Wild Wild West

Sooo recently I went on a trip to Nevada/Arizona. I've never been that far west before, but I had a blast while keeping my hair cute and simply maintained. The only hair items I took with me were hair flowers, a ribbon, brush and comb. One thing I learned very quickly was how drying the air was on my hair, and how hard the water is on it and my skin. Since I'm all about light traveling I took no hair products with me, but I do know how to maintain hair in dry conditions.

Whether in Nevada or  in humid Ohio here are a few quick tips:

1. Don't use products that have a high alcohol content. The alcohol will dry your hair even more
2. Minimize the use of high heat from blow driers and flat irons
3. When towel drying your hair try not to rub, twist, or tug too much
4. Conditioner is your friend!!! Using deep conditioners and/or hot oil treatments are super helpful
5. Try to choose a product that's heat activated. Make the arid conditions work in your favor

Before the trip I wore my hair in 2 strand flat twists going all the way back. I kept these in for a good 5 or 6 days. Whenever I travel somewhere I don't want to have to fuss over my hair too much.

The morning of my flight I undid my hair and wore a twist out. The bigger the flat twists the bigger your curls will be. I wanted full hair so the initial twists were at a medium size and not super tight. I didn't add any product to it. Simply untwist, added a flower, and left!

Left: Back of my hair

I was thrown off by how many people LOVED my hair!! Complete strangers would stop me, say something walking by, or start up a conversation either over my flowers, or my fro that I wore later on the trip. I stayed in Vegas for 5 days. Everyday a different color flower was worn depending on the outfit  ^_^  

At night I didn't cover my hair at all. Just slept carefully so the curls wouldn't be flattened too much. Day 1 to maybe the 3rd day everything stayed in tact and was fine. We stayed pretty busy while out there, so after the 3rd day I was pretty pooped and slept any and every way! Woke up diagonal in the bed with a mess of hair. Before going to the pool I used my hair ribbon to pull my hair up and off my neck so I could get in and decorated with a flower of course. After being in the sun for so long not only was my skin dry, but so was my hair. As I said before I don't like fussing over my hair when on vaca. After taking a shower, and letting my hair steam a little, I put conditioner in (courtesy of our wonderful housekeeper) and tied back with the hair ribbon. The middle picture (above) with the red flower is the result of that. Simple curly fro and out the door to see the Lion King Broadway Show!!

More hair tips:

1. When hair is wet the cuticle expands. This is a great time to nourish your hair and let it soak it up cutting down on frizz
2. Hair products with silicon in them are useful if you have hair that tends to poof or frizz in any humidity filled situation. John Freida's Frizz Ease is a great product to help fight this!
3. Sometimes it's easier to just go with the flow than to fight the current. When it comes to moisture filled environments if you have wavy, curly, or kinky hair just let it do its thing. Find a style that works with your texture!

I love wearing different hair flowers and pins in my hair. They can be worn casual and more formal. They come in all sizes, some have glitter, some ribbon or feathers---it just depends on your style or mood. Since the flower can be a focal point of your style for the day big jewelry or loud makeup isn't needed. I also don't spend a ton of money on hair accessories either. I found these flowers at a local hair shop for about 99 cents seriously. I've also taken plastic flowers that were meant for decorating and cut/tied them into hair pieces. Get creative and have fun!