Youtube: Children's Natural Hair Video
We have another Youtube hairstyle video!
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Back To School Style
Hey Everyone! School has started for us, and we are going to get back into the swing of things. Sorry for the lack of posts, but we are back! "N" is now a second grader!! I can't believe how quick she is growing up. When we started KandyLandKurls she was in kindergarten. (sad face) Anywho I would like to share our Back To School Style!
N decided she wanted mini twists for her hairstyle. Yes, since she is in second grade, she is starting to express what she wants to do with her hair, and clothes (here comes trouble.)
She also requested to wear her favorite hair accessory "Twirlyz." (Use the code: Kandy for 10% off.) Her new teacher loved it, and was trying to figure out how it stayed in her hair lol.
I created her twists the same way, as I did during our challenge. (-Click Here- to see what products we used & how we did them.) It took us about 6 hours to complete, with plenty of breaks.
I noticed while styling her twists, that it was taking a little longer than usual. It also seemed like her hair grew. I put together this collage from January (this year) up until today, of her twists. I was quite surprised by the results.
I'm so glad that I kept her hair in protective styling, for most of the summer, and it has paid off! Now who says protective styling doesn't provide growth LOL.
-What hairstyle did/will you create for Back To School?
Blended Beauty Guest Post
We are back with another guest post over at Blended Beauty. Make sure to check out our previous posts and their products!
Taliah Waajid World Natural Hair Show
If you take a look to the left side of our blog, we have our list of sponsors. Taliah Waajid is now our newest sponsor. Their products are sold in Walmart & Walgreens. In October they will host the 15th Annual World Natural Hair Show in College Park, GA. Click on our ad for more information on the event.
-Have you ever attended a natural hair show? If so how was your experience?
Guest Blogger: Revelle & Fifi
OUR TIGHTLY CURLY EXPERIMENT - SUMMER 2012!
WEEK 5, FINAL POST
Week 5 and we’re done! This is our last post, KandyLandKurl Landers. We have had an educational past five weeks, and so to draw a line under this experiment, I’ll recap the pros, cons, and the “what we’ve learnt” from the Teri La Flesh’s Tightly Curly Method, but not before I make one final mini-post about a wash ‘n go.
In short, I mentioned last week, that we would do a technique comparison between the TCM and a plain old WNG; because in my mind, since starting the experiment, the “tightly curly method is just another way to do a wash n’ go” So, here are the wash ‘n go results. (By the way, this is our first deliberate wash ‘n go)
(Same as in previous weeks), to keep her scalp eczema in check, I shampooed the scalp lightly with Head & Shoulders Eucalyptus Itchy Scalp Care, followed by a co-wash and detangling of the hair with Aussie Moist Conditioner. Again, detangling was a breeze due to the amount of conditioner that was already in her hair.
- Fresh out of the shower, I divided the hair into four sections, and applied Bee Mine’s Luscious Balanced Cream Moisturizer into each section, because again her hair needs moisture to avoid it becoming a tangled fuzzy/frizzy bird’s nest! Then, I followed that up with Cara B Moisturizing Hair Mist and Cara B Leave-In Conditioner / Daily Moisturizer (apologies for the dark pictures, it was a rainy day and we were indoors)
- Verdict: So, as suspected, the TCM is another way to do a WNG. However, while her WNG curls were not as defined, I now know that that can be easily achieved with the addition of a holding agent, such as gel or the like. The only real difference I noted was that with the WNG her curls were more elongated and a lot softer - whereas with the conditioner, per the TCM, her curls are stiffer, although they do soften after a couple days.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE TIGHTLY CURLY METHOD - SUMMARY
Pros | Cons | What we’ve learnt |
CONDITIONER | ||
- Because of the abundance of conditioner, the hair detangles easily in the shower - Depending on the hair type, curls can stay detangled for up to week | - If conditioner is applied to close to the scalp, it can cause itching and other scalp conditions to flare up | - Finding the right conditioner is a matter of trial and error. Some provide better slip than others, and some do a better job at defining curls than others |
Pros | Cons | What we’ve learnt |
MOISTURE | ||
- None that we experienced | - Depending on the hair type, conditioner can leave the hair dry. | - Conditioner by itself does not provide enough moisture for moisture-needy hair. - Add oils to help with moisture retention. (coconut oil, olive oil, Shea butter, etc.) |
Pros | Cons | What we’ve learnt |
DEFINITION | ||
- With the right conditioner (and maybe a holding agent, such as gel) defined curls can last a week | - Holding agents can cause build-up and white residue | - To achieve (our) curl uniformity, adding gel was mandatory - Flaxseed gel did not have sufficient hold to guarantee curl uniformity - Depending on the hair type, to get defined curls, the smoothing or doodling technique is necessary. - Plait/protect hair at night to maintain curl definition - Curls can be revived after a few days with water, and, if needed, more conditioner, oils, etc. |
Pros | Cons | What we’ve learnt |
Tightly Curly Method OVERALL | ||
- The TCM is a great option for beach/pool swimming. | - Not always possible to get the same results as the promoter of this method (Teri La Flesh) has achieved; different hair types yield very different results, tweaking is likely to be needed - Because hair takes long to dry, this may not work for most in the winter months. | - Because hair is coated in conditioner, it is really very well protected from harsh (swimming) conditions - The TCM is an alternative, and very similar, to traditional wash ‘n go’s - Even in the summer, hair can take an entire day to dry; start early. - Avoid touching hair while it is drying to help prevent fuzziness. - Depending on hair type, expect shrinkage |
Thanks for coming with us on this journey. I hope it has been helpful. After five weeks, it’s safe to assume that this will primarily be used as our beach/pool pre-treatment regimen, as I think that traditional wash and go’s can give the same results with the use of gels, etc. to achieve lasting curl definition and uniformity.
If you are a reader that has stumbled across this page and wanted to look back at what we did/experienced, here are the links to posts 1, 2, 3 and 4, in this experiment.
Thanks to Kandy for providing this forum! Until the next time, take care - Révelle & Fifi
Gabby Douglas & Her Hair
If you live under a rock (like me lol) and haven't been watching the Olympics. You might not know about the talented African-American 16-year-old Gabrielle “Gabby” Douglas, who has led the women's gymnastics team to a gold medal.
She has accomplished a lot more than many of us have, or ever will.
But instead of being proud of her accomplishments, as the first African American to win this title, some folks are worried about.....
Her hair!
Yes, you read it right, her hair.
From Twitter, Yahoo, & Facebook her hair is the hot topic. There has been a ton of negative comments such as:
"Gabby Douglas is cute and all..but that hair.....on camera."
"Why is her hair so nappy?"
"Someone went to London and forgot to pack her relaxer"
Some people are just caught up on the most insignificant things.
What are you thoughts?
Guest Blogger: Revelle & Fifi
OUR TIGHTLY CURLY EXPERIMENT - SUMMER 2012!
WEEK 4, POST 4
Helloooo all in Kandy Land! For week four of our Tightly Curly Experiment, I hoped to recap what we’ve done by repeating/combining previous aspects to see if we could get the same or better results. Summary: Um, emphasis on could! You’ll see what I mean…and, for our bonus topic, to switch things up, I discuss making homemade product. OK, let’s break it down!
- (Same as last week), to keep her scalp eczema in check, I shampooed the scalp lightly with Head & Shoulders Eucalyptus Itchy Scalp Care, followed by a co-wash and detangling of the hair with the remaining Aussie Moist Conditioner from last week. Again, detangling was a breeze due to the amount of conditioner that was already in her hair.
- Fresh out of the shower, I decided to try a conditioner that I had on hand – Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Conditioner. Harrumph! I didn’t like this at all. Much too light and not at all moisturizing – AT ALL! But, I’m getting ahead of myself.
- OK. So, going back to week 1, a) I added coconut oil – because of the added moisturizing benefit. And going back to week 3, b) I used a holding agent to increase the likelihood of curl uniformity. This time I used homemade flaxseed gel, for in my experience it leaves little to no build-up - we did have build-up with the Kinky-Curly Curl Custard Gel. The goal - replicate week 1’s softness and moisture and week 3’s crisp curl definition, minus the gel build-up. (See this week’s bonus topic for how to make flaxseed gel).
Alright, to start, I added a gel/oil mixture (again, see bonus topic) to a section, then added the Giovanni conditioner, separated the section with a Denman brush, “smoothed” each separation created by the brush and moved onto the next section. Click here for a visual of this application from last week. Here are our results – oh and with close-ups, for a change J
OUR FINDINGS (click on pictures to enlargen)
- Although we achieved moisture and softness due to the coconut oil, we failed miserably to repeat last week’s great curl definition. Reason? Flaxseed gel doesn’t have enough hold. I still like it though as a styling tool. I believe in and have used flaxseed oil repeatedly in the past for hold in cornrows, box braids, etc… but it’s clearly not enough for curl definition. BUT, as expected zero build-up, meaning, no white flaky residue.
- By Day 3, her curls disappeared into frizz and fuzz, albeit moisturized, and to get back Day 2 definition, in and of itself a challenge, would have been difficult, so I just plaited the hair and called it a week And, that’s all she wrote!
Before I move on to the bonus topic, I just want to say that next week will be our last post. I will focus on summarizing what we’ve learnt, and we’ll do a technique comparison. A what? Ok, so since week 1, I’ve thought all along, “hmm this tightly curly method is just another way to do a wash n’ go, no?” So, yeah we’ll do a wash and go with product (not sure which one yet) and see if we can’t get the same results. Okay? OK!
**Bonus Topic: Homemade Flaxseed Gel**.
PROS: Flaxseed gel is super easy to make, provides hold for protective styling, leaves little to no (more like “no”, in my opinion) residue, and is completely natural and very cost effective.
CONS: Flaxseed gel gives only a light to medium hold and has a short shelf life – it has to be refrigerated and lasts only about 3 weeks.
So this is how it is made. I use Spectrum Organic Whole Premium Flaxseed. And I’ve had the same 15 oz. $7 bag of seeds since last year May – uh huh, cost effective!
- Measure out 2 oz., or 4 tablespoons, of flaxseeds
- Put 1 and ¼ cups of water (I don’t stress on it being bottled or distilled water, that’s just me) into a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil
- Add flaxseeds and keep stirring intermittently (5-7 minutes) until water starts to thicken and froths. When the water/gel is a consistency of runny syrup, strain and let cool in the refrigerator. As it cools the gel will set even more.
- I use a knee high stocking to strain the gel, and I keep the seeds in the stocking in a container in the freezer to use a second time. After the second production, I throw those seeds away.
- On average, this process takes me 15 minutes.
For the gel/oil mixture I mentioned earlier (which typically I would use for protective styling), I blended the gel created and about an equal amount of liquefied coconut oil, put this in an application bottle and refrigerated it. Whenever I want to use it over the next coming weeks, I will microwave it for about 30-40 seconds to get it back to a liquid state. And that’s it.
See you next week for the round up, and thanks for your comments and feedback!
- Révelle & Fifi
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