

* What you will need!!! *

1. 2 packs of purple x-pression hair length 82 inches
2. 2 packs of violet x-pression hair length 82 inches
3. Aluminum rattail comb
4. Bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar
5. Ecostyler get (maximum strength/ Hold Strength 10)
6. Sheamoisture Deep Conditioner ( any kind, as long as it is deep conditioner)
7. Spray Bottle with Water
8. Package of Bobby pins
9. Barber Shears
10. Tangle Teezer
11. 5 Scrunchies

Purple Hair in the package

Violet hair in the package

Purple hair in it's original form in the package

Purple and Violet hair in the sun ( You can clearly see the different between the two here)

Rattail Comb

Water Spray Bottle

Eco Styler Gel with Max Hold of 10

Shea Moisture Deep Conditioner

Bobby Pins

Barber Shears

Hair Detangler / Tangle Teezer

Scrunchies

 * How to Prepare/ Set Up!!! *



First- Fill your sink or a large bucket with hot water. Make sure it is steaming. Pour the apple cider vinegar in the sink or bucket. Open a package of hair and place the entire package in the water ACV mixture. Soak the hair well. Once a film covers the top of the water combination pour or let the water out. Rinse the hair once or twice more in the hot water. This removes the protective coating on whatever the stuff is that is used to protect the hair. That stuff make your scalp itch when you get new braids or hair installed if you do not remove it. Do this with each package of hair, then dry hair with paper towels.

Second- Take the washed hair pack and unbraid it. Make sure the hair is even, and cut the hair exactly in the middle where the rubber band is attached. The hair will now be 41 inches long.

Third- Take your tangle teezer or denman brush and detangle the hair. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each pack of hair.

Fourth- Take each pack of hair and feather it so that you do not have blunt ends and you havea nice tapered look once you have installed your twists.

Fifth- Put your feathered hair away until you are ready to install your twists!!!

*How to Prepare Your Hair Before Installing Twists!!!*

Step One- Wash your hair with your favorite natural shampoo, ACV, or with Rhassoul or Bentonite Clay ( make sure to make your clay mixture with lots of water and or aloe vera juice and ACV so that it is not thick when you apply it)

Step Two- Rinse the cleaning product completely out of your hair and apply your favorite conditioner. Detangle your hair with conditioner still in your hair. Twist or braid each completed detangled section.


Step Three- Rinse conditioner out of your hair while still sectioned in the twists or braids.

Step Four- Remove all of the twists or braids and section your hair into 5 parts:

• Right Side
• Left Side
• Front
• Middle
• Back

make sure all sections are straight and neat and squeaky clean, because you are going to install your twists within a specific section. Apply leave in conditioner ( I prefer to use Deep Conditioner here) to each section. Then detangle and re-twist each of the 5 sections

Step Five- DO NOT FLAT IRON OR BLOW DRY YOUR HAIR AT ALL!!! The reason I say this is because I have watched numerous youtube video's and have even watched professional hair stylists do this while prepping to install braids or twists. If you are attempting to be natural or are going to be using this as a protective hair style, it does not make any sense whatsoever to make your hair straight. ESPECIALLY since you age going to have to moisturize your scalp and hair throughout the duration of having this hairstyle. You want to install your twists while your hair is in it's natural state and especially while it is wet because that is the time when your hair is easier to manipulate without snapping and breaking. Plus, if you flat iron and blowdry your hair, you are removing all of the moisture that you have put in your hair and when you apply water and your moisturizers to your hair when it is in the twists your hair is going to shrivel up and look weird with the extension hair that is not your hair texture at all!!!  

Step Six- I cannot stress enough... Make sure that your hair is wet  before you install your twists. You want to keep your water spray bottle close and at the ready, because you want your scalp and hair well moisturized and not dry. It is always best to manipulate hair (especially when you are doing a long term hairstyle) when it is wet to minimize breakage... hence step #5

*The Installing Process!!!*

Step One- Set up your work area by placing a large towel down on the surface you will be working on. Put your rattail comb, tangle teeser/ denman brush, ecostyler gel, spray bottle with water, bobby pins and scrunchies ontop of the towel. Place a chair next to your work area. Put your x-pression hair ontop of the chair. Make sure to keep the purple hair in a separate pile from the violet hair. * if you  prefer an ombre look, you would install one color for the top half of your hair and the other color on the bottom back part of your hair. For a mixed marble look (which is what I installed to make both colors blend in) I will give you instructions on how to mix each twist *



Step Two- Select a section to work on. Make sure that the section is at least damp while you are working. Use your spray bottle when necessary to keep the hair wet and easy to manipulate. Use your rat tail comb to make straight and neat parts for each row and piece you will be working on. I started with the right side making micro/ small sized parts for mini twists. I do the same thing for the left side and at least three rows in the front section of my head. I chose the small sized twists because they tend to last longer and look neater when your hair grows out. These are however the only sections that I will install the mini/ micro/ small sized twists in my hair. The  rest of the front section will be done in medium sized twits, and so will the back section . The middle section is going to be my cheat section (^_^). I am going to make large twists in the middle section because that is my trouble area with sparse hair... well not really sparse, but the hair is not as dense in that section. Plus... nobody is going to see that section anyway!!!



Step Three- For each individual twist extension, I grab a thin/ small amount of violet hair and an equal amount of purple hair. I stagger the two different colored pieces, put them together , but pull the violet hair in the opposite direction that I pull the purple hair . What this does  is elongates the hair making sure that the twist reaches the length of tailbone that I want to achieve as well as making the feathered look more pronounced


Step Four- Before placing extension hair , I comb/detangle small section I will be twisting and apply a generous amount of sheamoisture deep conditioner directly to the scalp and the roots of the soon to be twisted section and up the hair shaft at least 3 inches. I then apply eco-styler gel to the remaining length of my hair. I do not apply the gel to my scalp or the roots at all in order to prevent buildup. I then part the small section in two halves and place the extention hair in the middle.

Step Five-  I use the twist in method to attach the extention hair to my natural hair. I only do the twist in method for two reasons.

1. It looks very neat and professional and I have mastered the art of installing my extention hair this way.
2. I hate the way braid in method looks. If I wanted braids , I would have done braids!!! Plus, I do not know how to do that method to my liking, and probably never will!!!

*please see complete recap from Kinky Vs Senegalese Twists Blog: http://karebearwithnaturalhair2.blogspot.com/2013/08/kinky-twists-vs-senegalese-twists.html * 

Alikay Invisible Roots Method  -  My favorite and possibly the more challenging of the two methods is the Alikay invisible root method. Here the objective is to twist your hair from the root directly into the extension hair. This is done by measuring the size of your twist creating a small, medium or large section. Divide the portion of hair that you have selected into two even pieces. Place the extension hair in between the two pieces of your own hair. This should form an "X". Holding one section of your hair and a section of the extension hair, you begin to wrap the piece of your hair around the extension hair clockwise. Do the same thing to the other piece of your hair and the remaining extension piece, except twist your hair around the extension piece counterclockwise. Continue twisting the hair down in both sections individually about 1-2 inches. Then with the two pieces , you begin two strand twists. Make sure that your hair blends into the extension hair so that when your hair stops, it can successfully remain in the twist without altering the look of the hairstyle. When you twist your hair using this method depending on the color you decide upon, the hair looks as if it has grown out of your head and you merely styles it like this. 

Step Six- I repeat steps One through Five for each section, until my entire head has been completed.

Step Seven- Go through the finished sections and cut off the free hair that sticks out of the twists with your shears/ scissors.

Step Eight- Boil some hot water and dip the ends of your twists via small sections in the water to seal the ends. Remove and put all of the items away that you were using on your hair save the towel. Pour some of the boiling water in the middle of the towel and place it ontop of your head to seal the hair ontop of your head.

*side note, the Bobby pins are used in place of clips to individually pin down the twist that you are currently working on , and remove the weight of tention when you are twisting delicate hair, or hair that can not handle too much pressure from being held in a certain angle while you are completing the twist. So in essence, it keeps your hair from pulling and hurting your scalp. The hair clips and scruncii's I used to separate and keep various sections up and pout of the way, keep parts in place, and keep sections divided!!!*

Tupo Kay: My original inspiration for this color combination!!!

Yeah... That Part!!!

This Color is ... EVERYTHING!!!

No Flash!!!

Front View

Front View

Front and Right Side

Front and Left Side

Just dipped and clipped ends

The Naked Truth!!!

Okay ladies and gents.... I have finally completed the long awaited blog!!! I am going to try and keep you up to date a bit more. But so far ... this is literally the best install I have ever done!!! People ask me all of the time if I do hair for other people ... Even after I tell them that it took me two days to complete this look!!! Well, anywho... I Installed this on the 27th of November... and it is now February 2nd!!! And it STILL looks good!!! I must tell you though. I am keeping my hair moisturized and clean. Scalp included. I may have this hair in for a while, but when I re-do my hair, I make sure to wash the extension hair, wash cleanse my real hair and scalp, and install the hair all over again with the same steps I just provided you all with. My goal at this point is to manipulate my hair as little as possible, and see how long I can keep this hair style in . Keeping my hair clean is a key component. Anyway... this is it, this is all, and until I have something interesting to share... I shall chat you all later!!! 


Hugs and Smiles!!!

-Kare (^_^)

Happy New Year !!!

Hey there love bugs!!! Just wanted to let you know that I am going to be hitting you with the new blog on how I achieved my Purple and Violet Senegalese twists soon!!! I have had soooo much stuff going on already in the new year!!! But I will have it for you soon!!! (^_^)

Getting ready for the new year!!!

Hello there love bugs.... I decided to get into gear and actually create a blog that was up to date. And since April 2014 has already come and gone, it only makes sense to change my Blog  objective... Which is to grow my natural hair to Waist length by April 2015. Can it be achieved by that date??? Nope, but the adventure is in discovering what works, and documenting what I have learned so that I can share and continue to grow and nurture my beautiful tresses and give you beautiful beings all of the tips I learned on this expedition!!! (^_^) I am hopeful that I can provide you detailed information about these lovely Purple and Violet Senegalese Twists that I installed over Thanksgiving Holiday. So please stay tuned!!!