Back in Twists and Loving to Learn

I mentioned previously that I straighten my hair once a year in order to trim the ends so I thought I'd share a picture of my hair right after I finished. It's big and full and starting to curl and shrink at the roots because I only straightened it enough to get make sure the ends were taken care of.

As you can see my hair isn't super straight and is showing it's fluffy side. While the picture doesn't show it clearly the ends are even. I'll show more complete views in another post.

By the time I had lunch with my daughter and grandson and done a bit of shopping I had had enough of the heat from having my hair down (it was still in the low 80s where I live) I decided to stretch my hair and cool off with two pony tails that I pinned on top of my head as a style the next day.

When my hair was dry again I decided to try my hand at a french braid/twist style. I've been learning to french braid and twist my hair since going natural. I wore my hair permed for 30+ years so it's been a learning experience to be sure.

I really liked the final results.

The french braids are not at a professional level but I love knowing that I am learning to do them for myself. I pin curled the twists in groups of 3-4 for the fuller look. The bit hanging down made me feel sassy.

Let me know what you think. Also, I'd like to know what new hair care/styling techniques you may have learned as a natural.

Protective Styling and What I'm Learning

This is my latest creation and I have to say that I'm pretty darn proud of it. For those of you who don't know, I spent most of my life wearing relaxers and I've only worn braids a few times.

After deciding to return to natural my biggest challenge by far has been learning to style my hair myself. I'm still learning to part and section correctly and I've yet to master corn rowing or french braiding.

My hair is very tightly coiled, thick and dense. Because of it's thickness and density, I prefer to style it in styles where the hair is not on my neck. I also don't like heat stretching my hair so most of my styles are created on hair that has been either banded or dried in braids.

I love styles that are attention getting as well so when I see something eye catching I try to duplicate it the best that I can. The idea for the front "waves" came from a photo by @sharonthestylist on Instagram.

Most of my hair styles also have my ends tucked in in some fashion which has allowed for great retention. In almost two years I've only trimmed my hair once. I cut of 1/2 inch when I allowed single strand knots to become an issue. I switched to using a home made Shea butter mixture on top of my oil and have almost completely eliminated SSK's.

I'll probably always wear twisted styles of some sort because of how they work so well in my lifestyle.

What are some of your favorite protective styles and from where do you draw your inspiration?