Video: Warning High Heat!

Warning: High Heat!

How do you protect your hair from heat damage?? Do you have any horror stories? I know I do!! One of the worst things that I've don't to my hair was trying to hot comb it. The comb was way too hot and burned right through my hair. The section was on the crown of my head. so there was no hiding it. About two inches of hair was left. Terrible!! Learned my lesson with that! You can learn more about heat damage H E R E!!

Share your stories on my Facebook Fan Page wall! H E R E!!

CLOSED: Hair Challenge 2014!

In case you didn't know, there's a hair challenge going on right now, and it is Free.99! I've decided to commit and join in with it. Basically it's for you to grow your hair naturally for the next two years. The challenge is for you not to wear wigs, weaves, or braid extensions! This can be hard, especially with winter coming, and protective styles, such as these, being worn a lot during this season. There are women from all over who are joining the challenge. There will be future events, before and after pics, networking, you can talk to others who have joined it, and more.

Over these two years you are to maintain healthy hair, and grow it to a length of your choosing. Here's a quick fact from the Natural Hair Challenge 2014 site:

"Hair grows about ½ inch per month, so in one year you could easily grow 6” of hair.  In two and a half years you could grow 15 inches of natural hair and even more if your factor in the hair you started with.  If you started with 4" of hair, that could easily total 19 inches of hair …"

I always try to keep my hair growing and healthy. Sticking with this is part of my New Year Resolution! I think it will be fun to challenge myself to grow my hair longer in this time frame! The other part of my New Year Resolution is to stick to things on my to do list. I always make a list of things I want to do, need to do, places I want to go, places to see, etc., but never get to them. My resolution is that once a month I will do one thing on my to do list!

Examples of things on my list:

1. Try a specific restaurant in town
2. Try out for a specific group I'm interested in
3. Attend an annual festival I never make it to
4. Visit some small local shops I've never been to

What is your New Year Resolution and how do you plan on sticking to it??? It's def not too early to start thinking about it! Have you ever stuck to a resolution that you made? What's the longest you've went? That leads me to this........a New Year Resolution Giveaway!!!!

To Enter You Must:

1. Follow me on Twitter, and tweet "I'm entering @MzDezy New Year Resolution Giveaway #NaturalHair" (Bonus Entry)
2. Like A Natural Hair Affair fan page on Facebook, and on the wall say what your New Year Resolution is, AND how you plan to stick with it. (1 Entry)

Rules:

1. Must follow me on Twitter, and tweet the above message (Bonus Entry)
2. Must like the Facebook fan page, submit your resolution AND plan (1 Entry)
3. All submissions must be received before 11:59 PM December 31, 2011

Giveaway Prize:

The winner of this giveaway will receive a gift basket with things to help them with their New Year Resolution!! You'll be nice and refreshed in the new year, and able to keep track of your progress. 

Included: Note pads to keep you on track of your new year resolution, a jar of my hand whipped shea coconut body & hair butter, a jar of my sweet almond body sugar scrub, a sample of my lavender bath salts, a manicure/pedicure tool set, and a pair of my handmade earrings!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

Helpful links:

A Natural Hair Affair Facebook fan page H E R E!!
@MzDezy on Twitter H E R E!!
Hair Challenge 2014 official site H E R E!!
Hair Challenge 2014 Facebook page H E R E!!

Style Quickie: Sock Bun

I was looking through some older pictures and came across ones I took while styling sock buns. There is an older post on this style I wore, and you can watch the YouTube video that inspired me. The link for the video is under the "links" tab at the top.

 

Products Used:

1. Peppermint Shampoo by Dark and Lovely Naturally
2. Wave Moisturize by Dark and Lovely Naturally
3. Leave-in Conditioner by Motions

The products that I used can be found at local beauty supply stores, or even drug stores. They were about $5 each. I love this shampoo! Peppermint stimulates blood circulation in the scalp, and you can feel it working. My hair is soft afterward, smells great, and is tangle free. The wave moisturizer smells great and a little goes a long way. When doing twists the moisturizer helps to keep them from unraveling. The leave-in conditioner is a great go to product. It's inexpensive, works well, and lasts a long time. It leaves your hair feeling moisturized, soft, and easy to manage.

Tools Used:

Rat Tail Comb to help make large parts & Large Tooth Comb to help detangle

 

Elastics to make pony tails for the buns & Clips to hold extra hair out of the way. You may also need a bobby pin or two.

Styling:

After washing, applying product, and sectioning hair I begin to blow dry it

All that hair!! I hardly ever blow dry it, so I didn't realize how much it had grown!

I ended up with 3 sections for this style. They're all completely optional and you can change it up! You can have 3 buns if you'd like, make the 3 the same size, do something different in the front besides two strands....endless possibilities! An elastic is used initially to make 2 ponytails with the middle and bottom sections.

The front section is clipped out of the way. In the end, this will be twisted into small two strands. 

The rolled sock is placed over the ponytail. You do this just as if the sock was an elastic.

This part was easier to do if I had an elastic on my wrist before grabbing the hair. You want to fold the hair down and around the sock. Make sure  the sock is covered evenly on all sides with your hair. Next, secure the hair with the elastic that's around your wrist. There may be pieces of hair that are sticking out from under the elastic. That's fine! Roll that hair under as if doing a big twist. Continue around the bun, then secure the end with a bobby pin.

I ended up with one big bun in the middle and a small one at the bottom.

The front section was then twisted into small two strands. I used the wave moisturizer for this part. 

Completed two strands!

I pulled the twists up and secured them with a hair comb. You can leave them down, secure up with a bobby pin, or other hair piece. You can be creative here!

SUGGESTION: See the white showing on my top bun? I'd suggest using a black sock, because of this. If you do have small gaps it won't be noticeable.

SUGGESTION: If a hair elastic is too thick/big for your hair try using a small rubber band to make the initial ponytail. That's what I ended up doing for the smallest bun in the very back.

To see another way I wore my sock buns check out an older post H E R E !!


Sock Buns are:

• easy updos
• good styles for transitioners
• quick
• easy to switch from casual to more formal
• nice protective styles

~~ Do you have any variations of this style? Show me!! ~~

Don't forget to Like my Facebook Fan Page!! Follow me on Twitter @MzDezy

MzDezyB on YouTube!

YouTube is a site that I've learned a lot from--both good and bad. It helped me learn how to do flat two strand twists, reconstruct my own t-shirts, make flax seed gel, that there reallyare people in the world who put bacon on everything, the latest dance moves to avoid at all costs, and more! I had no idea how challenging it could be to make my own video for YouTube!! So far I have two made!!! The first was the most difficult, but I made it. Check them out, subscribe to my channel, let me know what you think, and keep your eye out for more!!