Bangs with curly hair

Bangs!  I haven't worn bangs since I was a little girl but I thought I would try it with my natural curls.  Why not you only live once...I'm actually loving it.  It's fun, funky and edgy and you don't have to worry about how you want your hair to fall.  I was actually inspired by my little cousin who got bangs cut in her straight hair and I loved it.  My bangs are still long enough to pull back if I need to that's the beauty of shrinkage!  See a positive for shrinkage!  I might add a few highlights.  Are you thinking of changing your look?

What your Hair Needs

What your hair needs

Hair is actually very simple we do alot of things to make it more complicated.  
Hair just need to be clean,  condition, & trimmed
Hair needs to be shampooed once or twice every 2 weeks or whenever you feel the hair is dirty. What people forget about is the skin underneath their hair called the scalp which is still part of the body and it needs to be cleaned just like how you clean your skin.  Think about all the things we do in a day and the environment we are in sometimes.  Our hair and scalp absorbs alot of that.  Therefore going a month or more without shampooing is not good for your hair or health.

Conditioning- We need to condition to soften the hair making it easier to moisturize.  Conditioner is like lotion for your hair stands making them more supple and smooth over time.  Curly girls need more conditioning than straight girl because due to the ringlets we have, things don't slide down the hair as quick.  The tighter your ringlets the harder it is.

Trims-  Yes they are needed.   Every hair needs trims whether you're natural or not.  Some stylist say it wrong...trims dont make your hair grow but it does help you maintain length.   How??? Because your hair split regardless. It's just part of the hair's cycle but you need trims to keep it under control.   I like to tell clients to get one every 3 to 4 months because it gives your hair time to grow and hopefully your damage shouldn't exceed your growth.   HOPEFULLY sometimes is does or can.  If you dont trim your splits will continue to go up therefore causing on going damage and thinning to the hair.

Of course,  use your styling product afterwards.   More key things use good quality shampoos and conditioners and don't wait too long to get trims.

I can't go natural...

Do you hear this one alot?  I cant go Natural it's not for me.  God made you natural why wouldn't it be for you.  I rather for someone to say I don't want to be natural then I can respect their choice.  Going Natural is a state of mind.  You have to be open minded enough to just do it.  If you really want to go natural know that everyone in your circle isnt going to agree with your decision at first.  You do however need a friend, family, coworker etc. Who can support you.  You also need a stylist who truly understand natural hair.   You dont have to leave your old stylist but have another one who know about caring for your now or about to be naturally curly hair.   All the beautiful natural heads you see probably didn't start off with great looking hair.  It takes time, education, proper care to make your naturally curly locks flawless.  So if you want to go natural only You yes you is the person holding you back.   I said it so many times before my naturally curly locks are one of the best things to ever to happen to me!

With Love,
Your Curly Stylist

Why I Went Into Doing Hair Professionally

Why I do hair

I wanted to write this article after I got few people who didn't quite understand what I did with hair.  My whole thing with going natural is I wanted to wear my true texture and make it easier on myself than when I was relaxed.  I'm truly all about making my routine easy but I want to look good at the same time.  Let me start back a few years before I went natural.  I always wanted the curly hair like I have now and always inquired to my stylists at the time on how to get it.  I was told honey you just don't have that kind of hair.  You know I wanted the hair like Tia and Tamera on sister sister, Cree Summer (Freddy on Different world) I loved that look!  Back then my hair did appear to be very kinky when it wasn't relaxed.  I remember one time at a party at college this guy came up to me and my two friends one was asian, and the other was black with natural hair but had an effortless curl pattern and me relaxed.  He told my asian friend that she had beautiful silky hair, told my natural friend with beautiful curls she had good hair, and told me that my hair can take a relaxer...I felt some kind of way with that remark.  It was like he was saying my hair only look good because I have a relaxer in it and I think that's when I started considering going natural to not only prove him wrong but prove all people wrong about our hair.  I always knew a little about hair but I went into further research.  I started with youtube way back before the natural hair thing was even popular up there.  I got some good information and great styling tips up there but need to learn more about haircare so I dug further....I lost my job moved to California with my husband.  Decided to enroll in beauty school to learn more about hair care at the time was the "Queen" of twist outs but realized by what I was learning and how my hair felt they may not be the best style for me and they we're too damn time consuming so I starting learning about the importance of hydration and would ask my teachers more about it.  I studied hydration outside of class not just your hair but skin, plants, and everything.  Hydration is the key to everything!  So when I got that knowledge a light bulb came on inside of me to hydrate my hair more often afterall if we have the driest texture then why do we run from water we need to run to it.  So I took it upon myself to start hydrating my hair.  So many people and other stylist would say hydrate by drinking water well that's true but your hair needs it's own hydration so you would have to actually physically get water on it more often especially when you are wearing your natural texture.  To make this long story shorter I committed to hydrating my hair and started to see my hair change right in front of my eyes.  I was actually starting to get the curls like Freddy and Sister Sister.  So my point in telling you my back story is to let you know I was just like most of you.  If you want the curl it takes time.    I was told that my hair was too nappy to have the curly hair like I wanted but it's not the case honestly most people in general but especially women of color don't know how to properly take care of their hair or too stuck in their ways to change.  I came into this to show YOU that your isn't what you think it is.  It's more beautiful than you can ever imagine only if you are willing to listen and not let other make you feel less about your hair.  Our hair is actually quite easy with the right care.  Not saying it's easy at the beginning but it gets easy and so well worth it.  So for anyone who come see me for hair sure I can style it for you but I want to show you how to actually care for your hair the easy and proper way.  Plus there's other things to life like family.   I don't want to spend alot of that time dealing with my hair or limiting myself because of my hair.   That's why I always start everyone on the same routine and once you get that down then we can have fun with styles because once the hair is hydrated it's healthy.  Without healthy hair there is NO STYLE!

Relaxed hair

Big Chop

The hair I was told I couldn't have

My Work

I will be posting pictures of my work for those who don't have facebook or google plus.

How do you get 2nd day hair with a wash n go

I always get 2nd day hair but the reason why is because my hair has my curl pattern memorized which is what you want to work up to so I don't even have to tie my hair up sometimes but here are some things you can do to help get 2nd day hair.

-My favorite Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate  (meaning cowash more often)
-Tie hair in a very loose ponytail (for tighter textures or thicker hair)
-Put in a pineapple (for looser textures and thinner hair)
-Sleep on a satin pillow case
-Just tie your edges with a satin scarf and let the rest of the hair out
-Wear a satin bonnet but know you will have to do some fluffing


My suggestion for a wash n go is to not make it last a week without rewetting.  The point of doing them is to get hydration in the hair making them last over a week defeats the purpose.

1st day hair

2nd day hair

3rd day hair

Still 3rd day but thought I would redo because I have a busy week and want it to look as
fresh as possible

Sneak peek of baby boy

Professional Quality vs Store Brand Shampoos and Conditioners

I was like so many other people who thought the store brands were ok to use but I was challenged by another styist to use only professional products and I will see a difference.  Well I took her up on that challenge and have been doing so for the past 2 months and I see a BIG difference.  Don't get me wrong I always use professional shampoos and deep conditioners but when it came to co washing I would use the cheap conditioners in the drug store because I figure I'm not deep conditioning with it or leaving it in the hair very long so it won't hurt.  I'm just detangling with it.  WRONG!!! Due to the number of times I cowash my hair during the week (about 2-3 times a week) it was taking a toll on my hair.  What I found with the professional products when I was use it actually left my hair feeling smoother, less shedding, and not always needing to use as much after product or styling product.  With the cheaper conditioner my hair felt dryer, rougher, and I didn't hold my curls as long as when I started using the Pro stuff.  This is something I already knew but I guess I didn't think about it that way...Alot of the cheaper or generic products cost less than the original or professional brand because they use alot of filler meaning watering it down or using cheaper oils (like mineral oil) in order make more for less causing them to sell more for a bigger profit.  The higher grade products use quality ingredients not watered down therefore the product cost more so they have to charge more but at the same time your hair is getting the essential that it needs and the right quality and quanitity. I also had quite few of my client who told me they have been exclusively using the pro brand and seen a big difference in their hair and I actually could feel a bigger difference in the hair.  This is how you know if a product isn't doing much for you...It's when you wash the conditioner out and feel your hair if your hair doesn't feel hydrated or smooth after rinsing the conditioner out and if it feeling still dry and almost kind of like wire then you might be using a product your hair doesn't like.  Also if your hair seems to be drying up too quick after rinsing the conditioner out is a sign that the conditioner is not affective.  What I mean by this is the hair should still feel soft and damp not as if it's starting to dry granted you need to use the products a few time to see if it's making a difference but after 3 weeks no change then you might need to switch.   I'm not going to state the products I no longer use but I will state the ones I do use.  I love REDKEN.  Redken actually have a whole line for curly girls.  I haven't tried the whole line but I do like the shampoo even though it lathers a little and I LOVE the conditioners.  Of course if you've been to me you know I LOVE hair rules, below are a few other conditioner I like.  I have others but these are the ones off the top of my head that I like.

If you have any you like let me know I will check them out.