The Best of 2015: My Hair's Hits & Misses

2015 was a really great year for my hair. I wasn't concerned with length, I didn't use heat, and I lived for deep conditioning. I still made a TON of mistakes along the way. Here's a recap of the best things (and the worse things) that happened to my hair.

Hits: Protective Styling

If you haven't read about my LOVE AFFAIR with Kurly Klips---then---idk where you've been chile! It's all that I talked about for the last 6 months! So here's your chance to catch up on why I think that

KURLY KLIPS ARE THE WORLD'S MOST VERSATILE PROTECTIVE STYLE EVER!!!!

Hits: Trimming

I've trimmed and dusted my hair several times this year (Like here, here, here, and here). Way more than I ever have in my healthy hair journey. And while frequent trimming would have been a miss for me in past years---this year it was a hit. My hair is as healthy as it's ever been. My curls look fantastic when wet and my ends are perfectly blunt---and y'all know that I LIVE for healthy blunt ends!

Hits: Curlformers, Perm Rods, and Twist Outs
When my hair wasn't in a protective style---I styled using (most recently) curlformers, perm rods and twist outs. I can't say that I've masted any one of them, but I can say that y'all will definitely see more of them next year.

Hits: My New Staple Products Bentonite Clay Hair Mask Treatment
When I first chopped my hair, I cut it whilst it was straight---which was a total mistake because I was still left with some bits of straight hair on my bangs. It was nearly impossible to tell the difference between my texlaxed hair and my natural curl so I turned to Bentonite Clay! It's amazingness in a jar. It's moisturizing, detoxifying, a shine enhancer, frizz eliminator----just curl defining goodness. Here's how I mix it up and get my curls poppin!

Misses: Wash and Gos
I mean---wash and NOsss!  After about a month of experimenting with wash and gos---I realized that my hair behaves better when it's stretched. It's less tangled, it stays moisturized, my end are far less prone to breakage. Maybe one day, I'll revisit wash and gos, but for now---I'm staying far far away from them.

Misses: High Puffs
My staple natural hair style! Omgosh---how I love this style. It's effortless. And that's the problem. It's so effortless that I'll rock this style for days without moisturizing or sealing my hair. My ends dry out and the curls tangle. Whilst, I'm not vowing to never wear a high puff again, I am going to wear them less and make sure that I moisturize my hair better. Plus, my hair is long enough now, that I can rock a high bun instead! Which is far more kind to my ends!

What were the best (and not so wonderful) moments of your #washdayexperience this year? Share the dets below!

Besitos!
KLP

An InLinkz Link-up

[Hairstyle] Flirty Tuck and Roll | The #WashDayExperience

I swore up and down that I was gonna be flaunting big bouncy curls all spring. And I really wanted to...but real talk---I'm an updo kinda girl. I'm far more comfortable with my hair up and out of the way than I am with it blowing in the wind. I sure hope that you guys aren't totally bored with my hair!

This #washdayexperience, I stretched my hair in a few medium sized twists then went for a tuck and roll style. Here's how I got started:

Pre-Shampoo: Redken Extreme Strength Builder Plus
Shampoo: Jessicurl Cleansing Cream
Clay Mask: Aztec Healing Bentonite Clay (+ Apple Cider Vinegar & Aloe Vera Juice)
Deep Condition: Jessicurl Deep Treatment
Leave ins: Jessicurl Too Shea Conditioner + DIY Hair Butter

The Results:
I started by applying Redken Extreme Strength Builder Plus to my unwashed hair and gently detangling. I totally owe you guys a product review on this protein treatment. I really love it! But the biggest issue with the size. I only got 2 (maybe 3) uses out of the 8oz container and I haven't been able to find it in a bigger size yet. 

Jessicurl Hair Cleansing Cream is honestly a top notch shampoo for naturally curly hair. I love the way that it cleanses without stripping and my hair actually feels moisturized and tangle free afterwards. Totally a #winner. My bentonite clay mask isn't pictured but I used the same exact process and ingredients as shown in this #washdayexperience.

If you only try one Jessicurl product---please let it be the Deep Conditioning Treatment. I don't even have words for how much I LOVE this conditioner. My hair stays crazy moisturized after I use this. Honestly---I don't even know why on earth that I use anything else!

To style my hair, I applied a few drops of Almond Oil to my freshly deep conditioned and rinsed hair. Then I applied my leave-ins (Jessicurl Too Shea Conditioner and my DIY Hair Butter). in sections To stretch my curls, I installed a bunch of medium sized two strand twists.

I let the twists dry overnight. In the morning, I unraveled and fluffed. The twist out was super cute on it's own but I just didn't feel like wearing it out. So, to get this flirty tuck and roll, I created a deep side part then sectioned off my bangs. Starting on the right side, I gently rolled my hair around my head stopping occasionally to secure the roll with a few pins. I kept rolling around my nape and up to the opposite side of my head. I stopped the roll just above my eyebrow and secured with a final pin. A few more carefully placed pins to shape my bangs and viola!

Hmm... that explanation kinda sucks...If you want a step by step pictorial let me know!

How was your #washdayexperience?

Besitos!
KLP

An InLinkz Link-up

[Hairstyle] Wash Day | My First Flat Twist and Curl

I've had a luxuriously TERRIBLE track record with braid and twist outs on my texlaxed hair. I love them. They HATE me. I kept trying, changing my technique, adjusting my product. And they still hated me.

How to: Twist Out French Tuck (circa 2014)

The ONLY good thing about a busted braid or twist out is that they give updos fabulous texture. Like this uber cute french tuck that I did last year:\

How to: Twist out with Satin Rollers (circa 2014)

I've only had one twist out that looked decent enough to walk out of the house when my hair was fully texlaxed. Ugh...but it didn't last because I forgot to use a holding product. 
 
But, I'm a glutton for punishment, so I decided to give the twist out another try. I figured that now that maybe since I chopped, things would be better. Here's how my #washdayexperience went:

1. Extreme Deep Condition- To start, I gently detangled and applied a mix of OGX Repairing Awapuhi Ginger Instant Recovery Mask, Herbal Essences Honey I'm Strong, and Organix Hydrating Macadamia Oil ConditionerTreatment from root to tip. I massaged in a little extra virgin coconut oil to seal in the conditioners, covered with a plastic cap and got comfortable under my heat cap again for about an hour.
2. Air dry- After rinsing the deep conditioner, I blotted my hair with a cotton t-shirt, applied a little extra virgin coconut oil in sections then wrapped it in the t-shirt to dry a bit more.  
3. Leave-ins- My hair was about 80% dry when I applied a little Jessicurl Too Shea Conditioner and a dab of my hair butter then I flat twisted in 7 sections (3 in the front and 4 in the back) and set the ends on white perm rods. 

The Results:

I'm actually still in shock that my hair actually looks...dare I say it...DECENT! Texture galore. Curls galore. Effortless movement galore. I twirled y'all. Allll day. I twirled! The shape of my hair looks amazing. I attribute that to my lob (long bob) cut. I adored the way that my hair looked on the left side. The curls were perfect. The right side---meh...not so much. I forgot to take a picture of my flat twists but I did one on the left side and two on the right side. Next time, I'll only do one on the right side and secure the perm rod a little tighter to get a curl instead of a wave.

I bet that you noticed that I haven't used my BELOVED Matrix Detangling Solution or tea rinsed in a while. Well, my hair doesn't tangle in the shower anymore! I haven't had ONE tangle since I chopped. Plus, the amount of hair that I lose each wash day has decreased dramatically. I pinch myself every wash day. I swear it's like a dream come true!

As I sectioned my hair to flat twist it, I grabbed my scissors and dusted my ends. I don't have a timeline of when (or if) I'll chop the 2-3 inches of wavy, curly texlaxed bits on the ends of my bangs yet. But I noticed some straighter pieces while my hair was wet and they had to go! I'm definitely not afraid of my scissors anymore!

Oh and you're probably wondering why do I have so many conditioners? Well, what had happened was---my product stash is OVERFLOWING. It's very very very pitiful. I feel like a hoarder. I grabbed a couple of my half-empty conditioners, mixed them all together and slapped it into my hair. I was pleasantly surprised at how soft and fluffy my hair felt after I rinsed the conditioner.

These curls are fabulous but y'all know that I love a good updo! The next day, I whipped my hair into a fat halo braid. I did a tutorial on it a million moons ago. You can check it out here.

How was your #washdayexperience this week?

An InLinkz Link-up