My First Giveaway

While I participate in various areas of social media I have to say that my Instagram followers are the most interactive. To celebrate the first 150 people who've decided to join my on my journey I decided to have a giveaway.

I wanted the prize to be something valuable and unique so I decided on a bespoke fashion doll. The winner will be able to customize the doll to their specifications from the custom colored and styled hair to the shoes.

A doll with this degree of customization would normally have a fairly hefty price tag, but I want to give something of that reflects my appreciation in as many ways as possible.

I'm looking forward to working with the winner. The rules of the giveaway are really simple. A repost of the picture below on Instagram with the hashtag #twistednturneddoll and to be a follower of mine on FB and/or Google+, Twitter and Instagram. That's it.

All the best to everyone who enters!

Do to the nature of creating a custom doll, the delivery time will be between 4-6 weeks after final detail agreement with the winner.

My Yarn Loc Adventure

Now that I've finally finished my first Yarn Loc installation I want to talk about the things that I learned:

1. Unless you have practiced adding extension material to hair, it will probably take longer than you originally estimate.
2. If it's your first time be prepared for a few "redo's." Be patient and kind to yourself when it comes to learning new things.
3. If you don't have a set time for completion, rest when your body needs it. Pushing yourself when you are exhausted or in pain only leads to having to redo more sections and being less satisfied with the overall process.
4. Have fun. Learning should be enjoyable and a teachable moment can be found anywhere.

With that being said here are pictures from my 30 hours of work.

I added purple for the fun of it and I made the back much longer than the front. I wasn't going for an even look but rather a more free-flowing feel. Having done this style once I plan on doing it again although I'll probably not make them quite as long next time.

Have you tried Yarn Locs? I'd love to see pictures of what you've done!

It's Fro Time Again!!!

One of the best things about returning to my natural hair texture is the people I've met. I get a lot of compliments and asked a lot of questions when I'm out and about and the style that is sure to get a lot of talk time is my Fro.

Here is a picture of my Fro last year right before I attended the Nzuri Hair Festival here in Houston. In this picture I had been natural for a year and 4 months or thereabouts. I had such a blast when people stopped to ask for pictures and to ask questions and give out the kindest compliments. I especially enjoyed people telling me that I was encouraging them.

I'm sitting here now in my pre-Fro twists smiling at both the memories and the anticipation of going BIG with the hair at this year's festival.

Because this style makes me hot when I wear it and has the potential to incur more damage than I want to deal with I save it for the fall/winter which is the only time of year I can tolerate the heat it generates and cuts down on having to manipulate it every night to keep it relatively tangle free, stretched and moisturized.

To prep for Fro time I wash and deep condition my hair and then wear it in a stretched style of some sort. Here is my latest creation which I've taken down for the last bit of prep. Because the African threading stretches my hair out quite a bit, if I'm going to have the rounded Fro look that I like I have to get my hair to shrink up a bit without reaching maximum shrinkage. To accomplish that I mist my hair with distilled water, slather it with Shea Butter and then put it in chunky twists that are much looser at the root than the end. If I wear a Fro immediately I mist lightly, add oil and retwist every night that the hair is out. If I'm not going to rock my Fro for a few days then I'll just pin the chunky twists up and/or wear a head wrap until Fro-day. =)

Once I've rocked the Fro I always pamper my hair a lot. My main hair goal is healthy long hair so I choose styles that make that goal attainable more quickly.

I'll be posting pictures from the festival as well of my hair so make sure to check back this weekend.


I made this post because I decided to participate in a Tendril Tuesday Link Up at www.okdani.com. My first thought was to do a side-by-side comparison post during my festival feedback posts this weekend. This way has a bit more of a teaser factor which works just as well.

If you're going to the festival this weekend I'd love to hear from you. Who knows we may be able to meet up and talk hair!

My Two Year Hairversary and Why I didn't do a Straightened Hair Length Check

I  had plans to straighten my hair for my two-year "hairversary" but as the day drew closer I was less and less inclined to do it.

I had a variety of reasons but the ones the ultimately kept me from doing it are these:

• I rarely, if ever, wear my hair down so why would I step outside of my normal because of hair growth?

• Where I live the temperature and humidity are incredible in August. It just didn't make sense to invest the time and energy when I knew that reversion would be almost instantaneous.

• In sharing my story in a public venue I have vowed to be authentic and true which for me includes showing the parts of my life that I choose to share as they really are. I want people to meet me on the street and recognize me and what I stand for.  

None of my reasons mean that I don't care about my hair growth/retention but rather I don't want to show myself wearing my hair in ways that don't fit in with my lifestyle choices. I did take a picture of me taking my hair down for my next style right around my anniversary and it does show how long my hair had up until that point.








How about you? Do you feel that your on-line and/or public persona is a reflection of the real you?

This Weekend's Hair Adventures

I have been making my own deep conditioner for the last few months and while I love the fact that I'm not putting anything on my hair that I couldn't eat, it can be a bit of a pain because for the best blend all the ingredients should be at the same temperature.

Finding a deep conditioner that contains no soy is so difficult that I'd given up even looking until I came by a Shea Moisture product that doesn't have any in it along with no parabens etc. I'm pretty excited to try it out on my hair before I move on to exploring products by Morrocco Method. I love the fact that they are proudly non-gmo no soy and other things that I try to avoid like the plague.

The second new thing that I will be trying this weekend is African Threading. Unlike a lot of naturals I don't want to use it to stretch my hair, I want to create a style that will last for a few weeks without the shrinkage I experience with regular two-strand twists.

I'll be sure to post pictures and my thoughts on everything I try this weekend.

Have a groovy weekend!

P.S. Please feel free to post anything new that you'll be trying.

Natural Hair & Sassy Manicures

I love creating interesting manicures but I found that they don't last very long when I'm in my hair too much. My hair products contain a lot of oils and such which are nourishing to both my hair and nails so I guess it's a trade off.
There are a few pictures on my Instagram account that showcases my funky nail style.

Supporting Black Women because the World still Overlooks Us Outside of Stereotypes

One of the things that really changed for me is how I viewed myself as a black woman when I decided to return to my natural texture. For most of my life, I had been thought not "black enough" because of my "light skin" "talking like I'm white" being "so articulate" etc.

Although my parent's provided inspiring information about our African history it wasn't shown in our day-to-day lives. The rest of that story deserves a blog of its own.

My natural hair doesn't look like, react like, or style anything like my relaxed hair. I had to step back and re-evaluate what being a black woman meant to me. I had to re-define what professional looked like for me. It was a real eye opener.

When people saw me in my business suits and TWA, their reactions were almost comical. In my preferred heel height, I'm 6'1 and I'm a woman of substance, so I tend to draw attention when I'm out and about. The first time I wore a head wrap in public, people seemed genuinely surprised that I spoke English "so well." It took a minute for me to realize that they thought I was an immigrant. Up until that moment I didn't realize that I'd added another layer of being a black woman in America to my experience.

Drawing on all of my own experiences gave me a greater appreciation and love for black people. It sparked an awakening of my consciousness that is continuing to evolve. I've become more active and vocal about our situation and also more active in community service and politics. I hope to express this more thoroughly in my vlogs because I feel that our hair is so much more than just keratin that has grown from our heads.

I came across this blog and it made me glad to see that someone outside of our community sees this truth and spoke up about it. I don't have to hate or denigrate other races in order to say with confidence that #BlackGirlsRock

Has returning to natural changed your views or your lifestyle in anyway? If so please share your story!